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2B - Thursday, January 31, 2008 The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
REDUCTIVE REASONING
Picking one and one apart.
The Daily Arts guide to
upcoming events
Today 1.31.08
Stravinsky Revisited
7:30 p.m.
At the Power Center
$24/$18, $9 with student ID
Images of Identities Improv
Comedy Show
8:30 p.m.
At the Michigan League Underground
Free
Tomorrow 2.01.08
Special Consensus
8 p.m.
At The Ark
$1t
Comedian Brian Kiley
8 and 10:30 p.m.
At the Ann Arbor Comedy Showcase
$14
Saturday 2.02.08
Flakes in the Arb
winter hike led by Robert Ayotte
10 a.m.
At Nichols Arhoretum:Reader Center
$4 with student ID
"Dandia Dhamaka": Raas
Core Dance Competition
6:30 p.m.
At The Michigan Theater
$13-$1s
"An Evening of Scenes"
8 p.m.
At the RC Auditorium
Free
Yiddishe Cup Klezmer Band
8 p.m.
At The Ark
$tt
Sunday 2.03.08
"Food in Chinese Culture"
Lecture by Elizabeth Chiu King
2 p.m.
At the Ann Arbor District Library
Free
Please send all press releases
and event information to
artspage@michigandaily.com.
g TH VAUT |THE MIGHTY MIGHTY BOSSTONES:
'DON'T KNOW HOW TO PARTY' (1993)
Horns, booze and
a Mighty 'Party'
4
Burnett greets new crowd.
By CHRIS GAERIG
Daily Music Editor
In 1997 a group of grizzled,
unabashedly alcoholic and fun-lov-
ing musicians hit the scene with
a horn-fueled juking single the
likes of which mainstream radio
hadn't heard in years. Known col-
loquially as the "knock on wood"
song, "The Impression that'I Get,"
by The Mighty Mighty Bosstones
from their breakthrough Let's Face
It, was a ska anthem reminiscent of
the relativelyunknown Specials and
punk/skalords, the Clash.
Let's Face It saw an average run
on the charts and housed a respect-
able number of singles, but The
Mighty Mighty Bosstones fell off
the map after the record eventually
fizzled. Their next studio release,
Pay Attention, saw limited success
as they quickly fell into anonymity.
But what most aren't aware of is the
stockpile of ska classics The Boss-
tones had released prior to Let's Face
It that garnered no critical acclaim
orwidespread airplay-Don'rKnow
Hors'to Parry being their best.
An album that revels in the
dynamicpowerofanexpansivehorn
section - and the gravelly, strained
screams of lead singer Dicky Barrett
- Don't Know How is an explosively
defiant middle finger to mainstream
radio. Dripping with originality, the
record is a mass of swinging left-
hook instrumentation and uppercut
choruses.
The disc's lynchpin, "Someday I
Suppose," is an incredible single that
slippedunderthe mainstreamradar.
Its slowly crescendoing horn intro is
simple and enthralling, but when
the group unleashes the feedback
and distorted guitars, the track jolts
back and forth between a humma-
ble chorus and a call-and-response
from Barrett's faithful backing.
When the barrage of horns comes to
abreakneckend,you'reblasted with
the poisonously aggressive "A Man
Without." A song that exemplifies
the mainstream's discontent with
The Bosstones, the track is a jarring
cut only longtime Bosstones fans
will appreciate: Barrett screaming
bloody murder, sounding as if he's
smoked four packs of cigarettes in
as many minutes and shredding
metal guitar lines.
But the hooks and joyous melo-
dies aren't finished with the afore-
mentioned single. "Holy Smoke"
- atrack withthe fastest guitars this
side of "Guitar Hero" - is an imme-
diately playful cut, and "Almost
Anything Goes" - the best song
about mindless dissenting you've
ever heard - pound through your
speakers with the same excitement
as "Someday I Suppose."
With such an expansive, impres-
sive catalog, one wonders why it
took so long for the mainstream to
catch on. But with a little investiga-
The Pearl Jam to
Sublime's Nirvana
tion, the answer becomes obvious:
In 1996, one year before The Boss-
tones hitthe bigtime, Sublime's epic
self-titled album finally hit the air-
waves. The Bosstones couldn't start
a movement but they were undoubt-
edly one of the forefathers - the
Pearl Jam to Sublime's Nirvana.
And because of this shortcom-
ing, The Bosstones are left with
an impressively lengthy cast of
albums but little to show for it. Why
more people didn't pick up Don't
Know How after the group's even-
tual breakthrough is still a mys-
tery, though. By all accounts, it's a
significantly better album than any
of their mainstream successes: It's
more composed, more boisterous
and more innovative. Plus, Barrett's
voice never sounded more inspired
and filled with vitriol than it did on
Don'tKnow How - a voice that will
go down alongside Tom Waits as
one of the all-time best growlers.
But maybe that's another reason
the mainstream didn't take to The
'Bosstones:. The group's unshaven
and, frankly, morally bankrupt
image was too much for the MTV
churn. They cleaned up, put on
suits and consequently made it to
the bigs. But with this sort of mate-
rial, they're bound to pop up again.
Someday, I suppose.
0
By JEFFREY BLOOMER
Managing Editor
Its images feel raw, almost
tenuous, as if they provide a
privileged glimpse into a world
of majestic beauty but also great
regret. There is light humor
so subtle the audience is never
quite sure when to laugh, scenes
of stunning devastation coupled
with ones of joy and flat-out sil-
liness. The movie is "Killer of
Sheep," directed by Charles Bur-
nett ("To Sleep with Anger"), and
it has finally found widespread
recognition more than 30 years
after it was first completed.
The movie, which leisurely
chronicles the experiences of a
last-generation black family in
Los Angeles, was screened with
a restored print Monday night at
The Michigan Theater followed
by a discussion with Burnett.
The director, who originally
shot the movie for film school at
UCLA and has enjoyed renewed
critical acclaim with this new but Burnett said the movie was
print, spoke quietly and humbly almost entirely scripted, and the
but with a definite command often discordant imagery and
over his listeners. A little more visual flirtations of the camera
than half of the audience stayed suggest a more complex, critical
for the talk following a packed- movie.
house screening. "It was designed to talk about
social issues," he said. "We went
to different communities and
talked to them about it - what
At M ichigan was happening in their commu-
nity."
Theater, a Asked what aspect of the film
he was most proud of, he dead-
forgotten panned, "Well, I think that I
completed it, for one." Though
masterpiece. it seemed he wasn't entirely kid-
ding, he added that he made the
film "partly in response to the
sort of images and stereotypes
"Now that it's out, I'm glad that Hollywood had perpetu-
that people want to see it, since it ated" about black culture. The
was made for a select group and movie, he said, asks "How can I
activists," Burnett told the audi- help these people?"
ence. "I'm quite pleased." The two-disc edition of "Kill-
In a sweetly rendered black er of Sheep: The Charles Burnett
and white, the temptation is Collection" is available on Ama-
to call his film "naturalistic," zon.com.
0
Attention Students!
the perfect summer job
before other students do!