Arts The Michigan Daily Tuesday, May 25, 1982 Page 7 Bach's Brandenburgs brought back to life has led many connoiseurs to ask why, By Jane C a r l a question which was explained by Lyndon Lawless, founder and musical 5director of Ars Musica. His explanation N A WINDOW overhanging a pew at denied the old musicologically based St. Andrews Church in Ann Arbor, is theory that works should be performed an ornate stained glass window that only on the instruments they were com- contains miniature portraits of posed for, instead presenting the more Beethoven, Bach, and Brahms. aesthetically satisfying argument that Beethoven and Brahms had little to do the instruments' strengths, with a concert presented there on Sun- weaknesses, and idiosyncracies day, but Bach was reincarnated enlivened the music of their own ac- through the efforts of Ars Musica. cord. Ars Musica, Ann Arbor's resident His most convincing statement said baroque orchestra, presented a delight- ful afternoon consisting of all six of exact recreation of a performance as it Bach's Brandenburg Concerti on in- had occurred in Bach's time, but to strudients of Bach's day. The growing present the music on its own terms in use of original instruments for works of the baroque and early classical period See CONCERTI, Page8 The Jam will perform tonight at the Michigan Theatre. The Jam is coming! The Jam is coming! By Michael Huget T SEEMS odd that a band such as The Jam, with decidedly British nationalist/anti-American attitudes, would tour the United States. Although they consistently garner both critical and popular acclaim in England, The Jam has somehow managed to avoid much of the latter in the United States. Unlike their punk peers and influences (The Who, The Kinks), the Jam has never been ob- sessed with conquering America. Their unembarrassed preference for em- phasizing dramatic melodies over rhythms has much to do with it: pop music stressed with American black music roots tends to be more popular here. Although the Band's latest release, The Gift, borrows once or twice from American R&B, the LP's sound con- tinues in the vein of past releases. But Paul Weller's songwriting imagination doesn't seem as active as on All Mod Cons or Setting Sons, and the result is a much more absorbable album - The Gift has more stable grooves than anything Weller has ever put together. Potentially exciting pop hooks are generally displaced by a rhythmic or melodic shift, although never enough to upset the insistently danceable beat. There is, however, a more remarkable difference between The Gift and earlier efforts: Weller's lyrics. Once overflowing with punk fervor, Weller seems, at times, to have become more contemplative, as if questioning the angry attitudes so prevalent on earlier works ("all the time that gets wasted hating.. . " he remarks on "The Gift"). He even criticizes punk nihilism on "Running on the Spot." The whole album isn't so pensive, though; there is still some anger, but it reflects more of the post-punk con- sciousness of New Order or Teardrop Explodes without the gloomy, porten- tious atmosphere. Especially notable is Weller's slash at technocracy ("The Planners Dream Goes Wrong"). Themes common on all Jam album" - romantic desperation, glorification of the worker's plight - appear again, only with an increased understanding and a more penetrating senstivity. The mood of The Gift, however, lends itself more readily to such a sensitivity. In the past, Jam LPs have been dominated with anger, making Weller's brief romantic tangents particularly unsettling. ((Even though "English Roses" from All Mod Cons is one of the most beautiful ballads composed in the past five years, it was unsetting.) But because of the confusion of The Gift, a song like "Precious" doesn't seem en- tirely out of place. Undoubtedly, tonight's concert at the Michigan Theatre will feature most of the songs from The Gift. A live com- parison of the new and old tunes should help put into perspective where Weller and the Jam are headed. Or better yet, where they really were.