Tag: 210304

Green Again

Enjoy St. Patrick’s Day music virtually

A year ago Jordan Tirrell-Wysocki was heading into his busy season and primed to play traditional Irish music across the region. Following a St. Patrick’s Day weekend kickoff show, the Jordan TW Trio, including Matt Jensen on guitar and bass player Chris Noyes, would play its biggest gig of the year, to a sold out Saturday night crowd at Bank of NH Stage.

It was Friday the 13th, however. In 2020, that cursed day delivered misery like never before.

“As we stepped off stage, I took out my phone,” the fiddler said in a recent phone interview, “and found out that we’d been canceled from that point on.”

Though Tirrell-Wysocki would resume a fairly busy schedule later that spring — Zoom lessons with cabin-fevered students were a silver lining during the pandemic — on March 17 the jigs and reels were streamed from his home on Facebook Live.

This year he’ll finally take the stage in downtown Concord. Alas, apart from a camera operator and sound engineer, his trio will play to an empty room.

He calls the situation “weirdly ironic” but is pleased nonetheless. “I’m grateful that the Capitol Center has figured out how to present quality livestream content. … I think it’s going to be a lot of fun.”

The March 12 show is one of four Irish-themed virtual events offered by the venue. On March 13 a late afternoon show offers We Banjo 3: Live From Ireland. An indie band with Celtic roots, they most recently performed a virtual Christmas show.

That’s followed later in the evening by the concert/travelogue Virtual Ireland with Michael Londra. A prerecorded live concert experience featuring world-renowned step dancers and musicians, Rhythm of the Dance debuted in February and will run two more times in March.

An “intermission” from live events imposed late last year has been challenging, Capitol Center Executive Director Nicki Clarke said recently. Federal CARES Act money and donations have sustained them financially.

“We’ve been taking it literally month by month, saying, ‘We’re just going to pause and look again, and pause again,’” she said.

Socially distanced standup comedy from Juston McKinney was set to resume in-person shows on March 27, but “the board decided to stay in our ‘pause’ state,” Clarke wrote in a Feb. 25 email, so the event is postponed, with no new date confirmed. A May 14 Adam Ezra Band show is still listed on the venue’s website; everything before that is off or virtual, and the Ezra show is not certain either, Clarke said.

“Our board weighs in on the pause question the second Thursday of each month for the following month,” she said. “This means the call to go or re-schedule again will be made on or around April 8.”

Some silver linings emerged from the dearth of live events. Necessary stage repairs could be made, for example.

“In some ways being closed was a good thing, because we can get that done right,” Clarke said.

Still, livestreamed shows are no substitute for the real thing money-wise.

“We might be making like $2 for every ticket that we sell; it’s really for the benefit of giving people something to watch,” she said. “This mud season is going to be tough. We’ve got to get through March and April, then hopefully we’ll be outside and able to join up with each other.”

Tirrell-Wysocki is also willing to wait.

“As much as I’m looking forward to being able to work in a normal capacity again, I don’t want to rush it,” he said. “I have been offered indoor shows, and I honestly feel weird. I don’t blame anyone who’s willing to perform inside with distance guidelines and all of that, but a huge part of my job as an independent musician is filling a room, and I just can’t really in good conscience do that. … I want to be sure we’ve waited long enough to do it safely and feel good about it. If that means livestreaming for now, then that’s what we’re going to do.”

Jordan Tirrell-Wysocki Trio Livestream
When: Friday, March 12, 8 p.m.
Where: online
Tickets: $20 at ccanh.com

Featured photo: Jordan TW Trio. Courtesy photo.

The Music Roundup 21/03/04

• Starman: Along with his occasional David Bowie tribute act, George Belli performs with The Retroactivists, a band that mines well-known British Invasion hits and nuggets. For a show at a Seacoast watering hole that recently resumed live music, he’ll be in a duo format but likely still leaning on material from The Kinks, Small Faces, the Zombies and others acts from ‘cross the pond. Thursday, March. 4, 8 p.m., Clipper Tavern, 75 Pleasant St., Portsmouth, facebook.com/clippertavern.

• Rounder: It’s a sizable lineup at the weekly Swappin’ Sets local music showcase, with Becca Myari, Craig Greenman, David Mulchaney and Colby Priest sitting in; Myari will end the night with a second set. A steady booster of original artists, the restaurant-taproom encourages others to get involved by curating a Spotify playlist of frequent performers (linked elsewhere in this issue). Friday, March 5, 6 p.m., Area 23, 254 N. State St. (Smokestack Center), Concord, facebook.com/area23concord.

• Tapper: Call ahead for a reservation to hoist a pint, have a snack and hear Frank Alcaraz perform on acoustic guitar. A singer, songwriter and troubadour in the mold of Billy Bragg or John Hiatt, Alcaraz can belt out a folk song with alacrity, but he also has punk rock roots. He’s lead guitarist with The Cryptics, a band that released the rollicking Continuous New Behavior early last year. Saturday, March 6. 26, 6 p.m., To Share Brewing, 720 Union St., Manchester, tosharebrewing.com.

• Rocker: Singer, guitarist and College of Musical Knowledge Professor Ted Solovicos does an afternoon set. OK, that’s not a real school, but were it so, Solovicos would definitely have tenure; he cohosts a radio show with fellow muso Rosemarie Rose — the two often perform as a duo — that regularly dives deep into rock history, featuring interviews with many greats of the classic rock era, particularly the ’60s. Sunday, March 7, 5 p.m., Lynn’s 102 Tavern, 76 Derry Road, Hudson, facebook.com/lynns102tavern

At the Sofaplex 21/03/04

Tom & Jerry (PG)

Chloë Grace Moretz, Michael Peña.

Cartoon cat Tom and mouse Jerry (along with other animated animals) inhabit live-action New York City in this movie that is pretty solid on the special effects but pretty shaky everywhere else.

The human story centers around Kayla (Moretz), a girl who talks her way into a temporary job at the ultra-fancy Royal Gate Hotel. She’s meant to help with the upcoming nuptials of famous couple Ben (Colin Jost) and Preeta (Pallavi Sharda). Hotel head Mr. Dubros (Rob Delaney) has faith in Kayla and her fabricated prior event experience but event manager Terence (Peña) is suspicious. When the appearance of a mouse threatens the event, Kayla attempts to fight infestation the old-fashioned way — with a cat. Tom is happy to help, as Jerry interrupted his keyboard busking. Terence highly doubts that this will work, especially as the cat and mouse duo cause destruction everywhere they go.

The Common Sense Media headline on this movie warned me that it was on the violent side so I didn’t watch it with my kids, who are otherwise right in what is probably this movie’s demo. And I’m glad I didn’t; convincing young humans that they can’t do cartoony foolishness is a significant part of my day and the way the movie puts animated characters in a live action setting makes those head-smacks and electrocutions feel real (but without the consequences of real-world physics). That factor plus the scenes that are heavy on adult humans and their boring problems make me wonder who this is for; do enough 7-to-10-year-olds want Tom & Jerry content that comes with Kayla’s Gen Z-er starting out issues?

Which is all too bad because this movie does have a nicely quirky sense of humor at times — it makes some cute jokes about Tom & Jerry’s lack of human-comprehensible verbal communication, possession of business cards and showbiz abilities. Near the end Rob Delaney calls them “Thomas and Jerome,” which is a solid understated bit of business. And the animation really worked for me; their cartoon antics have some visual cleverness. The blend of old-fashioned illustration-style Tom & Jerry with the live-action world was visually appealing, especially as the wedding got crazier and more exotic animals showed up at the hotel.

Tom & Jerry feels like it’s halfway to a family-fun reboot of old characters but the movie is just out of balance enough to make it feel longer, flatter and more worrisome in the “please don’t try to electrocute your brother like the cat”-sense than I want from my family entertainment. C+ In theaters and on HBO Max until late March.

The United States vs. Billie Holiday (R)

Andra Day, Trevante Rhodes.

Golden Globe winner Day gives a standout performance as Billie Holiday is this jumble of a movie about the singer’s legal troubles and the government’s attempts to discredit her due to the power and popularity of her song “Strange Fruit.” The story jumps around from 1947 to 1959 as Holiday struggles with heroin addiction. The Federal Bureau of Narcotics pursues her mercilessly, claiming to be trying to build a case against her to get her to turn in her suppliers. But early on we see Harry Anslinger (Garrett Hedlund), the Bureau’s leader and a malevolent cartoon villain, tell a room full of senators (and Roy Cohn) that “This jazz music is the devil’s work” and silencing Holiday will keep a lid on the civil rights movement. African American federal agent Jimmy Fletcher (Rhodes) is tasked by Anslinger with helping to bring Holiday down, an assignment he comes to have mixed feelings about.

This movie is very tell, not show — leaning on our previous knowledge of government wrongdoing and 20th century history. The movie states things — like that “Strange Fruit” is important to the civil rights movement and is “making people think” — but it doesn’t really demonstrate what this means or explain its effect on the culture of the 1940s and 1950s. The movie doesn’t really even do a good job of explaining the wider cultural relevance of Holiday and her career.

However. In the middle of a tornado of questionable movie-making choices is Andra Day and her Billie Holiday. She is able show the strength, vulnerability, weakness, brilliance and righteous anger of Holiday all at once and make her seem real, even when she is frequently wading through some business that feels 1980s-TV-biopic-y. It’s a top-notch performance that really deserved a better movie. B (a B+ maybe A- for Day’s performance; everything else is solidly in C territory). Available on Hulu.

Minari (PG-13)

Minari (PG-13)

A Korean-American family seeks a path to financial security in rural Arkansas in Minari, an excellent family drama.

While the movie feels like it is telling this story from the point of view of David (Alan Kim), the elementary school-aged youngest child of the Yee family, we get a good glimpse at the inner lives of all the family members. Mom Monica (Yeri Han) is horrified when her husband, Jacob (Steven Yeun), pulls up to the family’s new plot and presents her with a rickety-looking trailer sitting in a field. They have moved from urban California to very rural Arkansas in what seems like the early 1980s to chase Jacob’s dream of having a farm. Specifically, he plans to grow Korean vegetables and sell them to businesses in Korean communities in regional cities, like Houston or Oklahoma City. We get the sense that Jacob (who, like Monica, has immigrated from Korea; the kids seem to have been born in the U.S.) has some experience with farming but not nearly enough experience with convincing Monica of his plan. To pay the bills while he starts his farm, the couple works, as Jacob complains at one point, staring at chicken butts all day — that is, they sort the male and female chicks. David and older sister Anne (Noel Kate Cho) seem to adapt to this new environment, amusing themselves by poking around the family’s land or watching TV while drinking Mountain Dew.

When Monica’s not worrying about their financial precariousness, she is worrying about David, who has a heart murmur and has been told not to run or do the strenuous kid stuff he naturally wants to do. Their new home is an hour away from the nearest hospital, a fact that adds to Monica’s worries.

When the threat of a tornado nearly breaks the wound-tight Monica, Jacob tries to placate her by telling her to bring her mother to live with them. Monica seems embarrassed to have her mother see her family’s circumstances but Grandma, Soon-ja (Yuh-Jung Youn), treats the whole situation as kind of a hoot, teaching David to play a Korean card game and swear in Korean, watching American wrestling and planting minari in the wild near a pond on the property.

This is such a relatable family and such a relatable story — the dad who needs to succeed beyond his nine-to-five, the mom who feels the weight of her kids’ safety and well-being, the kids torn between their American culture and their parents’ culture, the fish-out-of-water can-we-make-the-best-of-it-or-will-this-break-us scenario. I felt like I knew these characters very quickly and could see all the perspectives and life experience that went into their reactions and decisions. Monica and Jacob have several fights where you can see both sides and can empathize deeply with both of them. Han and Yeun do absolutely excellent work to show us everything about what their characters are thinking or fearing with just a look or a small gesture. The surrounding actors do good work too — Kim is so believable as David, with the exact right amount of kid fear, kid adaptability and kid mischievousness. Youn as the grandmother is also fantastic — you’re not a real grandma, David complains, which Soon-ja gleefully takes as a compliment.

The movie is also shot beautifully — you can see why Monica is aghast that this creaky trailer is the family’s new home but the movie also shows us the home and land in the same light Jacob sees it, his garden of Eden he says, only half joking, at one point.

Minari isn’t just another awards-season movie that deserves its praise; it’s a standout movie that completely immerses you in a family’s life. A+

Rated PG-13 for some thematic elements and a rude gesture, according to the MPA on filmratings.com. Written and directed by Lee Issac Chung, Minari is an hour and 55 minutes long and distributed by A24. It is available for rent.

Featured photo: Minari

People Like Her by Ellery Lloyd

People Like Her by Ellery Lloyd (Harper, 275 pages)

I don’t resent Mark Twain for using a pen name, so I’m not sure why I’m so bothered by Ellery Lloyd.

Lloyd is the pseudonym for the two authors of People Like Her, Collette Lyons and Paul Vlitos, who are married to each other. Can they not just say the novel is written by Vlitos and Lyons, as they do on the jacket and publicity materials? What is the point of the Ellery nonsense?

These are the first of the many questions posed by this novel, which I grudgingly grew to like despite the authorship charade and a disturbingly frothy premise.

It’s about an Instagram mom, Emmy Jackson, who has deliberately built a career as a social-media influencer. Emmy has two young children and a husband, Dan, a novelist whose fame and promise have diminished in the shadow of his wife. The two take turns narrating the story along with a third anonymous and sinister voice.

The story takes place over the course of six weeks, beginning with banal Twilight-like foreshadowing in a prologue. (Ellery Lloyd: “I think it is possible that I am dying.” Stephenie Myer: “I’d never given much thought to how I would die.”)

Then present-day Emmy jumps in, explaining how she transformed from a fashion editor at a magazine to an Instagram mom who goes by “Mamabare” — “because I’m a mama who is willing to bare it all, warts and all.”

Problem is, this cloying sentiment isn’t even true. With the help of an agent who specializes in building influencers into brands, Emmy has constructed a life that doesn’t resemble her own, but not how you’d think. Most people use social media to make their lives look better than they are. Emmy built a brand by making hers look worse. She figured out that no one wanted to hear how her baby slept through the night, about her perfectly neat and organized house (that gets a professional cleaning twice a week), about her normal, happy childhood. So she stretches the truth just a little, as if it were pizza dough.

“Which,” Emmy says, “means the hours before a camera crew arrives for a shoot are always spent untidying. … It takes effort to calibrate just the right level of chaos, but dirty isn’t aspirational and perfect isn’t relatable. And Mamabare is nothing if not relatable.” Followers relate to her so much, and her confessions of #graydays, that she now requires an assistant to keep up with the curation of Instagram posts, with responding to comments, with opening the boxes of free products that arrive daily from companies hoping to get Emmy’s endorsement.

Dan is deeply conflicted over his wife’s duplicity. On one hand, he is uncomfortable with the deceit and the artificial environment in which his children are growing up. On the other, “if we pull the plug now there’s no way we can pay the bills.”

Enter the villain.

Busy with their lives and the ever-tightening tension in their marriage, Emmy and Dan are oblivious to a threat growing close to their family. One of Emmy’s followers has a grudge, a grudge born of tragedy that is revealed over the course of the book. She is out for revenge.

She shows up at Emmy’s events and watches all her video appearances, looking for clues to where the family lives. She becomes something like Glenn Close’s character in Fatal Attraction, but instead of a bunny there is a soiled teddy bear that provides a memorable and chilling visual.

The authors (or author, if I must play along) are both professional writers; he has written two other novels, she is a journalist and editor. They bring polish to a simple story that is slickly plotted, giving it a feel of complexity that, like Emmy’s InstaLife, isn’t entirely authentic. That said, only a few times does the novel try to be more than it is (as when Dan goes off into soliloquies about philosophy and Russian history); most of the time it is comfortable in its own skin, which is that of a Hollywood-bound thriller. It has the feel of an idea born of a couple of beers that ends with the breathless conclusion, “That would be a great movie.” But first, of course, it must be a book.

People Like Her is a double entendre; people do like Emmy. And people also have deep and complicated feelings about people like her. As Emmy’s agent, Irene, describes Emmy’s field: “I’ve seen the future, and it’s social media. … Influencers are where the money’s at. And they’re so malleable. They’re like people, only in two dimensions.”

It’s worth mentioning that the authors are British and there is a distinct British flavor to the novel with its “InstaMums” and other peculiarities of cross-Atlantic speech. It still has a Hollywood feel and could be said to be an InstaBook — a glossy presentation designed to evoke certain thoughts and emotions (social media, bad; real, messy family life, good) while making multiple people a boatload of money.

That said, it’s escapist fiction, done well, and an enjoyable, if occasionally disturbing, weekend read. B

BOOK NOTES
You may not have heard of John Kilcullen, but chances are you’ve heard of his most memorable series of books.

The Hartford Courant told the story in 1997, how Kilcullen was in a computer store when he overheard another customer saying that he needed a book to teach him computer basics. “Something like DOS for Dummies,” he quipped, not knowing that someone who worked in publishing was listening.

When Kilcullen later helped to found IDG Books Worldwide, he hired Dan Gookin to write exactly that book, and a brand was born in 1991. The “For Dummies” line was an improbable success (let’s insult the reader and then have them buy our book!) but now you can get basic training for “dummies” or “idiots” on almost any subject.

Even more improbably, Bill Gates is now recommending one. Promoting his own book, How to Avoid a Climate Disaster (Knopf, 272 pages), in The New York Times this month, the Microsoft founder recommends Weather for Dummies, which he called “probably the best book written for a general audience about the subject.”

Someone wasted no time putting that line on the top of the Amazon listing.

Written by John Cox, it’s 384 paperback pages and came out in December. The publisher is John Wiley & Sons, which now shepherds the Dummies brand at dummies.com.

DOS for Dummies is still in print, by the way, and now has a companion, More DOS for Dummies, for those who can’t get enough. As for the rest of the titles, there are too many to list here, but they include auto repair, astronomy, sports betting, running a bar, song writing, co-dependency and air frying. Can’t help but wonder what Gates thinks about Microsoft Office 365 for Dummies

Books

Author events

• DR. DANIEL O’NEILL Author presents Survival of the Fit. Hosted by The Toadstool Bookshops of Nashua, Peterborough and Keene. Virtual, via Zoom. Thurs., March 4, 7 p.m. Visit toadbooks.com or call 352-8815.

• NORMAN VANCOR Author presents Swift Silent Deadly. Hosted by The Toadstool Bookshops of Nashua, Peterborough and Keene. Virtual, via Zoom. Sat., March 6, 11 a.m. Visit toadbooks.com or call 352-8815.

• C. J. BOX Author presents Dark Sky. Virtual livestream hosted by The Music Hall in Portsmouth. Tues., March 9, 7 p.m. Tickets cost $5. Call 436-2400 or visit themusichall.org.

• MARK EDWARD Author of Psychic Blues presents. Virtual, via Zoom. Part of Concord’s Walker Lecture Series. Wed., March 10, 7:30 p.m. Free. Call 333-0035 or visit walkerlecture.org.

• ELLIOT ACKERMAN & ADMIRAL JAMES STAVRIDIS Authors present 2034. Virtual livestream hosted by The Music Hall in Portsmouth. Tues., March 16, 7 p.m. Tickets cost $5. Call 436-2400 or visit themusichall.org.

• THERESA CAPUTO the star of TLC’s Long Island Medium will present “Theresa Caputo: The Experience Live” at the Capitol Center for the Arts (44 S. Main St. Concord, ccanh.com) on Wed., April 7, 7:30 p.m. Tickets start at $39.75 (with option for a VIP Photo Op for an additional $49.95).

Book Clubs

• BOOKERY Online. Monthly. Third Thursday, 6 p.m. Bookstore based in Manchester. Visit bookerymht.com/online-book-club or call 836-6600.

• GIBSON’S BOOKSTORE Online, via Zoom. Monthly. First Monday, 5:30 p.m. Bookstore based in Concord. Visit gibsonsbookstore.com/gibsons-book-club-2020-2021 or call 224-0562.

• TO SHARE BREWING CO. 720 Union St., Manchester. Monthly. Second Thursday, 6 p.m. RSVP required. Visit tosharebrewing.com or call 836-6947.

• GOFFSTOWN PUBLIC LIBRARY 2 High St., Goffstown. Monthly. Third Wednesday, 1:30 p.m. Call 497-2102, email [email protected] or visit goffstownlibrary.com

• BELKNAP MILL Online. Monthly. Last Wednesday, 6 p.m. Based in Laconia. Email [email protected].

• NASHUA PUBLIC LIBRARY Online. Monthly. Second Friday, 3 p.m. Call 589-4611, email [email protected] or visit nashualibrary.org.

Language

• FRENCH LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE CLASSES

Offered remotely by the Franco-American Centre. Six-week session with classes held Thursdays from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. $225. Visit facnh.com/education or call 623-1093.

Special events

• EXETER LITFEST Literary festival will feature local authors, keynote speaker Victoria Arlen, book launches, a Saturday morning story hour for kids, and programs on various topics including publishing tips, mystery writing and homeschooling. Hosted virtually via Zoom by Exeter TV. Thurs., April 1, through Sat., April 3. Free and open to the public. Visit exeterlitfest.com.

Featured photo: People Like Her

Album Reviews 21/03/04

Scolex, “Black Pyramid Ritual,” and Mortuous, “Dessicated”(Split Single) (Carbonized Records)

As every underground metalhead in New Hampshire knows, I’m pretty worthless as far as covering the DIY end of the genre with any real dedication. If I can remember to, I’ll be talking a bit more about that next week and defending myself, but for now, let’s kill two relevant birds with one stone by giving a cursory glance at this split single from two bands slugging it out in California’s Bay Area. This split single (released on cassette only) first spotlights “Black Pyramid Ritual,” a tune by Oakland boy-girl outfit Scolex, which aims at a cross between early Mastodon and Cannibal Corpse. I assume it’s the dude who’s singing, but hey, ya never know, but either way, the singer sings in a Cookie Monster glubber-growl, but not just any glubber-growl. This singing means business, folks, like, if you have any cookies, you best fork ’em over, toot sweet! San Jose band Mortuous is the band on the flip side, with the song “Dessicated.” That one’s mid-tempo doom-metal stuff, but metal dudes probably don’t call it that anymore (like I care), and the Cannibal Corpse-style vocalizing is totally jacked, man, like, I think he’s just literally gargling Listerine and trying to scare his mom, not singing. As always, your mileage may vary! B

Rest Easy, Sick Day EP (Mutant League Records)

This Vancouver-based four-piece is more punk than 99 percent of the stuff that comes my way for review. What’s that? No, I’m saying that’s a good thing, after all that’s come before, the Green Day phase, the “power pop” phase, and all that stuff. And no, I’m not saying dishwasher-safe corporate punk like that stuff is doomed, nor is this little four-songer something with which I can’t find fault. It does have a hint of mid-career Weezer and all that stuff, but the brain-damage is front and center, not just in the frenzied tuneage (imagine some band like Panic! At The Disco lowering the fakeness enough to convince fans they’ve actually listened to the Ramones’ Animal Boy at least once) but in their imagery as well: the video for the straight-edge dipped “Bad Idea” touches on puerile, vitally important things like Jackass, as they play N64 in the bathtub and make Evel Knievel jumps over each other while riding mopeds. More of this, please. A+

Retro Playlist

I’ll bet you forgot about the awesome jokes I made at the beginning of the column from six years ago this week, cracking wise about the then-upcoming new album from Kid Rock: “Yee ha, it’s a new Kid Rock album, titled First Kiss! I have to say, talk about soft targets, this imbecilic phony is even driving a big gas-guzzling pickup truck in the video for the title track! This is AWESOME, ladies and germs! Why did the chicken run across the road? Because there was a pickup truck next to the chicken playing Kid Rock songs!”

Maybe that was a little mean, but I was nice that week to the self-titled album from Nashville-by-way-of-New-York-by-way-of-Boston indie-rock girl Liz Longley, who at the time was scheduled to play at ye olde Tupelo Music Hall after the album came out. Geez, remember when we could just bop down to Tupelo and not have to worry about the ’rona? I sure miss those days. But whatever, Longley had spent a lot of time opening for acts like Paula Cole and Nancy Griffith, the latter of whom she nicked on the tune “You’ve Got That Way.” Another “RIYL” match for this record was Lisa Loeb, so it’s a good one to check out if that kind of stuff is your thing.

The other album strapped to the examination table that week was Revisionist, from Oakland composer William Ryan Fritch, who’s soundtracked a few snobby documentaries and such. The album was a bit contrived, in that it was relevant to the Beach Boys-inspired zeitgeist in indie rock back then: “[Fritch’s] wobbly, over-acted voice looms over these sweeping, ghostly tracks, much of it remindful of Bon Iver — OK, imagine Bon Iver trying to re-envision Yes’s Tales From Topographic Oceans, but with less self-indulgence and a bigger percussion palette.” The fact that Fritch doesn’t read music won him a few bonus points, so I gave him an A-.

PLAYLIST

A seriously abridged compendium of recent and future CD releases

• The new CD releases for March 5 are here, gather ’round, my little cacodemons, come and get it! Looky there, it’s skinny-jeans fabulosos Kings of Leon, with some new album called When You See Yourself, betcha can’t wait, can ya? When last we left this indie band that puts out albums on big major labels (which is sort of like when baseball stars join the minor leagues, just to pad their stats), they were … whoa, that was way back in 2016, when they put out the Walls album, which the snobs at Pitchfork rated a 4.5 out of 10, because it didn’t fit into Pitchfork’s dream of a music world owned and operated by white hipster fellas who make sucky songs on purpose, which is still their idea of Xanadu (totally not referring to the Olivia Newton John song, just saying), to this day! Of course The Independent hated it too, which also makes sense, as people in the U.K. only like their “indie rock” albums to be decent, like Elbow and all those guys. What am I getting at? I don’t know, maybe I’m saying that I hated Walls even more than I let on back in 2016, but then again, to me, hearing a disappointingly bad album from some bunch of hilariously overrated dingbats is no more memorable an event than seeing a skunk hanging around in my backyard, like, I just kind of go “hm, a skunk” and go about my business. At any rate, the new single is “The Bandit,” and OMG, it’s boring and worthless, but still Kings of Leon-ish, like maybe the Martians from Mars Attacks took control of the Followill brothers’ bodies and tried to make a song that was mostly ’90s-rock but with that rich and delicious hayloft-rock angle they use. I SEE you, Martians!

• Since 2005 British indie-electro guy James Mathé has been more commonly known by his stage name, Barbarossa. That trip is minimalist techno, but going by what I’m hearing on “Iris2Iris,” a single from his new album, Love Here Listen, it’s not wildly minimalist; in fact I’d call it progressive house. But you don’t care about genre labels, or at least I hope you don’t, for both our sakes, so let’s just leave it that it’s a very pretty, nicely layered song, and if I actually cared about house music anymore, I’d probably be trying to mooch a promo CD out of this guy. It’s cool, is what I’m saying.

• So it says here that one of the two dudes who compose Scottish slowcore/indie band Arab Strap has some sort of connection to Mogwai, but I really just lost interest in tracking the association after like five minutes, so the heck with it, let’s just roll and talk about the band’s new album As Days Get Dark, spearheaded by the single “Compersion Pt. 1.” You’ll note that these guys originally got together in 1995, after bonding over lo-fi nonsense like Smog and Will Oldham, and this tune is indeed possessed of that sort of sonic patois, except it’s more metal, like if Silkworm suddenly decided they loved Lou Reed or something, in other words it’s like Pavement but less awful (which obviously isn’t a high mountain to climb).

• And finally, we have Fruit Bats, with their new LP, The Pet Parade! The single, “Holy Rose,” isn’t the insufferable indie-folk I was expecting, more like Harry Nilsson meets Tom Waits, but you could dance (awkwardly) to it. Bon appetit, please do get this out of my face.

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