I he Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com Monday, November 15, 2010 - 7A I onan still bitter in first week on cable TV Former NBC host debuts on TBS with a spring in his step ByLINDSAY HURD DailyArts Writer The long-awaited return of Conan O'Brien has come, allowing us all to discover he's pretty much the same dude he's always been. hether that's a good or bad thing is hard to tell. The pre- miere episode of "Conan" on Weeknights TBS, which aired at11 p.m. last Monday, TBS focused strongly on his boot from NBC. In fact, just about every joke stemmed from O'Brien and NBC parting ways last January after he refusedto move into the midnight slot. Clearly, he's still a little bit- ter about losing his dream job and spares no expense to get a few jokes out of it. His opening monologue was full of sharp-tongued one-liners, say- ing of the new show's name that he "did it so I'd be a lot harder to replace." Even Ricky Gervais made an appearance, wishing O'Brien luck on this show as well as all of the other "new shows" O'Brien will be hosting this year when endeavor after endeavor fails for him. Those looking for a big departure from the standard bitter one-liners from the past several months will be greatly disappointed. The move to TBS has resulted in a much lower budget than what O'Brien became accustomed to, and he won't let viewers forget that. Instead of his old set at 30 Rockefeller Plaza, O'Brien's new- est digs consist of a mock seascape, which toes the line between cool and tacky. A giant moon wobbles constantly behind his desk, making for a few good laughs. When ran- dom backstage noises interrupted his interview with "Glee" star Lea Michele, O'Brien quipped, "Basic cable. There's a Meineke Muffler Shop right behind us." While some things may have changed, the fundamental way the man runs a late-night talk show has not. His longtime sidekick, Andy Richter, made the leap to TBS as well, chiming in with comments from his lectern and the couch. One of his famous characters, the Mas- turbating Bear, made an appear- ance, as well as The Basic Cable Band, Conan's new house band. O'Brien's humor is self-deprecating as ever, and he's not afraid to play off of it, especially with his recent pay cut. Itseems that O'Brien really is down for anything - on Tuesday he gave away a lock of his beard, which is something we would pre- sumably never see from Jay Leno, NBC or any of the net- works. O'Brien clearly likes to have a good time, and now has more freedom to do so. Another thing O'Brien has going for him? His overload of celebrity friends is more than happy to visit his new cable crib. in his first week alone he had Lea Michele, Seth Rogen, Jack White, Tom Hanks, Julie Bowen and Michael Cera. Only time will tell whether "Conan" will remain successful - it was first in the ratings this past week in the advertiser-coveted 18-49 demographic - but let's just hope he doesn't stay stuck in the stereotypical talk show mold. Since "Conan" is on cable, he has a heck of a lot more room to be funny. Let's just hope he uses it. A solid effort for The Concretes ByA It'sin across many di each on in a fashion. The Co latest WYWH vocalist Milberg the rest introdu delic d around club-tht to their are mov era but a retro f the SwE with an influenc For goe4 Thou second her and felt Eni ish cha ARIELLE SPECINER envelopes the album as disco beats Daily Arts Writer charge into the tracks, creating a complex, impressive arrange- not often that we come ment. Though the melodies and a band that attempts so harmonies remain stagnant, the, ifferent genres and makes instrumentals are complicated ie work and clearly well thought out. unique The strength of the album lies On in its background. Though Mil- ncretes' TMh onciret berg's vocals are captivating and album, haunting, the instrumental com- , lead ponent stands out. On songs like Lisa Friendly Fire "Sing For Me," cascades of spar- and kling wind-chime tremors grace of her seven-member gang the track, creating a dream-like ce fans to a new psyche- atmosphere. On "My Ways," ance-pop sound wrapped woodblock clicks keep the rhythm spacey guitar riffs and of the song intact. The Concretes umping beats. Compared also play with out-of-the-ordinary folksy past, The Concretes sounds on "All Day," using interga- ing ahead into a space-age lactic, discotheque sound effects also bringing it back with and disco-boogie guitar riffs that eel. This new direction for shoot across the track. edes presents itself nicely "What We've Become" also '80s ambiance and Baltic- combines disco beats and an indie- ed sounds. scene dreamscape as Milberg sings, "What do you say we leave this perfectly good party / You and I have our own / We can drink mer folk band whisky and play songs by Squeeze, s ,'-in-hadelic. John Cale and Paul Simon / And s p %y0ha ehe we could talk through the night." The theme of wishful thinking and longing is what makes the album gh English is Milberg's title so ambiguous. WYWH leaves language, WYWH finds the listener pondering if the album her band executing heart- title is an acronym for "wish you glish lyrics with a Swed- were here" or "wish you were cm. A sheer, flouncy aura him" - or maybe it doesn't mean anything at all. Windblown reverb dances around blurry, dark synthetic sounds on tracks like "I Wish We'd Never Met" and "Crack In The Paint." Somber sways of vocal harmonies coalesce with a bluesy bass line on the latter, which cre- ates the album's darkest sound. This portion of the album taps into a duskier psyche but is then pulled out of its slump with the poppy "All Day" and later, the cutesy, Zooey Deschanel-esque "Oh My Love." WYWH is The Concretes' best album to date. It's coherent and flows magically from one song to the next. If switching up their sound is what it takes to create a great album, then let the genre bending continue. The Whomping Willow in its golden years. A 'Friggin' Jersey bore ByLINDSAY HURD Daily Arts Writer When the biggest personality on a show is some dude from New Jersey trying to start a business called "John- ny Meatballs," '% the point of desperation My Big Friggin' has clearly Weding been reached. VH1's lat- Mondays at 9 p.m. est reality VH1 programming endeavor follows five couples on the verge of their wedding night. We follow them as they fight, whine, nag and completely disagree about every single aspect of their weddings, families and lives in gen- eral. This show is literally "Jersey Shore" meets "Bridezillas," but not in a good way. Everything we hated about both of these shows, from whiny girls to trashy guys, is ampli- fied by five in order to make this one seem "original." The network picked not one, but five of the most obnoxious couples ever to be the "stars" on "My Big Friggin' Wedding." Couple one, Johnny and Megin, are pregnant and broke because Johnny doesn't work. Instead, he hopes to get "Johnny Meatballs" off the ground by designing lackluster t-shirts for hours on end when he should be looking for a real job. Couple two is Tyler and Aylssa, embarrassingly sloppy drunks who make unnerv- ing sexual comments in front of their two-year-old daughter. Couple three is Joey and Sandra, whose biggest means of prepara- tion for the wedding is to go tan- ning, over and over again. Tammie and Danny, the fourth couple, seem the most "normal" until Tammie opens her mouth - she literally doesn't stop talking about herself the entire time she is on the show. Finally, Matt and Amanda are the pair with the wacko Italian moth- er-in-law who can't keep her nose out of everyone's business. These self-proclaimed "awesome" couples are the lovely people we get to fol- low for an entire season of wedding planning bliss - lucky us. While it can be slightly amusing to watch people bitch each other out, the biggest issue with "My Big Friggin' Wedding" is that it's all-too-clearly riding on the suc- cess of TV's "Jersey" obsession. It doesn't try to present anything new or interesting about New Jersey, but rather takes the pre-existing stereotypes and tries way too hard to find people who match them. Excessive tanning, binge drinking and screaming girls - all stereo- types taken from "Jersey Shore" - are the fuel that makes this wed- ding show run. What's worse is the question of why the couples would ever want to be on this show in the first place. VH1 constantly mocks them with cheesy graphics and commentary that's clearly directed toward a trashy Jersey mentality. The pro- ducers edit the show to make every- one look like a dumbass by having the star say one thing and then do the opposite. Alyssa claims she is the best parent in the world, then spends all her screen time in the pilot showcasing her ability to get wasted quickly. Everything from the couples' lifestyles to their taste in clothing and music are dragged through the ringer while they clamor for their five minutes of fame. An imperfect marriage of stereotypes and .A- stupidity. The only upside to watching "My Big Friggin' Wedding" is that it makes you feel a whole lot better about your own life. If you're not about to marry a dude whose big- gest aspiration is to have your wed- ding be an "Italian Guido Club," then clearly you're headed in a much better direction than anyone on "My Big Friggin' Wedding". If you're absolutely devastated that "Jersey Shore" just ended, it might be good for you to watch something less ridiculous and offensive for a change. DEAR From Page 5A me). I don't like to think that I am influenced by what they have done directly, but I love their music. I am a big fan of Talking Heads," Dear said. Most of Dear's inspiration comes from male solo artists who produce their own music, like Peter Garbriel and Brian Eno, he said. "It would be really fun to col- laborate with Brian Eno, I am totally inspired by him and all of his work as a producer, a solo art- ist and a band member. So yeah, that would be absolutely amaz- ing," Dear said. But for now, Dear couldn't be more excited to hit the road and perform live. "I just love performing and freaking out ... I think it's the most fun in the moments where it kind of all goes crazy and everyone zones out in their own world but comes together as a collective band at the same time," he said. Sure performing has its perks, but Dear's excitement over returning to Ann Arbor and his favorite delicatessen was unpar- alleled. "We're excited to come back, we always have a great time in Ann Arbor and I can't wait to get a number 73 - that's my favor- ite sandwich, with a pickle. And if you don't want a lot of meat you should go with the small size because large is just way to much. Oh, and tomato soup, got to get the tomato soup."