-0A - The Michigan Daily - Monday, November 1, 2004 ARTS 4 UK's Leo finally slumps on new 'Streets' By Jacob Nathan Daily Arts Writer This might come as a shock to some fans: Ted Leo has made a bad album. With his latest release, Shake the Sheets, Leo has discarded the quirks and quality by which his previous releases have been defined. While not a complete failure, Shake the Sheets is a huge step backward from 2002's capa- ble Hearts of Oak and 2001's now classic The Tyranny of Distance. All of Leo's work Ted Leo to date has been characterized and the by laser-sharp songwriting Pharmacists and unparalleled energy in its Shake the Streets execution. This album fails in both categories. Lookout! While in the past Leo could be counted on to deliver exciting albums, he reveals his weaknesses with Sheets. Distance, with its superfluous hooks and excitement, introduced Leo as a captivating solo artist. Oak, while not on the same level of rocking as Distance, still showed Leo's merit as an intriguing songwriter by tran- scending the typical assumptions about his musi- cal range. The differences between his songs and the way he used rhythm to break up his choruses and verses were what made Leo such a refreshing voice on the independent rock scene. With Shake the Sheets, Leo has not captured the dynamic tech- nique for which he has been known For the most part, the songs on Sheets are indis- tinguishable. In the past, Leo has written songs that cover a wide range of musical styles, but also had clear and distinct messages. On his previous releases Leo's writing was crisp and focused, gen- erating albums that were inviting and challeng- ing for the listener. Shake the Sheets is a saggy pop album through and through. The album starts solidly by leading off with two strong tracks, "Me and Mia," and "The Angels' Share." These songs would have the listener believe that Leo was back in full force. The respectable start is quickly aban- doned as the following two songs run together, neutralizing the political message behind "Count- Courtesy of Young God Just another lazy, dog-danglin' afternoon. Banhart hones his songwritmng with Rojo By Evan MacKinder For the Daily British: Check. Balding: Check. Alcoholism: Check. Rudeness: Implied. ing Down the Hours." It is clear Leo is not happy with the current state of world affairs, but his lyr- ics are convoluted, "As I'm walking toward tomor- row with a rifle in my hand / And I'm thinkin' about New England and I'm missing old Japan." Songs suffer from these inflated lyrics throughout the album. The best song on the album, and one Leo himself refers to as "my favorite song I've ever written" is "Little Dawn." This song is exciting and well writ- ten: in a sense, vintage Ted Leo. Its presence is incredibly revealing about the nature of the album, reminding the listener of what might have been. The rhythms of the songs on the second half of the album are so similar that it becomes difficult to tell where one mediocre song ends and another begins. By this point on the album, any chance of salvation is minute. There is a hint of promise when the opening riff to "Walking to Do" starts, but that's just because it is overtly derivative of Leo's biggest hit of his career, "Where Have All the Rude Boys Gone?" The tone and tempo of every song on Sheets is remarkably similar. This makes for a boring and meandering effort. Overall, the album is insig- nificant, with shallow messages and disappointing production running rampant. The lack of direction is disheartening and is to blame for the one-dimen- sional final product. Since his early days as the leader of the semi- nal post-punk outfit Chisel, Leo has been on the cutting edge of indie-rock. This album sug- gests that had Leo remained focused on writ- ing dynamic rock songs, he could have avoided churning out bland and uninspired power pop. While he may receive some radio airplay with this album, Leo will be lucky not to alienate his die-hard fan base. Devendra Banhart's records have always acted as a soundtrack to the beauty of nature. His first release of 2004, the enigmatic, free-folk cor- nerstone Rejoicing in the Hands car- ried song titles like "Tit Smok- ing in the Temple of Artesan Mim- icry," and intro- duced themes of naturalism and modernity into Banhart's canon. Devendra Banhart Nino Rojo Young God "Ticks Eat the Dreck-fihled 'Clouds' floats aimlessly By Amanda Andrade For the Daily In times of war, such as the coun- try faces today, it's good to see a film that reminds people of the harsh realities of war and the resilience of the human spirit. "Head in the Clouds," a romance set against the back- drop of World War II, is not that film. Head in the Clouds At Michigan Theater Sony Picture Classics the best endorsement the film is likely to receive is "Charlize Ther- on - topless." "Head in the Clouds" follows the life of Guy (Stuart Townsend, "League of Extraordinary Gentle- men") an idealist madly in love with a selfish hedonist named Gilda (Ther- on), who's tall, thin, blonde and easy. Sadly, the film gives its audience no reason to believe Guy and Gilda con- nect on any level past the purely sex- ual, and even those scenes are more awkward than arousing. But their modicum of sexual heat looks like a conflagration in compari- son to that of Theron and Penelope Cruz ("Vanilla Sky"). They play les- bians who wear sexy lingerie and wrestle with one another. The duo have all the chemistry of a couple of dead fish. Kretschmann also played a Nazi in last year's infinitely better "The Pianist," and the memory of his wonderful and subtle performance in that film draws unfavorable compari- sons to this pointless treacle. The movie then proceeds in hap- hazard fashion to its denouement. The last half hour of the film does indeed seem to have a coherent plot line, but it's too little, too late. A few explosions and an unsettling pseudo- rape later, the movie is almost over and the torpid pace of the film will make the audience feel like 20 years have actually elapsed. If the film has a strong point, it's the visuals. The actors are all undoubtedly lovely but have ques- tionable talent. The cinematography is breathtaking, and the hair and cos- tuming are gorgeous. Unfortunately, these things can't make up for the pitiful story. Theron won an Oscar for getting ugly. If this film is any indication, she might want to stick with what works. Olives," the opening track to Ban- hart's first record Oh Me Oh My, introduced the singer/songwriter to the underground folk scene with a swirling, lyrically abstract song about tear-spawned olives that are devoured by ticks, which originate in the back of the human head. Banhart's third release, Nino Rojo, continues his obtuse lyricism - which has catapulted Banhart to the peak of today's folk scene - yet is, in many ways, unique from its predecessors. His trademarked lyr- ics are now juxtaposed with a wel- comed shadow of instrumentaion which was introduced with his folk stylings. "Wake Up Little Sparrow" introduc- es Rojo as a record rooted in typical folk fashion with its sole finger-picked guitar. The album quickly builds from there as Banhart incorporates horns to play a backdrop in tracks like "Ay Mama" and "We All Know." Banhart's strongest quality is his innate ear for songcraft and song- writing, displayed prominently throughout Rojo. Banhart uses a hybridization between folk sim- plicity and lo-fi instrumentation, as strings, harmonicas, pianos and banjos are all prominently show- cased, often overshadowing Ban- hart's guitar. "Little Yellow Spider" is a whimsical ballad showcasing Banhart's naturalistic imagery, and lyrical prowess: "Little yellow spi- der laughing at the snow / Maybe that spider knows something I don't know / 'cause I'm godamned cold" Rojo also stay's true to a simple folk music's form. "My Ships" and "A Ribbon" which stay true to its straightforwardness, translating to the listener the sense of independence each track is given by Banhart. While Nino Rojo is not neces- sarily Banhart's best album, its a continuation of his eccentric song- writing, and is a progression of his abilities to craft songs instrumental- ly. It builds upon the talents intro- duced by Oh My Oh My and this year's Rejoicing in the Hands while leaving room for improvement like its predecessors. This muddled and melodramatic film doesn't have anything mean- ingful to say about either love or war, which would be acceptable if there were some kind of engrossing story in this mess. But as it stands, 4 HOTTT. 4 4 3fd4 +'? .' d