Christian McPherson–Killer Dope (2004)

SOUNDTRACK: MARTIN TIELLI-Lee’s Palace, Toronto, ON (April 5, 2002).

By April, Martin was back in Toronto.  The newer album would be coming out in 2003, and he plays 4 songs from it.  The rest of the songs comes from his first solo album with a couple of Nick Buzz songs, a Rheostatics track and a Joni Mitchell cover thrown in.

For the first three songs, it’s just him and his acoustic guitar.  “World in a Wall” sounds great and he even plays a gnawing sound on the guitar strings (sliding the pick up them).  He’s got cool, aggressive strumming in “Double X.”

For Joni Mitchell’s “River” Kevin Hearn plays piano. It’s quite lovely (and Hearn is applauded, of course). Then Martin plays an outstanding version of “She Said ‘We’re on Our Way Down’” (each live version gets better).

Before playing “My Sweet Relief” he says “stay tuned for Operation Infinite Justice.”  He is clearly keeping this as the band’s name, even if the next album will be changed somewhat to Operation Infinite Joy.

There’s a great percussion sound on “That’s What You Get for Having Fun.”  On Voices in the Wilderness” he finally just comes out and mentions the source of the lyrics: after singing “if you choose not to decide…” he changes his own words to “I know Geddy, he don’t know me” (from the usual “I know him, he don’t know me”).

During “Sgt Kraulis” (one of the newer songs) they have a jam section in the middle it turns reggae and someone starts singing “Legalize It.”  And in “Love Streams” the piano (I assume no longer Kevin Hearn) plays a “stoned” melody when the lyrics speak of being stoned (musical humor!).

“Saskatchewan” sounds great—it’s a really passionate versions (with some backing vocals going “woah woah” near the end).

Martin has fun with “How Can You Sleep?” he seems to be talking during it, expanding on a line in the song ”Want to quit drinking? Cut off your head.”

This is a outstanding show.   The recording quality us great and Martin is in fine and funny form throughout.

[READ: October 20, 2015] Killer Dope

Since I found some McPherson books in the library, I decided to also grab this book.  This is a short story, but it was published by Bad Moon Books (in a limited edition of 150 copies) and was the winner of 2004 New Cat Tattoos.  I believe that it was reprinted in his short story collection Six Ways to Sunday (but I cannot confirm this).

So this story is, as the title suggests, all about drugs.

Our two protagonists are Two Seconds (whose name has a wonderful derivation) and Little Fish (whose name is also cleverly derived).  Little Fish is painting graffiti under a bridge (a UFO flying out of the eye of a kid shooting smack). Two Seconds is watching him add details and believes it to be the best art he had ever seen.

Then Little Fish asks him if he is ready for tonight. 

Read Full Post »

Christian McPherson–Cube Squared (2013)

SOUNDTRACK: MARTIN TIELLI-Richard’s On Richards Vancouver BC (March 30, 2002).

The download for this show is notable for being (in my opinion) out of sequence.  After the second song it seems pretty clear that the concert is now over. Looking at some of the other shows at the time, I wasn’t sure if I could reconstruct the actual order. It was a bit harder than I anticipated, but I think the show actually went like this

World in a Wall
CCYPA
Double X
Love Streams
My Sweet Relief
That’s What You Get for Having Fun
Voices from the Wilderness
OK by Me
That’s How They Do It in Warsaw
I’ll Never Tear You Apart
Winnipeg
Beauty On

I’m guessing “World in a Wall” is first because before playing it he does a brief intro of “CCYPA,” and it seems unlikely that he would do it again after he just played the song. For this set he is solo for the first three songs . He’s kind of all over the place in “Wall” throwing in some extra lyrics and repeating verses—I’m surprised he didn’t get mad at himself.f

Then the band comes out and he introduces them as Operation infinite Justice (incidentally, “Operation Infinite Justice,” was the name of the military intervention that the U.S began after 9/11.  Muslim groups protested the name on the basis that their faith teaches that Allah is the only one that could provide “infinite justice”.  Thus, “Operation Infinite Justice” was changed to “Operation Enduring Freedom” on Sept. 25, 2001).  So clearly, Tielli was making a point.  The band consists of Greg Smith on bass, Barry Mirochnick on drums and Ford Pier on guitar and keys.

For “Ok By Me” he gets that great chorusing guitar (that sounds like Queen) just like on the record.  For “Love Streams” it’s just him and the piano (presumably Ford Pier) who at the line about being “stoned’ play a riff from Eric Clapton’s “Cocaine” (did anyone know that was a cover of a J.J. Cale song?)

“Shaved Head” stays in the delicate style of the previous show and for “My Sweet Relief,” he starts the song solo and the band kicks in about 1/2 way through.

After playing “That’s What You Get for Having Fun” someone in the band says that they have merch in the back of the room and that they will be flogged by their manager if they don’t mention it.

In “Voices in the Wilderness,” he sings the actual Rush lyric “if you choose not to decide” (rather than “if you choose not to be free”) and has fun with the word “squeaky” in squeaky voice.  There’ as mellow jam at the end of the song.

The penultimate song is “Winnipeg.” It’s the first live version of this song on the site. I like that since it was a new song the guys who recorded the shows didn’t know what it was called.  And it’s such a peculiar song with different things that could be choruses that the author of this recording calls it “Anyday” and in the next show they call in “I’ve Had Some.”  But it sounds great live.

The show ends with “Beauty On,” the opening track from his upcoming album (although he leaves out the humorous “Cincinnati” bit–which makes sense).

It’s another great show, running just about an hour.

[READ: October 19, 2015] Cube Squared

I found this book at work and judged it by the cover.  I decided it would be fun. And it was.

This is the sequel to McPherson’s first novel (which I have not read) Cube People.  I thought that perhaps there would be zombies in this novel (given the cover) and there are, but not in the way one might suspect.

The basic set up is this: Colin MacDonald works for the Canadian government.  He is in a tech job which is not very techie.  He works in a  cubicle, deals with his co-workers and plans to write the great Canadian novel (if such a thing exists).  He has already written two books.  The first one was successful, the second one less so.  And he would very much like to get a third book written.

But he is now married with three little kids, he has to paint his house and his father just died.

This last bit is pretty important to the story.  Even though his father was never a very good father to him (he was an intense drunk and then an intense convert to Christianity), he has mixed feelings about his father’s death.  Worse yet, his father seems to be talking to him a lot more now than he ever did when he was alive.  And he is fairly certain that his father thinks he’s a waste of time and effort with little to show for himself (or at least that’s his take on his father).

Read Full Post »

Christian McPherson–Poems That Swim From My Brain Like Rats Leaving a Sinking Ship (2008)

SOUNDTRACK: MARTIN TIELLI-Horseshoe Tavern Toronto, ON (2002).

After the Rheostatics’ Night of the Shooting Stars album, the band took a few years before recording their final album.  During that hiatus of sorts, Martin Tielli released his second solo album Operation Infinite Joy.  But before getting that album out, he did a short tour in 2002.  This is the second date of that tour (although, as with other bootlegs, I find it funny that the date is lost).  Speaking of lost dates, there are no dates at all for Martin Tielli on Setlist.com. Shocking!

Anyhow, this show has great audio. It’s one of those recordings where you can hear the audience, but they are not louder than Martin himself.

As with many of the shows of this era, Martin opens the show on solo acoustic guitar—with some awesomely aggressive chord strokes. He just seems really into this set, with a great growling “ain’t necessary” line in “Double X” and one of the best versions of “She Said ‘We’re On Our Way Down’” that I’ve heard (better than the album).

Before Martin is joined by more musicians, someone asks him how old his jacket it. He says about 14 years old.  Then Greg Smith joins him on bass for “My Sweet Relief”

When he switches back to the quiet “World in a Wall” it’s practically like a dramatic reading the way he performs it.  He says he was living in a cruddy apartment when he wrote this song.  As an opening for “Voices from the Wilderness” he says he used to criticize Dave Bidini for writing songs about music, but he finally embraced it and wrote this awesome song.

For “Farmer in the City,” he says they’re going to try something really quiet—and the audience is rapt. It’s pretty cool.  Selina Martin plays crystal on this song (which I assume means glasses?)

When they get to the Nick Buzz song “Love Streams” it’s very quiet and you can hear someone in the audience loudly shot “Shut the fuck up.” He doesn’t acknowledge that but says that the band Nick Buzz was named after the cigarettes that he is now craving. After getting his smoke he introduces”That’s What You Get For Having Fun” by saying this is gonna be a gooood song.

He plays a quieter, more intimate version of “Shaved Head” with a lengthy outro. The track listing says “Stolen Car” is next but there is no “Stolen Car.” They play a rocking version of “Sgt Kraulis” with some fun mechanical voices over the end.

This is a great set that runs about an hour. The crowd I really into it and so is Martin.

[READ: October 19, 2015] Poems That Swim From My Brain Like Rats Leaving a Sinking Ship

I started reading Christian McPherson’s Cube Squared.  And when I looked him up I saw that my library also had a few collections of his poetry.  So I decided to check them out.

This was his first collection (after a collection of short stories).  Most of his poems are fast paced and immediate (as the title suggests).  There’s not a lot of reflection in them, they are more designed to get a point across.

And as such they work quite well.

Read Full Post »

Berkeley Breathed–Academia Waltz and other profound transgressions (2010)

SOUNDTRACK: MARTIN TIELLI-“We didn’t even suspect that he was the poppy salesman.” (2001).

I wrote about this album once before, and while I made notes about it after listening to it again, I found out that they were pretty much exactly what I thought of the record four years ago.  So I’m going to simply repost the review here, but I’m going to add some new notes seamlessly intermingled.

Martin Tielli’s first solo disc is a proper solo release: it’s almost all him on acoustic guitar and his gorgeous alto voice.  I hadn’t listened to this disc in a while and I was delighted by how much of the disc I knew so well.

The opening track, “I’ll Never Tear Your Apart” is deceptively simple: beautiful harmonic’d guitars and his gentle voice.  There’s a great video to go with it here.  That is followed by the wonderful “My Sweet Relief” which sounds like a great Neil Young folk song: great verses an a strong chorus.  Lyrically, though, it is all Tielli.  “Double X” highlights Tielli’s beautiful acoustic guitar work.  It’s another great story song, this one about a destitute person hanging under a superstore with a K and an M.

“Voices in the Wilderness” is a simply beautiful song, a lovely guitar melody and Tielli’s high voice singing along.. I also love that the lyric  (mis)quotes Rush very nicely: “‘If you choose not to be free you still have made a choice,’ said a high and squeaky voice.”

“Farmer in the City” is the only track that Tielli didn’t write.  It’s a nearly 8-minute song by Scott Walker.  I had never listened to the original, but having now done so, I find the Walker version to be far superior.  Walker’s voice is so eccentric and wonderful.  So even though I love Martin’s voice, he just can’t compare to the original.   Also find Martin’s version to be just a little spare (the Walker version has lovely strings. Kevin Hearn plays celeste and Selina Martin plays wine glasses on the track.

It’s followed by the delightful “World in a Wall” which uses mice in the wall as a metaphor for a broken relationship (with wonderful detailed lines like: She’s like a mouse, I know she’s around It’s a gnawing sound. Leaves little brown poohs from a little pink bum.”

This is followed by “That’s How They Do It in Warsaw” which is the first really rocking song (it has bass and drums) and a voiceover in Polish by Kasia Zaton.

It’s coupled with a slightly less rocky but still loud track “How Can You Sleep?” (which makes another fun musical allusion, this time about Guided by Voices). It has a co-songwriting credit from Dave Bidini and has a kind of vocal allusion to Bob Dylan, although I doubt it is about him.

“She Said ‘We’re On Our Way Down’” is a song that I really want to enjoy more.  But It is so spare and Martin’s vocal line is so abstract, that I can never really get int it. But the guitar riff is really powerful and cool.  And yet, the song seems to eschew melody but then a gorgeous guitar or vocal line shines through and really sounds brilliant.  “From the Reel” is a beautiful, aching acoustic ballad.

The disc ends with the odd, seven minute “Wetbrain/Your War.”  The first part (wet brain) is kind of slow but it builds into a beautiful dark song about addiction.

This is a really beautiful album, although there are moments when I fell like Martin gets too delicate, it’s amazing to hear just what he can do when he’s on his own.

[READ: October 19, 2015] Academia Waltz

Way back a long time ago I was pretty excited to read all of the Bloom County reissue books.  Somehow I only got through Books 1 and 2, although I see now that five volumes were released in total.

Presumably at the end of that run, (which technically ended in 2011) comes this volume.  Academia Waltz is the strip that Breathed wrote back in college.  This book collects some (but apparently not all) of the strips.  It’s odd to not collect them all since there is also an art gallery with all kinds of original pieces (complete with edits and scribbled notes) that duplicate many of the earlier strips.

The first part collects pieces from Academia Waltz the 1979 collection.  The second part comes from Bowing Out, the 1980 Collection.

Read Full Post »

James Joyce–The Ondt & the Gracehoper [illustrated by Thomas McNally] (2014)

SOUNDTRACK: MARTIN TIELLI-Jane Bond, Waterloo, Ontario (September 29 2001).

The second Martin Tielli solo show on Rheostaticslive comes two years after the first one.  It’s a new band and Martin’s debut solo album We Didn’t Even Suspect He Was the Poppy Salesman is due out soon (or just came out, it’s hard to be sure).   Although interestingly, he plays some songs that will wind up on his next solo album (which is years away). The show is at Jane Bond in Waterloo, and unlike the previous show, this one has massive audio problems. There are 4 songs that are nearly inaudible and the whole set is recorded very low.  Which is a bummer because the set is very good.

As seems to happen a lot to Martin, he is having all kinds of technical troubles and he gets shocked a number of times during the set (I don’ think I’ve ever heard of this happening to people before, but it seems to happen to him a lot.)  He also asks the crowd quite often if they can hear okay.

The show opens with the backing music of Talking Heads (which is quite loud).  And then Martin and company open the show with the slow Scott Walker song “Farmer in the City.”  Then they play a Nick Buzz song, “Love Steams” and Martin gets shocked so bad that he takes a break. He re-starts the song and it sounds really good.

Then inexplicably, Martin’s voice drops out and the bass gets really loud.  And the next four songs are really hard to enjoy. You can also hear the crowd really loud.  (Did Martin almost fall or something? there’s a big gasp from the audience at one point.  You can also hear someone loudly ask “You want a beer?”).

The audio slowly starts to improve from there.  By “She Said ‘We’re on Our Way Down'” it’s quiet but it’s very good otherwise.

Then Chris Gardiner comes out to help on “Waterstriders,” which is bit louder.  By the time “My Sweet Relief” comes in, the sound has gotten better (probably because it is a full rocking song) with a very country/twangy feel).  He tells a little story about the history of “That’s How They Do It in Warsaw” which is for Kasia (she recites the Polish on the album).  He tells a funny story about how she went to Warsaw and developed feelings for her cousin).

There’s a lot of funny banter in this set. Martin talks about a movie he was watching in a bar.  It was presumably on Show Case, and he described a woman being tied up and a man masturbating and then someone collects something in a syringe (presumably semen) and injects it into a vagina. What could it possibly have been?  It sounds like someone might have given him the answer, but we can’t hear it–so we’ll never know!  One of the band members shouts out that it was “Who’s the Boss.”

They play a great version of “Digital Beach” and “Shaved Head.”  “How Can you Sleep” has a great solo.

Also at the end of “Sgt Kraulis” (which is from the next album) they say it is last call (for everyone who is not on the stage).  There’s a funny comment where someone says, Watch how this law gets broken.   And they all order rye and cokes.  “Sgt Kraulis” has a funky opening (they play some of Abba’s “Mama Mia”).

The set ends with a nice version of “Take Me in Your Hand.”  And then a surprise (to me) of “Blue Hysteria.”  Then he plays the second part of “Wet Brain/Your War” (just the “Your War” part).

And he ends with a great version of “Record Body Count” and “a stolen song from borrowed tune,” the opener of the next album: “Beauty On.”

There’s so much great music here, it’s a bummer the quality isn’t better.

[READ: June 13, 2015] The Ondt & The Gracehoper

This fascinating book is an excerpt from Finnegans Wake (Book III Chapter I).  Thomas McNally has taken one of the fables in Joyce’s Wake and has illustrated it.  The book includes a few essays about the Wake and about expressionism and why McNally illustrated the book the way he did.

I have never read Finnegans Wake.  And I am fairly certain I never will.  I feel like this is a minor failing on my part, and yet it’s not pushing me to read this largely incomprehensible book.  So I was excited to see this weird little excerpt of the fabled difficult book (with pictures!)

In the introduction, McNally explains that despite everything we’ve heard about the Wake, it was, in fact, meant to be read and it is indeed, quite funny.  Joyce is playing around with language in incredible ways–throwing in multiple meanings in different languages in all kinds of words.  He says that for a first read, one should just read it–preferably aloud–and not worry about the various meanings that you are undoubtedly missing.

Read Full Post »

The Great Concavity [podcast] (2015- )

Starting this month, Matt Bucher and David Laird, scholars and fans of David Foster Wallace have created the first regular Podcast devoted to Wallace.  And the intro and closing music is from Parquet Courts’ “Instant Disassembly” which is also pretty cool.

This introductory episode serves as an introduction to Bucher and Laird, their love of Wallace’s work, and what they hope to do in future episodes.

Matt Bucher lives in Texas, not far from the Ransom Center where the Wallace archives have been settled (he assures us that he moved there before the site was selected). David Laird is from Kelowna, in British Colombia (4 hours east of Vancouver).  The claim to fame of Kelowna is the mythical lake monster Ogopogo.  But in Infinite Jest, a character is spoken of as being addicted to a thick apple juice that comes from BC.

Bucher also runs Sideshow Media Group which published Elegant Complexity, Nature’s Nightmare, and Consider David Foster Wallace. He says he and his brother founded the press because no one would publish Elegant Complexity, and he felt it needed to get out there.

Read Full Post »

Inside the Rainbow: Russian’s Children’s Literature 1920-35: Beautiful Books, Terrible Times (2015)

SOUNDTRACK: MARTIN TIELLI-Steamers, Victoria BC (September 1, 1999).

Of all of the three main Rheostatics, Martin Tielli has released the most music outside of the band.  He had a band called Nick Buzz who has released three albums and then he has released three solo albums under his own name. His first came out in 2001.  And this tour was something of a preview for that album.

He called “Farmer in the City” (a song with this title, originally sung by Scott Walker was released on the 2001 album).  This was the second night of the tour (Torfino, on the west coast of Vancouver Island was the first date).

What is most amazing about this show (aside from the fact that the audio quality is outstanding) is that there are a number of songs here that never made it onto any albums.

Also interesting is that even though the show sounds great, Martin was having trouble with his monitor all night. He keeps asking if the crowd can hear him, and saying that he could barely hear himself at all.  And yet his voice sounds fantastic.

The show begins with an intro loop—Martin playing his guitar in waves and crescendos. It’s interesting and unexpected.  “Farmer in the City” is probably my least favorite Martin song—and I find it interminably slow and spare on the record.  Although each live rendition reveals something new in it.

The songs that are heard only on this bootleg include:  “Elkdog” (a description of horses as seen by people for the first time) it’s a rocking and fairly conventional song.  The next is “Indian Arrow” which is as song about his dad being killed by an arrow. It’s a simple rock song (and I just learned was actually recorded very early on a Rheos demo).  “Dear Darling” is a slow song with lots of dramatic singing—very Tielli.  “Redwing Blackbird” is another fairly conventional song but with great harmonies.

“Don’t You Forget It” is a loud, vulgar, sexual song which is dedicated to Vivian (happy birthday).  It’s even got a kind of funk metal middle section.  And “All My Life” is a funky song too.

Although Martin is not very chatty, his band is.  The rest of the band includes Mike Keith on guitar Andrew Routledge on bass and Max Arnason on drums (Mike introduces them as Bob Loblaw on bass and Basic Max on drums).  He also says that during their three days in Torfino, Andrew became a certified surfboard mechanic to which Andrew replies that Mike became a driftwood sculptor (len Tukwila).

There are a number of covers as well-Joni Mitchell’s “River” (which is on the Nick Buzz album, too) Three Bruce Cockburn songs, the mellow “Thoughts n a Rainy Afternoon” (I prefer the original) and then a blistering take on his “Arrows of Light” (I love this version a lot) which segues into “Joy will Find a Way.”

They even do a cover of the Suzanne Vega song “Tombstone.”  Actually, the backing band plays it while Martin goes for a smoke.  It sounds nothing like the original, as their version is loud and rocking.  When Martin comes back from his smoke break he says it didn’t sound like a Suzanne Vega song (I had to look it up by the lyrics).  The other cover is Neil Young’s “Barstool Blues,” which is a rather unusual Neil Young cover I would think.

After a few songs Mike the guitarist says that they were eating some tasty spicy black bean chips which he’s going to pass around for everyone to share… But don’t take them all ”you guys with the hat you take everything.”

They also do a Nick Buzz song “That’s What You Get for Having Fun,” which is a rocking song that sounds great.

He throws in some Rheos songs too.  Their versions of “Digital Beach” and “California Dreamlne” sound great. Martin is in fine voice and although it is somehow different than with the Rheos it still sounds fantastic.  “Shaved Head,” is more dramatic.  A quieter take on the song with no guitar solo.

But when he plays “Record Body Count” he messes up the lyrics so bad that he stops and says “I fucked up my own song.” He refuses to play the end and when someone says he’s being pretentious, he says he’s not he just can’t play it.

The final two songs are just him on his guitar.  He plays “Self Serve Gas Station” which sounds great.  After this he says he doesn’t know what to play.  Someone shouts out “Claire” and he says that he didn’t write that (of course he didn’t write the other covers either, but that’s a funny answer).  For the final song he plays “Christopher” which is truly fantastic.

This is a fantastic show, with lots of dramatic songs, a bunch of real rockers and some rare treats.  It’s a great starting point to listen to Martin solo, and a must listen for any Rheos fan and you can get it (and all these live shows) from the Rheostaticslive site.

[READ: July 27, 2015] Inside the Rainbow

I grabbed this book because I am intrigued by Russian and Soviet art.  I don’t always like it, but I find it utterly fascinating (I wish I could read Cyrillic too, which I think is such a cool looking language).  This book collects illustrations–covers and interior pages from Russian children’s books.

The Soviet Union was formed in 1922 and Joseph Stalin was head of the Union.  A nutshell history of the titular terrible times is: Stalin launched a period of industrialization and collectivization that resulted in the rapid transformation of the USSR from an agrarian society into an industrial power^. However, the economic changes coincided with the imprisonment of millions of people in Gulag labor camps.  The initial upheaval in agriculture disrupted food production and contributed to the catastrophic Soviet famine of 1932–33, known as the Holodomor in Ukraine.

The images in this book do not date to the Socialist propaganda style (the striking graphic images of red black and white), rather, these are a more pastoral style.  All of the images come from the Raduga (Rainbow) publishing house.

Read Full Post »

Morris Panych–The Shoplifters (2015)

SOUNDTRACK: BUILT TO SPILL-Untethered Moon (2015).

It took six years for this album to come out.  And it was totally worth the wait.  This is another disc that is predominately shorter songs (a number around 3 or 4 minutes) but with an opener and closer that let the band stretch out.  This is also the first BtS album in years with a new lineup.  Steve Gere (drums) and Jason Albertini (bass) who played with them live.  The drums feel quite different–Gere has a vert different style. And the bass feels more frisky

“All Our Songs” starts off a little differently than other BtS albums.  It has a great walloping drumming section to start, big guitar chords and all kinds f soloing going on. It stops almost near the end for some quick time changes and then the most conventional rock n roll guitars solo ever heard on a BtS album.  I love the way “Living Zoo” starts off almost unsure of itself, meandering around until it latches on to a great riff and then speeds the riff up even more to totally rock out (the multiple guitars on this record really sound great on this song). I love the scream sound they get after “tigers.”  “On the Way” has an almost western feeling with the echoing guitars. I really like the way the song shifts gears a bit midway through with the inscrutable chorus of “Maltesian riot” and then shifts gears again for the end.

“Never Be the Same” seems like it could be the biggest hit the band has had.  The main riff is simple and sweet. And the verses are simple jangly guitars and that chorus is practically an earworm.  Martsch has (surprisingly) always written catchy songs but this has to be his catchiest . “C.R.E.B.” has more or less classic delivery of the word “Yeah” to start the song. There’s also another very cool riff that runs through the song. The chorus (I never meant to forget you) has a real Neil Young feel. “Another Day’ has some more great staccato sections and cool keyboards (which add new sound to the record) from Sam Coombs (who also produced the record).

“Horizon to Cliff” is a pretty ballad, and it gets going just as it fades out (total time is less than 3 minutes).  “So” seems to join in progress, with some wild soloing and feedback (somehow this reminds me of the guitar sounds of 70s rock) and then it settles down into my favorite song on the album.  The verse is quiet and simple and there’s a great guitar riff throughout.  But the best part is at 3:53 when the song shifts gears with a five note melody and a super heavy section.  When I saw them live, they stretched this out for a while, although on the record it is only 30 seconds.

The final song, “When I’m Blind,” is 8 minutes long.  Around 2 minutes in, the song shifts to pretty much bass and drums and what I can only describe as a really sloppy and harsh guitar solo. It morphs into different styles of solo over the course of about five-minutes before settling back into the song.

Although many fans feel that their first three major label albums were their best, I have to say that all of their records just get better and better.  I hate to have to wait another five years for a new record!

[READ: June 23, 2015] The Shoplifters

In a week of reading plays, I enjoyed this one the most.  I even really enjoyed the cover image which is a weird fish-eye drawing of a woman shoplifting.

So this play has only four characters: two shoplifters and two security guards.

The two shoplifters are Alma and Phyllis.  Alma is the ringleader.  She has been shoplifting (especially from this superstore) for a long time.  And it’s not just about the prices, there’s some well thought out arguments for her as well.  Phyllis is her friend although Phyllis doesn’t seem to really “get” the whole shoplifting thing.  In this instance, they are stealing things for Phyllis’ birthday.

They are stealing very large steaks, but because they chose prime cuts rather than prepackaged ones, the meat doesn’t stay secured to their legs very well.  And sure enough, Alma’s steak falls onto the floor and Phyllis shouts “I don’t know her!” right in front of security guard Dom.

Read Full Post »

Jon Haynes and David Woods–The Eradication of Schizophrenia in Western Lapland (2014)

SOUNDTRACK: BUILT TO SPILL-There is No Enemy (2009).

It took only three years for Built to Spill to release this, their seventh full length.  I have mentioned this disc before, and I loved it then.  And I love it now.

“Aisle 13” starts with some echoed sounds and then big echoing chords which quickly resolve into a great BtS song.  And after the lengthy songs of the previous records, it’s amazing to hear a song (or several) tha are under 4 minutes.  The album is also full of some great (if odd) lyrics like: “one day I’ll come home to find you covered with ants because you are so sweet.”

“Hindsight” has two separate great riffs in it (and the great line: “is that grass only greener because its fake”).   “Nowhere Lullaby” is a slow ballad with a great vocal line (and strings).  “Good Ol’ Boredom” is almost a dance song—a fast drums beat and echoey guitar intro (although there’s a signature BtS guitar riff over the top).   I like the slide guitar solo in the middle and the lengthy jam section which trades off guitar solos (this song lasts 6 and a half minutes). “Life’s A Dream” slows things down and even includes a section of “ahhh”s and “la la las” in beautiful harmony.  And then there’s a surprise inclusion of horns.

“Oh Yeah” opens with a slow picked guitar and slowly builds up with more instrumentation, although it never really gets any faster.  But it has some great lyrics:

And if god does exist
I am sure he will forgive
Me for doubting for he’d see
How unlikely he himself seems

“Pat” zooms out off the gates with one of the fastest, most punk songs they’ve ever done (live it was even more so). And at under 3 minutes it’s a nice blast of excitement.  “Done” is a slow song with one of my favorite end soloing sections—tons of echo (once again, this was amazing live).  It seems like it should end the disc, but “Planting Seeds” comes out of that song with a great catchy riff.  And as the bridge comes in there’ an even more catchy riff.  It also has some great lyrics:

when bullies grow up they get meaner
yeah they really get it down

they think that they get it but they always get it wrong
they’ll play your favorite song
just to sell shit to you

I’ve heard that they’ll sell anything and I think they might
I think Bill Hicks was right
about what they should do

and just because you love something doesn’t mean it’s yours to buy
been selling it so long that no one even knows the reason why
you’ve been messing with our minds
gettin’ rich wasting our time

“Things Fall Apart” slows things down and even adds a trumpet solo before unleashing a lengthy guitar solo.  “Tomorrow” ends the disc slowly with keyboards. It seems like a downer ending but this 7 minute song has a lot packed into it. After about 90 second the guitars kick in and the song builds.   At 2 and a half minutes the song takes a sharp turn into a slower, darker section with a great solo. It jumps back and forth and ends with a lengthy solo that fades just as some interesting feedback squalls start to build.

This continues the progression of great Built to Spill records.

[READ: August 30, 2015] The Eradication of Schizophrenia in Western Lapland

This play was created by a theater group called Ridiculusmus, who I know nothing about.

The premise of this play was quite interesting.

Audience members are seated on either side of a wall.  Act One and Act Three are performed simultaneously on either side of the wall.  So you can watch Act One and hear Act 3 or vice versa.  The Acts overlap and are connected, so it’s not like a nonsensical experience.

Act One is between a mum and her two sons, while Act three is is between a psychiatrist and one of the sons, set some years in the future.  That’s pretty interesting.

But what happens is that after you see Act One/Three, the audience switches sides and you listen to it all over again, this time seeing what you missed last time.  But unlike a farce like Noises Off, where what you see is all the stuff that’s going on behind the scenes, you can hear everything that is being said behind the wall, I don’t think there’s anything new visually that will change the fact that you have just heard all of this dialogue a few minutes ago. It feels terribly redundant to me.

After both of these performances, act two is staged.

Read Full Post »

Robert Massey–Chancers (2013)

SOUNDTRACK: BUILT TO SPILL-You in Reverse (2006).

I love the audacity of coming back from a five-year hiatus and opening your disc with an 8 minute song that has lots and lots of instrumentals and solo sections.  And man is “Goin’ Against Your Mind” a good song (the band opened with this when I saw them and it awesome).  At around 5 minutes the songs slows down for a quieter section and then it builds back up again. I particularly love the roaring guitars in the back of the song (which I think are from Brett Netson—it is confusing that the band has a Brett Nelson and a Brett Netson in its line up).

“Traces” slows things down.  It has a simple but really catchy riff.  “Liar” is a bouncy, rather fun song with some pretty guitar work (two guitars in the middle) and a super catchy vocal melody. “Saturday” is a slowish ballad that is only 2:24.

“Wherever You Go” has a kid of Neil Young stomp to it, but it’s “Conventional Wisdom” that really opens up the beginning of the second half with a great riff and a fun chorus. The dual guitar solo that starts around 3 minutes in is fantastic.

I also love the guitar riffs in “Gone” and how at 3 minutes it turns into something else entirely with a big organ sound.  “Mess with Time,” which they played live, has a great staccato riff and a really interesting (to my ear Middle Easternish) guitar riff.   I also like the way it sounds like perhaps a circular saw blade is being used as percussion.  And how at 3:15 it turns into an entirely new song—an almost ska song riff with great bass lines.  “Just a Habit” is a mellow song with soaring electric guitar lines.   The disc ends with “The Wait,” a slower song that I don’t usually love.  But they played it live and in the live setting it took on a new vitality was really enjoyable.

This is an album I can put on an enjoy from start to finish.

[READ: August 7, 2015] Chancers

Chancers is a short three-act play set in Dublin after the collapse of the Irish economy.

There are four characters: Aiden and Dee who own a small shoppe; Gertie, an older lady who comes in regularly and never has a nice word for anyone and JP, Aiden’s mate.

In the first scene, we see that Dee is getting dressed up for a job interview.  She doesn’t imagine she’ll get the job, but they desperately need the money.  Aiden reveals that they have stopped offering certain services because they weren’t profitable enough.  When Gertie comes in, she mocks the two of them for trying, and for overreaching.  Gertie is nasty, undermining everything that Dee or Aiden says.

In the second scene, JP and Aiden are talking about a lottery ticket.  It seems that Gertie has bought a ticket that has won a huge windfall.  But when she brought the ticket in for him to check, Aiden instinctively told her it was a loser.  JP says that the first step has been taken now all they need to do is get that ticket for themselves so they can cash it in.

Read Full Post »