The Michigan Daily - Friday, April 7, 1995 -
RECORDS
contiued from page 8
Poole
Alaska Days
Spin Art
Unlike the snowflakes that adorn
their CD "Alaska Days," Poole is a
happy, fuzzy pop group like about
live million other indie bands out
there. Not thatthere's anything wrong
with that; indeed, the predictability of
heir pleasant, slightly off-key vo-
cals, fuzzy guitars and jangly melo-
dies is somehow reassuring, suggest-
ing that this kind of music will always
be around to listen to. Songs like
"Superamerica," "Favorite Beatnik
Star," "Ovalteen" and "Mary Shakes
Her Hair" all go fuzz, jangle and pop
in a thoroughly pleasing manner.
Revolutionary? Nah, not really, just
ome good ol' indie music. Be sure to
wear your hat and mittens when you
listen to "Alaska Days," cause
Poole's cool.
- Heather Phares
Joe Henry
Murder of Crows
Shuffletown
Mammoth
On these, Joe Henry's first two
releases, the former Michigan native
waxes poetic over dreams, Battle
Creek, lost friends, Charlevoix and
memories. His songwriting is not as
sharp and deft here as on his two
latest, absolutely brilliant albums
"short Man's Room" and "Kindness
of the World," but almost every num-
ber reveals a young man already wed-
ded to a unique and powerful muse.
*' Henry seems a bit uncomfortable
on "Murder of Crows" and its split
between rather bland rock backdrops
and overdone string arrangements. It
is not that the songs are bad, they just
could have been presented a little
better. In another context, $ay the
wonderful country folk backing the
Jayhawks gave him on "Short Man's
Room," many of the songs would be
masterpieces. As it is, they struggle
r a life outside of the glossy major
label production. "Shuffletown" feels
Kubrick's' 2001' is a film odyssey
a little more real, some of the gloss
stripped away by T-Bone Burnett to
reveal a rootsy, piano and guitar-based
sound that suits his tales of innocents
and dreamers, drinkers and wander-
ers well.
Mammoth deserves praise for re-
issuing the two records (both were
originally released on A&M) by this
under-appreciated songwriter. Sure,
they may not be as good as "Kindness
of the World," but that cannot rob
them of their particular power. "I hope
you enjoy my past as much as I enjoy
its absence," Henry writes. We do,
Joe. Rave on, old chap.
- Dirk Schulze
Treepeople
Actual Re-enactment
C/Z Records
Treepeople's latest is an "Actual
Re-enactment" of every good sound
that has come from other breakthrough
albums of the previous five years,
successfully uniting the elements that
made Superchunk's "On The Mouth,"
the Butthole Surfers "Independent
Worm Saloon," Dinosaur Jr.'s "Green
Mind," Nirvana's "Nevermind" and
Unrest's "Isabel" into popular name
brands, no longer toiling in the realm
of indie obscurity.
You can hear Superchunk's
straino-draino vocals, the Butthole
Surfer's loopy guitar leads, Dinosaur
Jr.'s southern-fried guitar solos,
Nirvan a's chunka-chunka and
Unrest's chinka-chinka. More than
just imitating, Treepeople have proved
that a band doesn't have to have an
original sound toproduce searing rock
music.
- Matt Carlson
Various Artists
"The Promised Land"
Soundtrack
Columbia Records
At this very moment, while you
are reading this newspaper, some-
where in your favorite music store,
safely tucked away, lies one of the
greatest musical box sets to be re-
leased in recent memory. The name
of this two-CD soundtrack is "The
Promised Land," and the story it tells
is one of struggle, courage, joy and
extraordinary pain.
"The Promised Land" is a five-hour
mini-series (inspired by Nicholas
Lemann's book of the same name) de-
tailing the lives of African Americans
during theGreat Migration of some five
million Black families from the South
to the North between the '30s and '70s.
The soundtrack is much like the subject
of the movie - a journey of amazing
proportions in Black-inspired music
from the 1920s through the 1990s. And,
just as the Great Migration drastically
changed the social, cultural and politi-
cal climates of this nation, "The Prom-
ised Land" soundtrack will transform
your mind, body and spirit as it plays an
unceasing game of mental tug-of-war
with you.
Listen as the country-western
sounds of Count Basie's "Back Water
Blues" (1927) lead into the unforget
See RECORDS, Page 10
By Joshua Rich
Daily Arts Writer
Now presented in 70mm almost 30
years after its original release, Stanley
Kubrick's "2001: A Space Odyssey" is
certainly a motion picture to behold.
Even more, it is a movie to experience.
Watching "2001" on the big screen
requires a viewer to set aside his or her
own beliefs about space, time and hu-
manity in order to allow this film to
surround him or her in its majestic
composition of drama, art and adven-
ture. Unlike none other, this movie cap-
tures its audience in its web of enlight-
ening yet disturbing themes and high-
tech special effects.
Divided into four sections, "2001"
relates the endeavors of humans from
different periods in history in order to
achieve a complete analysis of the
continuous struggle between human-
ity, technology and the supernatural.
The opening segments of the film
present different periods of discovery
in human history. Prehistoric apes are
initially shown discovering weapons
and murder, followed by futuristic
scientists finding evidence of intelli-
gent life on the Moon in 1999.
18 months later (the only part of
the film actually set in 2001), in the
third section, we witness a mission to
Jupiter gone awry. Commanded by
Dave Bowman (Keir Dullea) and
Frank Poole (Gary Lockwood), the
space ship Discovery experiences
technical difficulties when its inhu-
man controlling mechanism, the HAL
9000 computer (voice of Douglas
Rain), appears to have a nervous
breakdown.
The final sequence treats the audi-
ence to a bizarre yet wonderful display
of computer animation and special ef-
fects tricks. Bowman departs from his
ill-fated ship and embarks on an excit-
ing voyage into the realm of the super-
natural and his metamorphosis into the
"Star Child." Humanity has, therefore,
returned full swing to the simple era of
pre-humanity and discovery that was
presented in the film's opening se-
quences. And constantly present in all
phases of life in between is the mysteri-
ous black monolith, symbolizing a
guardian angel or God.
One can surely see how this film
attracted many disillusioned youths in
the late-1960s who were moved to see
a motion picture that looks deep into the
existence of human life. It has been
described as an acid trip without the
LSD. It is a film that, in 1968, sent
people from the theaters in a frenzy,
some in tears feeling that they had met
God, others exhilarated by an epiphany.
At present, however, "2001" has
been copied by so many other movies
since its inception that its power and
substance are frequently overlooked.
Ever since its release audiences have,
forexamplegotten accustomed to outer
space montages that are accompanied
by Johann Strauss Jr's "On the Beauti-
ful Blue Danube" waltz-amain theme
effects upon which this film lies. Most
resonant is not what is said or done in
the film, but rather the visual feast of
light and time travel that is constant
throughout. Written by Kubrick and
Arthur C. Clarke (based on Clarke's
1951 short story "The Sentinel"), the
limited dialogue is interesting and amus-
ing -as in HAL's repeated ramblings:
"I can feel it ... I can feel it," or his
rendition of the classic tune "Daisy."
Yet the film's story presentation is de-
pendentmoreon whatis seen, not heard.
Also memorable is the soft voice of
Rain's HAL who speaks with a re-
strained, even tone leading us to think
he is a human waiting to burst from his
prison of technology. HAL's mono-
logues and eventual demise contribute
to an ironic plot twist in which the
audience is taught about human emo-
tions and mortality by a smooth-talking
computer.
Unfortunately, neither HAL nor the,
creators of this masterpiece were able
to smooth-talk their way into the hearts
of Hollywood or many in the American
public. Arguably the best film of 1968,
if not ever, "2001" failed to receive
anything butAcademy Award nomina-
tions for screenplay and direction. Hol-
lywood and America were not ready to
experience this motion picture 27 years..
ago, and it may be many years before it
is truly appreciated. Until then, how-
ever, "2001" will live on justas humans
gallantly struggle to survive on our,
journey from the past into the future and
beyond the infinite.
2001: A Space
Odyssey
Directed by Stanley Kubrick
with Keir Dullea
and Gary Lockwood
At the Michigan Theater
in this film. Further, we have been
spoiled by numerous science fiction
movies which use the special effect
innovations originally invented for this
particular movie.
As in all Kubrick films, solid acting
takes second stage to the brilliant cin-
ematography and innovative special
.
I I
University of Michigan
School of Music
Michigan Union
Ballroom
Sunday, April 9, 1995
12-5 pm
n- r' I L.: A
Festival
E xl hiits
CALLIGRAPHY
CHINESE GAMES {-
NAME TRANSLATION
PAINTING-
PAPER FOLDING
Performances
LION DANCES -
MARTIAL ARTS
TRADITIONAL DANCES
Sponsored by Office of Academic
Multicultural Initiatives &
VP for Student Affairs-
Joe Henry's reissued albums deal with all things good and Michigan.
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Young Judaea/ Hamagshimim Israel
Opportunities Employment Program
Presents:
ight Tech/Computer
Job Opportunities
in Israel
Come Meet with
Leading Israeli
Companies in Toronto,
May 24-26
Thursday-Saturday, April 6-8
Dance BFA Concert
Betty Pease Studio Theater, 8 p.m.
Tickets: $5 (at the door)
Thursday-Sunday, April 6-9
Sirens, by Darrah Cloud
Theatre and Drama Production; Lynn M. Thomson, guest director
Trueblood Theatre, Frieze Building
8 p.m. Thurs.-Sat.; 2 p.m. Sun.
Tickets: $12, students $6 (764-0450)
Friday, April 7
Symphony Band and Concert Band
H. Robert Reynolds, Gary Lewis, Dennis Glocke, conductors
" Skalkottas: Three Greek Dances
" John Harbison: Three City Blocks-Ann Arbor premiere
* Music of Milhaud and others
Hill Auditorium, 8 p.m., free
Saturday, April 8
Men's Glee Club: 135th Annual Spring Concert
Jerry Blackstone, conductor
Hill Auditorium, 8 p.m.
Tickets: $10 $8, $5, $3 (764-1448)
Sunday, April 9
Brass Ensemble Concert
Student groups, with guest Faculty Brass Quintet
Recital Hall, School of Music, 2 p.m.
Tuesday, April 11
Campus Symphony Orchestra
David Tang, Vincent Danner, conductors; Debbie Kwan, violin
" Wagner: Overture to Die Meistersinger
" Wieniawksi :Violin Concerto No. 2
" Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition
Hill Auditorium, 8p.m., free
Wednesday, April 12
Faculty Recital: Anton Nel, piano
" Haydn: Sonata in E-flat, Hob. XIV:52
" Music of Debussy and Chopin
" Crumb: A Little Suite for Christmas, A.D. 1979
" Schumann: Symphonic Etudes, op. 13
Recital Hall, School of Music, 8 p.m., free
Campus Band
Damien Crutcher, conductor
Hill Auditorium, 8 p.m., free
Campus Philharmonia Orchestra
Vincent Danner, conductor; Koralie Hill, violin
" Gershwin: An American in Paris
" Mendelssohn: Violin Concerto in E minor
"' Rossini: Overture to The Barber of Seville
McIntosh Theatre, School of Music, 8 p.m., free
Thursday, April 13
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41
University of Michigan students, be a part of the interna-
tional market's cutting edge, as the "new" Israel leads the
-way in computer and electronic technology. Young
JOSTENS
Stop by and see a Jostens representative