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Archive for the ‘Romance’ Category

Five Dials: Your Valentine’s Day Card (12 February 2010)

Posted in 35 rhums, Claire Denis, Constellation Records, Five Dials, Joe Dunthorne, L'intrus, Nénette et Boni, Romance, Sophia Augusta, Tindersticks, Trouble Every Day, Vendredi Soir, White Material on June 26, 2011| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: TINDERSTICKS-Claire Denis Film Scores 1996-2009 [CST077] (2011).

Constellation Records just released a 5 disc box set of Tindersticks movie scores.  Fans of the band will know the soundtracks for Nenette et Boni and Trouble Every Day which were released years ago.  Those are included here, along with four other soundtracks (on 3 discs).  The entire set includes Nenette et Boni (1996) White Material (2009), 35 rhum (2008), Trouble Every Day (2001) and two solo soundtracks: Stuart Staples’ score for L’intrus (2004) and Dickon Hinchliffe’s score for Vendredi Soir (2002).

As with most Constellation releases, this one is packaged beautifully.  The box is lovely with an opening for the top cover to show though. Each disc gets a cardboard sleeve with a cool still from the film.  And the booklet that accompanies the set is bilingual with lots and lots of still from the films and a cool interview with Denis and members of the band.

I have never seen any of Denis’ films.  So I was confused that some of these scores were only half an hour.  I thought maybe they were short films.  But indeed they are not.  35 Shots of Rum is 100 minutes for instance, even if the soundtrack is a third of that.

I’m going to review each score shortly, but since I’ve already discussed Nenette et Boni and Trouble Every Day, I’ll just put links to them.  In the meantime, the scores are really beautiful and moving.  Tindersticks are a very cinematic band to begin with, so it’s no surprise that they would make good soundtracks.

And the booklet is really interesting, showing how the band was introudced to Denis in the first place.  She loved the music of ‘My Sister’ and asked if she could use it for a film.  They said, well, maybe we can make a soundtrack for you instead.  And they began working together.  The combination proved so successful that they have scored virtually all of her movies since.  I really must get around to watching them some day.

In the meantime, I can just imagine what they are like from the music.

Here’s the opening credits for Trouble Every Day

[READ: June 24, 2011] Five Dials: Your Valentine’s Day Card

This Five Dials special issue doesn’t appear on the Five Dials home page.  I only found it while reading their news feed.  It’s not an issue per se.  Indeed, all that this valentine’s card is is one poem from Joe Dunthorne, and a cool cover illustration from Sophia Augusta. (more…)

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Jaspreet Singh–“Mont Royal” (The Walrus, September 2007)

Posted in All Songs Considered, Arranged Marriage, Canadian Content, Culture Shock, James Joyce, Jaspreet Singh, KUT 90.5 FM--Austin, TX, New Yorker, Romance, Sharon Van Etten, Short Story, The Walrus on June 1, 2011| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: SHARON VAN ETTEN-Live at SXSW (2011).

Sharon Van Etten has a lot of sessions at NPR.  Not too many are downloadable, but this one is.  This is a fascinating set because it’s a special breakfast show for KUT. (See in the picture she’s doing Java Jive).  (She also plays a show later that night, but it’s not available here).

The set is four songs (all from Epic) on acoustic guitar.  The really different thing about this set than any of the other things I’ve heard from her is that her voice sounds really gravelly (like she just woke up–which she may have, almost all of her between song banter is about how it’s early–it’s either endearing or annoying).  Normally, Sharon has a really amazing voice–high and soaring.  This time it’s much  raspier.  But the interesting thing is that it works well.  She never misses a note and it brings an interesting growly tone to these (somewhat) angry songs.

It’s a great (although brief) set.

[READ: March 30, 2011] “Mont Royal”

This is a very brief (three column) story that reads like a stream of consciousness piece.  And that is appropriate because it not only references Ulysses, it actually quotes the end of the novel.

There are many fascinating things about this story.  First off, it is written in direct address: “When I moved to the city, ladies, …” but we never find out who the ladies are.  Second, it begins with the humorous idea that the narrator–upon moving to Montreal–believed for many years that the cross on the to of Mont Royal was a plus sign (he is an engineer). (more…)

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Peter Behrens–“The Smell of Smoke” (The Walrus, October 2006)

Posted in All Songs Considered, Canadian Content, Canadian Music, Martha Wainwright, Neko Case, Peter Behrens, Romance, Sex, Short Story, The Walrus, Virginity (Loss of) on May 9, 2011| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: MARTHA WAINWRIGHT-Live at the 9:30 Club (2006).

This show had Martha Wainwright opening for Neko Case (a nice bunch of Canadians, eh?)  I’m not sure if the set is truncated or not (she claims to be hungover) but it’s only 30 minutes.  I guess that’s not terribly short for an opening act, but it seems on the brief side–although it is 9 songs.

Martha is a bit cranky as the set opens, (or maybe that’s just her speaking voice) but she kind of warms up and is a funny chatterer.  Seven of the songs come from her debut self-titled full length (which I don’t own). One song is new (“So Many Friends” which appears on I Know You’re Married…) and one comes from an EP (“New York, New York, New York”).

Martha has a unique voice that I find hard to describe.  It can easily polarize listeners–some will find it way too exotic.  It comes as a special surprise after she has just bantered with the audience in her low gravelly voice when it busts out with her higher (perhaps nasally) voice. I think once you get used to her voice it brings a special resonance to the lyrics.

She is also not afraid of the four letter word.  The final song, crowd favorite “Bloody Mother Fucking Asshole” is just one of the obscene things that she sings here.  The funny thing is that she never sounds angry when she’s singing these lines.  He voice is charming (and yes odd) but never angry.  It’s a weird mix, but one that I like.

This is a good introduction to her music (and Neko Case on the same page).

[READ: March 18, 2011] “The Smell of Smoke”

Unlike “What He Saw” which was erotically charged but hard to believe, this Walrus story–which is even more erotically charged and, on the surface utterly unlikely–was easier to believe as a story.

Green is a fourteen year old boy.  Maggie is his twenty-one year old neighbor.  As happens in a story like this, she seduces him.  And they spend most of the summer having crazy sex.  This all seems really unlikely, but I’ll throw in the detail that it’s 1968 and her parents are away quite a lot (which also seemed to happen a lot then).

The story is told in third person from Green’ point of view.  And, despite the horny teenage fantasy story that this really is, the writing is tender and sweet and fairly believable.

For me the nice thing about the story was that although it eventually had to end, it never ended because they got caught or had any kind of scandal.  Rather, she went off to college.  But it doesn’t just end there. (more…)

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Seven Love Letters: Meditations on Desire (The Walrus, July/August 2005)

Posted in All Songs Considered, Best Coast, Books about writers, Canadian Content, Carrie Brownstein, David Bezmozgis, Dreams, Fantasy, Fears, Jonathan Lethem, Juli Zeh, Leonard Cohen, M.G. Vassanji, Margaret Atwood, Religion, Romance, Sex, Sheila Heti, The Muffs, The Walrus, Travel on April 27, 2011| 1 Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: BEST COAST-Live at the 9:30 Club, Washington DC (2010).

Best Coast made Carrie Brownstein’s best album of the year accolades, but when I listened to the track she selected for the post, I wasn’t all that impressed.

But I have to say that live, Best Coast blew me away.  Bethany Cosentino, the lead singer and guitarist has an amazing stage presence.  She is charming and funny and very silly (and I guess she loves cats).  The band sounded tight and impressive and even though the songs are kind of dopey bubblegum pop, they are drenched in enough noise and rock to make them really wonderful

They seem like they should have come around during the 90s, when all those rocking female bands were all over the map.  And so this is like a wonderful blast from the past.  Best Coast is sort of like The Muffs (except they write love songs) and other bands that play really catchy pop but bury it under a layer of fuzz and rock.  This is a great set available on NPR, and will definitely get me to check out their album a little more.

[READ: March 28, 2011] “Seven Love Letters”

Six of the seven letters here were later collected in the book Four Letter Word which I reviewed in September 2009.  When I reviewed the book, I didn’t give very much in the way of detail, I just summarized the letters.  I’m going to copy what I wrote then (since my thoughts didn’t change all that much), and I’m going to include a few more lines about some of the pieces (original stuff is in italics).  I’m also including titles which (for some reason) were not given in the book.

I’m also not sure why Sheila Heti’s story did not appear in the book.  (It’s only 4 paragraphs and is, indeed, a letter so why not include it?)  If you enjoyed the book, think of this story as a Bonus Feature. (more…)

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Banana Yoshimoto–“Platanus” (The Walrus, July/August 2004)

Posted in Banana Yoshimoto, Canadian Music, Michael Emmerich, Romance, Sarah Polley, Short Story, The Sweet Hereafter, The Tragically Hip, The Walrus, Translation, Travel on February 16, 2011| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: THE TRAGICALLY HIP-Fully Completely (1993).

Even thought Road Apples was good, Fully Completely is amazing.  The band has traded in some rawness for textural complexity and yet they haven’t lost the rocking groove of their earlier sound.

This album has some of my favorite Hip songs: “Courage” (the Sarah Polley cover in The Sweet Hereafter is also beautiful in a very different way). “At the Hundredth Meridian” (a title which should tell you that the lyrics of the song aren’t going to be typical rock fodder), and “Fifty Mission Cap.”   “Fifty Mission Cap” is about the fascinating story of Toronto Maple Leaf Bill Barilko, another atypical lyrical concept and an amazing song from start to finish (although, honestly the opening chords make it sound like it’s going to be a lame 80′ metal anthem…maturation as a band made this song brilliant instead).

The duel guitar opening of “Pigeon Camera” is also gorgeous, as are the wonderful vocal harmonies on the bridge.  And the rawness isn’t all gone either.  “Locked in the Trunk of a Car” rocks as hard as anything on Road Apples.  There’s also a mellow folk song in “Wheat Kings.”  It slows the disc down a bit after the intensity of the amazing “Fully Completely,” and “Fifty Mission Cap,” but the last two songs are a string ending to an already great disc.

Even though I think that Fully is an amazing record, I think that mostly it’s preparation for the even more amazing Day for Night which came out two years later.

[READ: January 26, 2011] “Platanus”

Anyone playing along might have noticed that February is Canada month here.  All of the authors this month have been from the Great White North.  This story breaks with that, but I feel that it still counts because it came in a Canadian magazine.  But Banana Yoshimoto is Japanese (no, really!).  With a name like “Banana” (which is a pseudonym), it’s hard to forget this author.  I even bought Kitchen (her first translated book) when it came out (although I haven’t read it yet).

This story is translated from the Japanese by Michael Emmerich.  It is set in Mexico, specifically in the village of Mendoza.  The narrator (aged 35) and her husband (aged 60) enjoy escaping Tokyo and spending time in this sleepy village.

The story provides some interesting familial background of the two characters (both of their families disapprove of the marriage) and the kinds of things that they get up to in Mendoza.  And really that’s all there is to the story. (more…)

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Thomas King–“Not Enough Horses” (The Walrus, July/August 2004)

Posted in Canadian Content, Canadian Music, Culture Shock, Flash Fiction, Funny (ha ha), Native Americans, Romance, The Tragically Hip, The Walrus, Thomas King on February 15, 2011| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: THE TRAGICALLY HIP-Road Apples (1991).

A cleverly designed cover signals an amazing album inside. After the vast improvements of Up to Here, Road Apples rocks and is the first of the Hip’s most great and cohesive records from this period.

The one-two punch of the opening rockers “Little Bones” and “Twist My Arm” is sublime.  And Downie has really found his voice at this point.  Those initial two songs show the kind of complexities the band will add on future discs.

The rest of the disc is really successful raw, bluesy rock.  The guitar solos are longer and more substantial (songs like “Bring It All Back” showcases Rob Baker soloing skills).  And the bulk of the rest are songs that could be staples of any classic rock station.

But they mix up the styles a bit as well.  “Cordelia” is a brooding, intense song, that builds from a quiet intro into a rocking chorus, the kind of song which later albums will showcase.  “Long Time Running” is a grooving ballad.   And “Fiddlers Green” is a pretty acoustic number.  The final track, “The Last of the Unplucked Gems” is another mellow acoustic track, but it foreshadows some of the great songs the band would write in the future.

Road Apples is a hugely successful disc, although for my tastes it’s on the next two albums that The Hip really hit their excellence.

[READ: January 26, 2011] “Not Enough Horses”

This second flash fiction of The Walrus’ 2004 Summer Reading Issue has a similar “problem” as the first one. It actually feels too long to be flash fiction.  True it is only one page and, since it is mostly conversation, it is very brief.  But the story is actually rather detailed, something which I feel doesn’t quite belong in flash fiction.

Indeed, it is a simple enough story:  a young man would like to marry a Native woman.  He goes to the woman’s father and begins offering him gifts for his blessing.  The father says that in the past the gift would have been horses, although the boy’s first gift is kittens. (more…)

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Frances Itani–“What We Are Capable Of” (The Walrus, April/May 2004)

Posted in Canadian Content, Canadian Music, Dallas Green, Frances Itani, Romance, Shad, Short Story, The Walrus on February 6, 2011| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: SHAD & DALLAS-“Listen (remix)” (2010).

The other track on the Shad and Dallas EP is a remix of “Listen” from Shad’s TSOL album.  I like the original song quite a bit.

The remix is marginally faster than the original.  And Dallas Green adds a few lines over the “chorus” (in the original, Shad just says “listen” over and over). It’s a nice addition to a good song.  In fact, I went back to the original and realized that I kind of missed Dallas’ section (and that was after only two listens).

This single benefits Skate4Cancer, so it’s for a good cause and worth checking out.

[READ: January 24, 2011] “What We Are Capable Of”

This is the second story that The Walrus published.  And this author (who I’d never actually heard of) is also a bestseller (with at the time nine books out).

I found this story a little confusing at first (there are many different people introduced without context in the opening paragraph or two).  But once I sussed out who Em had broken up with, who her ex husband was and who her daughter’s ex-boyfriend was, the story came together quite nicely.

Basically this is the story of two breakups.  Em, a widow, has recently become involved with Michael.  (Who is married).  When her daughter, Sarah, calls to say that she wants to come back home, Em soon realizes that Sarah is in a similar heartbroken predicament (although at least Sarah’s boyfriend isn’t married).

(more…)

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Jonathan Franzen–“Two’s Company” (New Yorker, May 23, 2005)

Posted in Books about writers, Cee-Lo Green, Funny (ha ha), Gnarls Barkley, Jonathan Franzen, Marriage (Happy), Marriage Trouble, New Yorker, Romance, Short Story on December 1, 2010| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: CEE-LO GREEN-“Fuck You” (2010).

Like the entire world, I am in love with this song.  I have long postulated that songs with cursing in the chorus are almost by definition catchier than songs that have none.   And this song is one of the most catchy fucking songs ever.   (I of course admit that the censored radio version “Forget You” is equally as catchy but we can’t forget that the curse version came first).

I have listened to this song dozens of times now and I simply haven’t grown tired of it.  It has a simple construction with an interesting descending musical motif and a killer killer hook.  But of course the key is Cee-Lo’s voice.  I first heard him with Gnarls Barkley and I considered getting some of his solo stuff based on the amazingness of his voice.  (I never got a round to it).  And now this song has pretty well solidified him in my esteem.(Actually his appearance on The Colbert Report where he sang Fox News in the chorus was the real solidification for me.

This song transcends genre (it’s played all the time on an alt rock station by me).  And I think that’s why it is so appealing and such a big hit.  And now I’m going to be whistling the chorus for the rest of the day.

[READ: November 20, 2010] “Two’s Company”

This story follows Franzens “Breakup Stories” rather nicely because it too is about a breakup.  This time, though, the story itself is much longer than the others (4 whole pages!).

The story is about Pam and Paul, a couple who married young and were immediately successful as TV scriptwriters.  They worked together, created memorable sitcoms and owned a company whose logo shows their names with a heart between them.

But as they settle into greater success they begin to look for something slightly different to occupy them.  I love that they said Paul stopped appearing in public because he had trouble “remembering whether the ‘O’ in ‘Michael Ovitz was long or short.”  And their public persona, just like their logo, shows them to be perfectly content and in love.  Of course, as seems inevitable, some cracks begin to surface in their perfect facade.

They are to cowrite a movie.  He has always be the more highbrow of the two (and usually gets the bigger laughs), but it is her common, even cliched, sensibility that makes all the money.   And Pam more or less takes the reins of the screenplay, writing about a couple who is perfectly happy together (the husband doesn’t even glance at the hot women that his friends are constantly ogling).  Paul feels that the story is supposed to be about them, and he starts to resent her.  He thinks her script idea is crap (a bland comedy for older ladies) and he begins to think that Pam is less attractive than she used to be.  The speed with which their partnership disintegrates is rather astonishing.

I enjoyed the story–Franzen has a great way with character.  Although I admit I was a little sad that the story went this way.  It would have been nice (like her purposed movie script) to see a couple who could work together, be successful and remain happy (I guess I’m a bland old lady).  But, as Paul seems to think, that’s just a fantasy.

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Matthew Klam–”Issues I Dealt with in Therapy” (New Yorker July 12, 1999)

Posted in 20 Under 40, All Songs Considered, Culture Shock, Funny (ha ha), Matthew Klam, New Yorker, Romance, Short Story, Tricky on November 17, 2010| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: TRICKY-“Kingston Logic” (2010).

I really liked Tricky’s debut album Maxinquaye.  Although I felt he had somewhat diminishing returns after that.  Then he got into acting so I assumed his musical career was over.

Now he’s back with this album (although I see on allmusic that he has actually been releasing for quite some time, and had a “comeback” album in 2008).  This song, which you can hear on NPR, while still kind of angry, is less claustrophobic than his early stuff (which I liked, but it’s nice to see him coming out from under that).

The female vocalist that he employs on the song is fine–she raps more than sings, which is kind of a shame since Tricky usually picks women with great and interesting voices.  But since this “rap” seems more like another instrument than actual singing/lyrics, it works quite well as a sound collage.

The selling point of the song is the infectiously simple guitar line that repeats throughout.  There’s a lot of other things going on that keep the song very busy, including a spoken section by Tricky himself.  The whole song is not even 3 minutes long;  it comes in, does what it intends and then takes off.

The more I listen to the song that more I really like it and I’m going to have to check out the whole disc to see what else he does.  I miss the gorgeous vocals, but I’ll happily take more of this, too.

[READ: October, 20, 2010] “Issues I Dealt with in Therapy”

Matthew Klam is another of the 1999 New Yorker 20 Under 40 authors.  I enjoyed the excerpt of this story in the main issue, but I have to say I was rather surprised at how differently the  story turned out than I expected.

The protagonist of this story and his girlfriend are invited to a wedding on a fancy exclusive island (think Nantucket, although it is never stated).  He is a pretty average guy, but the guest list includes the Al Gore family as well as Madeline Albright and many other VIPs.  The island has been pretty much taken over for this wedding and it is clearly going to be a big deal.

The bulk of the story is a flashback which answers the question, “What was I doing here?”

The narrator and Bob (the soon-to-be husband) were in college together.  They were even roommates for a year.  Their friendship was kind of silly and superficial, but they formed a bond that lasted over the years.  Even though the narrator isn’t a VIP, he was still asked to be an usher (and to give a speech) at the wedding. (more…)

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James Joyce–Dubliners (Part I) (1914) [audiobook 2004–Jim Norton]

Posted in Audiobooks, Drinking, Dublin, Ireland, History, James Joyce, Jim Norton, Marriage Trouble, Religion, Romance, Short Story on October 23, 2010| Leave a Comment »

[LISTENED TO: October 5, 2010] Dubliners Part I

I found listening to Ulysses to be rather satisfying.  And, since I have recently commenced an indoor exercise regime, I thought it would be “fun” to listen to some audio books during the workout.  I started with Dubliners because and because Jim Norton is the reader (and I enjoyed his style on the abridged Ulysses) and because I own it.

It’s disconcerting to read/listen to Dubliners after Ulysses because Dubliners is such a conventional collection of stories.  There’s nothing untoward about them, there’s nothing scandalous (except for drinking and mistreating wives), and there’s nothing to be confused about (except maybe early 20th century Irish political references).  But one thing that  is abundantly clear is that Joyce was a great writer, right from the get go.

This disc’s stories are mostly between 10 and 21 minutes long, although “A Little Cloud” runs to half an hour.  The titles included in Part I are:

The Sisters
An Encounter
Araby
Eveline
After the Race
Two Gallants
The Boarding House
A Little Cloud
Counterparts
Clay

I’m not really going to review the quality of the audio.  It is uniformly very good, with Norton conveying accents wonderfully.  And those accents really bring the stories to life.  There is music in between each story, and the songs are all relevant to the time, if not the individual story. As with most of these audio books, it could be mixed louder, but that’s a minor quibble. (more…)

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