Monday February 14, 2005 arts. michigandaily. com artspage@michigandaily.com -ua RT S SA HBO 0 offers up atypical Western By Kevin Hollifield Daily Arts Writer a When thinking of the Old West, ra certain scene comes to mind: a heroic sheriff standing up to a mob and restoring law and order to the town. However, those conventions are shattered in "Deadwood." Historical figures such as Calamity Deadwood: Fhe Complete First Season HBO Jane are here, but this is far from any romanticized, Disney rehashing. "Deadwood" uses history books as a springboard, centering on the last bastion of the American fron- tier. Leaving his post as a lawman in Montana, Seth Bullock (Timo- thy Olyphant, "Go") and his busi- ness partner Sol Star (John Hawkes, "Taken") start anew in the Black Hills of the Dakota Territory. They find the gulch already awash with others seeking a fresh start in the hopes of striking it rich as gold pros- pectors. The town is overrun by a wide- range of characters, including ruth- less saloon owner Al Swearengen, played by Ian McShane in a Golden Globe-winning role. Also among the residents are rich, drug-addicted widow Alma Garret (Molly Parker, "Iron Jawed Angels") and Wild Bill Hickock (Keith Carradine, "2 Days in the Valley"). The most famous of Wild West legends, Hickock is now a boozing, gambling, washed-up sher- iff, a shell of his former self. "Deadwood" challenges the expectations of the Hollywood Western by avoiding the portrayal of the Old West clearly delineated between good and bad. "Deadwood" represents a realistic portrayal of desperate characters who are more Charles, Keys big Grammy winners LOS ANGELES (AP) - The late Ray Charles's duets album "Genius Loves Company," recorded during the final months of his life, led the Gram- mys with seven wins last night. The sentimental favorite won record of the year and best pop collaboration for his ballad with Norah Jones, "Here We Go Again," as well as best pop album. Charles also was contending for album of the year. "I think it just shows how wonderful music can be," Jones said as she accept- ed the trophy for record of the year. Other winners included Alicia Keys and Usher, each nominated for eight Grammys. By mid-evening Keys had won four while Usher had three. They shared one award, for best R&B perfor- mance by a duo or group with vocals for their No. 1 duet, "My Boo." U2 also had three awards, includ- ing best rock performance by a duo or group, while Green Day, the most nominated rock act with six nods for their politically charged punk rock opera "American Idiot," won best rock album. "Rock'n'roll can be dangerous and fun at the same time, so thanks a lot," lead singer Billie Joe Armstrong said as he accepted the award. Keys was chasing a record Gram- my haul - she could have won more than any other woman in one evening. In 2002 Keys won five Grammys for her debut album, "Songs in A Minor," becoming only the second woman to self-serving than upstanding. Their language is profane and their actions are ruthless. The dialogue is also reflective of the period, but charac- ter quirks sometimes render it inau- dible. The first season DVD includes all 12 episodes in their vulgar, graph- ic glory. The illegal town, built on Sioux land, grows from a group of tents with "no law at all" to a thriv- ing settlement organizing to a gov- ernment as the season progresses. The show's presentation adds to its realism. The vastness of the fron- tier is presented in widescreen for- mat, richly depicting the lush wagon trails which contrasts the monochro- matic dustiness of the town. The sound, represented in multiple lan- guage tracks, is just as good. The DVD set contains a separate disc devoted to extras featuring the cast and crew who comment on the production and historians who shed light upon the town and characters' histories. The most interesting and in-depth of these are two lengthy interviews with series creator David Milch and actor Keith Carradine, who discuss the show's genesis and its degree of realism. Audio com- mentaries with Milch and various cast members also allow for even more elaboration. While extras are lacking in quan- tity, the included material is filled with information that adds to the "Deadwood" experience. Instead of a rehashed, idyllic West, the episodes give a realistic, gritty portrayal of a bygone American era. MEDIOCRITY MARS PUNK-ROCKERS' SOUND Courtesy of Lava Records "If we look emotional, then teen- age girls will buy our records." By Aaron Kaczander Daily Arts Writer MUSIC REVIEW For a band that supposedly helped sculpt the Califor- nia skate/punk scene, Unwritten Law has made a record that sinks in the heavily treaded blueprints of their anti-authority predecessors. Their sixth studio album, Here's to the Mourning, revels in the all too familiar terri- tory of hookless punk rock. Fellow San Diego locals Blink-182 have had little trouble conquering the major label punk Unwritten Law Here's to the Mourning Lava live sing-along hit, "Get Up" offers one of the minor pleasures of the album. The closer, "Walrus," is another enjoyable track with its bouncy acoustic guitar riff, swooning string section and commanding presence from singer/guitarist Scott Russo. Yet clustered around these two tunes is a smattering of mediocre pop-metal material. The trite "Because of You" has the lyrical depth of a bubble-gum teen idol, with Russo musing "Because of you / My dreams come true" over and over. "F.I.G.H.T." hits hard with an arena-sized metal riff, but then fails to impress with a chorale section of children spelling out the word. The album's lead single, an alternative radio-friendly ditty titled "Save Me" is the most interesting aspect of Law's Mourning repertoire. Though it is admittedly catchy, the song was co-penned by established songwriter Linda Perry in an obvious bid for crossover appeal. The collaboration lends to the suspicion that record company executives needed an alternate way for Law to conquer the charts with their anticipated comeback album. Either way, the track fits the pop-metal blueprint to a tee, complete with the introspective verse, sugary chorus twice and an acoustic refrain ready to bring a tear to a high schooler's heartbroken eye. Here's to the Mourning comes off as unnecessarily frantic and loud. Perhaps this is to be expected after the 2002 MTV special From Music in High Places, the show which literally placed the boys atop a rocky perch map, and a bit farther north Green Day maintained a virtual pop-punk monopoly. Unwritten Law, though, have used their new album as a jumping point for the thrash of big metal riffs and raspy choruses that usually aren't found in a genre that's thrived on a trend of whiny vocals and catchy guitar hooks. While a small handful of the 12 tracks are enjoyable, the majority of the record is coded with "whoa oh oh" choruses and crunchy guitar work. The album opens with a confusingly short electronica track that transi- tions nicely into the anthemic "Get Up." Laced with an infectious chorus. drippy lyrics and the feel of a surefire for an intimate acoustic performance at Yellowstone National Park. This collecon of ongs from Elva, their most successful album to (ae, sowcased their pol- ished work, but left rabid Law ians look ing for a newer, harder offering from the veteran group. Here's to the Mourning may quench the thirst of the fanatical pop- metal rocker, but for an offering from such a seasoned band, the record su f fers from a spell of mediocrity. Show: **** Picture/Sound: **** Features: *** Acclaimed writer returns flawlessly Green Day accepts the Grammy for Best Rock Album. win that many in one night. (Lauryn Hill won five in 1999; so did Jones in 2003). The most nominated artist of the year may be the most multifaceted - Kanye West, the songwriter/pro- ducer who made his rap debut in 2004 with the cutting-edge CD "The Col- lege Dropout." West was nominated for 10 Grammys, including album of the year. In the pre-telecast ceremony he won two, including best rap song for "Jesus Walks." But he was upset in the best new art- ist category, losing to Maroon 5 in a race that also included country singer Gretchen Wilson, the Los Lonely Boys and soul siren Joss Stone. Maroon 5's Adam Levine seemed almost apologetic after winning. "Kanye West, I want to thank you so much for being wonderful," he said. The camera cut away to West, who looked less than pleased. Some expected West to have a melt- down like at the American Music Awards, where he complained bitterly backstage after losing the same award to Wilson. But on Sunday night on to deliver an eye-popping mance of "Jesus Walks" and a tional acceptance speech for the album award. After referencing the car ac few years ago that almost took West promised to live life to the "I plan to celebrate and scream, champagne every chance I get! I'm at the Grammys, baby!" He also referenced his A: Music Awards embarrassment. body wanted to know what woul I didn't win. I guess we'll never he said, holding his trophy up hi At least West didn't have decades to get a trophy, as did sc erans finally honored by the Re Academy. Steve Earle's left-leaning "Th lution Starts ... Now" won for< porary folk album. And Rod - who had complained in rece about never winning a Grammy for traditional pop vocal album standards recording "Stardust Great American Songbook Vol. By Will Dunlap Daily Arts Writer Book REVIEW In the town of Gilead, Iowa, an old man is bearing his soul. His heart failing, Reverend John Ames addresses a letter to his young son, recounting the history of his God-haunted life. Weaving together past and present, the reverend's sprawling letter takes on the form of a novel. And what a novel it is. With the critically acclaimed, "Housekeeping," Marilynne Gilead Robinson established herself as a major By Marilynne American writer. More than 20 years Robinson have passed since "Housekeeping's" Farrar, Straus publication, but time has done nothing and Giroux to diminish Robinson's extraordinary talents. It is hardly a surprise that "Gil- AP PHOTO ead," Robinson's magnificent and long-awaited second novel, succeeds on so many levels. he went As in "Housekeeping," Robinson gives readers an American perfor- portrait steeped in myth. Central to this portrait is the narrator's n emo- grandfather, an abolitionist who went west to Kansas after a best rap vision of Jesus in chains. From these reactionary roots, Ames traces his family's religious shift to pacifism in the years follow- cident a ing the Civil War. In the process, he chronicles nearly a century his life, of American history, describing a nation wrought by racial and fullest: religious tensions. and pop Division, as a theme, is ever-present in "Gilead," and nowhere because is this truer than in the case of the narrator. In giving thanks for the "miracle" of his late marriage and young child, Ames must merican first reflect on the solitude of his midlife. Through his reflec- "Every- tion, readers are allowed a rich portrait of a lonely man bent on Id I do if preaching God's goodness. Though "Gilead" is rich with bibli- know," cal imagery, Ames's earthy, conversational style avoids preachi- igh. ness. Throughout the novel, Robinson's prose shines through, to wait dazzling the reader one sentence at a time. nme vet- Structurally, Robinson works wonders. Ames's entries are cording never dated, making for an unaccountable passing of time between the letter's beginning and end. Such a technique allows le Revo- the narrative a meditative quality that faithfully recreates the contem- ponderings of the human mind. Ames leaves some stories unfin- Stewart ished, only to return to them pages later. Beneath this guise of nt years individual reflection, however, is the structural authority of a - won master craftsman. Robinson's pacing never falters and makes for his for a beautifully satisfying narrative arc. The At its heart, "Gilead" explores what it is to be a father and III." a son. Though named for his grandfather, John Ames has a namesake of his own in John Ames Boughton, the favored, yet troubled son of a lifelong friend. Young Boughton returns home and becomes the central point of Ames's ruminations as the novel progresses. Through the act of confronting a man whose name is his own but whose personal history appalls him, Ames must come to grips with what it means to forgive without forgetting. In this sense. "Gilead" isa book abut the making of memo- ry just as it is a book about love or God. But to pigeonhole such an all-encompassing work with any one of these thematic labels would be to miss the heart of Robinson's achievement. Mari- lynne Robinson's novel is an exploration of what it means to be human. and her authorial grace seems nearly limitless. "Gilead" is the very definition of a masterpiece. a novel of singular heart and intelligence - in short, a revelation. ti s klW B r, wr . ' r .. 4 , DALY ARTS. By Abby Frack an Daily Arts Writer n witer Tyler Ili t on. While these styles would normally be acceptable the soundtrack come from eb- lished acts. Coldplay-lite Brit rock- f. x . . ' f