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Archive for the ‘Tiny Desk Concert’ Category

Kelly Sue DeConnick, David Lopez and Marcio Takara–Captain Marvel: Stay Fly (2015)

Posted in Aliens, Beyonce, Bob Dylan, Captain Marvel, Cats, Christmas, David Lopez, End of the World, Graphic Novel, Huh?, Kelly Sue DeConnick, Marcio Takara, Rats, Santa Claus, Spider-Woman, Superheroes, Tiny Desk Concert, Unfinished series, Violence, Whitney Houston, Wyclef Jean on November 7, 2017| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: WYCLEF JEAN-Tiny Desk Concert #668 (November 6, 2017).

Wyclef Jean is a pretty exceptionally famous person.  And it is wonderful just how sweet and funny he is.

He starts his set with two highlights from his latest record, and finishes with a climactic rendition of his signature hit like you’ve never seen or heard.

The Tiny Desk Concert didn’t start out that inspiring me though.  For some reason he is reciting over and overt about bars on the bass.  No idea what that means.  He raps a brief biography that really kicks in when he sings:

“I flipped the language.  I called Trump started speaking Spanish (a Spanish verse).  Trump hung up the phone said I’m still not convinced.  I said you might be convinced when I sing in French.”  It’s all a lead in to the first song “Borrowed Time,” where he sings and plays lead bass.  Interestingly, he is playing a lead bass while Patrick Andriantsialonina also plays bass (throughout this song and each song).  It’s a gentle song, sweet and pretty.

When the song is over he removes his jacket:

I ain’t gonna front.  Everybody that’s watching this live right now knows when I was doing the rehearsal I did not have my jacket on.  I threw it on because I had to get my swagger.  Speaking of swagger, the blurb notes:

A seasoned pro, he walked through our doors greeting and charming anyone within arm’s reach. Once in front of an audience, he was in attack mode, playing every instrument in sight. Clef doled out stories ranging from his upbringing and rise with The Fugees to intimate musical encounters with Whitney Houston and Destiny’s Child. The mentions were properly placed and added substance to the performance, but to me, he pulled what I’d call a “subtle stunt.” Hip-hop is and has always been about youth and freshness, so most elder statesmen of rap aren’t celebrated to the degree of their peers in rock ‘n’ roll and country music. Every now and again it’s necessary to inform the younger generation, who would otherwise never know these epic moments ever happened.

He tells a funny story about his father wanting him to sing church music (he does a funny impersonation of his father “you got to serve gawd or the devil”).  He chose music and was kicked out of the house.  He moved in with his Uncle and that’s where they made The Score.  He’s been doing music since he was in his twenties.  He says people might say:

“Yo Clef is thug, but he kinda geeky.”  It’s the audio side.

He tells a story being 20-something (being a cocky 24-year-old) and making a beat for Destiny’s Child and Beyonce.  And then a hilarious story about Whitney singing flat.  As a producer I think Whitney hit a flat note.  “Oh my god, Wyclef Jean has to tell Ms. Whitney Houston that the note is flat.  As a producer we’re like astronauts we have obligations.” [laughter].  He continues in a whiny voice: “I don’t know if this rocket is gonna fly.”  He continues: “‘Whitney, the note is flat.”  Dead silence.  She goes, ‘Baby, the note is not flat, I just bent the note.’  And that’s the highest level of diva I’ve ever seen in my life.”  But she was right,  she took the note out of pitch and brought it back.”

He plays the keyboards on “Turn Me Good” with vocals from his niece Jazzy Amra.  When he introduces her, she comes and a guy follows to adjust the mic.  As he does, Wyclef comes out to “steady” the guy, it’s quite funny.  Wyclef sings the main chorus: “What we gonna do when we get to Zion?  We gonna make love all night like a Marvin Gaye song.”  {That’s an odd song to duet with your niece].  She has a pretty voice but I don’t like her delivery.

When the song is over he says, “I’m swearing like a monkey, dog, but don’t edit the footage, coz I got to show the kids how the work go.”  He asks for a towel “Is this like a Tiny Desk Towel exclusive?”

Introducing “Gone Till November” he says to his bassist, “Ask me the coolest thing about ‘Gone to November.'”  Patrick asks him and her replies, “Well Patrick, the coolest thing… I did this song because it’s about making runs about selling drugs….  I’m a big fan of Bob Dylan so the lyrics be having triple entendres not just double entendres.  I wanted Bob Dylan to be in the video.  Haters they be shouting ‘Bob Dylan will never show up for your video he doesn’t even show up for his own son’s video.’  But Dylan showed up.  So Mr Dylan if you’re watching we’re going do a rad version of for you coz you’re so cool man.”

Wyclef picks up the guitar.  After a buzzy guitar solo, the song settles down to some pretty chords and Wyclef singing.  This is apparently his big hit, but I don;t know it.  After a few verses and choruses, he slows it down: I got to talk to some of these kids, I’m 20 years older than most of them.  He does a slow rap followed by a really fast verse.  Manny Laine on drums does a great job so slowing down the beat and then bringing it back up during Wyclef’s (really long) solo.  It has a very Hendrix feel.  After playing for a minute or so, he puts the guitar behind his back and plays fairly well.  Then he plays with his teeth.  And finally picks up an NPR mug and uses it as a slide.  It’s all in good fun and the crowd eats it up.

It’s a really fun set, and Wyclef makes a great impression.

[READ: April 19, 2017] Captain Marvel: Stay Fly

I mentioned that Captain Marvel is confusing.  And even after I think I’ve straightened it out it’s still confusing.

This series is Volume VIII.  It contains 3 books: Captain Marvel, Volume 1: Higher, Further, Faster, More; Captain Marvel, Volume 2: Stay Fly; Captain Marvel, Volume 3: Alis Volat Propriis.

Prior to this, DeConnick wrote another Captain Marvel series Volume VII.  No idea why they are different volumes.  But there are also three books in this series Captain Marvel, Volume 1: In Pursuit of Flight; Captain Marvel, Volume 2: Down; Captain Marvel, Volume 3: Captain Marvel and the Carol Corps and, according to Goodreads at least, included in Volume VII is Avengers: The Enemy Within which seems to come before Carol Corp.  For some reason, very few libraries seem to carry this particularly series.

And then, just to throw more confusion into the works, there is a new series (the Captain’s logo looks different and it is not written by DeConnick) called Captain Marvel 2016.  There are five books in it with two being out so far: Captain Marvel, Vol. 1: Rise of Alpha Flight and Captain Marvel, Vol. 2: Civil War II.

Phew.

So, with all that background, it took me two years to track down Book 2 in the Volume VIII saga.  And I was really surprised at how silly it was.  Not necessarily in a good way, either.  I mean, sure I love the Marvel humor and I love that they play around with some interesting ideas, but I feel like Carol Danvers is a pretty great hero and she is spoken of in very high regard.  So why then does this book prominently feature cats, rats, rock stars and Santa Claus?  It seems to really play down her mad skills.

I was also a little put off by the artwork.  I really don’t care for Marcio Takara’s style in the first few chapters.  In part because it looks so very different from the cover art and Lopez’ art. I actually had a hard time following what was going on (which may have been the two-year gap, but I don’t think so). (more…)

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David Wiesner & Donna Jo Napoli–Fish Girl (2017)

Posted in Children's Books, Corals, Donna Jo Napoli, Fish, Graphic Novel, Mermaids, Neptune, Octopuses, Tiny Desk Concert on November 6, 2017| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: NATE SMITH + KINSFOLK-Tiny Desk Concert #667 (November 3, 2017).

Nate Smith is a jazz drummer, although much of the music in this Tiny Desk is quite rocking.

The jazz is evident in the complexity of the tunes.

Just try to discern the multiple time signatures in the first tune, “Skip Step” Syncopated yet steady, its rhythmic motifs bolster Jon Cowherd’s keyboard riff and the song’s melodic statement, played in unison by saxophonist Jaleel Shaw and guitarist Jeremy Most.

The song opens with a great chugging riff on the bass (Fima Ephron) and guitar.  The keys play a drifting melody as the sax take over a solo (followed by the guitar).  Smith’s kit is fairly small but he makes great use of the various drums, putting in all kinds of interesting rhythms.

The quintet slides right into “Retold,” a beautiful song with a nostalgic melody that suggests a quiet moment for personal reflection and self-discovery.

This song instantly feels more jazzy because of the lead saxophone.  The drums are primarily cymbals (and brushes) and a lot of keyboard soloing in the middle.

After that song, Nate introduces the band and then says, “Jeremy noticed–the desk is not that small.  I was expecting a smaller desk.  I don’t know how I feel about his.  But I’m going to move past that because it’s not about me.

On the next song, “Pages,” Smith welcomed vocalist Amma Whatt to the “stage.” She wrote the lyrics for Smith’s 2017 album Kinfolk: Postcards From Everywhere.  I don’t care for this song as much.  Her vocals are a little too R&B for me (and I don’t like soprano sax).

It’s a very gentle song, though and probably fits nicely into the album.  It’s followed up by the final tune, “Rambo: The Vigilante” which he describes as “it’s short but it’s angry.”

Hypnotized by its shifting time signatures, this fusion jam is punctuated with a haunting rock lick played simultaneously by the entire band, and seamlessly aligned with Smith’s dazzling display of dexterous genius.

Smith’s drumming is phenomenal on this track–with lots of action on the high hat and some fast drumming on the bass and snare.  It’s not all fast though, there is a mellow middle section with gentle keys and a mellow sax solo.

I do like jazz with crossover appeal, and this certainly has it.

[READ: March 21, 2017] Fish Girl

David Wiesner has drawn some of the most gorgeous picture books ever.  And several of those books don’t have any words–they are just amazing stories, beautifully told and wonderfully illustrated.  Seriously, look up Sector 7 and Flotsam and be blown away.

Well, his pictures are in full force here (I recognized his octopus immediately).

This is his first graphic novel and his first pairing with Donna Jo Napoli (who I am unfamiliar with).

The story is a fairly simple and fairly familiar one, but they have put some wonderful twists into it.

In a building on a pier is Ocean Wonders.  It is a fully functioning aquarium inside a small warehouse.  On the outside is a big sign that says “see the mysterious Fish Girl.”  As the story opens, there is a narration by Neptune, god of the seas and storms.  He tells the spectators that in every room of this house you will see the most amazing creatures of his kingdom. (more…)

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Raina Telgemeier–Ghosts (2017)

Posted in Conchas, Culture Shock, Death, Dia de los Muertos, Fog, Food, Funny (ha ha), Ghosts, Graphic Novel, Halloween, Illness, In-N-Out Burger, Natalia Lafourcade, Raina Telgemeier, Supernatural, Tiny Desk Concert, YA Books on November 1, 2017| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: NATALIA LAFOURCADE-Tiny Desk Concert #664 (October 27, 2017).

I’d never heard of Natalia Lafourcade , so here’s what the blurb says:

Natalia Lafourcade is a successful singer-songwriter whose voice and music live on the edge of pop, but maintain a distinct independence.

A few years ago, while Lafourcade was traveling Brazil, she felt a great nostalgia for her native Mexico and its folk music. When she finally returned home, she immediately called some friends for the kind of party that is ubiquitous in Latin America: lots of social drinking, lots of food and lots of guitars and singing. Classic folk songs were on the playlist and a good time was had by all.

Someone recorded the informal jam session and Lafourcade’s management team heard the tapes. “This is your next record!” they told her.

That record, Musas: Un Homenaje al Folclore Latinoamericano en Manos de los Macorinos, Vol. 1, [Muses: A Tribute to Latin American Folklore in the Hands of the Macorinos, Vol. 1] was a commercial and critical hit, and received a Latin Grammy nomination for Album of the Year. It only made sense for Lafourcade to bring her Musastour to the Tiny Desk. The performances are an ode to a magical time in Mexican popular music, one that is revived with every note this singer and her band perform.

Los Macorinos are Ernesto Anaya (traditional Mexican guitar), Uriel Herrera (drums) and Jorge Molina (double bass).

One important historical note: The two older gentlemen on the video are Juan Carlos Allende (acoustic guitar) and Miguel Peña (electric guitar), two revered musicians who played with the iconic ranchera singer Chavela Vargas.

She plays three songs:

Lafourcade has a lovely delicate voice and brings a lot of joy to these songs.  On “Soledad y el Mar,” her voice and all of the acoustic guitars meld together wonderfully.  There’s also beautiful “traditional” harmonies from the players.

“Mi Tierra Veracruzana” was written for her hometown of Veracruz (five hours from Mexico City).  She says “its full of energy and  the beautiful things that I remember about my little town.”  There’s some delightful little acoustic guitar solo runs in the middle of the song that really spice up this delightful song.  I love that there’s also someone there to give a high-pitched aahhhhhhh ha ha!

“Tú Sí Sabes Quererme” its a love song which means You Know How To Love Me.  There’s much chuckling and then she says, when it happens it happens. She plays a small four string guitar.  After running through the chorus for everyone to sing along: “mas o menos, you have to sing as you were very in love with somebody.”  This song really swings and it’s a lot of fun..

[READ: October 27, 2017] Ghosts

Ghosts is a very different story for Telgemeier.

In the past, her stories have been rather personal–taking events from her own life (I assume).

This story mixes some real events (a sister with cystic fibrosis–this is tangentially related to her own life) and fantastical events–ghosts appearing on Dia de los Muertos.  She does an excellent job of linking the two.  Not only because the sister is facing death, but also because the sister needs a breathing apparatus and the ghosts are also “seeking” breath to come alive for the festivities.

As the book opens, we see Kat and Maya in the back seat of the car.  They are pulling out of [not] In-N-Out Burgers and learning that their new home in Bahiá de la Luna does not have an In-N-Out Burger.  This is pretty upsetting, but Kat realizes that they are moving to save her sisters’ life.  Kat will of course miss everything back home, but Maya needs the cool wet climate (the sun only shine 62 days of the year) of their new home. (more…)

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Mark Tatulli–Liō ‘s Astonishing Tales from the Haunted Crypt of Unknown Horrors (2009)

Posted in Aliens, Birds, Bloom County, Boondocks, Cats, Children's Books, Christmas, David Foster Wallace, Death, Demons, Dogs, Fairy Tales, Fantasy, Foxtrot, Funny (ha ha), Games (Non Video), Garfield, Halloween, Holidays, Humiliation, Inventions, Joe Henry, Liō, Loch Ness Monster, M.C. Escher, Mad Scientists, Mark Tatulli, Mark Trail, Mary Worth, Opus, Parenting, Peanuts, Pigs, Rats, Sam Phillips, Squids, Supernatural, Surreal, The Enfield Tennis Academy, The Family Circus, Tiny Desk Concert, Vampires, Vic Chesnutt, Woody Guthrie, Yuck!, Zombies on October 30, 2017| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: THE ENFIELD TENNIS ACADEMY-The Dark (2017).

The Enfield Tennis Academy is one of the major locations in David Foster Wallace’s Infinite Jest.  So, of course, a band that names itself after it must be listened to.

This is the second release by the band (which states “The Enfield Tennis Academy is TR.”

The Dark is described as

This EP is a collection of remixes and covers of Bruce Springsteen’s “Dancing in the Dark”, from the 1984 album “Born in the U.S.A.” It is not ironic. “Dancing in the Dark” is © Bruce Springsteen and Columbia.

And that is literally what this is. Five tracks that rethink “Dancing in the Dark” each one called “Dancing in the Dark.”

Track 1 opens with someone doing a kind of Elvis impersonation (or is it actually Bruce?) of the first line of the song: I get up in the evening…”  It then gets echoed and looped on itself until it is inaudible.  After a minute a guitar comes in strumming music backwards, I believe.  The big takeaway is the rolling “I” repeated over and over.  After 1:30 there’s a rather pretty sax solo. which may be from the song, I don’t know it that well.

Track 2 is an ambient piece with electronic claps and a kind of slow almost pixelated pipe organ version of the main melody of the song.  There’s some of those 80s processed “ahhhhs” added to the end.  It would eerily make you think of the song without knowing exactly why.

Track 3 is a noisy track.  Electronic drums played very rapidly and then some glitchy guitars playing the melody in triple time.  It is the least recognizable of the five pieces.

Track 4 is a fingers-on-chalkboard electronic screech with what I assume is the song played in reverse.  It’s a tough minute before the noise clicks away and we’re left with the backwards vocals.  If you didn’t know it was “Dancer in the Dark” you might not recognize the melody but if you do, you can kind of hear it.

Track 5 plays the original song in the middle ear. But in the left ear is another song (as if the radio was staticky and in the right ear is another even louder song.  But Bruce is squarely in the middle.  It’s pretty disconcerting.  Ultimately, the left ear gives way to people talking and the right ear reveals itself to be “You Make Me Feel Like a Natural Woman.”  It fades and for about ten seconds during which you can hear pretty much only the Bruce song, but then it all falls apart into glitchy noise.

The longest track is 2:15; the rest are about 2 minutes.  No one will say this disc is enjoyable, but it is kind of ugly fun.

[READ: January 30, 2017] Liō ‘s Astonishing Tales from the Haunted Crypt of Unknown Horrors

I have observed before about the maddening publication life of Liō books.  It’s going on four years since a new collection has been published.

But at the same time there are a number of books that cover the same territory.  Like this one.

This book collects “Liō” (which I take to mean Happiness is a Warm Cephalopod) and Silent But Deadly.  But what puts this book head and shoulders above the others (and just about any other collection of any series) is that it is almost completely annotated.

I didn’t compare the two books to see if all of the strips were indeed included.  But I’ll assume that claim is true.

Tatulli doesn’t comment on every strip but he does on a lot of them.  Like the very first one (in which he criticizes his–admittedly horrible-looking–spider.

He has at least three comments about what a genius Charles Schulz was.  Including the first time he tried to draw Lucy and Charlie: “I wanted to use the retro 1950s Peanuts look, but it was a bitch to reproduce…Schulz just make it look so simple.”

He’s also very critical of his drawing style of Mary Worth: “I won’t even tell you how embarrassingly long it took to make this lousy copy.” (more…)

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Mark Tatulli–Reheated Liō: A Delicious Liō Collection Ready to Devour (2011)

Posted in Aliens, Ben Folds, Birds, Blondie, Bloom County, C., Calvin and Hobbes, Cats, Children's Books, David Foster Wallace, Death, Death Cab For Cutie, Demons, Dennis the Menace, Dogs, Fairy Tales, Fantasy, For Better of For Worse, Foxtrot, Funny (ha ha), Games (Non Video), Hagar the Horrible, Halloween, Holidays, Hospital Ships, Humiliation, Inventions, Liō, Loch Ness Monster, Mad Scientists, Mark Tatulli, Ministry, Nancy, Non Sequitur, Parenting, Peanuts, Pigs, Rats, Shearwater, Squids, Supernatural, Surreal, The Enfield Tennis Academy, The Far Side, The Lockhorns, The Mountain Goats, The Weakerthans, Tiny Desk Concert, Vampires, Yuck!, Zombies on October 29, 2017| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: THE ENFIELD TENNIS ACADEMY-“My Missing Eye” (2017).

The Enfield Tennis Academy is one of the major locations in David Foster Wallace’s Infinite Jest.  So, of course, a band that names itself after it must be listened to.

This is the first release by the band (which states “The Enfield Tennis Academy is TR.”

The bandcamp site describes this song as

“Garbage thrown together on a free trial of Reason. Song’s about missing a fucking eye. Real music soon.”

This is two minutes of noisy instrumental metal math rock.  There’s a lot of different sounds in this two minute song.

It opens with some staccato pummeling sounds–the guitars are interesting in that they sound like they are chords yet ringing out at the same time.  The middle is a really fast pummeling section that reminds me of Ministry.  Those opens stringed chords come back late in the song, and they sound really cool.

I’m curious to see what TETA’s “real music” is going to sound like.

[READ: July 20, 2017] Reheated Liō

I have really enjoyed the Liō books (going forward, I’m leaving off that line over the o, because it’s a real pain).

The strip has been going on for some 12 years now, which is pretty amazing.  And yet, there don’t seem to be any new or recent collections out.

So Lio is strip about a boy named Lio.  Lio is a dark, dark kid.  He has a pet squid, he loves monsters and he’s delighted by chaos.  Over the years his character hasn’t changed much but Tatulli has given him some surprising tenderness, which is a nice trait. (more…)

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Lucas Varela–El Dia Mas Largo del Futuro (2016)

Posted in Chris Ware, Consumerism, Corporate skewering, Death, Dystopia, Fantagraphics, Funny (ha ha), Graphic Novel, Greed, Japanese Breakfast, Landlady, Lucas Varela, Rogue Collective, Scientists, Surreal, The Future, Tiny Desk Concert, Translation on October 27, 2017| Leave a Comment »

diaSOUNDTRACK: JAPANESE BREAKFAST-Tiny Desk Concert #663 (October 25, 2017).

I had it in my head that Japanese Breakfast was a weird band–psychedelic or wacky indie or something.   And maybe they are.  But certainly not here.

For this concert, the band is all acoustic (except for the electric bass).  For the first two songs there is a sting section.  Interestingly, the string section is Rogue Collective who also performed with Landlady on a recent Tiny Desk.   [Landlady’s Adam Schatz told Zauner that the Rogue Collective make pretty great Tiny Desk partners].

So the blurb corrects me about the band, describing their music as having “gauzy, astral synths.”  Those are clearly not present here.

As Japanese Breakfast, Michelle Zauner writes sparkling, opulent dream pop about grief and love (and, occasionally, robots). After releasing its debut album, Psychopomp last year, the band returned with this year’s stunning Soft Sounds From Another Planet. Where Psychopomp, written in the immediate aftermath of the death of Zauner’s mother, zeroed in on the experience of Zauner’s grief, Soft Sounds widens her aperture, featuring paeans to her coping mechanisms, ruminations on crooked relationship dynamics and said sci-fi robot fantasy.

“Boyish” aches with sadness (“your boyish reassurance is not reassuring”).  The melody (her guitar and Deven Craige’s bass to start) is lovely and heartbreaking.  Then the strings really punctuate the sentiment of these great lines.  And there’s some great backing vocals from drummer Craig Hendrix.

If you go to her don’t expect to come home to me.
I can’t get you off my mind /I can’t get you off in general
I want you and you want something more beautiful
I can’t get you off my mind / you can’t get yours off the hostess

I love the opening lines to ‘Till Death,’ which really sums up the end of 2016:

all our celebrities keep dying / while the cruel men continue to win.

She says the song is about marriage (and then chuckles).  The blurb says she sings “as she often does, in a way that strains her voice to the crackling, taut edge of heartbreak.”  This song is really lovely–the melody is a knockout.  The piano and bass start the song.  After the first verse the strings come in and Hendrix adds more backing vocals.

I love a song that ends with this final line:

PTSD, anxiety, genetic disease, thanataphobia

Everybody leaves for the final song, “This House.”  Except Hendrix moves from drums to piano.

Another great lyric opens the song:

This house is full of women
playing guitar cooking breakfast
sharing trauma doing dishes
and where are you

The song describes moments in love that are more fearful labor than bliss, the hazy space where commitment, confusion and longing intersect. Like much of Japanese Breakfast’s music, the performance shows Zauner looking unblinkingly at fear and pain, daring us to do the same.

Interestingly, for this concert, Rogue Collective has a different lineup.  They are a trio: Alexa Cantalupo (violin) and Natalie Spehar (cello) are back but Kaitlin Moreno (violin) is there while Livia Amoruso (violin) and Deanna Said (viola) are not.

In a cool footnote, the blurb says “The Collective practiced with Japanese Breakfast the day before the Tiny Desk, and was a featured guest later that night at the band’s D.C. show.”

I enjoyed this Concert a lot and will have to give a closer listen to their new album.

[READ: March 1, 2017] El Dia Mas Largo del Futur

This book came across my desk at work and I loved the look of it right away.  I can stumble through some Spanish books, but imagine my delight to see that this one had no words at all!  It is a wordless graphic novel (novela gráfica).

I especially liked the look of it because it reminded me in some ways of Chris Ware–very detailed, incredibly crisp lines, and really pleasing shapes.  It is also very dark, like Ware’s work.

But the comparison ends there.  This story is set in a dystopian future where violence is the norm, where robots can be easily programmed to kill and where love seems an unlikely prospect.

And NOW, after having read it, I have just learned the total history of this book.  It was originally written in French as Le Jour Le Plus Long du Futur.  Varela is from Argentina.  It has also been published in English as The Longest Day Of The Future by Fantagraphics books.  So even though I felt proud about “reading” the book in Spanish, I could have just found it in English too.  Well, I’m keeping with my original post, so….

You can see more details of the book from the publisher website.

But here’s what the site says (in Google-translated English, no the irony is not lost on me): (more…)

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Pablo “Feli” Boffelli–Punch (2015)

Posted in Afrofuturism, Architecture, Art, Cats, Dee Dee Sharp, Digable Planets, Drawing, Dreams, Foreign Books, Funny (strange), Huh?, Humiliation, Pablo Boffelli, Sex, Shabazz Palaces, Soccer, Surreal, Tiny Desk Concert, Yuck! on October 26, 2017| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: SHABAZZ PALACES-Tiny Desk Concert #662 (October 23, 2017).

Shabazz Palaces is really nothing like anything else I’ve heard.

“On the ground we have leopard skin carpets Only the exalted come in and rock with us.”

With those words, spoken in the opening moments of Shabazz Palaces‘ Tiny Desk performance, Palaceer Lazaro (aka Ishmael Butler, also of Digable Planets fame) lays the ground rules for all present to enter the group’s metaphysical headspace.

And, man, talk about being transported to the other side. It’s impossible not to envision the Seattle studio, Black Space Labs, where Shabazz’s otherworldly soundscapes emerge to provide the ideal backdrop for shining a light on the fake.

 It’s the perfect proxy for the growing sense of alienation we’re all suffering, to some degree or another, in today’s space and time.

Shabazz Palaces is perhaps the most unusual rap band I’ve heard. There are hardly any beats. The songs are trippy with washes of synths and other sound effects.  There’s no heavy bass, it’s just up to Palaceer Lazaro to keep the flow.

There’s an 80 second intro in which Palaceer Lazaro introduces the band and talks about their sacred study, safe from the “Colluding Oligarchs.”

The first proper song “Colluding Oligarchs”says that “sacred spaces still exist / safe from colluding oligarchs.”  Theirs almost glitchy (but pretty) synth melodies (which I think Palaceer Lazaro triggered before he started rapping).  His partner Tendai Maraire plays a hand drum and congas (as well as some synth triggers).  And all the while he is singing echoed backing vocals.  Meanwhile, Otis Calvin plays an intertwining, slow, almost improved bass line.

For “They Come In Gold” there is no bass.  He says “this one we wrote to our phones.”  There’s a weird repeating melody that sounds like  snippet of vocals. Once again there’s lot of percussion–shakers, cymbals etc.  Half way through, he puts a filter on his voice to slow it down (a cool spacey effect) and then speeds it back up.

“Shine A Light” includes some squeaky synths and Palaceer Lazaro singing into a different mic.  When the music starts formally, the melody is a looped sample from Dee Dee Sharp’s 1965 song “I Really Love You.”  The bass is back playing some simple but groovy lines.  That second mic is connected to a higher-pitched echoed setting when he sings shine a light on the fake.

[READ: March 15, 2017] Punch

I don’t know much about Pablo Boffelli aside from that he is an Argentinian artist–he creates music as well as visual arts.

This book is a collection of line drawings (which remind me a lot of things that I draw when I am doodling).

Since the book is published in Spanish, with no English information anywhere (it’s not even on Goodreads), I couldn’t get a lot of information about it.  So from the publisher’s website I got (in translation):

In the PUNCH world, space is a character that unfolds and unfolds in millions of scenes. Cynicism and the absurd coexist with hints of synthetic humor.

Punch is the book drawn by Feli. His imprudent stroke runs through the pages building a city in which everything can happen. In the Punch world, space becomes a character that unfolds and unfolds in millions of possibilities. The urban landscape eats everything, the exteriors become interior and the fantasies materialize in the most unforeseen forms. The cynicism and the absurd coexist with hints of humor: the joke to discover for that spectator who contemplates in a disinterested way.

Punch is tender and corrosive, is infinite and minimal. It reverses the logic of physics and plays with the scale: stacked things, types or giant landscapes, a springboard that does not point to the pool, soccer balls in a refrigerator, humans without head, debauchery and micro-obsession. Put another way: this book is crazy. We recommend looking with a magnifying glass.

(more…)

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George Saunders-“Black Widows” (New Yorker, September 26, 2005)

Posted in Balenciaga, Consumerism, Edward Gorey, Fashion, Funny (ha ha), George Saunders, Hanson, Marc Jacobs, New Yorker, Pierre Le-Tan, Poetry, Rochas, Tiny Desk Concert on October 23, 2017| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: HANSON-Tiny Desk Concert #659 (October 16, 2017).

It should come as no surprise that Hanson has been around for 25 years.   What comes as a surprise is that not only are they still together, but that they have been together all of these years and have a huge fan base.

As the blurb notes:

The audience for Hanson’s first Tiny Desk concert could be cleanly sorted into two distinct camps: the curious and the committed. The curious were the ones who’d inquired about whether the band would play its 1997 smash “MMMBop” (answer: nope), or wondered what Isaac, Taylor and Zac Hanson have been up to since the ’90s (answer: touring constantly, putting out records, starting their own label, raising families, launching a music festival, developing a line of Hanson Brothers-branded “MMMHops” beer). As for the committed? They were psyched.

For this Tiny Desk Concert the boys (who are now men) play some catchy piano based pop songs.  And their vocals harmonies are frankly, outstanding.   After Taylor mutters “to the bridge, y’all” on the first song 2010’s “Thinking ‘Bout Somethin'” the three of them hit some absolute gorgeous notes.

The middle of the song features a clap along and afterwards Taylor jokes about it: “So um, it’s okay to clap if we ask you to.  I love how you guys are like ‘can we clap?’  You’re the most obedient audience we’ve ever seen.”

They say that 20 years ago “Mmmbop” came out He notes: “that was obviously big” [chuckle].   But Taylor says the key song was on our second record.  It helped us connect with our fans and it’s called: “This Time Around.”

Issac sings the second verse and I have to assume that his voice has dropped quite a bit since they recorded that song.  (Well, actually he was 16, so maybe not.  But Taylor was 14 and Zachary was 11 (which means he started playing with them when he was 6!)).  This song has a classic blues vibe that if you didn’t tell me was Hanson I would have thought it was a lost song from the 70s, maybe.

Zac teases Taylor: “Look at you sweating at your Tiny Desk.”
Taylor: “It feels like a show now, I’m taking things off.”
Zac: “That’s not something we do at a show–you’re sending the wrong message.”

They say that the final song is a perfect message for our band, for this time in our career, for this time in the world–a positive true message about everybody’s place in the world.  Sometimes you need to be reminded that you were born to do something nobody else is going to do.

It’s two guitar and big harmonies.  I like the falsetto moments in the bridge in particular.

I can’t say I’ve become a fan of the band, but I have a lot more respect for them and will no longer think of them as that band of little kids.

As the show ends, Taylor says, “We’ll see you for Christmas, everybody.”  And then a to be continued…

[READ: August 31, 2011] “Black Widows”

This short piece deserves an introduction because it is unlike anything else that Saunders has done in the New Yorker

SKETCHBOOK illustration by Pierre Le-Tan, in the style of Edward Gorey accompanied by a George Saunders poem in the style of Edward Gorey…  The illustration depicts four women and a man near a fire place in the living room of a manor house or castle. The figures in the illustration are wearing fashions from recent collections by Balenciaga, Marc Jacobs and Rochas. The poem describes the people in the illustration.

Okay, got it?  Should you want to see the illustration, click here. (more…)

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George Saunders–“Flooding the Zone” (New Yorker, December 6, 2004)

Posted in donald tRUMP, Funny (ha ha), George Saunders, Idiots, Liars, New Yorker, Political Humor, Politicians, Randy Newman, Tiny Desk Concert on October 22, 2017| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: RANDY NEWMAN-Tiny Desk Concert #658 (October 10, 2017).

Randy Newman is a pretty amazing composer.  It’s really hard to believe that the guy who wrote “Short People” then went on to write at least three songs for Pixar that make me cry instantly upon hearing.

And yet I would never listen to him on purpose.

But Bob Boilen has some pretty wonderful things to say about the man:

I think Randy Newman is a national treasure. If he was just a funny guy making music, I’d be OK with that, but his wit is sardonic, satirical and politically on point. Mixing politics and humor with music is usually about the punchline, and his punchlines even make the singer smile.

Randy Newman paints lasting portraits of places and people, all the while poking fun and highlighting injustice, stupidity, power and humanity and he’s been doing it for half a century. Here are the opening lines to his recently released song “Putin”:

“Putin puttin’ his pants on / One leg at a time / You mean he’s just like a regular fella, huh? / He ain’t nothing like a regular fella.”

I happen to not like this song all that much, although there are some very funny lines.  And he is pretty funny in general.

Like when he says “Let me announce this [next song] a little bit: Here’s another one.”  “She Chose Me” is a wonderful tear-jerker (it will certainly be used in a film):

“I’m not much to talk to, and I know how I look / What I know ’bout life comes out of a book / But of all of the people there are in the world / She chose me.”

“It’s A Jungle Out There” is a more romping number although I once again can’t help but hear it as a soundtrack song.  It’s easy to picture a cartoon tiger singing: “I could be wrong now…don’t think I am though.”

He talks about the final song “Wandering Boy” and says: Every Labor Day people would get together at a family party that everybody went to.  He started going when he was 8 and was still going as an adult.  And you could see families change: So the lyric is: “First came here with my father then I brought my wife.”

It’s a sad song, possibly about his son dying?  I’m not willing to investigate further.

I love that Newman is so recognizable–his voice and style are all his own.  And I love that he is still making songs that will make me cry.

[READ: January 25, 2017] “Flooding the Zone”

George Saunders can be politically humorous from time to time (actually quite often).  But he also has solutions to political problems.  Like this one, which should very easily take care of all of the world’s problems.

There are approximately twenty-five million Iraqis in Iraq. There are approximately three hundred million Americans in America. This means that there are approximately twelve Americans for every Iraqi. This means that, if we all go, each American will be responsible for one-twelfth of an Iraqi. An Iraqi family of five will thus be attended by sixty Americans.

See how easy that is?  If we all go to Iraq, we can pamper all of the Iraqis.  We can cook for them while they relax.  We can clean up after them, bring them coffee or tea.  Even insurgents will be followed by friendly Americans asking questions and telling endless stories.  We can all bring a 30 day supply of provisions and that should take care of it. Well, and of course medicine and doctors and what not.

Iraqis swill become so happy and sated that there will be no more violence.

But that’s not all.  Wait till you hear Phase II. (more…)

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George Saunders–“My Guilty Pleasures” (New Yorker, February 3, 2003)

Posted in Car Talk, Death, Funny (ha ha), Gabriel Kahane, George Saunders, Ian Chang, John Philip Sousa, Landlady, New Yorker, Okkervil River, Rogue Collective, Sex, Son Lux, Steely Dan, The Bachelor, Tiny Desk Concert on October 21, 2017| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: LANDYLADY-Tiny Desk Concert #657 (October 6, 2017).

As I started watching this video I said to myself, Is that Son Lux’s drummer (Ian Chang)?  Look at the way he is drumming, it must be him.  And it is!

I had never heard of Landlady but I was instantly intrigued that Chang was playing with them.

The Brooklyn-based band’s songs are the initial creation of leader Adam Schatz, who observes the world with fresh, almost alien eyes.  Landlady is also a band of brilliant musicians who carefully craft their playing to serve the songs. Each player on their own might seem to be making quirky sounds or playing odd rhythms, but together they create head-turning tunes.

The opening track for Landlady’s Tiny Desk performance, “Cadaver,” has its origins in a friend of Schatz’s who went to medical school, and the years she spent examining a single cadaver over and over and even more specifically about a tattoo on that cadaver’s buttocks.

“Cadaver” opens with prepared piano sounds although the song quickly resolves itself into a kind of quirky Steely Dan vibe.  I love that Chang is using big soft bright blue brushes on the drums and that he even plays the desk and everything else around him during the slightly noisy middle section.

After the song, Schatz is very funny.  “Thanks for coming to work today I think a lot of us are actually very impressed by people who actually go to work.  Afterwards we’ll have all sorts of questions.  So know that while you’re looking at us wondering how do they do it.  Know that we’re looking back at you… wondering how do we do it.”

“Solid Brass” opens with some lovely guitars.  This song feels like something Gabriel Kahane might have constructed.  The chorus begins with just the piano and him singing “My voice is lower in the morning” over and over.  And then the whole band joins in on that simple sentiment.  That chorus melody is repeated but with other different simple ideas: “your legs are shorter in the evening.”  After that chorus, the guitarist Will Graefe plays some wildly distorted noises while the piano has stopped and only Ryan Dugre on the bass is there to keep it going.

For their Tiny Desk Concert they came in as a foursome but also recruited the Washington D.C. string quartet, Rogue Collective to flesh-out their sound on the third song, “Electric Abdomen.” That cut, which seems to be about being uncomfortable in your own skin, sounds like it came from a long-lost tape from The Beatles during a session for Abbey Road, full of wonder and, like this Tiny Desk performance, worth digging deep into.

Schatz introduces the quartet: “These are our new friends Rogue Collective.”  [Alexa Cantalupo (violin); Livia Amoruso (violin); Deanna Said (viola); Natalie Spehar (cello)].  One of them jokes: “Not Rouge Collective.”  Schatz quickly replies: “That’s us.”

He tells us:  “They learned all the music.  That was very nice of them.  This is hard.   You get nervous when you’re not used to being nervous.  So I thought I’d say that out loud.  A lot of people come here and they don’t seem nervous.  Top artists of today…  Who are some of the….  Like John Philip Sousa.  Guys like them they act all macho and they think they can just nail it.  But its hard and it puts us in a vulnerable place and I think that’s the point of this.

“So I want to say ‘Thank you, Bob and everyone for putting us in this compromising position.’

“I’d like to dedicate this last song to one of the most important pieces of Public Radio that was ever produced.  A program that changed the world and you can’t imagine the world before it existed.  So I’d like to dedicate this song and the rest of our lives to Car Talk, which basically raised me.  They were like to extra parents.”

“Electric Abdomen” opens with the sound of vibes and prickly guitar.  Then the strings fill in and the guitar sounds great and.  And, yes, it has s decidedly Abbey Road feel to it–the guitar sound especially.

I enjoyed this set immensely and watched it many times.   And I was only saddened to discover that Landlady (and Okkervil River) played a show in Philly the night before I watched this video.  Sigh.  That’s a lovely pairing.

[READ: January 24, 2017] “My Guilty Pleasures”

Many times in short New Yorker pieces, the jokes are topical, which means they don’t always hold up well.  And, sometimes, they get stuck in one thing and don’t really move beyond that.

George Saunders is usually pretty good at getting his topical jokes to move beyond whatever he is spoofing.

But he also likes to really hammer home one idea for a while.  Like this one, in which his guilty pleasure is watching reality shows (all based around The Bachelor). (more…)

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