Little Simz :: Offence
Cheekface :: Eternity Leave
The Budos Band :: Old Engine Oil
DeeWunn + Leo Justi :: Back it Up, Drop It
The Drums :: Body Chemistry
Yann Tiersen :: Koad
Previous Mixtapes:
Month: March 2019
Podcasts of the Week Ending March 30th
To the Best of Our Knowledge :: Is The Internet Built For Everyone?
Women built the internet, but in practice are victims of virulent misogyny. Here are stories of women making the internet a more inclusive space.
Throughline :: The Phoebus Conspiracy
The history of planned obsolescence, or why the products we buy aren’t built to last.
Smithsonian Sidedoor :: The Feather Detective
The story of Roxie Laybourne, the Smithsonian bird expert who’s research into feathers helped her identify birds struck by commercial aircraft and prevent future collisions.
Running tally of Podcast of the Week appearances:
- Afropop Worldwide – 1
- The Anthropocene Reviewed – 1
- BackStory – 1
- Best of the Left– 1
- Code Switch – 2
- Decoder Ring – 1
- Fresh Air – 2
- Hidden Brain – 1
- Household Name – 1
- Hub History – 1
- Memory Palace – 1
- More Perfect – 1
- 99% Invisible – 6
- The New Yorker Radio Hour – 1
- On the Media – 2
- Planet Money – 1
- Planet Money: The Indicator – 1
- Re:Sound – 1
- Radiolab – 1
- Radio Boston – 2
- 60 Second Science – 1
- Smithsonian Sidedoor – 2
- This American Life – 1
- Throughline – 4
- To the Best of Our Knowledge – 1
- Tomorrow Society – 1
- The Truth – 2
- Twenty Thousand Hertz – 1
- The War on Cars – 1
- WBUR News – 2
- We Need Some Milk – 1
- What Next – 1
Album Review: On the Line by Jenny Lewis
Album: On the Line
Artist: Jenny Lewis
Release Date: March 22, 2019
Favorite Tracks:
- Heads Gonna Roll
- Wasted Youth
- Hollywood Lawn
- Dogwood
Thoughts:
As a brief prelude to this review, a new album from Jenny Lewis reminded me of how much I liked Rabbit Fur Coat, followed by the stunning realization that the album was released in 2006! I discovered Rabbit Fur Coat at the time when I first started becoming aware of new music through podcasts and streaming services, and now my “new way” of consuming music is rather old at 13.
Okay, onto the actual new album, which is Jenny Lewis’ fourth. The album has a retro-sound reminiscent of 70s sunny California pop. This sound is added by the appearance of veteran musicians like Don Was, Ringo Starr, and Jim Keltner in he backing band. Nevertheless, the sound is still fresh, and the lyrics are anything but frothy. Lewis is primarily a storyteller, telling stories of people desiring escape, lost love, and lots and lots of substance abuse. There’s a lot of humor in her lyrics, but often the humor is a way of revealing deeper pains.
Rating: ***1/2
Book Review: Around Harvard Square C.J. Farley
Author: C.J. Farley
Title: Around Harvard Square
Publication Info: Brooklyn, NY : Black Sheep / Akashic Books, 2019.
Summary/Review:
I received a free copy of this book through the Library Thing Early Reviewers program.
This novel is narrated by Tosh, an African-American Freshman at Harvard who grew up in a small town in rural Upstate New York and is the first person in his family to go away for college. He forms a friendship of outcasts with his roommate Lao, a student from China with a fear of robots, and Meera, an androgynous Indian student. He also is attracted to the mysterious Zippa, a Jamaican student squatting in the trash room of his residence hall.
The trio of Tosh, Lao, and Meera take a philosophy course with an eccentric and provocative professor known as “the Chair.” They also get involved in a competition to get spots on the staff of the university humor magazine, the Harvard Harpoon. The experience is a lot like rushing a fraternal organization with hazing rituals and cruel pranks. Zippa appears first as something like a Greek chorus on what Tosh is doing and then later joins the action as a provocateur.
Many names in the novel are changed – like the Harpoon, which is substituted for the Lampoon – as are the names of prominent Harvard alumni, although it’s blatantly obvious who they are. There’s also a book within the narrative called Around Harvard Square which is said to be a famous novel where all the names were changed, so that’s super-meta, I guess. The book is set in the 90s which is emphasized by each chapter being named for a 90s alternative rock or hip hop song title. But the dialogue in the book seems more like it’s from the 2010s. Also, I may be stretching it here, but I see odd parallels between Tosh, Lao, and Meera with the leads in another school-based book set in the 90s, Harry, Ron, and Hermione. Only 90s kids will understand.
I really want to love this book, because it is witty and the characters and the premise are a good start. But unfortunately, the plot just jumps around, there are way too many coincidences, and the dialogue is like people practicing dialectics rather than natural speak. The idea that privileged white people and the academic institutions that support them need to be taken down a peg is a good one (and super relevant reading this just after the college admissions scandal), but there’s no subtlety in this satire.
Recommended books:
- Welcome to Braggsville by T. Geronimo Johnson
- Apex Hides the Hurt by Colson Whitehead
- Joe College by Tom Perrotta
- Chronic City by Jonathan Lethem
Rating: **
Book Review:Help!: The Beatles, Duke Ellington, and the Magic of Collaboration by Thomas Brothers
Author: Thomas Brothers
Title: Help!: The Beatles, Duke Ellington, and the Magic of Collaboration
Narrator: Keith Sellon-Wright
Publication Info: HighBridge Audio (2018)
Summary/Review:
I received a free advance review copy of this audiobook through the Library Thing Early Reviewers program.
The author of this book is a Duke University musicologist, and I don’t think I will represent the musicology well in this summary, although I did find it interesting to listen to. Brothers uses two popular music acts of the 20th century to illustrate the creative genius of musicians collaborating together to create new tunes: Duke Ellington and The Beatles. This is basically two books in one with half the book about each group of artists.
Ellington is generally depicted as a lone genius composer, but Brothers states that he was more of an arranger than a composer. He relied on others – particularly Bubber Miley and later Billy Stayhorn – to write the songs, and his entire band contributed parts as they worked on a tune. That Ellington frequently gave himself sole writing credit was a recurring source of disgruntlement for Ellington’s band members.
The Beatles are more widely recognized as a collaboration – Lennon-McCartney – although it’s commonly believed that John Lennon and Paul McCartney only composed songs together in The Beatles’ early years. Brothers breaks down the recordings and shows that not only were Lennon and McCartney were collaborating right up until the Beatles broke up, but a wider group of collaborators contributed to creating the Beatles music including George Harrison, Ringo Starr, producer George Martin, sound engineer Geoff Emerick, guest artists like Eric Clapton and Billy Preston, and yes, even Yoko Ono.
Brothers makes the controversial, but accurate, statement that Strayhorn was musically more talented than Ellington, and that McCartney’s musical talent outclassed Lennon’s. But Ellington had the ability to listen to various solos by the artists in his band and arrange them tunefully, while Lennon brought a rock & roll edge and lyrical bite to McCartney’s music. As I noted, there’s an academic level to this book that is perhaps beyond a novice to me, but I still enjoyed reading about these great artists and how they made their most memorable tunes. But mostly, I want to listen to some Duke Ellington and The Beatles now.
Recommended books: How the Beatles Destroyed Rock n Roll by Elijah Wald, Dreaming the Beatles by Rob Sheffield, Duke Ellington by James Lincoln Collier
Rating: ***
Book Review: You Can’t Be Neutral on a Moving Train by Howard Zinn
Author: Howard Zinn
Title: You Can’t Be Neutral on a Moving Train
Narrator: David Strathairn
Publication Info: Tantor Media, Inc, 2017 (originally published in 1994)
Previously Read by the Same Author:
Summary/Review:
I received an advanced review copy of this book through the Library Thing Early Reviewers program.
This book serves as an autobiography of the historian and activist Howard Zinn, and intersects with America’s history of inequality and imperialism, as well as the work of activists towards justice and equality. Zinn grew up poor in Brooklyn and worked at the Brooklyn Naval Yard where he formed bonds with the other laborers. He signed up with the Army Air Force during World War II in order to fight fascism, but was also exposed to segregation in the armed forces and participated in a napalm bombing raid in France that he felt was more of a show of American military might than a strategical necessity.
Zinn began his academic career at Spellman College in Atlanta in 1956 where he served as a mentor to Alice Walker and Marian Wright Edelman. He also became involved in the Civil Rights Movement, serving as an adviser to the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee. Zinn was fired for insubordination in 1963, and accepted a professorship at Boston University in 1964. Zinn’s arrival BU coincided with the movement against the war in Vietnam of which he became an active leader. Zinn’s courses were extremely popular but he also had to contend with prickly and conservative BU president, John Silber.
Despite the dominance of inequality and opression in the world, Zinn remains optomistic. He sees the changes made in people in the various movements as a net positive. He notes that while tyranny is a danger in a short term it also will be defeated by the people in the long term.
Recommended books: This is an Uprising by Mark Engler
Rating: ***1/2
2019 Major League Baseball Predictions
Time begins on March 28th, when a new Major League Baseball season starts and all the teams are tied for first place (well except in the AL West where Seattle and Oakland have already played two games in Japan).
Here are my predictions for how the 2019 will come to an end.
NL East
The Phillies aggressive offseason will give them the NL East title, although the Nationals will be neck-and-neck with them over the season. The Braves will regress a little after last season’s division championship. The Mets sadly will continue to lack the offense to support the stellar pitching. And Miami will continue to be mediocre.
Philadelphia
Washington (wild card)
Atlanta
New York
Miami
NL Central
The Cubs will reclaim the NL Central and Milwaukee will capture the wild card. I’m honestly not sure how the rest of the division will shake out, because the Reds and Pirates have the talent to surprise, but then again the Cardinals could be better than 3rd as well.
Chicago
Milwaukee (wild card)
St. Louis
Cincinnati
Pittsburgh
NL West
The boring old Dodgers will continue to dominate, while improvements in the Padres will help them snag a distant second place. The Rockies will regress after their 2018 Wild Card season and Arizona and San Francisco will each drop down a notch.
Los Angeles
San Diego
Colorado
Arizona
San Francisco
AL East
The Red Sox won’t win as many games as last season but neither will the Yankees. The Rays, Blue Jays, and Orioles will each be a little bit better than 2018, but the division will still shake out in the same order. Excepting the Orioles, this is probably the strongest division in baseball & its a shame that only 3 teams can make the postseason.
Boston
New York (wild card)
Tampa Bay (wild card)
Toronto
Baltimore
AL Central
Cleveland will once again win the AL Central, largely for lack of competition within the division. I expect the Twins will be the only other team to finish over .500, and the remainder of the division could shake out in any order.
Cleveland
Minnesota
Chicago
Detroit
Kansas City
AL West
The Astros, like the Dodgers, will continue to make the regular season a formality. Oakland may challenge for the Wild Card, but I don’t expect much from the rest of the division.
Houston
Oakland
Los Angeles
Seattle
Texas
WILD CARD PLAYOFFS:
Washington defeats Milwaukee
Tampa Bay defeats New York
DIVISIONAL SERIES:
Houston defeats Tampa Bay
Boston defeats Cleveland
Washington defeat Chicago
Los Angeles defeat Philadelphia
CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES:
Boston defeats Houston
Washington defeats Los Angeles
WORLD SERIES:
Somehow the Miracle Mets swoop in and win it all on the 50th anniversary of their first championship!
Theater Review: The Haunted Life at Merrimack Repertory Theatre
Play: The Haunted Life
Venue: Merrimack Repertory Theatre
Writer: Sean Daniels
Director: Sean Daniels and christopher oscar peña
Susan and I enjoyed a night out at the theater last night thanks to tickets I won from WERS. We saw a new play called The Haunted Life at the Merrimack Repertory Theatre in Lowell, MA which is based on a novel written by Lowell’s own Jack Kerouac. Kerouac’s wrote the novel in 1944 but it wasn’t published until 2014, and it contains a lot of autobiographical details about Kerouac’s life.
The play focuses on 19-year-old the Holden Caulfield-esque character Peter Martin (Raviv Ullman), and begins in the summer of 1941 when he is home for the summer after his freshman year at Boston College. One of Peter’s friends tries to encourage him to join the Army in order to find adventure, while another friend, Garabed (both played by Vichet Chum), keeps Peter up all night arguing about poetry. Peter also enjoys picnics with his girlfriend Eleanor (Caroline Neff). At home, Peter’s father Joe (Joel Colonder) – himself a French Canadian immigrant – rages about the new immigrants destroying America. Peter’s mother Vivienne (Tina Fabrique) worries about her older son who ran away to join the merchant marine a decade earlier and of whom Peter hardly remembers anything.
After fighting with his father over his racism, Peter also runs away to the merchant marine. When the US enters World War II, Peter leaves the merchant marine and tries to set himself up as poet in Manhattan, but is unable to make himself write anything. In of the most biting lines of dialogue, he tells Eleanor that he’s an “inactive poet,” to which she responds “an inactive poet is not a poet.” Losing friends and family to the war, Peter shuts out everyone else in his life, and wallows in brooding despair. Surprisingly, it is reconciling with his father that helps Peter to engage with the world again and decide what is important to do with his life.
The play is performed on a simple stage with few props against a backdrop of many windows fitted together. The performers frequently deliver monologues that comment on Peter’s feelings and actions, that can be poetic or pretentious depending on your perspective.
Vichet Chum is probably the strongest actor in the show and displays his versatility in playing multiple characters. Caroline Neff has a relatively small part, but also puts in a great performance, and also was the only actor who didn’t seem to be rushing her lines. I was delighted to find out that Tina Fabrique provided the vocals for the original Reading Rainbow theme song, although I’m sure does not want to be pigeonholed just for that. Fabrique may have the smallest part in the play but gives a depth and warmth to what could’ve been a stereotypical “mother” role. I appreciate the casting of actors that encapsulate the modern-day diversity of Lowell that adds to the sense that the issues debated in a play set almost 80 years ago are still the same issues of today.
The Haunted Life continues performances through April 14, so if you have the opportunity, get yourself to Lowell and see it!
Podcasts of the Week Ending March 23rd
99% Invisible :: Palaces for the People
Thoughts from Eric Klinenberg on social infrastructure, with a special focus on my beloved libraries, and how it improves the lives of people.
WBUR News :: Could ‘Meatless Meat’ Change Cultural Values Around Food?
As a vegetarian, I have concerns about the environmental and ethical issues of raising animals for meat (especially in mass, factory-farming methods currently in use), so I found this conversation about “meatless meat” and its possibilities intriguing.
Running tally of Podcast of the Week appearances:
- Afropop Worldwide – 1
- The Anthropocene Reviewed – 1
- BackStory – 1
- Best of the Left– 1
- Code Switch – 2
- Decoder Ring – 1
- Fresh Air – 2
- Hidden Brain – 1
- Household Name – 1
- Hub History – 1
- Memory Palace – 1
- More Perfect – 1
- 99% Invisible – 6
- The New Yorker Radio Hour – 1
- On the Media – 2
- Planet Money – 1
- Planet Money: The Indicator – 1
- Re:Sound – 1
- Radiolab – 1
- Radio Boston – 2
- 60 Second Science – 1
- Smithsonian Sidedoor –
- This American Life – 1
- Throughline – 3
- Tomorrow Society – 1
- The Truth – 2
- Twenty Thousand Hertz – 1
- The War on Cars – 1
- WBUR News – 2
- We Need Some Milk – 1
- What Next – 1
Album Review: It’s Real by Ex Hex
Album: It’s Real
Artist: Ex Hex
Release Date: March 22, 2019
Favorite Tracks:
- Tough Enough
- Cosmic Cave
- No Reflection
- Talk to Me
Thoughts:
This is the second album (following 2014’s Rips) from the Washington, DC based trio of Mary Timony on guitar, bassist Betsy Wright and drummer Laura Harris. It’s got a mix of 80s punk and hardrock with touches of power pop and 60s girl groups thrown in. There’s nothing quite original here, but it is a well-crafted collection of raging guitar solos and sweet harmonies.
Rating: ****
Panorama of the Mountains 