- .- I
Blues at Rick's JIj Adiljan EaiU
Gary Primach, blues harmonica player
extraordinaire, plays at Rick's tonight. R T S
Doors open at 9 p.m. Call 996-2747 for Wednesday
more information. May 17,1995
You gotta
ly Ted Watts
'aily Arts Writer
Faith No More is that hard to de-
cribe hard-edged band that stormed
to the scene with the hit single "Epic"
d followed up that success with the
isturbingly good album "Angel Dust,"
r which they toured like the world was
oming to an end. But after headlining
te Phoenix Festival in the UK in July of
993, the band disappeared from the
ublic eye until the release of the single
Digging the Grave" from their new al-
um "King For a Day, Fool for a Life-
me" two months ago.
Bassist Bill Gould recounted the lost
Pe: "We tried writing songs with our
ld guitar player (Jim Martin) for two or
tree months, which didn't happen, so ,
ve got rid of our guitar player. We
>oked for a new guitar player, which
aok about four months, we found a gui-
ir player (Trey Spruance), rehearsed
vith him for about four months, re-
orded a record with him, which took
bout three and a half months, that guitar
layer left the group and we waited for
$ record to be manufactured and found
nother guitar player (Dean Menta),
have Faith
which took another three months, so in
total that's about a year and a half."
That lengthy span of polyguitary co-
incided with the creation of the new
sounding "King For a Day...," an album
rife with distinctly different sonics than
No More
the band's previous output. Gould de-
nied that the new sound is really a new
direction, however. "I think there's a lot
of things about this group that weren't
coming out on our other records, one
thing being us as a live band... Hope-
fully with "King For a Day..." you get a
little more of what we really are like live
put on the record."
"We had a new producer (Andy
Wallace) for the first time, that had a lot
to do with the sound," added Gould.
"And as far as writing goes, we definitely
tried to keep it simple. Short, you know,
two and a half minutes some of them.
Just get to the point, not to be as flowery
as on "Angel Dust." I think it was a good
record, but when you play something for
a long time, you know what you don't
want to do."
And Faith No More certainly knows
about playing music for along time, hav-
ing toured for longer than a year with vir-
tually no rest in support of "Angel Dust."
Their current touring plans are no differ-
ent. "We're going to tour for at least a
year. That's the minimum. I know we're
booked up all the way through Christmas
right now. Our next time off, for about a
week, will be in August. We tour pretty
constantly... We've realized that when
we put out a record, this is what comes
with it."
Interimguitarist Trey Spruance (a.k.a.
Scummy fromMr. Bungle)did not realize
that such a grueling touring schedule ac-
companied an album and he quit when he
found out. However,Gould explained that
there really is no choice of not touring for
Faith No More. "We're the kind of band
that basically has to tourbecause basically
radio and the print media are so conserva-
tive and we don't fit into any specific cat-
egory.Wehave tomakeupforthat by tour-
I
Faith No More: A metal band unafraid of short hair.
ing a lot." cently. A new guitarist, a new sound and
Not that audiences mind. FNM has newly shorter haiion several band mem-
an extremely good reputation as a live bers.
band, due in large part to the crazed "Roddy's losing his hair so he keeps it
voice and engaging stage presence of short," laughed a-newly close-cropped
singer Mike Patton. Combined with the Gould. "I never had long hair as akid and
considerable talent of Gould, I've always hated heavy metal and hard
keyboardist Roddy Bottum and drum- rock music. Andit became ironic thatI was
mer Mike Bordin, Faith No More has in a rock band and had long hair... But, to
earned the respect and dollars of many in tell you the truth, after what we've gone
the music listening public. But the band through with our guitar player, I don't want
has gone through many changes re- to have anything to do withit."
RECORDS
aiaystarts off 102nd Ma Festival
y Brian Wise piece lies in the orchestration, which was tery of prior sections. Oboe and trumpet
aity Arts Writer too heavy-handed for the dynamic range principles added excellent solos to the
In its familiar surroundings, the Met- and tessitura of Galway's flute. The vivid blend of color and contrast.
opolitan Opera Orchestra follows a splashy percussion effects and trumpet Perhaps too much restraint was evi-
imple rule: it is to be heard and not seen. fanfares would have been more suited to dent in Gershwin's "An American in
course, it is only to be heard within perhaps a piano or brass concerto. Paris," yet it was adequately jazzy and
context of an opera pit, which usually Galway returned after intermission not the least bit sloppy. Gershwin's ride
eans being inconspicuously attendant along with principle flutist, Michael in a Parisian taxicab avoided any musical
o the singers on-stage. Parloff, for Franz Doppler's "Andante potholes, and provided plenty of el-
Yet under James Levine's tenure as and Rondo for Two Flutes and Orches- egance and joie de vivre for the festive
irector, the orchestra has devoted al- tra, Op. 25." Galway transcribed this occasion.
ost as much time to playing on the con- piece for orchestra himself, and the light,
ert stage as in opera productions. In re- breezy A Major recalled the vocal style
ent years, it has made its first recordings of Bellini's operatic duets. Both soloists
gave a devoted reading, with much poise
and purity of tone.
Assuming his popular image as the
Metropolitan jolly bearded Irishman, Galway returned
Opera Orchestra to the stage with three crowd-pleasing
. encores. "Londondarry Air," "Danny
Hill Auditorium Boy" and "Flight of the Bumblebee"
May 12, 1995 were provided along with some jovial
chitchat with the audience.
f symphonic works, taking on alife of its There was always a certain sense of
wn as an independent performing en- understatement in the MET's playing
emble. On its first cross-country tour of throughout the evening, which worked
he United States, the MET Orchestra wonders in the "Firebird Suite" by
topped at Hill Auditorium for two per- Stravinsky. The "Infernal Dance of King
ances at the annual Ann Arbor May Kashchei" and the Finale were particu-
estival. larly exuberant following the muted mys- Galway is a flautist supreme.
The orchestra's genius as an accom-
anist - or at least an equal collaborator
was demonstrated by the skilled bal-
nce and interaction with flutist James
alway Friday night. Given the some- T i k Y u r r g a t
hat unforgiving scoring of Lowell * Free Pregnancy Test
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Thurston Moore
Psychic Hears
DGC
Solo albums are generally the refuge
of rich, bloated rock stars out to bleed the
last dollar from their pathetically devoted
fans. So it's a bit of a shock when "alter-
native" artists like Deee-Lite's DJ Towa
.Tei, the Breeders' Kim Deal and Sonic
Youth's Thurston Moore come out with
solo efforts.
Maybe Moore is trying to get a little
extra change with this effort (as well as
promote his group's headlining stint on
Lollapalooza), but "Psychic Hearts" is a
surprisingly down-to-earth, refresh-.
ing collection of songs from a man
who's been in the ihusic biz long enough
to release some amazing albums like
"Daydream Nation" and "Sister" as well
as some less-than-stellar works like last
year's "Experimental Jet Set, Trash and
No Star."
The parallels between "Jet Set" and
"Psychic Hearts" are definately there.
Both albums feautre a stripped-down
approach typical of Sonic Youth's usual
noisefests, and both albums focus on
songs rather than sonic style. But "Psy-
chic Hearts" succeeds where "Jet Set"
failed, simply because the songs are
stronger and more varied. They're still
raw, but more (Moore?) effort seems to
SEE REcoRs, PAGE 15
EYE EXAMS AND EYE GLASSES
STUDENT D ISCOUNTS
PbLO RALPH LAUREN GIORGIO ARMANI
GUJESS*
CALVIN KLEIN °9
e y e w e a r
g - - ,
32 Bl.' .cer *g