4B - Thursday, April 9, 2009 theb-side The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com ST T L OUTKAST 'ATLIENS' (1996) As original as hip hop can be By JEFF SANFORD DailyArts Writer It's as true now as it was 15 years ago: OutKast is the cool- est motherfucking band on the planet. For proof, let's turn to the mastermind behind the out- fit, Andre 3000. Who else can get away with asking "What's cooler than being cool?" while standing on stage wearing a WASPy argyle sweater vest and a pink bow tie? And who can actually receive a wave of ecstatic response because of those comments? Not even the seemingly infallible Lil Wayne could pull that one off. Even from the beginning, Out- Kast just seemed to get every- thing right. The group's debut, 1994's Southernplayalisticadillac- muzik, was an innovative, funk- 'n'-grits style hip-hop album that made critics gush and produced the top-20 hit "Players Ball." Butwhile OutKast's firstalbum was an unquestionable success, the release ofATLiens,the group's sophomore effort, defined when OutKast really became OutKast. Where Southernplaya focused on more traditional hip-hop themes, ATLiens saw the pair move away from weed, women and pimping to tackle subjects rarely heard in hip hop at the time. There's the honest-to-goodness love song "Jazzy Belle," in which Andre shows early signs of his strong moral concern that would later inform songs like The Love rhythms that would make top Below's "Behold a Lady": "I hate jazz musicians blush. To hear thinking that these the future Andre ease through the tongue- mommas of our children / They cramping rhyme "While the rest fuckin' a different nigga every of the countrybungies offbridges time they get the feelin' to." without no snap back and bitches There are also moments of they say they need that to shake intense introspection, like in they fannies in the ass clubs" - "Millennium": "I never lived up all in only two measures - is to to my expectations soI accept the hear sheer genius at work. patience / Expect the worse but Then there's the production. now I'm pacin'/ back and forth, For the second disc in a row, inside." It's not an accident that OutKast chose to work with a lot of the rhymes on the record Atlanta-based production squad Organized Noize. Using gener- ous doses of live instrumenta- tion, the beats blend interstellar 'ATLiens' funk with laid-back Southern soul. Never overwhelming, the defined when music provided a comfortable, groovy backdrop perfect for OutKast became the duo's athletic verses to take center stage - which is exactly OutKast. where they belong. ATLiens is pioneering, com- pletely original and about as good as a hip-hop album can get. It's seem remarkably clear-headed - amazing, then, that it isn't even Andre made the choice to give up OutKast's best record. Stanko- all substances before recording. nia and even Aquemini somehow On the title track, he spits "We improved on the few things Out- be so sincere with this here / No Kast got wrong onATLiens. How- drugs or alcohol so I can get the ever, it is the album with which signal clear." one of music's most compelling It wasn't just that ATLiens was groups formed its identity, and unlike anything in hip hop, nay, it was the first real step for one music, in 1996. Innovation aside, of the most successful careers the group's pure vocal skills were in modern music. Before "Rosa enough to make the album a Parks," "Hey Ya" and argyle classic. Big Boi and Andr6 made sweater vests, there was ATLiens emceeing a sport, spitting out hinting at the things to come. BEETHOVEN From Page 1B and insights. Not only do the other instruments make it possible to see Beethoven's progression in terms of the piano sonata, but they also annotate everything else that was going on in his head: cello parts, brass quintet parts, etc. Keeping these differ- ent instruments in mind affects how the students hear their own piano performances as well. "It gave me abetter understanding of what Beethoven was thinking," Gaqi said. Gaqi spoke with enthusiasm about his experience playingseveral of the sonatas. Working with the wind quartet in Opus 102 influenced his percep- tion of the piano sonata, Opus 90, allowing him to hear the possibility of the wind instruments even in his solo performance. Cultivating an awareness of Beethoven's musical context is vital for understand- ing the "causation" Whiting hoped to uncover. Similarly, Whiting expressed the benefit of listen- ing to Schiff's interpretations. "(Schiff's approach to music) is characterized by a great deal of propriety, an incredible range of tone colors and a minimum of histrionics and sustain- ing pedal," he said. "He's not giving you mush, but clarity. He's about to confront the foremost massive ssonatas in the 32, and it's going to be a particular pleasure to hear what a performer that's so associ- ated with the music of J.S. Bach is going to do with all the fugal material." For Whiting and his students, the Beethoven series may be just the beginning. "I'd like to do something with Haydn's string quartets," he said. "I'd love that." WE SALUTE THE INTERNET WWW.MICHIGANDAILY.COM .I MONDAY APRIL 13, 2009 Jerome Ringo President,The Apollo Alliance San Francisco, CA Fmr. Chair of the Board National Wildlife Federation (2005-07) "The Color of Green: The Next Inconvenient Truth" LECTURE 4:00P.M. Welcome David M. Uhimann Director of the Environmental Law & Policy Program Speaker Introduction MarkVan Putten Public Interest/Public Service Faculty Fellow Room 250 Hutchins Hall Law School RECEPTION IMMEDIATELY FOLLOWING FREE ADMISSION I I ." Michigan Law UMNsar0r 71COMr Law Sc ise ArborVitae Women's Center We provide the following services FREE of charge: Pregnancy testing Ultrasounds Women's health and abortion info Material support and referrals Spiritual support ArborVita Day and Evening Appointments Available Located at 625 E. Liberty St. (Below Starbucks at State & Liberty) a a