Only an Expert (Can Solve a Problem)

There's been a gap in my musical/artistic education. Until last night I'd never had the opportunity to see Laurie Anderson live. I've collected her work, the videos (please release Home of the Brave on DVD), the albums, even the video game. But fate intervened until the Boston performance of Homeland, the stark, politically charged "concert-poem" Anderson performed last night at the Opera House.

Homeland is always somber and dark. And static. The only movement during the two hour performance was the swiping of two bows across a cello and Anderson's violin. Her feet remained firmly planted on the floor, and the other musicians moved almost imperceptibly. The songs are often dirge-like and suitable breaks for applause come only every half hour or so.

Anderson uses no multimedia, no projections. Even the lights don't move, though they often shift from stark white to blood red to a cold blue. Whether this was a Boston-only change or a decision for the current leg of the tour isn't clear. As the above vids indicate, Anderson has used projections liberally at other performances of Homeland. The result is cerebral. You tend to sit back, take it in, and think about it, rather than engage on a deeply emotional level. It's a performance to be appreciated.

Interestingly, though, the songs-monologues-poems are all about feelings and emotions we confront as a result of war, economic downturns and cranes crashing down on buildings. The music and they lyrics are almost always stirring, but in a sobering way. And Anderson reveals herself to be the expert she questions (go here) by providing insightful, witty, creative commentary on the human condition.

The Laurie Anderson of the last decades is still there. Homeland feels more like an evolution of Strange Angels than Home of the Brave or Big Science. The current state of the U.S. weighs heavily on Anderson, and the material and the production reflect that.

One last note: The audience really pissed me off. The couple next to me came late, kept their cellphones in action recording the concert and didn't hesitate to leave their seats (for the bathroom, I presume). They weren't alone. More people were heading back and forth to the lobby than I've ever seen. I hope this isn't a trend.

Three Albums I'm Listening To

I have three albums in heavy rotation at the moment. That doesn't mean they're all great, but they are all interesting. What links the three releases is an affection by the artists for a variety of musical genres. These are three adventurous albums. In no particular order:

Vampire Weekend

One of the strongest releases of the year thus far. Preppy pop and Indie College Radio meet World Music. The sound is bright, the lyrics are the most creative and inventive in months, supported by hot afro-influenced rhythms. I really like this album.

Vampire Weekend definitely have a college sensibility. The four lads from Columbia incorporate campus experience across their songs. Instrumentally, they enhance traditional indie guitar riffs and percussion with strings, African percussion and a world sensibility that rocks.

The Shanghai Restoration Project

SRP promotes the marriage of traditional chinese sounds and instrumentation with dance, hip hop and, unfortunately, adult contemporary (producer Dave Liang says it's jazz, but I'm not there). Musically the album is strong, though there are many points where mundane lyrics overpower excellent instrumental. This is definitely an East meets West album and the results are often wonderful. The album, Story of a City, brings together a diverse array of artists. "Preface" is getting a fair amount of airplay, and deserves it! There is much to recommend about the album, but banal lyrics and perhaps too wide a range of musical sounds hold it back from greatness.

MGMT

Oracular Spectacular is the appropriately named first outing from MGMT, the Brooklyn-based duo hitting the charts with "Time to Pretend" and "Electric Feel." MGMT mixes dance with a rock inflection and a 60's psychedelic groove. Of the three albums discussed here, it's taken the longest to grow on me as a package. The lyrics are trippy and engaging, but the music impressed me a little as just grand enough for weddings. If you get passed the "Where have I heard this before" impact of "Electric Feel," there really is an excellent, diverse and compelling album.

Avenue Q: Boston

It doesn't suck to be them. The national tour of Avenue Q has made a stop in Boston, and it's terrific. This was my third opportunity to see the show and my first without most of the original cast. The show was as fresh and exciting as the first time I saw it. I have to admit, that was totally unexpected.

The members of the company put their own stamps on the roles created so successfully by the still amazing original cast. This Avenue Q stands on its own. The humor--the shock and awe--is all there, but the show was also surprisingly moving. I had forgotten that. Rob McClure gives us a full-bodied Rod that brought more than me to tears. Well, misting. His Princeton was also fantastic. Kelli Sawyer was also remarkable as both Kate Monster and Lucy T. Slut.

The supporting puppeteers were also fine. David Benoit and Minglie Chen bring originality to a host of characters. Chen, particularly, has amazing moments with the Bad Idea Bears that were unmatched in previous visits to the show.

The production preserves just about everything from the original production. The TV monitors are deployed differently (but just as effectively as on Broadway) and a few edits to the text probably make it run more smoothly.

For me, this has been a highlight of the Boston season!

A couple of additional thoughts:

The show is not perfect. Ann Harada did a better job than Angela Ai at making Christmas Eve less of a stereotype, but there's too much laughing at the stereotype and too little laughing with. I've seen Ai twice, and she was far superior having inherited the role rather than understudying it. Still, it's a big miss for me.

I wasn't sure how it would be seeing the show in a theater four times the size of the Golden. I have to admit, I liked it. Two moments--the puppet sex scene and "George Bush...is only for now..."--got huge, huge receptions. The size of the audience generated a lot of great energy.

This production sealed Avenue Q as one of my favorite musicals of the decade.

The Assassination of Jesse James

It's March 2008, so it's a little late to be talking about the best films of 2007. But I just had the opportunity to see The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford. This is a film unfairly overlooked by the Academy, one of the best of the year and easily in my top five.

Casey Affleck got great reviews (and a nomination) for The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford. It's a stellar performance and deserving of a win. He's supported by strong work from Brad Pitt, Sam Rockwell and in small roles Sam Shepherd, Mary Louise Parker and Zooey Deschanel.

The film is beautifully shot with an incredible score by Nick Cave and Warren Ellis. Like There Will Be Blood, the score works as a character the way it's integral to the story.

At 2:40, the film is longer than it needs to be, but it's never boring, just slow moving. There are moments here and there where The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford is in danger of losing its way, but it never happens.

Persepolis

The film of Marjane Satrapi's graphic memoirs, Persepolis, by Satrapi, is superb. Yes, it's animated. Yes, it's in black and white, and, yes, it's in French. But the film is alternatingly charming and raw, just like the books on which it's based.

Satrapi was born and raised in Iran during the last years of the Shah and during the Islamic revolution. The books provide more of a context than the film, but Satrapi does a marvelous job of capturing the strength of the women, herself included, as Marjane's world changes. She head's to Vienna for her adolescent years and then returns to Iran again, only to leave for good. The film rarely feels like an adaptation.

Persepolis works well in French, and the animation is stunning and creative.