The Michigan Daily - Thursday, November 29, 1990 - Page 7

I

RECORDS
Continued from page 5
of love I need/if you don't love me/
don't say anything," employs a dis-
orienting shift in time signatures to
further imply the already empathic
nse of an internal conflict and per-
nal disintegration.
"Skeleton Key," arranged by and
featuring Prince's current/former
saxophonist Eric Leeds, grooves
with the free-form liberty of
jazz/funk fusion at its best. The
song, about a human catalyst for
passion, boasts an elaborately com-
posed chorus, even as its lyrics fall
from the norms set by earlier tracks
Ile "Everyday."
Ultimately, though, Wendy and
Lisa are set on a course for excel-
lence. Even as Eroica fails to follow
the progressive train of their first
two albums, it hails the two women
as evolutionaries that will not be
quelled by commercialism, compla-
cency or any other lure in the music
business. If their career could possi-
bly be compared to their previous
andmate's, Eroica is the Contro-
versy following their Dirty Mind.
Which means that an excellent dou-
ble album is on the way...
-Forrest Green III
Mark Whitfield
The Marksman
Warner Bros.
Recently, Time magazine ran a
cover story hailing the "New Jazz
Age," highlighting a renaissance of
traditional, straight-ahead jazz in
America. The article featured names
familiar to most listeners of jazz,
,among them being Wynton and
Branford Marsalis, as well as
Christopher Hollyday. It also called
.attention to several names probably
not familiar to even the most avid of
fans. One such name was that of
Mark Whitfield. His debut album,
The Marksman, finds him taking
dead aim at the highest standards of
jazz guitar.
- Whitfield has caught the attention
and admiration of such jazz virtuosos
as Wynton Marsalis and guitarist
George Benson, and this album
shows us how he managed to do
that. The Marksman is a joy from
start to finish. Whitfield is only in
his 20s, but his style and skill
speaks volumes about how quickly
lie has matured.
Many uninhibited young players
make the mistake of being too com-

plicated, becoming too preoccupied
with the sheer number of notes they
play and abandoning melody in the
process. Not so with Whitfield.
Though he is well-schooled (check
out his solo on the title track), he
knows better than to flaunt his
chops for their own sake. He is al-
ways keeping his melodic lines as
simple as possible, and he already
understands the Miles Davis philos-
ophy that silence can speak as loudly
as a hundred notes.
These qualitlies render Whitfield
an excellent ballad player. He plays
each melody with very little embel-
lishment, preferring instead to build
his solos slowly, stretching them
out just enough to keep things inter-
esting both for himself and his lis-
teners. His turn of musical phrase on
the Ellington classic "In a Sentimen=
tal Mood" is quite stunning. The
Ray Noble standard "The Very
Thought of You" is also sensitively
treated. Whitfield's deep, rich tone is
particularly evident on these slower
numbers.
The rest of the album is so fresh
and so brilliantly performed that it is
almost an injustice to single out any
particular songs above any others,
but here goes. "There Is No Greater
Love" and "The Blues, From Way
Back" are freewheeling, ebullient
jam sessions with Whitfield and pi-
anist Marcus Roberts flaunting their
bebop chops. But the most engaging
cut on this album is "Little Digi's
Strut," a funky, soulful blues
groove. Whitfield's take-no-prison-
ers solo is answered by a rousing
percussive romp by Roberts in a
thoroughly spiritual experience.
It is difficult to find even the
most trifling of complaints about
this album. One can only hope that
Mark Whitfield continues to play
music in the spirit of the jazz guitar
giants who have come before him.
He is a young player who undoubt-
edly will improve as time goes on.
That is fantastic news for jazz fans.
-Ben Aquino
Inspiral Carpets
Life
Mute/Elektra
Yeah - any band that is known
for its t-shirts before its music can-
not be that extraordinary. Though
the band's designs look fab, people
can't listen to a shirt.
The photos of the band also cause
doubts; the band is composed of six

pale Manchester lads, five with pud-
ding bowl haircuts and one with a
shaved head. The clothes they wear
don't seem that trendy just simple
cotton-looking shirts with relatively
elaborate earthy prints, but those
hairdoes...
The music isn't as rank as the
trendy factor would predict. It's or-
gan-heavy British Pop but not par-
ticularly dull to listen to. Clint
Boon's organ sounds like a less
swirly, inventive and complex 808
State synth catch mixed into a more
traditional brand of Popular music.
Tom Hingley's vocals seem bland
compared to the Happy Monday's
Shaun Ryder's accented ramblings.
The tunes all kind of sound the
same - good keyboard bit here, un-
forgettable chorus there - not unen-
joyable, just not as hooky or origi-
nal as their contemporaries.
"Directing Traffic" could be a
'90s "96 Tears" or some other frat-
like catchy tune with synth sounding
similar to '60s organ. But when In-
spiral Carpets claim "this is how it
feels when you're word means noth-
ing at all" in "This Is How it Feels,"
they fall into that dreadfully banal
and pretentious "sorry youths ex-
press their self-absorbed pity in such
trite phrases" school of song writ-
ing.
They can play their instruments
and change tempos in songs. But In-
spiral Carpets are so conventional
and un-unique that Life is essentially

Get Naked or get Pegged
Remember Naked Raygun? Well, so does John Haggerty. As a matter of fact, he used to be in the band. But
he's not anymore. He's in Pegboy. So is Joe Haggerty, who is probably John's brother. Larry Damore and Steve
Saylors are in the band too, but nobody's sure who they are related to or what they did before. They probably
sat around and came up with lyrics like this: "Last step and we're going down/We're going down/We're going
down/Last step and we're going down/We're going down/We're going down," or "But it seems so far,far,away,
far away/ seems so far, far away, far away,/seems so far away" Dizzy yet? Well, you'll get dizzier if you go bang
your head at the Heidelberg tonight while Pegboy plays. Cover is $4 and the banging begins at 10:30.
boring after the first listen.
- Annette Petrusso a a

The Rocky Horror
Picture Show
dir. Jim Sharman
I had seen those lips somewhere
before. I knew it. But I had always
wondered exactly what they meant.
"The Legendary Rock 'n' Roll Hor-
ror Classic", the blurb on the box
said. But right below that, I read that
the film was made in 1975. Why
would you wait so long to release a
so-called "classic" on video, an enter-
tainment medium so great that it
was actually able to improve on
television? I had to find out.
"Are you a virgin?" the girl be-
hind the counter asked me when I
handed her my card and the tape. I
was confused, so I retaliated by ask-
ing her if she had ever had sex on an
airplane. It seemed like an appropri-
ate response, but she became an-
noyed, and showed it by squinting
her eyes at me really hard. I paid and
left the store.
It was a bright and sunny after-
noon, a perfect day, I thought, to
watch The Rocky Horror Picture
Show for the very first time. Luck-
ily, no one was around to bother me
back at my apartment, so I streched
out on the couch and prepared to qui-

etly enjoy undisturbed what I as-
sumed would have to be an incredi-
ble comic experience.
The film itself seemed promis-
ing, a spoof of this country's two
most obnoxious contributions to
world cinema: the cheesy musical
and the cheesy horror flick. Barry
Bostwick and Susan Sarandon star as
Brad and Janet, a geeky couple
whose car breaks down during a
storm. Lines like, "Didn't we pass a
castle a few miles back?" added to
my hopes, but it just didn't happen.
They end up at the aforementioned
castle, where '70s rock star Meatloaf
comes driving in on a motorcycle
and sings a song with the chorus, "I
really love that rock 'n' roll." Then
Tim Curry, as butch transvestite Dr.
Frank N Furter, kills him with a
pick. Then, in the film's only
mildly funny scenes, Curry seduces
and has silhouetted sex with both
Janet and Brad.
In aridiculous ending, the castle
rockets off into space, back to the
home planet of Transylvania. Need-
less to say, I fail to understand what
the big fuss is all about; horrible is
the operant adjective here, accurate in
describing the film's music, acting,
and script.
-Mark Binelli

IN THE SPOTLIGHT

Poet Sandra Cisneros, author of The House on Mango Street, will be
reading from her work this evening from 7 to 9 p.m. in the MLB in the
Fourth Floor Commons. A reception will follow.
Need the hot news fast?
Find it in the Daily.
THENEWS
Part-time Customer Service drivers needed. Starting pay - $6.00 per hour
plus mileage reimbursement.
Deliver newspapers in Ann Arbor/Ypsilanti area, possibly answer phones one day per
Week.
Hours are Thursday and Friday, 2:30 - 7:30 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday, 6:00 - 12 noon.
Preferred candidates have insured car, good driving record, knowledge of area, excellent
communication skills, and pleasant voice.
Apply in person - Ann Arbor News, 340 E. Huron St., 9:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.
EQE

"Wendy?" "Yes, Lisa." "Is the album good enough?" "Yes, Lisa."
r CLASSIFIED ADS -Call 764- 5.

215 S. State St.
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* start Winter term, speak it in Moscow next
summer
* also, Russian Literature in English, Hu. Distr.
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* Crystals and Jewelry

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AIDSWorkshop
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