The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com Friday, A pril 2, 2010 - 5 Dance, thought and keytars "Please, sir; can we have some more?" "No., 'Food, 'glorious Food' Jamie Oliver tries to revolutionize the way America eats By ANT MITCHELL Daily Arts Writer Jamie Oliver gets emotional about obesity in America in his new show, "Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution" - like, really . emotional. all e Oliver's Then, America Food gets defensive Revolution about being fat. The result? An Fridays at 9 p.m. hour's worth of ABC somewhat dis- turbing, very frustrating, yet well intentioned reality television. Reshaping an American town's eating habits can be far more entertaining than sim- ply watching a bunch of parents and kids diet. It's probably prudent to just come out and say it: Jamie Oliver ("Jamie at Home"), while a sincere man who is genuinely concerned with the state of health in America, is kind of nuts. Impassioned in the face of heart disease and diabetes, he flips out when confronted with the "Alad- din's cave of processed crap" (a.k.a., the freezer of an elementary school) and angrily bitches at the kids when they throw out their healthy food in exchange for pizza. "You didn't want your kiwi, didn't like your fruit, didn't like your bread roll" he rants, aggressively bangingthe trays of food into the trash while the chil- dren look at him like he's crazy. A superhero of such intense and righ- teous anger, he's comparable to Mor- gan Spurlock from "Super Size Me" when he threatens to smack his kids every time they see a McDonald's. While it's true that he does get a bit extreme - telling a woman she was killing herself and her children with their eating habits - he does make a number of excellent points. And he clearly means well, as you can tell from his red face and teary eyes. While looking through the elementary school cafeteria and observing what's in the chicken nuggets and potatoes, he concedes that he understands he's bitching about it. But he goes on to justify his anger by saying: "If you're a parent, it should piss you off too." Oliver is faced with quite a stub- bornly defensive town. There are a lot of set-in-their-ways school lunch ladies who don't want their meal plans screwed around with, and more than a few who believe he can't accomplish actual change. Yet this opposition isn't completely unfounded. There certainly is some doubt as to whether Oliver can real- ly accomplish what he means to do, especially when the school principal has him serving his healthy food as an option alongside the lunch ladies' chocolate milk and pizza. Even an idiot knows you don't give kids a choice if you want them to make the right one. However, this feeling of futil- ity and his underdog status does make us root for him, even when he repeatedly shouts "welcome to America" in his frustration. We get it Oliver, you're British. If the two or three times you mentioned it didn't get the point across, your accent surely did the trick. But most people of the town do seem to need, and often genuinely want, the help. Huntington, W. Va. is introduced as one of the most ram- pantly obese towns in America. Many locals seem to be looking to change. Even if they're sometimes skeptical, there's a glimmer of hope. Few are as enthusiastic about having the show in town as the local preacher, who says "I believe that God has you guys here." It's difficult to question the good intentions of a show that seeks to teach healthy eating habits, even taking into account the financial dif- ficulties this can present. All in all, "Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution" is surely worth awatch. However, you may want to peel a few carrots and eat an apple in lieu of popcorn, unless you want to be cow- ering terrified behind your couch by the end of the show. By KRISTYN ACHO DailyArts Writer Having just arrived in Maine for a show at Bates College, Tyler Duncan, the founding member of the Ann Arbor- My Dear Disco based band My Dear preSeli:The Disco, had DanceThink reached T the point of Tiathion exhaustion. Tonight, starting But that at5 p.m. didn't stop Various locations him from and prices kindly tak- ing a call. My Dear Disco,-a band com- posed of University alums, is one of the most buzzed-about bands in Ann Arbor's burgeoning music Starting tonight, My Dear Disco will host "My Dear Disco Presents: The DanceThink Tri- athlon," an event that has been in the works for the last two years. The event will highlight the diverse music community that exists in Ann Arbor. The triathlon will have three parts: a pre-party at BTB Cantina featuring DJ Seek Selekta, DJ Malvin and Draconum; the main event: My Dear Disco live at The Michigan League Ballroom; and an after party at The Circus fea- turing resident Ann Arbor pow- erhouses Body Rock and Jamie Register and Glendales. The Daily recently spoke with Duncan about his enthusiasm for the band's Ann Arbor roots, their innovative, self-defined music genre and why April 2nd's "My Dear Disco Presents: The Dan- ceThink Triathlon" is ultimately the precursor to the next step for the band. My Dear Disco prides itself on creating its own music genre, often describing its sound as "DanceThink." It's virtually impossible to scan the indie music blogosphere without being bombarded by intricately and sometimes ridiculously defined music genres like "Lo-fi chill wave, electrically-synthed-tech- no pop." My Dear Disco hasn't been cornered by media misla- beling, though. "We're at a point today where the genres created are starting to become more and more obso- lete," Duncan said. "With the ability to create music across the entire world, the influences that are coming out are becoming so large that it can't be put under one genre." My Dear Disco, complete with a laptop-composed sound juxta- posed with the occasional bag- pipe, most certainly refuses to be placed under one specific genre. Except for their own, that is. "The 'Dance' part refers to the techno elements of our music and the 'Think' portion refers to the University and our time at the music school and that fact that we are students," Duncan said. "As a band we're like techno, pop, funkjazz and Irish bagpipes - and French - and we're get- ting into using the megaphone," he added. "So it's basically an umbrella for the description, and it's also something that we can grow and evolve underneath." Tonight's performance will enable the band to present its ever-evolving sound to a budding fanbase. "We have definitely grown, and this show is going to be a really good example of that," Duncan said. "We want to pres- ent the next version of My Dear Disco." Grammy-nominated producer Mark Saunders, who worked with the likes of Shiny Toy Guns and The Cure, produced My Dear Disco's debut album Dancethink LP. There's a fun electro-pop dance vibe to their tracks, but also hints of brooding punk-rock embedded within. "The new sound is definitely homing in on a specific, nuanced and even more identifiable style that we're developing," Dun- can said. "It incorporates a lot more idioms of dance. We're also focusing a lot more on the emo- tional content of our lyrics." Sure - these key components of the band's progression are admirable, but their homemade, harmonious "keytar" puts them all to shame. "Our singer Michelle (Chamu- el) is using a homemade 'keytar' to home in on the harmonies to synthesize her voice," he added. "It basically sounds like an entire orchestra with her voice behind her." When asked how his time at the University influenced the band's sound, Duncan gushed about his experience as a student. My Dear Disco was formed while the band members were sopho- mores, and Duncan has plenty of fond memories of his first flirta- tions with the concept of becom- ing a musician. Duncan recalls his favorite undergraduate memory - their first show was sold out at The Blind Pig - as the ultimate wake up call. "The place was packed and filled wall-to-wall with UM stu- dents," he said. "I remember peeking out behind sound-check thinking, 'You got to be kidding."' But Duncan didn't rely just on his musical talent throughout college. He also put his intellec- My Dear Disco presents a three- parter. tual pursuits and proficiency to good use in crafting a sense and appreciation for music. "We're definitely an intellec- tual group of people," he said. "We analyze pop tracks and the radio and we'll spend hours talking about it - what it means and doesn't mean and analyzing Michael Jackson tracks and Daft Punk tunes. So there's a lot of thought and effort that goes into music and that can definitely get lost." Tonight, My Dear Disco is excited to return home for what they expect will be a well received, raucous performance. Duncan raved, "Ann Arbor just has a great energy and our fans have been extremely loyal and enthusiastic, which is more than we could ask for. " Percussion Ensemble makes worldly beats By BRAD SANDERS Daily Arts Writer This performance, titled "Introduc- tions," mixes sounds that are uncommon- ly heard together and derived from countries all around the world. Percussion The ensemble's con- Ensemble ductor, professor of IntoductionS music Joseph Gramley, recently took over the Saturday role of his colleague, at 3 p.m. professor of music E.V. Moore Building Michael Udow, who Free directed the ensemble for 28 years. Gramley has traveled abroad with other groups and has recorded music with Grammy award-winning art- ist Yo-Yo Ma. "Percussion music has been around I for centuries and was one of the first examples of what we might call cham- ber music," Gramley said. "Someone like Yo-Yo Ma who thinks outside of our bor- ders and is about cross-pollination is the perfect example of what we're doing in this ensemble, which is to branch out and play music from all over." Being acore part of the percussion per- formance major in the School of Music, Theatre & Dance, the members of the ensemble put hours of practice into form- ing a successful performance, on top of their coursework. "We practice three days a week in class time, but also the students have to learn their parts in their own time," Gramley explained. "It's a deep commitment that these students have, and you have to have that in all of chamber music to succeed and to communicate that to the audience." Included in the performance will be pieces composed in Ann Arbor, New York, Tokyo and New Zealand, with instru- ments ranging from marimba to micro- phone feedback. The percussion ensemble's perfor- mance will highlight the talents of 20 guest performers, including Dan Pic- colo, a University alum and founder of the group Starbrand, a local percussion group. "The ensemble will be playing a piece that I have written specifically for the event, titled 'PTA,' " Piccolo wrote in an e-mail interview with The Michigan Daily. "It will feature members of my group Starbrand, which includes some members of the local group 'My Dear Disco,' who are all University alums. I will be playing tabla (the hand drums of North Indian classical music) and two members of my group, Mike Shea and Bob Lester, will be playing the drum set and electronics, respectively." This particular song includes custom instruments designed specifically for the piece, including six PVC tubes, vari- ous sizes of wooden boxes and a Rube Goldberg-style machine (which performs a simple task through a complex process) with several objects attached to it and hooked up to contact microphones. Introductions' mixes sounds not often mixed. "The piece is inspired by drum and bass music and uses mostly acoustic per- cussion instruments to mimic the unique sonic texture of the style," Piccolo wrote. "The sounds from the custom instru- ments are electronically processed to produce some really exciting sounds. The music for the ensemble is quite challeng- ing, mostly due to the speed at which very intricate rhythms need to be played." In addition to the performance, the ensemble is also recording a CD set to come out in September consisting of music all composed by University alumni. "We received a grant from the UM OVPR (Office of Vice President of Research)," Gramley said. "UM is a world leading research university, and some of the music school's research can be perfor- mance. It is produced by Block M Records and will be released online and available on iTunes." Gramley has encouraging words for those who may not want to trek to North Campus in order to see the concert. "I want students to embrace some music that they may never have seen before, and not to be afraid to come on the bus to see us," Gramley said. "This is a new genre of music." ARTS IN BRIEF THEATERPREVIEW A morning after with 'How Love is Spelt' How Love is Spelt Tonight at 7 and 11 p.m., tomorrow at 7 p.m. Walgreen Drama Center Free Almost everyone has experienced, or at least heard of, an awkward morning-after story. In Basement Arts's latest produc- tion, "How Love Is Spelt," students get to see this scenario explored (many a time) in emotional detail through lead charac- ter Peta (Tedra Millan, Music, Theatre & Dance senior), upon her arrival in London from Liverpool. "The show is important because it is relevant to the collegiate lifestyle," wrote director Laura Winnick, LSA junior, in an e-mail interview. "(Chloe) Moss's writing muses on topics far too familiar to the Uni- versity demographic - in general, the con- sequences of going out, getting drunkand returning home with a stranger." "(The show) explores drunkenness, inhibition, love, relationships, sex and identity," Winnick added. "It explores being alone and scared in a big city and turning to strangers for guidance." Each scene brings in new characters, whose interactions with Peta range from "ridiculous to heartfelt," according to Win- nick. As the situations unfold, audiences will see that Peta has been hiding some- thing from herself, and each new char- acter helps her realize it. Through witty dialogue and heart-warming moments, the play delves deeply into the idea of relation- ships and what we seek to gain from them - whether it be from a stranger or a close friend. As the semester winds down, time is running out to see the free student-pro- duced theater put on by Basement Arts. "People should see it because it is a shame- less way to reflect on their own morning- after experiences," Winnick wrote, "without having to send the awkward 'What's your name again?' text message." EMMA JESZKE Kirstie Alley returns with Bg LifeA' and little motivation By CHRISTINA ANGER the lives of people trying to lose weight of yo-yo dieting, and her seven minute Daily Arts Writer - in the same boat as shows like "Biggest of exercise with five-pound weights isn es i't As a spokeswoman for Jenny Craig, Kirstie Alley has alreadylost 80 pounds. In the past, she has been the butt of tab- Kirstie Alley's loid and talk-show jokes, and in response, Big Life she defiantly lost the Sundays at weight. But now Alley 10nd.M a is back to fat, and she 10p.m. isn't afraid to say it. A&E "Kirstie Alley's Big Life" on A&E chronicles her second round of weight loss, shedding light on the ups and downs of a formerly thin celeb gone big again. Alley is again discouraged by the paparazzi's obesity obsession, but that doesn't stop her from pulling a self-directed fat joke in almost every scene of the show. After the first few times, it sounds less like a joke or personal motivator and more likea coping method that isn't working. Alley has a crazy, complicated "Big Life," just like more than half of America. A&E's new show is just another look into Loser," "Ruby" and "One Big Happy Fam- ily." Nobody said those shows were good, but they do have one thing that "Big Life" lacks -inspiration. The pilot episode shows Alley doing literally nothing to jump-start her weight loss. One scene finds her on the floor of her exercise room, admitting that she worked out for just seven minutes. Even her two grown kids, Lillie and William, don't seem to encourage her at all. When Alley asks them to work out, they decline. And even better, when she asks them if her being fat embarrasses them, her son shrugs and gives her a resounding and helpful "not really." One thing's for sure: Alley has the same kooky attitude she has always had. She's loud and fun - albeit a bit lonely - but she just doesn't seem serious enough. And neither do many of the people around her. "Big Life" feels likea lazy look into weight loss, in which there's the obvious goal to be thin, but no interest in the benefits that come with a healthier lifestyle. Alley never once mentions the medical dangers exactly moving. If seeking motivation to lose weight, "Big Life" isn't the place to turn. Sure, Alley can shed the pounds, but it takes more than a scale and a smaller dress size to measure success. Any well-informed trainer will advocate a change in lifestyle over any fad diet, and that's where Alley falls short. Seven minutes of exercise does not a workout make. This is why "Big Life" inadvertently works against Jenny Craig. The diet obvi- ously doesn't support a continuous healthy lifestyle once the pounds are shed. Alley's show is one big oxymoron, but if half- hearted weight loss sounds interesting, go for it. JOIN DAILY ARTS. FOR REALSIES E-mail join.arts@umich.edu for information on applying.