The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com TV/NEW~ MEDIA C(4'Y;. For the love ofHBO and Meth 'm not exactly sure how we got here, I but somehow AMC is now marketing a television show about a terminally ill chemistry teacher who cooks meth in his underwear. Perhaps explainingthe absurdity of this is unnecessary, but things always look more. important in list form, so here it goes: 1. A year ago, AMC " had aired a grand total of zero - as in, one lessothan I one - original dramas on its network. However, MICHAEL "Mad Men" debuted last PASSMAN summer to largely posi- tive reviews, and now the a network's meth drama, "Breaking Bad," is shaping AMC into a legitimate host of origi- nal dramas. Considering AMC stands for American Movie Classics, and the network is so young it couldn't even lock down an amc. com domain name, this is a tad surprising. 2. It's a show about meth. If there is a less sexy drug than meth that doesn't double as some sort of livestock tranquilizer, I've never heard of it. Meth scares the crap out of me and every non-rural human I've ever met. Showtime's own drug-centric show, "Weeds," was fairly controversial when it debuted in the summer of '05, but Bryan Cranston's ("Malcolm in the Middle") char- acter in "Breaking Bad" makes Nancy Bot- win look like Danny Tanner with hair. 3. It's a show about meth ... that's not on HBO. How "Breaking Bad" exists outside of HBO is beyond me. Perhaps the premium channel goliath was leery of treading on the territory of "Weeds" by developing its own desperate-household-leader-turned-drug- lord series, but "Breaking Bad" just seemed destined for less-restrictive airwaves. While it found its home on basic cable, the subject matter and general grittiness recall "Six Feet Under" and other HBO dramas, more so than the typical basic cable drama. Yet for all of the similarities "Breaking Maybe there is a use for commercial breaks Bad" has to the prototypical HBO drama - from its fascinating but difficult subject matter to Cranston's surprisingly moving turn as Walter White - there is something decidedly un-HBO about the show's actual incarnation, and I'm not sure whether it aids or detracts from AMC's second original drama. Like basically everything else, it's a money issue, but not in an obvious way. Although HBO's primary draw is its lack of censorship, it also packs something almost all basic cable networks can't get away with: A commercial-free broadcast. Because the network doesn't rely on ad revenue to keep it afloat,itsoriginalprogrammingis essentially break-free. But while this doesn't necessarily benefit or subtract from its programming, it certainly affects how the viewer internalizes the product on some level. Most people - including communists - would agree that commercials are inher- ently bad, but perhaps structuring episodes around a series of breaks can actually bolster the impact of the material. Whereas HBO dramas are structured like hour-long films that continuously build on the viewer, a basic cable drama isn't afforded the luxury of a continuous broadcast and must work around a series of breaks mandated by the network. If used correctly, these breaks can actually leave the viewer pondering the events that just transpired while Nissans roll across the screen, which is something the viewer wouldn't have been forced to do while watch- ing something on HBO. So while watching the pilot for "Breaking Bad" last week, I continually found myself analyzing the show and the depths Crans- ton's protagonist was sinking to before the episode was over. Conversely, while watch- ing the most recent episode of HBO's "The Wire," Iwasnever afforded any sortofbreak, and had to piece everything together after- ward. I don't know which broadcast form had a greater impact on me, but I do know there was a difference. And even though TiVo and DVD box sets have changed the way most people consume TV, it can't be discounted that conventional shows are made around commercial breaks that HBO doesn't have to worry about. It spans across genres, too, as comedies like "The Simpsons" have prided themselves on act-ending jokes, while HBO and Showtime comedies are just working within an open 22 minutes. So while I'd like to see "Breaking Bad" on HBO for the content that isn't AMC-kosher, I'mequallyinterestedinseeingthe showon a premium network for the altered manner in which it would have been delivered and, to a slightly lesser degree, constructed. Then again, maybe it's better as is - meth labs get cramped without the occasional break. Passman is campaigning for commercials on HBO. Give him your signature at mpass@umich.edu Tuesday, January 29, 2008 - 5 Preppy, sure. But who cares? ype is a very, very bad thing. Internet forums and music blogs have the ability to build up a new band before it even releases a full-length album. The result is typical- ly a crushing disappointment; an album rarely living up to the expectations. From that point forward, said band will forever be referred to in causal conversation as "a product of the hype machine." Remarkably, Vam- Vampire pire Weekend has Weekend avoided this catastro- phe. Vampire The topic of months Weekend worth of buzz, Vam- XL pire Weekend was formed by Ezra Koe- nig, Chris Baio, Rostam Batmanglij and Chris Tomson in early 2006 while the four were students at Columbia Univer- sity. Often, the great success of a band's first album is the product of years of anonymity, personal investment and the creative ambition of its members' lives. But this isn't the case with Vampire Weekend's self-titled debut, a record seemingly born of explosive chemistry. The group's youth and the album's sheer beauty also defy this logic. Described simply as indie rock by some and as "Upper West Side Soweto" by the band, Vampire Weekend is a nightmare to discuss. To call it an eclectic album would be an understatement - each song owes little to the one before it, and each track has its own distinctive fla- vor. The only constant is Koenig's high, clear voice and the disc's intellectual lyrics. The debut single, "A-Punk," was an obvious choice, as it is easily the album's most approachable track. The song's bouncy, poppy ambiance and straight- them - it's irony. Vampire Weekend isn't always this arrogant, though. The group can be, and often are, sweeter and simpler. Lyr- ics like "How am I supposed to pretend / I never want to see you again?" from "Campus" easily endear Vampire Week- end to the college crowd, showing a more human side in an album that might otherwise seem like an endless litany of haute hotspots and Ivy League preten- sion. Unlike many other indie-rock releases, the middle section of Vampire Weekend is brimming with unusual instrumentation and rhythms. "Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa" has an East-Coast bohemian meets West African feel, with its reggae hiccups and syncopated bon- gos. The light percussion on "Oxford Comma" buoys Koenig along as he sings over a pulsing, funky keyboard line. The opening notes of "Bryn" almost sound like a reined-in Celtic reel, leading into the sweet lyrics, "Oh Bryn / You see through the dark / Right past the fire- : ORTEsYoF XL flies that sleep in my heart." Vampire Weekend will almost cer- tainly draw comparisons to other pop greats. Does the group sound like Paul ype Simon or the Talking Heads? Ultimate- ly, the comparisons don't work here; Vampire Weekend demands a listen on its own merit. In some ways, the band succumbs to every indie-rock cliche - the album is often wory, snarky and cutesy. But it works. It's dynamic, Ott," Koenig polished and, though it's almost dan- a shit show gerous to.say so, original. After a few Out of Cape listens, when Koenig sings, "Don't you unabashed know that your life could be lost / Out .e to loathe at Cape Cod tonight?" the sarcasm runs it would be off, and it's clear there's a wealth of skill this kind of and genuine sensitivity in these songs, the land of whether their authors came from prep ou're one of school stock or not. Like the Beats. Only not cool. Or daring. Columbia grads live up to the h with 'Upper West Side Sowet By Caitlin Cowan Daily Arts Writer forward structure are adolescent and familiar. While "A-Punk" might seem intended for insiders when Koenig namedrops Washington Heights, Sloan- Kettering and the Hudson River in the song's mere two minutes, the song's sparkly riff and hissing high-hat smooth over the lyrics and make it instantly lik- able. On the singsong "Walct declares, "The bottleneck is / Hyannisport is a ghetto / Cod tonight." This kind of hipster ethos has led som the band from the start. But far too easy to be put off by haughtiness. Trash-talking the rich isn't arrogant if yi ARTS IN BRIEF MUSIC Latest electro-pop group falls flat Battle Royale "Wake Up, Thunderbabe" Afternoon Records Calculated electro-pop is every- where these days. While some bands - such as DFA-records founder James Murphy's LCD Soundsystem and English punks Hot Chip - have spearheaded the movement with soundly original releases, the majority of up-and- coming electro-pop groups have fallen short. The Battle Royale fits decidedly into the latter cat- egory. The Minneapolis-based quartet's sophomore release, Wake Up, Thunderbabe, is a quirky and abrasive dance-punk album amped up on youth and adrena- line. Their latest release offers a mix of fast-paced sugary beats ("Custom Clothes"), synth-driven soundscapes ("Confessions Pt. 2") and softer acoustic tracks ("Let's Leave"). The first half of the album is held together by an over-used syn- thesizer, while the record's closing tracks are defined by simple acous- tic strings and breathy vocals. The album progresses through these various musical developments, allowing most of the tracks to blend together into a homogenous mish- mash of musical experimentation. Unfortunately, these attempts fail to produce a wholly original record, leaving th.e album plagued with overused beats and strained vocals. Despite The Battle Royale's formal- istic approach to the electro-dance phenomena, Wake Up, Thunderb- abe still offers a solid collection of jumpy beats and shake-your-ass rhythms. SASHA RESENDE "To Catch a Predator: Kitty Edition" DEATH BY A MILLION CLICKS, By ANDREW LAPIN For the Daily A killer thriller is only as good as its concept, and "Untraceable" hits us with a doozy. The film dares to reach into the darkest corners of the Internet - those omnipresent "shock video" sites featuring raw ** footage of actual deaths -r and forces us to question Untraceable our morality for watch-A ing them. As websites like At Qualityl6 LiveLeak become increas- and Showcase ingly popular online, it's Screen Gems tougher to know when the line has been crossed, and this uncertainty about being desensitized to Internet vio- lence is what makes "Untraceable" such a timely film. The plot centers on a fictional website that may not be far removed from reality. on killwithme.com, an unseen creep posts a live video feed of a kitten slowly being baked to death. This site is brought to the attention of FBI agent Jennifer Marsh Just when you thought the Internet couldn't get any worse, they kill a kitten (Diane Lane, "Under the Tuscan Sun"), but she doesn't take a full interest in the case until the first human victim appears, bound and gagged with a deadly, acidic substance being pumped into his veins. The killer has rigged this diabolic contraption to increase the dosage as more people log on to the website, thereby making the American public, as another agent puts it, "an accom- plice to murder." Try as it might, the FBI is unable to track down the webmaster. He has discovered a way to hack into international IP address- es that restart the website every time it shuts down, thereby making himself, yes, untraceable. However, the question of how the FBI finds him and brings him to justice is not nearly as interesting as the question of why his website is so successful in the first place. Some viewers willno doubt find it implausible that this site could register millions of hits so quickly, but from a cer- tain perspective, it makes sense. After all, it's attracting the same people who turned "2 Girls 1 Cup" into aviral phenomenon last year. It's really too bad, then, that "Untrace- able" is ultimately satisfied with being a procedural drama. We follow the cops as they track leads, peruse old videos, break down doors and question suspects. Jen- nifer Marsh, a single mom with an impos- sibly cute 8-year-old daughter, puts her family in jeopardy by staying on the case. There's also a humorous sidekick (Colin Hanks, "Orange County") and a gruff detective who is initially cold to Jenni- fer, but cares more than he lets on (Billy Burke, "Fracture"). And when we meet the evil mastermind, he is more than under- whelming. The Internet is a powerful device, and "Untraceable" is a noble attempt to tap into the dramatic potential of a story like this. Since the killwithme.com site is such a profoundly creepy idea, certain aspects can be overlooked, such as moments where the film drags on or where the charac- ters do some very stupid things. (Note to FBI agents: If you're driving somewhere in stormy weather, check the 'backseat of your car for murderers.) Even though "Untraceable" sets itself up for more than it can deliver, the concept alone is strong enough to linger long after the movie has ended.