Pulitzer Prize nominee... Author James Tobin reads from his latest book, "Great Projects" tonight at Borders. 7 p.m. Free. michigandaily.com /arts iRTS TUESDAY OCTOBER 30, 2001 Natalie Merchant to hit Hill Auditorium tonight Russian ensemble will dazzle, delight with modern music B Gina Pensiero Daily Arts Writer "Maybe there is something kooky about analog but then again, I still like homemade clothing too," com- Natalie Merchant Hill Auditorium Tonight at 8 p.m. mented Natalie Merchant. Refreshingly, Merchant's down-home, organic take on recording also transfers over to her ideals about touring, her new album and, it appears, her life as well. Merchant, who will be playing at the Hill Auditori- um tonight, said she thoroughly enjoys touring and is quite excited about playing a tour that focuses on college venues. "Colleges are important. They are not primary media venues and I feel that they pro- vide a really relaxed atmos- Musically, Merchant describes Motherland as "loose" due largely to her new producer, T. Bone Bur- nett, who has also produced the critically acclaimed soundtrack to "O Brother Where Art Thou?" and the latest Joseph Arthur album. Also, Merchant assures that a "new energy" has been infused into her estab- lished band with the addition of long time Tori Amos/Fiona Apple drummer, Matt Chamberlain. Merchant claims that her approach to recording music is "old fashioned," and "not antiseptic," in com- parison to what is running rampant in pop music today. Of the current trend to sterilize sound with mechanical beats and keyboard scapes, Merchant commented that she is "not intimidated as much as annoyed," and that she feels the urge to "resist the machinery." She explained that she has a personal revulsion to quantization, the process of computeriz- ing and measuring beats, and that she favors a less clean but more genuine sound when it comes to recording. "That's how life is. It's not a sound vacuum. It's organic sound," she commented.. As for touring, Merchant strives to do her best to remain genuine while also retaining high sound and technical quality. She says she knows when the band is "cookin"' and does her best to capture that as much as possible. "I find it gratifying to reduce things to their essence," said Merchant of her live show philosophy. She cited Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen, Joni Mitchell and Tracy Chapman as some of her favorite live per- formers because of the simplicity of their acts. Additionally, Merchant's concern is not only for her fans' enjoyment but more importantly for their con- nection to the music. This has only become a height- ened focus, she explained, in the midst of a national By Melissa Gollob Daily Arts Writer At the heart of Russian culture lies the St. Petersburg Conservatory. This center of art and music has educated some of the most famous and influen- tial musicians to ever grace the stage phere," said Merchant. The tour comes in promotion of the upcoming release of her new album, Motherland. The album was originally supposed to be a concept album, pay- ing tribute to great American non-conformists, with each song tackling different personalities ranging in diversity from Al Capone to folk singer Henry Darger. However, Merchant scrapped many of the songs for others, as she considered this original idea for the album to be "too topical." After all, her previous record Ophelia was a concept album that vaguely focused on the multiple personalities of a fictitious Merchant character, so perhaps it is in her best interest What Merchant has decided to avoid this with her new release. Courtesy of Peggy Sirota The entertainment world's other Natalie. crisis. "People want to connect right now. It's very easy for people to cry." said Merchant. "We're mourning the death of innocence. I think people need to celebrate the things that are left. Also, our daily life doesn't give us a chance to scream. Often over the past month or so, I've felt like scream- ing," she went on to explain. For Merchant, touring provides her with this oppor- tunity. She explained that the World Trade Center cri- sis was particularly touching for her, being a New Yorker, and that she even sang at a funeral for one of the victims. The current mood of the country has made the need for emotion, expression and fundamen- tal human connection even more important. As this seems to be a natural personal concern of Merchant's, it only makes sense that this would endure and carry over into her musicianship on this upcoming tour. "Music is an expression of our humanity," said Merchant, who clearly has aspirations to keep that expression and that humanity as sacred and uncor- rupted as possible. St. Petersburg Conservatory Chamber Ensemble Michigan Theater Tonight at 8 p.m. or to compose a concerto. Most notably is Piotr Tchaikovsky, who was a member of its first graduating class. The St. Petersburg Con- servatory was the first music high school in Russia. It choos- es the most promising and dedicated musi- cians, who study piano, voice or violin and per- The program will also incorporate Pavel Popov on violin. He has made many numerous recordings on CDs and performed live on the radio. The Conservatory's opera presentation features students from the vocal school of the Conservatory. Alexan- dra Kovaliova (soprano) and Piotr Migunov (bass) will perform. Piotr's past performances include "The Wed- ding" by Stravinsky and "The Bells" by Rachmaninov. The students and professors chose the pieces together to encompass the different directions the Conservatory takes. European, Russian classical and Russian modern styles will all be showcased at tonight's concert. Kovaliova and Migunov will per- form "Zemphira and Aleko's Scene" and "Aleko's Cavatina" from the opera "Aleko." This opera helped to establish Rachmaninoff's legendary reputation. In addition, Gershwin's "Concert Fantasia on Themes from Porgy and Bess" will also be featured. This compilation was arranged by Frolov to exhibit the fancifulness of the opera. The students will also pay homage to their mentor Tchaikovsky himself by performing Iolanta's Arioso from "Iolanta." It first pre- miered in 1892 in St. Petersburg not far from his old school, the Conserva- tory. This program highlights the most beloved Russian music, both classical and modern, being reinvented by the individuals attending the St. Peters- burg Conservatory. Tonight, this elite chamber ensemble will dazzle and delight. Danger and porno enhance Pledge tour By Sonya Sutherland highly anticipated live performance. members split their duties between let people know "what is wrong today, Daily Arts Writer Taking the visual aspect one notch fur- three drummers, one of whom became that hate crimes have increased 58 per- ther, System of a Down opened with the much needed intermediary triangle cent since Sept. 11." After asking It's a great time to be alive when you "Prison Song" an ode to the failing player, three guitarists, a DJ and a key- everyone to remember that we are all can rely on four hours of energizing Wntertainment. From start to finish the Pledge of Allegiance tour provided just that, a complete scope of musical delight made that much better with a variety of stage enhancements including slide shows, porno and Pledge of fire. Allegiance IVan Andel Arena, Grand Rapids October 28, 2001 Opening the night was Chica- go-based new- comers No One, who held their own, warming up and eliciting a positive response from what was arguably an extremely hard to please audience of overly anguished teens. American penal system, playing in front of a giant projection screen that flashed relevant images of criminal enclosures. From that point the slide show increased in relevance and intensity while System ran down the best of both their new and old albums including "Suite Pee," the new single "Chop Suey," "War," "Bounce" and paused to explain that their new song "Psycho" was inspired by a situation involving "hard-ons and cocaine." Despite the American flags that hung from the set and rafters of the venue, System of a Down did not back down from their political lyrics or risque visu- al tactics. Where most bands have toned down their themes or plausibly offensive words, System of a Down refused to give into pressures and played a hard hour set, letting loose any and everything they had. Jumping around on stage and carrying on as they always have - hard, motivated and most excellent - they reminded every- one that in the face of the hard times, there is a need to move on. The pleased crowd responded with full force mosh- ing, expanding the floor area into an all inclusive mosh pit. System left the stage having stirred up enough enthusiasm for the headlin- ers Slipknot. Seizure inducing strobe lights and pyrotechnics brought out the nine masked boys for their reign of metal dominance. Corey Taylor led the crew on vocals while the remaining boardist; the kids were definitely there to see theirjumpsuit heroes. Bringing out what at the least could be described as an intense devotion of followers, Slipknot paused between songs like "Wait and Bleed," "Surfac- ing," "Spit It Out" and "People Equals Shit," and exercised their mesmerizing power in the lorm of a public service message. While informing the audience that "the Pledge of Allegiance Tour was almost cancelled because the promoters didn't think that America needed hard music at a time like this," Taylor asked for a moment of silence, persisting to plead until the arena fell quiet for the recent tragedies. He then proceeded to Americans and need to fight hate with love for each other, Corey had one last request -"That you motherfuckers out there make the pit into the largest cyclone, hurricane, circular shit this state has ever seen." The floor complied creating one of the most dangerous body slam sites to date, resulting in 58 injuries and at least seven or more unconscious states. Ending with what they declared to be the national anthem which, by the way, did not consist of the "Star Spangled Banner" in any form, the night provid- ed just what everyone came looking for - an intense and somewhat dangerous rock show. form in various chamber ensembles. The Conservatory's current tour celebrates the city of St. Petersburg's 300th anniversary. Tsar Peter the Great founded the city and the nation plans on commemorating the event with yearlong events. "The city was founded as the capital for Russia and it represented the right for music and all cultural life to flourish in one cen- tral location," said a member of the touring company on the importance of the celebration. A small elite group that was select- ed a year ago is visiting Ann Arbor to share the Russian anniversary with the University. These students are mostly postgraduates studying at the Conservatory. They were chosen based on their skill and performance ability. The program will begin with the Nevsky String Quartet performing Prokofiev's "Quartet No. 1 in b minor, Op.50." This quartet was founded in 1995 and has gone on to compete in many competitions. Their most mem- orable moments include winning the special prize for the best performance of Russian music from IV Interna- tional Shostakovich Competition. Piotr Laul, who was named a laureate at the Virtuosos of the year 2000 competition last year, will provide the piano accompaniment. Tatiana Bez- zubenkova will also enchant the audi- ence on the piano. She has already toured Finland and Germany this year. Courtesy of UMS These fine people are ready to perform. Text, German aggressive rock group, W ammstein, brought flames and fun to the Grand Rapids venue, playing through a set of foreign lyrics, heavy guitars and explosions. The best com- plement to the Europeans is that despite the language barrier there was an ample number of audience members singing along with the entire performance. Next up for the pleasure of the fanat- ic fans was System of a Down, whose * ighly anticipated new record Toxicity's success was followed up by the equally Slipknot makes the crowd Poor image quality mars 'Godfather' DVD collection JOHN PRATT/Daily d cry during their performance on the Pledge tour. W.. D . SAD PENFOLD) AT HIS SIDE, GREENBACK DOESH'T HAVE A CHANCE AGAINST DANGERMOUS COME HELP.HIM.BY JOINING DALY ARTS .761437 Jeff Dickerson Daily TV/New Media Editor After a long and arduous wait, "The Godfa- ther" trilogy has finally arrived on DVD. One would think with the extensive fan anticipation and the caliber of these films, Paramount would have set out to impress film aficionados with a definitive release of the Academy award-winning series. Sadly this is not the case. From the famous opening scene in Don Cor- leone's dim office, flashes of little white specks appear on screen. Excuse r me, but what the hell is dust The doing on my print of "The Godfather Godfather?" I thought I just DVD bought a set of DVDs, but what I'm looking at reminds Collection me of my VHS copy of Paramount "Metropolis." Gordon Willis' renowned low-key cine- matography is unjustly marred by the problemat-- ic image quality. While older classics such as the recently released "Citizen Kane" and "Snow Whit." n pmA/Pn extesiv r-ct-rt;- n;rin t to put the film on one longer disc. Knowing the mass public in their right mind' would never buy "Godfather Part III," Coppola decided it would be best (financially) to release them as a set and not offer the discs individually. Sorry folks, whether you like it or not the deplorable film will be sitting on your shelf right next to two cinematic masterpieces. Hey Francis, why don't you cast your daughter in a leading role while you're at it? Oh wait. Audiophiles may cringe or applaud the newly created surround sound for all three films. The 5.1 audio mix is rather subtle and subdued, appropriate considering the context of the stories. Those wanting the original nostalgic mono track will be upset to find it quietly ommited from the list of options. While there are major problems with the set, Coppola has included several hours of bonus material from each of the films, exploring all aspects of the filmmaking process. Storyboards, Curte-y 01Par"munt Use the Force Luke ... oops ... wrong film. featurettes, galleries and a documentary are just part of the wealth of goodies. Previously unavail- able deleted scenes highlight the fifth disc of the package, arranged chronologically over the life- time of the Corleone family. Keeping up the trend of other prominent direc- tors, Francis Ford Coppola recorded an audio commentary for each piece of the epic trilogy for the DVD collection. The legendary director has a lot to say. but the sheer length of the films