SOUNDTRACK: TIME FOR THREE-Tiny Desk Concert #291 (July 27, 2013).
Time for Three are a string trio who play many types of music. There are two violinists Zachary De Pue and Nick Kendall with a double bassist Ranaan Meyerand. And over the course of their three songs (all original) they play classical, jazz, bluegrass and just about everything in between.
“Banjo Love,” features two contrary violin solos which get support from Meyer’s expressively propulsive bass. It opens with the two guys strumming the violins before breaking into some lovely bowed playing. Both violinists switch off solos (the blond player is a bit faster and more “showoffy” (but great)). There’s even a bit of a bass solo after which the three guys all make a big grunt before continuing to the end of the song.
They say they are honored to be on the Tiny Desk series and compliment them on their new offices.
“Sundays” is a slow piece that features lots interesting bass parts behind the slow violin melodies.
They have funny stories about the origins of their songs. “Don Don” is so named because the baseline goes don… don. This has more of a bluegrass fiddle feel than a classical feel. It’s super fast and fun with perfect slides and solos to really keep the song moving.
The notes say that they wished the guys played more, and I do too. Interestingly I see that they have covered Daft Punk and Kanye West, so I guess they’re up for just about anything.
[READ: December 8, 2015] The Complete Peanuts 1965-1966
A whole bunch of ideas that I think of as BIG PEANUTS ideas come along in this book. May of 1965 introduced the Daisy Hill Puppy Farm and Snoopy’s desire to meet his siblings. In July of 1965 we get the first instance of snoopy at the typewriter writing “it was a dark and stormy night.” We see Charlie Brown refer to the tree as a “kite eating tree” for the first time. In July 1965 it’s the first time I can recall seeing the phrase “jelly bread.” It’s the first appearance of Snoopy as Beau, the World War 1 flying ace (Oct 1965). And in September 1966 we get the first appearance of Peppermint Patty!
The pop culture references seem to have dimmed somewhat too, although in January 1965, Linus cries “Annette Funicello has grown up!”
The “Happiness is” quotes are fewer, although Lucy squeezes Snoopy and says “Felicitas est parvus canis calidus,” which is Latin for “Happiness is a Warm Puppy.” Of course later when he kisses her she freaks out “get some disinfectant, get some iodine” and he says “next time I’ll bite her on the leg.”
Linus’ blanket also takes on a mind of its own in March 1965 actually hissing at and attacking Lucy. (more…)
SOUNDTRACK: BELA FLECK, EDGAR MEYER, ZAKIR HUSSAIN-Tiny Desk Concert #70 (July 26, 2010).
Bela Fleck is a rather legendary musician, and yet I realized I don’t really know that much about him. And somehow I never knew he was a banjo player (that’s a pretty serious omission on my part). I had never heard of the other two musicians, although they are apparently world-class masters of the bass fiddle and the tabla.
I also didn’t expect this Tiny Desk Concert to be so interestingly world-musicy.
This set is only two songs but each is about 7 minutes long and they are both very cool (and from the album The Melody of Rhythm).
Fleck’s playing is amazing, with a tone that is often unlike a standard banjo sound. And I absolutely love the tabla–I am fascinated by this instrument. The first song, “Bubbles” is an amazing demonstration of Fleck’s banjo. About midway through he is playing in a decidedly middle eastern style (which works great with the tabla). And when the bass starts getting bowed around 1:50, it adds an amazing richness to this already cool song. There’s a cool bass solo (I love that the tabla pauses a few times during the solo). The ending is just wonderful.
Before the second song, “Bahar” (which means “springtime”) they talk about being nervous, which is pretty funny. This song opens with the bass fiddle’s bowed notes (including a very very high note). This one seems to be a more solo-centered, with some elaborate work from Fleck after the introduction. And the tabla solo, while brief, is really cool to watch. I prefer the first song, but the more traditional nature of the second song is a nice counterpart to the first.
[READ: August 24, 2015] Grantland #12
I enjoyed this issue as well. This was mostly the spring and summer of 2014, which sounds so long ago, and yet so many things seem so current.
CHUCK KLOSTERMAN-“The Life and Times of Kiss”
I love this article about Kiss. And I wrote about it back here.
WESLEY MORRIS-“Poison Candy”
This is about the disastrous state of female comedies. It focuses on the movie The Other Woman which is ostensibly a female centered comedy but is entirely other.
BILL SIMMONS-“Sterling’s Fold”
A drumming down of Donald Sterling. It’s hard for me to believe that this happened over a year ago.
ZACH LOWE-“Building the Brow”
An article about Anthony Davis of the Pelicans, who is proving to be better than anyone imagined. (more…)
SOUNDTRACK: BASIA BULAT-“Tall Tall Shadow” and “It Can’t Be You” live at Polaris Music Prize (2014).
Swinging to the other side of the musical world from Tanya Tagaq, Basia Bulat also performed at the 2014 Polaris. I like Bulat a lot, she comes across as a sweet singer (no idea if she is actually sweet). And I love that she can make really complex songs out of such random instruments (she plays autoharp, hammered dulcimer and others).
In this performance, she is fairly traditional for “Tall Tall Shadow” on the piano (although the french horn accompaniment is a nice twist), but “It Can’t Be You” on charango really highlights just what you can do with, essentially, a souped up ukulele.
“Shadow” highlights her voice which she holds for some quite long notes. The song is really pretty with a great chorus. “It Can’t Be You” is just her and the charango (which looks like a ten string ukulele but is Andean in origin). It’s quite a song–her voice and that instrument are lovely.
[READ: February 4, 2015] Grantland #11
I enjoyed this issue quite a lot, even if I didn’t know who half of the people profiled were (and won’t remember them in two days time).
I am very curious why Grantland is just so obsessed with basketball than other sports. It’s a little crazy how one sided these books tend to be. They obviously love all sports but the preponderance of NBA articles is really staggering.
I do wish there’d be a bit more about TV and movies (and even more about the shows that I watch), but it is a fun way to learn about shows I would never watch. And maybe that’s why I like these books so much, it’s my chance to vicariously enjoy sports without having to care about any of it (especially since it is all a year old, I never know if anything they talk about actually came to fruition or not).
This issue covers January-March 2014 (it’s fun reading about things almost exactly a year apart–to read about Oscars and Super Bowl stuff but have it be last year’s Super Bowl (especially since it too had the Seahawks) was very trippy indeed).
SOUNDTRACK: CRASH TEST DUMMIES-Jingle all the way… (2002).
Even though the Crash Test Dummies are often seen as a joke band or a one hit wonder (which I guess they are), I’ve liked them for a while (their earlier stuff a lot more than their later stuff, admittedly). But it seemed like they’d have a fun take on Christmas music.
And it starts out in a comical sort of way with Brad Robert’s deeper-than-ever voice reciting about his life in Los Angeles, where it is warm and sunny at Christmas time. I like that he rhymes 24th with up north. The spoken section is quite loud in the mix (it sounds like he is right in your ear). Unfortunately, that is the case when he starts singing too–he is uncomfortably loud in the mix and it sounds like he is holding back because of it–he doesn’t sound great and his voice sounds more comical than interesting. Which is a shame because the music (with cheesey keyboards) is great.
Roberts sings lead on about half of the songs. Ellen Reid sings lead on the other half except for a couple where they split lead duties.
The rest of Robert’s songs include: “Jingle Bells” (which is certainly comical–it sounds like a chain gang song with the “Hey!s” sounding almost like a prison chant). It’s weird and cool though (even if his voice is once again too loud in the mix). “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen” has his voice mixed much better–he seems to be really singing. And this version–a loungey/jazzy rendition is much great fun. “God King Wenceslas” sounds proper (with Reid’s close backing vocals). It has a pretty penny whistle keeping the song going.
Ellen Reid has a great voice and I love hearing her sing. But in the first two songs she sings lead on in this disc she sounds like she is singing too slowly. “O Little Town of Bethlehem” especially sounds like the music is going to pass her up at any minute. I also don’t like the country vibe of the song. “In the Bleak Midwinter” is also (intentionally) slow, which I don’t like. Perhaps I just don’t like this song (although I do think the melody is lovely). “The Little Drummer Boy” is beautiful and Robert’s bass backing vocals are perfect. “Silent Night” is done in a countryish style, but I like this version. Although normally this song can make me cry, this version absolutely does not–too honky tonkish.
The final song, “The Huron Carol” is quite formal and proper–just Reid and a piano opening the song. It sounds very holy, very pretty. When Robert’s bass backing vocals come in, it adds more depth to the song. And it’s a lovely way to end.
[READ: October 30, 2014] Freedom
I read this a couple months ago and then got so caught up in reading other things that I never got around to posting about it. And that’s a bummer because I really liked the book a lot and I fear that I won’t remember everything I wanted to say about it.
I had read a couple of excerpts from the book in the New Yorker (quite some time ago). They were helpful in grounding the story for me, but they didn’t prepare me for the breadth of the story. It follows one family, the Berglunds, through several decades, focusing on each of them in great detail as they navigate through the Reagan, Bush, Clinton, Bush and a smidge of the Obama years.
The Berglunds are a liberal family. They were among the first white families to move onto their urban street in St. Paul, Minnesota (after white flight to the burbs). Patty is a charming (some say smug) homemaker and Walter is a lawyer (public defendant, naturally). They have two kids, Jessica and Joey. Patty dotes on Joey to an embarrassing degree (Joey is embarrassed by it, Jessica is infuriated by it and even Patty is kind of embarrassed when she really thinks about it). At the same time she is rather neglectful of Jessica. Naturally, Jessica becomes quite the success (loves reading, committed to the environment), while Joey rebels and finds all kinds of ways to disappoint them and make money. (This isn’t a bad thing, but the family has plenty of money and Joey doesn’t need to (especially not the way he goes about it). Not to mention Walter and Patty are not into the money for money’s sake thing.
The book opens that there was some “news” about Walter. He and Patty had moved to Washington DC two years earlier. He clearly did something bad (we won’t find out until much later). But that serves as an introduction to the Berglunds. And then we go back to see them, years earlier, settling into St Paul. (more…)
SOUNDTRACK: WALT DISNEY-Chilling, Thrilling Sounds Of The Haunted House (1964).
Just in time for Halloween, I link to Disney’s 1964 LP Chilling, Thrilling Sounds Of The Haunted House.
I was unfamiliar with this record, but I gather a lot of people grew up being frightened by this. The premise is simple–the narrator talks to you, yes you, as you are prepared to be scared by, well, everything you can imagine. For 26 minutes, various sound effects are designed to scare you.
You go into a haunted house…and never come back. Although despite the title, that’s all there is of a haunted house. For there are more things to scare you….
There’s screams and creaks. Gunpowder and dogs barking. A trip to Mars.
Tree limbs falling, cats going crazy. A racist Chinese segment.
The back half of the disc is sound effects–I have no idea what that’s supposed to be around 20:49, though.
Basically every fear a kid could have (Disney was quite the sadist, huh?)
I imagine that if you were a kid (in 1964) this could be pretty darn scary. Enjoy the whole thing…if you dare!
[READ: October 25, 2014] The Dumbest Idea Ever
I was pretty excited to see this book from Jimmy Gownley, creator of Amelia Rules, one of my favorite kids comic books. I see that the books have been reissued, and that some new ones have been published since I last checked, so I’ll have to look for those. He also has a new comic strip called Gracieland.
Anyhow, this book is a memoir about Jimmy growing up as a kid obsessed with comic books in a world where comic books were not appreciated (specifically: Catholic School).
It opens with young Jimmy being interviewed on TV–a seeming fantasy for any writer. But this happens to be true (it’s local TV coverage of this young boy who has self published a comic book). But before we get ahead of ourselves, we jump back two years earlier.
Jimmy lives in Girardville, PA. He’s a great basketball player, an excellent student and a budding artist. Sadly Girardville, PA is not the place for an artist–there’s not even a half way decent art store. So, Jimmy relies on the few stores that carry comic books as his sole outlet for creative fun. Even a good student can’t convince his teachers that a comic books is appropriate in school. He even volunteers to do an oral report on the value of comic books. He gets an A on the report but is still forbidden from having them in school. (more…)
I heard about this band when “Default” became a kind of alt rock standard. It got a little overplayed, but there was something so catchy and yet so slightly odd about it that I really wanted to hear more. So when I heard how catchy and fun “Hail Bop” proved to be, I knew it was time to check out the whole album.
And the album is full of quirky, delightful songs. In fact, despite how weird the album cover art is, it actually represents the sounds of the album pretty well. It’s a kind of arid looking desert but with a futuristic weird alien thing scampering amidst it. Thus, there are acoustic twangy guitars underpinning the songs that are liberally sprinkled with oddball sci-fi sounds and tweaks of gloriously fun synths.
The album has a completely cohesive feel (which I believe comes from the sunny vibe and the beautiful harmonies), and yet there is a great amount of diversity in the music. Many of the songs are synth heavy and catchy, but not dance rock at all. “Waveforms” is a strange song with synths being manipulated over a heavy drum beat. But it’s those vocals (especially in the chorus) that elevate the song above the mechanical nature of the music. “Zumm Zumm” is even weirder with the kind of sci-fi effects that get thrown around, and yet that chorus once again is really pretty. And “Default” sounds like it is skittering and repeating as it pounds away–a strange and infectious single.
But for all the weirdness, “Hail Bop” is a supremely catchy sweet song. And “Firewater” is propelled by a low bass with acoustic guitars on top. Reference points for me include Super Furry Animals and The Soundtrack of Our Lives, neither one glaringly obvious sign posts but they have that same harmony filled vibe. See especially “Love’s Dart” another catchy song with a fun twangy Western feels. There’s mellow guitar on “Hand of Man” and there’s a surf guitar stomper in “Wor” and more stomping drums in “Storm.”
My album contains some extra remixes. I’m not a big fan of remixes so these are needless additions (and add about 20 minutes to the total running time). But that’s got little to do with the album itself, which is really a treat for fans of poppy quirky rock.
[READ: August 2014] Nothing Can Possibly Go Wrong
Sarah gave me this book for my birthday because we both like Faith Erin Hicks (and we both like First Second books). And I was not disappointed.
Obviously, a title like this leads you to conclude that everything will go wrong, and it pretty much does. The cover image doesn’t quite convey what’s at stake in the story, although closer inspection reveals a kind of geeks (the ones with glasses) and cheerleader (the ones in uniforms) vibe. Which this story certainly has.
Nate and Charlie are old friends. Charlie is the captain of the basketball team and Nate is the president of the robotics club. But unlike a typical pairing of these two types, Charlie is laid back and totally mellow while Nate is neurotic and angry with a huge chip on his shoulder.
As the story opens, Charlie has just been dumped by his girlfriend, the head cheerleader. Charlie doesn’t seem so upset by it but Nate is furious (as usual). Of course, he is mostly furious because he thinks that Charlie is still with Holly and because the cheerleaders have declared war on the robotics team. Specifically, they are trying to take the science funding to use for new uniforms (can this actually happen in school? It happens in fictional schools all the time). Obviously there’s nothing that Charlie can do about it, so he just goes home, allowing Nate to stew.
But mellow Charlie also has a dark storyline. There’s a note from his dad telling him to call his mom to which he says “Yeah, that’s not happening.” We learn a smattering of information about why Charlie is mad at his mom, and it is clear that their feud is going to build to a head before the story ends. So tension is definitely present in the story. (more…)
I can’t get over how much I’ve been enjoying this album for the last two years. Father John Misty is J Tillman from Fleet Foxes.
This disc is a gentle folk album with vaguely country leanings. The arrangements are spare and yet the verses and choruses are so great to sing along to. “Funtimes in Babylon” has this infectious chorus: “I would like to abuse my lungs, smoke everything in sight with every girl I’ve ever loved. Ride around the wreckage on a horse knee deep in mud. Look out, Hollywood, here I come.” “Nancy from Now On” has a great propulsive chorus with oohs and tinkling bells and pianos and Misty’s engaging falsetto.
I was introduced to this album by “Hollywood Forever Cemetery Sings” which opens with the super catchy line, “Jeeeeesus Christ, girl.” I love the big crashing drum sound he has here. “I’m Writing a Novel” is a fun romp, with the great line “I’m writing a novel because it’s never been done before.” “O I Long to Feel Your Arms Around Me” introduces a great organ sound. It’s a full song at only 2 and a half minutes.
“Misty’s Nightmares 1 & 2” opens with a slide guitar and turns into a stomping song with more Ooohs and a great chorus. “Only Son of the Ladiesman” has a great chorus with the fun couple: “I’m a steady hand, I’m a Dodgers fan.” “This is Sally Hatchet” has cool guitar blasts and a great bridge.
“Well You Can Do It Without Me” is a countrified 2 minute stomper. “Tee Pees 1-12” is a big stompin’ honkey tonk song with fiddles and slide guitar. The disc ends with “Everyman Needs a Companion” a slow ballad with a great piano melody and a fun to sing along with verse and chorus.
I love the lyrics on this album, especially the song “Now I’m Learning to Love the War” a slow ballad with a great story:
Try not to think so much about
The truly staggering amount of oil that it takes to make a record
All the shipping, the vinyl, the cellophane lining, the high gloss
The tape and the gear
Try not to become too consumed
With what’s a criminal volume of oil that it takes to paint a portrait
The acrylic, the varnish, aluminum tubes filled with latex
The solvents and dye
Lets just call this what it is
The gentler side of mankind’s death wish
When it’s my time to go
Gonna leave behind things that won’t decompose
In addition to all of the great music on here, the CD packaging is fantastic with that great cover, done in a cardboard gatefold sleeve including two huge books full of words and drawings and lyrics and everything. I’m really looking forward to his next release.
[READ: September 14, 2014] Grantland #10
Despite my being in the middle of reading several other things, I was looking for a short article to read the other night and grabbed my Grantland 10. And, of course, once I started, I couldn’t stop. I put everything else on hold and blasted through this issue.
And so all of my loves and hates are the same with this issue. I never know how anything they talk about nearly a year ago turned out, which stinks. And yet I get so wrapped up in the writing that I don’t care. I’m not sure what it is about the writing for Grantland that i enjoy so much. It is casual but knowledgeable. Often funny but not obnoxiously silly. And I suppose that now I feel like I’m in on all of the secret stuff they talk about so I’m part of the club. I fear that if I were to ever go to the website I would get sucked into a black hole and never emerge.
I often wonder how they choose what goes into the book. This issue has some new writers and the surprising absence of some regulars. I wonder what went on there. And as always, the book could use some editing and maybe actually listing the urls of the links that were once in the online version. But I think I’m talking to deaf ears on that one.
This issue covers October-December 2013 (that’s ten-twelve months ago! Some of this stuff feels ancient!)
I never watch the ads that come before Youtube videos. But this came on as an ad and I was utterly mesmerized by it.
I didn’t even know what it was for. Turns out that Univore is a band and “Vampire” is one of their songs. The 1 minute ad video was actually the whole thing.
It’s got a simple buzzy synthesized riff, backing vocalists singing “Oh yea” when appropriate and an occasional deep voiced man saying “vampire.” The video is of an older gentleman (who a little research suggests is Marco Casale) dressed like a vampire running around a small green space on a campus. The whole video looks like it took 15 minutes to film. It is weird and wonderful.
I still know nothing about Univore, which may be for the better, but I did enjoy this video.
[READ: April 6, 2014] Grantland #9
I’m surprised that there aren’t better cover images online for these books. For #8 i had to use one with a big flash in the middle of it and this one is the illustration from the Grantland website. The books are quite pretty so why uses these pale imitations?
So this issue proved to be a lot better about weird typos and “we just took this from the web and pasted it and never bothered to check to see if there was anything weird” problems. So thanks for at least running it through Spellcheck. The only other thing left is to either remove the lines that talk about attached links/images if they are not there or to include the url or make up a tiny url (but that would be actual work!). Oh, and please make sure all of the footnotes are included.
I have given up on ever finding out how these things turned out several months after the fact–I’ll just happily live in ignorance of reality there.
This issue was taken from during basketball’s downtime which was a nice change (even though the still managed to talk about basketball). There was more pop culture and some wonderful articles about team nicknames and mascots–something I absolutely love. So this is one of my favorite issues overall. (more…)
SOUNDTRACK: RALPH STANLEY-Tiny Desk Concert #31 (October 13, 2009).
Ralph Stanley is apparently a living bluegrass legend, although I’ve never heard of him. He plays a clawhammer banjo (and apparently has for 63 years).
The concert lasted only 6 minutes, but in that time he sang three a capella songs: “Gloryland,” “Turn Back, Turn Back” and “Amazing Grace.”
It’s hard to assess a legend based on this performance. I’ve no idea how good his voice was back in the day. He sounds fine here, albeit understandably quite old. I’d have liked to hear his banjo.
[READ: January 3, 2014] Grantland #8
It is becoming apparent to me that Grantland loves basketball. Like, a lot more than any other sport. This issue had a ton of basketball in it. And, I have to admit I was a little tired of it by the end–there was a lot less pop culture stuff, too. So, it felt especially basketball heavy. I realize of course that the time frame covered was the playoffs, but still.
BILL SIMMONS-“Searching for a Superman”
A lengthy article about Dwight Howard, discussing the pros and cons of signing him again.
MARK TITUS-“How Did He Get So Good?”
A look at Paul George and Danny Green doing better than expected in the NCAA playoffs.
CHARLES P. PIERCE-“A Dark Day in Boston”
Pierce wonders about Boston after the Boston Marathon bombing–he says the city will come back stronger. (more…)
After Angel Rat, original bassist Blacky left the band. That’s never a good sign. After the tour for this album, original singer Snake left the band. That’s an even worse sign. I still can’t quite figure out exactly why Snake left (personal problems) but he went on to form the band Union Made. For a very detailed history of the band, check out this very cool timeline at Voivod dot net.
The Outer Limits got a pretty big release. I have an original copy that came with 3D glasses and all of the illustrations in 3D. But I was a little disappointed in Angel Rat and I don’t think I gave The Outer Limits much of a chance. It was no Nothingface. But the band was always morphing. Since Angel Rat went very commercial, this album brought things back into the prog realm (with a 17(!) minute song) but also had a lot of commercial songs.
The album opens with “Fix My Heart” which starts out much heavier than anything on Angel Rat. It’s also got some metal guitar pyrotechnics (squeaks and harmonics). Snake’s voice isn’t quite as pretty as on Angel Rat either—he growls a bit, but maintains his nicer voice overall. Nevertheless, “Fix My Heart” is a pretty commercial enterprise (as the title might even suggest). There’s some good “spacey” guitars sounds which bode will for the sci-fi angle of the album (and there’s some cool effects that reward headphone use). “Moonbeam Rider” starts with a very classic rock sounding riff and then morphs into a kind of pretty, mellow verse. But the interstitial guitar is all speed. It’s a nice mix of fast and slow. This song features some interesting bass work—nothing fancy but for the slow parts it is actually keeping the beat instead of the drums. The bassist was a studio musician for this album. There’s also what sounds like a bong during the pre-guitar solo section (the solo is fairly traditional).
“Le Pont Noir” is a mellow, slow guitar song with a very cool delay effect and Snake’s whispered vocals. The bridge gets heavy with a wonderfully weird Piggy guitar riff. It’s one of my favorite songs on the album.
Then the band’s second Pink Floyd cover appears. This time it’s the even more obscure “The Nile Song.” They have rather heavied this one up with crunching guitars and Snake’s distance screaming filling in the void (although in fairness the original vocals are also screamed). It’s not as dynamic or exciting as “Astronomy Domine,” but it’s still a cool cover. “The Lost Machine” starts off heavy with Away’s double cymbal work (a noisy splash and a fast ride cymbal). Then Piggy’s guitars have a slight delay on them which makes the opening chords sound especially odd. The bridge is a place for Piggy to show off some more weird spacey chords and some very cool guitar riffs. There’s even a spoken word narrator in the middle of the song that explains the “mission” “Time Warp” opens with a very bright and up beat sounding verse. But it quickly disintegrates into (intentional) musical chaos as the narrator gets lost in space.
This all leads up to the 17 minute “Jack Luminous.” If anyone doubted their prog rock leanings, this should dispel that immediate. 17 minutes, multiple parts, a sci-fi epic, it is prog (but heavy prog) at its finest. There are some incredibly catchy parts as well as some less catchy parts, and sections seem to change every two minutes or so. The slow down at 10 minutes is very cool—different guitar effects and the suspenseful bass line. There’s repeated sections as well, which means if you like some guitar line (the spacey part near the end) it comes back! It’s not quite as dynamic as say 2112, but it’s a very successful sci-fi epic.
“Wrong Way Street” returns to the normal and more conventional. The bass that opens the song sounds great and the chords are fairly conventional–the chorus is even really catchy. “We Are Not Alone” is a break-neck metal song, The drums are super fast, the guitars are relentless and the chorus even has an echoed “Hey!” that gets you to sing along. The song also features a cool slow, almost jazzy bass and drum section that lets Piggy throw some soloing in before returning to the fast paced verses.
There’s lots of theories about what happened to Voivod after this album. The success they had achieved earlier was now gone and the band seemed like they couldn’t decide to be metal or prog or is they should go for more pop music. The problem of course is that they were too weird to get mainstream acceptance anyway.
So Snake left and then there were only two original members. The next step would be a drastic one.
[READ: July 9, 2013] Grantland #7
This issue seemed to come hot on the heels of #6. But I enjoyed it just as much. A few notes: no Jeremy Lin in this issue. Lots of LeBron James, three articles about soccer! And a few pop culture moments that I had forgotten about.
REMBERT BROWNE AND DUSTIN PARKER-“The Jeopardy! Teen Tournament JUST. GOT. REAL.
Leonard Cooper didn’t know the final Jeopardy answer but he still won and he made a hilarious joke at the end (in cartoon format);
BILL SIMMONS-“Daring to Ask the PED Question”
Simmons talks a lot about PED’s in this forum. Of course, to me PED is my initials. For him (and sports fans) it is performance enhancing drugs. He asks why sports doesn’t do more about it. There are so many people who do it that every time we see someone who might be doing it or who suddenly has a good season, we assume they are doing them too. It would be a service to the players and the fans to have rigorous testing or none at all.
CHRIS RYAN AND ROBERT MAYS-“The NFL Coaches Family Portrait By the Numbers”
A silly analysis of a photo of NFL coaches.
WESLEY MORRIS-“Jodie Foster’s Big Night”
What exactly did Jodie Foster say at the Golden Globes? (This was in January and everybody talked about it and now it’s September and I’ve completely forgotten about it—funny ephemera of pop culture).
JONATHAN ABRAMS-“Out of Africa”
A serious look at trying to bring basketball to Africa. How the culture and language problems make it very difficult to establish any real cohesion in the diverse country. But there are a few examples of boys coming from Africa and benefiting from host families and then heading back to help those who love basketball back home. The main focus is on a 15-year-old Alexis Wangmene who came to the States (and left his family!) to try to gain an education and basketball skills. It’s a heartfelt story.
MOLLY LAMBERT-“Modern Love”
About the show Catfish which just goes to show we can sink even lower as a culture.
CHUCK KLOSTERMAN-“Mental Health Protocol”
About Royce White again. Last time there was a lengthy look at him. Now we get to hear that he thinks that everyone has some kind of mental health issue.
ANDY GREENWALD-“Eat Bray Love”
How cooking shows have gone from educational to crazy and annoying. He dislikes Top Chef and the new Anthony Bourdain show The Taste (which he says is awful) but he likes a decent show called Chopped.
ZACH LOWE-“The Fragile Science of Basketball Chemistry”
Sure the Heat were great this year, but it’s the way they evolved as a team, creating chemistry, that is so impressive.
RAFE BARTHOLOMEW-“The Pariah”
Timothy Bradley beat Manny Pacquiao in a disputed judges call. Instead of rising to fame, he has been avoided like the plague.
BILL SIMMONS-“The All-Manti Te’o Mailbag
Remember that crazy story about the football guy with the dead girlfriend who turned out to be fake? I never really understood the story and while they spend a lot of time talking and theorizing about it I still don’t get it. Did they ever find out the truth about it?
CHRIS BROWN-“Speak My Language”
When you play for the Patriots, you learn their way of doing things—it is simple and efficient, a streamlined version of what other coaches try to do.
KIRK GOLDSBERRY-“The Evolution of LeBron James”
Using diagrams, we see how much of a different player James is in just the last few years with The Heat. This article has made me want to watch James in a game while he is at his peak. So, Heat vs Bulls at the end of October, you’re on my schedule.
SEAN McINDOE-“The Non-Hater’s Guide to the NHL”
Even people who hate everyone in the NHL (which is everyone) can agree that there are some players who are universally admired: Martin Brodeur, Pavel Satsyuk. Teemu Selanne, Jarome Iginla, Jonathan Toews, Martin St. Louis, Gabriel Landeskog, Patrick Elias (Devils get two!), Ryan Smyth, Steve Sullivan, Saku Koivu, Henrik Lundqvist.
ALEX PAPPADEMAS-“God Needs a Hobby”
A look at Dan Harmon and his podcast Harmontown. Harmon seems like he might be a crazy alcoholic, but he’s also pretty darn funny.
MARK TITUS-“Duke’s Ignominious Son”
Everybody hates Christian Laettner, but that’s only because he’s pretty and he made The Shot
MARK LISANTI-“Three Days in Austin”
Dealing with the craziness of the South by Southwest film festival. Sounds awful.
HUA HSU-“The Alien Has Landed”
Soccer legend Ronaldo returns to Old Trafford
BILL SIMMONS-“The Greatest Action Franchise That Ever Was”
Live blogging the Fast and Furious 6 trailer. I admit I may have to see these films after reading this.
ZACH LOWE-“Lights, Camera, Revolution”
There’s some kind of new technology that will change the NBA forever. I pretty much don’t care.
TESS LYNCH-“Nostalgia Bites”
Watching old Real World episodes shows how much things have changed in reality TV, but also how much certain behaviors are not new.
BRIAN PHILLIPS-“Maradona, Then and Now”
Maradona was an amazing kid—at 15 he was remarkable at his ball control. Now at 52 he’s a crazy loon. What exactly happened in between?
ANDY GREENWALD-“From Big to Small, From Movie to TV”
Why not make Men in Black into a TV show—with some other film recommendations.
AMOS BARSHAD-“How Soccer Explains Israel”
I didn’t expect to enjoy this but I found it very interesting. An Israeli soccer team has signed two Muslim players and it has caused incredible animosity and even arson. How this look at a team is like a microcosm of the whole Israeli situation.
LOUISA THOMS-“Back to School”
Missy Franklin won a ton of medals in the Olympics. And then she went back to high school. What’s it like to be on her team at Regis Jesuit?
WESLEY MORRIS-“Run, Frank, Run”
Frank Ocean apparently wasn’t as huge as I thought he was.
MALCOLM GLADWELL AND CHUCK KLOSTERMAN–“The Lies He Told”
More about Manti Te’o. This discussion was a bit more helpful about what happened and how crazy it is.
CHRIS RYAN AND REMBERT BROWNE-“A List of Possible Reasons for Rob Gronkowski’s Arm Infection”
Hypothetical humor.
JORDAN CONN-“The Invisible Man”
Marc Gasol is extremely respected by scouts and agents, but the fans all think of him as Pau Gasol’s chubby little brother.
REMBERT BROWNE-“French Quarter Lessons”
While in New Orleans for the Super Bowl, Browne decided to go to a bunch of used bookstores. This is very funny and enjoyable.
JAY CASPIAN KANG-“Fiercely Disputed”
Mike Tyson’s one man show is weird and strangely affecting.
KATIE BAKER-“Do Svidanya to All That”
Several NHL players went to Russia’s KHL during the lockout. And some don’t want to come back.
CHRIS RYAN-“The All-Star Circus”
NBA All-Star weekend is a crazy circus (and sounds worse than the above SXSW festival).
CHUCK KLOSETRMAN AND ALEX PAPPADEMAS-“The Nobituary”
There was a serious rumor that David Bowie was on death’s door. Klosterman and Pappademas imagine writing his obituary.
DAVID SHOEMAKER-“Glenn Beck vs. WWE”
The WWE has always had racists as part of the act. What happens when some goons start acting like the Tea Party?
DAVID JACOBY-“The Pure Heart Meets The Bachelor”
Jacoby’s grandmother watches The Bachelor and he feels badly for her.
STEVEN HYDEN-“Is This It?”
The Strokes’ fifth album had just come out [really?]. It could be their last, but Hyden thinks their last two have been quite good.
BILL SIMMONS-“The Heat in Hindsight”
The Miami Heat came close to breaking the longest winning streak in the NBA. Simmons looks at the fallout and who “wins” and “loses” in the effort.
CHARLES P. PIERCE-“Bleu, Blanc et Rouge”
I had no idea that Charlie Pierce was a Canadiens fan!
KATIE BAKER-“The Ethics of a Family Plan”
Is it ethical to pretend that you are married to your roommate to get a family discount a ta gym? Hell yes.
EMILY YOSHIDA-“A Dark Force”
J.J. Abrams is going to direct the next Star Wars films. Why, when sci-fi is so multifaceted and so different is everything coming down to J.J. Abrams?
SEAN FENNESSEY-“The Case Against Justin Timberlake”
Timberlakes’s previous album was amazing. Then he took years off to make (bad) film and (good) TV. His star would only continue to rise if he stopped making music and only hinted that he would make another album. But the release of his new album (which isn’t that good) can only hurt him.
BRYAN CURTIS-“Waiting for Bettman”
While many New Yorker’s didn’t care about the NHL strike, Canadian writers camped out waiting for Bettman to announce the strike was over.
WESLEY MORRIS-“30 Rock Landed on Us” 30 Rock was many things, but it dealt with racial issues (at least between blacks and whites) better than any show.
RANY JAZAYERLI-“Fall of the Evil Empire”
The New York Yankees look like they won’t make the playoff this year (this was written in March and as of my writing this they have a slim chance at getting the wild card slot). It will be the firs time in a while, perhaps, just perhaps, it’s the start of a new drought for the Evil Empire.
BILL BARNWELL-“The Master Raven”
Ozzie Davis knows how to pick players for the Baltimore Ravens.
REMBERT BROWNE AND DUSTIN PARKER-The Best Chappelle’s Show Sketches of All Time”
Done as a series of cartoons (by Parker); Browne picks his eight favorites:
Charlie Murphy’s True Hollywood Stories: Prince
Wayne Brady’s Show
Charlie Murphy’s True Hollywood Stories: Rick James
Black Bush (especially now that Obama is president)
Clayton Bigsby: Black White Supremacist
Making the Band (P. Diddy)
The Racial Draft (Tiger Woods Now 100% Black)
The Niggar Family (uncomfortable and hilarious no matter how many times you watch it).
Once again, there’s another great issue of Grantland. Once again, I wish they would follow up on some of their speculative stories. But it’s fun to have a time capsule of events that occurred just a few months ago and yet which I have totally forgotten about.
And here’s the cover of The Outer Limits in non 3D style (which I haven’t see before)
SOUNDTRACK: TIME FOR THREE-Tiny Desk Concert #291 (July 27, 2013).
Time for Three are a string trio who play many types of music. There are two violinists Zachary De Pue and Nick Kendall with a double bassist Ranaan Meyerand. And over the course of their three songs (all original) they play classical, jazz, bluegrass and just about everything in between.
I Just Read About That... 