The Michigan Daily - Friday, March 15, 1996 - 9 VtCORDS Continued from Page 5 Sparkiehorse is tiny. They like that. Sparklehorse umxiefub rinetrsssionplot Capitol Sparklehorse is the project of Mark ous, a former workman who is as d ofwoozy, drugged-out country rock as he is of long-winded album names. Linkous' debut album, "Vivadixie ..." has shades ofthe sparse beauty ofPalace's indie-country, the cryptic ramblings of Pvemenf and the psychedelic sonics of theFlaminig Lips. "Homecoming Queen," the opening track of the album, sounds like a Neil Young song recorded in a closet while a circus was going on out- 'e. "Weird Sisters," meanwhile, re- sembles aGuided by Voices tune played at half-speed. There's a cloistered weirdness to "Vivadixie ..." that makes it both a fiercely independent artistic statement and a somewhat difficult listen. Mark Linkous isn't making music for the masses with Sparklehorse; each tune has atlea'st one layer of weird lyrics or sounds"that must be peeled off before the great melodies and pop hooks can *appreiated. "Rainmaker" and "Saturday" are two of the more straightforward tracks on the album, but for every one of those exists a "Tears on Fresh Fruit" or a "Hammering the Cramps" - songs filled with backward loops, samples and kiddie instruments that result in some intensely weird vibes on "Vivadixie ...." At times frustrating, Sparklehorse's music is ultimately rewarding. Behind Linkous' at times too-whiny voice and the album's prodigious 16-track length is a genuine, simple beauty that ex- presses itselfin a way that neither coun- try-rock nor noise-rock can contain. If you like your music curioser and curioser, you'll find "Vivadixie..." full of pop gems with a different sparkle. - Heather Phares Immature We Got It MCA Taking Immature seriously can be hard, I know. First off, every member of this trio is 14 years old. One of the members has dyed brown hair that would make grandmothers shudder, and, of course, the group's name choice doesn't help them much. Nevertheless, Immature has toned down considerably, starting with the 1994 release "Playtyme Is Over," which included the gold single "Never Lie" and the popular song "Constantly." As member Marques "Batman" Hous- ton" put it, "We're older now." Immature got my attention with "Playtyme Is Over" - a little bit; with "We Got It," the group's newest LP, they've kept it-a little bit. Their slow- grooving "Feel the Funk" graced last year's "Dangerous Minds" soundtrack, and it can also be found on this LP. Showing a versatility that pre-teens seem to muster at whim, Immature also performs the nicely upbeat "We Got It." This song's video has got to be one ofthe freshest out there right now, show- ing the group boogieing with an old- folks-home crowd. Returning the trio to its slow-funk groove is the slightly rough-sounding "Just a Little Bit," which strongly con- trasts with the almost shy-sounding love song "Please Don't Go" or the heavily laid-back "Pay You Back." Eventually, Immature returns more upbeat and happy than ever with "When It's Love." But "We Got It" also has a few huge kinks that need to be dealt with. The primary area ofconcernis hideous beats. Some of the music used on this LP are murder on the ears. "Lover's Groove" allows Immature to attempt some type of simultaneous singing and rapping mixture that just doesn't cut it. The hollow, whiny noises which open "Crazy" are straight-up dumb. While the members of Immature have some nice vocals, they are sorely lacking in the production department. While sing- ing harmony is of primary importance - and Immature has that down - one off- beat, one out-of-place chord can ruin a song. Multiply this by the dozens of re- tarded beats used in throughout "We Got It," and you'll soon see the rough edges that shred this LP's 13 songs. "We Got It" certainly has its moments. "We Got It" certainly demonstrates Immature's growing musical maturity. But "We Got It" also shows that Imma- ture still has a ways to go. These guys aren't Jackson 5, and they aren't New Edition. They're barely an Another Bad Creation. But, they have the ability to be all these things and more. Only time will tell if it will happen, but these guys are only 14. They have time. - Eugene Bowen The Brat Pack, 15 years later: Notice the aged Anthony Michael Hall with his old "Breakfast Club" pals. Cult Sclas -sic retursfo te'0 . Demolition Dollrods crank it up for WCBN-FM radio at the Blind Pig tonight Listenup all you wild and wacky WCBN a tons - tonight is the night for the world-renowned WCBN Winter Benefit n A BashIThe show kicks off with the: rocka Wily,sounds of local sensation Rumble, and then Detroit's own Voebeats and Ann Arbor's Hentchmen. *sing out the night will be a special performiance from Detroit's own Demiolition Dollrods, fresh off the opening slot on Boss Hog's tour. CBN tells us It's rumored that the Dolirods will dress to impress, performing while wearing only WCBN bumper stickers. The show is at the Blind Pig, with doors opening at 9:30 p.m. Admission is only $5. All proceeds go to support Ann Arbor's finest freeform radio; station, WCBN 88.3 FM. 18 & over. By Ted Watts Daily Fine Arts Editor The early '80s were an interesting time, full of slightly annoying music and some notions about animation from the National Film Board of Canada. In this environment "Heavy Metal" was forged. Produced by Canadian educated Ivan Reitman, the film is a melange of several different animation styles used to tell a half dozen different stories relating to an evil, sentient green ball. The current re-release of "Heavy Metal" is quite a shock. The film has a fairly REVIEW healthy cult status. H Meta On the screen, how- Heavy Metal ever, the reputation * * seems unwarranted. Directed by Gerald For the most part, the animation looks Potterton; with John Candy both dated in style and Harold Ramis and amateurish in At State execution. In addi- tion the stories are not really all that compelling. So, the question of why the movie has become a cult classic should be brought up. The answer is really pretty simple: Swear words and abnormally humongous naked breasts. There's a ton of both here, and those are almost certainly the reason this film's been dug up and put back on display. Well, it's as much as a lot of movies have ... The main tragedy of the movie is that it mucks about with material from some very good sources in the comic book world. The interpretation of Richard Corben's "Den" is about the best narrative in the movie, but the visual style is an absolute corruption of Corben's extremely lush drawing style. Its animation is almost indistinguishable from an episode of "Thundarr, The Barbarian," for crying out loud. The story is cogent enough to carry you beyond this though, and the presence of John Candy's voice as Den and the two, sets of gigantic breasts in the segment make it enjoyable enough. It's even humorous part of the time. Nothing else really reaches the effectiveness of the storytelling of "Den" in this movie, but a couple segments have art design that is practically innovative. Comic luminar- ies Mike Ploog and Howard Chaykin were responsible for design in "Taarna," a story about a vengeful female warrior, easily seen as a precursor to Aeon Flux. She has large breasts and a niftily designed thong-based costume, a virtually Anime face and villains that look a bit interesting even if they are animated pretty badly. The interestingly realistic look of "B 17" and the successfully humorous character designs in Berni Wrightson's "Captain Stern" make for good stills, though they are not really well used in motion. Probably the biggest disappointment with the film is that the soundtrack is very weak when it comes to vocal music. The score, performed by the Royal Philharmonic, is wonderfully atmospheric, but the songs by Journey, Sammy Hagar and Black Sabbath (among others) are terribly dated, poorly mixed into the film and ultimately very detrimental to the movie itself. Devo actually deliv- ers a couple of worthy tunes that fit the stories better than any of the other songs, and they have never been referred to as heavy metal. The name of the film must have ultimately been a terrible burden. There are a handful of things this picture did to advance animation. It opened the eyes of the generation that had just missed "Fritz the Cat" to the fact that there was something out there in the little moving drawings besides Disney and Warner Brothers. You can almost see the movie as a mix between "Creepshow" and an animation festival steeped in some bad AOR. There are better ways now to see animation from out of the main stream, but it can still be good to look back at what came earlier. At least you get to see a whole lot of big breasts. OF PROFESSIONAL NAIL CARE TO EXPERIENCEA THE NEW A4 J3 CONCEPT R N D OF BEAUTY 90's VIP MEMBERSHIPS AVAILABLE 2 LOCATIONS... L. A _i L s HAMILTON SQUARE 715 North University Ann Arbor, MI 48104 (313) 332-0520 Mon. to Sat. 10om to 8pm Sundays 1 1am to 5pm BRIARWOOD MALL 310 Briorwood Cr. Ann Arbor, MI 48108 (313) 332-8708 Mon. to Sat. 10cm to 9pm Sundays 12pm to 6pm WANT TO STOP BITING YOUR NAILS? SEE US TODAY AND WE'LL HELP YOU STOP, AND MAKE YOUR NAILS LOOK BETTER! PROFESSIONAL NAIL CARE FOR LADIES AND GENTLEMEN tOHLSSON Continued from Page 5 " It's been a thrill. It's been an inspi- ration. It's been wild," said the 47-year- old pianist, who likened performing the series to "taking stock midway." Would he do it again? "I sure would," he laughed. Ohlsson eans.this, and plans to repeat the cycle London and is scheduling to play it in several other European cities. But Olsson is already getting nos- talgic forAnn Arbor. Though he can't yet give dates or times, he plans to return. He said that the focus of the sold-out crowds he entertained in Ann Arbor generated intensity in his play- ing. "I've proved the point, even to my- self, that Chopin is even a greater com- poser than we imagined," he said, cit- ing the masterpieces upon masterpieces which filled the six programs. "I sort of feel that the Chopin series has become much more than the sum of its parts," Ohlsson said. "It's become a portrait of this composer, and his world and his reigns. I hope it's not so much changed people's perception of Chopin but enlarged it." We only use OPI Production products. E FREE FRENCH MANICURE WITH FULL SET OF ACRYLIC NAILS. HEY, WHY NOT TRADE YOUR FOR $ THIS SUMMER"!' Advertise your house or partment in the Sublet Issue Published: Wednesday, March 27 Deadline::nFm F Fi ti..... .. f,' rii . .._ ........... . ...... .. .... _ .:t ........................._...............