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Archive for the ‘Short Story’ Category

Alice Munro–“Free Radicals” (New Yorker, February 11 & 18, 2008)

Posted in Alice Munro, Canadian Content, Cancer as plot device, Elf, M. Ward, New Yorker, She & Him, Short Story, Threats, Zooey Deschanel on July 14, 2008| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: SHE & HIM-Volume One (2008).

If you’ve seen Elf, and I’m sure you have, then you know that Zooey Deschanel has a beautiful voice. This record is a collection of her songs, sung by her with instrumentation by M. Ward, whose music I don’t know. The thing I learned about her voice is that it comes across as a very naked sound. It’s a little bit disconcerting in this day of vibrato and AutoTune, to hear someone singing so purely and with no affectation. That was evident in Elf, but it is really brought to the front here, where she sings an a capella track as well as some songs with limited instrumentation.

The bulk of the record is done in a style like 50s & 60s girl groups–The Ronettes, The Shirelles, and the Phil Spector wall of sound style. Her voice is suited perfectly to this kind of material. Even the recording style is very clean–one or two tracks sound like they could be from that era, just recently rediscovered. The rest of the songs have a country feel, a stripped down heartbreaky feel. And once again, her voice sounds great.

The whole collection just seems so sweet and unaffected, it’s almost impossible to believe that it was all written and recorded in 2008.

The only problem for me is that I don’t really like 60s girl groups, and I don’t really like country that much. So, really, I don’t like the CD all that much. I’ve given it a couple of spins, and it definitely overcomes the things that I don’t like about those styles. I even found myself singing two of the songs to myself this morning. It definitely deserves the great press, I just wish it was more my thing.

[READ: July 1, 2008] “Free Radicals”

The second Munro story in two days for me. And many of the elements are in place: idyllic, Canadian life, female protagonist, and a fairly unspeakable horror. (more…)

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George Saunders–“Antiheroes” (New Yorker, June 23, 2008)

Posted in Bad Religion, Funny (ha ha), George Saunders, New Yorker, Short Story, Supernatural on July 11, 2008| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: BAD RELIGION-The Empire Strikes First (2004).

I’ve been a fan of Bad Religion for ages. And then a few years back they reissued all of their old CDs, and I got BR overload. I didn’t listen to them for a while. Then recently, I decided to check out their newest CD, and was delighted to find that I’d only missed this one in the interim.

So, Bad Religion writes eloquent, fast punk songs. They are typically political, anti-religion, anti-war, anti-Republican. And main lyricist Greg Graffin has a PhD in what is essentially evolutionary biology. So, basically, Graffin is well-read (the lyrics have footnotes!) and knows big words. All of this in a two minute punk song.

And it’s the poppiness that surprises. BR have always given credit to the “oozin ah’s” on the records, and there are always lots of ooh’s and ah’s in the background. The choruses are catchy as all get out. And the songs are over in under three minutes. Actually, it’s when the songs go past 3 minutes that they tend to get into trouble. Fortunately that doesn’t happen too often. I’m not sure why, but the record seems to be lined up almost in order from short to long songs. So you get suckered into these great under two minute songs and then they pile up the long ones at the end. But that’s okay too, as some of the longer ones do add nice complexities to their arrangements.

There’s not a lot one can say about Bad Religion albums from one to another. Either you like the style or you don’t. However, for a bunch of old men, they rock pretty hard and they rock pretty well. And yet for all of their aggression (“Social Suicide” “Atheist Peace” “Sinister Rouge”) they are often uplifting and get you to sing along (“Live Again”). With a little less guitar these might even be chart toppers (perish the thought!).

[READ: June 30, 2008] “Antiheroes”

I recently flew to California. I brought all of the back issues of magazines that have been piling up in my house. For some magazines it was four or five months! I didn’t finish them all but I knocked a good three or four pounds off of my carry on luggage by the time I arrived. (more…)

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Ben Greenman–Superbad (2001)

Posted in Ben Greenman, Corporate skewering, Funny (ha ha), Funny (strange), McSweeney's, New Yorker, Political Humor, Short Books, Short Story, Smarty Pants, Superbad, The Beautiful South on May 16, 2008| 1 Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: BEAUTIFUL SOUTH-Superbi (2007).

I reviewed all of the Beautiful South records a few posts back. This one had not been released in the US at the time, and as far as I can tell has yet to be. But I ordered the import and here it is. Reviewing this is somewhat irrelevant as the Beautiful South have officially disbanded. It’s quite a pity as this album shows no sign of creative drop off. In fact, this album is one of their best.

The variety of styles in songs is really impressive. And each song contains the trademarks of The Beautiful South: incredibly poppy/happy sounding songs with good verses and catchy choruses combined with acerbic lyrics about relationships breaking up, and, interestingly, inanimate objects.

Some songs: “Manchester” is such a wonderfully winning song, with the great line, “if rain made England great it made Manchester yet greater.” All along, with such a great catchy chorus…. Even a bleak song like “When Romance is Dead” comes out beautifully in a striking duet. And speaking of duets, there’s a new female voice added to TBS on this record. Alison Wheeler is number three. I guess the bitterness of Heaton’s lyrics are hard to take sometimes. Wheeler does a great job. She has a strong voice and maintains a continuation of style to the previous women:

Paul Heaton, the singer and de facto leader, released a solo album a few years back under the name Biscuit Boy, and it was much the same, if slightly more dancey. Story is that he’s got a new solo album coming out in July, and I’ll bet its pretty great too.

[READ: April 2008] Superbad.

I ordered this book from McSweeney’s and, as you’ve heard before, I didn’t know much about it. I did know it was not related to the movie of the same name, however. In fact, here’s a pretty funny letter from Greenman to Seth Rogen about the name Superbad. (more…)

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Roddy Doyle–“Bullfighting” (New Yorker, April 28, 2008)

Posted in Dead Kennedys, Marriage Trouble, New Yorker, Pearl Jam, Roddy Doyle, Short Story, The Avengers, X on May 15, 2008| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: PEARL JAM-Live at Easy Street (2006).

This is a live EP of Pearl Jam playing at the Easy Street record store in West Seattle. Wikipedia says their set list had 16 songs; however the EP (which is only about 25 minutes) has 7 songs. The EP is really great, though, as it contains some terrific punk covers in addition to some classic PJ tracks. It also makes the set seem like it was much more fast and furious than it actually was. The disc speeds up really quickly with the one minute “Lukin” and then jumps right a cover of The Avengers’ “American in Me” and then a song later, a fabulous cover of the Dead Kennedys “Bleed for Me” (complete with right-on squealing guitar noises), and then, the biggest surprise a great cover of X’s “The New World” (complete with guest vocals by John Doe). They end with a great rendition of “Porch” and then they’re done. I suppose it is more for completists, but i you’re not a big PJ fan, but like their harder stuff, this is a great EP to check out.

[READ: May 6, 2008] “Bullfighting”

This story focuses on 4 middle-aged Irishmen and the bonds they create by meeting weekly for pints to talk about…nothing. Donal and Elaine have been more or less happily married for years. All of their kids are grown, and Donal is, well, satisfied with his life. (more…)

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Benjamin Percy–“April 20, 2008” (Esquire, May 2008)

Posted in Badly Drawn Boy, Benjamin Percy, Digression, Esquire, Pink Floyd, Short Story, Tanakh, Tindersticks, Tom Waits, Wikipedia on May 13, 2008| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: TANAKH-Tanakh (2004) & Ardent Fevers (2006).

Tanakh are part of the whole Montreal subculture that I really like. Even though Jesse Poe, the founder lives and records in Virginia, somehow he got involved with the Quebeckers. They release CDs on the venerable Constellation and Alien8Records labels. They also released two CDs in relatively quick succession. The reason I didn’t give any prelude about the band as a whole is because these two discs are so different that it wouldn’t be worth it.

Tanakh. This is a two disc set. It contains 2 songs. One is about 58 minutes the other is about 28 minutes. Each song is a long (obviously) improvisational piece. There’s about ten people involved in the recording, and while there are some clear traditional instruments involved: guitar, bass, drums) there are also scores and scores of ambient noises, non ambient noises (at one point I’m pretty sure you can hear duct tape being pulled off the roll). And on and on. Whether or not this type of thing is your cup of tea will determine your tolerance for it.

The 58 minute piece starts with a two note motif that fades away and returns. It reminds me in some ways of the early 70’s Pink Floyd side-long pieces which start off as songs and then have freak outs in the middle and then return to the motif. The big difference of course is that Tanakh’s freak outs are more noise than music. The 28 minute song had less of that wild improv in the middle, and I think is the more satisfying of the two. Of course, it’s pretty hard for me to listen to a 58 minute song straight through, as my commute is only 30 minutes, so some of the momentum gets lost.

In the past, Tanakh records were a little less willful, and, as it turns out, so they are in the future.

Ardent Fevers. This record is a stunningly beautiful collection of songs. It is so radically different from the self titled album that it’s hard to believe the same people were responsible. The liner notes for this album are from a fan who says he listened to this album and this album alone for several weeks on a long trip, and I can totally see that. I had listened to it a number of times and really enjoyed it. When I re-listened to it the other day I couldn’t believe how good it all sounded. It was as if it had aged well while put away. The melodies seemed stronger, the pieces more catchy, everything about it is great.

But what does it sound like, you ask. Despite the darker nature of the songs, they exude a calming effect somehow. They contain, usually, a nice strong riff, sometimes accompanied by horns, often with a repeated and hard to ignore motif. The songs build and build, yet never reach a fury or even a major crescendo. And despite this, the songs never feel like they are unfinished. They just build in strength until they stop.

Jesse Poe’s voice is a soft, low, almost-speak. Comparisons are not too useful–although he sounds so much like one singer who I just cannot place–but perhaps, like a sweeter Tom Waits, or a less depressed Tindersticks. The overall feeling of the album is kind of dark, yet there are all of these uplifting moments (like the horns or a great surge of acoustic guitars) that lift you out of the gloom. I hate to sound so fawning about this record, and yet I think it’s a really great piece. (more…)

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McSweeneys #26 [“New Stories from Overseas”, “New Stories from Our Shores”, and “Where to Invade Next”] (2008)

Posted in Adventure, Canadian Content, Consumerism, Contests, Daredevils, Discworld, Gangsters, Marriage Trouble, McSweeney's, Political Humor, Short Story, The Riches, War, WMDs on April 8, 2008| 2 Comments »

SOUNDTRACK: JOSE GONZALEZ-In Our Nature (2007).

I first heard Jose Gonzalez, as pretty much everyone did, in the Sony commercial. The one where thousands of superballs are dropped down a San Francisco street to the accompaniment of Gonzalez’ “Heartbeats”. It was a beautiful piece of video. And the song was really perfectly suited. A mellow ballad, which happened to be a cover of a song by a band called The Knife.

The rest of the album was similar: soft, beautifully played acoustic songs, hushed vocals, just very pretty.

Gonzales’ follow up doesn’t mess with the formula too much. He adds another player or two, to include some harmonies, and he does another cover (Cocteau Twins’ “Teardrops”) but overall the feeling is much the same. The Cocteau Twins cover is interesting for me because I have mentioned another Cocteau Twins cover in a review (by the Deftones) and this is yet another take on what I always assumed was an uncoverable band. This version strips the song down to its bare essentials but keeps the gorgeous melody intact. It’s quite striking.

There’s nothing especially fancy about Gonzalez’ guitar playing…he’s not trying to wow anyone with his virtuosity, which is nice. However, he is a very accomplished classical guitarist. He uses the classical techniques in his pop songs, and he tends to play certain notes harder than others bringing a natural percussion to his otherwise mellow fingerpicking. So, while I say there’s nothing fancy about his playing, it is still quite beautiful. His voice hasn’t changed either, it still retains that peaceful, serene feeling.

It’s funny then to read the words to his songs many of which come across as protest songs. Not about anything in particular but about human nature, and the animals that we can often be. The record is a really string collection of songs. It’s also quite short, about 35 minutes, which also seems fitting somehow: get in, say what you want, and get out.

Of the two records, I prefer the first one, possibly because I know it better, but I think it’s because in the follow up, the extra players detract somewhat from Gonzalez’ singular nature. Not that they do great harm, and surely he needs to evolve his sound, but I feel like with the addition of others, something is lost. Despite that, this one easily gets a 4.5 out of 5 where as Veneer got a 5 out of 5.

[READ: March 2008]: McSweeney’s #26

This was a great “issue.” I enjoyed all three parts of it. (more…)

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Salman Rushdie–“The Shelter of the World” (New Yorker, February 25, 2008)

Posted in Gruff Rhys, Marriage Trouble, New Yorker, Salman Rushdie, Short Story, Super Furry Animals, Supernatural on March 15, 2008| Leave a Comment »

tomine.jpgSOUNDTRACK: GRUFF RHYS-Candylion (2006).

candy1.jpgI’ve mentioned before that I really like Super Furry Animals. This is the lead singer’s solo album. It sounds very similar to an SFA album, although it’s a little less bizarre, a little less indulgent (which somehow seems odd for a solo album, but whatever.) Overall, it sounds somewhat more mellow, but it’s not exactly a mellow affair. The title song is a pretty little ballad. However, the album also has some great, if not rocking, then certainly rollicking songs that are great to sing along to like “Cycle of Violence” and “Now That the Feeling is Gone.” There’s lots of la la’s and Whooos! to add to the exictemnet.

And, even better, there are two songs in Welsh: “Gyrru Gyrru Gyrru” (that’s most of the lyrics, and it means “Drive”) and “Ffwydruad yn y Ffurfafen” which is just fun to imagine how to pronoucet. So, overall it sounds not unlike any other SFA album,

There is one thing though, the last song is a near 15 minute epic story called “Skylon!” It tells the tale of a mundane flight that turns into a near plane crash. There’s an actress on board as well and a bomb, and, well frankly, between Gruff’s accent and the meandering nature of the song, I’m not exactly sure what’s happening. And yet I like and learn more of the song with each listen.

I accept that this record will never be a big seller, except maybe in Wales, but you can do your part by ordering it and enjoying all of the coolness that is Gruff.

[READ: Feb 29, 2008] “The Shelter of the World.”

When the Satantic Verses came out, I was in college, and was somewhat friendly with an Indian guy (who two years later turned out to be the best friend of my then roommate…small world? Nope, small campus.) Anyhow I was talking to him about the hoopla and the fatwa and, he, very smugly, I felt, told me that I would never understand the book because it was very Indian, and an American like myself simply couldn’t get what was going on. I was rather offended by this, (and I’m sure I remember it being much more insulting than it actually was). But, when I finally read the Satanic Verses a few years after that, it turns out he was completely right. I had no idea what was going on in that book. And even though I may someday try again, I’m still pretty sure I won’t get it. That didn’t stop me from reading and enjoying Rushdie’s other books. However, I haven’t read much by him lately. So, when I saw this story in the New Yorker I thought I’d give it a go. (more…)

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Maile Meloy–Half in Love (2002)

Posted in "Weird Al" Yankovic, Barenaked Ladies, Maile Meloy, Marriage Trouble, Short Books, Short Story on December 19, 2007| Leave a Comment »

half.jpgSOUNDTRACK: BARENAKED LADIES-Stunt (1998) & Maroon (2000).

stunt.jpgStunt. BNL took over the world with “One Week,” one of the most ubiquitous songs of 1998, and one that I never actually got sick of, which is pretty surprising. But it’s got many different elements and–and I think this is the clincher–the words are so hard to understand, that I spend most of my time while listening to the song, just trying to figure them out. Weird Al even parodied it (called “Jerry Springer”) so you know it was big.

[DIGRESSION]: Some day I’d like to plot the fortunes of any band that has been parodied by Weird Al. My theory is that a parody by Weird Al = instant commercial failure on future records…some day when I have free time I’ll see what I come up with.

This song helped Stunt sell millions of copies. But to me, Stunt is, overall, one of their weakest efforts. It starts off so strongly with “One Week” and “It’s All Been Done” (a song that is even catchier than “One Week.”)  There are some other strong songs on the disc: “I’ll Be That Girl” is a pretty ballad, and “Never is Enough” is another poppy gem. While “Who Needs Sleep” is one of their silly sounding songs that packs a great chorus. However, the rest don’t so much balance out the mania of the rest of the album as deaden it. I’ve listened to the album twice in the last few days and can’t really remember what some of those middle songs sound like.

Despite that, I made sure to buy the limited edition with bonus tracks, and I must say the bonus track “She’s on Time” is one of the best things on the record.

maroon.jpgMaroon. When I grabbed this record next, I had complete forgotten it existed. I assumed that the next one was Everything for Everyone, so imagine my surprise to find Maroon. And, evidently I’m not the only one who forgot about that album: allmusic says sales were off pretty far for this one (do I blame Weird Al?)

Regardless, I think that Maroon is a far superior record to Stunt. Reviewers suggest that it is sort of a Stunt 2.0, but I think the melodies are stronger and the hooks are sharper. “Pinch Me” is a fun conflation of ballad and the manic energy of “One Week,” while “Too Little, Too Late” starts the record off with a strong singalong. And “Sell Sell Sell” is a fun, over the top rocker.

Steven Page, for the most part, could sing anything and make it interesting. However, when BNL fall into a slightly more “adult contemporary” vein as they did on Stunt, Page tends to lose the pizazz that makes his voice interesting. He gets it back on Maroon, so even some of those middle songs that aren’t awesome, are still enjoyable. Of course, Ed Robertson, the other singer doesn’t fall into that same trap, but I think that’s because he doesn’t often do the mellow songs.

There’s also a bonus song by Kevin Hearn at the end of the album. And, I hate to say it, but I’m just not that big a fan of his. His songs and singing style are all very pleasant, but his whole style is just a little too pleasant. There’s no edge, and I find myself drifting away during his songs. He has more songs coming on later albums too, and they’re all very pleasant, but often very forgettable.

[READ: September 2006] Half in Love

As you can tell by the date, this is one of those books from over a year ago that I read at my previous job. I’ve been reading pretty quickly lately and haven’t had a chance to catch up on some of the old ones on my list. So, my memory is a little rusty of the details (always a danger if you read a lot). (more…)

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Dave Eggers & Deb Olin Unferth & Sarah Manguso–One Hundred and Forty-Five Stories in a Small Box (2007)

Posted in Cop Shoot Cop, Dave Eggers, David Ouimet, Deb Olin Unferth, Firewater, Flash Fiction, Foetus, Funny (ha ha), Funny (strange), McSweeney's, Meta, Motherhead Bug, Sarah Manguso, Short Books, Short Story, Swans on November 28, 2007| Leave a Comment »

145.jpgSOUNDTRACK: MOTHERHEAD BUG-Zambodia (1993).

zam.jpgMotherhead Bug is the creation of David Ouimet. David was my boss at Tower Records way back when. He has been in some other influential NYC bands like Swans and Cop Shoot Cop, and he’s worked with Foetus as well. He has since moved on to bigger and better things, including doing wonderfully creepy illustrations for YA books (like Cat in Glass and Double-Dare to Be Scared).

David was a founding member of Cop Shoot Cop, and then left to do other things. What I find most interesting about Zambodia is that it sounds fairly comparable to the band Firewater, a band that was created by Tod A, one of the other founders of Cop Shoot Cop. No idea if there was something in their collective water but it’s interetsing that they both pursued this bizarre hybrid of punk/industrial/klezmer/gypsy/circus rock.

If you know Firewater (and you should, they’re very good), Motherhead Bug would be something like a slightly more indie version of them (if you can imagine that). The unconventional aspects of the songs are more to the fore, and the instrumentataion is a little more peculiar. This is probably due to the fact that Ouimet is a trombonist and samplist (is that what you call a sampler player?). It is clear that his love of the horn section and freedom of samples allowed his creativity to run amock.

Ouimet’s vocals work in a gravelley context similar to Tom Waits, but less drunken-bluesman and more gothic spooky storyteller. The whole shebang sounds something like a Kurt Weillian nightmare. And yet, there is a great deal of humor involved. Having said all that, for all of its unconventiality, the songs are pretty standard verse chorus verse, 4 minutes long. It’s just what he does within those limits is pretty outlandish!

For a genre that has so many tentacles, Motherhead Bug fills a fun niche of industrial carnival music. If you like a chaotic noisy band, and you’re interested in unconventional instrumentation, then check out Motherhead Bug.

Hi David.

[READ: November 20, 2007] One Hundred and Forty-five Stories in a Small Box.

The format of these books is three books in a small box. Each book is a volume of short short stories or flash fiction. The books themselves are also small in size: slightly smaller than a mass paperback. So, when I say that a story is a page long, it is in fact, about a typical paragraph length. One of the tropes of the flash fiction movement is that you try and write a fully realized story in as short a space as possible. It is amazing how complete many of these stories turn out to be. Even though they are devoid of most of the trappings of a conventional story, they often convey a full range of emotion, and even some details. According to the Wikipedia entry, most flash-fiction pieces are between 250 and 1,000 words long. This should all give a sense for what’s in the box. (more…)

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Roddy Doyle–“The Dog” (New Yorker, November 5, 2007)

Posted in Foreign Books, Marriage Trouble, New Yorker, Roddy Doyle, Short Story, The Go! Team on November 7, 2007| Leave a Comment »

ny115.jpgSOUNDTRACK: THE GO! TEAM-Thunder, Lightning , Strike (2004).

goteam.jpgThe Go! Team have a new album out and so I dug out their first to see if I liked it enough to check out the new one. This first one is such a weird album. It feels intensely like what I would call a joke album. There are cheesy horns, crazy samples of cheerleaders cheering, and hooks hooks hooks! It all sounds like the soundtrack to the best 70s action TV show that never existed. And yet the whole thing works so well. It is just so damned catchy. I listened to it about 3 times today and never got sick of it.

I can’t really imagine how you would follow it up…more of the same would be lame, but where could you possibly go from there? I’ll definitely be looking into it.

[READ: November 5, 2007] “The Dog.”

My initial exposure to Roddy Doyle was through his early, funny stories (Woody Allen shout out, there). And as he continues writing, his stories get darker and darker. Not mean spirited or sadistic, just kind of sad and fate-filled. While I do miss the funny Roddy, this newer side writes so precisely and so beautifully that it’s hard to complain. (more…)

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