Composer
forum
features
new works-
BY SHERRILL L. BENNETT
THE Composers Forum is a vin-
tage School of Music concert series
- but the music is as fresh and new
as today's paper. For 41 years, the
Composers Forum Concerts have
generated new music from student
composers and provided a venue for
contemporary music on campus. It's
also an opportunity for composers to
actually hear what they've written,
what works and what doesn't, and
how the audience reacts.
T The only unifying theme of the
forum is creativity and innovation.
The concerts are a collage of different
ensembles, styles, and musical col-
ers. Musicians test the limits of
their instruments with each new
composition, everything from string
quartets to computer programmed
tapes to one act operetta productions.
Alumni participants have gone on to
be commissioned by the major
orchestras. Three Pulitzer Prize win-
ners, Leslie Bassett (Professor of
Composition at the School of Mu-
sic), George Crumb, and Roger
Reynolds were all represented in the
forums.
.Tonight's performance at the
School of Music will include six
works - all new music, all student
composers, all world premieres. It's
free, and a lot more interesting than
listening to Jingle Bells for the mil-
lionth time.
THE COMPOSERS FORUM will
take place tonight at 8 p.m. in the
Recital Hall of the School of Music.
Admission is free.

The Jesus And Mary
Chain
Automatic
Blanco y Negro/Warner Bros.
"Some kinds of love," Marguerita
told Tom, "are caught between
thought and expression."
Tom muttered a reply as he went
through his record collection, taking
out The Jesus And Mary Chain's
new album Automatic from its pale
yellow sleeve, and placing the shiny
black disc on the turntable. Mar-
guerita watched him as he lit a ci-
garette. She wanted to talk, but he
just sat there on the bed, smoking
and indifferent. She turned her head
away, rolled the twenty dollar bill
into a thin tube and sniffed. He's got
a good ear, she admitted to herself as
the guitars of "Here Comes Alice"
buzzed.
"She's got the hit that takes you
into space/ Suck mud and make a
deal for that taste/ It's her heart and
her heart is black/ Think of ice
cream sliding down a crack," sang
William Reid. Marguerita focused on
the mole at the back of Tom's neck.
The guitars buzzed.
"I got the junk gun fever sinking
to my brain," went Jim Reid. Mar-
guerita started to talk.
"We've had a good time. I mean,
the sex, the drugs and the music
have been great. But we just don't
communicate any other way. What
happened to the ordinary things? We
haven't talked in ages. I can't sit
down to eat with you. When did we
last talk about TV? We can't even do
a mundane thing like shopping for
groceries together. We're out of tune
when it comes to most of our daily
lives. The center's falling apart. This
is great, when the music's like this,
and the drugs are quality, but life
can't be like a dirty French novel or
a Beach Boys song all the time.

There has to be something more
concrete."
"Lovers tongue-tied and tied to
the tongue," The Jesus and Mary
Chain hummed with their fuzzboxes.
"Isn't this fuckin' fantastic," said
Tom. "So much harder than Dark-
lands."
"You're not listening to me,"
replied Marguerita.
"Of course I am. But you're talk-
ing crap. What we have is fine and,
in any case, you can't talk about
love as if it's a straight line. You're
trying to make everything sound
bad, but we do what we feel most.
What we've got is different from
most people; it's, different, that's
all. No kinds of love are better than
others."
Marguerita's temples throbbed.
Tom could really be a bore some-
times, but even then he wasn't en-
tirely charmless. He smiled and
moved towards her. The guitars sent
sparks through her head. The Reid
echo was of many'voices: "Jackie T.
said she saw death/ She's done it
fifty ways."
His lips were dry around the
edges. Her red pajamas fell to the
ground. She threw aside the paisley
boxer shorts. As they lay down on
the carpet she could hear the drum
machine pounding. This was the
best way to feel. This was a great
Jesus And Mary Chain record. All
that was solid melted into air. She
remembered the day that she'd met
Tom. It had been at a Jesus And
Mary Chain concert; the twenty
minute show had ended in a riot. In
the chaos, Tom had slamdanced into
her. They got talking, and found that
they had the same hairdresser.
Marguerita felt herself surround-
ing Tom. She saw herself in TV ul-
tra-violet as The Jesus And Mary
Chain sang "Halfway to Crazy." The
words slithered, one into the other.
"That's me being torn apart at the
seams/ Going mad in the middle of a
dream/ Catch me getting it wrong
from the start/ Catch me 'cause I'm
falling apart."
-Nabeel Zuberi
Uncle Green
You
DB Records
Hey You! You is the third release

from Georgia-based band Uncle
Green. Playing pop music in the tra-
dition of Squeeze, XTC, and the
Smithereens, going all the way back
to the Beatles, the band has come up
with a catchy, varied album, if not
exactly shockingly original, with
several outstanding songs. Fans of
this type of music in particular
should definitely check it out.
Uncle Green has two capable
songwriters in guitarist/vocalists Jeff
Jensen and Matt Brown, who com-
posed the album's 13 songs.
Bassist/keyboardist Bill Decker and
drummer Pete McDade complete the
lineup. Although the band's sound is
largely upbeat, often an element of
darkness lies underneath, as in "He's
the Man," an R.E.M.ish rocker that
offers a pointed look at salvation.
Similarly, in "At Least I've Got
You," Jensen tells us how every-
thing is going down the tubes but
"At least I've got you/ 'cause with-
out you/ I've got nothing to do,"
over gradually intensifying backing.
The theme of the uncertainty and
ambiguity of life recurs throughout
the album. In "Terrified," Jensen
searches for a guideline or clue to the
future, while Brown's
"Vulnerability" comments on the
fragility and insecurity of life. If an
answer to the questions raised is to
be found on You, it can be found in
"A Word of Advice," one of the al-
bum's musical and lyrical high-
lights. "Advice" is a paean to the
imperfection that defines humanity.
"Kiss an error/ and tell them you
care/ 'cause its smart to be wary but,
Jesus, it gets you nowhere."
A few of the album's songs are
not very memorable, and the title
track is ruined by a dumb call-and-re-
sponse chorus. But that shouldn't
stop you from checking out You.
Uncle Green is a tight, talented, gui-
tar-based band in a field with a lot of
competition. With this album, they
effectively show that Beatlesque pop
can sound fresh more than 20 years
later.
--Gregg Bierman
Erasure
Wild!
S ire/Reprise
Erasure seems to be working

Things are looking up for The Jesus And Mary Chain - their new album-
Automatic is anything but. Be forewarned, though: their concerts are brief;

overtime lately, as Wild! is their
third new release within the past
year. Following, The Innocents and
Crackers International, Wild! has a
few typical Erasure tunes along with
a new sound unique to this album.
Wild! presents a few melancholic
mixes as did past Erasure albums;
"Blue Savannah," "Drama!" and
"How Many Times?" remind the lis-
tener of Erasure favorites "Some-
times," "A Little Respect," and "Oh
L'Amour."
Andy Bell sounds as fantastic as
usual. The resonance in his voice
soothes, miraculously reaching each
end of the musical scale.
"Piano Song" is a sweet love
tune that is beautiful, inspiring and
clearly one of Erasure's top ten.
"Crown of Thorns" is an interesting
comment on a sad part of English
history, the words so powerful that
the listener is almost in tears.
"Brother and Sister" begins with a
magnifying, pulsating beat, to
which any nightclub groupie could
certainly dance, and then leads into a

rhythmic song unlike any other Era-
sure tune. "Star," following a few
extremely mellow songs, revives the
relaxed listener because it's incredi-
bly uplifting and funky. "You Sur-
round Me" promises true love while
telling a melodious tale of broken
hearts. Five selections sing of the
joy and sadness of love, an impor-
tant concept to Erasure.
Wild! could have succeeded ex
tremely well without two disap-
pointing selections. "La Gloria,"
with its mix of Spanish and English
lyrics and annoying Mexican back-
ground rhythm, is horrible. Erasure's
strength is its characteristic mellow-
ness and melancholy, so the band
has no business imitating Flamenco
dancers. "2,000 Miles" is the other
mistake. It fails to flow and has a
strange tune that does not connect
with the words.
Still, true Erasure fans: if you'
have not already purchased Wild!,.
you should definitely do so the next.
chance you get.
-Lynne Cohn

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