~U~

Posted in Uncategorized on February 3, 2010 by lefauconrouge

It was the morning, around 11am and dark as marble…. cool and blue-gray…. I walked through the thick fog up hills and past neighborhoods of quaint houses to see you in your pajamas. Hadn’t you been driving all day and all night? You had. Wasn’t I just leaving for the airport in an hour? I was. So, I strolled in my tall blue boots up the hills carrying bottles of Pellegrino, hoping to catch a glimpse of your face.

Book shelves and a record player which played while I sat in sock feet next to you on the couch. How was I suppose to know that you wanted to kiss me? But, then I caught on as you clutched me to you, tucked under your chin like a teddy bear. I kissed you with my mouth still sweet with fresh blueberries and you kissed me back…….. exquisite. I didn’t want to stop you….. you didn’t want to stop me….. but, alas- the time was up.

I have thought about this kiss, multiple times since then. The way you held me, pinned me, touched me, caressed me, wanted me, owned me, told me, moved me, and savored me with that mouth of yours…. such a talented mouth. I asked you if your mouth tasted like blueberries after kissing me and you smiled wide and said…. “oh, yes!” but, I was shy because of it. Had no blueberries been involved moments before, I wouldn’t have been so coy…. but, you didn’t seem to notice or mind…..

I smell the faint pleasure of you as sandalwood and white musk, you smell warm and belong in bed. I thought of the scene, waking from a nap yesterday, and it was more than I could bear. I felt you pressing against me, kissing me, touching me…. and I was aroused ferociously by my thoughts of you and moved to ecstasy. Your presence, undeniable…. charming and effective even in the first waking moments of rest. Even in spirit, you are a force, which I shall always rush to reckon with.

It has been foggy ever since that morning. Fog thick with musk and sex and sweet yearnings…. fog that has followed me from Seattle all the way down to the bottom of California…. it is lurking in the streets and haunting my windows, pervasive and unmistakable….. blanketing the air, morning and night with my arousal. Your kiss awakened something in me and I slept in a dragon’s eye last night…. turning in the silver fire, Her hold, red, green and gold- the flames stood guard my soul and licked away all that was dead. I simmered in the silver eye, held in a kind of rapture, I never knew before. Joined with the elastic fire of divine desire…. culling the black, fueled by stars…. the dragon nursed me through the night, making me strong. Making me pure and sharp again….. glowing like a new blade.

My eyes are bright today, they cut the fog and I see you. I am flying through the dark morning, alive so alive! I am gold and red and shine like the sun…. the pink undersides are for you….. pink as a peony. See there the beating heart? It shines for you, glowing like a meteor, pulsing with…… forecasts and wishes…. for more of you and your kisses…. for more of what you would do…. in the night, in the morning, and in the long afternoons….. what would you do? Shall I dream until the end? Scenes like veils and transparent currents, just brushing across my dreaming body, never really touching….. never? Never! I am made flesh again…. and you are destined to touch me.

“Tell me what it was like. Do you remember? Can you hold on to it?”

I closed my eyes and smiled. Wet flowers in my mind, rain running down my face, the smell of evergreen in my nose…. pale and damp…. I’m walking in a world of colors and it feels like how a child loves a favorite doll. I’m sitting next to you and we’re talking. We’re saying things in person in ways I never expected and you are holding me, you are pulling my hair…. ever so gently…. and making love to my mouth with yours.

Valentine’s day approaches….. what will you do, so far away? What will I? But, there is a rosy pink morning in which, we both exist at the same time and we don’t answer to anyone or anything except each other. It is a beautiful bubble, a universe that never dies. I am dancing there. I am turning in a long silk dress and you have my hand up high and we are laughing and dancing….. to the most beautiful music…. it is so delicate that it strums your heart like a tiny angel and  makes you realize that your heart is more intricate and sensitive than you ever knew- not just some big red dumb drum that beats loud only for lust or passion. Hearts like stained glass windows. Hearts like a nest of songbirds’ eggs. Hearts like 200 carat diamonds in dawn’s first soft rays. And nothing can touch us, no one can see us, in our rose colored world….. our infinite morning, floating high above the clouds where sunbeams live.

The air smells like espresso and a new day. I have no memories or ghosts from the past in this familiar place. Everything is made over and I am a different person… changing, changing, always changing…. the images pass like reflections on the water. I’m running… I’m hugging…. I’m not who I was and I am ever becoming something else, gratefully. We were wrapped in the moment, saturated and sweet, Spanish perfume… musk and flowers… so tender. Precious minutes, words, laughter….. I savored them alone again in the soft white palace of my bed.

You said a few words, towards the end, that stopped me. I never knew….. I wouldn’t have guessed that. Fed on the bright wet moments for which, I have longed for a year or more… oh, there are so many more to come. I swear. Moving forward with long strides, towards gardens and clandestine meetings in greenhouses and dark rooms, and towards you- if you want me to. You will let me know, won’t you? ‘Til then I’m shooting a bow and arrow towards the north…. firing away, hitting the mark, moving towards a mystery I don’t fully understand myself yet. I’ll be in the valley, deep in the woods, where the two great rivers cross…. white water and garden magic…. gonna be a good summer.

Will you let me enchant you for awhile? Or at least try? I want to shower you with this feeling. I want to feed it to you, bite by bite. I am relishing it….. like ze blue blue blueberries…. won’t you taste it, too?

NOw and THen

Posted in Uncategorized on January 1, 2010 by lefauconrouge

He said, “Tell me what the future brings.”

And I thought, on New Year’s eve…. dressed in a short dress and eyeliner… about almond trees and bee hives. The books I would write… and the poetry. Above all, I savored the sweet love I would make with him…. he who challenged me, who asked me questions, who entreated with little sweets, come hither darling…. yea, I am not far for the one (you who) calls me in sincerity. What do I dream of? Ah, darling…. I dream of sunlit mornings in your bed. I dream under the sheets which made me greater than who I was before because you were there with me…. whispering sweet nothings… and doing all that you do….

When I think of my life, 2010 and forward…. I see a great white house and a garden, there are goats and bee hives, flowers and herbs growing, a kitchen in which I am preparing the most delightful meals for you. And in this time, I am ever beautiful, ever passionate, never lacking in my affection because to me- you are like a magnet- a shiny bead to my crow’s eye and I will never tire, never expire in loving and lusting after you. Ask me why? Because I am ever changing, ever fascinating- and you will never grow old, living with me…. my darling. You will never grow old, next to me. Certain magic, my love. It’s aplenty, where I am from.

In the next 10 years….. I hear the cellos and violins on the deck. They are playing amidst votives and strawberry pies because I have invited them there. For you see, our restaurant has flourished, so great it has become…. not just an eating place it is a lure, yes, a lure for the many to learn how to become ONE> in the greenhouse and the garden and the making of fuel and the paying of bills without the drudgery of the metro and the 9-5 fire drills. No, no my sweet….. we are the pair they came to meet. For workshops and weekends, for long winters and summers….. though they pay us not a dime……  we tell them how to fuck the man. We tell them how to be on their own, in body, soul, and mind.

The cafe- concept pays all…. in it’s decadence and the pleasure it brings. Live concerts and art shows, catering, juice bar, gift shop and fine dining….. did you know I make wine, too? Oh, yes there are vineyards growing in my heart, juiced in the future, of me and you….

The Mad Scientist and The Green Fairy

Posted in Uncategorized with tags , , , , , , , , , on December 29, 2009 by lefauconrouge

“Write something.” He said, “Write me a story.”

So I opened up my new notebook with the white feather taped on the inside- and just basked in the beauty of the blank pages. I could feel the story radiating out to me; characters and images whirring through my mind all at once, like the tiny wheels of a timepiece- interlocking, lacing, spinning….. but, slowly now. Slower…. I want to relish this newness. These blank pages, oozing with temptation, warming my bare skin…. for after all that has happened in the last four weeks, my only priority today was to remain naked.

Christmas had come and gone, leaving me feeling tattered and worn. My short-lived love affair with a L.A. hip hop playboy now over, I stopped to lick my wounds, in a blessedly empty house. Alone, at last….. but, the phone kept ringing. Morning and night, I tossed in bed, wondering why. It was the Mad Scientist’s call I returned first, sometime around noon. Standing in the kitchen wearing only black underwear, I hedonistically ate pecan pie right out of the tin without cutting a neat slice to put on a plate. It was just me standing half naked, eating pie for breakfast in the kitchen, sometime in the afternoon, and I didn’t give a damn about much else at the moment.

His voice was always so reassuring, so intelligent, masculine and with the faintest of Eastern European accents, heard in certain words. We talked always of art and being creative and he enjoyed teasing me, playfully. He was smart and in no hurry. I could tell by the look of his blue eyes… which always seemed so dark….. and the smirk in his smile, that he held a vast store of sexuality. He was tall, 6′3 and well-built, certainly a strong man…. and his face…. very handsome, European, respectable, and perfectly proportioned with striking features. He truly was a Mad Scientist- with the hair of a California Einstein framing his mysterious eyes, giving him a kind of wildness. And he was older than me by more than a few years which, I liked. It was new and I was eager to learn from him. “Drink absinthe with me,” he said.

It was at the cafe’ on Sunset Blvd. where we first met a month ago, that I stopped the car. He lived around the block so I took the opportunity to freshen up before heading over to his place. He worked in the movies, wrote screenplays for television, and to me- was a photographer. I was his model. We planned to do a shoot together but, found each other so intriguing, the photoshoot took a back seat to our friendly conversations over the weeks. He was so full of knowledge and creativity, I was drinking it up, thirsty for the wisdom and experience of a successful man in the creative heart of Hollywood. His images were pure genius and I longed to talk to him at length about his process of writing screenplays.

As far as what he wanted from me, was yet to be determined. What was I? Somewhat of a hot mess, to be sure…… wild, flighty, high strung, wide-eyed and long-legged…. I suppose, I hoped, maybe he liked my poetry. I had emotionally exhausted myself screaming, throwing tantrums, sinking into depressions, and drinking a case of wine over the last week, to take the edge off…… I felt like a broken rail, ready to fall into the hands of someone, much stronger than me. I wafted, a filament of blonde light, a wisp of a person, out of the cafe’, around the block- to fall into the dark eyes of the Scientist, and all they held for me.

The glowing yellow eyes of his midnight black German Shepherd, Kazan, met me at the door. Martin was wearing a smile, jeans, and a white cotton, button down shirt, which filled with his broad shoulders and defined chest and solid arms. He looked very comfortable and chic, as usual and greeted me with a kiss on the cheek, as I fell against him with a hug. It already felt like such a relief to be in his presence. He was a man who had everything and all he wanted from me, was to be there with him.

I took off my gold flats by the door and stepped silently in black stockinged feet, behind him to the center of the living room. Kazan was on my heels and because I was wearing a short black chiffon dress, we made a pretty picture, the dog and I, sitting side by side in our blackness, as I patted his head. Sitting across from us in an armchair, Martin smiled and simply watched for a moment, regarding us with pleasure. “Would you like to smoke some herb with me?” His smile growing wider and more mischievous.

“Why yes, I would love to!” I sparkled at the thought. And deep inside, I knew the moments ahead would lead to the beginning of an adventure, which I did not have much control or foresight on. Somehow, I knew he did. But, I was ready to be in his world and under his control for a few hours…. I was tired of being on a rollercoaster, feeling strung out with no answers and no one to talk to.

He rolled a huge joint from his chair and I continued to pet his giant black shepherd. German Shepherd’s have always bitten me for some reason, a phenomenon I attribute to a past life as a Polish Jewish woman taken captive in one of Hitler’s concentration camps. I came to this conclusion after I was hypnotized for the first and only time in my life, this and two other past lives had surfaced. I had gone to the hypnotist to ask if I had any past life lessons that were influencing my current life. Oddly enough, these three past lives, when put together, held meaning to my current life path and learning….. having to do with love, excess, denial, and balance. And coincidentally, Martin is originally from Poland and his dog from Eastern Germany, directly from a long line of purebred German Shepherds trained in the same manner as they were in Hitler’s day. None of this was lost on me, when I found out. I’ve learned, nothing is ever random. No matter how random it seems to be.

He licked the joint slowly, looking over at me with his intense, mysterious eyes. “So tell me Green Fairy, what do you feel like doing tonight? Do you want to play with some cameras? Eat some dinner? Watch me do some video editing on my new pilot? Or? We can do anything you want.” He lit the joint and through the cloud of rolling marijuana smoke, passed it to me, ablaze. I could feel my palms get damp with excitement.

We can do anything you want- are six words I absolutely love hearing. They are like the lusty blank pages of a new notebook, new white sheets on a freshly made 5-star hotel bed, and an open door to the vast rooms of the imagination I carry inside but, rarely get to share, physically with anyone. And these words combined with cannabis? It’s like a gateway to a whole new reality, entered in the blink of an eye. But, he knew this. He knows this. And while he is cool about it, he can’t wait to see what I am going to do. I inhaled slowly and deeply, the lights of my mind growing brighter, rising like psychotropic fireflies, while my body transformed from a broken, scared little girl to a goddess. Sultry, powerful, and magnificent…. it felt good to be back. The shackles of discord and upset, fell away like papery snake skin, turning to dust in an instant, and the magic of my mind and body returned, more familiar to me than anything else. The cannabis was a side door back to the world of truth, where the inside is more real than the outside. A world in which fantasy is tangible and anything not made of light and love and imagination, does not exist.

I stood up and spun on my toes in a quick pirouette, my black skirt billowing out around me like a bell, and hopped over to return the joint to his fingertips. “Thank-you for having me. Let’s play with your cameras and drink some absinthe!” He lightly clasped the outside of my two outstretched fingers with his, running the fine lengths of my fingers to their tips, taking away the smoldering bud and placing it to his lips he merely said, “As you wish.” And smiled through a haze of fragrant smoke. I spun around again, slipping and sliding like a figure skater in my stocking feet over the smooth floor, which caused Kazan to jump up in excitement and start barking and cavorting around me. It felt good not have a care in the world. Not for schedules, not for lack of time, not for anything. I just had to be here, and everything else was cake.

Martin rose from his chair to deliver the joint back to me and made his way to the absinthe fountain he had on his kitchen island, two glasses and two spoons with cubes of sugar already laid out on the marble countertop. Votive candles flickered in the corner, giving the air a faintly sweet, spicy smell. I took another long drag and spun around, dancing with the dog, and watched as the absinthe poured over the sugar cubes resting on the flat, silver spoon into the first glass. Mesmerized, I took long silky, slippery steps like a skater until I was standing to the side but, slightly behind him, my chin tucked just behind his left shoulder, touching it like a whisper. I could feel my heart beginning to race as I watched the sugar cube dissolve. He repeated the process with the second glass and neither of us spoke, watching the process unfold, so entrancing was the pale green liquor in the elegant pair of absinthe glasses.

He turned with both glasses in hand and handed me one. “To making magic with the Green Fairy.” The cold herbal liquor slid down like green fire. Anise, wormwood, and thujone flanked the alcohol with their combined otherwordly properties. I felt my world tilt slightly, “To the Mad Scientist and his art. Let the night be ceaseless with inspiration.” And without thinking, I slipped my dress over my head and quickly kissed him on the lips, tip-toeing in my black tights. His hands found my ass and hips and slender waist, smoothing over my long curvy body like an hourglass. But, after a moment I pulled back with a gleam in my eye and took another sip. “You should get your camera.” And danced away into another room to scout out some props to use, as he stood in happy shock, watching.

I was soaring. I felt larger than life itself. My spirit was reunited with my body for the first time in weeks, bursting at the seams, until it filled the rest of the room with a huge glowing omniscient presence, watching all. I found a rack of costumes and props from one of his television shows against the wall of his studio office. I put on an elaborate Venetian half mask with large red and black feathers in its headdress. I found long black satin ribbons and a black silk ruffled collar and draped all around my neck, moving onto bright jewels for my fingers and bracelets of diamonds for my wrists. The black shepherd watched patiently as I dabbed rouge on my lips and cheeks, although not much, because I was already flushed from excitement and absinthe.

I went back into the living room and found that he had placed several candelabras with long white tapers all over the floor, all other lights extinguished. He was fumbling with his camera but, stopped as I approached. The energy in the air crackled with vivid, unharnessed sexuality, exotic beauty, and art being born. I moved without a noise, slowly and deliberately until I was in the center of the candelabras, facing him, bare-breasted and looking like a kind of Venetian courtesan, glittering in the candlelight. He found a length of ribbon which streamed haphazardly down my body, and ran its length between his ring and pinkie fingers…. not touching me…. all the while staring into my eyes through the mask. He could tell I wasn’t the same person who had shown up at his door two hours ago. I was someone, something, else.  I could feel the heat radiating through his thin shirt and the ferocious self-control with which he restrained his urge to immediately take me on the floor showed in his stern expression and tight jaw. I laughed and relished my power, feeling my affection for him grow, so great was my admiration for his respect and patience, allowing me to play. I jingled my diamond bracelets and shook my feathered mask encrusted with gems and we began. His camera shutter clicking, as I moved like a ballerina in the candlelight. His soft exclamations and my glee filled laughter played against the acoustic Flamenco music coming from the stereo, filling the room with audible revelry.

After about an hour, I grew weary and wanted a rest. I threw a soft blue blanket around my shoulders and removed the mask and bangles and curled up into a ball on the couch. He sat next to me, bringing a glass bong packed with ice, and we did a few bong hits while discussing how the photos will be edited along with further ideas for our photographic escapade. I found myself slipping into a quiet hush of consciousness, resting my head on his leg, his fingers playing lightly with my hair, stroking my face. His voice started to sound far away, and I fell into it, letting it wrap itself around me, making me feel so secure. I was safe and he was strong, my new guardian in the unspoken pact that for tonight, at least, I was protected from the outside world and all its demons. Of course, with all agreements, both parties must compromise…..

The long satin ribbons still trailed from the ruffled collar around my neck. I felt him twirling the ends of them with his fingers, contemplating, as I dozed. I felt the ribbons being wrapped around my wrists so that they were joined and with a slight tug and hand under my bum, I was in his lap, out of the blanket, and stretched over his thighs like a whip. My breasts arched towards him, as I curved over his athletic legs.  He held my wrists wrapped with the ribbons in one hand and began gently caressing me with the other. “Hello again, Green Fairy. Did you have a nice nap? I didn’t want you to get too far away from me, so I had to wake you up. Was that naughty?” He cupped my breast, squeezing and leaned over to put his mouth over my nipple. He pulled the ribbons tighter until my arms were far above my head and I let go a sigh and then a gasp as his other hand went beneath my tights. Wide awake, my heart racing, I had no words. No longer a huge omniscient spirit, I was fully in my body again, becoming primal. I was a feminine body with large breasts, round hips and long delicate limbs, covered in strong lines of muscle and soft flesh. I was a woman. So deliciously feminine and so completely in the control of this much more powerful creature, this man, who could do absolutely anything he wanted with me. It felt divine.

I knew that my words were not what he wanted to hear in response to his question. His fingers moved me gently until I became soaking wet. His mouth devoured my mouth, switching to tease my nipples with his mouth while caressing me with his hands. He moved to peel off my tights and quickly removed his belt, shirt and pants but, before he could lay on top of me, I stopped him with my hand. Leaning forward on my knees, I kissed his throbbing erection, gripping its base firmly. My tongue slid up its impressive length until I reached the tip and covered it with my mouth. My tongue moving inside, stimulating him, tantalizing him, and moving him- up and down, slowly, until sweat was running down his body and he could take no more. I braced myself for the storm and prayed that he would be gentle but, it was not so. His passion was in a frenzy, all self-control gone and he lay on me, rubbing his erection against my wetness, inspiring my lust and kissing my mouth with great authority until I lost my breath. He moved against me with his weight, harder and faster until I began to moan and cry out. Upon the sound, he draped one of my legs over his arm and entered me.

I was overcome with his size and squeezed hard to keep him from entering me too deeply, too quickly. He let out a great bellow of pleasure at this and then it was as all the greatest acts of passion are; violent, sensual, physical, ethereal, and sweaty. We moved into one position after another, his power and lust to my tenderness and fire, my soft to his hard, his giving to my taking, until we both shook with an ecstasy near to tears. His member fully inside of me, I rode him as he held onto my hips, gripping me, rocking me back and forth, beads of sweat falling from my bouncing breasts and shaking hair. He growled lowly, “I want you to cum for me. Tell me how much you want it.” And to prove he was serious, he lifted me off of him, holding me above his cock.

“I want you to make me cum. I want you to keep fucking me, please. I want you inside of me. Please, please fuck me.” And with that, he dropped me down hard onto his erection and moved above me so that I was on my back. His hands held my legs open and he moved with great force until I felt myself start to leave my body a little. I felt light as air, except his great heat and movement was undeniable. And the more I focused on his rhythm, I squeezed to contain him from tearing me apart, though he became more ferocious for it- and then at last- a great white light exploded inside of me, bursting forth like a star, and I screamed- with pleasure. My body and mind flooded with gold and white light and my body became a living vessel for Heaven itself. Energy poured out of my hands and feet and eyes like gold sunlight and I became a blessing, incarnate. The great spirit that I am was released and magnified by his sex and I lay beneath him, saturated in divinity. He collapsed, satisfied and exhausted, on top of me, while I glowed like the sun, the essence of Divine Love pouring through every pore of my body, mingling with our human sweat. I stroked his sweaty body as he lay heaving, catching his breath, covering me with his weight. To me, our bodies looked to be glowing with heavenly white light- for we had gone to a place between Heaven and Earth. I stroked him lovingly, covering his shoulders with tiny kisses, feeling my womanly awareness returning to me as I felt myself beginning to throb between the legs.

That night, the Mad Scientist dreamed of impossibly beautiful things, transported to his mind on the waves of our sex and his visions would outlive the ages, having met their manifestation through his gifted hands. And the Green Fairy did not sleep or dream, but, all night…. thanked him silently, for reminding her that she is a vessel of Heaven and a portal to the otherside and must never hide away her feminine body and spirit until its power is forgotten, even to herself, again. For in love, sex, man and woman… all things must be made equal and become balanced. And while it may take lifetimes to learn, all things return to one.

-j.fieldz

The Poetry of January Fieldz

Posted in Uncategorized with tags , , , , , , , , , , , , , on March 17, 2009 by lefauconrouge
the author... January Fieldz

the author... January Fieldz

Sensual, metaphysical, introspective, romantic, poetry.

http://januaryfieldz.wordpress.com

Wallpaper

Posted in Seattle, indie rock with tags , , , , , , on October 20, 2008 by lefauconrouge

Know what really gets a party bouncing off the walls?! Bumpin’ some Wallpaper! Signed with Seattle’s legendary K Records in spring of 2008, Wallpaper will release their new album with a show you’ll want to mark on your calendars, November 8th at The Comet. Wallpaper offers danceable diversity wrapped in a high energy garage pop rock sound born of influences like Pavement, The Pixies, and Weezer. Brothers Derek and Spencer Kelley along with Steve Potter, deliver fast paced jump up and down songs with puckish charm, enthusiasm, and a whole lot of energy.

The trio began playing in 2004 with Spencer and Steve, joined later by Derek on lead vocals. After listening to their first recording made as Appliqué, they heard a lot they wanted to change and stripped it down. Their sound became more raw ala The Breeders and Violent Femmes. They must have done something very right because renowned musician, DJ, producer, founding figure of the DIY independent music movement, and record label owner Calvin Johnson happened to be one of the seven attendees at The Sunset in late April of this year and really dug their sound. “Kurt Cobain’s only tattoo was of the K Records shield, you know.” Derek fills me in. I did NOT know that! Calvin and the boys exchanged 45’s and EP’s and three months later Wallpaper was signed to K Records alongside the likes of Modest Mouse, IQU, Dub Narcotic Sound System, and Yacht. Wallpaper’s short, fast, shooting star-like rise to musical success in Seattle is supported by a great fan base of youngsters who like to dance and rock out.

So why, you may wonder, is Wallpaper secretly blacklisted from playing all ages venues? Why would these three very adorable and talented musicians be blacklisted from playing at all-ages venues? The answer? Myspace drama. Myspace drama which led to false accusations directed at one of the members of Wallpaper which led to further slander and subsequent cancellations of shows as well as refusals to book Wallpaper at all ages venues. Because of one vindictive Vera Project volunteer, the tyrannical blacklisting of Wallpaper runs amuck within a small circle of misled friends who volunteer at all-ages venues in the Seattle area. As a result, Wallpaper’s 18 and under fans have to settle for waiting outside 21 and over shows to say hello and listen from the street. Can anyone say scandal?

“Is it really fair to allow the volunteers of Vera Project or any organization act out their own personal vendettas at the expense of the organization itself and the public that it is meant to serve? We can’t play at any all ages venues because of one volunteer who has slandered us on false pretenses. We don’t even know what to do about it.” says Spencer.

“Yeah…. we are OVER hipsters.” says Steve. They all nod in unison agreement.

Unwitting targets of Capitol Hill hipster politics, heroes of the teen dance scene, newcomers and favorites at Calvin Johnson’s K Records and darlings of Seattle underground pop,
I present- Wallpaper. Find them October 11th at Mars Bar and November 8th for their CD release party at The Comet and get the dish on their latest online drama at www.myspace.com/publicstudents. Steve, Derek, and Spencer are very charming and full of playful, positive energy which, comes through in their music. Wallpaper is a breath of fresh air and if you’ve been looking for some new tunes to dance in your socks to, look no further.

Written and photographed by January Fieldz

Photo editing by Adele Clark

D-List Magazine, Seattle, WA.
October 2008

Hypatia Lake

Posted in Music with tags , , , , , on September 3, 2008 by lefauconrouge

I’m on the phone with Lance Watkins, mastermind and lead singer of Hypatia Lake, checking in to see how their West Coast tour is going. He tells me they are currently huddled around a lantern and a loaf of Italian bread, in San Simeon State park in California after playing killer shows in San Francisco, Long Beach, and Los Angeles. Their new album, Angels and Demons, Space and Time, is being hailed as one of the most transcendental and skillfully produced albums in the experimental psychedelic rock genre. Released by Reverb Records and recorded/engineered by Scott Colburn (Arcade Fire, Animal Collective, Sun City Girls), Hypatia Lake’s intimate and eclectic songs are truly a psychedelic masterpiece.

With Randall Skrasek on guitar and back-up vocals, Shane Browning on bass and back-up vocals, Dave Foley on drums, occasionally joined by Sky Lynn on back-up vocals/percussion, and Lance Watkins- lead guitar/vocals and songwriter; together they weave a fairytale of music about the fictional place of Hypatia Lake and the make-believe characters contained therein. Inspired by The Point, a fable by American songwriter and musician Harry Nilsson, Lance conceptionalized the town of Hypatia Lake and brings it to life with the help of his bandmates. The name Hypatia comes from ancient Greece, Hypatia of Alexandria born between AD 350 and 370, a Greek scholar from Alexandria in Egypt, considered the first notable woman in mathematics, who also taught philosophy and astronomy. Not surprisingly, Hypatia Lake’s lyrics incorporate philosphy, metaphysics, and esoteric themes. When listening to their music, your ears are not only delighted and stimulated by the variety of dreamy sounds that come through, your mind is simultaneously aroused and enlivened by the depth of thought and information of the lyrics. This is intelligent, well-written music with an unstructured ambient soul and a satisfying palette of sounds ranging from neo-folk to shoegaze to true Seattle rock. The mind-sweeping trancy effects of their music are punctuated satisfyingly with interludes of heart swelling guitar solos that keep you awake and pumped without jarring you out of your senses. Most shoegaze bands will put you to sleep while other hard/indie rock bands sing songs that make you feel angry or depressed with noise that hits you like a car crash. Hypatia Lake seamlessly blends the best of the best along with a healthy dose of the unexpected.

Their live shows are complete with their very own visual projectionist, Ben Jones. It is a total package. Even if you don’t typically listen to psychedlic rock and find youself at dance clubs on the weekends- you should really give this a try. It’s a very stimulating experience and a complete departure from the usual. This is not your typical self-absorbed, self-pitying Seattle rock band making a play for a big break. They are saturated with pure creativity and experiment with sound and thought for its own sake- it is very rejuvenating and inspiring to be present at one of their lives shows. Hypatia Lake sets themselves apart not only through the quality of their sound but, also through the selfless, fun-loving character of their presence.

You can catch them at The Comet, September 26th with Spirit Vine and Rocking Horse People. Until then, you can read about their adventures from tour, like the phantom deer that they saw bounding across a huge San Fransican cemetary last week, on their myspace page www.myspace.com/hypatialake or at www.hypatialake.com. Hypatia Lake deserves the spotlight they are in. Theirs is a sound that has been cultivated with alot of care and thought over the last 8 years and they deliver with a purity and rawness that every music lover can appreciate. Hypatia Lake’s soul is the last unicorn of Seattle rock. Satisfy your curiousity and check them out! Their live show is reward you deserve.

Written and photographed by January Fieldz

D-List Magazine, September 2008

www.dlistmagazine.com

Wine Vignettes 1 + 2 + 3

Posted in Seattle, wine with tags , , , , on September 3, 2008 by lefauconrouge

Wine Vignette 1

At 6:46pm Seattle is pitch black. The hazy glow of city lights imbue low hanging clouds with a phosphorescent tangerine; filling their bulbous faces with electric neon life. Clustered around the Space Needle like luminous blimps, they watch me approach fast as an arrow, shooting past the expanse of one forgotten brick warehouse block after another. I propel myself forward to sensational speeds atop my long, long legs- gliding through the city night like a ghost train without a sound. He would be waiting for me and as usual, I would be running late.

I turned the corner and felt a quick spike of concern upon seeing the empty street. I was at least fifteen minutes behind for the new movie release of Beowulf. Combined with the undeniable sex appeal of  my new friend and neighbor, I was surprised I had still managed to make him wait, except…. where was he? Jean.

“You want to help me smoke this?” I whirled around to meet mischief in Jean’s blue eyes, sparkling beneath the golden curls that fell languidly on his brow. His strong outdoorsy features classic, his smile suggestive and warm, stature tall and athletic- I immediately wanted to skip the movie and go straight to conversation and wine. How could I bear sitting in the dark staring at a screen instead of this gorgeous, smiling man? His relaxed, confident manner was totally irresistible.

“You know, I don’t mind if I do…” I took the joint from his fingers and took a long drag under the flickering fluorescent lights of the overhang outside the theater. I exhaled slowly, the curls of smoke moved rolling as the shoulders of a hunting tiger. They fell moving in tumbles through the space of air between us. This was going to be a long movie. As we smoked, we talked of his recent travels, modeling in Tokyo and Barcelona, and then my mind drifted uncontrollably to Spanish wine. Suddenly captive in thought, I recalled the delightful character in its pour and the delightful notes of oranges from Seville, flowers in Madrid, and figs from Valencia. Jean continued to talk of Spain as I quivered under the spell of her wines…. wrapped in gold netting, the bottles contain seduction. Tantalized by romance,  visions of its dark promises  sliding over my tongue and into my grateful being- I regarded him with a Cheshire grin and catlike preen, satiating the contemplation of the combining the two.

The movie disappointed…. but, then what could compare to real life tonight? We discuss dinner possibilities and agree upon a new Ethiopian restaurant close to where we both live. Neither one of us had ever been there. The interior was warm and modern covered from ceiling to floor in polished wood and hung with delicate hide skin lanterns. He orders Penfolds Shiraz-Cabernet blend from Australia and I select Axumit: a sweet red Ethiopian table wine. Deep garnet in color, the wine is strong and sweet with little complexity. I ordered the spiciest lamb dish on the menu and extra ingera- the grey flat tortilla like bread ripped off in pieces and used to scoop the entree with your hands. No silverware was anywhere to be seen and the place was filling with young Ethiopian couples- both good signs. I took a sip of his Australian blend and relished in the balance between ripe blueberry and the warmth of black pepper, a sweet leather note to its finish. The Axumit in my glass took command of your mouth at once with its intense and dark sweet flavor. It was only when eating the lamb spiced with Ethiopia’s red hot berbere and awaze that dinner truly became an affair to remember for its bold presence on both the dish and the palate. As I ate and drank, centuries upon centuries of trading civilizations played out in my mind. The caravans, the travel, the Indian ivory, the Mediterranean pirates, the Ethiopian nation of Axumite of 4 century B.C.

“From that place to the city of the people called Auxumites there is a five days’ journey more; to that place all the ivory is brought from the country beyond the Nile through the district called Cyeneum, and thence to Adulis….”
—Periplus of the Erythraean Sea, Chap.4

How many of their voyages were responsible for the taste of the meal I was eating two thousand years later? I tasted the excitement of a good market day and asked myself how our journey through this modern life will affect civilizations a thousand years hence? Regarding my dining companion thoughtfully, I mused. He met me with those gorgeous blue eyes of his and smiled. I tasted a happy ending in the air and it wasn’t going to be just dessert. Eating with our fingers, we laughed as the food slipped between them and any shyness melted in the public licking away of spicy sauces between sips of sweet Ethiopian wine…. the candlelight never felt so good. Tonight will at least have fulfilled its destiny in the finish of our wine glasses. The walk home became symbolic. Like the mercantile nation of Axumite, I vowed to continue my journey of discovery, crossing all borders.

Wine Vignette 2

Glasses in hand, my girlfriend and I laughed indulgently at our efforts in playing badminton. The Rosemount Estate Shiraz sloshed in my wine glass with every lounge and backhand. The late afternoon sun streamed through the plumes of the giant Redwood where we played next to the Russian Cathedral. Sip after ruby red sip of the red Diamond Label Australian wine, the game soon included singing, twirling, and select ballet moves. The wine’s rounded berry essence and defined tannins warmed me against the chill. Suddenly, a familiar face appeared at the bottom of the hill and seen walking next to Jean was another tall, handsome young man. They obviously delighted at the sight of our frolicking, two pretty girls drinking wine and playing badminton on a sunny Saturday afternoon. And who could blame them? I felt as if I had not a care in the world and if ever there was a time for laughing and dancing to your own song- it was now. They approached wearing appreciative smiles on their dashingly attractive faces- both extraordinarily tall, well-muscled and in possession of a courteous, pleasant demeanor. Jean introduced us to Theo and we exchanged several giggling hellos. Marielle and I couldn’t help our squealing and laughing which heightened to a crescendo in their presence, as we continued to volley the birdie back and forth taking sips of the Shiraz. A priest and some elderly women came out of the cathedral and scowled at our bacchanalian sport. We all had a good laugh and decided to go upstairs to my apartment to carry on and besides, we were out of wine.

Paul Jaboulet’s red Parallel 45◦ une produit de France- unleashed new conversation and gaiety with a complex bouquet and dry vintage. The four of us lounged on my thick soft shag carpet by the windows, sprawled across satin floor cushions. We regarded one another admiringly during conversation, between sips of the cherry colored wine. The late sun streamed in through moss green velvet curtains and cast everyone in a rich, golden light…. entranced by the golden clouds of smoke hanging in the sun filled room as we passed around a joint, I asked myself in that very moment if this was not one of life’s most perfect works of art. For the integration of pleasure’s elements have combined so effortlessly in one afternoon, I took another bold sip, abloom with raspberry and spice, and contemplated.

In a world of change, of choice, unlimited options, possibilities, access to knowledge and resources…. is it not in the simplest of moments that we remember what it is like to just be? All else becomes an accessory- the agendas, the job, the hopes, the hurts and the sorrows. The mind stops racing and in the next breath you find the answers to all your questions have been waiting patiently for discovery. There is no greater wealth that recognizing the moment you are in is all there is. It’s the door that leads to a million roads and the window which sees infinity.

I love how a good wine can stop you in your tracks. Like a living angel from the vineyard from whence it came, wine flies to the four corners of the Earth to grace our palates with her natural beauties, our minds lit with the still awareness of one basic truth. For under her spell, the heart cannot help but to rejoice and the mind knows again- the perfection of the present moment. It is in this way that I unlocked the door to the time machine that stopped the rest of the world from moving as I kissed Jean on the carpet. When the radio stopped, time moved forward again and Marielle and Theo showered us in waves of merciless teasing. A card game began, a new bottle opened, and the afternoon played on.

Wine Vignette 3

I inhale the smoke opening my mouth a little wider, forming an “oh…….” and I am instantly turned on by the memory of your taste in my mouth, my body tingling from your hands… from the way you can’t stop touching me. There’s nothing tonight I couldn’t do. Starving in a cook’s kitchen full of only one kind of herb at the moment yet, I could be in Paris for breakfast with a phone call. But, the truth is I’ve never been happier, even though the rent was raised again yesterday. Its true. My lips go “ohhh……” again in the kitchenthinking of you, wanting you, desiring…. *bam bam bam!! I jump up startled by the loud noise.

Knocking at my door. My thoughts of you cease and back in the present I shake it off while striding across the living room. Who could it be? Lucille who lives down the hall from me would be first guess, except I know she is out. Unlocking the door in…1…2…3…  standing on the other side, were two green eyes staring straight back into mine. They were the eyes of a painter, a photographer, a writer, a model: the eyes of Ethan. I opened my mouth to say hello but nothing comes out. He smiles…. and I stand electrified and immobilized until he holds out a gift. A bottle of wine… and then I invite him in.

“What brings you to this neck of the woods tonight? Its quite awful to be outside traveling with all this snow! Its such a blizzard!”

His long brown hair fell in loose tumbles to his broad shoulders. Dark smudges under his eyes and the five o’clock shadow on his face make it impossible not to notice his full, beautiful lips. To look at him is to look upon the face of Romance itself. He moves like a cavalier, dresses like a wandering minstrel. Tall and well-defined, he layers genteel manners over his confidence and ability do just whatever he pleases, however he wishes. Smoldering, his green eyes penetrate through my polite facade and pleasantry. He looks up at me innocently and begins to speak, “I thought of proposing a toast to the first snow of the year. I could think of no one else I’d rather open that bottle of wine with. Its very special. A rare bottle of 2003 Domaine Pousse d’Or Caillerets Volnay. It is a wine to celebrate firsts. Its described as a first kiss of aromatic purple flowers and purple fruits, a shining example of Volnay purity and I know how much you love Pinot Noir. To a night of exquisite firsts…”

I feel myself melt into a puddle on the floor. This was going to get me into trouble. I took a deep breath and looked out the window as I stood holding the  bottle. The snow fell heavy and fast, blowing in huge tornados outside my window. It looked like Russia. In fact, it was snowing so hard it made me nervous. Instinctively, I felt a primal part of myself worry if I had enough food, heat, or protection to survive the storm. I already knew there wasn’t a scrap of food in my cupboards. And there’s been no shortage of heat around here lately but, protection…..Jean’s strong arms were not here at the moment. In fact, he was more than likely spinning a pretty girl around on a dance floor at his modeling agency’s party while I, all alone on the top floor of my ancient brick apartment building shaking from wind and traffic next to the highway, am in the company of a living incarnation of Don Juan de Marco. It was a blizzard outside. I couldn’t help myself. Searing hot desire began slowly creeping up my legs, circling me like fire snakes, flickering over every sensitive part until awake, simmering hotter and moving higher. Stop. I took a step back, towards the kitchen. I thought of Jean. “Maintain. Deep breath.” I lit a candle and smiled sweetly at Ethan sitting politely at the table.

“Hey, Ethan. I’ll be right back. I’m going to get a corkscrew and some glasses.”

I walked into the kitchen and went to the pantry, pressing myself against the counter and dropped my face into my hands. “Pull it together! God, this is going to be hard.” Did I slap myself? I grabbed the glasses, corkscrew, and wine and walked back into the living room. My heart skipped a beat and I instantly got weak in the knees. Ethan was sprawled across my thick carpet on the satin pillows lying on his back next to the window, looking at me. My mandolin was in his hands and his head was propped up against the boudoir by pillows, the window framing his face with falling snow.

The intricate white snowflakes sometimes would hit against the window, pressed there by the wind, made to watch us in its final moments. I sent my love to the window every time a snowflake met its fate. Thing of irreplaceable beauty, you come to me on arctic winds, press your face to mine. To dissolve in passion’s fire burning from within, know me now…. and know me again as that eternal love which seeks you out, in all your forms. For I love nothing more than to show you my many faces. Come to me, child of light, I have come to wet your face with my kisses on this most winter night. I fell to the carpet in thought, kneeling close to the window and the magnetic presence of my wine-bearing friend. He began to play the obsidian body of the mandolin, holding me with such a look that I hardly dared breathe, such was the unmistakable presence of romance. My heart began to swell and the rest of me shivered deliciously, responsive to the vibration of notes coming from the strings. My ears were pleased, my eyes were pleased, and as he began to sing I opened the wine. Pouring the jewel colored liquid into our glasses I became seduced by the perfume of its bouquet as it filled my sense with visions. Hypnotized by the wine’s presence, I found myself inseparable from its existence. I was twirling in a long silk gown dyed deep purple, in a glass ballroom hung with crystal chandeliers. Dark roses in my hair and violets, too… sparkling at my throat and on my fingers are bright garnets, blood in color. My lips berry red and sweet to taste, spiced with the ginger of my kiss. The perfume I wear enchants and my taste….? My mouth watered as I filled the glasses. The deep burgandy color sparkled with the glitter of colored Christmas lights which lay strung along the floor. Ethan recovered me from my revery with his voice, so deep and golden against the high humming of the mandolin’s strings. I was no longer the wine. Luckily, I was a beautiful girl sitting across from a dangerously charming young man who raised his glass and said,

“Let us toast to love. May we make love beautiful and new as the snowflake that falls, eternal as the Source from whence it came. May our love be as fluid as the Sea, potent as our wine, able to move easily into hidden spaces. For in love, you can withhold nothing. Relishment in relinquishment. Salut.”

We drank. Oh, god the taste…. it was so good…. I knew then I wouldn’t be able to stop with just one sip…. I wanted more. Our eyes locked above our glasses and in the silence, warm cherry ginger purple bouquet kisses in our mouths… I remembered; it was a wine to celebrate firsts. Simultaneously, both our wine glasses were on the floor, the mandolin abandoned face to face on our knees we embraced passionately. His thick arms crushed my delicate frame, enclosing me to him and his hands came to my face tilting it back hungrily. My lips already stained with purple wine, eyelashes fluttering with the tragic romance of samurai snowflakes flung against the glass- he seized my mouth with sex in his kiss, his lips, and tongue… and then nothing could be seen again through window. The outside was forgotten and inside was all of existence. The beginning and the end. The dark and the light. And in our love-making, nothing was withheld.

An Evening with Westin Glass

Posted in Music, seattle indie rock with tags , on August 23, 2008 by lefauconrouge

Westin Glass

The car careened around the corners of the dark city streets and in reply to my question, Mr. Glass merely turned again. Dark curly hair and handsome, the talented singer/song writer of The Reformation, former drummer for both Model Photographer and Say Hi and current beat-masta for The Thermals smiled as he said, “I think we’re almost there.” We parked and then exited the car.

“No, I meant about the magazines. You and the three bands you are in were all written about in a bunch recently, like Rolling Stone, Filter magazine, The New York Times, SPIN. The Stranger did a feature on you as The Reformation last year; I remember thinking…How’s that feel?” We walked through Capitol Hill towards the club. Damp streets and dusky skies, the traffic was just enough to keep you from sleepwalking through the intersection. I looked at him with a gleam in my eye, for we both knew this was my first time ever doing an interview.

With a deep grin he replied as we crossed the street, “Say Hi’s new record, The Wishes And The Glitch, was recently reviewed in Rolling Stone and Spin, among many other publications.  ’Sophisticated psyche-tinged indie rock … an eclectic collection of blissed out, bass and synth-heavy ruminations’ is what Rolling Stone had to say about it. Filter wrote about Model Photographer and mentioned the other two bands I’m in: The Reformation and Say Hi. So yeah, that was pretty cool. That’s the first time I’ve ever been talked about in such a big magazine.” He smiles with sincere and innocent charm.

We find our way to the Capitol Club and climb the stairs to the lounge, laid rich with Indian satin cushions and tiny candles all over the sand colored walls. Delicate tin lanterns threw intricate, beautiful patterns of light into the corners’ shadows. I ordered a glass of wine and began fiddling with my new Polaroid camera. “Be prepared. I am gonna use this, you know.” I looked at him all smiles. “So what’s on the horizon for you? You’re in three bands and they’re all going somewhere. You are obviously the common denominator. That’s a lot of balls up in the air. What if you had to choose?”

There was a pause in his reply. Ordering a Corona with a thoughtful look, he turned and answered with a deep vibrancy in his voice, “Wow. That’s a good question… I just take it one day at a time. Right now, I’ve got Say Hi’s tour which includes a performance at SXSW. We return to Seattle in April for a live performance on KEXP and the Sasquatch Festival. Model Photographer is doing well despite the fact that Alex Rose plays keys in Minus the Bear and I am on tour more and more often with Say Hi. Alex and I first began as “Bum Out Patrol” back in Albuquerque, NM. We would take turns singing and playing different instruments. After moving to Seattle we began playing together again with me on drums and Alex on guitar and vocals. Model Photographer was born. I’m very excited to be putting out a second album as The Reformation, however. Ultimately, expressing my thoughts and ideas through songwriting that I love best.”

We sipped our drinks and gazed around the room, looking out onto the balcony through the high glass windows where the city lights glimmered. The skyline majestic and dressed modern, we strolled outside and took in the cool night air, the starry city sky… I stood holding the Polaroid and said, “Stop. Stay there.”

He turned and looked at me smiling.
*FLASH!

“The first Polaroid. We clinked our glasses in a toast to celebrate the irony of the first picture taken on a newly bought camera that was sentenced to a life of extinction by Kodak less than a month ago. C’est la vie…

Westin looked at me smiling in earnest. “Touring. Let’s start by saying touring with Say Hi is very different than touring with The Reformation. Sometimes you have a few luxuries but yes, it can be very tough. Tough in all kinds of ways, including on romantic relationships…. but in the end, there is nothing I’d rather be doing than playing music. I can’t imagine what I would do with myself if I couldn’t play music all the time. I love it more than anything.”

I remembered suddenly, “Yes, actually one moment especially captures that spirit and dedication for me, which was last summer when you played as Revival Revival. You guys playing in the summer sun last year at the Cascade’s Block Party. Man, that was for real! The crowd was loving it! I was actually interviewed by the Seattle Times about the crime rate and homeless demographic in the neighborhood at one point and you were just having a ball with it all.”

“Yeah, that was great thank-you. What a day! Yeah, that was probably the best show Revival Revival ever gave. We just had so much fun playing the songs of Credence Clearwater Revival, it was purely a labor of love. We just had a great time performing throughout the summer of 2007 and gave our grand finale performance in September at the S.S. Marie Antoinette. It was a fun time.”

We took our second round of drinks and the Polaroid camera downstairs to the empty dining rooms. The exotic Indian décor and seductive lighting made the perfect backdrop for the photos… As the flash went off, we continued to chat between sips of wine and beer.

“Stand by that lantern…”

Find Westin at, www.myspace.com/reformationseattle

Written and photographed by January Fieldz

The New World of New Vintage

Posted in Uncategorized with tags , , , on August 23, 2008 by lefauconrouge

New Vintage

“Hops shortage you say? I had no idea. Really? Tell me more.” Sidetracked near the coat check, I stopped, captured in conversation by this idea. Talk of hops at a wine event? But why not mention her fair cousin, Beer? The young man leaned forward, pushing up his light gold frame glasses and said, “Crop damage actually. It’s hard to get at the moment and local breweries are going under. You can check it out online.” No way… the hop crop got creamed? That can only mean we’ll have to make more wine! Luckily, here we are at the “New Vintage” wine event put on by the Washington State Wine Commission in the very hip W Hotel in downtown Seattle. And by we, I mean Jeff Dorenbush, 22 year old business manager for Mutineer Magazine: easy on the eyes, quick on the trigger. And me? Standing fresh faced and fire-eyed at 6’3 in black patent leather heels, a silky new jet black dress and long black, wavy hair with bangs. Tonight, these hot pink lips are smiling because I, love love love wine…. and therefore find myself eclipsed into a hip, hedonistic wine lovers seventh Heaven. KEXP DJ Derek Mezzone is deejaying in a ballroom where swarms of twenty-thirty somethings dressed for cocktail hour buzz about. Scores of wine reps from Washington’s finest vineyards give samples of wine, walking freely and pouring liberally. Seattle’s best chefs and restaurants represent by passing one elegant appetizer creation of their making- works of art in every way. The wine… it was everywhere and tape recorder in hand, sip after sip after sip, I began to talk with everyone!

“So what do you guys think of the event so far?” I asked two girls, a blonde and brunette who were engaged in animated conversation. They turned to face me in slow motion, deer in headlights, open mouth smiling, wine glasses cocked out, one in each hand. I allayed their surprise by waving my rockin’ press badge. “See? I’m Danielle Gibeson, reporter for Mutineer Magazine. We’re doing a piece on this event. Actually, can we get your picture? With the wine.” The women snap to attention, all smiles. Jeff takes a few pictures which attract the attention of the wine reps. They circle like thirsty vultures and I, catching their eye bear into their souls with a look of such longing, I could have been crossing long miles of desert. Yet, I soon learn a mere eye flutter will fill my glass with wine. “Winthrop, Syrah”. How romantic. Can’t you just see the dusky mountain skyline? “Natural Slice Vineyards. Pinot Grigio.” One sip sends you into a golden summer, running through fields of wheat like a child. “Marysville winery, try the Merlot.” And we all just naturally laughed together, enjoying and talking about our wine. The brunette dressed in all white began to say, “It is really packed though. Last year the venue was better I think. It was bigger. It was at Qwest field last year.”

“Oh, really?” I had no idea what else to say because the idea of a wine event at Qwest field sounds vulgar and horrid to me and because this was my first real wine event of any scale. There must have been about 500 people moving around, drinking wine, dancing, eating out in the main ballroom, or lounging on the gigantic velvet chaises and furniture in a more quiet L-shaped room walled with dark glass which overlooked 4th Avenue.

The blonde chimed in, “Yeah, last year was not this crowded. But, the food is amazing.” On cue a waiter swings by carrying a tray of sashimi scallops covered in a miso vinaigrette, topped with wasabi aioli and presented on a sea shell. Absolutely exquisite!! We all gasp with appreciation and empty our glasses.

“Fantastic! Cheers to empty glasses! Time for more wine!”

Bingo! A tall wine rep in his mid-fifties wearing a dark flowered shirt and khakis appears almost instantaneously. Jeff moves around into position for the next shot and begins to focus on the camera on him. I push out my tape recorder towards his mouth and hit play.

“Tell me about your wine.”

All eyes on the rep, holding out a fanciful Hawaiian style labeled wine bottle. “My name is Phil Kline of Natural Slice Vineyards. I’ve had a 26 acre parcel of land my whole adult life but in 2002 I had a mid-life crisis and instead of buying a Harley, I got into the wine business. I have the highest elevation in Washington, situated in West Yakima. Snow just got off my land only last week. But, I don’t make the wine, I grow the grapes. I let someone who really knows what they’re doing to make the wine. But we make a very nice Riesling and Syrah. This is our Pinot Grigio.” He pours us all a glass. The wine is a sparkling pale gold and is very aromatic. Citrus and pear open with a light floral note. The taste is light and pleasing, subtle and sweet, enlivened with a spirit of good cheer, if not by the very sun itself! Just at that moment a woman with long red hair in a purple cocktail dress strode towards us with a look of intention. She stopped directly in front of Phil, “We heard you have good white wine. Would you come with me to our table over here? We need some good white.”

We all sung the wine’s praises and bid each other adieu with a final toast. I turned to Jeff, “Let’s eat. You have to try this stuff and we can take pictures of the chefs!” People hum around the edge of the room where Seattle’s up and coming chefs stand ready at tables, displaying their bounty. A French chef in a fedora dances around to the loud hip hop. His table is filled with miniature cups of peach mousse covered with a citrus gelee’. The centerpiece is a large ice sculpture of the letter D, also wearing a fedora. He speaks with a thick French accent, dancing from foot to foot as he presents the clear cuplet filled with pale fluffy crème. “Eat this… It is made from organic Washington summer peaches. It tastes like summer in winter. The citrus gelee’ adds an extra touch of summer with a light lemon zest to compliment the peach mousse.” The tiny spoonful nearly brings a tear to my eye. It tastes like innocence itself. Fresh, pure, simple… I was transported back to my childhood farm in Virginia where my grandmother and I had planted peach trees together. Endless baskets of peaches, heavy with sweet hot juice. We ran out of ways to eat them. The chef got a call on his cell and I was struck by how strange it was to see him and his red-lit ice sculpture wearing matching hats, side by side. I motioned for Jeff to get a picture, but the fleet footed Frenchman caught on and made a dash for the hall.

“Jeff, you have to try this. It’s amazing. Give me the camera.” Shaking off the nostalgia, I took the camera and danced in place to M.I.A. as Jeff tried the magical mousse. People were starting to loosen up. The laughter was louder. More single girls were showing up in pairs. The dance floor was a vortex of movement populated with silver pants and strapless dresses.

I detected a lack of wine in my glass. “So what does being a Washington Wine Ambassador actually mean?” Back at the tasting table — empty wine glass in one hand, tape recorder in the other — I held both out across the bar. The communications director for the Washington State Wine Commission was holding a bottle of local Syrah.

“It means you are basically learning and teaching everything you can about wine. You get to go on tours of all the local wineries and get to taste all the different wines. We sponsor and host lots of wine-focused events like this one and Taste of Seattle. Just promoting and enjoying wine culture.” She poured me a glass while I stood there stunned. Was this Heaven? Why have I never seen this world before?

“I want to be a Wine Ambassador! That sounds like fun!” The camera flash went off, mirroring the flashes of awestruck realization in my brain. This was a major discovery. This Washington wine world could be the next utopia. Walks down long rows of sun drenched grape vines on weekends spent touring beautiful countryside. Wine tasting mixed with city parties and elegant events showcasing the best bottles in the state?! I have reached the promise land!! DJ Mezzone was now reverberating the two story glass windows which showcased falling evening rain and high winds. My blood felt hot, happy, and whirling around. I prepared to interview more attendees, and crossing the lounge, I was stopped short for the third time by the same gentleman. He was slightly infatuated and persistent and I felt weird to be complimented so lavishly on the job and in front of Jeff. The conversation rounded the corner after I lied and said I had a boyfriend. That brought us to the topic of organic raspberries. Namely, he is a grower and gifted me a glass of his organic raspberry wine which was pure, sweet, and sunlit with Elysian Fields of organic raspberries…

Utopian, indeed.

-January Fieldz

http://www.mutineermagazine.com/blog/2008/03/the-new-world-of-the-new-vintage/

The Black Angels

Posted in Austin, TX with tags , , , , , on August 23, 2008 by lefauconrouge

Dearly Beloved we are gathered here today….

Black Angels

The Black Angels and The Warlocks graced Seattle with two sold out shows, back to back, Wednesday night at Neumo’s for the benefit of Noise for the Needy. There was some serious love in the room for these two bands- for good reason. Directions To See a Ghost is the second album The Black Angels have released through local indie label Light in The Attic Records and their haunting lyrics and psychedelic drone really play to the times. This is no jam band, folks. The music is meant to infiltrate your mind and stir you up inside with lyrics of war, self-obsession, death, corruption, and more war. Not exactly dinner party music but when you combine a full house of savvy music lovers, a stage full of sexy Austin musicians, a projectionist and live freestyle artist, and “Native American drone roll” coming out of 8 ft speakers…. you not only have a concert; you have a transformative portal of thought-sound. Listening becomes an experience of being swept out to sea by a big, dark storm that forces you into a re-evaluation. Your daily existence stands trial and in the tidal wave of their sound, you are torn apart but left feeling re-focused.

Singer Alex Maas has an undeniably potent stage presence without a trace of the cold pretension that so often alienates a crowd from a popular band. Perhaps that is why The Black Angels are not merely popular, but well-loved. He moves from full bodied singing to playing guitar to hitting the keys to peddle pressing with a certain kind of energy that makes you think of Jim Morrison meets Sitting Bull, pure intent meets poetry. Or maybe it is guitarist Christian Bland’s transcendental string fingering against Adam Demetri’s 16foot 16mm film projections and psychedelic oils. One lady less this year, Christian takes over the drone machine for former member Jennifer Raines. Meanwhile, blonde rebel beauty Stephanie Bailey keeps the beat and holds down the drums like a warrior while Kyle Hunt switches it up with percussion, bass, and guitar. Nate Ryan is not to be ignored on bass.

There was a deeper resonance that emerged from the set that somehow spoke to their growth as band. After their recent European tour and now on yet another mammoth North American tour, it goes without saying that they’ve earned a few belt notches in the experience department. That being said- the synergy between them as they often switched up instruments, taking turns with the drums or backup vocals, lent a kind of new light to their stage presence. By the end of their encore, it was without question that The Black Angels are beloved of Seattle. And I would like to thank them and all the bands that played for Noise for the Needy concerts.

From Seattle, with love.

Full Stage Black Angels
Full Stage Black Angels
Alex Maas of Black Angels
Alex Maas of The Black Angels
Black Angels
written by January Fieldz
Photography by Blush Photo