Just out., April 18, 2003, Page 37, Image 37

apnl IS. 2003 ' J o t m * | 3 7
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M r
REVIEWS
T he W om en G ath er
Sweet Honey in the Rock •
EarthBeat!
'here ain’t no stoppin’ Sweet
Honey in the Rock. Their
newest CD, The Women
Gather, celebrates the 30th
anniversary of this African Amer­
ican female a cappella group.
The latest is an 18-track col­
lection of mostly original songs,
produced by dyke musician
Toshi Reagon, daughter of
founding Sweet Honey member
Bernice Johnson Reagon. The
C D includes songs by each of
the five women in the group as well as three
Reagon-penned tunes.
Like Sweet Honey’s past 17 albums, The
Women Gather delivers an energy-filled, emo­
tionally moving musical experience. You can
hear the depth of the women’s message both
lyrically, through poetic words of love, pain,
hope and social responsibility, and stylistically,
as five powerful, passionate voices intricately
interweave, forming layers of musical intensity.
“Let Us Rise in Love,” written by Ysaye
Maria Barnwell, and “Fly,” by Reagon, are
songs inspired by the terrorist attacks of
Sept. 11, 2001. Nitanju Bolade CasePs “Give
the People Their Right to Vote!” is a six-
minute history lesson on the absence of voting
rights for citizens of Washington, D.C.
Carol Maillard’s “Somebody Prayed Me
Over” reflects on the prayers of our ancestors,
and “Prayer at the Crossroads,” by Aisha Kahlil,
is for those facing the demon of addiction.
Johnson Reagon contributes “The Voice of
the Innocent,” sung in English and Spanish,
which tells the story of those who live sur­
rounded hy violence. She also arranges “Come
Unto Me,” based on a biblical verse, and “Bal­
lad of Harry T. Moore," based on the Langston
Hughes poem.
With The Women Gather, Sweet Honey in
the Rock gives us a musical gift once again.
Happy anniversary!
—Jamie Bolyard
H ung
Flare • Le Grand Magistery
F
lare are New Yorks neo-
altema-folk duo Charles
Newman and LD Beghtol,
whose latest effort is a set of a
dozen haunting tracks wrapped
up under the moniker Hung.
Beghtol’s shimmering voice clashes quaint­
ly with his hirsute, beary frame and has flavors
of random planets as inhabited by the likes of
the Beach Boys, Morrissey and Magnetic
Fields (with
whom he has
recorded and
toured). These
are love songs
for the forlorn
and hopeful.
Beautifully
realized by a
large roster of
musicians, this
melancholy set
of derange­
ments such as
“Like Is a
Strong Word"
prove there is a
spark of cynicism left in the world. The track is
an adjectival diatribe about the fleeting brevity
of passersby and other acquaintances. The
acidic “School of New York”— complete with
glockenspiel, harmonium and other varied
stringed things— is a searing misanthrope
watching the ships passing poison in the neon-
lit night.
Painstakingly wry, this journey seems as if
it were pent up and plotted for years.
“IffThen” is a Beatles-esque self-portrait of a
man in the throes of love’s great indifference
and the larger recognition of questionable
identity in another’s eyes. Newman’s lovely
piano keeps things moody and longingly
paced. In its saddening, harsh reality the
song dares to ask the questions we all wonder
about when fielding the boundaries o f rela­
tionships in transformation.
Throughout Hung are a multitude of macho
street images and questioning reflections. There’s
a certain grounding to the duo’s attitude on this,
their sophomore full-length disc— a been-
around-the-block-and-back-again sensibility.
“(Don’t Like) The Way We Live Now” is a
contemporary reflection on technology’s
omnipresent takeover of all forms of personal
communication masqueraded as a drunken
conversation and a possible blind date gone
awry. Drama is the key component of the fare
on this rare melodic record.
Flare adds Magnetic Fields’
Stephin Merritt on “Glitter,”
which starts with a nursery
rhyme as read by a bewildered
child. Its acerbic refrain,
“Watch me glitter and be gay,
watch me piss it all away,”
speaks volumes about the ven­
omous and loaded double-
entendres packed to the gills
throughout.
The overtones of well-worn emotions are
in apparent abundance on Hung, a record to
be reckoned with.
— TJ Norris JH
* ».*
816 NW 23rd Avenue
Portland, OR 97210
Ph/Fx: (503) 295-7965
■E 9 H
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W ° n is a must fo r the d a rin g d in e r who se e lcs fillin
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704- NW 21st & Irving
503.226.6126
Ww
c«»»»ic fry «or Mjoof h utafering
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We feafore a delicious Tofu V
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^ ^
Eat Fr«h • Eat Healthy • Eat Peliciouj
LD Beghtol
(left) and
Charles
Newman are
New York’s
neo-altema-
folk duo Flare
v
i m
m
M e X iC a n G r iH
^ l(
€> 515211 Hawthorn« Wvd. Portland • (501) 256-5000 4
914 RW. Z5rd Avt Portland • (501) 226-9600