MONTARO CAINE
Sidney Poitier
Oscar-winning actor Sidney Poitier’s first novel, Montaro Caine, is a corporate thriller that veers into science fiction as it follows a beleaguered New York CEO on an unexpected quest to secure two mysterious coins that may hold significant scientific and commercial value.
The coins first appear in the hands of two newborn babies who eventually grow up to marry each other. The impending birth of their first child, and its potentially cosmic importance, spurs corporate greed and brings together collectors, scientists, physicians and lawyers.
The story jets from New York City to Europe and to Poitier’s native Bahamas. Read in the context of emerging Caribbean science fiction writers such as Karen Lord who explore the region’s complicated history of migration through alien civilizations, Poitier’s narrative hinging on a Bahamian medicine man who sees the big picture in the supernatural events affecting CEO Montaro Caine is interesting.
Otherwise, Montaro Caine is a jumble of subplots, adverbs and twists that resolve in a “pay-it-forward” morality. There’s a formality to Poitier’s writing that perhaps is expected of an actor with such a prestigious filmography (Lilies of the Field, In the Heat of the Night). The novel reads like the screenplay of a cable movie about a CEO who learns to appreciate daily life thanks to the wisdom of an island man lacking his education or achievements.
Poitier’s novel may carry a heartfelt message about the potential for good within each one of us, but Montaro Caine doesn’t live up to its potential.
— Jennifer Kay
Associated Press
MODERN VAMPIRES OF THE CITY
Vampire Weekend
Good songs win out in the end, and Vampire Weekend has plenty of those. The New York foursome fronted by Ezra Koenig has been simultaneously celebrated and denigrated since even before the release of their self-titled debut album, which generated loads of blog buzz — and just about as much backlash — in 2008. Sure, these guys had lots of catchy tunes that cleverly used Graceland-era Paul Simon as a point of departure, but weren’t they just a bunch of spoiled Upper West Side kids?
The band’s second album, Contra, was perfectly solid as well. But on Modern Vampires of the City, Vampire Weekend really distinguishes itself with sharp, smart, grown-up, terrifically energetic tunes that are still clever, but never merely so.
The first tip-off is the single Diane Young, whose punning title hints at the intimations of mortality that apparently haunt the boys in the band as they get ready to turn 30. “Wisdom’s a gift, but you trade it for youth,” Koenig sings in Step, one of many songs that stand out, thanks in no small part to crafty arrangements that showcase keyboard player Rostam Batmanglij. “Age is an honor, but it’s still not the truth.”
You could go on nitpicking the band and resenting their privileged beginnings, but you’d only be cheating yourself.
— Dan DeLuca
Philadelphia Inquirer
GOLDEN
Lady Antebellum
After pulling out the stops with the heavily orchestrated grandeur of 2011’s platinum-selling album Own the Night, Lady Antebellum heads in the opposite direction with the stripped-down sound of Golden.
The country vocal trio hinted at its new direction with the sparse, soul-strutting groove of Downtown, one of the spring’s most engaging country hits. As usual, Hillary Scott, Charles Kelley and Dave Haywood deal with the complexities of modern relationships — in this case, a woman asking why her man doesn’t take her out for a fun night on the town, like he once did.
The bare-bones arrangements also work well on the emotionally moving It Ain’t Pretty, about a woman living out her heartbreak in public, and on the roots-rocking Better Off Now (That You’re Gone), which is reminiscent of classic Tom Petty.
The album occasionally recalls past successes: Long Teenage Goodbye has the sunny innocence of the 2010 hit American Honey, once again showing off Scott’s shimmering alto. The dramatic crescendos of All For Love prove that a big, grand sound, deployed at the right time, fits the group’s dynamic duets.
A couple of weak songs dampen the overall impact, but Lady A continues to experiment and grow while sounding like no one else in contemporary country music.
— Michael McCall
Associated Press