12 - The Michigan Daily Summer Weekly - Wednesday, June 10,1992 kroncong is augmented by the addition ECORDS of electric Hawaiian guitar in twoof the Continued from page 7 ensembles recorded. during specialoccasions.'This CD con- Returning to more traditionalroots, tains the late night section of the Volume three documents gambang gandrung Banyuwangi,SeblangSubuh. kromong music played in the rural out- The other parts of the dance are per- skirts of Jakarta, megalopolis and capi- formedby the femaledancer(gandrung) talofIndonesia.Lagulamais the older, and a male partner from the audience; now rare, and wholly acoustic reper- however,whenallthemenaretired,the toireofgambangkromong,whichbeau- gandrung dances Seblang Subah alone tifully blends some Indian and Chinese tokeepthepartygoing.Gandrung Temu musicalelements.Thelagusayurdomi- is one of the finest living singers of the natescontemporaaygambangkromong, music. She demonstrates incredible combiningIndonesianmusic with west- control and facility, sliding between emfolk idioms and 1920s jazz pattern- notes in sympathy with the two biola ings. As with kroncong, Hawaiian steel (violin)andfollowing thevarying tempo guitar surprisingly appears in some of of the kluncing (drums) and gongs. the lagu sayur ensembles. The horn Despiteitsmenacingcover photoof melodies seem to be eerily familiar dangdutsuperstar RhomaIramacladin renditions of New Orleans jazz tunes black leather and platform boots, Vol- that would make both Sidney Bechet ume two contains subtly energetic and and Albert Ayler raise their eyebrows. not unfamiliar sounding Indonesian Although it is nearly impossible to en- popular music. The CD contrasts two compass all of the Indonesia's musical differing forms of widespread, "na- diversity, theserecordings do atremen- tional" Indonesian pop: dangdut. and dous job of embracing traditional and kroncong. Although both originally modern melodies as well as dominant developed in similar underclasses, and overshadowed idioms. kronconghasdivergedfromitsroots to - Chris Wyrod become a music of the elite; however, neither one is as heavily permeated by Senator Flux western idioms as the third national Storyknife pop, pop Indonesia. Emergo Dangdut is a dance music popular SenatorFluxis the kind of band that with lower and lower-middle class gets (relatively) lots of press for being Muslim youths, mixing Indian film underrated and unheard of. Keep in music, Middle-Easternpop, and 1970s mind that once one "journalist" finds a western rock. Its lyrics often carry band he hasn't heard of, it becomes political overtones of social protest, some great new discovery, the pack conveying the sentiments of the lower mentality sets in, and before you know class. Originating from Portuguese it, the air is thick with hyperbole and the songs and instrumentation, kroncong "An-" prefix. began as an urban folk music. It wid- This aside, Senator Flux is highly ened into a principal entertainment underratedandunheardof.Gettinglittle music after the 1920sandsubsequently attention, especially in this area (de- took on a revolutionary tone with the spitereluctantspokesmanDavidLevine expulsion of the Dutch from Indonesia having attended the University a few in 1940s.Modemkroncong ensembles summers ago), the band has consis- contain a vocalist, violin, flute, rhythm tently created pleasing and unique mu- guitar,cello,bass,andtwosmallplucked sic for the past six years. lutes. The sweet flowing sound of Boththeirintelligentlyricsandcom- plex music rank them amongst the top previousandstunning album, The Crimi- bands of recent memory. It's a shame nal Special. The Flux have an amazing they're brushed aside and pigeonholed knack fortaking grunge,punk,pop,and into the corners of the "indie bins," the psychedelia and carefully mixing them evil creation of the musical-military- into a heady brew of sound. industrial complex headed by G. Gor- Levine's wildly careening voice don Liddy and Vanilla Ice. provides the perfect contrast to Jeff The latest Senator Flux creation, Turner's smooth, beautifulvocals, both Storyknife,isaworthysuccessortotheir indifferentsongs, andespecially when they sing together. In "Godwash," he harmonies and chorus are stunning, as well as the dissonance created by sing- ing differentlyrics simultaneously."On ALimb"isanotherexampleofthehigh vocal abilities of Senator Flux. Pounding drums and bass, and a mixture of rough and melodic guitars, giveStoryknifeadriving, cohesive feel. The complexwebofjangle andgrunge remains accessible, and the Senators find themselves at home being called pop. In fact, it's a pleasure to call this pop, as this brings back more positive meaning to the word. The album's lyrics are superb. Levine's poetic leanings truly shine. He has an impressive command of syn- tax and vocabulary which manages to shed the dusty, technical connotations of these terms so that the lyrics sound natural and just plain good. Storyknfeconcludes with "Univer- sal Solvent," perhaps the best song of the album. A mesmerizing chord pro- gression, fitted with a wonderful cas- cade ofguitars at the end,meshesnicely with Turner's full voice. Contrast is provided by Levine's rabid pace, his typically thoughtful lyrics, and darker, rougher guitars. Storyknfe issuchanamazingrecord that the only, smallest fault that can be found is in packaging. After the beautiful collage on the front of The Criminal Special, which also included a 16-page comic book with the CD, anything might be considered a let- down. But the bright yellow and pink coverofStoryknhfe couldevenbe called cheesy by harsher critics, and the liner notes are quite sparse. In its favor, the jacket does contain an excellent poem by David Levine. The unheraldedexcellenceofSena- tor Flux is a good example of why bashing the big commercial record gi- ants is sometimes justified, as well as being oh-so-trendy. Hey, record com- panies andmusiccritics: aband doesn't have to promote itself as a commodity to be bought and sold over the cre- atively bankrupt airwaves of MTV to make good music. Stop watching and reading each other, and open your ears. What you'll find is alot of great music While you're doing that, I'll get offmy soapbox so I can check out the latest copy of Spin - where else am I going to find these unheard of bands? - Jeremy Lhtzin ANGELS Continued from page 6 eachcharacter-though Miss Abbott's position is somewhat unclear at the beginning of Angels - focusing on faces and actions as mirrorsof the soul. By the end, though, if you can appreci- ate its pace, Where Angels Fear to Tread satisfies the need for an Edwardian fix. WhereAngelsFeartoTreadisshow- ing at the Michigan Theater through tomorrow. -Annette Petruso FOR THE BEST Crew Cuts " Flat Tops Princetons"* Military 6 Barbers - No Waiting DESCOLE STYLISTS Opposite Jacobson's 668-9329 ol EYE EXAMS & R IC H A R DSO N GIORGIO ARMAM IbLO4R\LH [AREN EYEGLASSES POLICE - alain zin) c ctt ct *I I(jciacrfsonL s * (Located in the lower level of Richardson's Drugs) t1ca.l. \ DOWNSTAIRS ^ HOURS: M, Tu, Th, F 9AM-6PM Wed & Sat 9AM-1 PM LIBERYTST. *$TAVA:/Er AY$ vII EO l2o iberty St. X68 -1*i I I A PM i -WAI U OMM L 16 I