I ARTS Thursday, December 2, 1982 The Michigan Daily Page 7 '' - . --' I i s~,;~ r;"."' r°°. C...ruisin' : ' '' . ,- ,> All your favorite local bands on one album $ By Ben Ticho (Drum roll, please) k ... . ........ __ _ JW L II 4 /, ti OW / (LI _._.. . ONi ( C FtF ' S , r' r l s..+uPi AND NOW, direct from Joe's Star Lounge in beautiful downtown Ann Arbor, Michigan, what you've been waiting breathlessly for, this town's fir- st compilation album, a chance to hear your fav local band live on record, a chance for said local band to get heard outside, maybe break out of this musical wasteland into promise, popularity, and prosperity. It's the Ann Arbor Music Project Cruisin' Ann Ar- bor show ! Yes, and a fine little Whitman sam- pler it is, too. Such a diverse selection of sweets, from country and blues to the latest styles and fashions. Something for everyone, as designed by AAMP founders, who hope the album will spark interest in local groups by larger, perhaps national organizations. Two thousand copies are set to hit the stores today, in and around Ann Arbor, Detroit, and all over the place. The sound quality is, by and,-large, quite good for a live recording. Master mixer Tom Bray deserves high com- mendation for overcoming crowd noise, general commotion, and the Star Lounge's (ahem) difficult acoustics during the four-day fest this Septem- ber. Here's a brief rundown on what you'll get when you pick up your copy: George Bedard and the Bon- nevilles-"What a Shame" A fine introduction to Ann Arbor's country/rock tradition. While not terribly adventurous, "What a Shame" is solid, pointing up the absence on Cruisin' of talented local R&B men Steve Nardella and Dick Siegel. The Blue Front Persuaders-"Up Yer Nose" Bray's best work: Steve Wethy's playful piano leaps out into one of the happiest drug songs I've heard. Charlie Tysklind puts the sax in his mouth to make "Up Yer Nose" a rip-snorting earful indeed. Urbations-"Surf Board Baby" Beach music in Ann Arbor? The Urbs take to the' Main Street waves with multi-sax section wailing away. "Surf Board Baby" is a new song with in- fluences stretching way back before the Wilson brothers. Ragnar Kvaran-"Cookies for Breakfast" Not the most appropriate selection from Ragnar Kvaran's ample and diverse all-original selection. "Cookies" is a short, minimalist vocal solo by Kvaran which fails to capitalize on the group's powerful guitar playing. Steve Newhouse-"Mama Brought Me Up"; Ann Arbor country! Aw, those steel guitars and hittin' the bottle wailers always get me in the . . . somewhere. Newhouse milks "Mama" for all she's worth, and the suction yields smooth results. On the other hand, Newhouse himself admits that "playing in these dingy bars just might be my destiny." Peter Madcat Ruth with Jason Boekeloo-"Watchin the World Go By" Cruisin's most comfortable (and longest) track is laid back work by a very human and musically self-assured Madcat. His kalimba background, with Boekeloo's bass, bring an African taste to typically masterful harmonica blues. Non Fiction-"Walkie Talkie" A very overlooked band, considering. Vocalist Larry and bassist Ben Miller are twins doubling your pleasure with creative noise. "Walkie Talkie" is a grating, fraternal dialogue. VVT-"The Easy Way" VVT was fortunate enough to get the best performance from their show on record, and it's my personal favorite on Cruisin'. "The Easy Way" combines a strong bass line with guitar harmonics and cynical Talking Heads style lyrics. SLK-"Window Dressing" Art Brownell's vocals come out better than most, but "Window" doesn't move like Slic does normally. Also, not a ska song, which has plusses and minuses for a popular band whose greatest suc- cesses herd 'em onto the dance floor. Cult Heroes-'"'Lexington" The sound fades in and out of this punkish piece sung by Hiawatha Bailey who wrote it in a federal prison ins Lexington. Good instrumental work It Play-"The Tunnel of Love" I'm not going to tease them anymore about Dr. Rhythm who really does .a capable job on this very tight anatomical trip to the tunnel. Mike Gould and the Gene Pool Band-"All Messed Up anrd Nowhere to Go" Therspace man has a potent sense of humor. The vocals sound urgent but brittle. _ _ --N - -- 'Cruisin' Ann Arbor,' Ann Arbor's first compilation album, is available at many local record stores. Records Yazoo- 'Upstairs At Eric's' (Mute/Sire) The name Yazoo is probably un- familiar to most people in this country at the moment, although the band enjoy considerable popularity and critical acclaim in Britain; their two successful singles "Don't Go" and "Only You" are both included on this debut album. An unlikely looking and sounding duo-Vince Clarke on keyboards and Genevieve Alison (Alf) on vocals-at- tempt to blend a stretching, historic tradition of earthy R&B singing with the new '80s electro-pop technology. When this works; at its best on the opening track "Don't Go" or the minor U.S. hit "Situation" the result is a song of immense energy and vitality, together with a borad emotional and expressive range that continues throughout the album-from the bub- bling danceability of "Situation" or "Bad Connection," to the heartfelt anger of "Goodbye Seventies"-"I'm glad we don't hear you any more/I'm tired of fighting in your fashion war." There's also the sadly reflective melancholy of a song like "Winter Kills"-a beautifully sung vocal that calls to mind Billie Holiday's "Lover Man" or "Gloomy Sunday." If there is a fault with this LP it would have to be the (rare) instances that suggest the two styles have not yet combined as effectively as they could. Vince Clarke's rambling electronic ex- perimentation on "I Before E except af- ter C" for instance falls headlong into the same eclectic jumble as bands like Cabaret Voltaire, or the early Human League albums. Occasionally too there's the criticism of the basic ryth- mic patterns being overly sparse and simplistic. "In My Room" on side one is almost totally dominated by the familiar metallic rap of an electronic drum machine. There is no doubt however, that Clarke can write a good melody-"Only You" and "Too Pieces" being the most memorable amongst this collec- tion-and looking at the album as a whole there are many reasons to be op- timists about the future of the duo, once they have reconciled their basic dif- ferences and idiosyncracies into a common direction that can borrow freely from the two influences-but hopefully not fall back into the musical or lyrical cliches of either. Their commencial potential has already been proved in Europe, but if recently (surprisingly) successful ban- ds like The Human League and Soft Call can have chart records over here, then there is no reason why Yazoo, with their wonderfully unpredictable and original talent should not do the same. MICHIGAN ECONOMIC SOCIETY Wine and Cheese Party and Students and Faculty Mass Meeting Thurs., Dec. 2nd 4-6 pm 101 Lorch Hall Transcripts reveal discrepancies FOR YOUR HOLIDAY SHOPPING CONVENIENCE, OPEN MONDAY THROUGH FRIDAY EVENINGS 'TIL 9:00 P.M., SATURDAY 'TIL 6:00 P.M. in 'Twilight Zone' in LOS ANGELES (AP) - A special ef- fects expert says he warned a movie director not to put explosives in a hut during filming of a Vietnam War scene, shortly before actor Vic Morrow and two children were killed by a falling helicopter. But despite the warning, explosives were detonated, flinging debris that severed the rotor of the helicopter, according to transcripts of an in- vestigation of the crash. Morrow, 53, My-a Dinh Le, 7, and Renee Chen, 6, were killed in the July 23 accident during the filming of the movie version of the old "Twilight Zone" television series. Special effects coordinator Paul St- ewart sasy he warned director John Landis that planting explosives in a building "might blow something away."~ But other film crew members told in- vestigators from the National Tran- sportation Safety Board they heard Stewart ordering the charges placed in the hut after Landis and Stewart discussed the matter. The interviews are contained in more than 600 pages of NTSB transcripts made available to the Los Angeles Herald Examiner, which published ex- cerpts Wednesday. Landis told investigators, "When a stunt man says to yu, 'This is too dangerous,' or a pilot says 'I cannot do this,' which happens a lot, you then say, 'OK, we've got to think of something else.' vestiga tion Landis never specifically denies telling Stewart to put explosives in the hut, nor does he deny ordering the helicopter to fly lower, as other wit- nesses allege, although he says he does not recall the helicopter order. 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