8 - The Michigan Daily - Wednesday, September 18, 1996
Canadian Moxys migrate south
By Stephanie Jo Klein
Daily Arts Writer
If you looked in the dictionary, you
would not find a definition for Moxy
Friivous.
Although the Canadian band's first
album, "Bargainville" lists a few possi-
ble definitions of the name (froo'ves: n.
1. magical monk-baked pastry loaf. 2.
high stakes Mesopotamian board game)
even members of
the band can't
clearly define PR
their sound.
"I couldn't cat- MO
egorize us," 8 p.
vocalist-percus- at
sionist Jean A
Ghomeshi said in
a telephone interview with The
Michigan Daily. "For me, the most
intriguing bands are the kind of artists
you can't totally pigeonhole. I mean,
what is Beck? He's (this) cobbled-
together mixture of things. I love that. I
love the kind of discrepancy and incon-
sistency you find on an album like
'Flood' by They Might Be Giants. I
think we're all interested in exploring a
bunch of different things and that's how
it comes out in our music."
DX
m.
171
kdva
Those who go to the 7th House in
Pontiac tomorrow night will be glad
Moxy doesn't pigeonhole themselves as
either folk, alternative, or purely satirical
- all labels that have attempted to
describe them but none that have quite
made it. As Ghomeshi-attests, the fru-
four are definitely a composite of differ-
ent styles. In concert, you see it - they
truly shine whether they perform ballads
like "The Gulf
War Song," alter-
EV IEW na-rap versions of
Dr. Seuss' "Green
cy Fruvous Eggs and Ham" or
Thursday, Sept. 19 the folky, funny
h House in Pontiac. anthems like
ance tickets are $7. "King of Spain.:
"(We're) a
hybrid of musical theater, of rhymthic
stuff that we're interested in, of clearly
vocal-based music," Ghomeshi said,
adding that their eclectic influences
range from the Beatles to Tom Waits to
Stevie Wonder.
"If you come see us ... and you like
us, you're seeing a broad spectrum of
what we do and you're liking us for
what we are."
What they are is fun and engaging, as
they are proving to audiences across
Canada, the U.S. and the U.K. on their
current tour for their new EP, "The 'B'
Album," a collection of satirical oddi-
ties often featured at their concerts.
Part of their appeal to American audi-
ences is their political humor, as evi-
denced by "The Greatest Man in
America" about conservative radio guru
Rush Limbaugh: "Not since Jesus Christ
has the world seen someone / With such
widely syndicated views / Hundreds of
years from now they'll celebrate Rush-
mas / And Rush-hashana for the Jews."
On their second album, "Wood," they
show a different, mellower side, with
somber love songs, more intricate four-
part harmonies and basically, less silli-
ness.
"We had this concept while we were
making "Wood," that in the course of
making our 'real albums,' we're always
making up songs off the cuff, all satire,"
Ghomeshi said. "It's hard to put that on
albums we'd like to live forever. I want
'Wood' to be like 'Harvest' by Neil
Young. I want people 20 years from now
to be able to put it on and get into it. If
there's a song about Rush Limbaugh on
there, they're going to put it on and say:
'Who the fuck is this about?"'
Their third album, set for recording
Some pretty cute fellas, huh?
this November, should provide those
eager for some up beat pop with ample
listening material. "For our third album,
it's a whole other thing. (We've got) 12
groovy, up beat rockin' tunes,"
Ghomeshi said.
While accordion, banjo, guitar and
drums abound, Frdvous always performs
an intriguing show with new and impro-
vised tunes. They honed their skills this
summer at several festivals in Newport,
R.I., and the Rocky Mountains, even
developing a new marketing scheme, in
which fans get "Frihead" cards stanped
at shows they attend.
"We have all kinds of lunatics hang-
ing around Moxy Friivous, but we lo
those people."
Authors challenge standards of college, 'real life'
StIlaJi
1tilt
a The University of Mic
sculptures. vases. ornaments
experience required.
higan
,J/,Id I y reh,.i
Scientific Master Glassblower
Learn to make handcrafted solid!
& perfume bottles. etc. No prior
The University of Michigan, Continuing Education.
Artistic/Scientific Glass blowing Workshop Schedule
1996/1997 Pyrex Lamp Glassblowing Workshops
By Sarah Beldo
For the Daily
We live in a culture that loves the classroom.
Especially here in Ann Arbor, it is a commonly held
belief that in four years' time, between four walls, you
can get an education that is both a refuge from and a
preparation for the steel jaws of Real Life that are
snapping at your heels.
In their new book, "Taking
Time Off," Colin Hall and
Ron Lieber challenge the PR
notion that college should be Co
the natural step after high
school. They reassure students
and would-be students that it's 19 a
all right to take time off some-
time in their academic career
before continuing with their studies, and they encour-
age everyone to open their minds to education outside
the classroom.
This is a philosophy that has been tested by one
half of the pair. After 13 years of schooling together,
Lieber followed the traditional route of post-high
school education, while Hall meandered down a road
less traveled by deferring his admission at Amherst
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F
at E
college for two years, working full time for one, and
using the funds to backpack through Africa the sec-
ond year. Was it worth it? Absolutely. "It was the best
decision (Hall) ever made," as it says in the introduc-
tion to "Taking Time Off."
That seems to be the resounding opinion of almost
everyone featured in Hall and Lieber's book, a
melange that includes students who took a break from
school to hike the Appalachian
trail, ride freight trains with
EVIE W hoboes, volunteer as a nurse and
n Hall and serve in the military. These are
?on Liever not slackers or losers, but people
i., Thursday, Sept. like you and me who have run
Shaman Drum. Free. out of money for college, run out
of patience for real-world experi-
ence, or run out of that special
quality that it takes to lie through your teeth in an
English paper at four in the morning.
Kristin Walker, a member of Swarthmore
College's class of '97, describes her disillusion-
ment with traditional schooling: "My whole life,
people like my mother always promised me, 'Oh,
when you get to junior high you'll like school bet-
ter.' And then, 'Oh, when you get to high school
you'll like that better.' And I never did. I didn't
believe anyone who told me that when I got to ol-
lege it would be different and that everything
would be better."
Kristin credits her year long job as an au pair in*
Austria as what kept her from whittling her time away
like so many freshmen when she returned to
Swarthmore.
Throughout the book, Hall and Lieber refrain from
the dry, preachy advice of many guide books and
become that rare commodity: guidance counselors
who are also your best friends. In every inspiring tale,
they offer their opinions and cautions on the situation,
but stress that the actual experience of taking time off
lies ultimately in your own hands. They have confi
dence that, like a child learning to ride a bicycle, if
you fall off you can just get back on.
Hall and Lieber will be taking their brand of acad-
emic counseling on the road in a book tour due to stop
at Shaman Drum. They plan to approach the audience
with the tantalizing question, "Do you really want to
be here?"
To those that answer, "Maybe not," Hall and Lieber
offer a sympathetic shoulder and a damn good
resource book.
4 Day workshop
Thursday through Sunday, 8:00 to 4:30 p.m.. daily
designed for out-of-town students.
Intensive Session
SEPT. THUR-SUN 12,13.14.15 1996
OCT. THUR-SUN 24.25.26.27 1996
5 Week Workshops
Tuesday and Thursday, 1:00 to 4:00 p.m.
designed for students, teachers and professors.
Tues. and Thursday Courses
SEPT 17 to OCT 17. 1996
OCT 29 to NOV 28. 1996
FEB.
SEPT.
OCT.
THUR-SUN
THUR-SUN
THUR-SUN
20.21,22,23
11.12,13.14
23.24.25,26
1997
1997
1997
JAN 14
MAR II
SEPT 16
OCT 28
to
to
to
to
FEB
APR
OCT
NOV
13. 1997
10. 1997
16. 1997
27. 1997
All workshops include tools and glass. Duration: 30 hrs.
Courses held in 3024 H. I. Dow Building (North Campus)
Tuition: $600.00 Instructor: Master Glassblower. Harold Eberhart
Edith Baise
Phone (313) 764-8493
Fax 313.936.0253
Fax 313.763.0459
Harold Eberhart Phone (313) 764-3385
http: //www-personal.engin. umich.cdu/-eberhart
Read Weekend, etc. Magazine, returning to the Daily tomorrow.
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