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ARTS
Tuesday, September 20, 1988
The Michigan Daily
Page 8
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Walter Salas-Humara
Lagartija
Record Collect
It's probably unfair to compare
the solo release from Walter Salas-
Humara with his work as lead singer
of the Silos, but in this case, it
seems justified - the album features
a song called "Cuba" (the title of one
of the Silos' EPs) and backup guitar
help on the first song, "Carol," from
fellow Silo Bob Rupe.
Salas-Humara's voice, when
backed by a band with the power of
the Silos, can carry its own; but by
itself, it's not enough.
His plaintive tones succeed at
times - like on the melodic "Wide
Open" - but at other times they
just become annoying, especially in
the repetitive cries of "Carol."
Repetition can work if the singer
uses varied vocal inflections, but
Salas-Humara obviously thinks
mournful refrains are enough.
To Salas-Humara's credit, he is a
good lyricist, and the album holds
together thanks to his observations
about male/female relationships.
Especially good is "Don't Go
Home": "Sometimes decisions are
hard for me to make/ I know it
bothers you when I hesitate/ It
happens when I imagine what you're
thinking/ And don't just ask you/
But what really matters now darling
is that I'm thinking of you always."
Also to Salas-Humara's credit:
Though side one of the album is
weak, side two shows real promise,
except fob (ironically enough) the
dull "Prgmises."
If he starts his next solo effort
where he left off on Lagartija, he
should merit attention apart from his
"other" work. In the meantime,
though, check him out on the next
Silos release - not Lagartija.
-Lisa Magnino
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The highlight of feedtime's career to date was this meal, recorded on film, which they ate
in the very kitchen once used as the site for Bruce Springsteen's Brilliant Disguise video.
feed time
Cooper-S
Rough Trade Records
"hope you can understand that we like the songs
that we've done and stick by what we see as their
original purpose - good music and not a lot of
unnecessary bullshit... say it and say it good, or at
least the best you can." - from the liner notes to
'Cooper-S.
Cooper-S is the third album by the mighty
Australian trio feedtime (and yes, it is spelled e.e.
cummings-style). The band's two previous records,
feedtime (AUS, Aberrant) and Shovel (Rough Trade)
are already classics of the highest order. Cooper-S is
as good as its predecessors and reinforces feedtime's
reputation as a band than can make rock and roll
unbelievably fresh and vital.
The feedtime sound is a deep, growling rumble,
with chainsaw guitars, throbbing muscle of love
bass, and unstoppable, blurting drums. This sound is
an undeniable force matched by very few of their
contemporaries. Factor in an unprepossesing attitude,
street smarts, and a complete mastery of their form,
feedtime are right there in the league with godheads
Sonic Youth and Spacemen 3.
It takes no small amount of guts and talent for a
band to cover the Beach Boys' "Fun, Fun, Fun," the
Ramones' "Loudmouth," and X's "I Don't Wanna Go
Out" and not fall flat on their faces. And it takes a
load of courage and inspiration to play the Rolling
Stones' "Paint it Black" and "Street Fighting Man"
with a tenth of the power of Keef and the boys.
99 out of a 100 bands couldn't handle it. The
expectations are just too high for mortal bands to
even think they can reinterpret such classics. History
shows us that it's easy for a band to play well-
meaning but pathetically dispirited homages to their
influences (see R.E.M.'s Velvet Underground and
Wire covers). It's another and altogether more difficult
task to recontextualize classic songs without
dissipating the powerful essence that made them great
in the first place.
feedtime show a dedication to the functional power
of rock and roll that too many have forgotten. Jerry
Lee Lewis, the Stooges, the Ramones - all the great
stylists knew the indescribably exhilirating rush of
wild crunching rock and roll. feedtime, without a
doubt, are cut from the same mold as these artists.
They are that good. But don't take my word for it,
listen to Cooper-S and rediscover what rock and roll
is all about.
--Brian Berger
Michigan Daily
ARTS
763-0379
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Save
Big Bucks on a
- I
Let's Active clips Wire
North Carolina's Let's Active (above) will replace Wire on
the triple-bill with the Churh and Tom Berlaine October 9
at the Michigan Theater. The British (former) punk icons
cancelled due to "logistical problems."
Forester Sisters Burn Like Wildfire! News
at 11
The Forester Sisters
Warner Brothers
The Forester Sisters are country singers. Not instrumentalists. Not
songwriters. Just singers. And they do what they do best here on this
LP: singing fine, uncontrived pop with a country backdrop.
Pop country is not a new phenomenon. It's simply country/western
watered down to appeal to the AM listener's ears, high on gloss,
jingles, and hooks. But I'm not afraid to say I like listening to
transistors, and I like the Foresters. There's plenty of gloss, but it ain't
blinding, and there's sure plenty of substance here too.
First of all, the material here is top rate, ranging from a neat-o rapid-
fire version of the Beatles' "I've Just Seen a Face" to a sacred song and
more straightforward c/w. Just about everything here is immediately'
memorable and hummable, if not out-and-out shower concertino
material. And the solos and swell harmonies are backed by some of
Nashville's finest musicians - Bela Fleck on banjo, Jerry Douglas on-
dobro, Sam Bush on mandolin and Mark O'Connor on fiddle. But in they
end, the songs and musicianship all ride, and ride well, on the Foresters'
voices.
- V.J. Beauchamp
Correction
Hillel Foundation was mistakenly identified as the sponsr of the
Shanik-Fleischer forum for 1988 "Jews in American Cinema" Film
Festival in a page 15 headline of yesterday's Daily Arts section.
The Shirley and William Fleischer Foundation funds the antual
Shanik-Fleischer forum in order to explore the creative interaction b&.
tween Jewish people and the larger societies in which they have lived.
The foundation seeks to examine the roots of Jewish intel.e.tuaI.and
cultural activity in Western civiization and the links between this
actvity and norms deriving from the Jewish heritage.
The forum began in 1986 and has since held four conference
The Daily apologizes for the error.
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4
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11
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4'.
*
$v .,Q
Do you agree with our music
editor who says, "Lynch is
cool"?
I.
Do you use the phrase "Capra-;
esque" in mixed company?
If you answered "Yes" to at
least one of these. we want vou.
I