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Archive for the ‘Superstitions’ Category

Kazu Kibuishi–Amulet: Book Four: The Last Council (2011)

Posted in Aliens, Alternate Reality, Children's Books, Death, Dystopia, Ghosts, Graphic Novel, Kazu Kibuishi, Marriage (Happy), Mystery, Outer Space, Penguin Cafe, Penguin Cafe Orchestra, Robots, Steve Martin, Supernatural, Superstitions, Technology, The Steep Canyon Rangers, Tiny Desk Concert on October 3, 2017| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: STEVE MARTIN AND THE STEEP CANYON RANGERS-Tiny Desk Concert #653  (September 22, 2017).

Yes, that Steve Martin.

When I was a kid I used to listen to Steve Martin comedy records all the time, he often included a lot of banjo with his stand up.  He was good then, but he is pretty amazing now.

Throughout his 50-year career, one constant in Steve Martin’s life has been the banjo. It was a staple of his early standup shows and even fans who only wanted to laugh couldn’t help but marvel at his playing. Over the years, he’s continued to perform and record with country and bluegrass luminaries like Earl Scruggs, Dolly Parton, Vince Gill and others.

These days Martin is working on music full-time. He’s just released a stellar bluegrass album he recorded with The Steep Canyon Rangers called (perfectly) The Long-Awaited Album, a record filled with often hilarious story songs and world-class performances.

The band plays three songs and then an “encore.”  “So Familiar” starts as a banjo “solo” an impressive display of fingerprinting and string bending from Martin.  Then it settles into a traditional-sounding folk song with a lot of mandolin from Mike Guggino and fiddle from Nicky Sanders.  I pity Graham Sharp, the Rangers’ banjo player who clearly takes a back seat to Martin.

After the song, Martin says, they’re gonna tune for this next little song.  He says it’s tricky tuning indoors when there’s heat and air conditioning.  “It’s a scientific process  I could explain it to you but… [laughs].  The photons come in and they effect the positrons so that [points to himself] the moron can play.”  “All Night Long” features “our lead singer [and guitarist] Woody Platt.  It’s a pretty traditional song held down by the steady thump if Charles Humphrey’s bass.  The lyrics are sweet (“I only love you in the day and all night long”) and the harmonies are wonderful.  Martin plays the lead intro and a cool little outro.

“By the way, he asks, “who’s running NPR right now?”  He says the melody of “On the Water” came to him in a dream.  He woke up and recorded the melody so it probably sounds like “Oklahoma.”  The band starts with box rums and harmonics from the other banjo.  He messes up an says “Let’s start again.”  Steve turns on the drummer Mike Ashworth (who did nothing wrong and teases: “Yeah.  You screwed up so badly.  Try to get it right this time.”  Ashworth jokes, “Am i fired?  I’m scared.  Martin says, “I’m so glad someone else screwed up besides me.”

Platt leans over and says “How about ‘Caroline’ for an encore?”  Martin says, “This is not for the Tiny Desk.  I don;t think it’s suitable for the Tiny Desk.  It’s about a romance gone bad-looking back two years later.”   As the blurb says, the song is a “hilarious, first-person account of how not to handle a breakup.”  Martin delivers a funny story with a great catchy chorus.

I never got to see Steve Martin do standup, but I would love to see him do bluegrass.

[READ: June 24, 2016] Amulet: The Cloud Searchers

Book four opens with Emily dream-talking to the spirit in the stone.  It tells her that it can no longer be with her in Cielis and it gives her some warnings.

When she wakes up, Max is there to greet her and they are going to head off to the council.  But things aren’t very happy in Cielis.  Trellis and Luger are Elves, true, but even though they are vouched for, the residents still put them in jail for being the elf king’s son.  And none of the non-human creatures are allowed into the city proper.

So when Leon and the cats go looking for a bite to eat, they are not welcomed anywhere.  Until a girl named Aly sees the good in them and invites them into her restaurant (despite her parents protests).  Her parents say the guardian council will lock them up if they are caught. Leon say that the council invited them to help.  But the council is no longer what it once was.  And that’s when Aly reveals that the council is made up of the ghosts of dead people.  Her parents tell her to hush but she refuses to be silent any longer.

Until the rapping on the door makes them all hush. (more…)

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Kazu Kibuishi–Amulet: Book Three: The Cloud Searchers (2010)

Posted in Aliens, Alternate Reality, Bomba Estero, Children's Books, Death, Dystopia, Ghosts, Graphic Novel, Kazu Kibuishi, Marriage (Happy), Mystery, Outer Space, Robots, Supernatural, Superstitions, Technology, Tiny Desk Concert on October 2, 2017| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: BOMBA ESTERO-Tiny Desk Concert #652 (September 22, 2017).

Band leaders Simon Mejia (bass/keys) and Liliana (Li) Saumet (lead vocals) have been consistent in their devotion and homage to Afro-Colombian music throughout their five albums, and steadfast in their fantastic mash-up of electronic music, creating a sonic signature that has become popular around the globe.

But you won’t hear that on this video.

What you’ll hear is the power of their songwriting and arranging with this stripped-down presentation— which helps remind us of why we fell for this band in the first place.

“So Yo” opens with some flute and cool synths.  I like the almost menacing quality those two notes have, Li raps in what seems a very fast delivery and then the chorus comes in and she sings with a beautiful voice.  The song is groovy with some cool guitar from Jose Castillo.  I like the way it reverts back and forth between rapping and singing and the constant presence of the flute from Efrain Cuadrado.  There’s a cool mix of defiance and dance in this song.

Before the second song “Somo Dos” she pushes a button on a device that says “come on people.”

During their performance, Bomba Estereo’s Simon Mejia (bass and keyboards) observed that it was the quietist the band has ever played; they rose to the occasion with an intense performance that reflects their earliest days working smaller venues in Colombia.

He says, “we’re like always boom boom boom.”

“Somos Dos” is an even groovier song with some nice low bass and gentle singing with some echoed guitars.  I really like the main riff and the picked riff in the verses.  Through both songs, the live drums from Andres Zea really bring an exciting element to these songs.

They only play the two songs and then it’s over far too quickly.

[READ: June 24, 2016] Amulet: The Cloud Searchers

As book three opens, we see the two Elves, Luger and Trellis.  But Trellis seems to have changed.  He is now angry with Luger who was once powerful and has been brought low.  And he is willing to stand up to his father–whether that makes him good now or not is something to be seen.

Meanwhile the father has called Gabilan, the assassin, and has sent him to kill his son, Prince Trellis.  And it seems that he has his sights set higher.

On to our heroes.  They are heading to a small town called Nautilus, the capital of Alledia.  For they are in search of an Airship.  Their ultimate goal is the (possible fictional) city of Cielis.    When they get to the bar where the pilots hang out (much to Emily’s mother’s dismay), they talk to a cat creature, Enzo, who has been looking for Cielis all of his life but has recently given up–he lost everything.  But they show him Emily’s stone and the journal of Silas Charnon who got very close to finding the city.  And Enzo’s search continues. (more…)

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Kazu Kibuishi–Amulet: Book Two: The Stonekeeper’s Curse (2009)

Posted in Aliens, Alternate Reality, Children's Books, Death, Dystopia, Ghosts, Graphic Novel, Kazu Kibuishi, Marriage (Happy), Musikfest, Mystery, Outer Space, Robots, SsingSsing, Supernatural, Superstitions, Technology, Tiny Desk Concert on October 1, 2017| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: SSINGSSING-Tiny Desk Concert #651(September 21, 2017).

I have never seen or heard anything quite like SsingSsing.

It’s easy to dismiss them as a novelty by looking at them, but their music is really compelling.  Their songs may be (as stated below), a regional folk style, but the music is really groovy and interesting–the bass is nicely prominent but never obtrusive, and the guitar plats a lot of different strumming techniques, bringing very different intonations to the music.

And then there’s the front trio who are totally infectious.

One look at (and listen to) the cross-dressing, Asian rock band SsingSsing and you would hardly think they’re singing music inspired by traditional Korean folk. But SsingSsing isn’t like any other band I’ve ever seen or heard.

The group sings a regional folk style called minyo and the gender bending look has to do with shamans not glamour. As singer Hee-moon Lee describes it, “In Korean traditional art, male shamans, called baksu, have the body of a male. But as mediums, they need more than a single sexual identity, because they’re channeling both male and female spirits. When I act a female character and sing, I have to overcome the fact of my being a male sorikkun (singer), and try my utmost to bring a more neutral, unisex feeling to the performance. It sounds silly, but I feel like going back to the sensibilities of my youth, when I liked Madonna, helps.”

They play three songs:

“Minyo Medley” opens with reggae guitars and the strangely infectious vocal of the female singer doing a nearly cartoon-high pitched” Oh” sound and the taller male singer (with the cute white bob and white lipstick) laughing and then stating “Oh,” as if surprised out of his laugh.  It’s weird and catchy and cool all at the same time.  The lead singer with the magenta curls sings traditional vocals and eventually the other two join him.  The middle of the song slows down to a quiet guitar motif and mellow singing from the lead singer.  The end of the song picks up speed with an almost ska feel as it rocks to an end.  Then there’s a little coda of that opening (and even more crazy laughter) as the song ends properly.

On “Nanbongga (Song of Beloveds)” the woman sings lead which opens with a slinky groove and all three gently dancing.  The two men alternate spoken words before the woman singing in a traditional female Asian style takes over.  By the middle of the song everyone is dancing with the men singing back up and the tall guy (I love that he is holding a clutch the whole time) saying what sounds like “caw.”

The final song, “Saseol Nanbongga (Narrative Song of Beloveds)” appears to be a variant on the middle song (although perhaps not, it is musically quite different).  However, the taller guy does a lot of very fast recitations in the verses with impressive delivery.  The backing vocals are really catchy and the lead singer is really into it. The song totally rocks by the end.

How bummed am I to have found out that they were at MusikFest this summer and I could have seen them?  Because this is a band that begs to be seen live.

I don’t know which singer is which, but here’s the band members: Hee-moon Lee (vocal), Da-hye Choo (vocal), Seung-tae Shin (vocal), Young-gyu Jang (bass guitar), Tae-won Lee (electric guitar), and Chul-hee Lee (drums).

[READ: June 25, 2016] Amulet: The Stonekeeper’s Curse

I read the Amulet series last year but for some reason never got around to posting about the books.  So, let’s get this series finished.

The Stonekeeper’s Curse opens pretty dark.  We head to a tower where guards have captured the creepy looking guy from book one (Emily could have killed him when he attacked them, but she spared his life).  Turns out this guy is the son of a faceless creature (in a scary mask).  The father says that his son has failed him again.  The son argues but the father’s mind is made up.

He will have one more chance to get the amulet and the girl and he will have help from an older looking creature named Luger.

Cut back to a colorful scene with a walking house (that happened in book one, too). Navin is “driving ” the house and is doing a pretty good job.  They are on their way to Kanalis to get medicine for their mother who was injured in the first book.

Kanalis has suffered a curse and most of the people in town are slowly turning into animals.  It may or may not be contagious.  As our heroes walks around, a fox-person is following them. But as soon as the creepy elf guy charges, the fox steps in.  Emily sees him and asks who is he.  He says he’s a bounty hunter.  Miskit says they don’t want to deal with his kind.  He ultimately relents and admits he’s not really a bounty hunter.  His name is Leon Redbeard and he offers to help them if they will help him too. (more…)

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Chuck Klosterman–But What If We’re Wrong: Thinking About the Present As If It Were the Past (2016)

Posted in #ITMFA, #RESIST, 17th Century, 18th Century, 19th Century, Advice, Books about music, Books about writers, Brian Greene, Chuck Klosterman, David Byrne, Essays, Football, Gambling, George Saunders, Herman Melville, History, Idiots, Junot Díaz, Music, Neil deGrasse Tyson, Nostalgia, Politicians, Rheostatics, Ronald Reagan, Russia, Science, Seth Meyers, Sports, Superstitions, Technology, The Clash, Video Games, War, tagged on September 25, 2017| Leave a Comment »

klosetrSOUNDTRACK: RHEOSTATICS–Fall Nationals The Horseshoe Tavern Toronto, ON. Night 1 of 13 (November 10, 2003).

This was the 1st night of their 13 night Fall Nationals run at the Horseshoe.  Rheostatics Live has recordings of nights 1, 3, 4, 5 and 7.

 The sound quality of this show is great, although it’s quite disconcerting how quiet it is between songs—must be soundboard with no audience pick up at all.

Dave chats with the crowd of course: “Always exciting on opening night—a tingle in the air.  We’re basking in the glow of David Miller’s victory tonight even if he doesn’t know the words to “Born to Run.”

David Raymond Miller is the president and CEO of WWF-Canada, the Canadian division of the international World Wildlife Fund. A former politician, Miller was the 63rd Mayor of Toronto from 2003 to 2010. He entered politics as a member of the New Democratic Party, although his mayoral campaign and terms in office were without any formal party affiliation. He did not renew his party membership in 2007.  After declining poll numbers, Miller announced on September 25, 2009, that he would not seek a third term as mayor in the 2010 election, citing family reasons.  He was replaced by Rob frickin Ford.

They play a lot of songs from their not yet released album (not until 2004, in fact) 2067.

They open with “The Tarleks” which is follows by 2001’s “Song of the Garden” and then back to 2067 with “I Dig Music.”  The new songs sound similar to the release but perhaps the words might not be solidified yet—there’s also no “too fucking bad” in “I Dig Music.”

Tim’s “In It Now” comes next with that cool opening riff.   It segues into one of my favorite Tim-sung songs “Marginalized” also from 2067.  I love the drums, the guitar riff, everything about it—although they are off-key as they start.

Dave says, “We’re surprising ourselves a little by playing new stuff.   But when Martin asks for requests and people say “Saskatchewan” Martin starts playing it (see, the squeaky wheel…).

“Fan letter for Ozzy Osbourne” (also from 2067)  it sounds a bit more spare and sad (with no wailing vocal at the end).  It’s followed by “a very old song we wrote in 1989, I think, but it still applies on this special occasion.”  He says it’s called “You can’t go back to Woodstock baby you were just 2 years old you, you weren’t even born.”

There’s a quiet “In This Town” that’s followed by a lengthy “When Winter Comes.”  This song features a remarkably pedestrian guitar solo (sloppy and very un-Martin like).

Dave says they were recording audio commentary from a show two years ago (for what?  is this available somewhere?).  He says that night wasn’t a very good patter night.  Good music night, though.

Tim says, “So we overdubbed good stage banter. … Till I sparked up a fattie and giggled like a moron.”
Martin: “till you sparked up a fattie and the ridiculousness of the situation became glaringly apparent.”
Dave: “Martin I can’t believe you just said ‘sparked up a fattie.'”
Martin: “The times they are a-changing.”

Martin introduces “Aliens” by saying “This would be a b-minor chord.  The whole thing seems a little weird–Martin does some odd voices and weird guitar noises—it almost sounds out of tune or like it’s just the wrong guitar.

Back to a new song with “Polar Bears and Trees” and they have fun chanting the “hey hey ho ho” section.

Dave calms things down with some details: We got some stuff planned over the next 13 days. Lucky 13.  Thursday there’s going to be 25 guest vocalists.  We’re gonna mail it in, basically.  And then on Saturday we have “Tim Vebron and the Rheostars.”  According to a review, this “band” is a goof: “Martin was wearing a lei and suspenders, MPW looked like an extra from THX1138.”   You can also get a pass to all 13 shows for $75.  For some good old live live Canadian shield rock.

Dave asks, “Tim did you get a contact high during aliens?  Some wise acre lit a marijuana cigarette.”  Tim:  “It’s just kicking in now.  I’m hungry.”

“PIN” sound great although in “Legal Age Life,” the sound drops out at 58 seconds and comes back on at 1:35.  During the song, Dave shouts G and they shift to “Crocodile Rock.”  It kind of clunkily falls back in to “LAL,” but it’s fun to see them jamming and exploring a bit.

Dave says “Crocodile Rock” was a very complicate dance, but it didn’t catch on.  I think the dance involved implements didn’t it. Tongs?”

“Stolen Car” starts quietly but builds and builds to a noisy climactic guitar solo.  Its pretty exciting.

During the encore break there’s repeated chants for “Horses.  Horses.”

You can hear Dave say, “‘Soul Glue?’ We’re not going to do that tonight, we’re going to say it for a special occasion.”  The audience member shouts, “the hell with you.” Dave: “Ok, bye. Yes I am going to hell.”

What song do you think cleans the palate for the song to come after it—A sherbet?

There’s some amusing commentary between Dace and the audience.  And then a little more local politics: “Did you think that was good speech by David Miller?  I didn’t. I don’t want to be a bad guy coz it’s his night but…”  Then Dave imagines a “David Miller ascension-to-power film starring Ed Begley Jr.”

The encore includes a rollicking “Satan is the Whistler” followed by a solid cover of The Clash’s “London Calling.”  Tim’s a little sloppy on the bass, but the guitar sound is perfect and Dave’s got the vocal sound just right.  As they leave you can still here that guy calling for “Horses.”

[READ: July 1, 2016] What If We’re Wrong?

I have enjoyed a lot of the essays I’ve read by Klosterman.  But I’ve never read one of his books before.  I saw him on Seth Meyers one night and this book sounded cool.  And then I saw it at work, so I grabbed it .

Klosterman is clever and funny and this book is clever and funny.  Although I found it a little long–every section of the book felt like it could have been shorter and it wouldn’t have lost any impact.  However, I loved the premise and I loved all of the examples.  I just got a little tired of each section before it ended.

So what is this book (with the upside down cover) about?  Well, as the blurb says, our cultural is pretty causally certain about things.  No matter how many times we are wrong, we know exactly how things are going to go. Until they do not go that way any more.  “What once seemed inevitable eventually becomes absurd.”  So what will people think of 2015/16 in 100 years?  And while some things seem like they may be obvious about how tastes change, he also wonders if our ideas about gravity will change.

This came out before the horrors of the 2016 election and I read it before them, so the whole premise of the book is even more magnified. (more…)

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Jeanne DuPrau–The Diamond of Darkhold: The Fourth Book of Ember (2008) [audiobook 2008–Katherine Kellgren]

Posted in #RESIST, Adventure, Audiobooks, Bandits, Children's Books, Completed Series, Death, Dystopia, End of the World, Explorers, Fire, Fraud, Greed, Horses, Humiliation, Idiots, Jealousy, Jeanne DuPrau, Katherine Kellgren, Language, Marriage (Happy), Morality, Power Failure, Sci-fi, Superstitions, The Future, Wendy Dillon on August 7, 2017| Leave a Comment »

[LISTENED TO: August 2017] The Diamond of Darkhold

The end of the previous book (the prequel) left me in very good spirits about this final book.  This one had not come out while I was working at the public library so I didn’t know about it and the title and cover puzzled me.

But whatever, it was time to see how this series ended (I assume its over).

But, oh no!  Another new audio book reader!  This time Katherine Kellgren.  Kellgren has the unenviable task of following up Wendy Dillon’s establishment as a reader.  It was a little disconcerting hearing Doon and some other characters who had very distinctive voices portrayed differently.  In fact, I wasn’t all that impressed by her reading at first because the characters kind of sounded the same.  But as soon as new characters entered the picture I was really thrilled with her reading.  The diverse voices she brought to the story were outstanding.

So what happens in it?

The story picks up about nine months after the Emberites left Ember.  Winter is coming upon them and things are very hard.  People are also getting sick (some people have died).  (more…)

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Jeanne DuPrau–The Prophet of Yonwood: The Third Book of Ember (2006) [audiobook 2006–Becky Ann Baker]

Posted in Audiobooks, Becky Ann Baker, Children's Books, Death, Dogs, Dystopia, End of the World, Greed, Jeanne DuPrau, Language, Morality, Prequel, Religion, Sci-fi, Snakes, Superstitions, Trilogy, Unfinished series, War on August 6, 2017| Leave a Comment »

[LISTENED TO: August 2017] The Prophet of Yonwood

I did not enjoy the second book of Ember much at all.  I wasn’t even going to continue with the series, but I was intrigued at this being a (shorter) prequel.

This book came out when I was still working at a public library so I remember the cover quite vividly.

But when I put in the disc I was shocked to realize that the narrator was different!  Where was beloved Wendy Dillon?  That was disappointing.  Worse yet, this book was set in the South so the new narrator, Becky Ann Baker, had a whole lot of Southern to speak to us, which I don’t care for in an audio book.

So there were already two strikes against this.  And then it turned out that the story has literally nothing to do with Ember at all.  Well, that’s not strictly true, but it is set in America (at an unspecified future date) where global stresses are tense, but in which life goes on.

Set with a backdrop of global war, the United States is up against the “Phalanx Nations,” and unless changes are made, war seems imminent.

Into this we see Nicole (Nickie) Randolph, an eleven-year-old girl visiting Yonwood, NC, with her aunt Crystal.  Nickie’s grandfather recently died and Nickie’s mother and aunt want to sell the property, called Greenhaven, and be out of Yonwood.  For reasons either unclear or which I don’t remember, Nickie is travelling with her aunt and not her mother, which is a little odd, but whatever. (more…)

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Jeanne DuPrau–The People of Sparks: The Second Book of Ember (2004) [audiobook 2004–Wendy Dillon]

Posted in #ITMFA, #RESIST, Audiobooks, Children's Books, Death, Dystopia, End of the World, Fire, Greed, Idiots, Jealousy, Jeanne DuPrau, Language, Morality, Power Failure, Sci-fi, Superstitions, Unfinished series, Wendy Dillon on July 22, 2017| Leave a Comment »

[LISTENED TO: July 2017] The People of Sparks

After finishing up The City of Ember this summer, with that promising cliffhanger-ish ending, I was pretty excited to listen to book two.

Holy cow did I hate this book (until the end).  I blame the combination of DuPrau’s writing and Wendy Dillon’s excellent vocal work.  Because as soon as the book started, the sorta main character Torren quickly became the single most irritating character in fiction.  He is bratty.  He is incredibly whiny.  He is a really mean.  And he is unchecked by adults.  Perhaps we are supposed to feel sorry for him, but he is so incredibly unlikable and does such horrible things that I don’t see how one could.

I imagined that this book would pick up where Ember left off–Mrs Murdo finding the note and rallying the city together to come and meet Lina and Doon in the new place.  I imagined a lengthy first part where the characters try to convince the mayor and gather their stuff and eventually work their way out.

But no.  The book begins in the city of Sparks.  Horrible brat child Torren is sitting on a windmill (not sure why they have these windmills if they don’t harness the energy) and sees people marching across the empty land.

Soon enough Lina and Doon are introducing the 400+ Emberites to the 300+ people of Sparks.  The leaders of Sparks: Mary, Ben and Wilmer meet to decide what to do with this huge influx of people. (more…)

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Jeanne DuPrau–The City of Ember: The First Book of Ember (2003) [audiobook 2004–Wendy Dillon]

Posted in #ITMFA, #RESIST, Audiobooks, Children's Books, Death, Dystopia, End of the World, Greed, Jeanne DuPrau, Language, Morality, Power Failure, Sci-fi, Superstitions, Trilogy, Unfinished series, Wendy Dillon on July 15, 2017| Leave a Comment »

[LISTENED TO: July 2016, July 2017] The City of Ember

I enjoyed this book when we listened to it the first time and I enjoyed the graphic novel as well.

But I couldn’t remember enough about the audio book to post about it so I listened to it again.  And what was so interesting this time was how much it sounded like an attack on our current political situation:

A greedy pig in charge of a country; sycophants as his cronies; keeping as much as possible for themselves and allowing the richer to get richer while the country falls apart; shutting down truth; imprisoning dissenters and just to top it off, the mayor is a large man with very small hands (seriously).  The only real difference is that the mayor speaks eloquently and has a big vocabulary.

I absolutely loved the reading by Wendy Dillon.  She has quite distinctive voices for the main characters and some of the secondary characters have wonderful details about them that keeps them individual–the mayor wheezes, another character smacks his lips together, Clary speaks slowly and deliberately almost with a stutter.  It’s wonderful.  And the sound effects, while not necessary, are a nice addition.  Although they are fairly infrequent and can be surprising if you forget about them.

So what’s the story about? (more…)

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Kazu Kibuishi–Amulet: Book One: The Stonekeeper (2008)

Posted in Aliens, Alternate Reality, Children's Books, Death, Dystopia, Ghosts, Graphic Novel, Kazu Kibuishi, Marriage (Happy), Mystery, Outer Space, Penguin Cafe, Penguin Cafe Orchestra, Robots, Supernatural, Superstitions, Technology, Tiny Desk Concert on June 28, 2017| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: PENGUIN CAFE-Tiny Desk Concert #628 (June 16, 2017).

I recently found out about Penguin Cafe from a piece on All Songs Considered.  I learned that Penguin Cafe Orchestra was responsible for some cool/unusual classical/pop recordings back in he 1970s and 1980s.  And it’s likely that if you listened to NPR back then, you heard some of their music.:

The music of Penguin Cafe is like no other. Its origins date back to the early ’70s, within fever dreams Simon Jeffes had that were brought on by food poisoning. In those dreams he imagined a dispassionate world “where everyone lived in big concrete blocks and spent their lives looking into screens. In one room, there was a couple making love lovelessly. In another there was a musician sat at a vast array of equipment, but with headphones on, so there was no actual music in the room.” Eerily accurate.

But he also imagined a place, the Penguin Cafe, where folks could gather, for pleasure, cheer and music. He wanted to hear what that music would sound like, and so created the Penguin Cafe Orchestra. I was always a huge fan of that original music; listeners of NPR may have heard it often in-between news stories during the many years I directed All Things Considered.

But Penguin Cafe Orchestra is no more.

While Simon Jeffes died in 1997, his son Arthur has been creating new music infused with his father’s original inspiration. He calls his group, simply, Penguin Cafe. You can hear Brazilian sounds in the rhythms, classical and minimalism in the strings, Asia in its harmonium, African sounds in the kalimbas. But honestly, it’s none of these; it’s a universal dream state.

If you’re looking to explore further be sure the listen to Penguin Cafe’s recent album The Imperfect Sea, which nods to Kraftwerk, Simian Mobile Disco and Franz Schubert. It’s none of these.

The band has a lot of strings: Oli Langford (violin) Clementine Brown (violin) Vincent Greene (viola) Andy Waterworth (double bass).  There’s also a ukulele (Des Murphy) which you can’t hear too often, but it is notable on the final song.

“Wheels Within Wheels” is cover of a song by Simian Mobile Disco.  It is nearly five minutes long with slow, building strings and a simple melody that seems to be never ending as it remains the same while the backing chords change.  In addition to the strings, there’s a guy (Neil Codling) playing a dulcitone on top of the real piano (he’s holding his hand up by the end).  And the percussionist (Darren Berry) seems to have a wooden plank to play on.  He uses mallets on the wood to get quite a deep sound.  It’s a really fun piece.

“Protection” has a catchy piano motif (played by Arthur with outstretched arm on the dulcitone) in 7/8 time.  But everyone else plays in 4/4, so the motif changes every time.  After a few bars, it switches to the real piano and the strings are really lovely while that’s going on.  The ducitone player has switched to a large ukulele and the percussion consists of drums sticks on the piece of wood–fast clicking sounds.

“Ricercar” is an old renaissance Italian term.  At the beginning of a fugue you embed a theme that is expounded on later.  This song opens the album and few themes come back later in the album.  Jeffes plays a quiet melody on the dulcitone.  About half way through the song he opens the piano and seems to be dampening the strings with his hand while playing the notes.  The percussion includes a shaker and the mallets on the wood once again.  It’s upbeat and catchy and a lot of fun.

This is a really enjoyable show–classical music for people who like to have fun as well.  As far as the original band goes, if you’ve heard anything by Penguin Cafe Orchestra, it’s probably this piece: “Music for a Found Harmonium.”

[READ: June 24, 2016] Amulet: The Stonekeeper

I have really enjoyed Kibuishi’s Explorer collections, so it seemed sensible to try out his Amulet as well.  And what a great, interesting and unusual story it is.

Although I must admit I was pretty shocked by the fact that the main characters Emily and Navin are in a car accident in the prologue and their father is killed.  What a way to start!

After the death of their father, the family (Emily, Navin and their mom) move out to an old country estate to get some perspective on things.  As they begin to clean up the old house, they go into a room of inventions by their ancestor Silas Charnon.  The story is that Charnon went missing one day and was never heard from again. While Emily is looking over some books, a creepy ghost creatures hovers behind her.

Navin and Emily look around (they don’t see the ghost) and soon, Emily puts her hand on a hand-shaped plate and a necklace–an amulet–is revealed.  Emily puts it on and when Navin complains, she says he can wear it tomorrow.  But that night the amulet speaks to her.  It tells her to stay with her family and keep the safe–they are in danger. (more…)

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Thomas Siddell–Gunnerkrigg Court: Volume 3: Reason (2011)

Posted in Adventure, Alternate Reality, Boredom, Culture Shock, Demons, Fantasy, Funny (ha ha), Ghosts, Graphic Novel, Magic, Monsters, Myths, Punch Brothers, Research, Romance, Sarah Jarosz, Science, Set at School, Smarty Pants, Supernatural, Superstitions, Thomas Siddell, Threats, Tiny Desk Concert, Unfinished series, Witches, YA Books, Zombies on May 30, 2017| Leave a Comment »

  SOUNDTRACK: SARAH JAROSZ-Tiny Desk Concert #324 (December 7, 2013).

I know Sarah Jarosz’ name from somewhere (anything spelled like tha I’ll remember), but I’m not sure where.  It turns out that Jarosz plays awesome bluegrass.

Perhaps I’d heard of her because of her youth:

The singer and multi-instrumentalist first surfaced as an 18-year-old wunderkind with the release of 2009’s Song Up In Her Head, which generated the first of what will likely be many Grammy nominations; now a grizzled 22, she’s out performing songs from her fine new third album, Build Me Up From Bones.

performed with the aid of fiddler Alex Hargreaves and cellist . All

“Over the Edge” has a great riff.  It starts out with Jarosz’ guitar (which is an 8-string guitar: twinned four string, so almost like a bass and yet strummed).  She’s accompanied by a plucked cello (by Nathaniel Smith).  And then her voice comes in: distinctive, raspy and really lovely.  But it’s after the first verse when the guitar and cello both play that fast 8 note riff that the song really kicks into bluegrass territory. In the middle of the song, it’s fiddler Alex Hargreaves who throws in some great bluegrass fiddling lines.  It’s swinging and rollicking and really fun.

“Build Me Up from Bones” is more folk sounding—her voice is beautiful and the melody of this song (which she plays on that 8 string guitar) is outstanding.  There’s a cool alt-folk tone to the song, especially in the bridge.  The cello is bowed, giving a rich sound before the violin (rather than fiddle) solo comes in.

For “Fuel The Fire” she switches to banjo.  This is a great bluegrass song and that banjo sounds great.  I’d love to see a double bill with her and Punch Brothers.

[READ: November 12, 2016] Gunnerkrigg Court 3 [23-31]

I really enjoyed book 2 of the series and was pretty exited to see that book 3 was already out–in fact books 4 and five have been released, too.  This book collects Siddell’s online series–for frame of reference, this book ends with chapter 31 and as of May 2017 he is up to chapter 62 online.

I loved that Chapter 23 started with a totally different style–looking like a kind of sci-fi epic (and called Terror Castle of the Jupiter Moon Martians). But we quickly learn that this new look is a simulation–a kind of test for the main kids.  But it’s very poorly made and they solve the mystery almost instantly. This plot leads to a couple of interesting revelations.  That Parley has a thing for Smitty (everyone can tell but the two of them), and that Jones is becoming a fascinating and enigmatic important character. Reynard is also even funnier with his comeback “I think you detect a hint of shut your face” which Anni responds to with “Hah, Katerina must be helping you with your comebacks.”

The simulation room also allows for us to learn more about the origins of Reynard and Coyote. (more…)

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