Written Contusions

The Queen of Angst is back with another heart-wrenching album called Flavors of Entanglement. Alanis Morissette has successfully made an album that reflects all her different flavors. Flavors of Entanglement definitely gives fans and plain old listeners a surprise with its bold, eclectic and haunting songs.


Richard's picks for this album include Citizen of the Planet, which defines the bold flavor of this album. As the first track, this song definitely packs a wallop of musical intensity. This song is her way of saying that she is back and she is back to proclaim that she is a citizen of the planet. With this song, look out for the line that says "I fly back with my nuclear." For some odd reason, the daring mix of words, coupled with the scalding connotations of nuclear hit a heart-string of mine and it is now etched in my memory.

Aside from the boldness, you'll also hear the same kind of Alanis beats minus the electric guitar. The eclectic mix of sound in her songs now include a sitar and some Indian inspired musical instruments, or so I think. The song writing also offers a vast array of emotions within this album. The first song is triumphant in saying that she is back. Not as We has the introspective flavor that That I Would be Good had. I think that she has already grown up and bloomed into a full woman because she also mixed love in a not-so-gruesome way with In Praise of the Vulnerable Man.

Furthermore, it makes my hair stand on edge because some of the songs are haunting. Who would want to declare a moratorium on their love life? Make sure that you listen to that. Torch and Giggling Again for No Reason also made me feel flashbacks - old emotional time bombs in my heart came back to bite me.

I can't help myself! Call me brash and bold but I would dare and say that this album is the reinvention of Alanis. For me, who goes for everything, this album is a menagerie of eclectic and eccentrically flavored songs that will found ways into my hall of fame. For those who are picky, I am sure that some song in this CD will still give the resistant listener with an LSS or two.

Still can't get enough of Alanis? Check out her website at Alanis.com.

Tracks
Citizen of the Planet
Underneath
Straitjacket
Versions of Violence
Not as We
In Praise of the Vulnerable Man
Moratorium
Torch
Giggling Again for No Reason
Tapes
Incomplete

It was a cold November afternoon. He went out to smoke a cigarette atop a boulder just outside the house.

The sky was still gray; it had just drizzled.

He took out his cigarette, put the butt between his lips and flicked on his lighter. The ember was as red as the sunset.

He slowly took a drag at the cigarette and he followed the wisp of smoke drift into the disappearing greyness of the sky.

Birds and bats were flying together. He could tell because of the way bats flapped their wings; the down strokes were desperately seeking altitude. Birds were darting gracefully like the side stream smoke. One dived straight which brought his gaze back to earth.

That was when he saw it right beside him. It had fur, matted and lutinized. The snout blew out steam like his half-consumed cigarette. The red of the sunset felt ashamed because it was not as read as the creature's eyes so it retreated into the night. The fangs and claws of the creature only differed in color; both were as sharp as the fear that gripped him.

After 10 years of lookong for it, he didn't expect that he would be gripped by a lacerating fear at this meeting. He expected that he will be overjoyed and excited. He was genuinely petrified but there it was. It was as real as the unlikely mix of birds and bats in the sky.

He didn't know who was crazier: he who looked for immortal creatures to talk to or his detractors who said that there were no such thing?

He felt a searing pain in the realization that he was afraid of saying something stupid at this moment - this moment that he waited for all his life. The fear was intensifying as he strugled in his mind to find the right words to greet the long-sought creature. What will he say to it? What can he say that will define the outcome of this meeting?

Then, it bit him; the answer to his questions bled in his mind. He knew what he was going to say to it.

As he was opening his lips to speak, the wendigo said, as if it was able to read his mind, "Do not bother. It does not matter."

John, while talking to you, I said, "Bats and birds flying together. What a nice line," which gave birth to this meeting. November 20^th, 2008.

Published June 21st, 2006.

Give It All Away by Ben Jelen is my album of the moment.

According to my research, he writes his own music and lyrics. The album itself seems to be hung up on a girl but the melodies are good to listen to. Of course, my favorite song is the first song he released, "Come On," which came out with a very weird video where he was playing the piano and people were coming out of it. Other choice tracks include Rocks. I like it because it talks of things that crazy people do when they're in love - or is it the other way around? If you are getting a copy because I endorsed his album, don't forget to check the title track as well, Give It All Away.

Can't get enough of Ben Jelen?

Check his website out at BenJelen.com. This guy is so awesome; he also has a website for his foundation which promotes environmentalism at The Ben Jelen Foundation.

Track List:
Come On
Rocks
She'll Hear You
Give It All Away
Every Step
Christine
Wicked Little Town
Falling Down
Stay
Criminal
Slow Down
Setting Of The Sun

yellow and green feathers
out-stretched wings grasping
air bridging clouds together
fanning away dust, vapor, smoke & mist
with the distraction of flight.

why do you droop like so?
you were spared from worms, earth & decay
be grateful you were plucked from mortality
and is now mounted on permanence.

This is another old poem written by Richard. It was written published in his older blog on June 11th, 2005. For him, this is a glimpse into the mind of a deranged and obsessed person who destroys the object of his love. What does this mean to you? He'd appreciate if you put your own interpretation in.