Just Say Mao

Just Say Mao is the third installment of Sire Records' compilation series Just Say Yes, released in 1989. This one features material from Depeche Mode, Ofra Haza, Lou Reed, Erasure, k.d. lang, Morrissey and many more.

'Tales From The Underground' is a five disc bootleg containing various live performances, rehearsals, outtakes, rare tracks, collaborations, alternate versions and unreleased covers from Tom's long and distinguished career.

'Tales from The Riverside' is a compilation of various tracks from various sources. Works as a nice addendum to the 5 disc Tales from the Underground set.

There just hasn't been an opera of this intelligence or this sophistication written anywhere in the last half-century. Adams and Goodman make a thrilling and effective equation between what opera and political summits both do in their different ways: make the quotidian seem "larger than life" (to quote Nixon from his opening aria). There's much to say about the technical sophistication of the work: the dense and rewarding allusiveness of Goodman's beautiful libretto, for example, or the wonderful ways in which Adams uses the repetitiveness of the minimalist mode for psychological purposes (such as Nixon's nervousness, Pat's near-hysteria, and Madame Mao's violent dogmatism). This production is quite fine, and enjoys a definitive Nixon in the person of James Maddalena, who makes the character by turns triumphant, clumsy, paranoid, tender, and poignant―just as we remember the real Richard Nixon. There are few more beautifully pillowy baritones than Sanford Sylvan, and he found the part of his career in Chou En-lai, the subtle and valiant Chinese premier: Chou's splendid first-act aria "Ladies and Gentlemen, Comrades and Friends" is the emotional heart of the opera, and Sylvan does it full justice. Carolann Page is a moving and heroic Pat Nixon, and does a superlative job with Pat's big scene in the second act (the most enigmatic but also touching part of the entire opera―in part because it moves towards the margins of the masculine political world elsewhere portrayed).

Fugui and Jiazhen endure tumultuous events in China as their personal fortunes move from wealthy landownership to peasantry. Addicted to gambling, Fugui loses everything. In the years that follow he is pressed into both the nationalist and communist armies, while Jiazhen is forced into menial work. They raise a family and survive, managing "to live" from the 40's to the 70's in this epic, but personal, story of life through an amazing period.

The Eunuch of the Emperor has ordered the commander of his army condemned to death for betrayal and insurrection. The commander's family was was murdered to cut off his bloodline, but his two youngest, a son and a daughter, were expelled from the empire to the outlands in an attempt to draw out the commanders confidant and adviser. In order to complete the plan, the Eunuch sent his ultra-secret Black Arrow Troop to assassinate the two remaining children and the advisor. The ambush: to be carried out at the Inn Of Dragon's Gate at the border. The plans fail as journeymen of great swordsmanship turn up at the inn. From that point until the end of the flic many battles take place. This film is a masterpiece of martial arts swords-play and speaks the tune of "The Swordsman" and the "Zatoichi" films. A must see for fans of classic Asian cinema.

Recordings act as sonic snapshots in time, individual chapters in the ongoing autobiographies musicians compose throughout their careers. Listening to albums has forever been one of the most accessible ways we relate with musicians, embracing any variety of creative efforts that shape the soundtracks of our lives. But even within the intimacy of the best examples of recorded music, a peculiar sense of distance exists. Most often it’s the length of space between a recording and its release date, but at times it’s also how removed listening to an album can feel from experiencing the music live.