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Tuesday
M October 5, 2004
arts. michigandaily.com
artspage@michigandaily.com
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SARAH
PETERSON
Paving 'U'paradise
R.E.M. SHOW TH
By Evan McGarvey
Daily Arts Writer
The role that R.E.M., the seminal college rock
band from Athens, Ga., plays in the history and
evolution of indie-alternative rock is still hazy
even now, almost 20 years since Murmur echoed
through dorm stereos for the
first time.
With most of the band's R.E.M.
original fans now most likely Around the Sun
tucked away in the fairer parts Warner Bros.
of suburbia, most of today's
indie kids only think of "Man
on The Moon" or the aging-grunge of R.E.M's
last essential release, 1994's Monster. In the
blank spaces of their recent chronology, frontman
Michael Stipe has started producing subversive
films ("Saved"), working with left-leaning organi-
zations and generally raising trouble for members
of the Bush administration. In all the D.I.Y. spirit
of the '60s, Stipe, drummer Bill Berry and the rest
of the band go for broke on the blunt and polar-
izing Around The Sun.
"It's easy to leave than to be left behind," Stipe
croons on the album-opening "Leaving New
York." From a band whose cryptic, often poet-
ic lyrics may well be its true legacy, this new,
abstract sentimentality is beyond disappointing.
Lines like, "As I raise my hand to broadcast my
objection," might fly during the revelry of a rally
but sink on the closed space of a studio album.
Straightforward, elegant song-writing has
defined the peaks of R.E.M.'s career. In their early
years, one could pick out each instrument dur-
ing their arrangments. The listener could pluck
out the guitar, appreciate the flexible riff and yet
soak in the entire melody. What forced the lis-
tener to return was the effortless arrangement of
guitars and percussion that sounded dually to-fi
and lush. They coated Stipe's admittedly difficult
lyrics with a palatable shell of indie-rock. They
FOREST
CASEY/Daily
fA * 3 - It's the man
In white!
EIR AGE ON 'SUN'
were a band that embraced contrast. Post-punk,
psychadelic pop and Americana flowed into their
filter and emerged as college rock. With a evo-
lution of small, flexible adjustments rather than
reinvention, they were the ultimate generalists.
Around The Sun is the sound of a aging beast,
wounded by its own indecision.
Maybe because they hold such a strong place in
the college memories of so many, even this limp
album fails to do real damage to R.E.M's lega-
cy. Even though the sound is bleached out, even
though the lyrics are beyond insipid, the band's
history is safe. Like their aging fanbase, R.E.M.
has begun to pick up the fraying scraps of the
past. Their shockingly passionate midlife crisis,
best seen in 1996's dazzling New Adventures in
Hi-Fi, has vanished. Around the Sun is lukewarm
rebellion, left cold in a pool of droning synthe-
sizers and reheated just in time for November.
They've become elder statesmen to forward their
cause, but there's a reason the old guard generally
doesn't make great records.
This year, the University unveiled
its plan for a $35 million build-
ing project that would add
56,000 square feet to the University
of Michigan Museum of Art. Archi-
tect Brad Cloepfilo of Allied Works
Architecture designed the proposed
addition.
The new space would extend the
museum into the side courtyard that
runs between the museum and Angell
Hall and toward State Street. It would
almost double the current size, taking
it from 40,572 square-feet to 97,346
square feet.
The concept behind the proposal is
that one of the additions would extend
toward the city and the other toward
the campus, representing a connec-
tion between the Ann Arbor commu-
nity and the college.
The addition would be, at the same
time, both a semi-closed-off courtyard
from which to appreciate art away
form the hectic life of a University
student and a link between everyday
life and the displays. The new and
improved museum is also supposed to
create a balance between materialism
and transparency through its interplay
of stone, steel and glass. The question
of course is, will it achieve this bal-
ance?
On first glance, the conceptual
drawings for the additions seem to
lean too far toward materialism. In
order to expand the museum, the grass
and trees that now serve as a pictur-
esque bit of nature on a student's walk
to class will have to be paved over. So
much of Central Campus - with the
exception of the Diag and the Law
Quad - is taken up with masonry
buildings and concrete walkways that
you want to hold on to every bit of
greenery, no matter how small. In this
respect, the addition is paving over
paradise.
When looking at the addition from
the perspective of an art lover, how-
ever, the addition will open up new
and exciting opportunities.
The plan is to take the current
"greenery" and basically convert it
into a courtyard that can house out-
door exhibits. Instead of destroying
the current natural landscape, the
plans are simply bringing art and
nature into a cohesive harmony.
Up until now, with the exception of
the few sculptures on Central Cam-
pus, North Campus has been the only
area at the University able to boast
a coming together of art and nature.
From the Wave Field to the treble-
clef sun dial by the School of Music
and the natural scenery that abounds,
North Campus has been known as the
haven for art students. The Museum
of Art was but a faint beacon amidst
the hustle and bustle of Central Cam-
pus.
Now, with the planned additions,
the Museum of Art will be a true
reserve of both nature and art. It will
bring a new zeal to the artistic culture
of campus and of the Ann Arbor com-
munity as a whole.
Ijfyou can't manage to pull Sarah
away from her tree, you can reach
her instead atpetesara@umich.
a
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I
Theatrical
jatcant s tand
te heat
By Kevin Hollifield
Daily Arts Writer
EDIV D0 W
A film touted as being "From
the studio that brought you 'Pearl
Harbor'..." tells viewers what to
expect: history taking a backseat
to lots of flashy explosions. That's
what viewers are fed with "The
Alamo," a movie that failed ini-
tially in theaters but is fortunate-
ly revived with
a decent DVD
release. The Alamo
Most of the Touchstone
audience already
knows the story
and the fate of the Alamo's defend-
ers. If they do not, it is given
away in the film's opening. The
lead-up to the dramatic conclu-
sion, however, is filled with rich
characterizations. Ripped from the
history books, the gang's all here:
disgraced General Sam Houston
(Dennis Quaid), volunteer leader
James Bowie (Jason Patric, "Speed
2: Cruise Control") and living
legend David Crockett (Billy Bob
Thornton).
After Americans settle and
declare Texan independence, Gen-
eral Santa Ana (Emilio Echevarrfa,
"Die Another Day") and his Mexi-
can army must stop the American
settlers and return Texas to Mexico.
The San Antonio fort is the final
outpost separating Santa Ana's
troops from the American settle-
ments. This leads to the famous
siege where all of the soldiers meet
their maker. Since this is a jingo-
istic Disney production, however,
Houston then rallies his troops to
avenge their brethren for the deci-
sive battle against Santa Ana.
Even though much of the action
SoCal punk rockers mature sound on latest LP
By Amos Barshad
Daily Arts Writer
Mike Ness is not one for change.
Since his seminal SoCal punk band
Social Distortion has been putting out
records, Ness has embraced the greas-
er image full tilt.
The biker attitude
of the misguided
sick boy - born
to lose, destined to
fail - was always
intertwined in his
simple four-chord
progressions. With
Social
Distortion
Sex, Love and
Rock'n'Roll
Time Bomb
Hank Williams, back in to the music.
His latest reinvention came at the
most unlikely period of his career. After
Somewhere Between Heaven and Hell
didn't produce hit singles, the band was
dropped from Epic. When White Light,
White Heat, White Trash was set for
release on indie Time Bomb, expecta-
tions were held low. Surely, Social D's
best days were behind them; the market
for over-the-hill greasers was small and
dwindling fast. What fans realized upon
said album's release is that this over-
the-hill greaser had the perfect perch
from which to comment so deeply on q
the life he's lived. White Light's evoca-
tive description of a man who's already
lived a whole life full of regrets but is
still mired in confusion and despair was
Social D's best work to date.
Sex, Love and Rock-'n'-Roll has
arrived, eight years later, showing a
man truly ages away from White Light's
bleak outlook. Song after song displays The Loch Ness monster.
an optimism never before seen. From
q
4
takes place at night, the picture
is crisp. It is solid and the natu-
ral landscapes that were beauti-
fully filmed stand out on DVD.
The audio mix is well done; the
sounds of the firing cannons will
blow down walls while not sacri-
ficing the quieter moments and
party scenes featuring the music of
the 1840s. A DTS track would have
certainly been welcomed but was
ostensibly sacrificed to fit every-
thing on one disc.
Included are three features -
totaling about a half hour - that
mostly contain director John Lee
Hancock gushing about the great-
ness of the film while the cast goes
on about how much fun they had
and the greatness of their cowork-
ers. The thirdedocumentary gives
some historical insight into the
major characters and is by far the
most interesting.
Also included are deleted scenes
that enhance the historical back-
ground, which the viewer can
watch with or without director
commentary. The feature commen-
tary is dry, only consisting of two
historians covering the film's his-
torical inaccuracies.
The film lags in places before
the namesake battle and its run-
ning time has been padded to send
the audience home happy. While
star power and fire power came
together for "The Alamo," a decent
script did not.
his hair slicked back, his leather jackets
and his jeans cuffed over his Dr. Martin
shoes, nothing much has really changed.
Ness, those blue Dickies fitting ever so
snuggly these days, is still making damn
fine punk rock. Finer than ever, in fact.
Ness has gone from writing medio-
cre, cliche rebel-punk songs to writing
excellent, cliche slices-of-Americana
songs to making exceptional, heartfelt
and honest rock'n'roll. From Mainliner
to Prison Bound to Social Distortion,
Mike Ness's songwriting had been get-
ting more and more plaintive, nuanced
and effective. Going from thrash to trou-
badour, Mike Ness had allowed his boy-
hood idols, guys like Johnny Cash and
the call to arms of "Reach for the Sky"
to the sentimentality of "Highway 101"
and "Nickels and Dimes," Ness seems
like his dark cloud has passed. "Don't
Take Me For Granted," from the point
of view of Ness's bandmate and life-
long friend Dennis Danell, who died in
2001, is the highlight of the album. It's
a pleading track, driven by a pulsating,
cleanly distorted guitar and topped off
by a rising melody. Ness has said that
it was one of the easiest songs he's ever
written; surely, it's also one of his best.
"Footprints On My Ceiling," another
standout, chugs along subtly, like its
floating downstream. After "I Wasn't
Born to Follow," the album then stalls
momentarily, until it breaks our heart
with the closer, "Angel's Wings," a tear-
ful goodbye that digs along like it's in
the trenches.
Over the years, Mike Ness has taken
his image and refined it ever so well. As
he has aged, he's managed to position
himself as a street poet; he's seen it all
and he's here to tell about it. Still cool
as hell, Ness has decided to not only
comment on his life but also reflect on
it, and his music can only benefit from
his maturation process.
The Prodigy abandon techno sound on 'Outgunned'
By Jacob Nathan
For the Daily
The Prodigy has lost their ability to
make good music. In the last five years,
The band has lost three members (includ-
ing its dancer),
and has not really
accomplished any-
thing musically
since their its Fat
of the Land, or its
competent follow
up, The Dirtcham-
ber Sessions Vol.
The Prodigy
Always Outnum-
bered, Never
Outgunned
Maverick
If frontman Liam Howlett hadn't had the
presence of mind to bring on board some
interesting collaborators, this album would
be a total wash. The inclusions of Twista,
Kool Keith and actress Juliette Lewis are
the album's saving grace.
What distinguishes it from the earlier
work of the band - and may have some-
thing to do with the departure of group
members Maxim and Keith Flint - is that
there are songs that cannot be labeled as
standard-fare techno. The song "Hotride,"
which features sexy vocal work by Juliette
Lewis, is an out-and-out rock song, stand-
ing out as the most refreshing and enjoy-
able song on the album.
The other collaborative efforts both
have their ups and downs. "Get Up Get
Off" features Twista and Juliette Lewis
in one of the strangest pairings since Brit-
ney Spears and Aerosmith at Superbowl
XXXVI. The song strikes a comfortable
middle ground between the acid-house
dance beats The Prodigy are known for and
Twista's smooth lyrical stylings. Howlett's
nroduction meshes well with Twista's
Film: ***
Picture/Sound: ****
Features: ***
I
L What The Prodigy have to offer with
Always Outnumbered, Never Outgunned
is an incredibly polarized and drifting
effort.
Consider this to be Fat of the Land's
weak little brother. Some superficial traits
make the two seem similar, but when the
listener gives this album a chance, it is easy
to se that it is shallow and self-indulent.
raps. Kool Keith puts in an appearance
on "Wake Up Call," and his quirky con-
tribution gives the otherwise aimless and
scattered track some direction. Howlett
proves he can stand on his own two feet
with the catchy song "Action, Radar," and
performs an interesting - but ultimately
unsatisfying - experiment with the song
"Medusa's Path," which samples Iranian
composer Rookalah Khalegi's recordings
from the 1930s.
The rest of the songs on this album
are infinitely less inspired. Howlett has
slopped together enough songs to fill
in the gaps left by his stronger tracks,
but that's all. The dismal second song,
"Girl," is the most underwhelming
song on the album. "Shoot Down," if it
does anything, it reminds us that Liam
Gallagher should never enter a record-
ing studio without his brother Noel.
Although Howlett tries to keep things
interesting, the songs are muddy and
run together. The fact remains that they
are boring to listen to, and even after
some drunken experimentation, impos-
sible to dance to.
Making dance music that is lethargic
and saggy is not an easy thing to do, yet
The Prodigy have succeeded indoingjust
that. A key component to techno music
is energy, and Always Outnumbered,
Never Outgunned lacks exactly that.
Although there are some happy acci-
dents on this album, Howlett fails in his
attempt to restore The Prodigy to their
early '90s dory.
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