New Student Edition 2006 - The Michigan Daily - 9D
Music
Continued from Page 1D
Heaven." Deciphering the lyrics is only
half the fun.
3. Radiohead - OK Computer
Post-apocalyptic rock with heart?
You've heard people talk about them,
calling Radiohead the best band of our
generation, yet you haven't listened to a
single track? Start with this, their most
accessible and critically raptured album.
Hell, if that's too much, just watch one of
their trippy music videos on the Internet.
Find some way to get Radiohead into
your ears. You won't regret
or forget it.,,
4. M.I.A. -Arular
Last year this concentrated, elegantly
precise doss of dancehall/revolution
thwacked hor( -s of despondent college
kids into reconciilng the dance floor and
their political science classes on South
Asia. Want to not look like a completely
ignorant, culturally stunted bore? Give in
to the fire of Arular.
5. Nick Drake - Five Leaves Left
Every boy with a guitar: Put down
your tool and worship. Drake, the wistful
English folk bard, and his debut album
are lucid five-minute daydreams into
nature, love and subtly nuanced inves-
tigations of his own soul. As indispens-
able and heartbreaking as any of Keats's
"Odes" and worlds more youth-
ful (see the quiet drug nod in
the title). Listen and real-
ize your diary entries
are shallow, dissonant
and trite. That alone
is grounds for rec-
ommendation.
move onto another influential New York
band with deep-rooted problems and
drug addictions. Loaded lays the founda-
tion for modern indie-rock bands includ-
ing The Strokes, and includes songs such
as "Cool It Down" and "Sweet Jane" that
cement its place as one of the best and
most important albums in all of rock.
7.OutKast - Southernplayalisticadil-
lacmuzik
Why the weirdest little gem of South-
ern rap? Because before "Gangsta Gril-
lz" mixtapes were running the streets
and before Lil' Wayne found surrealism,
OutKastwas the progenitor of everything
sacred, foul, beautiful and profane in the
rap world of the Dirty Dirty. College is
about confronting what you once thought
was weird ... and eventually loving it.
Even if you never master Hindi, you can
certainly get OutKast's debut.
8. James Brown - Live at the Apollo
Mr. Dynamite at his finest. Aside
from being one of the most sampled
American artists in history, Brown is
also the greatest live soul act: He's hun-
gry, sad, uproarious and, well, soulful.
"Try Me" is the instant torch classic, but
the hurried medleys of Brown's classic
dance jams might be the closest thing to
napalm energy on wax. To understand
why people go to live shows in college,
buy this album.
9. Interpol - Turn on The Bright
Lights
The grandchild of British post-punk,
Interpol's "Turn on the Bright Lights"
ushered in a revived era of simple, tight
hooks and brooding imagery. Intro-
ducing a highly stylized look and Paul
Banks's distinctive drone, and you've got
the perfect introduction for aspiring hip-
sters into the world of indie rock.
10. Ghostly International - Tangent
2002:Disco Nouveau Pt.2
Whether or not you've ever listened to
electronic music before (note: Euro-trash
on the radio doesn't count), you're bound
to love, and recognize, a number of tracks
off of Ann Arbor-based Ghostly Interna-
tional's Tangent Disco. The compilation
introduced a new generation of artists
from Detroit, techno's birthplace, and it
ultimately helped Ghostly win Rolling
Stone's hottest new label award.
- Evan McGarvey and Punit Mattoo
Courtesy of Britishinvasion.ca
"Thank God this isn't my
mug shet."
FILMS
Continued from Page 1D
3. "City of God"
Probably the most wrench-
ing film featured here, "City
of God" will earn you a cer-
tain level of prestige simply
because it's filmed in another
language, but you get the real
cred if you can make it through
the gang-initiation scene with-
out flinching (we didn't). It's
long. It's beautiful. It's tragic.
It's the rise of the next great
international filmmaker (Fer-
nando Meirelles). You have no
more time to waste.
4. "Fight Club"
In the category of "you
probably should have seen this
already," "Fight Club" none-
theless deserves a shout out if
you're among the miscreants
who haven't. David Fincher's
graphic and funny film fea-
turing a gifted actor and a
matinee idol taking it to the
streets is among the most often
quoted (what's the first rule of
fight club again?) and widely
seen films among a generation
thirsty for a movie mantra of
chaos and non-conformity.
5. "Donnie Darko"
Witness the bizarre church
of "Donnie Darko." The Sept.-
11 era tale of a boy, a plane
crash and his giant bunny
touts a violent puppy dog of a
hot young star (Jake Gyllen-
haal) and a quasi-intellectual
plot that doesn't make sense
no matter how much weed
you smoke beforehand. But
people still love to talk about
it, and it's always a treat to see
which movies your classmates
immortalize. Whatever your
opinion of its off-the-wall ram-
blings, this is the preordained
poster movie of your genera-
tion.
6. "Pulp Fiction"
No film has ever been made
quite the same since Quentin
Tarantino's blood-and-guts
storybook won top honors at
the 1994 Cannes Film Festival.
The pop-culture manifesto and
unchallenged alpha and omega
Uma Thurman in "Pulp": sexiest cokehead ever (sorry Kate Moss).
of all things postmodern film-
making is the single most
influential American movie
since its release, and it's a lot
of fun, too.
7. "Chinatown"
Forget it, Jake. Roman
Polanski's seminal 1974 crime
thriller is more than a cinemat-
ic classic - it's a college kid's
must see. Why? Because of the
way its style and structure has
influenced all subsequent film-
making, because of the sleek
cool of Jack Nicholson in his
prime and the icy elegance of
a young Faye Dunaway and,
most importantly, because by
the time you turn 18, you'll be
'expected to have an apprecia-
tion of fine film that runs a little
deeper than "The Matrix."
8. "Lost in Translation"
Bill Murray may have sto-
len the pre-release buzz for
this lyrical film, but once the
limelight faded, the real star
shone even brighter. Scarlett
Johansson is lingering - she's
haunting and unflinchingly
vulnerable, intangible but ach-
ingly real. Your aunt may have
called it slow, but you know
better. Displacement and angst
are what college is all about,
and if you can't appreciate a
contemplative Johansson, you
might want to just give up
and hang that Carmen Electra
poster.
9. "Boondock Saints"
Yeah, we haven't seen it
either. We hear it's the new
thing.
10. "Dr. Strangelove"
Alternatively titled "or: How
I Learned to Stop Worrying
and Love the Bomb," Stan-
ley Kubrick's 1964 classic is a
searing indictment of Cold War
politics that is at once brutal
and hilarious. The University
is full of liberals, and liber-
als love criticizing the current
administration. It's relevant.
Get it? It's also fine filmmak-
ing and fairly requisite viewing
if you want to appreciate the
myriad allusions to this great
film found in every avenue of
pop culture today.
-Amanda Andrade and
Jeffrey Bloomer
BOOKS
Continued from Page ID
Bible as an essential germ of Western thought,
well, you're doing yourself a profound aca-
demic disservice. Also, the book features the
sweetest character off all time: God.
4. "Ariel" - Sylvia Plath
An experienced English major might
argue this book is responsible for the whole
of bad English 223 poetry. Maybe. But
what Sylvia Plath does here is expose the
internal workings of the modern American
woman and all the expectations, conflicts
and inner darkness that went unmentioned
in centuries of poems. The essential tome
of contemporary American verse, "Ariel"
still shocks decades after its publication.
5. "The Sound and the Fury" - William
Faulkner
This book is notoriously difficult to
get through, with syntax muddled almost
beyond belief and adjectives layered upon
nouns like extra frosting on a cake. But the
rewards lie in the untangling: Faulkner's
prose is rich, faceted, profoundly moving in
its complexity and utter sadness. Its scope is
unrelenting and the depths it plumbs in its
attempt to puzzle out the meaning of human
relationships will break your heart.
6. "To the Lighthouse" - Virginia
Woolf
A quietly moving portrait of a family
slowly destroyed by the tragic events of an
ordinary life, Virginia Woolf's study in time
and its effects will drop you down and raise
you up with its waves of stirring stream-of-
conscious, a phrase that every aspiring col-
lege student ought to know. If nothing else,
this book will change the way you look at
your family. And if you read it at the right
time, it'll change your life.
7. "The Bluest Eye" - Toni Morrison
Morrison is the most prolific, emotion-
ally sundering novelist of our nation's past
100 years. "The Bluest Eye" is an autopsy
of the life of society's designated "other."
A young black girl dreams of being white,
blue-eyed and accepted. The scalding trag-
edies that unfold mark every character and
piece of the novel, and, more importantly,
the reader.
8. "Hamlet" - Shakespeare
Two words: Oedipal complex. Plus ghosts,
murder, intrigue and indecision, all wrapped
up in the terribly beautiful language of Shake-
speare's finest. This play is psychology, politi-
cal science and English all wrapped up in
some of the best drama in the Western world.
Besides, if you can spit off Hamlet's mono-
logue randomly, the chicks will dig you.
9."Uncle Tom's Cabin" - Harriet Beech-
er Stowe
Famously known as the book that started
the Civil War, "Uncle Tom's Cabin" isn't
read nearly as much as it should be. At its
least incendiary, the book is a sharply emo-
tional glimpse into the world of slavery
before it became the center of a movement
and the focus for innumerable tomes of liter-
ature. More than that, it's a soft, almost lov-
ing portrait of the life of a family controlled
and dominated by an unjust social structure.
Who knew that this little book could help
spark America's bloodiest war? You will
once you read it.
10. "Early Poems" - Robert Frost
The rock of ages of American poetic
identity and aesthetic, Frost, also the most
fundamentally misread poet in our culture,
shows all his gifts for resilient, easy diction
and frighteningly real-nature scenes in this
inexpensive collection of his first three books.
"The Wood-Pile" and "Road Not Taken" are
the undisputed classics, but his longer lyrics
and narrative style inspire.
- Evan Mcgarvey and Bernie Nguyen
The Cradle Will Rock
by Marc Blitzstein
Art is never dangerous - unless it tells the truth. A
piece of theatrical history
Duderstadt Video Studio * Oct. 5 - 15, 2006
Dept. of Theatre & Drama
The Pajama Game
by Richard Adler, Jerry Ross & George Abbott
The current smash hit of Broadway - love and
labor clash in a pajama factory.
Mendelssohn Theatre * Oct. 12 - 15, 2006
Dept. of Musical Theatre
Musical Theatre II
To be announced
A full scale production of a new musical.
Duderstadt Video Studio
Nov. 9 - 12, 2006
Dept. of Musical Theatre
Cosi fan tutte
by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Long before "Temptation Island, "men tested
their lovers'fidelity at their own peril'
Sung in Italian with English translations.
Mendelssohn Theatre * Nov. 16 - 19, 2006
Opera Theatre
You Can't Take it With You
by George Kaufman & Moss Hart
Only family could inspire such a madcap
comedy!/By American theatre's cherished
icons Kaufman & Hart.
Power Center * Dec. 7 - 10, 2006
Dept. of Theatre & Drama
The 2006-0? - School of Music,
Theatre &Dance season promises
superb entertailmlent!
Student tickets are only $9 with ID -
45% off the regular price! Get yours
now at the League Ticket Office
in the Michigan League..
Rituals & Reveries
Choreography by Martha Graham, guest Leyya
Tawil, and faculty
An evening of modern dance featuring the seminal
work of dance pioneer Martha Graham.
Power Center Feb. 1 - 4, 2007 -
University Dance Company
She Stoops to Conquer
by Oliver Goldsmith
Blind dates and practical jokes lead to laughter in
this tale of mistaken identity.
Mendelssohn Theatre - Feb. 15 - 18, 2007
Dept. of Theatre & Drama
The Bartered Bride
By Bedrich Smetana
A comic folk-opera full of spontaneous
charm. Sung in Czech with projected
English translations.
Power Center * Mar. 15 - 18, 2007
Opera Theatre
The Who's Tommy
by Pete Townsend and Des McAnuf
An entertainment juggernaut of
sights, sounds and dance - the
quintessential rock musical.
Power Center
Apr. 12 - 15, 2007
Dept. of Musical Theatre