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David Silcox–The Group of Seven and Tom Thompson (2011)

September 7, 2015 by Paul Debraski

sicocSOUNDTRACK: RHEOSTATICS-Music Inspired by the Group of 7 (1995).

go7albumIn music there’s always a… key in which the composition is set…  In painting there’s a mother color that goes through all–it holds the painting together…you might call it the signature of the painting.

And thus opens the Rheostatics Group of 7 record.  I had always been vaguely dismissive of the album because it is mostly instrumental and, while good, I just didn’t listen to it that much.  After seeing it live it’s time for a reappraisal.

The disc opens with “One” a lovely minute-long piano introduction.  It’s followed by “Two” which has a series of piano and guitar trills as they set a bucolic mood. Then the drums kick in.  This song starts slowly with some plucked strings (and a sample from Queen Elizabeth).  What I love about this piece is that after the trills, the song seems to build to a very cool cello riff (provided by drummer Don Kerr).  Then there’s a vocal section (of bah bahs) which was really highlighted when they played it live.

The first highlight of this record for me is “Three,” which is known as the Boxcar song.  Someone shouts “All aboard” as the chugging begins and the cello and drums keep an excellent rhythm with Martin’s amazing guitar melody.  “Five” is another waltz with, to my ears, a vaguely Parisian sound.  Martin sings a few verses (and a chorus of “blue hysteria”).  It’s a lovely, delicate piece.

“Six” is a longer piece which centers around a slowly swirling guitar and cellos motif.  It ends with some noisy moments and more rainfall.  Until a noir sounding coda creeps up with piano and upright bass,.

Then comes “Seven” a cello based version of the awesome song “Northern Wish.”  I prefer the original because it is so much more intense, but this quieter version is really interesting and subtle.  “Nine” starts slowly with some gentle acoustic guitars.  But it builds and grows more intense (it has the subtitle “Biplanes and bombs”).  As the song progresses (around 3 minutes) Tielli’s guitar comes in and the backing notes grow a little darker.  The last 15 second are sheer noise and chaos (live they stretched this section out for a while, and it was very cool to see Hugh Marsh makes a lot of noise with his violin).

“Ten” uses some nontraditional instruments including what I assume is a didgeridoo and all kinds of samples.  On stage Tim and Kevin were swinging those tubes that whistle to make the noises).

Eleven is a reprise of track one, Kevin’s Waltz, with the vocals sung by Kevin Hearn.

I have really come to appreciate this album a lot more.  It doesn’t have any of my favorite songs on it, but it is a really amusing collection fo songs.

[READ: August 20, 2015] The Group of Seven and Tom Thompson

I have had this book for a number of years.  I’m not even sure where I got it (in hardback no less).  I know that I purchased it because of the Rheostatics, because I had never heard of the Group of Seven before the band made their record inspired by them.  Since I was going to see the paintings live, I decided to read up about the Group a bit more (I liked the paintings a lot, I just hadn’t read much).

Sadly, the Art Gallery of Ontario wasn’t open for viewing when we went to the concert (which makes sense as it was at night) and we didn’t have another opportunity to go to AGO.  Fortunately, we also went to Casa Loma which had a room full of Go7 paintings, so I was delighted to see some of these up close.  (They may have been prints, it was unclear, but it was cool seeing them).

So the Group of Seven were (initially) seven Canadian painters who joined together to create uniquely Canadian works of art from 1920 to 1933.  Their art was meant to celebrate their country which they felt was under-represented in art.  They planned to not follow conventional European styles of painting and often made striking scenes of nature.  They are largely known for their landscapes, although they also painted portraits and other works.

The Group of 7 originally originally consisted of (links are to Wikipedia bios): Franklin Carmichael (1890–1945), Lawren Harris (1885–1970), A. Y. Jackson (1882–1974), Frank Johnston (1888–1949), Arthur Lismer (1885–1969), J. E. H. MacDonald (1873–1932), and Frederick Varley (1881–1969). Later, A. J. Casson (1898–1992) was invited to join in 1926; Edwin Holgate (1892–1977) became a member in 1930; and LeMoine FitzGerald (1890–1956) joined in 1932.

Two artists commonly associated with the group are Tom Thomson (1877–1917) and Emily Carr (1871–1945). Continue Reading »

Posted in A. J. Casson, A. Y. Jackson, Art, Art Gallery of Ontario, Arthur Lismer, Big Books, Canadian Content, Canadian Music, David Silcox, Edwin Holgate, Emily Carr, Frank Johnston, Franklin Carmichael, Frederick Varley, Group of 7, J. E. H. MacDonald, Lawren Harris, LeMoine FitzGerald, Nature, Rheostatics, Tom Thomson, Trains | Leave a Comment »

Rheostatics (Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, ON, September 5, 2015)

September 6, 2015 by Paul Debraski

[ATTENDED: September 5, 2015] Rheostatics

2015-09-05 22.26.36I am a huge fan of the Rheostatics, but I never saw them live before they broke up.  There was an attempt at a reunion a few years ago but it fell through (apparently do to Martin Tielli’s stage fright).

Then earlier in the spring I saw the incredible news.  The band was going to reunite for three nights at the AGO.  They were celebrating the 20th anniversary of their album Music Inspired by the Group of 7 and they were going to play the entire album.  Now, I’ll admit it’s not my favorite Rheos album.  I like it fine, and there’s some good stuff on it, but it is mostly instrumental, and there’s only really 2 “songs” on it.  But who cared?  It was the Rheostatics!

And who cared if the show was in Toronto, an 8 hour drive away.  I knew the venue was small (it sold out pretty fast).  On the day of tickets sales, I arrived late to work so I could order online.  And after I secured them, I thought….now how in the hell am I going to do this?

Well, we decided to make a vacation out of it.  The show was Saturday night, the kids didn’t start school until Tuesday, so I took some days off of work and we drove up to Niagara Falls on the Wed before the show.  We toured the Falls and then drove to Toronto, where we did so much sightseeing, my legs were tired.  And then, when concert time approached, Sarah and I headed off to the AGO. Continue Reading »

Posted in Art Gallery of Ontario, Barenaked Ladies, Canadian Content, Canadian Music, Dave Bidini music, Hugh Marsh, Kevin Hearn, Martin Tielli, Mary Margaret O'Hara, Rheostatics, Tim Vesely | 3 Comments »

Sandi Toksvig–Peas & Queues: The Minefield of Modern Manners (2013)

September 5, 2015 by Paul Debraski

peasSOUNDTRACK: VILLAGERS-Tiny Desk Concert #69 (July 19, 2010).

villagersVillagers is the work of Conor O’Brien. On their debut album he played all the instruments and created the cover art.  Live, he has a full band, but in this Tiny Desk show it’s just him and his guitar.

He looks incredibly young (that haircut), but when he sings, he sounds sophisticated and mature.  And his guitar playing is equally sophisticated (with some really interesting chords on the high notes of his strings).

His playing is crisp and clean and his voice is really lovely.  He doesn’t do anything fancy, he just sings and plays, but he has a lot of power and honesty in what he does.

And lyrically, he is quite clever.  He surpasses many singer-songwriters.

His three songs “Ship of Promises,” “Becoming a Jackal” and “Twenty Seven Strangers” are all on his debut album Becoming a Jackal.  He hits an amazing series of high notes in “Ship of Promises,” and the way the song takes some unexpected (albeit brief) pauses is quite dramatic.

I like the way he slowly and confidently states the title “Becoming a Jackal.”  This song is a bt faster and more dramatic, especially the quiet ending.

“Twenty Seven Strangers” is a story song about taking the bus.  It is an unexpected perspective and quite an interesting look at a mundane event.

[READ: August 2, 2015] Peas & Queues

I was disappointed with the previous etiquette book, which was supposed to be funny and I think wasn’t all that serious.  But this one, which is indeed serious, was also really funny, and was a real delight to read.

According to her bio on the book, Sandi Toksvig is “a well-known broadcaster for both television and radio.”  But I’d never heard of her.  It seems that she is big in Britain, but I believe is unknown here.  Nevertheless she has written over twenty books, including fiction, non-fiction and children’s.  So maybe I’m just out of touch.

Anyhow, I grabbed this book because it sounded interesting (and I liked the jokey spelling of the title).

Toksvig explains in her introduction that in 1520 when Erasmus wrote his book on manners it was dedicated to an 11 year old boy (a son of a prince).  This book is dedicated to “a delightful child in my life” called Mary who is currently 8.  But it is not a book for children, it is meant for Mary as she grows up.  And you can tell right from the start that Sandi is pretty funny as she says “I hope it will prove useful to anyone not planning to live as a hermit.  [Unlike Erasmus] I have made it easier for her (and you) by not using Latin (very much).”

And then Toksvig explores good manners from birth through death.  She even starts with “Why do we need good manners” (a question my kids currently ask).  The first thing to say is that basic manners apply no matter where you are or what you are doing.  They are even a good idea when no one is watching.  Having a code of behaviour will help you know how to react to the unexpected.

But it’s also important to know that rules about manners are not laws or rules, they are suggestions–propositions for behaviour to help grease the wheel of the great social machine. Continue Reading »

Posted in Etiquette, Food, Funny (ha ha), Kissing, Sandi Toksvig, Tiny Desk Concert, Travel, Villagers | Leave a Comment »

Brummell & Beau–Manners for Millionaires (1900)

September 4, 2015 by Paul Debraski

mannersmillionSOUNDTRACK: THE MYNABIRDS-Tiny Desk Concert #64 (June 21, 2010).

mynabrodI wish I liked The Mynabirds a bit more than I do, especially after hearing the origin story of the band’s name.  Laura Burhenn says she wanted to create a band that was sort of like Neil Young playing Motown.  She toyed with the name Myna and came up with The Mynabirds and then found out that in the 1960s Neil Young and Rick James had made music together for Motown under the name The Mynah Birds.  Cool.

Burnhenn has a sultry kind of voice, which is nice.  But I don’t really like Motown, so the “ooh la la” in the verses and the whole sound of the chorus of “Numbers Don’t Lie” is not my thing.

I prefer the second song “Let the Record Go” which is a bit faster and more rocking (and I like the oh’s at the end of each verse much more).  The final song is by request from Bob.  It’s the lead off track from the album “What We Gained in the Fire.”  It’s a slow broody opener with interesting lyrics.  It has a R&B feel and is a fine song.

It’s possible that I am confusing them with someone else, but I thought the band was more folky, so this was a little disappointing to me (although they are clearly very good).

[READ: June 19, 2015] Manners for Millionaires

I saw this book at work and thought it sounded really funny.  A 1900 British book about millionaires?  With that obvious pseudonym?

The opening prefatory note says that “the coloured plates specially prepared for this volume had at the last moment to be omitted owing to the unfortunate indisposition of the Academician employed, but rather than disappoint the Public we have inserted instead a few specimen woodcuts from a forthcoming treatise on British Fishes.”

Great, so, silly, nonsensical fun, right?

Well, the problem for me with this book is that it supposes you know a lot about wealth and the aristocracy of England circa 1900.  Gah.  I’m not even exactly sure who the intended audience was for this book. Continue Reading »

Posted in Brummell and Beau, Etiquette, Funny (ha ha), Laura Burhenn, Neil Young, Rick James, The Mynabirds, The Mynah Birds, Tiny Desk Concert | Leave a Comment »

Nina MacDonald–Wartime Nursery Rhymes: A First World War Collection (1918)

September 3, 2015 by Paul Debraski

rhymesSOUNDTRACK: JIMMY CLIFF-Tiny Desk Concert #68 (July 12, 2010).

cliffJimmy Cliff is a treasure in reggae music.  Although I recently leaned that despite his Jamaican heritage and reggae connections, he actually does more than reggae music.  As in this Tiny Desk where Cliff (wearing some amazing glasses) sings and plays acoustic guitar in a more folk-like style.

he plays three songs–two are from the 70s and one in brand new.

“Sitting in Limbo” is classic song that sounds more like a folk song than a reggae song (although the original didn’t sound all that reggae, actually).

“I Got to Move On” is a new song about the present (the present is a gift, that’s why it’s called present).  The simple structure and Cliff’s vocal tone reminds me a bit of “Over the Rainbow” by Israel Kamakawiwo’ole

“You Can Get It If You Really Want” is another Cliff classic, instantly recognizable, but somehow sounding more profound with Cliff’s older voice singing it.

I can’t say that I listen to a lot of Jimmy Cliff, but this was a nice sampler of his positive vibe.

[READ: August 31, 2015] Wartime Nursery Rhymes

I love getting these unexpected reprints.  This is a collection of nursery rhymes that were created in 1918.  I don’t know who Nina MacDonald was (there is a foreword, but it doesn’t give any context), but I gather that she is the author of all of these pieces.

And so MacDonald has taken familiar (and unfamiliar to me, although perhaps they were common in England before the first world war?) nursery rhymes and songs and modified them for patriotic use–presumably among children.

There are renditions of all manner of nursery rhymes: “O Dear, What Can the Matter Be?” “Simple Simon”

Or this one of “Little Miss Muffet” Continue Reading »

Posted in Israel Kamakawiwo'ole, Jimmy Cliff, Nina MacDonald, Nursery Rhymes, Poetry, Propaganda, Tiny Desk Concert, World War I | 1 Comment »

The Mad World of Sign Language: Adventures in Unfortunate English from the Readers of The Telegraph (2014)

September 2, 2015 by Paul Debraski

madlangSOUNDTRACK: TARRUS RILEY-Tiny Desk Concert #59 (May 11, 2010).

tarrusTarrus Riley is a reggae singer with a delicate voice.  His accompanists are a guitarist and a sax player (on a cheesey sounding alto sax–although somehow it works).  And while the music is still quite reggae in style, it doesn’t sound too much like reggae–perhaps the light guitar strumming removes the backbeat?

So these three songs feel a bit more like pop.

“It Will Come (A Musician’s Life Story)” is a funny, but serious song from a woman to her musician boyfriend.  She has lots of complaints “Why don’t you get a job” “do you mind telling your plans to the landlord?” and he tries to explain how music is his work,

“Lion’s Paw” is not so much about the strength of his belief in Jah as it is about the strength of Jah’s belief in him.  He seems very happy and joyful during the song (sometimes drifting away from the mic while dancing).

“She’s Royal” is a pro-women song.  It’s the most pop sounding of the three.

I’m not a huge fan of reggae, but this is a good collection of sweet, positive songs.

[READ: August 30, 2015] The Mad World of Sign Language

This is a goofy collection of bad English on signs across the world.  It turns out that this is the fourth collection of said signs all generated by readers of the British newspaper The Telegraph.

This book is set up geographically.  They begin in The Americas, then on to UK & Ireland, The Mediterranean, Africa, Middle East, India, China, and end in South East Asia and Australasia.

Now I love this kind of thing, but there were a lot of pictures in this book that were mildly amusing at best.  (Could the fourth collection mean diminishing returns?).  Since this is a UK book there is a lot of mirth at British slang which other countries wouldn’t know anything about–which is kind of unfair, right?).  Anyhow, the signs are funny in a very limited way. Continue Reading »

Posted in Funny (ha ha), Photo Essays, Tarrus Riley, The Telegraph, Tiny Desk Concert | Leave a Comment »

Jane Yolen–Curses! Foiled Again (2013)

September 1, 2015 by Paul Debraski

yolenSOUNDTRACK: BETTY LaVETTE-Tiny Desk Concert #61 (May 21, 2010).

bettyAnother peculiar Tiny Desk is this one from Betty LaVette.  It’s only peculiar because, for licensing reasons, they can only show one of the three songs she sang.

I don’t know much about LaVette, but I immediately loved her voice–rough and sultry and amazingly powerful.  The only song here is her take on “It Don’t Come Easy,” and it’s really great.

With only her voice and guitarist Alan Hill accompanying her, she manages to bring amazing depth to this song.

The other two songs were: “Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me,” and “Nights in White Satin.”  While I’m not that interested in “Sun,” I would love to hear her take on “Nights.”

The notes say that at this time they don’t have the rights to play the songs.  It has been five years, and I imagine they are not really pursuing those rights any longer.

[READ: July 28, 2015] Curses! Foiled Again

Since I recently posted the Foiled review I had to run out and get the sequel (also on First Second books)

After a quick “Previously,” we get reintroduced to Aliera’s weapon and its glowing gem and we learn that Avery is beautiful on the outside but an actual troll within.   As with the previous book, the panels are all gray scale until she runs into the mystical beasties.

The problem with this book is that Aliera is mad at Avery for secretly being a troll (fair enough), but there is nothing he can do to get her to listen to him.  So it is actually rather tedious that for the whole book he keeps trying to tell her things but she refuses to listen. Continue Reading »

Posted in Betty LaVette, Fencing, First Second :01, Graphic Novel, Jane Yolen, Ringo Starr, Supernatural, Tiny Desk Concert, YA Books | Leave a Comment »

Chloë Sevigny (2015)

August 31, 2015 by Paul Debraski

chloeSOUNDTRACK: ROGER McGUINN with THE ROCK BOTTOM REMAINDERS-Tiny Desk Concert #62 (June 1, 2010).

mcguinn There are many unusual Tiny Desk Concerts, but this may be the strangest.  Ostensibly, the show is from The Rock Bottom Remainders, an informal and revolving assortment of good-natured authors who masquerade as a rock band for charity.  In this incarnation, they are Dave Barry, Ridley Pearson, Scott Turow, Amy Tan, Roy Blount Jr., Kathy Kamen Goldmark and Sam Barry, none of whom brought any instruments.  But leading them is Roger McGuinn, who brought his guitar and the chords to two songs.

The authors (mostly Dave Barry) are funny and self-deprecating, “We’re gonna attempt a song involving actual singing now,”

So McGuinn leads them in a rendition of “Sloop John B.” which they and the audience sing in a fun, campfire sorta way.  On the second song “May The Road Rise To Meet You” the backing singers mostly just sit and watch McGuinn.  And McGuinn seems fine with that.

He of course has a lovely voice.  And at the end, he does  neat little guitar solo.  And they all applaud.

[READ: July 29, 2015] Chloë Sevigny

I saw this book at work and decided to flip through it.  It has an introduction by Kim Gordon and an Afterword by Natasha Lyonne, so that seemed interesting enough.  The rest of the book is photos of Sevigny.  And nothing else.  Although Gordon says that “this book allows us a peek into her teenage bedroom and evokes the visceral thrill of getting dressed.”

I don’t really have an opinion of Sevigny.  Although I noticed that she tends to appear in things that I like–she’s like the cool guest star that appears on fun shows (like Portlandia).  But I don’t really know anything about her.

And I still don’t. Continue Reading »

Posted in Amy Tan, Chloë Sevigny, Dave Barry, Kathy Kamen Goldmark, Kim Gordon, Natasha Lyonne, Photo Essays, Portlandia, Ridley Pearson, Roy Blount Jr., Sam Barry, Sassy, Scott Turow, Sonic Youth, The Rock Bottom Remainders, Tiny Desk Concert | Leave a Comment »

Hope Larson–Mercury (2010)

August 30, 2015 by Paul Debraski

mercurySOUNDTRACK: MOBY & KELLI SCARR-Tiny Desk Concert #58 (May 4, 2010).

moby This is the first of a few Tiny Desk Concerts that break with the format we’ve come to know.

For unclear reasons, there is a video for only one song from this show.  Although there is a full audio feed in which you can hear all of the songs that Moby and Kelli play.  This video is also filmed at night, which is quite different from their usual mid-morning showcase.  It is very dark outside and in the studio, which is also unusual.

The song that they play is “Gone to Sleep,” a song they created for Project Song.  The premise behind Project Song is to write, record and complete a song in 48 hours.  As inspiration, they used the word Sunday and a picture of a man in the woods with clouds for a head (Moby describes him as a pedophile from another dimension).

It’s quite a good song with a really catchy, very Moby chorus.  And the dark video is interesting to watch.

There’s audio where you can learn a bit more about Project Song and how they created their song.  But there’s also audio from the rest of their set, which features covers and Moby originals all done on acoustic guitar.

They play a fun, surprisingly light version of “Ring of Fire” (with audience participation on “trumpet solo”).  Then the do Moby’s “Pale Horses” which is quite nice in this stripped down version.  Their next cover is “Take a Walk on the Wild Side.”  They do an interesting take–it’s almost upbeat and folky, which is unusual.  He switches from “and the colored girls say” to “and everybody here says.”  He also tells a funny story about campaigning for John Kerry and playing that song and seeing Kerry’s wife act horrified and maybe a little turned on by the lyrics.

The final song is CSN&Y’s “Helpless.”  It’s a pretty, very different version from the original.  It’s a good set, especially for those who think of Moby as a more dancey artist.

[READ: June 21, 2015] Mercury

I really enjoyed this book by Hope Larson, one of my consistently favorite graphic novelists.

And this book may be one of her best.  The book drifts back and forth between two timelines in Nova Scotia.  The older timeline is 1859.  We meet the Fraser family living in a house on French hill.  They have just had a visitor, Asa Curry and he seems taken with their daughter Josey.

The modern timeline is set 150 years in the future.  The Fraser family until recently still lived on the property at French Hill.  A few years ago it burnt down and the survivors had to move.

The 1859 story has a black border while the contemporary story has a white one, it a subtle but very cool way of distinguishing the timelines. Continue Reading »

Posted in Canadian Content, Crosby Stills Nash and Young, CSN&Y, Graphic Novel, History, Hope Larson, Lou Reed, Moby, Supernatural, Tiny Desk Concert | Leave a Comment »

The Organist: Season 2 (part 2) [podcast] (2014-2015)

August 29, 2015 by Paul Debraski

[LISTENED TO: August 2015] The Organist

organistThe final 10 episodes of The Organist’s second season were of the same caliber of podcast.  I was surprised to see that it ended in March.  And, in a recent Kickstarter from McSweeney’s, the talk about getting funding to make more episodes.  I’d be bummed if they ran out of money to make more of these. Even if I have griped about the repeating, the quality of each episode is really quite good.

Episode 40: Cosmo’s Factory (December 30, 2014)
I was fascinated by this piece because I found the drumming in the song to be nothing special.  I never would have noticed all of the nuances that he fixated on.  And the song really isn’t that interesting.  Drummer Neal Morgan, who has supported Joanna Newsom, Bill Callahan, Robin Pecknold, and others, sat down with Creedence Clearwater Revival’s Doug Clifford to dive into ecstatic detail on the arrangement of “Long as I Can See The Light.”

Episode 41: A Funeral for Everyone I Knew (January 6, 2015)
This week they finally get around to the Greta Gerwig piece they mentioned in Episode 38.  It is Funeral for Everyone I Knew, a new radio play by novelist Jesse Ball.  Starring Greta Gerwig and Whip Hubley, the play follows the dark machinations of a dying man, and his elaborate plans for his own funeral.  Frankly it wasn’t really worth the wait, and Gerwig isn’t in it enough. Continue Reading »

Posted in Devendra Banhart, Greta Gerwig, Hua Hsu, Matmos, McSweeney's, Meredith Monk, Miranda July, Mobb Deep, Nicholson Baker, Nick Antosca, No More Road Trips?, Rick Prelinger, Ross Simonini, Sam Lipsyte, Studs Terkel, The Organist, Wye Oak | Leave a Comment »

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