Wednesday February 22, 2006 arts. michigandaily. com artspage@michigandaily.com ctbE 1Aliigau 3 ttdl RTr S 5 The balance of Power Chan Marshall kind of pissed me off recently. The Southern chanteuse has just released an album that's probably going to be the apex of her career: an utterly magnetic piece of work that's expanded her aural ideas with sly, timeless horn riffs thanks to the support of a few Memphis studio legends. Marshall's once-ghostly, off- kilter artistic presence has, on The Greatest, grown so solid and so real that we might have expected the notoriously diffident girl with the fortissimo whisper to be ready to step outside. As is apparent in a recent interview with the 't so-so music rag Filter (I only bought it for the Fran- goise Hardy interview), ALEXA Marshall's persona when JO dealing with any kind of publicity is still as skittish as ever. But one statement she made really got to me. The interviewer asked her a question along the lines of, "Hey, how did all these R&B musicians end up on your album?" Her response: "It's in a key. It has a key. It's not improvisational; it's actually in a key. There's a key that everyone's playing with at once. I don't know how to describe it." She continued, flustered, mumbling what surely reads like nonsense. OK, so it's part of her artistic ethos to be enigmatic - I understand that. And the awkwardness between fan/critic and artist when she's asked for the mean- ing or motivation behind her work is an insurmountable obstacle that we listeners sort of need to get over. But Marshall's professed inability (more like calculated refusal) to competently express even the most basic ideas about her work and its creation process calls into question not the validity of Cat Power the persona, but of Marshall the artist. It damages her art and reputation rather than pumps up the myth of Cat Power as a sometimes hysterical damsel. I call bullshit. The difference between Marshall's calculated caginess and the evasive tactics of Bob Dylan, one of her self-professed idols, is that anyone who's ever heard the line "Keep a good head and always carry a light bulb" knows Dylan is full of shit. He's simultaneously performing (and making us love that sadistic, world-weary brattiness he does so well) and rejecting our consumption of his performance. But Marshall's (intentional?) fumbling here doesn't strengthen her against the Ni pithy phrases and capsule-sized descrip- tions that Dylan - and any other pur- veyor of the intangible musical element that listeners crave like heroin - attempt to thwart. Nor does it create solidarity between her as an artist and listeners. Rather, she sounds weak. Not gentle or delicate, but weak. Artistically weak. I-don't-know-what-the-fuck-I'm-doing weak. Don't-ask-me-I'm-just- a-girl weak. Inside, I'm sure she's a hardass, and like every lonely soul eternally dogged by mel- ancholy (it takes one to know one), she's secretly manipula- tive - and feels guilty about it. But here, it looked like she was playing the Tortured Art- ist at the expense of her art - NDRA the carefully crafted persona ES that's part of her appeal. Does she expect us to believe she communicated with a group of seasoned studio musicians via demure flutters of her eyelashes? She's parodying herself with behavior like this. Obfuscation can lend bad-boy rockers artistic cred, but Marshall should know better than to let her damsel-in-mental-distress image out- last its purpose as an artist. I'm not criticizing her music - that stands on its own, though it's a little on the mild side of the emotional piquancy she's proven herself capable of. At the same time, it's difficult to buy into its dynamism and emotional scope when she's effectively devaluing what she's doing. Sure, I look up to her as a musi- cian, but also as someone who's able to inhabit her own world while kicking ass and taking names in ours. There's nothing wrong with building a legend around Cat Power, but Christ, Chan: Let us see you give yourself a little credit. Ditching an audience mid-set and feeding interviewers your dreamy inte- rior musings has served your mythology pretty well. Obviously, we buy it and your records; The Greatest (minus "Where Is My Love" ) still enjoys time in my knock- off Discman, and I wish I could get my bangs to look like yours. But there's no appeal in making yourself look dumb in either sense of the word. It's time for you to grow a (public) spine. We know there's more to you than just a pretty voice. - Jones can only dream of having a hairstyle as indie as Chan Marshall's. Send her your hair-straightening tips at almajo@umich.edu. Courtesy of Domino Awkward touching. THE ICE STORM MEGA-HIT BRIT ROCKERS MAKE U.S. DEBUT By Daren Martin For the Daily M US IC RUIVE The Arctic Monkeys have crossed the Atlantic. After their demo tracks spread across the Inter- net and left fans chanting lyr- ics before even seeing the band live, the boys from Sheffield' Arctic M k England, knew it was time for "'V""cy their first album. Whatever Whatever People People Say I Am, That's What Say I Am, That's I'm Not, a re-recording of their What I'm Not wildly popular demos, is already Domino famous in the United Kingdom along with their chart-topping single "I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor." - Fueled by their international success, the Arctic Monkeys have decided to come to the United States. In a style similar to Manchester natives Stone Roses and Kasabian, the band has gained ever-heightening fame through delivery of fast, gritty guitar chords and drum beats. Their songs typically depict teen- age club experiences, ranging from the difficulties of approaching girls to trouble with club bouncers. The tracks, light with easily relatable lyrics, are also catchy and danceable. Yet the Arctic Monkeys also have a deeper side. Intertwined with fun club experiences are stories that develop a greater social consciousness. The depress- ing "When The Sun Goes Down" follows Roxanne, a young streetwalker whose living depends on a par- ticularly "scummy" customer. The group's music also takes aim at police targeting of underage drinking - which the band suggests diverts attention from serious crime - and raises provocative questions about the commerciality of today's world. Regardless of tone or subject, frontman Alex Turner is the star of every track. With his Sheffield slang and colloquial style, he mixes song with spoken word to bring the lyrics, the band's best asset, to life. It's simply a treat to hear him speak, but when mixed with word- play and poetic nuances, the band's vocals shine at lev- els far surpassing the rest of the instrumentation. "Mardy Bum," a track that follows a couple's fights, is an example of both Turner's vocal and lyrical tal- ent. He sings, "I see your frown / And it's like looking down the barrel of a gun / And it goes off / And out. come all these words / Oh there's a very pleasant side to you / A side I much prefer." Turner's voice manages to capture the hostility and tension in the relationship, but simultaneously shows its deep affection. After garnering the pervasive adoration of fans across Britain, the Arctic Monkeys are now left to live up to the hype in North America. But their chatty sound and unique voice combined with clever storytelling have deservedly kept the quartet in the spotlight, and Whatever, for all its widespread overex- posure, does not disappoint. The only question remaining is whether the Arc- tic Monkeys are simply the "it" flavor of the week or if they will become more than a headline-spawning, ephemeral force in the music world. Only time will tell, but if their landmark debut is any indication, they will be around quite some time. ARTS. BITCHES. ATTENTION FRESHMEN, SOPHOMORES, AND JUNIORS Your Degree Faster! GET a head start on this fall and your career. " Choose from hundreds of real-world classes taught by world-class faculty Rack up the credit you need to graduate faster with classes as short as eight weeks " Take classes at five convenient locations Register Today for Spring/Summer Classes! 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