The Michigan Daily-Tuesday, January 31, 1978-Page 5
modern,
music
by alan rube nfeld
D ISCO IS THE most popular dance craze in recent memory, providing
mush more than a way to maneuver across a dance floor. Besides its
association with a popularized, happy-go-lucky lifestyle, disco is an ex-
tremely powerful and profitable industry, responsible for the highly lucra-
tive movie Saturday Night Fever, the selling of millions of records, and for
the establishment of countless discotheques providing nightly entertainment
for millions.
The craze has also spawned a blooming fashion industry, as well as
manufacturing celebrities appropriate for such a glamorous lifestyle. Charo
and Donna Summer are the queens of the movement; Mick Jagger, ex-
badboy puriker turned cocaine chic, is now part of the disco legion; Margaret
Trudeau, the ex-Prime Minister's wife, separated from husband Pierre to
become a disco groupie - the list is endless.
The social lives of many, rich and poor, revolve around the dance floor
lights, and disco is one of the few music forms that, like jazz, manage to
unite blacks and whites. So what could be wrong with such an ideal situa-
tion?'
THE PROBLEM IS STAGNATION. In the latter part of this decade,
disco has not evolved as quickly as other musical forms, and this lack of
alteration could be fatal because of the music's general format. Disco em-
ploys a formulatic, unyielding beat, an endless drone that can be found in
every disco piece, coupled with heavy bass and rhythm lines.
For the past few years, disco afficiondos have appeared quite satisfied
with this format, as record sales and attendance at clubs are now at their
zenith. But disco music has no choice but to diversify if it wishes to maintain
its popularity. This writer - admittedly not one of disco's greatest admirers
- can offer no definite answers to the question. However, one noteworthy
example of successful innovation is Kraftwerk's Trans Europe Express, an
album probably not created deliberately for the disco market, but whose
electronic inventiveness deems it a creative standout in the field.
Perhaps incorporating other unconventional sounds into the disco for-
mula will insure the continued popularity of this music and dance form, as
well as enhancing its pure musical sophistication. Innovation will prevent-
disco fever from cooling down, and going the way of the 50's "hop" and the
60's "hullabaloos" and "shindigs."
The New Wave of Rock'n'Roll will wash ashore today and Wednesday in
Ann Arbor. WCBN (88.3 FM), the student-run station of the U of M, is spon-
soring a New Wave music marathon from noon today until tomorrow
evening at 10:00 p.m. The marathon will feature sounds from a definitely
new and innovative form of music that is gaining popularity as well as
notoriety all over the country. Music from bands such as the Sex Pistols,
Talking Heads, Elvis Costello, and Television will be played, as well as other
groups of less notoriety. The show will give listeners an opportunity to ex-
perience a type of music that many people have sharp opinions about, while
never actually attempting to listen to what it is really all about. The New
Wave transcends the conventional format in its energy, spontaneity and
audacity.
Wednesday night, there will be a punk concert at the Michigan Union.
Bands featured will include Ann Arbor's Destroy All Monsters, the Seat-
belts, and the Pagans, from Cleveland. Admission is free for this concert.
Takeboth these no-risk opportunities to discover what the New Wave'is all
about.
Hickerson mellows
receptive Ark crowd
Gamelan highlighted by Mnarno
By CINDY RHODES
and DAVID VICTOR
ANY EARLY-COMERS to Fri-
day night's performance of Javan-
ese Music and Dance by the Univer-
sity of Michigan Gamelan Ensemble
were surprised to hear music while
entering Hill Auditorium. The reason
was not because they were late, but
because it is part of the tradition of
Javanese music. The piece was
played on a facsimile of a gamelan
THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN
GAMELON Ensemble
Friday, January 27
11111.1 rtdn rir,,
Ladrang Erang-erang....slendro pathet sanga
Ladrang Surung Dayung..... pelog pathet nem
Ladrang Rujak Jeruk... slendro pathet manyura
Lagu Suara Suling.........pelog pathet nem
Lancaran Maesa Liwung... slendro pathet sanga
Ladrang Sri
Karongron..............slendro pathet sanga
Ketawang Megatruh........ pelog pathet barang
Ketawang Pangkur
N gre n a s.. ........... pelog pathet lima
Bibaran Sembung
Gilang,............slendro pathet sanga
Director, Judith Baker
Guest Artist, Minarno
carabalen, an archaic, four-toned
gamelan, which is still used in Java
for special occasions, to welcome the
arriving guests.
The program began with Landrang
Erang-Erang, as an introduction for
newcomers to gamelan music. Called
a "loud-style" piece because the soft
instruments (the modern gamelan
ensemblecombines two formerly
separate ensembles) are not heard, it
is believed to be one of the older
compositions. The music was lively
and well-played, and set the mood for
the rest of the first half of the show.
The next piece, Ladrang Surung
Dayung, was accompanied by the
dance Golek, typical female dance of
central Java. The dance calls for
very precise and small movements,
as it represents the Javanese empha-
sis on inner calm and restraint. The
dance describes the preening mo-
tions of a young girl, such as looking
into a mirror, and adjusting her
make-up. The dancer, Peggy Choy,
was exquisite. Her precise and subtle
gestures could only be truly appreci-
ated by the first five rows of the
auditorium. She moved with such
delicacy and charm that the effect
was almost imperceptible but stun-
ning.
THIS WAS FOLLOWED by a light
and playful composition, Ladrang
Rujak Jeruk, which may be translat-
ed as "fruit salad", because of its
conglomeration of elements. It be-
gins with a bawa, a long and
traditional vocal introduction, used
for formal pieces. This quickly
changes into an airy, lively melody,
with an exchange of nonsense words
by the male chorus and interplays
between different instruments.
LAGU SUARA SULING, the next
piece, followed in the same vein.
Emphasizing the sound of the suling,
a flute-like instrument, this composi-
tion was not only light (like the one
preceding) but unconventional as
well. This particular piece is a
modern arrangement for gamelan
instruments of an old, traditional folk
song.
The last piece before intermission
was hampered by a lengthy delay as
the dancers took longer than expect-
ed to change into their costumes.
However, the ensemble tried to fill up
the time by playing the last half of
the piece first. The dance, Prawira
Yudha, performed to Lancaran Mae-
sa Liwung, Ladrang Erang-Erang, is
a male fighting dance, and so the
dancers, Kelly Humardani and R.
Anderson Sutton, were dressed as
noble warriors with moustaches and
long hair. The dance employed move-
ments, such as an upright head and
high-held knee, which were choreo-
graphed, exactly to the structure of
the composition. The dance was
performed very well.
THE ONLY POOR choice for the
program was the piece following the
intermission. Called Ladrang Sri
Karongron, the piece contained a
lengthy vocal poem sung to the soft
instruments. The piece was the most
serious and difficult of the concert,
according to the program, but the
mastery of the difficulties was lost in
the sheer dullness.
The next piece, Ketawang Mega-
truh, which accompanied the dance
Sari Tunggal, dispelled this ennui. A
female dance, its focus was on the
"single essence", the inner restraint.
This dance, performed by four
women, contains most of the basic
movements and motions of the group
of female dances, making it a
teaching dance. The piece began with
a pathetan played on the rebab, a
sort of fiddle, and the gender, which
looks like a xylophone, which ush-
ered the dancers onto the stage. The
front two dancers, Jennifer Riopelle
and Margaret Becker, who both had
leads in this summer's Javanese
dance drama, the Ramayana, were
flawless. However, much less could
be said for the two dancers behind
them. Their movements were mushy
instead of fluid, and jerky instead of
precise.
Following the principle of saving
the best for last, the Gamelan
Ensemble presented their finale, a
portion of a traditional dance-drama.
Set to the music of Ketawang
Pangkur Ngrenas, the piece contains
another "Pangkur Palaran", which
accompanies the fight scene. In this
dance the hero Bambang (Peggy
Choy) is meditating in the forest
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when he is attacked by a minor
demon Cakil (Kelly Humardani). A
fight follows- in which Cakil is
naturally vanquished. Full of allegor-
ical meanings, this piece was pre-
sented by the two best Javanese
dancers on campus. The interplay
between the two dancers was fascin-
ating, and the death scene of Cakil
\was excellent. The only detraction to
this piece was the incredibly long
wait (the third one of the program!)
before the dancers came out.
The closing piece, Bibaran Sem-
bung Gilang, is usually played as the
audience leaves, but as this is foreign
to Americans, it was only played a
few times before the concert ended.
The performances of the evening
were superb. But, it would have been
sheer perfection if the gaps had been
avoided. The surprisingly large audi-
ence was pleased with the concert,
and we are looking forward to further
performances by the Gamelan En-
semble.
The University of Michigan
Professional Theatre Program
(A PJA f r yot,
February 1-4at pm.
Tfruebt6od Theatre..
UNIVERSITY SHOWCASE PRODUCTIONS
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Wed.-Sat Mar.1-4,8pm.Sun. Mar5. 2pm
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AND THROUJGH HUDSON S STORES
By JOSEPH ROSEVEAR
M ELLOW. Saturday night at the
Ark with Joe Hickerson was very
mellow. The crowd gathered around
Joe, on cushions at his feet and farther
back on benches and chairs. He sang
and played guitar while the audience
sang along for four hours - three one-
hour sets with two half-hour intermis-
sions.
Spotlights were on Joe, each with a
red, yellow or orange filter. Candles
flickered against the wall. A gray cat
padded lightly, between bodies. Sipping
coffee or tea, eating popcorn, calmed
by the somber lighting, the audience
joined Joe in song. With his guitar layed
aside, Joe intoned "Away, away, we
will drive dull.care away. And while
we're here with our friends so dear we
will drive dull care away." "And so we
shall," Joe interjected before the.first
burst of applause that evening.
Joe sang for hours. "Knows all the
songs there are, I think," commented a
member of the audience after the third
set. Joe sang Irish and American
folksongs and ballads. He sang songs of
love, of loss, of war, and then some
humorous songs as well.
"MOOSE TURD PIE" was a song
about the "wild river crew" who "lived
on brew and cat liver stew and a daily
piece of moose turd pie." Joe explained
that in a working crew such as this no-
body wanted to be cook. The crew suf-
fered "Moose Turd Pie" because by in-
formal agreement, the first to complain
about the cooking became the new
cook.
"I Lost Her In Gloucester" was an-
other humorous song, "But," Joe ex-
plained, "it used to get so many moans
and groans ... I could never finish it."
Joe suggested that to make it palatable,
we '.,. try to find in it as many fish and
other denizens of the deep ... as we
can." "It was down by the sea that I fir-
st flounder," he sang, straight faced,
"... just for the halibut I threw my arms
around her." He went on including'
bass, pickerel, smelt and herring. "I
never used to know how to pronounce
Gloucester," he explained after the
song, "but I realize now ... it rhymes
with lost her ... that simplifies the mat-
ter."
Other songs of note were "Valley
Forge," a patriotic number recounting
the wintry miseries of the Revolution-
ary War, and "The Lover's Ghost," a
touching ballad about a woman's lover
KATHRYN WESTRE and her beauti-
ful voice were a special treat. Kathryn
joined Joe in tear-evoking harmony
while Joe played guitar for a large part
of the second set. Together they sang
"The Weary Cutters," "Dark Island,"
and "Too YoungTo Marry," a ballad
performed a cappella, and many oth-
ers. Kathryn sang with a full and ex-
pressive soprano voice and a very real
Irish accent. Her lack of poise was com-
pensated for by her charm and her
beautiful voice.
The amazing thing about Joe's per-
formance was the skill with which he
recalled and played the over thirty
songs. He did forget a line now and
then. About a request which he had to
drop half-way through, he explained, "I
hadn't sung that one in a while. I was
starting to draw blanks after mid-
night."
"Remembering," he says, "is partly
memory, partly ... from experience
what to do when you can't quite remem-
ber it. People have been mis-remem-
bering songs and recreating songs for
ages ... that's why there's variation..."
When asked how many songs he
knew, Joe replied I could probably
easily do 350, but not in one sitting. My
active repertoire is many times the
number of songs I sang tonight," he
bragged.
Joe's performance was a pleasure to
watch, to listen to, and to partake in. He
sings and plays as if he wrote the songs
himself. The spirit of the American
folksong is preserved inside his voice
and fingers.
PEGGY CHOY in the role of Bambang, during last Friday's performance of
the University Gamelan Ensemble.
Aerosmith blasts off
with 'Draw the Line'
,
T By TIM YAGLE
HE BAND that many consider the
finest in the world has just released
what could be, according to some, their
finest album. I think its good, but not
that good. Draw The Line from
Aerosmith has exploded onto the scene
with material quite similar to that of
their two previous albums-Toys In
The Attic and Rocks.
The LP with the hilarious drawings of
the band members on the cover opens
with the blistering title cut, "Draw The
Line." With rhythm/lead guitarist
Brad Whitford providing a fierce
rhythm section, Joe Perry's lead guitar
and thumping drums build up to a
I raw the Line
Aerosmith
C'olumbia J( 34856'
vicious finale in which lead vocalist
Steven Tyler screams out the unin-
telligible lyrics at the top of his lungs.
There is no doubt of it. The flam-
boyant Tyler is the driving force behind
Aerosmith. I have seen the band live
three times and while the rest of the
group isn't exactly asleep, Tyler flies
around the stage enthusiastically
screaming the lyrics, with scarves
from his mike creating an on-stage
electricity.
"I WANNA KNOW WHY" is
somewhat dull compared to "Draw The
Line." It features a simple melody and
strong guitars that blend well but it
doesn't have the same kick a couple of
the other tunes have.
The kick is revived, however, in the
exciting and punchy rocker "Get It Up"
highlighted by crisp guitar work and
stirring vocals. Although this number is
mixed badly at times, it's one of my
favorite tunes.
and deliberate song with a little bit of
everything in it. It begins with a
typically heavy Aerosmith guitar, then
goes into a pretty melody, featuring a
mandolin played by Aerosmith's
producer Jack Douglas, and climaxed
by long, eerie Perry solo in the middle.
PERHAPS THE most uninspired
song on the LP, some parts of "The
Hand That Feeds" are decent, but you
start getting tired of Tyler's high-
pitched but low-volume shrieking.
For all you dance buffs, Aerosmith
goes disco (almost) on "Sight For Sore
Eyes". It really isn't much except for
the fact that you can dance to it.
Could Draw The Line be Aerosmith's
finest LP? I don't think so. Half the
album is good Aerosmith material. The
other half doesn't have much substance
or inspiration. "Draw The Line" has
been the only single released so far.
The Aerosmith sound avoids preten-
tion, which could be one reason why
they're so popular. Whitford's and
Perry's guitars blend well, to form a
polished sound that's easy to listen to.
Detroit rock radio station deejay
John O'Leary summed up Aerosmith
best when he said, "They're one of the
few groups that can play hard rock and
do it well,"
Al
Appearir
Dine
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56
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