Dreams submerge one into an
altered state of consciousness. So does
music. The two become one in Two
Saviors, Buck Meek’s new album.
It is tinged with sadness and regret
but suffused with light. Steeped in
nostalgia and setting, Meek invites
you into a slice of his memory. The
album feels like a love letter written
upon waking up from a dream: a
little confused, a little unclear in its
language but thoughtfully done — that
is, if it is not the dream itself.
The Big Thief member’s solo album
begins with a daydream. “Pareidolia”
is a breath of summer on an album
released in the dead of winter. It is
a vessel filled with clouds, a finger
trailed lazily over a lover’s skin.
Literally, “Pareidolia” is defined as the
phenomenon of finding myths and
patterns in random stimuli, like seeing
figures in the clouds. These stories
we seek to find in the accidental
nature of our lives, this search for
meaning, is compressed here into
a relaxed love song. Like the rest of
the album, it is not eager to explore
complicated, profound ideas. It does
not desire purpose on an intellectual
level. Instead, it finds purpose in all
the small, human patterns of everyday
life. Purpose is found through a loving
observation of the details.
Details are what give this album
personality. Lines like “Thank God
for coffee / and apple pie” from
“Pocketknife” and “Well, did your
eyes change? I remember them blue
/ or were they always hazel?” from
“Candle” and all the specific names on
“Cannonball! Pt. 2” welcome you into
Meek’s world, one filled with birds
and guitar twinges.
Although the lyrics are difficult
to understand at times, Meek does
a good job convincing the listener
that this is due to their highly
personal, interpretive nature, rather
than a failure on his part to fully
communicate his meaning. He tends
to write with snippets of images,
leaving the listener to sew together a
quilt of meaning from them, allowing
each person to adapt the images to fit
into their own lives.
Nostalgia and sadness are universal
experiences. Meek, using these as
his tools of empathy, does not write
explicitly. That is, he does not force
the listener to interpret his work in a
certain way. Tunes such as “Dream
Daughter” and “Two Saviors” drift
in the lukewarm lake of memory,
addressing someone directly. It feels
like a photograph in which the subject
smiles radiantly at the person behind
the camera.
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Arts
6 — Wednesday, January 27, 2021
After the past year, the phrase
“these unprecedented times” and
the nonstop messages of “we will get
through this” have become, quite
frankly, annoying. Yes, we know that
pandemics are unpredictable, but
these seemingly heartfelt remarks are
constant reminders of our complete
lack of control. They prompt us to
question if our life and our time serve
any greater purpose.
Now, imagine if you have all the
time in the world and a never-ending
life. How would you spend your life?
How would you use your time? “The
Invisible Life of Addie La Rue,” a book
by V.E. Schwab, follows the story of
Addie and her 300-year struggle to “be
remembered” and define her legacy.
Desperate to escape a mundane,
passionless existence in 1700s France,
a young and naive Addie makes a
deal with a dark, mysterious god for
freedom and time. No deal, however,
comes without a price. Though Addie
will live forever, no one will remember
her.
Soon after making her deal, Addie
realizes that her life is meaningless
without anyone to remember her. She
cleverly finds a way to leave behind
a legacy, influencing artists and
their works. These artists attempt to
illustrate and bring to life a mysterious
female presence whom they can’t
quite put their finger on. Of course,
art is timeless, everlasting pieces of
culture and conversation.
So, Addie goes through the years,
living as a ghost and spending her
nights with lovers, only for them
to forget her in the morning. She
whispers into the souls of artists,
writers and musicians, causing them
to embody her in their work. She lives
like this until she meets Henry, who
remembers her.
Her entanglement with Henry is a
beautiful love story — a boy and girl
who find what they long for in each
other. Henry’s history is tumultuous,
highlighting the contrast between
love and validation. He struggles
to find emotional balance and
satisfaction with his friendships,
family and romantic partners, going
through life without a solid anchor
or purpose. When he meets Addie, he
is able to journey towards emotional
balance, learning what satisfaction
and contentment with one’s self truly
entails. For Addie, she is finally able
to find someone who remembers her
for everything she is. For a moment,
everything is perfect, our characters
living in bliss. Then, things go awry
and Addie has to make a difficult
decision. The ending leaves readers
guessing and questioning if what they
read was a love story, or something
else.
Having read some of V.E. Schwab’s
previous works, I was confused by
the focus on emotional character
exploration and the “coming of age”
vibe to the chapters leading up to the
climax. “A Darker Shade of Magic”
and her other series attempt to analyze
themes such as morality, justice and
human desires. But it all clicked when
I read the last chapter. The ending
reaffirmed Schwab’s trademark style
and changed my interpretation of the
book drastically.
The prose is full of figurative
language and allegories. The flowery
descriptions are so vivid, you can see
the years falling like leaves. I was very
suspicious of the writing, however,
almost as if the author specifically
chose to write so elegantly to give
readers the wrong impression. If you
look past the allure of the language,
you might uncover a different story.
Addie sought to leave a legacy for
herself, for people to remember her
name. She took the company of artists,
writers and musicians at night, letting
them immortalize her in their art.
When the fog clears, I see a character
struggling between validation in the
eyes of others and oneself. Like the
language, art is often used as a symbol
of the more alluring attractions and
superficial desires of the world. Addie
chose to create her legacy through
superficial means.
When she finally does meet
someone who remembers her, the
emotional journey that ensues results
in character growth for one, but does
it change the other?
puzzle by sudokusnydictation.com
By Jeffrey Wechsler
©2021 Tribune Content Agency, LLC
01/27/21
Los Angeles Times Daily Crossword Puzzle
Edited by Rich Norris and Joyce Nichols Lewis
01/27/21
ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE:
Release Date: Wednesday, January 27, 2021
ACROSS
1 Make fun of
6 Consecrate
11 Like sashimi
14 Kind of acid in
proteins
15 Paddled transport
16 Investment
acronym
17 Later than late
19 Formal apparel
20 Ultimate goal
21 Welcome word in
real estate
22 Prez on a fiver
23 Word with sky
or spy
25 “Gypsy” star,
1959
27 Gleeful Bedrock
shout
33 Happening, to
Holmes
34 Campus leader
35 “Main” road
38 Discontinued
iPods
39 [There’s another
doc]
40 Tearful
41 Food on the trail
42 Ailing
43 __ strength
44 Busywork
47 Caterpillar casing
49 Bug
50 Word of good
cheer?
51 Layered mineral
54 Flannel patterns
59 Salem-to-Boise
dir.
60 Moonshine
62 [Not my mistake]
63 Adler of Sherlock
Holmes fame
64 Stealthy warrior
65 Sound of
disapproval
66 County bordering
London
67 Toot one’s own
horn
DOWN
1 Like blokes
2 “My turn to sing!”
3 Be concerned
with
4 “Young
Frankenstein”
role
5 Hipsters
6 Pre-A.D.
7 Metallica
drummer Ulrich
8 Root canal
procedure, briefly
9 Classic 1967
Sam & Dave hit
10 Like some rye
11 EGOT-winning
actress from
“West Side
Story”
12 Curaçao
neighbor
13 Like candles
18 Prince who
inspired Dracula
24 Finally got there
26 Rat or squirrel
27 Yin’s partner
28 In the distance
29 Employee’s end-
of-year reward
30 Owie
31 Park seat
32 Start to park,
perhaps
36 Acted like
37 Greek food truck
offering
40 Moving, as one’s
toes
42 Many prom
attendees
45 Christina
Crawford’s
“__ Dearest”
46 Big wine valley
47 Pepsodent rival
48 Welcome desert
sight
52 Pool equipment
53 Hathaway
married to
Shakespeare
55 Actor Kapoor
of “Slumdog
Millionaire”
56 Online sign-in fig.
57 __ vu
58 Law
enforcement
acronym
61 Ranch nickname
SUDOKU
WHISPER
“Knock knock
who’s there?
Tara.
Tara Who?
Tara McClosoff”
“Does anyone
read this?”
The blurring of dreams and
reality: Buck Meek’s ‘Two
Saviors’ dives into memory
“One Night in Miami”
brings icons to life
What would Malcolm X, Sam Cooke,
Muhammad Ali and Jim Brown say to
one another?
While this sounds like the prompt
for a history essay, the movie “One
Night in Miami” imagines these
icons meeting on the 1964 February
evening that Cassius Clay, later known
as Muhammad Ali, became a world
boxing champion.
Based on the 2013 play of the same
name, it’s almost impossible to believe
that this is Regina King’s (“Watchmen”)
directorial debut. Using every cinematic
tool to her advantage, she brings 1964 to
Technicolor life with evocative staging,
fitting musical choices (the song
“Blowin’ in The Wind” is a highlight)
and reimagined historical imagery.
The film starts off with Ali fighting
an Englishman in Liverpool, where the
almost completely Caucasian crowd is
uniformly hostile. This sense of conflict
is threaded through the next three
introductory scenes, as Sam Cooke
performs at a glitzy, sneering L.A. venue;
a Southern elite patronizes Jim Brown
and Malcolm X agonizes over leaving
the Nation of Islam and threats to his
family.
“One Night in Miami” sets the
historical stage through character,
rather than relying on setting. This
makes the ensuing character-focused
story all the more thrilling because
the audience understands on an
emotional level what the four icons
are up against in a white-dominated
America.
It is difficult enough bringing
one momentous historical figure
to the screen, let alone four. Yet
the cast of “One Night in Miami”
makes it look easy. The men are
humanized enough to be relatable
as characters, but they also bring
history to blazing life when it’s right
for the story — Malcolm X geeks
out over his new camera and, just
a few scenes later, exclaims “we’re
fighting for our lives” in a furious
cadence that feels like watching the
man himself.
While both Aldis Hodge’s (“The
Invisible Man”) Jim Brown and Eli
Goree’s
(“Riverdale”)
Muhammad
Ali are utterly convincing, Kingsley
Ben-Adir’s (“The OA”) Malcolm X and
Leslie Odom Jr.’s (“Hamilton”) Sam
Cooke eclipse the other two characters.
Throughout the night, Malcolm X and
Sam Cooke draw one another into an
intensifying conflict over their views on
America. Malcolm X is appropriately
severe in his outlook, pushing Cooke
to stop singing love songs and to start
fighting for social change. Cooke calls
out Malcolm X for demonizing people
who, in his view, could be won over
through song. Muhammad Ali and Jim
Brown try and put out the fires.
Since Kemp Powers, playwright
and screenwriter of the original
play and now the film, the movie
sticks closely to its theatrical roots.
Most of the narrative takes place
inside a motel room, where the four
characters
converse
about
their
historical moment and what it meant
to be a Black celebrity in 1964. For a
2021 audience, the themes explored
concerning
race
and
American
oppression are arrestingly relevant.
However, since the bulk of the movie
takes place in one room, with everyone
talking almost non-stop, even the
best-acted and most well-written
conversations begin to drag.
Thankfully, whenever “One Night in
Miami” begins to lose its momentum,
an emotional moment or a cutaway
rips one’s attention back. The restraint
in setting and plot, while occasionally
one-note, gives the scenes of excitement
a sublime air, like Muhammad Ali
pulverizing a boxing opponent or Sam
Cooke performing to a crowd that
explodes with joy.
“One Night in Miami” is a thrilling
piece of historical imagination with
great performances, and establishes
Regina King as a director to watch.
“The Invisible Life of Addie
La Rue:” darkness, time and
contentment
ANDREW WARRICK
Daily Arts Writer
ZOHA KHAN
Daily Arts Writer
ROSA SOFIA KAMINSKI
Daily Arts Writer
Read more at
MichiganDaily.com
Read more at
MichiganDaily.com
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ELIZABETH YOON
KEELED SCALES