ARTS
Saturday, July 20, 1985
The Michigan Daily
Page 8
Werewolves,
chained ducks,
and dementia
I
B Marc S. Taras drum sequencer-scratch-squonk
By.funky beat hypno-werewolf dance-
crazed amblings.
RED FRITH had just begun his Gathering selves in the parking lot
F solo set at the Ark Wednesday in between sets consider these
night, and as I climbed the stairs my feelings I have shared. One friend
first notion was that he must know the suggests that this music may be the
cats crawling along the vast celestial result of mental illness. I had con-
bell. He had a couple of guitars in sidered and rejected this hypothesis
various states of assembly lying on a in favor of the werewolf from outer
table before him. He worked them space theory. Rapid growth of fur.
over with bows, mallets, chains and Tim Hodgkinson is quite the
fists. The infamous guitar on the table English gentleman as he offers up his The Dream Syndicate played more than just pop-psychedelia in a slow-s
technique. Shocking. And compelling. peculiar brand of alto bend exotic.
When he strapped a guitar across his Birds of verdant pastoral grass take
shoulder in a relatively conventional flight squealing to the sky. They
wheel and turn as one. Hodgkinson's
work with alto saxophone, and V I i a e s ar
mouthpiece carries the implicit
suggestion of communal intelligence.
Human fission in action; lips bun-
ched, shoulders hunched. Ab-rhtmcsoni
b vaehudrlsulrntAnBy Robin Wojclk rhythmic, soundinj
breviated brd clls. Clarinets in B oi 'ockpae rudu
squeaky bloom. I wonder if the played around u '
Englsh awaystravl wih liingMedicine Show." 7
English always travel with lving HE DREAM Syndicate, now four years old, is star- "John Coltrane B]
spirits inside their horns? Inciden- ting to developa sense of humor, not to mention style. hung the lyrics at
tally, while speaking with Hodgkinson Can you imagine The Dream Syndicate playing Pink Braxton, Coleman
after the show he admitted that I n Floyd? How about "The Lonely Bull" by The Tiajuana on the stereo tos
quite right; he was indeed carrysng Brass (which might beon their next album)? Dream Syn- guitar solos by Cut
on a conversation with God-only- dicate is starting to diversify from pure psychedelia into a one of the new son
no wat k i o n lfe fm. wider variety of musical styles touching on blues and Cutler as "Dildo T(
vigorous rock. They were certainly in a playful mood Dream Syndical
splitting atoms. gently. Rolling over a Thursday at Rick's, interspersing their show with a
windytranWaefwfectote eofaRiksinesesn thishwwt they're decent mus
bell ohih r odfokowdysterrain.Wcouple of humorous, slightly offbeat covers of old songs. talent. Wynn's se
what translates for them. Shivers A problem the Dream Syndicate must cope with is albums, though it d
Frith These visions ought to h ave keeping their guitar-laden sound interesting. The new he knows how to1
...howls at the moon. prepared me for the duet settthat was guitarist, Paul Cutler, is a wild man; he has added variety exactly when to r
approach I noticed flange bar to cap off the evening, or so I thought. and innovation to the band. Cutler uses small amounts of The antics betwee
seagulls floating in heavy ether skies Now I know that there is nothing that the band's trademark feedback, but adds cute tricks like possible positionsa
above a density of electronic animal would have served as adequate playing with a beer bottle. - are entertaining
mutations. Sparse critters danced preparation. How could I prepare for The band got off to a slow start, which made some of Dream Syndicat
upon the table top. Ducks in Chains? Bondage music. their new tunes sound mediocre, but they built to a decent and are still lookir
Evolution occurs so quickly with Strings across the pond - weirdly crescendo by the shows conclusion, doing three encores. now, they dabble in
Evolution.occrs o quickly wit' JeStedringsaco e pot nd eirdly The songs included the best of their old music. "When You bluesy sound to
this music. We're on board. It's Joe's muted clarinet, mouthpiece, and Smile" lacked the opening feedback and was mere screaming.
Cosmic Star Ark Lounge. Frith ap- chains. Yes. Chains. Bursting well in-
pears to be suffering a brief seizure; to the beautiful (for brief moments of
notes flutter from deliberately eternity at a time!)
palsied limbs. Giant painted turtles eternity at a time!) mallet machine
and deep-voiced frogs bob to the sur- music, water drums, and the great
face and bellow for a moment before blort bird of a saxophone.
disappearing. Or evolving. I'm in- Sent you a wire. Stop. Delay. Stop.
clined to take a break for a smoke to Repeat. Stop. Stop. Stop.
better appreciate what's happening Violins bowed with squeak and f Bek Flash the tune goes nowhere; its funk
here but frustrated by the feeling that squawk. Fun fonkin' phone in fitfulJfe ck-F s grooves are stuck in flypaper. "Gets
things would not be the same when I starts and stops. More mutant fowl (Epic) Us All In The End" is livelier with Ar-
returned. Frith himself wouldn't be writing soundtracks for bedlam. In- Jeff Beck's latest album, like his thur Baker's hip-hop beat box firing
the same. I mean he might change. finite aural lunacy. The final was a career, is uneven. To most people up the sound. Too bad the
The world's only lycanthropic relatively accessible guitar and sax Beck is known as a guitar hero and arrangement sounds like a cross bet-
guitarist. duet with rhythm box. It was stilla lot that's what works best for him, Unfor- ween Survivor and a Jane Fonda
Sure enough! Werewolf vocals and like taling your Mexican food with tunately, for much of the album, en- Workout record.
strangled cries are torn from gripped lots of extra Clancy's. Whoosh! titled Flash, he has discarded that "Escape" is a collaboration bet-
throats. Tires squeal and autos veer Just the facts, ma'am. Large formula. A large part of the problem ween Beck and Jan (Miami Vice)
off the road. What if the ex- Joseph of the Star Lounge in Exile is his choice of producers. Nile Hammer. It's not bad, it's just that it
traterrestrials were monitoring this and La David of the new Ark are to be Rodgers and Arthur Baker are fine sounds like all the other Beck/Ham-
concert? Good Lord. What if Frith is applauded for providing asylum for stylists, but Beck is a musician, and mer efforts. Rod Stewart raises his
communicating with them' What if wayward alchemists and their sky- technician, not a pop craftsman. rooster-maned head on "People Get
he is one of them? What a treat. The eyed followers. Let the magic con- "Ambitious" is the album's opener. Ready," Curtis Mayfield's gospel in-
lights fade on scattered electronic tinue. Dominated by Jimmy Hall's vocals; ugitced classic. This, ones bound to
4
tarting (but big-finishing) set.
Ls ahead 4
g like a sweet love song. Steve Wynn
ing a hick, old man voice in "The
The band delivered a great version of
lues," with Wynn ad libbing and gar-
the end. He also added the names of
, and others to his list of what he plays
seduce women. There were plenty of4
ler. I especially liked a bluesy solo from
ngs, "50 In A 25 Zone" (referred to by
orture").
e rates high on my list of bar bands;
sicians and have some degree of artistic
nse of timing is impeccable on his
didn't come across as well live. Even so,
build a lot of anticipation and knows
esolve it, an important musical knack.
n Wynn and Cutler - playing in im-
and generally trying to outdo each other
to watch. 4
e has moved on since their last album
ig for a sound they can live with. For
n everything from pure psychedelia to a
good ol' thrash-and-stomp frenzied
be an MTV heavy rotation video.
The B-side is filled with forgettable
musical moments. Jimmy Hall's
vocals are faceless and boring. Worse
yet, Beck handles the vocal chair
himself for a couple of tunes.
It's unfortunate when an artist of
Beck's stature releases material like
this. Generally, the only time you see
albums of this quality is the release of
posthumous leftovers. If you want to
hear what Jeff Beck is capable of, buys
Mick Jagger's She's The Boss LP,
because asa hired gun, Beck's hot!
-Jay Dorrance