Feeds:
Posts
Comments

Archive for the ‘Yuck!’ Category

Pascal (MEZZO) Mesenburg & Michel PIRUS–King of the Flies: 2. The Origin of the World (2005) [translated 2010]

Posted in Black Flag, Boredom, Cian Nugent, Cigarettes, Dag Dascher, Death, Drinking, Drugs, Foreign Books, Graphic Novel, Helge Dascher, Humiliation, Kim Thompson, Marriage Trouble, Michel Pirus, Pascal (MEZZO) Mesenburg, Revenge, Sex, Short Story, Tiny Desk Concert, Translation, Violence, Yuck! on June 8, 2014| Leave a Comment »

flies2SOUNDTRACK: CIAN NUGENT-Tiny Desk Concert #353 (May 3, 2014).

cianCian Nugent is from Dublin.  In this Tiny Desk Concert, he plays two guitars, including a crappy no name electric guitar with a great raw sound.  For the first song, he plays a pretty acoustic guitar instrumental called “Grass Above My Head.”   It has a slow melody that turns into a ragtime jaunt over the course of 6 and half minutes.

The next two songs are on that electric guitar and are both rather different (he says the songs comes from “incoherent range of the mess that is my musical career”).  Before playing “Hire Purchase” he tells a very funny story about getting a pencil from a garage (and that he uses it to keep his string from detuning–does that work?).  This is an electric guitar instrumental, bluesy and mellow with some great riffs.

The final song, “Nightlife” has words.  It’s a simple blues song. Nugent has a nice delicate voice.  I’m not a big fan of bluesy songs, but he does a great job with this and the other two styles.

He also wrote a song called “My War Blues” which is variations on a Black Flag song (I don’t recognize the original in his version, myself).  But you can hear that here.

[READ: June 4, 2014] King of the Flies 2. The Origin of the World

This book picks up right where Book 1 left off.  This edition was also translated only by Helge Dascher although it says she had help from Dag Dascher and Kim Thomspon (I didn’t notice any change in quality).

As this book starts, Eric’s mother is making serious advances with Francis–the man whom she just met but who she is already calling her fiance.  Eric fantasizes about killing him (his dream sequence mother says this is the 13th time he has killed Francis).  Marie and Eric are still together and, through a strange series of events, Ringo is asking Eric to hold on to a cool looking elephant bowling bag.

By the end of this first story, Eric has saved Becker from drowning.  And yet neither Becker nor Karine bothers to thank him.  Indeed, Karine seems even more angry at him.  But this blow off makes Eric want Karine even more.

In a later story we finally meet Karine’s family who are just as freaked out about her “dating” this old guy.  And, by the end of the story Becker has a heart attack and dies.  When she returns home after the funeral she sees Eric and she confides in him that she is pregnant.

The newest development in the book comes in the next story in which we learn that Damien is a ghost and that he visits everyone that he knew.  Some people who are receptive to seeing him can actually talk with him.  He’s obviously pissed about Eric and Sal, but he has come to terms with a lot of things.  He even forgives the man who killed him (by accident).  He also winds up meeting ghost Becker at some point. (more…)

Read Full Post »

Pascal (MEZZO) Mesenburg & Michel PIRUS–King of the Flies: 1. Hallorave (2005) [translated 2010]

Posted in Boredom, Cigarettes, Death, Drinking, Drugs, Foreign Books, Graphic Novel, Helge Dascher, Humiliation, John Kadlecek, Marriage Trouble, Michel Pirus, Pascal (MEZZO) Mesenburg, Public Service Broadcasting, Revenge, Sex, Short Story, Tiny Desk Concert, Translation, Violence, Yuck! on June 7, 2014| Leave a Comment »

flies1SOUNDTRACK: PUBLIC SERVICE BROADCASTING-Tiny Desk Concert #354 (May 5, 2014).

indexI heard about Public Service Broadcasting via NPR and I loved their song “Spitfire,” a rocking instrumental with interesting samples scattered throughout.  Well, it turns out that live, the rock just as hard.  Even though there’s only two of them.  There’s J. Willgoose, Esq. on guitar, banjo and electronics and Wrigglesworth on drums. The samples come from British public-service films from roughly the 1940s through the 1960s.

Watching this video, I was stunned at just how much Willgoose is doing, and just how much noise these two guys can make.  There’s even a video going on behind them.   The only problem here was that the samples were not loud enough.

 “Signal 30” opens with samples and samples and then a rocking guitar and solid drums. It amazing watching Willgoose do some many different things while playing the guitar. The change of tone at the middle of the song is great and I love watching him just bang the guitar to keep the notes going (while he is playing the keyboard).

 After the song, there is a sample of “Thank you very much” in an arch British voice (the duo don’t speak during the show).   “Spitfire” also sounds great hear–the song is surprisingly complex for an instrumental, and for what seems like it might be a novelty band, the song is really solid.  After this song, Willgoose had to fetch something and the talking sample said “talk amongst yourselves!” The final track “Everest” has a very catchy riff and some really great drumming.  But I love most watching Willgoose play the guitar with one hand and play a solo on the keyboard with the other.

This is definitely a band to check out live.

[READ: June 4, 2014] King of the Flies 1. Hallorave

Hallorave is a dark, violent, sexual comic series written by Pirus and drawn by Mezzo.  Both artists are French and have worked together before.  This book was translated by Helge Dascher and John Kadlecek (and it was translated very well–I didn’t realize it wasn’t American until they started talking about Euros sometime in the middle of the book.

So this is actually a series of short stories narrated by different people.  They seem unrelated, but after a couple of stories, you see the connections.  And there proves to be a core collection of characters all living in this suburb (the location is really irrelevant).

The first story starts with Eric (who proves to be the main protagonist) drinking, reading magazines and sitting on a couch on the (dried up and dead) lawn of his mother’s house.  He is also jealous of his best friend Damien because he is very hot for Damien’s girlfriend Sal.

That first story introduces us to a visual that will run through the book: Eric sitting with a giant fly head on.  The three are going to a Hallorave for Halloween.  Eric is King of the Flies, Sal has a giant cat’s head on and Damien is a skeleton.  By the end of the party, they are all high (you can seem them feeding each other drugs in the picture below).  Eric pledged his love to Sal in front of Damien, and Damien is in a foul mood.  He gets in a fight with some other party goers. By the end of the short story, Eric and Sal are having sex (with their costume heads on) and Damien has been hit by a car and killed.  That’s the kind of stories we’re getting here. (more…)

Read Full Post »

Karl Ove Knausgaard [Knausgård]–My Struggle: Book Two [A Man in Love] (2009) [translated 2013] (total pages for books 1-2: 957 [British Edition: 616])

Posted in Acting, Babies, Big Books, Biography, Books about writers, Canadian Music, Culture Shock, Don Bartlett, Drinking, Food, Foreign Books, Harper's, Jealousy, Karl Ove Knausgaard, Karl Ove Knausgård, Marriage Trouble, Parenting, Sex, Soccer, Translation, Travel, Yuck! on April 24, 2014| Leave a Comment »

karlove1SOUNDTRACK: WHITEHORSE-“Pins and Needles” and Kickstarter campaign (2014).

photo-mainI really enjoyed seeing Whitehorse live.  I would absolutely see them live again.  I was delighted then that their album was also fantastic (I didn’t think it could match their live show…and it doesn’t but it is great in a different way).  In a very short time I became a big fan of the band.

THey havea  new song, “Pins and Needles” and a Kickstarter campaign.  The song begins with Melissa McClelland’s voice singing in it beautiful way–there’s guitar in the right ear and bass in the left ear.  Then Luke Doucet comes in for verse two.  And when their voices fill the bridge it feels so complete.  Until they get to the chorus when they push it even further and it sounds amazing.

  They sing so well together.  Her voice has a slight country twang, and his is a low baritone.  Their harmonies are superb as they sing the compelling chorus: “Fake Your Death and I’ll Fake Mine”

Lyrics are certainly interesting for the band.  How many times do you hear a woman singing a line like: “I’m the villain in this piece  And back when I was a thief, I broke hearts like they were teeth.”

I love this song.  And it may or may not end up on the new album for which there is a Kickstarter campaign.

And I’m in.  I’m a little unclear about exactly what they aim to do with the money they raise.  They say quite plainly that there will be an album regardless of whether they raise the funds.  And their label, Six Shooter, is totally behind the band.

Rather seems to be a way to raise some money and some attention for the band.  And, apparently it will give fans a glimpse of the album as it is being made–a sort of behind the scenes featurette that comes before the disc itself.  The prizes are varied and moderate–from a download, to the CD, to a T shirt, to sheet music (all for reasonable donations), all the way to the grand prize–for $8,000 they will play a private show for you.

I’m in for a CD, and I’m happy to pay regular ticket price when they come around again.

Check out the Kickstarter campaign for more details where you can also hear “Pins and Needles.”

[READ: April 24, 2014] My Struggle Book Two

maninloveI read an excerpt of Book Two in Harper’s well over a year ago.  So when I got to that section again (it’s the end of the book) I was trying to remember why it sounded so familiar–an accident during a soccer match that leaves Karl Ove with a broken collarbone and an unhappy girlfriend (who will be looking after three kids without him), and then I remembered the excerpt that started it all.

The translation of Book Two by Don Bartlett is fantastic, just as in the first book–I can only assume the original Norwegian is just as compelling.  Book one was 430 pages and now book two was 573, so I’m in to Karl Ove’s life for 1003 pages, and there’s four more books due (Book Three comes out next month).

As I mentioned for Book One, this series has caused some controversy because it is given the same title as Hitler’s Mein Kampf (Min Kamp in Norwegian), and also because he says some pretty mean stuff about people who are still alive.  Book One was about the death of his father.  It was pretty dark.  Book Two is about his first daughter and about falling in love with Linda, his children’s mom (although not yet his wife).  And it is also pretty dark.

I was trying to figure out why I like this series so much.  Not a lot happens, Karl Ove is not a very nice person and he seems to be pissed off most of the time.  And I think what I realized is that I share a lot of opinions as him, but he takes everything to the extreme.  And he is kind of an asshole.  I mean, anyone who writes a six part autobiography called “My Struggle” (okay, really it’s called My Head) is kind of an asshole.  But so when I see things that I would only think in my deepest recesses of my mind printed on a page, it’s strangely visceral to me.  I realize this means that I’m kind of an asshole too, but the key difference is that I don’t act on the things that I think, nor do I write 4,000 pages about them.

I told Sarah that she might laugh at some of the opinions that he lists but that she would not enjoy reading the books.  Indeed, this book, this series, is not for many, I’m sure.  But to me there is something strangely engaging about him and his strange life and his writing style.  And I really flew through this book, finishing it in about a week.

So this book begins (started in July 2008) with Karl Ove being pissed off.  He talks about finishing the first part of the novel (which I have to assume is Book One, given when this was written and how this book ends) just last month (in other words he is really churning this stuff out!).  He and Linda have been fighting (as the book opens they have three children, Vanja, Heidi and John–it’s also hard to believe that his children are young enough to not really know much about this series). The tension is high between them–glares, comments, nasty sniping.  Karl Ove says that he is afraid to say things around her because he knows how she’ll react.  But at the same time, some of things he desires are simply not defensible in a relationship or when you are parent.  And the main conflict seems to be that Karl Ove is selfish and Linda is (at least according to him) mildly suicidal and possibly bipolar).  And mind you, at the time of his writing this, I think they are still together….  (I could look that up, but it seems kind of fun not exactly knowing). (more…)

Read Full Post »

Michael Robbins–“Destroy Your Safe and Happy Lives: A poet’s guide to metal” (Harper’s, May 2014)

Posted in Baroness, Carcass, Charles Baudelaire, Chelsey Minnis, Christopher Logue, Converge, Cryptopsy, Deafheaven, Death, Dissection, Essays, Frederick Seidel, Gerard Manley Hopkins, Grave Miasma, Guns n' Roses, Hammers of Misfortune, Harper's, Iron Maiden, James Dickey, Jesus Christ Superstar, John Ashbery, John Milton, Kvelertak, Lord Byron, Manilla Road, Mastodon, Michael Robbins, Ozzy Osbourne, Percy Bysshe Shelley, Pig Destroyer, Poetry, Poets, Poison Idea, Punks, Rainer Maria Rilke, Religion, Repulsion, Slayer, Technology, Thomas Lovell Beddoes, Violence, Voivod, William Blake, Yuck! on April 19, 2014| 2 Comments »

may20014SOUNDTRACK: CRYPTOPSY-“Slit Your Guts” (1996).

cryptI had never heard of this band until I saw the song mentioned in the article.  The song is impossibly fast with speeding guitars, super fast (inhuman) drums and an indecipherable growl as vocal.  In other words, a typical cookie monster metal song.  And yet, there is a lot more to it and, indeed it took me several listens before I could even figure out what was happening here, by which time I had really fallen for the song.

There’s a middle section which is just as punishing and fast but which is basically an instrumental break–not for showing off exactly but for showcasing more than the bands pummel.  It has a short guitar solo followed by a faster more traditional solo (each for one measure, each in a different ear). Then the tempo picks up for an extended instrumental section.  The melody is slightly more sinister, but it sounds great.  There’s even a (very short) bass solo that sticks out as a totally unexpected (and fun) surprise.

Then the growls come back in, staying with the new melody.  The vocals are so low and growly that they are almost another distorted instrument rather than a voice.

After that there’s a lengthy proper guitar solo.  As the song comes to a close,  it repeats some previous sections before suddenly halting.  It’s quite a trip. And it definitely makes me want to hear more from them (whatever their name means).

[READ: April 14, 2014] “Destroy Your Safe and Happy Lives”

Robbins, who is a poet, but about whom I know little else, takes us on a sort of literary tour of heavy metal.  His tone is interesting–he is clearly into metal, like in a big way (at the end of the article he talks about taking his writing students to see Converge (although he doesn’t exactly say why)), but he’s also not afraid to make fun of the preposterousness of, well, most of the bands–even the ones he likes.  It’s a kind of warts and all appreciation for what metal is and isn’t.  many people have written about metal from many different angles, so there’s not a lot “new” here, but it is interesting to hear the different bands discussed in such a thoughtful (and not just in a fanboy) way.

His first footnote is interesting both for metal followers and metal disdainers: “Genre classification doesn’t interest me.  Listen to Poison Idea’s Feel the Darkness followed by Repulsion’s Horrified and tell me the main difference between hardcore punk and metal isn’t that one has a bullshit positive message and one has a bullshit negative message.”

But since Robbins is a poet, he is interested in metal’s connection to poetry.  And in the article he cites William Blake (of course), but also Rilke and John Ashbery and (naturally) Milton’s Paradise Lost, as well as Shelley, Lord Byron and Charles Baudelaire.  He talks about them not because they are cool poets, but because they have also talked about because of metal’s “most familiar trope…duh, Satanism, which might be silly–okay, its’ definitely silly, but has a distinguished literary pedigree”.  Besides, he notes that Satan has the best lines in Paradise Lost (and I note that just as Judas has the best songs in Jesus Christ Superstar).

But sometimes this Satanism turns into a  form of paganism which then turns into nature worship.  From Voivod’s “Killing Technology” to black metal’s romanticism of nature (sometimes to crazy extremes–but that’s what a band needs to do to stand out sometimes).  Metal is all about the dark and primordial, a”rebuke to our soft lives.”

And yet, as a poet, Robbins has some quibbles with metal: (more…)

Read Full Post »

David Means–“The Mighty Shannon” (Harper’s, February 2014)

Posted in Beck, David Means, Harper's, Marriage Trouble, Parenting, Record Club, Sex, Short Story, Thurston Moore, Tortoise, Yanni, Yuck! on April 1, 2014| Leave a Comment »

harperSOUNDTRACK: BECK/RECORD CLUB-YANNI: Live from the Acropolis (2010).

yanniAlthough there was no official notice terminating the club, this release has proven to be the final installment of Beck’s Record Club (for now).  And what a weird place to end.  Cheesy new ager Yanni’s live blockbuster album.  My buddy Joe (a major metalhead) got me into this album when it came out (really).  And I have to admit it’s pretty awesome–the musicianship is nothing short of spectacular.

So I was very intrigued at the premise of these guys covering the album.

According to the Beck/Record Club website:

This installment of the Record Club takes on ‘Yanni Live At The Acropolis’. The original album featured Yanni with a full orchestra at the Athenian Acropolis. A TV special of the concert was played repeatedly on PBS through the mid 90′s. To flesh out the complex arrangements, several studio musicians were brought in to read a heavily doctored score with interpolations of everything from Stravinsky to Bobby Brown (and others). Beck and Thurston Moore from Sonic Youth provided auxiliary music and noise, with Thurston improvising lyrics over the previously instrumental track ‘Santorini.’ Tortoise show up later on a few other tracks. Look for the complete rerecording of this musical monolith, originally captured at the bedrock of Western Culture, done here at Sunset Sound Studios on June 13th, 2010.

The big names for this release are Thurston Moore and Tortoise–who get to work together on two songs.  Thurston seems to be on most of them–playing noise and occasionally singing (I don’t think there are any words on the original).  I haven’t listened to the original album in ten years so I don’t really remember it very well.  I am quite certain it sounds nothing like this cover version. I’m actually looking forward to playing it again now that I’ve listened to this, mostly to see if there is any similarity at all between the songs.  But also to see if I still like it.  I’m also very interested in the unreadable score (for track 8)

Santorini (2:53) Thurston makes up lyrics.  The session musicians play a beautiful rendition.
Keys To Imagination (4:22).  Tortoise & Thurston play together and the noise and samples run wild.
Until The Last Moment (5:50).  This song is kind of muddy sounding with lots of cymbals and feedback.
The Rain Must Fall (2:55).  More vocals on this one.  With samples that sound like kids singing “rain must fall.”
Acroyali/Standing In Motion (5:46). This one has a cheesy synth tone.  I think the vocals are by Beck on this one.
One Man’s Dream (4:26).  Gentle piano and quiet feedback notes in this one.
Within Attraction (5:39)  Tortoise is back with more samples and sounds.  It also sounds like there are samples from the original Yanni disc.
Nostalgia (4:07) “Thurston and Beck team up again with a crew of heavyweight studio musicians to tackle an apparently unreadable score for another song from Yanni’s Live At The Acropolis, with Thurston adding lyrics.”  I don’t know what they’re playing then, but it sounds good.
Swept Away (4:11).  Gentle keys and “funk” interspersed with noise and effects.
Reflections Of Passion (8:21).  This song opens in a very Sonic Youth style (the slower version of SY).  It’s fairly delicate with vocals until about 3 minutes in when the big drums carry it through to the end.

I haven’t watched all of the videos in the Record Club because some of the earlier ones are “artsy” and just hard to watch.  But this one is great for seeing just what they did to make these sounds (and who is singing).  The INXS one was also good for this.

[READ: March 15, 2014] “The Mighty Shannon”

The mighty Shannon is of course the river in Dublin, even though it is barely mentioned in the story.  The story opens with a man in pain–a migratory pain that has moved from his lower back to his shoulders to his neck.  The doctors can’t find anything wrong with him and suspect it may have something to so with his personal life more than actual pain.  He is reluctant to admit that, but when we learn what is happening in his personal life, it is quite plausible.

The narrator is married, but he has been having an affair with his son’s Spanish teacher (shame on them both). They first met at a parent teacher conference (where his wife seemed unimpressed by her) and then they encountered each other at the park when they were each going for a run.  He offers her running advice for her upcoming marathon and the really seem to hit it off.  Soon they start sleeping together.  He feels badly about it but also believes that his wife, Sharon, (not Shannon) was having an affair first–based on a pocket dialed phone call. (more…)

Read Full Post »

William T. Vollmann–“The Grave-House” (Harper’s, April 2014)

Posted in Beck, Flight of the Conchords, Harper's, Huh?, Prince, Short Story, William T. Vollmann, Yuck! on March 19, 2014| Leave a Comment »

Harpers-1404-302x410SOUNDTRACK: BECK-Midnight Vultures (1999).

midnightIt’s not entirely clear to me how serious Midnight Vultures is meant to be. The songs are all quite good musically, but they are so very different from anything Beck has done so far—and they have a sheen of R&B that at times feels like a parody (especially coming from someone like Beck, especially when the lyrics are included).  The music is definitely designed to party (when I first heard it I found it rather Prince-like), and while I didn’t really like it very much, i have since grown to relax and enjoy the funk.

“Sexx Laws” has horns that work very well as accents. And yet for all of of its party slickness, there’ a banjo solo at the end of it.  That’s the kind of party music Beck makes.  “Nicotine & Gravy” is a slinky song with a weird chorus: “I think I’m going crazy, her left eye is lazy, she looks so Israeli, nicotine and gravy.”  What is someone supposed to do with that?  “Mixed Bizness” is an incredibly funky song that reminds me a lot of Prince’s “Dance Music Sex Romance.”  “Get Real Paid” has female leads vocals and a funky but staccato style–it’s unlike anything Beck has done up to this point.  “Hollywood Freaks” stands out for the weird and some would say bad lyrics—it feels a little like old school Beck and out of place with this new funky dancey Beck.

“Peaches & Cream” is another Prince-inspired track and is super catchy.  It has backing vocals (very high pitched) that sounds a lot like Beck, I just can’t imagine he’s doing them).  “Milk & Honey” is a 70s style rock song, less dancey but with all kinds of funky effects  “Beautiful Way” and “Pleasure Zone” are okay–the party seems to be ending a little here.  But the disc ends with “Debra,” which is super fun.  Beck sings in an incredible (for him) falsetto.  The song is about a ménage a trois. It is meant to be humorous (I hope) about a guy picking up a girl in his Hyundai.  But it sounds so much like Flight of the Conchords, that it’s hard to even consider it seriously in retrospect.

There is a very lengthy silence before our “bonus” track, which in this case is about a minute of fast drums and spacey noises, then some lounge music and some crazy voices.  Again, not worth the wait.  So I’m mixed on this one.  As with a lot of Beck CDs it seem like your own mood determines whether you’ll enjoy this one.

[READ: March 17, 2014] “The Grave-House”

I’ve read more of Vollmann’s non-fiction than fiction, so I really wasn’t sure what to expect with this short story.  And I did not expect a man who is in a house which is trying to eat him.

As this story opens, with once upon a time, the narrator has built a house by himself.  But since it was not paid for, it was condemned to be knocked down.  So instead, he bought a house with all the furnishings—it was all paid for.  But as soon as he decided to go outside, the house refused to let him. (more…)

Read Full Post »

Yoko Tawada–The Bridegroom Was a Dog (1994) [translated 1998–New Directions Pearl, 2012]

Posted in Advice, Africa, Dogs, Fables, K'naan, Margaret Mitsutani, New Directions Pearls, Sex, Short Books, Short Story, Small Books, Tiny Desk Concert, Yoko Tawada, Yuck! on February 18, 2014| Leave a Comment »

   bridegroo,SOUNDTRACK: K’Naan-Tiny Desk Concert #34 (November 9, 2009).

knaanI really only know K’naan from his song “Wavin’ Flag” which was the World Cup anthem in 2010.  It’s an uplifting anthem which would be schmaltzy except that K’naan is Somali-born, spent his childhood in Mogadishu and lived there until the start of the Somali Civil War in 1991, when his family moved to Canada.  “Wavin’ Flag” was for the people Somalia and their aspirations for freedom.

In this set (the first ever hip-hop Tiny Desk Concert–although there is very little hip-hop in the set), K’naan plays three songs. “Take a Minute” is quite beautiful.  It’s funny to me the rap section kind of spoils the song  but because K’naan is a much better singer than rapper.

“Fatima,” which has a less interesting musical style than the other songs (perhaps it’s better when not in this Tiny Desk format) is startling lyrically.  It’s about childhood friend of his, with the harrowing line–“what did the gunman say before he took you away.”

The final song is “Wavin’ Flag” (which was popular but nowhere near as big a hit as it would be soon enough). The anthemic nature of the song still sounds inspiring in this stripped own format.

I’m not a big fan of this style of music in general–poppy/R&Bish, but K’naan has a great sense of melody and brings a very interesting perspective that makes his style unique.  And most importantly, he has a good, subtle voice.  This is a good introduction to his music.

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

In continuing the “small book” idea, I recently subscribed to the New Directions Pearl series.  It is a collection of smallish books–novellas or short stories–in starkly beautiful binding.  This was the second book I received in the series (I haven’t read the first one yet).  Incidentally, this book has a list of the other pearls, and I rather hope they will send me some past Pearls as well, as they are quite a great collection.

This was an interesting selection to me because I actually own this book already (it’s the same translator, Margaret Mitsutani).  Although as it turns out the book I own (which has the same title) is actually three short stories while this one is only the title story. I bought the book in 1998 and never read it (there is a bookmark that suggests I read a few pages, but I didn’t remember a thing).  So I was happy to get reintroduced to the book and to finally read it.

And I intend to read the other two stories in the near future as well.

This is a peculiar story (as the title indicates).  In it a teacher, Mitsuko Kitamura runs the Kitamura School which is described as a cram school–an extracurricular school.  And the students learn some interesting things.  Like “snot paper.”  She suggests that using used tissues is better because they are warm and wet.  And indeed, she goes so far as to say that you should use “snot paper” when wiping your behind because “it feels even better.” (more…)

Read Full Post »

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…)

Read Full Post »

John Sayles–A Moment in the Sun (2011)

Posted in 19th Century, Anarchy, Big Books, Circus, Comic Strips, Death, Disease, Gambling, John Sayles, Joni Mitchell, Kurt Weill, Mark Twain, Martin Tielli, McSweeney's, Mr. Bungle, Native Americans, Newspapers, Nick Buzz, Political Humor, Racism, Rheostatics, South, Violence, War, Yuck! on February 14, 2014| Leave a Comment »

momentSOUNDTRACK: NICK BUZZ-Circo (1996).

nickbuzzNick Buzz is a side project of Rheostatics singer/lead guitarist Martin Tielli.  This album was reissued in 2002, when I bought it  But it came out in 1996, right around the time of the concerts I’ve been posting about.  Martin says that this album is pure pop, and that he is genuinely surprised that people don’t see this.  Of course, when your album has screeching monkeys, cars honking and circus music, pop is not the first thing that comes to mind.  There are certainly pretty songs on here, but it is an album that resists easy entrance.  There are short manic pieces, slow, languorous, almost lounge music pieces, and an improved cover of Joni Mitchell’s “River.” And then there’s the instrumentation: piano, violin, guitar, voice (no drums, although there is percussion on some tracks) and other weird sound effects.

“Step Inside” opens the disc.  It seems like a normal, mellow song (with slightly falsettoed vocals).  But 34 seconds in the circus music starts—a deviant and unsettling circus that pushes its way into the song briefly then vacating and allowing the pretty melody to return.  It’s like a mild form of Mr Bungle (with more actual circus).  It’s unsettling at first but then strangely catchy after a few listens.  There is fanfare as the song ends, interrupted by the sound of a tape speeding up (or going backwards) until song two bursts in.

“That’s What You et for having Fun” is less than three minutes and while weird, it is certainly accessible and funny.  The guitar sounds like he is slapping the strings rather than strumming them.  The refrain of “there’s a monkey in my underwear” gives a sense of the absurdity (especially when the President of Canada (sic) says he has one too).  “Just Because” mellows things out a lot—simple guitar with a kind of lullaby feel (it’s a bout wishing on stars).  It’s so slow after the craziness of the first two songs.  After  3 minutes of a lounge type song, it ends with a distant radio sound of an even more loungey song which melds into the live version of “River.”

The mellow “River” is followed by a raucous bass clarinet solo and wild guitar solo that is interrupted by the long (nearly 6 minutes) “Sane, So Sane.”  This is the most conventional song on the record—a simple piano melody with repeated lyrics (conventional aside from the weird distant music in the background of course).  Although it does gone on a bit long.  “A Hymn to the Situation” is an eerie two-minute wobbly song.

“Fornica Tango” is indeed a tango presumably sung in Italian. This song features a crying baby, an interesting sounding “Italian” chorus and the screeching monkey at the end.  “Love Streams” is a pretty, slow ballad.  “Aliens Break a Heart” is another pretty song.  Although this is the song that ends with traffic sounds.  “The Italian Singer/Just Because I’m Nick the Buzz” has a kind of Kurt Weill atmosphere to it with spoken words and falsettos.

It took me several listens before I could really find purchase with these songs.  I find that I really enjoy most of them now–some of those slow ones are a little too meandering for my liking.  But it seems like a fun outlet for Tielli’s songcraft.

[READ: October & November 2013] A Moment in the Sun

I read this book last year…finished it just before Thanksgiving, in fact (I was proud of my pacing).  But it was so huge that I didn’t want to write about it until I had a good amount of time.  And now here it is four months later and I probably have forgotten more details than I should have and the post will be nowhere near as in depth as I was saving time for in the first place.  Bah.

When people see this book, they say, “That’s a big book.”  And it is a big book.  It’s 955 pages (and they are thick pages, so the book itself is nearly three inches thick–see the bottom of this post for an “actual size” photo); it’s got three “books” and dozens of characters whose stories we read about in full.  It is about the United States, racism, The Gold Rush, the assassination of a President, the Spanish American War, a World’s Fair and even the exploration of moving pictures.  This is a fairly comprehensive look at the Unites States from the 1890s to the early 1900s.  And, man was it good.

John Sayles is known more for his movies than his books (18 films directed, nearly as many different ones written and only 4 novels), but the cinematic quality that is clearly in his blood comes through in this book as well. (more…)

Read Full Post »

Douglas Coupland–Hey Nostradamus! (2003)

Posted in Canadian Content, Canadian Music, Death, Douglas Coupland, Drinking, Drugs, Fears, Funny (ha ha), Funny (strange), Julie Doiron, Nostalgia, Parenting, Religion, Sex, Short Books, Tiny Desk Concert, Violence, Yuck! on January 22, 2014| Leave a Comment »

heynosSOUNDTRACK: JULIE DOIRON-Tiny Desk Concert #20 (July 6, 2009).

julieI don’t know Julie Doiron exactly–her name sounds familiar, and I know the band Eric’s Trip (she was the bassist), but I don’t really recognize her.

Nevertheless, I really enjoyed her Tiny Desk Concert.  Unlike most of the musicians, she busts out an electric guitar, and although it’s quiet, there’s some good buzzy distortion on it, especially in the first song “Heavy Snow.”  And it sounds good with her voice, which is powerful, even if she does seem nervous.

On “Ce Charmant Coeur” she sings in French and then messes up when she admits she’s thinking of other things and is distracted by the intimacy of the setting.  Bob and company calm her by saying that she is sweating less than Tom Jones did (and there’s very funny joke about her breasts popping out (they don’t)).

She plays “Tailor.” It seems like she tried earlier and stopped half way through and is now trying again (the Concert itself starts midway through, so I assume that’s what was cut off).  It’s a pretty, mellow song (very different sounding from “Heavy Snow”).

For the last song she plays “Consolation Prize” which she says is unlike any she’d written before.  There’s a chaotic section in the middle which they agree we can just imagine because shes not going to play it in this setting.  The blurb with the show says that she normally rocks out pretty hard–something that I’d like to see.

In looking up Doiron’s past she was on Kill Rock Stars and Sub Pop, so I must have seen her name a lot back in the day.  I now see she has recorded with all kinds of bands that I like, and I’m curious to hear her more rocking edge (especially since she is so polite and sweet and nervous here).

Check it out here.

[READ: January 11, 2014] Hey Nostradamus!

After finishing the exciting All Families are Psychotic I moved on to his novel with my least favorite title and with a horrendous cover.  You’d think that I would remember these books but I had no memory of this one either, and I’m fairly certain I read it within the last ten years.

Coupland must have been in a very dark place with this book as well.

There are four sections, each from a different person’s point of view.  This technique of having a person tell his or her story is something Coupland does very well in all of his works–he loves to tell stories about telling stories.

But the darkness about the book is that it is set in a school just as three student gunman come in and shoot up the cafeteria, killing dozens of students, including the first narrator, Cheryl.  This was written with the Columbine shootings in mind, although it has nothing specifically to do with Columbine.

In Part 1, Cheryl has already been killed as she is relating this story to us.  She tells us about herself and her decision to join Youth Alive! a religious group in school.  She and her friends in the group are very moral and are quite clique-y (and they are not widely liked).

The latest thing in Cheryl’s life which has her preoccupied and which has her Youth Alive! group very upset is that she has been spending a lot of unchaperoned time with Jason.  Everyone knew they were dating, but it seems to have gone further now.  And Cheryl explains to us (but not them) that she and Jason have started having sex.  But not until after they rushed off to Vegas and were quickie-married (which no one knows, not even their parents). (more…)

Read Full Post »

« Newer Posts - Older Posts »