On Stephen King’s “Under the Dome”

Before last Friday, I had never finished a Stephen King book. In fact, I’d only ever tried to read one — his “Under the Dome,” three times. Each of the three tries ended before page 200. For some reason, the narrative just fell off at that point for me. It perplexed me, and the over 1100-page length of the book didn’t add any motivation for wanting to push through to the end.

On the fourth try, close to a year after the third, I finally moved past the 200 page mark, and with relative ease. I can’t comprehend what failed so hard the first three times. When I finally chose to pick U.T.D. up again this summer, with ample free time to delve into the characters and the plot, I didn’t find the novel anywhere near as troublesome as my first three attempts at a reading. Quite the contrary, the narrative hummed along quite nicely, right from the off.

I think part of the turn off was hearing of King’s somewhat unique narrative style, referred to as a ‘slow builder.’ “But,” they, most notably my dad, would say, “once you get past the first 200 pages or so, you won’t be able to stop.” I don’t think it was that dramatic, and I don’t know if I encountered much of the slow build with U.T.D. As noted, the plot drove consistently from the moment the dome first fell over Chester’s Mill. That’s not my fault with the novel. In fact, I think that’s the novel’s strongest point, and a highlight of King’s style — the ability to take the full host of complex characters and weave them all together into a narrative that never felt tiresome, bogged down or cautious.

My main fault with the book comes from where the plot ends — the climax and the resolution. With the 850-or-so pages of build up, full of excellent detailing and sub-plots both small and large, I expected the book to conclude in an ultimately satisfying way. I was sorely let down during the last 250-or-so pages, however.

I see the plot as having three separate, cascading climaxes. Without spoiling these moments, I’ll give a brief rundown of each. The first is a town hall standoff that ends with a frantic shoot out and general panic, the second is a drug-induced gunfight leading to a massive, nuclear-fallout-like explosion, and the third is the final encounter with the aliens that are controlling the whole thing.

I guess that’s a pretty big spoiler. Yes, it is aliens that are controlling the dome. And what’s better, it’s alien children, and the dome is their play toy.

Anyway, that’s only relevant with the third climax. The first two are simply pure chaos, driven by characters acting completely irrationally, and both behind the guises of the effects of drug use. Both make little sense. The first is easier to explain, as individuals will often make wild decisions in large crowds under intense pressure, especially a force of inexperienced, underage policemen.

The second makes less sense and is fairly demoralizing to read happen. To watch all the characters that we’ve grown to know intimately burn down in the fireball fallout of the massive explosion is really quite sad. I feel the novel deserved better than a burn-everything-down finale.

Finally, the finally conversation between one of the main protagonists and the alien children is just a weird thing to read. King tries to jack-knife in a moral lesson about guilt and acceptance, but it ends up landing very dully as the world around these individuals burns down.

In fact, this interaction draws upon my biggest, overarching fault with the book. I hate, detest the fact that we know where the dome came from. I think it ruins all of the suspense that was built throughout the first three-quarters of the book once we realize that it really is just alien children. Somewhat paradoxically, I would have much preferred zero explanation for the arrival of the dome. This would have felt much more satisfying. I would have even been content with the dome never leaving, the characters trapped forever in an unknown fate under the massive fishbowl.

Instead we get a strange science-fiction explanation for its arrival and a poorly executed moral lesson for its eventual disappearance.

Please don’t get me wrong — I enjoyed reading this book. The first three-quarters were excellent, and really kept me hooked and quite on the edge of my seat as I watched a team of rag-tag protagonists wage a political battle with a fantastical megalomaniac dictator while trapped in truly impossible circumstances. The human drama elements of U.T.D. are handled wonderfully. It’s the science-fiction and the eventual pay-off that leave me feeling a little let down.

If you want to stop at, oh, let’s say page 850 and not finish, I wouldn’t blame you at all.

My favorite music of 2019

Disclaimer: I started writing this in January 2020, and left it sitting, pretty much finished, until Aug. 31.

I listened to a lot of music in 2019. Whether it was live, on Spotify, on Bandcamp, or discovered through Anthony Fantano or deepcuts, the attempt was made to consume as much music from as many different genres and sources as possible. Like all things, listening to music needs an outlet of some sort. So, naturally, here we are. A comprehensive compilation of my favorite musical moments of the year. 

Instead of distilling this collection into distinct categories, such as genres or favorite albums, I instead favor a mixed-bag approach to review. Some of my favorite music from the year came in the form of albums, some in single songs, and others in individual moments. I figured my year-long musical anthology should follow a similarly assorted pattern. 

With that all being said, let’s dive in. Here’s some of my favorite music from 2019.

The Rapid Ascension of slowthai with “Nothing Great About Britain”

Great Britain produced some of my favorite musical projects of the year, from The Comet is Coming’s “Trust in the Lifeforce of the Deep Mystery”(which will get a longer run-down later) to Little Simz’s “GREY Area” to James Blake’s “Assume Form.” However, no project stood out quite as much as the Northampton rapper slowthai’s “Nothing Great About Britain.” The sprawling near hour-long project tracks slowthai’s childhood in the Northampton slums and details his personal struggles with drug abuse and rampant feelings of disenfranchisement. 

However, the album doesn’t remained focused on the individual. Slowthai extrapolates his personal experiences outward to highlight many of problems facing his home country at the moment, many of which are certainly not unique to the island nation. A political elite that strays further from the citizens it is supposed to support, decaying infrastructure seen through apartment complexes, and unstable family situations propagated by incarceration are simply a few of the topics covered over the course of the record. 

This record, easily my favorite hip-hop project of the year, propelled slowthai onto a new level that is certainly deserved. He’s collaborated with the likes of Denzel Curry, Skepta and Flume, and is opening for BROCKHAMPTON alongside 100 gecs. slowthai looks posed for an even bigger 2020, and could certainly trace a similar trajectory to Curry. Check out this record if you’re a fan of hip-hop, and look out for slowthai next year.

London Jazz 

No collective of artists from one area brings as much energy as the expansive squad of players from London. Notable groups and individuals from the London scene include Ezra Collective, Sons of Kemet, Nubya Garcia, Moses Boyd, and Yussef Kamaal, some of which released music in 2019 or collaborated with other artists from the city. Among all of these brilliant talents, no two groups stood out more in 2019 than KOKOROKO and The Comet is Coming.

KOKOROKO are an 8-piece Afrobeat ensemble who released a brief but sparkling self-titled EP this year. The most notable track from the project is “Abusey Junction”, which features a mellow guitar melody on top of a calming bongo and shaker rhythm pattern. The horns join in after the first minute with an extended harmony. The piece is unnaturally soothing, and invites the feeling of a warm summer isle. If you listen to one piece of jazz this year, I heartily recommend it be this one KOKOROKO track.

Where KOKOROKO are laid-back and melodic, The Comet is Coming are bursting with energy, excited by the prophecy outlined in their band name. The three-piece features the blistering Shabaka Hutchings, or King Shabaka, on a warped and pitched tenor saxophone and bass clarinet. Their music is otherworldly, and utilizes a combination of synthesizers and Shabaka’s uproarious horns over pitched-up drums to create the type of energy that punctuates throughout their two records released this year, “Trust in the Lifeforce of the Deep Mystery” and “The Afterlife.” Highlights from these two projects include “Blood of the Past,” which features Kate Tempest with a spoken-word verse toward the end of the track, and “Lifeforce Part II,” which is Shabaka at his most energetic. 

“Where Future Unfolds” from Damon Locks with the Black Monument Ensemble, live recording at Garfield Park, Chicago

With a reverence placed on the past and a hopeful eye cast to the future, Damon Locks and the Black Monument Ensemble stand firm against the historical and contemporary injustices of America with their “Where Future Unfolds.” The project opens with a statement of intent, delivered by Locks — the repetition of the phrase, “Some things never change by monuments,” sets a clear tone for the seemingly frustrated nature of much of the album. The jazz music is heavily gospel-influenced, with modern touches through Locks’ synthesizer. The entire album was live-recorded, the first live performance of the Ensemble featuring Locks. The live gospel choir is stunning, powerful and driving. The rhythms are punchy and off-kilter. The collection of tracks is immense.

Two moments clearly stand out from the record. The first is on the track “Rebuild a Nation,” when Rayna Golding from a local Chicagoan children’s choir sweetly sings, “We can rebuild a nation, no longer working out,” her mother Monique Golding cheering her on in the background. The two-minute song, sung by the child, is the brightest moment of hope on the record, and one of the defining musical moments of the year. The second standout moment from the record is on the second to last track, “Power.” A woman’s voice opens the song, imploring the audience to speak a different language to a listener whose mother tongue is, “power.” The choir proudly proclaims “Power!” as the drums and Locks’ synthesizer kick in. The track goes from simple spoken word immediately into a moment that is, as the title would constitute, the most powerful spot on the project.

Lots of Really Good Pop Music

“Pop,” as a genre, is a weird term. The word is evidently short for “popular,” which would imply that music simply has to reach a certain level of general appeal to be considered “pop.” However, I would argue pop music has a certain distinctive sound to it, a sound that sets it apart from other genres in light of any popularity standard. This sound usually encompasses some sort of catchy chorus, energetic vocals, and relative brevity — around 3 to 4 minute song lengths. While these markers can be extended, and are constantly being bent by the likes of billie eilish and Poppy, there remains a certain sound and formula that is distinctly “pop.” This year, I got the chance to listen to a lot of fantastic music within this genre.

The most distinctive pop record that I listened to this year was easily Charli XCX’s self-title album “Charli.” This record, reviewed and praised by theneedledrop, served as a sort of passage into pop music, which I had previously consciously attempted to avoid. Enjoying this album to the extent that I did guided me to seek out more pop, and is the reason for this very subsection. The record exudes a distinctive robotic energy, putting itself on a plane apart from other similarly “poppy” projects, with Charli’s vocals heavily warped and pitched to the point of in-humanness. The intro track “Next Level Charli” demonstrates this sound perfectly, and is a fitting introduction to the rest of the record. A dubstep-type beat is featured on the song “Click,” with Kim Petras and Tommy Cash. “Blame It on Your Love” thrusted Charli into the mainstream, in no small part thanks to the great Lizzo feature. “Gone,” with Christine and the Queens, is my personal favorite song off the album, but it’s impossible to go wrong with a simple shuffle.

Alex Cameron released “Miami Memory,” this year, an album that stands out as my favorite pop record of 2019. Cameron shares insights into different tabboo aspects of life, such as divorce, porn, and infidelity. “Far From Born Again” sings, “Far from born again, she’s doing porn again,” in the most supportive and uplifting manner. “PC With Me” rings out, “You don’t have to be, my darling so PC with me,” because, “the meaner they are, the harder I fall in love.” “Stepdad” shares, “Now if you think I’m chasing the seasons like a van is some place to be, I’m your stepdad.” This record is riddled with outlandish lyrics and catchy melodies. It was going to be difficult to follow up “Forced Witness” in a similarly critical and exuberant manner, but Cameron achieved just that and more with “Miami Memory.”

Finally, a late listen for me, found through the deepcuts albums of the year list, was Self Esteem’s “Compliments Please,” a record that is longer and covers more ground that Charli or Cameron, and is all the better for it. Self Esteem is the musical moniker of English singer Rebecca Taylor, and her debut record under the name echoes many themes that make the title perfectly fitting. Taylor wrestles with her personal relationship-driven insecurities and reflections, grappling with self-doubt in the face of failing relationships and connections. She seems torn between a confident “better off now” bravado and a cautionary “what could have been” sorrow for most of this album, and the songs run on to accentuate this dichotomy brilliantly. The tracks really hit home.

Other notable pop records I thoroughly enjoyed this year include Lizzo’s “Cuz I Love You” for its raw catchiness, Caroline Polachek’s “Pang,” which has one of my favorite songs of the year that shares a name with the album, and Lana Del Rey’s “Norman Fucking Rockwell!”!

Album of the Year: “Schlagenheim,” by black midi

To wrap up this run-down, I think it would be fitting to leave off with my personal favorite record released this year, and that has to be black midi’s “Schlagenheim,” a 45-minute collection of eclectic and esoteric post punk, noise rock, and progressive rock tracks.

There’s not a lot I can say about this project, actually. It has an undeniable energy, a focus and an attention that are brilliant right from the intro riff. The production isn’t super polished, nor are all the performances flawless. It’s the youth and the vivacity of the album that carries it along. It’s been on constant rotation since spring 2019.

The album is relatively brief as well, around 45 minutes. Take about an hour sometime soon and give this project a try. If anything, it’s sure not to bore.