8 - The Michigan Daily - Tuesday, March 30, 1999 LOUIS SCHEFANO NAVIGATES REGIA TO SUCCESS Q: What was the last thing the drummer said before getting kicked out of the band? A: Let's try one of my songs. While rock 'n' roll drummers have not historically been revered or even respected for their songwriting talents, Regia's Louis Schefano defies this long-standing cliche. After serving as drummer for the bands Remy Zero and Little Red Rocket, Schefano gave up his seat on the stool to concen- trate on songwriting. Schefano originally recorded the songs that comprise "The Art of 'Navigation" as a series of demos of his early songwriting efforts, but it became a proper album when he recognized the quality of the material. Schefano and Shelby Tate of Remy Zero co-produced and played all of the instruments on the album, with. re-mixing by The Apples In Stereo's Robert Schneider. This demo approach to recording "The Art of Navigation" results in refreshingly simple arrange- Regia ments of Schefano's songs. There are no errant guitar The Art of solos or distracting rhythmic fills to clutter the Navigation record's taut sound. Spin Art Records The songs are mostly acoustic based, such as "I Reviewed by Believe," in which the soft, strummed guitar allows Daily Arts Writer the soaring chorus refrain to deservingly take center Brian Egan stage. In this respect, the album shares its virtue of sparseness with another demo-turned-album, Prince's "Dirty Mind." The album largely eludes easy comparison, though, as the songs alter- nate between plaintive, sweeping ballads like "Song for Wilhelm Reich" and more propulsive, frantic indie rock, creating a diversity that enables Schefano to flex both his rhythmic and melodic muscles. His highly per- cussive guitar strums and energetic drumming are at times accentuated and belied by his gift for melody. Schefano's knack for crafting melodies is perhaps the most strikingly consistent element of the music on "Navigation." Whether on the defiant Opener, "Something for Nothing,"or the sorrowful, resigned "Strange Battle," the melodies define the mood of the songs, even without the assistance of the album's solid lyrics. Mustard Plug creates more ska in 'Mojo Before fellow boy bands The New Radicals and Eminem hit it big, another Michigan group was busy 9 making its way onto radios across the country. Grand Rapids' Mustard Plug sold well over 60,000 copies of "Evildoers Beware" in '97, when ska became the hottest trend since Beanie Babies.;. While the genre's heyday may be behind us, Mustard Plug has been Mustard Plug Pray For Mojo BMI Records Reviewed by Daily Arts Writerj Amy Barber able to stay afloat thanks to its loyal fan base of teenage boys with too much testosterone. Mustard Plug's latest release, the action-packed "Pray For Mojo," is pure ska fun, But, beyond what is actually even on the album, "The Art of Navigation" also allows Schefano room for growth. Such an accom- plished debut will undoubtedly arouse curiosity as to what he will come up with for a follow up and beyond. The promise of even greater things to come should not distract listeners from appreciating "The Art of Navigation" for what it is: a showcase document of a talented songwriter finding his voice. Maybe we should have been listening to those guys behind the kit all along. complete with a peppy trombone and trumpet backed by a guitar, bass and drums. The album is filled with toe- tapping rhythms and catchy melodies. As a complement to the mood of the album and the instrumental style, lead singer David Kirchgessner is a never-ending bundle of energy. His throaty, almost-screaming singing style is perfect for lyrics like "Gonna blow up the town / Yeah I wanna throw a bomb. As the above example illustrates, however, "Pray For Mojo's" lyrics are nothing to brag about. They are some- times witty and fit the music well enough, but the band's lack of humor and quotability will probably ke them from ever reaching the supers status of groups like Reel Big Fish. Mustard Plug does have the ability to write almost annoyingly catchy music that will continue to ring in the listener's head long after exposure. The fourth track, "Everything Girl," could well be successful in regular radio rotation. "Pray For Mojo" is not a.ground- breaking album, but if you're in the mood to party, it's time to pull out t 40s, put on your wife-beater and pl in Mustard Plug. Hypocrisy records live show .Metal group Hypocrisy has been churNing out quality heavy music since its first release, "Penetralia," appeared in 1992. Since then, the group's music and lyrics continued to evolved. Although Hypocrisy dealt with super- natural subject matter from the begin- ning, the group has adopted a sci-fi "alien conspiracy" approach to its lyrics, while the music has become more fine tuned and technical. Support for the group continued to grow and now, Hypocrisy has become a . wide range of its material. As an added plus to the package, the CD includes four previously unreleased studio num- bers: "Time Warp," "Til The End," "Fuck U" and "Beginning of The End." The group's set at the Wacken concert started with their alien paranoia anthem, "Roswell,' which with its eerie guitar melody ushers in the group's assault on the venue and the listener. The playing on the live portion of the CD is incredi- bly tight. Not a single beat is ever out of place and the group is relentless in bringing its songs to life. Although Hypocrisy is only a three- piece band, the group roped in an addi- tional guitar player to remain true to the studio versions of the songs. Singer Peter Tagtgren's banter with the audience is kept to a bare minimum on the album, which leaves more space for the songs to do their destruction. Live albums by bands such as Hypocrisy usually tend to be a big ball of noise, due to poor recording of the loud and furiously played instruments. Thankfully, no such fate fell on this live spectacle. The group comes across clear in its crushing live performance and does, in a sense, "destroy" Wacken. Cherokee produces solid debut Ever since the Brand New Heavies made their debut, there has been a renaissance of original, soulful music and artists in contemporary ,R&B. Artists like D'Angelo, Groove Cherokee I Love You ... Me RCA Records Reviewed by Daily Arts Writer Quan Williams artist Cherokee. T h e o r y, Maxwell and Erykah Badu have shown us all what R&B at the next level is supposed to sound like. It's a lead that has been fol- lowed by many, including RCA Her debut, "I Love It's evident that the woman has talent in all areas. Songs like the vicious "Stepping Stone," which takes Erykah Badu's "Tvrone" con- cept into a different setting, demon- strate Cherokee's ability to write thoughtful lyrics. Her singing talent comes through on the high-strung "My Own Queen," where her style changes as frequently as the be-bop/scat singers of the past that she hearkens back to. Finally, her skills as producer and arranger shine through on the hilari- ous and raunchy "Blue Bottle Aftershave," which will probably send every man who hears it cologne-shopping. All of her talents come together on the whimsical "Oopsie Daisy," a groovy song about courting, and clearly the best song on the album. A few times she misses the mark. While "Misty" is a well-written song that deals with a much-overlooked aspect of dating (the awkward situa- tion when a heterosexual woman is approached by a lesbian who is attracted to her), the music is rather uninspired. Also, the title track is a head-nod- der, but the songwriting is confused. "Ooh Wee Wee," the first single, is tailor-made for today's cookie-cutter mainstream R&B, and seems out of place among the other, more soulful songs on the album. While most of the songs display successful blends of songwriting, production, and singing in some respect, usually they only have two of the three. But this doesn't detract from the overall quality of. the album. With "I Love You ... MVle," Cherokee brings a solid debut that is a worthy addition to any album cq1 lection. W It's well-written, well-sung, and well-produced, bringing an organic sound that will help keep the renais- sance alive. Given time, she may even be comparable to Badu. You ... Me," showcases her as singer, songwriter, producer and musician. *ypocrisy Hypocrisy Destroys Wacken Nuclear Blast America Reviewed by Daily Arts Writer Adlin Rosli name to reckon with in the heavy music under- ground. Then, unex- pectedly last year, the group decided to call it quits. The resulting worldwide protest from fans in the underground Underworld's new 'Beaucoup Fisk' appeals to open minds scene was apparently so great that the group finally got back together, recorded a live release at Germany's open-air Wacken concert venue boastfully titled, "Hypocrisy Destroys Wacken." But "Hypocrisy Destroys Wacken" is actually no boast at all, as the group delivers a crushing live set filled with a Imagine if you had laid down the base of a new music scene that eventually exploded into main- stream success. The rewards to this success, howev- er, then went to other younger groups. This is the sce- nario surrounding dance/electronica music group Underworld. Long before Liam Howlett of Prodigy had the courage to get his nose pierced or the Chemical Brothers learned to "Dig their own hole," Darren Emerson, Karl Hyde and Rick Smith were well into develop- **** ing music that incorporated electronic sounds, samples and Underworld dance beats. Underworld, how- ever, does not seem fazed by Beaucoup Fish the upstarts who have taken BMG/V2 their musical blueprints to Reviewed by make their own music. Daily Arts Writer Instead of attempting to Adlin Roshi reclaim its throne, the group seems more content pleasing itself than the masses. Staying away from all of the strategic commercially-targeted releases joining the wave of popular dance/electronic and other trends, the group has released a challenging and multifaceted new album, "Beaucoup Fish." rus-verse" arrangement. "Beaucoup Fish" begins its assault with the hypn - ic dance number "Cups." The bassline on this song clings so oddly to the 4/4 beat that for the first couple of minutes, the listener is captivated, figuring out how it works. Other upbeat gems include "Jumbo, which evokes a groovy party-like atmosphere that is sure to please house parties and clubs alike. "Shudder/King of Snake," "Push Upstairs" and "Something Like Mama" also reaffirm this group's genius at making body moving songs. Complementing these upbeat numbers are the dark- er-sounding songs that do not groove as well as tl\ songs mentioned but serve to evoke different moo . "Bruce Lee," for instance, possesses an industrial Tricky-like quality with its clanking beat and effects filtered vocals. "Skym" and "Winjer" both are slower numbers that carry an odd momentum but, as men- tioned, provide effective contrast to the other numbers and prevent "Beaucoup Fish" from becoming one- dimensional. "Beaucoup Fish" is a release full of surprises and enjoyment for the listener who is willing to look beyond its avoidance of "verse-chorus-verse" ploys other pop song staples. With an open mind, "Beaucoup Fish" becomes quite the delicacy indeed. Breaking Records Star System - Classic - If you missed a week - Excellent of Breaking Records, - Good check out the Daily's ** -Fair archives online at * - Poor www.michigandaily.com No stars - Don't Bother The group's last big single was "Born Slippy," a track off the "Trainspotting" soundtrack. On "Beaucoup Fish,"the group makes no attempt at mak- ing another obviously radio-friendly number. "Beaucoup Fish" is, instead, a collection of progres- sive songs that stray far from the standard "verse-cho- Michigan Paseball Home Opener 3:00 p.m. vs. Central Michigan Michigan vs. Illinois Michigan League Programming in conjunction with "Diversity: Theories & Practices" Theme Semester present erreaemmenmmenr THE ROLE OF EDUCATION II ICREATING MORE SUSTAINAELE FORMSOF COMMUNITY Diana Kardia Speaker, Center on Research for Learning and Teaching A presentation that focuses Friday, April 2nd Saturday, April 3rd (DH) 3:00 p.m. 1:00 p~m. . w. ' , J f i b . l f 1 _ on the role of the educational process and environment in dealing with intolerance and tension on campus. U - - #