8 - Tuesday, March 24, 1998 - The Michigan Daily UNEVEN 'ANGELS' FALLS FROM GRACE Dirty Three hits high tide with 'Ocean' What do you get when you combine the first new Alanis Morissette song in three years, a handful of previously released Lilith music, a pinch of classic rock, a dash of dreamy instrumentals and a heaving helping of obvious "angel" metaphors? Apparently, you get the soundtrack to "City of Angels'" a wildly uneven and utterly commercial affair that seems appropriate for a big-budget, big- star, big-ego Hollywood remake of Wim Wenders' "Wings of Desire." It remains to be seen how good "City of Angels," the movie, will be. But for now, listeners can sample and freely critique the desperate-for-salvation "City of Angels: Music from the Motion Picture" CD. The track most listeners will want to sample first is the heavenly new Alanis tune, "Uninvited," which nei- ther points out ironies nor tells us how much we're going to learn and actually winds up making even the most jaded listener fall head over feet. slow jam "Feelin' Love" will soon seduce everyone with its old-soul groove and hilariously sexual lyrics, like "You make me feel like the Amazon's running between my thighs." Cole is, presumably, no .. angel. U2 hopes to save its "Pop"-cor- rupted soul, getting angelic on the album-opening "If God Will Send His Angels," a sincere song that seemed out of place on the tongue-in-cheek "Pop" but fits well here with its lovely sentiment and faux spirituality. Adding some classy, rockin' flavor to these enjoyably mopey modern tracks are the blues- tinged "Red House" by Jimi Hendrix and the full-throttle blues < of John Lee Hooker's "Mama, You Got A Daughter." The con- nection with angels are not quite clear on these numbers, but even angels just need to get the blues from time to time. The album delves into a blue period of its own, dying a slow death on the later tracks of the album, including the Goo Goo Dolls' generic (redundant?) pontification, "Iris;" Peter Gabriel's schizophrenic "I Grieve; which, after five and a half minutes, shifts from incoherent babbling about death or trees or something to a beat-driven rave-up that seems to rip off Seal of all people; and an artist called Jude's "I Know," a totally '80s ballad that could easily be replaced with Breathe's "Hands To Heaven," fitting better with the theme of the album and making us all happier campers. The soundtrack then ascends once again with boot- scootin' goodness of Eric Clapton on "Further on Up In a time when catchy pop bags of fun and intense, waning message rock deluge the radio waves and MTV, where does a band comprised of a vio- lin, guitar and drums fit in all the mad- ness? They don't - and that is why the Dirty Three is such a fresh, unique consortium. Blending the beautiful voice of a vio- lin, the wispy, pulsing scrapes of a drum and the droning twang of a guitar, the Dirty Three have a sound unlike any other band around right now, and the band members never sing a lyric. Their new album, "Ocean Songs," is full of brilliant cinematography, reeling in images with each new song. With the same torrent murkiness of '40s film noir, the Dirty Three present a dark, smoky lament in a world of City of Angels Warner Sunset Starting with a few haunting piano notes, Morissette soon lets loose her best Sarah McLachlan impression on the soaring opening, which then breaks into a drum-and- orchestra swell reminiscent of her Grammy-remixed "You Reviewed by Daily Arts Editor Bryan Lark Oughta Know" in 1996. Speaking of the ubiquitous Ms. McLachlan, she weighs in on the soundtrack, too, with a song from her Grammy winning "Surfacing" album, surprisingly titled "Angel" McLachlan leaves the ethereal wailing to Morissette and nearly whispers this quiet, gorgeous ballad, which would be great in any context. McLachlan's Lilith compatriot and human percus- sionist Paula Cole also makes a cameo appearance, offering "Feelin' Love" from "This Fire" Noteworthy, initially, because it isn't "I Don't Want To Wait," the the Road" and the sanctified strains of four tracks from Oscar-winner Gabriel Yared's score, which has the power to uplift but makes the album's desperate attempt at tying the angel theme together with titles like "An Angel Falls" and "Spreading Wings." "City of Angels" is worthy of occasional worship, on the strength of Morissette's song alone, but falls short of exaltation with its heavy-handed religion and all-too-Hollywood sentiment, not to mention the very mediocrity of the later songs. Let us all raise our hands to heaven and pray that the movie is at least as tolerable as the soundtrack, if not more. If it's worse, however, this marginally admirable "Angels" will fall from its already unstable grace. shadowy sadness ness. Their waves Dirty Three Ocean Songs Touch and Go Reviewed by Daily Arts Writer Chris Cousino and woeful loneli- of sound exhilarate the dark recesses of one's mind and transcend upon madness. Pilfering through the dense. dirti- ness, a luminous epiphany of hope creeps through the mass of dark- ness, showing that all is bright sad painting of violin. While the sorg has a quiet eeriness, the melody 'hs smooth transgressions and emanating tones. But tracks such as "Distant Shore" and "Last Horse On the Sand' convey this same feeling and soun4 making the songs hard to distinguish from each other. The two tracks to escape from this pending similarity are "Authentic Celestial Music" and "Deep Waters." "Music" explodes into a swirling tem- pest of crashing drums, driving guitar and the diamond-in-the-ruff voice of violin. "Waters" is a 16-minute jour- ney that blends intense, magical chord progressions fusing to a small wither ing death before reaching its ecstas. This beautiful sadness is the essence, of the Dirty Three and "Songs."r. "Songs" is the perfect sound when the hypnotic allure of night has set in. It transcends that feeling of just chill- ing in a room gazing out a window into the blackness. As it induces much emotions of lonely sorrow and lucid hope, "Songs" resonates the enchanti- ng seduction of the mysterioug unknown Beautiful inconsistency tiles hitley's 'Dirt Floor' and clear for a fleeting moment. This great epiphany is achieved numerous times on "Songs," proved over and over again through each of the album's 10 songs. After a while, this point wears a little bit. The music is beautiful but, at times, feels some- what similarly stagnant. The first track, "Sirena," opens with a milky jazz tapping of drum and the Anyone who has followed Chris Whitley's musical career knows that consistency has never been his strong suit. His newest release, "Dirt Floor," is a beau- tiful testament to this inconsistency. His first release, "Living With the Law," was praised by critics and was a huge commercial success. He won over a legion of fans with his soulful song writing and his signature blend of country and rock. Chris Whitley Dirt Floor Messenger Reviewed by Daily Arts Writer Gabrielle Schafer His second album, "Din of Ecstasy", was like "Living With the Law" on crack, full of distor- tion and self-indulgent guitar riffs. Needless to say, Whitley left some fans wondering what had happened with this second, more abrasive release. His third album, "Terra Incognita," was a harmonious blending of the two previous albums, but its release went over with little fanfare or Recorded in a cabin in Vermont, "Dirt Floor" is appropriately titled; it is a spaie, barebones album with nothing extraneous or unnecessary. The songs on "Dirt Floor" sound like outlines or rough sketches of bigger songs to come. While the songs are pure and capture the essence of Whitley's mystical song writing, they sound unfinished and reigned in. Whitley has never sought commercial success or the approval of pop music critics, but on "Dirt Floor" his fear of sounding too big or over-produced has left something to be desired in his songs. That's not to say the songs aren't completely engag- ing and beautiful. Whitley's gift for restrained passion and understated emotion is at its finest on "Dirt Floor." Like any good songwriter, Whitley doesn't beat you over the head with emotion. Instead, he constructs songs that are subtly powerful - songs that have a deepening impact each time they are listened to. The crescendo of emotion on "Dirt Floor" starts with the bluesy nonchalance of"Scrapyard Lullaby" and ends with the quiet balladry of "Loco Girl." Whitley plays dobro, acoustic guitar and banjo on the album, blending blues and country to create his own distinctive sound. It's hilarious, extremely witty, intelli- gent and sometimes blatantly offensive. No, it's not the latest episode of "South Park." It's "Fifty Eggs," Dan Bern's sec- ond major label release. Bern truly proves on this album that he is one of today's greatest lyricists. Most of his lyrics are sarcastic reflec- tions on current political, religious and t ' ~ Bern cooks up 'Eggs' 11 Whitley's quiet rebellion is apparent in lyrics like those in "Wild Country": "Soon I'm gonna lose these rags and run, returning to the wild where I'm from." Whitley's lyrics have always been his strength, and his performance on "Dirt Floor" is no different. Each song is equally powerful on "Dirt Floor", a relatively short album with only nine tracks. While the album doesn't have the commercial appeal that "Living With the Law" may have had, it's a strong album with haunting lyrics and a deep emotional res- onance. On "Dirt Floor," Whitley sounds like he has finally come home after a long wayward journey. owl"l-l-l"Mm Dan BernI ritical acclaim. . On "Dirt Floor," Whitley's fourth release, Whitley ;return to his acoustical roots in response to pleas from 'tis loyal fan base to record a solo acoustic album. Fifty Eggs Work Reviewed by Daily Arts Writer Amy Barber personal issues. Some of these are philosophical and thought pro- voking. In "One Thing Real," Bern describes a conversation he had with Jesus in which He "offered (him) a I I _ I i umm r s corning, (keC.p tC 1hs. $;ttd Ad~tvt. toke and said two thousand years is1ong enough for this particular joke." One apparent problem with the album is that on the few songs where Bern is serious and sensitive, it is difficult at first to recognize that he is not being sarcastic and offensive. It is like trying to imagine listening to Adam Sandler talk seriously about spirituality or being in love. But once you get used to the fact that Bern can in fact successfully sing about issues such as these, it is easy to learn 4 appreciate those songs. In "Monica," for example, Bern does an exceptional job reflecting on the trag- ic stabbing of tennis great Monica Seles. There are probably no more than three or four chords played throughout the entire album, but the music is excellent despite the lack of instrumental genius. Bern has a real knack for producing catchy chord progressions that stay the listener's head for hours. Bern shows growth on "Fifty Eggs." His debut album had a few real gems on it, but overall, was not nearly as strong as his new release. This time, there aren't only a few songs to carry the album. Practically every song is excellent. And "Fifty Eggs" is one of the most entertaining new releases to come along in a long time. 'y FARES ARE ROUND TRIP AND DO NOT INCLUDE, TAXES. RESTRICTIONS APPLY. Travel CIEE: Council on International Educational Exchange 1218 South University Avenue Ann Arbor (734) 998-0200' (below Tower Records) Ar% 1 A TOWN HALL MEETING WITH PRESIDENT LEE BOLLINGER AND PROVOST NANCY CANTOR -li del~i ... melt mI t!i. .. . . .. .. .. liwrI