Folk heoO David WilCOX will play with local folk hero Michael Hsu at the Michigan League this Friday. He's ~knQw for his heartfelt lyrics and lovely melodies in national, contemporary folk circles. Tickets are$8. The performance wilt begin at 8:30 p.m. Page 8 Friday, September 22, 1995 Shore's composition perfectly comple. ments the startling cinematography. Surprisingly, all ofthe main characters have a fair amount of depth. Somerset, a Sevengierslaints a 1034-year veteran, is at times corrupt, at By PrasWnt Tamaskar .slainwiththeword"greed"spray-nainted times idealistic and often apathetic. Inter- Daily Arts Writer throughout his office. It doesn't take long estingly, he manages to be a cerebral From its graphic opening scene to its for the investigators to realize that thee startling conclusion, David Fincher's killer is basing his crimes on the seven investigator, rather than ag.stub "Seven" is a rare cinematic experience. deadly sins. He begins, of course, with boMth xguy. This filmpatientlyterrifiesandengrosses gluttony and greed. The rest of the film dMils, the inexperiencd, macho young its viewer without ever relying on the focuses on the search for the murderer, e make a name for himself. At the same mindless tactics that most filmmakers known as John Doe, and the detectives' me a ne for hisme employ in their films. In many ways attempt to prevent more bloodshed d time, he heeds the advice of his mentor similar to "The Silence of the Lambs," tanteddisplays arefreshing sensitivity when this psychological thriller concentrates , noton thejob. And John Doe, himsel is more on tampering with the mind of the '.he not the average serial killer. He is intelli audience than on exciting people with nftgent manipulative and seemingly ratio explosions and violence. Asvyns, nal. The plot begins with the unusual mur- Directed by David A ralways, Freeman is excellent as der f a ovrweghtman ho s trtued 1 *Somerset, the experienced investigator for his uncivil eating habits. Grisly vet- Fncher; with BradPitt A master of portraying restrained emo- eran detective William Somerset (Mor- and Mogan Freeman tion, he brings a quiet charisma to his gan Freeman) and his youthful future At Briarwood and Showcaset(M - character, a necessity in this role. Pitt, replacement David Mills (Brad Pitt) areAans although not up to Freeman's high stan- reagedent adse of)dard, is satisfactory as Mills. Although he Son teas n The most remarkable aspect of seems to try too hard at times, especially "Seven" is not its story, but rather the during some ofthe more dramatic scenes, execution ofits interesting screenplay. this may arguably be Pitt's finest perfor- Directing only hissecond feature film, mane yet. Fincher has created atechnically supe- "Hey. Keep It down in there. I'm the sexiest butt alive and If you don't do what I say, I'll hit you with my cast." Still, the movie is stolen by the actor rior work that pays great attention to (whose name will not be revealed, in detail. This helps create a tense atmo- is kept hidden. It would have been very vided by Fincher and director of photog- makes effective use of shadows and sil- order to maintain the surprise) who plays sphere which never fades. easyforthe filmmakersto waste asignifi- raphy Darius Khondji. They manage to houettes, important factors in this omi- John Doe. Although not on the screen for Although many of the film's scenes cant portion of the movie documenting create a dark, somber world that reflects nous setting. most of the film, he is both frightening are quite graphic, there is only a moder- the heinous crimes. Instead, they opt to the deterioration of the society that con- The eerie score, written by "Silence of and intriguing.In "Seven,"on ofthe most ate amount of violence. This is most focus on the mind-games that the devious tains Somerset and Mills. In a manner the Lambs"' composer Howard Shore unusual and exciting films to come out of evident by the decision not to show any John Doe plays with his adversaries, reminiscent of the noir films of the 40s, significantly contributes to the suspense Hollywood in a long time, this mysteri- Gwyneth Paltrow Is Brad's true luv ofthe horrific murders being committed. Also enhancing the high quality ofthis rain is nearly ubiquitous and the sun al- in the film. Always haunting, varying ous and remarkable performance is al- both on-screen and off. Theidentity oftheperpetrator,therefore, film is its fantastic cinematography pro- most never shines. Moreover, Khondji between inconspicuous and powerful, most worth the price of admission itself. Love is Bi ed:'Melon'tids tie ri d stuff = b & By Us. Kearwin Daily Arts Writer NineInchNailsinfluencingBlues Trav- eler? Ministry influencing the Dave Matthews Band? Bjork influencing Blind Melon? While the first two cases may take a stretch of the imagination, the third is reality, or at least reality according to Blind Melon bassist Brad Smith. "You can totally tell that she has no influences. She doesn't sound anything like anybody else. That's why I respect her music so much," said Smith, describing his affinity for Bjork. While Blind Melon doesn't quite have as distinct a style as Bjork, their simplic- ity of concepts and lyrics are certain to attract a wide range of listeners. "Really we wouldn't say that we're influenced by anyone. We may like certain bands, but our music is definitely our own. I don't think I even ownany Top40albums tobe influenced by," admitted Smith sheep- ishly. Unliketheirmusic, Blind Melon began in away that is fairly standard and nonde- 11 Where:St. Andrews Hall When: Saturday.. Wickets: Sold Out, Domr open ,at 7:30pm. script. About five years ago, members from places as distant as Mississippi met up in Los Angeles to form a band. "We got together the way every other band gets together. That's what California is all about. Wewerejust abunch of musicians who came to L.A., hooked up, and started a band," relayed Smith. Fortunately, Blind Melon was not a band that had to rely solely on the lead singer to be successful. "People see rock'n'roll bands as the guitar player and the singer, but that's not Blind Melon," remarkedvocalist Shannon Hoon. "We're fortunate that every person in this band can write a great song." But, though band members deny having a leader, Hoon quickly emerged as the conversation starter of the band. With wild stage antics such as peeing on audiences in Vancouver, B.C., Shan- non made the band a staple of the MTV News clips. But no, "Shannon doesn't pee on people any more..." reassured Smith. Afteronlyaweektogether,BlindMelon had already created a demo tape. But, their first album was not recorded until after the band had finished a strenuous touring schedule. Their fourth single, "No Rain" easily hit number one and the Bee Girl became a staple of the Buzz Bin. Unfortunately, when following up such a smash success, there comes the tradi- tional "sophomore slump." With the new album "Soup," Blind Melon was aware that they had to live up to high expecta- tions. "When you have a song that's as popular as 'No Rain' was, Bee Girl and all,you've gotta expect that everyone will be on you waiting to see how the next album turns out," says the bassist. "But, we didn't really care what the media thought. We made the songs because we wanted to make them, without a thought astowhatpeoplewouldthinkandwhether we'd live up to what they expected. All that mattered was that the songs meant something to us." With this attitude in mind, Blind Melon reunited in New Orleans to record"Soup." "We recorded in a big mansion in the French Quarter. It was this guy's house and he just hooked up all the rooms and turned it into a big recording studio. No glass walls or anything. It was amazing," said Smith. Smith adds that while New Orleans is "an evil place ... it's also the kind of place that can touch your spirit in . a positive way; there's nothing quite like it if you're a musician." Overall, the band has been happy with the way that "Soup" has turned out. Their first single, "Galaxie" is already garner- ing praise and the video has proven itself to be an eye-catching combination of colors and lights. But, you may ask, what does the video mean? "The concept is that there is no concept. We put lights under the car,turnedon awindmachine,andput on some makeup. The point was to make everyone go 'WHAT?' I'm actually not all thatintovideos,butit'ssomethingthat has to be done. It's the songs themselves that matter, not the way we present our- selves on screen," said Smith. On "Soup," it is indeed the songs that raise both eyebrows and questions. "Car Seat (God's Presents)" stems from Shan- non Hoon'shorror about the Susan Smith drowning case. Though Smith himself believes that the incident was unforgiv- able, he's torn as to whether or not the verdict handed down to Smith was cor- rect. "I thoughtsheshouldfiy,"hebegins. "Wait, I'm not sure I'm into death penal- ties, but I think what she did was really wrong. She just did it for the attention, whether it was attention from her hus- bandorherlover... But to do that to two little kids? Yeah, she should have gotten the death penalty." Another song of particular interest to Blind Melon's Michigan fans is "St. Andrew's Fall,"asongwrittenafter Hoon watched a womanjump to her death offof a Detroit building. For those of you not smart enough to figure it out, Smith adds that ".. it's just a really clever play on words. We just thought that since it oc- curred in Detroit, it was a fall, and St. Andrew's is a club there, it would be an appropriate title. Also, the 'St.' adds sort of a religious experience to the whole situation. It fits really well." When Blind Melon arrives at St. 141 1 it!L!J.i Here stand Blind Melon, ready to be hit by a chandelier. BARGAIN MATINEES °.°r, STUDENT W/ I.D. $4.75 EVENINGS ALL SCREENS STEREO TUN Bring in this ad, and receive one I *THE SUN _ ACADEM - INER FREE 200Z DRINK'' UNSTRUNG with any popcorn purchase HEROES PG expires: October 5, 1995 p* Lmmmmm ammmm mmmmmmmmm mm mmm mm Andrew's Hall this Sunday night, they will still be just beginning the U.S. leg of their tour. "Having just finished playing at the Redding Festival with groups such as White Zombie and Soundgarden, com- ing home is going to take a little getting used to," Smith said."'Soup' has really caught on overseas. In Europe, the CD has already sold as much as our first album did. It's really popular," Smith comments. But, the band has high expec- tations for the U.S. "Hopefully it'll catch on over here like that also. We're hoping that's what will happen with the tour." But, while Blind Melon may not be play- ing the arenas this time around, they're no strangers to large audiences. "Woodstock was amazing. All those people, the mu- sic, everything ... I even got to see Nine Inch Nails. Trent came out all covered in mud. But, you'd have to have been there to understand it. Woodstock can only be described to someone who Was there," Smith said. Overall, Blind Melon isa band not willing to be fit neatly into any musical genre. They are a band whose emotion- ally stirring, heartfelt music may strike a chord in any and all of us ... their rough edges making their songs evehmore real- istic andtrue. "Our music is music. Ifyou like it, listen to it. If not, don't bother," says the bassist, reminding listeners that music need not be categorized to be sim- ply good. Which brings us to Smith's final com- ment, one which truly sums up Blind Melon asaband. "My favorite muppet? I'dhaveto say Kermit. He's cool. Imean, first ofall,he plays the banjo and sings. And he doesn't have to be in the muppet band like Animal and the rest of them. He just plays and sings because he wants to, no matter what anyone else thinks. I like that in a muppet." And these qualities are just what Blind Melon's listeners like in their band. 1ThIEfTT9 / NLviC E cfI~v gjft CAl., 710r 161 E&Y- vf . r.or- I 4 AAA 4- i. / i ft m m