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The Michigan Daily# Weekend, etc. Mag
FUN MICROWAVE TRICKS, OR WHY I LOVE ROOMMATES
"Basement Jaxx" brings more than hype to
We all huddled together, eagerly
staring at the little light in the box on
Yur kitchen table One of my room-
mates had heard that really cool
things happened when you put an
egg in the microwave, so for some
reason that I still don't completely
understand, on that particularly bor-
ing evening it seemed like a good
idea to try it;
At least 30 seconds had passed,
however, and we were beginning to
give up hope. No cracks, no expand-
4isg shell, no change whatsoever. But
lust as I was about to turn away,
POP' And the microwave door flew
open, covering us all (now quite
embarrassed about our little experi-
ment) with partially cooked scram-
bled egg.
College is possibly the only time
of life (with the exception of
"Friends" and other sitcom situa-
tions) when it's completely normal to
live in a house with a large group of
friends Although for most people
the thought of September induces
visions of huge lecture classes and
cooler weather, the start of a new
school year is also exciting because
it always brings a new living situa-
tion and, with
it, new room-
mates.
Everyone has
stories about
their first-year
dorm room-
mate, or about
a "roommate
from hell" who
Yeah, roommates have their
quirks. But learning to live with
other people is an important part of
college, one of those experiences
older people advise us we'll learn
from now and laugh about later.
I, know a few people who live by
themselves in single apartments.
Most of them claim to love it - they
say it's easy to study, as clean (or not
clean) as they want it to be, and
although it's often slightly more
expensive, the advantages far out-
weigh the disadvantages. They're
completely free, and there's no one to
tie them down. They almost make the
roommate relationship sound like a
dead-end marriage.
But I don't buy it. These people
always seem lonely. When I walk
into my apartment, whether it's late
afternoon or early morning, I can be
sure that at least one of my five
roommates is home. In fact, someone
is probably sitting in our living room
watching cheesy TV.
There's always someone to come
with me on a Meijer run, or to study,
or to play endless games of "Would
You Rather." (Incidentally, I would
much rather drown in marshmallow
creme than have someone pull off my
toes). There's always someone to
sing, "You are so beautiful, to
mececeee e ..." when ]'m suffering
from low self-esteem.
Maybe I was lucky enough to find
not just one, but five roommates I
could get along with, or maybe I'm
just more laid back than the average
college student is. Sometimes it
seems as though I don't know anyone
who really has a good relationship
with their roommates, and I almost
think that something must be wrong
with me.
I first knew for sure that my room-
mates and I were going to get along
well shortly after I moved in, approxi-
mately two weeks into September.
That was when I walked into the apart-
ment early one afternoon to find two
of them nearly in tears with laughter.
When I finally got them to calm
destroyed at
least one term
of college life.
It has become a
unique sort of
bonding expe-
rience to gripe
to classmates
and other
Jessica
Eaton
State of
the Aits
friends about a living companion's
trash, or that funny-smelling bag in
the refrigerator that no one will
claim.
Ballroom Dance Club
.4:.
-.-,
Sunday
September 26
Classes:
4:30-6:00
6:30-8:00
Open Dancing
8:00-10:00
Location:
Union Ballroom
Hotline: 763-6984
STUDY APANESE
IN TOKYO
The Waseda/Oregon Transnational Program, January 11- June
23, 2000, is a comparative US-Japan Societies study program that
offers three levels of Japanese language instruction and thematic
humanities/social science courses that mix US-based and regular
Waseda students together in the classroom at Waseda University in
Tokyo, Japan. Scholarships up to $1,000 are available. For more
information, contact:
Waseda/Oregon Programs at (800) 823*7938,
info@opie.org, or www.opie.org.
down, they explained. On a dare, one
(who shall remain nameless) took the
cover of our bright blue Spam-brand
grill, put it on her head, and
walked/stumbled around the block,
meeting all of our new neighbors
along the way.
Some people, including those
neighbors, might not understand how
that could be the first sign of a good
friendship. But it was just the first in
a string of "adventures," and now
that I'm entering a second year in the
same apartment, I can't imagine liv-
ing by myself. If anything is wrong
with me, it's only related to my sense
of humor.
The next time I move, it will prob-
ably be into my own place. I may not
have any roommates, and ifI do, I'm
willing to bet they won't be the type
of people who let eggs explode in
their microwave. It's a shame, really.
- Jessica doesn 't spend near/y
enough time at home, but you can
reach her via e-mail at
jeaton a umich.edu.
Do-you like to
write?
Would you like
to meet new
people?
Are you good
at doing all of
your work at
the last minute?
Join the Daily
Arts staff!
Call 763-0379
for more
information.
gold bond
QUALITY DRY CLEANING
& SHIRT SERVICE
332 Maynard
(Across from Nickels Arcade)
668-6335
By Jason Birchmeier
Daily Arts Writer
Believe the hype. Basement Jaxx
aren't a construction of savvy music
journalists and sly record industry
insiders. They are the new sound of
dance music: a diverse and inventive
transcendence of traditional genre con-
straints.
Their recently-released debut album,
"Remedy," just may cure mainstream
America's ill feelings towards creative
dance music. The songs aren't pompous
or pretentious. The sound isn't alien or
Basement
Jaxx
Motor Detroit
Saturday at 9 p.m.
inhuman. And above
March 1999, long before "Remedy"
even hit the streets. The Jaxx - Felix
Buxton and Simon Ratcliffe - were
the talk of the Winter Music
Conference and managed to grace the
cover of not one but three British elec-
tronic music magazines in the month of
April. To call their debut album highly
anticipated would be an understate-
ment.
When Basement Jaxx bring their
unique DJ show to Motor Detroit.
Detroit's trendiest club for electronic
music hipsters, for this Saturday's 9
p-m. gig, the South London pair
all, they don't
cater to the
lowest com-
m o n
denomina-
tor of intel-
ligence.
Important
music publi-
cations in
A m e r i c a
and Britain
began pro-
claiming
Ba sement
J a x x' s
genius as
early as
Simon and Felix, chilling with the tools of their trade
promises to dismiss the excessive hype
and prove why they've been hailed as
the new sound of dance music.
So why all the hype, and what exact-
ly is the new sound of dance music?
Actually, the best way to define the
new dance sound of Basement Jaxx is
to talk about what it isn't. Their music
can't be summed up as simply house,
techno, electro, garage, rock, salsa,
disco, trip-hop or electronica even
though every single one of these sounds
make it onto their album.
Yet even with such an eclectic group-
ing 'of sounds and styles, Basement
Jaxx's music possesses a unique signa-
ture sound. Rooted and influenced by
American house music, the sound of
the Jaxx refuses to conform to the tradi-
tional formula for house music -
essentially a high-tech, modernized er-
sion of disco.
Instead, Basement Jaxx retain the
essential qualities of house music: a cel-
sampled instruments, strange el
sounds and an almost non-stop
of human vocals. The songs
longer than five or six minutes;
tinually fluctuate their struct
pacing, never straying far frc
booty shaking ideals.
Basement Jaxx have rece
much attention and support f
electronic music world because
the first artists to re-engineer t
mind-numbingly danceable I
dance music. Not since the earl
when a few DJs in Chicago beg
rodding disco with their
machines, synthesizers and saml
eventually pioneering what was
be known as house music - h
one transcended the genre's tn
sound.
While it is true that Daft P
Armand Van Helden have p
some massively popular, qualit
music in the past few years,
them have done much in the
innovation. Basement Jaxx's "R
pushes the boundaries of hous
like Goldie's "Timeless" redefi
gle and Plastikman's "Shee
changed the sound of techno.
Not simply a collection of cltl
assembled over the years, "P
functions as an album in the trai
"Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hear
q ,
ebratory tone, accelerated pacing,
thumping basslines and a heavy sam-
pling of acoustic instrumentation. Then
they discard all the tired qualities that
have characterized the genre as stagnant
such as simple structure, samples of
wailing divas, overused sounds and
monotony.
This is the foundation of their house,
onto which they build thick walls of
,.
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RUSH P
RUSH P
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FRATERNITY
ember 23, 1999 6-10 p.m.
nber 26, 1999 through
amber 30, 1999 6-10 p.m.
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The new albu
Featuring 17 new skits and songs including "
"7 Foot Man" and "The I
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