Feeds:
Posts
Comments

Archive for the ‘Raymond Stock’ Category

Naguib Mahfouz–“Assassin” (Harper’s, January 2005)

Posted in Assassination, Death, Diet Cig, Feminism, Harper's, Prison, Raymond Stock, Short Story, Translation on May 11, 2019| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: DIET CIG-“Tummy Ache” (2019).

Diet Cig put on one of my favorite Tiny Desk Concerts.  I am really looking forward to seeing them live.  Singer/guitarist Alex Luciano has more energy than anyone I’ve seen.  And drummer Noah Bowman is a perfect foil for her.

As a duo, they play simple pop punk songs that are full of energy.  Their bio sums them up quite nicely.

Diet Cig are here to have fun. They’re here to tear you away from the soul-sucking sanctity of your dumpster-fire life and replace it with pop-blessed punk jams about navigating the impending doom of adulthood when all you want is to have ice-cream on your birthday.
But there’s also a deeper, more powerful fuck-you among the bangers that see Diet Cig grow into an unstoppable and inspiring force. “I’m not being dramatic, I’ve just fucking had it with the things that you say you think that I should be” spits Luciano on ‘Link in Bio’;

Over a four chord pattern, Luciano sings

Well i’m just a kid, a girl, a runt
And i’m starting to get real sick of
Trying to find my voice
Surrounded by all boys

Between verses the guitars get louder and play a slight variation before returning to verse two:

I’ve been yelling my whole life
And finally it’s time
to make my words count
In a way i haven’t quite figured out

And i don’t need a man
To hold my hand
And that’s just something you’ll never understand x2

The end of the song shifts tone while she quietly sings

And my stomach hurts
Cause it’s hard to be a punk while wearing a skirt

Then the instrumental passage above proves to be the music for this repeated refrain/chorus.  A simple, catchy and fun song with a message.  Can’t wait for them to come back around.

[READ: May 11, 2019] “Assassin”

Translated from the Arabic by Raymond Stock

This is the story of Bayumi.

He has been down and out and living as a beggar.  He’d been to prison, had no friends left and no way to make money.

He wondered how he could get out of this rut.

Then someone called out to him.  The man had Bayumi follow him and then asked indifferently if he would kill al-Hagg Abd al-Samad al-Habbani. (more…)

Read Full Post »

Najem Wali–“Wars in Distant Lands” (Harper’s, February 2008)

Posted in Boney M, Harper's, Huh?, Humiliation, Najem Wali, Night Owl, NPR/PRI/PBS, Raymond Stock, Tom Waits, War on November 30, 2018| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: GORDI-“Can We Work It Out” (Night Owl, November 20, 2018).

I wanted to finish out November with one more live recording.  Turns out NPR was there to help out.  They have a new feature called Night Owl.

Every so often, late at night over the past couple years, a team of NPR Music video producers has been toting approximately 80 pounds of audio/video equipment and a statue of a golden owl to the far reaches of American cities. The owl is our Night Owl, and it’s the totem that has presided over nearly every episode of a show that goes by the same name. Night Owl is our chance to get out into the field, put some of our musicians somewhere unexpected and see what magic may arise.

They have released a bunch of these videos on YouTube.

I picked one from an artist I didn’t know yet, Gordi.

I’ve heard of her, of course, but I think this was my first exposure to her.  She has a lovely (slightly rough) voice as she sits at the piano singing this pretty, ache-filled song.

[READ: February 8, 2018] “Wars in Distant Lands”

This story was translated from the Arabic by Raymond Stock.

At first I really enjoyed this, it felt very contemporary and compelling.   And then it just got weird and war-based.

The narrator pulled Teresa’s postcard from the mailbox.  She was arriving on a train at 7PM on June 16.  The end said, this is being mailed from Havana and will probably arrive the same day as her, which it did. (more…)

Read Full Post »