Tuesday September 27, 2005 arts. michigandaily. com artspage@rmichigandaily. com Tb tdie iWtgu Dld RTFS 9 I I . te 1'URl(IUS 1 }ljYE ThE HOTTEST PICKS IN ENTERTAINMENT FROM A DAILY ARTS WRITER Kerrytown - I'm lucky enough to live in my favorite part of Ann Arbor. The neighborhood is relatively quiet, and the location - right in between State Street and Main Street - is perfect. Throw in the People's Food Co-Op, the Kerrytown Market and a thriving arts com- munity and it's the ideal living situation. Rashaan Roland Kirk - The oft-overlooked multi-instrumentalist reshaped jazz with manzello, stritch and his incredible talent. Critically derided as a "gimmick," Kirk deserves to be placed in the jazz pantheon beside saxophone legends Coltrane, Dolphy and Shorter. 88.3 WCBN FM - My show, unofficially titled Black People & The Beatles, may have an awful time slot (Sundays, 3-6 a.m.), but it's worth staying up for. You'll hear Albert Ayler's "Ghosts," Paul McCartney's demo for "Mother Nature's Son" and a ton of great, jazz, soul, blues, reggae and hip hop in between. Jessica Alba - With Jessica Alba starring in the upcoming "Into the Blue" as a bikini- clad treasure hunter and her performance as a stripper in "Sin City" recently released on DVD, this fine actress is omnipresent. Her flawless features are the definition of breathtaking ... and her movies are pretty good too. Nomo - The best band in Ann Arbor tore up The Blind Pig y Saturday night .F with their vicious u. Kuti/Coltrane mashup. I can't- think of a bet- ter way to raise money for Hurri- cane Katrina relief than to throw a soul-soaked dance party. With a new [ album in production, expect this Michigan sensation to commence national domination. Houston's F Paul Wall keeps the city's vibe By Chris Gaerig Daily Arts Writer Interpol lead singer Paul Banks stands before a packed Michigan Theater on Sunday. STYLISH SUITS, EMPTY TUNES SAME OLD, SAME OLD FROM INTERPOL AT THE MICHIGAN By Evan McGarvey Daily Music Editor Who is Interpol anyway? After four years of freezing the insular indie-rock world in its tracks with paralyz- ing post-punk, we still have no interpo l idea who the humans are behind the endless "name that influ- The Michigan Theater ence" comparisons and $6 mil- lion Armani mope suits. Sunday's performance at the Michigan Theater was as unsatisfying as it gets: an industrial light show that would make George Lucas give pause and provide more brilliant moments (literally) than the band's muted onstage demeanor and intelligibly fuzzed-out vocals. After seeing the band once, whose commitment to touring is admittedly strong, you can predict their set list. The first five songs were all off Antics, their jug- gernaut of a sophomore album that broke indie-rock chart records, and, expectedly, they started the whole show with "Next Exit," the Antics album opener. Their playbook doesn't change, and on this night, that was almost enough. They're clearly dedicated to attempting to recreate the studio experience onstage, but for a band whose rhythm section is so heralded, settling for studio sound stinks of complacency. Drummer Sam Fogarino got a chance to noodle around with his snares between songs two-thirds of the way through the set, and for 40 seconds Interpol showed some life. Guitarist Dan- iel Kessler did his little manic hop around the stage before coming back to his pedals. Bassist Carlos D stopped trying to look oh-so-chic and actually played bass with the metropolitan angst that made Turn On The Bright Lights so damn powerful. Yeah, their ren- ditions of "Evil" and "Narc" earlier in the night were dependable (though the band's creeping reliance on late era-Police dub-plate guitars is disheartening). But this, this was the fun part of the evening. The suits onstage were loosening up and the shrieking band- wagon kids took a breath as the band recharged. But before you knew it, lead singer Paul Banks sig- naled for the next song and the first moment of genu- ine fun had evaporated. Banks, whose arctic tenor does little but recall the ghost of Ian Curtis, is the clear ringleader. The talented guys behind the instruments tolerate his asinine, undercooked undergraduate poetry: "Time is like a broken watch / And make money like Fred Astaire." Interpol famously refuses to play covers; I wonder why? Toward the end of the set the crowd was absolutely ravenous. The Michigan Theater seemed overmatched by Interpol's howling fan base and what does Paul Banks do? He plays "Stella Was A Diver and She Was Always Down," a momentum killing cut whose deft little chord progression can't save a laughable chorus where Banks simply screeches "Stella!" for a couple of seconds. Poor song choice is a hallmark of their shows. The gnawing paranoia of "Obstacle 1?" Not tonight. The creeping Paxil-melodrama of "Untiled?" Nope. By and large they stuck to Antics and after a while it felt like fan-baiting antics. While the calls for Banks's head should wait until their third album, their Ann Arbor appearance did nothing to subdue the skeptic's fears. Interpol has the world on a string and seems content to do absolutely nothing with it. Courtesy of Sony It's been easy for critics to argue that artists like Slim Thug and Paul Wall are simply holding onto the Paul Wall coattails of fel- low Houstonian The People's Mike Jones. The Champ success of Who Atlantic Is Mike Jones? and the colos- sal, groundbreaking popularity of the lead single "Still Tippin"' are unavoidable and a detriment to the credibility .of the MCs that follow the "featuring" in the track's title. However, like G-Unit, nearly every member of the crew outshines the frontman - Lloyd Banks and Young Buck destroy 50 Cent just like Slim Thug and Paul Wall dom- inate Mike Jones. Most people are still trying to wrap their heads around Slim Thug recruiting the Neptunes to produce his album. Somehow, this mix-tape colossus was able to get the most sought-after and talented beat-mak- ers to work on his album, elevating his flows and breakthrough release to new heights. Although Paul Wall doesn't have this same firepower, The People's Champ is still filled with tight, aggressive lines and the archetypal Houston demeanor. Hailing from the screwed-and- Courtesy of Atlantic His teeth are Weapons of Massive Bling. hopped-world of DJ Screw, Paul Wall represents Swisha House and Hous- ton with a mass of minimal beats and top-down, seat-back rhymes. The first single, "Sittin' Sidewayz," is driven by hi-hat taps and a mor- phing bass line. Big Pokey drops his grave flows to finish the track in true dirty-South style. Platinum rapper T.I. screams Southern pride with Wall on "So Many Diamonds." Although it's a solid track, Wall sounds like an imitator next to the street-hardened T.I. The laid-back style of the Rub- ber Band Man makes Wall's rhymes sound a bit aloof and out of place. Conversely, the self-proclaimed "People's Champ" comes off as a veteran of the game on "Ridin' Dirty." The catchy, melodic, albeit soft, chorus of Trey Songz creates a perfect dichotomy. Even the radio-friendly, rich kid Kanye West makes an appearance on The People's Champ. "Drive Slow" has an identifiable West beat - a melodic keyboard line with jazzy horn bursts - and his lackluster rapping style. The money-cash-hoes attitude of the track makes Kanye's catalog all the more laughable, as he rhymes with Wall about all of the debauchery he chastises. If anyone from the Swisha House crew was doomed to fail, it was Paul Wall. The white kid - let's face it, he looks awkward next to Slim Thug and Mike Jones - with the iced out mouth is laughable at first glance. The People's Champ isn't Already Platinum, but it would be nearly impossible to catch the freight train that is Slim Thug right now. Paul Wall isn't the savior of Southern rap and far from the best thing to come out of Houston, but he and Slim Thug are forcing everyone to won- der: What exactly is in the water in Houston? :,j j;77777777777 ____ . s: i SHoRT TAKES !' . ......: .. ... . . Y, , :.::..:.::.: ::.;::.:: .. .. . ... .