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Archive for the ‘Threats’ Category

Terry Moore–Echo #10 (2009)

Posted in Christmas on Mars, Fantasy, Graphic Novel, Military, Mystery, Technology, Terry Moore, The Flaming Lips, Threats on March 3, 2009| Leave a Comment »

echo102SOUNDTRACK–THE FLAMING LIPS-THE W.A.N.D. (2006).

wandThe first single from the Lips last album contains three tracks: the title track, “You Got to Hold On” and “Time Travel…Yes!”

W.A.N.D is quite a departure from the previous few records, as it begins with a brash guitar line, one of the harshest sounding songs they’ve recoded in several years.  Yet despite that, the lyrics are as positive an uplifting as ever.  It sounds like some kind of masterful protest song from the 1970s.  “You Got to Hold On” exhibits some of the sounds of the last two records, although it’s not nearly as lush.  It seems like it might have been a transitional song between Yoshimi and Mystics.  And the final track is a meditation on time travel, narrated by Steve from Blues Clues (he sure does get around…he appeared in Christmas on Mars too).

It was an excellent appetite whetter for the new album.

[READ: February 27, 2009] Echo #10

In Issue #10 we finally learn (although Julie herself doesn’t) just what exactly is all over Julie Martin.  We also get wonderfully complex behavior from Ivy–is she sympathetic to Julie, or is she just moving in for the kill.

An intriguing series just got really exciting.

(Wow, there’s not much to say about one issue of a comic book).

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Pseudonymous Bosch–If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late (2008)

Posted in Adventure, Dreams, Funny (ha ha), Funny (strange), Magic, Mystery, Pseudonymous Bosch, Supernatural, The Flaming Lips, Threats, Unreliable narrator, YA Books on February 18, 2009| 18 Comments »

boschSOUNDTRACK: THE FLAMING LIPS-The Soft Bulletin (1999).

bulletinThis album brought The Flaming Lips out from the underground (or one-hit wonder status) into the spotlight of Well Respected Bands.  It made a whole bunch of best of 1999 lists and even a few best of the 1990s lists.

The album is a lot more commercial than their previous records.  The choruses are catchy and they swell in beautiful strings.  And the songs themselves display amazing songwriting prowess.    Lyrically, the songs are also much deeper and more sophisticated.   While writing this up, I learned that this record was something of a payback for Zaireeka. (They promised a more commercial release in exchange for the crazy experiment).

And yet despite all of that, in no way is this a sellout album, or an obvious contender for top 40 status.  The lyrics are neither cynical nor ironic, they are simply human, emotional pleas for friendship, for love.  It would be embarrassing if they weren’t so thoughtful.

“Race for the Prize” (two versions on the disc) is full of big, loud, brash drums, smashing away as a beautiful synth intro fades away into quiet verses and a very tender bridge. It’s followed by “A Spoonful Weighs a Ton” a  delicate ballad, with a minor orchestral feel to it.  At times the tinkling pianos are almost Disneylike.  And then the big brash heavily distorted, and yet not unpleasant, bridge crashes in, keeping you dizzyingly off balance.

“The Spark That Bled” is yet another song with several different sections that meld nicely together.  The opening is emotional and delicate: “I accidentally touched my head and noticed that I had been bleeding.”  This portion morphs into the uplifting, impossible no to sing along with:  “I stood up and I said Hey! Yes!” string chorus.  And just to show that that’s not all they have, the next portion of the song is a smooth and funky guitar/synth shuffle.

“The Spiderbite Song” is the most obvious, by hardly the only, use of really cool and wholly unusual drums on this album.  The track starts with an extremely fast (too fast for human) drum roll that flanges around into a martial beat.  And it repeats this way throughout the song.  The lyrics are an earnest appeal to friendship when one of the band members got a spider bite and there was concern that he would lose his hand.

“Buggin'” is a demented pop song about bugs.  More wonderfully brash drums underscore a poppy verse about mosquito bites…  This segues into “What is the Light?” a ponderous track with a drum like a heart beat.  During their live show, they projected a giant eyeball whose iris changed color with each beat.  The next track (the instrumental “The Observer”) uses the same heartbeat drum as its foundation too.

“Waitin’ for Superman” (two versions as well) is the most straightforward track on the disc.  I think of it as an uplifting song because it is musically so upbeat, and yet lyrically it is quite sad.  No wonder it wasn’t the huge hit it should have been.  It’s followed by “Suddenly Everything has Changed” has another fantastic bassline.  And, like the title, midway through the song everything changes into a spacey keyboard motif that is so airy it almost floats away.

“The Gash” opens with what sounds like some weird Beatlesey syncopation, but it continues with the heartfelt “will the fight for our sanity be the fight of our lives?”  “Feeling Yourself Disintegrate” starts with such a fantastic opening: a voice drumming “bah rup bup bup bah rup up up up up.”  And the drums eventually kick in following this same pattern.  And once again the earnest lyrics: “Love in our life is just too valuable, to feel for even a second without it.”  Fantastic.

I saw the Lips on this tour and their show remains one of the top 5 shows I’ve ever seen.  Everything about the show was magical, from the band handing out little FM headphone sets so you could hear the whole show in stereo (!) to the video screens, to the simply jubilant atmosphere that the band sent out.  My only regret is that this was the tour BEFORE they used the giant hamster ball or the bunny costumes.  We did get hand puppets though (and real fake blood!)

I also just learned that the UK edition of the disc had a different song than the US version.  Huh.  And it was recently released in 5.1 surround sound mix.  Who hoo!

[READ: February 10, 2008] If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late
This is the sequel to Bosch’s The Name of this Book is Secret. I was really hooked by the first book, and was pretty excited to hear that the sequel had arrived.  To see a summary of that book and for background info, click here.

At the end of book one, Cass and Max-Ernest were on the verge of joining the Terces Society. This book picks up several months later with the pair still waiting to hear from their secret contacts: either Owen or Pietro Bergamo.

One day at lunch, Cass receives a letter in secret code telling her to come to the docks. When they board the boat they are dismayed to see that it is full of Midnight Sun members (The Midnight Sun is the group of bad guys that they defeated in the first book. They include: Dr L. (twin brother of Pietro), Ms. Mauvais, and the Skelton Sisters). This boat trip puts in motion most of the events of the story. (more…)

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Ara 13–Drawers & Booths (2007)

Posted in Adventure, Ara 13, Christmas on Mars, Clifford Chase, Funny (ha ha), Funny (strange), Joseph Heller, Meta, Military, Religion, Smarty Pants, Supernatural, The Flaming Lips, Threats, Unreliable narrator, War on February 6, 2009| 1 Comment »

drawersSOUNDTRACK: THE FLAMING LIPS-Zaireeka (1997).

zaireekaOkay, get ready.  Zaireeka comes as a 4 CD set.  With a twist.  Each CD is meant to be played simultaneously.  So, you get yourself 4 boomboxes hit play at the same time and enjoy!

Each CD has some aspects of each song.  So, on one disc you may get some vocals, maybe another has some guitars and sound effects.  It all varies per disc.  In fact, on one disc, track 6 is given a warning, perhaps my favorite warning ever on a CD: “This recording also contains frequencies not normally heard on commercial recordings and on rare occasion has caused the listener to become disoriented.”

And if you do a search for Zaireeka you will read the gamut of opinions about the disc and its ridiculousness or its social coolness.  So I won’t go into that.  I will say that one fine day many years ago I tried the experiment.  I got 4 radios and synched up all the songs and it worked and it was a lot of fun.  I also listened to the set in many different ways:  Discs 1-4 individually.  Discs 1& 2, discs 1&3, discs 1& 4, discs 2& 3, discs 2&4, discs 3&4 and then discs 1,2 & 3, discs 1, 2 & 4, discs 1, 3 & 4,  and discs 2, 3 & 4.  Phew.  (I had a lot more free time on my hands back then).  And since then, I haven’t really listened to the discs at all.  Because, well, how often do you get a chance to listen to 4 discs at once?

So, online I found a stereo mixdown version of the disc.  I know purists argue that that is simply not the way to listen to the disc, and they have a point….  Many of the effects are certainly lost, and since part of the point of the experiment is that the tracks are going to wobble and go out of synch, the mixdown does ruin the effect.  However, if you actually want to hear the songs as songs, not as experiments, the stereo mixdown mix is the way to go (at least until they release the disc in a 5.0 DVD version (which evidently they might…maybe?  in 2000, or maybe 2007, or who knows.))

But what about the songs?  It’s hard to say that the songs are typical Flaming Lips songs, because that’s not really very meaningful.  (Lips songs being off the wall at the best of times).  However, the songs are designed to allow the different discs to go out of synch somewhat, creating echoes or even stranger sounds.  As such, they are rather meandering pieces, somewhat lengthy, without a lot of heavy beats (that said, there are sections with very loud chaotic drums, they just don’t have other parts to synch up to).  But this experiment allows the songwriting to shine through in th emost minute details.  And it pays off on their next album in big time.

A track by track rundown goes:

“Okay I’ll Admit That I Really Don’t Understand” opens with a big drum splash and a fantastic bassline. Intermittent piano chords let you know that this song  isn’t going to be typical.  Fun effects and a swelling chorus add to the ambience.  It’s a short song, but it sets the tone for the rest of the disc.

“Riding to Work in the Year 2025 (Your Invisible Now)” starts off in a chaotic jumble, but once it settles down it has yet has another fantastic bassline  to start.  The middle choral part is really beautiful, although that scream section is pretty jarring/creepy.

As the title, “Thirty-Five Thousand Feet of Despair” suggests, it’s a sad song about a depressed pilot.  The effects include a plane taking off.  The song is propelled by a heartbeat-like drum, and the echoing voices suit the experiment very well.  There’s a “sane” vocal track and an “insane” vocal track.

“A Machine in India” is 10 minutes long.  It’s got a long meandering middle section, but the slow keyboard melody remains constant.  It’s also the first real occurrence of Wayne’s apparent obsession with vaginas (see Christmas on Mars).  It begins sweetly as a nice acoustic song but it explores many sonic areas (according to theliner notes, Wayne and his wife were discussing her menstrual cycle, and that was the jumping off point of this song).

“The Train Runs over the Camel but Is Derailed by the Gnat” begins with a fascinating cacophony of drums and ends in a very sweet “na na na” chorus.  In between you get yet another splendid trippy pop song.

“How Will We Know? (Futuristic Crashendos)” contains a shockingly high pitched sound (as warned) and yet the main body of the song is another of Wayne’s folky and very catchy melodies.

“March of the Rotten Vegetables” is probably my favorite track on the disc, despite the fact that it’s an instrumental.  It starts with some really interesting squeaky sounds and a cool guitar riff.  It morphs into yet another bombastic drum “solo” over a nice piano melody.  The liner notes indicates there are bats involved, but I’m not quite sure I hear it.

“The Big Ol’ Bug Is the New Baby Now” is a spoken word piece in which Wayne relates a story about how his dogs treat a stuffed toy like a baby, until they get a “Big Ol’ Bug” which becomes, as you may guess, the new baby.  Each disc has different ambient effects.  As the song ends, a swelling chorus sings the title until the loudly barking dogs bring an end to the song and the experiment as a whole.

As I mentioned, the stereo mixdown version is one way to enjoy the music.  But I must say that even listening one disc at at time can be fun (although really, that comes down to much more of an experimental music experience than anything else).  The social aspect of the performance certainly appeals, but I’m pretty antisocial and can’t imagine that I’d ever do it.

If you like the Lips at all but have been afraid of this CD because of how ridiculous it is, it’s probably worth the outlay of funds to buy the set or download a track or two.  It’s a fun disc that rewards patience, and, really, the songs are all very good.  You could also look for the stereo mixdown, but really, you’d only be getting half the story.

[READ: February 3, 3009] Drawers & Booths

Full disclosure: Ara 13 asked if I’d like to read his book and write about it. I looked up the book on Amazon, and it sounded cool, so I agreed.

Drawers & Booths is a work of metafiction.  A simple definition of metafiction, in case you don’t know, is: “a type of fiction that self-consciously addresses the devices of fiction;  metafiction does not let the reader forget that he or she is reading a fictional work” (for the full Wikipedia explanation click here.)

SPOILER ALERT:  Generally I try not to give anything away when I review a book.  Some things are unavoidable of course, but any major plot twists or surprises I try to leave for the reader to discover by him or herself.  However, because this book is metafictional, and there are twists, surprises, and massive plot alterations throughout the book, the only way I can review it at all is to give some of these things away.  I don’t think I ruin anything for anyone, but tread lightly if you want nothing revealed. (more…)

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Various–Dear New Girl or Whatever Your Name Is (2005)

Posted in Art, Beck, Funny (strange), McSweeney's, Oddities, The Flaming Lips, Threats on February 2, 2009| Leave a Comment »

dearnewSOUNDTRACK: THE FLAMING LIPS-Hit to Death in the Future Head (1992).

hitAfter a few years on an indie label, The Flaming Lips moved to the majors with this disc.  The experimentation is downplayed somewhat although that’s not to say there’s none.  One could see that some die hard fans would be disappointed in the move as the Lips limit the acid somewhat, but just judging by the cover (polka dotted toilet seat) and the title (what on earth does that mean?) it’s clear they haven’t sold out.

“Talkin’ Bout The Smiling Deathporn Immortality Blues (Everyone Wants To Live Forever)” opens the disc with a fun deep bass voice singing, “Oooh wah wah” while Wayne ‘s normal voice sings one of their catchiest songs thus far.  “Hit Me Like You Did the First Time” is also a catchy number with a wildly distorted guitar riff opening.  “The Sun” is practically a mellow folk song, propelled by a smooth bass line.

“Felt Good to Burn” has a wobbly backwards feeling (so indeed, the experiments have not ended). “Gingerale Afternoon (The Astrology Of A Saturday)” sounds like a pretty typical  college radio hit song circa 1992 (although sightly underproduced).  Both of these tracks could easily have come from Beck.

“Halloween on the Barbary Coast” is probably the only song that tells you “you know you’ve still got shit for brains” that you don’t feel insulted by.  It’s a slow building beauty with a vaguely middle eastern feel and wonderful to sing along to.  On “The Magician Vs. The Headache,” the magician is another great acid power pop song.  The headache would be the twenty or so seconds of repetitive blasts at the end of the song.   “You Have To Be Joking (Autopsy Of The Devil’s Brain)” is another mellow ballad, despite the title. “Frogs” feels like a pretty normal song aside from the lyrics, until you get to the squalling guitar solo (all 2 bars of it).  “Hold Your Head” is a keyboard filled mellow song that sort of fades the album out.

So, even though these songs are a lot less aggressive and trippy than their previous records (or even than their titles would suggest), the Lips don’t just end the record pleasantly.  The final untitled track is 29 minutes of unchnaging thunder claps and nonsense and noise blasts echoing back and forth from speaker to speaker.  Take THAT major labels!

[READ: January 26, 2008] Dear New Girl or Whatever Your Name Is

According to the back of the book Lisa Wagner, the designer of this book, confiscated notes in various school districts around Los Angeles.  These notes, including the title’s inspiration were then given to various artists to use as the basis for pieces of art. (more…)

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Clifford Chase–Winkie (2006)

Posted in Adventure, Clifford Chase, Dystopia, Free Speech, Funny (ha ha), Funny (strange), Futurama, Meta, Nirvana, Political Humor, Pregnancy, Prison, Racism, Religion, Short Books, Soiled Underpants, Supernatural, The Flaming Lips, The Replacements, Threats, War, WMDs on January 14, 2009| 2 Comments »

winkieSOUNDTRACK: THE FLAMING LIPS-Oh My Gawd!!!..The Flaming Lips (1987).

gawd1The cover of this disc makes a statement.  And it should tell you everything you need to know about the music inside.  It’s got skulls and psychedelic colors and Oh My Gawd!!!  And yet, it doesn’t, exactly.  It’s not quite as out there as the cover might make you think.

Because it’s funny how much this disc’s first song sounds like the Replacements (except where he starts singing about his brains falling out and everything exploding…not quite ‘Mats material).  But Wayne sounds like early, sloppy Paul Westerberg, and the riffs are not too far off from some of the early ‘Mats records.

Even the wonderfully titled 9 minute epic  “One Million Billionth of a Millisecond on a Sunday Afternoon” isn’t quite as much of a freak out as you might expect.  In fact, the early instrumental part is one of the prettiest melodies they’ve done.  It is particularly interesting given its sparse instrumentation.   The song does eventually drift back into earlier Pink Floyd territory (“Astronomy Domine” etc). But it’s “The Ceiling is Bendin'” that is the freak out you’re looking for, with a fun drum fading and the chaos.  “Maximum Dream for Evil Kenevil” on the other hand is a noisy mess (a fun noisy mess, but a noisy mess nonetheless).

It’s clear that they’re doing some good experimentation with audio effects.  And yet “Can’t Exist” is a delicate little song with just a light touch of feedback.

The first half of “Prescription: Love” is a rocking instrumental that would not sound out of place as a Nirvana B-side (but since it came before Nirvana, let’s say maybe on an SST Records track.  The second half returns to the garage rocking sound (with some funky deep vocals dubbed on…the first of many experiments with voice on future albums).

“Ode to C.C., Pt. 2” feels like it’s going to take of in an explosion but never does. But it has the excellent line “Hell’s got all the good bands anyway.”  “Can’t Stop the Spring” is another fantastic riff rocking song, and it starts and end with a classical music sample.  [Which I can’t place right now, sadly].

The disc ends with “Love Your Brain,” a 7 minute piano workout –which ultimately ends in the destruction of the room.  It sounds like every instrument in the place is destroyed.

So this disc expands the sonic weirdness of the Flaming Lips’ first disc, and it also showcases their growth as musicians.  It’s not a brilliant album by any means although it is quite good.  The most interesting thing is seeing how much they are experimenting with sounds now, and how it will pay off for them later on.

[READ: Late 2006 & December 2008] Winkie

I read this book two years ago, and my memory of it is not that great.  I’m only including it because I really enjoyed it at the time, and would like to make some record of having read it.

UPDATE: I have decided to re-read this book while on P breaks at work.  I am now utterly unsure whether or not I read the book fully last time.  I have just finished it again, and I was totally surprised by so many things (although one or two things did trigger my memory) that I really had to wonder if I finished it.

So, the story is about a stuffed bear named Winkie.  Winkie was a beloved toy of the Chase family and most recently of Clifford Chase [see author’s name now].  As the story opens, Winkie, the stuffed bear, is being tackled by the FBI as they arrest him for terrorist activities.  [You can re-read that sentence to see if your brain digested it.] (more…)

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McSweeney’s #29 (2008)

Posted in Adventure, Fishbone, Funny (ha ha), Funny (strange), Joyce Carol Oates, King's X, Marriage Trouble, McSweeney's, Meta, Military, Outer Space, Roddy Doyle, Sex, Short Story, Smarty Pants, Threats, Unlikable main character, Violence, War, Yannick Murphy on January 11, 2009| Leave a Comment »

mc29SOUNDTRACK: FISHBONE-Give a Monkey a Brain and He’ll Swear He’s the Center of the Universe (1993).

monkeyI had actually forgotten about this album, because it was so overshadowed by Truth and Soul and Reality….. When I put it on I wasn’t expecting much (Fishbone had something of a precipitous decline around this time).  So, I was amazingly delighted with how much I remembered this album and how much I enjoyed it (which shows to me that I must have listened to it a lot back in college).

This album is much much heavier than anything they’ve done up to this point (I can’t speak for the releases that came after it).  It does have some variety of songs, but not nearly as much as their previous releases.  The other notable thing is that there’s no short songs on it.  There’s none of the one minute songs that they’ve put throughout their discs.

“Swim” was the single from the album and it is heavy and moshy.  The video, I seem to recall, was a lot of people crowd surfing.  “Black Flowers” slows things down a bit, but unlike previous ballads, this one is still pretty loud.  It’s got a great catchy melody, but it’s still  quite dark. “Servitude” reminds me of some of King’s X’s s darker moments, with their riffs and dark harmonies.  (This just shows how Fishbone is much more metal on this release).  Their first “lighter” song is the return to ska with “Unyielding Condition.”  It’s a nice let up from the heaviness, and is still catchy. “Lemon Meringue” is the other lighter moment, with a nice bass riff included.

Funk returns with “Properties of Propaganda” and the repeated chants of “Fuk This Shit on Up.”  “The Warmth of Your Breath” is hardcore insanity, the type of song that would have been about 2 minutes on another disc sort of overstays its welcome, although the often repeated line “may your dog’s colon be familiar with the warmth of your breath” while barely audible can’t help but raise a smile.  And even though “Drunk Skitzo” features Branford Marsalis, it’s still too long for such silliness.

So, it’s really the first half of the disc that I liked a lot…I guess some discs run too long.

I never got a Fishbone CD after this one.   The reviews were pretty lousy by then.  But of course, the reviews of this one were lousy too, so maybe I’m, selling their later output short.

[READ: January 3, 2009] McSweeney’s # 29

My cover for this book happens to be red.  Huh.

This issue comes as a hardcover book.  There are planets on the cover, including a die cut hole that shows the moon of the next page.

On the bottom of every page of the book are matchbox labels.  Most of them are Eastern European in origin.  They were collected by Jane McDevitt, a web designer in the UK.  Some of the images are available on her Flickr site: www.flickr.com/photos/maraid.  They are a pretty cool collection of images.  And, they brighten up all the work . (more…)

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Christopher Moore–Practical Demonkeeping (1992)

Posted in Adventure, Christopher Moore, Demons, Dreams, End of the World, Fishing, Funny (ha ha), Marriage Trouble, Supernatural, Technology, Threats on January 6, 2009| Leave a Comment »

practicalSOUNDTRACK: FISHBONE-The Reality of My Surroundings (1991).

realityThis was my first real exposure to Fishbone (except for John Cusack wearing the fish skeleton shirt in Say Anything, of course–which, no images available on the web?  How is that possible?).  At 60 minutes it’s one of  the first really long alternative discs to come out.  It does run a little long, but there’s so much packed into it that it’s easy to forgive their self indulgences.

Reality starts with the heavy, thrashy “Fight the Youth” an amazing guitar workout.  It’s almost not the same band as on Truth and Soul, except that all the Fishbone elements are still in there.  I listened to this album a lot in college.  I distinctly recall singing the line “Dooooo the Howwwwssssswork!” from “Housework” a fun return to the Fishbone of old.

But two other big highlights come near the end: “Everyday Sunshine” is just a beautiful song.  But even that doesn’t compare to “Sunless Saturday” a fantastic catchy and wonderful song.  It starts like a ballad but turns into a speedy rocker by the end, never too heavy, just perfect for what should have been a massive single.

The album has 18 songs, and interspersed throughout are silly songs that are about a minute each.  “Asswhippin” is 37 second of well, asswhippin.  But it’s the 4 “If I Were A…I’d” pieces that shows the band taking things they dislike and throwing them into a thrash song explaining what they’d do.  They were always fun back in the day, and even though, as songs, they are pretty silly, I enjoyed hearing them again.

This is a pretty massive record, and will always remain a favorite for me.

[READ: December 26, 2008] Practical Demonkeeping

After reviewing You Suck, I was inspired to read some more Christopher Moore (even though I have SO MANY OTHER books to read).  Anyhow, I put this book (his first) on hold, and it came much sooner than I expected. So, I decided to read this one instead of what’s next on my list.

But anyhow.

This book is set in Pine Cove, California.  A tourist trap that prides itself on being touristy.   As the book opens, one of Pine Cove’s residents is driving The Breeze around town looking for action. The Breeze is a small time drug dealer and trailer resident awaiting his big score tomorrow.  And so, he is obviously bummed not to make it through the night when he is swallowed by a giant demon. (more…)

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Heidi Julavits–“The Santosbrazzi Killer” (Harper’s, January 2009)

Posted in Fishbone, Funny (ha ha), Funny (strange), Gangsters, Harper's, Heidi Julavits, Short Story, Ska, Supernatural, The Believer, Threats on January 6, 2009| 1 Comment »

haroers109SOUNDTRACK: FISHBONE-Truth and Soul (1988).

truthsoulFishbone opens up yet another album with a fantastic one-two punch. Truth and Soul is  Fishbones’s perfect blend of ska, punk and hardcore.  This album has a few heavy moments but it was recorded before they got the heavy metal into their system.

The disc opens with “Freddie’s Dead.”  Which is just a blast of rocking funk.  It is catchy, it is fun to sing along to, and it rocks. It’s followed by “Ma and Pa” a fantastic ska song that is darkly humorous [“Hey Ma and Pa, what the hell is wrong with y’all?”].  It also features great vocal effects throughout the song: grunts and groans in place of beats and notes.  It’s just fantastic. These are probably two of the best songs of the late 1980s. The following two songs slow things down a bit, with “Pouring Rain” being a 5 minute long ballad.

“Deep Inside” follows with a blast of punk and call and response vocals.  And “Mighty Long Way” is an upbeat, keyboard heavy track about friendship.  It also has a great guitar riff (and really shows off the wailing guitar solos that will come up on later records).

This all leads to the majesty of “Bonin’ in the Boneyard” (the lyric sheet for this states: “If you can’t figure this one out, then you are lame!”).  This song is just an amazing horn-filled, bass slapping riot of a good time.  In general I don’t like horns in rock, but there is something about horns and ska that are just perfect.  And I could listen to this horn section all night long.

“One Day” comes next.  It’s less hectic, but contains more great guitar work and some great harmony vocals.  It’s a very catchy song about racism.  “Subliminal Fascism” is another short song that shows some of  their newly found metal leanings.  “Slow Bus Movin'” deals more overtly with racism, and yet its comical use of western-style music is something of a surprise.

“Ghetto Soundwave” and “Change” end the album with another one-two shot of greatness.  “Soundwave” is a fantastic horn-filled song.  And “Change” is a truly beautiful ballad.

Truth and Soul is a great album.

[READ: December 29, 2008]: “The Santosbrazzi Killer”

I’ve been meaning to read Julavits’ novel The Uses of Enchantment for some time, but it keeps getting pushed back by other titles.  So, this is my first exposure to her as anything other than editor of The Believer.  And I enjoyed this story very much.

The main character is a overseer–she travels to a Cincinnati-based subsidiary research outfit and criticizes them.  At some point in the story she admits she’s pretty much an asshole: officious, nitpicky, antisocial, and really quite unpleasant (Sample: “I arrived with my insulated travel mug filled with clearly superior off-site coffee”).  On this particular trip something different happens: she gets to stay in a different hotel than her usual place: The Tuck Inn.

After doing her job (and making everyone very tense), she returns to her hotel and inquires about a place to eat.  The concierge explains that there’s a bar/cafe downstairs.  The snooty waiter/bartender offers her a “bible” of a menu (with at least 476 pages).  Among her choices are: the Grinning Necrophiliac and the Vengeful Subsidiary (which she requests, but is not allowed to have due to the bartender’s lack of an essential tool).   And so, she settles on the titular Santosbrazzi Killer.

After waiting some time, a gentleman sits down.  He explains that what she ordered was not so much a drink as, well….  I’m not going to give it away.  From this point the story gets very interesting: the tension mounts, and yet the dark humor never departs.  It was a very enjoyable story.

It also introduced me to a new verb: to jick.  It is used throughout the story.  Initially it described the action of clicking a ball point pen.  But as the story progresses, the verb is used in a few different places (usually denoting a sound), with the meaning always being relevant.

Assuming this is representative of Julavits’ work, I’m looking forward to reading her novel one of these days.

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Jonathan Lethem–“Lostronaut” (New Yorker, November 17, 2008)

Posted in Cancer as plot device, Epistolary Novel, Fishbone, Jonathan Lethem, New Yorker, Outer Space, Selecter, Ska, Technology, The Specials, Threats on January 5, 2009| Leave a Comment »

ny1117SOUNDTRACK: FISHBONE-In Your Face (1986).

inyourfaceFishbone’s first full length starts out with two great songs.  “When Problems Arise” has the great stop/start techniques that Fishbone uses so well, as well as a great riff and some fantastic funky bass playing.  The second track “A Selection” has  a great ska feel, and could easily be The Specials or Selecter; however, Fishbone throw in a bit of humor (“No toothpaste?”) to make the song their own.

The rest of the album is good, but it stands in the shadows of its follow up.  (And, actually a bit in the shadow of the preceding EP).   The album admirably mixes up styles throughout.  It includes some of Fishbone’s lightest, most soul/gospel songs like “Movement in the Light,” but it also has some rocking tracks, especially the ending pair: “‘Simon Says’ The Kingpin” and “Post Cold War Politics” (the two songs together are less than two and a half minutes).

My copy still has the Used: $5.99 sticker on it, and I know I got it much later in my Fishbone appreciation.  But really the only problem with the disc is that Truth and Soul and The Reality of My Surroundings are just so good, this one can’t compare.  It’s a good stepping stone though.

[READ: December 26, 2008] “Lostronaut”

The title tells you pretty much all you need to know about this story.  “Lostronaut” is set up as a series of letters from Janice (an astronaut) to her boyfriend, Chase.  Janice is an astronaut at a space station called Northern Lights.  Things are going pretty badly for all on board, and each letter tells of the deterioration of both ship and spirit. (more…)

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Christopher Moore–You Suck: A Love Story (2007)

Posted in Adventure, Christopher Moore, Fantasy, Foxboro Hot Tubs, Funny (ha ha), Green Day, Sex, Supernatural, The Kinks, The Rutles, The Who, Threats, Vampires, Violence, YA Books on December 18, 2008| Leave a Comment »

yousuckSOUNDTRACK: FOXBORO HOT TUBS-Stop Drop & Roll!!! (2008)

fhtThis is the least cleverly concealed “side-project” in rock history.  At this point Billie-Joe Armstrong’s voice is so recognizable, that it’s impossible for him to hide.  But Foxboro Hot Tubs were a way for Green Day to release something different after their mega-successful American Idiot album.

I mean, how do you follow up a number-one reaching concept album?  Answer: drop all pretense, drop all complexity, and churn out a dozen songs that sound like they were written and recorded in your garage.

At first listen I didn’t like the album very much. Well, that’s not true.  I liked the first song, “Stop Drop and Roll” quite a bit, but the rest of the record got a little repetitive for me.  And, worst offense: they TOTALLY ripped off “You Really Got Me” by the Kinks for their song “Alligator.”  I mean, chord riffs, chord changes, even the chorus are so close as to be actually irritating.

It was only after listening more carefully that I realized that FHT rip off a lot more than the Kinks.  And, although not quite a pastiche like The Rutles, the ripping off is more of an homage/twist, rather than just cheesy thievery (because honestly, who thinks that Green Day could get away with ripping off the Kinks’ most popular song?)

On my last listen through I heard “I’m Not Your Stepping Stone” in “Sally,” “Roadrunner” in “She’s a Saint Not a Celebrity,” some earlier Green Day songs (like “When I Come Around” ) in “Pedestrian” and “Run Run Run” by the Who in “27th Ave. Shuffle”

After getting past those “influences” the album is mostly fun (especially the flute (!) solo in “Dark Side of the Night.”  They’re clearly not trying to write the next epic, they’re just cleansing their palette before their real follow up.  And, heck, the fact that it actually did quite well in radioland didn’t hurt either.  Foxboro Hot Tubs make some fun garage rock.

[READ: Winter 2008] You Suck

Christopher Moore’s book covers are very striking.  That’s not a good reason to read his books, though.  The titles are also pretty funny.  Which is also not a good reason to read his books.  It’s the content inside that is the reason to read him.  A little while ago I had read Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ’s Childhood Pal and it was very fun indeed.  So, I picked up You Suck, which was his most current one at the time.

I didn’t realize it was a sequel to Bloodsucking Fiends until after I started reading it, but I didn’t find that to be a problem.  (more…)

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