The Orlando Sentinel from Orlando, Florida • Page 45

The Orlando Sentinel, Thursday, August 17, 1989 E-3 wmwm i Personal label delivers Strokes of whimsy mark 'Still Lives' some unheard-of sounds LOS ANGELES DAILY NEWS rl Anif 7 90049; 213 471-5000) or in record stores that stock more than the current Top 40 hits; ROM's own roster of artists reveals the determination of label founder Keith Holzmaa to spread the good word on this dynamic, little-known, music to a wider audience. Holzman runs the 1-year-old company virtually single-handedly from a converted poolhouse behind his home. He shrugged while explaining his formu la for choosing cuts for the Review and for signing new acts to his label. ROM Records, he explained, is a reflection almost entirely of "my taste." Its roster includes such locals as the pop polkaworld-beat band Rotondi, the acoustic Latino folk group Huayucaltia and influeri tial multi-instrumentalist Sandy Bull. Via-linist Kim Angelis of northern California; whose styles range from classical to country to fusion, also records for the label.

"It's basically artists whose music I hap1 pen to like," Holzman said. "It's really as simple as that. There is no design or LOS ANGELES The All-Ears Review is a music periodical like no other. Rolling Stone, Downbeat, Spin and the other music magazines may offer colorful doses of the latest musical developments. But the bimonthly Review, delivered by mail with regularity, spreads the sound itself, pressed onto tape and CD.

The new Volume 6 of the Review, titled "From Barrooms to Bayous," delivers a mix of domestic and international rhythms, gathered from a variety of independent record labels. Opening with the dynamic guitar rock of EIEIO, the album soon abandons familiar musical formulas for an eclectic mixture of sounds by the likes of Trio Bulgarka. The Review is the flagship of ROM Records, a small Los Angeles label devoted to spotlighting challenging new music. And much like the Review, available by mail (P.O. Box 491212, Los Angeles, Calif.

UMUIb Still Uves By Scott Sommer Viking, $18.95, hardcover Reviewed by Ken Booth OF THE SENTINEL STAFF Thomas Frankle's life is not one to be envied. After being fired as a photographer at the pornographic magazine Concupiscence, Frankle finds that his longtime girlfriend and soap-opera star Monica Webb has left him and gone to London with another man. At a time such as this, a person would normally turn to friends, but Frankle's childhood friends Book review are more of a burden than a help. "So many of his friends seemed broken down or in the process of breaking down that he no longer possessed a basis of comparison." One of his friends, Harry Chambers, is a struggling writer who has been released from a Veterans Administration detoxification unit and is drawn into writing the script for a pornographic movie. The movie deal is made more attractive by the availability of drugs.

Another friend, Stanley Stark, is a paranoid lawyer with the Environmental Protection Agency. 0 1H2 Chrome Feature DiUnbuTM by Unwarul Ptmsi Syndicate 'I say 50, maybe a hundred horses What you say, Red Sommer writes of a young man's struggle to put his life together while being plagued by the disordered lives of his friends. Stark idea of conversation is quoting facts about how humans are slowly killing themselves and the planet by creating new chemicals and toxic wastes they cannot handle. rf ffJ Buy any 2 pairs Jf 4 lt'4 of shoes and get :000 WHf Vu-rl a calculator FREE! 0 1 58 $5.00 value! back to School I W3 1W0MId1I I jL-j aaaMaB' 1 mmm tl V- ,11,11 mm, jfm, JM. Three canvas styles She spends very little time with him and seems preoccupied with other events in her life.

Although one of the book's subplots concerns the making of a pornographic movie, there is no material in the book that would be considered pornographic. The subject only serves as a catalyst to draw out the troubled and often confused personalities of some of the book's characters. Despite the sometimes depressing events that fall upon Frankle and his friends, Still Lives isn't downbeat. Sommer has a light touch and is often whimsical. Still Lives, however, is not funny.

One wouldn't mention that except that quotes on the book jacket describe it as "a really funny novel" and a "twisted comedy." This is not true. While it often does bring out a smile, the humor at times seems almost forced: "Then his dog Jack pulled his head from the toilet and leaped at Frankle in a frenzy of relief while drooling the blue dye of Ty-D-bol. Frankle backed away to avoid the stained tongue and cracked his head on the hot water pipe vertically bordering the bathtub. He went down directly, relinquishing his grip on the whiskey as the lights momentarily imploded." Here, Sommer is telling us what is happening, rather than using words to show us. The passage reads like a movie script.

In the end, Frankle and Frame's relationship takes a predictable route. But the energetic and fast-paced conclusion of Still Lives forgives that point by drawing the lives of the books characters together in a shocking climax. Sommer Stark spends a good part of the novel running from a hit man he is sure the mob has sent after him. Scott Sommer has written a compelling tale of Frankle's struggle to put his life together while being plagued by the disordered and intertwining lives of his friends. Still Lives also gives a glimpse of life in New York City and how it can come up short in fulfilling some people's dreams.

In his attempt to rebuild his life, Frankle stumbles upon Constance Frame and her son. Frame is a down-to-earth widow from Califor-; nia who eventually gives Frankle the strength to face his troubled life and to start a new one. The relationship between Frankle and Frame appears weak at times. Frankle desires Frame's companionship to escape the troubles in his life. He needs someone to cling to.

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