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{"id":88561,"date":"2021-03-03T13:40:29","date_gmt":"2021-03-03T18:40:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sybariticsinger.com\/?p=88561"},"modified":"2021-03-03T16:24:41","modified_gmt":"2021-03-03T21:24:41","slug":"in-review-meaghan-burkes-a-few-concerns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/sybariticsinger.com\/2021\/03\/03\/in-review-meaghan-burkes-a-few-concerns\/","title":{"rendered":"In Review: Meaghan Burke’s “A Few Concerns”"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Sam Crawford, special to the Sybaritic Singer<\/em><\/p>\n

Try Googling \u201cgrunge-cabaret songs\u201d (yes, put it in quotes) and you\u2019ll likely retrieve only a handful of results, but they\u2019ll probably all refer to Meaghan Burke<\/strong>.\u00a0 An impressively polystylistic cellist, vocalist, and composer, Burke, and the contemporary, feminist string quartet of which she is a founding member, The Rhythm Method<\/strong>, recently released a new album on the Gold Bolus Recordings label titled A Few Concerns<\/em> (GBR052).\u00a0 Raw, experimental, and both culturally and politically aware, A Few Concerns<\/em> unapologetically addresses \u201ca few concerns\u201d that Burke and her string-playing sisters share about human civilization, the current state of the world, and modern American life.<\/p>\n

<a href=\"https:\/\/meaghanburke.bandcamp.com\/album\/a-few-concerns\">A Few Concerns by Meaghan Burke and The Rhythm Method<\/a><\/iframe><\/p>\nThe first lyrics of the opening track, Hysteria<\/em>, revealingly hint at deeper, historically entrenched subject matter: \u201cOh wandering womb, where do you go?…\u201d\u00a0 Here, Burke lullingly alludes to man\u2019s primitive idea of the \u201cwandering womb,\u201d the ancient Greeks\u2019 medical answer to a wide range of female ailments and emotions, pathologically attributed to a discontented and displaced uterus.\u00a0 In her <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/future\/article\/20180531-how-womens-body-parts-have-been-named-after-men\">2018 opinion piece for BBC Future<\/a>, Leah Kaminsky sums up this problematic history:<\/p>\n\u201c\u2026We are all familiar with the term \u2018hysteria\u2019 \u2013 derived from the Greek word for uterus, \u2018hysterika\u2019\u2026<a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pmc\/articles\/PMC3480686\/\">The first mental disorder attributed to women<\/a>, the idea of hysteria can actually be traced all the way back to the ancient Egyptians\u2026But it was the Greeks who argued that the uterus was particularly prone to \u2018wandering\u2019\u2026<a href=\"https:\/\/archive.nytimes.com\/www.nytimes.com\/books\/first\/m\/maines-technology.html?utm_campaign=Buffer&utm_content=buffer42897&utm_medium=twitter&utm_source=buffer\">The idea persisted through the centuries<\/a>: in the 19th Century it became a go-to diagnosis amongst a male-driven medical profession. \u2018Hysterical ladies\u2019 began filling doctors\u2019 waiting rooms\u2026But hysteria \u2013 which was finally removed from the American Psychiatric Association\u2019s list of modern diseases in 1952 \u2013 seems relatively archaic today.\u00a0 Less discussed is how much of the rest of the language of medicine remains draped with patriarchal terms\u2026\u201d<\/p>\nAnd there it is: the first among Burke\u2019s concerns (in order of track listing, if not necessarily priority), the patriarchy.\u00a0 Lyrical phrases like \u201c\u2026Doctor\u2019s orders\u2026,\u201d \u201c\u2026It\u2019ll go away any day\u2026,\u201d and \u201cDon\u2019t get upset \/ It\u2019s just a little case of hysteria\u2026,\u201d evoke the image of women being patronized (or worse, gaslighted), and having their concerns minimized.\u00a0 These lines, and others in Hysteria<\/em>, also remind us of an unjust reality in which women must advocate more frequently and fervently for their own health and for their own rights within a male-dominated society.<\/p>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: justify;\">Ghostly drones depict aural impressions of misty fields, cloud-strewn skies, and empty front porches<\/h3>\nThe rest of the album is equally hard-hitting.\u00a0 Little Disaster<\/em>\u00a0captures the confusing blend of joy and sorrow within a complicated relationship, raising questions about individual identities and power dynamics.\u00a0 When Burke lovingly sings \u201c\u2026Shacked up in our hiding place \/ ‘Til I don\u2019t know whose things are yours \/ And I don\u2019t know whose limbs are yours\u2026,\u201d the scenario she describes feels all too real in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.\u00a0 It\u2019s a familiar visual for those of us who are currently quarantined with a partner, and a potentially painful reminder for those of us who aren\u2019t.<\/p>\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-88566\" src=\"http:\/\/sybariticsinger.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/CONCERNS_front-cover-300x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"364\" height=\"364\" srcset=\"http:\/\/sybariticsinger.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/CONCERNS_front-cover-300x300.jpg 300w, http:\/\/sybariticsinger.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/CONCERNS_front-cover-1024x1024.jpg 1024w, http:\/\/sybariticsinger.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/CONCERNS_front-cover-150x150.jpg 150w, http:\/\/sybariticsinger.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/CONCERNS_front-cover-768x768.jpg 768w, http:\/\/sybariticsinger.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/CONCERNS_front-cover-1536x1536.jpg 1536w, http:\/\/sybariticsinger.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/CONCERNS_front-cover.jpg 1660w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 364px) 100vw, 364px\" \/><\/p>\nCommenting on the futility of war and the illusion of national security, Coda<\/em> has a certain Southern Gothic sensibility and sounds like a tone poem in miniature, albeit with vocals.\u00a0 Through it all, the sonic imagery is masterful.\u00a0 The song\u2019s longer-than-expected introduction, with ghostly drones and gossamer-thin threads of streaming sound, depicts aural impressions of misty fields, cloud-strewn skies, and empty front porches.<\/p>\nLike Hysteria<\/em>, certain songs from A Few Concerns<\/em> magnify more of the age-old challenges particularly faced by women.\u00a0 In \u201cSmile,\u201d the theme is harassment; the quartet personifies the \u201ceverycreep\u201d guilty of telling females how to walk, look, and feel, and Burke effectively uses both the lower (deep) and higher (airy) registers of her voice to convey the unsavory \u201coiliness\u201d of unwanted comments like \u201c\u2026Why don\u2019t you smile, girl?…\u201d\u00a0 In Eggshells<\/em>, Burke focuses on societal pressures and double standards.\u00a0 The song is a brooding reflection on the exasperating demands and expectations placed on women in terms of emotional behavior, beauty standards, and competition (\u201c\u2026Nobody told you that the decks were stacked against you \/ Nobody told you that it\u2019s not enough to be just as good\u201d).<\/p>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: justify;\">Cry<\/em> is so immediately accessible in its striking simplicity and relatability<\/h3>\nOther songs feel more distinctly American. Cry<\/em> is so immediately accessible in its striking simplicity and relatability, you can easily imagine hearing it in a scene or soundtrack from a television show or an indie film.\u00a0 \u201cSometimes a girl needs to cry on the subway\u2026,\u201d Burke emphasizes, matter-of-factly.\u00a0 She then comments on the emotional needs and vulnerability of men (\u201c\u2026Sometimes a boy needs to cry in a stairwell\u2026,\u201d \u201c\u2026Sometimes a man needs to cry on the sidewalk\u2026\u201d) before acknowledging that, as R.E.M. once put it, everybody hurts.\u00a0 In the final refrain, the whole quartet plainly echoes its agreement in unison: \u201cSometimes we all<\/u> need to cry in the subway.\u201d Superpower<\/em> speaks to the growing pains of questioning and reevaluating one\u2019s own patriotic allegiance.\u00a0 The song begins a cappella<\/em> with Burke and The Rhythm Method sweetly and calmly asserting in bluesy, four-part harmony that \u201cThere\u2019s no such thing, sir \/ As a beautiful wall\u2026,\u201d a clear rebuke of Donald Trump and his presidential administration\u2019s efforts to build a \u201cbig, beautiful wall\u201d to expand the Mexico\u2013United States barrier.\u00a0 The vocal prowess of the quartet is on full display here, especially the stirringly strong cry and tight-locked harmonies on the lyrics \u201c\u2026This is NOT what I signed up for\u2026\u201d\u00a0 The ensemble\u2019s sense of united \u201cgirl power togetherness\u201d is fantastic.\u00a0 The joy and playfulness of music-making is also unmistakable.\u00a0 Delightfully quirky percussive sounds \u2013 whizzes, pops, cracks, slides, slaps, grinds, squeaks, shakes, rattles, clacks, quacks, and bird calls \u2013 expand and accelerate throughout the song.\u00a0 Politically as well as musically, Superpower<\/em> comes across as a metaphorical \u201cmiddle finger,\u201d a kind of celebration in defiance of oppressors, symbolizing triumph in spite of Trump.\u00a0 And it\u2019s perhaps this element of the album that feels most timely, particularly in light of the fact that our newly inaugurated President Joe Biden recently signed a series of Executive Orders to terminate immediately the construction of \u201cthe wall\u201d and to start the reversal of similarly damaging actions and polices related to U.S. immigration.<\/p>\nUltimately, the sonic landscapes and musical storytelling presented on A Few Concerns <\/em>serve as both an engaging, artistic record of the times and a song-fueled testament to grief and pain.\u00a0 But the album is also a powerful reminder that things can, and often do, get better; like a Google search, the results we ultimately hope to see (in the world, or on the web) will invariably depend on our input, shaped by the questions and concerns we offer and elevate.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-88564 alignleft\" src=\"http:\/\/sybariticsinger.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Sam-Crawford-300x300.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"http:\/\/sybariticsinger.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Sam-Crawford-300x300.jpeg 300w, http:\/\/sybariticsinger.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Sam-Crawford-1024x1024.jpeg 1024w, http:\/\/sybariticsinger.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Sam-Crawford-150x150.jpeg 150w, http:\/\/sybariticsinger.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Sam-Crawford-768x768.jpeg 768w, http:\/\/sybariticsinger.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Sam-Crawford-1536x1536.jpeg 1536w, http:\/\/sybariticsinger.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Sam-Crawford.jpeg 1931w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/>Sam Crawford<\/strong> is a musician (vocalist, composer), information professional, visual artist, and self-proclaimed \u201cnerd” who currently serves as the Performing Arts Librarian at California Institute of the Arts (CalArts).\u00a0 As a composer, he has studied with Julia Wolfe, Morton Subotnick, Justin Dello Joio, and Ezequiel Vi\u00f1ao, and participated in masterclasses with Steve Reich, Louis Andriessen, Meredith Monk, David Lang, Michael Gordon, Nico Muhly, Derek Bermel, Annie Gosfield, and Paul D. Miller (DJ Spooky), among others.\u00a0 He has collaborated with a range of soloists and ensembles, including groups such as the New York-based Cadillac Moon Ensemble, W4 New Music Collective, and The Generous Ensemble, as well as with various individuals associated with Bang on a Can and the Bang on a Can Summer Music Festival at MASS MoCA, where he served as a 2012 Composer Fellow.\u00a0 As a librarian, he has performed a wide array of information work for a variety of federal, public, and private institutions, including the Library of Congress Music Division, the Homeland Defense and Security Information Analysis Center (HDIAC), the University School of Nashville, and the San Francisco Opera.\u00a0 Before joining CalArts, Sam served for nearly 4 years as the Academic Librarian at Northern Marianas College, in Saipan \u2013 the largest municipality within the U.S. territory\u00a0of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"By Sam Crawford, special to the Sybaritic Singer Try Googling \u201cgrunge-cabaret songs\u201d (yes, put it in quotes) and you\u2019ll likely retrieve only a handful of results, but they\u2019ll probably all refer to Meaghan Burke.\u00a0 An impressively polystylistic cellist, vocalist, and composer, Burke, and the contemporary, feminist string quartet of which she is a founding member, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":88566,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","wds_primary_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[1760,1386,1759,709,1761],"class_list":{"0":"post-88561","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-uncategorized","8":"tag-a-few-concerns","9":"tag-gold-bolus-recordings","10":"tag-meaghan-burke","11":"tag-sam-crawford","12":"tag-the-rhythm-method","13":"entry"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/sybariticsinger.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88561","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/sybariticsinger.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/sybariticsinger.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/sybariticsinger.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/sybariticsinger.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=88561"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"http:\/\/sybariticsinger.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88561\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":88577,"href":"http:\/\/sybariticsinger.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88561\/revisions\/88577"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/sybariticsinger.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/88566"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/sybariticsinger.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=88561"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/sybariticsinger.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=88561"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/sybariticsinger.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=88561"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}