i ARTS Thursday, February 5, 1981 The Michigan Daily catchy phrases to hum all day long or even a farfisa beat to bop between classes, then Kilimanjaro is your record. It won't be long before you'll be telling all your friends about the unin- terrupted listening pleasure that you got from The Teardrop Explodes. -Jeff Yenchek THE JAM-"SOUND AFFECTS" (POLYDOR) and THE TEARDROP EXPLODES - "KILIMANJARO" (Mercury) - Do you want records to give you more of what you want? Do you want The Jam? If so, now's your opportunity to exercise your freedom of choice with either The Jam's Sound Af- fects or the album, Kilimanjaro, from their apparent understudies, The Tear- drop Explodes. Even though Sound Affects offers a record cover that is both attractive and easy-to-store, musically it is somewhat of a retreat from The Jams last album, Setting Sons. Setting Sons was a con- cept album in which the songs reinfor- ced and amplified one other with themes of individual alienation under the shadow of world war. It proved that The Jam could produce powerful * political statements by focusing upon individual dramas about people trap- ped in the worldo UNFORTUNATELY, Sound Affects does not possess the unity that made Setting Sons so distinctive. Instead, this album is more of a collection of nice songs, a number of which border on the ignorable. Sure, The Jam continue their" experiments with psychedelic guitar, brass sections, and backward tape. loops, and of course they maintain their fascination with the British rock tradition. But on this record they seem curiously uninvolved-not only are they beginning to repeat themselves, but they are starting to imitate their predecessors. "Start!," for instance, is a note-for-note ripoff of The Beatle's "Taxman." The Teardrop Explodes expropriates the basic instrumentals and vocals of The Jam but also combines an uncom- promising brass section and relentless synthesizer with the top quality in AFFECTS THE ALAN PARSONS PROJECT - "THE TURN OF A FRIENDLY CARD" - The Alan Parsons Project's newest release, The Turn of a Friendly Card comes with a sticker attached to its factory-sealed wrapper describing the album as a "Fascinating tale of mystery and obsession." And that's exactly what the album is, in the fine tradition of complexity and imagination expected of The Alan-Par- sons Project. Q: Who is Alan Parsons?" A: The producer/engineer for the group of studio musicians and assorted person- nel who make up The Project. Parsons, along with partner Eric Woolfson, make up the creative duo behind the pen and also provide the keyboard talent. Woolfson can be heard doing the lead vocals on "Nothing Left to Lose" and "Time". The Parsons/Woolfson duo have been together at least since 1976 and the release of the first Alan Parsons Project album, Tales of Mystery and Imagination-Edgar Allen Poe. The group continued up the ladder of suc- cess with the releases of I Robot and Pyramid. But the release of the fourth album Eve, caused some unrest among their growing pack of followers, especially those fans who felt some of the lyrics of Eve were too frivolous to be considered up to par. Although the album did con- tain some good material, trivial tracks like "You Lie Down With Dogs" caused discontent with some people who saw the magic of Alan Parsons' music slip- ping away,. But fret not, The Alan Parsons Project seems to be heading in the right direction again and Turn of a Friendly Card is their best album yet. Besides the song receiving current airplay, "Games People Play", tracks worth mentioning are "Snake Eyes", an up-beat, jazzy number dealing with the obsession of gambling, and the title track which proclaims: "The game never ends when your whole world depends on the turn of a friendly card." Alan Parsons has developed the talent to present well-organized, meaningful material in the form of an album that conveys a message, similar to the structure of Pink Floyd, but not as obscure. In fact, Parsons' name can be found in the credits of Dark Side of the Moon (he engineered the 1973 album for Pink Floyd). While following a single theme, Alan Parsons varies just enough com- position factors, including lead vocalists, to keep. the album interesting throughout. A fine addition to any collection. Tammy Reiss 'JOE 'KING' CARRASCO AND THE CROWNS' (HANNIBAL)-Say, did you hear about that guy named Joe "King" Carrasco who was arrested for jumping around in a tacky cape and an Imperial Margerine crown while shooting a promo film in front of Buckingham Palace? He later tried to explain it to the bobbies by jumping up on a table screaming, "I'm the ,King! I'm the King!" Q: What can he do to top that? A: Release an album like this one. If you didn't know that Carrasco and the Crowns were from Austin, Texas before you heard this self-titled album, it wouldn't take you long after the first song, "Houston El Mover," to figure that out. This band wears its big-as- Texas musical heart on its sleeve. CARRASCO wrote most of the album's songs himself, and they're all straight out of the boy-meets-girl school of songwriting, peppered with a ma'ssive injection of rockabilly exuberance. The best of his com- positions are the slightly spastic "Ner- voused Out," "Caca De Vaca," (which translates, for all you Gringos out, there, to "Cowshit"), and the overtly rowdy "Federales," which starts off with a "Yeeee-ha!" and is punctuated THE RED CRAYOLA-"SOLDIER TALK" (BOMB)-Now that Mayo Thompson has joined Pere Ubu, the year-late release of this album seems pretty irrelevant. Sure, Mayo is an amazing guitarst. That is no less true today than it was in the late '60s when the original Crayola line-up (of which Mayo is the only remainder on this par- ticular LP) released a set of Call or write for more information 32466 Olde Franklin Drive Farmington Hills, MI 48018 (313) 851-2969 CLASSES IN ANN ARBOR " DETROIT. E. LANSING ,a with the occasional "Por que!" However, the two songs that get Carrasco closest to his obvious rockabilly roots are the two he didn't write, "One More Time" and "Party Doll." But, no matter, Joe "King" Carrasco and the Crowns is an infectious exer- cise in rockabilly that will appeal to everybody. It will satisfy those already familiar with the genre, and will take the unfamiliar and convert them faster than you can say "Buena." -Lex Kuhne -Page 7 definitively psychedelic albums on thq International Artists label. Mayo, however, is not a songwriter or singer. His fretwork 'contributions to Ubu's latest, The Art of Walking, are not necessarily more stunning than his playing here. But by leaving the vocal and musical work to others he has guaranteed himself a backing befitting his immense talent. The couple of cuts on this album that feature the members of Pere Ubu are somewhat more listenable in that they provide a more substantial basis against which Mayo can work. Despite that, Soldier Talk never really rises above the forced and incomplete compositions that are its substance. For collectors only. -Mark Digh ton LSAT GRE GMAT TEST PREPARATION The finest preparation courses available Classes for eXtOn 1Feb. 21st E1ucational' LSAT begin Ccni~ter'. Feb. 8th - !' Can serve We you? .i modern sound recordings. The songs here range from power-drive pop hits to hypnotic tracks that set new standards, for psychedelics. "Sleeping Gas" starts off with the usual Batman theme that soon dislocates guitar from vocals to drive the song forward to an unending, chaotic repetition. But that's not all, 'cause if you desire mm m - -- - - - ---- --m - m -m PLACE YOUR AD IN THE *~ Q bipe M~tIrt!3i l n BMW Summer Sublet Supplement APPEARING MARCH 29, 1981 Name.__ - Address I Phone *Cost: $12.001 before 5 p.m., March 2 ($1.4from Aprch 3-23) Make checks payable to ' THE MICHIGAN DAILY Mail your checks and ad, or bring them in person, to 420 Maynard St. ' (actual ad size) ABSOLUTELY NO ADS Please print or type legibly in ACCEPTEDAFTER MARCH 23 the space provided as you would (no photos, no line art, no type printed like the ad to appear. sideways or upside down please) ..1 Junior Joffrey dancers at EMU Daily Classified 764-0557 Daily Display 764-0554 Daily Circulation 764-0558 The Joffrey II Dancers, the appren- tice company of the Joffrey Ballet will appear at 8 p.m. tonight in Pease Auditorium on the Eastern Michigan University campus. The Joffrey II prepares its members for soloist roles in the acclaimed Jof- trey I Ballet. As well as touring, the members study at the American Ballet Center, the official school of the Joffrey Ballet and are the dance company-in- 'esidence of Brooklyn College. RONALD REAGAN, Jr., the son of President Ronald Reagan, is a member pf the Joffrey II company, and is purrently taking part in the company's national tour. It was not known at press time, however, whether he would be taking part in the Ypsilanti performan- c~e. Members of the junior company Lange in age from 18 to 21, and each ooe 6 This space contibuted by the publisher remains with1 three years.. the company from one to A total of sixteen dan- ces in their concert tonight on the EMU campus. Opening the program is "Luminesque," an impressionistic showpiece for technical virtuosity and lyrical movement. This abstract ballet is set to the "Piano Concerto No. 1 in D Major." FOLLOWING "Luminesque" is "Ladder for Escape," which features music by David Koblitz. The work metaphorically follows the theme of the natural elements water, earth, fire, and air. "Romeo and Juliet" is the third ballet to be presented on the program and is set to music by Sergei Prokofiev. Concluding the concert is "Threads from a String of Swing", featuring music by the Glen Miller Orchestra (!) Tickets for the Joffrey II Dancers are priced at $8 and $6.50 for the general public and $6 and $4.50 for students and senior citizens. Remaining tickets are available at the Pease Auditorium box office. A i cers-8 males and 8 females-make up the company. The Joffrey II will present four dan- ATTENTION LS&A STUDENTS Announcing Your Chance To Get Involved LS&A Student Government is Starting LS&A Action Groups to Discuss: T.A. Training, Budget Cuts, Course Evaluations, Mi- nority Coalition, and Administrative Issues. ATTEND OPEN MEETING Thursday, Feb. 5-7:30 Conference Room 5, Michigan Union For Questions Call 763-4799 CO.M41iC COALEXE flC E 3 CEDAR-POINT AMUSEMENT PARK, Sandusky, Ohio, will hold on-campus interviews for sum- mer employment: Where does science fiction end and reality begin? It's all in the mind's eye. Be it the creative imagination used to produce Star Wars, The Black Hole, and The Empire Strikes Back, or the more scientific approach of hypothesis test- ing and experimentation, the distant galaxies of science fiction coalesce into reality with the advanced technology now being developed at a company called TRW. It was the Defense and Space Systems Group of TRW who made possible the Viking Lander biological experiment which looked for life on Mars and the High Energy Astronomical Observatory which looks for quasars, pulsars and black holes in deep space. Profession- als at TRW-DSSG are now involved in FEBRUARY 11,12 & 13 to interview graduates in scien- tific and technical disciplines. Contact the placement office to sche- dule your appointment. If unable to meet with us, send your resume to: College Relations Bldg. R5/B196 UM1/81 One Space Park energy lasers, communications systems, plus other future projects still consider- ed science fiction. A company called TRW will be on campus... I =