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Simon Rich–What in God’s Name (2013)

December 16, 2014 by Paul Debraski

rich nameSOUNDTRACK: AN OLDE WORLD CHRISTMAS (European Holiday) (1990?).

olde worldWhile yesterday’s Norwegian Christmas album was awesome, this one falls very very short.  The premise of the album is so promising: Christmas songs from around the world.  There are Spanish, French, English, German, Scandinavian and Italian songs here!

Well, the problem is that this entire record was recorded (apparently) by one guy on a keyboard with five preset sounds.  It is so disappointing.  I mean sure it’s pretty (sort of).  But there is no sense at all that these are different countries’ songs.

For instance, “Angels We Have Heard on High.”  Who knew that that was originally a French song?  Not me.  And in no way does this keyboard instrumental version of “Les Anges Dans Nos Campagnes” convey that it is anything other than “Angels We Have Heard on High.”  How about the fact that we get “O Tannebaum” instead of “O Christmas Tree”?  Well, without words, what’s the difference?

So, there are pianoish sounds and harpsichordish sounds and a flute-ish sound.  And this would probably be a nice thing to put on as you were falling asleep on Christmas Eve and wanted visions of synthesized sukker plomme dancing in your tête.  Thank goodness I got it for 99 cents.

[READ: December 16, 2014] What in God’s Name

When I grabbed Simon’s Rich’s last story collection, I also grabbed this novel, assuming that, you know, it would be hilarious.  And it is.

This story is set in Heaven, Inc.  The CEO, God, is more interested in watching NASCAR than actuality attending to any miracles or crises on earth.  In fact, we learn that Earth was created primarily to produce Xenon, and that humans were just a pet project of some angels.

Angels, yes.  The entire story is written from the point of view of some angels working in heaven.

We meet Craig who has been in Miracles for a few years.  And there’s a new addition to the team Eliza who spent many years working in Prayer Intake but really wanted to move up to Miracles because it just sounded so much more interesting.

One of the best parts about the story is the way Rich envisions angels performing small miracles every day–adjusting the world without transgressing any of God’s major laws (gravity, physics, that sort of thing).  When an angel goes too far (like when Wilt Chamberlain scored 100 pints in a game because God liked him and the angel wanted to impress Him), that angel gets punished.  So I loved watching the convoluted ways angels did things to make people act or react.  Small things to help avoid getting a paper cut or assist in catching a fish. Continue Reading »

Posted in Christmas Album, Funny (ha ha), Gods, Humiliation, Kissing, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Morality, Religion, Short Books, Simon Rich | Leave a Comment »

Alessandro Baricco–Novocento (1994) [translated 2010]

December 15, 2014 by Paul Debraski

novocSOUNDTRACK: BUKKENE BRUSE-The Loveliest Rose (2002).

bruseI’m not entirely sure how I came to own this disc.  But I’m so glad I do.  This is a Christmas album from one of Norway’s traditional ensembles (pronounced: BUH-kayna BREW-sah).  They have been around since the 1990s and have toured extensively around the world.  This is their only Christmas album.  It was recorded in an Oslo church.

The album features four players on some great traditional instruments: Arve Moen Bergset – vocals, violin & Hardingfele; Annbjørg Lien – Hardingfele & nyckelharpa; Steinar Ofsdal – flute; Bjørn Ole Rasch – pipe organ.

The album is a wonderful collection of music.  I prefer the instrumentals, although Bergset does have a lovely singing voice.  What I found most interesting is that the sound of the music conveyed many non-Norwegian feelings.  I heard some Irish sounding traditional music and even some Native American (the flute in the final song).

The pipe organ sounds amazing and the fiddle, especially on “Father Fiddled on Christmas Eve” is fantastic.

Nine of the songs are traditional, the rest are written by the band, aside from St. Sunniva, the opening of which comes from ELP’s “Karn Evil 9, 3rd impression (I kid you not–it is quite stripped down here).

I really love this non-traditional traditional Christmas album.  I’m including the track listing mostly because I wanted to have all of this Norwegian in a post.

  1.   A Child Is Born in Bethlehem «Eit barn er født i Betlehem» (3:18) [great flute and a surprisingly catchy hallelujah]
  2.   Lullaby for Julie «Lullámus» (3:15) [great sound of the Hardanger fiddle which has two drone strings]
  3.   Spirit of the Grove «Haugebonden» (5:14) [a gorgeous melody]
  4.   Christmas Eve «Juleftan» (3:38) [unusual fiddle sounds and an unusual and captivating melody]
  5.   My Heart is with Jesus «Mit Hjerte Altid Vanker» (6:32) [the pipe organ really elevates this song]
  6.   St. Sunniva «St. Sunniva» (3:44) [organ and fiddle together in this Irish sounding song]
  7.   A Little Child So Pleasant/In the Sweet Christmas Time «Et lidet barn saa lystelig / I denne søde juletid» (7:20) [beautiful flute and solo violin]
  8.  Father Fiddled on Christmas Eve «Så spela far juleftan» (3:02) [that cool, unusual fiddle is back]
  9.  The Loveliest Rose has Been Found «Den fagraste rosa er funni» (2:35) [the voice is really great on this one]
  10.  Christmas Gangar «Romjulsgangar» (3:22) [beautiful fiddle and flute dance with some unusual sounds from both instruments]
  11. For Such Generous Gifts «For saadan’ mildheds gaver» (2:53) [a New Year’s tune that is rather haunting, I must say]

[READ: December 14, 2014] Novocento

In continuing with my obsessive reading of all things Baricco, I had to interlibrary loan this book from Johns Hopkins.

Novocento is confusingly titled because that is the Italian title as well and although it is a number (which could be translated) in this book it actually refers to a person, which would not get translated–so look carefully for the English edition (done by Oberon) and wonderfully translated by Ann Goldtsein).  It was designed as a play (and this edition is the play).  However, it is a one man monologue (with music ion the performance), so it doesn’t “read” like a play.

The book is 56 pages long.  They have also made a movie out of it (called The Legend of 1900, not just 1900 which is a different movie).  Amazingly the movie is 170 minutes (Italian version) and 120 minutes (international).  That must be a lot of music.

The story is simple, Novocento, as he is called, was born on a ship–an ocean liner that transported people primarily from Europe to America in the early 20th century.  His parents were undoubtedly lower class and left him on the piano aboard the boat (we don’t hear their story at all).  One of the crew finds him and names him Danny Boodman T.D. Lemon Novocento.  Danny Boodman is the man who found him, T.D. Lemon was on the side of the box he was left in and Novocento was the year. Continue Reading »

Posted in Alessandro Baricco, Ann Goldstein, Books about music, Bukkene Bruse, Christmas Album, ELP, Emerson, Lake & Palmer, Jelly Roll Morton, Play (Drama), Short Books, The Legend of 1900, Translation, Travel | Leave a Comment »

Aparna Nacherla (State Theatre, New Brunswick, NJ, December 14, 2014) [JOHN OLIVER]

December 14, 2014 by Paul Debraski

[ATTENDED: December 14, 2014] Aparna Nacherla

nanI’m updating this post in July of 2020, because Aparna Nancherla deserves her own post.  When we saw her, she was hilarious.  Since then she has gained some noterirty and I am always pleased to see her on TV shows (most recently in the Steve Carell-created Space Force).

This is what I wrote about her in my post for John Oliver, but I wanted her to have her own heading.

S. and I were excited to see John Oliver.

The show opened with an Indian woman stand up.  Nothing is more thankless than being an opening act for a comedian.  For starters, we didn’t know there would be an opening act.  Then we didn’t find out until we saw in tiny letters on the tiny marquee in the foyer that there would be an opening act.  And we pushed through the doors so quickly that I never saw her name.  And of course they announced it, but I don’t remember what they said her name was.  And even worse I can’t seem to find it online anywhere (searching for “Indian female comedian” did not help).  And we never got a program (if it was indeed listed in there). Continue Reading »

Posted in Aparna Nancherla, Funny (ha ha), John Oliver, NASA, New Brunswick, NJ, Pets, Set in New Jersey!, Space Force, State Theatre, Travel | Leave a Comment »

John Oliver (State Theatre, New Brunswick, NJ, December 14, 2014)

December 14, 2014 by Paul Debraski

[ATTENDED: December 14, 2014] John Oliver

oliverI have loved John Oliver for a long time.  I have been delighted to see him go from the British guy on the Daily Show (when he replaced Jon Stewart, he was really fantastic) to the British guy on Community and now the British guy with his own HBO show (which I have never seen since I don’t get HBO).  When I saw that he was doing standup in New Brunswick I had to go.  Our friends Eleanor and Liz went with us and we had a lovely night in good ol’ New Brunswick (strangely enough there was literally no one in the parking garage where we parked yet every restaurant was packed).

Sarah and I were worried that the stand up would reference his show, but it didn’t.  It was topical and funny and weird and funny and political and funny and very very funny.

The show opened with an Indian woman stand up.  Nothing is more thankless than being an opening act for a comedian.  For starters, we didn’t know there would be an opening act.  Then we didn’t find out until we saw in tiny letters on the tiny marquee in the foyer that there would be an opening act.  And we pushed through the doors so quickly that I never saw her name.  And of course they announced it, but I don’t remember what they said her name was.  And even worse I can’t seem to find it online anywhere (searching for “Indian female comedian” did not help believe it or not).  And we never got a program (if it was indeed listed in there).

[UPDATE: April 9, 2015] So I wrote to The State Theater and learned that our mystery comedian’s name is Aparna Nancherla.  You can see a clip of her on Conan where she tells the dog poop joke (and yes it is still funny).  But stay for the end to see the insane size difference between the two.

But she was very funny.  Her jokes were observational with some delightful nearly whispered punchlines that undermined her set ups.  She did an amusing but about drug store receipts.  There was a funny bit about going to customs in Australia and having to explain her occupation of “comedian.”  But a lot of her jokes were about making it in New York City.  There was a rather amusing dog poop joke and a very funny human poop joke.  The human poop joke was more about apartment hunting with a hilarious and disgusting premise that she claimed was a requirement for living in a new apartment (it was hilarious whether true or not). Continue Reading »

Posted in Aparna Nancherla, Community, Funny (ha ha), John Oliver, Jon Stewart, NASA, New Brunswick, NJ, Pets, Set in New Jersey!, State Theatre, The Daily Show, Travel | Leave a Comment »

Mónica Maristain–Bolaño: A Biography in Conversations (2012) [translated 2014]

December 13, 2014 by Paul Debraski

bolano SOUNDTRACK: SUFJAN STEVENS Christmas Unicorn: Songs for Christmas, Vol. X (2010).

sufjan 10This is the final disc in the second Sufjan Steven Christmas box set.  It is comprised of mostly shorter songs except for the final one which is 13 minutes long.

Interspersed in the disc are three short instrumentals (under a minute each).  “It Came Upon A Midnight Clear” “Angels We Have Heard On High” and “We Three Kings” are all pretty with flutes and minimal electronics.

The more traditional songs are “Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas” which sounds very much like a Sufjan song with some fun electronic sounds and orchestration and some unusual vocals.  “Up on the Housetop” features lots of drums and layered vocals. It is the standard version but tinkered with with in fun ways.  “We Need a Little Christmas” is a fun and traditional version with choral vocals.

The other three tracks are originals from Sufjan.  “Happy Karma Christmas” a slow track of mostly drums and echoed vocals. It reminds me of Beck’s discoey electronic moments.  “Justice Delivers Its Death” is based on the lyrics of “Silver and Gold” (from Rudolph) but it is a much darker song (obviously, given the title) and sounds nothing like it.

The final track is “Christmas Unicorn.”  It’s a sweet song with funny/thoughtful lyrics.  After three minutes it turns into a nice instrumental.  At the four minute mark a new refrain begins. It sounds like the song is going to fade to end, but it doesn’t. At 6:30, drums come back in and the song takes off with more singers and a fugue style of interweaving vocals.  At 7:36 a new melody is introduced which is, Joy Divisions’ “Love will Tear Us Apart.” They incorporate that into the fugue vocals and it works very well.  It’s a strange song and very unChristmassey, but it’s very cool and quite catchy by the end.

I don’t enjoy this second box set as much as the first, since it is so unChristmassey, but it has some really interesting songs on it.

[READ: December 13, 2014] Bolaño: A Biography in Conversations

I don’t often read biographies about authors I like, but once in a while one will catch my eye.  I knew Maristain’s name from Bolaño’s last published interview, so I was curious what she would do with this collection.  It was translated by Kit Maude, and I am also curious about some of the words that Maude chose to use (the word savage/savages comes up an awful lot when not referring to The Savage Detectives).  But overall it was an easy, quick read.

As the subtitle suggests, Maristain has compiled a loose biography of Bolaño based on interviews with others.  Some are interviews that she has conducted and others are previously existing interviews that she has cobbled together.  The people interviewed are primarily his family and his fellow poets/novelists/friends.

Bolaño was born April 28 1953 in Santiago de Chile.  Soon after, they moved to Valparaiso, and then other smaller towns in Chile. In 1968 they moved to the Mexico City because of his mother’s asthma (although he never set foot in Sonora, the scene of the crimes in 2666). They lived close to the Olympic park and were within walking distance of the Olympic torch during the 1968 Olympics.

He had a difficult upbringing, with his parents splitting up and his mother moving out and taking his sister with her.  Roberto, meanwhile, stayed with his father.  They eventually had a falling out and Roberto went twenty years without seeing him.  His father was a boxer and an opinionated man, and there are lots of quotes from him in the book.

In 1977 Bolaño left Mexico for Spain (and never went back) and that’s when we start getting into his publishing history. Continue Reading »

Posted in Beck, Biography, Books about writers, Bruno Montané, Christmas Album, Cigarettes, Death, Foreign Books, Interviews, Isabel Allende, Joy Division, Kit Maude, Monica Maristain, Nicanor Parra, Pranks, Repo Man, Roberto Bolaño, Sufjan Stevens, Translation, Travel | Leave a Comment »

Joe Hill & Gabriel Rodriguez–Locke & Key: Volume Two: Head Games (2011)

December 12, 2014 by Paul Debraski

 locke2SOUNDTRACK: SUFJAN STEVENS and FRIENDS present Let It Snow! songs for Christmas vol. 9 (2009).

sufjan 9 Disc 9 of the series is a return to the old style after the freakout of Vol. VIII.  It’s only 21 minutes long and features a number of fun Christmas Carols (done as only Sufjan can do them).

“I’ll Be Home for Christmas” sounds traditional with harps and bells.  “Santa Claus is Coming to Town” (this is the first time he’s done Santa-centric songs) has fun group singing (which reminds me a bit of Peanuts).   There’s lots of layers of voices, and it’s almost chaotic, but not quite.  “The Sleigh in the Moon” was written and sung by Cat Martino.  It’s a slow pretty song.

“Sleigh Ride” is old school sounding but with some modern effects thrown in too.  It ends with a whole mess of silly sound effects.  “Ave Maria” has such a beautiful melody that it’s a shame he messes with it here. I don’t really care for this version.  “X-Spirit Catcher” has a nice melody.  It’s an upbeat fun song but it gets kinda weird near the end with overlaid vocals sounds.  “Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!” also has a very unexpected melody–it’s minor key and sad.  It’s a weird way of dealing with the song but it’s very pretty in its melancholy (this is melody he can mess with).  “A Holly Jolly Christmas” also has a tinkered melody.  This time just a tweak, but it’s surprising.  The music sounds like a calliope.  “Christmas Face” ends the disc.  It’s a sweet song, only 40 seconds long. It was written and sung by Sebastian Krueger.

It’s fun to have the Christmas albums of old back from Sufjan.

[READ: December 12, 2014] Locke & Key 2

I enjoyed Book 1 of this series so much I couldn’t wait to read Book 2.  And book 2 not only did not  disappoint, it was even better than the first.

The book opens with the ghost from the well (who goes by Scout, although he is now known as Zack) hunting down an old teacher who seemed to recognize him (from when he was Luke a generation ago).  But this murder gets the police involved, especially when they see that the professor fought back and left some evidence.  But Scout’s real problem is with Ellie and her son Rufus.  She keeps calling him Luke (instead of Zack) and seems to be making his reemergence very difficult.  But at the same time, he knows he needs her so he can’t get rid of her.

Zack is also getting quite friendly with Tyler.  Tyler seems to be adjusting fairly well,  He can’t stop thinking about his father (understandably) but he seems to be making friends (of questionable quality, naturally).   His mom is looking pretty haggard, though, what with everything going on.  And to make things worse, Duncan, the guy who has been helping out around the house and cooking them good food (he’s related in some way although I don’t know how exactly) is ready to head back to Provincetown.  This means bad food ahead for the Locke family.

On the supernatural front Bode has found a new key and this one lets you see inside people’s heads (I adored the way it was drawn, and won’t spoil it).  Continue Reading »

Posted in Christmas Album, Death, Demons, Fears, Gabriel Rodriguez, Ghosts, Graphic Novel, Joe Hill, Revenge, Sufjan Stevens, Supernatural, Violence, Yuck! | Leave a Comment »

James Kochalka–Superfuckers (2010)

December 11, 2014 by Paul Debraski

superSOUNDTRACK: SUFJAN STEVENS Christmas Infinity Voyage: Songs for Christmas Vol. 8 (2008).

sufjan 8Back in 2008, a Vol. VIII of Sufjan’s Christmas recordings was leaked on the internet.  It was called Astral Inter Planet Space Captain Christmas Infinity Voyage-Songs for Christmas Vol. VIII and I talked about it here.  When his official release came out volume 8 was similar yet different from the leaked one.  The song tracks were almost identical, but the versions (and lengths) were rather different.

The leaked version of the disc has this track listing:

Angels We Have Heard on High  5:00
Do You See What I See  4:59
It Came Upon a Midnight Clear   :48
Christmas in the Room  4:50
Good King Wenceslas  2:15
Joy to the World  7:49
The Child With the Star on His Head 13:15

And the official version has this track listing

  Angels We Have Heard on High  4:04
Do You Hear What I Hear  9:14
Christmas in the Room  4:32
It Came Upon a Midnight Clear    :48
Good King Wenceslas  4:18
Alphabet St.  1:36
Particle Physics 1:04
Joy to the World  5:25
The Child With the Star on His Head 15:13

So what’s the difference

 

“Angels We Have Heard On High”—The leaked version has a lengthy warbling keyboard introduction and is the real song.  The official version is an original song based on the hymn.  I like the way the opening melody changes expected direction in mid line.  I also enjoyed the “oh ho ho hos.”  This is pretty much the only traditional sounding song on the disc because the rest get pretty unusual electronic treatments

“Do You Hear What I Hear”  The leaked version (with a different title) was autotuned and slow (and only 4 minutes).  The official version is also autotuned, and is filled with electronic percussion. It quickly goes weird and crazy, but I like it.  It’s 9 minutes long and the last five minutes are a crazy freakout of autotuned nonsense.

“Christmas in the Room” is a song about being alone with someone you love for Christmas—pros and cons (although there seems like a lot sadness in the song). The autoharp is pretty though. [The leaked version is a bit louder with electronic music rather than autoharp].

“It Came Upon a Midnight Clear” in both version this is a short (less than a minute) electronic version of the traditional song.

“Good King Wenceslas” is also crazy and electronic with lots of strange inserted sounds and lines from other songs.  [The leaked version is only 2 minutes and while still electronic is far less crazy].

“Alphabet St” continues some of the nonsense in Wenceslas—lyrics about being sexy. “Particle Physics” is also 1 minute long of space sounds that merge into

“Joy to the World” is also slightly off-sounding (with lots of different instruments). It starts kind of pretty but goes really wild with the electronics and the autotune and by the end it’s just crazy electronic freakout.

“The Child With the Star on His Head” opens the official version with someone saying “desperately seeking Santa take 3.”  Despite it being super long (in both version) the song itself is really quite pretty.  It’s very Sufjan with great falsetto and an unexpected melody.  The two versions are similar in construct but after the opening few minutes they diverge pretty radically.  At around 5 minutes an electronic sounding, totally fuzzed guitar solo begins and it adds a very strange element to it—a kind of psychedelic outer space sound, which doesn’t quite fit the mood. [Interestingly, in the leaked version, the solo is pretty much the same notes, but it is far less spacey and effects filled.  It has more of a classic rock guitar solo (kind of David Gilmour-ish]. The solo lasts longer in the new version too.   That pretty much accounts for the two minute discrepancy.  The rest of the song plays out mostly the same, although again, the leaked version is kind of pretty and sweet (with la las and a horn solo) while the official release is all electronic and gets crazy here and there.  The end of the song is a denouement–horn based in the leaked and all electronic in the official.

I’m not really sure which release I prefer, because the electronic stuff is really kind of wild and fun (although not very Christmassey).  But the leaked version is really quite nice.

[READ: December 11, 2014] Superfuckers

I know Kochalka mostly from his children’s books, which are weird and warped and really really funny.  Most of them seem to star his son’s head imposed on his weird cartoon style (so funny).

So imagine my surprise to discover a book of his called Superfuckers.

Superfuckers is a “collection” of “issues” of the “series” Superfuckers.

It opens with issue #271 (from 2005).  And within five or six panels, we get every single curse word you can imagine from our “superheroes.”  Indeed, they really don’t “do” anything.  They just sit around and yell at each other (calling everyone gay or slut or some such), get high (on a staggeringly odd number of things) and plot to take over the gang. Continue Reading »

Posted in Alternate Reality, Christmas Album, Death, Drugs, End of the World, Funny (ha ha), Ghosts, Graphic Novel, James Kochalka, Jealousy, Poo, Revenge, Sufjan Stevens, Superheroes, Supernatural, Unlikable main character, Violence, Yuck! | Leave a Comment »

Emmanuel Guibert & Joann Sfar–Sardine in Outer Space (2000) [translated 2006]

December 10, 2014 by Paul Debraski

sardineSOUNDTRACK: SUFJAN STEVENS and HIS UNWITTING COHORTS present I am Santa’s Helper even more songs for Christmas Vol. 7 (2007).

sufjan 7This is the first of Sufjan’s Christmas albums to really deviate from the style of the first six.  First off, there are 24 songs on the disc and second, it is 42 minutes long.  Most of the songs are between 1 and 2 minutes, although there are a couple of longer ones too.  There are a large number of songs that are traditional sounding and which have a beautiful chorale of voices supporting it.  But interspersed with these are some nonsensical tracks that sound mostly like goofy kids songs–out of tune, hastily created, sloppy and a lot of fun (I imagine he recorded these songs with the adults’ children while they were in between takes).  It’s surprising that the songs are interspersed like they are since the serious one are so pretty and the weird ones are so weird.

 It’s a ramshackle collection with some real highlights.

“Christ The Lord Is Born” pretty piano instrumental under a minute long.
“Christmas Woman” a big song with lots of orchestration (and clocking in at over 5 minuets).  With lots of backing vocals and a crazy sloppy guitar solo. I love it.
“Break Forth O Beauteous Heavenly Light” 1 minute of piano and chorus: traditional and pretty (this is a Bach song).
“Happy Family Christmas” piano and slightly wonky guitar and after the first verse a bunch distorted chaotic nonsense (with someone “singing” a guitar solo).  The first really weirdo song on a Christmas release of his.
“Jingle Bells” Continuing with the weird style, the “dashing through the snow” part is done with a very off guitar melody and kids laughing during the “laughing all the way” part. It’s silly and funny.
“Mysteries Of The Christmas Mist” 2 minutes of piano and other noises (this is one of many short Sufjan originals).
“Lift Up Your Heads Ye Mighty Gates” another pretty choral piece with many voices.
“We Wish You A Merry Christmas” crazy nonsense of sloppy silly singing and crazy out of tune guitars.
“Ah Holy Jesus” a slow pretty piano song with chorus
“Behold! The Birth Of Man, The Face Of Glory” a slow piano number, also pretty.
“Ding-a-ling-a-ring-a-ling” raucous and wild, with crazy guitars.  It’s 2 minutes of silly nonsense. It ends with someone saying “let’s do a real song”
“How Shall I Fitly Meet Thee?” pretty piano instrumental with voices.
“Mr. Frosty Man” sloppy guitars and nonsense.
“Make Haste To See The Baby” accordion and piano in a slow sombre song.
“Ah Holy Jesus” (reed organ version) this is the second version of this song.
“Hark! The Herald Angels Sing” straightforward and pretty with some over-orchestration later in the song
“Morning” pipe organ and flute in a nice instrumental.
“Idumea” the vocal chorale comes back on this sad song.  It is over 3 minutes long and is rather disturbing.
“Eternal Happiness Or Woe” a creepy kind of song with ringing bells and sounds of, well, woe.
“Ah Holy Jesus” [a cappella] the prettiest version on the disc.
“I Am Santa’s Helper” this is a funny song in which the only words are “I am Santa’s helper, you are Santa’s slave.”
“‘Maoz Tzur’ (Rock Of Ages)” a 42 second traditional Jewish hymn done on piano.
“Even The Earth Will Perish And The Universe Give Way” a low bass organ opens this final track on this long and often times weird Christmas disc.

But this is not the weirdest of Sufjan’s Christmas EPs.

[READ: December 5, 2014] Sardine in Outer Space

Sardine is a children’s book published by First Second.  It was originally published in France (and in French) and was translated by Sasha Watson.  There are six Sardine books out.  And I fear that this is one series that I’m really not very interested in finishing.

The inner flap says No Grownups Allowed, so I imagined that the story would be funny and a little naughty.

But really it’s just kind of uninspired.  Sardine is a young girl who works with (or lives with anyhow) the pirate Yellow Shoulder (who is apparently her uncle?) on his outer space pirate ship.  They spend nearly every story (each story is about ten pages) battling the evil (and suitably stupid) Supermuscleman and his evil henchman Doc Krok (a weird orange creature who looks like a walking sweet potato).  There’s also Little Louise, a boy who is Yellow’s..henchman? and may not be all that bright and a cat creature who doesn’t really do much. Continue Reading »

Posted in Adventure, Children's Books, Christmas Album, Emmanuel Guibert, Fantasy, First Second :01, Foreign Books, Funny (strange), Ghosts, Graphic Novel, Huh?, Joann Sfar, Late Night with Seth Meyers, Outer Space, Pirates, Sasha Watson, Sufjan Stevens, Superheroes, Translation | Leave a Comment »

Joe Hill & Gabriel Rodriguez–Locke & Key: Welcome to Lovecraft (2008)

December 9, 2014 by Paul Debraski

lcoke1SOUNDTRACK: SUFJAN STEVENS and FRIENDS present Gloria songs for Christmas Vol. 6 (2006).

sufjan 6I was planning to write about Sufjan Steven’s first collection of Christmas albums, but I had forgotten that I had already done so back in 2009 [Vol 1 here; Vol 2 here; Vol 3 here; Vol 4 here and Vol 5 here.]

The next five volumes (from 2006-2010) came out in 2012.  This collection bucks the rather traditional tradition he had established with the earlier volumes.  Indeed, as the discs progress, they get more and more unusual.

But this first disc is quite traditional sounding.  It has 8 songs and is about thirty minutes long.

“Silent Night” is very pretty with gentle acoustic guitars and lots of backing vocalists. The solo is kind of a singing saw I think—a little odd, but neat.
“Lumberjack Christmas/No One Can Save You from Christmases Past” is filled with fiddles and is quite sweet (with a very familiar melody (and ho ho hos).
“Coventry Carol” I love the introductory melody of this song, it’s so pretty.  The voices feature multiple harmonies;  it’s quite lovely.
“The Midnight Clear” despite the title and first line, this is not “It Came Upon the Midnight Clear,” but a song inspired by that one. This is a very pretty song with a complex melody and lots of filigree in the instrumentation.
“Carol of St. Benjamin the Bearded One” I love this instrumental opening (about 90 seconds) which plays with a twist on “Hark Hear the Bells” and then plays some different instrumental sections but always returning to that Hark section. It’s very cool.  When the vocals come in it mellows out quite a bit and is still very pretty.
“Go Nightly Cares” has a very Elizabethan feel to it.  It’s a lovely 15th century instrumental.
“Barcarola (You Must Be A Christmas Tree)” is 7 minutes long. It begins slow but gets bigger and bigger with a section from Do You Hear What I Hear (the “following yonder star” melody)
“Auld Lang Syne” is a very pretty version on acoustic instruments with lots of singers.  It’s a nice way to end the EP.

[READ: December 5, 2014] Locke & Key 1

I heard about this graphic novel series when Joe Hill was on Seth Meyers’ show.  I didn’t really know too much about his writing style but I knew he wasn’t someone I was anxious to read (even if his book Heart Shaped Box must have something to do with the Nirvana song, right?).

But Seth made this graphic novel series sound really compelling, so I decided to check them out.  There are six collections in the series and they are all available now.

The first collection is called Welcome to Lovecraft and it sets the story in motion pretty much from the get go.  As the book opens we see two creepy looking youths harassing a pretty woman.  We see that they have killed at least two people, and things don’t look good for the lady.

Then we cut to some kids.  An older boy, Tyler; a young teen girl Kinsey (with dreadlocks and piercings) and a little boy. Bode.  They are all complaining about how much they hate living where they are.

Jump cut to a funeral with a bright red urn and Tyler looking down at it. Continue Reading »

Posted in Christmas Album, Death, Demons, Fears, George O'Connor, Ghosts, Graphic Novel, Joe Hill, Late Night with Seth Meyers, Revenge, Sufjan Stevens, Supernatural, Violence, Yuck! | Leave a Comment »

Box Brown-Andre the Giant: Life and Legend (2014)

December 8, 2014 by Paul Debraski

andreSOUNDTRACK: STOCKINGS BY THE FIRE (2007).

stockThis is a Starbucks compilation (Starbucks is pretty good for Christmas compilations).  But I find that the overall vibe of this disc is too mellow for my liking.  Most of the songs are quite pretty, but it feels like a Christmas Party for one by your lonesome rather than a party proper.  Of course, the picture on the cover suggests a romantic night in, so maybe that’s the vibe they’re going for (it’s still kind of sad though).

RAY CHARLES & BETTY CARTER-“Baby, It’s Cold Outside.”  There’s are dozens of versions of this song.  I like this one fine, but it’s not one of my faves (although Ray has some good turns of phrase).  But I think Betty’s voice may be too squeaky for me.
SARAH McLACHLAN-“I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day” McLachlan has a beautiful voice, but I like her earlier more robust singing than her latter day TV Commercial songs.  So this winds up being very pretty but a little mopey.  It’s also way too long.
FRANK SINATRA-“I’ll Be Home for Christmas” is also a little slower than I remember.  But I have to assume that if Frank did it this way, this is the tempo it’s meant to be.
HEM-“Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” has quiet, whispered version. It’s pretty, if rather stripped down (just piano and chimes).
ELLA FITZGERALD-“Sleigh Ride” is a great version, full of high spirits and fun.  Ella is awesome.
RUFUS WAINWRIGHT-“What Are You Doing New Year’s Eve?” is also a slow version.  Perhaps this song is slower than I realize.  It’s a very Wainwright-sounding version with his wonderful warble.
HERBIE HANCOCK-“River” is pretty–Corinne Bailey Rae’s voice is lovely, although I don’t care for the jazzy accompaniment.

The next few songs are the highlight of the disc to me:
JACK JOHNSON-“Rudolph, the Red Nosed Reindeer” is a great version.  Johnson’ voice suits this very well an I love that he added an extra verse about being nice to Rudolph.
THE BIRD AND THE BEE-“Carol of the Bells” has a wonderful trippy quality.  I found out last year that The Bird and the Bee do my favorite version of the 12 Days of Christmas, which is sadly unavailable on record anywhere.  But this version of “Carol of the Bells” has the same qualities that I love in the 12 days.  Love this version.
A FINE FRENZY-“Let It Snow” there’s something wonderfully breathy about this version that I like a lot.  It works very well with The Bird and the Bee song.
NAT KING COLE-“The Christmas Song” is one of my favorite Christmas songs ever.
DEAN MARTIN-“I’ve Got My Love to Keep Me Warm” is another classic version of this track.

Those few tracks are the big highlight for me.
DIANA KRALL-“Winter Wonderland” I don’t care for the way she sings this although the musical accompaniment is cool. And I do like “frolic and play the Canadian way.”
MAHALIA JACKSON-“Do You Hear What I Hear?” I feel like I am supposed to really like this version, but I really do not like it at all. It is way too melodramatic
JOHN LEGEND-“It Don’t Have to Change” not my style of music at all, I’d skip this if it came up on shuffle.  It’s also not really a Christmas song even though it does mention Christmas.
AIMEE MANN-“White Christmas” Aimee tends to write beautiful downer songs.  And you can tell by the opening thuds of the rums that this is not going to be an uptempo thriller.  But Mann has a great voice and a great sense of arrangement and this song ends this quiet disc quite nicely.

[READ: December 4, 2014] Andre the Giant

I really enjoyed this biography of wrestler and actor Andre the Giant (released by our friends at First Second).  I’ve always been a fan of him, but I really didn’t know that much about him.  And, honestly I would never have wanted to read a whole biography about him.  So this was a perfect bite-sized chunk of information about the legend.

Brown opens the book with a discussion of the “fakeness” of wrestling.  It’s a great summary of the “controversy” and how it has been dealt with, especially now that Vince McMahon is running WWE.

And then we move on to Andre. Continue Reading »

Posted in Andre the Giant, Biography, Box Brown, Christmas Album, Drinking, First Second :01, Graphic Novel, Humiliation, Jealousy, Violence, Wrestling | Leave a Comment »

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