__RTS
The Mi'higan Daily Tuesday, September 18, 1990

Page 5

Wahl
by Peter Shapiro

Wah

returns with flair

review

Lots o' hair, lots o' feedback, lots
o' grunge, and lots o' genitalia
wavin'-cruisin' 'n' boozin'-c'mon
aby-let's do it in mud-'til we're
irty 'n' slimy tunes. Yes, Wah-Wah
Nite is back at the Blind Pig.
Tonight's season opener features the
thicker-than-primordial-ooze guitar
attack of Thee Hypnotics and the
three-chords-and-a-cloud-of-dust
garage rock of The Cynics.
Britain's answer to the Sub Pop
stable, Thee Hypnotics, have been
compared to the legendary Ann
erbor bands of the late '60s/early
'70s more times than I can use an
apostrophe in a lead paragraph.
While there are definite echoes of
The Stooges on their faster, search-
and-destroy-type tunes, Thee
Hypnotics appear to heed more the
sounds of Jimi Hendrix, Blue Cheer
and early Black Sabbath. This is
especially true of their first U.S.
elease, Come Down Heavy, which
"as heavy as molasses.
As someone once said about Blue
Cheer, "They turn the air into
cottage cheese when they play." This
is due in large part to guitarist Ray
Ulanson whose sound is so big that'
itiN hard to believe that there is only
ogle guitar player. Hendrix-style
chprd changes abound in co-existence
with the heavily distorted blues
*sfluenced licks that form the core
sound of that great tradition of bands
tlTht formed to get laid.
)Which brings us back to The
Stooges comparisons. Sure, they
talk about sexual confusion a lot,
but so does every great rock 'n' roll
band. The ghost of The Stooges
niakes himself apparent when Thee
Hypnotics. hit the stage. Frontman
Jim Jones is Iggy Pop incarnate at
@ave gigs-- an emaciated whirling
dervish of painfully taut, striated
rnguscles aching to explode. They
have the same furious energy of
aggression that spawned punk. And,
't

Memorandum
fulfills promise
Good theater can be compared to
a perfectly-tuned piece of machinery:
it is well oiled and moves ahead
smoothly, maintains a perfect
rhythm regardless of how hard it has
to work to keep up its quota and
knows when to take a break to let
off some steam. The Performance
Network's production of Vaclav
Havel's The Memorandum fulfills
all these requirements. The play also
emphasizes the negative aspects of a
mechanized society - the message
Vaclav Havel tries to drive home.
Each actor serves as a cog in the
huge bureaucratic system that en-
slaves them. The well-chore-
ographed, synchronized movements
of David Wilcox and David Huns-
berger as the two leaders of a hostile
takeover are brilliant parodies of de-
humanization. Jeff Seasholtz's per-

formance as the down-trodden man-
aging director, Mr. Gross, makes
one think of a top winding up into a
spinning fury of confusion the more
deeply he gets sucked into the sys-
tem.
Not only does the acting illus-
trate Havel's ideology, director Rick
Sperling adds subtle but powerful
touches. The scene changes are fan-
tastic furies set off by spurts of syn-
thesized music, unsettling as nails
on a chalk board. Instead of the tran-
sitions being distracting necessities,
they smoothly fall into the rhythm
of the whole machine.
The second act becomes a tedious
repetition of actions and ideas. It
cleverly illustrates the monotony
man faces every day - not a break-
down in Havel's creativity. Because
of the exceptional quality of this
production, Havel's ideas are broad-
casted loud and clear to the audience.
See WEEKEND, page 8

I

Thee Hypnotics bring visions of The Stooges back where they belong.

H0ki

what's more, Thee Hypnotics can
claim a place in the egg/beer bottle
hurling audience family tree that
began with The Stooges, except
with a more ominous twist - a
meat cleaver was thrown on stage at
a gig in Seattle.
The Cynics, who probably have
never had bizarre cutlery implement
projectiles lofted at them but are
from Pittsburgh, will open for Thee
Hypnotics. The Cynics' ancestry lies
in the early '60s when demented and
chemically-altered suburban misfits
attempted to rip off Muddy Waters
and Otis Redding. Realizing that
they could never achieve the
emotional intensity that their
mentors could, they decided to go
into their garage and see how fast
they could play a I-IV-V

progression. What resulted was the
boredom of the gray flannel era
burning up in torrents of fuzz Vox
guitars and droning farfisa keyboards
and bands like the Pretty Things,
The Sonics, The Music Machine,
and The Shadows of Knight. On
their best album, Rock 'N' Roll, The
Cynics may outdo all of their
predecessors in terms of sheer manic-
frenzy-stompin'-around-get-loaded-
thrash-around-a-small-room-with-
maximum-volume type of music.
Obviously, this kind of revelry
translates well into live gigs. The
Cynics may be one of the great live
bands of our time, particularly when
they play "Way It's Gonna Be,"
which would be destined to become
the "Psychotic Reaction" or "Dirty

Water" of the next generation were
they on a major label. But alas,
wisdom has not yet climbed the
corporate rungs, so it is destined to
stay in the small sweat shop-raving
riot scene bars like the Blind Pig,
which is what makes the music great
anyway.
THE CYNICS open up for THEE
HYPNO TICS at the Pig tonight.
Doors open at 9 p.m. and cover is
$8.
The show is a continuation of the
Pig's Wah-Wah Nites which met
with success, long hair and loud
noise last year featuring acts like
Big Chief and Mudhoney. In other
words, this is a grunge-fest not to
missed.

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Film series preserves oldies and goodies

Jen Bilik
Film groups! So many of them.
Every time you look in Current,
countless films jump off the page.
So many movies, so little time. But
even if you had time, could you keep
all the campus film groups straight?
Although the University's Program
in Film and Video Studies isn't ex-
actly one of the student groups that
bings you Friday and Saturday night
specials, it does organize the Film
Classic Series, designed to present
germinal films that might not
otherwise be shown.
The Film Classic Series began in
tle fall term of 1989 in response to
an idea from the campus film
groups. Unable any longer to show
some of the classics because they

weren't drawing enough revenue, the
Program in Film and Video Studies
stepped in to show these films with-
out admission. Because the Program
is able to utilize University facilities
and because they can draw on both
private libraries and educational re-
sources, they are better equipped to
show these films for free.
Explains Prof. Ira Konigsberg,
director of the Program, "The inten-
tion of the Film Classic Series is to
make available to both the student
body and the Ann Arbor community
the great films of the both the Amer-
ican tradition, and world film as
well. We show films that [the audi-
ence] wouldn't normally be able to
see through the film societies, nor
would the films be available for
them on video."

As the acceptance of film as an
art form grows, people are beginning
to realize that many of the early
classics are disappearing, both due to
technical decay and to lack of proper
storage and cataloging. Organiza-
tions such as the Library of
Congress and the American Film In-
stitute are involved in an exhaustive
effort to restore these films and to
form archives, where the films are
easily accessible and properly stored.
The University has been develop-
ing its own film library, especially

in the last three years with the ex-
pansion of the Program in Film and
Video Studies. Recently, the Pro-
gram received the donation of 235
16-millimeter classic American fea-
ture films from the 1930s, '40s, and
'50s from the collection of Herbert
Goldstein. Three of the films in the
series are from this collection. Adds
Konigsberg, "One can go to the li-
brary and take out the novels of Dos-
toevsky, and all these copies are
available. The great works of art
See CLASSIC, page 8

JOSTENS
GOLD RING SALE
IS COMING!_

RgnrEpjAm epib?. s Ev"owm"*C"aG' wTrY,SOVm4.rsrAsA
INFORMATIONAL MEETNC
rcm UMJ :0QlVr8'S
rUSL.Et:AY, 5EPTEMBE 1
-700PM
^.tW.INTERNATIONAL CENTEPR
ta rma~W tNP.Yoi,O~N CA. ,b4-i31@o
THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN
SCHOOL OF EDUCATION
September/October Events
TUESDAY, Sept. 18. School of Education Diversity Committee -
"Focusing on Peru," Marie Sutter, School of Education staff member.
Dean's Conference Room (1211 SEB), 12 noon.
For information, contact Sue Taylor, (313) 763-4288.
FRIDAY, Sept. 21. Center for the Study of Postsecondary Education
and the Program in Higher and Adult Continuing Education Colloquium
(King, Chavez, Parks sponsorship). "Hispanics: A Decade of Challenges,"
Dr. Bladina Cardenas Ramirez, Director, Office of Minority Concerns,
American Council on Education. Tribute Room (1322 SEB), 3 p.m.
For information, contact Kathy Lux, 2007 SEB, (313) 764-9472.
FRIDAY, Sept. 21. Program in Higher and Adult Continuing Education,
Student Activity Board (SAB) Brown Bag Lunch, "20 Questions."
2007 SEB, 12-1 p.m.
For information, contact Kathy Lux, 2007 SEB, (313)764-9472.
SATURDAY, Sept. 22. School of Education Alumni Society Fall
Gathering, including Board of Governors meeting, general alumni meeting,
a presentation by State Senator Lana Pollack, lunch, and the UCLA football
game. 8:30 a.m. to game time, Whitney Auditorium, School of Education
Building. $29 advanced registration.
For information, contact Cheryl Crowder, 1001 SEB, (313) 763-4880.
WEDNESDAY, Oct. 3. Information meeting for prospective School of
Education graduate students, Tribute Room (1322 SEB), 6 p.m.,
presentations by faculty, staff, and students.
For information, call Office of Student Services (313) 764-7563.
WEDNESDAY, Oct. 10. Forum on Recruitment and Retention of
Minorities into Education at the Graduate and Undergraduate Level. Tribute
Room (1322 SEB), 3 to 5 ,p.m. Presenters include Dr. Ernest (Pete)
Middleton, Associate Dean, University of Kentucky at Lexington Graduate
School; Dr. Charles Moody, Sr., Vice Provost for Minority Affairs, UM;
student perspectives; and administration perspectives. Sponsored by the
School of Education Alumni Society. Open to the public.
OCTOBER 16-17. NCA Fall Conference, "NCA Evaluation for School
Improvement: A Team Approach" presented by Douglas Heath, Haverford
College, Haverford, Pennsylvania. 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., Radisson Hotel,
Lansing. $100 fee. Sponsored by BASIS-North Central Association.
For information, contact William Bushaw, 3337 SEB, (313) 747-2001.

Order your college ring NOW.
Stop by and see a Jostens representative,
Monday, Sept. 17 thru Friday, Sept. 21,
11:00a.m. to 4:00p.m.,


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