8 - The Michigan Daily - Wednesday, February 9, 1994 Pawin' their way to By BEN EWY Nirvana spawned a musical monster that is still rearing its ugly head. The term "grunge" is now being used to refer to almost any new band with long hair and electric guitars. This broad generalization of "grunge" has created a rush from music producers to sign any band that fulfills the supposed grunge formula. Subsequently, many new bands have understand- ably been hesitant to label themselves as "grunge." This is not the case with Paw, who calls itself "country grunge" because "labels are ridiculous anyway, it's all just rock 'n' roll." Paw is a band from Lawrence Kansas that has been taking the college music scene by storm. Their combination of sensitive, intelligent lyrics against a hard rock background has helped form a new sub-species of grunge that is being called the Midwest sound. When asked why bands from the Midwest are being given a chance, Charles Bryan, the bass player from Paw responded, "Everybody is tired of going to the big music cities and that is why it is refreshing to have somebody from the Midwest. The whole thing caught on and there's tons of bands in Lawrence now." Paw has had a very positive r their record company and has fou basically able to do as they plea ducers did for us was help us get o tapes," he said. "They don't tell u if they did, we'd tell them to fuc Although Paw may be indeb they are not overly pious. "Helme Nirvana, but we're not going to d emerging sound, and Nirvana w out, which helped bands like us were at the right place at the rig music is good ... you're not going get signed just because Nirvana Paw will be playing this Thur Pig and the show promises to experience. "We don't ever just wish it was over right away. We a really hard." The Blind Pig is tI intimate environment that Paw th fying this show's potential for g Even though Paw's music is guitar-driven, their lyrics are con ligent, which appeals to an old audience. In fact, "there is a surg the show and he told us that whil grunge success elationship with listen to the album. How cool is that?" But Paw and that they are also appreciates the younger audiences as well. se. "All the pro- "We like the all-ages shows and we like to see ur sounds on the younger kids come out because you never even s what to do and think about them buying the albums. They're not k off." even old enough to smoke yet." )ted to Nirvana, - One of the many attacks on the new crop of t sent flowers to grunge bands is that they are not authentic. Some io that. It was an bands have been criticized for jumping onto the as the first band grunge bandwagon, but this is not the case with . Thankfully we Paw, in referring to the liner pictures from their ,ht time, and the stellar album "Dragline," Charles had this to say: to come out and "We're musicians not models. We all had beards did." and old clothes on, that's just the way we looked sday at the Blind back then. There was nothing fake about it. I never be a powerful really realized it, but man, we look like a country stand there and group." lways try to play Paw is a band that is concerned about their he type of close, music and their audience. Even though many of rives on, magni- the band members have cut their hair, there's no reatness. reason to worry about Paw sticking to their roots hard, heavy and because they still "pull off that grunge thing." 0 41 spicuously intel- er, more mature eon who came to e he operates, he PAW will pay with Doughboys and Stabbing Westward on Thursday at the Blind Pig. Show starts at 9:30. Tickets are $5, and are available at anv TicketMaster outlet. Call 763-TKTS. MPaw sauRe W ould'egeit, Paw say they play "country grange." Who would've guessed it, eh? Chorale indulges in'Fantasy' By MELISSA ROSE BERNARDO What's your idea of a fantasy? Well, maybe the Arts Chorale will be able to indulge you. This Wednesday they will perform Ludwig van Beethoven's Choral Fantasy, and it promises to be an intense evening. Arts Chorale director Jonathan Hirsh described the Choral Fantasy as a piece about "nature, harmony, the harmony of life and how it comes about from the conver- gence of all the forces of nature." Written around the middle of Beethoven's career, the piece has a rather unique origin. "It was written as the finale for a very long concert in which Beethoven presented a piano concerto, two sym- phonies, his mass, a couple of other pieces, and this piece was composed to unite all the forces who had performed in the concert," Hirsh explained. Hence the structure of the work, which involves six vocal soloists, the piano soloist, the choir and the orches- tra. It is principally an orchestra work, with a choral finale. "The orchestra introduces the piece, the piano presents the main theme, then there are several variations (on the theme) and the chorus finally comes in to emphasize the theme again, and bring the whole thing together," Hirsh explained. The Choral Fantasy has been compared on many occasions to Beethoven's Ninth Symphony - some call it "a poor man's Ninth"- but Hirsh resists that compari- son. "People have compared (them) because (of) th choral finale, but (the Choral Fantasy) can't really star up against the Ninth symphony in stature," he explaine "It really has to stand on its own merits." And the Choral Fantasy does indeed have its ow merits, which goes back to why the piece was selected.' doesn't have a lot of responsibility for the choir, but whl it does sing is very exciting. It showcases the orchestr and the piano soloist," Hirsh said. The Campus Philharmonia will play, and the pian soloist will be School of Music Professor Louis Nagel. A an added bonus, the Arts Chorale invited choirs from ar high schools to sing with them-Milan, LivoniaFrankli Livonia Stevenson, Ypsilanti and Northville - whir they did for musical and for recruitment reasons. "It something that we think would be a good way to publici the Arts Chorale to prospective incoming students," Hir said. Each choir will also do pieces of its own, as will tf Arts Chorale. If all goes well - as Hirsh is certain it will - the Ar Chorale will hopefully make the high-school concerta annual event. But there are no guarantees, so you shou definitely make plans to get to this one. THE ARTS CHORALE wsg. five area high school choirs will perform Beethoven's Choral Fantasy plus other pieces Wednesday at Hill Auditorium. The concert begins at 8 p.m., and admission is free. BE A MODEL ... FOR WEEKEND ETC'S SPRING FASHION ISSUE MASS MEETING, FEBRUARY 13 AT 8:30 P.M. AT THE STUDENT PUBLICATIONS BUILDING (420 MAYNARD). BRING A PHOTO AND YOURSELF. CALL JOHN @ 763-0379. Mazzy Star he So Tonight That IMight See nd Capitol d, Now that the Cowboy Junkies have decided to flex their collective rock un 'n' roll muscles, fans of that band's "It sleeper "The Trinity Sessions" may at find themselves looking for a simi- a, larly narcoleptic replacement. The answer might be Mazzy Star's latest, no "So Tonight That I Might See." Open- As ing with the gentle electric strum- ea ming of the hushed "Fade Into Her," in, the record establishes its dark, ambi- eh ent mood early and sticks to it almost 's religiously, from the ultra laid-back ze tones of "Blue Light" to the almost- sh bluesy "Wasted." Hope Sandoval and he David Roback again handle the ma- jority of the writing and playing on rts the album, with the exception of the an beautifully sublime "Five String Ser- ld enade," penned by Arthur Lee. Unfortunately, the very aspect of "So Tonight That I Might See" which lends it its reluctant charm is the same element that causes a feeling of wea- riness by the time the last few tracks roll around. Mazzy Star is pleasant and understated and quite nice by candlelight, but the record simply grows tired without anything to life its mood. -DirkSchulze Roscoe Mitchell & Note Factory This Dance is for Steve McCall Black Saint Having spent a good deal of his formative years restructuring notions ,of jazz and music, Roscoe Mitchell turns toward melody on "This Dance is for Steve McCall." His skilled improv surges are still present through out this CD; but he leaves much of the sound layering up to the Note Fac- tory. Detroiters Jaribu Shahid and Tani Tabbal have spent a good deal of time with Mitchell and his music, extend- ing the Chicago-based exploratory aesthetic to the next industrial center and generation. The other members of the Note Factory round out adouble bass, double drum ensemble. Their bottom-heavy sound creates an opaque density. "Ericka" opens the recording with a delicate lyricism supported by bowed-bass undertones, melting into pulsing hand drum rhythms and Mitchell's multi-tonal improv fury. Dedicated to drummer and fellow AACM-er Steve McCall, the title may stem from the percussive focus of these songs (or vise versa). Tani Tabbal and Vincent Davis provide the polyrhythms, while Mitchell - the interminable multi-instrumental- ist - and bassist William Parker toss in their own percussive additives. Together they create an orchestra of timbres in the brief percussion col- lages "Uptown Strut" and "Ah." They carry the pointillist piano and bass interjections in "Variations for String Bass and Piano," Matthew Shipp's abrupt piano style adding to the rhythm. The dense sound-scape is most effective in "The Rodney King Af- fair." Parker's and Shahid's deep strings combined with the duo per- cussion and Mitchell's masterful range of the entire sax family makes a whirlwind of sound... an appropriate remembrance of L.A.'s twisted chaos. -- Chris Wy rod Cro-Mags Near Death Experience Century Media It's always sad to see a revolution- ary band fall from grace. The Cro- Mags' legendary 1986 release, "The Age of Quarrel," defined the New York hardcore sound and attitude. Fights between the main songwriters, bassist Harley Flanagan and singer John Joseph, led to seemingly con- stant lineup changes. Both Flanagan and Joseph were members of the Krishna faith and these fights suppos- edly concerned who was the most righteous Krishna (no, I'm not kid- ding). Flanagan kicked Joseph out of the band and took over the vocal re- sponsibilities on 1989's "Best Wishes." John Joseph was out of the band for five years until he reunited with the band and released 1992's mediocre "Alpha-Omega." Recent fights between the two, rumored to be over stolen money, led to Flanagan's departure. "Near Death Experience" has John Joseph's awesome vocals, but there is little else redeeming about these songs. Ah, if only the music was as inter- esting as the politics of the band. The music is more like boring heavy metal than the energetic hardcore that im- mortalized their debut. Joseph tries a rap style on "War on the Streets" that he attempted with great success on "Alpha-Omega." This time, however, it sounds tired and contrived. The most successful single on their last record, "The Other Side of Madness," mysteriously appears on this record as well. It is supposedly another ver- sion, but it sounds exactly the same. It may be time to hang up the hat be- cause the magic is gone. Joseph is still great, though, and should be watched for in the future. - Gianluca Montalti Redd Kross Phaseshifter Mercury/ Polygram Redd Kross are a band that straddle the line between punk and pop culture and have their tongues planted firmly in cheeks. This unusual contortion does not affect their abilitynto create and perform fun, quirky music, how- ever; they've been around for nearly 15 years and on this album, they have found the perfect mix between the bubble gum of Debbie Gibson and the avant garde of Thurston Moore (both of whom the band ranks among its 4 personal friends). They love the Par- tridge Family as much as Sonic Youth. Their music is cheesy fun that holds up well on repeated listenings; tunes such as "Jimmy's Fantasy" "Lady in the Front Row" "Visionary" "Pay For Love" and "Saragon" mix the bands soaring harmonies, guitar technique, pop structures, and love of kitsch into an irresistible confection of an album. "Phaseshifter" is a must for hipsters (Weiland of Stone Temple Pilots "loves" this band, but don't let that stop you) as well as fans of witty bubble gum power-pop. May Redd Kross be groovy for another 15 years. - Heather Phares Check f f # APR? 27 19871 2 h 1 98, 79 RESERVE OFFICERS' TRAINING CORPS ANOTHER GREAT REASON TO LIVE IN A RESIDENCE HALL .................................... . . . L ast year students made 186,000 visits to our Residence Hall Libraries. It's no wonder - students can borrow hn,kcC1t vine e serres. lanauaa .r"" li braries is in your residence hall. So 6 GET MONEY FROM YOUR UNCLE INSTEAD. Your Uncle Sam. Every year Army fees. They even pay a flat rate for text- :: ° i