0 4B - Thursday, February 7, 2008 BAND From Page 1B but this time out oft line-fueled irony? It ble. The audience ho lasts and what fallsi level seats, parachutists dropping from the In the 1980s, the sky and full-blown circus floats maneuvering short-lived mascot around the field. very offended Mic The overall direction of halftime perfor- college mascots w mances seems to be toward more clutter, more every other school extravagance, more variety. And, in a way, this gan would have non mentality takes a toll on how we listen to the was out of place wi music. It's hard to listen to a military band and acy. So, instead of1 not think the sound is too sparse and outdated. stunt for the movie We're used to full brass and percussion that have been brilliant vibrate the metal bleachers. Flawed or not, the memory of Willy an common perception is that show bands need to Another trend ti be musically and visually stunning in order to band nickname. D stay fresh and innovative. Playing Guitar Hero temporarily known clips on the JumboTron isn't just an attempt to Band," but easily gr connecting with a faction of the audience; it's a doesn'tplay showsa determined effort to stay with the times. says there's a simp] The historical glitz and fanfare of the pre- nickname: "We don game show permit the band to do these kinds that we're the grea of experiments during halftime. All it has to do world, everybody al is bludgeon the audience with enough rendi- Even though the tions of the fight song before moving on to the Jovi and Louis ElbE untested material. It's amazing how resilient separates tradition and untouched Michigan's pre-game show has not that obvious. Fo remained. So many bands across the country only inhabits Satur perform "The Victors" that you'd think it was But what it repre the national anthem. Even John Philip Sousa greater. It shows ou said it was the greatest college fight song ever and most of all, our written. It's safe to say "The Victors" will never we normally take Ii fall from prominence, but who's to say other our four years here- songs won't rise to the same distinction? tion. Pleasing everyc How can we be sure that 20 years from now when it's more than we won't still be hearing "Livin' on a Prayer," the school's legacy. tradition instead of adrena- :t's completely, scarily possi- as the power to decide what into distantmemory. University introduced the "Willy the Wolverine" to a higan crowd. Even though ere a staple at practically across the country, Michi- e of it. A gimmick like Willy th the school's historic leg- passing it off as a publicity "Red Dawn," which would , the University buried the .d hasn't looked back. hat never caught on was a ecades ago, the band was n as "The Transcontinental ew out of favor. What band across the country? Boerma ler reason for not having a 't need a silly logo to show test marching band in the ready knows it." e differences between Bon el are glaring, the line that from phenomenon is really r a lot of people, the MMB day morning home games. sents is something much ur response, our enjoyment participation in something ghtly. It doesn't just define - it helps define our institu- one is impossible, especially just a halftime at stake; it's The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com xA MEDIA From Page 3B egates are actually dolled out. This general obfuscation cynically bal- ances our need to know more about the process than ever. The public at large knows very little about that good ol' doling pro- cess. Without alluding to Barack Obama, this election has turned out unprecedented numbers and split voting blocks on both sides of the fence. At this pace, the nominees from both parties might be cast only once the forge burns through a lot of agonizing red tape. Or not. One candidate from each party could neatly clinch victory in the next few weeks. It's hard to make the public care about 2000 again, unless the same thing hap- pens at the primary level in 2008. Exhibit C: Jon Stewart, Stephen Colbert and Conan O'Brien all combined their lukewarm acts on Monday. Although there were a few laughs, can we please get some money to the people who make this stuff pal- atable on a daily basis? Klein confuses Anderson Cooper and Stuart Scott because he can't )TO decide who he'd rather be. E-mail him at andresar@umich.edu 0 0 The Michigan Marching Band gets the pageantry out of the way before the game. GRAMMYS Experimental From Page " - t n l', BEST DANCE RECORDING a rte t n0 l9 atT L4LX L X kj u IJ V C.l i11J .l 1. ...J I By PRIYA BALI DailyArts Writer In a world where ancient Greek text is projected onto a floor and can be read by pushing revolving doors, it becomes clearthatartistakingaroad less traveled. This is the world artist Satoru Takahashi has created with his internation- ally recognized Satoru installations. Satoru Taka- Takahashi hashi, a professor Tonight at in the School of 5 p.m. Art & Design, will At Michigan bedeliveringatalk Theater today at the Mich- igan Theater as part of the Penny W. Stamps Distinguished Visitors Series. He will discuss how body movement, memory and place all function in the production of his works. Takahashi's artwork is anything but flat. After all, the attempt to inves- tigate how the self interacts in various environments would be even more challenging if we were restricted to two-dimensional forms. These questions are the seeds from which multiple perspectives blos- som through the use of multimedia. Takahashi's multimedia approach has given him the tools to investigate rhetorical questions such as "who are we?" and "Where are we going?" through a modernlens. The uniqueness of Takahashi's art- work relies on the physical placement of the installation. Inone of his earlier projects, Takahashi usedbookshelves to form a library in a forest, which was later moved to a gallery space and then transformed into an under- ground library in an olive garden in Japan. Geographical space as well as interior versus exterior space are all factors that alter the installation's effect and reinforce the idea that his work is site-specific. "Each place has a very specific connotation and meaning, automati- cally people try to look at the piece in connection with the context, the his- tory and the story of that site," Taka- hashi said. Audience participation is also a crucial component in shaping the viewer's experience of the work. Takahashi's installations are often exhibited in large open spaces that allow people to walk around. "People can move, and people can watch," he said. "People can feel the movement of time, and the body movement in space." In 2007 Takahashi collaborated with Japanese and German artists and researchers at the Kyoto Art Cen- ter in Japan. Installations were set up throughout the center to create the idea that art is a way to enclose mem- ory. In one such installation, pictures and passages from encyclopedias were projected onto the area within a corridor. Paintings by Alzheimer patients were also put on display in another area of the center. The idea was to create a space full of accessible memories. "I was trying to change the way of looking by inspiring people's past perception," Takahashi said. Takahashi's next project will explore how memory can be enhanced by forming concrete imag- es from abstract patterns. The instal- lation will allow Alzheimer patients to visualize images using constella- tion patterns and their own life story. Inspiration from this came from the 16th century Italian architect Giulio Camillo's who created a memory the- ater that had architectural character- istics. If Takahashi's art takes a road less traveled then it is only appropriate that it remain unconventional and that it continue to push the boundar- ies around what we deem art. "Do It Again" - The Chemical Brothers "D.A.N.C.E." - Justice "Love Today" - Mika "Don't Stop the Music" - Rihanna "LoveStoned/I Think She Knows" - Justin Timberlake Should Win: "D.A.N.C.E." - Jus- tice Will Win: "LoveStoned/I Think She Knows" - Justin Timberlake There's no clear standout here, but it would be a travesty to look, past the stunner by the upstart Justice. The track has a slight disco edge but is grounded by the slight- ly comprehensible lyrics shouted by what must be an 8-year-old girl. However, there's a chance the song didn't get much play outside the underground sects, even if MySpace is sponsoring its latest tour. Timberlake is just too strong and well known and will likely repeat this year. BEST ELECTRONIC/DANCE ALBUM We Are The Night - The Chemical Brothers t - Justice Sound of Silver - LCD Soundsys- tem We Are Pilots - Shiny Toy Guns Elements OfLife - Tiesto Should Win: Sound ofSilver - LCD Soundsystem Will Win: Sound of Silver - LCD Soundsystem This category always pits the techno mainstays against the year's best in indie dance. The results? Well, this is only the cat- egory's fourth year in existence. The ChemicalBrothersgotthe win two years ago, but Madonna won last year. This one is a crapshoot. But James Murphy and compa- ny should really take this home. Sound ofSilver was one of the best- reviewed albums of the year, and it's hard to think the Academy is going to disagree. Maybe Silver only had a few orgasmic tracks, but, overall, it was still damn fun. LCD is certainly more mainstream than Tiesto, and it might be a few more years before Justice proves itself to the masses. BEST ROCK PERFORMANCE BY A DUO OR GROUP WITH VOCALS "It's Not Over" - Daughtry "Working Class Hero" - Green Day "If Everyone Cared" - Nickelback "Instant Karma" - U2 "Icky Thump" - The White Stripes Should Win: "Icky Thump" - The White Stripes Will Win: "Instant Karma" - U2 The White Stripes should get some love here. "Icky Thump" was one of those tracks they released before the rest of the album and had everyone thinking they might return to their rock roots. But this time they delivered the rock. More grating than usual, more political and more of the same old Meg, "Icky" was an understated hell-raiser, aided by a bluesy kick in the balls. Sadly, though, U2 and the Academy have some sort of affair before the show every year. It's getting absurd how often they win. But if Nickelback wins, we're killing ourselves. Seriously. BEST ALTERNATIVE MUSIC ALBUM Alright, Still... - Lily Allen Neon Bible - Arcade Fire Volta - Bjork Wincing the Night Away - The Shins Icky Thump - The White Stripes Should Win: Volta - Bjork Will Win: Wincing the Night Away - The Shins The Academy has a way of picking the most boring album in the category against more origi- nal selections. Don't expect any change this year. They'll pass over arguably the best female vocalist of our generation: Bjork. Volta is wispy, dense, sensual and childish all at the same time. It packed a dif- ferent punch with each new song - "Innocence" mimicking a gut- check, "Declare Independence" throbbing of a platoon marching and "My Juvenile" letting Bjork show her chops. It's way too squir- relly to be considered. That's why the sheepish, almost-forgotten Shins album will take it. Will win: "Stronger" - Kanye West In a regular year, Common would've taken down this catego- ry. Fact of the matter is, 2007 was no ordinary year for hipbhop. It saw more incredible singles than ever before, moving the embarrass- ingly lethargic Common track into the background. That said, Kanye West - with the voice box freak- outs of T-Pain accompanying him - is a lock for this category. No more hissy fits. He deserves this. 0 BEST R&B PERFORMANCE BY A DUO OR GROUP WITH BEST. RAP PERFORMANCE VOCALS BY A DUO OR GROUP "Same Girl" - R. Kelly ft. Usher "Disrespectful" - Chaka Khan ft. Mary J. Blige "Hate That I Love You" - Rihanna ft. Ne-Yo "Baby" - Angie Stone ft. Betty Wright "Bartender" - T-Pain ft. Akon Should win: "Bartender" - T-Pain ft. Akon or "Same Girl" - R. Kelly ft. Usher Will win: "Hate That I Love You" - Rihanna ft. Ne-Yo There's little to separate T- Pain's "Bartender" and R. Kelly's "Same Girl" besides Rihanna's "Hate That I Love You" in what seems like a dead heat. This should-be two-horse race will be unfortunately overcome by the bombastic celebrity of Rihanna and Ne-Yo. Both are experiencing incredible amounts of mainstream success while keeping -seemingly most important for the Grammys - somewhat wholesome values. The explicit, though undeniably great, R. Kelly and the heir to Kel's pop R&B throne T-Pain will be overlooked by the aforementioned duo mainly for the aforementioned image. "Southside" - Common ft. Kanye West "Make It Rain" - Fat Joe ft. Lil Wayne "Party Like a Rockstar" - Shop Boyz "Int'l Players Anthem (I Choose You)" - UGK ft. OutKast "Better Than I've Ever Been" - Kanye West, Nas and KRS-One Should win: "Int'l Players Anthem (I Choose You)" - UGK ft. Out- Kast Will win: "Int'l Players Anthem (I Choose You)" - UGK ft. OutKast With the recent passing of UGK member Pimp C, "Int'l Players Anthem" becomes the obvious shoo-in for this category. Unfor- tunately, most will attribute this award to his death and overlook the excellence of the track.In what is one of the most highly-contested awards of the night, UGK's South- ern anthem avoids all the pitfalls it could've encountered - bringing together two drastically different groups can often yield disastrous effects - while producing a badass beat and a few downright timeless one-liners. BEST RAP/SUNG COLLABO- BEST RAP SOLO PERFOR- RATION MANCE Attention Students! "The People" - Common "I Get Money" - 50 Cent "Show Me What You Got" - Jay-Z "Big Things Poppin' (Do It)" - T.I. "Stronger" - Kanye West Should win: Anything but "The People" - Common "I Wanna Love You" - Akon ft. Snoop Dogg "Kiss, Kiss" - Chris Brown ft. T- Pain "Let It Go" -Keyshia Cole ft. Missy Elliott and Lil' Kim "Umbrella"- Rihanna ft. Jay-Z "Good Life" - Kanye West ft T- Pain Should win: "Good Life" - Kanye West ft. T-Pain Will win: "Good Life" - Kanye West ft. T-Pain Continuing his dominance of this year's Grammys, Kanye will take down yet another win for "Good Life." This track is just so fuckingcinematic.T-Pain'spanting cries, the twitchy, chipmunk beat and Kanye's smooth flows make this a song that can't be touched. All of its competitors are undeni- ably qualified, namely "Kiss, Kiss" and "Umbrella," but there's just something about "Good Life." BEST RAP ALBUM Finding Forever - Common Kingdom Come - Jay-Z Hip HoplIs Dead - Nas T. vs TIP. - T.L Graduation - KanyeWest Should win: Graduation - Kanye West Will win: Graduation - Kanye West He's going to win best album of the year. He's going to win best rap album of the year. He deserves it. Maybe he'll shut up now. 0 the perfect summer job before other students do! 0 * rStudentUniverse.com I