2B - Thursday, November 8, 2012

The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com

ARTS RECOMMENDS
In this feature, Daily Arts writers will give their endorsements
for the arts you need to experience to help you deal with current events.
"The Killing Joke"
For those who think Heath Ledger's portrayal
of The Joker in "The Dark Knight" was too twist-
ed, too over-the-top insane, it's likely that you've
never read "Batman: The Killing Joke," a DC
SMIL / graphic novel written by the visionary Alan Moore
and illustrated by the meticulous Brian Bolland.
The one-shot offers up the most manic, depraved
DC COMICS version of the makeup-laden villain there is.
The Beatles
Face it: The day everyone agrees on politics (and
stops arguing about them on Facebook) is never
going to come. For those who are sick of all the
fighting and want everyone to just be friends, it's
time to look instead to the music front for comfort
- specifically to The Beatles. Unlike the seedy poli-
ticians we voted for on Tuesday, any song or album
by the Liverpool band is something that everyone
can generally getbehind. After all, it's a lot less cool
APPLE to hate The Beatles than it is Mitt Romney.
"Paperman"
"Paperman," an animated short preceding the
film "Wreck-It Ralph," lifts the heart. Every piece
is perfectly weighted, from the mellow build of the
music, to the simplicity and brilliance of the style
of animation, to the resonance of the story. "Paper-
man" tells of half-glances, the means with which
we communicate and the lengths we should go to
find the people we pass by. It truly is love at first
DISNEY sight.
"Chopped"
Like the idea of watching chefs struggle with
zany ingredients a la "Iron Chef," but don't want
a Japanese man enthusiastically munching on
a bell pepper in a three-course competition for
$10,000? "Chopped" might be a better fit for you.
The Food Network's high-stakes, high-drama
show pits everyone from teen chefs to seasoned
pros against ingredients like spam and candy.

JUDGING
A BOOK
BY ITS
COVER
Daily Arts writers go
against the famous
idiom, choose a
random book and
make assumptions
about its contents
based on the cover art.

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I

X LIBRIS CORPORATION

"It." The word's haunting sim-
plicity remains lodged in your
ears long after the antecedent's
meaning has faded from memory.
Signifier blends with signified as
meaning becomes divorced from
semantics. That is, if meaning
exists to begin with.
These are the questions posed
by Pulitzer-prize winning poet
Donald H. Carpenter in his lat-
est collection, which the New
York Times Book Review dubbed,
"a venerable display of linguis-
tic wits destined to leave Noam
Chomsky quaking in his boots."
In a recent interview with The
Michigan Daily, Carpenter, noto-
riously reclusive from the media,
sat down to discuss poetry, his
recent hiatus to Yemen and, of
course, pronouns.
TMD: You've been MIA for

about the past 10 years. Care to
discuss your J.D. Salinger status?
DHC: Well, you see, much of
one's growth as an artist depends
on silence. If I were to discuss
with you as fragile an experience
as Yemen, the entire period could
be erased.
TMD: You're speaking meta-
phorically?
DHC: Not so much metaphor,
but a desire to examine myself
from an external lens, what Jona-
than Franzen might term "self-
transformation."
TMD: OK, that doesn't really
make sense.
DHC: In many ways, I feel my
life has been a constant attempt
to escape my own shadow. You
could call that the Robert Louis
Stevenson side of me.
TMD: I have no idea what

you're talking about. Let's turn to
your book. Can you explain why
you wrote an entire poetry col-
lection focused on the increasing
irrelevance of the pronoun "it"?
DHC: It's a problem I've been
dealing with since I was a boy.
To the extent that any of us ever.
actually had "it," I think the
general trend in our society has
been one of dispersion, making
any form of centrality virtually
impossible. And the only formal
device I could find of broaching
this existential dilemma seemed
to be generative linguistics.
TMD: Sounds fascinating.
And, I mean, I just thought this
thing was about sex when I first
saw the cover. Thanks for your
time.
DHC: Not a problem at all.
-JACOB AXELRAD

SINGLE REVIEW

T

If your ears are 'still ring-
ing after Centipede Hz, Animal
Collective has
some newer
material that's *
a little more Cmson
subdued.
"Crimson" is Animal
being released Collective
as a B-Side
to Centipede Domino
Hz's bright,
bubbling track, "Applesauce."
While "Applesauce" seems to
rev up at the start, accelerating
into a shimmering combustion,
"Crimson" begins awkward
and dysfunctional, sounding
more like a tape rewinding.
Steel drums pound discordant-
ly as Avey Tare's vocals pierce
through the song, sounding
especially downcast.
Tare is at the forefront of
"Crimson," leading the melody
as various whirrs, mews and a
steady drumbeat march along-
side. The song is coherent yet

It has been a good few years
for muscle-bound action stars.
"Fast Five" reminded audi-
ences that a
good dosage
of Dwayne
Johnson can Bullet to
rejuvenate
a tired fran- the Head
chise - and
mae yu Warner Bros
make you
excited for
even more sequels - follow
Johnson on Twitter for stills
of him throwing people into
tables during the production of
"Fast Six." That's called giving
the people whatthey want. Syl-
vester Stallone's revival-action
parody "The Expendables"
delighted audiences with its
cheeky, manly hodgepodge of
creaking heroes. Long story
short, we are living in the P90x
age of cinema.
Enter "Bullet to the Head,"
Stallone's latest. Apparently
Stallone is a bounty hunter

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off, tropical but overcast.
Because of"Crimson"'sunre-
markable melody, the song's
real strength is derived from its
cryptic but captivating lyrics.
Tare shrieks and moans about
confusion, death and apathy.
Animal Collective allows
"Crimson" to writhe for three

minutes, building to a final
release 'of poppy goodness.
"Now my heart is taking over,"
Tare declares, followed by .a
playful, airy succession of keys.
"Crimson" is unsettling, murky
with noise pollution, but ends
with abreak in the clouds.
-KATIE STEEN

EPISODE REVIEW

There's nothing more fun
than a wedding episode. Love,
laughter, deceit: It's all there.
"Revenge"
offers up the
Graysons, tak-
ing anotherR
stab at "mari-
tal bliss." "Illusion"
Because, real-
ly, what would
Conrad and
Victoria do without each other?
They are the perfect match
in deceptions and we know they
secretly - or not so secretly,
Victoria, you dirty bastard - get
a thrill each time they wipe a
smug smile off the other's face.
Conrad's arrest and Victoria's
glee solidify the perfect ending
to aloveless, delectable farce.
Emily invented a cover-up
for the Scar incident to throw
nosy Mason off the scent and
still managed to whip together
a party dress that sizzles almost
as hot as the sparks of sexual

Every so often, a track comes
along that manages to-do some-
thing wonderful and unexpect-
ed: It changes
perceptions. ***
The xx's
"Crystalised" Global
told indie thatC
it was OK to
go minimalist, Robert DeLong
Kanye's "Lost
in the World" Glassnote
made it OK for
hip-hop artists to work hand-in-
hand with folksters.
Along came "Global Con-
cepts," Robert DeLong's first
single off his first ever EP. The
song begins modestly, seem-
ingly an intro to a catchy, upbeat
alternative hit. With under-
stated, building percussion - a
xylophone here, some tropical
drums there - DeLong sings
about his indecisiveness: "Did I
make money, was I proud? / Did
I play my songs too loud?"
And then the track explodes,

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chemistry flinging everywhere.
There's plenty blazing with
the deliciously British Aiden
and some latent zings from Dan-
iel as well, though he's suffering
under Ashley's wet blanket of a
personality. Even her scheming
with Conrad couldn't make her

any less forgettable.
With Nolan churning out
one-liners and Emily going
strong on the scheming front,
"Revenge" put on a dazzling
wedding charade and isn't slow-
ing down any time soon.
-KELLYETZ

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