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Archive for the ‘Radio’ Category

Alice Munro–“Amundsen” (New Yorker, August 27, 2012)

Posted in Alice Munro, Band of Horses, Canadian Content, KEXP 90.3 FM--Seattle, WA, New Yorker, Religion, Sexism, Short Story, Trains, Travel, Virginity (Loss of), War on November 5, 2012| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: BAND OF HORSES-Live on KEXP , April 13, 2006 (2006).  

Band of Horses played KEXP in 2006.  They had been around since 2004 but their debut came out in 2006.  Since they are a Seattle band, they are treated as yet another Seattle band, which is kind of funny as they would be huge not long after this release (okay technically in 2007).  This show takes place about a month after the debut album came out (although the DJ says they’ve been playing them for a while).

I did not know that many of them were in a band called Carissa’s Weird (nor had I heard of that band), but thanks to the KEXP DJ for bringing that up.  I also found out that “Wicked Gil” is about baseball player Gil Meche.  The band sounds great–not quite as polished as on record, which is to be expected of course, but the vocals all sound great and the band is very tight.  They also play “Part One,” “The Great Salt Lake” and “The Funeral.”

It’s fun to hear a band before they became famous.

[READ: September 3, 2012] “Amundsen”

I read this story a day or two before I got laid off.  Unsurprisingly I didn’t feel like posting about it then.  But now it’s time.

This story is  about a young woman, Vivian Hyde, who is to be the new teacher at a rural santitorium.  She has traveled from Toronto to work at the ward where the girls have TB.  She has a B.A. and wants to work on her M.A, but she thought she’d earn some money for a time, first.  The story is set during the war, and the nurses are doing their wartime duty.

The first girl she meets, Mary, is the daughter of one of the employees who lives there.  She doesn’t have TB and does not participate in the studies that the TB girls do.  Vivian likes her but the headmaster, Dr. Fox, scolds the girls and sends her away so that Vivian can get settled in.

Munro is wonderful with details, like when the doctor asks is he knows anything about  tuberculosis:

“Well I’ve read–“

“I know, I know. You’ve read The Magic Mountain.”

[This is novel by Thomas Mann from 1924 that dealt with TB.  I love how Vivian does not respond to his comment one  way or the other]. (more…)

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Dean Hale, Shannon Hale and Nathan Hale–Calamity Jack (2010)

Posted in Adventure, Children's Books, Danger Mouse, Dean Hale, Dystopia, Fables, Fantasy, Funny (ha ha), Graphic Novel, James Mercer, KEXP 90.3 FM--Seattle, WA, Nathan Hale, Shannon Hale, The Shins on November 3, 2012| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: JAMES MERCER-Live on KEXP, February 10, 2012 (2012).

James Mercer came to KEXP to play a few songs solo with his acoustic guitar (the set is billed as The Shins, but it’s only Mercer).  DJ Cheryl Waters talks to him about what he’s been up to in the last five years since the previous Shins record (they don’t discuss that the rest of the band is basically gone).  She asks him about working with Danger Mouse and his foray into acting.  But mostly this set is about the music.

Mercer’s voice sounds great and the songs sound wonderful in this acoustic setting.  He explains the origins of the title Port of Morrow (it’s a real place).  He plays “Australia” from Wincing the Night Away and “September” “Simple Song” and “It’s Only Life” from Port of Morrow.

While I prefer the full album versions, this acoustic setting is quite nice and shows what great songs they are as well as how strong Mercer’s voice is (and that he was really the driving force behind The Shins all along)..

[READ: October 31, 2012] Calamity Jack

And they did.  Two years later.  This book is a kind of sequel to Rapunzel’s Revenge as well as Jack’s backstory before he met Rapunzel.

Jack was a petty thief. He and the pixie Pru (who loves hats) began with small scams (apples and whatnot), and slowly built up to larger ones.  In their defense they initially only tried to rob people who “deserved” it, but they were caught on more than one occasion and Jack’s mother had had enough of him.

Then Jack happens upon a score that he can’t pass up.  And he does it (without telling Pru about it).  Jack climbs into the tower of the evil giant Blunderboar.  Blunderboar is an industrial bigwig with a Jabberwock as a guard of his gigantic tower.  As with Rapunzel’s Revenge, the setting is a mix of fairy tale and contemporary real world(ish).  Blunderboar has a lot of money (including a media empire) and he is responsible for all of the troubles in Jack’s village of Shyport.

But the problem is that the beanstalk (there is a beanstalk, but there’s no cow, there’s magic beans and a pawn shop) destroys his mother’s bakery.  And she realizes that he is responsible.  Jack flees the town both because of his mother and because of the giant (who is understandably incensed). (more…)

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Dean Hale, Shannon Hale and Nathan Hale–Rapunzel’s Revenge (2008)

Posted in Adventure, Children's Books, Dean Hale, Dystopia, Fables, Fantasy, Funny (ha ha), Gilmore Girls, Grant Lee Phillips, Graphic Novel, KEXP 90.3 FM--Seattle, WA, Nathan Hale, Shannon Hale on November 2, 2012| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: GRANT LEE PHILLIPS-Live on KEXP, January 21, 2010 (2010).

I really liked Grant Lee Buffalo back in the day.  I think Grant Lee Philip’s voice is amazing–soulful, expressive, beautiful.  He was also a troubadour on Gilmore Girls!

Since Buffalo broke up, Phillips has released a few solo albums.  I have found that I don’t enjoy his solo music as much as I did the band music.  His voice is still amazing, but the solo stuff is a little too slow and meandering for me.

This set comprises four songs from his album Little Moon.  “Strangest Thing” is my favorite song from the set, it’s upbeat and beautiful.  And “Little Moon” is correctly described by the DJ as moody an intoxicating.  It’s not my favorite of his songs but the description is totally correct.

This is an enjoyable mellow set.  The DJ and Grant Lee are relaxed and comfortable and the between song chats are informative and interesting.  You can listen here.

[READ: October 30, 2012] Rapunzel’s Revenge

This story is a wonderful extrapolation of the Rapunzel story which has been moved to the Wild West.  Yup, that’s right.  Rapunzel is a cowgirl.

Well, in the beginning, the story is pretty faithful to the original.  Many elements of the fairy tale are present–Rapunzel was kidnapped from her parents (or traded for some lettuce) and raised by the enchanted witch.  This story fleshes out the politics of the witch somewhat–she has cursed the surrounding lands and made them barren–all of the fertile ground is within her walls and the peasants must pay tribute to her from their meager earnings.  And Rapunzel is a rather rebellious and outgoing girl who wants to leave her stepmother’s walled fortress and explore the world beyond.

When Rapunzel tries to climb the wall just to see what’s out there (the wall is like 70 feet tall), she is grabbed by the witch’s guard, Brute, an over-sized man who is very grouchy.  But when she learns that her real mother is still alive (and is a suffering peasant) she tries to escape for good.  Brute catches her again, and the witch locks her up (the re imagined prison is a very cool twist).  I loved that she escapes with no help from anyone (just her hair).  And that as she’s running off she meets a prince who was coming to rescue her meets her; she sends him on a wild goose chase.  This Rapunzel needs no prince. (more…)

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Colin Meloy (with illustrations by Carson Ellis)–Under Wildwood (2012)

Posted in Adventure, Animals, Big Books, Carson Ellis, Children's Books, Culture Shock, Death, Fantasy, Fears, KEXP 90.3 FM--Seattle, WA, Magic, Quasi, Trees, Trilogy, Violence, War on November 1, 2012| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: QUASI Live at SXSW, March 8, 2010

I really enjoyed a few Quasi albums back around the turn of the century, and then I kind of forgot about them.  But this set is really great.  The always excellent Janet Weiss on drums and harmonies and the wonderful Sam Coombs on guitar and vocals. Around the time of this album, American Gong, they added Joanna Bolme on bass which really fills out their sound.  The first song, “Repulsion,” rocks harder than any of their older stuff (which was more keyboard based).  Indeed this album was apparently much rockinger than any of their earlier releases–I must check it out.

This set was recorded during SXSW  from the Gibson Showroom in Austin.  They play five songs in about 20 minutes.  “Never Coming Back Again” has a far more country feel (especially the backing vocals which have a real twang.  The lengthy instrumental section of “Black Dogs and Bubbles” is great–especially check out Weiss’ drumming.  “Little White Horse” is a shambolic rave of a song–fun and noisy.

The set ends with the inspiring Rise Up, a short stomper that encourages you to, yes rise up.  Weiss and Coombs both have other bands that they play in, so Quasi never seems like a full-time project.  But that seems to make their music all the better.  Listen here.

[READ: November 1, 2011] Under Wildwood

I enjoyed Wildwood, but I wasn’t blown away by it.  So I admit I wasn’t totally excited to read this one (especially since I had some other books lined up).  But Sarah managed to get it from the library (I guess it was not as a big a deal as I assumed it would be?) and I decided to give it a go.

I found it a little slow at first, but after about 40 pages, the book totally took off and I was fully engrossed.  Whether it was because there was less exposition since this was a sequel or because the story itself was more exciting, I couldn’t put the book down.  And, more importantly, the book did not feel like its 550 pages were excessive.  He really filled up every page with story.

But I was a little concerned because part of the story is set in an orphanage–a setting rife for cliché.  But Meloy has some great ideas and although he does use the orphanage as a scary setting (and employs some clichés from all orphanages) he transcends the conceit with some great characters and some evil owners who use demerits to completely move the story along outside of the orphanage–a great plot idea.

But let’s back up. (more…)

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Leonid Tsypkin–“The Last Few Kilometres” (New Yorker, September 17, 2012)

Posted in Jamey Gambrell, KEXP 90.3 FM--Seattle, WA, Leonid Tsypkin, Russia, Sex, Short Story, Yeasayer on October 29, 2012| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: YEASAYER–Live at KEXP, October 18, 2007 (2007).

This concert from Gibson’s is great.  It took place in 2007 and showcased songs from Yeasayer’s first album. I don’t know this album but their description of the music as tribal gospel is apt.  The music is noisy and almost chaotic, but the melodies and harmonies are wonderful.  There’s a comment that they used to be in a barbershop quartet (ironically).  And you can hear that they really know their harmonies well.

I have their two later albums which  like very much and which are slightly different from the sound of this one–but this set is really great, and it’s a good introduction to their earlier sound.

I mentioned Up All Night the other day because Silversun Pickups were on.  On this past week’s show, Yeasayer got a mention at a hipster coffee bar.  Guess that means Yeasayer are a trendy band, too.  Check out the show here.

[READ: October 17, 2012] “The Last Few Kilometres”

This is another very short story–two pages total.  It is translated from Russian by Jamey Gambrell.

In this story, a man visits his mistress, has sex with her, eats some food (after dropping a chicken leg on the floor) and then heads home.  Despite the brevity and simplicity of the story, I had to read it twice before I could really get it.  The story is told in flashback as he’s on his way home (on the train).

But the story is less about the plot than the details. I loved that he normally doesn’t like to eat first because having sex when you’re full is no fun.  But she made a nice dinner so they eat first.  Also, he left his dentures home, so he was happy the meal was soft (quite the romantic!).  Meanwhile, “She received him the way mistresses generally do in the movies,” dressed to the nines, and running around serving him.  Later, the lovemaking was indifferent, and a comment that he casually threw out had offended her. (more…)

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Kevin Barry–“Ox Mountain Death Song” (New Yorker, October 29 & November 5, 2012)

Posted in Cancer as plot device, Death, Irish Writer, Kevin Barry, KEXP 90.3 FM--Seattle, WA, New Yorker, Short Story on October 28, 2012| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: !!!-Live at KEXP, May 3, 2007 (2007).

!!! play a funky dance party music.  It’s certainly not Top 40 dance, as it throws all kinds of elements into the mix.  I have one of their early EPS but I haven’t listened to much more from them.  This show is from 2007, so I don’t know how much their sound has changed these last five years, but this is a cool and interesting set.

“Myth Takes” has a great bass line while “Heart of Hearts” has a steady beat with 70’s retro keyboards and cool guitar sections.  The jam at the end of the song is great.  “Yadnus” has a slinky feel until the screamed chorus (and there’s one member with a great scream) makes the song rock hard.

The entire set feels like a rollicking party.  I’ll bet they are a lot of fun to see live.

This band is especially hard to search for (search engines don’t know what to do with “!!!”) so the link is here.

[READ: October 26, 2012] “Ox Mountain Death Song”

This was a very brief story set in Ireland.

It was constructed as two parallel narratives: one about a policeman Sergeant Brown, and one about a criminal, Canavan.  Canavan  comes from a long line of criminals–thieves, sexual abusers, violent thugs, and he is no exception   And as soon as the community learns that he has a deadly cancer, they prepare for the worst from him, because what has he got to lose?

Sergeant Brown has dealt with his family for years.  He’s old now–fat and tired and soon to retire, but he wants this guy before he does anything worse.

Brown speaks to an older woman who was recently beaten up by him.  She protects him for a while until she finally reveals his hiding place–in the Ox Mountains.   (more…)

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Ian Frazier–“A Farewell to Yarns” (Outside, November 2012)

Posted in Adventure, All Songs Considered, Birds, Black Sabbath, Earth, Essays, Fishing, H.P. Lovecraft, Ian Frazier, Judas Priest, KEXP 90.3 FM--Seattle, WA, Outside, Technology, Unreliable narrator on October 25, 2012| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: EARTH-All Tomorrows Parties, October 5, 2011 (2011).

Anyone who likes Black Sabbath a lot knows that they were originally called Earth.  About mid way through this concert, the lead singer/guitarist of Earth says that he grew up listening to Black Sabbath and reading HP Lovecraft, so Earth is clearly something of a tribute.   Incidentally, he grew up in Manalapan, NJ which is just down the road from us.

All of these bona fides means that I should love Earth.  But I have to say that although I didn’t dislike this show at all, it’s really not my thing.  Earth creates long droney songs.  I tried to measure a couple of BPM of songs and came out with 60 for one song and 42 for another (by contrast Judas Priest’s “Breaking the Law” is 180 BPM).

The songs are all instrumental and range from 8 to 12 minutes.  Again, nothing objectionable about that.  Indeed most of the songs are cinematic and cool sounding.  My problem with them is that there wasn’t a lot of dynamism in the songs.  The bass wasn’t crazy heavy or loud or chest rattling (as I had been led to believe Earth’s bass was).  The melodies were pretty, but it came across as soundtrack music–for a very very slow zombie chase, perhaps.

According to some basic history, Earth used to be a heavier, noisier band, but have morphed away from that, and I suspect I would have liked their earlier stuff a bit more (although the one older that they played, “Ouroboros is Broken” wasn’t that much different from the rest.

NPR broadcast most of the All Tomorrow’s Parties concerts, and I enjoyed listening to them all.  But Earth is just not my thing.  You can check it out here.

[READ: October 20, 2012] “A Farewell to Yarns”

I mentioned the other day that I read one complete piece in the three Outside magazines since I subscribed.  It was this one.  The thing that I have enjoyed about the Outside articles that I have cherry picked is that unexpected writers pop up to write an essay.  So here’s Ian Frazier, comedian and essayist, writing for Outside.  Weird.  (Or maybe not so weird, he’s an Editor).

And, unlike many of the other things I’ve read in Outside, Frazier is not, repeat not going to do anything brave or daring or stupid, he’s just going to muse about a topic.  I like it.

Basically, this whole piece is a compliant about how with everything documented and digitalized it’s impossible to tell fibs about the one that got away or as he calls it, “an outdoorsman’s sacred right to exaggerate.”  What I like is that he takes us all the way back to ye olde mapmakers who wrote Here be Monsters which leads to this wonderful idea that I have never considered “the pictures of the monsters must have been accurate; how would the mapmakers have known what to draw unless eyewitnesses had told them?”

And he moves on through those who spied the Loch Ness Monster and Bigfoot.  He even talks about one I had ever heard of, a hidden city in Siberia called Gorod Koka-Kola, built during the cold war as a reproduction of an American city, they speak English and live and behave like Americans–perfect for spymasters to practice   Genius–and how would anyone ever know if it existed in remotest Siberia?

But Fraizer’s greater point is that “Lies make the wild scary and alluring.”  He grew up in Rural Illinois afraid of the Argyle Monster who haunted Argyle State Park–and, boy, how many adventures he had or dreamed of having back then. (more…)

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George Saunders–“The Semplica-Girl Diaries” (New Yorker, October 15, 2012)

Posted in Funny (ha ha), Funny (strange), George Saunders, KEXP 90.3 FM--Seattle, WA, New Yorker, Short Story, The Airborne Toxic Event on October 24, 2012| 6 Comments »

SOUNDTRACK: THE AIRBORNE TOXIC EVENT-Live at KEXP July 23, 2008 (2008).

The Airborne Toxic Event’s “Sometime Around Midnight” was huge back in 2009.  It seemed to be on the radio every time I turned it on.  The ATE put out a new album in 2011, although I didn’t hear much from it.

This show was recorded in 2008, about a year after their debut (with that song on it) album came out.  The set features four songs from the debut.  This was the second time that the band appeared on KEXP (the first time they played three different songs from the debut and “Innocence” which I guess must have been their planned single?).

The band sounds very good live, as a poppy yet downbeat alternative band.  I could see a number of these songs having been huge.  It’s interesting to me that the DJ, who didn’t seem to know the band yet, says that “Sometime Around Midnight” could be on a soundtrack.  The fact that he singled that song out is either prescient or they were already pushing that one.  Although as I say, they played “Innocence” in both sets so I assume that was supposed to be the breakthrough.

Anyhow, I’m not a huge convert to the band, but this was an enjoyable set.  And the band seem like nice guys.

[READ: October 17, 2012] “The Semplica-Girl Diaries”

One never really knows what to expect from George Saunders.  This story is a diary.  And it started off being very irritating to me because of the voice he chose to write the diary in.  “Having just turned forty, have resolved to embark on grand project of writing every day in this new black book just got at OfficeMax.”  I hate this clipped way of speaking/writing and I don’t believe anyone would use it.  And it never lets up.

The other thing that bugged me about the narrator was that he is supposedly writing the diary for future historians to dig up and discover things about whenever this takes place.  And I know that this is a funny trope and that many people imagine that their stuff will be discovered as historical artifacts.  And it’s kind of funny in that he wonders “Will future people know, for example, about sound of airplanes going over at night, since airplanes by that time passé? Will future people know sometimes cats fought in night? Because by that time some chemical invented to make cats not fight?”  For who hasn’t wondered about what will be around in the future.  But these examples (which are preposterous) set a tone which does not match the rest of the story.  And that whole future generation trope gets discarded after a few entries.  I’m not sure if that’s another joke because he explains things like cars and books but not what Semplica Girls are, but I found it very disjointed.

So the first (obvious) joke is that he says he will write for 20 minutes a day and he misses the very next day.  But we learn the situation that the diarist is in–he and his family are in trouble financially.  Their car bumper has fallen off, they have huge debt, and their daughter’s birthday is approaching.  They had just gone to the daughter’s friend’s house where opulence and grandeur are the norm.  This immediately makes the narrator uncomfortable.  This is also the first sighting of the SG in the yard. (more…)

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Matt Lennox–“A Speaking Engagement” (The Walrus, November 2012)

Posted in Canadian Content, Canadian Music, Drinking, KEXP 90.3 FM--Seattle, WA, Marriage Trouble, Matt Lennox, Short Story, Stars, The Walrus, Violence, War on October 23, 2012| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: STARS-Live at the Triple Door, July 8, 2010 (2010).

KEXP broadcast this concert from the Triple Door in Seattle  (they have a free feed of all of these great concerts from the Triple Door).  Stars are a great Montreal alternapop band.  They sing songs that are kind of downbeat and sad lyrically and yet gorgeous and poppy musically.

This show takes place on the day that their 2010 release, The Five Ghosts, came out.  I really like Stars although I wasn’t that excited by this disc, so I never picked it up.  And yet most of this set is from this album and I think the set is great, so maybe it’s time to pick up the album after all.

Torquil and Amy sing beautiful harmonies (and Amy’s voice is gorgeous on th e song she sings solo).

What’s a little confusing about this set is that they play 7 songs.  So it’s a short set.  And yet the Triple Door is a rock club and they say they’re playing later on that night as well.  So, maybe this is a n album release party?  Or a KEXP show?  Whatever, it’s still a good set.

The band has a relaxed and chatty attitude onstage, with Torquil claiming that the DJs at KEXP having “Serious taste” for playing their music.  The two singers have a disagreement about which song they’re going to play (Oh, it isn’t called “Fixed”?).  And there’s a funny moment when Amy says she was thinking about George Jones and his career being over and Torquil saying “Does anyone know what Amy is talking about”).  And Torquil, who has the gentlest voice (and is the most polite front man ever) curses during the last segment and then says, “I just swore on public radio.  That’s okay, Republicans don’t listen to it anyway they’re too but filling their hearts with hatred.”

Love it.

[READ: October 8, 2009] “A Speaking Engagement”

This story was fascinating to me because it was about a Canadian military lieutenant on leave. I can’t think of too many stories about the Canadian military (I’m sure there are many, I’ve just haven’t encountered them).

Paulie is home for six weeks on leave.  As part of his time home he gives speaking engagements to high schools and (on this date) to a senior center.  He has a slide show in which he shows the audience what they were doing in overseas–in this case helping the citizens with infrastructure.  He says the high school students and seniors react mostly the same way (respectfully) and ask a lot of the same questions, although the seniors never ask if he killed anyone.

On his way to the senior center (in full uniform) he runs into Amy, a girl from his high school class.  He always felt she was out of his league, but she seem genuinely excited to see him.  They chat briefly in the convenience store and make plans for later.

They have dinner later that week and catch up.  Amy tells what she’s been up to since school–not going to med school, having a baby by herself (with her mom’s help), starting her own care business and generally running around like crazy.  Paul talks a little about the army experience, but defers what he actually did there for “another date.”

That other date doesn’t come though because they go back to Amy’s house (her daughter is at her mother’s) for a nightcap.  Which leads to Paul staying the night.   (more…)

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Michael Crummey–“The Small Hours” (The Walrus, October 2012)

Posted in Canadian Content, Cancer as plot device, Death, Depression, Drinking, KEXP 90.3 FM--Seattle, WA, Michael Crummey, Short Story, Tame Impala, The Walrus on October 22, 2012| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: TAME IMPALA-Live at KEXP April 22, 2011 (2011).

Tame Impala play great swooping psychedelic tracks.  Their album is a wonder of retro modernism–sounding like you’ve heard it all before, but not quite.  I had no idea that they’d be able to duplicate that sounds so effortlessly in concert.  This small setting does nothing to diminish  their epic sound   “Why Won’t You Make Up Your Mind” is as soaring as ever.  They throw a little jam on the end of “Solitude is Bliss” which really changes the sound of the song and shows that they don’t only play fuzz.

The interview is amusing because he forgets to take the echo off his voice for the first few questions.  And we learn that the band plays barefoot.

“It’s Not Meant to Be” and “Desire Be Desire Go” are paced a bit slower and more ponderous than the record.  I don’t love it as much this way, but I imagine it works well live.    But overall, it’s a great set, check it out.

[READ: October 20, 2012] “The Small Hours”

This is the story of a writer losing his father.  Justin’s father suffers from Leukemia–there’s a very nasty description of what happens when you have cancer in your spine.  And he is not expected to live long.  Justin is walking around in a fog.

He goes out with his writer friends (one is very pushy, trying to get him laid and wondering when he’s going to write the book about his dying father–Justin wonders when she will write her book about Justin and his dying father.  They spend the small hours together trying to get through the ordeal.

There’s also a tender scene between Justin and his mother as they look through photos.

But overall, I feel like the story was both too long and too short.   (more…)

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