-4
ARTS,
newSouth sound
by Andrew J Cahn________
CurrentMagazine raves, "ANew South sound nestled between ZZ Top and
R.E.M."
Prism Production's calendar declares, "ANew South sound nestled between
ZZ Top and R.E.M."
Widespread Panic singer John Bell's first reaction to this was a quick spurt
of cynical laughter. Then he made a hacking sound.When I told him this line did
not originate from their record label, Capricorn, he was relieved, and thanked me
for assuming the band had nothing to do with it either.
"When people try to make aquick impact and they're really not on top of it,"
Bell said, "they end upjumping on labelsandcomparisons and cliches and really
muck up the whole impression of what we're trying to do ... I admire ZZ Top
and R.E.M., but damn! We're Widespread Panic! We sound like across between
ourselves!"
When the Athens, GA band is not compared to other southerners, they're
usually grouped along with the bands they shared the stage with on last
Summer's H.O.R.D.E. tour. The shows consisted of nearly six hours of
jamming, with thousands of college-educated kids grooving throughout.
Bell hit it on the head when he said, "It's a thinking man's crowd as well as
a dancing thing."
It's also a taping crowd. The band is by no means opposed to this practice,
but Bell said they do feel that sometimes certain people just get in the way when
they try to record.
"Every time we enter a club, there are certain things we have to take care of,"
he said, whichincludes, "getting the production together, and working out any
glitches. Now, when it comes time for somebody wanting to make a tape, that's
fine. But when they're only paying attention to their own scene, they're in the
way. Some kids make themselves such pests.
"Some guys just doesn't know what they're doing, so that's an indicator that
we don't want them anywhere near the sound board. We play a lot of cities, and
a lot of kids fuck up. Our suggestion is to bring your own power source, bring
your own mikes, stay out the way of people dancing, and most of all, show us
the proper respect."
An interesting aspectof the taping "phenomenon," as Bell put it, is that some
people had the foresight to tape shows back in 1986. At that time, the band had
just gotten together andtheirshowsconsisted mainly ofcovers. Theirpopularity
grew quickly around the University of Georgia campus, and the group scored
a regional hit two years later with the "Space Wrangler" LP. After four years as
a hard to find cult classic, with many tenth-generation cassette copies floating
around, the record was reissued on CD last year.
A peculiar piece of trivia about this disc is that during last football season,
the title tune and the instrumental, "The Take Out,"were used as the soundtrack
to a CBS Sports piece about Dallas coach Jimmie Johnson?! That was almost
ashipasSundaynight's "Life Goes On" side-plot abouthow Phish had to cancel
a show because the whole group caught the flu.
Their 1991 self-titled disc, which they call "Mom's Kitchen," is uneven at
times, but was compelling enough to break the band nationally throughout the
past two years. Their third record, "Everyday" will be in stores March 23.
'Live, we pretty much cover an even amount of both albums," he said,;
though they neverknow which tunes they'll do. "The new ones, those are pretty
good, and we tend to play those more consistently."
Did he say they're just "pretty good?"
"Oh man," he said with a great deal of excitement. "Wait 'till you hear the
new album! It's very 'multiple-listening-ready,' and we're getting good feed-
back from Programming Directors, and that's new to us."
It's time for the whining game
4
Yeah, we know. The Oscars are a
meaningless sham. They're all about
money. They don'treflectthe best films
of the year. But who cares?'They're a
game, plain and simple, so relax and
enjoy it. It just gives everybody another
excuse to talk about movies.
"Reservoir Dogs" and "The Best Inten-
tions" would nods for Best Picture;
until that day comes, however, having
"The Crying Game" and "Howards
End" up there isn't all that bad.
Best Picture: As expected, "The
Crying Game" surprised everyone by
coming on strong with six nominations
total. The worst nomination in this, or
any category, has to be the nauseating
"Scent of aWoman." Though it won the
Golden Globe for best picture, don't
worry - enough people will realize
how bad it isbyMarch29 tokeep itfrom
winning. Too bad Oscar felt the need to
nominate this film and "A Few Good
Men" instead of truly great films like
"Malcolm X," (more on Spike Lee later)
"Aladdin," "Last of the Mohicans,"
"Reservoir Dogs," "Husbands and
Wives," "A River Runs Through It," the
list goes on. At least they managed to
nominate the best film of the year:
"Howards End." With nine nomina-
tions each, it's "Howards End" vs. Clint
Eastwood to win. Merchant Ivory
doesn't stand a chance. It's Clint's year.
Prediction: "Unforgiven."
Best Actor: There's a fairly good
mix of the understated (Stephen Rea,
Clint Eastwood), and the in-your-face
(Al Pacino, Denzel Washington). Ques-
tion: where art thou Anthony Hopkins,
for thy witty and brilliantly shaded turn
as Henry Wilcox in "Howards End," a
performance which equals his Oscar-
winning Hannibal Lecter? Prediction:
Al Pacino.
Best Actress: There wasn'tmuch to
work with this year - what a surprise.
It's good to see Pfeiffer nominated,
even if it is for the wrong movie. Her
scathing seductive Catwoman was the
jewel in her sparkling career. Predic-
tion: Emma Thompson.
Best Supporting Actor / Actress:
The Academy was particularly astute in
these categories, correctly crediting
David Paymer (Billy Crystal's brother
in "Mr. Saturday Night"), the great
Vanessa Redgrave, Marisa Tomei and
Miranda Richardson. But at least the
Academy rewarded Pacino for his best
performance of the year, in "Glengarry
Glen Ross"; too bad he'll win for the
wrong movie. Gene Hackman is prob-
ably the most professional actor around
these days, consistently, quietly incred-
ible. Hopefully this will be the year of
J.D.: Jaye Davidson and Judy Davis.
And Robin Williams was robbed for
brilliant work in "Aladdin." For some
reason, Oscar doesn't like Helena
Bonham Carter, ignoring her latest riv-
eting performance in "Howards End,"
which leapt off the screen at the viewer
with its rawness. Predictions: Jaye.
Davidson and Judy Davis. "
Best Director: Nominating Martin
Brest over Spike Lee is like picking the
Ford Escort over a Mazda Miata for car
of the year. Lee's films have been a
decidedly mixed bag in terms of consis-T
tency and coherence, but you'd be hard
pressed to name five directors in the
world that can do what he did on
"Malcolm X." It's ironic that people
congratulate Hollywood's "courage" in
nominating "The Crying Game." Be-
cause when it comes to handling some-
thing truly hot, like "Malcolm X", Hol-
lywood hightails it out of the kitchen.
Prediction: Eastwood.
Best Original / Adapted Screen-
play: WoodyAllengothis annualnomi-
nation for best original script for the
best original script of 1992. This year's
nominations include an unusually liter-
ate bunch of work. Predictions:
"Unforgiven" and "Howards End."
a
9
Part of the game is, of course, com-
plaining about the nominations, so here
goes. The big surprise of this year's
Academy Award nominations an-
nounced yesterday is that Hollywood
went mainstream. Generally, Oscar dud
pretty well in nominating the right per-
formances, but in terms of films, the
range, or lack thereof, is disappointing.
In a year when independent cinema
went so far, and the major studios trailed
behind so dramatically, it's a real shame
to see the Oscars pat the big ones on the
back once again. In a perfect world,
RII 114 ill VIIIIIIIII Imill L111111i I I 01111 kl
PICTURE: "The Crying Game," "A Few Good Men,"
"Howards End," "Scent of a Woman," "Unforgiven"
ACTOR: Robert Downey Jr. "Chaplin," Clint Eastwood
"Unforgiven," Al Pacino "ScentofaWoman," Stephen Rea
"The Crying Game," Denzel Washington "Malcolm X"
ACTRESS: Catherine Deneuve "Indochine,", Mary
McDonnell "Passion Fish,"MichellePfeiffer"LoveField,"
Susan Sarandon "Lorenzo's Oil," Emma Thompson
"Howards End"
SUPPORTING ACTOR: Jaye Davidson "The Crying Game,"
Gene Hackman "Unforgiven," Jack Nicholson "A Few
Good Men,"Al Pacino "Glengarry Glen Ross," David
Paymer "Mr. Saturday Night"
SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Judy Davis "Husbands and
Wives," Joan Plowright "Enchanted April," Vanessa
Redgrave "Howards End," <Miranda Richardson "Dam-
age," Marisa Tomei "My Cousin Vinny"
DIRECTOR: Robert Altman "The Player," Clint Eastwood
"Unforgiven," James Ivory "Howards End," Neil Jordan
"The Crying Game," Martin Brest "Scent of a Woman"
ORIGINA L SCREENPLAY: Neil Jordan"The Crying Game,"
Woody Allen "Husbands and Wives," George Miller and
Nick Enright "Lorenzo's Oil," John Sayles "Passion Fish,"
David Webb Peoples "Unforgiven"
ADAPTED SCREENPLAY:Peter Barnes"EnchantedApril,"
Ruth Prawer Jhabvala "Howards End," Michael Tolkin
"The Player," RichardFriedenberg "A River Runs Through
It," Bo Goldman "Scent of a Woman"
Eastwood
Widespread Panic willbe at the Blind Pig tonight. Tickets are $9.50 at
TicketMaster and $12 at the door. Doors open at 9:30.
Luscious Jackson
In Search of Manny
Grand Royal
I suppose it was inevitable; I guess I
just didn't think it would be so damn
good. An all-female band that comes off
as the Beastie Boys' estrogen-fueled
dopplegingers. But they're far from the
Beastie Babes. Based on "In Search of
Manny," Luscious Jackson make the
Beasties look downright silly.
Armed with a downtown NY atti-
tude and a deep organic vibe (reminis-
cent of Neneh Cherry's "Home Brew"),
this is lo-fi funky at it's best. Tracks like
"Let Yourself Get Down" cruise on a
breakbeat while Gabby drops asexy rap
of female empowerment. But before
you get the idea that this is just another
pseudo-rapbandpollutingtheairwaves,
take note: These ladies have a knack for
irresistible pop hooks. Check their anti-
slacker diatribe, "Life of Leisure." Sub-
sonic bass rumbles ominously under a
clarinet, when out of nowhere, a killer
sing-along chorus jumps out and sticks
to your ears like glue.
"Daughters of the Kaos" is acoustic
Dinosaur Jr. meets one deep-ass groove
(drummer Kate is one helluva kit-
shaker); "Keep On Rookin"' bashes in
the same vein. But ya gotta love the
Ventures tongue-kissing the Go-Go's
double-time of "Satellite." Faboo!
Buy it, adore it, remember where
you heard about itfirst...
-Scott Sterling
Railroad Jerk
Raise the Plow
Matador Records
Evidently Railroad Jerk wants to
fuse the American folklore of the Band
and the country-rock of Neil Young to
the lumbering sounds of Led Zeppelin,
the current folk-rock of R.E.M. and the
utter weirdness of the Pixies. It's an
intriguing idea that the group nearly
achieves with their psychotic
deconstruction ofBukkaWhite's"Fixin'
ToDie," where the moaning slide guitar
feedback and rumbling bass convey
more pain than Marcellus Hall's disaf-
fected whine. Yet Railroad Jerk cannot
carry through on the promise of "Fixin'
To Die" because the group couldn't
write a decent song to save their life.
Almost every single song is based
around nearly identical clanky chro-
matic riffs. And when the riffs manage
to kick into gear, as in the locomotive
drive of the Bo Diddley-style rave-up
"Pin Prick," the momentum is slowed
by insipid lyrics ("I am not the anti-
Christ, I amjusttheopposite-Psych!")
Apart from "You Can't Go Back," the
band has no discernible melodic sense,
choosing to bludgeon ariff into submis-
sion instead of developing a song. Rail-
road Jerk should learn that having an
interesting vision doesn't mean a thing
if there's nothing to support it.
-Tom Erlewine
-2
RE~RDS
1140 South University THC MT U
(Above Good-Time Charney's)
Ann Arbor, MI 48104
Ph: 663-5800
Boom Mn:Ths- EIE>< K-10N ?MARE
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San. 11 a.m.- a pin BAD WAKE UP SCREAMING
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~~~cassette.
ILDES: compact disc!
CRUEL LITTLE NUMBER LEAVE THE UGHT ON
BABY'S LOOKIN' HOT LOST IN YOUR EYES
a -- a Sale Pdces End Febniarv 21,19931
- ~~A &09mr~m uE~i
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4 a;
--
They're white, they rap and Scott Sterling loves 'em.
I II
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