The Michigan Daily - Wednesday, November 21, 1990- Page 7
CLAN
gontinued from page 5
He addresses the so-called anti-
Jewish sentiment among Blacks
with a nonchalant shrug, "From the
stars we are born and genetics/ anti-
semitic? Ridiculous, chill." And he
recalls the destruction of African his-
ory with a proper amount of venom
in "Verbs of Power," "It was the
pimp that drove the mountainous
elephant/ it was ignorance that made
this irrelevant."
What Brother J. and the X-Clan
'mbrace without fear or shame is the
reality of Black anger. The group's
name refers to Malcolm X's rejec-
tion of the slave name given to his
ancestors when their true African
name was relinquished. X eventually
Z went on to rename himself El Hajj
Malik El-Shabazz, rejecting his
anger and even hatred of the white
oppressor. Now, 25 years after
Malcom X's death, the X-Clan
stands its ground.
X-CLAN groove on Sunday at the
Power Center at 7:30 p.m. with ISIS
opening. Tickets are available for
$12.50 (plus the evil service
charge).
RECORDS
Continued from page 5
includes a lyric goof-up by Jerry
Garcia. Other than that, the release
sounds exactly like killer low-gener-
ation sound-board tapes. If you don't
have access to such tapes, then
Without A Net allows the average
Dead fan to hear the band's complete
sound; most concert tapes traded
among Deadheads completely ob-
scure the cymbals and can make it
difficult to pick out whatever MIDI
experiments the boys might try. The
version of Bob Weir's "Victim or
the Crime" (the only song from their
last two studio albums on WaN),
clearly illustrates the spooky,
swirling keyboard effects Mydland
used to add to the tune.
Unfortunately, I had to write
used to" in that last sentence,
because Brent died last summer.
Without A Net is deadicated to
Clifton Hanger, Brent's alias when
staying at hotels on the road. WaN,
then, is the definitive document of
the Dead's electric sound in the late
'80s. It includes only one song that
Brent sang lead on (their cover of
Traffic's "Dear Mr. Fantasy") leav-
ing us with no official, CD-sound-
quality live versions of Brent songs
such as "I Will Take You Home,"
"So Far From Me," and "Easy To
Love You." In comparing this fall's
performances to Without A Net, one
of the first things missed is the lush
vocals Brent provided. While the
Dead are thankfully continuing their
long strange (stop me before I clich6
again!) whatever, I'm damn grateful
for the existence of the tapers, as
well as these new CDs.
-Brian Jarvinen
Fred Brown
Statement
Gofer It
Fred Brown's Statement seems to
be the result of a guy being able to
. play a few instruments and having
the resources to put out an album.
"Something I Want" opens up
the album with a sound similar to a
cassette-tape jamming. The song is a
disco version of any Peter Gabriel
tune but lacks enough repetitive,
obnoxious rhythm to be disco and
the guts (never mind the talent) to be
Gabriel.
Brown drones: "What is it about
you? Blow me away/ Take me be-
yond my dreams/ Drive me insane"
on "Mystique," which is indicative
of the rather corny content of the
majority of the lyrics on this album.
On "Kiss Away" Brown shows
that he can hit home with his state-
ments when he explains, "We kiss
because we like the taste," but his
ability to connect is far from the
norm. His voice is so strained on the
track, "Heaven," when he squacks
the high notes to announce "...it
feels like heaven" that the listener is
embarrassed.
Basically, all the songs on this
album are too long. I felt my mus-
cles untense when it finally ended.
The Statement, in a word-Blaaahh!
--Kim Yaged
Yongun Li expresses rebellion and loneliness
by Ami Mehta
For those who can't frequent distant
lands to discover and experience
different cultures, there is art. Art
captures much of the charm and
mystique associated with foreign
places, allowing one to see vicari-
ously through an artist's eyes. A
shining example of this is renowned
Chinese artist Yongun Li's artwork,
through which China can be seen in
its classical state as well as in an ab-
stract sense.
Li's exhibit, China: Impressions
and Dreams, depicts his native
country in a variety of mediums and
styles as well as his own character.
Born in China in 1948, Li studied
Art History and obtained his degree
from the Central Academy of Fine
Arts in 1980. In 1979, Li and a
number of other mainland Chinese
artists made history by designing
The Stars, the first unauthorized ex-
hibition of Chinese art since 1949.
With this act of defiance, the artists
wanted to give free reign to artistic
expression and reinforce the notion
that it belonged to the people. These
exhibitions provided an outlet for
Chinese artists seeking to express
themselves in their art and set the
stage for an era of liberation for fu-
ture artists.
Li's independent and expressive
nature continues to show through
today in his artwork. While his early
paintings illustrate themes of nature,
such as mist rising from villages and
boats in harbor, with traditional
Chinese brush styles, his more re-
cent work demonstrates his discovery
of abstract painting with watercolor
and ink. Having left his native vil-
lage at an early age to go to boarding
school, Li had grown accustomed to
loneliness as a companion.
Throughout all of his painting styles
an air of solitude and melancholy
prevails.
China: Impressions and Dreams
takes the viewer through a m6lange
of elements that evoke many differ-
ent emotions about China in a tradi-
tional sense as well in a more con-
temporary light. Li's array of tech-
niques includes not only traditional
Chinese styles such as brush paint-
ing and ink washes but also a west-
ern influence which was achieved by
the use of oils in his recent work.
CHINA: IMPRESSIONS AND
DREAMS is on display at the
Chinese American Educational and
Cultural Center located at 2300
Washtenaw Ave until November 30.
The display can be seen Mon.
through Fri.,10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
WRITE FOR ARTS!!! CALL 763-0379!!!!