SOUNDTRACK: MARTIN TIELLI-Operation Infinite Joy (2003).
This was Martin Tielli’s second solo album and the first disc in his Subscription Series. Basically, you paid up front and were guaranteed four discs from the man. Each disc came in a cool metal box, with artwork on the outside and gorgeous artwork in the booklet. This disc was also available commercially, but I believe the other three were never made available.
This album is really lovely–lots of epic, dramatic moments, with sweeping guitars and choirs. It’s a real testament to Martin’s songwriting and playing chops. Although interestingly, Martin is a guitar guy and this album has a lot of piano (from Ford Pier I believe).
The disc opens with “Beauty On” which has some fanfare and a grand introduction about the rock singer who shouts, “Are you with me, Cincinnati are you ready to rock???!!” and a pause and a quietly spoken, “i am not.” When playing this song live he often left out that intro and simply included the piano melody and the second part of the song.
“OK by Me” has a jaunty feel as it opens. It has a simple but ornery guitar riff which morphs into several different things in this five-minute song. There’s an acoustic guitar bridge that gives way to a chorus of voices and then the main verse melody line. It’s catchy and meandering at the same time. After the line “I’m playing guitar with all my dinosaurs and me” he busts out wild raging guitar solo that sounds uncannily like Queen.
“The Temperance Society Choir” is another great dramatic song, with a choir (naturally) and some wonderful harmony vocals. It also features lead vocals by Selina Martin for the opening lines. There’s some great guitar and bass sounds in it (mixed low in the mix) and the wonderful lines: “All those in favor just say Aye.” “Aye!” “All those opposed just say no.” (pause, quietly) “no.” It even features an old style piano interlude.
“Segeant Kraulis” is a weird song with lots of great sections. It opens with a vocoder’d voice saying it is 60238 in the narcotics division. After several sections, there’s a super catchy chorus, and then a noisy section with presumably Sgt Kraulis screaming “make me visible, you fuckers.” The last section of the song devolves into a kind of reggae section with all kinds of glitchy sounds and the repeated declaration, “We were opening packages we did not know the contents of.”
“Andy by the Lake” is the first of Martin’s longer, quieter songs. Like some of the songs on his first solo album this song is quiet and meandering although the spikes of drama (thunder, lightning) are much welcomed. The most conventional song on the album is a cover of Smog’s “Cold Blooded Old Times.” I like the original but there’s something about the way Martin does it that I think is even better–the bassline is great (not present on the original). I love Bill Callahan’s delivery on the original, but Martin makes it more dramatic (surprise).
“Winnipeg” is a great long song with multiple parts. It’s got a fantastic intro on bells or vibes (when the wind blows, 50 below) and then shifts into a Neil Young-esque epic. It features the interesting line “I’ve had cole slaw.” (Cole slaw also was mentioned on his first solo record). I love the chorus of vocals singing the “ahhhha” before “any day.” There are so many parts to this song that when people first started recording it live before it was released, I saw three different possible titles for it.
“Waterstriders” is another slower song but the intricate guitar lines are gorgeous throughout. It’s a great chance for Martin to create all kinds of interesting sounds over a simple rhythm.
“Ship of Fire” also has a Neil Young feel–especially when the intro guitar comes in over the bass. This song also has many parts and is a pretty fascinating story. There’s a recurring section about a boy across the Atlantic that is very trippy. But the lyrics are dark. There’s also a really noisy section that builds in drama until the final concluding chorus and roaring, guitar-fueled outro.
“Kathleen” ends the disc as a delicate ballad. I really like this disc a lot. It’s my favorite of Martin’s solo records and is just an all around great album (with amazing artwork in the booklet).
The Subscription Series disc features two bonus tracks. “National Pride” which is simple but nice. And “Diamonds on Our Toes” which is a great song with a fantastic end section and the bizarre screams of “I play electric guitar!” Both of these tracks come from the Instant Klazzix session which you can download on Rheostatics live. The versions here have been remixed by martin.
I can’t find all that much out about Instant Klazzix, but there is stuff online about the “group.” One of these days I’ll post about it.
[READ: June 10, 2015] Love, Sex & Other Foreign Policy Goals
This book was written by a writer of the British comedy Peep Show, which I liked a lot. However, this book is not very funny (I don’t think it is supposed to be very funny). Rather, this book falls into the “how far would you go to win a girl” category. And it wonders if you would go all the way to war-torn Bosnia?
For narrator Andrew, if the girl is smoking hot Penny, then the answer is yes.
Andrew is a middle class working guy. He is part of the Department of Works, although he’s not glamorous like the real construction guys–he’s more of a gopher. He has been dating Helen for quite some time. But he’s quite sure that she is cheating on him.
One night he meets a bunch of students. They are radical and interesting, and Andrew enjoys their company. Then they start talking about the problems in Yugoslavia (the book is set in 1994). They decide that they should drive to Bosnia, bring some aid and, yes, put on a play that will blow everyone’s minds and stop the war. (more…)
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SOUNDTRACK: MONIKA-Tiny Desk Concert #529 (May 6, 2016).
Monika is a superstar in her native Greece (her full name is Monika Christodoulou). She is a charming woman with a big voice and a bigger stage presence. She incorporates theatrical notions in her performance too (the fact that she has a shirt that looks like a mime’s kind of encourages that idea): “throwing” stars, flying, sleeping.
For the second song, “Shake Your Hands” she asks if everyone is ready to dance a little. She climbs up on the desk and as she sings the slow opening, when she gets to the “I love you” moment, she sings without the mike and is as loud as when she uses it. Once the song kicks in, it has a big disco beat: wah wah’d guitars and a funky bass line. She encourages everyone to sing along: “Even if you don’t understand, just repeat, okay.” The song ends with a very fun extended ending of staccato chords.
I Just Read About That... 