The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com Tuesday, April 5, 2011 -- 7 The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom Tuesday, April 5, 2011 - 7 For the love of listening n my heart there is a 24-hour Lightning Bolt show, but my head says wear ear plugs, terrified of committing when my body is trying its best to sway and head- bang when appropriate. I become the ghost of genre, the corporeal JOE re-enactment DIMUZIO of decades I wasn't alive in. I am wearing clothes owned by other men, maybe women, discarded. Listening to old records that have been scratched and handled by individually oily fingernails, scrubbed hands com- posite in the decision that it was worth the money or died, hand- ing it over. I can listen to the sounds of any song I want, so I stick to roughly four or five thousand, an island, a curse. I am regretting my predilection for melody, heart, emotion and wordplay. I am try- ing to remove the rhythm and compactness from pop and the elation and soul from anything else other than what has been approved by straight, white men 15 years my senior. I tell myself I am not like them or anyone else I know, and that wandering in the dark is possible when your lights are turned on and your laptop back-lit screen is brighter than the dim lamp illuminating eyelids at 2:48 a.m. I am convinced I will dream in Technicolor. I have come to believe in cliches, because they make me comfortable. I have settled for conclusions on Brian Wilson, Prince Rogers Nelson and any number of emotional, physical, drug, dream casualties because I'm predisposed to become quiet when sad, rhythmic when angry. I have not learned that music doesn't calm any damn beast, it just confuses it to the point of exhau: best fr Musicl the bes I am h I lon obsess no loni a day-I Stone,: head o it's cra Campu vinced loway' as gooc it at 5:C while' and a t minute son int (unpro I ha is no st confess but a c off dur longer receive who ha believe I sangi I was u tions a chappe Taking ing it t stion. Iam downplaying my by ingrates who pretend to drink iend's purchase of Fear of alot, too tired to get drunk. because I know it is one of I have told myself that "Whip st records he's ever bought. My Hair" is a fluke when I know oping my friends fail. it's an answer, and ignored the g for a counterpart in my reality of death and familial ions, knowing they would decay. I have pretended not to ger be obsessions. I wield care. I am touched by Trey Songz ong love affair with Sly when shields are low, and cannot replaying an album in my remove Alvin Lucier from the n a bus trip and deciding echoing chasm of my carefully p in the course of North guarded, half-deaf head. I tell as to CC Little. I've con- people Iwill make time, find- myself that Aaron Dil- ing the clock past midnight not s Chain Shot will neverbe returning from the ball. Staying d as the first time I heard out past mybedtime, affairs with 00 a.m. on my headphones reluctant lovers, tunes I forget in wearing basketball shorts minutes I waste, matchmaking. -shirt, believing for a few I have listened to quiet my es that I was the only per- head when it is loud and clamor- the world listening to it ing for silence after 21years of ven, likely true). noise. Accepting safety in the ve danced alone, which belief of hearing it all, casually atementof pride but a admittiig the skin that is scraped sion that merits nothing when Sun Ra launches, Suicide ry for help. I tore my shirt digs in and Julie London waltzes ing a DJ set that lasted no likea panther in vocal smoke. than half an hour and was I tried to hold on when Lime ed by 20 or so drunk people told me it was magic, when Iam ad nothing else to do. I lost in nine minutes dubbed like in things that don't exist. a lifetime in short - purpose into the mirror realizing forgiven when a soul achieves tterly devoid of the emo- transcendence. Speaking without nd words coming out of my thinking, skipping over words ed lips and buttered heart. like the melody of a week spent in it seriously, seriously tak- absence of knowing you are sing- oo far. ing dead songs breathed life. Turn "it" up. I will downplay the vulner- ur i'u ability I have for mirrors and facile dead ends. The realizations Do it. that occupy days in which eter- . I. nity seems manageable and the grasp of hopeless future seems likea three-chord elegy written t bored at the Pike Room in feedback, food prepared with cided it was all over and love and deliberation to come ffee could change things back for seconds. Knowing that could Sign '0 the Times. I one listen is never enough, and helves of books Ihave no that infinity is a lifetime of defeat on of reading, cassettes spun on minute hands, amplified, e heat-damaged, relation- waves crashing however they have failed to nourish. I choose on some precious, private, utched the drooping plas- desperate shoreline. Artists from Rihanna to the Morning Benders have aided the Japan relief effort through releases. Tuning in to relief I] I go and de that co and so have s intenti that ar ships I have cI Music for Japan binds sound and selflessness ByJULIA SMITH-EPPSTEINER Daily Arts Writer Music has been proven to alter brain waves and heart rate, affect plant growth, mend a broken heart and - most importantly - to raise money for charity. This time around, Japan is in need, and iTunes, the Morning Benders and Sava's Cafe have stepped up to the plate with fervor. It's true that we very rarely have the sound satisfaction of seeing our cash directly translate into a concrete place of assistance, thus doubts can arise. We may have doubts about our money providing tangible relief, but it is such a devastating occurrence that even the possibility makes it worth it. Mainstream music's biggest names have responded to the devastaljqn frpm the 8.9-mag- nitude earthquake near the east coast of Honshu, Japan and the ensuing Pacific tsunami with Songs for Japan. The album con- tains 38 previously recorded popular songs for $9.99 (found on iTunes's homepage), and all proceeds go straight to the Japa- nese Red Cross Society to be used for immediate relief and eventual recovery support. Songs for Japan features 30 altruistic artists including U2, Norah Jones, Kings of Leon, Rihanna, Black Eyed Peas, Adele, Bob Dylan, Justin Bieber, Emi- nem and Bruce Springsteen. It seems that a lot of the songs on the compilation, like "Imag- ine" by John Lennon and "Hold On" by Michael Bubl, were cho- sen for their lyrically inspiration- al tone. However, there are some that don't fit the philanthropic shoe. For instance, it escapes me as to how Rihanna's "Only Girl (In The World)" suits the album's purpose, with lyrics like, "Take me for a ride, ride / Oh baby, take me high, high / Let me take you by surprise / Oh make it last all night, night." Does she want the disaster to last all night long? Can't be that ... the connection to Japan is lost on me. But in reality, if "Only Girl" and other irrelevant songs on the album boost the number of pur- chasers - contributing to relief down the line - then I'm not opposed. There is one album that I admittedly like better and is also assisting Japan through the power of music: Japan Echo. The Morning Bendersy e-somewhat small-time band. from Berkeley, Calif., came out with their sev- enth EP a week after the disaster took place. One hundred percent of their proceeds are being donat- ed to Japan Society's Earthquake Relief Fund. Japan Echo has eight tracks full of remixed indie-pop rapture. One can purchase this album for incremental prices spanning in generosity from five to one hundred dollars, with all levels of donation appreciated by the Morning Benders. This humanitarian EP feels much more connected to the Japan tragedy than Songs for Japan, as band member Chris Chu was born in Japan and has "always had a deep love for the country and people," according to a statement he made on the album's release. Even further attaching the Morning Benders to the island nation is the fact that they were scheduled to play their first Tokyo show when the disas- ter hit. Japan Echo gets superbly funky with "Excuses" (RAC Remix), "Hand Me Downs" (Wild Nothing Remix) and "Bet- ter In Blue." These eight tracks aren't just a rehashing of old songs but will bring a pleasing electronic soundscape for do- gooders to dance to. More locally, on Ann Arbor's beloved South State Street, Sava's Cafe held "Jam for Japan" last Wednesday. There was a live performance by Derby Mama, Future Genies, Leap Year and Buttonsphere, and even the col- lege students at the event dished out their treasured pocket money. . Sava's raised oezbii'0 as of 12 a.m. on Thursday, when they still had two more hours of benevolent partying to go. Even if I prefer listening to Japan Echo or local bands over sweet potato fries, I'm beginning to realize that allofthese attempts are hitting different demograph- ics (in some cases Bieber Fever hooligans) and have serious value. If you have contributed to better- ing the lives of the Japanese survi- vors in this way already, continue to enjoythe tunes. If not, jump on it and get jammin' for Japan. tic ofhagshousing vinyl _Iknow I will never love enough. They will drape my living room like relics in an under-funded museum run Dimuzio secretly listens to Willow Smith. To catch him in the act, e-mail shonenjo@umich.edu. TV RpEoV a EfWi 'Bd'prvsa alr By KELLY ETZ DailyArts Writer With TV already dominated by crime scene investigators and * overly sexed doctors, "Body of Proof" has a hard time carv- log out its own space. Though Boyof the premise is Proof promising - a hrilliant neu- pilot rosurgeon is forced into the Tuesdaysat10 p.m. * role of a medi- ABC cal examiner by injuries suffered from a car crash - the rest of the pilot falters. Most notably, the lead character, Dr. Megan Hunt (Dana Delany, "Desperate Housewives"), is a hastily thrown-together mess, frequently sputtering dialogue 0 so painfully tired and overused it will make your ears bleed. Hunt can't seem to make up her mind on which stereotypi- cal character from a medical or criminal procedural drama she wants to embody. She's a char- * acter from a different show in every scene - from a snarky doctor with an inferiority com- plex (a la "House"), to a socially incompetent brainiac ("Bones"), to a tough cop out for justice ("Law & Order: Special Victims Unit"), to a woman dealing with a repressed love for her partner ("Castle"). Yet all these hopeless- ly hackneyed possibilities don't save Hunt from acting like she's walking around with a question mark over her head. You know a show is bad when even a seasoned actress like Delany can't quite pull off such a mundane character. There are moments where it seems that she might just break through the achingly awful dialogue and overly trite plot, but every attempt falls short of satisfactory. It's a shame, given that a power- ful female character spearhead- ing a new series should have HEY MICKEY YOU SO FINE, YOU SO FINE YOU. SHOULD WRITE FOR DAILY FINE ARTS. E-mail join.arts@umich.edu for information on applying to cover campus performances and exhibits. coURTESY OF ABc "Get up, everyone knows you're faking." proved to be a refreshingly origi- Apparently, Hunt believes she nal change. Unfortunately, ABC can solve the case all by her lone- made the misguided decision to some, and her long gazes into place "Body of Proof" on Tues- empty spaces supposedly alert day nights, thus pitting it against viewers to her brilliant deductive several female-targeted dramas, reasoning skills. And what do including "The Good Wife," an you know, as the episode draws already popular show featur- to a close, Hunt smugly puts the ing a strong female lead. View- final pieces in place and shoves ers won't know where to turn, her superior investigative work and will likely end up dismissing right in the detectives' faces. By "Body of Proof" altogether. this time, there's an almost vis- ceral need to see both detectives tell Hunt to shut it and go back to I egan hunts her lab where she belongs. The show may have started for personality. with an intriguing concept, and yes, Delany was a good choice for the role. But "Body of Proof" has to work harder to distinguish The unfortunate time slot may itself from the surplus of other prove to be the least of view- dramas in its genre. If it hopes ers' worries, though. The mul- to stay afloat, it must attempt to tiple discrepancies put forth are carve out at least a few decent tiresome at best and decidedly characters who are distinct in sloppy, even for a premiere. Hunt their own right, rather than bor- seems way too passionate about rowed from overworked, too- her medical examiner work, familiar stereotypes. given thatshe's been forced into it If "Body of Proof" can rise after losing the ability to perform from the ashes of its burned-out what she reallyloves - neurosur- pilot, it may hit a notch slightly gery. Even harder to understand above mediocre. However, find- is why Hunt believes she is an ing enough viewers to stick honorary detective, despite the around that long will prove to be lack ofabadge or training. a challenge. 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