Archive for the ‘comedy’ Category

Hundred Word Reviews: Vinyl Roundup for May 2013

Wednesday, May 22nd, 2013

Here’s another installment in my occasional series of capsule reviews; this time ’round I’m focusing on vinyl releases. My self-imposed limit for this particular exercise is 100 words on each album.

Hoff Ensemble – Quiet Winter Night
It’s subtitled “An acoustic jazz project,” so don’t look for any Fender Rhodes or vibraphone. In fact, to my ears, it’s a bit of a stretch to classify this twelve-song LP jazz. Adult pop is more like it; with gentle textures that would please listeners who enjoyed the quieter moments on Sting‘s Ten Summoner’s Tales, it’s a low key, classy outing. Flawlessly recorded in a church in Norway, the six-piece ensemble (guitar, piano, percussion, upright bass, trumpet, fiddle and, um, “nyckelharpa”) is fronted by an assortment of six solo vocalists (mostly females) on most of the lovely tunes.


JT Habersaat & the Altercation Punk Comedy Tour – Hostile Corporate Takeover
Comedy albums are an odd duck; no matter how great they might be, they rarely hold up to (nor warrant) repeated listening. That said, this collection – featuring stand up routines from five different performers – is entertaining. Some of the material borders on the offensive/misogynist, but this is small-club stand-up we’re talking about, not Las Vegas or the Catskills. Oddly, the best bits aren’t especially roaringly funny; instead, Mike Wiede‘s two-part “Bruce Story” is warm and real, and does elicit some genuine chuckles. The other four featured artists are best described as hit-or-miss, but definitely still worth hearing.


Marshall Crenshaw – Stranger and Stranger (10” EP)
Maybe not forever, but for the time being Marshall Crenshaw’s approach to new music is via three-song EPs rather than full albums. The upside of this for artist and listener is immediacy: shorter time between releases. I discussed the project recently with Crenshaw in an interview, one of several I’ve done. Here, the man’s reliable sense of melody and arrangement serves him well on the breezy title tune (with great Crenshaw guitar solo) that finds him atypically singing in his upper register. A lovely, straight Bacharach/David cover (“Close to You”) and reinvented solo “Maryanne” round out this must-have platter.


R. Stevie Moore – “I Missed July” b/w “Trade My Heart for Your Parts” (7” single)
Moore has no peer in music; that doesn’t mean that you’ll enjoy him, as he always charts his own idiosyncratic path. He can be irresistibly tuneful on a par with the greatest names, or weird enough to frighten Residents fans. Asked to provide two songs for a single release on the indie label Sweaters & Pearls, he selected one from 1978 and another from 1994 for this red vinyl. The a-side shows his cracked approach to pop; it’s a sort of jangly, lo-fi Beatles-by-way-of-Todd-Rundgren, yet it sounds like no one but RSM. The flip is Jimmy Buffett meets XTC. Brilliant.

Follow “the_musoscribe” on Twitter and get notified
when new features, reviews and essays are published.

Tags:, , ,
Posted in comedy, jazz, new release, pop, rawk, review, vinyl | No Comments »

Preview: 50 Shades! The Musical

Wednesday, April 24th, 2013

Not long ago, a female friend – friend, I say – and I got into a conversation about the runaway bestseller Fifty Shades of Grey by E. L. James. Being a guy, I had only heard a little bit about the book; I knew it was very popular among a demographic one might describe as “bored housewives” (do those exist?) but the few women I knew who had read it described it as a poorly written book; one friend told me she put it down fifty pages in because it was so weak.

But my friend and I were a bit intrigued; after all, it has sold a gazillion copies – somebody’s reading it – and spawned a couple sequels. I hear there’s a movie in the planning stages, too. At some point during our discussion, she suggested that it might be amusing to read it aloud. So the next time we got together, we spent an evening with me cooking dinner, and her sitting at the bar – cocktail in one hand, trashy novel in the other — reading the book to me.

It was an hysterical experience. We were both laughing so hard; she attempted to voice the characters: the innocent first-person narrator nymphet and the intimidating, head-cocking, long-fingered titular character. My friend could barely contain her laughter; I didn’t even try. We both howled as this trainwreck of a book unfolded. About a half hour in, we both lost count of the number of times the hacktackular “author” described Grey’s long fingers, or noted that he (ahem) cocked his head.

All I could think – between peals of uncontrollable laughter – was, “Who reads this shit?” It’s perhaps best described as “a book for people who don’t read books.” I think I lost more brain cells having Fifty Shades read to me than I did my entire junior year in college.

The narrating character Ana is clearly meant to be portrayed – at least initially – as a naïf; but if E.L. James’ wring style is any indication, she’s none too experienced – in writing, I mean – either. Fifty Shades of Grey may be the most horribly written piece of junk I’ve ever had the occasion to read. It’s laughably bad, and James seems never to have been within a hundred yards of a thesaurus.

Now, there’s bad-bad, and there’s good-bad. Fifty Shades is good-bad, the literary equivalent of Ed Wood‘s classic Plan 9 From Outer Space, quite possibly the worst film ever committed to celluloid. (And a must-see.)

So – some weeks after our little book-reading – it was with great amusement that I discovered that a production company was mounting a stage parody of the book. Not just any parody, mind you: it’s a musical! From the press kit for 50 Shades! The Musical comes this grin-inducing teaser:

When you finished reading 50 Shades of Grey, did you think, “What that book needed was more singing?” So did we! Based on the greatest novel of all time, 50 Shades! tells the story of Christian Grey and Ana, chockfull of wrestling singlets, handcuffs, and helicopters with silly names. Come see a hilarious show full of BDSM (Best Damn Songs and Music)! If we’re as good at writing musicals as E.L. James is at writing novels, then everyone is in for a truly memorable night!

I wasted little time in contacting the show’s publicists, and I am pleased almost beyond description to tell you that I will be headed to Knoxville TN this Saturday to see the show (with my reading partner, of course). The show will be at Knoxville’s historic Bijou, with a matinee at 6pm and a late show at 9pm. Tickets are available here. Look for my review soon on these pages.

Follow “the_musoscribe” on Twitter and get notified
when new features, reviews and essays are published.

Tags:,
Posted in comedy, live shows | No Comments »

Margaret Cho: More Honesty in Her Comedy Than Anywhere Else

Tuesday, February 5th, 2013

by Annelise Kopp, Guest Blogger

“Always in the midst of comedy,” Margaret Cho believes that the art hinges on writing and delivery, saying “there’s not really one without the other.” She also values the different formats that comedy is taking: “there’s a lot of great stuff happening online.” In late January 2013, Margaret played back-to-back shows at Asheville NC’s Orange Peel. When asked what it took to ensure the freshness of these performances, Margaret assuredly said that “performing is really exciting.” Waiting for Margaret’s opening act to come on stage, I received a text from a friend who described her matinee performance as “amazing.” The subsequent show displayed no indication that she had done this twice in a row. This speaks strongly to the point Margaret made in her interview that each show is different, that the venue and audience bring a new energy to each show.

Those January 23 shows both opened with Selene Luna; Margaret describes her as a potential member of her ideal “comedy supergroup.” With Selene’s very first jokes an authentic, dynamic and personal relationship was formed with the crowd; that setting acted as a perfect primer for Margaret’s entrance to the stage.

More than just a rehearsed character, Margaret is an activist, a performer and a writer; she says that that all components of the work that she does feeds into each other. She says that “music is probably the hardest because it has to fit into the rhythm and time,” while describing blogging as “very organic and easy to do.” Yet rather than acting as disparate parts, all facets of Margaret’s work complement each other. If you’ve yet to visit her blog, you can look forward to a commentary that is equal parts earnest and comical (although, admittedly, one of her posts nearly brought me to tears). In spite of managing these different components of her persona and career, Margaret’s angle on comedy is refreshingly fleshed-out and whole. Her advocacy stems from the same candor as her blogs and her comedy.

Margaret Cho has been a strong advocate for the release of three 8-year-old boys wrongly accused of murder. The case of the “West Memphis 3” was encapsulated in time by the film Paradise Lost. That 1996 film (and its 2000 sequel) illuminated the narrative constructed in the accusation of these boys – one which relied mainly on the gothic decorum of the young boys. Damien Echols, one of the three Arkansas boys, exchanged letters with Cho during his 20 year sentence awaiting the death penalty. In her interview, Margaret described writing letters to Damien, trying to explain things like the internet and Twitter. “I remember a time I was trying to explain the internet to him, and he couldn’t comprehend all that was happening in terms of technology because he had been in prison for so long…and now to have things like twitter…it’s pretty profound.” Regretfully, I didn’t ask for a transcription of the email describing Twitter, but expect that Margaret’s definition would be worthy of global adoption.

Margaret, who grew up in a bookstore and expressed an interest in too many genres to name (she’s currently reading Opium Fiend), encouraged Damien Echols to write a book during his time in prison. With the help of Margaret, Damien released his book Life After Death, which was used in his defense (he even tweeted to thank her for all of her support). Now, all three boys have been released, and Margaret says she’s kept in touch. “I think it’s really important to listen to his story…they’re a great example of how our justice system does not really work to correct its errors.” Her advocacy does not seem to derive from a different script than anything else she does, either. While she described the processes of writing music, comedy, and blogs to be distinct, she says that truthfulness is always paramount.

One of Margaret’s favorite bands is Broken Social Scene, which she says she has been lobbying to get into for some time. “It’s such a very very large band, so I figure they might not notice if I kind of play something…hopefully I will be allowed in one day…” She even says that leader Kevin Drew has said she could be in the group. Margaret, we’re waiting with bated breath.

Rather than a mere performance, the Mother tour was an engaging dialogue. Margaret quickly establishes a relationship with her audience that transcends the divide between the stage and the floor. Rather than feeling that you are spectating a show, you enter into a world where Margaret Cho is your oldest (and funniest) friend. She delivers jokes sharing intimate details of her life as if there is scarcely a person that would understand better than you, her audience. While some comedians have exploited these explicit details for shock value, one comes to expect an honesty from Margaret, one that refocuses the comedy on her comedy and delivery. When Margaret told me that “I think I have way more honesty in my comedy than anywhere else in my life,” it was hard to believe. But once I saw her onstage, I was a believer. “If you can get to a deep truth sort of revealing things about yourself,” she says, “I think that the audience can understand that and recognize that.”

You may enjoy these other Musoscribe features and reviews by Annelise Kopp:

 

 

Tags:, ,
Posted in comedy, interview, live shows | 1 Comment »

Capsule Reviews: January 2013, Part 5

Wednesday, January 23rd, 2013

Here’s yet another installment in my occasional series of capsule reviews; today it’s Latin psych, comedy, rock’n'roll and country, and pop. I had a huge stack of CDs deserving of review, but time doesn’t allow for full-length reviews of everything, and these were beginning to gather dust. They deserve better. My self-imposed limit for this particular exercise is 150 words on each album.

Alfonso Lovo – La Gigantona
Count on the Numero Group for fascinating, outside-the-box releases of previously-ignored music. Their Buttons powerop compilation, their reissues of rare material by soul/r&b artist Lou Ragland, and The Boddie Recording Company, and funksters Father’s Children all brought obscurities out of undeserved shadows. And those are just a few. One of the latest is La Gigantona. Originally slated for release in the mid 1970s, this album by Nicaraguan Alfonso Lovo was a victim of that country’s political unrest. Will it sound to untrained ears like Santana? Sure, it will. The presence of percussionist José “Chepito” Areas will only reinforce that sonic connection. But there’s a psychedelic weirdness here – treated vocals, out-there guitar – that moves well beyond Santana’s bag of tricks. Rescued from the sole surviving acetate of the finished album sessions, La Gigantona is a funky, Latin psych-flavored disc that may conjure “what ifs” in your mind.

Joan Rivers – Presents Mr. Phyllis & Other Funny Stories
It’s the rare comedy record – The Button Down Mind of Bob Newhart, for example — that sounds as fresh today as in 1962. Joan Rivers started her stand-up career (these days, when she’s known more as a “personality,” we forget she ever had one) back in the mid 60s, and her debut LP has been reissued by the eclectic sorts at Rock Beat. While a lot of her humor here is built around the subject of her hairdreser (the Mr Phyllis of the title) her approach is surprisingly non-homophobic. Remember, this was 1965. The material is delivered in a well-timed, manic style, and Rivers deftly riffs off the audience’s reaction to her jokes. The absurdity of the gags – bits about wig farms and such – is pretty goofy, but there’s a sly and subtle wit to her material that might pass you by on the first listen.

Jerry Lee Lewis – The Killer Live! 1964-1970
Fleshtones biographer Joe Bonomo authored a rhapsodic book-length mash note to one of music’s all-time great albums, Jerry Lee Lewis‘ landmark 1964 LP Live! At the Star Club. Jerry Lee Lewis: Lost and Found is required reading, irrespective of how you feel about Lewis. Recently Hip-O Select collected that album with two other live Lewis documents: The Greatest Live Show on Earth (1964) and Live at the International Las Vegas (1970). While the second ’64 LP certainly suffers in comparison to the German concert, it has its moments, and a bunch of outtakes rise to a similar standard. By the time of the Vegas gig, Lewis had figured out where the money was (hint: country and western), but even it is worthwhile. Sixty live tracks is a Whole Lotta Lewis, but at least a full third of it (and possibly half) is some of the wildest stuff you’ll ever hear.

Dion – The Complete Laurie Singles
Real Gone Music continues a tradition its founders began at their old label (Collectors’ Choice Music) of putting together career-spanning singles collection of pop artists. For completists, these can’t be beat: nearly always sourced from the master tapes, there’s excellent mastering, transfer and fidelity to be found. And since we’re talking about singles, any number of non-LP sides appear, sometimes making their first appearance in digital format. Dion DiMucci – known in those teen idol days simply by his first name – enjoyed some well-deserved hits through his time on Laurie (a period that nearly extended to both ends of the 1960s), but nearly all of the hits came in the pre-Beatles era. Of course “Runaround Sue” and “The Wanderer” are here, but too are some interesting late-period pieces including a bizarre reinvention of Jimi Hendrix‘s “Purple Haze” (#63 pop) that sounds more like Arthur Lee‘s Love.

Follow “the_musoscribe” on Twitter and get notified
when new features, reviews and essays are published.

Tags:, , , ,
Posted in comedy, compilation, new release, psych, rawk, reissue, review | 1 Comment »

Album Review: Dickie Goodman – Long Live the King

Tuesday, January 15th, 2013


File this one under Guilty Pleasures. Back in the early 70s when I was a kid, the novelty records that Dickie Goodman put together were a cultural touchstone. A trash-culture one, perhaps, but significant nonetheless, especially in the life of a ten-year old pop culture omnivore such as young Billy.

Goodman was certainly ahead of his time on many levels: his ideas about reprocessing the work of others aren’t really, when you get right down to it, all that far removed from the art of Andy Warhol, or the work of any number of rap/hip-hop acts. Of course Goodman was never aiming for High Art; far from it. These admittedly goofy pieces combine silly “interview” questions with snippets of then-popular songs. And the popularity of Goodman’s little vignettes was pretty long-lasting: his first hit was “The Flying Saucer,” way back in 1956, and like any effective trash culture act, he milked that one as long and as far as he could. But the hits continued well into the 1970s, with “Mr. Jaws” in ’74.

Sadly, my personal favorite, “Energy Crisis ’74” isn’t among the 27 cuts included on Long Live the King. Its format deviated little from what came before (the hits) and after (the somewhat tired, flogging-a-dead-horse non-hits, which fill the second half of this disc), but it was fun, and appealing enough that this then-ten-year-old spent nearly a dollar of his hard-earned allowance on the 45rpm single. (I still have it.)

Goodman’s son Jon pens an informative (if perhaps a bit more reverent than one might like) set of liner notes for this highly unusual Rock Beat release. His “Election 2012” – included here – attempts to revive Dad’s old format, and while all of the elements seem to be in place, it’s just not quite the same. Of course I’m not ten anymore, either. Still, Long Live the King will bring smiles (at least briefly) to the lips of those of a certain age who subsisted on AM radio in their formative years.

Follow “the_musoscribe” on Twitter and get notified
when new features, reviews and essays are published.

Tags:,
Posted in comedy, compilation, new release, review | No Comments »