ARTS
The Michigan Daily Wednesday, March 5, 1986 Page 5
Records
The Jesus and Mary Chain-
Psychocandy (Relativity)
British pop gods of 1985. The press
has gone wild with praise over them.
And they are out having some fun. It
was their year indeed.
In England they are being heralded
as the next Beatles. They are young
and exuberant. And they dress in
simple black. And they write simple,
catchy pop songs. And they wanna be
stars. Well, they haven't had a num-
ber one hit yet, but they have made it
to the top 40 three times. But they are
causing a stir with their noise, noise,
noise and melodies. They may or may
not be changing pop music as we know
it.
The Jesus and Mary Chain are
great. They create a racket yet you
can still hum 'em.-The best of both
worlds. Ah, to be sixteen again.
Carefree and silly and stupid. That's
the life. No worries. The Chain live
that up. Young and drunk and happy.
There's nothing else.
In a way Psychocandy can be liken
to Adam and the Ants' Kings of the
Wild Frontier. Young and fresh, silly
and fun. But the Chain win out
because they avoid the cliches and the
innane and patronizing approach and
lyrics of the Ants. The Chain doesn't
take itself so seriously and there
aren't any messages. They're too
worried about getting drunk,
anyways. Just great pop music.
Their typical tune features a
shitload of aggressive guitar distor-
tion, more than Hendrix, a steady 4/4
beat with minor variations, a throb-
bing repetitious bass line, 2 or 3 chor-
ds at the most, sweet vocals that are
buried in the mix and a nice verse and
chorus all in under 3 minutes.
"Moving to Florida" is a psycho
bedtime story. The singer drawls in a
southern black mess, I'm moving
down to Florida/I'm gonna bowl
me a perfect game/They be
making tadpoles the size of Mer-
cury's in Florida/They be telling
Julio Iglesias what to sing...now.
In between those lines, the band
bashes out a 3 chord bit that parodies
the Clash's "Should I Stay or Should I
Go?" It's a complete joke and
hopefully everyone will get it. Almost
every song is great, and the three
main singles are here, including mine
(and New Musical Express's) single
of the year, "Never Understand."
Other highlights include, "Taste the
Floor" - their best song to date - "In
a Hole," "My Little Underground,"
and "Something's Wrong."
I love this record. It makes me feel
good and cool, man. It makes a good
party record. It makes a great beach
and surfing record. And I do think
people will get over the noise after a
few listens. Yes, the best of both
worlds.
-Richard Williams
WEEKEND
MAGAZINE
Fridays in The Daily
763-0379
I
Wanted
Books
Writers for the Arts Page
If you're interested in...
Michael Patterson as Cleante, and Mar Riehl as Marianne, are the young
lovers in Moliere's play "The Miser."
Off the mark
By Noelle Brower
I N HIS PLAY The Miser, Moliere
utilized all the ingredients in his
comedic bag of tricks. Though. The
Miser is not what is usually termed
high comedy, it is a testament to the
timeless appeal of the comedic farce.
Meadow Brook Theatre, in
Rochester Hills, presented a solid, if
somewhat disjointed version of this
French Classic this past weekend.
The main action of the play relies on
such traditional comic devices as
mistaken identities, young lovers
separated, intruding parents,
mischievous servants, and, of course,
a revealing climactic end at which all
is solved and everyone lives happily-
ever-after.
William Le Massena was Harpagon,
an avaricious old man who, though
r quite wealthy, lives in a run-down old
mansion and wears only rags. Le+
Massena's portrayal was comically
on the mark, his miser was a cross
between a crotchety old Mister Magoo
and Archie Bunker. Though Harpagon
has two children, Elise and Cleante,
his true offspring, at least spiritually,
is his money.
Harpagon lives in his own world
where money is his raison d'etre; he
is blissfully oblivious to the comedic
machinations going on under his roof,
he is so out of touch with the world
that he fancies he can marry the very
beautiful, and very young Marianne.
However, there is an obstacle to his
marrying Marianne, his son, Cleante
is in love with her, and she with him,
but Cleante is also in league with his
sister, Elise, who is in love with Har-
pagon's steward Valere, who is really
the long lost son of an aristocrat
posing as a steward so that he might
be nearer to Elise whom Harpagon
plans to marry off to the mysterious
and wealthy Anselme. The scenario
continues in much the same joyously
complex manner.
Every type of acting technique is
visible in this production. There is the
overly polished, highly modern style
of David Wayne Parker as La Fleche,
Cleante's servant, as opposed to the
decidedly comedic lazzi of Frosine,
played with humourous zeal by Jayne
Houdyshell. Houdyshell's Frosine, the
matchmaker with the heart of gold, is
the best characteriztaion of the entire
cast; the stage lights up when she ap-
pears., This overall haphazardous
characterization seems due to a
general lack of togetherness on the
part of the cast members. Though
each actor was individually good
within their roles, the overall effect
was disjointed, taking away from the
unity needed to carry out much of the
foolery on stage.
Despite these differences the
production works very well; even at
the end during the climax, the actors
didn't drop their characterization
continuing the comedic flow
throughout. Overall, the production
was a stylish, and highly entertaining
effort. The English adaptation by
Charles Nolte was loose and
believeable so the material didn't
seem dated wth obscure references
and jokes.
Meadow Brook Theatre is a cultural
program of Oakland University in
Rochester Hills. Performances will
continues everyday through March
23. For more information about per-
formance times and tickets call 377-
3300.
Choices
Liv Ullman
Bantam Books
In Ullman's first book, Changing,
she wrote about becoming a woman.
Now in Choices she writes about the
choices she faces as a woman, and
how she finds the courage to make
these choices.
The book is not what one would ex-
pect from a well-known actress. It
doesn't say one word about the
wealthy Hollywood elite, or their
common territory of southern
California.
Instead it takes us to poverty-
plagued Africa, Ethiopia, Asia, and
other countries where people die
every day of starvation and disease.
Through Ullman's poetic eyes it offers
the reader a glimpse of the suffering
of these people and how it affects the
author's life.
The book has no plot. Rather, it
covers a span of about three years,
with many flashbacks. It is the story
of how Ullman became involved in the
International Rescue Committee
(IRC) and the United Nations
Children's Fund (UNICEF). Through
this involvement she sees much suf-
fering and is constantly amazed at the
kindness she finds in the poorest
people in the world. For example, she
recounts the time when she was
visiting Ethiopia for UNICEF as the
First Female Ambassador of Good-
will and she see an old lady carefully
rationing dried nuts for her little son.
She peeled the nuts and fed the boy.
When Ullman sat down next to her
"without a word she peels a nut and
puts it in my mouth."
Her story is filled with heart-
wrenching images of deformed bodies
and starving eyes. Each page is like a
picture of poverty; each sentence an
underlying plea for help. It is enough
to make you want to reach for your
checkbook, or think twice about all
the food you waste every day. It is ob-
viously one of Ullman's intentions to
motivate people to care, and the book
is presented in such a touching man-
ner you won't want to turn away.
Written in the style of a journal,
Choices reflects Ullman's thoughts on
her personal relationships as well as
her travels. Watching her daughter
become a beautiful woman she ex-
periences love, envy, and a yearning
to repeat her precious childhood all
over again.
Through her relationship with her
lover, Abel, she learns to take charge
of her own life, and make decisions for
herself. She expresses her powerful
love for him, and the freedom this
love gives her.
She even briefly mentions her
professional career, explaining the
new sense of power she feels during
her first directing job. Some starring
roles are emphasized in Ullman's
search for deeper meaning in her
work.
Reading this book I met Ullman the
poet, the missionary, the woman, and
glimpses of the actress. Filled with
the talented author's sensitivity and
courage the reader is swept up in her
pursuit of fulfillment.
-By Lisa Berkowitz
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