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Archive for the ‘Quarantine’ Category

Jeffrey Eugenides–“Walkabout” (New Yorker, June 11, 2007)

Posted in AFROPUNK, Australia, Coronavirus, Essays, Film & TV, Fire, First Nations of Australia, Jeffrey Eugenides, NENNY, New Yorker, Nudism, Portugal, Quarantine, Quest for Fire, Suicide, Tiny Desk (Home) Concerts, Tiny Desk Concert, Walkabout on June 7, 2021| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: NENNY–Tiny Desk Meets AFROPUNK: #202/196 (May 1, 2021).

Tiny Desk Meets AFROPUNK was the opening event of AFROPUNK’s “Black Spring” festival. The virtual celebration, hosted by Jorge “Gitoo” Wright, highlighted outstanding talent in Afro-Latin and Afro-Caribbean music across the globe. Our showcase featured four artists who honored their homes and celebrated the art their heritage has inspired.

With warm maroon box braids nearly sweeping the floor and glitter adorning her eyes, NENNY’s presence demands full attention before she even opens her mouth. Dressed in a flowy, all-white outfit accented with a pastel checker pattern and surrounded by a matching four-piece band, the 18-year-old Portuguese singer-songwriter and rapper appears otherworldly, almost heavenly, as she harmonizes with electric guitar and jumps across the room, dancing with her entire body. NENNY first appeared on heads’ radar in 2019 with her single “Sushi.” She’s continued to impress with several more singles and the release of her debut project, 2020’s Aura.

I love that her band is all dressed with the same fabric–pants on the guitarist, shirt on the bass player and sash on the drummer.  They play three songs.  I have no idea what she’s rapping about, but the flow in Portuguese is pretty great.

Jonatas gets some really great guitar sounds in the solo of “Bússola” and I love the deep bass that Peterson gets.

When she talks you can tell just how young she is.  She’s full of energy!

“Wave” opens with sampled acoustic guitar as Nenny sings this ballad.  I like that she switches from rapping to singing and her singing voice is really good.

Keyboardist Gui Salgueiro starts “Tequila” with an acoustic guitar sample and Ariel plays some cool percussive sounds while a spoken word (in English) interview plays.  When the song kicks in she’s rapping in Portuguese again and the electric guitar plays leads while the acoustic is still looping.

She really does seem to float around the room in this high energy Concert.

[READ: June 1, 2021] “Walkabout”

The June 11 issue of the new Yorker had several essays under the heading “Summer Movies.”   Each one is a short piece in which the author (many of whom I probably didn’t know in 2007 but do know now) reflects on, well, summer movies.

It’s interesting to me that Roger Agnell wrote about Quest for Fire, a small French Canadian production (with full nudity) and Jeffrey Eugenides writes about Walkabout a small Australian movie (with full nudity).

[This movie is permanently lodged in my own consciousness because I was living in Boston when it came out and it screened at the Brattle Theater for seemingly ever.  I often thought about seeing it, but never did].

Eugenides says that he saw it at his family’s yacht club (!).  His father and brother were sailing so he and his mother went to this movie that they knew nothing about.

He summarizes the little I know about it.  A father drives his children–a teenage daughter and young son–into the outback.  He then sets the car and himself on fire. (more…)

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Roger Agnell–“Ice Cream and Ashes” (New Yorker, June 11, 2007)

Posted in Anthony Burgess, Coronavirus, Double Indemnity, Essays, Film & TV, New Yorker, Phillip Sarde, Quarantine, Quest for Fire, Remember the Night, Rod Wave, Roger Agnell, Steve Buscemi, Tiny Desk (Home) Concerts, Tiny Desk Concert, Trees Lounge, Tremors on June 6, 2021| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: ROD WAVE-Tiny Desk (Home) Concert #201 (April 29, 2021).

I was shocked when this show open and Rod Wave started singing because his voice was terrible!

He couldn’t hit the notes and he’s straining all over the place.  So I was rns out shocked to read

 It’s been said that Rod Wave could be an R&B or blues singer in another era. With this Tiny Desk concert, anchored by the interplay of flute, piano, bass and drums, he seems to suggest: Why not this one?

What?  The rest of the blurb gives some context, I think.

The first song Rod Wave performs in his Tiny Desk concert comes with a bit of a wink. The St. Petersburg, Fla., rapper interpolates Drake’s “Over My Dead Body,” the delicate intro to Take Care. Like Drake, Rod Wave makes sad, melodic rap music.

The rest of “OMDB” is rapped and his rapping is pretty solid, but man, when he sings, it’s so awkward.

He talks about his new album after the song and I honestly didn’t understand a word he said the first time.  How can a decent rapper be such a bad speaker?

I like the music on “his 2020 hit record ‘Rags2Riches.'”   Live flute always sounds great and it sounds especially good here when Tomoka Nomura-Jarvis plays against the slow bass from Franckelson Brunot.

I’m always surprised when I find out someone I have never even heard of is huge: “he’s quite clearly one of the biggest rappers in the country right now.”  So obviously I don’t know anything.

“Street Runner” starts with a sampled female voice–I assume that’s what the (“featuring Ruth B.”) refers to–and piano from Gil Smith.  Drummer Hosny Franck mixes organic and electronic drums to good effect on this ballad.  But I swear he is flat when he sings “higher and higher.”

The set ends with “Don’t Forget.”  Tomoka Nomura-Jarvis switches to saxophone (which I like a lot less than the flute).  Although the end of the song features an instrumental jam that I quite like.  Especially the drum flourishes from Franck.

[READ: June 1, 2021] “Ice Cream and Ashes”

The June 11 issue of the New Yorker had several essays under the heading “Summer Movies.”   Each one is a short piece in which the author (many of whom I probably didn’t know in 2007 but do know now) reflects on, well, summer movies.

Roger Agnell says that summer movies don’t have to be about summer [true] and don’t have to open in the summer [um…].

He argues that summer movie are movies that come up with friends on a long drive or hanging out or just before bed: “What was the name of the movie where the cow falls down a well and everybody’s looking for that famous old Irish tenor?”  Of course now we would just look it up, but in 2007 we had to … no wait, in 2007 we could look it up, too.

Some summer movies are counter-classics.  1940’s Remember the Night which isn’t Double Indemnity, or Tremors the Kevin Bacon vs underground-monster-worms movie that made sequels and has ended up on TV at all hours. He even mentions Trees Lounge, which opened and disappeared in a nanosecond [but which I really liked].  Steve Buscemi directed, wrote and starred.

But the bulk of the essay is about Quest for Fire, a movie that I have seen maybe way back in 1982.  I think of it (or the title at least) fairly often, but I don’t remember much about the movie.  His summary makes it sound pretty good. (more…)

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David Sedaris–“The Way We Are” (New Yorker, February 19 & 26, 2007)

Posted in Coffee, Coronavirus, D.R.A.M., David Sedaris, Drinking, Drugs, Essays, Funny (ha ha), Homophobia, New Yorker, Normandy France, Quarantine, Racism, Regrets, Shelley, Tiny Desk (Home) Concerts, Tiny Desk Concert, Yuck! on June 5, 2021| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: SHELLEY [fka D.R.A.M.]-Tiny Desk (Home) Concert #198 (April 26, 2021).

I’m always puzzled by the FKA in a singer’s name.  Is it part of the singer’s name? Is this singer’s official name Shelley FKA D.R.A.M.?  I don’t think so, I think it’s just for us to know who Shelley used to be.

When D.R.A.M. played the Tiny Desk back in 2017, he made a couple of things clear to us: His playfully dynamic personality was primed for the spotlight, and beneath the catchy hooks, there’s a real singer waiting to come out. For his Tiny Desk (home) concert, he does a complete 180. “It’s like a new beginning. Full circle. So this time, call me Shelley.” he says, following the opening track, “Exposure.” Everything is new. Silk pajamas and slippers replace the trench coat and plush beanie, and thanks to lifestyle changes, he’s slimmed down quite a bit and goes by his government name now: Shelley.

I enjoyed D.R.A.M and his vulgar silliness.  But Shelley is one of those singers who intends to hit every note every time he holds a long note.  He whines up and down the octaves constantly and I hate it.  I know that there are listeners who love this as the blurb admires

The shift from lighthearted melodic hip-hop to full-on R&B crooner shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone who’s seen him perform live. It feels like it’s his way of saying, “Now that I have your attention, allow me to introduce myself.” We still get glimpses of the “Big Baby” here and there — the charm, a little bit of silliness, and the million-dollar grin — but other than that, it’s grown folks business and vocally flawless performance.

For the Shelley Show, he gathers a groovy band in front of a massive bookshelf and runs through selections, including the premiere of “Rich & Famous” from his upcoming self-titled project, due out on April 29, his late mother’s birthday. If D.R.A.M. was the ploy to break into the music industry, then Shelley is the longevity play.

“Exposure” and “The Lay Down” really accentuate his new vocal style.  But I liked the music of “Cooking With Grease.”  The simple drum beat from Keith “KJ” Glover and then the live viola from Yuli (a highlight throughout).  Sensei Bueno follows the melody on guitar and the song grows from there.

Of the four songs, I liked “Rich & Famous” best.  Trey Mitchell plays a grooving bass line, the backing singers Crystal Carr and David Fuller are ah ha-ing.  Sensei Bueno is wah wahing the  guitar and SlimWav is floating the keys around.  Shelley’s voice stayed low and less whiny.  Is he really going to try to make it with the name Shelley?

[READ: May 10, 2021]  “The Way We Are”

Reading this essay in 2021 was a really uncomfortable experience.  David Sedaris is not afraid of saying a risqué thing or three. But it’s amazing how much things seem to have changed in 13 years.

This essay begins in Normandy with David saying that the city shuts off the water without any warning.  Usually it’s a construction project or something.  It usually happens when David gets up around 10:30, which is practically the middle of the day for Hugh and the neighbors.

What they do at 6AM is anyone’s guess, I only know that they’re incredibly self righteous about it, and talk about the dawn as if it’s a personal reward bestowed on account of their great virtue.

The last time the water went off, David had a coffee problem. In order to think straight, he needed caffeine.  In order to make this happen he needed to think straight.  One time he made it with Perrier which sounds plausible but isn’t.  He tried leftover tea which might have worked if the tea weren’t green.  This time he decided to use the water in a vase of wildflowers that Hugh had picked. (more…)

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Ben Costa & James Parks–Rickety Stitch and the Gelatinous Goo: The Middle-Route Run [Book 2] (2018)

Posted in Ben Costa, Children's Books, Coronavirus, Graphic Novel, James Parks, Lake Street Dive, Ogres, Quarantine, Supernatural, Surreal, Tiny Desk (Home) Concerts, Tiny Desk Concert, Unfinished series, Want To Read The Next One on June 3, 2021| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: LAKE STREET DIVE-Tiny Desk (Home) Concert #199 (April 27, 2021)

I feel like I was meant to like Lake Street Dive.  They seemed to get heavily promoted in the same breath as bands that I like.  And yet I really don’t like them.  I particularly don’t like this deep dive into “blue-eyed soul” as they call it.

Having said that, though the first song, “Hypothetically” is a very catchy song.  The blurb mentions the addition of the new keyboardist and I was going go say that his keyboard solo is the one thing I don’t like in the song.

Lake Street Dive filmed its Tiny Desk (home) concert where the band is most at home: on stage at the “biggest little venue in NYC,” Pete’s Candy Store. All five band members managed to squeeze onto a stage no larger than the actual Tiny Desk to shine a spotlight on the Save Our Stages Act. Congress passed the $15 billion grant program last December as part of the $900 billion coronavirus relief bill.

I was starting to like “Same Old News” until the new guy started singing.  So that’s two strikes against keyboard and vocalist Akie Bermiss.   Although the keyboard sound he picked for the solo in this song is much better–and his backing vocals are a nice addition.

In the middle of the home concert, bassist Bridget Kearney recalls driving to the Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn for a gig at Pete’s, then driving back to Boston the very same night, long before they ever sold out Radio City Music Hall on the other side of the East River.

I don’t really care for Rachel Price’s voice either, but I really like Kearney’s speaking voice.  She plays a great upright bass, but I think I might like them if she sang instead.

“Anymore” is slow just keys and rim shots from Mike Calabrese to open.  I’m quite intrigued by guitarist Mike “McDuck” Olson who stands there quietly playing and looking at his guitar neck the whole show.

“Making Do” ends the set and I found that I liked it best.  It’s a little faster, more upbeat and while I don’t like the verses that much I like the way the song bounces into the chorus melody which is pretty tasty,

So I guess there will be a few songs from them that I like.  And that’s okay.

[READ: February 15, 2021] Rickety Stitch and the Gelatinous Goo

I didn’t love Book 1 of this series, but I had Book 2 already.  And when I heard it’s supposed to be a trilogy, I figured, oh why not finish it.

The first book doesn’t really come into play so much–mostly via some amusing cameos.  Rather, our heroes are on the road, continuing their quest for Epoli and Rickety’s identity.  But as it starts out we see them caught in a tree trap, hanging upside down. How does a goo get caught in a rope trap?  No idea.

They fail to escape and then the Bogril junkman from book one happens upon them.  Rickety is excited, but the Bogril doesn’t remember them at all.  Nonetheless he is wiling to trade for their freedom.  They try to follow him, but he is too fast and soon Rickety is captured by The Kobold Witch of Murbletoad Marsh.

She wants to use parts of him to bring her beloved pet back to life.  But Shnookles comes back as a much bigger and scarier creature than she intended.  And now he speaks for the Gloom King, telling Rickety that the Gloom King will come for him soon enough.

Since Rickety was taken apart, he attached other bones that were lying around to himself.  Turns out the arm he attached is a master digger. This comes in handy in a few places later. (more…)

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Amy Chu, Alexander Chang, Maria Laura Sanapo–Red Sonja and Vampirella Meet Betty and Veronica (2020)

Posted in AFROPUNK, Alexander Chang, Amy Chu, Colombia, Coronavirus, Death, Funny (ha ha), Graphic Novel, Josie and the Pussycats, Maria Laura Sanapo, Murder, Quarantine, Red Sonja, Superheroes, Supernatural, Tiny Desk (Home) Concerts, Tiny Desk Concert, Vampirella, Vampires, Violence, Want To Read The Next One, YA Books on June 2, 2021| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: ChocoQuibTown-Tiny Desk Meets AFROPUNK: #204/196 (May 2, 2021).

Tiny Desk Meets AFROPUNK was the opening event of AFROPUNK’s “Black Spring” festival. The virtual celebration, hosted by Jorge “Gitoo” Wright, highlighted outstanding talent in Afro-Latin and Afro-Caribbean music across the globe. Our showcase featured four artists who honored their homes and celebrated the art their heritage has inspired.

 ChocQuibTown–named after the coastal area the trio hails from–is a family affair comprised of siblings Miguel “Slow” Martinez and Gloria “Goyo” Martinez, the latter of which is married to Carlos “Tostao” Valencia. In 2000, the trio formed to promote their neglected corner of Colombia’s culture; today, ChocQuibTown’s music blends the traditionality of Afro-Latin jazz with the modernity of hip-hop to create a singular, yet versatile sound.

They play what I assume is a medley of six songs in fifteen minutes.

“Somos Pacífico” has grooving bass from Braulio Fernández and little horn blasts from José González.

“De Donde Vengo Yo” shifts gears when Tostao starts singing lead the repeated “ah has” from Eignar Renteria and Yaima Saurez are very fun.  Goyo raps and then Slow raps.  Rapping in Spanish has a really nice flow.

“¡Tú sabes!” Carlos “Tostao” Valencia exclaims after Colombian hip-hop trio ChocQuibTown performs its second song, the energetic “De Donde Vengo Yo.” “ChocQuibTown, straight from Colombia, from the Pacific coast,” he says. “We call it Africa inside Colombia, we got the flavor, we got the flow.”

The rest of the songs are much quieter.  “Pa Olvidarte” has soft acoustic guitar from Alejandro García and keys from Daniel Rodríguez “Noize.”  They sing softly in nice harmony.

“Qué Lástima” is another slow ballad, this one sung by Slow, with gentle percussion from Carlos Palm.  “Lo Que Quieras Tú” segues smoothly into “Cuando Te Veo” which is a little bouncier and fun to start but it slows down for Goyo’s vocals.  As the send the song out, Tostao does some sound effects scratching and singing Tiny Desk and blapping.

[READ May 30, 2021] Red Sonja and Vampirella Meet Betty and Veronica

I don’t understand crossovers.  Well, I understand some, when they make sense.  It’s ones like this that I don’t understand.  Did someone just say, Wouldn’t it be cool if Red Sonja and Vampirella teamed up and went to Riverdale?  I guess so.  And sometimes the most ridiculous crossovers make the best stories.

Amy Chu wrote this story with Alexander Chang’s assistance on book 5.

Now, I don’t watch Riverdale, but I know the show.  So obviously this isn’t old school Betty and Veronica.  But neither, I don’t think, is it Riverdale-based either (or maybe it is).  I’ve also never read Red Sonja or Vampirella books.  So really this crossover event is not for me.

And yet, I did enjoy it.

The book opens with a teacher getting killed and then a shot of Red Sonja and Vampirella in the woods.  Now, I realize that these two characters were created by men, and that’s why they are dressed as they are.   Red Sonja could not be dressed more impractically for fighting as she is wearing a hooded cape and a chain mail bikini.  I mean, the absurdity of dressing like that for combat is monumental.  The cape alone would cause her no end of grief.  Vampirella is at least wearing clothes–a cleavage enhancing skin tight tank top and super low cut off jeans.  But hey, she’s a seductress, right?

I guess I was surprised that Amy and artist Maria Laura Sanapo would keep these costumes. But they do need to establish the characters traditionally first, right?  It was a nice surprise when a few pages later, Betty & Veronica (who aren’t at all disturbed by a woman in a chain mail bikini with a large sword) invite them over and dress them in regular clothes (still sexy) so they blend in. (more…)

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Justin Giampaoli, Andrea Mutti, Vladimir Popov, Sal Cipriano–Starship Down (2020)

Posted in Aliens, Andrea Mutti, Butcher Brown, Caves, Coronavirus, End of the World, Graphic Novel, Justin Giampaoli, Quarantine, Religion, Russia, Sal Cipriano, Tiny Desk (Home) Concerts, Tiny Desk Concert, Vladimir Popov on June 1, 2021| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: BUTCHER BROWN-Tiny Desk (Home) Concert #195 (April 21, 2021).

I was getting Butcher Brown confused with benny the Butcher whom I’d just heard of.  So I was quite surprised when Butcher Brown’s set proved to be really jazzy.  And funky.

That’s the thing about Butcher Brown: are they playing jazz … or funk … or soul? They scoff at the limitations of adjacent genres with the expertise of master musicians who’ve played together so long that they flow from one vibe to the next without missing a beat. … Butcher Brown takes to a restaurant’s rooftop terrace in the band’s hometown of Richmond, Va., for a home concert and sizzles from the first note.

They play four songs in 16 minutes.

The band opens with “Sticky July,” a tune every bit as catchy as its name implies; think rollerskating with a popsicle under a cloudless sky of blue. When you think you’ve figured it out, keyboardist DJ Harrison switches it up, launching into a solo so funky you wonder if it’s a new song, that is until Marcus “Tennishu” Tenney brings us back home with some sweet trumpet.

There’s some grooving bass throughout the song from Andrew Jay Randazzo, but it’s after a minute and half when Harrison gets that funky dirty keyboard going that the song really shifts gears.   The song settles back into the groove for a trumpet solo and ends with Morgan Burrs playing a pretty guitar solo.

They slide into “Camden Square,” but not before Tennishu introduces the band, thanks their parents, and shouts out Ann Paciulli, who provided the old-school desk seen in the video. Viewers of a certain vintage may recall interminable afternoons spent sitting in a tiny desk just like that one.

“Camden Square” has some cool almost wah wah bass sounds for the simple but intriguing riff.  Then Tennishu picks up the sax and plays the main melody.  Burrs plays a lengthy jazzy guitar solo in this one while Corey Fonville keeps the beat tight.  i really like the way they slow things down dramatically at the end.

“#KingButch” is next, a stank-face hip-hop head-bobber that once again proves they can do it all.

I enjoyed the music of “#KingButch” but the rap felt a little flat to me.

They close with “Tidal Wave”: smooth, delightful, classic.

I enjoyed this song as a nice jazzy and yes, smooth ending.  I really like the sound that Harrison gets from that keyboard.

[READ: May 30, 2021] Starship Down

This book was put out by Dark Horse which was a surprise to me because it’s a short book and not tied to any other franchise.  It’s nice to see them doing something a little differently.

I had just read Rogue Planet and was expecting something equally violent.  But this story went in a very different direction.  First off, it is set on earth.  Second, nobody dies (well, not “on screen” anyhow).

Dr. Jocelyn Young, a cultural anthropologist is flown to the frozen north to the mining village of Vanavara, Russia, to investigate a dig.  But this is no fossil hunt.  International tensions are high about this.  Yes, some important new cave painting were found, but those are actually a coverup for something much bigger.

As she heads down into the cave they show her the paintings which are pretty interesting then she turns and sees the giant space ship frozen in the ice. (more…)

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Kool Keith (Johnny Brenda’s, Philadelphia, PA, May 29, 2021) [rescheduled date, rescheduled again]

Posted in Coronavirus, Dr. Octagon, Johnny Brenda's, Kool Keith, Philadelphia, PA, Postponed, Quarantine, Ultramagnetic MCs on May 29, 2021| Leave a Comment »

[POSTPONED: May 29, 2021] Kool Keith [rescheduled from May 29, 2021]

index

Johnny Brenda’s has pretty much cancelled everything on their spring calendar.  This show is listed as postponed, which always makes me feel a little bit better–like there’s a light at the end of the tunnel.

Kool Keith is a wacko alternative rapper.  I really liked him a lot back in the 1990s. He was part of the Ultramagnetic MC’s and Dr. Octagon. he also had the alias Black Elvis.

I had more or less forgotten about him and didn’t realize that he was still making music, but he has been consistently releasing music since the 1990s.

A lot of his music is aggressively, explicitly, sometimes disturbingly sexual (Dr. Octagonecologyst, anyone?) which was once amusing but feels really wrong now.

I didn’t really know about this show until it was cancelled and I’m not sure that I’d actually want to go (I had a few other shows I was more interested in that night).  I’ve also heard mixed things about Keith live, but I feel like it would be a fun experience.  The postponed date is a year away–we’ll see.

kool

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Waxahatchee / OHMME (Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA, May 16, 2021) [rescheduled date, rescheduled again] [POSTPONED]

Posted in Cancelled, Coronavirus, Jeff Tweedy, OHMME, Philadelphia, PA, Postponed, Quarantine, Union Transfer, Waxahatchee on May 16, 2021| Leave a Comment »

[POSTPONED: May 16, 2021] Waxahatchee / OHMME [rescheduled from April 14 and October 5, 2020; moved October 15 2021]

indexI have since come to really like the new Waxahatchee album and am looking forward to seeing her again.  I can wait until the fall though.

I’ve seen Waxahatchee twice–once with a full band and once solo.  I like her, although I wasn’t sure I wanted to see her again.  She has a new album out and I’ve heard it’s much more mellow than her last couple, so that doesn’t really appeal to me.

Since then, though I have heard a few songs and really enjoyed them.  I would definitely consider going to this show now.

However, Ohmme is phenomenal live.  I saw them open for Jeff Tweedy and I have wanted to see them again.  I’d prefer a headlining show (but I seem to keep missing out on those).  However, this would have been a solid double bill.

wxa

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Ayşegül Savaş-“Future Selves” (New Yorker, March 29, 2021)

Posted in Apartments, College, Coronavirus, Death, New Yorker, Quarantine, Rina Sawayama, Short Story, Suicide, Tiny Desk (Home) Concerts, Tiny Desk Concert on May 15, 2021| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: RINA SAWAYAMA-Tiny Desk (Home) Concert (April 19, 2021).

Rina Sawayama had one of the most compelling album covers of last year (see below).  I expected her music to be out of this world.  The little I heard was a little disappointingly poppy.  But this Tiny Desk Home Concert perks things up a bit

Rina Sawayama is back in the office, clad in a periwinkle blazer with waist cut-outs and a high ponytail cleaner than the view of the city skyline. Make no mistake: even in fluorescent lighting, the Japanese British pop star performs with the same tenacity and drama you hear in her 2020 debut album, SAWAYAMA, a lustrous pop epic peppered with early aughts R&B, nu-metal and classic rock.

She starts with “Dynasty” which has some deep keyboard bass from Geordan Reid-Campbell and strings from the string quartet (Braimah Kanneh-Mason: violin; Ayla Sahin: violin; Didier Osindero: viola; Jonah Spindel: cello).  Then Vic Jamieson adds a quiet sense of distortion with the electric guitar.

Tears calcify in “Dynasty,” a song like a salve to wounds inherited from generations past. The heaviness of the music never overshadows her voice, which ascends heroically. “Won’t you break the chain with me?” she belts out.

Heavy drums from Simone Odaranile shifts the song to a more rocking orchestral sound.  Backing vocalists Phebe Edwards and Desrinea Ramus add some lovely additions.  Jamieson solos and then the song gets big and intense with some impressively powerful vocals.

She says she’s been dying to play this.  She was meant to go on tour last year–this is the first time we’ve played “Dynasty” live.

As if turning the other cheek, Sawayama swiftly moves into the sweet, cha-ching pop of “XS.”

I would never describe this song as sweet or cha-ching.  “XS”  opens with deceptively quiet strings and Jamieson on the acoustic guitar.  She speaks quietly and the song jumps to the main heavy descending powerful riff.  The chorus is stop and start and full of hooks.  It’s a pretty great song.

She ends the set with “Chosen Family.”  She says that the song is dedicated to people who are not accepted by their parents for who they are: their sexual orientation or gender identity or anything else–and this is a pure and honest love song to my friend (my chosen family) who have gone through this.  Then amazingly she says she got a call from Elton John who said he wanted to work on the song with her!

the soft-hearted ballad “Chosen Family,” rendered in the style of her 2021 collaboration with Elton John. The song was reborn, in part, because of John’s admiration for Sawayama and her ability to cross-pollinate genres, but also because the two held “Chosen Family,” both the song and concept, dearly.

It’s a beautiful straightforward ballad.  And if you’re at all human, it will easily tug at your heart strings.

[READ: May 9, 2021] “Future Selves”

This story opens with a young married couple looking for an apartment to buy.  They had been renting but were looking to upgrade–get a real kitchen, a bathroom without chipped tiles.

They looked at smaller, impeccably restored places, but they seemed too small; they looked at a loft ion factory building–it was spacious and allowed for lots of privacy for each of them but there was no community around it–no café for them to sit in and talk .

It was a tough decision.

Around the same time, she had gone to visit her cousin at college.  Tara was fully enjoying herself and had lots of friends–boys and girls (one of whom she had a crush on). There was also Simon, a kind of hanger-on. He was soft spoken and friendly, but a step behind everyone else.

When she returned home, Tara had posted some pictures of them together.  Tara said that when they finally settled on a place, she’d love to stay with them. (more…)

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Uglykindness–Hasta el Mismísimo (2020)

Posted in #metoo, Babies, C. Tangana, Coronavirus, Feminism, Funny (ha ha), Gender, Graphic Novel, Humiliation, Kindness, Masturbation, Menopause, Menstruation, Morality, Myths, Pregnancy, Priests, Propaganda, Quarantine, Queer, Religion, Sex, Sexism, Short Books, Tiny Desk (Home) Concerts, Tiny Desk Concert, Translation, Uglykindness on May 12, 2021| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: C. TANGANA-Tiny Desk (Home) Concert #194 (April 20, 2021).

It’s surreal seeing this many people standing so close to each other singing and having a good time. It’s also an incredible reminder of how good it sounds when a lot of people sing together.

The blurb is surprisingly lax about explaining who C. Tangana is–but I gather he must be pretty huge.

From Mexican Regional to Spanish flamenco, C. Tangana is simultaneously coming home and reaching out to bridge Latin music boundaries. He’s building a community of cross-cultural collaboration, rooted in a unifying love of language and tradition, making it clear he’s intent on giving everyone a seat at the table.

The blurb does say that this gathering is Tangana’s extended family (the clinks of salud certainly suggest familia).

After more than 13 months amid a global pandemic, C. Tangana’s extended family basking in the warmth of sobremesa with easy smiles and effortless baile looks otherworldly. (Check his mama and tía vibing in the corner.)

They open the set with

This first live performance of his latest album, El Madrileño (including a global premiere of a fresh single, “Me Maten”) buzzes with communal energy, spotlighting talent from across Latin landscapes.

C. Tangana sings with Antonio Carmona, on “Me Maten” and the whole show gets off to a warm, relaxed feeling.  The backing singers (Lucia Fernada Carmona, Pilar Cerezo, Marina Carmona, África Heredia, María Rubio, Mariola Orellana, Patri Alfaro and Mari Estrada) do an amazing job of fleshing out this and the other songs.

The concert’s star-studded cast of Spanish collaborators, including long-time friends (producers Alizzz and Victor Martínez) and new contributors (rumba legend Kiko Veneno and flamenco-pop icon La Húngara), are each spotlighted for their contributions to the record.

Up next is C. Tangana and Kiko Veneno singing “Los Tontos.”  Kiko plays guitar and opens the song.  When everyone sings along (especially the la na na na) it sounds wonderul.  Then Alizzz, who has been playing the keys, sings the New Order line “Every time I see you falling…” into the vocoder and it fits perfectly.  Kiko ends the song with lovely guitar melodies.

Tangana switches positions for “Demasiadas Mujeres.”  He walks away from the table to a nearby string octet (Pablo Quintanilla, Paula Sanz, Franciso Palazón, Marina Arrufat, Paloma Cueto-Felgueroso, Adrián Vázquez, Irma Bau, Daniel Acebes).  Huberto Morales (I think) plays a martial drumbeat.  Tangana raps this track and it sounds pretty great with the strings–the octet is really into it–rocking and bopping around.  They play a pretty solo as Tanagana heads back to the table.

There’s lots of friendly chatter before “Tú Me Dejaste De Querer.”  Alizzz once again plays keys and sings into the vocoder to introduce this wonderfully catchy simple guitar riff.  I’m not sure who is playing guitar as there are so many guitarists: Victor Martínez, Juan Carmona and Niño De Elch who sings a verse.  He’s also joined by La Húngara whose female voice brings a wonderful change to this great set.

[READ: February 1, 2021] Hasta el Mismísimo

I saw Hasta el Mismísimo which Google translated as “Even the Very” at work.  It was in Spanish but the cover was cute and I was curious what it was about.  The translated title certainly didn’t help.  I flipped through the book and found that it was mostly cartoons.  So it seemed easy enough to translate.

The first text is a big thank you page, the final line of which is Thank you to @glorianietophoto who gave me the brilliant idea of drawing a talking pussy [Google translates that last word a bit more harshly when it is by itself].

So THAT’s what this book is about and what’s on the cover.

The second pages says A los Mismísimos del mundo, !Bienvenido!  which gets translated as “To the themselves of the world, welcome.”  Clearly “Mismísimo” is a hard word to translate inthis context.

The first cartoon shows the talking pussy with a cup full of blood painting on a cave wall: “It seems that a long time ago we painted in the caves, but really today there are still a lot of cavemen.  That’s why it’s easy to finish UP TO THE SAME [Hasta el Mismísimo]. (more…)

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