ART S The Michigan Daily - Friday, February 6, 2004 - 9 By Jared Newman Daily Arts Writer It's hard being a jam band. For the many with a taste for improvisation, the only reward for countless hours on the road is harsh criticism from those who seem offended by 10-minute tunes. But when Addison Groove Project drops the funk, even the iciest naysayers can't help but warm up. The Boston-based sextet, around since the late '90s, use their aesthetic jazz-fusion grooves to get even the staunchest anti-jam critic dancing. "When (most people) think of jam bands, they think of old, bearded hairy guys. There's a definite stereotype, who have been Addison Groove Project Tonight at 10 p.m. At the Blind Pig Clear Channel Courtesy orBlue Relier Go go Power Rangers! but when people hear our music, 'jam band' is probably not the first thing that comes into their head," said guitarist/vocalist/trumpeter Brendan McGinn. "The jamming is implicit, but the music itself doesn't necessarily fit their defining notions of the style." It's true that jam bands often face a negative stereotype: The fans are offbeat, the music is hardly conducive to radio play and the jamming itself requires a different style of listening. Nonetheless, the group has noticed a wide array of fans in the crowd, from tweaked-out hippies and jazz-heads to frat boys and every- thing in between. And despite being in, as McGinn put it, "a scene that's ruled by vibe instead of talent," Addison Groove Project have created anything but mindless marijuana music. "Nothing is necessarily straight-ahead with what we do. We add a lot of the elements of jazz with odd time signatures and interesting chord changes," said McGinn. One of the band's most impressionable traits is their taste for awkward rhythms. "What we're doing is funky enough that people are dancing anyway, but all of sudden they have to catch them- 'Elephant' analyzes Columbine questions Courtesy or AG Do you like oral sax? selves. It's kinda funny to watch." Though much of the Addison Groove Project's repertoire is instrumental, the guys are known to use their throats on occasion, and with three vocalists in the lineup, listeners can be sure to hear some words on top of those palatable riffs. It's all part of the band's master plan to keep expanding and trying new things, while sticking to their funky roots. Fortunately, the jam band aegis gives them the freedom to try new things without losing their devoted fan base. While the band tours the country during the winter and spring, a summer venture to the recording studio is planned. Of course, the age- old question remains: Is it possible for a jam band to translate their live sound into a more permanent medium? "The next thing we want- ed to do is have it be very spread out, not so much going into the studio and cranking it out," said McGinn. As far as jamming vs. pre- cision is concerned, the plan is to have a mix- ture of both." In the meantime, Addison Groove Project will be doing what they enjoy best - getting people moving with their energetic funk. Bren- dan McGinn looks forward to it. "Maybe it's the first song, maybe its five songs in, but there's something that just clicks with every- body and it turns into that party atmosphere that always gets us pumped." By Hussain Rahim Daily Arts Writer Who is to blame for the Columbine school shootings? Was it a specific person's fault, or is society to blame? In writer/director Gus Van Sant's ("Finding Forrester") latest film, none of these questions are answered and viewers will likely leave the theater much more per- plexed about the entire issue than before. In a bare-bones retelling of that Elephant At the Michigan Theater Blue Relief SSuper Furry Animals perform super concert By Laurence J. Freedman Daily Arts Writer night at St. Andrew's Hall in Detroit. Performing in support of their latest album, Phantom Power, the band's live show was awash in the vintage These are heady times for atmos- pheric pop bands. Relying on sonic textures as much as melody, numer- ous artists have recently surfaced with sparkling and innovative records easily transformed into mem- orable live shows. The Flaming Lips' recent work is a prime example, but one mustn't overlook Broken Social Scene, Grandaddy and the Welsh quintet Super Furry Animals. Although the SFA's ascent into indie-rock notoriety in this country has occurred relatively recently, they have been a British hipster favorite for much of their 11-year career. During that time they have released six superb LP's, while being peren- nially associated with Welsh subcul- ture hero and dope smuggler Howard Marks, who appeared on the cover of their 1996 release, Fuzzy Logic. While their recordings have been difficult to classify, two influences were clearly evident in the SFA's dazzling concert on Wednesday West Coast pop of the Beach Boys and the exuber- ance of the Beat- les' psychedelic work. The band incor- porated these influences into a Super Furry Animals Wednesday, Feb. 4 At St. Andrew's Hall and triumphant "Piccolo Snare" off Phantom Power morphed into a funky laptop-driven club beat. Key to the band's success are the Furries' impeccable vocals. Often layering whimsical three-part har- monies over their playing, frontman Gruff Rhys and the rest of SFA evoked Beach Boys leader Brian Wilson almost every step of the way. Rhys proved to be a dynamic singer, moving from tenor to bass and back again with ease. An SFA concert is both an aural and visual affair. Behind the band was a video presentation similar to the one that they employed two years ago. Perfectly in sync with the music, the screen showed a mixture of bizarre computer ani- mation and quickly spliced clips of everything from curling to Josef Stalin to Arnold Schwarzenegger. Even Rhys' guitars were fun to look at; it's likely the same artist who created the video animations drew the intricate patters on a num- ber of his axes. Like the Flaming Lips, the Furries know that donning animal costumes is entertaining; the band wore super furry big-foot suits during their finale, a reprise of their 1996 single "The Man Don't Give a Fuck." fateful day, Van Sant takes the gener- al events of the shooting and facts about the two killers and distills them into a story loosely based on several Columbine students. Using an entire cast of non-actors, the goal was to create a true depiction of a regular, mundane day in high school. "Elephant" succeeds in this mission, maybe even too well. Van Sant cap- tures every minute of detail of high school life. There is something poignant about the little, awkward portraits of these students. From the quiet resignation of the homely librarian, to the artsy aspirations of the photographer and the strength of the student who takes care of his drunken father; the char- acterizationsrare appropriate and heartfelt. The ways their lives inter- sect with those of the killers make it all the more tragic, creating an inti- mate, if occasionally boring, mood. There are five-minute shots of char- acters ambling slowly through the school and others where the director shows his love for Beethoven's "Fur Elise" by playing it in its entirety. The film's voyeuristic, stream-of- consciousness style is clearly voyeuristic and the stream of con- sciousness creates the feeling of see- ing something as it was. Van Sant's portrayal of the two shooters comes off as little more than an immature stereotype of a school shooter. They watch tapes of Hitler, play violent video games, buy guns online, get picked on at school and engage in ambiguous homosexuality. Once the violence erupts it seems as random to the audience as it is to the students. Not even Van Sant knows why it happened. It would be easy to moralize in a film like this, telling America why they are wrong and what they need to fix, but that penny-ante level of sermonizing is avoided here. There are no easy Hollywood answers and no profound insight into the mindset of the killers. It just happens. It's a brave film and will leave a thinking audience more conflicted than before. The line between mood and monotony, however, is a thin one, and, to the detriment of the film, it sometimes disappears. sound sprinkled with electronic effects and beats, sounding like Radiohead recording Magical Mys- tery Tour. The equally foreboding Camp Counselors & Instructors Needed Camp Walden in Cheboygen, MI, a coed summer camp. Needs male and female staff for arts & crafts - tennis - gymnastics - sailing - riding - performing arts - archery instructors - secretaries - bus driver, trip leaders & INFIRMARY ASSISTANTS (work with doctors in a camp clinic). Itka I t Store blowout moving sale WE'RE CLOSING OUR ART STORE AND MOVING IT OVER TI MICHIGAN 10 K & SUPPLY! Stop by Ulrics for our Art Clearance Sale FEBRUARY 1sT THROUGH FEBRUARY 16TH m mm