exponentiation ezine: issue [5.0: culture]
Music
Artist: Jordi Savall Album: The Medieval Fiddle Label: Auvidis (1994)
Memories from a time now lost echoes throughout this highly emotive music. Folk songs of epic scale are painted upon a canvas of medieval spirit. Jordi Savall manages with great feeling to evoke ancient culture and ways of dealing with existential issues that always have plagued humanity.
These special moments of lament and awe are expressed through a cold and empty room of sound, where silence infiltrates between the occasional percussive sections. As such, "The Medieval Fiddle" offers the feeling of isolation in its listening experience.
Melodies coming from a soft fiddle often reoccur throughout the songs and serve as the main musical themes; they establish a general mood in the listener through high and low volume accentuations. However while Jordi gravitates towards dominant melodic themes, he occassionally builds on the basic melody in order to temporarily move away from the original musical theme of the song, and it is in these moments of transition that the music feels the most profound and entrancing.
Fans of Dead Can Dance will experience this album as authentic and inspiring. They will no doubt notice the beginning of "Saltarello" from a classic DCD album. Where many songs are filled with sorrow and contemplation, others celebrate the virtues of rich folk culture. The tense moments built up in songs like "Ritual" and "Dansa de les espases" most often depend on the perfect balance between the fiddle and the dark sounds of tribal drums that form the basic rhythm throughout this piece.
While musically it may not be able to compete with the more advanced structure of compositions found in medievalist bands like Dead Can Dance, Jordi Savall's "The Medieval Fiddle" still remains highly emotional, authentic and honest. This is as close as you can come to the expression of a lonely and aspiring individual, both engaging wildly in cultural bonds, and experiencing the gloomy sides of a life that in this age stand between poverty and happiness. - Alexis
Artist: Tangerine Dream Album: Sorcerer Label: MCA (1977)
In the late 70's, Tangerine Dream was asked to produce the sound track for William Friedkin's film "Sorcerer." The endevour ended up turning into a full length album, which today is somewhat of a classic example of the band moving into mainstream grounds, yet still preserving the genius of their early career. The music on this album is a more refined, simple, melodic style than the music found on earlier works.
In "Sorcerer" Tangerine Dream follow exotic melodic schemes to dictate the overall mood of the listening experience, but they do this liberally enough for each piece of the music to become a part of something larger. Gone are the half-hour long journeys of endless tempo changes and experimenting with harmony, melody and polyphonic rhythm. Instead the music remains very basic: synth loops run through a synthesizer, collaborating with a simple key melody that is recycled, accompanied with sound fillers to create a predictable counterpart in effect.
The music becomes passive in order to serve the film, but at the same time it contains glimpses of a life of its own and this is where the album stands out as an experience all its own. Luring, adventurous patterns sneak upon the listener and feel immediately rewarding, despite its very minimalist nature. The actual problem with this album is that the form is split and each piece of the music isn't interconnected with the others to form one long musical experience. Instead the parts and fragments of music are tied to specific events in Friedkin's movie. Moments where pieces fulfill their role as existentially significant, are also the highlights of this album and the parts that ultimately make this a rewarding listening from time to time; the music is brave, shifting in character and also carries a sense of vague but inherent beauty, which is a quality that always penetrates the work of this band.
It is apparent on this album that Tangerine Dream at this point in their career were sliding back and were not creating music that is able to sustain the listener. Tangerine dreams used to be the equivalence of classical music in modern, electronic form, but instead on this album they try to find organic space by using confined compositonal methods to please the crowd that most likely never will be able to understand their earlier works. Being a late, directionless product and perhaps the mark that future albums would become intelligent but mass-produced fodder for retro-fans, "Sorcerer" is nonetheless an interesting gem in its context. - Alexis
Books
Title: "Next" Author: Michael Crichton Publisher: Harper Collins (2006)
Crichton writes in the grey zone between literature, informative science-based books, and rippingly good pulp. In this novel, he takes his most literary approach, one reminiscent of Richard Dawkins re-writing "Naked Lunch," in which characters stumble through an uncertain world in several overlapping threads united by a common theme: the confrontation of humankind with genetic manipulation and the unintended consequences of manipulating a code we only partially understand.
As literature, Crichton is a bit sloppy. His language remains consistent, and while functionally descriptive, isn't what one might call intense reading. His characters are often thin in a way that approaches a single dimension. When he gets into heavy drama, he's sometimes awkward. In this book he resolves that tension by writing it as a tour of different lives that only partially follows any one set of characters, although they overlap. It's the Quentin Tarantino-ization of an otherwise clinical style.
Unlike most Crichton books, there are no characters who come to happy endings and no neat summary of the story at the end. It is a buffet of insights and tantalizing ideas, but no conclusions. This seems deliberate, both to promote an air of uncertainty about the book and to allow it to look at a complex issue without dumbing it down into Disney-style cause and effect in trite symbols. In this, Crichton seems ahead of any literature produced since the 1950s in America.
Where he deviates from both literary fiction and pulp is what might be called "thematic ultra-realism," or the concept that books should be about ideas impacting the real world. Too much of American fiction at least is about the drama of characters reacting mutely to a world they do not attempt to understand, and in the name of "realism" that becomes greater drama. Since such characters need to move to a resolution, they start out hopelessly confused and living broken lives, and then magically bring themselves to a smiling pop princess press statement conclusion.
Reality is different. Crichton is a political writer taking on science, or vice versa, and the sense of real impact is what gives this book a hook into our interest. His book shows us reality, not the inward drama of lost people, in both its good and bad. We see the wonders of science, and how they're abused for profit. We see the gentle and compassionate nature of people, and how that becomes their undoing. Most of all, we see warts and all a species that is not ready for its knowledge and cannot control itself, so stumbles from one disaster to another, unaware that cumulative damage increases.
In this, Crichton should be praised as more of an artist than the "artists" who make fancy, smooth-reading, pompously egalitarian books about nothing and everything. What did we learn from a character transcending his own heroin addiction to find religion in the beauty of rain under sunlight? Literature has become a self-help section which tells us to focus on ourselves and our drama, not the world. Crichton by contrast is a devil's advocate with a sharp whip who reminds us: we're in control of this world, and we need to start steering it more responsibly.
Still, his prose is rooted in the pulp of both science fiction and popular science writings, so the book flies by and is sometimes unsatisfying. It is a story of ideas, and of the oddly emblematic situations Crichton weaves: turtles with corporate logos, human-chimpanzee hybrids, disease tracking markers and magic potions to change personality. Even more, it is a story that must be read "outside the story" to see the interactions between these developments producing a world that, it is hinted, we the reader still possessed of a soul might not enjoy. - Vijay Prozak
Title: "The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" Author: Robert Louis Stevenson Publisher: Penguin Books (2003)
Long before Alfred Hitchcock gave Norman Bates a mad mother, before Freddy appeared at the movie screens in "A nightmare on Elm Street", and fearless Romanticists of the modern age could exclaim "I'm an other at night," Robert Louis Stevenson set out to shock the whole of Britain with psychological terror. Indeed, with his remarkable tale of psychological and criminal suppression, he managed to terrorize the unsuspecting readers, forcing them into a position of unrestricted self- reflection of moral and social transgression never before experienced.
"The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" tells of a lawyer named Utterson, whose friend Dr. Jekyll is experiencing troubles with an unknown individual called Mr. Hyde. When Utterson is given Jekyll's Will, explaining in detail how Mr. Hyde is supposed to inherit a large sum of money in the case of an eventual death or disappearance, he starts to feel that something is very wrong.
As it turns out, Jekyll refuses to give out information on who his secret friend is and why he's so important. In the mean time, a gruesome murder of a man named sir Danvers Carew is revealed, and the murderer seems to be none other than Mr. Hyde himself. As the story expands through uncertain individuals and strange occurrences, lacking all sense of logical reasoning, the brutal truth is finally revealed; Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde are one and the same.
Through his brilliant narrative way of pushing the boundaries of contemporary horror, Stevenson managed to unfold a gruesome depiction of man as dual in nature that sparked endless analyses on behalf of psychologists, Darwinists and Romanticists alike. In Stevenson's story, Jekyll is struggling with his evil side, which is trying to take over his good side, and become the dominant personality in both physical and abstract (thinking) expression. Making this process even more complicated, Jekyll is revealed not as "good" in opposition to Hyde as "evil", but as mere representation of the human individual as a whole, including Hyde (thus transcending the dualistic state from which the story begins).
While Jekyll is described as a handsome looking and well-tempered person with many friends, Hyde is seen the complete opposite: primitive, indulgent, amoral and liberal in individual expression. Hyde has no limits, and even takes pride and joy in crossing the morally and socially acceptable limits of society - both murdering innocent people and engaging in other untold blasphemies. What is interesting is Jekyll's extremely complicated relation to his "evil" side; while Hyde always has been a natural part of Jekyll (in the sense of urges that wish to be set free), Hyde is also a psychological creation of Jekyll's conflict with the collective conscious (society).
"Jekyll had more than a father's interest; Hyde had more than a son's indifference. To cast in my lot with Jekyll, was to die to those appetites, which I had long secretly indulged and had of late begun to pamper. To cast it in with Hyde, was to die to a thousand interests and aspirations, and to become, at a blow and forever, despised and friendless." (Stevenson, Robert Louis, "The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and Other Tales of Terror", p. 63, Penguin Books)
As Jekyll tries to hide his secret urges he automatically becomes ashamed of a natural part of himself and thereby works to form a growing bad conscious. This mechanism eventually grows to the point where Hyde gets loose, to free Jekyll from both his own and society's limits of social and moral acceptance. In other words, Jekyll is both "good" and "evil", which naturally places him in a dualistic state; but, as these are inseparable, Hyde is a part of Jekyll, and Jekyll is a part of Hyde - ultimately, there is no distinction.
While this can be seen as a metaphor for the paradox between the abstract (Jekyll/social urges) and the material (Hyde/physical urges), where both depend on each other even if the latter is demonized as "evil", "The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" is far deeper and more complex than this. Similar to what philosophical thinkers such as Nietzsche realized, our distinction between moral "good" and "evil" ultimately normalizes itself down to a neutral point of view, which is that of the emptiness found within feral nihilism.
The more Jekyll tries to hide or demonize his natural urges (the acts and deeds committed by Hyde are simply narrative ways of further emphasizing this fact), the further his bad conscious and focus on evil(similar to how Judeo-Christian morality eventually becomes completely absobed by individual death and suffering, and in order to ventilate this internal conflict, becomes a virus, leading to psychological conflicts and physical expressions of amoral thinking) grows, until Hyde eventually destroys Jekyll from within. In other words, the moral and social outlook of both Jekyll and his social surroundings lead him to a state of complete nihilism, where Hyde is Jekyll, and Jekyll cannot survive with - or without - Hyde.
While Stevenson's story about Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde has led to endless debates in all aspects of science, evolutionary theory, class, and sexuality, our final understanding and learning from this baffling masterpiece in Gothic psychological horror is that a dualistic outlook on life is contra productive. There is no evil so great in this world that it does not carry elements of good, and while moral preaching's that demonize our natural urges and instincts may sound "reasonable" and "ethical" in appearance, the actual progress of such thinking taken to pragmatic effects becomes devastating. In this sense, Jekyll was subject to the very laws of nature that he wished to escape through social means, and even though readers of "The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" will even today find their hearts beating fast to the descriptions of a madman gone lose in the foggy city of London, the actual realization that Hyde lives within us all, and that we willingly choose to deny his very existence, is perhaps the most shocking of all truths derived from this unbelievable contribution to world-class horror art. -Alexis
Cinema
Cannibal Holocaust Dir: Ruggero Deodato Release: 1980
Long before pseudo-documentaries like "The Blair Witch Project" had even been heard of, Ruggero Deodato began filming what would become one of the world's most famous horror movies ever made. The story is about three young filmmakers who travel deep into the Amazon jungle to make a documentary about cannibal tribes and their natural habits. Two months later they vanish. A professor from New York begins his journey to search for the missing filmmakers.
The film takes us deep into the jungle where the law of nature still prevails and determines life and death. On his search, the professor becomes acquainted with different tribes of cannibals that live near riversides and beaches. He is first met with distrust and suspicion. Later on, he finds out that the cannibals have killed the filmmakers, something he cannot understand, but which surely must have something to do with the attitude of the tribes.
While home, he's asked to hold a series of documentaries about the filmmakers and air the films that they shot while in the jungle. When exploring these films, the professor realizes the brutal truth: the filmmakers have burned down villages, raped women and killed animals. They have therefore been slaughtered and eaten by the tribes, as an act of pure revenge.
"Cannibal Holocaust" is not your regular horror film. It's shot in the now-common "shockumentary" style, where the viewer is treated as beholder of a real documentary, giving the film an authentic feeling, as well as an uncertainty of what exactly is going on. This film often goes from theatrical to documentary type of shooting, where the latter serves as presentation of shocking material and is the main driving point behind the entire work. Many scenes are surprisingly brutal and rough, including actual killings of turtles, pigs and monkeys, as well as graphic depictions of rape, mutilation and slaughter.
While this film shocks, it also brings up a subject of relevance: today there is a collision between traditional culture and Americanized consumer culture. We in the West often like to believe that our culture is the dominating and "civilized" one, but who is the real savage? Ruggero Deodato asks us this question in his portrayal of ignorant white teenagers burning down villages and raping women. It's easy to condemn this film for provoking a feeling of cultural relativism, but this is not the case.
On the contrary, "Cannibal Holocaust" seems to suggest that evolution is dynamic: each tribe organizes itself after its unique habitats and surroundings. The cannibal tribes use ancient rituals and strict cultural sacrifices in order to maintain a form of eugenic standard. The peoples of the Amazon jungle live close to nature and see it as its God. When the filmmakers intrude on their natural environments, they see people living in "the stone age", without access to cars or computers. They therefore believe that they are "above" the primitive tribes, resulting in the total lack of respect for humans, culture and nature alike.
Ruggero Deodato is an excellent director and knows how to push the lines in order to provoke realism and cultural debate. By forcing us to behold the conflict between our Western view on ancient cultures and presenting a world of natural selection, murder and sacred marriage, we automatically re-value our respect and understanding for nature and the people who have chosen to live by its laws as well as our own culture and way of living. As such, "Cannibal Holocaust" is a truthful, although sometimes brutal, insight into the conflict of modernism and naturalism, and its impact on us living in the Western society today. -Alexis
300 Director: Zack Snyder, Release: 2007 (117 minutes)
In short, this is a comic book turned into a movie with video game aesthetics, telling the tale of the 300 Spartans who died fighting back parts of the Persian army at Thermopylae in 480 BCE. The very fact that the introduction rather cheerfully depicts the eugenic conditions of Spartan adolescence, and that the almost two hours of film are filled to the brim with (some, historically accurate) lines mirroring Spartan warrior ethics, could make this movie into a nice slip road from a seemingly endless stream of movies focusing on the quite tiresome theme of modern individualism.
But that's only on the surface. In one scene, the Spartan king Leonidas (Gerard Butler) lectures on the importance of the army keeping together, using their shields to protect each other, and consequently creating a strong unity. In combat, this unity is initially kept, but then each Spartan runs along towards his own one-on-one battle, showing off a few hokum stunts. Interestingly, this is quite a precise parable for what makes this movie collapse: there is nothing keeping it together. This makes the movie, at its heart, into the very opposite of what it is set out to be. The exterior of an over-blown praise of an interpretation of Spartan life, accompanied by mediocre acting, blue screen animations, Hollywood sound effects, Nu Metal riffs, billions of slow-motions, and the constant use of the increasingly obscure concept of "freedom," will most probably entertain some people. But beneath all this, there is nothing. Those who seek art that beautifully portrays heroism, will not find it here.
Not even the debate on whether the movie draws its motivations from current politics or not is very interesting. Instead, what makes this work sort of fascinating as a phenomenon, and meaningful to review at all, is that it's an excellent example of the extreme contrast between modern and traditional thinking, and of surface versus content. These filmmakers take some ingredients from the past, but don't know how to deal with them other than by throwing them into a stew of modern decorations and purposes. While awful as a movie, and hardly worthy of ancient Sparta, at least "300" stands as an unintentionally comical monument of contemporary misunderstandings. - Ensittare
Food
JIHAD FAJITAS
So you've got a hankerin' for something Tex-Mex you can stuff in a tortilla with some lettuce and tomato and onion and make really tasty? This recipe is fast because it involves marinating your fajitas, and then cooking them quickly, slicing them and slapping the meal on the table. Versions for both carnivores and herbivores (or for us omnivores, make both).
1. Substrate a. Meat Get some cheap flank steak, brisket, or shoulder. The cheaper the cut, the longer you soak it. b. Vegetables Bell peppers, squash, sweet potatoes and red onions c. Meat analogue Tofu, blended and compressed chickpeas or beans, and nutritional yeast
With any substrate, the importance is keeping it cut in slices no more than .75 inch thick.
2. Marinade 3 tsp lime juice -or- vinegar 1/2 tsp ginger 1/2 tsp cumin 1 tsp paprika 1 tsp cayenne 2 cloves pasted garlic or 1 tsp garlic powder 1 tbsp pasted onion or 1 tsp onion powder 1/4 tsp sea salt 1/2 tsp dill
Paste garlic and onion together in food processor or by cutting into little bits and pounding with curvature of heavy spoon. Mix ingredients in refrigerator-safe container, dump in substrate and let soak overnight - at least. The best thing about this recipe is you can prepare marinade a few days in advance and cook as needed. I've kept meats in this mixture for up to a week with no degradation. If you're going to store it longer, add more vinegar!
3. Cooking
Take well-soaked mixture and put in open pan with 1/2 inch of water surrounding it. Pre-heat oven to 350 F. When oven is heated, insert pan and cook for 10-20 minutes depending on amount of substrate. Cut into thin slices and serve with diced tomato and onion, chopped lettuce and shredded cheese.
JALAPENO PESTO
From the land of Texas comes a bastardized Italic creation like nothing else: the savory sauce pesto with jalapeno overtones. For the strong of heart.
Ingredients 2 cups washed basil leaves 1 jalapeno pepper 2 cloves garlic 1 walnut or 2 pine nuts 1/2 cup olive oil
Over low-medium heat, place oil in saucepan and warm up. Slice jalapeno, removing seeds (pitch into garden for free jalapenos in 2 months) and slice into strips. Place these in warming oil. After five minutes, remove oil from heat and extract jalapeno strips. These can be used elsewhere as they still retain much of their flavor. Let oil cool completely.
Wash basil leaves and pitch into food processor relatively quickly, and blend. Dice garlic and nuts and throw these in as well. Pour in oil and blend again. Makes 1.5 cups of excitingly exotic pesto. - Vijay Prozak
