ON SPACE, SUN RA & DISCO BEBOP
Talking to the Mac Podz, page 3B.
can't possibly be made for walking. Fashion, page 6B.
B
THE MICHIGAN DAILY
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 7, 2006
Sweet
Sam
Cooke
live in a world of
superlatives, espe-
cially when it comes
to music
criticism.
Music
nerds, of
which I
am cer-
tainly
one, love
to make
lists and
argue
over who
was more LLOYD
impor- CARGO
tant than
who. Sometimes it's pretty easy
- The Beatles are the great-
est band of all time, Dylan
the most important American
songwriter, Hendrix the most
mind-blowing rock guitarist
and Coltrane the saxophone
colossus, but one title that is
not thrown around too often is
greatest vocalist.
Ask anyone over 30 and
the consensus choice is Frank
Sinatra. Sure, Elvis and maybe
even Billie Holiday enter the
equation, but Ol' Blue Eyes is
considered tops for a reason.
His career spanned six decades
and his popularity seemed to
fly in the face of any tempo-
rary trends. He helped define
the great American songbook,
sold millions and millions of.
records, is credited with what
is perhaps the first concept
album, was a movie star and
that's really just the beginning
of it ... still, Frank Sinatra
comes in second to a man that
is just beginning to get his due
(and no, Grandma, I'm not talk-
ing about Bing Crosby).
The greatest vocalist of
all time, barring gender or
genre, is without a doubt Sam
Cooke. The impact he had on
the course of music history is
significant in a way Sinatra
couldn't have possibly matched.
To think what he could have
done, if not for his tragic death,
is as staggering as the sound of
his passionate crooning.
It's not so bold to say that Sam
Cooke invented soul music, not
only because he was among the
first to cross over from gospel (a
move as shocking at the time as
The Rolling Stones becoming
Mormon would've been 10 years
later) but because he was the first
to fuse gospel, R&B and secular
music into a big soul stew. His
popularity anticipated the future
of pop music (indeed his manag-
er, Allen Klein, went on to man-
age both The Rolling Stones and
The Beatles) - he had movie-star
looks, he wrote his own songs
and oversaw all his recording
sessions, and he was extremely
. progressive when it came to the
business side of things.
When he formed his record
label, SAR, and his publish-
ing company, Kags Music, it
was unheard of for an artist,
let alone a black artist, to have
so much control over his own
musical direction. Couple his
See CARGO, page 5B.
DAILY ARTS PREVIEWS
AUTUMN'S MOST HIGHLY
ANTICIPATED RELEASES
ood professors teach tragedy in the
fall. Of all the seasons, it's the one
that dispenses with any hint of com-
munalism.Its big holidays were created to cel-
ebrate our ability not to die in a strange new
wilderness (Thanksgiving) and to celebrate
just how thin the border is between our world
and the ominous spirit world (Halloween). No
one gains anything from these months; it's all
loss, all the time. Even if the abstract imagery
doesn't get you (leaves falling,teams choking,
an exodus of birds, people shrouding them-
selves in more and more jackets), your own
interior spaces will (dependable lover ditches
you, your grades are nearing the toilet, you are
stuck equidistant from summer and the winter
holidays,you officially loathe everyone in your
dorm). And just when you've had enough, the
most caustic, harassing patterns of weather
forward
arrive. Snow too industrial and soup-slick for
anything other than shoveling destroys walk-
ways. Winds cut through freshman boys and
their layers of cheap cotton shirts. The world
becomes a faded steel vice: grey snow below,
perched grey sky above. As Tom Waits said,
"November, go blow your brains out."
But no one ever does. It's delusion that's
the answer: Summertime pop records while
the sleet collects on State Street. Gassy dorm-
room comedies float through the existential
boredom of early November. I want to tell
you to dive into the autumnal art, but why the
hell would you? Why cry with Joy Division
when Paul Wall is a click away? Who needs
"21 Grams" to remind them that life is one
big middle finger? There is no sane reason
to break your back over Oedipus Rex, Claire
Danes in "My So-Called Life;' Anne Sexton,
Leonard Cohen or even that damned Mor-
rissey. Just be numb. Protect yourself with
Dane Cook and Ciara. Guard them with your
life, for in the next three months, these are the
figures who will nourish you.
So if you couldn't figure it out by now, fall's
art is essentially about madness - its preven-
tion and its embrace. Just browse through the
apparent pop-culture offerings of 2006.
Jessica Simpson's new album? Probably
designed by highly paid sound engineers to
subliminally stop soccer moms and barely
pubescent tweeners from feeling anything
other than complacent.
Alejandro Gonzales Inarritu's "Babel" will
notlikely"entertain"you.It'llemotionallyblud-
geon,andvivisectthemodern,globalizedhuman
condition, butit will only push you to madness.
It can only evoke Waits-ian emotions about
November. You
shall only feel closer to
Oedipus.
What you listen to watch and
read during the fall will either embalm you in
dizzy, carefree vibes or pitch you straight to
the leaf-clogged gutter. Nature and time has
removed the middle ground for you: Intimate
family Sundays and the surreal isolation of
a Thursday night in the Graduate Library's
stacks.
Lupe Fiasco, a new season of "Lost,"
and "Boraf' (potentially the most season's
most potent tonic for the static .heart). It's
all smashed together, the comforting and
the afflicting, the stable and the disordered.
Choose wisely. Nature may be trying to shove
you into a corner. But you've got art in yours.
Evan McGarvey
fi
0
slapstick to the absurd. Always
a hit - and free - "Evening
of Scenes" is a perfect early
evening event for you and your
friends, your date or yourself.
The Royal Shake-
speare Company
An obvious must.
Don't worry about an
across-the-board sell-out. Stu-
dent rush tickets will be available
soon. (Oct. 24-29, Nov. 1-12)
Gilbert and Sulli-
van Auditions
The University of
Michigan's Gilbert and
Sullivan Society (UMGASS) will
be holding a mass meeting for all
those interested in auditioning or
participating as production crew on
Sunday at 7:30 pm. in the Hussey
Room of the Michigan League.
UMGASS, which at 60 years old
Honoring her late hus-
band - and patriarchofjazz
- John Coltrane, Alice Coltrane
and her band (a group with more
depth than the Lincoln Center Jazz
Center Orchestra and San Francis-
co Jazz Collective combined) are
set to redefine your notion of jazz
music. If you don't have a ticket,get
one. Now. (Sept. 23)
Ann Arbor Jazz and
Blues Festival
If a 50-some-word
blurb can't convince you
that your presence is necessary
as such a historic and worthwhile
event,then stay in your dormroom
and leave the rest ofus a little more
elbow room. (Sept. 11 through
Sept. 16)
- Andrew Sargus Klein
O"Babel":
Alejandro Gonzalez
Inarritu, acclaimed direc-
tor of "21 Grams ' has taken
three years to follow up on his grit-
tyOscar-nominated opus. But with
three of the hippest talents in Hol-
lywood signing on for his fractured
story of language and division,
it's definitely proved a worthwhile
wait. Taking place in Morocco,
Mexico and Japan, Ifidrritu weaves "The Fountain":
four seemingly disparate stories Teaming up with his
into a cohesive whole that reexam- Oscar-winning fiance
ines the ancient story of the Tower - the radiant and eter-
of Babel. Brad Pitt, Cate Blanchett nally contemplative Rachel Weisz
and Gael Garcia Bernal star. (Lim- - tripped-out visionary Darren
ited: Oct. 27) See FILM, page 5B
music
O Lupe Fiasco - Food &
Liquor
Apparently, as con-
scious rap's new prophet, Chi-
cago native and Kanye-approved,
Lupe Fiasco seems to have all the
momentum in the world behind
him. His first single, "Kick, Push"
became the most earnest, breezy
and wistful rap hit of the year.
Early leaks have slowed the disc's
release, Food & Liquor was origi-
nally slated for June, but if Fiasco
brings as many sharp lines as he
does sweet ones backpackers may
just have reason to start believing
again. (Sept. 19)
8 Guns N' Roses - Chi-
nese Democracy
Do us a favor, Axl.
Just stop. Stop with the feud
with Slash, end the pitiful
descend into crying wolf (This
year! This year!), and just
come clean. Chinese Democ-
racy, the record $17 million
behemoth, delayed since we
were grade school, is not com-
ing out. It's on this list as a
pure tease, nothing more, just
a reminder how old G N'R's
fan base is becoming (how's
sliding into middle-age, suck-
ers?). (TBD)
, Ludacris - Release
Therapy
He's all class now.
Culture wars with Oprah. Con-
servative hair. Chris Bridges on
the marquee. He's also appar-
ently at "War With God" on
Release Therapy, another tug-
boat dragging Timaland, Nep-
tunes, and Rick Rubin beats,
giggly lines about thighs and
blunts and a mix of blissed-out
swagger and, you know, witty
shit. T.I is the king, Jeezy is
the trap and Wayne is the best.
So the real question might be,
See MUSIC, page 5B
Ax Rose of Guns N' Roses.
~LIS1
A weekly guide to
who's where, what's
happening and
why you should be
there. Arts editors
recommend this
week's best bets.
Catch a breathtaking orchestra
performance at Hill Auditorium
later this year - for half price.
The University Musical Society,
the main theatrical and musical
organization for performances at the
University, is offering half-off tickets
for all UMS events (except for Royal
Shakespeare Company passes) on
sale at 8:00 p.m. at the Michigan
Union for three nights only, Sunday
through Tuesday.
Before you go see the new
Michael Gondry film "The Science
of Sleep," check out acclaimed New
York artist Gregory Barsamian's 3-
D animated sculptures before the
exhibit leaves UMMA's offsite loca-
tion on South University Avenue.
Much of his work is inspired by the
workings of the mind and dreams of
the subconscious. Deep.
The exhibit is open to the public.
A $5 donation is requested.
New Yorkers Mike Stroud and
Evan Mast released the album Clas-
sics last month and are touring in
support of it with the Envelopes and
Panther.
As Ratatat, the duo brings five
years together of indietronica and
ferocious facial hair to The Blind
Pig, everyone's favorite Ann Arbor
rock venue, Saturday night at 9:30
p.m. Tickets are $12 in advance, $14
on the day of the show.
The William Trotter Multicul-
tural Center will be showing "Dave
Chapelle's Block Party" Friday night
as the first movie in their Cultural
Awareness Film Explosion. Not
only does this give you an opportu-
nity to enjoy Lauryn Hill, The Roots
and others on film for free, snacks
and beverages will be provided for
moviegoers.
The movie will be shown on Fri-
day at 8:30 p.m.
7