Mountain Views News          Saturday, May 3, 2014

B3

 

THE ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

 Mountain Views News Saturday, May 3, 2014 

Jeff’s Book Picks By Jeff Brown


SEAN’S SHAMELESS 

REVIEWS: 

SERVANTS: A DOWNSTAIRS HISTORY OF BRITAIN FROM THE NINETEENTH 
CENTURY TO MODERN TIMES 

by Lucy Lethbridge 

This is a about the lives of British servants and 
the upper crust they served. From the immense 
staff running a lavish Edwardian estate to 
the poor child doing chores in a slightly less 
poor household, servants were essential to the 
British way of life. They were hired not only for 
their skills but also to demonstrate the social 
standing of their employers. More than simply 
the laboring class serving the upper crust, they 
were a diverse group that shaped and witnessed 
major changes in the modern home, family, and 
social order. Spanning over a hundred years, 
Lethbridge brings to life through letters and 
diaries the voices of countless men and women 
who have been largely ignored by the historical 
record. She also interviews former and current 
servants for their recollections of this waning 
profession. A compassionate and discerning 
exploration of the complex relationship between 
the server, the served, and the world they lived 
in.Servants opens a window onto British society 
from the Edwardian period to the present. With 
17 illustrations.

THE RED DEVIL : TO HELL WITH CANCER AND BACK 

by Katherine Russell Rich

The Red Devil is a bold, wickedly funny tale of illness, joy, and the improbable triumph of love in 
the midst of despair. When Katherine Russell Rich was thirty two, a newly divorced, high-powered 
magazine editor living a glamorous life in New York City, her multi year ordeal with cancer began. 
Soon she was bald, scrambled, and living in two worlds simultaneously: the world of the ill, filled 
with treatments, exhaustion, and doctors as focused on avoiding malpractice suits as on healing; and 
the "normal" world, where dating, career, vacations, and 401(k) plans still matter. Alternately wise 
and wise-cracking, Rich serves up vignettes from the surreal world only the ill know: the MS patient 
who crashes her support group, the doctor who fires her patient, dating while bald, working without 
a brain, and smoking with cancer. Here is a woman who has been brought to her knees by disease 
several times, only to get up and learn to dance, with grace, even.

AWAKENING TO THE NATURAL STATE by John Wheeler 

John Wheeler met Bob Adamson (a student of Nisargadatta Maharaj) on a trip to Australia in 2003. 
In short order, Bob cleared up John's doubts and questions and pointed out to him the fact of our real 
nature: self-shining, ever-present awareness. Bob has encouraged John to share this understanding of 
'who we really are.' The articles contained in this book cover some of John's experiences with meeting 
Bob and various aspects of the understanding which subsequently unfolded. Interspersed with these 
are chapters of email correspondence with enquirers who have been drawn to this radical and direct 
approach to self-realisation. His simple and direct explanations are wonderful.

By Sean Kayden


FEAR OF MEN

“Loom” marks the debut LP from Bridgton based band, Fear Of Men. The 
band was created in 2010 when Jessica Weiss and Daniel Falvey got together 
when meeting at an art exhibition. The duo expanded into a quartet shortly 
afterward to pursue this new endeavor. Fear of Men is a pristine pop outfit that specializes in jangly 
guitar pop, but with lyrics that are dour. The cool thing about this band is they create everything—
from artwork, to produce their own music and 
direct their own music videos. Weiss’ vocals are 
heavenly, delicate as a bouquet of flowers. The 
juxtaposition on “Loom” is the gorgeous vocals 
paired with despairing lyrics. Fear Of Men’s first 
full length is full of lush, dreamlike melodies 
that are extraordinarily difficult to overlook. The 
stark beauty along with the ocean serene echo 
found here will have you leaving from a daze back into reality. 

Theirs is something truly refreshing about “Loom.” Perhaps the thought-provoking lyrics that generate 
a complexity rarely heard in jangly pop music. Track-by-track everything seems incredibly unified. 
The band took their creative talents found on their 2013 EP record, “Early Fragments,” From there 
they launched their construction of “Loom.” Weiss’ enchanting vocals along with Falvey’s surreal 
bouncy guitar layout work fantastically well in unison. The sullen lyrics correspond to a more mature 
outlook on life while the arrangements embody a more youthful sound. The duality here works 
wonders allowing for Fear Of Men to truly stand out amongst the sea of indie rockers. It’s difficult to 
find a false beat here as each of the eleven tracks offer something to hold on to, something to believe 
in. The mixture of upbeat tempos alongside melancholy vibes allows for diversity. “Loom” conveys a 
yearning to simply live again with expressively angst words paired with a buoyant sound that is not 
easily matched.

The record begins and ends with identically named tracks. The intro and outro are easily the most 
minimalistic songs on “Loom.” The stripped down acoustic tune is a proper end to a record that’s full 
of life. Sadly, that life is filled with distress and personal pain. “Loom” is a fascinating record that walks 
down two roads—one paved with obscurity and sorrow, the other with brightness and hopefulness. 
The roads finally meet at the end, and with ambiguity present, the world keeps spinning. “Loom” is 
just here to remind us that with darkness, light can still creep in even if it’s little by little, inch by inch. 

Grade: 8 out of 10

Key Tracks: “Tephra,” “Seer,” “Descent,” “Inside” 

Artist: Fear Of Men

Album: Loom

Label: Kanine Records

Release Date: April 22, 2014


Mountain Views News 80 W Sierra Madre Blvd. No. 327 Sierra Madre, Ca. 91024 Office: 626.355.2737 Fax: 626.609.3285 Email: editor@mtnviewsnews.com Website: www.mtnviewsnews.com