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Book reviews
And The Reader debuts a new CD review format from two writers working independently and without knowledge the other was doing the same thing, proving once again that communicators are terrible at communicating
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We are witness to the rebirth of light rock By Richard Thomas
The album cover features a ghostly woman, suggesting the music is grim, spooky or gothy. Worry not. It’s uplifting, funky jazz-rock. But how much jazz rock features a violin?
The band originally was, in 2018, the duo of lead vocalist/violinist Ren Cooper and guitarist Nick Muska. Later that year they expanded into a quartet with Nick Glass on bass and Cody Thoreson on drums and they’ve been a fixture on the live local music circuit since. This is their first album, which was supposed to get its official release show last April (4/20, of course) but it was derailed, like everything else, by the ‘rona. It was rescheduled for July 22 but postponed again.
The opening track, “Come On Over” set the tone of the album, a lighthearted, romantic tune in which the narrator entices a love interest to her place by offering sweets, “booze from somewhere overseas, 60 proof” and herself. Aren’t guys supposed to do the enticing? Times have changed, in this case for the better.
The band is probably going to get tired of hearing their music described as “breezy,” but they brought it on themselves, one because it’s an accurate description and two, the second track is titled “Breeze.” Again, the subject is romance, this time with a sailing metaphor: “Wind it took my map / Waves they took my oar / Darling won’t you pull me closer to the shore.” The music isn’t so dire, more like a sunny, leisurely sail.
The dour album cover does accurately reflect the title track’s lyrics. It’s about an artist who used to paint with bright colors but is narrowing down her palette, first to pink, then to grey. Sounds depressing, though the song says, “She’s pensive in her solidarity as she looks around her home / Is it boldThey had me at ness or just vanity that keeps her painting here alone?” So is she really sad, or UWS Jazz Dept. is she experimenting with minimalism and preferring to be alone so she can By Jim Lundstrom focus? If it is depressing, you couldn’t tell from the music. It’s in a minor key, Along with the debut CD Monocbut it’s a spirited, catchy tune. hrome by the local band One Less
The music gets more intense with the Guest arriving at the office, there was longest track, “Deja Vu.” It starts slowly a letter that looked as if it might have with a violin solo by Cooper, followed been typed on an actual typewriter by a slow and mournful R & B number. with a few brief details about the band, During the bridge, Muska launches such as the members met through into a bluesy guitar solo that gets hairthe jazz program at the University of raising, especially when Cooper rejoins Wisconsin-Superior (go Killer Bees! – with her voice and hits the high notes. always happy to promote fellow Soup
“Suitcase for Two” shifts the tone Town alums, can you hear me Arnold back to casual yet spirited. The video Schwarzenegger?). features Muska chasing a The letter’s author, Nick singing suitcase down the street, ending up at Cooper’s place. “Tie Me Down” is as close to rock and roll as ONE BAND TWO REVIEWS Muska, the band’s guitarist and co-vocalist, also mentioned that since the April release of the album, the band has “amicably” the band gets, not surprisparted ways with ing given the title, though it’s only metaphorically about bondage. The fastRICHARD THOMAS & drummer Sten Duginski, and only mentions that the remaining members paced song gives Glass and JIM LUNDSTROM are now working with a Thoreson the opportunity new drummer “and are to show off their chops on continuing to write and bass and drums, respectively. grow as a group.”
“Where You Are” is a ballad and the I had heard Muska and vocalist/ slowest song. Muska sings for the first violinist Ren Cooper in a virtual live time on this one, though he’s dueting session on KUMD a while back, but I with Cooper. He sings, “I could play had forgotten how the band sounded Jack Kerouac, you could be my Cheryl when I sat down to listen to the CD, Strayed,” and I had to look up the and I purposely did not pull out the latter. (She’s the author of “Wild,” the booklet to read the credits until I heard book that got turned into the Reese the full recording once. Witherspoon movie.) In fact, I had forgotten there was a
He sings lead on the album closer, violinist in this band, but, two minutes “Vera,” with the rest of the band into the lead song, and Cooper’s violin providing backup. The song feels comes sweetly soaring in above the lightweight, like it could be the theme chunky funk groove already established to a ‘70s sitcom titled “Vera.” But as by the bass, drums and guitar. stated before, times have changed, and The interplay of the violin throughin some ways they haven’t. Things we out the record is really sweet (aurally, used to think were cheesy are now cool I mean, like candy for the ears) and again. We are witnessing the rebirth of adds depth and texture to the aural light rock, but no complaints as long as structures the band creates. it’s done this well. Cooper’s other instrument, her voice, is also in fine form. When she growls on the album opener “Come on over baby,” you get the feeling whoever that message is meant for better take heed.
Also standout throughout is Nick Glass’ bass playing. He often takes a lead role rather than serving purely in the traditional rhythmic role. He’s got a lush, fluid style, heard to great effect on the title tune “Monochrome.”
As well as playing guitars and harmonica, Muska is the other lead singer in the band. He takes the lead on the second song, “Breeze.” His voice immediately reminded me of a guy by the name of Andy Fairweather Low who had some hits on the radio when I lived in England in the 1970s – I went to see him in Luton one Thursday night that was celebrated as Thanksgiving here but was just another Thursday there; AFL went on to play guitar with Pink Floyd at some point.
Muska has the same innocent yet world-weary sound to his voice as Andy Fairweather Low. But since I have yet to meet anyone who knows Andy Fairweather Low, not much use making that comment, but, too late now. Anyway, you can look him up.
On top of a great crawling bass line from Glass, Muska plays a searing and dramatic guitar solo on the fourth track, “Déjà vu.” He builds to a crescendo that Cooper rides in on for a final high-note assault.
The record ends with “Vera,” an upbeat song about the end of a relationship.
One Less Guest’s debut recording exhibits some well-crafted songs along with the sort of talented musicianship I would expect from the UWS Jazz Dept. (the woman who became my second ex-wife played trombone at UWS; she was in a Dixieland band and I was doing a story on the band when we met).
Catch One Less Guest in living color in a parking lot concert with Teague Alexy at 7 pm Friday, Aug. 7, at Wussow’s Concert Cafe in beautiful downtown West Duluth.
Wisconsin’s progressive governor
Patrick J. Lucey: A Lasting Legacy Dennis L. Dresang
Wisconsin Historical Society Press
As Wisconsin governor from 1971 to 1977, Patrick J. Lucey pursued an ambitious progressive agenda, tempered by the concerns of a fiscal conservative and a pragmatic realist. He was known for bridging BOOK partisan divides, REVIEWS building coalitions, and keeping politics Midwest civil. His legacy, Book Review which included merging Wisconsin’s universities into one system and equalizing the funding formula for public schools, continues to impact Wisconsin residents and communities.
Preceding his service as governor, Lucey played a key role in rebuilding the Democratic Party in Wisconsin, returning a state that had been dominated by Republicans to a more moderate two-party system. As party chairman, he built coalitions between World War II veterans, remnants of the defunct Progressive Party, urban socialists, and activists in rural communities throughout the state.
Through exclusive interviews and unprecedented access to archival materials, Professor Dennis L. Dresang shares the story of this pivotal figure in Wisconsin history, from his smalltown rural roots to his wide-ranging influence.
Impressively informed and informative, Patrick J. Lucey: A Lasting Legacy is an outstanding work of meticulous and detailed scholarship that showcases the political contributions of Lucey (March 21, 1918 - May 10, 2014) to the Democratic Party in general, and Wisconsin politics in particular.
Dresang is Professor Emeritus of Public Affairs and Political Science and the Founding Director of the La Follette School of Public Affairs at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
The Becoming of the Driftless Rivers National Park Bryan J. Stanley Independently published
The Driftless Area is a region in southwestern Wisconsin, southeastern Minnesota, northeastern Iowa and the extreme northwestern corner of Illinois. The region escaped the flattening effects of glaciation during the last ice age and is consequently characterized by steep, forested ridges, deeply carved river valleys, and karst geology characterized by spring-fed waterfalls and cold-water trout streams.
Ecologically, the Driftless Area’s flora and fauna are more closely related to those of the Great Lakes region and New England than those of the broader Midwest and central Plains regions. Colloquially, the term includes the incised Paleozoic Plateau of southeastern Minnesota and northeastern Iowa.
The region includes elevations ranging from 603 to 1,719 feet at Blue Mound State Park and covers 24,000 square miles. The rugged terrain is due both to the lack of glacial deposits, or drift, and to the incision of the upper Mississippi River and its tributaries into bedrock.
The Becoming of The Driftless Rivers National Park describes in vivid detail all of the park’s attributes in its 280 pages is enhanced for the reader with the inclusion of 15 original art plates by landscape and wildlife artist Frank Mittelstadt, as well as more 100 photos. Of special note is the inclusion of exquisite aerials of the area in the major seasons by Robert J. Hurt.
The Driftless Rivers National Park Foundation seeks creation of a new national park in the ruggedly beautiful blufflands of the Upper Mississippi - the heart of America.
25 Great Sentences and How They Got That Way Geraldine Woods W. W. Norton & Company
We all know the basic structure of a sentence: a subject/verb pair expressing a complete thought and ending with proper punctuation. But that classroom definition doesn’t begin to describe the ways in which these elements can combine to resonate with us as we read, to make us stop and think, laugh or cry.
In 25 Great Sentences and How They Got That Way, master teacher Geraldine Woods unpacks powerful examples of what she instead prefers to define as “the smallest element differentiating one writer’s style from another’s, a literary universe in a grain of sand.” And that universe is very large: the hundreds of memorable sentences gathered here come from sources as wide-ranging as Edith Wharton and Yogi Berra, Toni Morrison and Yoda, T. S. Eliot and Groucho Marx.
Culled from fiction, nonfiction, drama, poetry, song lyrics, speeches, and even ads, these exemplary sentences are celebrated for the distinctive features (whether of structure, diction, connection/comparison, sound, or extremes) that underlie their beauty, resonance, and creativity. With dry humor and an infectious enjoyment that makes her own sentences a pleasure to read, Woods shows us the craft that goes into the construction of a memorable sentence.
Each chapter finishes with an enticing array of exercises for those who want to test their skill at a particular one of the featured 25 techniques, such as onomatopoeia (in the Sound section) or parallelism (in the Structure section).
25 Great Sentences and How They Got That Way will be treasured by word nerds and language enthusiasts, writers who want to hone their craft, literature lovers, and readers of everything from song lyrics and speeches to novels and poetry. Geraldine Woods has taught English at every level from fifth grade through Advanced Placement.
Indie Bestsellers Midwest Indie Bestsellers Hardcover for the week ending 7/26/2020
FICTION NONFICTION
1. The Vanishing Half
Brit Bennett, Riverhead Books, $27
2. Hamnet
Maggie O’Farrell, Knopf, $26.95
3. Such a Fun Age
Kiley Reid, Putnam, $26
4. Where the Crawdads Sing
Delia Owens, Putnam, $26
5. The Order
Daniel Silva, Harper, $28.99
6. American Dirt
Jeanine Cummins, Flatiron Books, $27.99
7. Sex and Vanity
Kevin Kwan, Doubleday, $26.95
8. Peace Talks
Jim Butcher, Ace, $28
9. The Guest List
Lucy Foley, Morrow, $27.99
10. Axiom’s End
Lindsay Ellis, St. Martin’s, $27.99
11. The Dutch House
Ann Patchett, Harper, $27.99
12. 28 Summers
Elin Hilderbrand, Little, Brown, $28
13. A Beautifully Foolish Endeavor
Hank Green, Dutton, $27
14. The Lives of Edie Pritchard
Larry Watson, Algonquin Books, $27.95
15. Rodham
Curtis Sittenfeld, Random House, $28
Midwest Title Alert
1. Too Much and Never Enough
Mary L. Trump, Ph.D., S&S, $28
2. How to Be an Antiracist
Ibram X. Kendi, One World, $27
3. Untamed
Glennon Doyle, The Dial Press, $28
4. The Splendid and the Vile
Erik Larson, Crown, $32
5. The Answer Is . . .: Reflections on My Life
Alex Trebek, S&S, $26
6. Begin Again
Eddie S. Glaude, Crown, $27
7. Me and White Supremacy
Layla Saad, Sourcebooks, $25.99
8. I’m Still Here
Austin Channing Brown, Convergent Books, $25
9. Between the World and Me
Ta-Nehisi Coates, One World, $26
10. The Room Where It Happened
John Bolton, S&S, $32.50
11. Twilight of Democracy: The Seductive Lure of Authoritarianism
Anne Applebaum, Doubleday, $25
12. Hood Feminism
Mikki Kendall, Viking, $26
13. Educated
Tara Westover, Random House, $28
14. Big Friendship
Aminatou Sow, Ann Friedman, S&S, $26
15. The Beauty in Breaking: A Memoir
Michele Harper, Riverhead Books, $27
Brought to you by the Midwest Independent Booksellers Association and IndieBound based on reporting from MIBA’s member bookstores. = Only on the Midwest list
