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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (April 14, 1992)
t Kows Tuesday, April 14, 1992 Lifestyles The Battalion ^ Page 7 /r The Story of the Conquest of the Kingdom of New Mexico' loses impact on stage by It wide vane; it's so fiar; hat over/a the rapist, safr ntention is Mt nanoimahek x) late. re rapes are a { ey (the victii | know each ot : of the reasc: ■e occurring i across the b of restrict® vant their cat 1 n-free witlti lour visitatic think we nee ■ge folksalili tance DWillg ?ncy, says gel rintance ra[« on and Pi an address* ment meet t concemei ured the si y woman In no' and leanssto nan mad( ting that' rosecutea.: t. it (rape)I* live throuf b for us hrough iU ; ill said, es the reastt 3 is so niiii r is becaus ling forwad -g the sessi* <quaintant‘ lead of lit disturbing incidence* incidence* ■ast wehcp cquaintan*' 2 the use* ople so# down wft 5 31y arotu* rge wo# s going*' I. "Itcaul* -help #' By Timm Doolen The Battalion The Aggie Players feature lo cal writing and acting talent in their new production, “The Story of the Conquest of the Kingdom of New Mexico," which has good moments, but must work too ard to keep audience interest. The three-hour production is split into three parts - Indian, Spanish and Western stories. Professor Oscar Giner wrote or adapted most of the material for t this stage production, with con- f* tributions from students Ren Powell and Jason LaMotte. I Giner tells us at the beginning |that New Mexico is an imaginary land - generally the lands above the Rio Grande. And while there's no conquest in the play, there are quite a few stories, ome of which go back to the be- inning of mankind. The Indian stories, especially Earthquake Monster," conjured up images of native Indians sit ing around a campfire telling tales that tried to explain the orld around them. One notable exception was he poetic "Prelude and Still ife," by Ren Powell, which was genuinely good, but very out of place. In the poem, a woman tells of her father molesting her, and of her first menstrual cycle. The Spanish stories were by far the most interesting, especial ly "Our Lady of Light," the story of Juan Diego's troubles in con vincing an archbishop he has seen a vision of Mother Mary. Again, an inspired but out-of- place piece was "Eve-ing Adam Ant," again by Ren Powell, which was sandwiched in the middle of the Juan Diego story. It was original and interesting, but contusing in this context. RANDALL NICHOLS/The Battalion Spider Woman, played by Desiree Dunman (right), tells the story of “The Black World,” while the Insect People dance in the first scene of the Aggie Players’ production of “The Story of the Conquest of the Kingdom of New Mexico.” The Western stories were a little more comprehensible. "The Death of Sitting Bull" offered two of the best acting performances of the night from Rapulana Seiphemo and Ashley Galaway, and "Billy's Death" featured one the best song of the night, a duet by Giner and Suzanne Shaw. But "Gunfight at the OK Cor ral" was a disappointment. In stead of showing the gunfight and the events after, they are told to us through the monologues of several of the participants. The flaw in "Gunfight" is representative of the faults in the overall play. Alfred Hitchcock used to say there was a perfect medium for every story. In "New Mexico," Giner tries to cross mediums by bringing traditional stories to the stage. But in doing so, the stories lose a lot of impact. A lot more is expected of a stage play than would be a story teller around an Indian campfire. The best parts were the music and dance scenes, which evoked a genuine mood or feeling from the audience. The only truly dra matic piece, "Our Lady of Light," was also a highlight. But during the abstract, poet ic scenes, the audience was lost; and during the straight story telling, the audience was not en tertained. "New Mexico" has a lot to of fer to people interested in South western heritage, and tales of long ago. For those people, this play will have a lot of merit. But I can't recommend this to those who would like to go for the the atric experience - it just doesn't hold enough interest. "New Mexico" runs Thurs day through Saturday at 8 p.m. Jah Wobble showcases unusual, eclectic rock Music m Review By Kevin Robinson The Battalion Jah Wobble's Invaders of the Heart "Rising Above Bedlam" Oval/ Atlantic For most people, Jah Wobble is going to be an unfamiliar name at best. Most would be surprised to hear that Wobble has not only been active in modem rock for the past ten years, but has been a cru cial influence on many of today's popular performers. Wobble got his start in the original lineup of P.I.L., perform ing bass on the band's first two al bums, "First Edition" and "Metal Box." Through P.I.L., Wobble in troduced various reggae- and African-styled basslines to what was then termed "New Wave." Although commercially ig nored at the time, these first two albums had an influence that spread from the Police to artists such as the Talking Heads and Pe ter Gabriel. In later years. Wobble was in high demand as both a col laborator and session man, writing songs with Holgar Czukay of Can and U2's the Edge, and providing the rhythm for Sinead O'Connor's "I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got." "Rising Above Bedlam" is Wobble's second album with the Invaders. The album is an eclectic fusion of Wobble's interests in Spanish, Arabic, and house music. While some of the tracks are stronger than others, the album is entertaining as a whole, and , sur prising with this many influences, flows together well. The first song, "Visions of You" uses a soothing synthesizer and muted bassline to underscore what is probably the album's most accessible track. O'Connor makes a welcome appearance on the song, singing chorus behind Wob ble's vocals on the main verses. Although it's always a plea sure to hear O'Connor's voice, it's one of the most powerful in music today and tends to overshadow any other attempt at vocals in a song. This happens on most of "Visions of You," with Wobble's singing being drowned out by O'Connor's familiar wail. Wobble corrects this on "Sweet Divinity," O'Connor's second appearance on the album. He lets O'Connor's voice give the latter song a strong base, without letting it take control of the track. "Bomba" was the first hit for the band when recorded indepen dently in 1990. The song, combin ing a house beat with Spanish vo cals from Natacha Atlas, became a club favorite throughout Europe and led to extensive touring. "Rising Above Bedlam" show cases Wobble's penchant for spo ken word perfomances. The lyrics, describing a type of bland urban purgatory, uses tape loops, samples, and grating guitar and synth work to produce an eerie track reminiscent of Can or early Kraftwerk. The second side of the album concentrates mostly on an Arabic flavor, mixed with the same house beat that made "Bomba" a success. "Erzulie" uses Atlas' voice to the best effect on the album. The song lasts for seven minutes, spiraling from a slow Middle Eastern tune to a hypnotic acid house delirium, with Atlas' voice becoming an in strument in itself. Overall, Jah Wobble creates a unique sonic picture. "Rising Above Bedlam" is not entirely world beat, dance, or experimen tal. Instead, Wobble uses elements of all of these to create an album that can be listened to for it's own sake, as well as produce the club singles that have given the band it's reputation so far. 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