The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com

Wednesday, January 16, 2013 - 5A

The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom Wednesday, January16, 2013 - 5A

Kahane to join
yMusic in concert

UMS to present
collaborative
musical ensemble
By LENA FINKEL
DailyArts Writer
In a pit stop on the way to the
group's first tour, yMusic will be
accompanying friend and musi-
cian Gabriel
Kahane. A self- Gabriel
proclaimed Kahane
"classical
chamber music yMusic
ensemble,"
yMusic first Thursday and
formed in 2001 Fridayat 7:30
when multi- Arthur Miller
instrumental Theatre
musicians
Rob Moose, $35
CJ Cameri-
eri, Alex Sopp,
Hideaki Aomori and Nadia
Sirota joined forces. According
to violinist and guitarist Rob
Moose, the group came together
with the intention of being "an
auxiliary" to other artists.
Moose, 30, explained, "We
thought we had a nice balance of
style backgrounds and wanted
to show other sides of what our
instruments could do."
The ensemble reached its
current personnel in 2010 when
cellist Clarice Jenson - who,
according to Moose, seemed to
be "destined to be in the group"

- joined the band.
Though all members attend-
ed traditional conservatories,
yMusic has strayed from its
classical roots. Most recently,
the group performed with indie
rock band Dirty Projectors and
will do so again on Jan. 21 in
Sydney.
The group has also worked
with musicians Shara Worden,
Son Lux and of course, Gabriel
Kahane.
Moose first met Kahane in
2007 through a mutual friend
when Kahane was playing solo
and looking to work with other
musicians.
Kahane himself is aasinger,
songwriter, pianist, guitar-
ist and composer and has per-
formed with Sufjan Stevens and
Rufus Wainwright. His most
recent album Where are the
Armsachieved critical acclaim
from The New York Times,
which said the album "conveys
emotional intelligence."
Kahane has since written
the composition "For the Union
Dead" exclusively for the sex-
tet. Based on the similarly titled
book of poems by Robert Lowell,
the 35-minute piece consists of
nine movements and was one of
the first pieces ever written for
yMusic.
Moose called it "one of the
most underperformed pieces"
and said they plan on playing
part of the composition for their
performance at the Arthur Mill-

er Theatre on Thursday and Fri-
day night.
Moose and the rest of yMusic
will also play selections from the
ensemble's debut album Beauti-
ful Mechanical, while Kahane
will perform songs from Where
are the Arms with accompani-
ment from the ensemble, as well
as a solo set he called "piano
karaoke."
Following the Ann Arbor
performance, yMusic will move
on to Minneapolis and Cincin-
nati and then on to a mini-tour
in Sydney, while Kahane will
continue his U.S. tour in cities
including Evanston, New York
and Washington, D.C.
Despite the two parting
ways, Moose insisted that this
wouldn't be the end of yMusic's
collabtration with Kahane.
"We are constantly evolving
and are creating better and bet-
ter outputs and it's really excit-
ing to do that with a friend and
peer. We are really looking for-
ward to continue to work with
him," Moose explained.
He called Kahane "one of the
most talented people (he has)
ever worked with."
After the group's Sydney
tour, yMusic will return to the
studio in March to work on a
new albumto be released in fall
2013.
Kahane's U.S. tour will end in
late April with his performance
at Carnegie Hall with the
Orpheus Chamber Orchestra.

WARNER BROS
"I wrote you 365 letters. I wrote you every day for a year.
Killer cast can't make
'Gangster' stand out


By NOAH COHEN
Daily Arts Writer
Tommy guns that glint in sepia
aren't a free ticket to the gangster
movie hall of fame. "Gangster
Squad" speaks
the language of {
mid-twentieth
century urban Gangster
violence with Squad
all the subtlety
of Scarface's At Quality 16
last stand, but and Rave
the manic ener-
gy of antagonist Warner Bros
Mickey Cohen
(Sean Penn, "Mystic River") only
manages to satirize Tony Mon-
tana - and Penn's performance
was the best of the lot. All the
good guys are too clean, and for
the same reason that "The Phan-
tom Menace" never held a candle
to "A New Hope," "Gangster
Squad" does not do the gangster
genre any favors.
"Gangster Squad" is slightly
hollow. It's like when you try
to explain why "Star Wars" is
cool to your older sister and she
regurgitates what you've said to
prove she understands - some-
thing is missing, and you know
that she doesn't quite get it.
Gangster movies aren't about the
battle, and they shouldn't resem-
ble video games. Some pastiche
of period violence clips will cat-
egorically suffice as cutscenes for

a perio
to watc
the sp:
peratel
imperf
Take
O'Mara
Grit").
icism b
respon
lante
with a
heavily
glehan
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reptilia
of court
is jeopa
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mode a
world.
H
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(Ryan
Love.")
the "fi
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shine k
inner fi

d game, but we don't want years with alcohol and women
h a game; we want to see in order to mute the ambient
it flinging from the des- pain of an uncaring world, is'
y lisping lips of grasping, reawakened with a silent fury.
ect men. For a moment here, Wooters goes
e our hero, Sgt. John full "Die Hard." Once he has an
a (Josh Brolin, "True emotional horse in the race, he
Hardened to cold sto- resolves to join O'Mara's squad
by World War II, O'Mara of underground misfits on their
ds to being sent on a vigi- mission to take Mickey down.
nission to subvert Cohen The thrills of these bouts of
n impassive nod, storms unstoppable rage, banally sweet-
fortified places nigh sin- ened by the aura of heroic righ-
dedly, plays up his sang- teousness guiding our heroes'
ersona to a point of literal, footsteps and the heroic resolve
tn unaffectedness; until, in our heroes' eyes, are preempt-
-se, the safety of his wife ed by the film's neatness and pre-
ardized and he reveals his dictability - their families were
ity. He then enters rage bound to be endangered, the
nd shortly rocks Mickey's shoeshine kid practically walked
onto set with a target on his back,
and God help all the evil hench-
men.
[ey girl not Despite Emma Stone's ("The
1 Amazing Spider-Man") ever-
even Ryan , sexy "Jessica Rabbit"'routine and
Gosling's sweetheart swagger,
Gosling is despite asupportingcastthat (for
all practical purposes) is flaw-
ing this one. less and cinematography that
delivers, even despite the shiny
background tracks that serve as
an effective counterpoint to all
larly, Sgt. Jerry Wooters the violent montages, "Gang-
Gosling, "Crazy, Stupid, ster Squad" can't touch "The
doesn't give a damn about Untouchables." Nothing really
ght for the soul of Los keeps it from being an enjoyable
s" until an innocent shoe- movie, and the audience is cer-
id he knows dies. Then his tainly never bored, but we were
ighter, repressed over the expecting something more.

FAT POSSUM
Man, I'm really overdue for a manicure "
Without Girls, Christopher
Owens grows up too fast

By KATIE STEEN
Daily Music Editor
Last July, when Christopher
Owens announced he was leaving
the. band Girls, he cited personal
reasons. With
the release of .
his solo album
Lysandre this Lysandre
week, it's clear
that Owens Christopher
has held up on Owens
his promise of Fat Possum
keeping things
personal.Lysan-
dre feels sort of like you're read-
ing his diary, or maybe a Twitter
feed full of cryptic updates of his
daily life (@Chri55yBaby, if you're
curious). It's super earnest, with
undeniable moments of beauty,
but unfortunately overwhelm-
ingly unremarkable.
Lysandre is named after a
French woman with whom
Owens had an affair - odd, given
that his girlfriend Hannah Hunt
sings backup on several tracks.
The album starts off with "Lysan-
dre's Theme," a 38-second-long,
flute-filled lullaby that is aggra-
vatingly peaceful.
This theme appears repeatedly
in various forms of instrumenta-
tion - it shows up in "Here We
Go," then again in "New York
City," and in "A Broken Heart,"
and also "Here We Go Again"
and, finally, in "Riviera Rock."
Yes, it gets annoying. Yes, it feels
gimmicky. Then it mysteriously
vanishes for two songs, only to
reappear in "Closing Theme,"
which is essentially a slightly juic-
ier "Lysandre's Theme."
Yet, after all this reiteration of
"Lysandre's Theme" throughout
Lysandre, when you get to the

actual
left wt
deal? F
lover, it
It's a si
while O
and "st
wants t
accuse t
ine, bu
up for t
age to t
is a son
you've,
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your s
just wa
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Lys
So.'
disappo
given t1
runs r,
entire
Christo
of Girls
band's
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majorit
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slower,
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more re
work (j
One
long fo
days of
It's a sa
es, ina
style, th
with l'

track "Lysandre," you're and knives and drugs and crime.
ondering: What's the big Owens and Hunt sing about
For a song about an ex- fucked-up experiences in New
i's pretty freaking upbeat. York City in a cheery, we-made-
mple ditty that bops along it, "Look at us in New York City"
)wens rhymes "moonlight" kind of way that successfully
tarlight," under which he emphasizes the viciousness of the
to kiss and dance. You can't song and its namesake.
the man of not being genu- And yet, "New York City" is, at
t honest lyrics don't make best, a tease. Owens's solo work
:he fact that they are aver- has its similarities to Girls, but
he point of beingsilly. This it's not Girls. There's, of course,
g you might listen to when the consistency of Owens's voice
just fallen in love and for- - soft and raw and cracking with
about your friends, and the emotion to the point of sounding
and everything that isn't like he's about to cry. But Lysandre
ignificant other and you is even more vulnerable than the
tnt to listen to something work of Girls.
y and oblivious as you feel. In "Love is in the Ear of the
Listener," Owens offers a string
of "what-if"s that wonder if he's
sandre is too even got talent at all, but he also
admits, "I'm not gonna control
honest what comes out of my mouth."
Lysandre is Owens's heartfelt
soapbox, and while it is defini-
tively not Girls in its style, there
Lysandre" is a terrifically are important similarities in the
ointing song, especially nature of its lyricism. There is
hat the theme of Lysandre however one song, "Everywhere
ampant throughout this You Knew," that sounds suspi-
album. That being said, ciously similar to Girls's track
pher Owens was one half "Broken Dreams Club" - perhaps
, and there's plenty of the as a nod to all of the Girls fansthat
influence that seeps in willundoubtedly give Lysandre a
hout the album. While the chance.
y of Lysandre leans toward Girls isn't dead - it has just
er work of Girls (sappy, matured a bit (perhaps it has
emotional stuff), Owens turned into "Women"?). Lysan-
in a few tracks that are dre is less flashy, less playable at
eminiscent of Girls's earlier a party and, unfortunately, sig-
amming with a heart). nificantly less fun. These songs
such track that makes us are no longer about being young
or the crunchy, carefree and dumb so much as they're
Album is "New York City." about being heartbroken or fall-
x-filled sprint that discuss- ing in love with one of several soul
adorable male-female duo mates. Maybe we're just going to
he magic of the Big Apple have to accept that Girls grew up
yrics pertaining to guns a little too fast.

FOR A GOOD TIME,
FOLLOW.
@MICH DAI LYARTS