Classifieds

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ACROSS
1 “Mamma Mia!”
group
5 Tunes
10 Fundamentals
14 Talking iPhone
feature
15 Destroyer
destroyer
16 Messy stuff
17 __ smasher
18 “I’m innocent!”
19 Hindu deity
20 High-speed war
plane maneuver
22 Hunter’s device
23 Gets close to
24 Cheat, in a way
25 Seasonal malady
27 Find work
30 Shakespearean
fairy queen
33 Large-leafed tree
35 Batman portrayer
Kilmer
36 Skating
commentator
Lipinski
37 Passionate
38 Dishes for
company
40 Eagerly excited
41 Golfer
Ballesteros
42 Furrow maker
43 Ruling period
45 Charlemagne’s
realm: Abbr.
46 Avant-garde
48 Low or no
follower
49 Insert for a 6-
Down
51 Shoot well under
par, in golf lingo
53 Syria’s Bashar 
al-__
55 Focuses even
harder ... and a
hint to the starts
of the answers to
starred clues
59 Letters after phis
60 “The Planets”
composer
61 Texter’s “If you
ask me”
62 Adorable
63 Wipe off
64 Dismissed, with
“off”
65 “Until next time,”
in texts
66 Oscar’s
roommate

67 Tolkien’s
Treebeard et al.

DOWN
1 PDQ
2 __-Honey
3 *Rhode Island
school
4 Pop singer Mann
5 *Like Southern
California
beaches
6 Duck player in
“Peter and the
Wolf”
7 Punishment with
a grounding
8 Risk, e.g.
9 Canonized Mlle.
10 Feel the same
way
11 *Title female
“trying to make a
devil out of me,”
in a Santana hit
12 “¿__ está?”
13 Fix, as a pet
21 Blow one’s top
22 Cotillion honoree
24 *One of two cold
atmospheric
cyclones
25 Jiffy
26 Iron-rich meat
28 Miller’s “__ From
the Bridge”

29 First calendar 
pg.
31 Food court
attraction
32 Something to
pick lox for
34 ’50s political
monogram
36 Label
39 “__ so?”
44 Fish caught in
pots
46 Author Buntline

47 Tennis great
Andre
50 Studio piece
52 “Swan Lake” swan
53 Customer
holding: Abbr.
54 Closed
55 Produced, as fruit
56 Tel Aviv airline
57 Smidgen
58 Quiet yeses
60 Celeb with a
mansion

By Alan DerKazarian
©2015 Tribune Content Agency, LLC
12/02/15

12/02/15

ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE:

RELEASE DATE– Wednesday, December 2, 2015

Los Angeles Times Daily Crossword Puzzle

Edited by Rich Norris and Joyce Nichols Lewis

xwordeditor@aol.com

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6A — Wednesday, December 2, 2015
Arts
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

MUSIC NOTEBOOK
Thanksgiving with 
soulful CHERUB

By CATHERINE BAKER

Daily Arts Writer

It’s half past four and the 

Thanksgiving meal that my 
family spent two days preparing 
for has been devoured in less 
than thirty minutes. That in 
itself is a miraculous feat, but 
what is more exciting is that 
we’ve managed to finish our 
dinner with none of my elderly 
relatives 
saying 
anything 

extremely offensive. I take this 
as a win.

As I retire to the living room 

for my post-Thanksgiving nap, I 
decide the noise of the familial 
argument beginning to take 
place in the kitchen is better 
replaced by the sounds of my 
own music. The first song up 
on my Spotify Discover playlist 
is “Simple” by CHERUB, which 
is a band I’ve always liked but 
never truly appreciated enough. 
Nevertheless, in my turkey 
induced haze I take a liking to 
this song in particular and I 
pull up the rest of their album.

CHERUB is an electro-indie 

duo from Nashville, Tennessee 
formed in 2010. It consists of 
Jordan Kelley and Jason Huber 
who met in college at Middle 
Tennessee 
State 
University 

while 
studying 
music 

production. Building their fan 
base by making their songs 
payment-optional, 
CHERUB 

recently played at Lollapalooza, 
South 
by 
Southwest 
and 

Bonnaroo festival. Their debut 
album, Year of the Caprese, 
was released on May 27, 2015 
and combines genres like post-

disco, synth pop and funk. 
Their 
most 
popular 
song, 

“Doses and Mimosas,” charted 
at number 42 on Billboard’s 
Rock Airplay chart and 23rd on 
the Alternative Songs Chart.

Opening the album with 

“Simple,” 
CHERUB 
makes 

electronica soulful, combining 
traditional synthetic elements 
with 
meaningful 
lyrics. 

Reflecting, “I just want to live 
it all with ones I love / And 
simple minds lead to simple 
lives,” lead singer Kelley muses 
on his personal goals in life. 
Transitioning seamlessly into 
“Disco Shit,” the electronic 
elements stay and the serious 
lyrics leave. With a dance beat 
and psychedelic components, 
“Disco Shit” describes party 
culture 
and 
drug 
scenes, 

finishing the song with a muted 
sound like you’re underwater, 
presumably 
mimicking 
the 

effects of said drugs.

“This Song Is for You” is 

intimate and slows things down 
with a simple, syncopated synth 
beat, singing, “We were the last 
ones standing / Never knew 
that life would end up being so 

random.” It is slow, reflective 
and 
lyric-heavy, 
focusing 

on 
previous 
and 
broken 

relationships 
rather 
than 

wondering about the future.

Their most popular song, 

“Doses 
& 
Mimosas,” 
uses 

unusual sounds like the snap 
of the tab of a pop can to create 
an electronic pop sound. An 
extremely cynical chorus, “To 
all the bitch ass hoes / That hate 
me the most / Oh yeah, I hate 
you too,” probably played a role 
in “Doses & Mimosas” rise to 
fame amongst adolescents. By 
singing all the verses in falsetto 
and emphasizing the synth, 
CHERUB’s newest hit is unlike 
anything on the radio today.

“<3 
(Heart)” 
starts 
off 

similarly to the rest of the 
album 
with 
an 
electronic 

beat and pop-infused lyrics. 
However, the second half of 
the 
song 
devolves 
quickly 

into an acoustic cry for help. 
With nothing but a broken and 
strained voice backed by the 
plucking of a guitar, Kelley 
chokes out, “Just wait until I 
get the nerve to break / Your 
precious little heart.” In an 
unexpected, but not unwelcome 
twist, 
CHERUB 
showcases 

an entirely new side to their 
musical ability.

While CHERUB’s music is 

different from most popular 
musicians, the range of styles 
and topics it covers on Year of 
the Caprese should put it on 
the top of your “To Listen” 
list. And I can certainly attest 
that it is perfect for that post-
Thanksgiving nap.

Grimes empowers 
on hooky ‘Art Angels’

Latest from pop 
provacateur is 
entirely unique

By VANESSA WONG

Daily Arts Writer

Follow an artist long enough 

and even the most loyal of fans 
may not stay tethered. Both artists 
and 
listeners 

evolve, and not 
always in the 
same direction. 
For 
Grimes, 

the schism has 
begun: 
the 

release of Art 
Angels all but 
polarized her 
fan base. “She’s gone pop,” dis-
senters cry with disgust, tossing 
around descriptors like “selling 
out” and “going commercial” as 
if they’re natural synonyms for 
the genre.

They’re wrong; pop music is 

transcendental. Grimes plunges 
us into a millennial maelstrom 
of bouncy beats, hyper-digital 
samples and saccharine vocals – 
the kinds of songs that make you 
dance around your bedroom in 
your underwear for two hours 
straight. Fiery vocal delivery and 
song titles juxtaposed with a sup-
posedly “vapid” sound makes Art 

Angels a tool for empowerment, a 
sonic middle finger to anyone who 
dares belittle femininity.

Grimes eases us into this cru-

cible knowingly. The first track, 
“laughing and not being normal,” 
pairs breathy vocals and a tex-
tured orchestral sound, recreat-
ing the same moody minimalism 
we heard in previous albums. 
But surprise! it changes gears, 
launching us into jangly “Califor-
nia.” With lyrics like “what they 
see in me, I don’t see in myself,” 
Grimes directly addresses those 
who view her only as a concept 
rather than a living human being 
with a mind of her own.

This is the most we’ve ever 

heard her voice. Previously, her 
breathy vocals blended in like yet 
another instrument, but on this 
album, her voice slices a clean arc 
through fizzy earworm instru-
mentals. Layers of cyberpunk 
noise and frequencies bubble up 
in the background, but take sec-
ond stage behind radio-friendly 
guitar riffs and sing-along hooks.

Oft praised is “SCREAM,” 

the collaboration with Taiwan-
ese rapper Aristophanes that 
was originally released as a 
single. Together, the duo is your 
worst nightmare. Aristophanes 
commands the vocals, spitting 
out Chinese lyrics with cruel 
laughter overtop Grimes’s ani-
malistic screams and growls. 

Gym class whistles and adren-
aline-pumping guitar complete 
the hit-girl aesthetic.

Though “SCREAM” exudes 

destruction, it doesn’t feel out 
of place from the sugary-sweet 
tracks it segues into. Grimes 
said in an interview that she’s 
inspired by the Japanese arche-
type of cute and fearsome, 
which is a theme wound through 
the entire album. This dichoto-
my is best represented in “Kill 
V. Maim.” Its J-pop beats and 
cheerleader-style chorus may 
sound childish, almost artificial, 
but punctuated with spiteful 
screeches (“they don’t! know! 
me!”), it unveils the restless 
intelligence simmering behind 
the curated teen queen persona.

This theme is without a doubt 

the album’s greatest triumph. It 
acknowledges that feelings of 
rage, loneliness, infatuation, and 
empowerment can still be pack-
aged in a fun, high-gloss produc-
tion style. It develops pop music 
as a force to be taken seriously. 
It’s taken Grimes, as an artist, to 
a new realm of musical explora-
tion, leading her to collaborate 
with pop diva Janelle Monae for 
a song. And to anyone who criti-
cizes her ever-evolving sound? 
The closing line of the album 
says it all: “If you’re looking for 
a dream girl/I’ll never be your 
dream girl.”

FILM COLUMN

What’s in a name?

I

have a confession: I love 
“Rocky IV.” I love it for the 
cartoonish ‘roided up Russian 

Ivan Drago. I love it for the flashi-
ness that so aptly epitomizes the 
‘80s. I love 
that more 
than a third 
of its runtime 
is montage. 
I love that 
Rocky with 
his slurred 
speech and 
swollen face 
singlehand-
edly ends the 
Cold War by delivering a rousing 
victory oration about the values of 
being ‘Murican. I love it because it 
is the definition of excess, the kind 
of movie that gets played repeat-
edly on cable on slow Sunday 
afternoons.

I love the latest “Rocky” fran-

chise installment “Creed” because 
it is the exact opposite of “Rocky 
IV”: contemplative, emotional, 
slow, restrained. It’s a boxing 
movie where boxing serves as the 
vehicle to examine complex char-
acters dealing with real emotions 
and real conflict that’s internal 
rather than external. It’s a sequel 
that pays homage to its past but 
holds its own, and could function 
as a completely standalone work 
where no one had ever heard of 
the Italian Stallion.

“Rocky IV” reminds me that 

movies don’t always have to be 
high art, that they can be fun 
and exist solely for entertain-
ment. “Creed” reminds me that 
high art and entertainment can 
exist as one — it reminds me of 
why I love movies.

I realized what makes “Creed” 

so special very early on: a quiet 
scene where young Adonis Creed 
watches a YouTube clip of his long 
ago deceased father Apollo fight-
ing Rocky from one of the early 
“Rocky” films. The clip is pro-
jected onto the wall and blown up 
so Creed and Balboa appear quite 
large in stature. Though the foot-
age looks grainy, the ferocity on 
the faces of these fighters remains 
clear. The amateur boxer Adonis, 
dressed in shirt and tie, watches 
for a moment, but then rises and 
approaches the screen and begins 
to shadow the movements and 
punches of the fighters. At first 
it seems touching, a son walking 

in the footsteps of his father. But 
Adonis isn’t mirroring Apollo, nor 
is he fighting Rocky — he’s fight-
ing Apollo.

This image so perfectly cap-

tures the essence of the film: a son 
grappling with the legacy of his 
father, a legacy he didn’t ask for 
from a father that left him before 
he was born. Boxing is just the 
physical representation of this 
very personal conflict.

That’s why cinema is so fond 

of the boxing/fighting film. There 
is no greater exemplification of 
the personal struggle than the 
fighter’s quest for greatness: it’s 
boiled down and raw and brutal. 
Emotional tension can be felt, 
but physical confrontation — the 
crack of a rib, the spray of blood 
on the ring — these sounds and 
images resonate and boom. And 
when these physical struggles 
mesh with and mirror the more 
personal, emotional struggles, 
the audience becomes absorbed 
in the characters. Suddenly, their 
fight becomes our fight too. And in 
“Creed” the emotions resonate so 
loudly because its fight is so per-
sonal and human.

Watching “Creed,” I felt like 

I sat ringside, cheering on our 
protagonist. And it wasn’t sim-
ply because the camera weaves 
between the fighters to create a 
sense of 360 degree immersion, 
nor was it because of the use of 
surround sound that places char-
acters in front of and behind the 
audience so as to propel us smack 
into the middle of the scene. It 
was because I cared, because I 
could relate. 

Growing up, family and friends 

remarked how much I resembled 
(still resemble) my father: the 
same appearance, the same sense 
of humor, the same walk, the 
same voice, the same manner-
isms, the spitting image of my 
father. And so for years I could 
only compare myself to him: was 
I as smart as he was when he was 
my age, was I as personable as 
him, was he stronger than me, 
faster than me, what could he 
do that I couldn’t, and why 
couldn’t I do it too. Up until 
this past April, I was studying 
to go to medical school in large 
part (though not completely) 
because my father did — not 
because he wanted me to, but 
because I was still competing 

with him, with his name.

But his name is my name, and 

names and legacies do not make 
an individual. They are inescap-
able and immutable, they help 
shape an identity, but they do not 
define that identity. And at some 
point I realized that I am my 
father’s son and I bear my father’s 
name, but though he has pro-
foundly influenced who I am, I am 
not my father.

And so Adonis reaches the 

same conclusion by the finale of 
“Creed,” though he achieves that 
catharsis through sweat and blood 
rather than self-contemplation. 
But his internal fight to define his 
own self-worth is universal; who 
among us has not compared him-
self to a parent, a family member, 
a friend or even a younger, more 
successful self?

This idea of names, the weight 

they carry with regards to one’s 
pride, is a powerful concept, far 
more powerful than an uppercut 
to the jaw or a quick left jab to the 
ribs. And “Creed” plays up the 
concept in so many ways: by jux-
taposing a young character with 
an absent but well-established, 
legendary figure and by contrast-
ing an aging Rocky with constant 
reminders of his youth and suc-
cess, but also by “Creed” ‘s very 
existence as a sequel to one of the 
most beloved films of all time.

When a film taps into all of 

these deeper levels — narratively, 
metaphorically, existentially 
— yet still entertains as a crowd-
pleaser, that excites as a sports 
picture, that moves as an inter-
personal drama and manages to 
reflect in its characters a struggle 
universal but individual, then 
that film becomes something 
more, something worth remem-
bering and cherishing.

I could never relate to “Rocky” 

the way so many did when it 
came out in 1976. But I under-
stand “Creed,” I understand this 
struggle and this fight and this 
identity crisis. I understand the 
image of a young man shadow-
boxing a ghost. “Creed” is not 
“Rocky,” but it is my “Rocky,” the 
underdog sports drama I’ll think 
back on for years to come.

Bircoll is in the middle of 

a LSAT-studying montage. 

To send your moral support, 

e-mail jbircoll@umich.edu.

JAMIE 

BIRCOLL

A

Art Angels

Grimes

4AD

4AD

Grimey.

Year of the 

Caprese should 
top your “To 
Listen” list.

ALBUM REVIEW

