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Sam Shepard–“Land of the Living” (New Yorker, September 21, 2009)

September 21, 2018 by Paul Debraski

SOUNDTRACK: BRIAN BLADE AND THE FELLOWSHIP BAND-“Landmarks” (Field Recordings, August 14, 2014).

Here’s yet another Field Recording at the Newport Jazz Festival [Chorale For Horns And iPad App, In The Pouring Rain].

The 2014 Festival must have been a rainy one, because some of the other Recordings seem wet as well.  The blurb explains

We had hoped to get the great drummer Brian Blade to give us a little private exhibition after his set at the Newport Jazz Festival this year. The weather, however, was proving much less generous than he and his band were. Early that morning, a steady all-day rain settled in over coastal Rhode Island, making it difficult to transport dry instruments anywhere. On top of that, a last-minute change to travel plans meant that Blade needed to get out of town quickly — to an airport over four hours away.

But he and the Fellowship Band — the group of guys Blade has been making music with for the better part of two decades or more — were game to figure out something for us. So we herded them into the shelter of a quiet tunnel in Fort Adams State Park.

Despite Blade being a drummer, they are unable to use drums or even bass.  So they decide to play a composition of the keyboardist.  Chris Thomas, the bassist, suggests that he could do an interpretive dance (but he does not).

As they get set up, Jon Cowherd starts tinkering on his iPad.  He gets a synth up and starts playing the opening to Van Halen;s “Jump” which gets everyone excited.  Then he starts playing a cool keyboard sound on the app and the two horns join in on the serene melody.

First Myron Walden starts playing the bass clarinet.  Then he is joined beautifully by Melvin Butler on soprano sax.  The song unfolds simply.  I love the way it just seems to grow and grow–slowly revealing more and more of itself.  But it’s over pretty quickly, with the notes fading in the tunnel.

So even though the featured performer, Brian Blades is not playing–and I still have never heard his drums, this was a nifty little piece.

[READ: April 17, 2016] “Land of the Living”

I had it in my head that Sam Shepard was a noir writer from the 1950s.

Well this story (and the surprising fact that the New Yorker published a second of his stories just a few weeks later) led to something entirely different.  This story is about a man who is going on vacation with his family.

It begins with a very funny exchange between the man and his wife,  She tells him, “It’s just amazing how friendly you become when you’re on Xanax”  And he agrees, “I feel this friendly person coming out in me and I wonder if maybe that’s my real nature.”

The family is currently waiting on a customs line in Cancun.  The heat is unbearable, especially since they have just come from Minnesota.

Their conversation is full of things that he says which she is surprised by: Continue Reading »

Posted in Brian Blade and the Fellowship Band, Depression, Field Recordings, Marriage Trouble, Newport Jazz Festival, NPR/PRI/PBS, Old Age, Parenting, Sam Shepard, Vacation, Van Halen | Leave a Comment »

Amos Oz–“My Curls Have Blown All the Way to China” (New Yorker, September 21, 2015)

September 20, 2018 by Paul Debraski

SOUNDTRACK: LEDISI-“Pieces of Me” (Field Recordings, August 27, 2017).

I only ever heard of Ledisi from a Tiny Desk Concert.  And here she is again.

I still haven’t heard of her anywhere else, but she still sounds amazing.

I absolutely love that she is singing from a balcony and that people start lining the streets to see and hear her.  How cool would that be?  Too bad she doesn’t sing a few more for them.  But heck, it’s New Orleans, things like that probably happen all the time.  Right?

There’s too much happening in New Orleans’ French Quarter — especially on a holiday weekend, and especially when hundreds of thousands of people are in town for the annual Essence Music Festival. There are living statues and five-piece bands and drinks a foot-and-a-half tall and people from all over the world ambling in the middle of the street.

But Ledisi, singing on a balcony in her hometown, stopped the whole thing dead. For a few minutes, with a song about the complications of being a woman, she held an unsuspecting, audibly appreciative crowd in the palm of her hand.

In this Field Recording [Ledisi Steals The Show] she sings a song I don;t know, “Pieces of Me.”  But the crowd seems to.  They even start interacting with her.  So she shouts down to them, “I don’t hear you singing.”  So they do, they sing with her.

As the song ends, she says, “Y’all sound good down there.”  And then as they start trying to talk to her she says, “I didn’t know I was gonna be out here…. I was trying to get something to drink.”

If that was someone I liked I would be totally psyched if that happened to me.

[READ: January 6, 2017] “My Curls Have Blown All the Way to China”

This story looks deep into the psyche of a woman who has just been informed that her husband is leaving her.

The story is full of lists: like a list of clothes to buy for him and for her–she is preparing to find out what clothes they should bring on their trip to Spain.

That’s when he tells her.

During the factory outing to Netanya , a month ago–you remember–when you didn’t feel like going with me, I met this woman there, and afterward it turned out that we kept seeing each other and now, well, I’ve decided to leave you, even though I’m very sorry about it.  Honestly.  But what can I do Bracha?  I just have no choice.

Okay, so that’s pretty fucked up.

Rather than going to Netanya, Bracha was getting her hair cut short–and her long curls blew away. Continue Reading »

Posted in Amos Oz, Field Recordings, Ledisi, Maggie Goldberg Bar-Tura, Marriage Trouble, New Yorker, NPR/PRI/PBS, Sex, Sexism, Short Story, Translation | Leave a Comment »

Rivka Galchen–“How Can I Help?” (New Yorker, September 19, 2016)

September 19, 2018 by Paul Debraski

SOUNDTRACK: AGES AND AGES-“Divisionary (Do the Right Thing)” (Field Recordings, August 28, 2014).

I really like this song.  I’ve heard several recordings of it.  The studio version, the Tiny Desk Concert, the one with the Northwest Children’s Choir and now this one.

Once again, done during the Newport Folk Festival, this Field Recording [Ages And Ages, Singing An Anthem For (And With) Everyone] corrals a band into a small, unused space. In this case, that space seems to be an unused room.  And in that small room, the band is joined by The Berklee Gospel and Roots Choir.

Bob Boilen says:

I’ve seen many magical collaborations at the Newport Folk Festival over the years, as artists band together and create in the Newport spirit. This particular venture was epic, featuring the strongest anthem of the year — by the Portland band Ages and Ages — and the voices of the Berklee Gospel and Roots Choir.

This song always sounds better with a big chorus of singers.  There’s not much to it, but the full body of voices can lift anyone;s spirits.  Especially when they start singing various different melodies on top of each other.  It’s quite lovely.

Ages and Ages played near me recently and I thought about seeing them and then I realized that this is the only song I know by them!

[READ: January 2, 2017] “How Can I Help?”

This is a story about a woman and her sister.  But the way the story is revealed is really wonderful.

It begins: “Consider Hayley, our hire of two months, a relative endurance run.”

The narrator bemoans Hayley’s decisions, like spending $4.25 (roughly 31 minutes of work at her salary) each day on a skim latte coffee from an unnamed retailer even though their office offers the same coffee in-house for free.

In the second paragraph, she says “I like and admire Hayley, she is a team player.  I don’t judge.  But I have of late been tempted to judge.”

And that’s when she reveals that perhaps her objectivity is clouded because Hayley is her sister. Continue Reading »

Posted in Ages and Ages, Consumerism, Field Recordings, Language, New Yorker, Newport Folk Festival, NPR/PRI/PBS, Rivka Galchen, Short Story, Sisters, The Berklee Gospel and Roots Choir, Work | Leave a Comment »

Car Seat Headrest (Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA, September 18, 2018)

September 18, 2018 by Paul Debraski

[ATTENDED: September 18, 2018] Car Seat Headrest

Car Seat Headrest had one of the most annoying crowds I’ve ever been a part of.  The show was sold out and I got there later than I meant to.  So I was more in the middle of the crowd than up front.  Usually this is a pretty tame spot, but this crowd was rowdy, with a lot of individuals pogoing pretty hard (enough to get me pretty angry at one particular guy–which rather spoiled my mood for a couple of songs).

In fact a few things were irritating me this night which made it kind of hard for me to get into Car Seat Headrest.  The crowd was one but also was the fact that they took forever to get on stage after Naked Giants left (I realize now that Naked Giants were in the live Car Seat Headrest band, and they probably could use a breather, but it was a long wait between bands).

Car Seat Headrest was just Will Toledo for many years.  From 2010-2015 he released 12 albums (!) on bandcamp.  He has gotten a band [Will Toledo (vocals, guitar, piano), Ethan Ives (guitar, bass, backing vocals), Seth Dalby (bass), and Andrew Katz (drums, percussion)], then he/they signed to Matador, re-recorded a bunch of old songs for a compilation, made a new album and then re-recorded one of his older albums.

I was really surprised by how rocking and crazy the band were live.  I love when a band is bigger than their album makes them seem, so this boded well. Continue Reading »

Posted in Car Seat Headrest, Lou Reed, Naked Giants, Neil Young, Philadelphia, PA, Union Transfer | Leave a Comment »

Naked Giants (Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA, September 18, 2018) [CAR SEAT HEADREST]

September 18, 2018 by Paul Debraski

[ATTENDED: September 18, 2018] Naked Giants

I had never heard of Naked Giants before this show.  But apparently I was in the minority, because everyone in the club seemed to know these guys (even though they apparently have never played Philly before?).  The dudes next to me knew every word of every song and slammed and pogoed through the whole set (and I was pretty far back so this was irritatingly out of place–keep the slamming to the pit, dudes).

Naked Giants is a three-piece from Seattle.  Sure they play grunge, but they mix in some pop elements and a full dose of indie rock as well.  Both the guitarist and the bassist sing lead.  The drummer is a maniac and he left his kit several times to walk around–sometimes mid song.

They are one of the most fun bands I’ve seen live in a really long time.

The band came out and they played a huge intro of noise.  It went on for quite a while–noise and flashing lights and everything and then they settled into “Dead/Alien.” Both guitarist Grant Mullen and bassist Gianni Aiello sang lead on.

It was followed by “Regular Guy” which is indeed about a regular guy–but with a wicked guitar solo–because even though they play indie rock, Mullen totally shreds.

They played a new song called “TV” which has a very new waves-sounding staccato guitar line.  It is sung in a detached new wave style until the bass and fuzz guitar kick in and it turns onto a heavy grunge song for a few measures before reverting to the new wave sound.  The middle has a long noisy jam/freakout section which was a lot of fun.

They were jumping around like lunatics during most of the show with Aiello doing a great left/right jump kick through one of the rocking sections.

On one occasion when Henry LaVallee got our from behind his kit, he walked around the drums, hit one cymbal from the other side and sat down.  Another time he got up and engaged with the audience.  I love this picture in which he was showing the audience his phone (no idea why), but it looks like the guy in the crowd is holding a tiny light.

When they announced the song “Everybody Thinks They Know (But No One Really Knows),” a kind of bratty surf punk song, the guys near me went berserk.  They sang along and even added their own call and response to the vocals (which you can hear in this clip).  The band really appreciated it and waves to the guys.

Then they played the title track from their recent album, Sluff.  About this song, Aiello told Billboard

“I just needed a word for the chorus of that song,… I knew I wanted to shout something, but I didn’t know what. I was hanging out with my girlfriend and I said, ‘Hey, what’s a good grunge-sounding word?’ She thought for a minute and then said ‘Sluff!’ I said, ‘That’s perfect!’ It sounds like something Soundgarden might do. It’s just a nonsense word.”

And he is totally right, it is a ton of fun to sing along to “oh oh oh oh oh sluff!”

Toward the end of their set they played a song called “Twist” which was in fact, more or a less a twist (Aiello turned and faced the crowd and shook his butt at us twist-style).  There was a middle part that had a solo or two from each guy.  In Aiello’s solo he did a bass line from Rush’s “Tom Sawyer,” which was pretty cool.

It was followed by ta total freak out called “Green Fuzz.”  This song went on for about ten minutes.  There was a middle section that involved all of them making as much noise as possible and Mullen ultimately lying on his back, feet in the air, doing whatever it was he was doing (I couldn’t really see him).  He stayed down there for a good five minutes while Henry LaVallee went bonkers on the drums–it was like a drum solo but without the pretension.  Meanwhile, Aiello was keeping things mostly under control with his bass, although he was also playing behind his head at one point.

They ended with “Ya Ya” an incredibly fun song and perfect set ender with the wonderfully deep chorus of “Oh, ya ya ya ya hey, Whoo hoo!”  It’s basically one more wild jam before the set crashes to a conclusion.

They were fantastic and I’d definitely see them again.

It turns out that Naked Giants are also part of Car Seat Headrest’s live band.  They became friends with Will Toledo several years ago  “I think it’s been pretty fun, though, kind of like a big boost. We get to play way bigger shows than we would by ourselves. We open for them, too, so it’s a lot of hard work. We’re playing two and a half hours a night, but it’s worth it. It’s what we signed up for.”

Setlist

  1. Dead/Alien $
  2. Regular Guy
  3. TV $
  4. Everybody Thinks They Know (But No One Really Knows) $
  5. Sluff $
  6. Slow Dance II $
  7. Twist ¥
  8. Green Fuzz
  9. Ya Ya ¥

 

¥ R.I.P. EP

$ Sluff

 

 

 

 

 

Posted in Naked Giants, Philadelphia, PA, Rush, Soundgarden, Union Transfer | Leave a Comment »

Don Babylon (Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA, September 18, 2018) [CAR SEAT HEADREST]

September 18, 2018 by Paul Debraski

[ATTENDED: September 18, 2018] Don Babylon

I rather enjoy when there are two opening bands.  Especially if the first opening band is a local band.  Philly has been producing some great bands in recent years and I like getting exposed to them.

Don Babylon are a Philly-based band who I’d never heard of before.  They play loud songs.  Or as they describe their music:

“Drunk, sad rock’n’roll in between kitchen shifts and last call.”

They were terrific. Continue Reading »

Posted in Don Babylon, Philadelphia, PA, Union Transfer | Leave a Comment »

Edwidge Danticat–”Sunrise, Sunset” (New Yorker, September 18, 2017)

September 18, 2018 by Paul Debraski

 SOUNDTRACK: AJ DAVILA-“Es Verano Ya” (Field Recordings, September 24, 2014). 

AJ Davila is part of the “unhinged Puerto Rican garage-rock band” Davila 666. For this Field Recording [Garage-Rocker AJ Davila Unplugs In A Hair Salon] he plays an acoustic song in a hair salon.

Davila says that New York is like another town of Puerto Rico.  That people from Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic have made their homes and communities here.

There’s a joke that says the biggest town in Puerto Rico is called New York. Several waves of diaspora have created a deep and complex relationship between Puerto Ricans and the city. Boricuas have had an immense influence on the Big Apple — its music, its literature, its landscape, and even its cuisine.

He says that a small place like a barbershop (or beauty salon) can feel like you’re in your house.  “This is a song about hanging out with your friends.  It’s a summer song.”

We asked Davila to delight a Spanish Harlem beauty salon with a summer song. It’s appropriate: He’s one of the warmest souls I know — someone with whom it’s a pleasure to discuss art and music, argue about politics or tell silly jokes. He’s also a uniquely talented musician, with a style that combines garage-rock, punk and even elements of hip-hop.

This song probably rocks, but this acoustic version is lighter, with some bouncy chords from the other guitarist Daniel Ortiz and delightful backing vocals from Lola Pistola.  It’s somehow even better when they laugh off a tiny mistake.

[READ: September 14, 2017] ”Sunrise, Sunset”

This is a story of three generations of a Haitain family.

Carole is elderly and is slowly forgetting a lot–a blank look comes over her face and she forgets that she put her keys in the fridge or that her daughter is related to her.

Her daughter, Jeanne, and son-in-law James (they were known as JJ) just had a son, Jude (now known as Triple J).  But Jeanne has been in the throes of post-partum depression. James is a saint about it but Carole is furious that her daughter is lying around.  Back in Haiti, Carole did not have the luxury of depression.

Carole lived under a dictator.  She watched her neighbors get dragged out of their houses by the dictator’s henchmen.  Carole’s father fled the country and she never saw him again. Continue Reading »

Posted in Babies, Dominican Republic, Edwidge Danticat, Field Recordings, Haiti, New Yorker, NPR/PRI/PBS, Old Age, Parenting, Puerto Rico, Short Story, Threats | Leave a Comment »

The The: Comeback Special (Beacon Theatre, New York, NY, September 17, 2018)

September 17, 2018 by Paul Debraski

[ATTENDED: September 17, 2018] The The

I feel like I have always loved The The.  I’d never say they were my favorite band, but they’ve always been a part of my playlists and lyrics from the songs are constantly running through my head.

From the dancey early stuff off of Infected (the first album I’d heard), to the cool “band” stuff with Johnny Marr on guitar (The The was always and forever shall be the project of Matt Johnson with a rotating cast of others) and finally to the beautiful Dusk, which I couldn’t stop playing all through college.   There were other albums, but these three (and, strangely enough the Hank Williams cover album) were staples for me.

Matt Johnson has this voice, the deep resonating voice, that gets right into my head.  Especially with headphones, especially on the beginning of Dusk.  That album is so pristinely recorded it feels like the guitars are in whatever room you are currently in.

I had the fortune of seeing them in May of 2000, the last time The The played the States (and almost anywhere else).  The setlist below I found online.  They apparently played almost all of the then new album and nearly nothing else.  That seems incomplete (and short).

When he (they) announced that The The had released a new song and were doing some shows in England and Europe, I held out hope that they would come across the pond.  I wondered if they’d play Philly, but they didn’t (and that was probably wise as even the Beacon didn’t sell out).  So I got tickets as soon as I could and scored 11th row.  For yes, I was willing to brave the Lincoln Tunnel and an expensive parking garage to see this show.  And having it only in a few locations made it that much more special. Continue Reading »

Posted in Andy Dog Johnson, Beacon Theatre, Hank Williams Sr., Matt Johnson, New York City, Salman Rushdie, The The | Leave a Comment »

Xordox (Beacon Theatre, New York, NY, September 17, 2018) [THE THE]

September 17, 2018 by Paul Debraski

[ATTENDED: September 17, 2018] Xordox

When The The announced that they were touring for the first time in 18 years, I knew I was going to go, even if it meant dragging myself through the $15 Lincoln Tunnel.  (How do people afford that every day?).

I noted the opening acts: Agnes Obel will appear on all dates as a special guest, except the September 16 show at Brooklyn Steel where Elsyian Fields will open and the September 17 gig at the Beacon Theater where XORDOX (aka JG Thirlwell/Foetus), a frequent THE THE collaborator, will open.

I really like Agnes Obel and I put her on my list of people I wanted to see live.  So I was a little bummed that she didn’t play for my show.  But at the same time, Xordox is the creation of the legendary JG Thirwell, whom I have never seen before either.  Thirwell is probably best know for his group Foetus, but is more recently known as the guy who scores the new Archer seasons.  And that’s pretty great.

Every incarnation of Thirwell sounds different from the previous one (with a different pseudonym: Clint Ruin, Frank Want, and Foetus), so who knew what Xordox would sound like.

For this incarnation, Thirwell is Manorexia. Continue Reading »

Posted in Agnes Obel, Archer, Beacon Theatre, JG Thirwell, Jim Thirwell, Manorexia, New York City, The The, Xordox | Leave a Comment »

Tessa Hadley–“Cecilia Awakened” (New Yorker, September 17, 2018)

September 17, 2018 by Paul Debraski

SOUNDTRACK: JAZMINE SULLIVAN-“Stupid Girls” (Field Recordings, August 12, 2014).

NPR and Jazmine Sullivan were in New Orleans’for the Essence Music Festival.

I’m intrigued that this Field Recording [Jazmine Sullivan Fades A New Orleans Barber Shop] is the second one set in a barbershop (technically, this is the first one as I have been watching them in backwards order).

This barbershop, Claer-Vue, is just a few blocks from the Superdome, just off Canal Street. It has been in business since 1948.  It is a men’s barbership and I know that a barbershop is part of the culture but nearly every man waiting to get their hair cut has really short hair already–like closely buzzed.  Are they hanging out or do they get it cut daily?

I had never heard of Jazmine, but she was apparently known to at least some of the patrons

When she walked in, patrons and barbers alike were wary. But they knew who she was, from hit songs like “Bust Your Windows” and “Holding You Down (Goin’ in Circles).” And when she began to sing, wearing her powerhouse instrument lightly, everyone ceded her a floor that had been previously occupied by a heated debate about college football.

With just an acoustic guitar accompanying her, she sings her beautiful song.  Her voice is clear and pretty and devoid of all the trills and filigree of pop singers.

To a roomful of captivated men, she sang a brand new song, “Stupid Girls,” that warns women to be careful with their hearts.

You can see most of the men nodding along. Most are deferential, with side-eyed glances.   There’s polite applause at the end, but Jazmine is pretty pleased with herself–as she should be.

[READ: September 14, 2018] “Cecilia Awakened”

Tessa Hadley continues to make wonderful stories where nothing seems to happen, but there is a lot going on internally.

Like the way this one starts:

Cecilia awakened from her childhood while she was on holiday in Italy, the summer she turned fifteen.  It was not a sexual awakening, or not exactly–rather, an intellectual or imaginative one.

Cecilia is described as an odd child, but one who fit in perfectly with the oddity of her parents.  Her father worked at a university library and her mother, Angela, wrote historical novels.  Most of all they both loved the past.  When they had Cecilia–late in their lives–they did not feel any need to conform to society any more than they already did.  Continue Reading »

Posted in Art, Artists, Barbershop, Charles Dickens, Churches, Field Recordings, George Eliot, Italy, Jazmine Sullivan, Marriage (Happy), New Yorker, NPR/PRI/PBS, Short Story, Teenagers, Tessa Hadley, Vacation | Leave a Comment »

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