Month: October 2004

Concert Review: Meg Braun and Ari Scott at Cafe 111

Singer-songwriters Meg Braun and Ari Scott shared a set at Cafe 111 in Brooklyn last night as part of promoter Dan Herman’s Radio Crystal Blue showcase. The two have very differerent voices, but blended surprisingly well when they accompanied each other. Highlights of the set were Braun’s “Ohio Wind,” a fine folk-pop number, and Scott’s “Fortunate One,” a ghostly electric-piano waltz reminiscent of Jefferson Airplane’s “Lather.”

It was great to hear Meg do her own material after having worked with her in Kevin So’s band. She combines very strong pipes with a fluttery Judy Collins vibrato, while Scott’s more conversational, vibrato-free style lights up her quirky, sometimes humorous, often haunting material.

Bush Foreign Policy Damaging U.S. Economy

Here’s a link to an interesting bit of potential ammo for the Kerry campaign which I haven’t seen mentioned before. Lester R. Brown writes on the Earth Policy Institute website that

The rejection of American foreign policy is translating into a rejection of products with U.S. brand names. Europeans are in effect holding an economic referendum on U.S. foreign policy, voting with their pocketbooks. The effect of this can be seen in the third quarter earnings reports now coming out for several leading U.S. corporations.

He goes on to cite examples. I know that Bush voters aren’t voting on issues like this, that in calmer times would seem more important. But you’d think it’d be worth a mention.