10 - The MWhigan Daily Summer Weekly-Wednesday, May 6, 1992
I !
11
oth6110 Beautifully. shot in black and
hellwhite, the film barrels along at a
dir. Orson Welles nosebleed, speed metal pace, clock-
by Mark Binelli ing in at only 91 minutes (Atomic
If the thought of directing Citizen Shakespeare,indeed).Becausehewas
Kane at age 26 isn't enough to make forced to shoot Othello in snippets
allof yourecentgraduates feel worth- over such a long period, Welles used
less, lazy and impotent, then check an unconventional, rapid-fire editing
out Orson Welles' other masterpiece, technique,brilliantly covering up the
Othello, which he began filming at fact that he sometimes had to film
the ripe old age of 33. The project, bits of a single scene at different
madeover four years and funded with locations, occasionally even without
salaries Welles received from acting some of the principle actors present.
in other films, remains the ultimate This pacing often makes the film
exampleofguerrillafilmmaking.One feel rushed at times, stretching the
scene - the murder of Roderigo - believability of the love between the
was even recast ina bathhouse so that Moor(Wellesin annoyingblackface)
the elaborate costumes Welles was and Desdemona (Suzanne Cloutier).
unable to afford could be replaced by Also, the film's sound despite the
sheets. extensive remixing for this fortieth
anniversary restoration - remains
distracting; Welleshadhisactors dub
their lines in a studio after the shoot-
ing, and some of the synchronization
is off, while other speeches are sim-
ply unintelligible.
Visually, however, Othello is un-
touchable, from its opening funeral
procession to a shadowy fight scene
in the sewers of Venice to simple
shots of our tragic hero staring into a
mirror. The power, for instance, of
the final, climactic interaction be-
tween Othello and Desdemona -
the powerofseeing hersmothered by
a white handkerchief as she's sur-
rounded by darkness - more than
Serious Buffalo lyrics
by Annette Petruso
In the competitive world of guitar-
based sonic assault, Buffalo Tom has
a couple of advantages. Though the
band's new album,LetMe Come Over,
isn't their most novel release to date,
Buffalo Tom manages to crystallize a
nice compression of American indie
guitar-rock.
Thisaccomplishmentisn'tsurpris-
ing considering the band's influences
that guitarist/vocalist Bill Janovitz
listed for us from a pay phone some-
where in Virginia. "When we formed,
we were really into Husker Du and
Replacements and SST and Home-
stead stuff as well," he says. "Soul
Asylum, we do get compared to. I
don't have any of their records ... but
I thinkthey wereinfluenced by Hsker
Du and the Replacements as well..."
Though the bands and labels that
Janovitz mentioned now are relatively
dated, and less influential than, say,
corporate alternative like Nirvana or
Soundgarden, Buffalo Tom does have
the fact that it's a three-piece band on
their side. Though this band format
hasn't been the most commercially
successful, theclarity and fluidityofit
gives the band something special, es-
pecially live.
"It may have something to do with
the philosophy, you know," explains
Janovitz. "We only had three guys'
that were really interested in it at the
time, in being in the band ... The
format is good because it leaves us a
lot more freedom and Ithink if we had
another guy up there on stage for in-
stance, it would lock us into arrange-
pho
are immensely popular among college
students, yet ostracized by "college
music" demagogues for their classic
rock influences. Trey, however, is a bit
leery of the comparison.
Phish and some of those bands are
going toplay afewshowstogetherover
the summer. It will be great for the
ticket buyers,but Trey isafraid itwillbe
"too much fucking jamming!"
They dohavesomesomething brew-
ing about playing with soWe big band,
but he wouldn'ttellme whothey were.
I'm not one to start any rumors, so let
your mind wander.
PHISH will be at St. Andrew's Hall
tonight. Doors open at 9 p.m. Tickets
are$12.50inadvance,$15atthedoor.
Call 961-MELTfor more information.
w
ments more. This way it's a little bit
more challenging, it gives us a bit
more room to roam."
Buffalo Tom, however, doesn't
take many chances lyrically. Let Me
Come Over features the basic me-you
in a classic (rock) struggle.
Janovitz elaborates, "In a sense,
most of our stuff is about relation-
ships, interpersonal relationships and
stuff, but I'd like to think there's a
newer twist to it. We do take the lyrics
pretty seriously. I think we take them
a lotmore seriously than alotof other
bands, but I don't want to think we
take them too seriously either. I don't
want to think we're really morose or
anything like that."
Buffalo Tom: Unoriginal? Yes.
Fun to see live? Definitely. Morose?
Never.
BUFFALO TOM play St. Andrew's
Hall Friday night with the Jon Spen-
cer Blues Explosion opening. Tickets
are $7.50 in advance at TicketMaster
(p.e.s.c.), $10 at the door.
AMOO r
-,
0
A Buffalo Tom
by Andrew J. Cahn
One nighta few months ago, a few
friendsofmineand Iweresittingaround
a fireplace eating crudites we listened
to a Phish bootleg. The conversation
carried on for a while as the tunes were
fairly subliminal. At one point we hit a
lull, and there was complete silence.
The music at thatmoment wasaserious
jam with the line, "Let's go out to
dinner and see a movie,"repeated over
and over again.
Some of us were bopping along
with big grins on our faces, while one
guylookedconfused.Justafterhestuck.
a carrotintothe dip,heheld itup inthe
air, waving it as if to make a point, and
announced,"Youknow,theseguysare
really stupid!"
It was hard to come up with an
argument against him, since the evi-
dence at that instant could easily prove
that yes, they are stupid, but all we
could say was, "Hey man, it's Phish."
And boy, did that shut him up.
Had Phish guitarist Trey Anastasio
been in the room, however, he would
haveagreedwith the carrot waver."It's
true; it is a stupid song, but they're all
not that way," he says. "I think any
human being has levels of stupidity,
levels of humor and levels ofdepth.
"The different styles of music we
play represent the different aspects of
our personalities, and that song is just
one of them. Some of the stuff we do is
tooserious forsomepeople.Wejust try
to have a good time."
They must be having a good time,
for the band has been together for al-
mostl0years.Whatbeganasafew sets
each week at a University of Vermont
bar,Nectar's,hasevolvedovertheyears
toa large national following. Although
they wereonlysigned to Elektra within
the last year, they've sold out places
like the American Music Hall in San
Francisco without the help of a widely
released album.
Theyareoftenlumpedtogether with
acts like BluesTraveler, Spin Doctors
and Widespread Panic, bands which
I
IVIMATFESI Holst's The Planets (tonight),
Continued from page 8 Beethoven'sSymphonyNo. S(tomor-
tional work, like a Dvorak symphony, row night) and Prokofiev's delightful
Jarvi opts for the rarely heard No.6 in Classical Symphony (Friday night). *
D-Major, to be played on Saturday And to top off the festivities, superstar
night. Francissays,"TheDvoraksym- mezzo-soprano Marilyn Horne and
phony is an early piece, but it has an pianistAndreWatts will jointheDSO
absolutely fabulous slow movement, tonight andFriday night,respectively.
Neeme in May - there can be no
'Sometimes the very better way to celebrate the arrival of
modem pieces in that type spring.
of style are not very The 99TH ANNUAL MAY FESTIVAL
interesting.' featuring NEEME JARVI AND TH/E
- Derek Francis DETROIT SYMPHONY ORCHES-
OSO Violinisf TRA runs tonight through Saturday at
li ll Auditorium. Tickets range from
and of course, thescherzoisgood,too. $14 to $39for each performance, and
This piece isn't played as much as the are available at the door or at the
New World (No. 9) or the G-Major UniversityMusical Society boxoffice.
Symphony (No. 8), or even the d- $7 rush tickets will also be available
minor (No. 7). between 4 and 4:30 p.m. only on the
But at the same time, Jarvi has day of the performance. Call 764-
programmed the war-horses like 2538for more information.
"0
4', WHAT'S
~* KHAPPENING
RECREATIONAL SPORTS
Intramural Sports Program
SOFTBALL
SAND VOLLEYBALL
3 ON 3 BASKETBALL
Entries open: Wednesday, May 6, 1992
Entries close: Wednesday, May 13, 1992
11:30 a.m. - 2:00 p.m. iMSB
TENNIS
(Saturday & Sunday, June 6 & 7,1992)
Entries open: Wednesday, May 27, 1992
Entries close: Wednesday, June 3, 1992
11:30 a.m. - 2:00 p.m. IMSB
CALL 763-3562 FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
.
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