The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
Tuesday, January 23, 2007 - 5
The
Ives of
today
By DEREK BARBER
Daily Arts Writer
We live in a musical climate where the Sufjan
Stevenses, Rufus Wainwrights and Andrew Birds
approach popular music
with increasingly complex ***
arrangements. It's too easy,
however, to get swept up in Charles Ives
the grandeur of these cur- Ives Plays Ives
rent artists without know- New World
ing the origins of American
classical. For some history on the matter, look no
further than the music of Charles Ives. Ives Plays
Ives, the recent collection of his complete solo
piano recordings, is a good place to start.
Ives is now widely considered one of the most
original and distinctly "American" classical com-
posers. But during his lifetime, Ives's experimen-
tal and often-dissonant music was practically
shunned by the concert halls. So what do you do
when an audience doesn't "get" your music? You
become an insurance salesman to pay the bills
and compose in your free time or at least that's
what Ives did.
The majority of the pieces on Ives Plays Ives
were recorded as a way for Ives simply to be a lis-
tener of his own music. While the recording qual-
ity can be somewhat substandard, the real magic
Some hats never go out of style.
is found in the rare glimpse at Ives's emotionally
intense and deeply personal solo performances.
Inspired by the spirit of transcendentalism,
"Four Transcriptions from 'Emerson,' No. 1" is
uniquely provocative. Although there are seven
takes of "Emerson, No. 1," not a single perfor-
mance is identical. One rendition finds Ives's
adventurous sense of improvisation taking hold,
as he spontaneously extends measures with dark
flourishes of dissonance. In yet another version,
Ives breathes out an audible moan in response
to playing an unexpected tone cluster. Given the
context, it'd be easy to mistake the inflection for
a cry of pain rather than pleasure.
This type of ambiguity makes the collection
a difficult listen. While Ives Plays Ives offers a
unique look into the world of this important
American artist, an unfamiliar listener might
find the work difficult to understand. The prob-
lem originates from our musical presumptions.
Perhaps if we all had practiced piano scales in one
key while singing in a different tonality simulta-
neously, as Ives had, our concept of dissonance
would be considerably different.
But the secret to understanding compositions
like "Emerson No. 3" is found in the listener's
ability to "stretch their ears." By accepting the
dissonance of Ives's music as intentional, there is
a certain comfort in this dissonance. Eventually,
the music becomes less and less unfamiliar.
Although this collection isn't exactly the most
polished of records (several takes are abandoned
within the first 30 seconds), the final recording
of "Sonata No. 2 for Piano: Concord, Mass mvt.
3 'The Alcotts' " is worth the wait. Employing
his signature use of quotation, the opening fig-
ure from Beethoven's Fifth Symphony, Ives's
plays with startling sensitivity and the utmost
grace. The track showcases an open-minded
experimentalism (within the third movement,
Ives employs a 14 inch piece of wood to create
a massive cluster chord) yet the sustained chord
evokes feelings of longing instead of unsettle-
ment.
Current artists like Sufjan, Wainwright and
Bird may not yet be composing pieces using
polytonal harmonies, but the Ives influence has
clearly shaped their work. As American musi-
cians continue to follow Ives's open-minded
attitude toward composing, listeners will
undoubtedly be prompted to "stretch their ears"
for years to come.
'The Hitcher' is all thumbs, no free ride
By KAI QIN
Daily Arts Writer
It opens serenely on a quiet
field. A single rabbit appears. It
casually hops
along, eventu- *-&,., r
ally stumbling
upon the side The Hitcher
of a highway. At the Showcase
Unsuspecting, and Quality16
the innocent Rogue
bunny wanders
onto the road, where it is promptly
blindsided by a car and pulverized
into a bloody mess.
Though this comically transpar-
ent symbolism, orchestrated by
director Dave Meyers, is a refer-
ence to the impending doom of "The
Hitcher's" hapless protagonists, the
allegory would be better applied to
the film's viewers - having been
unwisely lured into the theater by
the undeniable attraction of shame-
less commercialism, their subse-
quent fate is as intellectual roadkill.
"The Hitcher," a remake of the
1986 thriller, tells the story of Jim
Halsey (Zachary Knighton, "Cherry
Falls") and Grace Andrews (Sophia
Bush, "One Tree Hill"), a young
couple on their way to a promising
spring break. During a downpour,
they stop at a remote gas station and
foolishly pick up a hitchhiker by the
conveniently emblematic name of
John Ryder (Sean Bean, "Lord of the
Rings"). When the stranger quickly
turns hostile, Jim and Grace nar-
rowly escape and - again, foolishly
-think they're safe from the psycho-
path. Ryder, of course, still has mor-
bid plans for the couple, and before
long they, and we, are in the middle
of a never-ending nightmare.
It's now safe to say that the ubiq-
uitous and typically villainous Sean
Bean must hate his career. After a
role in arguably one of the most suc-
cessful trilogies of all time, Bean has
somehow involved himself in such
cinematic mishaps as "Flightplan"
and "Silent Hill." Agreeing to play
a serial killer in a teenage horror
romp, however, is the grand-daddy
Sadistic evil just
for evil's sake?.
BO-RING.
of Hollywood blunders. Especially
with a director known only for
his MTV music videos (Creed's
"With Arms Wide Open," Britney's
"Lucky") at the helm.
Newcomers Zachary Knighton
and the beautiful Sophia Bush are
forgettable as the hapless duo, but
it's not as if they have much to do
anyway. "The Hitcher's" inevitable
downfall is its total idiocy - OK, so
the mysterious hitchhiker is a psy-
chopathic stalker, but what drives
him to kill? We're not asking for
serious psychological depth here.
It's enough that the antagonists in
"Hostel" just want money and that
the "Saw" trilogy's Jigsaw is simply
an obsessive vigilante. John Ryder,
on the other hand, is motivated
by nothing. He stares, growls and
seethes as an empty, and ultimately
dull, embodiment of evil, and for the
modern audience already desensi-
tized to senseless violence, it's sim-
ply not enough when villains kill
just for the sake of killing.
An iPod nation
ofmillions
N otto sound melodramatic, graphic designers and musicians.
but sometimes it seems I don't belong to any sort of spe-
my entire life could fit cialty field, but as someone who
into a little white box. And for Mac used to be boggledby a seemingly
users, what a beautiful box it is. separate digital world locked away
Yesterday marked the 23rd anni- in my HP desktop, Macs make
versary of Apple's famous launch sense to me. Over the past two
commercial, where a sea of futuris- decades, Apple has evolved from a
tic drones stare blankly at a screen technological minority group into a
of Big Brother's face professing cultural phenomenon.
his apocalyptic manifesto. That is Don't argue. We've become an
until a sexed up woman iPod nation, and Apple isn't
hurls a sledgehammer going to let you forget it.
through the air and the "We started out to get
corporate slogan scrolls a computer in the hands
onto the screen: of everyday people," Steve
"On January24th, r Jobs told Time Magazine,
Apple Computer will "and we succeeded beyond
introduce the Macin- our wildest dreams."
tosh. And you'll see Mac has gradually
why 1984 won't be like CAROLINE taken hold of the highly
'1984."' HARTMANN coveted technology mar-
The irony of a mass- ket, and for true blooded
produced commodity representing followers, that isn't changing any-
individualistic expression is too time soon. From computers and
rich to ignore. Hidden beneath music players, to webcams and cell
layers of artful advertisingApple phones, Apple has become the Stan-
pressures its pliable audience into dard oil of the new millennium.
believing that technological inno- They're almost as bad as Comcast,
vation is paramount. Remember who single-handedly control the
those ingenious "Think different" country's phone service, cable
ads that paved the way? Creative television and high-speed internet.
visionaries - Jim Henson, Picasso Television is one of the few forms
and Ghandi among them - became of media that Apple hasn't nabbed
more than just profitable endorse- from Sony or Samsung, but iTunes
ments, they were Information-Age happily fills in the gap with current
icons. I can vividly recall the maga- shows on sale for download.
zine tear sheets taped to my sister's Jobs, Apple co-founder and CEO,
bedroom wall for inspiration. once said he "wants to put a ding in
And really, who's going to say no the universe." Jobs has been fired
to Ghandi? once and charged with multiple
Apple might appear innocent, lawsuits, but thathasn't stopped
but don't be fooled by its welcoming him from making a lasting impact
faade. Their trendy ad campaigns - not to mention billions of dol-
and stylish logos are essentially lars. And the ding isn't a small one
making a mockery of free-market either. More like a massive crater
capitalism. Since its establish- formed by an asteroid speeding
ment, the company draws clear and toward Earth, "Armageddon"-style.
simple boundaries for us to follow: But Apple's runaway success
There are Mac users, and then hasn't left much damage in its
there's everyone else, stuffed into a wake, save our delicate egos that
junk drawer awaiting conversion, feel diminished every time we enter
OK, maybe that's a bit harsh, one of those annoyingly contempo-
but my love-hate relationship with
Apple extends both ways. There are
few sounds more comforting than Not just a laptop,
the gentle restart of my iBook G4,a
and I'd be lost without a dashboard but a full-blown
to fill me in on weather updates
and song lyrics. Now might be a lifestyle.
good time to tell you that I'm a full-
fledged, born-again Apple junkie.
That's right, a native PC user
sucked into the black - or should I rary stores. I'm sorry, but anyone
say white? - hole of Steve Jobs and who names their customer service
the Macintosh empire. desk the "Genius Bar" deserves
No, I'm not obsessed with tobe shot. The company is on a
GarageBand, and I don't know how mas- media power trip, and why
to transform my rough home videos wouldn't it be? That cute apple
into cinematic masterpieces, but my logo has been branded on our own
heart throbs at the mere mention of internal hard drives, and it's easy
innovative design work. If nothing to adopt the air of pretension that
else, Apple has provided the con- comes standard with the fashion-
sumer with technology that isn't able machines.
coated in a thick, depressing layer It's hard to say whether Apple
of chrome. Compared to other cum- would still defend its original
bersome machines on the market, commercial debut if pressed for
Apple's seamless and understated the truth. Call me paranoid, but I
look is undeniably enticing. Conve- wouldn't be surprised if 20 years
nient ergonomics, elegant icons and from now will find miniature iSight
a user-friendly interface are just the video cameras installed in our fam-
beginning. ily rooms so that Apple - the capi-
I've heard from PC enthusiasts talist dictator of the future - can
that Macs are impossible to figure track our every move.
out, counter-intuitive and down-
right irritating. The basic formula - Hartmann, infact, watches
is simple: PCs are for engineers your every move. E-mail her
and accountants and Macs are for at carlineh@umich.edu.
Vs it -Usat WintrfeR[ . aEpi b
The good, the bad and the not quite
By MATT EMERY
Daily Arts Writer
Damon Albarn is a side-project dynamo.
Though he was surrounded by talent with Blur,
the group was very much
his brainchild. Almost
more notable these days for
leading the rock/rap group The Good,
Gorillaz, Albarn has again The Bad &
stepped outside of his com- The Queen
fort zone with The Good, The Good, The
The Bad & The Queen. Bad & The Queen
From Blur's Brit-pop and Virgin
occasional grunge feel and
Gorillaz's tight orchestral movements mashed
together with overproduced background noise
and rapping, Albarn has moved on to a more
downtrodden and melancholy sound.
The problem with being involved in so many
side projects is that, inevitably, there's going to
be a stinker. This puts The Good, The Bad & The
Queen at a disadvantage from the start if every
track is meticulously examined by an Albarn fan
with a Gorillaz and Blur filter. Then again, to call
The Good, The Bad & The Queen a mere side-
project would be the equivalent of calling The
Arctic Monkeys the best group out of England.
This band is a fucking supergroup. Along with
the inexhaustible Albarn, the band is comprised
of The Verves' guitarist Simon Tong, former
Clash bassist Paul Simonon and legendary afro-
beat drummer Tony Allen. If that line-up weren't
enough, Albarn also enlists the help of Danger
Mouse, one half of Gnarls Barkley and the pro-
ducer of Gorillaz's last effort Demon Days, to
oversee production.
For the side projects of
Damon Albarn, the third
time's not the charm.
So The Good, The Bad & The Queen is its own
entity, but many of their songs bear resemblance
to those other projects of Albarn's. No track
stands out from the rest - a song like "Northern
Whale" begs for Del tha Funkee Homosapien's
vocals, but instead is dull and lifeless as Albarn
rambles alongside a subparcomputerized beat.
The downfalls in The Good, The Bad t The
Queen come not in what is produced, but rather
in what isn't created. Having the talented Tony
Allen go underused on such a large scale is frus-
trating. "History Song"unfairly tricks the listener
into thinking that Tony Allen's afrobeat influ-
ence will be evident on the album - this is not the
case. The track starts with a quick, finger-pick-
ing acoustic guitar interlude met with Albarn's
strained and downright depressing vocals as he
screeches, "Shiver'cross /The estuary/Sunday's
lost / In melancholy." The song ends with tribal-
like chanting coupled with Allen's African drums
beat before heading into a chaotic mess of reverb
and crashing instruments.
The ghost of Blur may sometimes loom large,
such as in the album's closing track, when it's
impossible not to expect a blistering guitar solo
out of Graham Coxon. But it's ultimately Tong
who strangleholds the guitar section while
Albarn's ferocious, quickening piano riffs hold
down the song's seven min-
utes. Standing on its own
without the comparisons
to Blur and the Goril-
laz, The Good, The Bad &
The Queen would be a fine
album with a lot of prom-
ise for future recordings.
Still, when you consider the
wealth of talent packed into
this one group, however,
it's disappointing that
somethingbetter couldn't
have been produced.
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