I Thp Mirhiom nails - Fridav. 5entember 29. 1995 --- w me rvncin'hin flarry rruayv c~n~r 9Q I - I The Lost World By Michael Crichton Ktnopf Welcome to Jurassic Pa... Oh, sorry, that was the previous book. Welcome to "The Lost World," Michael Crichton's sequel to that cash cow book he wrote several years ago that became the biggest dinosaur movie of all time. At least so far. "The Lost World" takes place six years after the events of "Jurassic Park." The only returning character is Ian Malcolm (a.k.a. Jeff Goldblum's character), noted math- ematician and guy who gets injured by T. Rexes. Actually, it would be wrong to say he's the only return- ing character, because a smattering of the characters are new versions of the ones in "JP." There's a jerky guy who becomes a dino-lunchable, a tech support guy who becomes a dino-lunchable, a tough female sci- entist and two kids who are good with computers. Give the people what they want, I guess. The book begins with some scenes that provide both a background in complexity (what was, last time, chaos) theory and the aftermath of "JP." Specifically, no one outside of those involved knows what happened, that genetically engineered dinosaurs can exist or that the project went out of control. There have, however, been reports of "aberrant forms" appearing in Costa Rica, and brilliant scientist dickweed Richard Levine wants to form a research team to investigate them in order to support a theory that dinosaurs have survived to the present day. Malcolm signs on. Levine investigates a discovery of an aberrant form, reaching it just before it is destroyed by the Costa Rican government. He then investi- gates an island where he believes a mysterious place called Site B was located. His colleagues discover his absence, and after a satellite phone conversation is unexpectedly ter- minated, they decide to form an expedition to go after him. And could you possibly guess what is on that island? That's right. Dino- saurs. All your favorites, from Velociraptors to Tyrannosaurus, plus a new species or two. So the expedi- tion arrives and has to contend with the dinosaurs, but also has to deal with a sinister team of scientists from a bio-tech corporation who want di- nosaur embryos and who would pre- fer the other team to not survive. So it's another helping of playful sur- vival antics. Still, there is an admirable re- straint as to "JP" references. There is a summary of what happened at Jurassic Park and the status of the participants in the debacle, but there is little else. Site B exists because theoretically the Park was Site A. But there isn't even a mention of the words "Jurassic Park" in the book. The closest it gets is an offhand reference to "JP" and a reference to the "park." So, while "The Lost World" may take a bunch of story elements from its predecessor, at least it has new locations (if only a hop, skip and a jump away). Thematically the book is about shortcuts and their ills. While "JP" looked at genetics and chaos theory, "Lost World" examines complexity theory and the dangers of shortcuts. Malcolm consistently delivers po- lemics, this time on the possibili- ties of extinction and their relation to cyberspace, among others. The book itself seems to caution against entering unknown situations while at the same time presenting com- plexity theory which boils down to the idea that any situation will ulti- mately have unknown elements. Then again, the book may be saying that when you have a good thing, stick with it. Well, it isn't like "The Lost World" should come as such a shock to any- one. It's certainly better than a "Fri- day the 13th" sequel, even if the slasher stays the same in both. Maybe the sense that the engineered dino- saurs are near the end of their time at the end of the novel is true. Maybe there really won't be anything more about them. Yeah, and maybe I'm a Chinese jet pilot. - Ted Watts "Hey, baby, I may look tough but Inside I'm just a sensitive, misunderstood artist.' Cheer up Blur, you've just made one of the best albums of the year. Blur I The Great Escape Virgin Records All good things must come to an end. In this case, it's Blur's trilogy of al- bums devoted to British life in the wan- ing 20th century. 1993's tentative but occasionally bril- liant "Modem Life is Rubbish" kicked off Blur's mod renaissance (their first album, 1990's "Leisure," was a fun but slightly derivative work that borrowed heavily from the shoegazing scene of early '90s Britain). Early David Bowie, the Who, and the Kinks replaced My Bloody Valentine and Chapterhouse as the group's reference points, and the change suited singer/songwriter Damon Albarn's Cockney vocals and satirical viewpoint. Last year, Blur released not only their finest work up to that point, but one of the best albums of 1994 -"Parklife." "Parklife" saw the group refine their sound and image. They refreshed (in- stead of rehashed) mod and pop culture references, making them their own. A cameo by mod icon Phil Daniels (star of"Quadrophenia,"the Who's mod concept album), a duet with Stereolab's Lxtitia Sadier and the pulsating disco of "Girls And Boys" fit together in a completely natural way. "Parklife" is a diverse and brilliant album by any stan- dards, but especially for a band written off by most critics early in its career as being derivative scenesters. How times have changed. Blur are not only the biggest band in Britain right now, but also British press dar- lings (not to mention the victors in the "Blur vs. Oasis" singles battle of last month). But in the US, when people think of Blur, they think of their early success with "There's No Other Way" (off of "Lesiure") or of last year's top 50 hit "Girls And Boys" - if they think of them at all. Elastica, Oasis - those British bands are familiar to anyone who listens to alternative radio or watches MTV - but for most Ameri- cans, Blur remains an unknown quality. "The Great Escape," unfortunately, may not change that. It does, however, more than fulfill the expectations of their die-hard fans. It develops musical and thematic ideas the band has touched on in their previous works, and adds new dimensions to Blur's already di- verse style. But easy listening it isn't. Or maybe it is; the decidely mellow, string-filled Bacharach-inspired song "The Univer- sal," is Muzac about everybody's fa- vorite happy pill, Prozac. And the first single "Country House" (which rhymes Prozac and Balzac) is an outwardly rollicking though very clever song about middle-aged yuppie ennui. It's this mix of highly intellectual lyrics and catchy pop hooks that makes Blur special - and also narrows their chances for mega-success in America. It's an ambitious album, but not the most likely to succeed (financially, any- way). Besides being a veddy British album, it's also laden with synthesizers and horns (particularly on songs like "Stereotypes," "Top Man," "Entertain Me" and "Mr. Robinson's Quango"), which are none too popular in a guitar- fixated music scene. "Charmless Man," however, is a per- fect mix of loud guitars, sing-along choruses and yes, clever lyrics. The charmless man is "Educated the expen- sive way/He knows his claret from a beaujolais." It's insightful but still en- ergetic music, and it recalls the sunnier, more accessible music of "Parklife." For "The Great Escape"is a much darker, moodier album than anything the band has released till now. Albarn's caricatures in songs like "Stereotypes," "Country House," and "Globe Alone" are still dead-on and amusing, but there's less affection towards his targets than in his previous portraits like "Tracy Jacks." And the ballads on the album aren't just melancholy, they're down- right sad, especially "Yuko and Hiro" (allegedly about Albarn's longtime re- lationship with Elastica frontwoman Justine Frischmann). At times, "The Great Escape" is. downright arty. "Best Days" and "Fade Away" are theatrical little numbers that wouldn't be out of place in a musical; and "He Thought of Cars" and "Ernold Same" both delve into psychedelia. "Ernold Same" is particularly trippy. whatever Backyard Records It's like this: bo bud greene won't change your life. They won't help you explore all the inner meanings of every- thing unknown and important. Hell, their album might not even be worth buying, unless you can get it used. But it is good. And the group thanks such diverse influ- ences as Malcolm X, Henry David Thoreau and the Fuckemos in their liner .notes. Come on, the Fuckemos have to count for something. But back to bo bud greene. Now that you know that "whatever" is good, does that mean that you're going to go out and buy it? Probably not. You're going to wantto know what they sound like. Well, I can describe it for you, but it's usually better to hear a group before you buy their album, isn't it? So unless you catch them on the radio sometime, see a video of theirs, or listen to a friend's copy -this review doesn't matter. If anybody goes out and buys bo bud greene after reading this, more power to you. You put more stock in our music reviews than I thought. You won't be disappointed. But you'd still like a description of theirmusic. Well, it's obvious right away that each of the members of this quartet (guitar & vocals, more guitar, bass and drums) is a great musician. One reason that "whatever" feels so liveis that bo bud greene loves to take liberties with the pulse of their songs, especially in "Clear Yellow Button" and "Trampoline," among other tracks. It might be that the drummer just can't keep good time, but the push-and-pull effect with the beat is a clever and interesting trick, even if it's unintentional. Don't blame yourself if you still don't want to buy "whatever." It still won't change your life. - David Cook Wrter/Director AdI Sideman's controverslal documentary about pedophiles prenieres tonight and shows through tomorrow evening at the Natural Science Auditorium (showtimes are 8:30 and 10 p.m, and admission is $4). This film presents interviews and anecdotes from assortment of men who belong to the New Yorkbased North American Man Boy Love Association (NAMBLA). These men are pedophiles and they make no excuses about it. The film draws the viewer into a world of sex, but, more importantly, a world of love. The men depicted it this fiim seem to sincerely love boys, even while they yearn for sexual relations with pubescent children. NAMBLA members must tolerate obscene answering machine messages and brutal crowds of protesters - including angry, homosexuals who are often mistakenly grouped with pedophiles. Granted, this filn is shocking. But these men do exist. They have real feelings and honest intentions and are, at the very least, deserving of an hour of our attention. ® ODD MM (B M P~ M ESMj M M MM MM i 16225 W. 7 Mile Road Between Greenfield & Southfield Roads FS: ® Detroit, MlI48235 STMonh.-Thurs. 9- Fri-Sat. 9-9 1 I v Call For Appointment I (313)837-7366 with this ad Walk-Ins Welcome * Detro oooit, MI 48235M MMM - ----hus -- A l a m V ,- ,,. ., . I ,<: ;t :i I S Sooyoung Park sounds depressed. Who knows why? Maybe it's because his Chicago- based band Seam loses band members faster than the University drops Journalism programs. Maybe it's because fellow Oberlin classmate Liz Phair made the cover of Rolling Stone and Seam has yet to fill that glossy page. Or perhaps it's because Park knows that out of his depression comes some of the most moving, emotionally charged music to emerge from the Indle-rock scene. On Seam's fine sophomore album "The Problem With Me," Park channeled all that gloom Into swirling, atmospheric, dreamy yet explosive guitar rock, playing the loudsoft game to devastating emotional effect. Fortunately, he hasn't lightened up on Seam's latest Touch & Go release "Are You Driving Me Crazy." Park and his current bandmates play at the Blind Pig tonight In support of the excellent new record. Spent opens the show; the doors should open at 9:30 p.m. Tickets will set you back a mere $7.50. Everybody get unhappy. ii._ You Know How To Tie These. 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