SOUNDTRACK: RHEOSTATICS-Fredericton, NB (April 8, 2005).
After a night of seeing the Rheostatics, how could I not go and revisit some more shows. This time from 2005.
I get a kick out of the shows that are listed in a town but with no club attached. I wonder how many clubs there are in Fredericton? Anyhow, this recording is really quiet, but it is quite clear, which is nice. The opening band was Grand Theft Bus, and one or two of the guys from GTB join on a song or two.
The show begins kind of mellow, with a slow (but really good) version of “King of the Past.” Dave is uncharacteristically quiet and even says he doesn’t feel like talking much.
Tim reveals that “Bad Time to be Poor” was written about Ontario MP Mike Harris. Someone is out of key and forgot to use a capo as the song starts.
For the 8 minute “Here Comes the Image,” they mix it up “if you think Dave on the drums is exciting, wait till you hear Tielli on the bass. and MPW plays keyboards and “excess.” Then they play “Pornography” which is about the pornogrification of the USA by George W. Bush (obviously) with someone stating “Fuck him” before launching into the song. They were so political that night!
Before “Alomar” some shouts “Adios Roberto Alomar.”
There’s a rather punky version of “Song of the Garden” and “Satan is the Whistler” proves to be sloppy but fun.
“Take Me in Your Hand” is a really delicate version with beautiful harmonies and no ending coda. Dennis from GTB plays a solo during “Legal Age Life” and the finale of “Fan Letter to Michael Jackson” opens with Tielli’s robotic voice processor and devolves into a rather vulgar version of the song.
All in all, it’s a good show, with the guys having a fun time with the openers.
[READ: September 7, 2015] “One Hundred Knives in the Air”
I enjoy Malla’s stories quite a bit. They are typically atypical as is this one.
Set in a grade school, the kids are all delighted to witness their guest performer, Jenny Balak, who is a knife juggler. (I love the idea that a school would bring in anyone whose sole juggling item is knives!). But more than simply juggling them, Jenny is able to keep one hundred knives in the air at a time.
The knives hover way up in the air like a cloud, as she somehow touches only one or two which seem to keep the entire group aloft. The children (even Yusuf, the one kid who can never sit still) are transfixed.
Sarah brought this book home for us to listen to. It is intended for 9 year-olds and yet I thought the book seemed a bit more YA. Although the story deals very closely with the real day-to-day exploits of three sixth graders, there s a mystical elements that weaves its way through the story. It also deals with time travel which is what I thought the kids might have the hardest time grasping (it even hurts my head sometimes). But I think they got it.
The story is told from the point of view of Miranda (named for the Miranda rights). She is an only child being raised by a single mother in NYC in the 1970s (I wish the date had been given earlier or more clearly in the story). I loved the conceit of the book that her mother wants to win $20,000 Pyramid. And she thinks she has a chance as long as her celebrity isn’t as “dumb as a box of hair.” As a result, all of the chapter titles are titled the way the pyramid categories would be: Things you lose: things you find: etc. That was very cool.
Anyhow, Miranda’s mom works hard and has boyfriend. There’s no trouble there. The trouble comes from her best friend Sal.
Sal lives in her building. Sal’s mom is also a single mom. The moms met when Miranda moved in and she and Sal have been super close ever since–going to day care together, doing everything they could together. But lately Sal has been a little distant. And then once the incident happens, thins change for good. (more…)
SOUNDTRACK: AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DAYS-Euphoria (2014).
I found out about Around the World in 80 Days when they started following me on Instagram. I’m not sure which photo it was that interested them, or if they just follow lots of people, but I was intrigued that they are a post-rock band from Yekaterinburg, Russia. They formed in 2009 and have a few releases out (EPs, mostly). You can hear all of them on their soundcloud page (and other places). This was their first full length album.
Their bio says
Around the World in 80 Days is a three-piece band formed in 2009. It’s impossible to compare their music with anything. The guys just play whatever they want and don’t care about genres, styles and cliches.
I appreciate the sentiment, but it’s not impossible to compare them. They have elements of Mogwai and Explosions in the Sky in their swirling post-rock instrumentals. But they definitely add elements that those bands don’t. There’s some heavy metal riffs in “Racing the Light” and some more poppy elements in “Inside Me.”
I typically try to listen to an album a few more times before I post about it, but I was so interested in this band that i wanted to get the word out right away. I’ll certainly be listening more intently to their output over the next few days.
[READ: May 24, 2015] “Mislaid”
I read an excerpt from this book in Harper’s a few months ago. And then I found the full book at work. Huzzah!
I had said that I didn’t know how long this novel could be because the excerpt seemed so complete. And in a sense I was right. Except that the book went so much further than the excerpt led me to imagine.
The excerpt was about Peggy Vaillancourt. She was born in 1948 in Virginia. A transformative event leads her to believe she must be a lesbian (something unspoken of at the time).
She winds up going to Stillwater College, a female-only school in the middle of nowhere Virginia. She loves poetry and wants to be a writer. She meets the poet-in-residence Lee Fleming. Fleming was a local boy with wealthy parents. His father believed himself to be as “queer as a three dollar bill.” It was his father who put him in a cottage on the family’s property across the lake from Stillwater College. Everyone in town also assumed he was gay, and there was much talk and consternation about it, although everyone assumed he was fine while he was by himself in that cottage.
The college asked Fleming to be a teacher (he canoed to work every day). Instead of a salary he asked them to create a literary magazine called Stillwater Review, which became a success. Many other famous New York poets came to Stillwater to be charmed by the idyllic Stillwater (and all the young girls). (more…)
SOUNDTRACK: AND THE KIDS-Tiny Desk Concert #452 (June 30, 2015).
I hadn’t heard of And The Kids before, but I was intrigued by their name and the lead singer’s look (is that a tattoo on her lip?).
But I didn’t like the way the first song started with a modified military “Glory Glory Hallelujah” musical refrain–it seemed strangely forced, especially for the first song I’d heard by them. Although I may have liked it better if I knew the band better. It was a weird way to start.
Especially since I ultimate liked “Glory Glory.” (I am hearing a chorus of “I’ve been picking up floor milk” which is as fascinating as whatever the lyrics really are). The drummer has great harmony vocals that really adds something to the song. I also love at around 2 and half minutes when the song turns into something very different—faster guitars with lead vocals by the drummer. And even the bassist who has been quiet thus far chimes in with another layer of voices (and some interesting bass lines). It’s very cool. So the song which started out kind of shaky really rocks out at the end.
The band trio, with a singer/guitarist, bassist and a great drummer. There’s something about the lead singer’s guitar–it seems really big (maybe it’s just the head of the guitar?). And the sound that the drummer gets is really great too—it may just be this recording, but the snare is really sharp.
For “All Day All Night” the drummer busts out a glockenspiel. It has a kind of shouted chorus that borders on dissonance but isn’t quite. I like the way the song slows down (with the guitarist playing keyboard as it builds back up), the drummer plays the glockenspiel and the drums at the same time. And the all three start singing with interesting harmonies. The ending whoo hoos are sharp and distinct as well.
“Cats Were Born” has a very interesting lyric: “The cats were born to kill for fun.” But perhaps even more interesting than the words are the yodels and screams and yips that punctuate the song. What’s also strange is the way the bassist seems so reticent to look goofy while the other two are wild. The guitarist busted out a small four string guitar for this song which sounds really distinct. And the drummer really shines. Through many of the songs she’s playing rim shots which is a distinctive sound in itself, but when she switches over to a faster style for the middle section, it’s really intense.
I don’t think any bands has gone so far from me not thinking much of them to being really won over by the end of their Tiny Desk.
[READ: February 26, 2015] Gunnerkrigg Court [1-14]
I discovered this book through my Goodreads account. It was suggested because, well, I don’t recall, it had something to do with schools and supernatural and graphic novels or whatever. There was also one that was suggested for Sarah (it was about boarding school and tea) which turned out to be Japanese softcore porn, so beware the Goodreads suggestions.
Although there was nothing to beware of with this book.
I actually thought Sarah would like it more because she loves boarding school fiction. But she gave up on the book after a few stories. Interestingly I almost did as well. It wasn’t that it was bad, in fact we both enjoyed the beginning. But it was the kind of book that once you put it down, you didn’t feel compelled to pick it up again. Perhaps because each chapter feels so self-contained–with no real cliffhanger–that it seemed like the stories were done. And while the stories were good they weren’t awesome…so. She gave up, but I continued
After all of the Dave Grohl love I’ve been sending his way, Grohl went and fell off a stage and broke his leg. But, he is so badass (and such a thoughtful musician), that he went to the hospital, got his leg fixed up and went back on stage to finish the set! Holy cow.
This is amazing (and he must have incredible endorphins (or something else) to be able to do this (the video is long because it shows his re-arrival):
Grohl has always been very open about his love of heavy metal–and the liner notes here go into pretty good detail about he bands he grew up listening to. He wanted to create a kind of tribute/dream lineup album of metal vocalists. As far as I can tell he was sitting around and banging away riffs and every time he got one that he liked, he recorded it. He eventually added bass and drums and made demo tapes out of them. Then he contacted some of his favorite metal singers from when he was a kid and asked them to write lyrics and sing.
I assume that Grohl sent the demos that sounded most like the bands to the appropriate singer, because so many of them are spot on for the original bands. The Venom song sounds completely like Venom (Cronos’ bass certainty helps) and it’s one of the best songs here. I don’t know Sepultura that well, but the music fits perfectly with Cavalera’s style. And this song is just fantastic.
The Lemmy song sounds unmistakably Motörhead, again possibly because Lemmy plays bass, but the riff is pure Motörhead. It’s another great song and one that the Foo Fighters have played live.
The song with Mike Dean is very punk, very C.O.C. It’s followed by another punk/metal song from D.R.I. This song also matches perfectly with Brecht’s style of singing on the more metal side of D.R.I..
Lee Dorrian used to sing in a guttural cookie monster growl with Napalm Death, but in Cathedral, he turned to proper singing. I don’t know Cathedral, but the main riff coupled with the twin guitar solo notes from Thayil make a great epic song, especially that mosh section in the middle (I didn’t think Cathedral did mosh but whatever), although at 6 minutes it does go on a bit.
I also don’t know Wino, so I don’t know if this is the kind of thing he sang on, although I do hear a bit of Saint Vitus vibe from it. There’s a really long middle section which is interesting for the backwards guitar solo, and while it’s a little long, when it comes out of that, the heaviness is really great.
Tom Warrior is a fascinating guy with all kinds of tricks up his sleeve, so the weird industrial sound on top of the heavy bass is pretty interesting. There’s no way Grohl could hope to emulate Voivod’s Piggy, so he doesn’t even try. Rather than playing up to Voivod’s proggy style, he goes deeper to the heavier stuff. And, perhaps it’s Snake’s voice, the bridge sounds very Voivod. The chorus is more poppy than what Voivod might do, and yet it’s a great song. Voivod’s Away also designed the album cover.
I loved Trouble when I was in high school, although I don’t really remember them that well now. This songs sounds bit more classic rock than metal (and I recall Trouble being pretty heavy), and yet Wagner’s voice works very well with the style. I just read that Trouble went through a more psychedelic period and the middle section ties in nicely with that, so maybe this is inspired by later period Trouble.
Grohl says he was excited to get King Diamond, and who wouldn’t be. Kim Thayil is back to create a suitable Mercyful riff (although it could never live up to the classic Fate). But the mid section’s doom riffs are right on. The song showcases some of the King’s vocal acrobatics, although not quite as many as I could have used (there are some excellent high-pitched notes in there though).
There’s a bonus track at the end of the disc which features Jack Black doing a suitably funny but accurate metal tribute.
This is a really solid heavy record that lets some classic metal singers back on the scene. There won’t be a second Probot record, but there may not need to be one anyhow. I also like that he picked some slightly more obscure singers rather than the obvious Rob Halford, Bruce Dickinson type of singers, even if they would have also been interesting).
“Centuries of Sin” (feat. Cronos of Venom)
“Red War” (feat. Max Cavalera of Sepultura)
“Shake Your Blood” (feat. Lemmy of Motörhead)
“Access Babylon” (feat. Mike Dean of Corrosion of Conformity)
“Silent Spring” (feat. Kurt Brecht of Dirty Rotten Imbeciles)
“Ice Cold Man” (feat. Lee Dorrian of Cathedral and Napalm Death, and Kim Thayil of Soundgarden)
“The Emerald Law” (feat. Wino)
“Big Sky” (feat. Tom G. Warrior of Celtic Frost)
“Dictatosaurus” (feat. Snake of Voivod)
“My Tortured Soul” (feat. Eric Wagner of Trouble)
“Sweet Dreams” (feat. King Diamond of King Diamond and Mercyful Fate, and Kim Thayil of Soundgarden)
“I Am the Warlock” (feat. Jack Black of Tenacious D)
[READ: February 13, 2015] The War at Ellsmere
I’ve enjoyed Hicks’ books in the past–both the ones she’s written and the one’s she’s simply illustrated. In this book she does both which means you get big eyes and the dark hair.
As the book opens we meet Juniper, a girl who has just enrolled in Ellsmere Private School. We meet the headmistress and learn the history of this beautiful school (established in 1810). And then we find out that Juniper is there on a scholarship (merit based) and that Juniper is well aware that she will likely be there to “liven things up for the blue bloods.”
When Juniper meets her new roommate Cassie (who hears her talking to herself), Jun immediately goes on the defensive–until she sees that Cassie is actually quite a nice girl. (Nice, Jun, you just insulted Bambi).
But it’s during the orientation that we meet the real antagonist of the story–Emily, a pretty blonde girl who immediately insults Cassie and calls her “orphan.” When Jun gets involved, it suggests that it will be an interesting year for all of them. (more…)
SOUNDTRACK: RHEOSTATICS-Centennial Secondary School, Toronto, ON, (November 30, 2000).
Yes, the Rheostatics played a show at a high school. What I love about this show is that the Centennial Secondary School’s band plays along with them.
Why? because the School band had recorded a version of The Story of Harmelodia and the Rheos came to play with them. It is amazing what a few extra instruments (and voices) can do to a song. This show is utterly unique in the Rheos’ live catalog. And that is apparent right during the first song, “Saskatchewan,” when the school choir joins in on the “Home Caroline Home” refrain–it sounds amazing!
The next surprise comes during the next song, when the school’s horn section plays the riff of “Soul Glue” (and there’s a sax solo too). The surprises get bigger when they play “Rain Rain Rain” and the band plays the opening drum/handclap melody (that’s never really done live). They play “Claire” which gets a great treatment from the choir. This is the first song where I wish the choir was louder–perhaps Tim is too loud on the song? I wish you could hear the kids doing the “Ba Ba”s more. Although overall the volume of the band and the choir is just right.
The final huge surprise comes when they play “Shaved Head” and there is flute accompaniment–it sounds tremendous, bringing a totally different feel to the song.
From that point on, they play a bunch of Harmelodia songs. And they let the school band really shine–there’s guitar solos from the kids, there’s vocals from Tim Crawford on “Monkeybird” (and he holds a note for 25 seconds!). Lauren Moorehouse sings lead on “Loving Arms,” and Janine Plott (I don’t know how to spell any of these kids’ names, sorry guys), sings on “Home Again.”
There’s a fun addition of accordion on “What’s Going On?” and more flute on “Take Me in Your Hand.” The final song, “Legal Age Life,” brings back all the kids for various solos–guitar, sax and the like. It’s a super fun night.
The more I thought about this the more emotional I got about it. How cool to have a high school band do a version of your record. how cool to then be the band that shows up to play with these kids. And imagine if you were in the school band and really liked the Rheostatics ahead of time, and here they are playing with you. What a cool night.
[READ: March 11, 2015] El Deafo
Sarah brought this home and then Clark read it and now I read it (Tabby, who is reading like a fiend will likely read it next year). And we all really enjoyed it.
It is the true(ish) story of Cece Bell who is El Deafo! Okay, she is actually a woman who lost the majority of he hearing at age 4 (circa 1976) from spinal meningitis (which is really scary).
She could hear sounds (if they were loud enough) but couldn’t really understand words. The doctors outfitted her with a box with cords (that fit into her ears) and after adjusting the knobs, she is able to hear. Which is pretty awesome (but she is very self-conscious about those cords).
And indeed being self-conscious is one of the main themes of the book. I assume that anyone wearing this strange contraption would feel awkward and ungainly (especially in the mid 1970s). But Cece was extremely anxious about it. She believed that everyone was staring at her. And they probably were, although more out of curiosity than malice, I’d imagine. (more…)
SOUNDTRACK: RHEOSTATICS-Ted’s Wrecking Yard Toronto, ON, (March 25, 2000).
This was the sixth and final night of Green Sprouts Music Week–the band’s annual residency at Ted’s Wrecking Yard. Sadly this is the only night that is up on the site, but man, is it a good one. The band played for over two and a half hours and they cover nearly every album. There are guests galore, there’s on stage hijinks and a great sense of fun for band and fans alike.
I don’t know what they played on other nights but there is a still a focus on Harmelodia. Things are a little different this night from previous shows on the tour. “Song of the Garden” and “Sweet Rich Beautiful Mine” are really rocking. When they call in a female vocalist up, a fans shouts out “we could use a little estrogen” and they get it with her lead vocals.
Kevin Hearn joins them on keyboards. He ges a verse in “Four Little Songs.” He also adds piano to “Queer” which sounds extra jaunty And he puts accordion in “I Fab Thee.” There’s even the unexpected Kevin song “Yellow Days Under a Lemon Sun” which originally appears on the Group of 7 disc.
The most fun is had during “My First Rock Show, in which several “guests” appear during the song. Meatloaf (Kevin) plays a bit of “Two Out of Three Ain’t Bad,” Geddy, Alex and Neil (Martin) show up to play a verse of “Closer to the Heart” with Martin screeching “salesmen!” There’s a brief jam of Walk This Way (although no one can remember the words). And there’s some fun with Joe Jackson’s “Is She Really Goin Out with Him.” Look over there. Where? That’s called a hook. There’s also a funny joke about playing “Harvest X-1, Rush Never Sleeps.”
There’s some real guests too, Karmen from Sheks? sings “One More Colour” and sounds awful, like she can’t hear what the band is doing. Julia Pietrus guests on “Home Again.” She sings her verse in Polish (and is part of a Polish Rheos tribute band!).
There’s a drum solo (!) on “Dope Fiends and Booze Hounds.” The set and the night ends with “A Midwinter Nights Dream.” Martin sounds in great voice even if he cant hit all th ehigh notes which is undetsnable after nearly 2 and a half hours of playing
They also mention that their next show is Canada Day and that is our next show as well
[READ: March 4, 2015] “Make Me Live”
I am always intrigued by the fiction that appears in the front section of each Harper’s issue. It is typically not an author I have heard of and is often a translation. It’s also usually really short (often excerpted) so that if it’s not so good, you’re not stuck with a long read and if it is good it whets your appetite for a longer piece.
This excerpt is a definite appetite whetter.
I genuinely can’t imagine how long Mislaid (the full novel) is, because this story just seems to fly through time in a real hurry 9and feels rather complete).
It opens with Peggy Vaillancourt’s birth in 1948 in Virginia. Her family was educated and rather reserved. Her mother had hoped to send her to Bryn Mawr, but Peggy wanted to go to Stillwater, a former plantation and current finishing school. It was considered a mecca for lesbians.
I’m confused about the transformative event in Peggy’s life in which a gym teacher, Miss Miller, readjusts her gym shorts and Peggy assumes she was meant to be a boy. The story seems to bulldoze forward whether you can keep up or not. So I have no idea if an average female reader would “get” what happened here (it doesn’t seem to be sexual to me). It also seems odd that one incident should affect her so profoundly, but there ya go. (more…)
I talked about this once before and mentioned how I was anticipating a huge difference between this version and the original. But really, most of the changes are quite subtle. Reading a bit more about it, it seems like McCartney mostly wanted to fix “The Long and Winding Road” and then took the time to tweak little things (he fixes some bum notes for instance).
This seemed like a chance for Paul to take the record back from Phil Spector, although I guess Spector didn’t really do all that much to the album—he really only tweaked four songs: Across The Universe, I Me Mine, Let It Be and The Long And Winding Road. And so Paul removes Phil’s hand on those–and those are really the most notable changes. As for the rest of the disc, he took out all the chatting between and silly songs (Dig It and Maggie Mae) and adds “Don’t Le Me Down,” from the rooftop concert.
I assume that if I were a Beatles die hard, I would immediately notice all of the changes on this disc. But, for a casual listener, here’s what I noticed: “Get Back” is even shorter than the original. “Dig a Pony” is the same rooftop, although it seems to be mixed better. “For You Blue” has a bit more acoustic guitar but is otherwise not too different.
“The Long and Winding Road” has the most notable changes. The strings and chorus are removed. The dramatic BUH BUH before the chorus is still there–almost more pronounced on the organ. I like this version more than the original, although I have to say it sounds an awful lot like Wings or McCartney solo in this version.
“Two of Us” doesn’t sound all that different—a little cleaner maybe. “I’ve Got a Feeling” sounds a bit cleaner too–apparently it is a composite of the two versions from the rooftop concert. “1 after 909” sounds about the same–a little cleaner and with out the Danny Boy at the end. This version makes it sounds even more like an “old” song since the rawness of the recording has been removed.
“Don’t Let Me Down” was not on the original. This version was taken from the rooftop concert. And it sounds great here. Strange that it wasn’t included in the first place. “I Me Mine” removes the chorus and overdubs, and sounds a bit more rocking. “Across the Universe”–I like this version a lot better. It’s much cleaner and really lets the music shine, rather than there being so much echo on it. “Let It Be” is stripped down as well, and the guitar solo sounds a little different.
In general, I like this version better, although I do miss the funny bits a little. This feels more like a record than a soundtrack to a film. But again, the changes aren’t that substantial overall.
[READ: January 10, 2015] Smile
I had heard of this book–I’d heard that it was a huge sensation. Of course it wasn’t really on my radar of books, so I wasn’t really sure what it was about. I read an interview with Telgemeier recently which made the book sound really interesting so I decided to check it out (and was frankly surprised that there was a copy in the library).
And I really liked the book a lot. From the little I knew about it, I assumed it was just her life with braces (and from the interview, I gathered that her little sister was really a pain–she apparently is a big presence in the sequel). Well, the sister is a pain, but that’s mostly in the beginning of the book (the sister is very funny and they tease each other mercilessly). Yes, the book is about braces, but it ‘s about much more than that.
Oh and it’s also autobiographical, which was pretty obvious.
So, Raina is in 6th grade and she is scheduled to get braces. She is freaked out about this, of course, because everyone makes fun of people with braces. (Although they never made fun of me and I understand they don’t anymore, but we’ll see if my kids need them). Although she has lots of friends, so they should support her. (more…)
SOUNDTRACK: PRIMUS–They Can’t All Be Zingers (2006).
It’s funny to think of Primus having a greatest hits album, although they did in fact have some hits.
I always think it’s interesting to see what albums are most represented on Greatest Hits collections–did a band become popular later in their career or did their success fade after a time? In this case, the early stuff is very well represented.
There’s nothing from Suck on This, which isn’t too surprising since pretty much everything has been re-recorded, but you get three tracks from Frizzle Fry (a great album that I would think would be hard to choose three songs from), three from Sailing the Seas of Cheese and three from Pork Soda. You even get three from Tales from the Punchbowl (I wouldn’t have thought “Electric Grapevine” would make it).
As the end of the first part of their career came into view, we get only two songs from The Brown Album. There’s only one song from the hated (by Les) Antipop and I feel like a conciliatory nod to the reunion EP with “Mary the Ice Cube.” I would have rather them put “The Devil Went Down to Georgia” on the disc as their cover of that song is only available as a video on any official release.
Perhaps the most fun thing about this release is the packaging, which, yes, looks like processed cheese.
[READ: January 23, 2015] “The Ways”
This was a strange story to me. It is about three older teens who appear to be living on their own in what I gather is rural Ireland. The oldest brother (Nick) is out of school and is currently working, the two younger siblings are still in school, although the youngest brother (Gerry) is always getting in trouble and the sister (Pell) basically just stopped going to school once their father died.
As the story opens, Pell gets a call that Gerry has been fighting and has been suspended. She hitchhikes and then takes the bus into the city (which is a dozen or so miles away) to pick him up. On the bus some of Gerry’s friends recognize her and give a her a bit of hard time, but she gives back just enough–asking why those guys are not in class–they say they were off messing about for the morning. It’s clear that Pell takes no guff.
The next section shifts to Nick while he’s on a cigarette break at work. There’ a funny bit about his coworker, a Chinaman named Sean. When Pell and Gerry show up at the restaurant, he gives them so free food and tells them to hold on. He tells Pell that the next time, the school should call him at work. When Pell says she tried to call him when the school called their house, but that he didn’t answer, he says that he won’t answer when they call him either, but at least Pell won’t have to deal with it. (more…)
SOUNDTRACK: OYSTERHEAD-The Grand Pecking Order (2001).
This is a really fun album. Despite the three big personalities here–Trey Anastasio, Steward Copeland, Les Claypool, they work so well together. Some songs feel like Phish songs (Trey has a song or two that is just him), some feel like Les songs (ditto for Claypool), but you never feel like they are trying to outdo each other. And of course Stewart Copeland plays his great drums all the way through.
Les and Trey share vocals on “Little Face” which features Phish sound effects and some great Les wild bass. “Oz is Ever Floating” has jam feel–lots of soloing. Unlike some of Les’ projects though, on many of the songs, like this one, his bass fits right in. And the vocal harmonies from all three sound great in the chorus.
“Mr. Oysterhead” is a fun song with Les’ wild bass sounds. This one feels kind of Primus like but with very different guitar sounds coming along. This even has a big ol’ bass solo. “Shadow of a Man is very Primus sounding–it was written entirely by Claypool and is primarily bass with some smattering of (wicked) guitars). While “Radon Balloon” is a pretty acoustic number from Trey. He sings gently (and if Les’ bass is there, it’s very subtle).
“Army’s on Ecstasy” has Les’ more cartoony voices, but some interesting jazz guitars and drums. “Rubberneck Lions” is a fantastic song, one of the most Phish like songs on the disc (even if Les sings the first verse–it’s the chorus that screams Phish). It’s got a rocking ending with great drums. “Polka Dot Rose” has some fun group vocals at the end of the song.
“Birthday Boys” is another very Phish seeming song–very Trey influenced–some great guitar picking and subtle work from the other two guys. It has a great chorus. “Wield the Spade” seems like a goofy song that might be short (Trey repeating a few words as the song opens), but it proves to be one of the longer songs on the disc. I gather it is about Ceausescu, and has Stewart Copeland doing all the lead vocal talking/shouting).
“Pseudo Suicide” has a big wild Primusy bass riff. There’s a great jamming section in the middle, when Trey takes over vocals. “Grand Pecking Order” is kind of a goofy Primus stomp while “Owner of the World” is a kind of catchy sing along to end this disc.
There’s some really good songs on this disc and it works for fans of Phish and Primus.
[READ: January 20, 2014] “Picnic in the Yard”
This week’s issue of the New Yorker was its semi-annual food issue. As such there were four food-related essays by writers who I’ve written about before. The section was called “Rations.”
The final was by Jaime Joyce (there’s a name with literary aspirations, eh?). The three essays so far have talked about food in medical school, the army and college. This one is about food in prison. (more…)
SOUNDTRACK: RHEOSTATICS-Fredericton, NB (April 8, 2005).
After a night of seeing the Rheostatics, how could I not go and revisit some more shows. This time from 2005.
I Just Read About That... 