Ulitdt=Ju&Dl
Lindamood visits Borders
Author Jean Lindamood will be signing books at Borders. Lindamood.
who edited "Road Trips, Head-Trips, and Other Car-Crazed Writings,
comes to Ann Arbor today to talk about her work. What a great way to
prepare for spring break! Check out the fun and excitement at Borders
at 7:30 tonight. Don't miss out.
Wednesday
January 15, 1997
5
Artist energizes State with control of old and new
Former Prince still knows how to capture crowds
By Colin Bartos
Daily Arts Writer
Complete control. That was the
theme of Monday night's encounter
with the Artist Formerly Known As
rince.
The fans wait-
ed out in the cold R E
-for up to two
hours just to enter
the vicinity, to get
a chance to see
the legend in per-
son. Detroit has
always been one of TAFKAP's favorite
laces to play, which is why he chose to
pen this "Love For One Another" char-
ity tour here.
Once inside, the crowd listened to the
Artist's new album, "Emancipation,"
bumpin' through the speakers for almost
two hours. TAFKAP knew the longer he
made the crowd wait, the more excited
they'd be when he finally emerged.
At about 9:45 p.m., the Artist and his
new band took the stage, starting right
into the first track on the first disc of
'Emancipation," called "Jam Of The
ear" The sound was clear and tight.The
Artist came out wearing neon green
tights and a matching baggy turtle-neck,
which made hii shine even more under-
neath the lights. Right away, the crowd,
mostly filled with Prince fanatics who
could afford the pricy tickets, plunged
into insanity. The State didn't stop rockin'
until the very last note, either.
From "Jam Of The Year," the Artist
strapped on his
EViEW
The Artist
State Theatre
Jan. 13, 1997
symbol guitar and
launched into an
amazing version of
"Purple Rain," which
sent the crowd
through the roof.
Everyone figured the
Artist would stick to
his newer material,
but he proved right
there that the concert would be a mix of
new and old in the house for the faith-
ful.
"Purple Rain" bled right into "17
Days," another Prince classic. TAFKAP
dominated every aspect of the show,
from when the band stopped and started
to when the crowd cheered, chanted and
breathed. He quickly showed why he is
one of the most talented and amazing
performers of all time.
After "Face Down," the Artist's rant
against Warner Bros., TAFKAP left the
stage. He emerged minutes later
dressed in white, and he launched into
"Do Me, Baby" from the album
"Controversy."
The Artist's guitar work on the song
was amazing; he continued to rip shop
on lead guitar, bass, keyboard and piano
throughout different portions of the
night's performance.
It seemed like the Artist was pretty
much going with the one-old-one-new
formula as he continued to keep the
crowd on their toes with songs like
"The Most Beautiful Girl In The
World," "The
Cross," "If I Was
Your Girlfriend"'
and his version of
the Joan Osborne
hit, "One Of Us."r
About 1 1/2 hours
into the show, the
Artist sat down at{
the piano and per-
formed 1982's k
gem "How Come
You Don't Call :
Me Anymore."
The Detroit
crowd sang every The Artist boogies d
word and even
surprised the
Artist a little bit. The song seemed to be
the highlight of the show; it was the one
in which TAFKAP had everyone in the
palm of his purple hand - right where
he wanted them.
After a brief leave, the Artist came
back out to a frenzied crowd, grabbed
the axe again and started into his new
single, "Somebody's Somebody." The
fans took to it immediately - they
knew the new material almost as well as
the old stuff. TAFKAP then launched
into his blues masterpiece "The Ride,"
and he had people's jaws drop at his
sheer mastery of the guitar. "The Ride"
broke into the
final song of the
evening, "Sleep
Around," which
seemed to be one
of the crowd's
favorites from
"Emancipation."
The Artist left
the stage as loud
as he had entered
it about two hours
before. Although
the crowd wanted
more, there would
be no second
own. encore. He had
already shredded
the place with his
slicer energy, solid musicianship and
incredibly tight set.
TAFKAP controlled the hearts and
minds of all the people in the State
Theater last night. The Artist showed
why lie isn't even close to being washed
up yet, no matter what some people say.
He still has the control.
The Artist Formerly Known As Prince rocked State Theatre on Monday night.
Western tribute album spurs a listen
Beavls and Butthead plan to do more than America. Heh, heh, heh-.
o st pa
:i~~~~~~~~~~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ,i .+";$;:"; :;J ::hr::'Y:ri.iY
By Neal C. Carruth
For the Daily
Beavis and Butthead, MTV icons and
critics of contemporary culture, make
their first foray onto the silver screen in
"Beavis and Butthead Do America."
Unfortunately, the film is not a mem-
" orable one, despite
with a narrative and
gake it larger in
(hope than the tele-
vision series.
It must be noted
that the credit
sequence is
attempts to fit it
RE
Beavi
At Bria
Muddy for two hit men who have been
hired to "do" his wife. An obvious
semantic confusion leads to their accep-
tance of the task, whereupon they find
themselves bound for Las Vegas.
They get mixed up in an espionage
scheme that leads the authorities to
believe that they are cunning countera-
gents. And so
E V I E W begins a cross-
s and Butthead country chase
s Ad ead replete with loads
Do America of "zany antics"
** that seemed to
arwood and Showcase impress the gaggle
of pimply middle-
schoolers in the theater.
Mike Judge co-wrote and directed the
film that finally brings the dumber-than-
thou duo beyond the narrow confines of
their living room and their hometown. In
"Beavis and Butthead Do America,"
Judge keeps in line with expectations.
The vapidness of the writing is perfectly
complemented by the dreadful and
unpleasant animation.
Another problem with the film is that
Beavis and Butthead have never really
worked as social satire. It's too easy to
attack horny, mind-numbed adolescents.
Mike Judge should try setting the bar
a little higher. But it doesn't really pass
as straight humor either, because Beavis
and Butthead simply are not, as a rule,
funny. Instead they are caricatures that
have, sadly, become emulated.
That said, it must be conceded that the
film does contain some amusing scenes.
We do get to meet the probable
fathers of both Beavis and Butthead.
Also, there is an animated encounter
with Chelsea Clinton near the end of
the picture. If more of the film had been
marked by this cleverness and ingenu-
ity, perhaps it would have been more
bearable.
Instead we are treated to the endless
stream of predictable perversions of
language that ceased being humorous
about five minutes into the first episode
of "Beavis and Butthead."
Unfortunately, it appears one runs the
risk of being labeled a snob if he or she
professes an intense dislike of Beavis
and Butthead.
Well, go ahead, label away.
Public Cowboy #1:
The Music of Gene
Autry
Riders in the Sky
Rounder Records
Attention all cowboys: Gene Autry is
back in the saddle again! Actually, his
music is back, with a true-to-form trib-
ute album by Riders in the Sky.
With 10 gallon hats and tacky and
fringed cowhand shirts, Ranger Doug,
Too Slim and Woody Paul take listeners
on a nostalgic trip back to the days of
Autry's singing cowboy movies and
playing cowboy and Indians in the
backyard.
An even mix of upbeat and downbeat
songs, the album features popular,
catchy tracks like "Sioux City Sue" and
"You Are My Sunshine" to balance out
the slower western ballads, like
"Mexicali Rose" and "Blue Canadian
Rockies."
Unlike some cover albums, Public
Cowboy #1 manages to stay faithful to
the original music without sounding
trite or imitative. The recipe for the
Riders' success comes from the liberal
sprinkling of harmonies onto several
otherwise plain melodies. In addition,
the album showcases the distinct
sounds of accordions, fiddles,
bunkhouse bass and a sweetly muted
trumpet.
The 12-track compilation makes for
fun listening, but after a while, the rep-
etition of the gentle guitar strumming
and the smooth vocal crooning on "Be
Honest With Me" and "Blue Canadian
Rockies" settles into almost too slow a
Texan pace, moseying the listener off to
sleep.
Luckily, the pace picks right up again
with a faster-paced fiddle / trumpet
combination on "Lonely River."
The version of "You Are My
Sunshine" is the one anomaly of the
album. The foot-tappin' tune is a won-
derful solo on its own. But when har-
monies are added on the chorus, it
slows the song down, stealing the spot-
light. from the soloist's talents.
Although Jimmie Davis wrote it, this
song was made famous by Autry's
vocal stylings, and the solo is
not nearly as inventive in
this version as it could
be.
If for no other rea-
son, the album mer-
its a listen because
it has yodeling.
Autry's signature
song, "Back in the
Saddle Again," made
popular to current listen-
ers by its inclusion on the
soundtrack of "Sleepless in
Seattle," is neatly done by the Riders,
who build up the song's rhythm from
the "whoopie ti yi yay" to a fast and
furious minute of western warbling.
Grab your spurs and give a listen;
you're in for an interesting ride!
- Stephtanie Jo Klein
Cat Power
What Would the Community
Think
Matador Records
Gray as November and twice as
bleak, Cat Power's new album "What
Would The Community Think" is filled
with some of the wildest quiet music
you'll ever hear.
Chan Marshall, the power behind the
band, lures listeners in with her gentle,
breathy voice and then traps them with
lyrics like "In this hole / We're in deep-
er and deeper and deeper."
The cat-and-mouse game pays off;
while it's not the most comfortable
music to listen to, the songs on "What
Would the Community Think" leave an
undeniable impression and
strike nerves not hit since
PJ Harvey's early work.
Marshall veers
from dreamy, on
songs like "In
This Hole" and
the album's title
track, to con-
frontational on
"Nude as the News"
and "Good Clean Fun,"
on which she glowers,
"After this there will be no more
good clean fun."
Cat Power makes the most of
nihilism; even on the almost easygoing
folk-blues of "They Tell Me" and
"Taking People." Feelings of loss,
despair and anger wait to bubble to the
surface on songs like "Fate of the
Human Carbine" and "The Coat is
Always On," on which Marshall wails,
"What ever happened to home sweet
home?"
Amidst all the sadness on "What
Would the Community Think," or per-
haps because of it, there are-moments of
delicate beauty.
"King Rides By" and "Water and
Air" have a smoothness and warmth
that set the harsher, electric moments of
the album (like when Marshall's voice
cracks on the Snog cover
"Bathysphere") in vivid contrast.
Harsh, lovely and uncompromising, Cat
Power is uneasy listening, but not at all
hard to relate to.
- Heather Phares
promising. The
theme music fuses the familiar "Beavis
and Butthead" rift with Isaac Hayes'
"Shaft" theme.- Beavis and Butthead
move through the credits in macho, dar-
g-do poses, alluding to James Bond
nd "Starsky and Hutch."
The proper story begins with the theft
of the television, which has provided so
many hours of enjoyment for the two
protagonists. In the midst of a search for
their television, Beavis and Butthead are
mistaken by a shady character named
I - w r
I-J
Want to write for Daily Arts?
Come to one of our mass meetings:
N Thursday, Jan. 16 at 7 p.m.
0 Tuesday, Jan. 21 at 7 p.m.
0 Monday, Jan. 27 at 7 p.m.
Stop by the Student Publications Building at
420 Maynard St.
New Year's Resolutions '97!
Exercise...walk to Career Planning and
Placement at 3200 Student Activities Building
The Office of -lcademic Multicultural 9nitiatives
is now taking applications for
Student Leader
positions for the Kinglehavez/parks
College Day Spring Visitation program
Student leaders accompany visiting middle school
students throughout the day serving as guides
and role models while providing information about
the college experience. Student leaders usually
work in teams of three. They should be
I