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September 21, 2009 - Image 9

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The Michigan Daily, 2009-09-21

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10 The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com

Monday, September 21,2009 - 9A

I The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom Monday, September 21, 2009 - 9A

Polvo's newest adds up

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neties math rock lina (Merge) and the Windy City
with lasting results. With a string
os return from a of fantastic albums in the mid-
'90s, Polvo was arguably at their
year hiatus with creative peak when they split in
1998.
r best album ever In Prism comes after a 12-year
absence of new material, and it
By MIKE KUNTZ couldn't sound fresher. Gone are
DailyArts Writer the scratchy mid-fi recordings of
the early '90s, helped in no small
h rock has always been a part by Brian Paulson's crisp pro-
genre to duction. And while Paulson's no
sown. Its stranger to the genre, having pro-
s flirt with duced Slint's iconic Spiderland in
ock, noise 1991, here he brings his experience
post-rock, PO with more pop-oriented projects
nre's roots Prism to create a punchy, clear sound
ing all the Merge with teeth.
tom '70s Starting with "Right the Rela-
ssives like tion," the album immediately
d Genesis to post-punkers reassures listeners that Polvo's
ack Flag and Sonic Youth. still got it - and maybe better than
ically classified by its angu- ever. Paulson's experience with
netimes dissonantmelodies, Superchunk is also evident here,
art rhythms and unpre- the opener having just the right
[e song structures. Over mix of grungy power-pop lurking
ars, math rock has been beneath the mathy surface to keep
ted to describe the sounds the song together. But with vocals
ds like Slint, Don Caballero slightly buried, it's guarded from
g Black, each of which has excessive mainstream pop appeal,
direct influence on other even with a chorus as anthemic as:
nd experimental-rock acts "I kill my creation / to right the
relation."
o fits right in with these "D.C. Trails" is an excellent
statesmen, emerging out demonstration of Polvo's knack
pel Hill, NC during math for unorthodox groove-laden gui-
late-'80s/early-'90s hey- tar work, with unconventional
oasting ties with the Touch tunings making for beautiful and
o (a pivotal experimental unexpected collisions of harmony
abel) scene in Chicago and and melody. Singer Ash Bowie's
ans like Steve Albini, Polvo voice hovers perfectly between
the underground musical rant-singing and unimpressed
e between North Caro- baritone with vague and highly

imagistic lyrics to match. It makes
for the best song on the album.
In Prism maintains its momen-
tum through the middle of the
record, right though the eight-
minute guitar explorations of
"Lucia." Then comes "Dream
Work/Residue," whose canned
and distorted drums paint a
depressed nightmarescape - the
minor-to-major repetition within
the guitar melody brings to mind
Radiohead's "Morning Bell"- and
strangely it fits right in. Closer "A
Link in the Chain" has a soothing
psychedelia wrapped around its
near nine minutes, with dreamy
guitar bends and distortion walls
that channel vintage shoegaze
sheen.
Putting it plainly, this is by no
means an "easy" record. The lay-
ers of melody are deceptively com-
plex and uncovering the lyrics is
an adventure in itself. Polvo has
always been able to find a tasteful
mix of ambient experimental rock
and SST-inspired noise, lurking
somewhere in a mid-'80s alterna-
tive limbo, and it has certainly hit
that again here.
And while it may be pretty easy
to count the band's influences on
one hand, Polvo blends them well
enough to give its artistic state-
ments considerable merit. Plus it
does, like, way better than most
bands. Derivatives aside, In Prism
marks a welcomed return to the
sounds that dominated the '80s
underground, with some '90s
experimentalism and '00s fidelity
added to the mix to make it work
in the present.

The fastest way toa robot's heart is through the giant fucking zipper on its chest.
Zero good reasons to see 9

By EMILY BOUDREAU
Daily Arts Writer
In "9," the fate of the world rests in the hands of nine
creatures made from burlap sacks.
However alarmingthis prospectmay
seem, the whimsical world of direc-
tor Shane Acker ("The Astounding 9
Talents of Mr. Grenade") should
whisk viewers away from their fears At Quality16
of impendingglobal destruction. and Showcase
The character 9 (voiced by Eli- Focus Features
jah Wood, "The Lord of the Rings")
first opens his eyes to see a world
destroyed. The only other sentient beings he encoun-
ters are eight similarly small burlap robots and a terri-
fying host of angry machines. The nine robots must do
battle againstthemachines to ensure the preservation
of some semblance of humanity.
"9" was originally a short film with much the same
storyline. The short was so successful that it was
adapted into this full-length feature. The short film,
in fact, was nominated for an Oscar back in 2005. But
while the new version is only 79 minutes long - mak-
ing it much shorter than most modern features - it is
an unnecessarily long extension of the original.
The power of the original film gets diluted when
stretched to take up the 79-minute span. There are too
many chase scenes and far too much plot repetition.
One member of the nine is captured and the rest have
to go rescue him. Then another is captured on that
rescue mission and he needs rescuing - after a while,
it gets tedious.
Despite the hiccups in the story, the animation is
still enamoring. There are some truly beautiful over-
laps between the world built by the humans and the
world of the machines. The nine robots find sanctu-
ary in an old sculpture garden, setting a scene that
is both sad and truly haunting. In another moment,
amidst the destruction, they find an old phonograph

record and "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" plays
while the bots rummage through remnants of the
past.
Despite being an animated film, "9" carries a PG-13
rating, accurately indicating that the movie is not for
small children. It's a film ripe with graphic and dis-
turbing images and characters; one of the machine
monsters is a snake-like creature with the head of a
possessed baby doll.
At the same time, the plot and the message remain
fairlysimple.Butit'ssimpleinanegativesense-utter-
ly basic and obvious. Though "9" aims to captivate
an older audience, it cannot get past unsophisticated
imagery - a burning church, a contrast between light
and dark and ruinedbooks.
Further, the characters are all helplessly one-
dimensional. Each of the nine robots has essentially
one personal quality. Number 7 (Jennifer Connelly,
"He's Just Not ThatInto You") is the ferocious female,
Number 1 (Christopher Plummer, "Up") is bossy and
Number 5 (John C. Reilly, "Step Brothers") is always
scared. Talented actors voice each of the nine robots,
so it's unfortunate that the script turns them into a
About as entertaining
as a burlap sack.
more boring version of the seven dwarfs.
Beyond the identity crisis resulting from the scary
animation and the simplistic script, the film suffers
from the fact that several aspects of the plot, particu-
larly the conclusion, will never make sense to anyone,
no matter what age theyare.
The film is an admirable attempt at turning a short
film into a full-length movie, and it manages to keep
some of its integrity, but in the end it's a failure.

COURTESTY OF MERGE

"You wanna hear this kitty purr?"
HUMPDAY
From Page 5A
occasional hiccups, the general
interplay remains crudely funny.
The true beauty of the movie
is derived from its simplicity. It
doesn't harbor deep thematic
undertones, but it isn't superficial
either. "Humpday" stays true to
its premise of two men dancing
around each other's egotism. As
a result, the film is great for both
male and female audiences. Guys
can relate to how stupid (and yet
so important) their egos can be,
and how far it can take them,
while girls can at least attempt to
understand what goes. on inside
the male mind.
The unique "bonding" shared
by Ben and Andrew goes beyond a
mere dare. "Humpday" is a testa-
ment to the power of friendship.
Lifelong friends will remain that
way, even with all the humps in
between.

T.. .

BEEP BOOP
BEEP BEEP
BOOP.
ALL THE
COOL
ROBOTS
WRITE FOR
ARTS.
BOOOOOP
E-mail battlebots@umich.edu
for an application.

I
L

Learn more about the Peace Corps.
Attend an information session.
e ~ Wednesday, September 23rd
12:00 p.m.
School of Natural Resources
Room 2024
800.424.8580 I www.peacecorps.gov
Life is calling. How far will you go?

I

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