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arts. michigandaily. com
artspage@michigandaily.com
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BOOK
SART
EXPERIMENTAL NYC
BAND COMES TO UMMA
By Caitlin Cowan
Daily Features Editor
'Fight Night'
By Michael Passman
Daily Arts Writer
a hit
Even if you've never heard of them, you probably
already know The Books.
One night while watching MTV and poring over
your Orgo notes, you most likely saw one of the
"Knowing is Beautiful" HIV-
testing campaign commercials, The Books
complete with crowds of people
dancing and snaking their way Tonight at 8 p.m.
through city streets. "It's spread- At UMMA
ing," the screen said, alluding to
the rising number of youngadults getting tested.
That's good news, but the real gem of the TV spot
was the song that trickled and gurgled in the back-
ground. That song was "Tokyo" by The Books, a sonic
flight to the Far East that sounds more like a pseudo-
Baroque etude than a piece of post-rock history.
Nick Zammuto, half of the experimental New
York City-based group said that the inspiration for
the song "was everything except for Tokyo. The
stewardess sound clip in the middle comes from a
tourist record of Japan. It's a place that neither Paul
nor I have ever visited, and I think our music has sort
of a similar feeling for us - journeys into places that
are completely unknown."
The band promises just this kind of strange trip
to a new place during their free show tonight at the
University of Michigan Museum of Art. "I think it's
a pretty unexpected experience for people, but they
like it a lot," Zammuto said, referring to the college
audiences they have already played for at Oberlin
College and other campuses.
"We use computers to make our music, although
most of the sounds we use come from acoustic sourc-
es to begin with. I think it has as much to do with
rock music as it does with folk music as it does with
electronic music," he said.
The band chose to play at UMMA because of the
unique atmosphere of an art museum, which is Zam-
muto said is "quieter, and more focused."
The self-taught guitarist, who also holds degrees
in chemistry and visual arts from Williams College
in Massachusetts, moved away from his work in art
conservation to make unconventional music, and
sound became his full-time job after a friend intro-
duced him to his current better half: cellist and fel-
low electronic-music aficionado Paul de Jong. The
Books were born soon after in 2000.
The first time you break Joe Frazier's
jaw, you might feel kind of bad. But
don't worry: After a few more fights,
you'll get over it.
In the hyper-realistic "Fight Night
Round 3" for Xbox 360, EA Sports has
taken console boxing to new levels with
incredible detail and a polished ringside
experience.
In a wise move, EA kept "Round 3's"
controls and gameplay in line with its
predecessors. The
game utilizes a Fight Night
slightly modified R
version of EA's Total ound 3
Punch Control for Xbox 360
fluid punch execu- EA Sports
tion and maneuver-
ing. The days of button-mashing slugfests
are gone, with all movement controlled by
the analog sticks.
This time around, EA expanded the
bout-shifting haymaker punch by offering
three variations known as impact punch-
es, each with their own degree of risk and
reward. The new punches are well imple-
mented in the control scheme and give
players better control and handling.
The execution of the different punches
varies from fighter to fighter; individual
styles are spot on. The artificial intelli-
gence-controlled boxers resemble their
real-life counterparts from their aggres-
siveness and fighting style down to the
way they navigate the ring.
The same goes for controlling the fight-
ers, as each boxer has their own feel and
technique that makes choosing your boxer
less about the color of his trunks and more
about how he matches your strategy.
The style and mannerisms of the fight-
ers are propelled even further via the
game's spectacular graphics. The fight-
ers are incredibly lifelike: Their compo-
sure is constantly changing as the fight
progresses. A knockout or impact punch
causes time to slow down and players can
see the force of the punch move through
the victim's body - often altering bone
structure and drawing blood.
Gainers will likely spend the majority
of their time in the career mode; in which
they can choose to create their own boxer
and modify their technique as they wish,
or choose a real boxer to guide through
his career. Boxers start out as amateurs
and work their way up the ranks, fight-
ing in various sponsored events and title
i
bouts against real and fictitious fighters. In
"Round 3," gamers are now able to move
up weight classes once they've claimed
their rightful belt, thereby increasing the
difficulty and lengthening the mode.
On the downside, the career mode can
become rather monotonous when players
are constantly fighting and training with
little diversion - outside of buying new
gloves and accessorizing their boxers.
Another new feature in the career mode
assigns boxers a "rival" who keeps pop-
ping up during their career. It seems to be
a failed experiment; it in no way enhances
the game. Occasionally there will be a
weigh-in cut scene before a rival fight that
ends with the rival sucker-punching the
player's boxer. It gets old fast.
Although the career additions may
be fewer than one could hope.for, online
gameplay is where "Fight Night" truly
shines. Boxing is the perfect platform for
online sports gaming, because fights don't
consume too much time and trash talking
is a must. Detailed stats and rankings are
automatically compiled over time so play-
ers can chart their progress.
It's just a shame Jim Braddock
wasn't included. "Raging Bull" and
"Cinderella Man" head to head would
have been sublime.
Courtesy of The Books
The Books will perform a sold-out show tonight at 8 p.m. at UMMA.
"(Playing music) grew out of my visual art. I
started making sculptures after working in painting
and drawing for a long time, and then incorporating
sounds into the sculptures," he said.
Tonight's concert at UMMA, the fourth show
sponsored by the University's student-run radio sta-
tion WCBN, promises not only music but a kind of
collaborative electronic and visual spectacle. "I guess
you could call it collage music," Zammuto added.
The Books' latest effort, Lost and Safe, is their
best album to date. Packed with unexpected audio
snippets, the duo uses clips culled from old radio
broadcasts to instructional tapes to create their
aural art. Different from their previous work on The
Lemon f Pink and Thought far Food, their latest
includes vocals provided by Zammuto and de Jong
themselves. But Lost and Safe is still the veritable
decoupage box of sounds and amalgamation that
The Books' devotees have come to love.
"For me, it has something to do with how I relate
to the world in general," Zammuto said. "It's such a
noisy world we live in now, you know? There's infor-
mation coming in from all directions, and figuring out
a way to relate to it without being overwhelmed and
actually being able to enjoy it is a real life skill."
Lost and Safe moves seamlessly from the off-put-
ting to the relaxing, from the kitschy to the undeni-
ably cool. Zammuto and Books fans find solace in
the concentrated chaos of their sound.
"I think our music has become sort of a way to
prepare our own minds for dealing with the cacoph-
ony of everyday life," Zammuto said. "Every way we
look we find common threads between all the sounds
we hear and the people making them for one reason
or another. And it's a beautiful thing to see how it's
all related."
DAILY ARTS. WHEN WE CHIRP, SHORTY CHIRP BACK.
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Michigan Union
Sponsored by Michigan Union
Arts & Programs
2nd Floor Ballroom
2 DAYS ONLY
WED., MAR. 15TH -1I am - 6 pm
THUR., MAR. 16TH -1D am - 5 pm
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