_____RTS
.The Michigan Daily Thursday, March 28, 1991
Page 5
Neon
by Andrew J. Cahn
Leon Redbone
is here
I'm just an old fashioned kind of
guy," says Leon Redbone, that cross-
legged singer/guitarist with an
affinity for the music of Tin Pan
-Alley. "I always have selfish rea-
~sons for doing what I do, basically
because I like what I like."
In the years since he began per-
forming, Redbone has been some-
what of an anachronism. "Instead of
becoming more contemporary," he
says, his musical interests are
"going in the other direction."
"I'm actually more fascinated
and completely entertained by mu-
sic from even earlier," says
Redbone, "from right at the turn of
the century, instead of the '20s,"
which is when much of his reper-
toire was originally done.
"The problem with the music
-scene as I see it is," he says, "is that
there is no connection between mu-
sic and history and music apprecia-
tion. It has now become a commod-
ity as opposed to something with
should be enjoys for its own merits.
It has been a very short time that
recording has existed, and there is
very little interest among he gen-
eral public to have any frame of ref-
erence to anything which was
recorded more than two years ago."
Redbone considers himself an
historian "by default." It can some-
times work to his own advantage, as
he explains that "people can't tell
the difference, anyway" as to
whether he is playing an original
tune or a cover; however, he adds
that the lack of knowledge of the
genre by the American public both-
ers him, saying, "I think people in
Europe know more about (it) than
they do over here."
Redbone is one of those artists
who isn't always immediately rec-
ognizable by name or by the titles
of his material, but he may be a
"household voice," he says with a
modest amount of laughter. If you
have heard background music in a
commercial that includes a guy
playing guitar and singing a tune
that sounds like it must be from the
1920s (e.g., "Mom'll lift 'em out
with a-l-l") in a deep voice, you've
heard Leon Redbone.
You also may have seen him per-
forming on a variety of television
shows. This past Christmas, he ap-
peared along with Dr. John on a spe-
cial holiday version of Ben Sidran's
New Visions on VH-1. Along with
the Doctor, another nostalgic per-
former, Redbone performed
"Frosty the Snowman" as if it were
a Gershwin tune. It was not the first
time the two of them worked to-
gether, for on most of Redbone's al-
bum, Dr. John plays piano on a cou-
ple of tracks.
"He's a very co-operative fel-
low," Redbone says. "He can come
in and play totally different from
what you are used to hear."
Although he does not plan to fol-
low in Dr. John's footsteps and put
out a musical instruction video,
Redbone says he would "rather do
an exercise tape."
If you understand that reference,
you must also be a fan of Gary
Larson's Far Side comic strip. One
particular cartoon, with a caption
that read "Leon Redbone's
Workout," depicted Redbone on a
TV in his usual wardrobe (a white
suit, a white hat and a pair of dark
shades) sitting cross-legged as he
does when he plays. His "workout"
is being watched by a woman, also
wearing sunglasses, who is just sit-
ting there in the same fashion to the
count of Redbone's "a-one and a-
two." That, by the way, was not the
only cartoon which featured
Redbone, for he says there was a
Family Circus that included him a
few years ago.
Besides his desire to compete
with Jane Fonda in the home video
market, Redbone has always wanted
to sing songs from different coun-
Boogie Down
Productions
Live Hardcore Worldwide
Paris, London & NYC!
Jive
FG: Probably the greatest thing
about BDP now is its scope.
Whether or not KRS considers this
the first live rap album or not is ir-
relevant. This is a brilliant way of
acting on the sentiments of
Edutainment - uniting the people
of the world against the evil gov-
ernments, rather than pitting people
against people. "The Eye Opener,"
that revision of "Mandela's Not
Free," is the greatest Pan-Africanist
tune of all time, period. Besides
pointing out that a figure like
Nelson Mandela is no better off
than any Black American, KRS
makes good on his intentions by
simply toasting his ass off. This
kind of material makes me believe
that music really can unite people
toward a common cause.
RKG: My favorite element here
is the inclusion of the material from
Kris' rawer days, when he was the
original nigga with an attitude. Yet
that attitude has always been di-
rected towards transcendence. Cuts
like "The Bridge Is Over" and "My
Philosophy" work mostly because
of the audience participation, con-
veying a sense of unity and tran-
scendence, through the music. This
album also has some nice reggae
grooves mixed in with older mate-
rial, including "9mm Goes Bang,"
that really mesh well. Perhaps BDP
should have released a Criminal
Minded remix album instead. Kris
hasn't received any royalties from
that record anyway. This is a great
album, although the songs from
Edutainment aren't needed here.
FG: The audience doesn't even
know what he's talking about with
"House Niggas" and "Ya Know
The Rules." This is coming too soon
after that album, anyway.
RKG: Jamal-ski should have been
included on more than just one cut.
He's a very talented toaster and his
skills would have added even more
to this album, without necessarily
taking away from the t'cha. Maybe
next year we'll get a BDP album
that showcases the combined talents
of all the members of BDP and not
just KRS-One.
FG: I would like to see that, my-
self. I don't care how many people
come for me on the street, but my
word is born: Harmony is the best
female rapper, period. The sense of
BDP's family comes through on this
record very clearly, even without
her. Kris' biggest problem as a
leader is his refusal to fall into an
absolutely PC program of toler-
ance. I seem to remember him saying
something on this one about
"faggot crews" between songs. It's
outrageous that the two most re-
spected leaders in rap continue to
express heterosexist views - Kris
in Edutainment and Chuck D. in
"Meet The G That Killed Me."
When every oppressed group opens
its ideology to include the others,
Kris' goal will be achieved. And, as
he ends program one of this album,
"The righteous will rise up over the
wicked."
-Randall Kirk Gibbs and
Forrest Green III
No Artists
a tribute to... Billy Joel,
Celebrating Skyclad's 100th
release!!
Skyclad
See RECORDS, Page 8
Leon Redbone, a historian "by default" of the music of the Roaring '20s,
wants the people who come to his show to bring old photographs or in-
formation about minstrel show performances.
tries. "That's basically what I
would like to do - I can't say I've
ever done it!" he notes. Fortunately
for Redbone, he would not have any
trouble with the languages. "I
know all languages," Redbone
boasts, "because they all basically
function on the same notes. There
are only twelve notes, unless you
get into the quarter notes, then it
becomes a twenty-two note scale,
but it is essentially a variation of
the same thing."-
LEON REDBONE will perform at
the Ark tomorrow at 7 p.m and 9:30
p.m. Tickets are $15 at Ticket-
Master (p.e.s.c.)
Ooze, ooze baby: Ice
ruins Teen Turtles
Simsar Gallery's fibers are off the wall
by Laura Howe
Fiber: On and Off the Wall is a
multi-artist exhibit currently at the
Alice Simsar Gallery. The works
presented here will change all
notions of textile artists as tra-
ditional weavers or fabric designers.
The exhibit brings together a vari-
ety of fiber treatments.
Lia Cook and Peter Collingwood
approach weaving in radically
different styles. Both take weaving
to the limit with unconventional
materials and techniques. There's no
Granny at her loom with skeins of
wool here - Cook's "Crazy
Quilt," inspired by the quilts of the
late 19th century, is made with
industrial rayon and painted abaca
(the fibers from the leaf stalk of the
banana). It is .a swirling array of
bright colors physically interwoven
through geometric color fields.
Her exploration with fibers
targets the "idea of the weaving as a
canvas' with patterned imagery
imbedded in the surface," as she
states in the accompanying exhi-
bition notes. This ideology creates a
wonderful depth to her works,
which emphasize the physical pro-
cess which is used to weave the
materials together.
In contrast, Collingwood's
unique "Untitled" piece is a large,
almost sculptural structure sus-
pended from the ceiling. Black and
beige macro-gauze woven to metal
rods enable him to create a complex
interplay between light and dark
and interior and exterior spaces. The
thin strands of fiber create transpar-
ent planes which produce taut, vol-
umetric areas.
Collingwood uses the loom's
precision to produce hangings that
are both "controlled and imper-
sonal," as he states in the accompa-
nying exhibition program. That de-
scription definitely fits his piece:
it's sleek, precise and complex.
In contrast to Collingwood's
sparse use of a few strands and
wires, Sherri Smith uses a weighty
conglomeration of cotton webbing.
Working at a large scale allows
Smith, a University professor, to
develop the color imagery in her
works. By plaiting the materials,
she creates a pattern of tiny pro-
truding cubes.
Smith's two pieces in the exhibit
belong to her series exploring three-
dimensional structure in weaving.
She says that she is "interested in
doing pieces with three sets of
elements instead of the traditional
two, which is the nature of
weaving."
Her works, entitled "Spaces"
and "Division," have colors which
change almost imperceptibly as the
viewer scans the surface. Large color
fields, overlapping or sometimes
fading into one another, are more
apparent the further away one
stands. Smith says she likens these
works to magnified color magazine
photos; the colored faces of the
cubes become the "dots" of color in
photo reproduction.
Among the six artists, one of the
other standouts, both in quality and
innovative use of material, is Neda
Al Hilali. She uses painted
handmade paper for her "The
Brothers Grimm." The paper is
scrunched and pressed roughly into
square sections, creating a woven
tapestry of amazing complexity.
Vibrant colors are then brushed on
its surface to emphasize its unique
texture.
This exhibit is a refreshing
change from the usual oil-on-canvas
works that so often come to mind
when the word "art" is mentioned.
Having a multi-artist exhibit is a
useful technique to encompass the
variety of different approaches to
fiber artistry. However, only two
of the six artists had more than one
work displayed. It would have been
interesting to see more than one
work of each artist, to get a sense of
his or her style and development in
this dynamic and diverse medium.
FIBER: ON AND OFF THE WALL
is at the Alice Simpsar Gallery, 301
N. Main, until April 20. There is no
admission charge.
Teenage Mutant
Ninja Turtles II:
The Secret of the
ooze
dir. Michael Pressman
by Jon Rosenthal
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II:
The Secret of the Ooze starts off
running, but finishes at a walk. In
the previous episode, the four tur-
tIes stumbled into some radioactive
waste and were found by a rat who
had learned ninjitsu at the feet of his
master before finding his way to
Ellis Island and the sewers of New
York. In this film, Michaelangelo,
Donatello, Raphael and Leonardo go
back to their roots, as they search
for a jar of the radioactive waste
that mutated them. During their
search for the ooze, they bump into
their old friend Shredder, the human
cuisinart. Shredder forces them to
fight for their lives, but along with
their trusty friends, the martial arts
torti drop and spin kick their way to
victory.
For the most part, the acting sus-
tains the film. Paige Turco convinc-
ingly plays April, the TV reporter
who befriends the turtles and be-
comes their surrogate mother. Both
points are displayed in a scene in
April's apartment, where the tur-
tles are living before they can get a
new place. April comes home fromI
work and finds the place a mess. As
she cleans up, she identifies each tur-
tle by the type of garbage they left
behind and then gripes, "The rat is
the cleanest one!"
David Warner plays the1
Professor and does an excellent job
with a role so poorly defined. He ef-
fectively adds depth to a shallow
character by giving more emotive
responses than the scene would call
for without becoming melodra-
matic; for example, his mad scien-
tist act in the turtles' subterrarium
hangout is subdued and hardly remi-
niscent of his Frankenstein prede-
cessors.
An essential problem with the
film is its confused messages. On
the one hand it tries to convey a
Green message - the turtles even
have the requisite number of garbage
cans with the slogan "Recycle
Dudes" sprayed above them.
Shredder and his teenage ninja thugs
hide out in a garbage dump while the
turtles clean up a sewer for their
new camp. At the same time, the
evil scientist becomes a positive
character at the end, one of the gang.
The film also attempts to portray
violence in a negative light.
Splinter, their Sensei, says, "Fight
only as a last resort," but this mes-
sage is contained in a film about nin-
jas - albeit, mutated turtle ninjas.
See TURTLES, Page 8
ANN ARbOR
THEATERS 1 & 2-5TH AVE. AT LIBERTY
* 761 .9700
Professor Eric Rabkin will be
reading his humorous essay, "Why I
Read Science Fiction" at 7 p.m. this
Thursday at Kaleidoscope Books &
Collectibles (217 S. State) as part
of their complimentary entertain-
ment series. The reading will be
followed by a science fiction discus-
sion.
Ed Sarath will proudly display
his full-to-bustin' filofax at the
two consecutive performances that
he will direct: the Northcoast Jazz
Ensemble on Thursday, RLH in the
School of Music at 8 p.m., and
Waves on Saturday, MT at 3 p.m.
"Crazy Ed" composed music to be
performed by Northcoast, and also
miraculously coordinates music,
dance, film and theater in Waves, a
digital music ensemble. How does
he shift gears from Duke Ellington
to ultra-contemporary (read, really
weird hairstyles) music? Herbal tea
and meditation? Hallucinogens? Cc
to these free concerts and find out!
(Anyone with an inkling as to the
meanings of these abbreviations
should call the Daily Arts office
for a reward to be named later.) dle-aged singer/songwriters. The
show features THREE of these
Real college music made by nice acts: Clive Gregson and Christine
women, who do such great things as Collister, Exene Cervenka and
the Breeders as side projects, and Steve Wynn. Yea, we are so ex-
their new male bassist and old male cited. Tickets are $12.50 at
drummer comes to the Blind Pig TicketMaster (p.e.s.c.) and the show
May 2. Tickets are $12.50 in advance is April 30 at Alvin's in Detroit.
Mr. & Mrs. Bridge (PG-13)
Cyrano De
° = Z Bergerac (PG)
OLDEM . p,-
PRESENT THIS COUPON WITH
PURCHASED TICKET THRU
PUR 4/11/91
at TicketMaster (p.e.s.c.) Who is
said band? The Throwing Muses of
course.
Then there is something called
the Real Music Revue. Please. It's
your basic folky stuff made by mid-
11
1
ster
fi
Color Printing
Color Printing
Color Printing
CELEBRATE EASTER
at
The University Lutheran Chapel