The Orange Spotlight

Aster "Some Things Seldom Heard Of" (self-released, 1/22/08)

"There are currents. Indisputable channels of energy that constantly ebb and flow. Like the entangled arms of an infinite host of octopi writhing and enmeshed together in some salty roman orgy. But the beasts have no heads and there is no common goal. Accidents happen."

This is the first paragraph of Aster's unbelievably long (they call it epic) bio, but I love those last two words, "accidents happen". Was it an accident that I just happened to grab their self-released full-length debut from stack on a particulaly cold January day? A day that needed warmth, that needed a vibrant accident to pour through the air. Honest black coffee rumbles and hums into the mornings glass pot, and the gentle melodic pop of Aster fills the kitchen. There are things that are seldom heard of, but on this morning the twinkling electronics of Aster are not one of those things.

Some Things Seldom Heard Of
Run Away From The Suits/The Great Escape/In The Benthos/Attempting To Multiply (mp3)/Silence And Summer/Solitary Life/Stop The Parade/We Won't Remember/Some Things Seldom Heard Of/Vaudeville/Theme Song



Luis Cuauhtemoc Berriozabal "Keepers of Silence" (Kendra Steiner Editions, 2007)

"I talk to the night/and ask it/to slow down/for me"

It was no accident that Luis Berriozabal met Luis Omar Salinas, it was destiny. This collection of poems is so intensely honest and personal you almost feel slightly intrusive reading through them. When read together these poems seem to tell the story of friendship while questioning both time and purpose. The final poem in the small collection is "Cuauhtemoc, The Poet", and it is an affirmation he might use to confirm in place among the greats or even just his place among the everyday. Simply Luis is a Poet, and one of the finest living today.

This chapbook was only printed in a run of 64, and I now hold #13 with honor and care. To order yours visit Kendra Steiner Editions.