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The
museum was hard to miss in the town. It worked itself into the
riverside shining silver in the sun against the burnt brown
of the city. If it were so hard to miss, how could she be late
and not find it? He raised his hand up to his eyes against the
sun and searched the area. She was late--she ways always late.
At first he found her lack of time so charming and naive, but
lately it had become a burden. The flight to Bilbao had nearly
been missed due to her wandering off somewhere. She was the
fan of Frank Gehry's architecture in the first place; he had
wanted to visit the Prado in Madrid. He avoided arguments by
agreeing with her; besides, he could always occupy himself wherever
he visited for holiday. Niklaus decided to make use of his time
waiting for Nadya and watched the pretty young things strolling
in the area. He was always thinking about Nadya, if he were
not thinking of someone else.
The two singles preceding Le Mans' final album began to spell
the end of the band, with an F on the cover of Mi Novela
Autobiografica and an I on the cover of Yin Yang.
The N of this FIN is the album Aqui Vivia Yo, or Here
Is Where I Used to Live. The preceding album, Saudade,
kept the songs to a gentle core. The songs on Aqui Vivia
Yo expand with more instruments without singer Jone Gabarain
losing the delicacy of noticing the often ignored subtleties
of life. Le Mans disbanded after this album, knowing when something
had reached the end of its natural lifetime without being forced.
Nadya strolled through the Tuileries. She rode the ferris wheel
to the top; the cart shook and threatened to tip her out as
she stood to catch a view of the river. Her life was resting
on her own balance; a shift to the left or right could end it
all. It felt a little exciting, and dangerous. On an amusement
ride of all things, she thought. Nadya considered her options
at that point in time, as she sat above the rooftops and trees
of Paris and below the cathedral towers and flightpaths of the
birds. Before anything could be decided, the ferris wheel rolled
Nadya back to the ground. She asked the time--she had meant
to meet Niklaus at the Musee Rodin an hour ago. She rushed up
to the Rue de Rivoli for a taxi cab. She rolled down the taxi
window while crossing on the bridge to watch the river. The
Seine took little jumps and leaps against the bridgework; the
swells collapsed back into the river and continued their course.
Through the iron fence to the museum grounds Nadya spotted Niklaus
kissing a someone else. He was in front of the Gates of Hell.
Fittingly enough, Nadya sniffed. A man strolled by on the pavement;
Nadya walked up to pace with him. She talked quickly and took
his arm. The man just smiled at his good luck.
A Kiss In The Funhouse is the first release by Louis Philippe
in the United States. As a French man about London town, and
a general man about the world, Louis Philippe has had releases
on such labels emphasizing the joys of living and good design
as England's El and Cherry Red, Japan's Trattoria, Spain's Siesta,
and, now, Le Grand Magistery in America. The songs are written
and crafted in a manner to suggest that there is a constant
beauty in the day, or at least there must be a beauty sitting
by a window somewhere. Louis Philippe knows never to underestimate
the importance of a string swell in a song.
The Eurostar rolled through south London to Waterloo Station.
The tracks cut over and under paved roads and slid between buildings
while slinking to its terminus in the train shed.
"So this is London, Nadya. Would you like to go straight
to the hotel, or leave our luggage and find a museum before
it closes?"
"Neither, particularly."
"Nadya, one or the other. You at least have to exit off
the train. You have been sulking since Paris." Niklaus
touched her arm.
She kept her eyes away from his and stared out the window. "Please
do not touch me. I want to go away by myself. I've had enough
of you. I have seen what you do behind my back."
Niklaus withdrew his hand. "But it was just that one, I
swear. I have tried to fulfill every whim of yours, and is this
then one too? Is this an end? I never thought a romance would
just end so simply. Shouldn't one of us die violently romantically?
This all seems so civilized. You could cry at least."
"So could you. The end of your other affairs have never
seemed to kill you."
"There will be some tears before this is over."
Niklaus loaded Nadya and her bags into a taxi cab. He had to
find himself his own hotel room now, but first he thought to
have a wander to clear his head. The sun had set and left the
streets black. He walked out from the station and guessed his
course to the Thames. With each step his feet and legs felt
heavier and weighted to the pavement. He felt that if he stopped
moving completely, he might never summon the strength to move
again. Niklaus trudged on and put all his effort to lifting
his feet and side-stepping any thoughts of his past half-hour.
He turned a few corners and disappeared into the dark.
Some Dusty is the debut album of Birdie; singer Debsey
Wykes was formerly of Dolly Mixture and guitarist Paul Kelly
formerly of East Village. The songs may lean towards a gentle
melancholia, but there has never been anything wrong with that--as
long as any overhead black clouds can be forgotten about for
a smile and laugh every now and then. 'I can feel you rushing
into my day, taking me to the morning'.
The cab was pulling away from the station; Nadya turned and
watched Niklaus from the backwindow. His face transformed into
a grotesque from the shadows thrown upon him by the station
lights. She thought to herself, London is so huge that I will
not have to see him, but the world is so small I'll see him
somewhere else certainly. I'll visit a museum in the morning,
wander in the tourist crowds. I'll lose it, and no one will
bother to notice. Everyone will be staring at the walls, not
the faces of those next to them.
| Matthew
Patrick, Decemer 1999 |
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