Patricia Ethelwyn Lang

Necima

admin — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 10:57:00 +0000

When I listened to Necima I was reminded of how humans have always wanted to be birds, to spiral up into the clouds and dash across the landscape without touching the ground. A bird’s voice is the most true instrument of music. They can send shivers down our spines without effort because they are natural singers. Listening to Lia Ices sing on her debut album, I was reminded of a bird.

I found that the best way to listen to this album is to lay back with my discman in my hands, plug in the headphones, and close my eyes. I heard a multitude of tremulous instruments I can’t begin to identify. (Was that a hand held drum, a violin, and a piano?) I went online later to find out more about the music and found that Ices also uses a gemshorn, electric guitar, organs, and bass clarinet. Her words are caught here and there, but mostly I couldn’t figure out what she was saying. This made sense after reading that, while attending NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts for Experimental Theatre, Ices was encouraged to kick back and experiment, to let go of her classical training and use her voice “as a vehicle for emotion and a source of expression.” Now Ices says she is “interested in making music that is emotionally driven and experimental.” Necima is a lovely feast of sound.

Written by: Patricia Ethelwyn Lang, October 20th 2008

Brown Bagazine (Issue Four, Spring 2008)

admin — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 11:23:00 +0000

Edited by Amy Lyn Hess

Gypsy Daughter

Why do we read poetry and poetic prose? Some people like the unique language. Others recognize the “ordinary” described in a new way. We read poetry, ideally, to change, inside.

Gypsy Daughter is a poetry chapbook and literary magazine publishing company. Their intention is to create an attractive physical venue for poets to reach their audience. Brown Bagazine, Gypsy Daughter’s quarterly literary magazine, is such a venue.

I laughed with pleasure, when I first saw Brown Bagazine. What a clever idea, this is! The chapbook is approximately 5 ½” x 4 ½” with a blue cover and seventeen pages held together by a lovely silver paper clip. The tiny periodical was inside a gold, zipped pencil bag, approximately 7 ½” x 10 ¼”, with a three-hole punched clear plastic cover (to put the bag in a binder). Marketing 101 says, “It’s all in the packaging.” This Brown Bagazine is perfect because it appeals to the kid inside the adult, and we feel drawn those things that make us feel young once more.

This issue of Brown Bagazine features six writers: Julio Peralta-Paulino, Maryann DiEdwardo, Richard Wink, Brenda Polk, Liz Collins, and Rowland Saifi. I was caught by the words in Julio Peralta-Paulino’s "Untitled," and Maryann DiEdwardo’s "Like the Snow" is great. There is an elusive image of Appaloosa horses moving in this poem. I get it, at the same time I do not, but it makes me think.

Moreover, what is this “trout mask” that the priest wears in Richard Wink’s "The Eden Express?" Brenda Polk’s "Begin" got me to consider what this simple word means in my life. (Thank you, Brenda. I needed that.) And Rowland Saifi’s "A Drama," though hard to explain, is funny and clever.

I think what is vitally important about this periodical is that it is a grassroots, community effort. What Gypsy Daughter is trying to do is give a sense of social obligation to support such an effort. It helps that the writing is thought-provoking, and therefore, quite good. Read it!

Written by: Patricia Ethelwyn Lang, August 5th 2008

Fabriclive.40

admin — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 18:27:00 +0000

By Noisia

Fabric Records

Sound aficionados who venture forth on the Fabric path will discover music that is progressive, exciting, and out of this world. If you’re not a fan of drum n bass, break beats, and electronic music, you have to make the commitment to listen, but if you love sound and the evolution of human creative expression, that commitment is not hard to make.

Noisia is the Dutch trio of Nik Roos, Martijn Van Sonderen, and Thijs de Vlieger. They have been involved in the drum n bass music scene since 1998, and own two record labels: Vision and Division. They have performed across the world, working with major artists like Robbie Williams and Moby.

Fabriclive.40 is a mixed CD, which includes many of Noisia’s own tracks. As long as you enjoy robotic beings from the twenty-fifth century's outer space blasting back to our timeframe to teach us new and different things, Fabriclive.40 is incredible!

The first song sets the listener up for the experience. It is the only song with words, and those words are: “Ladies and Gentleman, can I please have your attention. I’ve just been handed an urgent and horrifying news story. I mean all of you stop what you’re doing and listen.” How can you not pay attention after that?

The music, at times, is harsh, disjointed, and dark. The drumbeat is relentless. Fabriclive.40 is shadowy future trek where you have to leave your mind at home to listen.

Some folks might think this music is just noise. However, if you make that commitment to listen, you’ll discover the melodies in this album that are like having veins of solid gold.

Written by: Patricia Ethelwyn Lang, August 1st 2008

Underpass

admin — Wed, 11 Jul 2007 23:22:00 +0000

Directed by Rain Breaw

Underpass is a fifteen-minute film about a Cambodian family (survivors of the “Killing Fields”) trying to survive in the USA while also assisting an illegal immigrant, possibly from Mexico. It is about trying to stay sane in a violent world. It is about trying to play by the rules, and still be humane. It is about living with your nightmares.

There is a brilliant colorful thread, which runs throughout this story – the art of the main character, Sann. His art is illegal. He paints pictures under a bridge, hence the title Underpass. What he paints is both beautiful and horrible. He is trying to live with his memories of Cambodia. The resolution, and how the boy comes to terms with his memories of the Cambodian “Killing Fields,” is within his artwork under the bridge! We, the viewers, see the drawings come to life. We see the people killed; blood is spilled. You soon realize that the animation is Sann’s artwork. It is the plot of the film unfolding.

Sann’s mother, who runs a doughnut shop in San Diego, is trying to help an illegal immigrant. The boy wants to turn the illegal immigrant in, but his mother believes “others helped us survive. We should help others…” His mother and sister get along well in the community. There’s a police officer, who comes to the store and talks to the mother. He is also a Cambodian native. He is supportive of the mother, but Sann is hostile towards him.

The conflict within Sann’s psyche is interesting. He is fighting the system (painting his graffiti), and yet combating his memories. Why would he want to turn in the illegal immigrant? Is he afraid of the system here? For someone who lives with the scars of what war and government does, it is a little strange that he would want to turn in this immigrant. However, at one point - and this is depicted in the artwork - Sann finds peace. He regrets that he called the authorities. He tells the immigrant to run. Why Sann makes this impulsive decision is not clear. He begs his mother’s forgiveness, and she does forgive.

My only real problem with this film (besides hating to see bloodshed) is that sometimes the characters mumble. However, that also makes the film more “real.” Real people do not speak clearly! Rain Breaw attended, as she puts it “one of the most diverse schools in the country.” Almost every student in this high school has experienced war and genocide, firsthand. Underpass is loosely based on Breaw’s experience at this high school.

Breaw has produced numerous short films, including the award winning Thermopylae and Archer House. Presently, Breaw and her writing/producing partner, Julie Sifuentes, are working on two feature film projects: Bearing it All and City Heights.

I would recommend Underpass because it is a reminder of what America really is – a melting pot of different cultures. Since the birth of this nation, we have been a nation of immigrants. It’s ironic, don’t you think, considering the present day conservative backlash against immigrants? Watch Underpass for a glimpse of the real USA.

Written by: Patricia Ethelwyn Lang, July 11th 2007

What Living’s All About

admin — Fri, 01 Jun 2007 23:09:00 +0000

By Alicia Bay Laurel

Indigo With Stars

All would-be writers who have studied how to write know the rule: "show me don’t tell me." Visual artists find this advice easy to do and musicians are, perhaps, the same way. When the creative instrument does not rely solely on words, showing is not too difficult.

Alicia Bay Laurel wrote Living on the Earth, a cult classic and the first paperback on the New York Times Bestseller List (spring 1971), which has sold over 350,000 copies. She has also written five other books. Laurel is a talented, trained musician. She grew up playing classical piano, switched to guitar in her teens and learned open tunings from legendary guitarist John Fahey, a family member. On this latest album, What Living’s All About, she works with some of the best musicians in the field, including avant garde guitar hero Nels Cline. Alicia Bay Laurel tries to show and tell by weaving feelings, melody and an occasional diatribe word. She celebrates the Earth (nature) and embraces her sensuality. She also loudly laments the destruction of the environment, as in her song “America the Blues,” where the listing of our environmental sins drags a bit. At the same time, the song is strangely effective. The entwining hypnotic music ended with a smashing guitar rift, followed by a spine tingling sound of whale songs and a Native American Chant. This is an excellent protest song. Alicia Bay Laurel and Al Gore should be friends.

“Zero Gravity” is a haunting song about a city at night, reminiscent of Ground Zero in New York City where the Twin Towers used to be. Laurel talks about sex in this CD and does it with class, sometimes with gentle humor, like “Floozy Tune.” However, you won’t know what she’s talking about unless you listen closely. This blend of jazz, blues and gospel is a powerful feminist statement. It’s fantastic!

Written by: Patricia Ethelwyn Lang, June 1st 2007

The Films of Su Friedrich, Vol. 1: The Ties That Bind

admin — Thu, 31 May 2007 12:22:00 +0000

Directed by Su Friedrich

Microcinema / Outcast Films

When I read what The Ties That Bind was about, I knew I had to see it. Su Friedrich interviews her mother, Lore, about what it was like living in Germany during World War II. It is a brilliantly woven film tapestry - a mixture of story-telling, historical film footage, current newspaper articles/titles, current war protests and dozens of modern “political mailings.” I recommend it to everyone. It is a story of a mother and daughter trying to connect; it is also a horror story that today’s shock-loving generation should see… because it really happened.

Lore was not a Nazi sympathizer, nor a freedom fighter. She resisted, but did not overtly fight against the evil that had taken over her country. She, like many other Germans from that time, were vilified, for not fighting against it. It is heart rendering to hear the agony in this woman’s voice as she talks about what her family had to endure, just to survive.

Su Friedrich shot this film in black and white, enhancing the emotional intent of this film. One of the photographic threads in this film storytelling is the construction of a miniature plastic German house. We see this house first removed from its package, then carefully laid out on the floor, piece by piece, and assembled. Finally, the person who built the house puts on Army Gestapo boots and stomps on the home, destroying it. Then the house is burned (this happens while Lore talks about the bombing of Stuttgart, and how she ended up wandering outside the city, hands out, in shock, not able to speak when the Red Cross picked her up). Finally, what remains of the small plastic house is picked up from the floor.

Since the late 1970s, New York-based Su Friedrich has articulated the slogan “the personal is political.” I think she makes this obvious in The Ties That Bind. She was the films' director, editor, writer and cinematographer. She currently teaches film and video production at Princeton University. There was a Bonus film on this DVD – The Lesbian Avengers Eat Fire Too. It is inspiring, a documentary on a courageous modern political movement that is effecting change. Check it out, as well.

Written by: Patricia Ethelwyn Lang, May 31st 2007

M’Bem di Fora

admin — Tue, 24 Apr 2007 18:37:00 +0000

By Lura

Times Square Records

If you wish to fully appreciate this album, I would recommend that you read about the artist and the music first. I was lucky in that I received a press release with the album. I listened to the music, which varies from slow, ethereal songs to finger-snapping, toe-tapping beats. Then I read about Lura, and the background of each song. I was able to go back and listen, again, for real. It reminded me of some advice an opera aficionado gave me years ago – if you want to fully appreciate music in a language you do not understand, read the script first!

Born and raised in Portugal, Lura discovered, almost by accident, the music of Cape Verde (her parents' birthplace), a collection of small islands off of the Northwest coast of Africa. I think Lura, in finding this music, found herself and her own destiny – to sing and dance her roots, teaching the world, through music, about the country.

That’s the reason why I wanted to listen to this album. My favorite songs on this album are the last three "Festa Di Nha Kumpadri," "Choro" and "Fitico Di Funana," mainly because I am partial to songs that make me want to dance!

Lura makes it obvious that she sings from the heart. I would recommend this album – just make sure you read about it, as well as listen!

Written by: Patricia Ethelwyn Lang, April 24th 2007

NACLA Report on the Americas (Mar/Apr 2007)

admin — Thu, 19 Apr 2007 20:59:00 +0000

By North American Congress on Latin America

Free thinkers must support the independent, alternative publications in this country as a protest against mainstream media’s skewed priorities. Inevitably, news is slanted. With an independent publication, the chance of reading the unvarnished truth is enhanced.

If you wish to embrace diversity and heighten your understanding of our neighbors “South of the border,” read the NACLA Report on the Americas. If you wish to know whether feminism thrives in Latin countries - where machismo is rampant and conservative religious groups oftentimes manipulate governmental officials like puppets - READ this issue.

Be warned, this is not light reading. The articles are stuffed with statistics, historical facts and political jargon. You must think when you read this information. You have to want to read it.

I don’t feel too amiss in telling you about the different chapters inside: Taking Note, Open Forum, Interview, Update, Reviews, ¡YA! Youth Activism and the Report. There are seven separate articles in the Report. While I read them, I thought radical, feminist philosopher Mary Daly’s thesis on the idea of not banging your head against the establishment “wall” and, instead, creating your own empire. If you fight the system, you’re giving your energy to the system, and they will use you. Nicaragua’s Daniel Ortega’s betrayal of his feminist compañeras, the women who fought with him to overthrow the former regime, is an example of Daly’s point.

I was also reminded that history repeats itself. The women in the U.S. who fought for our right to vote at the beginning of the 20th century met with violent resistance. We’ve come a long way, baby, indeed; yet, why is the resistance still so belligerent at times? In South America, they actually have a Christian Democratic Party. The Left is quite conservative. Women are involved in the reforms, yet the reforms are not enough, and not all women embrace the proposed feminist changes.

At the same time, Chile has a woman president, Michelle Bachelet, who is an agnostic! Considering Chile’s past, and the infamous bloody military regime, this is an astounding triumph! It makes me wonder. Will the U.S. ever catch up?

The writing in these columns is very clear. The interview with Ruben Martinez, a “trenchant writer on immigration and the migrant experience,” was especially interesting. Women in this country, particularly feminists, should read this report. Our sisters to the South are in a fierce struggle for their rights.

Written by: Patricia Ethelwyn Lang, April 19th 2007

Thirteen Tales of Love and Revenge

admin — Thu, 29 Mar 2007 17:42:00 +0000

By The Pierces

Lizard King Records

When I started to listen to Thirteen Tales of Love and Revenge, I thought “Oh, folk rock, how… er… nice.” Not that I have anything against folk rock, but… Then the beat kicked in. Forty minutes later, I was still dancing in my seat. This music rocks! The lyrics are good poetry about love, sex and strong women. There are some out of the ordinary instruments used on this album, such as a glockenspiel. I like different; it makes my senses perk up. For me, music works if it sweeps me away on a river current of feeling. This album does that. The social statement isn't such a strong one, not so much the words anyway, but in there is so much raw emotion in their voices and music.

I had one problem with this album, the title. I expected a dark side. If someone wants revenge, she is in pain. The fact that the music was consistently beautiful bothered me. I think the feelings expressed are real; the words are honest; and passionate love is oh-so expressed (and not X-rated, good for them!), but there is no real anger expressed. The pain isn’t there. Maybe I need to listen to the album a few more times. I know the sounds and the beats linger in my mind, which is a sign the album had its way with me.

I hope the Pierces survive. They are brilliant musicians. I’d like to see them grow, and I’d like to see what else they create down the line.

Written by: Patricia Ethelwyn Lang, March 29th 2007