The Michigan Daily - Friday, October 26, 1990 - Page 9

TMBG flood your soul's birdhouse

AASO woos with

by Henry Weintraub
"Tabloid footprints in your hair!
Tabloid footprints everywhere! We
can't be silent! because they might
be giants! and what are we going to
do unless they are."
- from the song "They Might
Be Giants"
According to John Linnell, one
of the two Johns that make up They
4Might Be Giants, the duo decided to
name their third album Flood be-
'cause it seemed to suggest the idea
. of a lot of "stuff' piled together in a
chaotic, "disastrous" fashion.
Indeed, TMBG's music is gigan-
tic in scope. Flood has 19 songs,
each packed with more wit, melody
and inventiveness than most bands
'put into whole albums. From the
loom-pah-pah feel of "Whistling in
the Dark" and "Particle Man" to the
showtune-like "Theme From Flood"
and "Minimum Wage," to the '60s
surf sound of "Twisting" to the Mid-
dle Eastern cover of "Istanbul (Not
Constantinople)," TMBG's songs
span all conceivable styles and are
pervaded by rich, catchy melodies.
Listening to TMBG is like dipping
your head into a pool of television
tunes.
John Flansburgh (the one with
glasses) and John Linnell (the one
without) were friends in high school
in Lincoln, Massachusetts. They
'went their separate ways after gradua-
tion, reuniting years later when they
both unknowingly moved into the
same Brooklyn apartment.

Taking their name from the title
of an inconsequential movie from
the '70s, the band decided early on to
remain a duo, with Linnell playing
accordion and Flansburgh playing
guitar, although both play a variety
of other instruments on their al-
bums.
Both in the studio and in live per-
formance, TMBG rely on electronic
rhythm and synthesizers to back
them up. Linnell notes that while
being a duo does have drawbacks, the
present arrangement "makes the pro-
cess [of songwriting] a million
times easier." The result, although a
bit too digital for some rock purists,
is music with as diverse an array of
sounds and instruments as one could
ever imagine.
"Particle man! Is he a dot, or is
he a speck?! When hers underwa-
ter/ does he get wet?/ or does the
water get him instead?! Nobody
knows! Particle man" - "Particle
Man"
TMBG's songs are characterized
by a sense of whimsicality, absur-
dity and humor. "Birdhouse in Your
Soul" is narrated from the point of
view of a nightlight, the "Blue ca-
nary in the outlet by the light
switch/ who watches over you." The
simple, poignant "Dead" tells of a
person who dies after eating food
past the expiration date only to be
reincarnated as a bag of groceries. In
"We Want A Rock," Linnell sings
"If I were a carpenter I'd/ hammer on
my piglet I'd/ collect the seven dol-
lars and I'd/ buy a big prosthetic

Romance
by Elizabeth Lenhard
An Evening of Romance : the
title refers to the Ann Arbor
Symphony Orchestra's selection
of three works from the Romantic
Period for their concert this Sat-
urday. But the program, per-
formed by Soviet pianist Bella
Davidovich and conducted by
AASO music director Carl St.
Clair, embodies more than just a
musical period.
An evening at the symphony
seems romantic, if not glamorous
in itself. The lobby of Hill Audi-
torium is filled with excited chat-
ter as patrons of the arts brush
shoulders with the cream of soci-
ety, discussing Mozart over white
wine, wearing long strings of
pearls and holding lorgnettes...
well, this may be a bit over-ro-
manticized. It's easy to get caught
up in the atmosphere of a night at
the symphony. The conductor and
soloist are internationally ac-
claimed, and according to
AASO's executive director, Anne
Glendon, the orchestra has never
sounded better.
The key to a successful per-
formance is chemistry between
the conductor and his musicians,
Glendon says. In the five years
that St. Clair has been with
AASO, they have developed a rare
symbiosis. Says Glendon, "They
play for him from their souls."
He established a successful rela-
tionship with Davidovich as well,
when she and St. Clair performed

together two weeks ago with the
Pacific Symphony Orchestra.
Davidlovich made her U.S. debut
at Carnegie Hall in 1979, has
built a stunning career and is
noted for dynamic and emotional
interpretations of piano music.
The stage is now set with an

Contrary to the rumour viciously spread by a prominent member of the
Daily Arts staff, these men were never roadies for the Repladements.

forehead and wear it on my real head/
Everybody wants prosthetic fore-
heads on their real heads."
Prosthetic foreheads aside, never
let it be said that Brooklyn's self-
proclaimed "Ambassadors of Love"
are a mere novelty band. "People
tend to see what we're doing as more

serious than that. I think it's pretty
obvious," says Linnell.
THEY MIGHT BE GIANTS appear
at the Michigan Theater tonight
with CARMAIGE DEFOREST
opening at 8 p.m. Tickets are
$14.50. Bring extra money to buy
your very own TMBG fez.

Davidovich
impressive array of performers.
The musical selections should
provide an excellent showcase for
the musicians' talents. Program-
ming is an integral part of St.
Clair's productions. The conduc-
tor chose three romantic works:
The energetic overture to
Rossini's comic opera, La Gazza
Ladra, Grieg's Piano Concerto in
A Minor - a piece that Davi-
dovich is particularly suited for,
says Glendon - and
See SYMPHONY, Page 10


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Consolidated
The Myth of Rock
I.R.S .Nettwerk
"Welcome to the cultural
basepipe," a distorted voice intones
proudly, kicking off Consolidated's
first album, an impressive bid to
change the world in an It Takes a
Nation Of...-mode of dance music.
What may initially seem like three
heterosexual white men and their at-
tempt to jump on Chuck D.'s jock
turns out to be an equally sophisti-
cated assimilation of the lyrical ter-
rorist and company's modus
operandi. Tracks like "Fight the Fas-
cists" and "This Is a Collective" hurl
rebellious manifestos and counter-
cultural rhythm barrages in your face
with a ridiculous ease, a la Bomb
Squad.
The former track booms with

well-used ghetto bass and tingles,
thumps and wails with a well-
snatched saxophone line; the latter
makes ample use of a sonic run from
N.W.A.'s "Straight Outta Compton"
as a steady groove in a "Rebel With-
out a Pause" mode, while lyri-
cist/guitarist/rapper Adam Sheburne
tells it like it is.
Consolidated is a rarity - an
industrial unit that uses funky
grooves to implement its decidedly
political message. "Josephine the
Singer," a delivery on the regressive
mode of all popularized or commodi-
fied music, whoops with a Miles
Davis sample from the master's elec-
tric Live/Evil album. Whistles
squeal and the beat thumps over and
under, making "Josephine" an
exquisite feast for the ears.
There are two attacks of
"Weakness" on The Myth of Rock,

thematic references to the group's
recognition of being corrupt on a so-
cietal level. The piano on -H_-E T-__-
"Weakness" parts one and two gives E W AL ____
a sensation of inexorably falling to-
ward the self-confrontation that all ____ RESTAURANT T
must face, regardless of one's degrees
or stages of comprehension. Specializing in - DINNERS & LUNCHES
"Weakness" is the voice of con- H CARRY-OUTS
science for Sheburne, drummer PhilSzechan, Rated AnnArbors bestnew restau-
Steir and keyboardist Mark Pistel, and Cantonese rant of 1988 and best oriental res-
jarring them to lash out at every taurant of 1989 by The Michigan
"-ism" in sight. Daily Weekend Magazine. k t
A brief track, "Stop the War
Against the Black Community,".I ,,
echoes the cries of the Funkentellec- Monday -Sunday
tual mad genius George Clinton )am-)m
shouting, "I don't want your war," 1220 S. UNIVERSITY " AT S. FOREST -~- -
from "Bulletproof." This is followed ANN ARBOR IIsA NEXT TO CITY PARKING STRUCTURE
by a hilarious attack on the "White FREE PARKING AFTER 6 P.M.
American Male," which, takes snip-
pets of Ice Cube from "FDtha Po
See RECORDS, Page 11 I A ®= I


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