SOUNDTRACK: XENIA RUBINOS-Tiny Desk Concert #552 (July 25, 2016).
I am fascinated by the music of Xenia Rubinos. Every song in this Tiny Desk Concert has something interesting going on. But for two of the songs, I can’t stand her voice. Rubinos seems to sing in a free form jazzy / R&B/ improvised manner. And it bugs me. No matter how fun she is to watch (and she is), I just don’t like the way she sings (except on the second song).
But the music! I love the way “Lonely Lover” opens with some interesting drumming and occasional weirdo samples. But the main melody is created by two bassists! (no guitars or anything else). It’s such a great melody, slinky and smart, with each bassist playing a different aspect of the melody. It’s super catchy (and when she sings actual words it works well). It’s just the moaning and groaning that I can’t stand.
Between the first and second song she takes a dance break. Then “Mexican Chef” open with a cool staggered bass line that is echoed by the guitar (the guitar (not the riff) sounds kind of 80’s punk) and some funky drums. The lyrics of this song are right on, too. It’s a ruthless critique of the way brown people are treate. It’s sung in a kind of rap style, with no room for soaring vocals. It’s a really great song:
French bistro, Dominican chef/Italian restaurant, Boricua chef/Chinese takeout, Mexican chef …. Brown walks your baby/Brown walks your dog/Brown raised America /Brown cleans the house/Brown takes the trash/Brown even wipes your granddaddy’s ass … Brown breaks his back // Brown takes the flack / Brown gets cut coz his papers are wack. … Brown has not / Brown get shot brown gets what he deserves coz he fought.
Right on.
For the final song, “Laugh Clown,” Rubinos plays solo bass and sings. The bass is just occasional notes as Rubinos scat/sings. It’s less interesting than the other two songs, but it makes for a nice change of pace.
Once I got past her vocal delivery, I found I really liked these songs a lot.
[READ: November 18, 2016] Three Stories
Back in 2014, I ordered all 16 books from Madras Press. Unfortunately, after publishing the 16 books they seem to have gone out of business (actually they are switching to non-fiction, it seems). They still have a web presence where you can buy remaining copies of books. But what a great business idea this is/was
Madras Press publishes limited-edition short stories and novella-length booklets and distributes the proceeds to a growing list of non-profit organizations chosen by our authors. The format of our books provides readers with the opportunity to experience stories on their own, with no advertisements or miscellaneous stuff surrounding them.
The format is a 5″ x 5″ square books that easily fit into a pocket.
Proceeds from Kalfus’ book go to the Free Library of Philadelphia.
As the title suggests, there are three stories in this book. (more…)
I Just Read About That... 