10 - The Michigan Daily - Tuesday, November 15, 2005 I# ". EUGENE OBERTSN/Duaily Frank Pahl's Little Bang Theory performed at the UM Art Museum. ToY SOLDIERS LITTLE BANG THEORY PLAY UMMA By Kat Bawden Daily Arts Writer CO NC ERT R EVIEsW - "This is called 'Toy Suite #3,"' announced Frank Pahl, the troubadour and visual artist behind the experimen- tal-music trio Little Bang Theory, before launching into the first song of a captivating evening. Between the marble walls of the Univer- sity of Michigan Museum of Art, Pahl sat proudly in front of his toy orchestra - nostalgic and colorful noisemaking toys: two baby-blue Frank Pahl's Little Bang Theory UMMA and woodblocks, warbling whistles and hums were all trans- formed into precise and complimenting motifs that braided together in a bizarre orchestra. The Little Bang Theory was the very opposite of self-righteous entropy - the performance was organized, tight and focused. The result could have been the soundtrack to a Dr. Seuss story. Though they could have stuck to their own wordless repertoire, they tossed in a cover of Brian Eno's "By This River." And it's only fitting that the trio consist- ing of Pahl, choreographer Terri Sarris and Doug Shim- min of the Immigrant Sons would take a cue from this prolific figurehead of textured, ambient music. The band's name comes from the title of an essay by Frederic Rzewski, an improvisational musician. The main idea is that "each note can lead to a universe of sound," and that we "can treat life as a little bang theo- ry," Pahl explained. Music like this could have taken months of painstak- ing composition ... or simply created in an explosion of creativity during a late-night jam session. Either way, the spirited performance had the power to envelop the audi- ence in giddy rapture. Between these three imaginative minstrels in the UMMA, there was more soul than the Chicago Symphony Orchestra mashed up with the whole of the Disney repertoire. Pahl, Sarris and Shimmin shared the strength of des- potic crusaders, but also the delicacy of a childhood. There was the restless adventure of a desperado galloping into the horizon, but the indiscreetly calculated cleverness of "Oh, the Places You'll Go!" ow Playschool pianos, ukuleles, xylophones, a songflute, weathered audio recording parts, a variety of melodi- cas, woodblocks, glockenspiels, cowbells, a rusting tuba and indefinable homemade objects, to name a few of the unexpected instruments. But don't assume for a second that a toy orchestra is a euphemism for a purposefully chaotic flurry of indecipherable sound. Their musicianship is not to be reckoned with - this trio performed solidly both as a deeply woven group and as individually cunning musi- cians. As wild as the set up looks onstage, the results are endearing. The music is so detailed it's almost inconspicuous. Hol- low chirps of a baby-blue, Playschool-toy piano, otherworldly drones of melodicas, small mallets skidded across xylophones I 0 e 0 mat Golden Age bring rap to 'U' By Uloyd Cargo Daily Arts Writer CONCERT PREVIEW Golden Age's visit to the University marks an important step toward legiti- mizing hip hop in the academic world. The group, consisting of lyricists DLO, a U1 S The Newton Fellowship Program is looking for mathematically sophisticated individuals to teach in NYC public high schools. Newton Fellows earn competitive starting salaries on par with scientists, engineers and architects. The Fellowship provides an aggregate $90,000 in stipends, full tuition scholarship for a master's, mentoring, coaching, and professional development. Nobody goes into teaching for the money. The best teachers do it out of love for the subject and a passion to inspire. As a Newton Fellow, you can have it all. So who better to teach math than you? For a more rewarding future, apply for the Newton Fellowship at mathforamerica.orglfellow Mr. Parker of Dumate, Rob DZ and turntablist BroDJ, hails from Madison, Wisc. They'll display their improvisa- Golden Age This week Canterbury House and Rackham Auditorium Courtesy of hhhhh Golden Age prepares to make the voyage to Ann Arbor. tional chops through a series of clinics, workshops and concerts, where they will showcase their unique approach toward audience interaction. Today they'll host a clinic during Prof. Ed Saraths's Improvisational Forms course before taking the stage at Studio Four with members of the University's renowned Creative Arts Orchestra. Tomorrow, Golden Age will appear at another workshop during Prof. Sarath's Creativity and Consciousness class as well as performing a concert at the Can- terbury House with the same members of CAO. Wrapping up their visit, the group will join the entire Creative Arts Orches- tra for a highly anticipated show at Rack- ham Auditorium. Golden Age attempts to place their audience in a "Whose Line Is It Any- way?" mind set, performing improvised songs consisting solely of audience sug- gestions of any person, place, situation or role play. "It's completely improvised hip hop. Little is planned in advance; the only thing that is sort of planned is the music, because the beats have already been made. The beat selection and mix- ing of the music is improvised and we take topics from the crowd. The MC's will rhyme about any subject or situa- tion; sometimes we will do scenes and situations where the two other MCs and myself will act as different characters," said MC Mr. Parker. "We got together two or three years ago. It started off as BroDJ, Rob DZ and myself rapping about topics a crowd had given us. It went well, so we decided to make a thing of it. We invited DLO, the third MC, to join us about a year ago."Mr. Parker said. In addition to gaining a loyal local fol- lowing, members of Golden Age have performed with such esteemed artists as Talib Kweli, Dave Chapelle, Sick Rick, and Afrika Bambaataa. Mike Nickens, a Rackham doctoral student and a member of CAO, empha- sized the significance of their appearance. "I think it's a big deal that the School of Music is sponsoring a hip-hop group to come through and are giving them the same amount of respect they would any chamber or jazz group. It's a milestone ' and a step in the right direction in break- ing down some musical walls and being more accepting of things that can have a stigma in the world of academic music." English Prof Carson shares poems By Mary Kate Varnau Daily Arts Writer It's rare to find more than a sprinkling of University pro- fessors and students at a poetry reading in Ann Arbor. Even if the writing is accessible - and not the stereotypically cryptic language of contemporary poetry - local readings usually don't attract more than a couple dozen people. But Anne Carson, one of the most difficult poets working today, packed Auditorium B in Angell Hall Thursday night with an intense, focused reading that drew not only from her pre- Anne Carson Poetry Reading Angell Hall Aud. B. was a nice way of allowing the audience to form their own connections between the mediums. Carson moved on from Greek mythology to a revisiting of the Bible's Book of Isaiah. She laid out the poem in four parts, attempting to cohere the disjointed narrative of the original. Moving from the objective to the profoundly personal, Carson went on to read a series of poems written for her par- ents, including her first poem to appear in The New Yorker, "Father's Old Blue Cardigan." She jokingly remarked that for her mother, this represented the pinnacle of Carson's career. "Seated Figure with Red Angle (1988), by Betty Good- win" is Carson's response to the painting, an essay written entirely in "if-clauses." The poem, which opens with, "If - A,;. ,..... A.. L,+.- ---+ +;+ --,,,. .--------- I ,