01 ARTS TheMihian.alyWeneda, Jauay,199 PaeI Disaster 'Leap' Steve Martin's latest in a long line offlops by Michael John Wilson unbehevable the crowd's swooning Steve Martin may be a fine comic becomes. It's about as close as we're actor, but his taste in scripts is chroni- going to get to see Steve do stand-up cally impaired. In corn like "Father of nowadays. And his cynical, unsenti- the Bride" and "Housesitter," and pre- mental attitude offstage is refreshing. tentious dogs like Larry Kasdan's When the townspeople complain "Grand Canyon," it'sonly Martin him- about the lack of rain, however, and -Iwe're introduced to a disabled young boy (Lukas Haas) who has faith that Leap of Faith he'll be cured, look out. Trying for a Directed by Richard Pearce; written by "Field of Dreams" kind of inspiration, Janus Cercone; with Steve Martin, Debra the film tailspins into a forced conclu- Winger, Liam Neeson sion. God and Cercone's script inter- vene to provide two awful miracles, self that makes the films watchable. betraying all the wonderful nastiness His latest mediocre feature, "Leap of the first half of the film. ofFaith,"comesfromfirst-timescreen- Worse is the love-affair sub-plot writer Janus Cercone. Her story of a betweenJonas' lovesick business man- cynical road evangelist is predictable ager (played by Debra Winger), and and implausible from beginning to end. the town sheriff (played by, in perhaps Yet Martin's performance as the dirty most strangely effective casting of the rotten minister is hilarious and engag- year, cool Irishman Liam Neeson). ing, even when Cercone's script goes The sheriff seems to be the only person for the sentimental crap. in the whole dumb town that realizes Martin plays Reverend Jonas Jonas is a con-artist, and Neeson's Nightengale, a deadbeat who changes earnestness is appealing in the midst of his name and becomes a preacher who all the fakery. When he inexplicably takes his rock 'n' roll-style tour to falls for Winger's pathetic come-ons, small towns. Jonas has no illusions however, it's utterly unbelievable. Only about any devotion to Jesus: "I give an actressalotlesscloying than Winger my people a good show," he says. could make this romance work. Arnie Schoenberg: atonal and eternal by Kirk Wetters The 20th century Austrian avant-garde composer Arnold Schoenberg has always had more than his share of critics and defenders, a fact which has obscured his talent and kept his music from being widely appreciated. The pianist Glenn Gould remarked, "Although the name Arnold Schoenberg is known very widely indeed - it is in fact as frequent a drawing-room reference as Freud or as Kafka or, if you happen to be in a particularly 'one up' drawing room, as Kierkegaard- yet many people remark that apart from a few of his docile and romantic works, his compositions have so far failed to attract any large share of public response." The controversies surrounding Schoenberg's theories of atonal and serial composition have hidden the fact that Schoenberg was a phenomenally gifted composer. Even if his theories become forgotten or obsolete, Schoenberg would be judged favorably based on the power of his compositions themselves. As a composer, Schoenberg had the most overwhelming artistic vision of any com- poser after Beethoven, coupled with as much innate talent and inspiration as Schubert. The grounds for criticism of Schoenberg's music have always been weak, regardless of whether it came from academic or media sources. Academic criticism mostly focused on the validity of his theories and methods, not the effectiveness of the music itself. His "technique for composition in twelve tones" treats all twelve notes of the chromatic scale equally and structures them with a predetermined note pattern called a "row." This serialist technique is still extremely controversial because many see it as arbitrary and unjustifiable. Composers such as Copland and Stravinsky were won over by serialism in their later compositions. Schoenberg certainly provoked more violent reactions from reactionary music critics than any composer before or since. His "Pierrot Lunaire" was described as "the last word in cacophony," and his "Chamber Symphony" renamed the "Chamber-of-Horrors Symphony" and described as "self-torture of a flagellant who whips himself with a cat-o' -nine-tails while cursing himself." Unfortunately, the "Chamber Symphony" isn't quite as good as these comments make it seem. Much criticism, both in and outside of Germany, was blatantly anti-Semitic. The English composer Arnold Bax said that. atonal music was "cluttered up with morbid growths emanating from the brains of a few decadent Central European Jews." Fascist propaganda went even farther: "Schoenberg's tendency to negate all that was before him is the old tested Jewish tactic which is always put into practice, at an opportune moment, to destroy the cultural values of the host peoples." All criticism of Schoenberg tends to focus on his negation of tradition, but Schoenberg's rebellious nature is vastly overstated. His theories, unlike the more widely accepted neo-classicist principles used by Stravinsky and others, werenot based on a rejection of 19th Century music. Schoenberg loved German music, from Bach through Mahler, and developed his techniques in order to assure its continued dominance. Schoenberg once remarked, "My music is not modern, only badly played." Despite such sentiments, a great deal of confusion still surrounds his music. Many confuse Schoenberg's own personal style with his compositional tech- niques. Regardless of the method of composition, whether tonal-romantic, free atonal or serial, there are clear stylistic and thematic similarities in all of Schoenberg's works. Generally, his music depicts psychological extremity or dysfunction. His early romantic masterpiece, "Gurre-lieder," tells of a knight whose sorrow and madness drive him to raise up a horde of dead warriors in order to conquer heaven. And "Pierrot Lunaire" is about a poet, drunk on moonlight, who delves into his own horrifying subconscious. Schoenberg's late "String Trio" describes his near-death experience following a heart attack. Like Beethoven, Schoenberg's powerful and expressive visions make his music easily appreciated in spite of its complexity. Perhaps Schoenberg's music is not for everyone, but it certainly deserves to find a larger following than it has now. Onstage, Martin's rock star miracle- giving is fun to watch, no matter how LEAP OF FAITH is playing at Briarwood and Showcase. Why are Steve and Deb smiling? Almost no one likes "Leap of Faith." Bad 4 Good Refugee Interscope All grown up and no longer cute, the red-headed kid from "Dif'rent Strokes" is now singing for this pubescent heavy metal quartet(I'm using the term "heavy metal" extremely loosely). Danny Cooksey aside, the kids in Bad4 Good have some famous connec- tions. You may, for instance, remember 12-year-old guitar prodigy Thomas McRocklin from Steve Vai's video "Is the Audience Listening." The kids are adept at theirrespective instruments and Cooksey's voice is fe- rocious beyond his years. What dis- credits Bad 4Good is the fact that Steve Vai had a hand in writing II of the 13 songs on "Refugee," as well as produc- Clinical Psychologists Pharmacists Plan a future that soars. Take your science-related degree into the Air Force, and become an of ficer in the Biomedical Sciences Corps. You'll learn more, you'll grow faster-you'll work with other dedi- cated professionals in a quality envi- ronment where your contributions are needed. In short, you'll gain more of every- thing that matters most to you. You and the Air Force. Launech now-call USAF HEALTH PROFESSIONS TOLL FREE 1-800-423-USAF ing, arranging, engineering, and art- directing it. As if that weren't enough, Vai's innocent three-year-old son ap- pears on the album's cover to symbolize the ugly truth about Bad 4 Good - this band is Steve Vai's baby. "Curious Intentions," "Felony," and "I Want Everything"offerarare glimpse into Cooksey's poetic abilities as a lyri- cist. Unfortunately, in obvious and fu- tile attempts to sound older and more mature, Bad 4 Good usually opts for collaborations with Vai, like the vulgar sexual fantasy "Rockin' My Body." Paradoxically, then, the Steve Vai saturation does not allow for a true picture of Bad 4 Good; and yet without him, this band would not exist. Oh well. Soon they'll be Gone 4 Good. -Kristen Knudsen Information Society Peace and Love, Inc. Tommy Boy/Reprise Information Society's second album "Hack" was no smash, combining some interesting tidbits of non-songs with rehashes of tunes from their first album. "Peace and Love, Inc.", their third al- bum, is a worthier effort structure-wise - none of the songs seem like they don't belong. Don't expect any new stuff going on here, though.Insoc hops on the techno / house bandwagon with this album, still sticking with their foun- dations in computer technology. Yes, there are a few samples here and there - another Trek quote, one from "The Outer Limits," some stolen from their own albums. But mostly, "Peace and Love" is an amalgam of repetitive, danceable tunes made from electronic sounds. Perfectly fitting Insoc-ian tracks on "P&L" include "Where Would I Be Without IBM" and "1,000,000 Watts of Love." Fun if you're not bored to tears by more of the same. -Jeff Rosenbeig The Jesus Lizard Liar Touch and Go My roommate calls this disc "an- noying," "discordant," and "repetitive." 1le may be right, but I love it. If you're one of those people who think that music should hurt, you will love it, too. Like Pigface, or perhaps Ministry, TJL kicks you in the head with its beat, but that's where the comparisons end TJL is truly unique. Nobody on the planet yells in quite the same way as David Yow. Listeningt to TJL, I honestly get the feeling that I am sitting in aroom with a crazy man. Lyrics like "Take off your shoes if you're going to dance on me," or "Laugh at the noises my break- ing bones make," (both from Perk)just don't come from nomnal people. It's all more than a bit unsettling. The music itself isn't quite so scary, but it's just as powerful. David Sims' rumbling bass propels the music for- ward, while Duane Denison's skillful guitar work adds a level of tunefulness otherwise absent from this disc. There aren't a lot of melodies, but there are plenty of hooks, and in the end, every- thing comes together magically. On top of all that, TJLis Al Jourgenson's favor- ite band. If that impresses you, be sure to check this disc out. -Jason Vigna Schoenberg on.CD So that you don't experience "badly played" Schoenberg, here are a few good CDs. I recommend starting with his works, "Pierrot Lunaire" or "Verklarte Nacht." Pierrot Lunaire, Op. 21 for speaker and small ensemble: Jan DeGaetani with Alexei Weisberg con- ducting the Contemportary Chamber Ensemble on Elektra/Nonesuch. Five String Quartets, Verkarte Nacht Op. 4 for string sextet, String Trio Op. 45: Members of the LaSalle Quartet on Deutsche Grammophon. Gurrelieder, for choruses, vocal soloists, and every orchestral instrument imaginable: Raphael Kubelik conducting the Bavarian Radio Symphony on Deutsche Grammophon. Five Pieces for Orchestra, Op. 15: James Levine conducts the Berlin Philharmonic in an incredible recording for Deutsche Grammophon. Piano Music: Maurizio Pollini on Deutsche Grammophon and Paul Jacobs on Nonesuch are both excellent. Moses und Aron, the great unfinished opera: Soloists with Sir Georg Solti conducting the Chicago Symphony Orchestra on London. READ IT WRITE FOR IT RECYCLE IT THE MICHIGAN DAILY 764-0552 SUMMER STUDY ABROAD hOtter than ever Join the growing number of students who make their summers count - for credit. Choose from 22 Syracuse University 0 SELF-SERVE COPIES 4-- REG. COPIES W 20# White,8.5x11 e Collate e StapleI 0 -qm i ~- f RL ROLEX I