Wednesday, July 9, 1997 - The Michigan Daily - 11

Seahorses swim
'to success;
Radiohead has
glorious CD

Fonda returns to film
stardom in 'Gold'

*The Seahorses
Do It Yourself
Geffen Records
***I
In 1989, The Stone Roses - up to
that point a relatively unknown
Manchester quartet - released a
groundbreaking self-titled debut album
of 13 glorious psychedelic pop/rock
songs. The album's mix of shifty drum-
beats, low-end bass rumbles, hushed
vocals and swirled guitar licks worked
perfectly; "The Stone Roses" was voted
the best album of the 1980s by the New
Musical Express, over The Smiths'
"The Queen Is Dead" and even U2's
beloved "The Joshua Tree."
After a nearly six-year hiatus
between albums - due to numerous
legal battles with the group's label,
Silvertone, and the band members'
lethargy - The Stone Roses returned
with a late 1994 release, "The Second
Coming." Unfortunately, the album was
not nearly as magical as the first one,
largely due to lead singer Ian Brown's
froggy vocal work inexplicably being in
the forefront of the final mix. Despite
this, and the group's eventual breakup
last year, "The Second Coming"
showed that Roses guitarist John Squire
had been honing his chops over the six-
year break, developing into a mid-
1990s incarnation of Led Zeppelin's
super axman Jimmy Page.
Immediately after quitting the Roses,
John Squire founded a new band, The
Seahorses. The group's debut album is,
on the whole, quite compelling,
although some weaknesses are appar-
ent. Squire, naturally, is the group's ace.
Beginning with the intro to the first
song on "Do It Yourself," "I Want You
To Know, he successfully proves that
he is one of the elite guitarists in all of
rock, reaching for the heavens with his
fluid chord changes and clear tone.
For anyone who heard Ian Brown's

vocal work of the lat
new Seahorse frontmar
voice is ear candy. Unfc
not saying much, as he
just as often as he hits
side, drummer Andy W
rather well with Helme
Stone Roses' drumme
Brown. Watts's singing
better than his slightly-t
petent drumming (alth.
nearly all drummersr
way). Bassist Stuart F
Squire, the best music
one who comes up
basslines in nearly ever
"Love Is The Law,"
guitar assault, is the b
album. Squire solos ft
and would wow even tI
anti-"alternative" rock
nimble fretwork. "Rour
and "1999" are also
highlights of "Do It Yo
A couple of the son
seem to be filler mat
whole, "Do It Yourself
and is likely to be stunn
concert.
Radiohead
OK Computer
Capitol Records
"OK Computer," t
album by Oxford's Ra
already experimental
creative boundaries e'
lead singer Thom Yo
interstellar burst / I anr

e-period Roses, universe," in the opening song,
n Chris Helme's "Airbag," guitarists Jonny Greenwood
artunately, this is and Ed O'Brien display their versatility
misses the mark in the album's first single, "Paranoid
it. On the plus Android" The duo alternates strum-
[atts harmonizes ming acoustic and electric guitars, as
much like The well as time signatures, yet still suc-
r Reni did with cessfully manages to navigate the song
, though, is a tad through its three tricky, distinct parts.
better-than-com- "Subterranean Homesick Alien" and
ough after Reni, the creepy "Exit Music (For A Film)"
must sound this are quite worthy, but pale in compari-
letcher is, after son to "Let Down," a soaring, climactic
ian in the band, song about escape, and "Karma
with winning Police," yet another soaring track,
ry song. which features the hilarious verse,
a seven-minute "Karma police arrest this man / He
test song on the talks in maths / He buzzes like a fridge
or three minutes / He's like a detuned radio."
he most stubborn "Fitter Happier" is the only weak
skeptic with his spot on "OK Computer." The song is
nd The Universe" essentially Yorke speaking through a
catchy, rocking computer for a very long two minutes,
urself." offering tongue-in-cheek lifestyle
gs on the album advice. "Electioneering" starts the
erial but, on the album's momentum up again, with
f" is quite good, Yorke, O'Brien, Greenwood, his bassist
ingly executed in brother, Colin, and drummer Phil
Selway hitting on all cylinders in sync
-Aaron Rennie with each other.
"Climbing Up The Walls" and "No
Surprises" ably lead into the stunning
final two songs. The penultimate track,
"Lucky" finds Yorke pleading, "Kill
me Sarah / Kill me again with love / It's
gonna be a glorious day." Finally, "The
Tourist" concludes the album with
Yorke trying to grasp his place in these
crazy, pre-millennium days, crooning,
"Hey man slow down/ Hey idiot slow
he fantastic third down." Clearly, Yorke is not a soul at
diohead, finds an peace, but he should be, as "OK
group pushing its Computer" is one of the most original
ven further. After and captivating albums in a long, long
rke wails, "In an time.
n back to save the -Aaron Rennie

By Erika E. Trass
For the Daily
Starring Peter Fonda in a comeback
role, "Ulee's Gold" is a touching family
drama that pulls us into Ulee's world of
bees and honey. The movie captures the
profound and oppressive silence that
surrounds Ulee and his family.
As "Ulee's Gold" opens, we follow
Ulee (played by Peter Fonda) as he
lives his quiet life. He lives in a small
town in the Florida Panhandle with his
two granddaughters, Casey and Penny.
He is taking care of them because their
father, his son Jimmy, is in prison and
their mother Helen is struggling with
drug addiction.
Ulee is a beekeep-
er. Beekeeping has
been handed down in
his family from
father to son for gen-
erations, and for the
most part, Ulee
works alone cultivat-
ing the hives and har-
vesting the honey. One of his many
disappointments is that his son never
wanted to learn the family business. It
is obvious that this fainily tradition
will die with Ulee.
In this quietly moving story, Ulee's
life is most strongly characterized by
the silence that envelops him as he pur-
sues his solitary work and as he fails to
interact with his family. In many ways
Ulee is a man in shock. He has never
recovered from the death of his wife,

s
A

and both his son's life of crime and
Helen's involvement with drugs have
hurt him deeply. As a result, he main-
tains an emotional distance from his
family.
Trouble pulls Ulee out of his insulat-
ed life when Jimmy asks him to travel
to Orlando to save Helen from some
unsavory characters. Ulee is forced to
become more deeply involved in shady
dealings to protect his family. His
retrieval of Helen forces him to accept
medical help from his neighbor and
tenant Connie ("Home Improvement''s
Patricia Richardson).
Peter Fonda (son of the late actor
Henry Fonda, and actress Bridget
Fonda's father)
is excellent in
E V I E W this role. He
does an excep-
tional job of
**** p hy s iea ll1y
At the Michigan Theater ex pre s s n g
Ulee's strength
of character and
his emotional awakening as his emo-
tional armor begins to crack. (Peter
Fonda also looks a lot like his father
and the resemblance is, at times, a little
unnerving.)
Jessica Biel is also noteworthy in the
role of the troubled teenager, Casey.
The two antagonists (Steven Flynn and
Dewey Weber) are effectively intimi-
dating in their roles as Jimmy's partners
in crime. "Ulee's Gold" is definitely
worth a look.

Actors' deaths signal the
end of an era
Even though he was known professionally as James, the
whole world knew him as Jimmy - our advocate, our broth-
er, our friend. Since his death on July 2, beloved Hollywood
leading man Jimmy Stewart has been remembered as the
lanky, lovable actor who thrived in film classics like "It's a
Wonderful Life " "Mr Smith Goes to Washington" and
Vertigo.' He won one best actor Ac demy Award for 1940's w
'The Philadelphia Story," and was praised for serving in the
military while his celebrity made him an American icon.
Fondly, he shall be recalled as the movies' last everyman, Jimmy Stewart and Kim Novak starred in Alfred
the one to whom we could all relate, whom we all loved and Hitchcock's 1958 film "Vertigo."
by whom we were all entertained. His passing - along with
the death of classic tough guy Robert Mitchum a day earlier - marks the end of a cinematic era: a time of charming
stars who succeeded in spite of their ordinary looks and humble demeanors simply because they were good at their
craft. Stewart, Mitchum and, most of all, that era will be sorely missed.

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