The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
MUSIC REVIEW
Changing
of the
garde
WHEN'AVANT-GARDE' IS
REALLY JUST PRETENSE
By BRIAN CHEN
Daily Arts Writer
The avant-garde has always been controver-
sial, not only because of its experimental nature
but also for its ostensible inability to delineate
the aesthetic goals of its
art. "What's the point?" * i'
one invariably asks. Unsur-
prisingly, avant-garde Maher
works are often polarizing Shalal
experiences. Hash Baz
It makes sense, then,
that some will love Maher L'Autre Cap
Shalal Hash Baz's LAutre K.
Cap and praise it as a mis-
understood masterwork. Moreover, Tori Kudo,
the band's "conductor," will assuredly ingrati-
ate himself with a hipper-than-thou coterie of
listeners.
The obvious reality of the situation, how-
ever, is that the album is nothing more than a
self-indulgentshitheap of pretense. Worse than
"art for art's sake," the album merely seems the
result of Tori brazenly musing, "Why not?" A
reasonable, if not churlish, conjecture for his

Tuesday, February 6, 2007 - 8 *4

01

Courtesy of K.

We don't get it, and we fear that's the point.
inspiration would be (what else?) drugs.
But even disregarding mind-altering agents,
Tori certainly has much to explain. Why
replace the bass with the bassoon through-
out the entire album? At times intriguing, the
result is more often than not just awkward and
annoying. Tori frequently stretches unique
ideas that work in individual songs into album-
long concepts that fail to replicate their isolat-
ed success.
Though fleeting, LAutre Cap sporadically
reaches impressive heights. "Joab" is both
melodic and discordant, with competing bas-
soons and clarinets. The effect is strangely
sublime, and the song is one of the album's few
that are actually enhanced by their avant-garde
arrangement.
But what deflates the album's highlights is
its lack of a unifying theme. Tori fuses jazz,
psychedelic rock and pop music, yet there is
no actual cohesion - the album is malleable.

Its songs are sonically similar, yet each is only
a note away from breaking apart completely.
LAutre Cap is as homogeneous as it is varie-
gated.
The big question, inevitably, is "Why?" Per-
plexity permeates the album in such a complete
and overwhelming manner that the listening
experience goes far beyond simply "getting it,"
and one wonders if there is even anything to
get out of this boorish cacophony.
The overlying irony is that not even fans of
aesthetic experimentation will enjoy LAutre
Cap. Works like Bitches Brew and "Ulysses" are
similarly weird and unusual, yet unlike this
album, they reveal depth and nuance that legit-
imize the challenge of venturing through their
avant-garde chaos. By LAutre Cap's end, how-
ever, the listener is still left to wonder about
the inspiration behind the album's genesis.
If the end result is any indication, it's hard to
imagine that Tori himself knows.


Reality spin-off falls
into familiar traps

A taste of Chicago at the Power Center

By PRIYA BALI
DailyArts Writer
Hubbard Street Dance Chicago
takes Newton's law of gravity, rips
it apart then gracefully glues it back
together as
their feet once Hubbard
more touch
the ground. Street
It's no won- Dance
der that this Chicago
high-energy
dance troupe Tonight at
is internation- 8 p.m.
ally recog- $20-$48
nized, having At the Power
established CAt er
itself as one of
the most successful contemporary
dance companies in the U.S. After a
five-year absence, the Power Center
will house the group's return inAnn
Arbor tonight at 8p.m.

In 2000, Jim Vincent brought his
expertise as a dancer and choreog-
rapher to HSDC as the company's
artistic director. Taking over for
Lou Conte, the group's founder,
Vincent is committed to forging
relationships between HSDC and
emerging choreographers, with the
group's focus not only on structure
and form, but also a dance's natu-
ral story. HSDC's eclectic chore-
ography has been set to the music
of The Rolling Stones, Billy Joel,
Frank Sinatra, Leonard Bernstein,
George Gershwin and Beethoven,
but whether humorous or haunting,
they're consistently compelling.
Thirtyyearsoftradition, 22 danc-
ers, 100,000 annual viewers in 19
different countries - what began as
an ensemble of four women in Chi-
cago has flourished into a vivacious
international group.
Tonight's performance consists

of danc
choreog
nic twi.
The ev
ety-Spli
about t
itly cre
rapher,
Gra
TI
the bill
by reno
ographE
"Stro
piece w
by Mo

es created by international No. 40. Choreographer Marguerite
graphers who bring an eth- Donlon gives the piece a narrative
st to the group's repertoire. quality as the dancers personify the
ening will open with "Lick- forms of musical notes. The piece
it," a three-couple dance feels like a silent film as music turns
he spontaneity of love explic- the dancers to pantomiming actors
ated for HSDC by choreog- with characteristics fleshed out
Alejandro Cerrudo. Also on through body movements.
As differentas it is from the other
styles,the powerof"Gnawa,"named
.vity, shmavity. after a Moroccan music style, makes
it more than fitting as the final
hese dancers dance. Dancers are carried by fast-
paced Spanish and North African
beats into provocative and daring
can move, movements. Its seductive rhythm
moves you from reality into a mysti-
cal Sub-Saharan Africa. This piece
is "From all sides," created displays exactly what the group
'wned modern ballet chore- believes in and is best at: creating
er Jorma Elo. a story from a unique sound and
'kes Through The Tail," a through innovative movement -
ith touches ofballet, is moved and of course, all the while defying
'zart's timeless Symphony gravity.

By BEN MEGARGEL
Daily Arts Writer
In the debut episode of "I Love
New York," star Tiffany "New
York" Pollard fawns over a contes-
tant named Chance with compli-
ments for his
baggy clothes
and the
fact that he I Love New
"drinks a lot." York
In New York's
VH1 world of Mondays at
"Celeb-real- 9 p.m.
ity," the crisp VH1
Polo's and
inflated bank accounts favored on
such similar shows as "The Bache-
lorette" are replaced withblinged-
out grills and overblown egos.
While this formula garners some
cheap laughs, the end result is a
series of exhausted caricatures.
The show is the spin-off of
VH1's hit series "Flavor of Love,"
in which a group of women com-
peted for the heart of Public
Enemy and "Surreal Life" veteran
Flavor Flav. New York was reject-
ed in the final round of that show
(in both seasons) but, just like
Trista from "The Bachelorette," "I
Love New York" turns the tables to
allow New York the opportunity of
selecting her own mate on prime-
time TV.
The contestants on "Flavor of
Love" were an outrageously catty
group of women - with New York
separating herself from the pack as
one of the most notably delusional
- and their individual, if stereo-
typed, personas made the show
one of the most socially acceptable
guilty pleasures of last year.
On "I Love New York," howev-
er, the competitors are so overly
typecast that none of their the-
atrics seem fresh. There's a req-
uisite Latin lover, dubbed "Rico,"
who unintentionally offends New
York when he refers to her as his
"negrita." Didn't the uber-lame

gags about the miscommunica-
tions of foreign men get officially
retired after Fez on "That 70's
Show?"
Not only does the show rely
too heavily on stereotypes, it also
overextends itself in searching
for some of the natural personal-
ity inherent in its predecessor.
"Flavor of Love" worked because
of the cartoonish Flav and his
unquestionable charisma. To her
credit, New York exhibits some
undeniable panache - especially
when she asks the men if they are
"feeling New York" - but she can't
compete with Flav's stranger-
than-fiction clock necklaces and
Viking helmet.
Oneofthe show's fresh elements
is none other than New York's
VH1 celeb-reality
spins further out
of control.
mother, who acts as a strange
combo of advisor and wing-man.
While clearly off her rocker, Mrs.
Pollard's aggressive demeanor
doesn't seem disingenuous -
unlike the personalities of most of
the contestants. In fact, her wild
facial expressions and preachy
rants are some of the most ente-t
taining moments on the show.
In the end though, "I Love New
York" suffers from the same cre-
ative missteps that many spin7offp
often face. By attempting to be
even more over-the-top than it's
rather un-toppable predecessor,
the show falters in its quest to be
provocative, instead pandering to
lifeless stereotypes. A Mrs. Pollard
subplot involving a "Graduate"-
style fling may be the only thing to
fully redeem this carousing pseu-
do-freak show.

I

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