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Michael Parker's Journal
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Monday, March 26, 2007 |
I was driving home a few weeks and happened to catch the closing seconds of NPR’s interview with or spotlight on the Canadian band Arcade Fire and their upcoming CD Neon Bible. I don’t remember the song from the CD that was playing in those final seconds but it intrigued me enough that I sought them out when I got home.
Nothing prepared me for what I was about to discover on the Neon Bible website. Indeed, one of the greatest musical surprises I can even remember is Arcade’s live performance of The Clash’s song "The Guns of Brixton," in St. Johns Church at Westminster, London, England. Walking into the middle of the audience barely visible in the grainy half-light of what looks like infra-red illumination, some of the band stood in the middle of the pews while some stood on chairs. The lighting seems to manipulate time, maybe even cheats it, because it strangely looks like it’s 1970 and we’re watching a off the cuff peace rally. The vocals are that strident, unrehearsed, pointed, and unrepentant in their battle cry. In fact, at the height of the song, the lead singer jumps up onto the corner of a pew and sings through a megaphone. Below him, the band wildly attacks their instruments – mandolins, cellos, walking drums, tambourines, horns, banjos, and acoustical guitars. And in the thick of the sweeping chorus, they swing and sway like the churning of the sea pushed up against two adjoining cliffs. Their voices (and all of them sing backup on this) raise above the standing crowd, sometimes shouting like protestors, while other times howling like melodious banshees. Brilliant. Extraordinary.
I then returned to NPR’s website and listened to the concert at Judson Memorial Church in New York, which highlighted songs off of their critically-acclaimed first album Funeral and Neon Bible.
Arcade Fire, which hails from Montreal and was formed by the husband-wife duo of Win Butler and Regine Chassagne, absolutely impresses with Neon Bible. It’s powerful appeal is immediately apparent in their first hit "Keep the Car Running," a fast-moving and hypnotic song that works its way straight to your dancing bone. But it’s hard not to fall in love with the dark "Black Mirror," "Neon Bible," and "Intervention." The heavy, near-gothic use of the pipe organ flourishes and creates a fully-developed character that lumbers about the tracks, haunting them. In fact, the whole orchestration, from the thundering organ, crying mandolins, and whispering cello, perfectly highlights the vocals.
Likewise, the engineering is worth a note: Neon Bible was recorded in the basement of a church in a small town outside of Montreal. Because of this, the vocals seem more alive, active. They don’t resonate in your ear as much as climb around like a rock climber on their way to nirvana’s summit. And though the vocals may come across as edgy, raw, pleasantly cloying, they never cease to intrigue and give urgent nudge to the meaning behind the lyrics. Most interestingly, their voices aren’t unique, as I was often flooded by the images of the Talking Heads and Bjork. However, there is enough different working in the background and with the full band orchestration and catchy lyrics that by the time I get to "No Cars Go" and especially "My Body Is A Cage," I am convinced they transcend anything worth comparison.
Hands down. Listening to Arcade Fire seems like listening to the new direction in music.
******
Arcade Fire is Win Butler, Regine Chassagne, Richard Reed Parry, William Butler, Tim Kingsbury, Sarah Neufeld and Jeremy Gara.
* To watch the live performance of "The Guns of Brixton," click here and then click on the link "Guns."
* Listen to the concert on NPR here.
10:18:53 PM  | |
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Monday, March 19, 2007 |
Mayor Rocky Anderson of Salt Lake City, Utah, of all places, is one of America's strongest proponents for the movement to impeach President Bush. He even made it on the Wolf Blitzer show today. Listen to Anderson's remarks.
In today's anti-war protest march in downtown Salt Lake, Anderson gave a rousing speech regarding this very topic. Here's just a brief excerpt:
"We are at a moral and a patriotic fork in the road. Each of us must choose. Either we say yes through active support or through complacency to an illegal, tragic, unconscionable war of aggression; to the kidnapping and torture of human beings and innumerous violations by our president and others in his administration of our domestic laws, our constitution, longtime treaty obligations and our international law, or as we are all doing here today, WE SAY NO!"
9:53:28 PM | |
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Saturday, March 17, 2007 |
I’ve always had great birthdays, even the hard-to-bite thirtieth birthday where I had my wife put together an all-black party. But that is a story for another time. While many people loathe their birthdays past the age of 36, I welcome them with open arms. It’s another year being alive – to experience the multifarious situations that find me. It’s about being thrilled for and tackling with gusto the new opportunities that come my way, that stretch my understanding, teach me new things, and increase my skills. The more I live the more I have to accomplish and grow. I’m enjoying this ride called life.
I had a great birthday. I received an iRobot Roomba vacuum, a Cocoa Latte maker, and a gift card to Borders, which I cashed in for Hayley Westerna’s newest CD Celtic Treasure and Vittorio, by Italy’s youngest tenor, Vittorio Grigolo.
So, what was happening in the world on my birthday? What’s being recognized or talked about?
Well, first things first. The poem of the day on m y birthday was Emma Howell’s "Tempest," from her collection Slim Night of Recognition, published by the Eastern Washington University Press:
Tempest
It's storming, pounding out there.
Rain breaks and falls like the mismatched
halves of haloes.
Luminescent drops arc above the wind's dips and joints.
This is the division of virtues through their centers.
Whole waters submit, are split and capped,
sectioned like tangerines into mouth-shaped crescents
and then auctioned into thunder.
The rain marks its weight in deep
forgiving streaks.
The storm is tight around all things
and in rope fingers of light
water cracks into marbled, complex structures,
less like a chandelier, hanging vows above our heads,
than like the mezuzah we kiss when we step outside.
It shelters a scrolled blessing against leaving God
at home.
We break Him into pieces and carry Him along.
#1 books on the New York Times Best-Seller List: Nineteen Minutes, by Jodi Picoult (Hardcover Fiction); In An Instant, by Lee and Bob Woodruff (Hardcover Nonfiction); The Memory Keeper’s Daughter, by Kim Edwards (Soft Cover Fiction); and The Measure of a Man, by Sidney Poitier (Soft Cover Nonfiction).
Billboard’s #1 Album: The Notorious Big: Greatest Hits, Notorious Big
Billboard’s #1 Song: "Glamorous," by Fergie (featuring Ludacris)
Hot Debut CD: Neon Bible, Arcade Fire
Rolling Stone’s Editor’s Pick for Week’s Hot Tracks: "Keep the Car Running," by Arcade Fire.
Top-grossing Films: 300, Wild Hogs, Bridge of Terabithia, Ghost Rider, and Zodiac.
What am I reading? Calendars, by Annie Finch
What did I Listen to Today? All I Never Need, by John Amen; Neon Bible, by Arcade Fire; Loose, by Nelly Furtado.
Last Film I Watched? 300
Last DVD I Watched? The Incredibles
What did I eat for my birthday? Blackened Salmon, mashed potatoes, and chocolate cake with raspberry sauce and whipping cream.
Most Popular AP and CNN News Items:
Valerie Plame Testifies at hearing of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Friday.
Friendly fire death of Matty Hull (Britain) by US warplane in Iraq ruled criminal
Scandal over fired lawyers encompasses Gonzales and moves nearer to Bush
California Joins Move to Earlier Primaries
New Zealand defeats England in Cricket World Cup Play
Four years later, Iraq has forever altered political landscape
Christians gather in Washington, D.C. for protest against Iraq war
Tiny Alaska town is giving away land to boost population
Sicilian volcano erupts again
Hungary police teargas extremists
Italy blocks trial of CIA agents
4:09:08 PM | |
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Monday, March 12, 2007 |
I've been down on my back the past few days, literally. I'm much worse right now. I hurt it shifting boxes around at work and then it grew progressively worse trying to do normal activities such as lifting my two-year-old son up onto the changing table to
change his diaper.
Whatever caused this reversal of fortune, the pain has unfortunately increased in my lower back and down my left leg every step I take. Sitting too long compounds the pain and tingling and numbness and burning.
Have appointment with specialist this Friday. Considering surgery. Very tired of this.
In other news, I did sit through my pain to watch the top-grossing film of the weekend, 300. (It became the largest box office opener in March, at $70 million, as well as the third largest grossing "R" rated film.) I really enjoyed it. The art production was extraordinary, as were the special effects. The con: that the dialogue would have strayed from twentieth-century phraseology. Nonetheless, very satisfied with it. Review forthcoming.
On the book front, reading Annie Finch's beautiful collection of poetry Calendars. Review forthcoming.
10:57:40 PM | |
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Wednesday, March 07, 2007 |
Being a Greek/Sparta history enthusiast and a fan of Frank Miller, I'm seeing the adapted film about the 300 Spartans who battle the legions of the Persians. '300' is directed by Zack Snyder.
This website is showing 300 seconds of the new film '300.' (Beware. Graphic scenes of battle. Bloody.)
" This is Sparta!"
7:39:14 PM | |
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Friday, March 02, 2007 |
The Attention Lesson, by PF Potvin was published by No Tell Books, LLC, 2006
In PF Potvin’s poem "Less Wild, More Tiger," the poet describes the early language of a newborn babe and the celebration that takes place at its arrival in the tribe: "Firstborn’s words come just after birth. They are not of human form, but guised in the gesture of an animal. And every time she shakes her fist the sun dies out as drizzle slants like lightning on the dancing people. Their chants become the clouds, fuming and echoing firstborn’s cry: less wild, more tiger."
This excerpt, especially the line "lightning on the dancing people," creates an image that represents Potvin’s work in its wholeness. Indeed, lightning is the perfect metaphor for describing Potvin’s collection of poetry, The Attention Lesson because it illuminates the effects of human experience, both from his observations and his perceptions of the observed’s psychological landscapes– the outward expression of inner conflict.
Read my entire review at MiPoesias Magazine.
Note: I am having issues with the RadioLand software uploading and recognizing the photos I have added to the server. So I apologize that I was unable to display the cover art for The Attention Lesson.
10:45:02 PM | |
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