SOUNDTRACK: FUTURE ISLANDS-Tiny Desk Concert #128 (May 16, 2011).
I don’t really know that much about Future Islands. I know they were huge in 2014, but this Tiny Desk comes from three years earlier, when perhaps they were less known?
I didn’t really like the single that was very popular in 2014, but I can’t recall how it compares to this show. The band consists of a bassist and a keyboardist/electronic drummer and Sam Herring the lyricist/vocalist/melodramatic front man.
It’s odd seeing him sitting casually on the edge of the desk before he starts singing. He seems so mellow and then he sings with a crazily arch voice and unexpected dramatic flourishes.
Given his general appearance and some of the faces he was making I kept thinking that Jack Black would do an aces impersonation of him.
The songs are simple musically–simple keyboard lines and, it must be said, some solid bass holding things down. All the drama comes from the lyrics, like in “On the Water”: “Body of mine, body of Christ, can I be the one who saves your life.”
It’s funny to hear him talk between songs so deadpan and unaffected, before resuming that unusual singing style.
“The Ink Well” has some weird echoing keyboards sounds before the solid bass comes in again. I have a hard time taking his vocals seriously, it seems so over the top. Although the blurb says that “What Future Islands is really going for, with the mordant wit in the lyrics, the melodramatic chord progressions and Herring’s yowling, scratchy voice [I wouldn’t describe it like that, actually], is catharsis. And catharsis can happen in your head and in your heart.” And I do like the line “the ghost of you still haunts me at night and that’s enough to keep me happy, sometimes.”
He says that the second song is hard to song quiet. Perhaps his singing style would work better if the music was bigger, fuller (matching the size of the amp they brought with them).
“Walking Through That Door” works best of the three songs. It is a little faster, with a more propulsive bass and it feels louder, so that Herring’s voice seems to work better. And when he wails his lines at the end it seems appropriate.
Still not sure if I’m a fan, but I appreciate them a little more than I did.
[READ: February 1, 2016] Astronaut Academy: Zero Gravity
Both of the libraries that I go to had copies of the second book in this series, and I waited and waited for the first book to be returned, but it just appears that neither one ever arrived. So I finally put in a request for book one (I couldn’t read the second first even if this is from First Second). #10yearsof01
I really didn’t know what this story was about, but I was surprised to discover that it was a series of small incidents (each with an End). Was this a series of single web comics, or is it just a fun way to tell a bigger story? I’ll never know. The whole story is set at the astronaut academy.
As the book opens we see a promotional guide to Astronaut Academy from the principal (who carries a big sword and has big spiky hair). We learn what the school has to offer and we see some of the teachers like Mr Namaguci who has even bigger hair than the principal and “may or may not have magical powers but is still handsome.” There also Señor Panda (still not extinct) who has a secret.
We also see that the application is for Hakata Soy. (more…)
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I had grabbed this book for C. because it looked kind of interesting. He said he wanted to read it but hadn’t gotten around to it before we left for vacation. So instead, I grabbed the audio book for us to listen to.
I Just Read About That... 