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Baroque music catapults us into the 17th century...

Noon at New West

by Cynthia Ashton Styles

he tinkling tones of the harpsichord and mellow _ voice of the viol catapulted

us into the 17th century when Nan Mackie and Valerie Weeks took the stage at a recent Noon at New Westminster concert. Both Mackie and Weeks are well-known on the international early music scene. This Baroque Duo gave a lively reading of works by J.S. Bach and M. Marais on instruments which were the forerunners of today’s cello and piano.

Nan Mackie’s viol gave a warm and sonorous quality to the ground (bass notes) in Bach’s Sonata for Viola da gamba and harpsichord, with its demanding passages for viol, and both musicians added a special flourish to the ‘Grand Ballet’ in Marais’ ‘Suite in A Minor.’ This ballet would have

been danced by members of the royal family and courtiers at the court of Versailles, complete with lace frills and white powdered wigs—for the men as well as for the women! (In view of these ancient splendours it was a little dissappointing that Ms.Weeks chose to wear trousers—very un- seventeenth century attire for women.)

Musically, however, Weeks seemed right at home as she revelled in the variety of dance movements from Rameau’s ‘Suite in E Minor, from the gracious ornamentation of the ‘Allemande’ and the intricate imitative harmo- nies of the ‘Rappel des Oiseaux (Birdcalls)’ right through to the fast fingering of the final fast dance movement— Tambourin.’

Between the two of them, Mackie and Weeks succeeded in transporting us into an age when

musical virtuosity in live perform- ance was everything and no one had ever heard of a recording studio—and people rose to that challenge!

Next on stage in the Noon at New Westminster Series will be the Vancouver Guitar Quartet, of which Douglas College’s own guitar instructor, Michael Strutt, is a member. Having a quartet of guitars makes it possible to perform unusual pieces or adapta- tions of regular works for guitar and this promises to be an exciting program. The other members of the quartet are Alan Rinehart, Indrasani Mursalim and Paul MacDermott. They will perform Thursday, March 13, in the Per- forming Arts Theatre, starting at 12:30 pm. There is no charge for admission and students and faculty from all departments are invited to attend. »

o the rig

It's jo

in Funny Pages, a comical look at mainstream conservatism.

The Douglas College Theatre and Stagecraft departments and visiting director Robert Metcalfe poke fun at the media and corporations in a play about a corporate takeover of a small, conservative, BC-based magazine. Written by former Alberta Report editor Frank Moher, Funny Pages will be in the DC Performing Arts Theatre March 14-22 (no shows Monday). Tickets are $5 for students and

seniors, $10 general admission.

U2 can have bliss for $13.97

by Jason Kurylo

First things first. ] would like to apologize to everyone, and specifi- cally to Yvette of Mollies Revenge, for an overzealous editing job last issue. One of our extremely overworked and overtired copy editors accidentally changed her title from “frontgrrl” to “frontgirl,” which of course is what we call in the business a no no. I personally have nothing but respect and admiration for Yvette, who is an incredibly talented musician and a sparkling human being to boot. Once again, sorry.

Well, recently I mentioned I wasn’t crazy excited for tix to the new U2 concert. I have to admit the main reason I’m not all nuts to go is the price. $50 a pop just ain’t cool when I've got to pay for me AND my grrl, expecially when she just ain’t a fan o’ the band. Too bad, too, ‘coz these Dubliners are pretty much the only band around that truly works in the arena format, and I’m sure TicketBastard will go bankrupt without the $5 per ticket service charge for my pair.

I did however pick up Pop the other day, and have, after careful

deliberation, decided it’s absolutely fucking brilliant stuff. Just like the opening single, ‘Discotheque,’ the album as a whole both plays on the trends in club music and just plain sounds great.

Anyone wishing their lyrics would go back to the superserious, a la ‘MLK’ or ‘Sunday Bloody Sunday’ will still be disappointed on this front. However, anyone with an open mind will be more than pleased. ‘If god will send his angels,’ for example, gives the great couplet:

“Jesus never let me down you know Jesus used to show me the score / then they put Jesus in show business now it’s hard to get in the door.”

I’ve found most folks’ com- plaints about U2 all sound the same: <whine mode on> “Why can’t this album sound like the Joshua Tree??” Well, for the first time in my life, I think Tom Harrison is right; music fans today suck rocks. When the Beatles and the Stones were at their zenith, fans desperately waited for the next album, to see what they would do... how would they be different... where would they stop? Now, the public

don’t want to be challenged; they want to watch reruns.

The fact is, Pop uses every trick from every musical book out there, and is as good as any album released in the nineties. It’s differ- ent, and won't please everyone, but damn is it good for me. In a few spots (most notably the lead riff for ‘Mofo’), it sounds like Pop picks up where the ‘Hold Me Thrill Me Kiss Me Kill Me’ single left off. But like a similar version of an old software package, it’s a radical departure with the same framework as before. Bono even sports a salt and pepper bitchin’ goatee in the liner notes.

The best thing about this whole Popmart thing? The boys are obviously having fun. They realize how bloated their celebrity is, and how ridiculous the whole routine can be. They display their distaste for the idolatry on Discotheque’s ‘bside,’ ‘Holy Joe,’ and ask in ‘Please,’ “Please... get off your knees.”

The funny thing is, if they keep on producing radio format- breaking albums like this, they’Il just have more true music fans leaning down in their honour. »

This Ragged Place Terry Glavin New Star Books

by Trent Ernst

f you were to read differ- ent passages of Terry

Glavin’s latest book to blind men, each would come away with a different opinion of what he writes about. He writes about fish, one would say; he writes about the environment, would say another. No, he is a writer of history, would say the third, or a teller of people’s stories.

But like the elephant that is more than the sum of its parts, so too Glavin’s writing is in touch with something deeper than the issues he deals with and the people he meets. And what he writes about can be summed up in two simple letters: BC.

Glavin, who was raised in New Westminster, spends his time jumping from issue to issue— history, geography, fisheries (mis)management, environmental concerns, Native issues—but every story he tells, every person he meets, every issue he deals with, is rooted in the land that he calls home.

There is a power and a poetry in the words he uses, in the stories he tells; his simple, easygoing style engages the reader, and gently provokes them into looking at the issues, at the people, and at the landscape he writes about, from a different perspective.

This Ragged Place is a collection of essays, most of which have been previously published in the Georgia Straight. —

The first essay, ‘The Skeena Run,’ introduces the reader to BC the way many people in the past first glimpsed this land: by train. Starting in Jasper, Glavin’s narra- tive steams across the landscape,

Paper Route, College Style.

pausing every once in a while to introduce us to the places and the people and the history of the land he passes. By the time the train reaches Prince Rupert, the reader is fully immersed in the province and Glavin’s rolling lyrical prose.

Glavin doesn’t demand your attention, as some authors do. But his haunting stories and the images he captures call the reader back. His writing seduces the readers in much the same way the landscape seduces; quietly; completely.

He doesn’t force his worldview on the reader, though you can certainly get a sense of his biases. He holds up issues, people, events in the light and allows people to view the good and the bad in our province. Sometimes his soft, (usually) dispassionate tone is at odds with the often horrific events that he describes. For example ‘From the Old Rice Mill to Annieville Drift’ revisits the fishery crisis of 1992, when the seine fishers overfished while the Fisheries Council of BC cried Indian poaching. The event strained relationships between Native and non-Native fishers to near riotous levels, all in the name of corporate profit. In a similar vein, the daily transgressions against Natives that Provincial Judge Cunliffe Barnett fought so hard to put an end to in his 25 year career are detailed in ‘Last Day in Alexis Creek,’

Simply put, this book is a wonder and a delight to read. Glavin not only captures the BC spirit, he revels in it. Sure, he points to the failings of the past, but only to admonish, and to make sure that we don’t make the same mistakes again. @

The Other Press needs a distribution coordinator. Candi-

dates must own their own vehicle

(insured and drivable...legally), and be willing to pick up and drop off pa- pers at ridiculous hours of the day and/ or night. Work in- volves distributing papers on and off campus, and making sure that racks re- mained stocked throughout the week. For your troubles, $50 an issue plus gas. If you area reliable person with a reliable vehicle, we want to talk to you. Call 525-3542, or stop by room 1020, New West Campus.

The Other Press. Join the conspiracy.

6 March 10, 1997 The Other Press