w w w T IRW lqw MUsic What Tower lacks power in unbalanced album Tower of Power Tower of Power Cypress Records The Tower of Power Horn Sec- tion, occasional stars of Late Night with David Letterman a la Paul Schaeffer's illustrious guest list, have come out with a new album, self-titled as usual- The quality of the new release is overwhelmingly inconsistent, which is a major disappointment considering the talent of the band members. While one piece will set your limbs a-reelin and a-rockin with an irresistible up-tempo riff that would make Mrs. Magillacutty of the Little Rascals shake, rattle and roll, the next will be some soppy, boneless piece of slop that should only be played in the most / \ u~J 'VIE Specializ nauseating of dance studios. The only rational explanation for such an irrational and mediocre al- bum is that the powerful Tower must be in some desperate attempt to appeal to the mass market of junk, in the hopes that they can make some mass dineros. Songs like "Boys' Night Out" will make you and your neighbors gyrate beautifully as the inspiring horns belt out their best. You can ignore the rest. -Akim D. Reinhardt Lyle Lovett Pontiac MCA Records typical country topics though with a modern outlook. Emmylou Harris contributes wonderful backing vocals on two tracks, the best of which is "Walk Through The Bottomland." Side two, however, brings an abrupt change of musical styles from country to nightclub jazz. The steel and acoustic guitars get thrown into the closet and saxophones and a jazzy piano are brought out. Even the backing vocals change from country to soulful. Expecting more country sounds and receiving a horn section and tinkling piano instead is unnerv- ing at first. However, Lovett's ses- sion players are equally adept at mel- low jazz and pull off the change of pace with few problems. The ability to switch from coun- try to jazz is great, but overall the album is so perfectly played and pro- duced that it becomes boring. This puts the spotlight on Lovett's lyric writing ability, which works as he writes very well. But one gets the feeling that if the musicians had been allowed to stretch out more within either the country or jazz framework, the music could have been much more interesting. -Chuck Skarsaune Lyle Lovett stretches out on new release. Salif Keita Soro Mango Records The revolutionary Mali noble, Salif Keita, an albino descendent of Sondiata Keita (the 13th century Mali empire builder), has just re- leased Soro, his first solo album since 1982. Since Keita's soulful stints with the Ivory Coast based Ambassadeurs, he has refined and molded his music into a global per- spective with a decidedly West African whiplash. He has also joined the extraordinary French/African fu- sion scene in Paris as he teams up on Soro with a variety of "hip" musicians, both black and white. "Wamba," Soro 's opener, starts things off with a pulpy horn flourish, then kicks into an archetypal West African funk pulse delineated by thousands of bar bands there. The tune is flavored with loping, Sahelian soul - that weird intersection of Arabic, Spanish, Afro-Cuban, Afro-American, and ancient West African elements. But the track really takes on weight when Salif Keita begins singing. His throaty, soaring cry erupts See MUSIC, Page 10 The rap on Lyle Lovett is "New side of Pontiac, his second MCA Country Traditionalist," and the first release, falls right into this label. The sound is "LA Country"- highly polished music, with super compe- tent session players backing Lovett's acoustic guitar and vocals. The ar- rangements feature traditional country instruments such as pedal-steel and sing In The Latest Titles acoustic guitars, and the lyrics cover they're wearing COUCH PHOTO: 1)Yuca is wearing: Vintage cotton plaid shorts, $8.00; Vintage mint cotton sport shirt, $7.50; Straw fedora, $8.00 All clothing available at Rebop Sunglasses available at Stairway to Heaven. SHEA contnuedfrom Page 21 apart and watches they never wear. We stopped at Chess King and talked to Tim. "Acid-wash jeans are hot," Tim said, "But our clientele is buying nicer clothes." "How's business?"I asked. "It's kind of slow." Well, Chess King couldn't have been too fashionable. So we went next door to Merry-Go-Roum, where Prince was blasting on the radio, and high school kids swarmed. We talked extensively with Stephanie, a sales- person. She said current fashion trends dictated blakand white stripes for women and sailor suites for men. Yes. Sailor suites. Like Popeye the Sailor NMn Toottoot. Stephanie also said my sweater should go, and as we left Merry-Go- Round, I stopped in the middle of the mall and thought for a moieLI was debating whether I should buy anything. I thought of the people I know who spend their last dimes in the name of "fashion," and others who literally knock themselves dead for it. I was thinking of the dieting. The excarcising. The scarf img. "What do you think of my out- fit?" I asked Jeff. "You look i"ne." "You wanna get aother Slurpee?" "OK." 2) Scott is wearing: Stairway to heaven cotton T-shirt, $12.00; Vintage cotton pyjama bottoms, $24.00 662-3175 All clothing availale at Stairway to OR DETROIT Heaven INTERVIEW PHOTO: 1) Scott is wearing: Hardwick grey wool pinstriped suit, $245.00; Briar red paisley silk tie, $27.50 All clothing available at Marty's G ra 2) Lisanna is wearing: Habersham wool genplaid suit, $235.00 Off to N( Available at The Bagpiper BIKER PHOTOS: SEE US! 1) Ben is wearing Sea Isle white FOR GRE conan cardigan,$165.00; Van Boven FINANCIN white and blue striped cotton poplin walking shorts, S; Van Boven Rebates silk blue and white striped All clothing available at Van Boven 2) Nena is wearing: What's -g8A Happening grey cotton tank top, $600; Matching grey/bkuek striped mir, $30.00 Sterling silver earings, $28.00 All clothing and jewelry available at R'S Orchid Lane WM BE 3) April is wearing: InGear "_DODGE polycotton cycling hat, $4.98; Ny ycra cycling shorts, $35.00; Available at Campus Bike and Toy Con hand dyed T-shirt, $18.00 Available at Moe's. duates: ew Jobs & need good AT ARBOR DODGE EAT PRICES & EASY IG FOR GRADUATES! 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