SOUNDTRACK: DAVE BIDINI-The President of Mount Allison’s House, Sackville (July 28, 2007).
Until I looked it up, I didn’t know what Mount Allison was, nor why he would be playing at the President’s house. I’m still not sure why he was playing there, but as part of his solo mini tour, Dave graced the beautiful house.
For this show he read for 17 minutes and played 5 songs. He plays “My First Rock Show” as the only Rheos song. And then plays the same four “new” songs as in yesterday’s post: “Song Ain’t Good,” “The List” “The Land is Wild” and “The Ballad of Zeke Roberts.”
He explains the Zeke Roberts song a bit more. He spent a few days in Ghana and went to a Liberian refugee camp (all documented in the book Around the World in 57 1/2 Gigs) which is how he learned about Zeke Roberts.
He talks about staying locally in the Marshland Inn and the scary doll in his room (and also how he hopes to have his picture among the famous people who have stayed there).
For the reading portion he talks about the guys he played with in China: Alun Piggins, drummer Jay Santiago and guitarist Dwayne Gale. He talks about the scene where they get massages (very funny). There’s another excerpt in which they meet some people on the street where a baby is playing with a lighter. The band starts taking pictures and then—eventually one of the adults puts an unlit cigarette in the baby’s mouth, and much hilarity ensues.
Overall though, this reading gets pretty dark as he gets into fight with Jay about Rush, and he feels bad that the Rheos had broken up especially when he sees the up and coming band The Wombats loving their set.
As for the music in this set, it is too loud and peaks a lot in the recording. There also seems to be a hornet pestering him. It’s probably the least interesting of the three shows.
[READ: November 7, 2015] The Best Game You Can Name.
This book is about hockey. Specifically it is about Bidini’s rec team the Morningstars and their quest for another championship (and how after winning two years in a row, they were the main target for all the other teams). Much like how his book On a Cold Road included quotes and stories from musicians, this book includes quotes and stories from former NHL players (I didn’t really recognize any of their names, but then I wasn’t a hockey fan in the 70s and 80s).
So each chapter talks a bit about his team and then has several stories about a specific topic from the hockey guys.
He begins by talking about his athletic renaissance in his 40s (after having given up on professional hockey). I enjoyed the stories from the hockey players who loved playing so much as kids that they would spend hours and hours and hours on the ice. I also liked them saying that you could still become a pro if you only started playing at 15 unlike today when kids are starting at age 5. (more…)
SOUNDTRACK: DAVE BIDINI-The Upstairs, Sydney, Nova Scotia (July 26, 2007).
After the Rheostatics broke up, Dave Bidini did a solo tour and then wrote a book about it. This is that book. And this show is from the mini-tour he did as promotion for the book. I don’t know too many details about this tour.
I wrote notes about these shows before I read the book (which I recently found and tread). But I’m going to leave in some of the notes I took about the audio portion for posterity.
I gather he was in town to promote his book and was invited to do a few shows as well. So these three shows from the Rheostaticslive site include a short reading from the book and then many songs. This show has two readings and 8 songs (and runs over an hour).
He opens with a description of the book and the tour of china with a band they called the Rheos Not Rheos. They were asked over and over to play The Beatles. They played at the Sculpting in Time café. Dave hung out with the Chinese singers Dirt Star and Airbag (who were also in a cover band that played Radiohead).
For the music, it is just Dave an his acoustic guitar (and a tuner). He plays three Rheos songs “My First Rock Show,” “Me and Stupid” and “Horses” (to much applause).
He plays four new, solo songs “Song Ain’t Good,” “The List” “The Land is Wild” and “The Ballad of Zeke Roberts.” All of these would appear on the debut Bidiniband album which would come out in 2009.
“The List” is a diatribe against Canada: Tim Horton’s, Stephen Harper, Zack Werner, and Chad Kroeger. He says that it was inspired by taking a close look Tim Horton’s bacon and wondering just what it was. And the mention of Chad Krueger gets a big reaction from the crowd. The Zeke Roberts song is about a Liberian singer who was killed. “The Land is Wild” is about Bryan Fogarty, a hockey played who died (it’s not the most upbeat concert I’ve heard).
There’s an extra song “Moncton Hellraisers” (you can watch a video of this one).
He ends the show with second reading and there’s a drunk guy who keeps shouting and interrupting. I feel bad for Dave, but he handles it well—different than a rock show obviously. This section involves meeting a TV show producer (of a show called Super Girls) and the Chinese version of the Spice Girls (who sing for them). He also mentions going to an all night record shop and finding a copy of the Toronto band The Diodes. He plays their song “Tired of Waking up Tired” for the employees.
If nothing else, this book will introduce you to a lot of little-known bands.
It’s interesting to hear him in such a casual setting. He sounds good and the audience is really responsive.
[READ: November 5, 2015] Around the World in 57 1/2 Gigs
This book chronicles Dave Bidini’s solo tour after the Rheostatics broke up. He explains that it was Tim Vesely who wanted to break up the band (no doubt inspired somewhat by Dave and Martin’s harsh critiquing of the songs Tim wanted to submit to their final album 2067). Nevertheless, Dave was devastated and angry and unsure what to do, especially since they were planning to gig China for the first time. So he decided to do it himself. A world tour unlike any other.
He scheduled a few gigs in Finland. And he decided to invite his friend Alun Piggins along. Piggins has been in a number of bands and has released several solo albums. He seems notable for being a little crazy (with wild hair). And I automatically respect him for making this album cover. When Dave asked Alun what to do about being a solo artist (Dave hadn’t really played solo before). Alun gave him some comforting advice and then said that with his band The Quitters, they would play “our loudest song then tell the crowd, “‘Thank you and fuck off.'”
The two would play separate shows on a double bill and occasionally duet on Rheos songs. They decided to tour Finland. They flew into London and were only staying for 24 hours. He wanted to try to get a gig before they left for Finland. They scored one at the last minute in the Maple Leaf Tavern (which had never staged a live show before) and was themed in Canadian kitsch. He talks about one man bands like Bob Log III “probably the superstar of all one man bands” (his song “Boob Scotch” is surprisingly straightforward). He says he spent most of his 35 minute set worrying an doesn’t recall too much about it.
Then they set out for Finland. First stop Hämeenlinna ( enjoyed typing out all these Finnish towns). (more…)
SOUNDTRACK: NICK LOWE-Tiny Desk Concert #87 (November 1, 2010).
Nick Lowe is legendary. And yet I don’t really know that much about him. I knew he did “Cruel to be Kind” which is very dated sounding but still great. I didn’t know that he wrote my favorite Elvis Costello song “(What’s So Funny ‘Bout) Peace, Love, and Understanding?” (which he first recorded with his band Brinsley Schwarz). He also produced a bunch of Costello’s albums.
This Tiny Desk is a mellow affair, with Lowe gently playing acoustic guitar and his low, smooth vocals singing interesting lyrics: “His heart’s a prune / when it once was a plum / If you know him / that’s the kind of man that I’ve become” (from “Man That I’ve Become”).
“Rome Wasn’t Built in a Day” is done in the same vein. Cathy, mellow pop, with an almost countryish feel.
“All Men Are Liars” is a pretty typical song about lying men, until you get this fascinating lyric: “Do you remember Rick Astley? He had a big fat it. It was ghastly. He said I’m never gonna give you up or let you down. Well, I’m here to tell you that rick’s a clown.”
“House for Sale” was a then new song. And it’s just as sharp and strign as the rest.
At the time of this recording, Lowe was 61 and he sounds great. His voice has changed, but it hasn’t lost anything.
[READ: October 29, 2015] The Complete Peanuts 1961-1962
By this book, Peanuts had been in print for nearly 12 years. And the core group has remained Charlie Brown, Lucy, Linus, Snoopy, Schroeder, and now Sally. And to a smaller extent Shermie, Patty and Pig-Pen are still around. But in 1961 he added a new character: Frieda, the girl with naturally curly hair.
One thing I hadn’t noticed so much in previous books is that he has been getting some very funny “jokey” punchlines. Most of the Peanuts punchlines have been funny/thoughtful/amusing. But I felt like this book had a few that were really funny. Like Lucy saying in response to beauty being only skin deep “I have a very thick beauty.” Or this funny groaner: Linus: “Do they always bring the cows in from the pasture at night?” Lucy: “Of course you blockhead, if they leave them out over night they get pasteurized.” I especially like that it isn’t even the final panel. And in 1962, Charlie asks this question when he turns on the TV and sees reruns: “What would happen if comic strips had nothing but re-runs all summer?”
And of course, there’s a lot of baseball strips. Including this one with a great set up and punchline. Charlie is talking about the game and how “For one brief moment victory was within our grasp.” To which Linus says, “And then the game started.” (more…)
SOUNDTRACK: TOM TOM CLUB-Tiny Desk Concert #82 (October 6, 2010).
Tom Tom Club were a side project of the rhythm section of the Talking Heads. They had a hit with their song “Genius of Love” (you’d know the melody instantly). I’ll be honest–I thought they only had one album out, but I see they had quite a few out and had recently re-formed and put out new records.
This set contains three songs. “Wordy Rappington” which was on their debut, but which I’d never heard of. I am shocked to see that it was a double A side with “Genius of Love.” The song is a kind of amusing rap with a chorus of the children’s song “A Ram Sam Sam.” It is very kid friendly.
I will also be honest that I didn’t like The Tom Tom Club when they came out. So even though I know the melody of “Genius of Love” I don’t know the song very well. It’s kind of amusing though in that it name checks all kinds of musicians. At one point they repeat “James Brown” over and over and then climax with “hit me!”
The music is surprisingly spare: an acoustic guitar or two, some bongos and an accordion (which plays the “Genius of Love” melody).
“Only the Strong Survive” is a cover of song by zydeco band The Franks. Lead vocals and washboard are supplied by Mystic Bowie.
The band is having a ton of fun. Considering Talking Heads were always kind of serious it’s nice to see Chris and Tina being silly..
[READ: September 29, 2015] The Complete Peanuts 1959-1960
This book marks more or less the ten-year anniversary of the first Peanuts strip. Even though Patty (not Peppermint Patty) is on the cover, she gets very little time in the book.
The big news in this book is the arrival of Charlie’s little sister Sally! In May of 1959 Charlie’s mom goes to the hospital for a few days. And then Charlie is a proud big brother. For a time, Snoopy is jealous and acts like a “fuzzy baby.” However much Charlie talks about Sally, we don’t actually see her until August! On a random Sunday Charlie is seen pushing her in her stroller (and missing out on baseball because of it). There’s no really babyness for Sally. She has a bottle, but while we saw a lot of baby time for Linus, there’s hardly any for Sally. In fact, in October Snoopy gets her to dance. And much later she gives Schroeder a hard time when he won’t play a lullaby for her.
She doesn’t really come into the picture all that much. But by August of 1960, Sally thinks (still no speaking) that Linus is the cutest thing and has hearts floating around her when she sees him. Charlie even has to wonder what’s going on here. But Linus says, “I’m almost five years older than she.” (more…)
SOUNDTRACK: BRIAN COURTNEY WILSON-Tiny Desk Concert #76 (August 25, 2010).
Brian Courtney Wilson is not Brian Wilson. Rather, this Wilson sings lovely religious songs.
This is an overtly Christian performance and as such I did not really enjoy it. Having said that, his voice is terrific and his backing vocalists are subtle and uplifting without overpowering the music.
He sings three songs: “All I Need” “Believe” and “Already Here.” For some reason, there’s no video for “Believe” so you have to listen to the audio only track to hear it.
[READ: September 29, 2015] The Complete Peanuts 1957-1958
Some new themes emerge in this, the fourth volume of the Complete Peanuts. Charlie seems to get branded with the “wishy-washy” curse a lot more (except when it’s raining and he’s not willing to give up his baseball game).
The angst is getting heavier now too with Charlie Brown saying “sometimes I think my soul is full of weeds). Then in April 1958 he says “It always rains on the unloved.” Even the normally chipper Snoopy (who at one point says “to live is to dance, to dance is to live”) gets a little mopey and introspective “when I was a puppy every day was a happy day suddenly bang, and I’m in my declining years.”
I feel like Lucy and Linus are showing up a lot more. And Pig-Pen, really a one-joke character is appearing less but has not been forgotten.
I particularly enjoyed the concern that the earth was overpopulated (from Lucy). And after she says “The earth can’t feed this many people” Linus replies “Why Don’t You Leave?” (more…)
SOUNDTRACK: MARTIN TIELLI-“We didn’t even suspect that he was the poppy salesman.” (2001).
I wrote about this album once before, and while I made notes about it after listening to it again, I found out that they were pretty much exactly what I thought of the record four years ago. So I’m going to simply repost the review here, but I’m going to add some new notes seamlessly intermingled.
Martin Tielli’s first solo disc is a proper solo release: it’s almost all him on acoustic guitar and his gorgeous alto voice. I hadn’t listened to this disc in a while and I was delighted by how much of the disc I knew so well.
The opening track, “I’ll Never Tear Your Apart” is deceptively simple: beautiful harmonic’d guitars and his gentle voice. There’s a great video to go with it here. That is followed by the wonderful “My Sweet Relief” which sounds like a great Neil Young folk song: great verses an a strong chorus. Lyrically, though, it is all Tielli. “Double X” highlights Tielli’s beautiful acoustic guitar work. It’s another great story song, this one about a destitute person hanging under a superstore with a K and an M.
“Voices in the Wilderness” is a simply beautiful song, a lovely guitar melody and Tielli’s high voice singing along.. I also love that the lyric (mis)quotes Rush very nicely: “‘If you choose not to be free you still have made a choice,’ said a high and squeaky voice.”
“Farmer in the City” is the only track that Tielli didn’t write. It’s a nearly 8-minute song by Scott Walker. I had never listened to the original, but having now done so, I find the Walker version to be far superior. Walker’s voice is so eccentric and wonderful. So even though I love Martin’s voice, he just can’t compare to the original. Also find Martin’s version to be just a little spare (the Walker version has lovely strings. Kevin Hearn plays celeste and Selina Martin plays wine glasses on the track.
It’s followed by the delightful “World in a Wall” which uses mice in the wall as a metaphor for a broken relationship (with wonderful detailed lines like: She’s like a mouse, I know she’s around It’s a gnawing sound. Leaves little brown poohs from a little pink bum.”
This is followed by “That’s How They Do It in Warsaw” which is the first really rocking song (it has bass and drums) and a voiceover in Polish by Kasia Zaton.
It’s coupled with a slightly less rocky but still loud track “How Can You Sleep?” (which makes another fun musical allusion, this time about Guided by Voices). It has a co-songwriting credit from Dave Bidini and has a kind of vocal allusion to Bob Dylan, although I doubt it is about him.
“She Said ‘We’re On Our Way Down’” is a song that I really want to enjoy more. But It is so spare and Martin’s vocal line is so abstract, that I can never really get int it. But the guitar riff is really powerful and cool. And yet, the song seems to eschew melody but then a gorgeous guitar or vocal line shines through and really sounds brilliant. “From the Reel” is a beautiful, aching acoustic ballad.
The disc ends with the odd, seven minute “Wetbrain/Your War.” The first part (wet brain) is kind of slow but it builds into a beautiful dark song about addiction.
This is a really beautiful album, although there are moments when I fell like Martin gets too delicate, it’s amazing to hear just what he can do when he’s on his own.
[READ: October 19, 2015] Academia Waltz
Way back a long time ago I was pretty excited to read all of the Bloom County reissue books. Somehow I only got through Books 1 and 2, although I see now that five volumes were released in total.
Presumably at the end of that run, (which technically ended in 2011) comes this volume. Academia Waltz is the strip that Breathed wrote back in college. This book collects some (but apparently not all) of the strips. It’s odd to not collect them all since there is also an art gallery with all kinds of original pieces (complete with edits and scribbled notes) that duplicate many of the earlier strips.
The first part collects pieces from Academia Waltz the 1979 collection. The second part comes from Bowing Out, the 1980 Collection. (more…)
SOUNDTRACK: BUILT TO SPILL-Perfect from Now On (1997).
Built to Spill moved to the major labels and everything changed. No that’s not true. The band (well, Doug mostly) just sounds more serious about their music. What’s impressive is that there are no obvious singles since each song is over 5 minutes long (except for one).
This is considered a classic 90s album but fans of the band and others. And while I like it, it’s not my favorite. A few of the songs are a little too drifty and anticlimactic. But at he same time there’s some really amazing stuff here.
It opens with “Randy Describing Eternity” a cool song with a great riff and an interesting lyrics. My favorite song (most days) on this record is “I would Hurt a Fly.” It has a fairly quiet intro with more intriguing lyrics: “I can’t get that sound you make out of my head/ I can’t even figure out what’s making it.” The song waxes and wanes and even adds some cello. And then at 4 minutes, the song shifts gears entirely, stopping to add a brand new fast section with some great guitar work and wild noisy soloing.
“Stop the Show” is another favorite. It opens with a slow meandering guitar section and then jumps to a great, frenetic set of verses. After about 5 and a half minutes the song turns into a crazy noisy fest and then switches to an amazingly catchy guitar instrumental solo outro, which could frankly go for five more hours. “Made Up Dreams” has several different elements in it. And even though it’s only 4:52, it still packs in a lot of music.
“Velvet Waltz” is over 8 minutes long. It has slow parts, and a lengthy middle section with strings (in waltz time of course). It builds slowly adding some cool guitar sections and a great long solo at the end. “Out of Site” is one of the shorter songs on the disc. It has an immediate, fast section that is very catchy. It then mellows out to a slow cello-filled section. “Kicked it in the Sun” is kind of trippy. At four and a half minutes a noisy section overtakes the music, but behind the noise is a beautiful, pretty guitar/keyboard melody. Then it shifts out of the noise into a more rocking catchy section.
The final song is the nearly 9 minute “Untrustable/Part 2.” It begins loud with great lyrics “You can’t trust anyone because you’re untrustable.” Like the other songs it has several parts. Around 4 minutes it turns into another song altogether. This continues for a bit and then at 7 minutes it shifts gears entirely into a keyboard dominated romp.
There’s so many interesting melodies and changes in this album, and it clear that it was completely influential on late 90s indie rock. But I think what’s even more impressive is that each album get a little bit better.
[READ: September 29, 2015] The Complete Peanuts 1955-1956
Moving on to volume 3 of the Complete Peanuts. Stylistically things are advancing towards the Peanuts characters we know now. Yet they haven’t quite gotten there. I think the kids’ faces (not their heads, just features) are still much smaller. And Snoopy still looks like a real dog, although his nose grows year by year.
In the beginning of the year, there’s a funny line from Lucy, attacking commericalism. Charlie is reading her a book. He says “Once upon a time they lived happily ever after. The end” And Lucy says “What’s on the rest of these pages, Advertising?” Much later there a joke in which Lucy asks Schroeder how much a musician makes, and he relies “Money? Who cares about money? This is art. You Blockhead.” It is ironic of course that Schulz went on to become so staggeringly wealthy–but maybe that just shows what good art can achieve.
Another one of my favorite sophisticated jokes comes when Lucy is flying a kite. The joke is all about perspective. It’s hilarious. (more…)
SOUNDTRACK: BUILT TO SPILL-Ultimate Alternative Wavers (1993).
I am going to see Built to Spill this Friday. I was supposed to see them back in 2001, but then some bad things happened in New York City and their show was cancelled (or I opted not to go–I see on Setlist that they did play that night). Since then, I have enjoyed each new album more than the previous one, so I am really excited to see them.
I thought it would be interesting to revisit their earlier records. In reading about the band I learned that Doug Martsch was in Treepeople (which I didn’t know and who I don’t really know at all). I also learned that his plan for BtS was to have just him with a different line up for each album. That didn’t quite work out, but there has been a bit of change over the years.
Their debut album is surprisingly cohesive and right in line with their newer material. It’s not to say that they haven’t changed or grown, but there’s a few songs on here that with a little better production could easily appear on a newer album. Martsch’s voice sounds more or less the same, and the catchiness is already present (even if it sometimes buried under all kinds of things). And of course, Marstch’s guitar skill is apparent throughout. The album (released on the tiny C/Z label) also plays around a lot with experimental sounds and multitracking. When listening closely, it gives the album a kind of lurching quality, with backing vocals and guitars at different levels of volume throughout the disc.
But “The First Song” sounds like a fully formed BtS song–the voice and guitar and catchy chorus are all there.. The only real difference is the presence of the organ in the background. “Three Years Ago Today” feels a bit more slackery–it sounds very 90s (like the irony of the cover), which isn’t a bad thing. The song switches between slow and fast and a completely new section later in the song. “Revolution” opens with acoustic guitars and then an occasional really heavy electric guitar riff that seems to come from nowhere. The end of the song is experimental with weird sounds and doubled voices and even a cough used as a kind of percussion.
“Shameful Dread” is an 8 minute song. There’s a slow section, a fast section, a big noisy section and a coda that features the guys singing “la la la la la”. Of course the most fun is that the song ends and then Nelson from The Simpsons says “ha ha” and a distorted kind of acoustic outro completes the last two minutes.
“Nowhere Nuthin’ Fuckup” is one of my favorite songs on the record. There’s a sound in the background that is probably guitar but sounds like harbor seals barking. I recently learned that the lyrics are an interpretation of the Velvet Underground’s “Oh! Sweet Nuthin.” They aren’t exactly the same but are very close for some verses. The rest of the music is not VU at all. In fact the chorus gets really loud and angular. I love the way the guitars build and then stop dramatically.
“Get a Life” opens with a wild riff that reminds me of Modest Mouse (who cite BtS as an influence), but the song quickly settles down (with more multitracked voices). I love how at around 4 minutes a big swath of noise takes over and it is resolved with a really catchy noisy end section. “Built to Spill” starts out slow and quiet, and grows louder with a catchy chorus. In the background there’s all kinds of noisy guitars and superfuzzed bass.
“Lie for a Lie” is pretty much a simple song with s constant riff running throughout. The verses are catchy, but the middle section is just crazy–with snippets of guitars, out of tune piano, a cowbell and random guitar squawking and even shouts and screams throughout the “solo” section. “Hazy” is a slow song with many a lot of soloing. The disc ends with the nine minute “Built Too Long, Pts 1,2 and 3” Part 1 is a slow rumbling take on a riff (with slide guitar and piano). It last about 90 seconds before Part 2 comes in. It has a big fuzzy bass (with a similar if not identical riff) and wailing guitar solos. Over the course of its five or so minutes it get twisted and morphed in various bizarre ways. With about 30 seconds left, Chuck D shouts “Bring that beat back” and the song returns, sort of, to the opening acoustic section.
While the album definitely has a lot of “immature” moments (and why shouldn’t the band have fun?) there’s a lot of really great stuff here.
[READ: September 26, 2015] Critical Insights: David Foster Wallace
It’s unlikely that a non-academic would read a book of critical insights about an author. Of course, if you really like an author you might be persuaded to read some dry academic prose about that author’s work. But as it turns out, this book is not dry at all. In fact, I found it really enjoyable (well, all but one or two articles).
One of the things that makes a book like this enjoyable (and perhaps questionable in terms of honest scholarship) is that everyone who writes essays for this collection is basically a fan of DFW’s work. (Who wants to spend years thoroughly researching an author only to say means things about him or her anyway?). So while there are certainly criticisms, it’s not going to be a book that bashes the author. This is of course good for the fan of DFW and brings a pleasant tone to the book overall.
For the most part the authors of this collection were good writers who avoided a lot of jargon and made compelling arguments about either the book in question or about how it connected to something else. I didn’t realize until after I looked at the biographies of the authors that nearly everyone writing in this book was from England or Ireland. I don’t think that makes any difference to anything but it was unexpected to have such an Anglocentric collection about such an American writer (although one of the essays in this book is about how DFW writes globally).
Philip Coleman is the editor and he write three more or less introductory pieces. Then there are two primary sections: Critical Insights and Critical Essays. (more…)
Cœur de Pirate is the band name of Béatrice Martin, a Québécois singer and piano prodigy. She was 19 when she released this album (and was accepted into conservatory school in Montreal when she was nine).
Given her musical background, one might expect more elaborately created music–more chamber pop, perhaps. But this debut album is delightfully sweet and spare indie pop. It is primarily simple piano songs with occasional extra accompaniment.
Most of the songs are simple, with unfussy arrangements and Martin’s beautiful voice. The songs verge from charming piano melody to simple waltz to piano instrumental and a few upbeat almost dancey songs. There’s even a guitar based song that adds a folk feel to the album.
There are 12 songs and the album runs only to 30 minutes. It is charming and delightful. The only thing I didn’t like so much was when Jimmy Hunt duets with her on “Pour un infidèle.” It’s not that I disliked his voice (which I did grow to appreciate after a few listens) it’s that his voice removes you from the insular little world that Martin has created. When I am in it I don’t want any distractions.
The album definitely has a Francophone feel to it (her songs were described as “bringing la chanson française to a whole new generation of Quebec youth”) although she does remind me a bit of Regina Spektor’s later songs, too.
She also had a fluke hit with “Ensemble” when it was used with a funny baby based YouTube video that went viral (I’ve posted that at the bottom of the page).
You can listen to the whole album below
[READ: September 17, 2015] The Complete Peanuts 1953-1954
Moving on to volume 2 of the Complete Peanuts. As 1953 opened, the characters remained in that older style–Snoopy still looks a lot like a dog, and Charlie’s head is still much bigger (or actually I guess his face is still smaller). By the end of the book, they have morphed a little closer to the Peanuts most of us are familiar with, but they still look “different.”
I enjoy the way the Schulz celebrates the holidays with a simple but nice sentiment (Schroeder playing his piano with the music staff reading “Happy New Year”). Indeed, Schulz celebrates most holidays. Valentine’s Day, Income Tax Day (!) and of course, he has lots of fun with Hallowen (no great pumpkin yet though).
This volume seems to be a lot about Lucy (which may be why she is on the cover). In the first few strips she gets expelled from nursery school. Later on she quits nursery school because they didn’t teach how to be a nurse. Lucy also tends to have a regular punchline, with regard to Schroeder of “I’ll probably never get married.” Lucy also begins in earnest her counting career–trying to count all the stars (and getting exhausted) or all the raindrops, or the amount she jumps rope. And she is still a fussbudget, with a joke at the end of 1954 having Schroeder compose the “Fuddbudget Sonata” for her.
Linus, who is still a baby, has taken to “shooting” people with his finger (he struggles to crawl for a ball only to have Snoopy walk up and take it away, so he looks at Snoopy and says “bang”). He is still crawling and toddling for much of the year, although by the end he seems to be growing up. Nevertheless, Lucy is still giving him a hard time–constantly shouting at him when he is not looking and then commenting that “he’s awfully nervous.”
There’s a lot of baseball jokes as they move into spring (how did he keep coming up with original baseball jokes after all those years?) inducing jokes about sponsorship. And then Lucy starts taking up golf (and is very good at it).
Schroeder continues to play beautifully (and to get upset by everyone who bothers him, especially Lucy and Snoopy. He has a crisis of conscience when he says “sometimes I thin I like Brahms even better than Beethoven.”
Schulz included some occasionally topical material. So there’s a joke about the popularity of “Doggie in the Window” (It went to number 1 in April of 1953 and stayed there for 8 weeks). Snoopy has been listening to it all day.
And of course there is a ton about Snoopy too. he still looks like a dog and still does a lot of doggie things (and Schulz is always spot on with them). I really like the joke where Snoopy eats a moth and then coughs up the dryness. Or when he falls asleep under a tree and wakes up covered in leaves. There are even a few jokes in which Snoopy hates being patted on the head. And of course, Snoopy just loves zooming around (especially through croquet hoops). This is mostly like Snoopy giving everyone a hard time, especially Charlie Brown (with the constant refrain of “You drive me crazy”).
One thing that I like about these early strips is that even though Charlie Brown has a lot of angst, he also has a great deal of self-confidence. Like when he is mad at Violet and the punch line is “but I know you don’t think I’m Perfect) There’s even a funny joke (or series of jokes) about graffiti on a fence (!). In one, it says “Charlie Brown loves all the girls” (in another it says “Charlie Brown loves Charlie Brown”).
The TV jokes continue (I especially like the one with Shermy watching and the screen clears up to say Why Aren’t You in School?). Most of them are variations on people sitting on front of each other. and blocking the view.
In June of 1954, Schulz uses the word security to refer to Linus’ blanket (evidently coining the phrase “security blanket”), which continues in one form or another throughout the book. Linus starts to become really smart–outwitting Charlie Brown at houses of cards and magic tricks and the wonderful punchline of him blowing up a square balloon.
The biggest change comes in July 1954 with the addition of Pig Pen or ‘Pig Pen’ as he was first called. He doesn’t do a lot but it leads to a lot of jokes about being dirty.
And in December 1954, a new short-lived character named Charlotte Braun (or Good Ol’ Charlotte Braun) enters the strip. She has wild curly hair and talks very loudly. She is something of a foil to Charlie, but she is never really developed.
The book has a Foreword by Walter Cronkite. He says that he was supposed to interview Schulz, but on the day they were scheduled, he took ill. So Cronkite never got to meet with Schulz. This is shame although I have to say that Schulz and Cronkite were such huge figures that they certainly should have met many times over the years.
Cronkite reveals a bit more about the Schulz’ Sparky nickname–that he was given the nickname by an uncle who was referencing the horse Spark Plug in the Barney Google strip. I like Cronkite’ summary:
Now here you have a confluence of coincidences that would never be accepted even by the producers of a Hollywood pot-boiler. A baby nicknamed after a cartoon characters growing up to be one of the greatest and most popular cartoonist of all time!
Cronkite also praises Schulz’ economy of dialogue and illustration and likewise keeps his own foreword brief as well.
I’m really excited about continuing through the years with these books.
For ease of searching I include Coeur de Pirate, Beatrice Martin, Quebecois, francaise
And here’s that (very funny) viral video that used the Cœur de pirate song:
Frazey Ford used to be in the Be Good Tanyas. Here she is touring her debut solo album Obadiah. She is quite a character, wearing a leopard print outfit.
But her music is really complex and interesting. On the opener, “Firecracker” she plays the guitar with unusual chord progressions but it’s her voice that is so arresting. She use atypical phrasings and pronunciations that belie her origins (I could never guess where she was from). Strangely, I get a kind of Cat Stevens vibe from the way she says words, but also another inexplicable emphasis: the way she pronounces exploding as explohdun.
She talks briefly about her new record while apologizing for having to tune her guitar. “Lost Together” slower, pretty song.
“If You Gonna Go” is a breakup song which she messes up and then apologizes for, saying she’s nervous and very tired. And she mocks herself for wearing a ridiculous cheetah outfit. She says she bought it in London where everyone was dressed like this. Stephen Thompson chimes in that if it was cooler they’d all be dressed like that.
She asks if they want one more and she ends with “The Gospel Song.”
It’s a really good introduction to an unusual voice.
[READ: September 10, 2015] The Complete Peanuts 1950-1952
After reading the Sunday Peanuts books, I had to go back and start the series from the beginning. Holy cow, Peanuts started in October 1950 and ran into the 21st century! That’ amazing. It’s also amazing to see how different everyone looked back then. It’s very disconcerting. The only thing more disconcerting is to immerse yourself in the old comics, start to really appreciate them, and then see a contemporary version and wonder why he changed them so much.
When the strip first started there were just three of them: Good Ol’ Charlie Brown, Shermy and Patty (not Peppermint Patty) and they are all four years old. Those first comics are really really different–the kids are practically stick figures. (Although Charlie always had that little wisp of hair). The kids all have huge heads and tiny bodies and are very minimal in their expressions. Snoopy is there too and he looks very much like a real dog. As it turns out I like this version of snoopy better than the current one. He looks much more like a dog and he acts alike a dog–Schulz gets some great jokes out of doggie behavior. Things like Snoopy hearing and smelling food and running over to beg started almost from the beginning. As did they ways that Snoopy interacts and often drives the other characters crazy.
What’s mostly different about the early ones is that the kids are all mean to each other and CB sometimes wins in the verbal sparring. He’s as much of a buster as the others. It’s really fun and funny. (more…)
SOUNDTRACK: DAVE BIDINI-The President of Mount Allison’s House, Sackville (July 28, 2007).
Until I looked it up, I didn’t know what Mount Allison was, nor why he would be playing at the President’s house. I’m still not sure why he was playing there, but as part of his solo mini tour, Dave graced the beautiful house.
I Just Read About That... 