10 - The Michigan Daily - Friday, October 27, 1995 Heather Nova is By Shannon O'Neill For the Daily Once upon a time, the music world was filled with angst-filled lyrics and screech- ing vocalists. Men waxed poetic about self-esteem and selling out. Women just wanted someone to stay, and, well, you oughta know. Then, above thedin aunique sound was heard: The voice of a woman withgraceful vocal power, intelligentlyr- ics, and the ability to play guitar! Breathe easy music lovers, for she brings hope in these clich6 times. So, move over PJ Harvey and Tori Amos and make room started out just playing gigs wherever I could just with my acoustic guitar." What? No magazine covers and inces- sant airplay of the same song over and over again? Yes, an actual woman in the monotonous rock world who has not been shoved down our collective throats as the next big She Thing. Perhaps this rare occurrence stems from the fact that Nova and her music are relatively inseparable. "I try to write both the music and the lyrics together, from things that go through my head, and things that I feel strongly about," explained Nova. Live performance is also a strong com- mitment forNova whilepromoting"Oys- ter." Since the album's release in Europe last year, she has been the supporting act for such heavyweights as Neil Young along with Pearl Jam. According to Nova, playing live is, "something I would say I'm almost addicted to now." Sinceliveperfornancehasbecomesome- what ofa necessity for Nova, it comes as no surprise that her band is an intimate part in uper the presentation of her music. "The whole thing I want the band to be doing isto be anotherelement expressingthe emotion in the song," said Nova. Yet, there is something lacking from this near-perfect picture. A singer with an in credible debut album, emotionally realistic lyrics and a fresh sound is still a relative unknown to the tired American scene. Nova feels this reception is due to time. "The album has been out almost ayearoverthere (in Europe), and over here its just come out. We just have to wait and see, really," statg4 Nova sensibly. So, why does she do it? The fame? The glory? The MTV airplay? "I think everyone should do, if they can, what comes most naturally to them no matter what it is. Because that's the way you're going to get the most out of life and contribute something as well." If "Oyster" is any indication of this contribution, then the music world may just be heading for a very happily ever after. Enen the cast of 'Copycat' are enthralled by its suspense. 'C ives up to its name By Christopher Corbett Daily Arts Writer Early in "Copycat," Daryll Lee Cullum (Harry Connick Jr.) hides in a restroom. Helen Hudson (Sigourney Weaver) hasjust finished a lecture on her field of expertise - serial killers. He surprises her, hoists her up with a thin cord around her neck,just high enough to begin stran- gling her. She can barely reach the toilet with her feet to keep from chok- ing. Cullum, with a wild, detached look in his eyes, grabs her -bodyguard, asking: "How should I do him? Cut Having spat on the bodyguard's body and licked his wicked blade, he turns to her and we know she's thinking, "Aww, dang!" his throat or shoot him?" She watches in horror as he does both. Having spat on the bodyguard's body and licked his wicked, curved blade, he turns to her and we know she's think- ing, "Aww, dang!" We feel the fear because Sigourney Weaver has a way of getting us to identify with her characters. Most of us got the sense of desperation, of anxiety, when Ripley defied all odds to rescue Newt in "Aliens." Weaver puts her emotions raw on her chis- eled face and confident voice. Be- cause we can identify with a Ripley, Copycat Directed by Jon Amiel; with Sigourney Weaver and Holly Hunter At Showcase we can easily care about her. In fact, Helen, a computer genius, overshadows M.J. Monahan (Holly Hunter), the detective searching for the "copycat" killer; he imitates infa- mous serial murderers such as the Bos- ton Strangler, Son of Sam and Dahmer. Opposite the convincing Helen, M.J. comes across as just a stock detective left over from any other suspense film. Helen's life and predicament have far more detail. Having become ago- raphobic after surviving Cullum's attack, she remains a prisoner in her apartment. She has only indirect con- nections to the outside world - she plays chess on the Internet with other shut-ins, who sometimes hit on her between moves. She also agonizes when her newspaper is a bit too far from her doorway - she leans out and struggles to retrieve it with a broom. Just as Helen interests us more than M.J., the imprisoned Cullum outshines the killer-on-the-loose, Peter Foley (William McNamara). Like Hannibal Lecter (in "The Si- lence of the Lambs"), Connick's character offers us the biggest scares and the biggest laughs. In perhaps the film's best sequence, Cullum - through the monitor of a computer in prison - offers Helen information on Foley. In exchange, he asks in a silly, aww-shucks, bashful voice for a pair of Dr. Hudson's "frillies," autographed by her. Connick's fantastic, maniacal per- form ance leaves us wanting more. We would have felt thrilled if his charac- ter stalked Helen throughout the film instead of Foley, who appears as dead as flat champagne in comparison. Nevertheless, "Copycat" has some shocking and scary moments. Cullum's attack is one. Another is when Helen receives a video clip from Foley. On her computer screen, we see the crime-scene photo of a dead girl in a bathtub. The body begins to dance around, and soon transforms into a red-headed girl. Foley had vid- eotaped his next victim. The girl's face turns into a nightmarish skull with blood-red eye sockets. Lack of originality, ironically, be- comes "Copycat"'s main flaw. Direc- tor Jon Amiel ("Sommersby") could have given us a clever ending instead ofa worn-out conclusion. Ifyou don't kill your victim right away, but wait until the drawn-out chase scene, you're asking for trouble. Will psychos never learn? We accept such a cop-out because Amiel has invested us with Dr. Hudson, and wisely keeps her as the film's focus. Our satisfaction comes when Helen faces her demons. She can no longer hide when the killer brings her to that gleaming-white restroom of the lecture hall. Our stomachs wrench when Foley, the rampaging killer, re-enacts Cullum's attempt to kill her. He stages a virtually identical - copycat - scene, using the same kind of cord, making her wear the same dress, put- ting her in the same stall and repeat- ing Cullum's questions to her. And our hands clench when Helen sets herself free. for Heather Nova. Who is this fresh face on our music scene, and where has she been all this time? Her debut album "Oyster" has al- ready sold over 200,000 copies in Europe since its release last year. Resting com- fortably between pop and rock, Nova's musical debut is a tantalizing mixture of poetic lyrics delving into the subcon- scious, accompanied by a distinctly beau- tiful voice which brings forth a healthy dose of emotion. According to Nova, music is the per- fect place to showcase such emotion. "Song writing, forme,is about communi- cating all that stuff you're never able to communicate. In day-to-day life, there's nowhere that you're really real about your emotions. So, for me, music is a place for that," she said. Citing Neil Young, Patti Smith and Van Morrison among her major influ- ences, it's obvious that Nova has trans- formed her musical haven into an art form. Spending most of her life on a sailboat with her parents, Nova's intro- duction to music was a more personal one. "There was a lot of music around be- cause we lived in the West Indies, so there were always people playing music," ex- plainedNova. "That's really when I picked up the guitar when I was around 14." Worry not, there are no teeny-bopper skeleton-in-the-closet recordings. No cheesy Debbie Gibson-esque turn for the worse. Instead, Nova took the longer road to musical kudos. "I've been sort of taking myself seri- ously for about six years," said Nova. "I Heather Nova has a cool name and a cool album, "Oyster." I Don't Panic"! If you think you're pregnant.., cal} us-We listen, we care. PROBLEM PREGNANCY HELP 769-7283 Any time, any day, 24 hours. Fully confidential. Serving Students since 1970. Don't Buy A Computer Yet! Manufacturers and advertisers do not tell you everything you need to know about their computers. You must be prepared! Get the information you need from our PC buying report first. There's no obligation and the report is free. 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