Tuesday, October 22, 1974
* Records in review
TRIUMVIRAT IS a three man German group which most
often draws comparisons to Emerson, Lake and Palmer
The similarity "is unmistakable, though by no means absolute
Listening to their new, English LP, Illusions on a Double Dimple,
(Harvest ST-11311), I find that the music of Yes also comes
to mind. There is that kind of intricacy in the rhythms and or-
chestrations, though the delicacy of that latter group is missing.
In fact, this LP seems to be intricate to a fault. When one
puts aside the complexities of the rhythms and tones, one is
faced with an album which, like most synthesized music, is
devoid of theme, melody, an human spirit. It is simply slick.
Though it sounds to have been quite a production, the point
of it all is never clear. It may have something to do how-
ever, with the millions and millions of dollars available to any
group and recording company that can crack into the American
pop music business. Something that is curious is that there is
not a trace of anything German on the entire album or the
jacket. There is not even a trace of an accent in their sparsely
introjected vocals, (This is primarily an instrumental LP) so
far as I can tell. What could this mean?
But you needn't ponder too long - they give themselves away.
It seems like a goodly portion of what lyrics there are concern
money, but the clincher comes in the last band: "Pictures:
in the local zoo ready for the interview/dreamin' of the million
dollars ..."
-Ron Langdon
After a lay-off of two years, Rod Stewart has finally come
back with his fifth solo, Smiler (Mercury SRM 1-1077). it
will be welcomed by Stewart fans, but it generally lacks the
punch of his previous efforts.
Stewart's past albums have been a magnificent blend of fine
originals and carefully selected old tunes. For the first time,
Stewart has chosen his tunes with lack of discretion.
His versions of Dylan's "Girl From the North Country," and
Chuck Berry's "Sweet Little Rock 'n' Roller" are fine but
lack the fresh approach we expect from Stewart.
His originals are just a little above pale imitations of past
successes. His; performance of "Natural (wo)Man" by Carole
King, and McCartney's "Mine For Me" are well-done, but lack
any specific direction.
His main success comes with "Bring It on Home to Me/You
Send Me," a Sam Cooke medley which he really lets loose on, and
Elton John's "Let Me Be Your Car," an incredibly strong
rocker with frantic piano provided by John; Stewart and John
share the vocal which is amazingly powerful.
Far from an utter disaster, Stewart is still eons ahead of most
soloists, the album is really quite solid. It provides for good
listening, but falls short of vintage Stewart.
-Harry Hammitt
THERE IS AN old axiom in football, if I may digress for a
moment. It states "You Never Stay The Same. You Either
Get Better or Worse."
The record business should adopt such a policy for it seems
that sameness is desired. Once an artist or group hit upon a
style of type of music, they are reluctant to change for fear
of loss of fans and/or revenue. While it may be good for
business, lack of progress in music is bad artistically.
Point of example: Dobie Gray and his new album Hey Dixie
(MCA-449). Gray hit upon his "style" two winters ago with
Drift Away. That million seller was a huge success and took
him out of the crowd and into the land of mellow.
Well . . . he is still there and neither he nor MCA Records
have any intention of changing. Hey Dixie is not a bad record,,
quite to the contrary. It just sounds like everything else Dobie
Gray has done. The title track sounds no different than "Roll On
Sweet Mississippi". If you hear one song, it's the same as
listening to all 10 tracks. And for my money, that isn't worth it.
-Chuck Bloom
Daniel Barenboim seems to be in a big hurry these days.
Or, at least, that is the impression that I get from his new
album with the London Philharmonic Orchestra titled Barenboim
conducts Elgar. (Columbia M32936).
All of the tempos on this disc are much too fast for the
nature of the music-Bareboim has effectively de-Victorianized
the first Pomp and Circumstance march by pushing it to the
point of chaos. The London Philharmonic, much to their credit,
seems to manage the hectic speed quite well.
The disc contains all five Pomp and Circumstance marches,
the Crown of India Suite and the Imperial March and is thus
aimed at very serious Elgarphiles. +
Crown of India suite is a pleasant enough and rarely heard
composition written to commemorate Queen Victoria's visit to
that country. It is a light, serenade-like composition worth listen-
ing to.'
The pomp of the Pomp and Circumstance marches is just'
not there. Possible at an Oxford graduation in 1915 someone
tobk this music seriously but now, like it on not, these pieces]
are dead.
The Imperial March is a recycling of the same Edwardian
chords and fanfares. So we have a nervous recording of music
whose principal redeeming quality is its dignity, lost in this'
THE MICHIGAN DAILY
Page Five
Sister George'
murdered
Mon.--Tues.
No
BEER
Cover
1/2 off
By MARNIE HEYN
Last night at the Arena Thea-
ter, Russ Longtin directed the
University Players in The Egg
That Swamped Ann Arbor. The
Killing of Sister George de-
serves a better production, or at
least a livelier burial.
Admittedly Sister George is a
prickly script with lots of nasty
nuances and rapid character
shifts. And admittedly this is an
acting-directing workshop with a
sparse technical set-up. But
surely the cast might have
clued in the unenlightened in the
audience that George and Chil-
die have been enmeshed in a
lesbian love/hate affair for the
years that they lived together.
Actually, there were a couple
of hints about their relationship,
but since they were excessively
subtle, no one could have guess-
ed what motivated this hag and
this nitwit to endure each other
over tea, much less to share a
flat and give one another fussy
little pecks on the cheek. The
plot was gutted.
This production suffered from
overencouragement and under-
direction. All of its forward mo-
tion derived from Mrs. Mercy,
whose essence is sweet super-
ficiality: not a promising focus
for a play that should run
around ripping off masks. But
since Judith Williams turned
out the only credible perform-
ance, all action necessarily re-
volved around her.
Betsy Egelhoff as Madame
Xenia came across like a five-
and-dime gypsy, complete with
north Jersey accent with a fal-
tering overlay ofmsomething
Balkan. And someone should
tell Diane Pomerance that mug-
ging does not an ingenue make:
no one was surprised that she
was 34.
But Kathleen Conlin's George
left the largest hole: George
must be the most colorful per-
son in her world, unabashedly
butch and identified with her
soap-opera role; instead' she
was thoroughly dead long before
her funeral.
PRESENTS
THUR., FRI., SAT.
KRAMERS
KREAMERS
Ann Arbor's most
colorful nightclub
341 S. MAIN
769-5960
ANN ARBOR
KATHLEEN CONLIN PORTRAYS a troubled slap opera actress in "The Killing of Sister
George" which runs tonight and Wednesday night at 8 in the Arena Theatre. Also shown are
Judith Williams (left) as Mercy Croft and Diane Pomerance as Childie.
Arts center offers0
m Uw0uti-meia resourceU
11
By JOHN HART
The Pendleton Arts Informa-
tion Center is full of the unex-
pected. Where else could you
hear Cleveland Amory, see a
fencing demonstration or ex-
perience a zombie haiku "per-
formance" during the school
day?
You can drop by the Center,
on the second floor of the Mich-
igan Union, weekdays from
noon to 6 p.m. Once there,
you'll find' that the two-story
baronial fireplace, oak panel-
ing, spacious flagged floors, and
leaded-glass windows provide a
restful atmosphere - something
hard to find on campus. But
there's more to it than just an
interesting environment.
Take the "Open Hearth Gath-
erings" for instance. This series
features diverse representatives
of the art world in an informal.
setting, every Thursday at noon.
In coming weeks Cleveland Am-
ory, a nationally - known col-
umnist, will discuss his new
book, Mainkind? Our Incredible
War On Wildlife and Kerrv
Thomas, a grad student in
American Studies, will read his
zombie haiku poetry. Also, you
can preview scenes from the
Soph Show's Damned Yankees
and an original musical by
MUSKET. There is no admis-
sion charge either.
As its name implies, the Cen-
ter carries current reference
information for the Arts. Shir-
ley Smith, the Center's curator,
calls it "a kind of nerve center
for what's happening in the Arts
around the state."
The room's posters, cata-
logues and news releases cover
art happenings in Ann Arbor
and the rest of Michigan, but
also in outstate places such as
Stratford, Ont. and Toledo. The
information is divided into sev-
eral "islands", making it easy
for you to find what you want.
Dance and music, film and the-
atre, art and architecture, and
books and lectures are all in-
cuded.
The Center also offers a free
art film series. The films, pre-
sented jointly with the Audio-
Visual Education Center, share
a "common art focus," accord-
ing to Smith. On a given after-
noon, you might see a group of
shorts on dance or one on mu-
sic, for example.
The Pendleton Arts Informa-
tion Center is a multi-media re-
source for the entire university.
It's potential has been demon-
strated; happenings as varied
as Patrick Crean's fencing
demonstration and a discussion
UNIVRSIT OFFCE F STDENTLIF
I
EASTERN MICHIGAN
UNIVERSITY OFFICE OF STUDENT LIFE
PRESENTS
'WA R
JOHN FORD'S 1935
THE INFORMER (at 7)
Victor McLaglen stars as a modern-day Judas who turns in a wanted rebel leader, who is also
his best friend, for the reward money durinq the Black and Tan Terror in Dublin. This striking
psycholoaical study that takes place in 12 hours on a rainy niqht won Academy Awards for
dire.ctor Ford and actor McLaalen.
ERIC VON STROHEIM'S 1925
GREED (at 9)
Von Stroheim spent ten years planning this silent epic, which was to be the high point of his
career. Irvinq Thalberg spent as many days cutting it to ribbons, but the two hours that
remain of this lost masterpiece are among the greatest ever made.
$1.50 FOR OLD ARCHITECTURE
AGUILD BOTH FILMS AUD.
Sol-
interpretation.
e
f.
-Tony Cecere
LA.tILL AANLI
bEC"S J e R A. Y
'4t1}4 HOULTZ
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ki401 'su 4t5~ (OMM~Stlt
-P . Pol. Adv.
UNIVERSITY THEATRE
PROGRAM
presents
THE KILLING OF
SISTER GEORGE
Mon.-Wed., Oct. 21-23
ARENA THEATRE 8 p.m.
ADMISSION: 50c
Tickets on sale now at PTP
ticket office in Mendeissohn
Lobby. For further information
call: (313) 764-0450
1 t
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Abortion Alternative
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