The members of Holopaw must have thick skin if their paws are in fact hollow. Otherwise, how could they play guitar with Nick Drake quickness and lightness? How could they play trilled bluegrass mandolin runs? How could they play cymbal-swells that last forever, ambiguous and unresolved? Wouldn't their unreinforced fingers collapse under the pressure? I think so.
At the end, when the back-up singer switches to "this little light of mine," I think of McCoy Tyner surprising John Coltrane with an unexpected and perfectly placed chord. [Buy]
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Christine Maki - "Portuguese Soundscape"
For those of you wondering about Montreal's Portuguese community (I assume that's all of you):
My editor, Max Maki, makes radio documentaries. Some are serious and newsy and some, like this one, are hysterical and whimsical. She is a gifted observer of life's small incongruities and absurdities, and as such, makes radio that is very funny and just a little bit (and only obliquely) existentially significant. [Email]
Posted by Jordan at June 29, 2005 11:17 PMDo you guys get subsidized by Amazon in exchange for linking to them? Just curious.
That Holopaw album is pretty good. I got it after I heard the Ugly Casanova album, and, although it doesn't nearly measure up, Holopaw is enjoyable.
Posted by Sam at June 30, 2005 2:07 PMThat radiothing is really funny. But I don't understand that someone could dis natas (ie, those yummy portuguese tarts). they might be the most delicious things in the world!
the recording of the whistling portuguese man, night, snow, is lovely.
(i just wish i hadn't humiliated myself during a series of back-and-forth jokes when i first saw christine at her fado-courtyard home!)
Posted by Sean at June 30, 2005 7:04 PMw00t! that holopaw song has been one of my sneak-it-onto-every-mix-cd-possible go-to song for a while now. guess i need to find another one, though :)
Posted by seth at July 2, 2005 9:09 PM