Wednesday, y 19 heVlicigar Daily- 11
*ika's music is out of this world
kAndya Is m sciDu o h s w rdolan star off wsith a drim loop, which eventu-
ly triter .LOLLAPALOOZA ally gets replaced with real drums by the
If rock music were to die an untimely When: Thursday, July 20 end of the day. It's also great for captur
ath any time soon, the void would Where: Pine Knob ing sound effects, sounds around the
pefully be filled by bands such as Tickets: $35 in advance, house... the nice thing is you can sample
ika. Along with a handful of other snow starts at 2 p.m, sounds and play them as if they were a
ds such as Disco Inferno, Bark Psy- keyboard sound," explained Fiedler
sis and Labradford, Laika create mu- Hermans. Fiedler and Fixsen share all "We try to focus on melodies, that's
that is decidedly and deliberately out- songwriting and technical credits on something that I thought was lacking in
e the context of rock music, yet re- Laika's debut album, "Silver Apples Of Moonshake. You get the contrast between
s every bit as powerful and exciting. The Moon." the tension and melody. We like fast tem-
"Our musical backgrounds aren't Laika is augmented by former pos as well, which adds tension into the
t weird; I grew up in Chicago, so I Moonshake bassist John Frennett, flau- mix."
s into the music scene that was going tist Louise Elliott, and Rob Ellis and Lou Laika will be joining up with
there," stated Margaret Fiedler, Ciccotelli on drums and percussion, re- Lollapalooza's second stage for a week-
ika's vocalist and co-songwriter. spectively. But along with hypnotic (and long run. But Fiedler doesn't exactly pre-
e're more influenced by the fact that psychotic) rhythms, Laika's primary cre- diet that this will make Laika a household You'll like Laika a lot!
're dissatisfied with what we hear, and ative tool is the sampler, which both name, despite their dazzling live show. we get these dual rhythms going," she works well in a live context because it's
t we want to do something that we Fiedler and Fixsen use extensively in "Everything's done live, we trigger all our explained. physical ... and it's loud!"
ven't heard before. That's probably their song crafting to introduce atmo- samples live. Everybody's got to be within Another element to their live show is As far as Lollapalooza, Fiedler re-
y it sounds different. We just keep spheric sounds and rhythmic complex- the same ballpark tempo, or it can go the addition of some guitar, which ap- mained optimistic, though, planning to
king until we get somewhere new." ity. wrong, but it's nice because you can pears only occasionally on the album. "It make the most of the event. "We're
styear, following her departure from "Everybody uses samplers these change song structures and change the wasn't really by choice," Fiedler stated. friends with Stereolab and they said
oonshake ("I got chucked out of that days, even the most standard, boring lengths of parts ... We also have both our "It was almost like we did the record, and (Lollapalooza) was good (last year),"
nd!" she joked), Fiedler got together rock bands use samplers to do boring drummer and our percussionist, Lou. We thought maybe we'd put some guitar Fiedler said. "I actually think the line-up
th technical wizard Guy Fixsen, whose things like re-triggering snare drums. But started out rehearsing with just drums, down, but there really wasn't any room is all right this year. Mainly it will be a
duction andengineering credits include the thing with a sampler is, it's really just but it became apparent that although it left. But live, we don't have our flute chance to see some people again, like
minal albums by My Bloody Valentine, whatever you put into it. We try to use it was on the album, we hadn't realized player, so there was more space for some Pavement, who we've toured with, and
llerskate Skinny and Dog Faced in a lot of different ways. Sometimes we how important the percussion was. So guitar. It's the kind of instrument that Moby, who's an old friend from when I
lived in Connecticut."
lalooza'second stage acts are second to none "Maybe no one will come o see us
V 11apalooza'sbut we're only doing six days. so we
thought, 'how bad can it get?' We'll be
ther Pharos and Lollapalooza headliners Sonic Youth. gressive, harsh sound, the Fibbers draw getting good, not necessarily commercial done every day by six o'clock!"
ily A Editor Over a decade, Yo La Tengo (Spanish for from country balladeers like Patsy Cline to music out to the masses. A welcome alter-
Lollapalooza. The biggest concert of "I got it") have progressed from relatively express life's pain. They've released a criti- native to "Alternative," the bands on the SECOND STAGE PRODUCTIONS
e summer. Amidst the endless food simple, almost folky albums like cally acclaimed EP and will release their second stage are by no means on the back PRESENTS
ndors, T-shirt stands, tatooed and "Fakebook"and"May ISing With Me"to debut album sometime in August. burner.
ed Lollapaloozers and bludgeoning aurally intricate works like 1993's "Pain- Finally, today's second stage headliner
osh pits, where can a music fan find an ful" and this spring's "Electr-O Pura," is Coolio, whose Tommy Boy debut "It
ternative to "Alternative?" which weave feedback, organ and guitar Takes a Thief' contains the hit singles
The second stage, of course. It's squalls into clever pop songs. "County Line" and "Fantastic Voyage." Asl mr romance
here you can find bands that have yet Kansas City, Modi natives The Coctails He and his dj Wino refer to their sound as er roane
become the commercialized market- pioneered the "lounge" music trend with "Wino-funk" because it's "guaranteed to Drected by Wendy Wright
tools that many mainstage bands their brand of swoony pop songs and bal- get you drunk quicker than liquor." The 22
olve into. Of course, Lollapalooza is a lads. Their clever sense of style (which in- blend of idealism and street reality in his July 622, 1995
1mmercial venture, but the second eludes crushed velvet tuxedos), also makes work comes from his past; the Compton, 8 Pm.
age does get lesser-known bands out to them distinct on the independent music Calif native was hooked on cocaine and be- Thurs., Fr. & Sat Evenings
broader audience. In turn, having more scene. Albums like "Peel" and "Here Now came a firefighter to help kick the habit. He ' at the Civic Playhouse
bscure bands on the bill increases the Today" on Carrot Top records capture their quit that to begin recording with WC and the 2275 Platt Road
incert's alternative credibility. unique sound. MAADCircle, andtherest ishistory. Ann Arbor Civic Theatre
In previous years, the second stage The Geraldine Fibbers formed when The Pharcyde kick off Thursday's e-, 971,AACT (22281
as featured the jangle-pop of Unrest, singer Carla Bley left her former group ond stage festivities. The L.A. based group Tickets$8
e country-rock of Palace Brothers, and Ethyl Meatplow. Unlike that group's ag- mix fat beats, fresh loops and youthful en-
die-rock legends like the Flaming Lips ergy to create funky and fun music, as evi-
Guided by Voices. This year, the dencedon their album"Bizarre Ride lIThe Slippity-slide on over to see Coolo.
econd stage continues to present the Pharyde."The group live together in their
est of indie music while also including house, The Phareyde Manor, and create
usicians of other genres. ' crazy, insanely catchy rap together in a col-
The line-up for today's second stage laborative process. I
onsists of Brainiac, Yo La Tengo, The Last but not least, Boston-based The
octails, The Geraldine Fibbers and " Dambuilders create loud, ferocious punk-
oolio. Thursday's roster includes The pop similar to the Pixies. Their latest al- EYE EXAM A NA EYE GLASSES
harcyde, Laika (see story above), The bum, "Encendedor" spawned an alterna-
eraldine Fibbers, The Dambuilders tive top-] 0 hit, "Shrine" and their new al-
nd the Coctails. bum"Ruby Red"is released on Aug.8. An
Freak-punk rockers Brainiac hail from explosive live band, The Dambuilders
o, and their mix of wired, wiry songs round out the array of second stage acts.
nd d instrmentation (including moog YLaUltimately, the second stage is about
nd od istrmenttio (icludng oog Yo La Tengo sure do got it.
ynthesizers, echoplex, hedge trimmers
d electric fans) make them the flash-
oint for sonic innovation. That lead D T
inger/guitarist/keyboardistTimmy Taylor
ooks like an insane Mickey Dolenz just R~o R tLP L AUREN GIORGIO ARMANI
dds to the fun; think of Brainiac as the * Free Pregnancy Test
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