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Archive for the ‘Sex’ Category

Frederik Peeters–Aama: 1. The Smell of Warm Dust (2011) [translated 2013]

Posted in Adventure, Christmas, Christmas Album, Drinking, Drugs, Dystopia, Edward Gauvin, Fantasy, Frederik Peeters, Graphic Novel, Kristin Chenoweth, Robots, Sex, Technology, Translation on December 1, 2014| Leave a Comment »

aamaSOUNDTRACK: KRISTIN CHENOWETH-A Lovely Way to Spend Christmas (2008).

chenoLast year I thought about doing a Christmas CD every day in December as my soundtrack.  But I forgot until a week or so in.  But this year I remembered.  Yuletide joy!

Since Sarah and I have a lot of Christmas CDs from over the years, I decided to just pick some at random this year.  And we start with this one which I got for Sarah I thought last year, but if it’s from 2008, perhaps I got it earlier?

I knew Chenoweth from her great role on Pushing Daisies.   I didn’t know she was a singer then.  She has since done some amazing runs in various roles and her voice is great.  This disc features a mix of traditional songs, a few more religious songs and a number of unexpected “mashups.”  It works pretty well, although it tends to cross the line into cheese a bit too much for me.

“I’ll Be Home for Christmas” has her in great voice.  Although I hate the cheesey sax solo.
“Christmas Island” is a new favorite song for me.  Her version is fun (although the original Hawaiian version is much more fun).
“The Christmas Waltz” is a song I don’t know.  It is probably best song on the disc.
“Do You See What I See” also suits her voice very well.  It’s the first song to mash in another song (“Angels We Have Heard on High“) which is quite pretty
“Sleigh Ride/Marshmallow World” I like her part, I’m not sure about the blend.  I don’t know who John Pizzarelli is, but he sings it too clean.  The original of “Marshmallow World” is sung in an almost drunken fashion which makes the weird lyrics better.   Nevertheless, the two of them have a good vocal chemistry.  And there’s some goofy fun at the end.
“Sing” (you know, sing, sing a song).  It’s a really weird inclusion here.  But she sounds great.
“Silver Bells” also sounds great.
“Come On Ring Those Bells” is another song I don’t know.  This version is way too pop country for my liking.
“What Child is This” is also perfect for her voice.
“Home on Christmas Day” is another song I don’t know (who knew there were so many unfamiliar Christmas songs?), and it works well “Born on Christmas Day” is a rather dull more religious song, which seems somehow out of place.
“Sleep Well Little Children/What a Wonderful World” is another mash up. It works pretty well and I kind of get why she chose it to end the album, but it’s another weird non-Christmas related song.

So overall this is a decent Christmas album. There’s some lovely traditional songs, some odd choices, and a few clunkers.  But her voice is really fantastic throughout.

[READ: November 29, 2014] Aama

I’m surprised and delighted with how many unusual, translated graphic novels are being published in the States these days.  There’s always something about the art that screams “not American.”  So when I get books like this (especially if the author’s last name is Peeters), I immediately look for the translator to confirm my suspicions.  This book was translated by Edward Gauvin.

While translated childrens book often seem slightly weird to my family (fun, but always slightly askew), the graphic novels don’t usually seem as weird to me.  (Maybe the childrens authors just expect more existential thought from their kids).

Having said all of that, I found that I really couldn’t get into this story.  There were some great elements to it, in both storytelling and character creation, but, and maybe more will be explained in future books, but the main plot was a little too vague to me.

But I loved the way it was constructed.  We open on a man face down.  As he comes to, he realizes that he has no idea who he is.  While he tries to get himself together, a weird looking ape comes up and calls him Verloc.  The ape has no hair on his legs (so they look human).  The ape is named Churchill and he is a custom built robot.  As Verloc tries to come to grips with what’s happening, Churchill gives him his “memoirs” to read.  The book is “real paper” which Verloc appreciates.  And they started just a week ago.

Pretty cool opening. (more…)

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Megan Kelso–Artichoke Tales (2010)

Posted in Graphic Novel, Megan Kelso, Placebo, Sex, War on November 11, 2014| Leave a Comment »

artichokeSOUNDTRACK: PLACEBO-Loud Like Love (2013).

lllI enjoyed Placebo’s previous EP and I had high hopes for this album.  And I was not disappointed.  Loud Like Love is a great record–with very catchy songwriting, clever word play and a return to the sound that we love best from them–loud guitars, sleazy bass and so much angst.

The title track opens with a quiet guitar riff until the whole band bursts forth and it emerges as the rocking Placebo of old.  The track is a loud brash rocker—catchy as anything they’ve done. “Scene of the Crime” introduces some keyboards to the opening and slowly builds to a bracing end chorus. “Too Many Friends” has always bugged me for the opening line, “My computer thinks I’m gay” which I find inscrutable, especially since it is sung with virtually no musical accompaniment. Later, the follow-up line makes up for it: “Whats the difference anyway? when all that people do all day is stare into a phone.”  The song turns around from there and has a great chorus.  “Hold on to Me” is the slow brooding song on the disc, full of angst.  “Rob the Bank” has a great raunchy bass sound that propels this rocker

“Exit Wounds “is a longer song (almost 6 minutes) with a very electronic sounding drum beat introduction. “Purify” has a breakdown in the middle with some spoken word echoes.   “Begin the End” is the first of two 6 minute songs that close the disc.  This one has a kind of epic feel—he’s not hurrying through this one, allowing it to linger with us a bit longer.  I enjoy the way it seems to ramp up a bit after 5 minutes. “Bosco” ends the disc with a piano intro.  It’s slow song with a great melody.  It’s even a little touching.

Those who hate Molko’s voice will not like this album, and it clearly is not designed to convert anyone.  But new listeners may find this batch of quite accessible songs to be a great introduction to the band.

[READ: November 4, 2014] Artichoke Tales

I saw this book in the children’s section of my library and the cover drawing of a girl with an artichoke on top of her head blowing a dandelion looked so peaceful and nice that I brought it home for my daughter.

And I’m glad I read it first because on page 24, two artichoke people have sex (in shadow) and on the next page the guy thinks to himself “I made her come” (which could, of course, be taken two ways, but still).  A couple of “fucks” later on in the book coupled with my late realization that this book was published by Fantagraphics confirmed that this is in no way a children’s book–it may not even a be a teen book.

But it is a good book, nonetheless–just don’t be fooled by how sweet it looks. (more…)

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Jaime Hernandez–The Love Bunglers (2014)

Posted in Ben Folds Five, Charlie Parker, Graphic Novel, Humiliation, Jaime Hernandez, Marriage Trouble, Sex, Violence, Virginity (Loss of) on October 29, 2014| Leave a Comment »

bungSOUNDTRACK: BEN FOLDS FIVE-Live (2013).

bfflThis is the first official live record from Ben Folds Five.  They reunited after a decade or so away and put out a great album and this documented their tour of that album.

It’s a fun collection of songs that spans their career and also includes a solo Ben Folds song.

To me, one of the best things about BFF was Robert Sledge’s bass (yes, I know BF is the man and his piano and songwriting are stellar, but the sound that Sledge gets on his bass just brings those songs to new heights of coolness).  And that bass does not disappoint here.

The setlist is taken from a number of different venues over the course of 2012 and 2013, with a lot of shows in San Francisco, but also some from across Europe.  And the songs really span their career, opening with a song from their debut (“Jackson Cannery”) and then following up with one of their most recent songs “Erase Me”).  They even play “Tom and Mary” from their Naked Baby Photos collection.

About midway through the disc, Ben plays an improvised One Chord Blues (which turns into “Rock This Bitch”) in which he makes up “some bullshit” and this segues into part of “Billie’s Bounce” by Charlie Parker.  This is followed by “Do It Anyway” into which he throws a verse from Jesus Christ Superstar.  On the liner notes of the disc he talks about how throwing these verses onto a live album will cost you “a lot.”

For the song “Draw A Crowd” they play a synth opening, but when Ben switches to piano, he messes up and sings “the piano player can’t play…but keep the party going.”  He is amusingly self-deprecating both in his banter and in his song lyrics.

The disc ends with the awesome “Song for the Dumped” which includes great audience participation.  Amusingly as the crowd cheers, he asks them “Would you like us to play one more?” And as they cheer for one more, the disc ends.

[READ: October 28 2014] The Love Bunglers

Jaime Hernandez is one half (with his brother) of the duo who create the cool graphic novel series Love and Rockets.  I have read (and own) some issues of the book, but I haven’t really kept up with it all that much.

But I really like his stuff, so I was delighted to see this book, which was originally printed in Love and Rockets: New Stories 3 and 4.

This is a complex story, written in a back and forth style which only makes the narrative that much more compelling.  As the story opens we see some men playing chess on a street corner.  A woman, Maggie, walks by.  She is older but still curvy and the men size her up.  One of the men, the “new guy” gets up and follows her then hides in the bushes watching her.  Next we see Maggie, naked, lying on a leaf.  But she is actually talking to Reno and relating this recurring dream.

Then we see that she is a landlady and is also friends with a man named Ray.  Ray is an artist who is showing at a local gallery.  Maggie agrees to go with him. By the end of the first section it’s not entirely clear what Maggie’s feelings are about either of these men, but they both seem to like her. (more…)

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Matt Fraction and Chip Zdarsky–Sex Criminals: Volume One: One Weird Trick (2014)

Posted in Barton Fink, Chip Zdarsky, Cocteau Twins, Funny (ha ha), Graphic Novel, Joanna Gruesome, Joanna Newsom, Masturbation, Matt Fraction, My Bloody Valentine, Ongoing, Riot Grrrl, Sex, Supernatural, The Cure on October 26, 2014| Leave a Comment »

criminalsSOUNDTRACK: JOANNA GRUESOME-Weird Sister (2013).

joanna  I love this short rocking record from this Welsh band whose name is presumably a pun on harpist Joanna Newsome (a fairly obscure joke, no doubt).  In fact I really can’t stop listening to their blend of smooth noise and pretty/screamy vocals .  Lead singer Alanna McArdle has several distinct styles of singing, from pretty and sweet to screamed and scary.  She’s accompanied by a stellar lineup of guys who can do punk and a lot more: drummer Dave Gruesome and  guitarists George and Owen Gruesome (also vocals).

The album reminds me of My Bloody Valentine with splash of riot grrl and occasional old school punk thrown in.  There are elements of pure MBV shoegaze (and even of MBV noisy distortion), but without the meticulous layering that Kevin Shields spent years of his life mastering–this album feels largely spontaneous..

“Anti-Parent Cowboy Killers” opens with a descending guitar riff, switches to some shoegazey type verses and then jumps into some loud screamed choruses, before starting the whole thing over again.  I love the dissonance at the beginning of “Sugarcrush” and how it morphs into a strangely catchy song midway through. And then it shifts back into raw dissonance.  I also get a sense of Cocteau Twins in the vocals on “Madison” (and other songs).  The opening riff is pure dissonance but the verse is just bliss (the “head on the door line of course makes me think of The Cure even though they don’t sound like them at all).

“Wussy Void” slows things down with some actual individual notes and audible lyrics (I’m told the lyrics are very feminist, but I honestly can’t hear too many of them–which isn’t really a shame because her voice is perfect for this band and just knowing that she’s singing about meaningful things is enough of a bonus.

“Lemonade Grrl” starts shoegazey but quickly speeds up with some pummeling drums behind her delicate voice.  “Secret Surprise” is probably the “prettiest” song of the bunch–the dissonance is at a minimum, and yet it is still noisy and punky.  “Do You Really Wanna Know Why Yr Still in Love With Me?” is the sweetest song on the album, with a pleasant guitar riff and a catchy and understandable chorus–until the raging blast of punk at the end.

At 4 minutes, “Candy” is the longest song on the disc.  It slows things down and has a fairly conventional structure.  “Graveyard” starts as a punk blast but gets softer for the chorus.  And the album closer “Satan” belies its name and the album by opening delicately and having the first notices of a large bass sound and then after 2 minutes it abruptly ends.

I really love this record (all 28 minutes of it).  And I can’t wait for more.  I just found out that they have a few singles and E.P.s streaming on their bandcamp site.  Most of these recordings are earlier, rawer version of songs on the album.

[READ: October 19, 2014] Sex Criminals

This intriguingly titled comic is intended for mature readers (as you might expect).  But before we get to the criminal aspect of the story, we’ll back up to meet the characters.

First there is Suzie.  Her mostly amusing story begins with a pretty awful tragedy. A man killed Suzie’s father when she was a little girl (the story promises that things will get funnier as we learn her story). This all ties into the big banks that she rails against later, but I’m not exactly sure that this back story is even necessary (yet).

But this incident makes young Suzie delve deeper into herself.  And when she discovers what kind of pleasure can be had by herself she discovers something…peculiar.  It seems that whenever she climaxes she enters into what she calls The Quiet.  In a nutshell, everything around her stops, but she is able to move–this later led to some fairly awkward moments with guys.  She tried to talk to girls at school about this–of course they looked at her like she was crazy. Although one girl proceeds to show her about a dozen sex positions (by drawing them on the bathroom wall–this may be the funniest thing in the whole book as they are so outrageous yet so cartoony, and I’ve not heard of half of them).

She tries talking to her doctor–he basically tells her that her husband will help her when she’s older.  And then she tries her mother who is still grieving about Suzie’s dad.  So, three strikes, she’s out.

So, how does a plot develop out of this? (more…)

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Stephen Marche–“Ultrasound” (The Walrus, July/August 2014)

Posted in Canadian Content, Canadian Music, Sex, Short Story, Sloan, Stephen Marche, The Walrus, Violence on October 13, 2014| Leave a Comment »

2014-07SOUNDTRACK: SLOAN-Commonwealth [Diamond Side–Jay Ferguson] (2014).

 commonFor Sloan’s 11th album, the four members of the band each wrote the songs of a side.  I originally thought that they recorded all of the music alone, but that seems to be wrong–and would hardly be a Sloan album).  In conjunction with the album, each guy was given a suit of cards (and an actual deck was made as well).  While this doesn’t necessarily mean the album is very different from their others (it still sounds very Sloan), it seems to have given the guys a bit more room to experiment.

I’ve always had trouble telling whose songs are whose in Sloan, primarily because they all write such different songs all the time.  But also because their voices aren’t radically distinct.  According to Wikipedia, Ferguson’s more famous songs are: “I Hate My Generation” from the album Twice Removed, “The Lines You Amend” from One Chord to Another, “Who Taught You to Live Like That?” from the album Never Hear the End of It, and “Witch’s Wand” from Parallel Play.

Jay Ferguson has the more falsetto’s/delicate voice of the bunch.  He writes five songs that all works as kind of a suite.

“We’ve Come This Far,” opens the disc as a minute and a half piano intro.  It blends right into “You’ve Got a Lot on Your Mind” one of several super catchy songs on this record. The verses are gentle with an acoustic guitar playing along with Ferguson’s singing.  It’s a simple song with a great sing along chorus (and even a long Yeah- h- h ).   “Three Sisters” also starts with a piano (and reminds me of Twin Peaks theme in tone).  It is slower than the other songs, which suits Ferguson’s voice very well.  I enjoyed this lyrics which plays to the album art: “I Played a diamond where her heart should land. She recognized the tune but not the band.”  The mellow song has a cool buzzy guitar solo laid over the top.

And It jumps right into the much faster “Cleopatra” which is a simple (and again catchy) track with a boppy “talk to ya later” bridge. The piano and guitar solos are quiet affairs which play against the type of song and really showcase the Ferguson’s songwriting skills.  “Neither Here Not There” opens with, in sequence: a gentle organ, a quiet electric guitar riff and then a 12 string guitar  (not bad for 20 seconds). The song is barely 2 minutes long and is pretty ballad.

It’s a really pretty song cycle and shows of the kinds of songs that Sloan has been doing so well for so many years.

[READ: October 11, 2014] “Ultrasound”

The Walrus’ summer reading issue presents three stories and two poems in which: “The Walrus presents fresh takes on old crimes.”  Each story is about a crime of some kind, but seemed from an unexpected way.  I rather enjoyed the way the writers played around with the crime genre to make them something very different.  This story is about rape.

I’ve mentioned before that I feel kind of hit or miss about Stephen Marche’s short stories.  But I loved this one.

I was a little concerned at first because of the very cold and distant way it began: “On a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 representing “of no interest to me” and 10 representing “of maximum interest to me,” the rapes in my neighbourhood rated a 2.3.”

It’s a cold way to open a story.  But the narrator is not finished with his detached tone.  Indeed, he looks at everything in this detached way–on scales of 1-10 or in percentages.  He shares the same outlook as the protagonist of American Psycho, but this story is not about a psycho, just about a person who is exceedingly rational.

And it is a love story too (sort of).  We learn that he dated Catherine Anne Doran and he rates his time with her at 9.3 out of 10.  But by the end of the story something changed.  It wasn’t how he felt about her, it as something intangible.  Thus we learn the problem with the narrator: “Despite this high level of personal significance, the measurable changes our relationship produced were negligible. The numbers were the same, but everything changed. This is what I fail to understand.” (more…)

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Vladimir Nabokov–The Enchanter (1930) [Волшебник–translated 1986]

Posted in Dmitri Nabokov, Frank Zappa, Marriage Trouble, Novella, Os Mutantes, Russia, Santana, Sex, Vladimir Nabokov, Yuck! on October 8, 2014| Leave a Comment »

enchanteSOUNDTRACK: OS MUTANTES-Fool Metal Jack (2013).

jackI first heard this album streaming on NPR.  I really enjoyed it and was surprised by how diverse and yet still kinda 1970s hippie-feeling it was.

I didn’t know anything about the music of Os Mutantes before hearing this disc.  In a nutshell (and the details seem pretty complicated), they released 6 albums from 1968-1974 and then broke up.  They reunited in 2009 and this is their second album after reuniting.

I don’t know what any of them did during the intervening years, but it is clear that the psychedelic vibe they explored the first time around never fully left them.  Because even though there are rocking numbers, there are plenty of groovy organs and songs about love on the disc.  And yet the first songs I heard from the album were really quite rocking, so I was surprised by the mellow vibe as the album progresses.

There’s precious little information about the record on the record jacket, but I do know that Sérgio Dias wrote all the music and is the lead singer.  The disc opens with a kind of introductory song, “The Dream is Gone.”  It has a slow opening with cool bass lines and Dias’ voice which is soft and kind of worn sounding.  There are some cool electronic effects sprinkled around and big harmonies.  This leads to the second song, the stomping anti-war track, “Fool Metal Jack” (which I talked about here).  It’s got a big fat bass and menacing riff (as befits a war song). The song is graphic and ugly (with a loud cough in the midst of a verse).  It’s followed by the big old sloppy sounding rocker “Picadilly Willie” with big 70s sounding vocals (I’ve mentioned before that it sounds like Frank Zappa song to me, and it still does). These two songs are so loud and noisy they really belie the psychedelic vibe that the rest of the disc presents.

“Gangjaman” has a reggae feel (with a big round bass) and fun backing vocals.  While “Lookout” has a kind of Santana live at Woodstock vibe–a slinky rocking guitar and big chords.  There’s also some traditional (I assume) Brazilian native singers.  “Eu Descobri” is sung by a female vocalist (in Portuguese I assume) it is a pretty, slinky song with flutes and a cello and echoed vocals.  It hearkens back to the late 60s but still sounds contemporary.

“Time and Space” has more big bass (the bass really sounds great on this disc), but this one is a slow acoustic umber with excellent harmonies.  I love the layered vocals that reminds me of good prog.  “To Make It Beautiful” is an absolute hippie track with lyrics like: “I need to create love with you my love.” It has his great falsetto and buzzy guitars.  It is so far away from the early rockers and yet to me the album doesn’t feel disjointed.  “Once Upon a Flight” is a synthy/guitar rocker, but in a very 70s style. It’s also got a big cello solo at the end.  “Into Limbo” is a jangly slow guitar song with Dias’ voice sounding great.

“Bangladesh” has a long acoustic guitar intro with a very middle eastern feel.  By the middle it turns into a kind of prayer with a repeated chorus of: “Hare Jesus Hare Buddha Hare Judas Hare Rama Hare Krishna Hare Lucifer.”  The final song “Valse LSD” is a complex acoustic song with male and female vocals.  It’s quite pretty.  It doesn’t really feel like the end of the disc (I would have ended with “Bangladesh”), but it’s a good summary of the album as a whole.

 Since I am unfamiliar with Os Mutantes’ earlier work, I can’t really say how this fits into their discography, but I think this is just a great album and I’m looking forward to hearing more of their earlier works.

[READ: October 2, 2014] The Enchanter

naboI have had Nabokov on my list of authors to read for a long time.  I have read and enjoyed a few of his books and planned to read his oeuvre at some point, just not quite yet.  And then, as serendipity would have it, I stumbled on a book of his novellas (the Penguin classic edition) and decided to read them.  Because they aren’t really meant to be taken as one item, I’m going to mention them individually.

The Enchanter was Nabokov’s final work written in Russian.  It was never published during his lifetime.  The Notes to the story in the book suggests that Nabokov had a vague recollection of the story (with many details incorrect), but that he believed he discarded the original version when he moved to America.  He evidently found it after publishing Lolita, but did not feel compelled to publish it.  It was his son who translated and published it after his death.

The Enchanter is something of a precursor to Lolita in that it involves a man who is obsessed with adolescent girls.  What separates this from Lolita (although there are many similar plot contrivances) is the mental state of the protagonist.  He is disgusted by himself.  He knows what he does is wrong, he even imagines himself in animalistic ways.  And yet he cannot help himself.  (This is not to say that that is not present in Lolita, just that it is more or less the focus here). (more…)

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Evan Dara–The Lost Scrapbook (1995)

Posted in Arvo Pärt, Cigarettes, David Foster Wallace, Death, Disease, Evan Dara, Fears, Funny (ha ha), Funny (strange), Huh?, Law, Ludwig van Beethoven, Morality, Scholarship, Scientists, Sex, Smarty Pants, The xx, Unreliable narrator on October 6, 2014| 2 Comments »

lostscrapSOUNDTRACK: THE XX-Coexist (2012).

coexGiven my proclivities towards noisy fast rock, there is no reason that I should like The XX, and yet I like Coexist quite a lot. It is such a spare album, but Romy’s voice is fantastic—so sensuous and breathy–that she can totally handle a song that is nearly a capella. So a song like “Angels” whose music consists pretty much entirely of a beautiful echoey guitar (and virtually nothing else except for some occasional soft percussion) is engrossingly intimate and not at all boring. In fact when that simple percussion eventually comes in, it’s like a revelation of sound accompanying her.

What also keeps the album interesting is that she is not the only singer (so there’s something for everyone). “Chained” has Oliver’s breathy, sexy voice as he more or less whisper/sings the lyrics. It has slightly more complex arrangements (meaning the drum is constant and there are quiet waves of synths). “Fiction” slowly builds with an ominous muted guitar motif and echoed chords. But when the chorus kicks in, that muted guitar grows loud and it’s almost overpowering (relatively, of course).   “Try” brings in a spooky kind of keyboards that is slightly unsettling under their mellow hushed duet of vocals.

The diversity of simple sounds that Jamie xx adds to each song are revelatory.  Even though each song is quiet and intimate, the sounds that he uses are so very different within that limited palate.  So “Reunion” sounds like a steel drums, before adding pulsing bass beats. “Sunset” has a slinky guitar and “Missing” introduces as drumbeat that is like a heart beat.  “Tides” has one of the loudest drum beats on the record, alternating with a delicate guitar line.

The simple bass line adds a really funky quality to “Swept Away.”  And when the claps and keyboard hits come in it feels almost like a dance song.

This is a great album for quiet nights and headphones.  Even if the songs seem to be mostly about lost love, it has a calming effect that is really enjoyable.  I’ll have to check out their debut as well.

[READ: September 30, 2014] The Lost Scrapbook

Some fans of David Foster Wallace speak well of Evan Dara (at least that’s how I’ve heard of  him).  I was unfamiliar with him and the fascinating story he has built around himself.  Evan Dara appears to be a pseudonym.  As one writer put it: “Hell, we don’t even now who Evan Dara is. Apparently, he is a male American in his 30s living in Paris.”  This, his debut novel, has attracted attention not only for being really weird, but for being really good.

What was fun about reading this was that I knew there were strange things afoot in the book, but I didn’t know what exactly (I really like to go into a book completely blind if I can).  So when the book started out with a conversation in which no character names were given (or even how many there were), I was prepared.  And while I didn’t really know what the subject they were talking about was, I figured that would be fine as well.  Then when four pages in the all caps word YIELD seemed to signal a change of narrator/perspective/something, I thought, okay this is what I’m in for.

Then I noticed that every paragraph which wasn’t conversation (with an em dash) was preceded by three ellipses (and ended with same).  A few pages later there’s an all caps TOW-AWAY ZONE which introduces another shift.

And somewhere around page 14 a sort of plot begins to form (although it’s unclear whether or not any of the earlier sections have anything to do with this one).  A man is shot…or not?  But then after the KEEP DOOR CLOSED section break, a new story develops.  A man with a Walkman (I was trying to decide if this was deliberately retro or intentionally set in the 80s, but that was unclear to me) is driving along to meet a man named Dave (at last a name!).  Dave is a filmographer who has been collecting fireflies for a video project.  And just as we near a kind of resolution of this section, it morphs, unannounced, mind you, into something else entirely–a discussion of music, specifically Beethoven and his decision to rework limited material into multiple variations.  It is fascinating and engaging and very well-considered, but it too ends before anything can be “resolved.” (more…)

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Tobias Wolff–“Beautiful Girl” (New Yorker, June 9 & 16, 2014)

Posted in Black Sabbath, Budgie, Essays, Funny (ha ha), History, Humiliation, Metallica, New Yorker, Romance, Rush, Sex, Tobias Wolff, WXPN 88.5 FM--Philadelphia, PA on September 25, 2014| Leave a Comment »

jun9SOUNDTRACK: BUDGIE-“Breadfan” (1973).

budgieI am pretty much wholly ignorant of Budgie. I know this song “Breadfan” because Metallica covered it back on one of their covers EPs. I really Metallica’s version, but since that was pre-internet, I was never able to explore Budgie more.  And then I forgot about them.

Well, just the other night, WXPN played “Breadfan” (as part of a 70s power trio segment) and I was shocked at how high-pitched Burke Shelley’s voice was (the comparisons to Rush are apt).  And I was also surprised at how heavy this song was.  While Black Sabbath had certainly been releasing heavy albums up until this time, this song introduced a much faster element.  And there were only three members in the band!

What’s also interesting is the prog rock leanings in some of their songs, like the middle of this one.  The fact that Roger Dean did this album cover and that they have a 10 minute song on this album seems to lean towards prog rock as well).

Time to dig deep in to the Welsh band’s catalog, I think.

[READ: June 17, 2014] “Beautiful Girl”

This year’s Summer Fiction issue of the New Yorker was subtitled Love Stories.  In addition to the two graphic stories, we have a series of five personal essays which fall under the heading of “My Old Flame.”  I like that all five writers have slight variations in how they deal with this topic.

Wolff surprises (me anyhow) by saying that when he was fifteen, he cut off the last joint of his left ring finger.  This piece of information just sort of lingers there until the end of the story.

Because he then talks about how he never really had a girlfriend.  In sixth grade he and his friend Terry would meet Terry’s cousin Patty and another girl in the movie theater and they would pair up and make out (clearly Terry did not make out with his cousin).   But they pairings were never seen in public and never went on a further date.

But later that winter his family moved to the Cascades, where the elementary school had all of four rooms.  There were ten kids in his class and nine were boys.  The one girl, Nevy, drove them all crazy. She favored one then the other but her real love was horses not boys. (more…)

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Miranda July–“TV” (New Yorker, June 9 & 16, 2014)

Posted in Bikini Kill, Essays, Funny (ha ha), History, Humiliation, LGBTQ, New Yorker, Riot Grrrl, Romance, Sex on September 24, 2014| Leave a Comment »

jun9SOUNDTRACK: BIKINI KILL-Revolution Girl Style Now (1991).

rvolBikini Kill was one of the most memorable bands from the Riot Grrrl movement.  And frankly, twenty years on, these song still sound incendiary–no one has picked up the torch that bands like this lit in the 90s.

Bikini Kill were confrontational–Kathleen Hannah took no shit, and sang however she felt–sometimes screaming, sometime howling, sometimes singing right on key.   But the most important thing about Bikini Kill was their lyrics–they addressed women’s issues in ways that few bands dared to before (or even since).  As in the title “Suck My Left One.”  Or the premise of “Carnival,” a song about 16 year old girls giving carnies head to go on rides.

While it’s not always clear what the lyrics are, occasional lines are crystal clear. “Daddy’s l’il girl don’t wanna be his whore no more.”  “As a woman I was taught to always be hungry / Now women are well acquainted with thirst”  Or the addressed-to-all-girlfriends, “Double Dare Ya”

Hey girlfriend
I got a proposition goes something like this:
Dare ya to do what you want
Dare ya to be who you will
Dare ya to cry right outloud

Their music, especially on this early self released tape was raw and edgy, abrasive and confrontational.  And yet at the same time they didn’t completely shy away from melody, as this album’s “Feels Blind” has a simple but catchy melody.

[READ: June 17, 2014] “TV”

This year’s Summer Fiction issue of the New Yorker was subtitled Love Stories.  In addition to the two graphic stories, we have a series of five personal essays which fall under the heading of “My Old Flame.”  I liked that all five writers have slight variations in how they deal with this topic.

Miranda July’s take on My Old Flame is set back when she was living in Portland. While her story isn’t exactly happy (how many stories about old flames ever are?), this particular old flame had a major impact on her life.

July noticed that there were two women who were always walking together and who loved together.  She was intrigued by them and their cool house and eventually made friends with them.  She was especially interested in the person called TV.  “She, if she was a she, was every boy from every childhood book.”  July had tried to date boys like that but they often turned out to be assholes. But TV had those boyish qualities and a girl’s point of view. (more…)

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Joshua Ferris–“Good Legs” (New Yorker, June 9 & 16, 2014)

Posted in Essays, History, Humiliation, Joshua Ferris, New Yorker, Romance, Sex, Slothrust, You're the Worst on September 23, 2014| Leave a Comment »

jun9SOUNDTRACK: SLOTHRUST-7:30AM (2011).

slothThis song is the opening theme to the FX show You’re the Worst, which I like very much.

The theme is only a few seconds long although the song (which has been around since at least 2011) is considerably longer (although it doesn’t reach 3 minutes).

Every time we’ve watched the show, I’ve tried to imagine who the guy is singing this song–he sounded strangely familiar.  Well, imagine my surprise to find out that the music from the band Slothrust is pretty much written and sung by a woman, Leah Wellbaum.  Well who would have guessed (it’s more evident in some of their other songs).

I love the simplicity of this song–repeated lyrics set to a ramshackle guitar which bursts forth into loud wailing in every repeated section.  There’s even a guitar solo (equally as uninhibited).  The band is a typically more punky than this folk song might hint, but you can feel all their glorious chaos in this one track.

 It’s funny and rather catchy.  Check out the song on bandcamp.

[READ: June 17, 2014] “Good Legs”

This year’s Summer Fiction issue of the New Yorker was subtitled Love Stories.  In addition to the two graphic stories, we have a series of five personal essays which fall under the heading of “My Old Flame.”  I liked that all five writers have slight variations in how they deal with this topic.

Joshia Ferris has written a number of things that I enjoyed.  This piece, which  found very peculiar, takes a very different approach than Kushner did.  Where Kushner focused on different people in her past, Ferris Ferris focuses on one old flame. Or is she?

He says he met her in the hallway of a dorm.  There’s this near-opening line that sets the tone: “I didn’t think much of her, but I was sure she had never seen anyone quite so handsome.”

It turns out that she was dating someone else anyhow.  And then she graduated, leaving him behind (perhaps unbeknownst to her).  He says, “I didn’t miss her,”  because he was “in this terrible on-off thing with Sisyphus, who kept dragging me up a pretty blond hill and hurtling me down.” (more…)

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