MUSIC
-o
Continued from Page 4
of their singles from 1982-1986,
and it has great songs wall to wall.
My personal faves are "English
White Boy Engineer," which has
scratchy collapsing guitars, oodles
of odd beatbox sounds, and is a lot
more off kilter than the more
straight-forward version offered up
on the live album. "Zowee" is as
crazed and quirky as ever, which is
what you might expect from a song
about a "funky little love phone,"
with a funky little bass line, a
whining guitar, and vocal inflec -
tions that would make a voice
instructor puke up a larynx. "Do
The Square Thing" has been short -
ened and it's all the better for it.
"Death Of The European" is as love
bomb-like as ever as John Hyatt's
voice jumps from as goth punk as
Bela Lugosi to as innocent and pre-
pubescent crackly as a twelve year
old girl named Tracey.
From Art to Marx to Law to
Fun these three fat, cocky, and thin
Johns got the kinkiest beat around.
-Danny Plotnick
Died Pretty
Free Dirt (Big Time)
One fine spinning mass of ole.-
oresins here, in the popular music
sub-genre commonly known as
"pop" but bearing no resemblances
to said category's prototypical
vanguards Jack Jones, Dionne
Warwick, or Engelbert Humper-
dinck. No similarities to Alex
Chilton, the Velvet Underground,
or R.E..M. either, which prevents
this disc's inclusion under the
umbrella definition "pop" as it is
widely interpreted today.
The debut long player by
Australia's prime movers of this
enigmatic emblem slips uneasily
into either niche, carving out a
groove (and I do mean groove) of
its very own.
There's an expansive, Ansel
Adams-ish feel to the songs (and
artwork) on Free Dirt, evoking
images of wide open spaces and
desert winds whipping solitary
cacti, or, to be more geographically
correct, a vast expanse of Outback
made up of equal parts tall weeds
and coarse sand where the truly
Southern sun bleaches scattered
marsupial bones milky white.
If guitarist Brett Myers' chords
WaNq
were camera angles instead of sharp
shrill notes, they would be
sweeping pans of weathered moun-
taintops and soaring aerial shots of
the rugged terrain. His jagged (not
jangly) licks act like a sandstorm,
whipping up the gravel and rocks
and firing them into your eyes.
Prank Brunetti's keyboards sound
like ripples on the surface of a clear
blue pond, a long-rumored but
unverified oasis tucked away in the
shadow of a gnarled hillside. Echoes
of the work of the Doors' Ray
Manzarek and Radio Birdman's Pip
Hoyle can be found among his
fluttering instrumental interludes.
On top of all of these
instruments the sandpaper vocals of
Ronald S. Peno pour like a raging
rapids, with craggy chunks of
harmony carried along in the
crashing white water.
Of course, no hiking boots, life
preserver, or khakis are needed to
enjoy this album, but you will need
to commit yourself for 40 minutes
at a time. No songs jump off the
platter and fly at you. Rather, the
LP works as a cohesive whole,
playing subtle games at first, then
sneaking up as you bend to tie your
shoes, bowling you over with its
majesty. It might take some time
to get into (look how long it took
lr ' .. C
I
J
Have you ever had "One of Those Days"
that seemed to last a week? Then have
I got news for you, oh depressed one!
Listen to Ramona, The Corner Market
Coffee Lady. I'm an equal opportunity
shoulder to lean on.
Age isn't an issue, nor race, creed or
Jr shoe size...Honey, look to your heart.
/ See what's true. Isolate it.
Then come to the Corner Market and get
a nice fattening pastry, a cup of steaming
coffee...If you feel like it, we'll go
shopping or dye your hair.
"Hunan Garden reaps the rewards
of fine preparation."
from Detroit Free Press, March 21, 1986
YAM
Specialzingin Hunan, Szechuan &Mandarin Cubne
* DAILY SPECIALS SUNDAY BUFFET "Alt You Can Eat"
11:30 a.m.-3 p.m.
s BANQUET Only $6.99, Children 3-10 $3.50,under 3 free
FACiLITIES Bring your church bulletin & receive 10% off
MAJOR CREDIT CARDS ACCEPTED
Open Sun.-Thurs. 11 a.m.-10 p.m., Fri. & Sat. 11 a.m.-11 p.m.
2905 WASHTENAW " PHONE 434-8399
(across from K-Mart & Wayside Theater)
me to say what I wanted to say),
but Free Dirt is certainly worth the
wait.
-Mike Rubin
Skinny Puppy
MIND: The Perpetual Intercourse
(Capitol)
Here is an album that is a
welcome addition to the myriad of
recent releases by new music bands
currently infesting the shelves of
record stores across North America.
MIND: The Perpetual Intercourse is
the first full-length release from
Skinny Puppy, and their first
release of any kind available directly
to the United States (an EP was
released in Canada).
For the most part, the songs on
MIND carry a distinctive, mesmer-
izing rhythm that creates a sense of
fluidity among the songs. It's often
difficult to distinguish where a
particular track ends and the next
one begins. On top of this, an
array of sporadic, thrashing per-
cussion has been splattered, giving
the songs a catchy, yet sometimes
disturbing, sound. On most of the
tracks, lyrics are mostly incom -
prehensible, if they exist at all. On
the haunting "200 years," for
example, a background voice that
sounds like Rod Serling delivers a
cryptic message.
Not all the songs, however, are
so abstract. "Love" starts off like a
Chariots of Fire rip-off, but quickly
moves into a sexual dialogue:
Naked... /...hunk... /...clutching... /
..sweating... / . ..touch me please...
/...s love you too... One partic-
ularly impressive cut, "Antagon-
ism," is a stream of images, carried
off by the band's characteristic
mesmerizing wall of rhythm.
Overall, this record is highly
enjoyable, without that all-too-
common pretentious sound of many
new bands. Skinny Puppy's use of
a solid underlying rhythm, sur-
rounded with some unusual and
often suprising interjections, com-
bine to create a very refreshing
sound.
-Dominic Maxwell
208 S. First, Ann Arbor 996-8555
This Week at The Blind Pig:
Feb 20-21 DOMINO
22 WOMYN'S NITE
23 The PHD's
- 24 THE COWBOY JUNKIES
25 BIG GARAGE
26 JEANNIE &
THE DREAMS
27-28 TRACY LEE AND
THE LEONARDS
Drink Specials Every
MON $1 SHOTS
TUE $3 BEER PITCHERS
WED $2 MARGARITA MUGS
THU $1 WATERMELONS
T
M A G A Z I N E
-qw
Forest Pnot 9"y,
:..: : .: :: . ::": :::* ":;.r2 Bay gt l Pi %ltoo
tm : :iati tti::::":::::1 tQvendaie _
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Zllw 13 15 M ung Gi ford Fairgrove " KWim-
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6 58 8.1 Arthur 41 Rch w ov , Ile r 7Kngto'
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Its a c ampuws fcli
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VOLUME 5, NO. 17
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ra, gads prl see:
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Ramapo 16
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uendave Rwer
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Park IGd }tY West,
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(COAST)
"i lunutnn t Pr
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My guess is that you'll feel better after
the coffee. You may even ask yourself--"
What's with all this doubting rubbish?"
And we'll both laugh at you!
G
9
.i ,( W I a' ta,.t / WOOO
4,' . \*x Adge,{e""
- y, i,, Rutherfot "d
/~4,
rNu - Lyn~nhr, v '
{ l / rlrnkt1#j -,* t1r
P i Ayonne X
6 ibi8 * V*:.
y r *. ,. t rs
/PO~~~Vii':
I'll make it easy. Bring in this ad for
1/2 off a cup of coffee. The sooner you
do, the better you'll feel.
Remember, if y
Corner MarketI
been to market.
Ground Flo
Weekdays 7:
Weekends 1
Coupon ex
you haven't been to the
lately, honey, you haven't
or, Michigan Union
:30am-12midnight
2noon-7:00pm
xpires March 1, 1987
..y..'.
~
':443
_ nn i i
Plus: Bruce Willis
PAGE 12
WEEKEND/FEBRUARY 20, 1987.
Jnterview:-To Mn-aghan ofDemine'