Wednesday February 4, 2004 arts.michigandaily.com artseditor@michigandaily.com RTS 9 By Michelle Kijek 1 1 THE HOTTEST PICKS IN ENTERTAINMENT FROM A DAILY ARTS WRITER SLA WMUZ - Located at 103.5 FM on Ann Arbor's dial, this station is perfect for locals seeking upbeat and uplifting Christian tracks. The Praise Company plays the top hits from 4 PM to 9 PM on Monday thru Friday with personable DJ Robin Sullivan. 3-D Display - Sharp is the innovator of a new technology offering three-dimensional viewing for personal notebooks without glasses. Relying on retinal disparity in the eye, two images displayed concur- rently are presented to create amazing images. The notebooks are now available for $3,000, but TVs using this technology are not far away. Imagine what that means for video games ... "Days of Our Lives" - The pinnacle of wacky daytime television, this 36-year-old NBC drama has intrigued audiences with its latest murder mystery revealing leading lady Marlena Evans Black as the killer last week. The storylines haven't been this exciting since Mar- lena was possessed by the devil a decade ago. The Oscars - Sure, they are a month away, but / that leaves very little time to catch up on an entire year of cinema before the big night. Plus, watching those long acceptance speech- es will be a lot more fun if you know what they are talking about.'{ "Sex and the City" - With only three episodes left, this TV landmark is wrap- ping up its sixth season of steamy scenes and hilarious antics on HBO. Sarah Jessi- ca Parker put it best in an interview when she said they decided to end the show while it was still good. The star's recent win at the Golden Globes proves "Sex and the City" has the potential to end its run on top. Courtesy of HBO Daily Arts Writer When the name Ohio State gets tagged onto any joke here in Ann Arbor, the chances are slim that the punchline is going to be in favor of the Buckeyes. How many Ohio State undergrads does it take to screw in a light bulb? None - that's a graduate course. However, Ohio State graduate Jerry DePizzo, saxophonist for O.A.R, was able to set aside his opin- ions on football prowess long enough to talk with the Daily about how he and the four other Ohio State alums who make up O.A.R. have built a career as a band that has become any- thing but the butt of a joke. After a high school study-abroad semester in Israel, Marc Roberge (singer, lyricist) and Chris Culos (drums) traveled back to the United States and ended up in Columbus, where their transatlantic experiences became the foundation for the dynam- ics of the band. "It's a pretty lofty name, especially when you're 14 or 15 years old, and basically when you're 25 you're just trying to live up to it," said DePizzo. With the majority of their fan base between 16 and 24 and the large amount of sell-out per- formances thus far, it is obvious that the idealistic essence of their name has been readily accepted. Most bands might find difficulty in ascribing to such a fixed audience because of limitations that it proposes to the band's progress, but DePizzo expressed a much more receptive attitude. "I think it's a really cool thing that TA we draw the age group orA demographic of people that we draw because that's the time of you life when music really means something to you. You really take it personally and it becomes a part of great compliment that people come out and support our shows at that age," he said. "You see that you really mean something to them." Those who have seen them live understand how O.A.R. has become a prominent figure on the jam band scene. Their high-energy perform- ances are loaded with improvisa- tional jams and sing-alongs highlight this band's repertoire. "Through college, or, to be honest, since '98 we've been touring every weekend. We just keep hammering away at it until people come to the shows, and it's because of the live shows that we've really built up a fan base." Now, after signing with a major record label and releasing their fifth album only six months ago, DePizzo commented on the band's past stratagem and future hopes. "It's a little bit of luck and basical- ly taking that fortune and being very smart about our decisions and work- ing hard and realizing that you have a great opportunity and not let- ESS ting it go to waste. Like you look at a band'like U2 who's been relevant for .. . some 20 years in pop culture. At some point you kind of want to enjoy that kind of success." Courtesy o fava We are not Linkin Park. AM BAND COMES TO GRIPS WITH SUCCI your life." Addressing the high aspirations that cling to the average college stu- dent, DePizzo found it most appropri- ate that because of the laid-back, care- free attitude that pervades a majority of O.A.R. songs, students find their music appealing. "I take it as a really Lane fails to deliver on DVD i r By Abby Stotz For the Daily "Under the Tuscan Sun" is a slightly better-than-average riff on the romantic comedy genre. It's sort of romantic and not very funny, but somehow manages to pull itself together to be a decent movie. Within the first 10 minutes, Frances Mayes (Diane Lane, "Unfaithful") goes from being a classy and happily married book-reviewer to the saddest divorcee _______,______ you'll ever meet. Frances looks like Under the death warmed over, the epitome of a rough breakup, and moves into a dreary Tuscan Sun apartment building infested with people Buena Vista ' sharing her plight. Patty (Sandra Oh, TV's "Arli$$"), Frances's pregnant lesbian best friend, is concerned and she sends Frances in her place on the "Gay and Away" bus tour of Tuscany. Once there, on the advice of a slightly crazy blonde woman, Frances buys a broken down villa and settles down to start a new life. She hires a Polish remodeling crew, starts learning the language and how to pick olives, but is still missing something. Eventually, she winds up falling for Marcello (Raoul Bova), a native complete with his very own tasteful white leisure suit, and gets back in action. The rest of the film centers on Frances's path to the almighty true love and the rocky patches along the way. The movie is visually stunning and the DVD is set in Dolby Digital Sound. The visuals are exquisite, complete with sunflower fields, lush hills and mouthwatering bowls Local electronic acts take on Prince By Emily Liu For the Daily Ann Arbor darlings Midwest Product and Dykehouse performed as "Paisley Product" on Saturday, playing Prince Courtesy of Buena Vista covers to an enthusi- astic crowd at the Blind Pig. Midwest Prod- uct's combination of electronics with live instruments brings an organic feel to their unique brand of glitch-pop. Dyke- Midwest Product and Dykehouse Saturday, Jan. 31 At the Blind Pig Unlike Julia Roberts, I shave my pits. of pasta. The only real problem with the movie is the star; Lane seems to be miscast. The supporting characters are funny, the plot's mediocre-but none of that matters when Frances continues to look like a sad, decrepit woman throughout the film. She's too serious for a light romantic comedy, and that seems to bring the movie's spirit down. The supporting cast is very good, but the setting is more compelling then the story. The disc's extras include a whopping three deleted scenes, an audio commentary by director Audrey Wells and a making-of-featurette. This behind-the-scenes look, entitled "Tuscany 101," doesn't reveal much. In a stunning revelation, we learn the Polish contractor named Pawel is really an actor named Pawel and that Italy is a pretty coun- try. The director, producer, Lane and that guy named Pawel are all showcased in the featurette. The extras aren't too great, but then again, neither is the movie. Movie: **i Picture/Sound: **** Features: ** left side of his face, spun videogame- like music. The Impaler, an electro-pop band with a gothic twist, followed, incorporating a vampire cape, fishnets and a whip. Midwest Product kept their set short with only three of their own songs. Although this was well-received, Pais- ley Product's performance was what the audience really craved. Dykehouse joined the band on stage, opening with "Take Me With U," and the floor steadily became more crowded, sweaty and frenetic. Choosing songs mainly from Purple Rain and 1999, Paisley Product enter- tained the audience with perennial Prince favorites like "I Would Die 4 U," "Little Red Corvette," "Raspberry Beret" and "Erotic City." The covers were generally true to the originals, although updated from the synthesizer sound to Midwest Product's live instru- ments, electronic clicks and whirrs. Dif- ferences in interpretation were most evident in "Dirty Mind" and "Contro- versy," with the addition of live guitar. Dykehouse also exhibited a great falset- to, complementing his smooth tenor. At one point, he jokingly apologized to the audience, saying, "You might want to clean out your ears after this song." But this apology was unnecessary, since the crowd was clearly enjoying the music and dancing up a storm. Paisley Product ended the set with house, a fellow artist on Ghostly Inter- national, fuses shoegazing, pop and IDM together in his music. As expected from musicians who cover Prince songs, both acts share a sense of humor as well. The first-time Midwest Product and Dykehouse united as Paisley Product last year was a smashing success, inspiring the crowd to dance madly into the night. Drew Schmedling (bass, keyboards) explained that play- ing Prince covers was Ben Mullins's (electronics, guitar) idea, and that of all the band members' various musi- cal tastes, Prince was the one thing they all had in common. The first opening act, Aneurysm, a DJ with a long scraggly beard on only the Coresy of hsl nntony al. Look Eric, it has sprinkles. a rousing rendition of "1999." Sur- prisingly, they did not perform "U Got the Look," considering that the title of Midwest Product's latest album, World Series of Love, is lifted from the song's lyrics. The concert flyer, featuring Dyke- house's head superimposed on Prince's naked body from the Lovesexy album cover, advertised Saturday's concert as an "annual tribute to 'The Artist."' Given the popularity of Paisley Product with concertgoers, more live shows might be in the works. Schmedling men- tioned that there was talk of doing a show of David Bowie covers. Keep your fingers crossed.