The Michigan Daily - Wednesday, December 12, 1990 - Page 9 All you need is Crossed. W ire by Mike Wilson Somewhere in all the boxed-set re- releases, the Milli Vanilli lip-synchs !ind the Michelob ads, rock 'n' roll inusic seems to have been lost to rampant commercialism. To find real kock 'n' roll nowadays, you have to go the local bars and the indie label record bins to discover bands that nobody's ever heard of. If you're lucky, you'll run into a band like Crossed Wire. Originally formed in 1986, the 'and has consisted of its current --ineup - Bud Burcar (drums/percussion), Cary Marsh (bass/vocals), Kurt Marschke (Guitars) and Chris Moore (vocals/guitars) - since the release of their first album, In the Hollow, in 1989. The album was a college radio success, and since then the bend has played dates in the Midwest, on the East Coast and in *heir hometown of Detroit while be- ng scouted by major record labels. Still without a contract, earlier this year they released a six-song EP, Spring, an even bigger success on ite college airwaves than In the Mollow - yet still no major label R&M. What's the matter? "Our problem isn't our music, it's how we are, our image... we're hard to sell," says lead singer Moore. ".We're not totally alternative, not totally commercial." Crossed Wire has no image and barely an ego - just some great tunes. "People see bs for our music, not our show," Moore explains. Here is a band that seems to be above any commercial- izing, promotion and image-making, a band almost too good for a major label. Almost. These guys say they ijust enjoy playing music and wish they could do it full time. Crossed Wire's music is unpre- ientious, unaffected and just plain fun - kind of like pre-Sgt. Pepper Beatles, only without the screaming teenage fans. Okay, so they're not the Beatles, but they do manage to create an original sound out of the Les petits enfants chantant tres amusants by Ingrid Truemper Tomorrow night, 26 boys' voices will charm the audience at Hill Audi- torium with their purity and sweet- ness, as they have entranced audi- ences the world over. The Little Singers of Paris, or Les Petits Chanteurs A la Croix de Bois, were formed in 1907, when a group of Parisian students brought together a few working-class children in order to revive the almost-forgot- ten medieval tradition of religious boys choirs. The Little Singers at- tained fame in just a few years, and soon extended the scope of their con- cert tours to foreign countries, where they were immensely well-received. In 1944, the choir was immortalized in a French motion picture which described a choir school based on the boarding school the Little Singers attend. The traditions of this school have remained intact, although its location has changed several times. The choir's present home is a castle- like mansion in the countryside in Glaignes, France. There, 110 boys between the ages of nine and 13 are educated in both musical and non- musical subjects. The staff of the school, mostly former Little Singers, attempts to preserve the aims of the founders. The choir's popularity remains undiminished as well; the Little Singers have performed in over 100 countries and in 1986 were the first western boys' choir ever to visit the Republic of China. They have drawn rave reviews from newspapers in any country imaginable. But what will they sing? The choir maintains a policy of not an- nouncing its program until the night of the show. Its repertoire is evenly divided between the religious and secular: Gregorian chants, choirs of Mozart and Bach and masses in French balance out secular works by Schubert, Mozart and Debussy, French madrigals and international songs such as the Russian "Kalinka.' Since it is the season to be jolly, several Christmas carols will proba- bly be performed as well. The aforementioned works are sung acap- pella, but works such as the Spar- rows' and Crowning Masses by Mozart are performed with an orches- tra. Regardless of what exactly is on the program, however, the Little Singers of Paris promise an evening of inspiring melodies, unusual charm and holiday spirit. THE LITTLE SINGERS OF PARIS will perform on Thursday at 7 p.m. in Hill Auditorium. Student rush tickets will be available the day of the show in the Burton Tower for $2.50. So they're not John, Paul, George and Ringo. Bud, Cary, Kurt and Chris play rock 'n' roll music, too. average guitars-bass-drums-vocals lineup, featuring a distinctive pairing of sweet vocals and rough guitars. And they do a great cover of "Don't Let Me Down." It's too catchy to be called alternative, yet too original to be called pop. This is rock 'n' roll without the sex and drugs. This is music to put on when you're just hanging out on a weeknight with your friends. There's no self-con- scious schtick and no formula. "Not too many bands today are honest with their music," Moore notes. "We feel our music." And the feelings are honest and real, from bittersweet disappointment to out- right anger. The songs are influenced by everything from folk to jazz to. hard core. Maybe Crossed Wire is so diffi- cult to categorize that they'll never be signed by a major label. Then again, maybe they'll become huge stars. In either case, they're here right now for us to enjoy. In an in- timate club setting, a band like Crossed Wire just might be the cur- rent definition of rock 'n' roll music. CROSSED WIRE will be jamming this Saturday at the Blind Pig. Cover is $4, with an extra evil $2 charge for those 19 and 20 year-olds who can't drink yet. RECORDS Continued from page 8 Edie Brickell & the New Bohemians Ghost of a Dog Geffen Two years ago, when Edie & the Bohos broke out on the scene with their last album and the single, "What I Am," I enjoyed their retro- early '70s, laid back Dead-cum-Joni Mitchell jams. I thought their music was not only creative and pleasing to hear, but I found Edie's singing to be sincere and unaffected. Eventually, I grew tired of their album, and moved on the other things, but I always wondered when they would come back with a new release. Fortunately, their jazzy cover of Dylan's "Hard Rain's Gonna Fall" from that bombastic Vietnam movie was enough to keep me from forgetting about them. Then I got Ghost of a Dog, and beginning with the percussive intro to the new single "Mama Help Me," I was so impressed with their second outing that as I was doing my work that night, I must have listened to it five times through. The same happened the next few nights, and eventually I put the old one on to compare the two. Rubberbands somehow has transformed into a collection of dopey pop songs. Ghost of a Dog, however, is outstanding. One of the reasons for the differ- ence is the change of recording at- mosphere. The songs on the first al- bum were recorded with Brickell, her guitarist and bassist and a host of studio musicians. Ghost was instead cut with the real Bohemians, and the improvisational style of their live shows is well represented on this record. Some numbers, such as "Oak Cliff Bra" and "This Eye," offer a complete change of pace with Brickell's voice accompanied solely by acoustic guitar. The lyrical obscurities which made her famous from her first release have reappeared frequently, but what is behind her is what excels this album over the last. The NB's are definitely not one-hit wonders. -Andrew J. 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