RTS Page 8 Saturday, November 1, 1980 The Michigan Daily Talking Hea By MARK DIGITON For those of you who don't know already, Talking Heads have found their groove. Both on their new album, Remain in Light, and in their ap- pearance at Masonic Auditorium, Talking Heads proved their facility in mixing an idiosyncratic vision of African rhythms, modern funk, and post-glitter technology into a sound that is a surprisingly logical extension from their past work. In some ways they seem like a completely different band, It's at 1140 South University 668-8411 yet they haven't really changed at all. The began the concert relatively un- pretentiously with "Psycho Killer" augmented by additional guitarist Adrian Belew. In retrospect, the early appearance of this song in their set seems to have been an obligatory recognition of how they used to sound. The immense changes they have been through as a group were already ap- parent, though-Tina Weymouth's bass line had an extra funk catch to it and David Byrne's guitar work had an unusually scratchy rhythmic edge to it. It took a while for Belew's super- technical style-with all its special ef- fects, feedback, and neck-bending-to fit into the, context of Talking Heads, but soon his mercurial solos began to seem like the perfect counterparts to the jittery rhythm work and solos of David Byrne. ONE BY ONE, new members joined the band on each song-first a per- cussionist, then a female backup singer, then Bernie Worrell on keyboards and Busta "Cherry" Jones on bass. Finally, all nine players were s: Play on stage and their new sound began to coalesce. They first hit stride with an extended version of "I Zimbra" and their psycho-funk version of "Drugs." At the start, there were a few rough edges; the female vocalist was a little forced in some spots and Belew's guitar was getting undue attention. Things still seemed tentative, uncertain. But with "Crosseyed and Painless" the band hit a magic groove that ren- dered them unstoppable. Before long, the dancers had beat out the security guards for possession of the aisles, and Masonic was transformed from a staid auditorium into a giant dance palace. Only then was it clear what an awesome force this group has become. They deserve a new adjective beyond "tight." Somehow their unity extended beyond the simple ability to keep a common tempo. The den'sity of sound prevented its division into individual identities. They seemed to build momentum, hit crescendoes, and trade licks as one unbelievable unity. The most amazing moment came in their encore of "Take Me to the River," in which they tangibly hesitated at the end of each verse to infuse just that much more tense energy into the chorus that followed. Their cohesion was evident on their faces. In place of David Byrne's ner- vous self-concentration reinforced by the fixed attention of other band mem- bers on him, all nine band members trade easy affection in the present in- carnation of the band. Their new funky format allows each player the freedom to concentrate on their own con- tribution to the sound. Relieved of his focal position, Byrne also seems to have stretched out and relaxed in his playing and presentation. At various times he took up his old stiff, stretching-stork posture, but soon every joint in his body would give way to a wobbly bobbing or a modified King Tut dance step. Whereas his guitar solos also used to seem somewhat self-conscious and ten- tative, Belew's presence seems to give him the freedom to relax with his playing and follow it wherever it may lead. Other members of the band seem to have grown just as much from their association with their touring partners. Tina Weymouth evidenced an ever greater knowledge of funk bass lines than on the last tour. The fact that she often acted as a rhythm bassist to Busta Jones' "lead" bass in no way signifies that her playing was any less important to the band. Jerry Harrison's keyboard work has also improved in that just playing next to Bernie Worrell (for- merly of Parliament/Funkadelic) seems to have totally revamped his style. It's funny that he seems to be playing pretty much what he used to play, but now there's an extr -funky syncopation to it. THE NEW expanded lineup of Talking Heads is only one indication of their consistent refusal to take anything for granted. To an even greater degree than on past tours, they have significantly rethought each song within their new format. For example, "Take Me to the River" became the gospel rave-up it was always meant to be. Other songs like "Drugs" and "I Zimbra" made it clear how essential this stage of, the development was for Talking Heads; every other version of these songs paled in comparison to its incarnation in concert. But the Heads took this revitalization of their material one step further than they were required; many of their new songs were also substantially altered for perfor- mance-a new half-speed intro to "Crosseyed and Painless," a new vocal arrangement to "The Great Curve," and a reworked "Born Under Pun- ches." In almost all instances Thursday night, Talking Heads pushed them- selves one step more than they had that funky music. WF A NEW MINICOURSE CULTURAL BORDER CROSSINGS: Russian Literature and the West 1953-1980 Division 495, Course 312 November 6 through 25 Tuesday & Thursday, Auditorium "B" Angell Hall Thirteen hours of lectures and discussion, 1 credit The course is offered on a credit/no-credit basis. No prerequisites. All lectures, discussions, and readings in ENGLISH. One 5-page paper. Lecturer: Vasily Aksenov, one of the foremost Russian prose writers and dramatists of the post-Stalin period. Other participants: Deming Brown, Carl Proffer, Alexei Tsvetkov, and. Igor Yefimov. A survey of the most important developments in Russian cuture, especially Russian literature, since the death of Stalin. The main theme of Aksenov's lecture's will be the araduol openinq up of Soviet society from t953 to the present-the ways in which Russians re-discovered their own cultural history, discovered the West's cultural accomplishments, and began to create a new and vital literature themselves. The course will end with a symposium devoted to a variety of contemporary cultural developments in the USSR and in the new Russian emigration-as well as predictions for the immediate future. TO REGISTER: All LS&A students go to room 1221 Angell Hall (get over-ride at Slavic Department 3040 MLB) Graduate students get Add forms in your own departments and go to Lorch Hall. V_ I 25% OFF- Baskets, Hemp Bags, Palm Trivets & Mats 40% OFF-Macrame Plant Hangers Coming from this year's Ferria Nocional de Artesonia Mexicano -LEATHER FURNITURE -SILVER/COPPER JEWELRY -BLANKETS -CHRISTMAS DECORATIONS THE PLUMED SERPENT The most unique in Mexican folk arts and crafts 330 South Main-Downtown 663-6040 0 MASTER CHARGE " SEMCA * VISA Daily Photo by MAUREEN O'MALLEY And you wondered why they were called Talking Heads? Lead singer/guitarist/songwriter and head Head David Byrne relaxes backstage at Masonic after wowing a near-capacity crowd Thursday night with the band's new, fortified-with-the-funk lineup. to ... and they never faltered. But the fact that they have reached a logical culminating point in their career in no way indicated that they have reached their highest potential. One of the astounding qualities that Talking Heads possess is their absolute refusal to take the easiest path. We can rest assured that their ability to see music as a growing process and not just an end product will lead to lots of good albums and great concerts in the future. Maybe it shouldn't surprise me so much that Talking Heads are not only one of the most interesting, but also one of the most popular bands in America. ON THE WRONG TRACK?: TheR oches play for laughs 101 By DENNIS HARVEY . I can handle the decline of Devo, the B-52's and all the other amusing one- note concepts into jokey repetition as harmlessly predictable as the yuks on a sit-com. But it's harder to watch the Roches turn themselves into a joke-not just because the joke is so limited, but because they are (or were) so much more than just a concept. Thursday night's concert at the Power Center caught the Roches in the act of confining themselves to a Brand X image-that of thrift shop-attired loons, cracked sorority sisters hanging dazed and bemused somewhere bet- ween camp and sheer obliviousness. The act is enormous fun, but what it lacks nags at me endlessly-surroun- ded by so many less talented and likeable performers who take them- selves with deadly seriousness, why do the Roches have to play it safe and not take themselves seriously at all? MAGGIE AND Terre and Suzzy's music is bent folk, schoolgirlish in its silly, disarming fun ("We're going away to Ireland soon/ I hope they have health food in Dublin/and Strawberry- apricot pie/if they don't have those things in Dublin/we'll probably die") and its sexual evasiveness ("She at the window/and the Prince upon the bed/they were for an hour before he said/If she had no place else/she was welcome to stay/but she'd better get back/and she thanked him the same/leaving him pretty and high and dry"). They're less common-sensible than the McGarrigles, less gleefully satirical than Loudon Wainwright III, existing in some whimsically touching netherland in between. As writers, their viewpoint varies-Suzzy is a straightforward, as- yet-unsubtle clown, Terre more subtly playful, and Maggie provides the unex- pected soft center. It all adds up to a kind of quirky, affecting reticence, a shy poking at and skittering away from the feelings of romantic frustration un- der the facade. The pulling back from emqtional directness-just enough-in songs like "Pretty and High" -and "Hammond Song" is engaging and, in a peculiar way, completely honest. They can hint around and back off and be frivolous because it's a natural defen- se-the closer you get to the truth, the more pain is apparent, and the harder it is to face head-on. The Power Center concert rarely touched on what's really likeable about the Roches, though it provided an exhaustive look at what's superficially entertaining about them. Gargling on stage, constantly posturing, indulging in amusingly spacey audience raps between songs, the sisters were amiable, but pondering on the precious-the only thing keep them from being cutesey was the fact that they are cute. Clad in shopping-bag- lady clothes (with a difference: they Daily Photo by JOHN HAGEN Terry, Suzzy and Maggie Roche appeared in full Salvation Army regalia Wednesday night at the Power Center, offering their small but enthusiastic audience such folky bizarroes as "The Irish Were Egyptians -Long Ago" and a memorably offbeat three-part harmonic version of the "Hallelujah Chorus." were clean), they posed their way through 13 songs, then gamely came back for a couple of encores. THE DIFFERENCES between the sisters that have seemed muted on record become distinct in person. Suz- zy's slim composing abilities and harsh voice have to a modest extent stranded her as "the other one"-the klutz with the laugh lines-on the two albums to date, but in concert she aggressively grabs the limelight. She is funny, but her campy gesticulations can get to be a pain, horning in on the sweeping urgency of "Hammond Song" or vam- ping the audience during a sister's solo spot. Terre (the mystery is solved-she's the one with the short hair) also indulges in genial nonsense and comically blunt intonations, but when she calms down, the effect is stunning-her lithe soprano turned unexpectedly breathy and incandescent on "West Virginia," a simple ballad that seemed a bit too dramatic on Maggie and Terre's fine, deleted 1975 LP Seductive Reasoning,, but which provided an entrancing interlude of calm in concert. But the real enigma of the group is Maggie, who scarcely said a word terest, but sandwiched between the strenuous camp of her sisters, her washed-put immobility became sublimely funny. REDUCED BY themselves to something of a comedy act, the Roches generally fared best with their silliest material. Loudon Wainwright III's "Golfing Blues" fit this scheme ideally, with its typical Wainwright humor-of- banality lyrics and hiccuped har- monies. The sisters have the blithe style to carry off Cole Porter's -in- souciant "It's Bad for Me," even if the audience response inappropriately stamped the piece as a total gag. They achieve a kind of divine inap- propriateness on the concert standard "Hallelujah Chorus," snapping fingers to the beat of "Praise to the Lord," but the jokiness was less inspired on the new album's "Nurds" and "The Death of Suzzy Roche." The latter, a parable about the dangers of celebrity (Suzzy is done in by a jealous laundromat worker) is one of those great-on-first- listening jokes, with a lame punchline, that exhausts itself too readily a couple of playings later. "Nurds," shorn of its wildly derivative but impressive wall of sound on record, has to stand on its Lisa Lupner yukkery alone-and it collap- Graduate to something better You've invested a great deal of time, interest and energy to get your degree. Now you can really make it pay off. With a career at Lear Siegler. 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