-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," < K-10N ?MARE ri : M3.TSa. 3 IL-11 P.MLEEFY 4~~ft)~1NAE San. 11 a.m.- a pin BAD WAKE UP SCREAMING Dream N IOT ARE PRICED A.T INCLUDES: HOUSE OF PAIN - ALREADY GONE SLIP AND FALL $999 R LESS! GOOD 8639 -i Dream THE JEFF HEALEY BANDAon Feel This ~~~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 - Sr 4 a; -- They're white, they rap and Scott Sterling loves 'em. I II Syracuse University Division of International Programs Abroad 119 Euclid Avenue Syracuse, New York 13244-4170 315-443-3471 or 1-800-235-3472 i N M4 C s v i t (~I A Wo rld S Y R A C of USE Difference A B R O A D " Programs in Africa. Australia. Czech Republic, England, I