Histoire de Melody Nelson [CD]

Histoire de Melody Nelson by Serge Gainsbourg

The master melodist and provocateur, Serge Gainsbourg introduced a revolutionary recording with 1971's Histoire de Melody Nelson. The French pop star abandoned an archetypal singing style in place of a soft and nearly spoken word delivery. This was achieved by the singer's smokey, baritone voice captured by close microphone placement. The music behind this voice is expressive and experimental with shades of psychedelia. Groovy (and yes, there's really no other way of putting it) electric bass lines, freak out fuzz guitar and busy drums supply the basic tracks that are augmented by a choral and haunting string score by Jean-Claude Vannier.

Jane Birkin, Gainsbourg's then wife, appears on the front cover and also provides the voice of Melody Nelson. You see, this is a concept record. It tells a Lolita-esque tale of a middle-aged man out driving who accidentally hits a bicycling British girl. The man falls in love with his victim and a love affair follows. Melody soon decides to fly home and the man, now devastated, performs an African Cargo Cult ritual to make his love return. His desperation proves to be tragic as he discovers that this act of mysticism caused an airplane crash.

The songs of Serge Gainsbourg, and the Melody Nelson album in particular, have inspired many musicians including Air, Jarvis Cocker, Beck, Portishead, Sean Lennon and the Divine Comedy. Rarely has the marriage of lyrical ingenuity and musical arrangement been achieved in popular music.

The Saturday Big Tent Wedding Party

The Saturday Big Tent Wedding Party by Alexander McCall Smith

In the latest installment of the popular No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency series, Mma Grace Makutsi gets married, Mma Precious Ramotswe deals with a complicated case of attacks on a farmer's cattle, and the tiny white van takes on a metaphysical dimension. McCall Smith's characters handle the large and small dilemmas of life with a realistic mix of (mostly) good intentions and human vulnerability. His prose is charming and the loving portrait of Botswana, always in the background, makes you want to go there.

The Sign of Four

The Sign of Four by Conan Doyle

I.N.J Culbard illustrates Ian Edginton's adaption of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's The Sign of Four. This graphic novel takes on the second Sherlock Holmes story in which the famed detective and Doctor Watson must locate a mysterious stolen treasure. Holmes applies his trademark acute deductive reasoning skills while sprinkling in impatient and acerbic comments to all those within an earshot.

Being a longtime admirer of Doyle's Sherlock Holmes stories, seeing the tale presented as a graphic novel is a quite a treat.

The Ditty Bops [Music CD]

The Ditty Bops

I enjoyed this band so much the first time I heard them (live, at Pearl Street) that I bought five copies of their self-titled album; I kept one copy for myself and gave the rest as Christmas gifts. This is fun music. Amanda Barret and Abby DeWald excel at quirky lyrics and tight vocal harmonies, and these two very competent musicians (in addition to their fine singing Abby plays guitar and Amanda plays mandolin and dulcimer) are backed up by an excellent band that really knows how to swing. They play in a variety of styles; swing, blues, and ragtime are among their more obvious influences.

I love the sound of this album, but I also love the words to many of the songs. The lyrics can change from nonsensical, to mundane, to profound all in the course of a song, and a song like "Walk or Ride" does all of these while addressing an issue that is dear to my heart.

Wordy Shipmates [Book on CD]

Wordy Shipmates by Sarah Vowell

A romp through Puritan history. Vowell, a commentator on NPR's This American Life narrates this witty and sarcastic look at a small slice of Puritan history, intermixed with popular culture references. This quote from the book will give you a good sense of how she looks at history:

"I wish I didn't understand why Hutchinson risks damming herself to exile and excommunication just for the thrill of shooting off her mouth," writes Vowell. "But this here book is evidence that I have this confrontational, chatty bent myself."

Includes music and quotes read by such luminaries as John Oliver from The Daily Show. 6 discs, 7 hours

The Red Shoes [DVD]

The Red Shoes a film by Michael Powell & Emeric Pressburger

The Red Shoes is a visually stunning dramatic work about a ballet company led by the ruthless and contentious, but often charming director Boris Lermontov. Lermontov discovers dancer Vicky Page (portrayed by famed English ballet star Moira Shearer) at a society party and realizes her unparalleled potential. Before signing her to his company she must decide what role dancing plays in her life. Is it a passion she pursues or shall it consume her entirely? Can an artist love anything or anyone more than their craft? These conflicts becomes the underlying theme of the picture.

The Hans Christian Andersen story of The Red Shoes is the source in which the main ballet within the film is based. Instead of just viewing the performance from the theater audience's perspective, Powell and Pressburger take the camera's inside the action for a breathtaking, 17-minute sequence. We follow Page closely via dolly shots through various enormous, painted set pieces, close-ups of dancers movements and expressions and rich colored lights. The co-directors also chose to allow fantasy to be a part of the stage presentation as well with tasteful in camera visual effects.

The Red Shoes, which melodrama and beauty reach unbelievable heights, is a remarkable achievement in cinema.