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Archive for the ‘Short Story’ Category

Alexai Galaviz-Budziszewski–Painted Cities (2014)

Posted in Alexai Galaviz-Budziszewski, Death, Do the Right Thing, Fire, Gangsters, Grateful Dead, Humiliation, Marriage Trouble, McSweeney's, Pranks, Short Books, Short Story, The Decemberists, The Smiths, Threats, Violence on October 20, 2014| Leave a Comment »

paintedSOUNDTRACK: THE DECEMBERISTS-Long Live the King EP (2011).

220px-The_Decemberists_-_Long_Live_the_KingLong Live the King is an EP that was made of outtakes from their previous (and so far final) LP The King is Dead.  In the style of that album–straightforward folk songs with country tinges, this EP makes a fine companion.  “E. Watson” is a classic storytelling Decemberists song.  It has a great chorus and really wonderful harmonies.  There’s a pedal steel guitar on “Foregone,” which adds a neat sound to this really catchy song.  In fact, the chorus is one of the catchiest things they’ve done, and it’s hard to believe they tucked it away on this EP instead of the album.

“Burying Davy” (which I had been mishearing as Burying Babies, such is the darkness of Colin Meloy that that was a real possibility) is a much creepier song.  The melody is dark and minor chord and yet it’s somehow still catchy and strangely fun to sing along to.  “I 4 U & U 4 Me” rumbles along with a great Smiths-esque bass line.  This version is a home demo (although there’s no non-demo version that I know of).  “Row Jimmy” is a cover of Grateful Dead song that I do not know.  It’s the slowest and most shambolic song on the EP.  I don’t especially like it, but I do like the way he sings “Get Down and” before some choruses.  “Sonnet” is a pretty straightforward folk song.  It’s done on acoustic guitar and features Meloy’s falsetto at certain times.  But just as the song seems to be a pretty standard acoustic guitar ballad, a whole bunch of horns blast in and play along.

Even though this is an EP of predominantly folk songs, there’s some cool headphone stuff going on in this album as well (especially the guitars on “Burying Davy”), so turn it up and tune out for 25 minutes or so.

[READ: October 18, 2014] Painted Cities

Painted Cities is a collection of stories (I assume they are all short stories although the early ones read a bit more like essays) that are all set in the Pilsen district of Chicago.  Evidently AG-B grew up there and these stories are about the people and gangs in this largely Latino neighborhood (the fact that his name is Alexai Galaviz Bidziszewski, which conjures up so many different nationalities, although few of them Latino has certainly confused me, although I have no doubt that these are all based on reality).

There are fifteen stories in the book.  I enjoyed the first couple, then I got a  little tired of the gangland/macho tough guy aspect of the stories.  But just as I was a bout to give up on them, he threw in one with magical realism that I really loved, and the rest of the book was equally interesting.   I will say that this region of the country is completely unknown to me and while I don’t typically like gang related stories, these stories did not dwell in the heartache of gangs, but used them as a periphery around which to establish the stories. (more…)

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Eliza Robertson–“Who Will Water the Wallflowers?” (The Walrus, June 2014)

Posted in Battles, Blonde Redhead, Boredoms, Canadian Content, Cats, Don Caballero, Drinking, Eliza Robertson, Gary Numan, Helmet, Huh?, Natural Disasters, Short Story, The Walrus on October 17, 2014| Leave a Comment »

june2014SOUNDTRACK: BATTLES-Glass Drop (2011).

220px-BattlesGlossDropI didn’t know anything about Battles before I heard the single, “Ice Cream.”  Battles are an experimental band comprised of the guitarist from Don Caballero (one of my favorite post-rock bands) and the drummer from Helmet.   And they write music that is very angular, with lots of stops and starts and direction changes.  There’s some story about their first album (which I have not heard) having a singer who left just before the recording of this album.  And the remaining trio’s solution was to have outside singers sing on certain songs.  And it all works very well.

The majority of the album is instrumental though.  And the songs feature a very distinctive sound that I feel is close to a steel drum, but which I know is actually a keyboard–but that echoing sound is so drumlike, that when the drummer’s pounding is added, the whole album feels like a percussive explosion.

“Africastle” opens the disc with ringing guitars and a melody that uses those steel drum sounds.  After about 2 minutes of slow intro, when the ferocious drums kick in, the song rockets to life in a frenzy of activity and counterpoints.  It’s really quite something.

“Ice Cream” is the song that introduced me to this album.  The guitars are modified to once again a steel drum sound, but the melody and rhythm are so fast staccato that it removes any sense of steel drum especially when the notes are clearly electronic. This song features vocals (no idea what they are saying) by Matias Aguayo.  They compliment the sound of the music.  Despite all the overlapping disparate elements the song winds up being strangely catchy. The way the chaos ends with a simple Dum duh duh dum dum… is very cool.

“Futura” continues in that staccato style but it features an aggressively catchy melody.  “Inchworm” has a fun almost reggae feel amid the staccato noises.  “Wall Street” brings the drums to the fore again as it propels the jumpy melody along.  “My Machines” has a guest vocal from Gary Numan. I have never liked Gary Numan (I need to never hear “Cars” again) but his voice (he actually sings…sort of) works well with this cacophony.

“Dominican Fade” adds some heavier bass and wild percussion notes to this 2 minute track. It even has hand claps and cowbells at the end.  “Sweetie and Shag,” has vocals from  Blonde Redhead’s Kazu Makino.  She adds a whole new element to the album with her high pitched yet breathy vocals.  A definite highlight.

“Toddler” is a 1 minute sng that feels like a transition into the manic and bouncy “Rolls Bayce” (which Dave Konopka describes as almost wholly an experiment).

“White Electric” start slow with some echoed notes. Then a martial beat keeps time as the notes seems to swirl around. The song builds and builds with more layers until it crashes apart at around 5 minutes.  At which point the song slowly rebuilds itself into a pretty coda.

The final song sounds like a reggae singer but it is actually Yamataka Eye from The Boredoms.  Konopka says that Eye sent vocals and told them to do whatever they wanted with the track.  The band thought “he was speaking Japanese, but he’s just making up his own stuff and he’s repeating stuff that he’s making up.”  The backing noises sound like a whale song.

Despite the weirdness of the album, there’s a lot of poppiness to it, and I think it is a great release.  It also is a great headphones release, if you like that sort of thing.  I need to check out their debut as well.

[READ: October 15, 2014] “Who Will Water the Wallflowers?”

I don’t quite know what to make of this story.  It seemed to me to be full of individual incidents that were all wiped away by the flood that is mentioned in the very first line.

I enjoyed the details of the story quite a lot.  In it, the girl (unnamed) looks after her neighbor’s cat Cha-Cha while Ms Feliz is away.  Cha-Cha is a a Turkish angora, a delicate breed.  And there is an interesting description of the cat after he has gotten wet in the rain.  Sometime the girl sleeps at Ms Feliz’ house (her mom doesn’t mind since they live across the street).

The girl finds sanctuary in Ms Feliz’s house.  Except for Mr Bradley.  Mr Bradley is an enigmatic neighbor–he seems to be home all the time, dressed in work clothes and slippers. It is clear that the girl is uncomfortable around him, but he seems to always be around.  He seems pleasant enough.  He sees her almost every day and always asks “learning something?” to which she doesn’t know what to say.  She tries to avoid him by looking for Cha-Cha, but he doesn’t leave (and Cha-Cha doesn’t show up).  She tells him that she watched a film about geysers .

He replies, “I know a joke about geysers….it probably wouldn’t be appropriate.” (more…)

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Jessica Grant–“Brute” (The Walrus, July/August 2014)

Posted in Canadian Content, Canadian Music, Death, Dogs, Jessica Grant, Short Story, Sloan, The Walrus, Violence on October 15, 2014| Leave a Comment »

2014-07SOUNDTRACK: SLOAN-Commonwealth [Shamrock Side–Patrick Pentland] (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 the CBC website, Patrick Pentland is responsible for some of the band’s biggest hit songs, including “The Good in Everyone,” “Everything You’ve Done Wrong” and “Money City Maniacs.”

Pentland only wrote four songs for his side.  And none of them are especially long.  Overall his songs are heavier fuzzier and rockier.

“13 (Under a Bad Sign)” is a heavy rocker at only two minutes.  Even though it’s the same length as Murphy’s also heavy “Get Out” it just rocks a lot harder.  It also opens with a bass–one of the few songs on the album that does so.  It’s a big loud rocking riff.  “Take It Easy” is even noisier.  The guitars feedback as the bass propels along.  It’s a simple song, with a simple heavy chord structure, and it has a simple catchy chorus.  Good rocking Sloan.

“What’s Inside” slows things down a bit—it has a familiar bass line and swirling guitars.  There’s lots of echo on this song, especially in the chorus which seems almost shoegazey.  It’s probably my least favorite song on the album because of the way it kind of meanders–it rather slows the momentum of the disc.  But his final song, “Keep Swinging (Downtown)” totally redeems it, with a super catchy classic rock sound classic.  It has a great got sing along chorus.  This could easily be a huge single and a live concert favorite.  It’s 3 and a half minutes, but nearly the last minute is an extended outro with a great pretty acoustic guitar riff.

For only four songs, Pentland makes a huge statement.

[READ: October 11, 2014] “Brute”

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 murder.

Of the three stories I liked this story the least.  Not because it from the point of view of a dog–that part I liked.  In fact I enjoyed a lot of details in the story–like that there was a character named Grassy Noel, that the narrator believes all golden labs have a Scottish accent and that the narrator speaks as if he is not a dog.

First we learn about Big Cy’s (the narrator) history.  He used to hang around the bus station grubbing for food.

Then he witnessed a Lab rescue a baby and saw that dog praised and held high.  He wants to know:

Who is better. The dog who is … naturally good or the one who struggles to be good. (more…)

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Kathryn Kuitenbrouwer–“Care and Feeding of the Amish” (The Walrus, July/August 2014)

Posted in Canadian Content, Canadian Music, Kathryn Kuitenbrouwer, Religion, Short Story, Sloan, The Walrus on October 14, 2014| Leave a Comment »

2014-07SOUNDTRACK: SLOAN-Commonwealth [Heart Side–Chris Murphy] (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, Murphy has written several Sloan songs that have been released as singles, including “Underwhelmed” from the album Smeared, “Coax Me” from Twice Removed, “G Turns to D” from One Chord to Another, “She Says What She Means” from Navy Blues, “The Other Man” from Pretty Together, and “The Rest of My Life” from Action Pact.

 Murphy, like Ferguson writes some really catchy songs here.  They are no connected like Ferguson’s though, and they feel more like discrete songs.  “Carried Away” is another amazingly catchy song that I get stuck in my head for hours.  The song opens with a full sound including strings. The verses are slow. But the chorus just kicks in catchy and easy to sing along with this great line: “She carried on buit she got carried away…”

“So Far So Good” is a slow piano ballad. The chorus swells in a big classic-rock-with-piano way and is also catchy.  “Get Out” is a short rocker, under 2 minutes.  It comes in, rocks hard and gets out. “Misty’s Beside Herself” is another song with an infectious chorus.  It’s a slow ballad, but with a big powerful chorus full of harmonies. It’s really pretty. “You Don’t Need Excuses to Be Good” has rawer guitar sound and sounds a bit more like older Sloan. Although it’s not as catchy as the other songs, there’s something about the sound (how different it is from the other songs) that really makes it stand out (that guitar solo s pretty great too).

Like Ferguson, Murphy knows how to write great catchy songs, and these five songs really showcase his strengths as a writer.

[READ: October 11, 2014] “Care and Feeding of the Amish”

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 kidnapping.

I’ve enjoyed Kuitenbouwer’s peculiar vantage point in a number of stories before.  Since this was a “crime” story I was curious about what this title could possibly have to do with a crime.  And then it’s laid out–a bunch of kids in a Montessori class (who are camping out in the woods) are lying in await for an Amish buggy to come by.  (While waiting for the ambush one of them farts, which really sets the tone for the story: “The fart hovered at nose level as the nostalgic clop of horses sounded and a decision became necessary”).

And then the decision is made.  Becky ran out into the street with a stick which made the buggy driver stop.  While Becky was asking him how many Amish it took to change a light bulb, the rest of her class snuck behind the buggy and grabbed the buggy’s little boy occupant.  She then frightened the horses and the buggy took off–with the driver unaware of the kidnapping. (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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Karen Russell–“The Bad Graft” (New Yorker, June 9 & 16, 2014)

Posted in Foxygen, Huh?, Jefferson Airplane, Karen Russell, New Yorker, Romance, Short Story, The Flaming Lips, The Rocky Horror Picture Show, The Rolling Stones, The Velvet Underground, Trees on October 2, 2014| Leave a Comment »

jun9SOUNDTRACK: FOXYGEN-We Are the 21st Century Ambassadors of Peace & Magic (2013).

foxyI had no idea this was Foxygen’s third album (they have a new album out this week as well).  I had only heard of this because of NPR.  And I was delighted with the band’s utterly retro feel and sound–so much retro that it is almost too much.  But they do it with such flair that it works.  Indeed, the whole feeling of this album is one of sampling all of recent music history–with elements thrown in haphazardly (but effectively) and really celebrating a whole 60s/70s vibe with a sprinkling of modern technology.

“In the Darkness” is a 2 minute piano heavy track with horns, big swelling vocals chorals and all kinds of joy.  “No Destruction” though is where the retro sound really shines.  Sounding like a Velvet Underground track with a sweeter singer (who is no less blase).  Except that the chorus rises into a glorious hippie happiness.  It also features funny lines like the deadpan, “There’s no need to be an assshole you’re not in Brooklyn anymore.”

“On Blue Mountain” opens with a kind of Flaming Lips vibe (deep morphing voices counting down), but Sam France has a much higher pitched voice as he sings the slow intro.  Once the song kicks in faster, the real hippy vibe (combined with some Rolling Stones and some girlie backing vocals) kick in.  There’s even a big friendly chorus (that reminds me of “Suspicious Minds”).  After almost 4 minutes, the song shifts gears entirely into a raucous sing along  (with what sounds like a children’s choir).

After the manic intensity of “Mountain,” “San Francisco” emerges as a sweet delicate flute filled hippie song.  This was the first song I heard by them and I loved it immediately–the simple melody, the delicate (funny) female responses, the swelling strings. it was delightful.  “Bowling Trophies” is a weird little less than two-minute instrumental that leads to the glorious “Shuggie.”  “Shuggie” is the least hippie song on the album and screams more of a kind of French disco pop, with some wonderful lyrics.  The chorus is just a rollicking good time and the wah wah synth solo is terrific.  At three and a half minutes the song is just way too short, although it seems that anything that last longer than 4 minutes will shift gears into something else eventually anyway.

“Oh Yeah” brings in a staggered kind of sound, with some interesting breaks and stops.  It also inserts some doo-wop into it.  I love how the end once again shifts gears into a “freak out” with a wild guitar solo and fast drums.  The title song is fuzzy and distorted (the vocals are nearly inaudible).  It’s fast paced but still very retro sounding (Jefferson Airplane?) except for the modern electronic and guitar breaks.  And of course, the last minute is entirely different from the rest of the song, as well.

The album ends with “Oh No 2,” a five-minute track that begins as a slow swelling almost soundtrack song.  Indeed, when the spoken word part (“I was standing on the bed, birds were landing on my head”) emerges later on, it comes close to The Rocky Horror Picture Show (which is not a bad thing), including the piano outro (with slightly out of tune voice).

This whole album could just be an obnoxious rip off of old timey sounds, but instead it’s more like a fun reference point for those who know the music and just a fun good time for those who don’t.  And at something like 35 minutes, it never overstays its welcome.

[READ: September 17, 2014] “The Bad Graft”

This year’s Summer Fiction issue of the New Yorker was subtitled Love Stories.  In addition to all of the shorter pieces that were included in this issue, there were also four fiction contributions.

This was the final story in this issue and, sadly for me, it was the one I liked least.  It has three sections: I. Germination; II. Emergence; III. Establishment.  And while I enjoyed (mostly) section I., I really didn’t enjoy the turn the story took once it entered section II and the “plot” emerged.

The story opens with two young (actually not that young) lovers traveling towards Joshua Tree.  This couple is madly in love and are basically eloping.  Except, of course, that they don’t want to ever get married, so it is a symbolic elopement.  On their first date they had decided to run away together.  They left their homes in Pennsylvania more or less unannounced, took all their money and drove to the desert.

Andy and Angie, for that is what their names are, prepared well with Andy having, among other things a large knife (note to Chekovians).  After a few days they are startled to discover how expensive this road trip is.  But they are undaunted because they are in love.  Of course, they are also exhausted and perhaps a little on edge.

When they arrive at Joshua Tree, it is 106 degrees.  The park ranger informs them that they have arrived in time to see the yucca moths do their magic with the trees.  he calls it, the ‘pulse event.”  The entire range of Joshuas is in bloom and the moths are smitten.  This sounds exciting but it is also sad, as the Joshua Teees may be on the brink of extinction and this massive blossoming is like a distress call.

With all of this set up, it is a total surprise when half way through the section, the story informs is that “This is where the bad graft occurs.” (more…)

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Haruki Murakami–“Yesterday” (New Yorker, June 9 & 16, 2014)

Posted in Hanshin Tigers, Haruki Murakami, History, New Yorker, Nicotine, NOFX, Romance, Short Story, The Beatles on October 1, 2014| Leave a Comment »

jun9SOUNDTRACK: NICOTINE-“Yesterday” (2005).

dudeSince this story is about a guy making up words to “Yesterday,” I thought I’d find a cover of it.  Evidently there are several hundred covers to choose from, so I chose this one, from a band I didn’t know.

As you might judge by the cover, this is a punk version of the song.  But what a little research tells me is that Nicotine is a Japanese punk pop band.  And you can hear in Howie’s vocals that although his English is quite good, his accent shows up at certain moments.

The guitar starts out nicely, in a non-punk way.  Then when the vocals kicks in, you will either love it or hate it camp.  Howie’s voice is kind of whiny/bratty sounding, making the song either funny or irritating depending.

After the first verse, the band turns into the kind of fast pop punk that NOFX does–speedy drums, heavy guitars, etc.  Interestingly, his voice doesn’t speed up for the verses which makes the contrast all the more striking.

The album pictured above is indeed a full album of Beatles covers (the band seems to do a lot of covers), most of which are entertaining enough to listen to more than once.

[READ: September 17, 2014] “Yesterday”

As this story opens the narrator says

As far as I know, the only person to put Japanese lyrics to the Beatles song “Yesterday” (and to do so in the distinctive Kansai dialect, no less) was a guy named Kitaru.  He used to belt out his own version when he was taking a bath:

Yesterday
Is two days before tomorrow
The day after two days ago.

While “Yesterday” features prominently in the story, it is really a story of love and romance and friendship.  The narrator met Kitaru at the coffee shop where they worked.  There is a great deal of emphasis placed on Kitaru’s use of the Kansai dialect (which I know little about except to know that it is not the dialect of Tokyo).  The strange thing about Kitaru (well, one of the strange things) is that he was born in Tokyo.  But he adopted the Kansai dialect because he was a fan of the Hanshin Tigers.  He was such a big fan that he learned their dialect to be able to communicate with the fans when he went to the games.  (Learning Kansai is apparently like learning another language).  He was so into it, that he spoke it all the time.

The narrator, on the other hand, grew up speaking Kansai but after living in Tokyo for a month, he became fluent in Tokyo Standard (which also shows how odd it for Kitaru to do this).

This is mostly set up to show how odd Kitaru is.  Kitaru is a super nice guy and is clearly smart (if he learned the dialect), and yet he has failed his college entrance exam twice.  This is a problem because his girlfriend, the very pretty Erika, got into college on her first try, and he says he can’t date her properly unless he is also in college.  He and Erika have known each other for ever and are romantic without actually “doing ” anything.  He admits that he thinks of her almost like a sister and can’t imagine touching her in that way.  They are super close, and he considers her his girlfriend, but that’s it. (more…)

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David Gilbert–“Here’s the Story” (New Yorker, June 9 & 16, 2014)

Posted in David Gilbert, Funny (ha ha), History, Jefferson Airplane, Meta, New Yorker, Rainy Daze, Romance, Short Story, The Flamin' Groovies, The Peanut Butter Conspiracy on September 30, 2014| Leave a Comment »

jun9SOUNDTRACK: THE PEANUT BUTTER CONSPIRACY-“It’s a Happening Thing” (1967).

pncWho would have guessed that a band from 1967 would come up with a name that seems relevant in 2014 (what with all the peanut allergies).  But they didn’t have that on their minds when they named the band.

I’m not sure that I knew of this band (they are mentioned in this story–although I had heard of the Flamin’ Groovies, also mentioned), although by now they seem like an obvious touchstone.  Because this is a major hippie band.  Indeed, this song seems almost quintessentially hippie.  The title, obviously.  But also the (sixties) fuzzy guitar, the super funky bass, the group vocals (very Jefferson Airplane).  The wild solo with even more fuzz on the guitar.  I especially enjoy the descending vocal line at the end of the chorus.

It’s a fun song, although kind of forgettable (possibly because of the lyrics).  After the chorus, the most repeated line is “Love is the grooviest thing up til now in the world.”  Up til now?

A little research says that the production on their second album is less obviously hippie, but this seems to be their most notable song.

Peace Man.

[READ: September 17, 2014] “Here’s the Story”

This year’s Summer Fiction issue of the New Yorker was subtitled Love Stories.  In addition to all of the shorter pieces that were included in this issue, there were also four fiction contributions.

This story takes a look at an already extant story and finds a story beneath it.  I didn’t realize this until about two paragraphs from the end of the story when it all came clear.  And then in retrospect I realized that there were a lot of hints thrown into the story and either I should have figured that out or, more likely, Gilbert made the hints minor and casual so that, like me, a reader might realize what he or she missed at the end of the story.

I’m not going to give anything away about the story; however, at the end of this post I’m going to put some of the hints that made me tilt my head at the story which proved to pay off in the end).

But without that information, the story was compelling but also frustrating.  Gilbert starts out the story so that you know there will be a sad ending: “It ends with his right hand griping her left…the plane is on final approach.”  The two people, both married meet and think about having an affair.  Both of them are pretty unhappily married with children and living in California.  But the story is told as an impartial report: “we also know that seven weeks earlier the Los Angeles Dodgers played their final game of the season.” (more…)

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Maile Meloy–“Madame Lazarus” (New Yorker, June 23, 2014)

Posted in Arthur Russell, Bill Fox, Coralie Clément, Death, Depeche Mode, Dogs, Dwight Twilley, Kate Bush, Maile Meloy, Marriage Trouble, Mercromina, Moody Blues, Nada Surf, New Yorker, Short Story, Soft Pack, Spoon, The Go-Betweens, The Silly Pillows on September 18, 2014| Leave a Comment »

CV1_TNY_06_23_14Booth.inddSOUNDTRACK: NADA SURF-If I Had a Hi-Fi (2010).

nadaI have enjoyed Nada Surf more with each album.  But for some reason, I never bothered checking out this covers album.  Which is my loss.  Covers albums fall into all different categories–bands that try to ape the original exactly, bands that mess around with the original, and band who take the songs and make them their own.  In this case Nada Surf takes all of these songs and makes them sound just like Nada Surf songs.  Sometimes, they make them sound unlike the original and give them specific Nada Surfisms.

I didn’t know all of the songs on this record.  In fact, I knew very few of them (which is a pretty unusual way to run a  covers record, no?  This falls into the “introduce your fans to songs you love category).

I knew “Enjoy the Silence” (Depeche Mode) which is incredibly different.  Obviously, the original is synthy, but while Nada Surf keep it dark, they add a bit of jangly chords and change the way some of the verses end (the way they do “and forgettable” is so intriguing).  Even the ba bas at the end transform the whole nature of the song.  “Love Goes On!” (The Go-Betweens) is a song I knew a little and Nada Surf sounds an awful lot like the original (but I like the way they make the chorus even bigger).   “Love and Anger” (Kate Bush) is similar to the original but with that Nada Surf twist.  It’s not big and epic and Matthew Caws doesn’t try to hit her notes (he does have a high voice though), but it’s a gorgeous rendition.  “Question” (Moody Blues) is probably the most famous song on the disc.  Nada Surf rocks the song pretty hard.  The pick up the tempo, but slow it down just right for the slow part.  It’s quite faithful, without being in any way proggy.

The rest of the songs I didn’t know.  And some of the bands I’ve never heard of (!).  “Electrocution” (Bill Fox) opens the records and while I don’t know if it’s any different, it could be a great original jangly pop song from Nada Surf.   “Janine” (Arthur Russell) is only a minute long. It’s a pretty, delicate acoustic guitar song.  “You Were So Warm” (Dwight Twilley).  I don’t know that I’ve ever heard a Dwight Twilley song, so I have no idea how this compares, but I like the way the last long of “Janine” is the chorus to this song.  I rather assume the original is not as poppy as this (but I don’t know Twilley, so why do I think that?–Turns out I was entirely wrong, the original sounds an awful lot like this version).

“The Agony of Laffitte” (Spoon).  I know Spoon, but not this song.  I can imagine how Spoon performed it, and I imagine that Nada Surf have smoothed the song out and made it prettier and slightly less dramatic.  “Bye Bye Beauté” (Coralie Clément) is sung in French. I’ve never heard of the original performer.  I don’t know how the original sounds, but this could easily be a Nada Surf song (they have done songs in French before) and the harmonies are beautiful.  Speaking of French, the also do “Evolución” (Mercromina) in French (“ev-oh-loo-see-own” is much more fun to sing than “ev-oh-loo-shun”).  This song starts out slow with a cello stating the melody.  It then turns into a dark acoustic guitar song, minor key and tension-filled.  Vocals don’t come in until a minute and a half in (the song is 5 minutes).  I’m not sure what the song is about, but even the catchy chorus is kinda dark.

“Bright Side” (Soft Pack).  Soft Pack is another band I’ve never heard of.  This song is a fun almost punk track–fast and catchy with simple lyrics a fun chorus (and ahhh backing vocals).  The disc ends with “I Remembered What I Was Going to Say” (The Silly Pillows) another band I’ve never heard of.  It is played on prepared piano in a waltz style.  Perhaps unexpectedly, it has no words.  It’s a nice capper to the album

Incidentally, the cover is a wonder line drawing that is fun to stare at and the liner notes (which would be much much easier to read on vinyl) are just jam packed with information about the original artists.

[READ: September 18, 2012] “Madame Lazarus”

Another story with a dog.  This one begins in a rather amusing manner.  An older gay man has just received a small terrier as a present from his younger lover, James.  The narrator is worried about his boyfriend staying around (he is so young and beautiful, while the narrator, who has just retired, is getting older and older).  The narrator doesn’t like the dog, but decides it will be one more thing to tie him to the James, so he decides to keep her.  He names her Cordelia.

The story is set in Paris, and the older man walks the dog around the city.  But mostly he thinks about his age and his past.  He says that anyone his age is amazed that he survived the Nazis much less lived to be an old man. He also thinks of his ex-wife, Simone, whom he meets for lunch from time to time.

The story seems like a sweet story of age and love, lost love, but love nonetheless.  But then the flashback introduces some darker moments. (more…)

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Thomas Pierce–“Ba Ba Baboon” (New Yorker, June 2, 2014)

Posted in Black Sabbath, New Yorker, Sex, Short Story, The Black Angels, The Byrds, The Doors, Thomas Pierce, Violence on September 17, 2014| Leave a Comment »

june2SOUNDTRACK: THE BLACK ANGELS-Indigo Meadow (2013).

indigoThere’s another round of bands with Black in their name.  I had heard good things about this particular “black” band so I decided to get Indigo Meadow, their 4th album.  And while the album cover hints at the type of music (retro psychedelia), I was unprepared for the insane retro feel of this album.

The guitars are fuzzy, the keyboards are straight out of the 70s, there’s a middle eastern vibe and the vocals even sound of that era (a little tinny, a little fuzzy).  The music is a little heavier perhaps than the music of the era (well, except for Black Sabbath, of course)–louder, faster drums, newer guitar noises, things that make it sound new, not just like a lost relic

There’s something minor key and ecstatic about the way the title track builds and builds.  It’s an auspicious opening to the album.  It’s slightly off kilter but ever so catchy.

“Evil Things” has a big old heavy metal riff, but it throws in some different items–a slow soaring chorus and a big old Doors’ keyboard solo (over the top of that heavy metal riff) which creates an interesting mix of sounds.  “Don’t Play with Guns” has a slightly different sound, with a sixties pop chorus (under that psychedelic fuzz of their guitars).  The delicate keyboard opening of “Holland” quickly morphs in to a more retro keyboard sound with more echoed vocals.  It is one of the longer songs on the album at 4 minutes (So despite this album being psychedelic, the songs are all pretty short, emphasizing their pop roots).

Like “The Day” which is only 2 and a half minutes.  “Love Me Forever” has a very Byrds-ian feel, but with a far heavier chorus.  “Always Maybe” has an exotic sounding guitar riff and “Broken Soldier” has a really chorus (for a pretty dark song).

“Twisted Light” alternates between that retro keyboard and a buzzy guitar riff.  And the harmonies reinforce that era’s feel.  “You’re Mine” even sounds like it might be a cover (that chorus is a perfect example of psychedelic pop).  The final song plays with the set up somewhat by having the first two minutes build quietly before the big fuzzy guitars propel the song to the end.

So yes, the album is not original (although it is, since they take a style and aren’t afraid to tweak it) and it does not deviate from the style very much.  But it’s done so well.  And f you enjoy psychedelic pop (with a bit of heavy metal sprinkled on top), this i s an album that you will enjoy.  It’s 45 minutes of fuzzy pop fun.

[READ: August 17, 2014] “Ba Ba Baboon”

This is a story of deception, dishonesty and dogs.  It is told in third person and as we begin, we see that there are two people hiding in a pantry.  It turns out that the protagonist, Brooks, and his sister, Mary, are the ones hiding.  And they are hiding in someone else’s home.  We learn that whoever they are hiding from may have left.  But before we learn why they are in the closet, we learn a bit about Brooks.

He had an “accident” some time ago which did damage to his brain.  Someone smashed the left side of his head with a brick and took his car and wallet.  His memory isn’t what it used to be, but his “old self” likes to make jokes at his own expense (like singing “If I Only Had a Brain”).  And he is also rather different–he can’t tolerate smoke anymore even though he used to be a smoker, he can’t wear any dark clothes and he is intolerant of creases in his pants.  And, worst of all for Mary is that Brooks used to be the one who looked out for her–her big strong older brother, and now it is her turn to look after him.

So why has she gotten him trapped in a closet?  Mary says “we’ve been in here for an hour.  I don’t see the dogs.”  It turns out that on the other side of the flimsy door are two of the biggest dogs they have ever seen.  These are vicious guard dogs who can be turned of with a safe word, which Mary thinks is “Baba Beluga” or something like that. But that clearly isn’t it. The dogs and the house belong to Wynn, a “friend” of Mary’s.  (more…)

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