5B - Thursday,.September 4, 2008 The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com 5B - Thursday, September 4, 2008 The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom GUIDE ! From Page 1B ALBUMS The Unicorns: Who Will Cut Our Hair When We're Gone? Bubblegum pop is a vastly over- used descriptor in music. But you could probably call The Unicorns's Who Will Cut Our Hair When We're Gone? bubblegum pop. On acid. If the blips and the blops, the seeming- ly peppy and childlike energy and cheery album cover don't grab you, maybe the tracks like "Ready to Die" will slap you across the face. The juxtapositions between the thoughts on death and the lyrics about being born a unicorn play off each other in a way that shouldn't work, but the intricacies in the guitar riffs and the key- board bounces ground the album in an unprec- edented way. The party heavy blast- ers like "Les Os" and "Sea Ghost" slam against the gritty guitar grinders of "Jellybones" and "Tuff Ghost." The album's up. The album's down. You feel like ecstasy. You feel like death. Get ready for a lot of that in the next few years. Wilco:Yankee Hotel Foxtrot If you ever plan on going to Ash- ley's on State St., you should know Wilco's Yankee Hotel Foxtrot better than you know any course at the university. It's a jukebox staple, and for due reason. With reverberating notes and background crash hyster- ics that compliment Jeff Tweedy's rusty vocals, Wilco plods along on an album that turns out to be more affecting and engaging than any other album in recent memory. Fox- trot is an instant fallback album for any situation, whether you're in the mood for jollier fare ("Heavy Metal Drummer") or darker breakdowns ("I Am Trying to Break Your Heart" and "Jesus, etc."). Either way, you're looking at an album that has the staying power that your parents say doesn't exist in albums anymore. Pavement: Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain The debate over which Pavement album is best may rage forever. And the discussion over which is cooler won't end much sooner. But if you want to ingratiate yourself with the college cult surrounding indie rock's greatest band, startby learn- ing Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain. Once you too have succumbed to its evasive seductions, abuse its emo- tional capital to make friends. Admit to them that it may well not be your favorite now, but cite it as your first true love. Wax nostalgic about how the ending of "Stop Breathin"' made- you cry over a girl in high school; how you neverrememberhowmuch youlike"Heaven's aTruck"untilyou hear it again; or how the guitar intro to "Silence Kit" is the shortest min- ute in the history of rock. If all goes according to plan, savvy Crooked Rain talk will have you sharing drunken hugs with your new best indie pals in no time. FILMS "The Big Lebowski" Have you ever cov- ered a 69-cent gro- cery store tab with. a check? Cursed the existence of the fucking Eagles? Had a marmot tossed into your bathtub? Well, the Dude has. And although he's not a college student, he's prob- ably a better one than you are. In the 10 years since the Coen Brothers' post- "Fargo" black comedy was released, "The Big Lebowski" has gone from a critically neglected stoner film to a near-classic... among stoners. But "Lebowski" isn't just a stoner film. It's also a movie about rugs, and bowling, and nihilists, and firearms and all kinds of crazy shit. Plus, it's a quintessential dorm room DVD: The Dude abides. Do you? "Office Space" Everything we've learned about the working world came from Mike Judge - and that's probably why we work at The Daily and notcthe Michi- gan Telefund. Judge's "Office Space" becomes better/scarier as you move through your college career and remains eminently re-watchable no matter how frequently it pops up on Comedy Central. The film features Ron Livingston's most inspired per- formance as one of cinema's least inspired humans - a guy we wish we didn't admire as much as we do. And although it might take a soul- crushing internship for the film's genius to set in, soon enough it will. Those TPS Reports are coming - don't say we didn't warn you. delusionthatthey're unique individ- uals with acquired tastes unlike any- one else's. The truth is that most of the time they're easier to read than the football team's M Club banner. If you want to fit in with Michigan's most pretentious elite, rule one is to start worshipping the ground that director Wes Anderson walks on. His best work is his 1998 gem about an overly ambitious private school student (Jason Schwartzman) who tries to strike up a romance with an elementary school teacher even as his extracurricular schedule lands him on academic probation. "Rush- more" is a quirky and sentimental comedy that's as viable for its schol- arly overtones as it is for the instant alterna-cred you'll gain. BOOKS "Waiting for Godot," by Samuel Beckett In Beckett's landmark two-act play "Waiting for Godot," a pair of peasants named Vladimir and Estragon spend two days in the woods -sitting around and reciting similar phrases and dialogue. They are unable to continue with their lives until they meet with a mysteri- ous figure named Godot, who will supposedly bring instruction and purpose into their lives. Of course, the play's cruel irony - no doubt already beaten into your head by a high school English teacher - is that Godot never arrives, and the charac- ters never take the opportunity to go out ontheir own. Read this as a par- able for your own journey through college. Will you have the courage and the independence necessary to take control of your life when the time comes, or will you simply bum around waiting for your own Godot. "Nine Stories"byiJ.D.Salinger While "The Catcher in the Rye" was crucial to high school lit cours- es, Salinger's collection of previously published short stories - aptly titled "Nine Stories" - is the perfect addi- tion to all college students' book- shelves. The book is a quick read for students who are already familiar with Salinger's cynical outlook on life. The opening story, "A Perfect Day for Bananafish," tells the tale of a depressed vacationer and his materialistic wife, complete with an explosive ending. This particu- lar story put Salinger on the literary map when it was first published in The NewYorker in 1948. Most of the remaining works deal with anxious or similarly deranged characters in the years during or following the Second World War. "Nine Stories" is classic Salinger and the perfect read for newly-stressed college freshmen looking for a quick-fix break from their work. writer for college-aged students, then "Cat's Cradle" is the essential work for this same demographic. The book earned Vonnegut a Mas- ters degree in Anthropology from the University of Chicago. The work also happens to be one of the most illustrious - and prophetic - books released in the 20th century. "Cat's Cradle" makes a powerful, if satiri- cal, statement about the intersection betweenreligionand scientific devel- opment. The novel argues that the "untruths" of religion are less harm- ful to the world than the destructive forces of science, particularly in the wake of the Manhattan Project and the advancement of nuclear prolifer- ation. Vonnegut paints these contro- versialthemes with a comical brush, allowing his readers to ease into the topics and open their minds to previ- ously foreign opinions. FINE ARTS The San Francisco Symphony In an age when many large ensembles are struggling to stay afloat,some areusinginnovationand newfound mass appeal to draw audi- ences. The San Francisco Symphony is (or should be) America's flagship symphony, a position reached largely through the work of Michael Tilson Thomas, its charismatic and ener- getic conductor. Under his direction, the Symphony has moved closer to traditional greats like The New York Philharmonic, both the oldest American symphony and another standard-bearer of21st century clas- sical. CAID Art can be loud, pro- vocative, political ... and it can get you arrested. Well, at least that was the case this sum- mer at the Con-' tempo- rary Art Institute of Detroit (CAID).l During a late- night dance party set to the tune of rare funk 45s, the SWAT team raided the institute and ticketed everyone in attendance. So why go now? Because the CAID is pushing Detroit forward, providing a space for the movers and the shakers of the city, for the musicians and paint- James Franco ("Pineapple Express), ers, and also for those who just want Busy Philipps ("Made of Honor") to enjoy a funky dance every and Jason Segel ("Forgetting once in a while. Sara Marshall"). Luckily, you can still find it on AA Galleries DVD. OK, so you don't "It's Always have a car, Sunny in Phila- or maybe delpia" Detroit scares "It's you, or Always your Sunny in parents Philadelphia" told you is our genera- to never tion's"Seinfeld" ever to go - justnot enough there, but you people know it still want your fill yet. Moreover, if the of the art world. You "Seinfeld" gang deserved happen to be in luck (and to be imprisoned at the end of its in the right place). Ann Arbor has a run, these characters should get the flourishing artist community that electric chair. Never before has there frequently displays work at galler- been a collection of greedier, lazier, ies such as WORK on State Street, more ignorant, more prejudiced, and the Gallery Project on Fourth Street more self-serving characters than and the Slusser Gallery in the School on "Sunny."And this - coupled with of Art and Design. Students, profes- the characters' constant attempts sors and professionals display work to one-up each other - is why the side by side in these galleries, testi- show triggers previbusly unknown fying to the talent we have here in levels of disdain for humanity and Ann Arbor. It may be hard to get to uncontrollable laughter. It's easy to Detroit for every exhibit opening, simply embrace the show's perpet- but State Street is always just a few ual raciness, and even easier to fall blocks away. in love with its quirky charm and spot-on vision of human behavior: If TV SHOWS you watch "Sunny," prepare to spend each Thursday keeling over in laugh- "Freaks and Geeks" ter so intense it canbe painful. Before Judd Apatow cranked out ten films a year and when Seth Rogen was stillfunny, the two wrote and co-starred, respectively, in the television show "Freaks and Geeks." The show follows siblings Sam and Lindsay, (John Francis Daley, "Bones" and Linda Cardel- lini, "ER") in their hilarious attempts to survive the trials and tribu- lations of young love, social situa- tions and fitting- in in high school. It's a shame the show onlylasted oneseasonbecause it perfectly captured the awkward- ness of adolescence in a relatable andwitty way. Not only was it funny, but "Freaks and Geeks" had early yet memorable performances from "Mad Men" The phrase "the good old days" is often thrown around by those who express reproach for the present day while yearning for a simpler time when people were clean-cut and cheerful. Whoever loves "the good old days" has obviously never seen "Mad Men." Set in an early '60s Madison Ave- nue advertising agency, AMC's "Mad Men" may appear sharp and whole- some at first glance, but after the cig- arette haze clears, the deceitful air of the show's charactersbecomes more apparent. Everyone is out to make it up the ladder- professional or social - and Don Draper (Jon Hamm, "The Division"), the firm's creative director, is no exception. While its historically accurate dress and slang are unlike anything else on TV right now, its deceptively-complex char- acter dynamics and perfect story plotting keep the show engaging on a week-to-week basis. Fans of $BQ's late, great dramas no longer need premium cable to catch television's best - AMC has them covered. "Rushmore" College hipsters, especially Ann "Cat's Cradle" by Kurt Vonnegut Arborites, like to operate under the If Kurt Vonnegut is the essential ARTS IN BRIEF Fine Arts Preview UMS stays on top with its upcoming roster of 2008- 2009 events "Fine artsy"things often remind us of old dudes in tuxes and ladies in long, red gowns eating shrimp cocktails out of brandy tumblers. However, the University Musi- cal Society (UMS), U-M's premier performing arts organizer and presenter, has a different vision for the fine arts, and sees the year's lineup as a new way of introducing students to aspects of contempo- rary music, dance and theatre that are a far cry from the "excitement" of being penguin-garbed and eat- ing shellfish. One highlight of the year is the continuation of the Ford Hon- ors Program,which involves the partnership between UMS and the Royal Shakespeare Company. Last year's residency involved actor Patrick Stewart ("X-Men: The Last Stand"), who claimed the lead roles in two Shakespeare plays produced by the RSC, and this year the company will return in January to continue its innova- tive, cutting-edge set and costume design to the bard's plays. UMS's theme this year is "music and dance of the Arab world," showcasing a group of six per- formances that exhibit aspects of contemporary and traditional Arab culture. The shows range from a musical presentation by Munir Bashir, who specializes in playingthe oud, an Arabic lute-like instrument, to an Arab adaptation of Shakespeare's play, Richard II, which has been commissioned to be performed by the RSC. Other performances include shows by the Mark Morris Dance Group, one of the premier modern dance groups in the world, and the UMS debut of Rubberbandance Group, which draws inspiration from contemporary and urban hip-hop influences to create a new, dynamic dance and movement. In terms of music, the Wayne Shorter Quartet and the Imani Winds will be performing soulful jazz music, and the New York Philharmonic will be joining the season, among many others. If any performances catch your interest, UMS is holding a limited- time half-off ticket sale for stu- dents that begins on September 7 and ends September 10. You can visit UMS.org for details. WHITNEYPOW t t t t A voice of reason sines in. comedy By JOHN DAAVETILLA Daily Arts Writer In the last 10 or so years, a collective deci- sion was made by the American public at large to reject stereotype comedy. To poke fun of someone based on outward appearances now seems boor- ish, uncalled-for and offensive. It seems America has been caught in a constricting vice of hyper- sensitivity, and Ann Arbor is far from an excep- tion. But there remains one voice of reason - and vehemently insulting jokes: Lisa Lampanelli. The 47-year-old comedienne's stand-up specials on "Comedy Central" have earned her the title "Queen of Mean," and with good justification. Not your typical "female comic," Lampanelli has used this newfound theme of political correctness to her advantage by shocking audiences around the Lampanelli shows audiences how to laugh at themselves, to better understand each other. United States, including Ann Arbor last fall at the Michigan Theater. Lampanelli's act is nothing if not interactive, as she spends up to two hours heckling and talk- ing to the audience. Stereotypes aren't shunned or tabooed, but embraced and used in a way that allows the audience to relate to whatever she says. Her quick, brash style keeps everyone on their toes, whether it's a gerbil joke aimed at an effemi- nate man or the word "whores" assigned to a cou- ple of busty blondes in the front row. And yet there are no gasps of shock - only laughter. There's no group left out, no stone left unturned or not ridi- "I look Grimacey, oh so Grimacey." culed. one feels a sense of unity after leaving a Lampanelli performance - a sensation felt only after accepting quirks about yourself, instead of hiding them. The attraction ofLampanelli's workis its intense severity, which is over the top and impossible to take seriously. When confronted with such awful insults and jabs, the only thing to do is laugh it off and wait for your turn to end. A regular on "The Howard Stern Show," Lam- panelli's real fame took off with the addition of the "Comedy Central" roasts, which ranged from Wil- liam Shatner to Pamela Anderson. Her roasting skills became so popular she was forced to become the powerhouse caboose of every roast. "I have to close it every time now because everybody bitches that they have to follow Lisa Lampanelli. Pussies," she told Penn Jillette on his radio show. Being the closer means creating more fresh material, but she handles it with ease and has the crowd helpless with laughter in a.matter of seconds. We live in a culture of fear; treading on eggshells and avoiding beingmisinterpreted has become the social norm. But when entering a Lisa Lampanelli performance, all thoughts ofbeinglabeled a preju- diced ignoramus vanish, and everyone shares in the traits of others. Instead of waiting to jump at the first offense, audiences learn to accept their flaws in a way that both humbles and frees. Lampanelli deserves rec- ognition for speaking her mind and bringing view- ers together with the common bond of well-known stereotypes. While she may only be known for her cutthroat style, one visit from the Queen of Mean will cement her as the comic who taught you to loosen up. Ann Arbor won't be honored with a performance this year (although she is planning on an appearance in Joliet, Illinois later on), but college students around would be wise to watch and enjoythis fiery comedienne when they have the chance.