MewithoutYou’s New Album Utterly Mystifies

Paul Smith - The Corsair

“Why not be utterly changed into fire?” asks Aaron Weiss, the lead singer of mewithoutYou, on his band’s fourth studio album, it’s all crazy! it’s all false! it’s all a dream! it’s alright.

The question is posed repeatedly at the close to the awesomely epic track, “The King Beetle on a Coconut Estate,” which tells the allegorical fable of a king from a beetle community who sends his insect denizens out to investigate a recent fire in their kingdom—the fire representing the mystery of divine providence.

Each beetle returns to the king burned and defeated, unable to comprehend the enigmatic blaze, prompting the king to investigate the fire himself. He boldly heads directly into the flames, but rather than dying, the king becomes one with the fire—one with that holy mystery.

The lyrical content to this song was inspired from a story told by the Sufi mystic Bawa Muhaiyaddeen in his book “The Divine Luminous Wisdom: That Dispels the Darkness.”

If it is not yet apparent, mewithoutYou’s new musical outing is definitely not your typical album —and neither is it a typical mewithoutYou album. Produced by Brian McTear and Daniel Smith (of Danielson), It’s all crazy… in many ways marks a grand departure from their earlier work, though fans with a careful ear probably assumed the band was slowly headed in this direction.

Gone are the heavily distorted guitars and screaming vocals of albums past in favor of a brashly bizarre freak-folk indie-rock concept album of epic proportions. This change in direction may be off-putting to fans of their former visceral angst-laden style, but for those willing to give the new stuff a chance, their growth as musicians displayed on this album is truly remarkable.

MewithoutYou has at times been labeled a Christian band (though Weiss rejects this pigeonholing), and the fact they put out albums on the religious Tooth & Nail record label does little to dissuade such characterizing.

However, while the band does explore themes of a religious nature, this new album actually has far more references to Sufism (Islamic mysticism) than it does Christianity. In fact, the album gets its title from a parable in another book by Muhaiyaddeen, “The Golden Words of a Sufi Sheikh.”

Many of the themes explored with the lyrics may not be immediately accessible—but, then again, great art rarely is. And one does not necessarily have to agree with Weiss and company to appreciate the artistry exhibited.

But there is no denying that Weiss’ ability to coalesce an innocent children’s-book sensibility into deep esoteric and existential ruminations while still soudning like a campfire sing-along is rather mind-blowing.

Take this line from the song “Fig with a Bellyache” as an example: “The camel in the desert took a ship across the lake/ while the fish in search of water found a fig with a bellyache.” One could spend hours trying to decipher the symbolism in just this one stanza.

So it takes some time to fully digest this meticulous storytelling filled with theological parables and animal fables which sounds like a mix between Aesop, Dr. Seuss and Walt Whitman. And those with the patience will find a lyrical talent rarely matched in music today —though Weiss’ actual vocals may be an acquired taste for some.

Yet, beneath all the profound themes and prolific lyrics lies the music —a roaring mix of folk measures matched with raw multi-instrumental rock that perfectly harmonizes with the lyrical themes.

Many of the songs are structured around an acoustic guitar rhythm which builds to crashing crescendos filled with horn sections, pianos, accordions, violins, flutes, pounding drums and haunting choral chants.

The musical arrangement features a diverse style that seems reminiscent of the horns and lyrical melodies of Neutral Milk Hotel, the playful childlike whimsy of They Might Be Giants, the grandiose choruses of Arcade Fire’s first album, and the warbling, fist-pumping folk-rock epics of Bright Eyes —all while still maintaining an elegance and energy wholly its own.

The end result is an album so powerful, unique and mystifying that it is certainly a contender for album of the year—and just may go down as a modern classic.

So perhaps Weiss should have stopped screaming long ago, because he has learned to speak volumes with restraint.

Ultimately, the band has finally found that alchemical formula where the music and lyrics have become one with that holy mystery—and now with this amazing new album, mewithoutYou has been utterly changed into fire.

Grade: A

PJC student heads local poetry group

Paul Smith - The Corsair

It was October of last year; PJC student Patrick Hudson sat alone inside the End of the Line Café waiting for his friend, former PJC student Andrew Gartman, to join him. They were to discuss how, together, they would implement Gartman’s idea for creating a local poetry group.

Gartman never showed that day. A few days later, Hudson discovered that Gartman had died of complications due to AIDS.

Fast-forward a year, on Oct. 6, Hudson, 18, again sat inside the End of Line Café, only this time, he was not alone.

The café was brimming with an eager crowd ready to watch and participate in what has become the most popular poetry scene in town. It was poetry night at End of the Line Café, a regular Tuesday-night event organized by Hudson and put on by his group, the New Poets Society.

Though the original idea was conceived by Gartman, Hudson shared the same enthusiasm for poetry and desire to create a local group. So, Hudson sought to make it his duty to bring such a group into fruition.

“It’s always been a passion of mine, as far as writing the poetry goes and sharing,” said Hudson. “But, I really wanted to try and diversify the poetry community.”

And the readings have attracted a very diverse group of poets, indeed.

While the Tuesday night readings at End of the Line are certainly open-mic (meaning anyone with the desire can sign-up to read the night of the event), there is also a growing crowd of regulars returning each week with new material to present or to watch others read their work.

Tuesday night, Oct. 6, featured an eclectic mix of poets of all different ages, races, backgrounds, and poetry styles stepping up to the stage.

John Fravel, 61, read a poem about three troubled men in a hospital.

A passionate girl, and PJC student, who went by the name Iceiz, boisterously fired off several poems from memory dedicated to her girlfriend which were filled with ruminations on the nature of love and being a woman.

Trevor Griffith, 21, a philosophy major at UWF, sat down in a stool as he read two lengthy poems overflowing with vivid imagery and dreamlike plays on words.

Alex Borgella, 21, a psychology major at UWF, read a comical poem about a barber called “Lack-Hair Of,” which he stated was written in a manner inspired by Lewis Carroll.

Quincy “Q” Hull, 39, did a poem about the scourge of police brutality.

And several other poets also got up on the stage, each with a style uniquely their own. The raw sense of emotion and kinship on display this night was palpable.

“There’s a real sense of community here that’s hard to find in the real word,” said Fravel, who recently became interested in writing poetry after his wife, Annie, survived a brain aneurism. He found the medium as a cathartic way to express his emotions, and found the New Poets Society as the perfect outlet to express his newfound passion for poetry.

Hull, who is also a member of the Still Black See Artists and Writers Guild, described what he appreciated about the New Poets Society as “their love for the original art form in itself.”

“They haven’t taken it outside the original art,” said Hull. “It’s just the pen, the paper and the reader. They haven’t deviated outside of where it started from.”

“I wanted to inspire people to start writing poetry again and to take it as a serious art form,” said Hudson. “A lot of people, who started coming to the group and had never written poetry before, started writing poetry.”

Hudson has also tried to make the New Poets Society about more than just live poetry readings.
For instance, every month the group has a poetry contest with the rules being announced on the first Tuesday of the month. On Oct. 6, Hudson informed the crowd of the new contest rules: to write a poem that must be titled or start with the line “PS—Pensacola.”

The contests are sponsored by Open Books, a non-profit, volunteer-run bookstore here in Pensacola. The winner each month receives a certificate for a free book.

This month’s contest was all part of a creative process leading up to the group’s one-year anniversary on Dec. 15, where, among other acts in celebration, they plan to release their published book titled “PS—Pensacola” which will feature poems from the group. Proceeds from the book sales will go to Open Books.

And in keeping with making the group about more than just poetry, near the end of the readings on Oct. 6, there was also a brief discussion of Victor Demarius Steen, 17, who was recently killed after being struck by a police cruiser outside of Sluggo’s. Details of a vigil to remember Steen were announced by a few members of the group who were also involved in the planning.

Hudson’s group has definitely carved a niche for itself, not only in the local poetry scene, but in the community at large. People seem to attend the readings to be a part of something bigger than themselves, while also exchanging art and ideas through friendship and poems.

“It’s a great social event,” said Stijl Calhoun, 18, who was instrumental in helping Hudson get the group off the ground after Gartman died. “[I come here because] I like hearing what my friends have to say. There’ are a lot of great lines here; they know what they want to say and they say it.”
“I’ve met a lot of really important figures in my life through this group,” said Hudson. “A lot of my favorite poets I’ve met because of this.”

“This is the nucleus of how we learn to know who each other are,” said Hull, “by expressing ourselves through this thing called poetry.”

Tuesday night, Oct. 6, ended with Hudson on stage as he read a poem of his own, a piece celebrating individuality that featured the line, “similarity is the best path to invisibility.”

The New Poets Society is in no danger of such a fate, because when this diverse group meets each Tuesday night inside the End of the Line Café, no one is invisible.

“Brutal Legend” Review

Wade Manns - The Corsair

Brutal Legend
Produced by Electronic Arts and Double Fine Productions
Genre: third person action, real-time strategy
Rating: mature (blood, language, suggestive themes)

Jack Black is one of the most entertaining and unique actors on the Hollywood scene today; he started work in the comedic band he founded alongside Kyle Gass known as Tenacious D, and his career only went up from there. This is his first videogame, and if it’s any indication, he will be in high demand in the field of voice acting for many years to come.

The story of this game is a rather unique one: Eddie Riggs (voiced by Black) is the world’s best roadie, best at not being seen doing what needs to be done behind the scenes. One day while preparing the stage for an extremely weak hair metal band to which he is attached, something… interesting happens, and his blood somehow gets on to an enchanted belt buckle; what follows is an extremely surrealistic experience, in which Eddie is transported to a sort of alternate universe based largely around heavy metal and the battle between it and hair metal.

Through a combination of his axe which he finds early on, the Separator, and his “axe,” his guitar named Clementine, Eddie cuts a swath through his enemies, and electrocutes or immolates them due to the added magical power this new realm gives his guitar. He’ll need these abilities, as well as help from several supporting characters, such as the Forge Master (voiced by Ozzie Osbourne), to upgrade his attacks, his weapons and his hot rod, the Deuce, and the Kill Master (voiced by Lemmy from Motorhead, whose last name is Kilmister), to heal his allies in combat.

Along with the action, there is a real-time strategy element in which you can command your units to attack or defend various targets in the completion of your missions. You may also go down into combat during these sequences, as well as take them on in multiplayer with or against several other people at once.

With the good must come the bad; thankfully though, Brutal Legend doesn’t have much of that. Sometimes it’s difficult to micromanage various tasks as is often the case in real-time strategy games, but it’s not too big of a deal. Also, poor Eddie can’t jump! This is a glaring omission, but it’s not game-breaking in the least.

The visual style of the game is based on classic heavy metal album covers, complete with grand, metallic monsters and epic, wide landscapes. The modeling of Eddie Riggs to look like Jack Black is accurate if slightly caricatured, as is that of most other characters I’ve seen. The soundtrack is filled with classic metal tunes, and the voice acting is some of the best I’ve heard in games recently.

I strongly urge you to go pick this up if you haven’t already; if you’re a big fan of heavy metal music, or of games in general, you will not regret it! A solid five stars!

The Importance of Art

Alyson Webb

Published: January 24, 2006

As long as there have been humans, there has been art.  From ancient cave drawings to primitive written language, we have always been trying to connect to each other.

Art is one of the best ways of expressing oneself and if you think you don’t like art or don’t care about it, look at the clothes you’re wearing, accessories you might have, things that adorn your walls, pictures of your family, these are all forms of expression, of things you like and the things you care about.  They are, in fact, art.

That being said, there is an exhibit on campus you have to see.

January 15th through Feb. 9th the Visual Arts Gallery is presenting the works of William Clover, Jerry Lamme, and Kris Rybka.  Also, the public is invited to a reception for the artists from 6 to 8 p.m. Jan. 25

One of the artists in the exhibit is this year’s recipient of the Anna Lamar Switzer Endowed Teaching Chair, William Clover, PJC professor of ceramics and computer graphics.

“People have already made decisions about things they like. They just need to find similarities in art with things they already enjoy and then elaborate,” Clover said when asked why he thought people who don’t normally view art should give it a try

Clover, who started with clay and ceramics, does photography and digital imaging.  And that is where the most amazing pieces in his exhibit come from; with photos enlarged to cover an entire wall it seems as though you can see every pixel, every line.

Another one of the artists is Jerry Lamme of Tuscaloosa.  His mixed media work includes scanned drawings and photographs digitally manipulated and printed on paper and canvas.

Chris Rybka maintains a studio in Pensacola and works with metal sculpture. 

She studied glass etching at the Gumenti Museum of the Hague, Netherlands. 

Her House series includes intricate habitats made of bronze, glass, copper foil and sticks.

The gallery is in building 15 at Ninth Avenue and Airport Boulevard.  It is open from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Friday.

This is a wonderful exhibit, and whether you love it or hate it, by going you will have started your journey into appreciating art.

A conversation with the artists

Melissa Brown

Published: December 6, 2006

The faculty of PJC’s Visual Arts department has an exhibition in the Anna Lamar Switzer Center through December 13.  At the exhibition reception, Managing Editor Melissa Brown sat down with several of the faculty artists to discuss the importance of the show and the meaning behind their work.

The Wizard of Oz celebrates 70th anniversary

by Wade Manns

Back in 1900, L. Frank Baum released his timeless children’s masterpiece, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. Over 100 years, many sequels, and many adaptations later, the 1939 movie version, simply called The Wizard of Oz, is still the most popular rendition of Baum’s classic.

In September, that venerable movie celebrated its 70th anniversary with a re-release, including an all-new digital transfer which involved long hours of painstaking frame-by-frame restoration as well as a remastering of its sound mix. The result is a movie that holds up even among the big-name movies today.

I assume most people know the story of The Wizard of Oz: a little girl named Dorothy and her dog Toto are swept up together with their house into a cyclone and dropped right into the middle of the land of Oz, on top of the Wicked Witch of the East.

This naturally angers the witch’s sister, the Witch of the West, and she spends pretty much the rest of the movie trying to get back her ruby slippers (originally silver in the book, changed to take advantage of the then-novelty Technicolor method) which mysteriously transferred onto Dorothy’s feet.

Though the book features a good deal more content after the witch is killed and the Wizard leaves, the movie concentrates on Dorothy’s story near the end and doesn’t include any of the extra lands which are discussed in the book. Overall, though, the movie presents the core story in a good way, in a way which has endeared a half-dozen generations to its charm and timeless message.

Though the restoration of the film involves high-tech terms and concepts, the result on both the audio and video fronts are breathtaking. There is a super-high resolution format available, in the Blu-Ray disc version, but the DVD version holds up just fine, and is much better than the 1999 release of the movie.

Color correction seems to be in effect and works very well, and overall resolution seems to be higher (though again, it is a little hard to tell with the DVD version). Many scratches and irregularities which were present in the old release have been removed for this new version, as well as several instances of wire work being touched up (the song from the Emerald City “If I Were King of the Forest” being a prime example of when one could see a wire held from above holding up the lion’s tail, in the original version). According to the extras on the DVD, all this took nearly 250 hours of work to accomplish.

Though some parts of the story may not hold up under repeated viewing, such as the whole overarching “never wanting to leave your home because that should be where your heart is” concept, and some parts have been changed from the book, such as the aforementioned omissions of the rest of the lands in Oz as well as the fact that Oz turned out not to be real (in the book series, it is a real place), the movie really is a great one, and again, holds up even after 70 years as one of the best children’s, and general-audience movies of all time. How can I give this any less than five stars?

First Annual Pensacola Songwriters’ Festival

by Timm Showalter

Oct. 2 - 4 over 35 songwriters will be rockin’ out at Pensacola Beach for the first ever Annual Pensacola Songwriters’ Festival.

For those who do not know exactly what a songwriter is: a songwriter is someone who writes the music that major artists then perform.  Some of the songwriters attending this festival have worked on cuts for such musicians as the Rolling Stones, Alan Jackson and Jewel, said festival coordinator Reneda Cross.

These writers will be playing their music at the Sandshaker, Lillo’s Tuscan Grille, Paradise Bar and Grill, Sabine Sandbar and The Shell.  There will also be a special guitar workshop at Blues Angel Music on Navy Blvd., Oct. 3.

Cross said the event is aimed at everyone.  “We have anything from the 60’s to modern music.  We really tried to get a full circle because we want to get all age groups.”

Although boasting a genre repertoire of rock n’ roll, blues, country, top 40’s, bluegrass, and folk, she did admit they were not able to scrounge up any hip-hop artists, but are not ruling it out as a possibility for next year.

“One thing about this festival that may interest most people is that anyone will be able to talk with these artists,” said Cross.  “If you go to an Alan Jackson concert you won’t be able to talk to him, but if you come here you’ll get to sit down and talk with Jim McBride.”  Jim McBride has written quite a few of Alan Jackson’s songs such as “Chattahoochee.”

Although the idea for this festival was just spawned in mid-August, Cross isn’t worried about the turnout at all.  Some artists have promised to bring people from Birmingham Ala., Greenville Ala., and even Belgium to participate in the festival.

Cross has been coordinating the Frank Brown Songwriter’s Festival in Orange Beach since 2001.  But, she realized that there is also a demand in Pensacola for a festival such as this.

While Cross was out to lunch with some friends, someone piped up and suggested doing a songwriters’ festival in Pensacola.  To which she couldn’t help but reply, “Let’s do it!”  The rest is soon to be history.

Annual Greek Festival spreads Greek culture to Pensacola

Kay Forrest - The Corsair

The Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church at 1720 W Garden St. will hold its 50th annual Greek Festival Oct. 16-18. Admission is free. In addition to authentic Greek food and dancing, church tours will be offered and souvenirs will be sold.

Though locals attend the festival for many reasons, one of the biggest attractions is the large variety of Greek food sold each year. Church members spend weeks before the festival cooking huge quantities of food in preparation for the large crowds that always show up. Popular dishes include gyros (pita bread and lamb sandwiches), dolmathes (stuffed grape leaves), and baklava (a Greek pastry made with filo dough).

Annamaria Gallaher, a lifelong member of The Annunciation Church, helps out with the food every year. This year, she said over 7,000 dolmathes have been made in preparation for the festival.

“We’re getting ready to take care of the folks of Pensacola,” she said.

Guests are welcome to help in the food preparation. According to Gallaher, members of the church are always happy to teach recipes to anyone willing to learn.

“If you have a desire to learn, our arms are always open,” she said. “We welcome all to come in and learn the culture and learn the food.”

While authentic Greek cuisine is a huge crowd pleaser at the festival, many people come out to hear the live Greek music played by the Kostas Kastanis band and to watch the youth of the parish perform Greek folk dances in traditional costumes.

PJC alum and longtime Greek dancer, George Pagonis, 20, says most of the festival shuts down to watch the dance sets.  “That’s why most people show up,” he said.

Two different groups take turns performing traditional dances throughout the day. The elementary school group is called Hara, which means Joy, while the high school group is named Glenzethes, meaning Merry Makers.

Festival-goers are heartily encouraged to utilize the dance floor between performances. According to Pagonis, the dancers are always more than happy to teach dances to eager audience members.

“I definitely enjoy it,” said Pagonis. “It’s fun to spread the Greek culture and give people a taste of what it is.”

Gallaher recommends the festival to any young person looking for a fun and inexpensive way to spend a weekend.

“It’s not something that the younger culture usually thinks would be enticing or exciting,” Gallaher explained. “But, once you go there, you’ll be going until you’re old and grey.”

She says this year should be especially entertaining in honor of the festival’s 50th anniversary. In commemoration of it, posters with artwork by Greek artist Euripedes Kastaris will be sold in the souvenir tent.

While most of the proceeds from the festival go towards supporting the church, a donation is made every year to a different charity. This year a donation will go to the Ronald McDonald House.

“There’s a lot of hard work and energy put into [this festival]. It’s such an exciting time for the church, because we truly love when the community comes out and partakes of our heritage,” Gallaher said.

Menus and a schedule of dance performances may be found at www.pensacolagreekfestival.com.

Festival Dates:

Friday Oct. 16 – 11:00 AM to 10:00 PM
Saturday Oct. 17 – 11:00 AM to 10:00 PM
Sunday Oct. 18 – Noon to 6:00 PM

The Informant!

by Wade Manns

The Informant!

From Warner Bros., Participant Media, and Groundswell Productions

Starring Matt Damon, Scott Bakula, Joel McHale, and Melanie Lynskey

Rated R for language.

 

You might’ve heard in the 1990s about a certain scandal that went on among several agricultural conglomerates, involving the food additive known as lysine. This was a price-fixing conspiracy originated at Archer Daniels Midland, one of the largest American agricultural companies in the 90s, and continued around the globe in collaboration with their competitors in Central America, Europe, Japan, and Korea. Price-fixing involves competitors making a pact to set prices of a certain good to a certain rate in order to maximize profits for the involved companies at the expense of consumers, and is a highly illegal tactic which falls under antitrust law.

 

The Informant! Is a movie that dramatizes certain events in this scandal, and stars Matt Damon as Mark Whitacre, the vice president who became the first executive of a major company to turn whistleblower against his own company to the FBI. The movie doesn’t touch very hard on the specifics of lysine, but it doesn’t need to, as it’s not a very technical movie by nature; it’s a pure dark comedy. We see how Mark Whitacre, somewhat of a likable guy by nature, is coerced by his wife to report on his company to the FBI, and specifically to an agent, Brian Shepard, played by Scott Bakula. Mark’s sanity is called into question throughout the movie, as his years of working against his own company, wearing a wire, and even making excuses for his own wrongdoing (if you’re somewhat versed in this matter, you’ll know, but I will not reveal it here) take its toll on the once well-balanced man. Eventually, playing both sides for what he believes to be his own benefit, Mark slowly breaks down, in a process that is both humorous and cringe inducing, as dark comedies usually are.

 

The acting is quite good by all involved, though I have not seen Melanie Lynskey before this movie, her performance as the concerned and cautionary wife was quite memorable, as she really had Mark’s best interests at heart through the whole affair. Scott Bakula was quite a surprise in this, as I had not seen him in any movies, really, only in a couple of TV series, but he definitely held his own here. All in all, a good movie, not spectacular, not Grade-A Blockbuster, but it’s good enough. I would give it 3 1/2 out of five stars. I enjoyed myself, and am interested enough to do a little more research on the topic; I’m sure you will be as well.

Avid gamer remembers the “old” days

by Wade Manns

Before 1977, videogames were rather boring affairs. Each unit had built-in game software and used dedicated hardware, which meant that each game had to be very simple. The technically-minded among us probably think of the classic arcade game Pong when I talk about these times, and they would be right, but consoles were also in their infancy around this time; the Magnavox Odyssey was an early console that was hamstrung by these limitations.

In 1977, the world of videogaming was changed when the Atari 2600 was released. The 2600 pioneered microprocessor hardware, meaning that software, now on cartridges, could be more flexible in terms of graphics and programming. This was the era of Pitfall!, Star Raiders, Yar’s Revenge, and many unfortunately lackluster arcade translations (or ports). The library of 2600 games, though waning a bit by the time of the Great Video Game Crash of 1983 and ‘84, was truly excellent at its peak.

Though the graphics were still quite simple - in Adventure, they expected us to believe that a long-tailed duck chasing a square with an arrow hovering over it was a dragon bearing down on a knight carrying a sword - at least they had color and had the ability to fire our imaginations much more effectively than the discrete circuits (another term for dedicated hardware) of yesteryear. For some arcade translations, though, the graphics were already simple enough that there was no drastic changes made for our favorite wood-paneled (by 1983) box; look at the 2600 port of Berzerk for an example. The control method was as simple as it had always been; a single stick, a single button, and it worked well enough for most games of that time.

The simplistic graphics, but sometimes deep gameplay was enough to pacify many budding gamers of the late 70s and early 80s, but those gamers were incensed and disillusioned when their favorite developers started churning out inferior product at very high quantities; also, many toy stores refused to stock game hardware due to its lack of resemblance to actual toys; this was another of the factors that led to the video game crash. No matter how observers look at it, by that time the videogame industry, barely gotten off its feet, was already dying, and quickly. It received the resuscitation that it needed from the advent of a little console in 1985, called the Nintendo Entertainment System.

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