8 - The Michigan Daily - Wednesday, February 15, 1995 nere's Black Velvet Hag, lounging around like usual. RECORDS Continued from page 5 Black Velvet Flag Come Recline with Black Velvet Flag Go Kart As their clever name implies, Black Velvet Flag mixes traditional hardcore and punk with schmoozy, boozy lounge music. And while it seems that everyone and their punk- rock little brother have suddenly "gone lounge" these days (like Combustible Edison, Love Jones, the Coctails), Black Velvet Flag stand apart from the swelling ranks of swingers in that they nabbed the "Best Unsigned Art- ist of 1994" award from none other than stodgy old Rolling Stone. Whether or not this will help these hepcats in the future remains to be seen, but "Come Recline ..." is a live album recorded at the legendary CBGB. It's also lots of fun. The band's renditions of such punk chestnuts as the Circle Jerks' "Group Sex," the Dead Kennedys' "I Shot JFK" and The Germs' "Media Blitz" are funny and, of course, swingin' - and you can hear all of the lyrics. But the best track on here is definitely Black Velvet Flag's reworking of Sucidal Tenden- cies' "Institutionalized," which gives the original's despairing humor a world-weary, blase twist. So, are they the best unsigned band of last year? Nah, not really. But "Come Recline ..." provides plenty of mellow angst to groove to. - Heather Phares Lyle Lovett I Love Everybody MCA After expanding his sound more and more with each successive album, Lyle Lovett now has stepped away from the expansive diversity of "Joshua Judges Ruth" and "Lyle Lovett and his Large Band" for a far more stripped- down and personal sound on his latest, "I Love Everybody." Most tracks, with the notable exception of the horn-driven "Penguins," feature only Lyle's acous- tic guitar and warm vocals and sparse accompaniment on bass and drums. The 18 songs of "I Love Every- body" come from all phases of his life, freshly recorded here with all of their humor and sympathy intact. "Fat Ba- bies" finds him singing, "I don't like hippies / And I don't like cornbread / And I don't like much / But I like you," while in "Sonja" he realizes that if he wants to score, he "needs a song about Sonja when I'm singing tonight." The songs grow more poignant in the latter half of the record as Lyle waxes nostal- gic in "Old Friend" and "Moon On My Shoulder." In the simplicity of the ar- rangements on "I Love Everybody," Lovett allows the songs themselves to speak for him and they do so beauti- fully, resulting in his best effort to date. - Dirk Schulze Smog Burning Kingdom Drag City Caution: this album is steeped in gloom. Don't listen to these six songs unless you want to feel morose, help- less and hopeless during and afterwards. But that's a compliment; Smog is so adept at reflecting, filtering and manu- facturing sorrow that even the merest hint of antidepressants would consti- tute a bad career move. All six songs feature different kinds of angst, but "My Shell" "Renee Died 1:45" and "Drunk on the Stars" show off Smog's dreary, droning beauty to its finest. "Burning Kingdom" shows that Smog are indie-gloom rock royalty. - Heather Phares Digable Planets Blowout Comb EMI/Pendulum Records Hold your breaths, Digable fans. That dreaded question lingers on your lips: will the Planets follow-up effort live up to their first? You can inhale now. "Blowout Comb," in fact, proves to be a worthy second release by Doodlebug, Lady- bug and Butterfly. The CD features lots of soft, rolling tracks that please the ears. Yes, the group continues to rhyme intelligently, constantly urging listen- ers to take a more politically active stance. The trio takes their sound deeper into the world of acid jazz, utilizing the noises of traditional jazz instruments like the vibes, cello, and tenor sax, to name a few. Thejazz influence that was not as prominent on 1993's "Reachin"' definitely makes itselfknown on "Blow- out Comb." It's so strong you can almost see the smoke emanating from the bar you're in. Or rather, the bar you should be in when the music's playing. The album takes its time through- out, with a running time of sixty-one minutes. Each song makes for an over- all sprawling effect, for unlike the com- monplace oversampled rap tunes that seem to be everywhere, the Planets actually record using live instruments. Guest artist David Lee Jones plays a Don't Worry, See Bobby Seven years ago, Bobby McFerrin catapulted from the ranks of the critically- acclaimed right into the mainstream. He's never been the same since. Before "Don't Worry, Be Happy" - his only pop hit - McFerrin's amazing vocal gymnastics weren't mocked, they were respected throughout the world of jazz. But the pop phenomenon that was "Don't Worry" made the masses believe that he was a one-hit wonder; consequently, he's never been able to regain the momentum that "Don't Worry" game him. However, he's never stopped making good music, as anyone who's listened to his albums knows. McFerrin's vocals are even more impressive in concert, where he truly sounds like a full band. Tonight, he plays the Michigan Theater supported by a jazz-pop trio; the concert promises to be a thoroughly entertaining show. Doors open at 8 p.m.; tickets are $22.50 and $15 In advance. Call 763-TKTS for more information. Go to show - if you do, you'll be happy. 0 sweet alto sax on "K.B.'s Alley (Mood Dudes Groove)," while the album's most surreal track, "Black Ego," is es- sentially seven minutes of funky drum beats and shimmering, echoing key- board sounds. "Highing Fly," though. short in duration, serves as a great little pick-me-up, as well as "Blowing Down." "Blowout Comb," however, doesn't have atruepop hit like "Rebirth of Slick." But when you'vegottheinterestingsound of the Digable Planets, who needs it? The final words on their latest effort: aw, yeah, aw, yeah. - Ella de Leon The Artist Formerly Known As Prince Inter- active Graphix Zone Macintosh and Windows CD ROM The artist formerly known as Prince (TAFKAP) may not be Prince anymore, but he'll always be his purple majesty. In TAFKAP's very own interactive CD ROM, curious players tour around the modern-day Mozart's mansion, absorbing a wide range of ordinary and also very bi- zarre pieces of the artist's life and twisted imagination. Could you expect anything less from a man who cuts the ass out of his pants? TAFKAP'sgameis adeepandinterest- ing exploration into sight and sound, combining his music, video and memo- rabilia into a colorful and animated virtual reality game. On the video tour of the symboled one's domain, players encounter vari- ous games and challenges in an attempt I .I :iv:.-.<:{:j i a:}:': i$} i }}}?{'? i}: ii ; } : : } }: : as' ? s G? >...... ALTT E NT 10N Student fkecognition Awards nouinnation, deadfine hias been eXternfed. 9Nominations due Februarj 24, 1995 :ormination forms available at CIC, N(CIC', andSAL Af/forms must be turned into the office of Stundent activities & Leadership, 2202 Michgan 'Union, by NO NFrida,' February 24, 1995 in order to be condsidered . For more information, contact SAL at 763-5901 to tindtheditterentpiecestoA AP'S symbol. The journey travels through TAFKAP's recording studio, where players can use his mixer to create their own version of his new song, "Race." There are also games to unscramble full music videos, along with various sound clips and mystical characters. "TAFKAP Interactive" also con- tains six complete music tracks that were created especially for the project. Italso has 52 clips from other TAFKAP and Prince classics hidden throughout the experience, in a variety of pictures, awards and other memorable items from the artist's career. Some of TAFKAP's more amusing belongingsare found in his bedroom closets. Asidefrom anum- ber of outfits from TAFKAP's more famous videos and concert perfor- mances, a safe in one of the closets reveals handcuffs, a whip, and some other kinky items. "TAFKAP Interactive" is as close as recent interactive adventures have come to virtual reality, especially with the lack of any words or icons. The, game is acurious adventure through the life and mystique of TAFKAP, and over ten years of his music and video. It is definitely an interesting adventure in sight and sound, and it goes right along with the mysterious, very strange, and ingenious mind of the artist formerly known as a man, but now a-symbol. -Brian A. Gnatt I Sponsored byithe lice resident for Student Afairs, and the Student Alumni Cuncil I or ..t.v : :.:. -