Classical
FREE SCREENING of Wilco Documentary ASHES OF AMERICAN FLAGS Mon 4/20
Monday 4/ 20 (holler): Free Wilco Movie @ Turner Hall (double holler): Pull up a chair and remenise on Wilco's sold out 2 day run at the Pabst at this amazing FREE SCREENING!!
Apr 18th, 2009 by Howie Goldklang
Art and performance, 4/9 – 4/14
Visual Art Check back next week for our celebrated Gallery Night guide, with staff picks and a complete directory of local events! Music UWM Guitar Series, UWM Peck School of the Arts, 4/10. Classical guitarist René Izquierdo joins Elina Chekan in a benefit concert for UWM’s program for young guitarists. They will perform solo and duo works by Astor Piazzolla, Leo Brouwer, Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco, Hector Villa-Lobos and others. Theatre I Just Stopped By To See The Man, Milwaukee Repertory Theatre, 4/8. This passionate and political ode to the power and truth of the blues tells the story of Jesse Davidson, the greatest living bluesman. Long believed dead, he lives his simple life with his activist daughter in a Mississippi Delta shack. Legend surrounds Jesse—like the story about him selling his soul to the devil so that he could play guitar. But when Karl, a famous English rocker, probes for the truth about Jesse, he triggers a confrontation of mythic proportions. Barney & Bee, Renaissance Theatre, 4/12. CLOSING. Barney & Bee tells the tale of Jo and Stephen, hosts of an ill-fated dinner party to which Stephen has asked Barney, the husband in a newly separated couple. Unbeknownst to Stephen, Jo has also invited the wife (Bee) and her new boyfriend – a recipe for social catastrophe! Two talented actors play all five comic characters in Frayn’s witty, fast-moving farce. Old Time Radio: Sherlock Holmes, Alchemist Theatre, 4/12-4/19. Wisconsin Hybrid Theater and Alchemist Productions bring a series of Sunday “Old Time Radio” Matinees to the Alchemist. Each month, a familiar classic will be adapted for your imagination by the wacky cast and crew of Vintage Radio Station WHT. Wild Honey, Off the Wall Theatre, 4/12. CLOSING. The Cherry Orchard, Milwaukee Repertory Theatre, 4/14. Set in 1904 on the edge of the Russian Revolution, this bittersweet and haunting comedy is Chekhov’s final play and masterpiece about a rapidly changing world and a way of life on the brink of destruction. With fortunes fading fast and the auction of their estate looming on the horizon, an impoverished Russian family is uncertain of what the future will bring. For venue, tickets, showtimes and more, visit Footlights Milwaukee online.
Apr 9th, 2009 by Amy Elliott
Art and Performance April 2-8, 2009
Visual Art Art in Bloom, Milwaukee Art Museum. 4/2 through 4/5. Celebrating springtime, Art In Bloom showcases the talents of more than 40 renowned floral designers interpreting masterworks from the Museum’s Collection. This year’s expanded exhibition also includes lectures and workshops with celebrity floral designers and master gardeners, book signings, plein air painters, a multi-vendor indoor marketplace, a garden sculpture sale, and floral-inspired dining in the Café Calatrava Garden Room. Presenting lectures, demonstrations, and book signings will be Michael George—one of the most sought after floral designers in the United States; Milwaukee native Michael Weishan, former host of PBS television’s The Victory Garden; Portland-based vine expert Linda Beutler; landscape designer Craig Bergmann; Chicago Master Gardener and radio host Mike Nowak; local horticulture expert Melinda Myers; renowned children’s book author Lois Ehlert and many others. Awesome Art Sale, Racine Art Museum, 4/3 Due to overwhelming success, this awesome event is back with more artwork than ever! Many one-of-a-kind items priced as low as $20! Discover original, museum-quality artwork donated by collectors and nationally known artists from across the country. Purchase a great piece of art and know that you are contributing to the sustaining growth of RAM’s exhibition and education programs. This is a fabulous time to add to your art collection or start one now! For more info click here! Frankie Martin, Green Gallery West. 4/3 Get down with the (original) Green Gallery on their momentous fifth anniversary with an exhibition of new works by Frankie Martin, whose work was a part of the very first Green Gallery show. In Life or Death?, Martin will show new video work as well as paintings and video stills. Who Died? is a five part, non-linear narrative video that reinterprets popular representations of death and the transcendence of the human body. Some light paintings will accompany this piece. Frankie will also present part of her series Left Behind which features paintings and mobiles based on the idea of what normally gets discarded. To do this she stretches her drop cloths as finished paintings that expose the materials and process of the work done in her studio. Frankie also incorporates objects from her neighborhood or from her own garbage into the work. In Frankie’s words “the idea is that these things become non-things, then become re-contextualized as things again.” Frankie will also exhibit Born Again, a video in which Botticelli’s Birth of Venus is translated into the video format. Frankie Martin’s work has appeared in galleries all over the world, from Milwaukee to Oslo to Paris to San Francisco and New York, where she now lives. Bon anniversaire, Green Gallery! Marina Bychkova: Enchanted Doll, Villa Terrace, 4/8 Exploring the dark, dreamy side of folklore and fantasy, Bychokova transforms a children’s toy into an exploration and reinterpretation of femininity, tradition and fairy tales. Says the artist, ““Creating a visual narrative is the most intriguing way of articulating my ideas and a doll is a perfect medium because of its potential for such visual story. My […]
Apr 1st, 2009 by Ryan Findley
A proposed playlist for derbying
The Roller Derby List (click here to read article), from warm-ups to cool down: Can I Kick It? by A Tribe Called Quest Let’s Go Crazy by Prince* Filthy Gorgeous by Scissor Sisters Give It To Me Baby by Rick James Funkytown by Lipps, Inc Kiss (covering Prince) by Art of Noise with Tom Jones Rock this Town by the Stray Cats* Goody Two Shoes by Adam Ant Whip It by Devo It’s Tricky by Run-DMC Satisfaction by Benny Benassi* Intergalactic by the Beastie Boys* Girlfight The Remix by Brooke Valentine Push It by Salt-N-Pepa Are You Gonna Be My Girl by Jet Panama by Van Halen Everybody Wants You by Billy Squier Hot Tamale Baby by Buckwheat Zydeco* Timebomb by Beck Try It Again by the Hives* That’s Not My Name by the Ting Tings I See You Baby by Fatboy Slim* Another One Bites The Dust by Queen* We Like to Party! By Vengaboys Firestarter by Prodigy Rock And Roll by Led Zeppelin Dimension by wolfmother* Get Your Hands Off My Woman by the Darkness Rock and Roll Queen by the Subways I Don’t Want To Die (in the hospital) by Conor Oberst Ugly by the Violent Femmes* Paper Planes by M.I.A. Roller Derby (a surf song) by the Challengers You Can’t Roller Skate in a Buffalo herd by Roger Miller *suggests artist with multiple songs in their oeuvre that can be used. Also-rans, songs in no particular order: Everyday I Love You Less and Less by the Kaiser Chiefs Now, Right Now by Reverend Horton Heat The Warrior’s Code by the Dropkick Murphys Block Rockin’ Beats by the Chemical Brothers* The Love Below (Hey Ya!) by Outkast Universal Mind Control by Common Blitzkreig Bop by the Ramones Pump It Up by Mistakens (covering Elvis Costello) Paint It Black by the Rolling Stones My Sharona by the Knack Rollerderby Queen by Red Aunts (I’m A) Road Runner by The Who Middle Management by Bishop Allen Bone Broke by the White Stripes I Would Never Wanna Be Young Again by Gogol Bordello Daft Punk is playing at my house by LCD Soundsystem Everyone Nose by N.E.R.D. Hot Lava by Perry Ferrell (covering Chef) Any way you want It by Journey You Really Got Me by the Kinks Roller Skating Jam Named ‘Saturdays’ by De La Soul I Left my Wallet in El Segundo by Tribe Called Quest And The Girls Go by Men Without Pants Time To Pretend by MGMT Magic Dance by David Bowie Roller Derby Queen by Jim Croce (Queen of the) Roller Derby by Leon Russell American Girl by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers Shake Your Groove Thing by Peaches and Herb Come On Eileen by Dexy’s Midnight Runners Bitch Gonna Get Ya’ by RZA Say Aha by Santogold Mercy by Duffy We Will Fall Together by Streetlight Manifesto In the Ayer by Flo Rida I need a Hero by Bonnie Tyler Eye of the Tiger by Survivor Bust a Move by Young MC
Mar 13th, 2009 by Brian Jacobson
The Surprisingly Difficult Art of the Roller Derby Playlist
I don’t often put myself into an article. I would rather let the story tell itself. But in this case, a little back story is warranted. Back in September of 2008, I volunteered to help referee the Brewcity Bruisers Roller Derby league. It had been at least ten years since I put on skates and the prospect of joining a close-knit group of refs and rollergirls was a scary one. The learning curve was sharp and continues to be – but I’m still glad I found the courage to do it. One night before a practice, the new stereo system had only a jack for an mp3 player and I was the only one with a working unit. It was an honor and privilege to share my music. No, wait, it was a nightmare. My Zune contains over 4,800 songs. Putting it on shuffle would result in Beastie Boys one minute and Nick Drake the next. There is also an album of accordion classics in there. Embarassed that I had no playlist proper for a warehouse full of women about to knock each other around on wheels, I set the player to Fatboy Slim and hoped for the best. Like Scarlett O’Hara pulling a root from the ground and vowing never to go hungry again, I decided over the next few months to put together some good music for derbying. It became a bit of an obsession. What is produced here illuminates some realizations about the difficult of making a list and choosing the songs within it. A typical playlist – if being used strictly in the course of a bout – would have to last 40 minutes to an hour for two halves of a match between just two teams. If it was a BCB match, there are four teams facing off in two 20-minute jams. So now you are up to 80 minutes. Now factor in warm-up time, introductions, halftime, timeouts – a typical bout can last well over two hours. In that scenario, I leave the expertise up to someone like professional DJ Mike Shank who handles the monthly BCB gigs with aplomb. I consulted him on the idea and took some songs that have been played at the bouts. Even if just for a practice or scrimmage, a good roller derby playlist tends to evoke memories of a Saturday night at the rink just skating around with friends. It almost seems sometimes as if the right balance of tempo and attitude for roller skating was founded in the late 1970s to mid-80s. The best songs are ones to which you could mouth the words while carving the big oval. A few of the rollergirls have said they just need a good thumping beat to go with their workout. Most can’t agree on one format but they appreciate a variety of hip hop, funk, hard rock, electronica, and rockabilly. Folk, Jazz, Bluegrass, and most modern Country doesn’t seem to work. Occasionally new stuff culled from reading SPIN magazine or cribbing off the […]
Mar 12th, 2009 by Brian Jacobson
Behind the curtain
This month, to an even greater extent than usual, you can leaf through the pages of VITAL and find calendar listings, phone numbers, websites and profiles of the people that power the ships, as well as evidence, photographic and otherwise, of creative output. With a little imagination you can envision a setting: a proscenium stage, a row of footlights, dusty makeup rooms and wardrobes stuffed with spangled costumes. You might think about musical instruments or ballet shoes, or you might imagine the barely-controlled chaos of ticket offices and sales departments. But what else happens inside a performance company? And how wide of an audience do arts groups reach? What is their relevance or value to the wider world? The truth is, with public schools more strapped for cash than ever and cultural resources dwindling, arts organizations are sometimes a community’s most powerful force for education, outreach and enrichment resources. Members and affiliates of the United Performing Arts Fund alone touch over a million people every year, including more than 400,000 area children, according to UPAF Vice President of Community Relations and Marketing Linda Edelstein. Here, four major Milwaukee arts institutions share their most compelling initiatives for the coming season and the value they’ve brought to the city. Training and growth It’s a big year for the Milwaukee Ballet, whose acclaimed Ballet School is rated among the very best in the nation. In late August the School opened its largest branch at the Sendik’s Towne Centre in Brookfield, and this fall, the ink should be dry on the accreditation forms sent in to the National Association of Schools for Dance. If accredited, the Milwaukee Ballet School – established in 1975 – will be the only dance institution in the region that has met the NASD’s standards. But the Ballet’s outreach programming extends beyond sprung dance floors, lofty studios and kids in tutus. Their education programs alone reach over 20,000 kids a year through in-school performances, workshops and collaborations with other arts organizations. Merging training, performance, enrichment and the continuity that a successful arts education program requires, Relevé, an inner city youth dance program, provides ballet training to over 175 students at four MPS elementary schools: Allen-Field, Dover, Maple Tree and Vieau. Children start small with once-a-week, in-school ballet classes in 3rd grade and advance through 4th and 5th grade with training at the Milwaukee Ballet studios in the Peck Center. All of their dancewear is provided for free, and their study is enriched with free tickets to shows at the Ballet, in-school performances, meeting with company dancers and end-of-the-year recitals. “Relevé allows us to work with girls – and boys – who wouldn’t otherwise see these same kinds of opportunities,” says Alyson Vivar, Director of Education at the Ballet. “They really learn so much more than ballet – they learn discipline and self-confidence, and they have fun.” Training young people doesn’t have to stop with school kids. Art depends on fresh faces and the collision of new ideas with established practices […]
Sep 1st, 2008 by Amy Elliott
New directors, new directions
The day I found out that the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra would be announcing the music director to replace Andreas Delfs after the 2008-2009 season, I went to bed wondering when the Milwaukee Art Museum would get their ducks in a row and pick someone to replace Director and CEO David Gordon, who will be leaving in March. I didn’t have to wonder long — I got an email the next day from the MAM press team announcing that a “successful museum director,” Daniel T. Keegan, would be taking the job. After months of what I imagine to have been sweaty deliberation, secret rehearsals, googling for dirt, maybe even confessional audition tapes, two of the city’s brawniest art organizations rang in the new on the same day. Their choices make sure statements about how they see themselves and where they hope to head in the next few years. The Symphony’s choice, Edo de Waart, is absolutely magnetic. At 23 he served as Leonard Bernstein’s assistant conductor at the New York Philharmonic; over the course of a storied, cosmopolitan career, de Waart has conducted the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra in Holland, the Rotterdam Philharmonic, the Sydney Symphony Orchestra and most recently the Hong Kong Philharmonic. Edo de Waart also brings an extensive catalog of recordings with a number of orchestras on major music labels. In person he is full of European charisma — funny but focused, comfortable and sincere. He just moved to Middleton with his wife and family, but everyone, including Edo, went to lengths yesterday to stress that this is not a late-career move made out of ease or laziness. De Waart called the MSO “a great sleeper orchestra,” unfettered by the weighty reputations that sometime “exceed reality.” In the past he has spoken with impressive conviction about what a wonderful symphony orchestra can do for a smaller city, or a city in transition (take a look at this interview about his work with the orchestra in Hong Kong). His experience in opera conducting — including but not limited to the Met in New York and L’Opera National in Paris — as well as a track record of taking chances on contemporary composers and lesser-known repertoire should prove revitalizing to the MSO. And I think Milwaukee is going to love him. Daniel T. Keegan, a different choice for a different beast, comes to the Milwaukee Art Museum from the San Jose Museum of Art, rather persistently described in the press so far as a “Silicon Valley museum.” The phrase gives a lot away about what MAM was looking for in its new leader; San Jose’s most notable distinction, besides its expansive collection of West Coast and Pacific Rim art, is its use of technology and multimedia in exhibitions and galleries. Their podcasts are award-winning, and you can dial their audio guides from your cell phone. The Milwaukee Art Museum has been reaching for a savvier demographic — a multi-tasking, wireless, gadget-infatuated and quick-on-its-feet group of people — for some time, with […]
Jan 4th, 2008 by Amy Elliott
The song remains the same?
By Ellen Burmeister Once regarded as the epitome of the excesses of the 1970s rock landscape, Led Zeppelin is currently undergoing a revival of sorts, which is expected to culminate in a much-heralded reunion concert in London this December. For those of us who can’t book a flight to Heathrow, an admirable substitute came to the Riverside Theater November 9 as a 50-piece subset of the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra. Under the direction of composer/arranger Brent Havens, they presented “The Music of Led Zeppelin”, a “rock symphony” of fifteen of the band’s best loved tunes. Notching up the rock chops of the ensemble were – most notably – vocalist Randy Jackson, guitarist George Cintron, electric violinist Allegra, and drummer Powell Randolph (granting the crowd a sampling of a truly Bonham-worthy solo on “Moby Dick”). While no one can match the vocal acrobatics and writhing tight-pants sensuality of Robert Plant at his peak, Randy Jackson proved that the art of rock vocals is a worthy equivalent to that of any other highly trained vocal discipline, especially when backed by a professional ensemble. Almost academic in his approach, Jackson gave a thrilling “reading” of the varied styles in the Led Zepplin playbook – classic rock, blues, and even English folk – and played some great acoustic guitar as well. Kudos to guitarist Cintron and violinist Allegra as well. Jimmy Page’s fabulously inventive and complex riffs got their due props thanks to this unique splitting and doubling of his musical vision among these two talented musicians, particularly on “Black Dog” and “Heartbreaker.” And – despite the challenges of competing with an amplified bass line that approached “11” – the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra brought a rich timbre to the tracks. Subtle changes such as the addition of an oboe to the flute meanderings on “Stairway to Heaven” or the lush backup lines on “In the Evening” reminded the appreciative audience of the beauties hidden in tracks so often taken for granted. And of course, “Kashmir” never sounded more exotic or epic as when a full orchestra takes on its throbbing rhythm and evocative harmonics. The capacity crowd was visibly proud of its hometown orchestra (a terrific outreach project for the MSO if there ever was one) and participated wholeheartedly in every opportunity for interaction that arose. By the time “Stairway” reared its ubiquitous head (complete with the rarely heard guitar and vocal prelude), there was an overwhelming sense of satisfaction in the crowd. No one was alarmed by bustles in their hedgerows. VS
Nov 12th, 2007 by Vital Archives
The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee
The spelling bee dates back to the early nineteenth century, and what may have started as a celebration of literacy in a largely agrarian nation has become a common feature of childhood culture familiar to people all over the country. One slice of Americana meets another in The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee — a musical about the fictitious bee of an insular county that could be anywhere in the country. The musical, which opened at the Marcus Center this past Tuesday and runs throughout the week, is patterned after an actual spelling bee. There are grade school-style standing displays in the lobby and a desk for anyone in the audience who wants to sign up for the bee. At the beginning of the show, half a dozen audience members are called to the stage to compete. The show is performed without intermission and, strangely enough for a musical, with relatively little singing. Songs are short, inconsequential and as memorable as a fifteen-second television commercial. The result is a passably enjoyable comedy full of spelling-bee jokes and deft language-play that would be great if it weren’t for all those songs breaking the pace of the laughs. While music drags the production in numerous places, Spelling Bee is entertaining as a character comedy. The spellers are diverse: Logainne Schwartzandgrubenierre (Dana Steingold), the precocious ultra-liberal daughter of two gay dads; William Barfee (Eric Roediger) an awkward kid with a unique spelling technique; Olive Ostrovsky (Vanessa Ray ), the child of distant parents; eccentric Leaf Coneybear (Andrew Keenan-Bolger), whose spelling abilities seem to come from nowhere; multi-talented ultra-perfectionist Marcy Park (Katie Boren) and sexually frustrated Boy Scout Chip Tolentino (Justin Keyes). James Kall has a brilliant sense of comic delivery as Vice Principal Douglas Panch, who officiates the bee with former champion Rona Lisa Peretti (Roberta Duchak). The touring production uses the old trick of dropping local references like Brett Favre and Brady Street. Still, nothing can top the craziness of inviting actual audience members to compete in the bee. It’s staged – the audience members are gone by the time the first couple of characters are eliminated – although on opening night, one woman didn’t get cut as expected, even managing to spell a word that had been entirely fabricated for the musical. Her turn came up again immediately, and she politely misspelled a much longer word. A show that so clearly welcomes this kind of controlled audience participation has a clever charm to it. VS The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee runs through November 11th at the Marcus Center. Tickets can be purchased in advance by calling the box office at 414-273-7206 or online at www.marcuscenter.org. December 11 – 16, the touring company makes its way to the Fox Cities PAC in Appleton. For more info, visit www.foxcitiespac.com
Nov 8th, 2007 by Russ Bickerstaff
Ian Ball
Fans of Southport, England’s Gomez have long realized that with three songwriters in the band, there was bound to be a bit of venturing into solo-land, for true-blue songwriters can only collaborate and play nice for so long. Ian Ball has no desire to see his outfit disband, but is keen to try some orchestrations of his own, which are in turn are subtly lovely, genuine, organic and pleasing in their simplicity. It’s fair to call Who Goes There “piano-driven,” but don’t let that lead you to think this is a typical boy-and-his-piano heartstring-tugger. Rather, Ball has mastered an uncanny knack to make the absence of guitar largely unnoticeable. Instead, he magically manages to serve up a heavy rotation of a crunchy Fender Rhodes, mellow acoustic piano, electronic loopery and glass-clear glockenspiels that override the soft strummings of acoustic guitar in a playful way, lending a fresh sound to songs of love and its trials, which are lyrically a little cheeky, but never campy. Ball even manages to make getting high from enough drugs to tranquilize an elephant (“The Elephant Pharmacy”) sound charming. Ball’s skills as a solo artist lie in his ability to bring living-room ballads uncannily within reach, despite his intensely personal storytelling style. From the introspective, self-soothing opener “Sweet Sweet Sleep” to the bouncy “Automatic Message” and whimsical “When We Were Cool,” Ball doesn’t get in anyone’s face – just garners slow, but solid, appreciation. VS
Nov 5th, 2007 by Erin Wolf
Jimmy Eat World
‘Emo’ was once considered a four-letter word, yet one of the founding bands of this genre, Jimmy Eat World (along with the likes of Rites of Spring, Sunny Day Real Estate and Braid), managed to give it staying power. From 1993 onward, the band that once did split 7” records with Jejune and Christie Front Drive has evolved into a Warped Tour member and is name-checked with Green Day and Taking Back Sunday. Taken aback by their success, the band has been seemingly cornered into re-creating and advancing this once fresh sound, moving it from its hardcore/punk roots into a bubblegum pop vocalists’ headbanger’s ball. In the process, Jimmy Eat World’s trademark sound, which began with 1999’s Clarity, shifted the majority of the vocals from Tom Linton’s scratchy emo-core rasp to Jim Adkins’ more pure tenor choirboy vox. Perhaps this was the switch that fixed Jimmy Eat World’s rising popularity, but at a heavy price. None of the once truly poignant words remain. On Chase This Light, the lyrics seem bled dry of anything heartfelt, the songs sliding from one to the next, not effortlessly, but unnoticeably. Gone are the days of the intense but admirable balance of adrenaline-bomb hooks and dramatic epics with electronic noodling (innovative in its day). This stagnant direction is surprising, since their last release in 2001 had them leaning back to their grittier Static Prevails days. Only “Firefight” and “Feeling Lucky” recall the band’s original sound. Venturing into new territory, “Gotta Be Somebody’s Blues” gives off a smoke-machine, Def Leppard vibe with its excessive strings and over-produced vocals. Even Jim Adkins’ contribution – “Carry You,” from his side project Go Big Casino, and which could be said to be more true-blue – still sounds contrived and will soon be Muzak. Was it foresight that almost ten years ago on Clarity’s “Your New Aesthetic,” Adkins sang, “We’re lowering the standard in a process selective / the formula is too thin / but it takes more than one person / so everyone jump on / I’ll miss you when you’re just like them”?
Nov 1st, 2007 by Erin Wolf
Bruce Springsteen
Bruce Springsteen’s career has been truly beyond reproach. Even those who aren’t fans have to acquiesce to the fact that he’s the definition of integrity in a business that thrives on the opposite. And while his popularity may have waned in the nineties, he still created provocative music that meant something both to him and to his audience. This is evidenced by recent releases from a number of young artists mining his sound and his aesthetic. Ah, but they could never be the real thing. And here in his 24th year of recording, Bruce produces yet another finely-crafted testament to his “Boss” title. Magic contains the most direct and immediate collection of rock music Bruce has put out since Born in the U.S.A. in 1984. The saxophone, the piano and the rest of the E Street Band are back in full regalia on songs like “Livin’ In The Future” and “I’ll Work For Your Love.” The driving rhythms, melodies and narratives are also back, particularly on “Last to Die.” But Bruce doesn’t stop there: on the title track he displays the entire spectrum of his talents as a creator. “Girls In Their Summer Clothes” is as innocent as it is wistful. And though it may turn some people off, there are also a number of songs that touch upon his acoustic, rootsy leanings, sparse and epic. Bruce makes albums that are the equivalent of audio novels. They tell stories, weave descriptions, paint landscapes and define characters. But he also always gives us a little prize wrapped in the theme of it all: the emotional resource that compels us to be the authors of our own existence. “Love (and attitude) is a power greater (and stronger) than death” he sings in his tribute to a deceased friend on the hidden track 12, “Terry’s Song.” Yep, that’s the magic.
Nov 1st, 2007 by Troy Butero
