SOUNDTRACK: ELEANOR FRIEDBERG-“Stare at the Sun” (2013).
I don’t know Eleanor Friedberg, who is part of the Fiery Furnaces. This song is fast and bright. It’s a pretty standard rock song with bright guitars, and there is definitely folk feel to it.
The real selling point of the song is Friedberg’s voice. She sounds a bit like a 60’s-era male with a high voice (indeed, she reminds me a little of Russel Mael from Sparks). Maybe I’ll think of her as a mix of Kirsty MacColl and Sparks.
I like this song. It’s not amazing, but it has a real bouncy summer feel. An enjoyable romp that bears repeated listens.
[READ: May 21, 2013] “Art Appreciation”
I read this story in two parts. And when I finished the first part (about four pages in–the paragraph that ended “and he kissed her there for the first time”), I thought it was a delightful story. A sweet story of young romance. True, the main character is a bit of a douche: “Henry Taylor had always known he would have money one day, and this confidence was vindicated when his mother won the lottery.” But I thought that maybe Eleanor, Ellie, would somehow make him a better person. And that sweet kiss seemed like a wonderful start.
The year is 1961, the place is Australia (it took me a little time to figure that out). Henry is a gambler–but a mostly winning gambler–he goes to the dog tracks on Friday nights, the horses on Saturday. But Henry, who is 28, is also a working man–a mid-level employee at an insurance firm. And even after his mother won the lottery he didn’t quit his job (it was of course douchey to assume that his mother would somehow give him the money but that’s what he thought). Despite his confidence about the money, he also didn’t want to show off about it.
Ellie had recently started working in Henry’s office. She was very attractive and he thought that “now that he had money, he would marry her” (geez, he gets douchier by the minute). Soon enough he has asked her out. And she happily accepts. Ellie is 20.
Finally one Sunday Henry’s mother says that she is moving to Victoria with her sister and giving him the house–she wants to see him settled. He imagined selling the house and buying something closer to the city.
That night he visited Kath. Kath is his un-serious girlfriend. He tells her that their fun is over, that he is dating Ellie now so this will be their last fling. He also has the douchiness to tell her that he has won the lottery.
Soon we learn what the title refers to, Ellie goes to art appreciation classes on Friday nights. She asks Henry to walk her to class, which he does. Henry stays for this one and doesn’t like it. He sits with another bloke who asks if he was dragged there, too. But she is so excited by the class, art is her passion. They have a nice dinner together and they kiss for the first time.
I received this CD free when it came out (radio station perk), and I listened to it a few times, but not really all that much. I never really thought that much about it because I didn’t really like the cover–it looked too babyish. It’s been a while since I listened to it and I am delighted at what a good, solid, Talking Heads-ish album this is (with David Byrne, you never know exactly what you’ll get from a record, but this is poppy).
“Now I’m Your Mom” opens with an early 90s funky electronic bass and some crazy guitar sounds. But as soon as the bridge kicks in, the song is pure Byrne/Talking Heads. And that world music style chorus means that this song could have been huge (even if it is about a transvestite or transgendered person–I didn’t listen that carefully). However, the extended section at the end makes the song feel a little long. “Girls on My Mind” is a strange (but good) song from start to finish—a weird cheesy synth sound pervades the song, and yet once again, it’s very Byrne—especially the crazy singing of the chorus.
“Something Ain’t Right” opens with an odd chant but then turns very conventional—with choral voices giving big oohs. “She’s Mad” opens as a kind of sinister song. And yet, after some verses about her being mad, the chorus is as bright as anything else on the record—a very schizophrenic song. “Hanging Upside Down” has a very commercial Talking Heads Feel, like “Stay Up Late.”
“Twistin’ in the Wind” has more of those big choruses of voices to “well well well” up the song. “The Cowboy Mambo” has another weird sound that circulates through the song, but it’s got a good beat and a great chorus and it would be fun to dance to. “Monkey man” is a horn-heavy track that opens in a sinister vein once again. “A Million Miles Away” just gets stuck with you and makes you want to sing along. “Somebody” ends the disc with more Latin horns and rhythms. It’s a fun song, and a good ending.
Overall, this is a surprisingly good record. All of the songs are a little long–Byrne songs should really max out around 4 minutes. For that extra time, he either tends to repeat himself or add superfluous codas that drag out the end. But aside from that, this is a real treat, especially for Talking Heads fans.
[READ: May 20 2013] Arboretum
The back of the book describes this as a collection of enigmatic, enchanting mental maps.
And that is kind of what the book is. It is a collection of drawings–tree and branch-style drawings mostly–that endeavor to map relationships. But the subject matter is crazily diverse–oftentimes nonsensical or at the very least unparseable. The good news is that many of the drawings have an explanatory text in the back of the book. I acknowledge that ideally the drawings should make sense without needing an explanation, but the explanations were really useful–they really give you the frame of mind that Byrne was trying to explain through the pictures. Continue Reading »
I’d never heard of Archie Pelago (get it?). This is an instrumental that begins with lots of electronic percussion, creating complex rhythms and beats. It’s funky, but mildly funky. Then after about a minute or so, there’s some music thrown on top–layers of sounds that are interesting. Then comes a weird sax solo–is this suddenly smooth jazz? Then we gets some voices and spoken word, all working to create an instrumental soundscape.
I can see this in a movie, although I wouldn’t choose to listen to it myself.
[READ: May 19, 2013] Bicycles Locked to Poles
I recall when this book came out from McSweeney’s and I remember thinking what a weird idea–a book of pictures of bicycles locked to poles. I thought it sounded … I don’t know… weird. So, when I saw it used for a penny I decided to check it out. And indeed, nearly ten years later it’s still weird.
It is an incredibly audacious book as it is literally just pictures of bicycles locked to poles (and an occasional tree). The book is broken down into four parts, although there is no difference between the parts–it’s just more pictures. And there is no text at all. Except for a chart on the front and back inside cover which shows what pats of the bike were left in the picture (an unusual index which could be useful if you were doing some kind of study of the state of bicycles left to poles, but something which is not terribly useful in this book). Categories include: Frame, fork, front wheel–spokes, steering–grips, comfort–saddle, options–front basket. Continue Reading »
Speaking of John Zorn, there was a nother clip on NPR about the release of his album Masada Rock in 2005. Clearly I stopped listening to Zorn’s new stuff around this time because I didn’t know this record. It features the band Rashanim.
This is a wonderful little mashup of surf rock and noir played by a kind of stripped down rock trio. The main riff is very noir, something Zorn specializes in. It’s funny to me that this is a Masada album as it feels decidedly unJewish to me. But it sounds very Zorn. The band packs a ton of stuff into this 4 minute piece. There’s a lengthy, fairly sloppy guitar solo that goes through much of the song. And the end is a frantic workout.
I liked this song quite a bit and thought I’d see just what Zorn has been up to since I last watched his discography. I’d say that in the last ten years he has released around 100 albums of various styles and genres. I think my wallet is happy I stopped paying attention.
[READ: May 16, 2013] “Poker Face”
The five brief pieces in this week’s New Yorker are labeled as “Imagined Inventions.” And in each one, the author is tasked with inventing something.
I didn’t know Nolan before reading this. This was my least favorite of the five essays—kind of like a final skit from Saturday Night Live. Essentially he raves about how useful emoticons are—very current, yes. Well, he precedes this by saying how in texting it’s even harder to detect sarcasm than it was in emails. He has a friend who uses exclamation points to show sincerity, so Thanks. Could be ironic but Thanks! is sincere. I find I do the same thing, so I appreciated that. Continue Reading »
I don’t know all that much about pat Metehny. I know he’s a jazz guitarist held in high regard by some and in less high regard by others. This song is Metheny playing a John Zorn composition–indeed, it comes from an entire album of Zorn covers called Tap: John Zorn’s Book of Angels, Vol. 20. I have been a huge fan of Zorn for decades, and yet some time ago I had to stop following him–his output is just too huge. So this Book of Angels series by the Masada String Quartet is unfamiliar to me.
Knowing what I do about Zorn, this piece is quite an interesting statement–it’s got a lot of the wildness that Zorn throws into his music, but it’s also got the pretty melodies that Zorn writes as well as the Jewish melodies that saturate the Masada albums.
Strangely enough this song reminds me more of Frank Zappa than John Zorn. That may have to do more wbecause it’s a guitar and not a sax, but it also has something to do with the bass guitar that is playing along–it’s got a very Zappa sound to it.
I feel like I’d rather just listen to Masada, but I’d have to really compare the two to see how this holds up. It’s a pretty wild guitar workout though, if you like that sort of thing.
[READ: May 16, 2013] “Vision Quest”
The five brief pieces in this week’s New Yorker are labeled as “Imagined Inventions.” And in each one, the author is tasked with inventing something.
Karen Russell is the first of the five authors whom I did not recognize (although I have read a few short pieces of hers in the New Yorker). She describes her last invention, which was for the seventh grade science fair. It was called the Roller Solar Cream—she poured sunscreen on a roll-on deodorant stick. It got a C+. So she explains that she’s not much of an inventor, but she’s going to give it a try. She also states that she doesn’t know how any of these inventions would work, nevertheless she proposes four.
Number 1 is a “Trapster” for social situations. The original trapster is an app to alert you to speed traps and the like (I’ve never heard of that). Her app would alert you when you are heading into a socially dangerous situation (be careful what you say around this person, her dad is famous). Number 2 is called “Last Wishes Glasses” which upon wearing allow you to know what your dead relative would actually think of your plans/ideas (“she would have wanted it this way” is no longer needed). I have to admit I find this invention to be pretty nonsensical. Number 3 is the one I like most. It’s called “Baby Roshambo” and it’s a program that allows you to see what a baby’s life will be like depending on what name you give him or her—see how Ashley, Bubbles, La’Dynasty and Gertrude would turn out differently just because of their names.
This song has a 70s era metal sound (with a heavy early Black Sabbath feel). It opens with a big riff and surprisingly quiet vocals (the vocals are not really sung loudly, they’re almost whispered, and they are very clean–it’s a nice contrast to the big buzzy guitars). But for al the buzzy guitars (and the wonderfully dated to 1967 keyboard sound), there are passages that are quiet and almost gentle. Indeed, there’s a lot going on in this song. It’s a nice marriage of heavy metal and psychedelia.
I love the way the end seems like it’s uncontained–like they couldn’t control the feedback. It’s interesting that Bob and Robin on NPR relate this more to psychedelic bands of the late 60s and yet I hear more Black Sabbath–of course, Sabbath was a lot more psychedelia than we let on.
I’d like to hear more from these guys
[READ: May 16, 2013] “Cats Robo-Cradle”
The five brief pieces in this week’s New Yorker are labeled as “Imagined Inventions.” And in each one, the author is tasked with inventing something.
Since Atwood wrote Cat’s Cradle, I wasn’t sure what to expect from this piece—the title of which was just kind of odd. As with many magazine titles, I feel like perhaps she didn’t come up with the title because that’s not what she calls her invention–someone just tried to tie it into her famous novel.
Anyhow, she begins her piece by talking about the fascinating-sounding Museum of Failed Products in Ann Arbor, Michigan. She says that there are so many interesting things there, some of which she feels must be better than her own invention, and must be better than Pop-Tarts. She says she predicted the failure of Pop-Tarts because when her family first tried it, the jam exploded all over the toaster. So she knows from good and bad ideas.
Her idea has to do with the death of so many birds and rodents from feral cats. Recall that birds are predators of insects so their dwindling number is affecting forests and garden. When cats kill the birds (and the rodents that larger birds eat), they are permanently impacting the climate. Her idea is for a safe (to the cats) trap which she calls the Robo-Coyote. Continue Reading »
I found out about this band and video because of my recent reading of the Icelandic magazine Séð og Heyrt and this post on I Love Icelandic Music.
This song was listed as one of Iceland’s musical scandals because of the aggressively lesbian imagery.
The song is simple enough. Piano chords play slowly until the tone changes for the bridge and the very simple chorus (which reminds me of Blur’s Boys and Girls in a way, although it doesn’t sound anything like them): “I don’t do Boys, I just do Girls, I just do girls with style and class. I don’t do boys I just do girls I just do girls with kissable ass”). It’s poppy but a little more aggressive than a typical pop song (and not as metal as a pop metal song). There’s an interesting style to the backing vocals that seems to make it more than a pop song as well. I’m not saying it’s good, but it’s more than typical.
As for the video, I can’t tell if this is male fantasy lesbianism or what, but since this story is all about kissing, here’s a video that’s all about kissing. See if it’s as scandalous as Iceland thinks.
[READ: May 16, 2013] “Leaning In”
The five brief pieces in this week’s New Yorker are labeled as “Imagined Inventions.” And in each one, the author is tasked with inventing something.
Mindy Kaling is always funny, especially when you’re not sure how serious she is. As when she begins her essay, “One of the perks of my job is that I regularly get to kiss men—often married men—with zero repercussions for anyone involved.” Of course she’s talking about acting, but as she says—who is to know if she slips out of character while kissing?
She explains that kissing new people is one of the great joys in life and, while being in a committed relationship is also wonderful, she feels that removing the joy of kissing new people is a terrible drag. She agrees that marriage is a serious business but kissing is not. “Kissing in and of itself can’t create offspring or cause life-threatening disease.” She offers an example of how if you just kissed someone you would never be stuck having to listen to his post-coital ramblings afterwards. Continue Reading »
Nickelodeon’s favorite dad has just released a new album. In the lead up to this song on NPR, Bob Boilen said that the live show that NPR streamed from Iggy and the Stooges was a matinée and there were kids as well as adults there. Who takes a kid to see Iggy Pop? Even if he was on The Adventures of Pete and Pete?
So this song is a dopey punk song and I love the guitars as the song starts–just classic punk sound and riffage. And then Iggy’s unmistakable voice “I gotta job…but it don’t pay shit. I gotta job… and I’m sick of it.” Is there any sentiment less authentic than Iggy Pop singing this? Probably not. And yet it’s a fun song for any working class guy to sing along to
And it’s frankly amazing that Iggy and the Stooges are still putting records out.
[READ: May 16, 2013] “Just Drive”
The five brief pieces in this week’s New Yorker are labeled as “Imagined Inventions.” And in each one, the author is tasked with inventing something.
Shteyngart’s is clearly the most practical and is based on something the he knows already exists. He explains that he is unabashedly a terrible driver: “My greatest failure in life has been my inability to drive a car safely between two locations.” This is despite the fact that he has always loved cars. Right from the day that his father bought their first car and he saved up to buy a similar matchbox car (more similar when they painted it the same color), he has loved t he freedom that cars represented. And I loved the idea that he and his family felt that although America was a large country, the road atlas made it seem like you could drive anywhere.
But Shteyngart’s driving problem seem to be more fundamental—an inability to tell left from right (the way his father tried to teach him is quite funny… if misguided). And now that Shteyngart lives in the country, he needs to drive more than ever. Continue Reading »
My five-year old daughter T. was in her second recital last night. Last year she performed in one routine and this year she moved up to two–a ballet routine and a tap routine.
And my little girl got to lead the group out on stage!
She performed in two routines, “Ice Cream Ballet” (to the tune of Frank Mills’ “Music Box Dancer”) and “Hot Dog!” (the closing theme from the Mickey Mouse Show).
As with last year, I have no intention of critiquing any performances on the stage tonight. Every girl and boy tried his or her best and they all did better than I could do. However, I want to make some general observations about the performance.
This year’s theme was all about summer, so imagine my surprise when the first act was a dance routine set to “School’s Out” by Alice Cooper! I feel like one of the big things that the dancers need to learn is to really exaggerate your excitement on stage–really get into it. I know it is very hard to let loose in this way (although I noticed some of the boys really got into it), but if you just think about the sentiment of “Schools Out” you’d expect these kids to be wildly excited–exaggeratedly so. Continue Reading »
I learned about Trabant from the magazine pictured to the left. It came with McSweeney’s issue #15 and is completely in Icelandic. Trabant are apparently a pretty huge band in Iceland, and they have a lot of songs on YouTube. And many of their songs are very different sounding so I’m not entirely sure what kind of band they actually are.
This song begins with strange clicks and sound effects and then a big throbbing bass. There’s kind of a funky keyboard background and then a slightly off kilter riff.
Then the big guitars kick in and the vocals (which are “if you want a love song”) don’t start until about two minutes in. There’s a break in the middle where the band starts changing Ma Mo Ma Mo Maria and then the singer starts free associating over some wild guitar riffing and more sound effects. It’s a really weird song and I have no idea if this is representative of the band (they did make a video for it so it can’t just be a throwaway, right?).
I’m really intrigued by these guys, and I’m going to have to look for more.
[READ: May 18, 2013] McSweeeny’s bits.
Over the course of my reading the McSweeney’s issues, there were bits and pieces that I missed for one reason or another. I tried to be complete, but sometimes it wasn’t easy. So, with the publication of The Art of McSweeney’s I have now been able to read two things that I missed earlier. And the third is something I didn’t exactly read, although I tried.
Just as issue 1 had a short story by Dave Eggers on its spine! issue #4 (the box of books) had a brief piece by Ben Greenman ringing the contents list of said box. I never noticed it before (indeed I may not have ever read the back of the box before, shame on me). But anyhow, in very tiny print is “More Notes on Revising Last Night’s Dream” by Ben Greenman. And in this brief piece (which is several bullet pointed items–although arranged as a line rather than bullets) there are several ideas about last night’s dream which include “Egg on breakfast plate need not bloom into flowers” and “Cut out part in which Leslie Nielsen meets Trotsky–silly.” And, of course, “More Invisibility.” This is the kind of short silly thing that the first issues published which have more or less been relegated to the McSweeney’s website now. And while I feel the website is a better place for it (and I need to go read the website more), these silly things are certainly missed.
The second missed item is also found thanks to The Art of McSweeney’s. I mentioned in my review of Issue #20 that the story on the cover was completely covered by art. And I wondered why and I wondered if you could find the whole text anywhere. Well, in The Art of McSweeney’s they print the original cover!
I was delighted by this because it did two things–it explained how the cover was made (the 3D art was not “added on,” rather the white section under the art was “Compressed” which is how it came out 3D. Very cool. There’s also a brief breakdown of costs of the issue. But the bulk of the cover story is about how the author (Eggers, I assume) broke up a fight in New York City. A man and his family are walking down the street when a lady bumped into their little girl. The man freaks out because she didn’t apologize and he gets right up in the lady’s face (really, dude?). Eggers is on the phone arranging to meet someone when he says he has to get involved. So he tells the guy to chill out. Things quiet down a bit, but then the woman starts screaming “You got knocked up!” And that’s when Eggers takes a look at her and realizes that she is homeless and crazy and not ever going to apologize. But the screaming gets the mother involved in the fight which starts up again. Things finally settle down with the family acknowledging that the lady doesn’t understand anything. And they all depart. It’s probably the most exciting editor’s note of them all, and yet it was covered up.
My guess is, from what I know about Eggers, that story may have seemed too self-serving to include Or maybe it was just fun to cover up words with a picture.
The final item comes from Issue #15. It is a small magazine called Séð og Heyrt (Seen and Heard). It is a real weekly magazine, although I’m not sure if our version is complete (I assume it’s not since it’s only 16 pages, but who knows how much tabloid you can fill each week in Iceland). It is a pretty typical scandal magazine For some insight into this magazine, check out this post on I love Icelandic Music.
I can’t even begin to guess what half of the articles are about as the pictures are mostly crazy. There seems to be something about an Idol show, there’s a female body builder, something about some wholesome looking people who may be called Icelandic Pearls. And then the centerfold is called Rokkorgia, which should be easily translated. It features half naked pictures of the guys from Trabant. The next page has Love Guru in strange positions with his lady friend and a big headline Bingo I Beinni. The back page has an ad for Krit Paradis Eyjahafsins which appears to be a nice resort. What a fun, odd addition to the Icelandic Issue of McSweeney’s.
Then as I was glancing through I caught something that said That 70s Show. And sure enough, it was a preview of a new episode tonight (is it dubbed into Icelandic??). So even though I played around with translating bits and pieces of the magazine, this was the only one I did fully. So in Icelandic (excluding some accents)
I kvold hefjast syningar a nyrri syrpu um unglingana i Wisconsin. Jackie þarf ad velja a milli Hyde of Kelso. Red er að ba ser eftir hjartaafall og Eric er með samviskubit yfir þvi að vera að fara i burtu i haskola. þokkadísin Estella Warren leikur gestahlutverk i þaettinum
Which Google tells me means:
Tonight begins exhibiting a new series about a teenager in Wisconsin. Jackie has to choose between Hyde of Kelso. Red is ba after a heart function and Eric is guilty not be going away to college. charm diesel Estella Warren plays a role in the show.
Cool huh? What a strange thing to find in a magazine that was not meant for me. But I’m glad I read it because now I know all about Trabant!
For ease of searching, I include, well, I’m only including the magazine, because there’s way too much otherwise: Sed og Heyrt.
SOUNDTRACK: ELEANOR FRIEDBERG-“Stare at the Sun” (2013).
I don’t know Eleanor Friedberg, who is part of the Fiery Furnaces. This song is fast and bright. It’s a pretty standard rock song with bright guitars, and there is definitely folk feel to it.
My guess is, from what I know about Eggers, that story may have seemed too self-serving to include Or maybe it was just fun to cover up words with a picture.
