ARTS
Monday, February 11, 1991

The Michigan Daily


Playing recorder for stardust memories

Page 5

by Matthew Gutherie
in accordance with their unusual
name, the Amsterdam Loeki
Stardust Quartet is a world-
renowned recorder ensemble of
*considerable skill. The Quartet's
work covers musical repertories
ranging from the Renaissance to
contemporary periods. They will
perform tonight at Hill Auditorium,
showcasing music from the Re-
naissance and the Baroque periods.
Recorders are a family of wind
instruments homogeneous in tim-
bre and cover the entire range from
,bass to soprano. They sound

somewhat like oversized whistles
and are made in various sizes. The
Quartet has amassed a collection
of recorders that range from the
Great Bass, which measures six
feet in length, to the Sopranino,
which is six-inches long.
Recorders take the airy sounds
of flutes and clarinets and expand
upon them. The instrument is often
viewed as a child's play-thing;
however, mastery of the recorder is
a challenging and complex en-
deavor. The music created by the
different varieties of recorders can
reach a level of expression compa-
rable to that of any orchestra.

Tonight's program is a journey
through the development of coun-
terpoint and fugue, a baroque form
that stresses the independence of
each musical line. Frescobaldi's
Canzon Desima detta la Paulini is
a piece comprised of several con-
trasting sections, each with a
theme presented in fugal imitation.
J.S. Bach's The Art of Fugue, on
the other hand, is a complete
demonstration of all types of fugue.
The Quartet will perform two of
these pieces, the Contrapunctus IV
and the Contrapunctus IX, demon-
strating the growth of complexity
within Bach's comnosition.

Anyone with interest in early
music or the fugue should be fas-
cinated by the array that this per-
formance has to offer. The program
will also contain a superb collec-
tion of Renaissance and Baroque
music that will appeal to all. Its
catchy tunes call to mind the ban-
quet halls portrayed by William
Shakespeare, while the poignant
pieces of the Baroque era carry
one back to the the heavily-orna-
mented cathedrals of Europe in the
1700s.
THE STARDUST QUARTET will
perform tonight at 8:00 p.m. at Hill.
Tickets cost $14 to $25.

Front 242
Tyranny (For You)
Epic

It seems th
cerned with t
moving to a

The first thing that Front 242 probably worr
fans may notice about the new al- legion of loyal
bum is the record company. Grad- hint of musicalc
*uating from the small Wax Trax! of sell-out. Top
label, 242 now joins the giant cor-
poration that spawned such monsters
as Michael Jackson and Cheap Trick,
not exactly great company. The good
news is that 242 have not sold out;
their mechanical sound is still intact,
untouched by any commercial con-
siderations. The bad news is that
they've delivered a mediocre recordf
for their big-league debut.
Although earlier songs by the
group, such as "Headhunter" and
"WYHIWYG," became dance music
semi-classics, Tyranny (For You)
finds the group often stuck in second
gear. Many of the songs have a
promising intro, but don't progress
much beyond it. For example, the
first minute of "Neuro-bashing"
sounds like the beginning of an all-
out attack on the dance floor. The
snare drum, however, never manages
to kick in, and the song is left
standing at the gate.
The two exceptions to this rule
are the single, "Tragedy (For You),"
and "Rhythm of Time." Since its
release a few months ago, the former
has held a respectable position on
the dance-tracks chart with its
robotic three-chord approach and
angst-ridden lyrics comparing sex to Success obvio
acid rain. Predictably, this is the best gloomy mist an
song on the record. The latter song
sounds much the same, only with made damn sur
more understandable lyrics. sound commei
In fact, a lot of the songs tend to saying that 242
sound alike. The trademark 242 their sound tos
sound that has charmed a small cult they should
following over the years is intact success, either
here: complex drum-machine may find them
*patterns layered with ominous past the level
synths, samples and vocals that with the limite
sound as if singer Richard 23 is Tm!.
constipated. This style gets a bit
tiring over the course of an entire
record; Front 242 have always been .
more of a singles band. Earlier
albums like Official Version or
Front By Front, however, didn't
seem to get this monotonous.

at 242 was too con-
he ramifications of
major label. They
ied that their small
fans would take any
change as a sure sign
prevent this, the band

Joe Ely
Live at Liberty Lunch
MCA

Over in the crowded European
hamlets of Germany and Holland,
the mythical attraction of Am-

Veteran Austin, Texas rocker
Ely has been at it for 20 years
now, and his band plays a brand of
barbed-guitar music with roots so
rock-solid you almost imagine
these guys onstage wearing cleats.
And they cover more than just a
stone's throw's worth of territory,
rangirg from acoustic legends
("Me and Billy the Kid") to
stompin' 18-wheel blues
("Dallas") and Hank-like whisky
laments ("Where is My Love?").
"Musta Notta Gotta Lotta" is a
Jerry Lee-like rave-up, while "Are
You Listenin' Lucky?" is a jagged
roadhouse rocker; and in a live
setting, the ominous guitar solo to
Butch Hancock's "Row of Domi-
noes" reels to a point where you
stagger and see the vultures
circling.
Ely was once a member, along
with Hancock and Jimmie
Gilmore, in the celebrated early
'70s outfit the Flatlanders. And
although Hancock's more famous
as a lyricist, Ely himself writes
with more wit and irony than just
about anybody holed up in
Nashville; "Letter to L.A." is Ely's
"Walk on the Wild Side" ("You're
afraid to bear your soul," sings Ely
over a sauntering groove, "Like an
Alfred Hitchcock lover/ Who
slowly goes out of control"). The
BBC has filmed documentaries on
the Flatlanders, and Irish rockers
U2 are among Ely's fans. What do
these guys know that we don't?
Live from Liberty Lunch is
legendary, Texas-sized rock, the
real stuff - bigger than anything a
Californian actor could muster in
eight years' time.

Dance
through time
Trailblazers & Troubadours,
this weekend's annual performance
by the University School of Dance,
celebrated the 40 years of modern
dance's existence. The dancers
carried the audience with them on
a voyage back in time by present-
ing biblical and mythological
themes. Simultaneously, they
moved through space, from within
the earth, in "Dig," to the sun and
stars, in "Icarus" and "Orion." The
thematic variety provided a taste
of suspense, while the universality
of these themes touched many
hearts. The audience was either
balanced on the edge of their seats
or melted into their chairs, as the
dancers leaped gracefully and
abruptly attacked the air. Sudden
shifts in music, from quick and
frolicsome to somber and ominous,
sent waves of emotional rhythms
through the audience.
"There is a Time," a work by
famed choreographer Jose Limon,
pantomimed the events in the
Book of Ecclesiastes, beginning
with "a time to be born." A dancer
portrayed the emergence of an in-
dividual from the womb by manip-
ulating each part of his body with
deliberate awkwardness. He ex-
pressed wonder and delight, and
also struggle, in his realization of
his own power of movement. An-
other scene, "a time to heal,"
beautifully portrayed the nurturing
and reviving power of physical and
emotional support. The two
dancers in this piece intertwined
their bodies, one catching and
propping up the other with seem-
ingly natural, yet acrobatic, flare.
"Icarus," choreographed by Lu-
cas Hoving, shone with intricacies
of movement and emotional inten-
sity. Daniel Gwirtzman and
Matthew Rose seemed to move as
one, slithering around one another
in a gesture of intimacy that ele-
gantly portrayed the relationship
between father and son. With great

flexibility and strength, Rose ma-
nipulated his body into unbeliev-
able contortions, creatively ex-
pressing the agony of the dying
Icarus.
"Dig," while very entertaining,
proved to be a bit ambiguous in its
conveyance of theme. The piece
lagged behind the dramatic
crescendos of the live, operatic
music. A woman's release of a bird
and her emergence through a ceil-
ing of pottery depicted personal
freedom. However, this message
can be derived from the use of the
props involved, rather than from
the movement. Finally, as if they
were hit over the head with the ar-
ray of talent displayed throughout
the show, the members of the au-
dience saw stars during "Orion."
The piece provided a feast of fluo-
rescent colors and flying pony
tails. As the all-female ensemble
of "stars" spun around the stage,
their human bodies transformed
into fluttering astrological bodies.
Trailblazers and Troubadours:
Forty Years of Modern Dance il-
luminated the stage with a vast
repertory of motion to accompany
the variety of themes. No level of
height or direction of movement
remained untraveled by the
dancers. This year's performance
may be described as "a time to
laugh," a time to reflect or a time
to relax, but mostly a time to en-
joy some darn good dancin'.
-Justine Unatin
Reduced
Shakespeare
better than
Cliff's Notes
The masterpiece of Hamlet per-
formed backwards and in less than
two minutes? The foreboding
tragedy of Othello in rap form?
How about Shakespeare's 16
comedies condensed to a hilarious
four-minute intrigue?
Unbelievable. Yet Friday night,
See WEEKEND, Page 7

usly hasn't spoiled the boys in the Front yet. Note the
nd the angst-ridden scowl. Or is it just constipation?

e that the record didn't
rcial. While I'm not
should have changed
suit a mass audience,
not have shunned
. Tyranny (For You)
unable to get much
of success they had
A distribution of Wax
-Mike Molitor

erica's wide-open spaces is so
great that the most popular
vacation retreats are dude ranches,
where harried Burger can make
like cowboys for a weekend. If you
know somebody over there, save
them the money and send a copy
of Joe Ely Live at Liberty Lunch.
Believe you me, this is music so
definitively American, it's
practically archetypal.

~

5TH AVE. AT LIBERTY 761.9700


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-Michael P
Tackhead
Strange Things
SBK

aul Fischer

ROM THF DIRRIOR OF' Di:ADOPuii s Soc.x
GREEN CARD TCe
N ' Golden Globe Winner
Best Picture " Best Actor
ree .arge 32 oz. Drink
When You Bring in This Entire Ad (no soho)

Since coming together as the
house band for Sugarhill Records in
See RECORDS, Page 7

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BLACK RELIGIOUS
HISTORY SERIES
Blacks & Christianity:
ERADICATING
February 11 - 15, 1991
Michigan Union:
Pendelton Rm (M, Tu, Th)
Anderson Rm (W, Fr)
7:00 pm nightly
Speakers: John Davis
Jefferson Edwards
Dr. C. E. Hawthorne
Host: Labor of Love Campus Fellowship

LUl
SI

RESTAURANT
-CHE JAN
26 years experience
TOP GOLD MEDAL WINNER
OF DETROIT COBO HALL NATIONAL CONTES
Sponsored by Michigan Restaurant Association
Michigan Chefs De Cuisine Association


Washington Semester Program

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Find out information about internships
and programs in eight specialized
areas including Journalism, Econom-
ics, Foreign Policy, Justice, and Art &
Architecture

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World Capitals Program
Choose from 12 overseas programs in-
cluding Beijing, Budapest, Prague,
Santiago, London and Brussels
Dr. David C. Brown, Dean
Washington Semester & World Capitals Programs
The American University
will be on campus
Tuesday, February 12
3:30-5:00 p.m.

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MINORITY UNDERGRADS
PAID SUMMER INTERNSHIPS
TAT