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Archive for the ‘Surreal’ Category

Shaun Tan–The Red Tree (2001)

Posted in Children's Books, Graphic Novel, Oddities, Sesame Street, Short Story, Supernatural, Surreal on August 30, 2014| Leave a Comment »

red treeSOUNDTRACK: ELVIS COSTELLO-“Monster Went and Ate My Red 2″

elvisOf all of the songs that I might think would get turned into a children’s song for Sesame Street, I must say that “The Angels Wanna Wear My Red Shoes” was pretty low on the likelihood list.  It’s one of my favorite songs, but what might you do with it for the Street (and why would you pick a sorta popular song from 40 some years ago?).

I can’t answer the last part, but you can tell by the title what you’d do with it:  turn the angel into a monster and the shoes into the number 2.  And now Elvis can’t count to ten because the monster ate his red two.  Lyrically it stretched credibility somewhat, but when accompanied by the video in which Cookie Monster does in fact eat a number 2 that is red, it all makes a kind of weird sense.

True, Elvis never sings the “She said drop dead and left with another guy” line.  In fact, Elmo sings that verse in which he goes and gets another red two.  But, just when you think it’s all good, there’s a surprising twist.

And, best of all, Elvis looks like he’s having fun.

[READ: July 1, 2014] The Red Tree

It was surprising seeing this children’s book come across my desk, but since I love Shaun Tan’s work, I was excited to read this one (his other children’s books are gorgeous).

This story is quite dark–perhaps a little too ark for my six-year-old, although I feel like she could relate to it on some days (perhaps the wording was a little much even if the feelings were spot on).  And she has red hair too.

The story opens with a girl sitting in bed with the caption that “Sometimes the day begins with nothing to look forward to and thing go from bad to worse.”  Sure everyone has experienced days like that.  And the drawings are wonderful–in this case, the girl’s bed is swamped by leaves. (more…)

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Rebecca Curtis–“The Christmas Miracle” (New Yorker, December 23 & 30, 2013)

Posted in Cats, Christmas, Death, Funny (strange), K'naan, Mali Music, New Yorker, Parenting, Rebecca Curtis, Short Story, Surreal, Yuck! on July 10, 2014| Leave a Comment »

CV1_TNY_12_23_13Blitt.inddSOUNDTRACK: MALI MUSIC-Tiny Desk Concert #366 (June 21, 2014).

maliMali Music is one man, born in Savannah, GA, but with a somewhat Jamaican vibe.  He plays three songs in this Tiny Desk Concert and each one is quite different.

In the first track, “Fight for You,” he raps over a beat and sample mix played by his DJ (DJ Slow Motion, who is behind the desk with him).  It’s interesting in that he raps with himself (his voice is played by the DJ as well, not looped).  His singing voice in this song tends towards the whiny which I don’t care for, especially since his main voice is so powerful.

The second track, “Make It In” he plays on an acoustic guitar.  The song is clever with lots of amusing asides and slight laughs in the lyrics too.  he more or less raps the verses but sings the chorus.

For the final song, he switches to keyboard (he says he learned piano at a very young age) and he plays a simple, uplifting ballad called “Beautiful.”  There’s a funny moment when he asks the crowd to sing along and then the DJ plays a sample of a crowd singing a long, which makes Mali laugh.

Mali is a pretty positive guy–he talks about things getting better and about himself really making a difference through his music.  It sounds like prideful boasting (and it will be interesting to see if he really does take off), but he also seems sincere in his desire for happiness.  The set reminds me a little of K’naan, at least in spirit.

[READ: June 19, 2014] “The Christmas Miracle”

After really enjoying “The Toast” a few months ago, I was delighted to get another story from Rebecca Curtis and her bristly narrator.

The story opens with the comment that cats were dying, “This happens, of course.”  But in this case they were dying in gory ways not to mention the cats belonged to her nieces.  The girls had seen the dead cats.  The narrator also points out that it is now Christmas, “The most magical, horrible, spiritual, dark, and stressful time of the year.”

Like with another Curtis story, this one is being told to someone, in this case, someone named K, a Russian Communist and “Jewish person who doesn’t believe Jesus was the son of God.”

The narrator explains her situation–she was teaching creative writing but hadn’t written anything herself in years  She had contracted Lyme disease (does this all sound familiar from her other stories?). The disease causes inflammations and bouts of madness and “frank or rude speech, usually set off by eating carbohydrates.”

I love the way that Curtis writes although I’m unclear what Curtis herself believes because her narrator is just so contrary.  Like this awesome sentence:

“If cake was nearby I wasn’t always able to prevent myself from having one bite, then the sugar fed the Bartonella bacteria, which commanded me to eat more, and I would, and then I’d go insane.”  So she asked her sister not to have any sugar filled treats at Christmas.  Which her sister ignored, of course. (more…)

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Steven Millhauser–“Coming Soon” (New Yorker, December 16, 2013)

Posted in Meta, Moon Hooch, New Yorker, Short Story, Steven Millhauser, Surreal, Tiny Desk Concert on July 9, 2014| Leave a Comment »

CV1_TNY_12_16_13Nelson.inddSOUNDTRACK: MOON HOOCH-Tiny Desk Concert #371 (July 7, 2014).

moonhoochI like to do things in an orderly fashion when I write about them, but when it comes to Moon Hooch, order simply must go out the window.

I’ve been enjoying Moon Hooch a lot lately, cranking their CD, watching them play improv live pieces on the side of the road (on YouTube) and now in this Tiny Desk Concert.

So Moon Hooch is three guys–two sax and a drummer.  And they play loud and fast and furious with crazy tempo changes, incredible stop on a dime pauses and some amazingly noisy solos.  In this Concert, the guys (saxophonists Mike Wilbur and Wenzl McGowen and drummer James Muschler) play three songs that all sort of meld together: “Tubes,” “Number 9” and “Bari 3.”

“Tubes” opens up as the picture shows with the baritone sax stuffed with some kind of tube.  I have no idea what it does to the sound (their sounds are so unusual anyhow), but it’s a very funny visual to see him waving this massive thing around while it’s attached with a yellow caution tape.  Especially since the song actually starts with the other sax making crazy skronking noises (this ain’t easy listening music, that’s for sure).  Indeed, when the lead sax is not playing a catchy melody he is wailing and skronking around.

“Number 9” was their first single and the song that introduced me to the band.  The extenda-tubes are gone, and the song sounds super tight and in control, with enough jam elements to keep it interesting.  Drummer Muschler also take a brief solo–it’ nothing too flashy (he’s got a very spare kit), but it really shows off his speed and dexterity which can get lost behind the flash of the saxes, especially when the saxes come back in and the solo wails away.

The final song is their new single.  I love their choreographed playing and the amazing stops and stars that the music has.   This song also features some of the quieter sections before launching into that heavy low sax riffage.

It’s definitely more fun to watch these guys, so check it out here.

[READ: June 13, 2014] “Coming Soon”

Stephen Millhauser seems to get a lot of stories published in the New Yorker.  His last one was in May of 2013 (this one was in December).  I’m starting to think there’s some unfairness in their selections sometimes.

But that’s not meant to reflect on this story at all because it was a fun, meta-story and the crazy related picture (echoes of a small house) was surprisingly apt.

In the story, Levinson has moved from the city to an up and coming town.  His friends in the city made fun of him–talking about the burbs and commodification and what not, yet they all went out to visit him to the weekends.  This particular town (not a sprawling suburb) was being developed quickly, and he relished the newness.   In fact he was almost defensive of how much he loved his new town.

Levinson is 42, dating casually until the right girl comes around.  But he is not settling down at all–he still works hard and he enjoys working in his yard and wandering the town.  He knows his neighbors and everyone is friendly.  It’s perfect. (more…)

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Shaun Tan–Eric (2008)

Posted in Children's Books, Culture Shock, Graphic Novel, Jake Bugg, Oddities, Shaun Tan, Short Story, Supernatural, Surreal, Tiny Desk Concert on July 4, 2014| Leave a Comment »

ericSOUNDTRACK: JAKE BUGG-Tiny Desk Concert #342 (March 10, 2014).

buggJake Bugg is the least charismatic person I’ve ever seen at the Tiny Desk. He doesn’t look up, barely says anything and when he’s not singing, he seems bored out of his mind. It’s amazing he has any energy at all to sing the songs.  But he does, and his voice is deceptively strong and his songs, while simple, are really rather fun.

He plays four songs.  “Slumville Sunrise” is punky and fast–his voice is very British and a little abrasive, perfect for punk folk.  But in the chorus, he can really belt out the lyrics. “Me and You” has a nice melody and is a good change of pace from the first song.  “Storm Passes Away” is a more folkie song, mellower than the others and almost upbeat sounding.  The final song, “Lightning Bolt” is apparently one of his big singles.  It is fast and rollicking and has an unusual and rather catchy deliver style.

I came away from this concert thinking that Bugg was a real jerk, but I was impressed by his voice and his song writing chops.

[READ: July 1, 2014] Eric

Eric is a very simple children’s story done with the great exacting style of Shaun Tan’s best artwork.  The narrator explains that Eric is a foreign exchange student.  Eric is very curious about so many things; however, since Eric is only a few inches high, most of the things he is curious about are tiny incidental things that we take for granted–buttons, the shapes of drains, plastic wrappers, etc.

The narrator’s mum says it is a cultural thing, and it must be, because Eric doesn’t do things that most normal people do (probably because he is only 3 inches tall).  The end of the story is a wonderful surprise. (more…)

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Salvador Plascencia–The People of Paper (2005)

Posted in Beck, Books about writers, Bookslut, Death, Gangsters, Gods, Marriage Trouble, McSweeney's, Meta, Nashville Review, Neil Young, Salvador Plascencia, Sex, Surreal, Travel on April 7, 2014| Leave a Comment »

salSOUNDTRACK: BECK-Morning Phase (2014).

morningThe release of Beck’s latest album is what got me investigating Beck’s back catalog–just to see how Beck arrived at this mellow chillout place.

I read a lot about this album when it came out and, even hearing Beck discuss it, I feared it would be a little too slow and mopey for my tastes.  It is slow, but it’s not really mopey.  It’s quite pretty, in fact.  And as I’ve come to learn by going through Beck’s back catalog, he likes to experiment in all sorts of ways, but at his core, he is just a really good songwriter.

So it opens with 40 seconds of strings that act as  nice introduction to the tone of the album, but don’t prepare you for the pretty acoustic song “Morning.”  Lyrically it’s pretty dark, although with his falsetto, it’s kind of hard to realize that.  The melody and vocal line are really lovely (especially the weird echo they put on his voice).  And it has a surprisingly big sounding chorus–redemption even in sadness.  “Heart is a Drum” has piano and an acoustic guitar with swelling strings–once again, the chorus is big and (relatively) fun.  “Say Goodbye” is a sad song, and yet it is still catchy (which is nice), with a simple acoustic guitar.   “Blue Moon” has a wonderfully catchy verse structure and it picks up the tempo somewhat with beautiful swells of music.  And the chorus is dynamite too–it is a worthy single.

“Unforgiven” slows things down even more, making one of the moodiest Beck songs.  And then comes “Wave,” perhaps Beck’s darkest and moodiest song–just waves of strings with no drums and Beck’s longing voice over the top.  “Don’t Let It Go” has some very nice singing from Beck.  His voice has always been good, but he sounds like his voice is maturing somewhat here.

“Blackbird Chain” is the prettiest melody on the record, and it feels especially light after the downcast last few songs.  It has a great chorus and really strong verse melodies. My only gripe is the very brief string accompaniment in the middle of the song which feels like overkill–the piano solo is nice, bit the strings are too much.  But they’re very brief and don’t ruin the song.  “Phase” is a 1 minute instrumental that leads into “Turn Away.”  “Turn” has Beck’s layered vocals and a wonderful easy guitar sound.  The whole song has a sixties acoustic vibe, an again, the melody is great.  “Country Down” has a, yes, country feel (including harmonica solo ala Neil Young), and Beck’s lower, more powerful voice.  It’s a strange turn on this album, but it keeps with the mellow vibe.  The disc ends with “Waking Light” a slow, building song with more great vocals and a wonderful chorus, that makes good use of loud and soft.  It’s a very strong ending to an album.

Unlike other Beck albums this one is definitely a “have to be in the mood” for it.  There’s no pop singles, no dancey hits.  It’s all very mellow.  But it’s very pretty.

[READ: April 2, 2014] The People of Paper

An excerpt from this book was published in McSweeney’s #12.   Here’s what I thought of the excerpt:

This is an excerpt from Plascencia’s novel of the same name, a novel that I own but have not read yet.  And wow is this crazy.  There is, indeed a person made of paper and there are people made of meat, and there are different narrators.  Federico de la Fe is a grown man who wets the bed–as the story begins he and his wife (who tolerates the wet spot) are going to the water’s edge to fill it with new straw.  His wife has gotten used to it (ew), but once their young daughter is potty trained and her husband isn’t, she gets quite cross.  It is only after his wife has died that he learns of a cure–sticking his hand in the fire.  See, crazy–and we haven’t even gotten to the lady of paper yet.  I’m assuming that actually reading the full novel will bring some clarity to this story.

I included this as an introduction because this story is very very unusual, even after reading the whole thing.

In addition to the story being unusual (and, as it turns out, completely metafictional), even the physical product is unusual.

The story is broken into several styles, which are distinguished at the front of each chapter by either three lines, three dots or one dot.  In the three lines chapters, each page is broken into 3 columns–each column is about a character.  In the three dots section, the chapter is formatted normally, but different characters are written about.  And in the one dot section, the small chapter is about one person (you can read more about this in the interviews below). (more…)

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Yoko Tawada–The Bridegroom Was a Dog (stories) (1994) [translated 1998]

Posted in Advice, Dogs, Dreams, Fables, Margaret Mitsutani, Rheostatics, Sex, Sexism, Short Books, Short Story, Small Books, Surreal, Trains, Translation, Travel, Yoko Tawada, tagged on March 4, 2014| Leave a Comment »

dogSOUNDTRACK: RHEOSTATICS-The Music Hall, Toronto, Ontario (May 2, 1998).

musichalThis show sounds different from all of their other live shows on Rheostatics Live around this time.  I don’t know much about The Music Hall, but it sounds like a more formal venue–like a bigger, perhaps seated, crowd.

There is also a string section and the ever reliable Kevin Hearn playing along with them.  Well, string section might be stretching it–there are musicians from UofT playing along with them, including beautiful violins on “Self Service Gas Station” and a surprise flute on “Take Me in Your Hand.”  There’s also a bunch of the musicians playing along on “King of the Past” which means I finally get to hear the great end section with a violin–but it gets cut off!  Agh.

With Kevin playing with them, they showcase some tracks from the Group of 7 release (which they explain didn’t have titles but now sort of do).  So they play “Boxcar Song” and “Yellow Days Under a Lemon Sun.”  They also play “Monkeybird” which they say is from Harmelodia (even though it’s not out yet).

There are a lot of glitches and weird things happening with this tape which is kind of a shame as it is a pretty unique concert.  It’s also only 90 minutes, which might just means a lot of the show was cut off.

[READ: January 3, 2014] The Bridegroom was a Dog

I bought this book years ago based on some recommendation or other.  Then I recently received a new version of it from New Directions.  Their version was just the title story.  This original book (which had the same translator, Margaret Mitsutani) contains the title story and two other longish stories.

Because I just read the other book (and its the same translation) I didn’t re-read “Bridegroom.”  But I did read the other two stories “Missing Heels” and “The Gotthard Railway.”

“Bridegroom” was certainly a weird story.  But “Missing Heels” may be even stranger.  I say this because of what may or may not be deliberate ambiguity in the word heel.  As the story begins the protagonist is stared at by people because of her heels.  I assumed she meant the heels of her shoes.  But by the end of the story it seems that she means the heels of her feet, which is even stranger. (more…)

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Brendan Connell–The Galaxy Club (2014)

Posted in Brendan Connell, Chômu Press, Conor Oberst, Death, Short Books, Supernatural, Surreal, The Faint, Unreliable narrator, Violence on February 24, 2014| 2 Comments »

chomuSOUNDTRACK: THE FAINT-“Help in the Head” (2014)

doom“Help in the Head” opens with an incredible amount of feedback and squalling noise–some of it natural and other parts sounding quite processed.  After ten seconds the song begins properly with a pounding drum and buzzing guitars.  The song is quite simple–a catchy melody that blossoms once the bridge kicks in (with some “oh ohs”).  The chorus is also simple and catchy, “I just meant you needed help in the head” with all kinds of fuzzy screaming swirling around.  A few minutes later, the song ends with more noise, just as it began.

The Faint has been around a long time and are on Saddle Creek records, home to Conor Oberst and his many bands (he was in an original incarnation of The Faint). The song has much in common with Oberst’s style of pop–simple melodies and very catchy structures, but it is so overlaid with noise and distortion that it takes it out of the realm of simple pop music into a pop music that is actually abrasive..

[READ: February 21, 2014] The Galaxy Club

Brendan Connell is back with his most daring book yet.  Daring, because it is so very different from what he usually writes.

I have really enjoyed Connell’s audacity in his previous books–whether it was the extensive research done into both cooking and history in Lives of Notorious Cooks (2012) or the brutality that religion can inspire in The Architect (2012) or his exploration into extremely transgressive behavior in Metrophilias (2010).  He has never been afraid to push the edge of the envelope into unexpected areas.  But what makes this book so daring is that it is, for the most part, pretty “normal.”  Book covers don’t typically indicate anything really, but this book cover, in sober black and white, really conveys the feeling of the book–gritty, small town, hardscrabble Southwest.

And yet despite the somewhat conventional nature of the story, there are also fantastical elements.  Each chapter is narrated by a different (sometimes recurring) character.  Some are narrated by “Those Underground,” and “Demon Taming Stick” and even “Prawn Dragon Colonel.”  But they are also narrated by normal folks.  Connell’s past work in creating manifold characters in his short stories really pays off for the number and divergent characters he has here.

The main characters are a man named Cleopatra–who claims to be the Queen of the Nile herself.  The Montoya family: Ibbie, Theodore and their son Blue Boy.  The Roybal family: Elmer and his aunt Ramona.  And a police officer named Alfonso Torcuato Southerland-Hevia y Miranda who claims to be switched at birth with Elmer–but he claims he bears no grudge. (more…)

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Trinie Dalton–Sweet Tomb (2010) [Madras Press: Series One, Book Three]

Posted in Canadian Music, Madras Press, Rheostatics, Short Story, Small Books, Surreal, Trinie Dalton, Vampires, Witches, Yuck!, tagged on February 16, 2014| Leave a Comment »

madras3SOUNDTRACK: RHEOSTATICS-Barrymore’s Ottawa, ON (January 17, 1997).

barryAfter two recordings in Barrymore’s in 1996, Rhesostatics Live has another concert from Barrymore‘s to open 1997.  And this one is fantastic.  The sound is perfect, the band sounds great and they play a wonderful selection of songs.

They open with a long version of “Record Body Count,” and a rousing “Dope Fiends and Booze Hounds.”  They are also having a lot of fun on stage with the lengthy introduction to “Sweet, Rich, Beautiful and Mine” and the fun teasing that opens “Saskatchewan.”

But the most fun comes in “Fan Letter to Michael Jackson” which sees the band joking around and sounding almost giddy. It’s not the best rendition of the song for novices to the band, but for long time fans, this must have been fun to see.  It’s also amazing that the band has played yet another 2 hours plus show.

[READ: January 8, 2014] Sweet Tomb

I don’t usually mention the book publisher when I post about books, but I’m quite taken with Madras Press.  From their website:

Madras Press publishes limited-edition short stories and novella-length booklets and distributes the proceeds to a growing list of non-profit organizations chosen by our authors.  The format of our books provides readers with the opportunity to experience stories on their own, with no advertisements or miscellaneous stuff surrounding them.

The format is a 5″ x 5″ square books that easily fit into a pocket.  At present there are four series with four books in each series.

Proceeds from Dalton’s book go to the Theodore Payne Foundation for Wild Flowers & Native Plants.

I have a lot of strange synchronicites with the books I read.  As it turns out, yesterday’s comic book was about a witch and this collection of related short stories is also about a witch.  It’s especially strange because I didn’t know that either book would have a witch character at all (even Zombillenium–it seems like it would be about zombies not witches).  So it’s funny to read two different stories and to see two entirely different attitudes about witches.  In Zombiellenium, she says that being a witch is not hereditary and yet in Sweet Tomb, she says it is (and then wonders why anyone would pass that on to her children).

So yes, these are linked short stories (I assume, and not a novel with chapter titles).  They are all about Candy, a witch, and her exploits.  Typically, I summarize each short story, but it’s more interesting to talk about this narrative as a whole. (more…)

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Aimee Bender–The Third Elevator (2010) [Madras Press: Series One, Book One]

Posted in Aimee Bender, Canadian Music, Dave Bidini music, Madras Press, Rheostatics, Short Story, Small Books, Surreal, tagged on February 12, 2014| 2 Comments »

13_Bender_TTE_Cover-300x300SOUNDTRACK: RHEOSTATICS-Live at Barrymore’s, Ottawa, ON, (February 2, 1996 & May 23, 1996).

barryThere are many many Rheostatics shows recorded at Barrymore’s in Ottawa.  These two are the earliest and, strangely perhaps, are only a few months apart.

The first show is over two hours long with a great set list.  The problem is the audio.  It was recorded from the floor and, like any bootleg quality show, you can hear more audience than band.  That’s not entirely true, but you can’t hear the band talk at all and during songs you hear clinking glasses and conversations.  It’s kind of a shame, because they cover Blondie’s “Heart of Glass” but you can barely tell what it is.  So, it’s not a great show except for diehards.

The May 23 show, on the other hand, sounds great.  The notes say it was also recorded from the audience, and yet it is crystal clear.  And the set list doesn’t differ too too much from the Feb 2 show.  The opening of the set sounds a little funny–the microphones are too loud or the guitars are too quiet, so “Claire” sounds off, but the rest of the show is very good.  And as it does not feature Dave Clark, but rather Don Kerr on drums, the zaniness that Clark brought is gone, although the band is still quite funny.

There’s a very funny story about chickadees being quite the bad ass in terms of birds, and Tielli drew a great banner featuring a bad ass chickadee (see bottom of post).  Tielli also mentions Nick Buzz, his side project which had an album out at this time.  Bidini tells a great story about meeting and interviewing Joey Ramone (and getting his glasses fixed).

There’s talk of “Four Little Songs” have multiple sections so you never know what they’ll play, but I don’t think that every happened.  And, finally, Tielli evidently had green hair that night (which leads to an impromptu version of “Heat Miser” (and his explanation of where the song came from).

This is a great show and a great introduction to an early Rheostatics setlist.

[READ: January 8, 2014] The Third Elevator

I don’t usually mention the book publisher when I post about books, but I’m quite taken with Madras Press.  From their website:

Madras Press publishes limited-edition short stories and novella-length booklets and distributes the proceeds to a growing list of non-profit organizations chosen by our authors.  The format of our books provides readers with the opportunity to experience stories on their own, with no advertisements or miscellaneous stuff surrounding them.

The format is a 5″ x 5″ square books that easily fit into a pocket.  At present there are four series with four books in each series.

Proceeds from Bender’s book go to InsideOutWriters.org.

For a first book from a new publisher, this is certainly a peculiar story.  It begins with a swan and a queen. The swan is the queen’s pet and never leaves her side.  She wants the swan happily paired off with another beautiful swan, but he is quite picky.  Until he meets a bluebird. The swan falls for the bluebird and they pair off.  Soon the bluebird is sitting on an egg.  But when it opens, it is not a bird at all, but a cloud, which hangs around and which the swan tries to protect.  So far, so allegorical.

Then the story shifts two miles away to a glassed in lobby of a building that has three elevators.  One goes into the ground where miners work.  The miners are not allowed to leave the mine.  They simply fill up the elevator with gold and send it up to the surface.  A second eevator opens into the forest.  The third elevator goes up into the sky.

Then we meet a logger.  The logger is amazing at cutting things down.  But whenever he so much as harms a tree it makes his insides burst. So he cuts down telephone poles and other man-made objects.  And he is soon asked to leave the logging community, despite his family ties to it. (more…)

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Neil Gaiman–Fortunately, The Milk (2013)

Posted in All Songs Considered, Children's Books, End of the World, Fantasy, Funny (ha ha), Neil Gaiman, Parenting, Short Books, Skottie Young, Surreal, Unreliable narrator on January 24, 2014| Leave a Comment »

milk SOUNDTRACK: WAX FANGS-The Astronaut” (2014).

waxfangThis is a 17 minute song that they played on All Songs Considered the other day.  And it is quite an epic.

It begins with a heavy guitar riff that pretty much proclaims that the song will be epic.  But it quickly morphs into a kind of Ok Computer-era Radiohead song for a few minutes.  At 4:30, the guitar solo kicks in and it seems possible that the song will be about 6 minutes in total.  Until the new bassline enters at 5:30.

Now the song takes on an epic space-rock feel.  The guitar sounds get very spacey and 70s Pink Floyd, there’s soloing and crazy effects.  And no more words.  The steady propulsive bass keeps the song moving along, slowly building and building.  Until the huge freakout at 11 minutes, when the drums crash in and the guitar gets noisy and then there’s a… saxophone solo?  I like the way the sax adds a new level of unexpected noise, but I don’t really think it “fits” very well in the song.  Luckily it’s not very long.

The song continues in this vein until it reaches the end where we get a big heavy metal crescendoed ending.  It is epic, indeed.

I simply can’t imagine what else would be on this record.

[READ: January 8, 2014] Fortunately, The Milk

I was delighted to see this book in the new section at the library.  I hadn’t realized that Gaiman was working on a new book, and this is a fun and light trifle of a tale.

It is a simple story about a how a carton of milk can save of the universe.

As the story opens, the kids’ mum has gone away to a conference.  And their dad is to be watching them.  She has given him a whole list of things to do while she is gone, like making sure they get to their appointed locations on time and that he reheats the food she has prepared.  And, lastly, to make sure he gets some milk as they are almost out. (more…)

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