Mountain Views News          Saturday, October 18, 2014

11

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

Mountain Views-News Saturday, October 18, 2014

Jeff’s Book Picks By Jeff Brown

SEAN’S SHAMELESS REVIEWS: 

BREAKTHROUGH BAND OF 2014 

FUTURE ISLANDS


WHITE BEECH: THE RAINFOREST 
YEARS by Germaine Greer 

One bright day in 2001, Greer found 
herself confronted by an irresistible 
challenge in the shape of sixty 
hectares of dairy farm, one of many 
in southeast Queensland, Australia, 
which, after a century of logging, and 
devastation, had been abandoned 
to their fate.She didn’t think for a 
minute that by restoring the land 
she was saving the world. She was 
in search of heart’s ease. Beyond the 
acres of exotic pasture grass and soft 
weed and the impenetrable curtains 
of tangled lantana canes, there 
were macadamias dangling their 
strings of unripe nuts, black beans 
with red and yellow pea flowers 
growing on their branches . . . and 
the few remaining white beeches, 
stupendous trees up to 120 feet 
in height, logged out within forty 
years of the arrival of the first white 
settlers. To have turned down even a 
faint chance of bringing them back 
to their old haunts would have been 
to succumb to despair. Once the 
process of rehabilitation had begun, 
the chance proved to be a dead 
certainty. When the first replanting 
shot up to make a forest and rare 
caterpillars turned up to feed on the 
leaves of the new young trees, she 
knew beyond a doubt that at least 
here, biodepletion could be reversed. 
Greer describes herself as learning 
a load of new tricks, inspired and 
rejuvenated by her passionate love of 
Australia and of Earth.

THE RETURN OF GEORGE 
WASHINGTON: 1783-1789 
by Edward Larson 

Pulitzer Prize-winning historian 
Edward J. Larson recovers a 
crucially important revealing how 
Washington saved the United States 
by coming out of retirement to lead 
the Constitutional Convention and 
serve as our first president. After 
leading the Continental Army to 
victory in the Revolutionary War, 
George Washington shocked the 
world: he retired. Yet as Washington 
contentedly grew his estate, the 
fledgling American experiment 
floundered. Under the Articles of 
Confederation, the weak central 
government was unable to raise 
revenue to pay its debts or reach a 
consensus on national policy. The 
states bickered and grew apart. 
When a Constitutional Convention 
was established to address these 
problems, its chances of success 
were slim. Jefferson, Madison, and 
the other Founding Fathers realized 
that only one man could unite the 
fractious states: George Washington. 
Reluctant, but duty-bound, 
Washington rode to Philadelphia in 
the summer of 1787 to preside over the 
Convention. Although Washington 
is often overlooked in most accounts 
of the period, this book brilliantly 
uncovers Washington’s vital role in 
shaping the Convention and shows 
how it was only with Washington’s 
support and his willingness to serve 
as President that the states were 
brought together and ratified the 
Constitution, thereby saving the 
country.

UNRULY PLACES: LOST SPACES, 
SECRET CITIES, AND OTHER 
INSCRUTABLE GEOGRAPHIES 
by Alastair Bonnett 

A tour of the world’s hidden 
geographies,from disappearing 
islands to forbidden deserts and 
a stunning testament to how 
mysterious the world remains today. 
At a time when Google Maps Street 
View can take you on a virtual 
tour of Yosemite’s remotest trails 
it’s hard to imagine there’s any 
uncharted ground left on the planet. 
Bonnett goes to some of the most 
unexpected, offbeat places in the 
world to reinspire our geographical 
imagination.This remarkable tour 
includes moving villages, secret 
cities, no man’s lands, and floating 
islands. He explores places as 
disorienting as Sandy Island, an 
island included on maps until just 
two years ago despite the fact that 
it never existed. Or Sealand, an 
abandoned gun platform off the 
English coast that a British citizen 
claimed as his own sovereign nation, 
issuing passports and crowning 
his wife as a princess. Or Baarle, a 
patchwork of Dutch and Flemish 
enclaves where walking from the 
grocery store’s produce section 
to the meat counter can involve 
crossing national borders. Bonnett 
reveals that the most extraordinary 
places on earth might be hidden in 
plain sight, just around the corner 
from your apartment or underfoot 
on a wooded path. Perfect for urban 
explorers, wilderness ramblers, and 
armchair travelers. 

By Sean Kayden

 Synth-pop romantics, 
Future Islands, returned 
earlier this year on a new 
label (4AD) for their fourth record, “Singles.” While 
previous albums had a more solemn outlook, such 
as the savagely underrated 2011 LP “On The Water,” 
this new one has the three-piece Baltimore band 
pushing forward with much defiance. Perhaps 
switching labels was the right maneuver that 
brought new enthusiasm to this unconventional 
band. At any rate, this new aspect layered onto their 
signature sound becomes absolutely invigorating. 
Other albums encompassed a theme about looking 
back and reflecting on particular times in one’s 
own life. On “Singles” singer/songwriter Samuel 
Herring affectedly sings about the future that lies 
ahead. Such with earlier albums, questions are 
raised, but answers are seldom found, for both past 
and future situations. 

 “Singles” is synth heavy yet never overwhelming. 
The base lines fit melodiously well. Herring’s vocals 
are hoarse and deep, but sometimes smooth as if 
he’s whispering in your ear. Sometimes he can 
shout, sometimes he can hold it in. Both ways are 
undeniably effective. Herring’s dark vocals and 
Gerrit Welmers and William Cashion’s tightly 
structured, extremely layered music coalesce 
tremendously well. The music from Future Islands 
can be danceable, but the vocals and lyrics tend to 
come off very serious in nature. When the band is 
at their finest, rarely anything can compare. Songs 
such as “Seasons (Waiting On You),”A Song For 
Our Grandfathers” and “A Dream Of You and 
Me” easily rank up as the best songs of 2014. All 
aforementioned tracks are vastly different one 
another. Nonetheless, each tune is utterly moving 
in such an exceptional manner. The record clocks 
in at about forty-two and a half minutes and like 
any voyage, there are sights and sounds you’ll 
remember more so than others. 

 Future Islands is a group that continues to deliver 
upon one superlative record after another with 
little recognition to boot. Fortunately, the band is 
embarking on some commercial success this year. 
Their weirdly epic performance this past summer 
on The Late Show with David Letterman boasted 
their cult status popularity. However, that wasn’t 
the sole reason. Future Islands perform songs with 
a heavy heart. They write about the inner workings 
of your soul, love that was or never was, and the 
uncertainty we must come to understand in our 
lives. They may be asking more questions than 
they are delivering responses to. While this fourth 
album delivers their finest lyrically, it appears the 
band is finally content without consciously being 
aware of holding all the answers. Perchance if they 
did, we wouldn’t be bestowed with the wondrous 
opportunity of hearing new material from a band 
worthy of one’s complete attention. 

 Grade: 8.5 out of 10 

Key Tracks: Seasons (Waiting On You),” 
“Back in the Tall Grass,” A Song For Our 
Grandfathers,” “A Dream Of Your and Me”



On the Marquee: Notes from the Sierra Madre Playhouse


ONE NIGHT ONLY! “MURDER ON THE AIR” ON 
OCTOBER 26 AT SIERRA MADRE PLAYHOUSE

“Murder on the Air.” A Live Radio Show -- with DEATH on the Program. Radio personalities are 
being murdered at the Flighttime Radio Station, including their most unpopular singer. A station 
page boy and his friend investigate the deaths in hopes of finding the killer and a chance to perform 
– ON THE AIR! Chris Sands and Ken Salzman direct this Vaudeville Variety Show Musical Murder 
Mystery. Presented by SanZman Productions in association with Sierra Madre Playhouse.

 At Sierra Madre Playhouse, 87 W. Sierra Madre Blvd., Sierra Madre, CA 91024. Ample free parking 
behind theatre. Sunday, October 26, 2014 at 7:00 p.m. All seats $20. Reservations: (626) 355-4318. 
Online ticketing: www.sierramadreplayhouse.org

COLORATURA SOPRANO LORI ANN FULLER 
PISCIONERI JOINS PASADENA COMMUNITY 
ORCHESTRA TO OPEN ITS 32ND SEASON

Concert features operatic overtures and arias with Ms. Fuller Piscioneri


PASADENA, Calif. – October 14, 2014. On Friday, 
November 14, 2014, coloratura soprano Lori Ann 
Fuller Piscioneri, who has been a soloist with the 
Los Angeles Opera and Los Angeles Philharmonic, 
joins the Pasadena Community Orchestra in the 
gala opening concert of the orchestra’s 32nd season. 
Audiences will be caught up in the dramatic sweep 
and beauty of the arias Piscioneri will sing and the 
instrumental works Music Director Bethany Pflueger 
has selected to complement them. 

 A native of Louisiana, Ms. Fuller Piscioneri made 
her operatic debut in London in 1999 with conductor 
Sir Andrew Davis. She has since performed with 
numerous opera companies and symphony orchestras 
throughout the United States and Europe, portraying 
coloratura heroines from Verdi to Mozart, as well as 
musical theater ingénues. Since moving to Southern 
California, Ms. Fuller Piscioneri has sung roles in 
numerous productions by the L.A. Opera, and some of 
her most memorable concert performances have been 
with the L.A. Philharmonic.

 Ms. Fuller Piscioneri performs four gems of 
coloratura opera literature, showing her versatile 
expression and virtuoso vocal flexibility. Lucia’s 
two-part aria, “Regnava nel silenzio” (“Silence 
reigned”), from Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor, is 
at first mysterious and brooding, then switches gears 
(when she sings of love) to shimmer with coloratura 
acrobatics. The music of “Je veux vivre” (“I want to 
live in my dream”) from Gounod’s Romeo et Juliette 
is giddy and breathless waltz like Juliette herself. 
“Musetta’s Waltz” from Puccini’s La Boheme is as 
seductive and coquettish as the character who sings 
it. And no one, including the “dear papa” whom she 
addresses in the aria, can fail to be moved by the 
soaring, heart-melting music of “O mio babbino caro,” 
from Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi.

 Each of the works from which the orchestra 
performs a section vividly expresses a distinctive sense 
of place. Rossini’s William Tell Overture was beloved 
by generations before it became identified with “The 
Lone Ranger” TV series and numerous cartoons: it 
actually depicts its setting in the Swiss Alps in four 
beautifully evocative sections. Humperdinck’s beloved 
Hansel and Gretel depicts the classic Grimm’s fairy 
tale setting (and the overture opens with one of the 
most beautiful chorales for the French horn section 
ever written). Bedrich Smetana is regarded as the 
founder of Czech musical nationalism. The “Polka” 
from his opera, The Bartered Bride, puts us at a Czech 
village celebration with its folk-based music. Finally, 
perhaps no instrumental work better exemplifies 
musical nationalism than Sibelius’s Finlandia. The 
“Finlandia hymn,” one of music’s great melodies, with 
words added in 1941, has become one of the most 
important national songs of Finland.

 PCO has been bringing fine classical music to the 
community for 31 years. Concerts are free (donations 
are welcome at the door). Well-trained musicians 
provide a high-quality musical experience. First 
Church of the Nazarene is located at 3700 E. Sierra 
Madre Blvd., one block west of Michillinda Ave. 
Parking is free and wheelchair accessible. Immediately 
following the concert, audience members will have 
the opportunity to meet the soloist and the other 
musicians at a reception.

 For further information, please contact 
PCO at 626.445.6708 or publicity@pcomusic.
org. Find us online at http://www.pcomusic.
org or https://www.facebook.com/pages/
Pasadena-Community-Orchestra/125809577468516. 

 Concerts are made possible in part by the Michael 
J. Connell Foundation, the Pasadena Arts & Culture 
Commission, the City of Pasadena Cultural Affairs 
Division, Pasadena Community Foundation, 
Pasadena Showcase House for the Arts and LA County 
Arts Commission.