PopCornucopia is all about free associative pop culture tidbits as they strike my fancy, just like kernels of corn exploding into fullness at a random and unpredictable pace. And of course, the cornucopia is the horn of plenty.
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Fiveng: Tearin' up the internets
The serious artist and his sister (from the same womb)
My beloved brother from another mother, Nicholas Ng (a.k.a Fiveng) is getting some nods from local San Francisco music internet publications. His music is really wonderful. Quirky, thoughtful, often danceable, and always a rewarding, rich listen.
Here's the link to the most recent shout out today.
I mentioned his music in a previous post, but this stuff is so great, just had to re-present it.
One of the most delicioso thangs here in the Netherlands has to be pannekoeken. Bigger than your face. Decadent as sin. Brimming with any amount of almonds, apples, raisins, cinnamon, ginger, or any other array of toppings/fillings. You can get savory ones too. But its the sweet ones, dusted generously with powdered sugar, I tell ya. The sweet ones FTW. Oh yeah. Zoet pannekoeken FTMFW.
There's also the petite version of the Dutch pancake, these little pillows of wonder, aptly named poffetjes.
Although if you want to get serious about savory pancakes, then there's okonomiyaki.
If you've never had this before you need to try it! A pancake stuffed with meat, cabbage, seafood, noodles, and potentially other goodies, it often comes with bonito flakes undulating on top, and a healthy slathering of bulldog sauce (think a much sweeter and tastier version of A1) and a good dollop of mayo.
Here I was, thinking I might be in a hinterland sorely lacking in some of the delights that I have so missed from my beloved city by the bay, okonomiyaki eateries being one of them. And yet...there's one in Amsterdam! It looks very promising indeed. Japanese Pancake World. What? A whole world, you say? Bring it!
Who wants to go? Give me a shout out. I've been dying for some good Japanese food. And this just might be the ticket...
And finally, it made me remember reading this great story, The Big Pancake, as a kid. It's like The Gingerbread Man: the remix.
This song packs so much into just over two minutes. It reminds me of the fabulous economy of pop songs in those days. Amazing how it builds up into the crescendo towards the chorus and really soars. These guys were (and still are) great performers. Can you believe they're still going? And they look like they barely aged!
Of course, their music is permeates later generations. It's been covered countless times. Teedra Moses (who I will perhaps post further on) is one of the unsung R & B singer/songwriters out there, and her homage to Little Anthony and co. is damn crunk:
People, I command you to ride the Moses soul train!
Here's the original flavor for reference:
Can't get L.A. & the I's outta my head! Day and night. Wrong or right.
Apologies for the longer than normal absence from the bloggosphere. After a trip to Stockholm and playing catchup on schoolwork thereafter it is now time to resuscitate this baby.
With that, I offer you a little chain of musical connections for which MIA is the connective tissue. Say what you will about her, the neon eyesore clothing, the hipster fandom fawning, the lazy appropriation of revolutionary tropes, there is still something substantive to her music in the beat, the feeling, and the occasional flash of melodic brilliance.
I'd like to demostrate that by starting with a pretty little song I've been grooving to lately:
Sound familiar? Well, more recently this came out:
Speaking of another track by MIA, check this one:
And if you thought that was even remotely cool, Vijay Iyer's latest release Historicity riffs off that in a ridiculously staggering way. He takes the song where you never thought it would go. Like, WHOA:
See man, it's all connected.
Anyone care to see Mr. Iyer with me? He's playing in Holland in late December.
Allison Iraheta is on fi-yah!!!!!!!!! Can't wait for this fierce young woman's album to drop. Step aside disneylettes, this is the real teenage phenom ish.
Anoop just keeps bringin' it. Le Sigh.
Things like this make me think that he could be an awesome mix of Wayne Brady, Jamie Foxx, and Jon Stewart on his own TV show. The self-effacing dry humor? HAWT.
And the final frontier in genre blending awesomeness: Noop-velle Vague. It's orgasmic. Two things I flove coming together. Behold.
The new crown prince of R&B geek chic and Belmondo/Karina? My mind is blown.
For those of you who missed it, the premiere of FlashForward.
Pretty riveting, no? I wish there was some quirkier stuff in it, it seems to take itself a bit too seriously at points, and I don't find Joseph Fiennes to be that compelling of a lead. But John Cho will always and forever kick ass. Loving Alex Kingston being in this too(albeit briefly)! I still remember her awesome work as Moll Flanders. And the Jack Davenport teaser? Good thing he's keeping his English accent. His American accent was a little strange in Swingtown. Also, I want Gabby Union. Where is Miss Independent? Can't wait to keep going on the wild ride with this show. Ah, plot driven television.
Hooray for Sondre! In other news: hipster male v-neck t-shirts blow.
Sondre Lerche is never groundbreaking, shocking, or intense. But that's not his point, really. Light ditties, with an occasional dark undercurrent are what he does best.
So with that in mind, go forth and enjoy his music--a nice dose of pure, nuanced, blissfully melodic acoustic pop. He's got a new album out:
Ugh, I am not a fan of that stupid v-neck shirt though, and the just rolled out of bed musician look is a bit cliche, especially when paired with those neon sneakers (see below). With the neckscarf too? Stop already. And while I am admittedly in much more of a soul/R&B/hip hop phase right now, there ain't nothin' like a pretty tune from Sondre:
Plus, he is disarmingly cute live. Here are the tour dates.
I have been grooving to a nice little cover of SWV's "Weak" by Gretchen Parlato. To listen go here. It's apparently arranged by Robert Glasper, who I am really digging right now too.
I heard Parlato perform the cover live this summer at one of the shows at the SJW Festival (i.e. Stanford Jazz Workshop, my former employer). Pianist Taylor Eigsti introduced the song, asking the mostly middle aged + kids-too-young-to-remember-the-golden-age-of-early-90's-girl-groups audience if they had heard of the SWV song, and there was no recognition whatsoever :( I was raising my hand in the back with devil horns to no effect.
But at any rate, they rocked this cover, and it has been seared in my brain. My connection to the song goes back some 17 years ago, one of the very first cassette singles I ever bought. I also have sweet memories of driving from Cape Town to Hout Bay with Jon David on the Fourth of July, singing along to SWV on the radio. JD told me about his dad's secretary who was a rabid SWV fan.
And kudos for Courtney B. Vance who picks up on it right away. And his laugh (hee hee) is priceless.
I am really excited about this show! The cast is kickass, and good n' diverse. Not only do they have Vance, and Monsieur Cho--who promoted the series in GQ in a swanky 6 page photo spread, channeling a splash of Tony Leung, schooling dudes on wearing a double breasted suit well (hotness alert)--but they have two other majorly cool thespians lined up who I am also thrilled about:
1) Gabrielle Union (who apparently plays Cho's love interest--YES for blasian couple representation. Is it too much to ask for a more complex and passionate relationship than Romeo Must Die? Sorry, that's the last time I can remember this type of racial/gender romantic configuration). She always plays strong, smart, sassy, sexy, classy women. Who could forget her star turn in Bring It On? Here she is on Chelsey Lately doing some pretty straight-up yet hilarious race talk, speaking out about how women are silenced, and implicitly reveals herself as a news/popculture junkie:
After all, she IS Miss Independent (I totally heart this song, even if none of the women in this video present themselves in a form that actually illustrates the concept of being "fly effortlessly". Gab's hair is mighty fierce nontheless):
and
2) Jack Davenport. So hilarious as Steve in Coupling. He is great when he tries to defend the stupid myths of masculinity and femininity. You may also know him as Commodore Norrington in the Pirates of the Carribean:
Oh yeah, Joe "Shakespeare in Love/the lesser of the two" Fiennes and Dominic "Lost Hobbit" Monaghan are also in it. So that's three white dudes (all from across the pond, playing presumably Americanos) for your three people of color. But who's keeping score anyway?
FlashForward (not to be confused with this televisual gem of my adolescence) premieres in September 24th. I hope I can watch it online. Sometimes that stuff isn't available outside of the U.S. And I will cry citrus flavored tears if I can't.
As always, the bifurcation of my blogosphere is split thus:
Here at PopCornucopia, you'll get my musings on pop culture, often with critical slant, as well as any arts and entertainment rocking my world. Over at The Avera Palimpsest, you can always find the personal life updates,the travelogues, the newsworthy, and the serious social justice reflection.
If you head over there now, you'll find links to my pictorial accounts of my short trip to Germany and a walk around in my temporary Leiden neighborhood (until the lease on my apartment starts and I move into the city center).
But don't take this is a guarantee that I'll be back in full blogging force. Indeed, this is the lull just before classes start, so we'll see how my time management shakes down. But I hope to be able to serve you more kernels of Pop! Perhaps even some Dutch pop fun...
For now, a little XTC to celebrate my arrival in the verdant Netherlands:
Yep, I will do my utmost to post some good stuff in here once again, but life's just gotten in the way.
The blogging dropoff is largely due to the manic activity of the last three weeks of my job, with a jazz festival, camp and residency program going at full force, and being marooned on the island that is Stanford. Thankfully, the storm from that weather front has subsided.
Alas, further complications have lead me to moving to a faraway place that requires international wire transfers, deciphering the indecipherable, and the general stress of relocation at a breakneck pace. So until that is fully in swing, don't expect anything regular.
Thanks for your patience and understanding of the intermittent nature of posting in the coming weeks.
Once again, Mana proves she has excellent taste. She raved about stand up comic Hari Kondabolu whom she saw live and was ROFL. Now I haven't the privilege of checking it out live, but the vids were enough to sell me on his up and coming greatness.
Now those of you who pooh-pooh at the general lameness and lack of critical awareness in comedians, Hari will combat your dismissive attitude if you just watch. He is immediately self deprecating, politically engaged, fearless, and adorably nerdy all in one fell swoop. Anti-racist, anti-colonialist, AND guffaw inducing? Say, what? Yes, people, it is possible and Kondabolu succeeds with aplomb.
But my favorite piece of work is a recent short film, Manoj, which he wrote and starred in. It's a "profile" of a racial caricature Indian hack comic Manoj (portrayed by a bearded Mr. Kondabolu), his dumb white fans, and an exaggerated version of Hari himself, deeply angry at the horrifying setback that Manoj represents for his own comedic aspirations. There's a bit of the Merchant/Gervais funnily-painful-to-watch mockumentary style in there, but it's also a really insightful piece that is a penetrating commentary on performers and their audiences. It questions who comedy serves, who is laughing at whose expense, and how people internalize stereotype and instrumentalize them in ways that further entrench racism, etc. (all those other bad bad -isms that social justice warriors, myself included, get incensed about).
The serious artist and his sister (from the same womb)
