ARTS- Book links censorship, ignorance Monday, July 30, 2001- The Michigan Daily - 11 y Laura LoGerfo aily Arts Writer tury and Cole Porter's in the early 1900's, concerned citizens have fought to stifle Nvhat they consider bad taste hensible detailed explanations of when and how censors infringe upon artists' and listeners' constitutional rights. In a foreign airport thousands of and what artists consider free expres- Part Two lists a fairly elaborated miles from Ann Arbor, a cashier sion. The author points out that often chronology of music censorship from explains to me through indecipherable parents, members of Christian Funda- the decades before 1950 through the hand signals that I do not possess suffi- mentalist groups and Wal-Mart store year 2000. Part One is far more read- cient funds to purchase the latest managers refuse to purchase or pro- able than Part Two, because in organiz- Grisham book, the key to my surviving mote material that they do not under- ing the information by issue, rather than a five-hour lay- stand. by date, the book resembles a more over. Stricken, I Numerous amusing examples of complex story than simply a rehashed return to my lug- such ignorance are revealed and recountingofeevents. gage, finding explained. One notable anti-rock Almost to compensate for the cen- Parental "Parental Adviso- preacher discovered the secret of how sorship he indignantly condemns, Mr. Advisory ry: Music Censor- musicians lure their fans to hell: It's Nuzum does not attempt to stifle his ship in America." through their lyrics! Apparently the bias against parents, citizen groups, Eric Nuzum Not only is this minister learned the insider rock lingo politicians and music industry execu- Grade: B book non-fiction, and translated for his audience: "'Funk' tives who pander to demands for cen- Peenal hut the title refers to sexual odors; 'gig' is a refer- sorship. This overt ias often interferes includes a colon. I ence to sex orgies; 'groovy' is a with the legitimate points he intends to fear the next five description of the physical position of emphasize. The role of racism and clas- hours will pass intercourse ..." The evil groups at the sism in determining what to censor more slowly than focus of his complaint'? ABBA, The should be discussed and criticized, but the grandma cart Beach Boys, The Bee Gees and Olivia the reader must wade through Mr. snaking its way Newton-John. And I thought their only Nuzum's personal commentary to find through the air- heinous act was wardrobe choice. these important arguments. In the last port crowds. Mr. Nuzum organizes his extremey chapter, he interviews people who led But surprisingly, "Parental Adviso- informative history in two parts. The the fight for censorship, but these con- ry," written by a nerdy-looking arts first section clusters historical accounts versations tend to mock the subject contributor to National Public Radio by the issues under attack by censors, rather than provide a balanced perspec- and various pop-culture magazines, i.e. violence, drug use, sex and political tive. grabs the reader's attention immediately protest. The author provides compre- As a non-fiction book, the author -nd sustains interest throughout the occasionally cites references, but he tire book. does so inconsistently, thereby failing to "Parental Advisory" traces the histo- distinguish his opinion and common ry and evolution of music censorship in sense from verified research. Finally, America, starting with what most ;'. the reader is left with a lingering feeling remember as their first cognizance of ,Ithat the author ran out of material. I e censorship, Mrs. Tipper Gore's insisting too frequently repeats information and that her daughter's Prince album be stories as though he needed to stretch labeledobscene to warn fellow parents the writing to satisfy publishing require- of the dirty nature to the artist's.lyrics. ments. This technique won him publica- So "Darling Nikki" doesn't refer to tion but forces the reader to experiencee Prince's adorable five-year old niece? deja vu practically every other page, However, music censorship extends again distracting from the book's merits r beyond Tipper's reach. As early as as an intriguing, informative look at a Stephen Foster's songs in the 19th cen- counesy of nial hotly debated and highly relevant issue. Bilal transcends hip-hop trash Ist Born Second, Bilal; Moyo and producers. All of this is even more classic "T.R.O.Y.," a tale of a love lost Music/lnterscope Records impressive when you realize he's only unravels. Memories of the relationship 22 years old. haunt all three men to the point they By W. Jacari Melton One track of the 17 found on the start hallucinating about seeing their aily Arts Writer album, "Soul Sista," has been in circu- former loves. Mos, Cotc and Bilal all lation for a while now through the do a good job of painting pictures with If anyone has paid attention to my "Love And Basketball" soundtrack and lyrics. And, as it does almost every reviews, you can tell I have little commercials for the WNBA. On "Soul time, Jay Dee's beat gets in your head patience for music caught up in the fads Sista," Raphael Saadiq tries to evoke and has you vibing before you know it. and clichs oftthe day. Often, there's too the same vibe he created producing With his first release, Bilal has much "bling" and too little creativity or D'Angelo's "Untitled (How Does It already set the bar rather high for him- soul. So when I come across an album Feel?)." Bilal finally finds that special self His willingness to do the unexpect- like Bilal's debut 1st Born Second, I'm someone and displays his intense affec- ed musically, ("Home" is a reggae elated and optimistic the hip-hop and tion through song. Although the track track), and his vocal jazz training set R&B genres aren't headed straight for doesn't quite reach the same climax him apart from many of his R&B peers. the gutter, at least not yet. Bilal uses his achieved by "Untitled," it still contains More impressively, people in the lbundant vocal talents as well as pro- its fair share of sultry soul. music business are feeling his sound. uction from some of the industry's best Bilal picks up the pace with the Mike Dr. Dre lent his production talents to to deliver one of the strongest R&B City produced "Love It." City's work on "Fast Lane." Let's remember Dre turned releases of 2001. Carl Thomas's "I Wish" proved he down an offer to work with Michael A native of Philadelphia, it's safe to could make hits and it looks like he has Jackson. This positive reception is say Bilal has been influenced by the another one. The topic is a love so blunted by the inevitable Prince/Ste- city's musical luminaries, both past and intense that Bilal sees his "future wife- vieD'Angelo comparisons. Although present. When coupling that with the to-be" and someone who he'd "take one Bilal's style does have similarities to influence of others like Prince, Stevie [a bullet] for ... like the president." The these people, does it make him less of Wonder and a strong education in jazz, last line sounds a lot better in context an artist? Given the seeming lack of lal's musical style can be better and with its tight beat. quality in today's R&B, I'd welcome derstood. His abilities have earned "Reminisce" features guest rhymes more people cut from this creative him spots singing with D'Angelo and by Mos Def and Common with produc- mold. I already know we have too many Common in addition to membership in tion from Detroiter Jay Dee, thus tcak- of the other folks. You wouldn't want to be caught dead in Sunrise - Bwahahahaha (cough, cough)! IX' mars spot with 'Surivivor By Ryan Blay Daily Arts Writer OK, let's get the obvious compar- isons out of the way: New reality-TV show "Murder in Small Town X" has a number of somewhat attractive people from across the country fighting for survival (though no real harm will ever come to them), gathering Murder in every three days Small to vote on who Town X will leave their haven. One per- Fox son per episode Tuesdays at 9 pm. has a form of intri gue an d quirky characters emerge. The per- son left standing receives a lot of money and probably 15 minutes of fame. Now, take a closer look. The premiere opened with a killer's view of the Flint residence in the small town of Sunrise, Maine. On the eve of the town's Founder's Day festival, the murderer shoots Nate Flint and his daughter Abby, with Nate's wife Car- men missing at large. Thus, for the ultimate prize of 5250,000, ten people will try to use the killer's clues to find out "who- dunit?" together. But of course, there's a catch: Every three days, the killer will ask a question. If the group answers correctly, one of the 15 sus- pects (in episode one, the town police chief) will be cleared. Not only that, two people must go out at night to copy cat investigate, one of whom will meet an untimely death. It's true that Gary Fredo, while a def- inite plus to the team, has yet to prove his talents hosting "Rock and Roll Jeopardy." Fredo, a former Los Ange- les police sergeant, acts as lead investi- gator and helps participants piece together the puzzle. As they watch videotape, he stops it to point out spots they should notice, and give out assign- ments. One person becomes the life- guard, which includes immunity, but also forces them to do the unpopular task of picking one of the two who will leave the haven every third day. Watching the contestants go out in teams (quick, Shaggy, go with Scoo- by'!) and look for clues is actually quite amusing in the faux spooky show. They let suspects walk in on the scene of tfie crime, ask odd questions, and seem unsure of what to do when faced with less than happy suspects like Ferrier Thibodeaux. Perhaps an unintended benefit of the show will be people coming to appreciate the tough work of real murder investigators. Unfortunately, the real investigation should be why the "investigators" are so freaking afraid. They seem scared for their lives at night, when the worst that could happen is they get caught alone and "die." If they actually died, that would be a cause for alarm. But receiving the equivalent of getting booted off the island is hardly some- thing to shudder about. The improvisational actors paid to portray the suspects aren't too shabby. If the contestants would just lighten up and enjoy the picturesque Maine town and solve the murder, everything would be swell. -111 workshop Iutroductoryr gram coverif * The ESStSlclafuiss Q 0e5ei theI sins 0 RelaxUslt Teclhtes * 5taf-st~xvs'rttttu Sunda, Au us5t h 10 am - 2 ym, FREE Michigan Union wolverine Rooms Info: 994-7114 the Soulquarians, a collective of hip- hop and R&B's core innovative artists ing it a total Soulquarian affair. With Mos throwing in a line from the hip-hop Grade: A- J. s ._