It’s really not surprising that I’m a fan of M.C. Frontalot. We run in the same circles after all. We have a lot of the same friends, go to the same conventions…. I think we’ve even performed in the same shows a couple of different times.
What *is* surprising is how long it took for me to become a fan. I’ve known about him for ages, seen him perform, sat next to him at signings….
But here’s the thing. You can know someone, know about their work, and even enjoy their work without being a fan. For me, being a fan isn’t the same as just occasionally buying, listening to, or liking someone’s art.
The line between being a fan and a guy-who-enjoys-your-art can be blurry. But I know I’ve crossed that line when I feel compelled to spread the art around. For example, I regularly buy copies of Peter S. Beagle’s Last Unicorn to have handy when I want to give it away to people. That’s not something I do for every book I just enjoy.
This is what pushed me firmly into the fan camp for Frontalot:
It’s hard for me to express in words how much I adore this CD.
You know when you love something like a TV show and a new episode comes out? And you’re excited because you get more of that thing you love?
Finding this CD wasn’t like that for me. At all.
Listening to this CD was like finding something I loved that I never even knew I wanted before. It’s like it filled a hole in my soul I never knew existed.
It’s a collection of songs that retell classic folk stories. From the familiar little red riding hood to the delightfully obscure Wakjąkága.
Do I even need to tell you how delighted I was to be listening to this collection of folktales and run into one that I didn’t even know? Do you know how rare that is for me? But here I am, already enjoying twelve colours of awesome out of these songs, grooving along, and suddenly *bam* Wakjąkága. Eating his own butt. And I’m like, what? Seriously? Did you just out-obscure me mythologically? While rapping?
Okay. I gotta calm down a little.
Last year at a convention, I go up to Frontalot and gush to such an extent that I’m probably lucky he didn’t signal security. Later on, he asks me if I’d be interested in helping him spread the word about the album by helping him debut one of the videos he made for it.
Which brings us to today.
The Song is Mornings Come and Go.
Watch it. Watch it ten times.
Here’s some words from brilliant, crazy brain of Frontalot himself:
I drew mostly from a Norwegian fairy tale called The Mastermaid, which I had been enamored of when I was little, reading it in my mom’s large illustrated copy of Idries Shah’s World Tales. I think this text is identical to the one he used: http://www.pitt.edu/~dash/norway120.html
I also pulled details (the tasks that the ogre assigns to the boy, the magic obstacles the maid throws down while escaping) from other countries’ versions of the story, including Nix Naught Nothing and Lady Feather Flight.
The Norwegian version has three acts: the boy protected the maid in the house of the beast, the obstacle flight, and the forgotten fiance, all of which come, I think, from even earlier folk tale traditions (forgotten fiance even figures into Hindu myths of Rama and Sita). I end the song at the very beginning of act III to emphasize what a terrible cad the ostensible hero of the story is.
The video is by Cheyenne Picardo. She decided that the story matches up well with the John Hughes movie Some Kind of Wonderful, with Stoltz as the boy, Thompson as the ogre, and Masterson as the mastermaid. Then she re-cast that as an OKCupid nightmare with local NY personalities: Bob the Drag Queen (officially announced to be on the upcoming season of Ru Paul’s Drag Race, though appearing out of drag here), Hye Yun Park (star of “Hey Yun“), and Melissa Roth (NY stage actress). The big rotating kiss scene is a shot-for-shot from SKoW.
So… there’s a lot going on! You can explore that as deeply or as shallowly as you like.
The other videos from Question Bedtime were:
And all my other official music videos are in this playlist.
So there you go. I’ve been waiting to gush about this album for *months* now. But I had to wait until the video was done.
If you’d like a copy of the album for your very own, and you like supporting artists who make awesome things, you can buy it on Bandcamp or iTunes.
Myself, I’ve already bought six or seven copies. One for each car I drive (yes, I still use real CD’s) and others to give away as presents.
Share and enjoy everyone,
pat
40 Comments
P.S. If you guys can help me spread around this blog and video, I’d really appreciate it.
I’d love to get as many eyes on this as possible…
Derp derp derp! As evidenced by my choice of username, I like to think that I’m risque and clever, but I’m really not!
Derp derpitdy derp. **
** Original comment slightly edited by moderators.
Hmm… It’s been a while since I just straight-up threw someone into the moderation queue.
Congratulations.
This made me laugh.
That is quite excellent. I don’t usually seek out this type of music, so I’m glad you drew it to my attention! I’ll have a listen to more of his music, thank you.
Yeah. It’s outside my normal musical tastes, too. I think it’s one of the reasons I enjoy it so much….
You should sample stuff from around the world. That stuff can be varied and wonderfully weird. I imagine you’d love Redemption in Indigo.
So, I’m a middle school teacher and during tests or work time I like to play not ‘ordinary’ music. Would this be considered school appropriate (no cuss words, or inappropriate material)?
I can’t remember anything off hand that would be considered PG, much less PG-13, as far as actual words. The subject matter of “Wakjąkága” might raise a few eyebrows, however.
Not to bag on someone else’s pedagogy, but I’d raise more of an eyebrow at music playing while I’m trying to take a test.
I tend toward hyper-focus. Which means if someone played music while I was concentrating on something important, I’d freak out and flip a table.
I had a grade school teacher that would play Mozart and similar classical music, citing studies showing it increased performance.
I had one who shared that belief. It was a special sort of torture for me, one I suffered silently. Years later I learned one could and should speak up about such things, but as I kid I just sat there chewing on my pencil.
I think if the music had words it would be detrimental to a lot of students’ thought process so instrumental or no.
I’ll never look at Little Nemo in the same way, again.
Thank you so much for bringing Front to the attention of your legions. I’ve had the pleasure of knowing Damian for several years now and when he sent me an early copy of this album I was delighted.
When I got to “Wakjąkága” I was like, WTF? I immediately texted him and he confirmed it was an actual myth. I felt my classical education was lacking. I mean, I know where man got fire and why winter lasts six months, but why the anus is puckered was something I hadn’t dwelt upon.
For those of you reading this and are wondering what I’m talking about, check out:
http://www.hotcakencyclopedia.com/ho.TrickstersAnusGuardsDucks.html
This featured Marian Call… with MC Frontalot… I think my life may be complete… :)
Dang. I meant to mention that in the blog, too.
As soon as I posted this, I started remembering all sorts of things I’d meant to talk about in regard to this song and the album in general….
*I didn’t proof read so there are some errors…
For a second I interpreted that last sentence as you having 6 or 7 cars. Heh.
May I post it on reddit? Or would you consider posting it on reddit? Huge community there which is just waiting to hear the news . Honestly I think if *you* posted it, it might “karma-up” faster and reach more. But that’s just me ;)
Yeah, well, you know, that’s just like, my opinion, man
~the Dude
Waiting to hear what news exactly?
The news that the video has been released?
Also, a link would be helpful.
Ok I’ll write it again, for some reason the first one didn’t work out.
I thought you knew more about reddit as you made AMAs there. Short and sweet: if a famois author/person posts something, it can quickly go to the frontpage, resulting in even more views and upvotes.
You want to check out: http://www.reddit.com/r/music
http://Www.reddit.com/r/rap
http://Www.reddit.com/r/books
I am on an airport, so the connection is kind of bad and I can’t look everythibg up, due to forementioned problem.
You might want to check out the rules at r/books if the advertising of music is ok there, otherwise you are good to go.
Sorry it took this long, but i had to catch the flight :D
My comment isn’t going to be addressing this particular blog article, but is addressing comments made in a previous google interview. In the interview / appearance, you made the comment about cards or something a person could use to gain an interactive story-telling experience with their children. I believe I have some solutions that might help you with the idea.
In the interview you stated that the character was your child but it wasn’t; there were enough elements to attract his attention with similarities between himself and the skunkboy then kept his attention by the story itself.
The trick would be showing people how to break down the basics of any story, whether that story be set in space or a lavatory in hell. People who write all the time know this, but people who don’t read or study literature aren’t necessarily accustomed to the basics of story-telling: tell them.
If we extrapolate what we know from a character sheet, we can see the same elements of creating a character are actually very similar to the act of creation, because it *is* creation – the creation of a fictional person. So, in theory the basics would be the same with any act of creation.
There isn’t much emphasis on character sheets, when viewed in a ‘realistic’ perspective but that is only because people get caught up in fiction being one thing and reality being another. The Doctor said it best when he asked the question, ‘Do you know what the difference between reality and a dream ? They’re both ridiculous’.
The transition between reality and fiction is a two-way street: there is reality in fiction and fiction in reality. When realistic elements are put into fiction, the dimensions of the fiction shift and it becomes more than a book, art, and film. This is one of the reason epics are amazing; there is more to the story. A story is about this, and about this, and about this depending on the person who is asked.
Anyway, character, place, condition is the beginning of any story; regardless of how it’s told. X was somewhere doing something and feeling a particular way when X had to go someplace to do something because of some reasons in order to achieve something due to something.
This idea is similar to an argument about the hazards of boiling existence down into pure empiricism called the Serial-Person, or some such malarky. It becomes ridiculous quickly. I highly recommend the read, but I doubt you’ll gain much from it aside from finding another way to explain what you’re already thinking about.
Your suggestions about this giving the power of sharing a storytelling experience with one’s children is amazing for several reasons, but the applications of have more far-ranging applications the consequence of which are world changing. One of the side-effects of this, as you observed with your child, is connection.
In a world that is extremely disconnected, an ability to find connection between ones’ self and the external world is worth it’s weight in gold, or shit depending on the person. Many times people would rather refuse to acknowledge the similarities because they do not want to accept the implications. On the other hand, a person might find similarities that are good, and they would like to acknowledge those similarities yet don’t because what they are identifying with is a work of fiction and to do so would bring ridicule and being labeled crazy.
I hope this has helped.
I gotta be honest. I thought this was going to be some strange emo shit that would make me feel old. But that song and video rocked.
I know, right?
Everything on the album rocks. There’s not one weak song on it as far as I’m concerned.
I tried to listen to this at work, but suddenly realized that it had taken all my attention away. I’ll have to save it for a time when I can enjoy it as it deserves. Thanks for the sharing!
I tried I really did, but rap is just not for me.
How come Worldbuilders is always over when I check it? I checked the subscribe button this time around so that I won’t miss it next year.
Anyways what you are doing is great and an awesome inspiration. Kuddos from Germany.
Also if shipping weren’t such a problem, I would suggest that glasses are a great thing to make fanart with. I made some kind of glass goblet/wine glass type of things for a friend’s birthday, decprated with some symbols and quotes from her favourite books. It is really easy to make and looks great. In fact I was so excited I had to make myself some too… (Though I didn’t manage to get a lute just right. I suppose that takes practice) I can only assume people would be very interested in this as an extra idea to add to the fundraisers next year.
I don’t know how to attach pictures to a comment, otherwise I would show what I mean. I am sadly not as good with words as you are :)
All I can say is, wow, that is a really brilliant interpretation of the Master Maid! And yes, I had to go look up the myth of the Master Maid for the song to fully make sense. Still yet, it’s truly wonderful. If this is any indication of the way his mind works and what to expect from his music, I’ll definitely have to check out more of his stuff. Thanks for the h/t, Pat.
rip
Little Nemo in Slumberland. we need more Art Nouvaue comic books
Hello, I know this is far from the topic of the post, but I’m looking for a old entry of this blog, where Pat wrote about why to read fantasy. It was a nice read. I wasn’t able to find it, lost between other entries since 2007. Any of you know how I could reach it? sorry for my english, it isn’t my native language.
Hah! I got it. I don’t know how this isn’t stickied somewhere.
https://blog.patrickrothfuss.com/2007/10/ask-author-3-what-good-is-fantsay/
I keep checking the blog, thinking I’m going to see a post commenting on the election. There are at least three good reasons I can think of for your refraining from writing such a post. Really excellent reasons, in fact. But that doesn’t stop me from wondering how you’re feeling. And truly, there aren’t many commentators I’m interested in hearing from. John Stewart quit just in time to be out of this. So the pool of really interesting commentators just shrunk by one. You’re still in it, though.
I’ll recommend John Oliver to you qwo had some interesting observations on Trump on his Last Week Tonight Show.
Wow, a month long silence. So unlike Pat. Hope everything is ok.
I suspect Pat is simply busy as hell.
Hey, Pat. This is a propos of nothing whatsoever on your blog, but I thought of you immediately when I saw it. I think it would give you a smile or two. Enjoy!
https://media.giphy.com/media/l2JJOjUjXif5Qi0hi/giphy.gif
Hi Pat,
I really couldn’t find an appropriate place for this and I’m sure you’re a busy person that may not keep tabs on every tweet/shout/wave made in your online direction but here’s my little grateful wave to you:
Quick introduction (for context).
I’m a vet student, and before that I was a philosophy student (there’s a good story linking the two, it involves seals and Canada). My philosophy degree wasn’t very well taught sadly and that meant that reading became quite a chore (I found that a lot of philosophy is really like reading a really slow and repetitive dictionary). I fell out of love with reading at this point. And then life got all crazy busy and I got into vet school realising that I could become trained in helping things not suffer which is great. Then any small, spare quiet moment became a time for reading about medicine. So still no books for me, no adventures in my head. (This is a long introduction. Sorry. I’m not the writer here so you’ll forgive me I hope.) The dilemma: I want to read for fun again but I don’t have the sit down, quiet time to do so. BUT I do walk. I walk a lot. Like four hours a day. Walking is what I used to call ‘dead time’ because in terms of vet school it’s dead to me: I can’t study or read while I wander around the English countryside. So I got some audiobooks. I listened to a few, but nothing really grabbed me. And here is where you come in! (Again, not at all a quick introduction, I mislead you, sorry).
So a friend suggested I have a listen to Name of the Wind. It had cool wind music/sound effects and I liked it right away. I devoured it. I would take the long walk home from campus. I would get up early to walk to my part time job which takes over an hour each way (7 minutes in the car). My coworkers kept asking me if I needed a ride and gave me their concerned faces when I politely declined. I got to Wise Man’s Fear and walked my way through it too. This one took a while. I haven’t seen the actual book but can only imagine that it is quite hefty. So I walked and listened and walked some more. I walked into your world, into the Kvothe’s story and back into my love for reading. And that’s a big thing and I’m so very thankful (literally and absolutely full of thanks) to you and your books for that.
Have a wonderful Thursday!
Shelly
UK
So excited to get the moneylender’s pack!!
If you read these comments, I have a super great suggestion; an app. I know it would be kind of difficult because the pieces also have a height factor to them that needs to be easily accessible when playing, but not all of us have easy access to other humans willing to play. An app would be a really cool thing to create in the future! And I’m sure there will be third party apps, but why not make your own to beat those ones out? Make it cost like 4-5$ or something and maybe send a code to get it for free to people who were in the Kickstarter?
Can’t wait to play on Devi’s board!!