ftb £itdiftx DAtg A Red Scare in A-squared! Our good friends at Cinema Guild will be presenting three of Russian director Sergei Eisenstein's finest classic films. "The Battleship Potemkin," considered one of the greatest films of all time, is playing tomorrow at the Natural Science Auditorium at 7 p.m. Following at 8:15 and 10 p.m. will be the two parts of Eisenstein's "Ivan the Terrible" epic, which features a score by Sergei Prokofiev. As always, tickets for each show are just $4. Sensational Simpson, legendary Bradb By Dean Bakopoulos Daily Books Editor On Friday night, make way for one of Granta magazine's top young American nov- elists, Mona Simpson. Saturday afternoon, something prolific this way comes when vet- eran writer Ray Bradbury drops by Ann Arbor. Simpson will read at Shaman Drum on Pj Friday evening, as part of a 13-city tour in pro- p motion of her newest novel, "A RegularS Guy." Simpson began her rise to the literary limelight in 1987, when her debut novel "Anywhere But Here" was released - the critics raved and readers cooed. Now, Simpson has become an established writer, noted as one of the best novelists working today. "A Regular Guy" proves she deserves these laurels. The regular guy that this new novel centers around is Tom Owens, a sort of Bill-Gatesian computer company wizard, living high and on Dru large as the director of the Genesis company. Owens' life gets a little complicated when Jane enters the picture. Jane is the illegitimate daughter that he had with Mary, an old romantic interest. Mary rais- es Owens' daughter in a world of mountain hideaways and hippie communities. But one day, she teaches the 10- year-old Jane how to EVIEW drive. Mary sends her off in a pickup truck 3a Simpson with wooden blocks on the pedals, so Jane can Reading tonight at live with the unexpect- m at 8 oclock. Free. ing and very rich Owens. This sadly humorous beginning sets up a novel in which a torn and confusing family structure develops. Simpson is at her best in "A Regular Guy." Her prose rarely falters, her style is unique, her subject matter both sad and amusing, her insight razor-sharp. A wonderful Friday evening awaits literary folk at Shaman Drum. The following afternoon, Ray Bradbury, who is promoting his first short story collec- tion in a decade, "Quicker Than the Eye," will speak and sign books at Borders. Despite the fact that Bradbury has published many more than 30 books in his legendary career, this will be his first-ever book tour. Bradbury began the tour in his hometown of Waukegan, Ill. There, he did a benefit book signing for the Waukegan Library System, an organiza- tion he credits with being the key to the P1 intensely vivid imagi- nation and love of writ- ing that sparked his awesome career. Bradbury is best known for his novels like "Fahrenheit 451," "The Illustrated Man" and "Dandelion Wine" He has also written for the TV show "The Twilight Zone," and he has adapted 65 of his stories for television's "Ray Bradbury Theater." "Quicker Than the Eye" is his first new book in eight years. It contains 21 never- before-collected short stories. Like his vast repertoire of novels, some of the stories are solidly realistic (like the novel "Dandelion Mona Simpson arrives in Ann Arbor this weekend. Also com- ing is Ray Bradbury, the legendary author of sci-fi classics like "The Martian Chronicles" and "Fahrenheit 451." Original hip-hop rappers The Roots release excellent new album, come to Detroit Comic Bog The Roots lIladelph Halflife DGC Remember the hip-hop classics like Public Enemy's "It Takes A Nation of Millions," Nas' "Illmatic" and Eric B. and Rakim's "Paid In Full?" Well, you can pretty much add another one to the long list: "Illadelph Halflife," The Roots' latest effort. The Roots have been pining away in the underground scene since 1987, so they are definitely no newcomers to hip-hop. They got their start emulating all their favorite rap stars on the streets of Philadelphia, but unlike a lot of other rappers out there right now, The1 Roots did not try to make a career out of sounding like every- one else. Now, it seems like a lot of hip-hop artists are trying to use live. musicians, at least when they tour. But the funny thing is that The Roots basically started all of that. There was supposedly some beef this past summer when the Roots toured with the overnight success story, The Fugees, and The Fugees seemed to be biting hard off the style that The Roots had perfected years ago. The thing about The Roots, though, is that all the instruments on "Illadelph Halflife," like their major-label debut "Do You Want More?" were played by the Roots crew. No samples here. The Roots have brought to hip-hop an element that Prince brought to mod- ern R&B music: An alternative to the basic computerized drum beats and samples so prevalent in popular rap and soul today. "Illadelph Halflife" thrives on the fact that the Roots are keepin' it real, and keepin' it live. Although the Roots are definitely in their best element performing live, "Illadelph Halflife" does a pretty good job of capturing their live intensity. There are no throwaway tracks on the album, seeing as The Roots had more than 100 tracks to choose from when it came time to put together the record. You know the tracks on the album are the freshest The Roots have to offer. Black Thought flows smoother than silk, Brother ?uestion's drum beats are phat, and the other members of The Roots crew hold their own lyrically as well. A short intro jumps right into "Respond / React," which is destined to be a hip-hop classic in its own right. The drums and bass lines on this album are crisp as hell, and keep your head noddin' all the way through the extreme- ly long 78-minute Maas disc. The current single "Concerto Of The Desperado," with its chorus, "Concerto of the desperado / R-double O-T-S check the flow / If you know like I know, then you know the motto / That's all the false shit gots ta go," tells you the Roots are sick of all the fake, trendy artists that pop up all the time. That track flows right into "Clones," this summer's street anthem. As if the Roots weren't strong enough lyrically by themselves, a cou- ple of guests even pop up on "Illadelph Halflife." Common Sense busts on "UNiverse At War," and Q-Tip of A Tribe Called Quest comes in to rip through "Ital (The Universal Side)." These guests and others only make "Illadelph Halflife" even stronger. If you're looking for some more of that southern-fried, booty bass crap music that tries to call itself "hip-hop;' and you hate real hip-hop, you wouldn't like "Illadelph Halflife." But if you The Roots, the Roots, the Roots are on fire! appreciate inventive, smooth flows, beats to give ya whiplash and talented artists, you'll see why "Illadelph Halflife" should be added to the list of classic hip-hop joints. Check out the Roots when they play an all-ages show tonight at St. Andrew's lall in Detroit, with special guest Jeru Damaja. Doors open at 6 p.m. Call (810) 645-6666 jbr more information. - Colin Bartos innocent-sounding take on noise-pop that it's worth seeking out their debut record "Trail of the Lonesome Pine." The songs on "Trail of the Lonesome Pine" seem to be in constant motion. They bounce, like "Pollen U.S.A." and "No Song"; they slink along close to the ground, like "Gleason Rocket," and they amble, like "Sunday Man" and "Orange Red, Bright Blue." Erika Hoffman's deceptively naive-sounding vocals ride atop a dense sonic mix that includes beeping and gurgling Moogs and farfisas, static-drenched guitars and crisp drums. "No Song," "Pollen U.S.A.," "Pointsettia," "Tractor Driver" and "Canary" especially benefit from this fuzzy, buzzy sound, which lends itself to being bouncy or abrasive. Spikier songs like "Old Number 7" and "Gleason Rocket" are indebted to Sonic Youth's more pop moments, and "12X" is the catchiest song Lush never wrote. A consistently enjoyable album, "Trail of the Lonesome Pine" will hopefully garner Godzuki the respect it deserves, locally and otherwise. -- Heather Phares See RECORDS, Page 9 perform at By Gabriel Greene For the Daily Lock up the kids; Eric Bogosian is coming back to Ann Arbor. Armed with his sixth and latest one-man rant, "Wake Up and Smell the Coffee," Bogosian will storm into the Michigan Theater on Saturday, leveling all pop culture in his path. Bogosian, who recently starred oppo- site Steven Seagal in the film "Under Siege 2: Dark Territory," returns to the stage - where he has gained much praise and almost as much notoriety. As in all of his prior solo shows, Bogosian will perform sev- eral different monologues to PRE trace his state of E . mind in America in 1996. Perform "It's kind of Michig hard to explain Ticket what I do because I don't have any records out or HBO specials or anything," Bogosian said in a recent interview with The Michigan Daily. "My shows are something that get described differently depending on who you talk to about it." True enough: Last October The Boston Globe called "Wake Up" "a glorious cacophony of voices that mim- ics the confusing complexity of life in the Information Age." After walking out of an Austin, Texas, performance of the show earlier this year, hapless the- atergoers Ed and Linda Smith called it "pure unadulterated filth." "It's odd because some people come ... and it's so hard-core compared to what they're used to seeing" Bogosian said, going on to mock what he calls the "Gold American Express Card" audi- ence: '"Ethel, what are we doing next month? Is that the night the Wendy Wasserstein play is on? No? Then we can go' ... and then they go into shock when they see what I do. "(My shows) are not about things out there, it's more about things inside me ... I'm much more aware that I'm just Friday November 8, 1996 ury hit 'U' '), while others embody Bradbury's mark magical fantasy worlds (as in Martian Chronicles"). The characters are music composers, aging couples, ised families who find themselves in nd sad and poignant situations. All of s done in Bradbury's wonderful trade- mark style - one that cannot be categorized. I E W Is this science fictio* fantasy, surrealism, 'adbury realism? One simply cannot pin Bradbury's tomorrow at voice down. t 4 p.m. Free. In the afterword to this collection titled e Haste to Live," Bradbury ruminates a 1 the writer's trade: "I don't write these :s, they write me... I am merely a prac- er of optimal behavior, which mean e yourself, listen to your Muses, g work done, and enjoy the sense that you t live forever." y Bradbury is still getting his work , and sometimes it seems that he may in ive forever. rosian to Michigan one more molecule in the middle of bil- lions of molecules. ... Life on Earth seems more and more like a virus all the time, consuming the whole planet. (This) show is more, like, about the end of civilization." For all the potential audience meO bers shying away after reading this last paragraph, know that you are playing into Bogosian's hands. "I have a real problem with being loved by audi- ences;' he snarled. "It's a lot easier get- ting an audience to love you than to respect you . . I'm not interested in that. Anybody who's here to see sme cute rodine, they're in the VIEW wrong placep "Wake t~p c Bogosian which follows his ning tomorrow at the successful play an Theater at 8 p.m. "subUrbia" (the s are $15 & $19.50. movie version just finished filming with Richard Linklater direct- ing), promises to be more of what fans have come to expect from Bogosian: monologue after caustic, relentless, bit- terly funny monologue, showing bruta ly honest characters trying to make sense of themselves. Jo Bonney, Bogosian's wife and longtime collaborator, is directing the show. "Jo is really good at looking at the different colors and textures of the show," Bogosian said. "I was really influenced by the punk rock scene, and that tends to be one note really loud and that's what I like. And it's really fun to perform. It lets me loose, to be nuts on stage. Jo makes sure the show conti* ues in the direction that the two of us can get the most out of." Bogosian has been visible elsewhere in entertainment recently, co-creating the ABC cop drama "High Incident' executive-produced by Steven Spielberg. ("When Steven Spielberg calls, you take the call," explained Bogosian.) But the best reason to see Bogosi in a rare local appearance is just than' it's rare. Only one of his solo shows, "Sex Drugs Rock & Roll," is out on video. This is your best chance to expe- rience a singularly intense show, live. "People go to so few live perfor- mances. They don't really understand that there's this amazing thing that goes on live, nothing to do with canned stuff' like TV and film, which is really a one- way street. You go to a theater and it goes both ways. ... It can be incredible when it happens. It happens a lot with my shows. I really get into it. Sometimes it completely falls on its face. ... It's very vulnerable. When it clicks, it's amazing." Prepare to be amazed. V=Varslty C=Club NiD o.ntramvre 10. 1 . I r Godzuki Trail of the March Lonesome Pine Possibly one of the more neglected local bands, Godzuki is also one of the very best. Its Moog-driven pop, twee vocals and catchy choruses recall like- minded groups such as Stereolab, the Rentals and pals His Name Is Alive - Warren Defever lent his producing skills to some of the songs on this record. But Godzuki has such a fresh, READ SPORTSMONDAY The University of Michigan I Urban + Regional Planning Progra~m rlw LANNING CAREER with any purchase valid after 4 pm only. E XPLORA TION D-A Y Openuntilspm Limit I offer per coupon Limit I coupon per customer I Valid at Michigan League Only -Expires: 11/16/96 -q©TI M-A---n- ----=R ----,--_-. , A DVER T SE M E N T 000001W ........... NIVERSITY OF MCHIGA SP~-SE- a ff. I '