           
    
|
Book Review: Working with the Thais
Steve Hillman - Convergence by Mott the Dog ***** 5 Star Rating It has long been a bone of contention with this dog - why Steve Hillman is not an international star with his CDs nestling in CD collections alongside the likes of Mike Oldfield, Pink Floyd and Tangerine Dream. Having already released two collections of his work on the magnificent Cyclops label, “Matrix” (’94) and “Riding The Storm” (’96), in 1999 Steve released “Convergence” to wide critical acclaim. As in all his recordings, Steve plays all the instruments apart from the beautiful flute passages played by his wife, Linda, who also did all the artwork for his 3 albums so far, which are worth the price of the CDs in themselves. Steve Hillman’s 3rd album was a bit of a change in direction in that he produced a much more progressive rock album than his other, more synth dream scoped based earlier CDs. It moves away from The Tangerine Dream style with less sequences and electronics, relying far more on Steve’s hard driving guitar work and the rhythm of the songs. It has far more structured pieces with all the elements of classical music, hard rock, ethnic, folk, and modern dance all mixed together. “Convergence” is like its predecessors, an all-instrumental album with much more of Steve’s usual biting electric guitar work and Linda’s subtle flute playing. This album is actually much more upbeat than anything he has done before, although it still has its dark brooding passages, making the tension in the music work very well by contrast. It is definitely his most ambitious and musically complex project so far. All of the melodies from all the different sections are extremely mesmerizing, drilling into your memory banks, deeper and deeper the more you listen to them, with many recurring themes popping up when you least expect them, catching you off guard, making sure you are paying attention. Steve Hillman - all instruments Track Listing 1i Wheels Within Wheels (part one) You might have noticed the strange numbering, the idea is that some of the tracks are multi-parted so only part of the whole, but the first parts theme always reoccurs to make it whole. Now go figure that out yourself.
Movie Review: The Man Who Cried By Poppy The year is 1927. A little Jewish girl (Fegele) lives happily with her father and her grandmother in a Russian village. But with the ever-present threat of persecution, her father leaves for America to find work and then send for his family. Soon after he leaves, violence engulfs the village. Fegele is bundled off with some fleeing villagers who hope to get to America, but she ends up on a boat to England. Fegele is re-named Suzie and sent to a Christian foster home and to a school where she is forbidden to speak Yiddish but learns to sing. Ten years later she leaves England for Paris, where she gets a job in the new opera company of impresario Felix Perlman. She starts to save, hoping to earn enough money to pay for her passage to America. Suzie falls in love with gypsy horse-handler Cesar (Johnny Depp). Her friend Lola falls for Dante Dominio, an arrogant Italian opera singer. When the German army invades Paris, Dante, with Lola at his side, immediately collaborates with the Nazis, while Suzie joins Cesar and his band of gypsy musicians. The Nazis have plans to round up the Jews and Gypsies but Suzie escapes on a ship. In the mid-Atlantic the ship to America is bombed but Suzie lives. Once in America, Suzie continues her search for her father, which finally leads her to Hollywood... This is a curious but intriguing movie that leaves you bemused and more than a little confused, starting with the all-but-inexplicable title. Directed by: Sally Potter Cast: Christina Ricci as Suzie
Updated every Friday Updated by
Chinnaporn Sungwanlek, assisted by Boonsiri Suansuk. |
|
This is the second edition of this business management
book written by American Henry Holmes and Thai Suchada Tangtongtavy, with
additional help from Roy Tomizawa, a Japanese American, and published last
year. With this rich multicultural background it would appear that the
book would be written from a base of experience. That it is, with the
principals having been here in Thailand for many years and running
communications and team-work/building seminars for almost thirty years.
Mott’s CD review:
