The Michigan Daily -- michigandaily.com
Tuesday, February1, 2011 -7
The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com Tuesday, February 1, 2011 -7
What's lost in translation
'Today' not so special
W riting about music
is tough.
When I talk to
people about writing this col-
umn, the conversation usually
goes like
this:
Me: (not
looking
them in the
eyes) Yeah,
I write a
column for
the Daily. JOE
Person: DIMUZIO
Oh, so you
can write
about, like, whatever?
Me: Yeah, pretty much.
Person: That sounds easy/
fun/cool/sneeze.
Me: Yeah, well ...
But what I'd like to tell them
is that writing this column is
like fighting a civil war with
myself. It's a constant and a
sometimes half-assed campaign
to reach some impossible way-
point, inwhich I capture what
I actually "mean" about the
music I listen to, how I listen to
it and how it makes me "feel."
Ugh. Feeling. It's an enemy,
among so many others. One
that has to be fought.
Did I join the Daily two
years ago because I like music?
Yep. Do I like to write? Sure.
But ultimately, I took the leap
from picking up (and promptly
forgetting to recycle) the Daily
and Daily Arts in particular to
writing for it because I didn't
like what I read. I wanted to
get better at writing, share my
hot and fuzzies about music
with some like-minded dweebs
and print something I could
tolerate reading.
I didn't know how grueling
it would be. From the onset
of joining the Daily, the big-
gest and most terrifying editor
and critic I had was me. Now,
with every step, sentence and
day that moves toward my
deadline, I second-guess it
all. Music. Songs. "Feelings."
Conte3
what I
tening
isn't er
Novw
that h
Nouns
things
ing at:
to cles
which
all dri'
tion. "I
senten
And
mies? {
maker
import
away f
crime1
right 13
bet
ar
WhE
the wo
inform
500- t
review
and de
of obje
near-p
clichei
words,
expres
comm
read it
you've
tested
The
pen is t
emotio
means
tion ex
bound,
"social
somet
like Th
Phoeni
xt. Genre. What I "like," Never? Wow, me too. I liked
don't "like." Simply lis- that song. Did you like that
and writing wasn't and song. Jim? Yes, I liked that
nough. song, Judy. That rocked.
vI recognize enemies The best pop music writers
old me back. Adjectives. brought themselves into con-
that mean so many versation not only with us, but
and absolutely noth- with the music they were writ-
all. Restrictingsongs ing about. Writers like Lester
n-cut, safe conclusions Bangs, Richard Meltzer and
make sense and let use Chuck Eddy (among so many
ve home happy. Exposi- others) - however uneven,
Rock." Short declarative unfair and scatalogically grip-
ces. ping it was - leaped over cli-
[why fight these toe- che to deliver their own voice
On a simple level, it will and opinion. They did it with
my writing better. More clarity and style, sure, but best
tantly? It will steer me of all, an abstract yet pristine
rom an even worse evocation of truth.
than bad writing: Out- That expression doesn't
ying. come easy. What makes a song
good? Your absolute favorite
song ... why do you like it? How
* * * , M: does it make you "feel" (shud-
cder)? What does it all "mean?"
3 civil wadr Don't settle for someone else's
wa words. Don't use adjectives.
ween words Don't lie.
The critic Frank Kogan,
nd feelings. who inspired this column,
once wrote "I die every time I
write," in a letter to his hero,
Chuck Eddy. When I first read
en you're swept up in those words I felt communion
rld of conclusive, well and frustration. I'll probably
zed and researched never be as fine a writer as
o 600-word pop music Frank, butI identified with
s laying imagination him. Every review and column
bate to rest in a sea I've written for the Daily I am
ctive, adjective-laden ashamed of, to an extent. Not
rose, succumbing to because it exists, or is filled
is easy. It's a haven for with lame sentences and con-
phrases and sentences clusions I may have reached
sing a reality that is out of surrender, but because
unal only because you've I know I can do better. A little
so many times that part of me dies in the self-
accepted it as hard- immolation, reborn to try, try
emotional proof. again. Aaliyah said it better
worst that can hap- than I ever could ... and look
that I settle for these where she ended up.
nal cliches. This song So for her, Frank and all of
that. "Authentic" emo- the fallen words in my past,
pressed in comfortable I'm not giving up. I'm dusting
aries. Lyrics that are myself off, again and again.
Mandvi film puts
the right ingredients
in the wrong mix
By WILL DEFEBAUGH
For the Daily
When cooking, there's one ingre-
dient always necessary to make
the perfect plate. Without this one
ingredient, the
entire meal is
guaranteed to
fall apart. T
This ingre-
dient is bal- At the Michigan
ance. Each
individual Reliance MediaWorks
component of
a recipe can be perfectly delectable
in its own right, but it's how these
ingredients are proportioned that
makes a dish so exquisite.
The same logic can also be
applied to films. Story, setting,
characters, direction, themes and
motifs - all of these different com-
ponents must be properly balanced
to have a memorable film. Without
this equilibrium, the result can be
a movie that comes across far too
strong.
Such is the case for "Today's
Special," starring Aasif Mandvi
(TV's "The Daily Show"), Dean
Winters (TV's "30 Rock") and Jess
Weixler ("Teeth").
The movie follows Samir (Man-
dvi), a dispassionate middle-aged
man whose cooking career seems
to be going nowhere. After quit-
ting his job as a sous-chef upon
being told that he will never have
the "magic" "required to be a chef,
Samir is ready to go to Paris and
study under the best chefs in
"What do you mean I'm not special?"
France. Unfortunately for Samir,
his father has a heart attack the
week before his departure, forcing
Samir to stay home and take care
of the family restaurant - and go
back on his oath to never cook Indi-
an food. Throw in a dead brother,
a Yoda-like taxi driver, quirky
staff members and an unexpected
romance, and there you have it:
"Today's Special."
While each of these ingredients
has potential, they're unfortunate-
ly squandered due to poor delivery.
Lines that could be hilarious fall
flat because of inadequate timing
and direction. The characters that
actually make the movie worth-
while, like Samir's mother, are not
given enough airtime. Scenes that
call for straightforward camera-
work are weakened by focusing
experimentation that comes across
as out-of-place.
Correct ingredients, incorrect
balance.
Still, the themes of failure,
family, forgotten heritage and
the unexpectedness of life are
heartwarming. The development
of Samir's romance with Carrie
(Weixler) and the scene in which
Samir finally confronts his fears
are moving. They would just be
more moving if there were a bit less
of camp and a dash more of subtle-
ty. A theme - like a flavor - should
never be overly stated.
This kind of misstep is all too
common in Hollywood. Movies
that have allthe makings of a smart
and poignant film flop because the
pieces are not prepared correctly.
For a film to be successful, each
component must be in complete
harmony. Without this balance,
the movie loses that "magic" qual-
ity that allows it to stand above the
rest.
Instead of capitalizing on the
witty dialogue, universal themes
and unique characters, the film
wastes them in a mundane and
formulaic capacity, ultimately pro-
ducing a run-of-the-mill feel-good
comedy that has been made a hun-
dred times over.
Near the beginning ofethe movie,
Samir is told that he is too "text-
book" to ever be a brilliant chef.
This mayas well have been a meta-
phor for the whole film.
Lee takes risksoqn'Mission'
ByJULIA SMITH-EPPSTEINER In this particular track, Joey Burns leads to appreciation of the eclectic
For the Daily of Calexico makes his folk presence soft voice of Amos Lee and a new
vibrantly appear through his role understanding of why the music
ly conscious," that mean
hin Oh my God, you
e Strokes/Kanye West/
ix/Oneohtrix Point
Dimuzio likes what he reads in
the Daily now. To tell him you do
too, e-mail shonenjo@umich.edu.
ALBUM RTEVIEW
Go. Team rocky on Rolling
By ARIELLE SPECINER
DailyArts Writer
"Skins" isn't the only insane
import from across the pond
hitting the states recently.
Enter The
Go! Team,
a British
powerhouse The Go! Team
group ready
to take the Rolling Blackouts
U.S. by Memphis Industries
storm with
its third stu-
dio album, Rolling Blackouts.
Like the characters from the
provocative British television
show, the latest album from
The Go! Team parties until
it blacks out. Back with more
hard-hitting melodies and
trash bag party antics, The Go!
Team is ready for some fun. The
album features special guests
like Deerhoof's Satomi Matsu-
zaki and Best Coast's Bethany
Cosentino, adding even more
pizzazz to the festive album.
Not much has changed since
the band's last record, 2007's
Proof of Youth - seriously,
almost nothing. The tracks on
its older album could easily be
substituted for those on the
newest, and vice versa.
The head-banging band
strikes with loud, baroque
tracks and playful beats. Roll-
ing Blackouts starts off as a
bundle of hipster-hop fun
with "T.O.R.N.A.D.O." - a
playground chant mix led by
Nkechi Ka Egenamba, a vocal-
ist who goes by Ninja, backed
by a marching band. It has the
energy of a high school football
game, warped into a song.
The energetic bash doesn't
end there. "Apollo Throwdown"
packs a punch with a glittery
dance backing track and a spar-
kling beat. It sounds like a sub-
dued M.I.A., but has enough
spunk to rival Gwen Stefani.
Though these tracks are fun to
listen to, the band veers a bit off-
course. Many of the songs on
Too many blackouts, or too much rolling.
You're seated in a breakfast
nook with your significant other.
Blueberry-granola pancakes sit in
front of you, the
Sunday morning
light is stream- *
ing through the Amos Lee
cracked win-
dows and Amos Mission Bell
Lee'sMissionBell
resounds from Blue Note
the corner of
the living room - sufficient back-
ground music. Unpunctuated by
diverse chords or lyrics, and not
nearly as gut-punching as his past
three albums, Amos Lee's latest is
a bit of a let-down, but more disap-
pointingly, a love-down.
Lee's perpetually soothing
vocals live in more of a Southern
register throughout the 13 tracks,
dominated by relationship down-
fall and religious imagery. The
second song, "Windows Are Rolled
Down," is the single memorable
hook on the album. The four other
hooks are solidly beautiful and the
rest could be done without - even
if the pancakes are to die for.
Lee takes a chance with a blue-
sier sound on the track "Jesus,"
accompanied by vocalist James
Gadson. The truly terrible track
clashes deeply with Lee's thun-
dering country vocals repeating,
"Oh Jesus can you help me now /
No I never felt so alone." It seems
that Jesus would be less interested
in uplifting Lee from his women
problems than in helping him to
rediscover his musical prowess.
It appears Lee has gone slightly
off-kilter from the numerous soul-
based genres under his Philadel-
phian belt, but "Learned a Lot,"
"Cup of Sorrow" and "Violin" save
us from completely discarding the
broken-hearted, scruffy angel with
a jawline sharper than his own F
sharp.
A glimpse of sunshine within
Lee's introspective and mostly
somber album is "Learned a Lot,"
which takes you to a sweetly nos-
talgic mindset, Starbucks cup
warmingyour palm, as his acoustic
strings warm the rest of you with
"I've been crying / But my crying
is through." "Cup of Sorrow" is full
of sorrow, but it's the brand that
we all hate to love. Standout track
"Violin" is a gorgeous statemhent
of sound from both Lee and guest
Sam Beam of Iron & Wine that
brings us back to classic Amos Lee.
Vacuuming Mission Bell into the
gray abyss of mediocre records are
Lee's over-simplified, forgettable
lyrics. The album is peppered with
scene-describing poetic phrases
that could have only been appre-
ciated at the time of their creation
(probably by good ol' Adam and
Eve) - distant shores, unknown
coasts, rolling highways, heaven's
gate and dark nights.
Fifteen percent of the album is
devoted to "El Camino" - Lee's
original opening song on Mission
Bell and the concluding reprise,
accompanied by Willie Nelson.
Though the collaboration rounds
the album off reverently, it also
as producer. industry is youth dominated.
For whom does
this 'Bell' toll?
Mission Bell is more of a fail-
ure than a success; Lee took a risk
and there are an overwhelming
number of throwaways, but "Win-
dows Are Rolled Down" and "Vio-
lin" could easily slink their way
into your recently played. So run
away to a distant shore with those
redeeming songs and life will be
just smashing.
Rolling
of
sound.
into a
It's ale
Roll
as a li
ture a
into
ballad
break
it awa
heavy
rural
fiddles
earthy
feel of
a Yose
Th
is!
The
the alb
teners
schizo
gBlackouts have this type figure out its overall identity.
party-hardy-all-day-long The Go! Team is just another
. But then the album rolls pack of crazy British kids with
deeper, more discreet feel. a sole purpose of going nuts
sost bipolar. with neon and partying away,
ing Blackouts starts off and it should just stay this way.
vely, urban garage mix- Seriously, who does the band
nd then transitions itself think it's kidding with this
a Io-fi, woodsy hyper- new, softer sound?
. Instrumental tracks Listeners have to give The
up the album and send Go! Team credit, though. The
y from the busy, sound- motley bunch of hipster rock
city setting into a more stars does show off an artis-
place with trumpets and tic range. The Go! Team crew
. "Yosemite Theme" is knows how to put together mel-
with an authoritative odies withoutbeingtoo intense.
force and strength - like An album filled with party-
mite ranger. starters like "T.O.R.N.A.D.O."
and "Bust-Out Brigade" may be
too much for some to handle.
le Go! Tea m The band juxtaposes these
tracks with tuneful numbers
Ready! To! like the Best Coast-like "Buy
yJe*y! *" Nothing Day."
P One day The Go! Team may
arty! grow out of its crazy ways and
completely change its style,
successfully mellowing out
patchwork of styles on into a quieter tone. But for now,
um may throw a few lis- the band is still pulling out the
off. Rolling Blackouts is hair-raisers and club-bangers
phrenic when trying to with a city-tastic kick.
*hiU OK
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