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Zeena Parkins Opium War: A Radio Play Label: Einstein This fascinating radio play about the opium trade in New York at the turn of the 20th century is such a confounding, brilliant assortment of fragmented narrative -- that tracks wonderfully for those who pay attention -- and instrumental prowess it's a wonder of the soundscape form. Zeena Parkins has enlisted the aid of some of Downtown's finest to help realize Ana Maria Simò's text, produced the record, and turned over the entire project to Linda Chapman to direct. Centering on one family in transition in New York, the Parkins/Simò collaboration uses seven cast members to tell a conflicting tale of love, race relations, commerce, and the shifting perception of the narcotics trade in early-20th century New York. Parkins scripted sections for each of the instrumentalists here to play in tandem with one another or solo as an accompaniment to the narrative. DJ Olive, Margaret Parkins, Ikue Mori, Tenko, Chris Cochrane, David Shea, Jo Trump, D.D. Dorveillier, and Jonathan Bepler all lend hands toward creating a non-instructive, yet instrumentally and sonically compelling, musical narrative that suggests the narrative forward. Different sounds become associated with different characters; they appear whenever the character speaks. The play itself is a study in narrative brokenness, with the entire tale being revealed without a narrator. Tensions become nearly unbearable as they reflect the separation and brokenness in human relationships when economics becomes an equation for power within a household, within a neighborhood, within a city. This is arresting stuff. It may not be for everybody, but for those who are patient enough to take it in, it offers great rewards. Thom Jurek, All Music Guide Tracks: Title Composer Time 1 Bedroom Over the Butcher Shop. Night. Manuel Smokes Opium in Bed ... 7:55 2 Butcher Shop. Next Morning. Amalia Holds Her Grandson Clemente, ... 4:16 3 Bedroom. Later That Morning. Manuel Is Sitting in Bed. Louie Enters. 4:25 4 Butcher Shop. That Night. Manuel Shows Louie How to Cook and Smoke ... 3:18 5 Chinatown. Later That Night. Louie Stands on a Soapbox and ... 2:03 6 Butcher Shop. A Month Later. Morning. Amalia and Mariana Are ... 3:08 7 Dining Room. That Evening. Manuel, Mariana, and Amalia Sit at the ... 5:40 8 Butcher Shop. A Month Later. Evening. Louie, Very Well Dressed, Totals 1:50 9 Bedroom. That Night. Manuel Confides in the Young Clemente. 1:48 10 Butcher Shop. Dawn. Amalia Is Alone. She Sings Her Thoughts About ... 2:46 11 Parlor. Two Months Later. Afternnon. New Expensive Furniture, ... 9:02 12 Bedroom. That Evening. Mariana Reads a Letter Sent by Her Father ... 2:54 13 Parlor. That Night. Manuel Crouches, Naked, on the Window Ledge. ... 2:11 14 Parlor. Next Morning Evelyn Harding, a Fashionable Opium Customer, ... 7:19 15 Psychiatric Ward. A Month Later. Morning. Manuel Is Crouching in ... 4:55 16 Living Room. Six Months Later. Morning. Mariana and Amalia Are ... 4:54 17 Bedroom. That Night. Manuel Sleeps in an Opium Daze. Mariana Cuts ... 2:35 Releases: Year Type Label CD Einstein

Member Of: Elliott Sharp/Zeena Parkins No Safety News from Babel Skeleton Crew The Free Zen Society More >> Similar Artists: Elliott Sharp/Zeena Parkins Tom Cora David Shea Anne Lebaron Andrea Parkins More >>

Influenced By: Anne Lebaron Fred Frith Laurie Anderson John Cage Alice Coltrane More >>

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