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CD: "Girl Sweat" - Whole Latté Luv Records

SHE SHOOTS, SHE SCORES

Michele Monté is an indie singer-songwriter with a sure grasp of melody and an incisive way with the English language. Her muscular tunes, sparkling sense of humor and goodhearted rambunctiousness make this a standout album.

Monté's personal athletic background informs her artistic persona. From the overt physicality of "Used to Be," "Take It to the Rim" and "Chrissy" to the love/lust lyrics of "Angel in Disguise," "Mmm Hmm" and "Dare To", all the songs display the same spirit that drives her powerful acoustic guitar playing. (The latter is too little evident on this album, but only a fan would know that).

"Dare To" is a perfect example of Monté's marriage of sensitivity and strength, a musically gentle love ballad that's really about the lover's awareness of her power.

     See my eyes can't you realize I want you.
     But I won't get any closer
     and I won't speak any softer
     You can touch me if you want to.
     You can kiss me if you dare to.

But she can tug on the heartstrings with the best of them. "Chrissy" is about a childhood friend who's gone.

     Down the driveway I turned and
     looked at the rusty rim where you used to shoot.
     And if I listen carefully I can hear your laughter.

"Mnn Hmm" and "Therapy Song" prove her a master of feel-good pop too.

But as good as Monté is with sports and love, my favorite track - at least, among her slower songs - is more philosophical. "Spot" explores our dependence on the familiar by means of brief case studies of folks whose worlds are disrupted, and hits us with this recurring image:

     It's all we know, it's all we know.
     We cling to a spot and now we can't let go.

Monté chooses her words carefully. On the obvious level, she's using the idea of one's usual parking spot to represent one's comfort zone in life. But, though the song has one of her loveliest melodies, the word "spot" is jarringly unpretty, no matter how softly she coos it. It has an unpoetic sound and evokes images of stains and dirt, and even - when "Fred the musician" pulls "into his spot" and "didn't notice the car ahead" - of blood. Thus does Michele Monté flavor her athletic derring-do with poetic daring, and thus does she win our hearts.

Artist website: Michele Monté

CD: "Athena Under Attack"

A CHAMBER OPERA OF CHAMBERS ST.

"Athena Under Attack" is a half-hour opera that vividly describes the 9/11 attacks from the point of view of three urbane twentysomethings. Having witnessed the attack on the World Trade Center up close, I found the idea of a musical narrative a little difficult to swallow at first. But once I got past the initial chill and into the dissonant fireworks of the solo "Anarchy" I found that, like the recent-history operas of John Adams (e.g. "The Death of Klinghoffer"), this work merits attention for its musical quality and forceful presentation.

The opera - which I have not seen staged - is primarily an exploration of the varied emotional and political reactions of the great mass of Westerners who observed the attacks simultaneously "up close" via TV coverage and safely distant. The title character, Athena, envisions further attacks and contemplates returning to her native land ("Back to Canada"). Meanwhile the couple she spends the anxious hours with are panicking in their own ways: Sam can't reach his dope dealers ("What's Going On?") while Christina calls her mother and flits about checking for bottled water and candles.

After Sam explodes in right-wing racist fury ("Freedom & Democracy") Christina blames his anger on his abusive childhood, leading to the dramatic exposure of their relationship's violent center in the climactic solo, "I am Just a Hole." All these passions are conveyed by Brian Gligor and the wonderful soprano Shara Traub in crystal-clear voices that do perfect justice to Reich's acid-sweet melodies.

Reich's own mezzo/alto is an exceptional instrument that in this work strikes the perfect balance of wild energy and controlled power. But the opera closes in a contemplative mood with the duet "We Sing for Peace." The cast's one male voice is conspicuously absent from this lovely hymn. Fair enough; isn't it usually the women who are left to mourn and, if they have the strength, hope for a better world? Of course, innocents of both sexes and every size, shape and color died on 9/11. But there were no female hijackers on board those four planes.

Artist website: Athena Reich at CD Baby