As always in Shakespeare, there are a lot of well-drawn characters to feast upon in this portion of his tetralogy. While our history does not consistently map out these adventures as much as those classes in British schools, the Bard's staying power has long depended on getting the story across more than the true facts and order.
Lives in disorder are common subjects for plays. They are easy to draw parallels from (Hotspur's wife, Lady Percy, tries to make the hot-headed warrior ease off his defenses with a weapon-laden plea, threat to break his little finger, and husband-wife contract summation straight out of "Julius Caesar") and chart growth and commonality.
In the opening, King Henry IV muses about his son Hal being switched with the valiant Hotspur at birth. While the shame of Hal swarming the wine bars of Eastcheap hangs over the play as an implication of childish behavior, Hal's actual behavior is quite engaging. From our standpoint, Hotspur is extremely devoted to the cause of rebellion. Perhaps too devoted. As he parses a letter from a possible co-conspirator, we see him lost in the phraseology ("he loves his barn better than he loves this house"). In fact, Hotspur nearly misses in his admiration of the plot that this party's refusal to join could lead him to immediately report it as a treasonous act to the King.
Hal's mistakes tend to be mere judgment calls. If one were to examine this quandary from its outermost orbit of abstraction, Hal's worst decision is running the roads with this motley crew despite being an heir to the throne. However, Hal's reasoning is not burdened by protecting his reputation (to their credit, the rapscallions around him sometimes do it for him); it is his need to engage. Hal's castle life and that spent in exile are missing his "social growth." So, he earns that ring around the tree by running with the Dionysian man/child Falstaff. All of this leads back to the King's wish to have another as his son, all while his grip on the throne is tenuous at best.
Hotspur, emotional and unwavering, sees that he must sacrifice all for the planned rebellion to be set into motion and work. Like all young masterminds, Hotspur is consumed with this belief, and it is made clear that his self-installed zeal makes him a fierce warrior on the field (weirdly, even when Hal mocks him). However, as a future "politician," he is reactive on one hand and then easily swayed upon return after his emotional blast. Family members are heavily trusted; those outside are immediately judged. When he travels to finally meet the villainous Glendower, Hotspur is not taken by his mystical ramblings.
GLENDOWER: I can call spirits from the vasty deep.
HOTSPUR: Why, so can I, or so can any man;
But will they come when you do call for them?
Hotspur is meeting with what could be a chief ally — and one who is well-connected. However, his immediate reaction is to shame him. Going further, they debate (of course) over the map of which faction will control the land. Hotspur, with a little more restraint, debates over the portion sizes (even concluding with the line "To rob me of so rich a bottom (valley) here.") At this point, his curious word use could be cloaking his brewing anger or a slight jest to keep his new compatriots on their toes. Then, just moments later, after further evaluation of the map, Hotspur is resigned to announce:
HOTSPUR: I do not care. I'll give thrice so much land
To any well-deserving friend.
In the course of a single conversation with Glendower (mainly), we have moved from talk of "summoning the Devil" to not just "friend" but a "well-deserving" one.
Holed up in Eastcheap amid sacks of wine and "jumping houses" making ribald fun readily available, Prince Hal is in pursuance of a different manner of respect and challenge. Among the true salt-of-the-earth English (who he could be governing in the future), Hal presents himself as both a willing participant and an empathetic listener. Granted he has to do a LOT of listening because Falstaff is a boisterous, dominant social force of nature.
Hal is the one facet missing from Falstaff's gang of rogues — a voice of opposition. Hal and Falstaff's jibing is often quite playful and maddening to Falstaff. However, the old jocular beast is almost as quick to forgive as to call for more wine. So when Hal and Poins foil Falstaff's high road robbery without him knowing it was them, we are treated to a rapidly expanding tale of Falstaff's swashbuckling and defensive slaying of the bandits who overtook them and escaped with the purse. Hal, playfully at first, jabs holes in Falstaff's story at such a rate that his numbers of scofflaws keep changing. Finally, Hal must admit that he knows the truth. While he has a field day with the pack of lies Falstaff told (and the method of purporting this tall tale), Hal is sympathetic to Falstaff's need to prove himself.
A few moments later, a knock on the door, and Hal finds that he has been summoned to the castle by his father. As much as he feigns indifference, Falstaff can tell that it could knock the young prince back. So, in a very Shakespearian construct ("the play within a play"), we are treated to Falstaff acting as King so that Hal comes to develop his argument for their tense meeting. While Falstaff may have previously regaled in talking about himself, he pitches himself to the Prince as a form of protection on this occasion. Hal, not satisfied with this iteration, takes the King's role where he roasts Falstaff (yet again) until Falstaff sincerely "sells" himself to the King.
HOSTESS: The sheriff and all the watch are at the door. They are come to
search the house. Shall I let them in?
FALSTAFF: Dost thou hear, Hal? Never call a true piece of gold a counterfeit.
—
Mik Davis is the record store manager at T-Bones Records & Cafe in Hattiesburg.
New music this week by Mik Davis at T-Bones Records
KIM DEAL - Nobody Loves You More [ORANGE LP/CD] (4AD/Redeye) • Kim Deal shows all the range she was hiding under those other monikers on her first true solo album after being a Breeders, one of The Amps, and twice a Pixie. On this pivoting pop record, Deal rolls through a sweet Blondie-flavored mid-tempo ballad ("Coast") then switches gears to the terse '90s-style, tough near danceable "Crystal Breath." Deal cranks up synths, turns on doo-wop harmonies and even gets in a blast of herky-jerky post-punk. Aided by members of Teenage Fanclub, Slint, The Breeders (of course) and twin sister Kelley, "Nobody Loves You More" is less about Deal's longtime contributions to music and more in line with giving us what we were missing all along.
LINKIN PARK - From Zero [SEA BLUE LP/CD/CS] (Warner) • On the first official album since 2017, Linkin Park welcomes Emily Armstrong (Dead Sara) and drummer Colin Brittain into the fold. Producer/leader Mike Shinoda takes the band back to the "Hybrid Theory"/"Meteora" style of hard-hitting rap/rock. The goal (so far) thanks to cuts like "The Emptiness Machine" and "Heavy Is The Crown" is to make fans and new listeners forget about the long hiatus and as always remember the late Chester Bennington.
GWEN STEFANI - Bouquet [CHAMPAGNE LP/CD] (Interscope) • Starting in February 2020, Gwen Stefani knew that she wanted her next solo album to be less of a project or departure and far more personal. We know what happened next. Still, over that "lights out" period, Stefani tested the waters with a few singles. However, healing is a process that takes time — so she took her time and reveled in her love of '70s glittering pop. "Bouquet" (despite her donning the stetson for the cover) is not a country record. While Nashville does influence the sound (and she collaborates with her new husband Blake Shelton), Stefani is examining her past life and how the decisions set her on a path. With a lot of songs inspired by flowers, "Bouquet" catches Stefani ready to bloom again.
MICHAEL KIWANUKA - Small Changes [GREEN LP/CD] (Republic) • Once dubbed "The Sound of 2012" by the BBC, singer/songwriter Michael Kiwanuka has created a singer/songwriter record that tries hard not to sound like yet another one. The London-born child of Ugandan refugees has spent a lot of time and energy writing about how alien he feels ("Black Man In A White World"). "Small Changes" marks the first time that Kiwanuka has musically summoned the feeling of being in another atmosphere. On two of the year's best singles, "Floating Parade" and "Lowdown (Parts 1 and 2)," Kiwanuka finds new depths of deep funk while even conjuring a little classic '70s Pink Floyd. Thanks to longtime producers InFlo and Danger Mouse, "Small Changes" is less about being a soul record and more about reminding us that soul is everywhere.
GILLIAN WELCH & DAVID RAWLINGS - Woodland [LP/CD] (Acony/The Orchard) • Surviving tornadoes and a long interregnum where they could not tour, Gill and Dave finely tune their old-time country sound-meets-surgically assembled terse Dylanesque writing to meet a whole new set of standards. Like "Yearlings" or their classic "Time The Revelator," the familiarity of their subject matter ("Empty Trainload of Sky") draws you in and forces you to analyze it for parallels in your own life. With the band, without the band, "Woodland" is ten songs that bottle their emotions for you to uncork whenever you like.
DWIGHT YOAKAM - Brighter Days [YELLOW LP/CD] (VIA Ent/Thirty Tigers/The Orchard) • Back after nine years, self-produced (and mixed by longtime collaborator Chris Lord-Alge), Dwight Yoakam returns to country that — well — rocks. "Wide Open Heart" mixes Beatlesque changes and Beach Boys harmonies with a sweeping pedal-to-the-metal chug that would be more common to '70s rock. Elsewhere, Yoakam draws inspiration from covering both The Carter Family and Cake before inviting new country star Post Malone for a Texas swing-tinged duet on "I Don't Know How To Say Goodbye (Bang Bang Boom Boom)."
REISSUES OF THE WEEK
MAGAZINE - Real Life/Secondhand Daylight [RED/GREEN LP] (Integral/AMPED) • After singing for the first incarnation of the legendary punk band Buzzcocks, Howard Devoto wanted to make music that was more "progressive" than punk. Needing to match the moods of his various lyrics and song ideas, Devoto recruited a set of excellent musicians who could filter his best ideas into various shades of rock. Guitarist John McGeoch (future Siouxsie and the Banshees and Public Image, Ltd.) and bassist Barry Adamson shaped the sound of these two records, along with keyboardist Dave Formula. 1978's "Real Life" heralded the arrival of post-punk with the nervy classic "Shot By Both Sides" as well as "The Light Pours Out of Me." While both the hits were helped by an assist from Buzzcocks' Pete Shelley, "Definitive Gaze" presses Magazine toward their bleak and brooding second album. As the group began to collaborate, "Secondhand Daylight" is the first Magazine record where Devoto's poetic lyrics meet backgrounds that are chilling (the harrowing pre-goth "Permafrost") and menacing ("Rhythm of Cruelty"). Reality hits hard on "Secondhand"; Magazine pulls no punches with no dance breaks and dense instrumentation recorded to sound as if it were on the edge of breaking. When it was not a hit, Magazine reverted to a more commercial thrust in the '80s. However, "Secondhand" would go on to be a major influence on Pulp, The Smiths, and Radiohead.
TV ON THE RADIO - Desperate Youth, Blood Thirsty Babes [2LP/CD] (Touch and Go) • TV On The Radio is the point where '90s New York City became the mecca in the early 2000s. Sequestered out in the barren recesses of Greenpoint, Brooklyn, TV On The Radio literally had to climb through windows and step over broken glass and sleeping junkies to find a place to make music. When they finally did, it was a colorful burst of foreign sounds and emotional release. By 2004, TVOTR had established itself in the Indie circles in the US, Europe and the UK thanks to the doo-wop vocals-meets-fried electronics of "Young Liars." David Andrew Sitek's dense production, wrapped around Tunde Adebimpe's weathered-but-sweet growl, makes songs like "The Wrong Way" and "Ambulance" some of Indie Rock's first exploration of African-American issues. Aided by multi-instrumentalist Kyp Malone, even their previous single (the classic pulsating "Staring At The Sun") saw re-release on their debut. This was not hip-hop, but you can still hear its influence. TVOTR rode this wave of bleak tracks with hidden uplift to chart success (selling 116,000 units originally). Twenty years later, with added cuts, "Desperate Youth" still sounds like a beautifully unearthed alien transmission.
JOHN CALE - Paris 1919 DLX [2LP] (Domino/Redeye) • The Welsh musician John Cale has carved out an amazing career from being a charter member of The Velvet Underground (and longtime collaborator with Lou Reed) to a groundbreaking producer (The Stooges' debut and Patti Smith's "Horses.") Cale was a classically-trained musician who found his way into being a singer/songwriter. Among the first to swing violently between avant-garde ("Church of Anthrax" with Terry Riley) and pop, Cale rarely wanted to hide his influences. In 1973, Cale thought it would be most ambitious to take his most commercial set of songs and record them with a stellar band. Cale and producer Chris Thomas (Roxy Music) assembled members of Little Feat and legendary bassist/saxophonist Wilton Felder (soon to be a Crusader). Accessing a wealth of his memories as well as childhood books ("A Child's Christmas in Wales" takes its name from Dylan Thomas) and films, "Paris 1919" trots out songs that live on like short stories, many neatly framed in string arrangements from the UCLA Symphony Orchestra. As prog-rock was reaching into thrilling Yes-like textures, "Paris 1919" came along to remind everyone that classical music existed in miniature before being drawn to fill the entire two sides of an album with your composition.
