10 - The Michigan Daily - Tuesday, November 23, 1999 T BECK IN THE SADDLE WITH PARTY ALBUM OF YEAR Five years later, Femmes have lost bit of violent edge Good news for the time-crunched: You can cross one more detail off your New Year's plans. Your music playlist for the party is one step closer to being done, because the most pervasive album at any given shindig will probably be "Midnite Vultures." Beck's latest offering to the beat-jacker's gods doubles as his claim to the throne the music business's heavyweight champion party animal - not bad for such a skinny hombre. Apparently, over the last year, Beck found some free time in his schedule from wrangling with his record label in court. Not only does he produce "Midnite Vultures" himself (obliterat- ing any chumps who thought the Dust Brothers were the secret ingredient in the 1996 critical/popular **** force of nature "Odelay"), Beck he's done the one thing with his final title shot of the Midnite Vultures millcnnium that maybe Geffen nobody expected. Behold Reviewed by the reinvention of Beck Weekend, etc. Editor Hansen, Sex Deity. Jeff Druchniak Beck portentously begins his regime as love god by laying down the "Sexx Laws." This opening track goes by in three shakes of a white boy's ass, but not before tear- ing the roof off with a killer horn section the likes of which you thought would never come back in style. This is only one of at least half a dozen tracks on "Vultures" that will force all but terminally incorrigible soul purists and the med- ically dead to dance. For some reason, Beck gets constant flack from some quarters for never meeting a beat he couldn't heist - as if the rest of rock history had been recorded in individual vacuum shacks. It's only because Beck is so clever (and so ency- clopedic in his knowledge of great music worth cribbing) that he appears on the radar cl'thei credibility fascists, and this albuitm will only invite more of the same oppression. Bleck ercn seems to give himself a self-deprecating wink with his choice of album title, the bones this release scavenges make up a virtual murderer's row of Beck's favorite midnight music. That includes the filthy-gorgeous R&B ballad "Nicotine & Gravy" (can I get a "salty chocolate balls?"), the P-Funked-up rap detonation of "Hlwd. Freaks," and the soulfully skanky Tom Waits homage "Out of Kontrol." This being a Beck record, there's always plenty of demented but thoughtful ornamentation like a banjo break- down or a backup-vocal fill from Mars to make you grin while you grind. But one influence looms largest almost unin- terruptedly on "Midnite Vultures," and it's no surprise: The shadow of tie former champion tends to darken the ring long after Prince has left the building. But hey, since Prince is so deter- mined not to be Prince (or even to imitate Prince all that well), Beck might as well be Prince, and "Vultures" is the climax of that ambition. Keep in mind, he's already got the nonexistent rear end to fit into those purple leather pants - and holy paisley, Batman, he even put a picture of them on the album cover! You've at least got to hand it to the man for settitig a goal and going for it. Beck does an equally stellar Prince impression as producer (check out the "Black Album" beat on the roll- down-your-windows-in-November jam "Peaches & Cream"), as lyricist (it doesn't get better than "Touch my ass if you're qualifisd") and as vocalist. Thousands might check their receipts just to be sure they bought the right guy when they hear the unbelievably accurate boudoir falsetto on "Debra. Beck's lyrics still contain plenty of the lov brother's tradctrtk ttscrutabitis. bhut lthes O ltte graduated from u tnmiks ctool to sub i ie- Iv tiuts. Somehow, the sex-machine boasts gibe better than anything with Beck's narrative flow - "lady" rhyming with "Hyundai" sounds infi- nitely better when the man with the unic invites the former to step into the latter. And don't even pretend not to be blown away by the poetry of "Give all those pious soldiers another lollipop / We'll stay here on the good ship menage a trois." The rarest of the many great things about Beck is his ability to sound genuinely happy and optimistic without getting less cool. The only thing that can hurt this album is if it gets ripped off enough to sound oversaturated even before Dec. 31. Seeing as how there's only a couple of dozen shopping days left before then, the out- look is clear skies for the party. Sometimes the snotty little loser sitting next to you in the fourth crade grows up to be a- celebrity. Sometimes, he grows tip to be a rock star. And then there's Gordon Gano. At 36. lie still acts, talks, sitnts and even looks like that snotty little loser you should have beat up. But lie's got a special recipe here. Take one guitar, acoustic bass and snare ._ drum, add a - nasal, monoto- nous voice, and Violent you too can go Femmes from loser to Viva Wisconsin rock star. Five years eyond Entertainment after Violent Reviewed by Femmes' last Daily Arts Writer studio release, Gautan Baksi this live CD (taped in Milwaukee) was composed of a mix of music largely from the Femmes earlier days. Followers of the Femmes will immediately compare this album to their successful 1993 "Add It Up" release, mixing live performances with new music and unreleased B- sides. While "Add It Up" was refresh- ing, lively and still progressing musically, "Viva Wisconsin" simply showcases the limited extent of their talent, nothing more. The Femmes attempt to capture a full live concert ambiance, and with 20 tracks on the disc, keep the listener somewhat entertained with more than 72 minutes of live music. Aside from the Femmes' anthem song, "American Music," most" the CD is filled with the dreary, "I'm a loser" brand music That's no joke, either. Gano even spells it out in track two, "I am N- O-T-H-I-N-G.. I am nothing!" Bassist Brian Ritchie isn't exactly Einstein, either, proudly declaring between songs, "Okay, we've decid- ed not to play songs we don't know." Violent Femmes have played energetic, playful shows across t country for the past 16 ye i Gordon Gano, albeit rivaling Steve Erkel for dorks we would love to hate, is still a fun, entertaining-per former. But, the extent of the perfor mance that comes through on thi recording is the sound alone. Afte nearly two decades of the same tir ing hits about anti-heroes and loser doon, the songs are annoying dreary. Classi cal Metallica sily to the last drop An established metal band allows composer Michael Kamen to add orchestral parts to several songs from its catalog. Sounds intriguing doesn't it? Such collaboration promises to somehow bridge the gap between classical and metal and deliver emotionally charged and musically grand results. With the live release, "S&M," howev- Metallica er, Metallica's S&M collaboration Elektra with the San ewdty F r a n c i s c o Daily Sts Writer S y m p h o n y Adi A nRos Orchestra suc- ceeds not in bridging the gaps, the two genres, but in delivering a gloriously hilarious musical outing. Certainly a humorous outcome was not the intention, but it's hard not to laugh your ass off hearing Metallica classics like "Master Of Puppets," "The Thing That Should Not Be" and "Enter Sandman" accompanied by cheesy orchestra music. The experi- ence is like trying to listen to Metallica while somebody is playing Danny Elfman's "Batman" score way too loud in the background. Spread over two CDs, "S&M" opens with "The Ecstasy of Gold" Indeed some Metallica songs do possess an orchestra piece quality to it, what with the complex time changes, multiple parts and progres- sions. But choosing songs like Crue'Live' album t~rzi s A .1 rkl I# C *'N" gvcN uun glil uunu1 PnklI mrdA l 11TAi "Fuel"'and "The Memory Remains" as songs for collaboration with an orchestra? "Fuel" in its original stu- dio version is already a cheesy blues based rock song; putting over dra- matic string accompaniment to it just makes it worse. If the badly executed coming togtier of metal and classical MUsic isn't enough to keep you away from this release, there's still Hetfield's annoying uses of "yeahs," "baby" and substituting "fuck" for other words as many times as he can in his lyrics. On this album's version of "The Thing That Should Not Be," Hetfield in a horrified tone quips "Oh My God!" (Obviously realizing too late the immense ass of himself and his band he is making with this release). Granted, with 21 tracks in total, the law of probability is with the band and they do manage to present two songs that actually work within the format of this release. "Human" and "No Leaf Clover" actually are well thought out metal songs with orchestration. The two being new songs is probably a factor to this as the two styles are allowed a more natural synthesis. If you sincerely feel a craving for classical music with metal muscle (or vice a versa), look instead for "Vivaldi: The Meeting" where Slaver's former drummer, Dave Lombardo, collaborated with com- poser Lorenzo Arruga. It's a release that delivers better results than this ill advised outing by the artistically exhausted Metallica. If you grew up in the '80s, keep reading this. If not, stop now because xou'll 'nexer unudersiund. , and probably never buy this CD. '" " There never huts amid neusm will be a band which represent-smu eud bad-box rock 'mm' roll as utch as Motley Crue did in the '80s. You wanna piss off your mom? Play "Girls Girls Girls" on the family stereo system, and let hem read the latest Nikki Sixx inter-Y view in Guitar Magazine: "I ':"t'i'i'rx '' A ' wanna fuck ALL the women!" Their on-stage theatrics inclutd ed lesbians, strippers (sometimes even lesbian strippers), revolvin' drum-sets and cnough pyrotechitnics to liht up the sky for the Y2K New Year's celeuration. Off-stage, large hair, vulgarity, sex, drugs and sometitnes even a little rock 'n' roll consumed the band. But, one thing becomes glaringly apparent after listening to their latest album, "Live 1983-1999: Entertainment or Death." Tommy, Nikki, Mickey and Vince are great musicians. Tommy hardly sits still, pounding the skins with a tenacity and ferociousness that makes you think he Motley Crue dropped the soap in the shower room in the slammer. Live 1983-1999: Nikki's Jack Daniels-filled veins still lay down the Entertainment or rhythm while Mickey's long trail of facial hair stays out Death of his guitar strings for impressive solo- guitar work. Beyond/Motley And though age has taken its toll, Vince Neil still Reviewed N boghtol Daily Arts Writer defines the ultimate rock 'n' roll voice. Gautam Baksi Listening to old ballads like "Home Sweet Home," you can picture huge arenas filled with drunk, leather- wrapped thirty-something Harley fans waving their ten-cent Bic lighters like stars in the sky. But then you open your eyes and suddenly the song stops for an instant so Vince can utter his profound words of wisdom for the night: "Oh you guys sound fucking great tonight... Yeah!" This CD is certainly not destined to be a classic. One highlight on the CD is the band's huge 1989 hit, "Dr. Feelgood." Mickey pulls out his bag of guitar goodies as Vince leads the band in a well-played, solid performance. Other sweet-sounding songs include "Same 01' Situation," "Looks that Kill," and the classic "Wild' Side." Overall, as the title mentions, the albutn does a good job of highlighting Motley Crue's greatest hits. When historians study rock history, they're able to decipher the popular- ity of bands like The Police, Depeche Mode, U2 and REM. But to truly understand the glam-rock scene, you had to be there. Motley Crue tries to relive these glory days with this live CD. A more apt subtitle to this album would be "Entertainment AND Death." for this era died a long time ago and took with it the great live performances of Motley Crue. strong with Hate Eternal's 'Throne' Long time Morbid Angel touring gui- tarist Erik Rutan unleashes his tour-de- force maiden release with his new band to the death metal masses. With second guitar provided by Suffocation main man Doug Cerrito. bass by Jared A.\duerson and drtlums iuuhmumanls' han- dIled by new comer Tim 'Yum. Hate Eternal is more than capable of impress- ing cven the most jaded of death metal heads. The music on "Conquering The Throne" is reminiscent of Rutan's only recording work with Morbid Angel on its "Domination." Similar to that album, the riffs are complex and full of odd bends which gives the music a sick, twisted feel. Unlike that Morbid Angel Hate Eternal release, this album is also full onquering the Throne of brutal parts. Earache Records No doubt an Reviewed by influence brought Daily Arts Writer in from Doug Adlin Rosli Cerrito's long established style from Suffocation. Drummer Tim Yeung is a talent to look out for. His skills seem to borrow from former Dark Angel drummer, Gene Hoglan, and Morbid Angel's Pete Sandoval but he manages to come out as himself. Although being fast and furious is the order of the day, Yeung still man- ages to pull many of the punches and produce tasteful drum bits throughout. S[l o ginmitd.tmich.edu 1t= "" 1111] Screaming duties are shared between Rutan and bassist Anderson. Both have rather similar styles of manic shouting making it difficult to tell one from the other. The lyrical venom spewed by the0o embody the band's name quite well. No praises to the Dark Prince here folks, just plenty of hate in songs like "Dogma Condemned" and "Saturated' In Dejection" where religion, society and everything in between are mercilessly attacked by tle group. This is prime death metal designed to ensure maximum sonic blows continu- ally pound the listener. Hate Et could very well live up to its album e "Conquering The Throne," and becom< the new king of the death metal empire But, with the segmenting of the heav) music crowd these days and rap meta seemingly dominating heavy music, it anybody still listening? Breaking Records Star* System ****- Excellent ***- Good **- Fair - Poor No Stars - Don't Bother - if you missed a week of Breaking Records, check out the Daily's archives online at www michigandaily.com 0 MICHIGAN LEAGUE UNDERGROUND 911 N. UNIVERSITY AVE FRIDAY, DECEMBER 3 8:30PM THE FOLK/ACOUSTIC OPEN MIC IS OPEN TO ALL FOLK/ACOUSTIC SINGERS/SONGWRITERS FROM ANN ARBOR AND NEIGHBORING CITIES. PARTICIPANTS MUST REGISTER AT LEAST ONE HOUR (730 PM) BEFORE THE SHOW TO GUARANTEE A SPACE AND TO DETERMINE THE PARTICIPANTS' ORDER OF APPEARANCE. SHOW UP ON TIME, LIMITED SPACE AVAILABLE. ADMISSION IS FREES SPENSERE BY MICHIGAN LEAGUE PROGRAMMING BOARD: DIVISION OF STUDENT APFAIRS. FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CALL 763 4H52. From: Jose-Marie Griffiths, University Chief Information Officer To: all e-mail "sers@umich.edu Subject: ITD e-mail service schedules outage On Saturday, November 27, ITD's e-mail service will be unavailable from 12:01 a.m. to 5:00 a.m. while IMAP servers that house campus-wide e-mail service are moved to a new data center. The move will take place during regularly scheduled maintenance over the Thanksgiving weekend to minimize disruption in service to the U-M community. IMAP/POP mailbox owners will not be able to access their mailboxes while this work is being done. If users attempt to access their mail while this work is being done using Pine, Mulberry, Eudora, or other POP or IMAP clients, a connection refused error will be sent. During the outage, all mail sent to IMAP/POP users from other mail systems will be queued for delivery when the servers are restarted. There may be short delays in mail delivery while the backlog of queued mail is delivered. 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