Reality is more exciting than fiction
NOT!
During my last visit to Dublin, I did more than just buy CD's (see previous post). I also bought books... Long overdue was the purchase of American Psycho. Of course I saw the movie, but the book is always better, off course, especially with a vivid imagination as oneselfs...
Another bargain I found was Scipio by Ross Leckie. For those of the populace who think Scipio the new WWF-heavyweight champion: Scipio was one of the true great Romans, up there with Caesar and Augustus and he was the one who kicked Hannibal's -elephants included- butt in Zama. He is also the wise man who appears in Cicero's De Res Publica and explains the constellation of the Roman Republic through a dream. Another novel flirting with this subject has been Iain Pearse's, The dream of Scipio, one of the best books I've read to date. (How highbrow am I???)
Third and final Irish acquisition was The Poe Shadow by Matthew Pearl. Pearl is right up there with Pearse fighting for the title of Bietje's finest author. His first novel, "The Dante Club" was a sort of "Seven" murder-thriller with people being murdered as described in Dante Alighieri's Divina Comedia. His next exploit deals with the mysterious death of Edgar A. Poe... Absolutely gripping stuff.
Only blemish on the men's coat of arms: he gets praise from Dan fecking Brown. You know, the guy who has one story and managed to squeeze five (fifth is on the way) books out of it. Ok, the Da Vinci Code was a page turner, but if you replace Opus Dei with Illuminati you get Angels and Demons (or De Bernini mysterie in Flemish).
He now is working on a story about free-masonry: way to go dude! His characters are wafer thin and the plot is hardly as gripping as a US-presidential in Florida. The film sucked, critics roared. Well, guess what. If you have a lousy book to start with... Don't get me wrong: I read both Da Vinci and Angels and Demons in a couple of days, but they're fast food. Nothing against a quick hamburger every now and then, but I prefer to sit down to a nice lobster. Pearl and Pearse would be the lobsters in this story...
NOT!
During my last visit to Dublin, I did more than just buy CD's (see previous post). I also bought books... Long overdue was the purchase of American Psycho. Of course I saw the movie, but the book is always better, off course, especially with a vivid imagination as oneselfs...
Another bargain I found was Scipio by Ross Leckie. For those of the populace who think Scipio the new WWF-heavyweight champion: Scipio was one of the true great Romans, up there with Caesar and Augustus and he was the one who kicked Hannibal's -elephants included- butt in Zama. He is also the wise man who appears in Cicero's De Res Publica and explains the constellation of the Roman Republic through a dream. Another novel flirting with this subject has been Iain Pearse's, The dream of Scipio, one of the best books I've read to date. (How highbrow am I???)
Third and final Irish acquisition was The Poe Shadow by Matthew Pearl. Pearl is right up there with Pearse fighting for the title of Bietje's finest author. His first novel, "The Dante Club" was a sort of "Seven" murder-thriller with people being murdered as described in Dante Alighieri's Divina Comedia. His next exploit deals with the mysterious death of Edgar A. Poe... Absolutely gripping stuff.
Only blemish on the men's coat of arms: he gets praise from Dan fecking Brown. You know, the guy who has one story and managed to squeeze five (fifth is on the way) books out of it. Ok, the Da Vinci Code was a page turner, but if you replace Opus Dei with Illuminati you get Angels and Demons (or De Bernini mysterie in Flemish).
He now is working on a story about free-masonry: way to go dude! His characters are wafer thin and the plot is hardly as gripping as a US-presidential in Florida. The film sucked, critics roared. Well, guess what. If you have a lousy book to start with... Don't get me wrong: I read both Da Vinci and Angels and Demons in a couple of days, but they're fast food. Nothing against a quick hamburger every now and then, but I prefer to sit down to a nice lobster. Pearl and Pearse would be the lobsters in this story...
Tis ne keer iets anders dan Dep-mod.
Though the cover and title are more than a little reminiscent of Alanis Morissette or even Tori Amos, Nerina Pallot is a slightly different proposition. Yes, she's a singer songwriter, and yes, she's obviously listened to a lot of Joni Mitchell, but there's a pure pop sensibility to this record that lifts her out of the 'this year's Tanita Tikaram' category. Dear Frustrated Superstar draws on elements of trip hop, Crowded House type post-Beatles pop and classic singer songwriter introversion, all topped off with lashings of strings and very little evidence of synths, drum machines or samples. Doubtless comparisons will be made with Dido, but Pallot comes across more like an anglicised Shawn Colvin, with the potential to be much more than either comparison might suggest. Quite a few of the songs here immediately jump out as singles (unfortunately "Patience", her current single, isn't really one of them)."Watch out Billie", a warning to a young female would be pop star about the perils of fame, (not dedicated to the current Mrs Chris Evans, surely) is one of those songs that bores itself into your brain and stays there for ever; "If I Know You", "Rainbow" and "Alien" aren't far behind in terms of infectiousness though.
Pallot's voice is, like Colvin's, reminiscent of her heroine Joni Mitchell and even occasionally a less quirky Kate Bush; she gives fine, unaffected performances throughout and enlivens even the less inspired songs with her delivery. The only problem with the record is that it's too long, though the closer, "My Last Tango", and the subsequent hidden track are two of the album's highlights; a more expansive, acoustic feel predominates here in contrast to the crisply executed pop of the rest of the record.
Of om kort te zijn : da maske es echt ni slecht
Posted by
Anonymous |
24 August, 2006 19:11