The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.come Wednesday, April 8, 2009 - 5A A 'Hymn' of epic beauty By JACK PORTER the cost of human violence Daily Arts Writer The next track, "Burial at Sea," further probes themes of "Epic" is an overused word. But disaster and loss. The rumbling to call Hymn to theimmortal Wind timpanis and twanging bass gui- anything less than epic would be tar chords add to the atmosphere an understate- of a tumultuous ocean storm. ment. Epic is to The songthen segues quietly into be expected of "Silent Flight, Sleeping Dawn." any album that Mono Led by a repeating piano melody stretches seven and mournful cellos, the band tracks for more Hymntothe performs a maudlin dirge that's than an hour Immortal Wind simple but powerful. and features a Temporary "Pure as Snow (Trails of the full symphony Residence Limited Winter Storm)" signals a rebirth orchestra.Thank- with its bright, ascending guitar fully, Mono rose figures and triumphant, crash- even above these expectations and ing drums. Later, swirling dis- recorded a landmark post-rock torted guitar riffs seem to reach opus. skyward and erupt into howling Like any odyssey, the album feedback, creating the sensation is rife with sound, fury, blood, of being caught in a fierce bliz- thunder and everything in zard. between. Because it's entirely The album's journey comes to instrumental (like the rest of a close with the two-part suite the Japanese band's work), the of "The Battle to Heaven" and album's abstract themes are wide "Everlasting Light" While the "You can alwaysojust use the backdoor!" A state of horror 'T] Coy rare ge The always ones, might the inc popular of r (or at imagini sic hor "The I in Con is very part of t The headlin he Haunting in occurred in a Connecticut house not too long ago. While the tech- nnecticut' is the nique of adding "based on a true story" to the beginning of a horror horror flick that movie can result in an overly dra- matized plot, "Haunting" breaks ts the mold and creates a genuinely paranormal experience. By HANS YADAV The film follows a financially DailyArts Writer burdened family forced to find a home close to a major hospital so scariest horror stories are that the oldest son can receive can- the true cer treatment. The mother, Sara which Campbell (Virginia Madsen, "The explain **7 y Number 23"), finds a place that's reasingly cheap, close to the hospital and trend The Haunting spacious enough for the whole fam- ecreating j onnecicut ily. But, of course, there's a catch least re- nobody realizes until it's too late. ing) clas- At Quality16 Surprisingly, the film's greatest ror tales. and Showcase asset is its plot, and that's what sep- Haunting Lionsgate/Gold Circle arates "Haunting" from others in its necticut" genre. Many of the plot details actu- much a ally make sense, and the characters that trend. are not victims just to be victims. movie begins with real The fact the family has no money es of the strange events that and is forced to pick an abandoned home to live in isn't just an arbi- trary fact - it matters. Even the old- est son's weakened condition (he's pretty much living with one foot in the grave) is made an acceptable justification for his ability to see the ghosts. Finally, the strange occur- rences in the house are teasing and realistic enough to engage audienc- es. Ultimately, it's the combination of realistic detail and plausible sce- narios that make "Haunting" stand out from similarly styled films. Horror films are often criticized for not being scary enough because movie audiences have become so desensitizedtthey're almostimpossi- ble to scare (especially when watch- ing with others in the room). So it's not surprising that "Haunting" employs age-old, cheap scare tactics - someone's face suddenly appear- ing out of the dark, for instance - to jolt the audience from time to time. Of course, it would have been nice to see something disturbing in a mind- fuck sort of way instead of the tradi- tional swift camera turns. But a film can only do so much while main- taining a cohesive plot and a PG-13 rating. Still, it's unfortunate there's nothing truly horrific or terrifying throughout the movie. While acting is generally not worth discussing in horror mov- ies, something must be said for Kyle Gallner ("Gardens of the Night") as the ailing son. His portrayal ofaboy who has little chance of survival but struggles every day for his fam- ily is marvelous. He's creepy, but in an appropriate way. Gallner's per- formance is yet another detail that makes "Haunting" stand out just a little bit more from the pack. "Haunting" isn't perfect, but it comes closer than many other horror movies today, boasting a provocative story, a few scares and even some decent acting. Though it may not be remembered for long, the film contains elements that hor- ror movies will (hopefully) adopt in the future. open to interpretation. Despite the album's daunting scale, the band speaks a language anyone can understand. Mono applies paint to the canvas in broad strokes, drawing on familiar musical archetypes and focus- ing on establishing an emotional connection with its audience. Because of these stylistic deci- sions, it's easy to agree with the band's assertion that the songs on Immortal Wind are "hymns," eventhough they sound more like a film score. Guitars accompany the other stringed instruments in the symphony instead of hog- ging the limelight, and drummer Yasunori Takada often abstains from playing at all. Mono's songs rise and fall on waves of romantic stringswells, guiding the listener from moods of quiet contempla- tion to wild abandon. "Ashes in the Snow" sets the stage with its wistful tremolo gui- tar and somber strings. Cymbal crashes build mounting tension in the background, which is then released with wild rock drum- ming and distorted guitar riffs joiningthe orchestra's melancholy cries. Its placid moments evoke images of trudging through a snowy wasteland, while the more bracing passages seem to lament A post-rock landmark. war-cry of "Heaven" echoes other tracks on the album, "Ever- lasting Light" is an achievement that stands on its own. Beginning with a haunting piano line, the piece builds for over six minutes, finally erupting into a transcen- dent blast of white heat. Hymn to the Immortal Wind is a sonic narrative that details the escape from the horrors of war and natural disaster ("Ashes in the Snow" and its counterpart "Pure as Snow") to the hopeful ache of rebirth ("The Battle to Heaven" and its victory found in "Everlasting Light"). The album is most immediately read as a tale of death and ascension, but it could be cast just as convinc- ingly as one of grief and accep- tance. It's a grand and ambitious work that should deflect criti- cism with its condensed roman- tic fervor and universal appeal. Its broad themes and repeating melodies may be simple and sac- charine, but why burden beauty with subtlety? TV REV.E ABC's 'Motherhood' is a maternal mess UGK's raunchy swansong By RACHEL HANDLER Daily Arts Writer "In the Motherhood," ABC's lat- est sitcom effort, attempts irony, satire and feigned awkwardness. But instead of succeeding at any of those things, it creates genuine awkwardness. Despite a great cast including Megan Mullally ("Will & Grace"), Jessica St. Clair ("Unit- ed States of Tara") and Cheryl Hines ("Curb Your Enthusiasm"), the episodes thus far In the have been laden with embarrassingly deriv- Motherhood ative comic material. Thursdays What's more, a nontra- at y ditional sitcom format AB . only makes matters ABC worse - the lack of both a laugh track and a studio audience makes the silences between flat one-lin- ers almost deafening. "Motherhood" follows a group of three matriarchs, each fitting snugly into her own stereotype. There's divor- cee Jane (Hines), fully equipped with a heightened sense of desperation while trying to get back into the dating world. There's her younger sister Emily (St. Clair), an infuriatingly moral mother with a fantastic sex life and bizarrely perfect children who enjoy folding laun- dry. And then there's Rosemary (Mul- lally), the blas6 and purportedly derisive one, who's actually just Karen from "Will and Grace" on sedatives. In a way, "Motherhood" is just as des- perate as the recently divorced Jane. It jumps on what ABC writers must believe are trendy bandwagon styles in an attempt to be relevant. The show is practically throwing itself unabashedly at the modern, hip mother demograph- ic, begging to be relatable and fresh. Efforts to distract from the show's emp- tiness abound, including an oddly bright color palette, lots of makeup, countless sexual innuendos and plenty of pop cul- ture references. The premiere included Horatio Sanz ("$NL") as a Hispanic "manny" (male nanny) who speaks in whale language, an annoying coworker (Ken Marino, "Role Models") who does "Borat" impressions and Rosemary's "social experiment" that involves faking pregnancy to get free coffee. And then there's the writing. Though the show clearly attempts to thwart the sitcom curse of the obvious punch line, it forgets to dodge the equally scene-ruin- ing phenomenon of the unfunny joke. "It's just like riding a bicycle - without the seat," and "Get on it, girl!" serve as words of wisdom, offered when Jane finds herself nervous about having sex again. And when manny Sanz falls off a roof in a Santa Clause costume (in yet another hackneyed moment), Rosemary assures Emily's children, "Don't worry kids, it's not blood, it's Christmas Juice!" In a similarly conspicuous move, the pilot is chock full of "hip" comedians including Sanz, Marino and Rachael Harris ("Notes From The Underbelly"), who flail helplessly in the sea of predict- able writing. Never before has so much comic talent seen so little comic mate- rial. But to be fair, the scenes between Sanz and Mullally, in which the two con- spire to further Rosemary's imaginary Even hip moms will hate it. pregnancy, stand alone as the only truly funny performances. "Motherhood" is essentially an ill-advised mishmash of pop culture shout-outs and forced irreverence that amounts to no more than its failed sitcom predecessors. The writers of "Motherhood" should realize there's no reason to revive the split-screen phone call scene or the cheerful montage scene, especially when accompanied by equally jovial music. And it looks like there will be no reason to revive "Motherhood" for a second season, either. By JEFF SANFORD Daily Arts Writer After more than 15 years of big pimpin', straight hustling and riding dirty, hip hop's "trillest" duo UGK is no more. The 2007 death of rapper Pimp C (due to a combination of UGK sleep apnea and a pre- sumably elephantine UGK4Life amount of promethaz- Zomba ine) has forced surviv- ing group member Bun B to declare that UGK 4 Life will indeed be the pair's final album together. It's the bookend to a long, sporadic career that is perhaps defined more by popular guest appearances than the group's own hit-or- miss catalog. Largely recorded before Pimp C's death, UGK 4 Life is no sentimental tribute record. Actually, there's hardly a whisper of the late rapper's demise. Instead, the album offers UGK's typical lyrical fare: salutes to various chemicals ("Swishas & Erb"), filthy sexual anecdotes ("Harry Asshole") and general hip-hop thuggery (pretty much the whole record). That's a good move - the refusal to get sappy and mawkish turns out to be the most fitting tribute of all, considering Pimp C's long devotion to keeping it real. If only the album's quality was as con- sistent as UGK's uncompromising credos. With the familiar balance of laid back, bass-heavy West Coast production and Dirty South cadence, the pair doesn't real- ly venture outside its musical precedents. The most notable feature of the beats is the prominent use of guitar. There's more six-string on the album than on most indie rock releases these days, resulting in an organic, funky vibe not heard since Death Row's heyday in the mid-'90s. But for every solid song, there seems to be an equally abominable counter-track. First, the abysmal: UGK pays homage to the bouncy, synth-heavy type of club banger exemplified by Usher's "Love In This Club" and T.I's "Whatever You Like" by basically ripping them off. Take the vocals off 4 Life's "Used to Be" and you're left only with the production's compara- tive awfulness to distinguish it from its precursors. Where T.I. and Usher treated listeners to crowd-pleasing choruses on their hits, UGK neglected to supply the requisite hook. Even more baffling, the duo extends the already played-out con- cept to a mind-numbing five and a half minutes, making the dead-on-arrival track even worse. Similarly offensive is "Harry Asshole," which, I guess, the less said, the better ("When she pops it from the back /you see that hairy asshole"). The title pretty much covers it. The Akon-supported "Hard as Hell" is less fetishistic but just as graphic. It's a standard-issue Akon production, and the group's prurient verses do little to save it from the dregs of banality. Still, the album's not without its saving graces. Arguably the strongest cut, "She Luv It" boasts an infectious, carefree aura and a classic hip-hop chorus. UGK enlist the help of Ron Isley on "The Pimp and The Bun," the album's most soulful track by far. The combination of seductive gui- It has a song called 'Harry Asshole.' Enough said. tar lines and Isley's silky vocals makes for a track that transcends the album's gen- eral air of stifling mediocrity. UGK's final album is assuredly not the group's best (that distinction could go to either 2007's double-disc Underground Kingz or 1996's Ridin' Dirty). Apart from a few stellar standouts, a couple fetid mis- steps and some cringe-worthy moments in which Pimp C portentously mentions cough syrup (his death drink), UGK 4 Life rarely elicits any strong feelings at all. And as for the memory of Pimp C, a man renowned for uncouth expression and lyr- ical bombast, listener apathy could be the biggest disservice of all.