6A — Monday, December 7, 2015
Arts
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
are approaching their mid-40s,
desperately trying to cling to a
bygone era of stadium fuzz and
shredded vocal cords. It wasn’t
cool to like STP back then, but it
was at least justifiable. No one
could deny the big dumb great-
ness of “Interstate Love Song,”
the plow of “Vaseline” or the sta-
dium-sized hook of “Plush.”
I have a few STP songs on my
iPod, even if it’s roughly equiva-
lent to having a Nickelback song
or two (which I may or may not
be guilty of — every band, no mat-
ter how awful, has one song —
(except Creed). That ’90s grunge
era produced some of my favor-
ite music, and those aforemen-
tioned STP songs naturally belong
there. I owe the band at least the
acknowledgement that it pro-
duced some perfectly acceptable
grunge-tinged rock tunes wor-
thy of being belted out in my best
’90s rocker impression as I speed
down the freeway.
The death of former STP front-
man Scott Weiland last week from
what was likely a cocaine over-
dose has probably brought the
band its most cultural relevance
in 15 or 20 years. I imagine their
first two albums, Core and Purple,
will experience a brief but modest
rise in sales as people pay their
respects to a fallen rocker. And
next week, they will remember
that it isn’t cool to like the Stone
Temple Pilots, and the band and
its legacy will drift back into
obscurity and mediocrity.
But we should not forget STP,
or at the very least we should not
forget Weiland. I won’t try to say
he’s a great vocalist or try to turn
you on to his music, but I would
like to remind you that Weiland
was a textbook junkie rock star.
His death is not the least bit
unexpected, and I’m surprised
he made it all the way to 48.
The older Weiland’s death
lacks the shock value of the uni-
versally loved Kurt Cobain’s sui-
cide. It lacks the prescience of
Layne Staley’s demise as he with-
ered away from heroin. He wasn’t
dazzling like Amy Winehouse or
influential like Buddy Holly. He’s
just another rocker that burned
out and faded away concurrently.
It has become incredibly easy
to glamourize the deaths of musi-
cians. Their music expresses
their pain and their struggle,
and so an early death is the most
logical, and in a twisted way,
most desirable capstone to their
careers — an unlikely demise
cements the mythic quality of
these tragic artists. Maybe we’re
sick like that, demanding our
heroes to tap into emotions too
strong for us, the general public,
to endure, and the result is self-
sacrifice.
But Weiland’s death will not
be glamourized. He wasn’t pop-
ular enough or young enough
or tragic enough. We will not
remember him for his death, and
we will probably remember him
only fleetingly for his life and his
music. This is what it looks like
when we remove the beer gog-
gles: the deaths of rock stars are
ugly, minimalist, unsurprising.
Take a listen to STP’s song
“Creep.” Weiland’s voice sounds
like Cobain’s. And the refrain:
“I’m half the man I used to be /
This feeling as the dawn it fades
to gray.” Read that as you will,
but it sounds like addiction and
heroin.
Weiland gave an interview
to Esquire in 2005 where he
recounts the long struggle with
addiction. He ends it by describ-
ing how the love of his family got
him through it, how he doesn’t
think about drugs anymore. Ten
years later, he’s found dead of
cardiac arrest on a tour bus with
cocaine in his room.
Addiction is, in many ways,
endemic to rock stardom. It’s
time we shed the glamour. We
owe Scott Weiland at least that
much.
WEILAND
From Page 1A
STYLE NOTEBOOK
By MELINA GLUSAC
Daily Arts Writer
People love to hate Coldplay.
Maybe it’s lead singer Chris Mar-
tin’s inimitable voice, which does
in fact sound
like he has a
head cold. Or
maybe it’s the
profuse
radio
time the band’s
(debatably)
worst
songs
are allotted —
you
couldn’t
go anywhere in
2008 without
hearing Martin weep “I used to
rule the world” in the smash “Viva
La Vida.” The same goes for those
beat-your-head-against-a-wall
piano riffs from 2002’s “Clocks.”
It’s not Coldplay’s best work, and
it leaves us all wondering: Does
Britain really have talent?
Those that love to hate Cold-
play, though, should be encour-
aged to delve further into the
band’s discography. The quartet
only started to get “dodgy” when
2011’s Mylo Xyloto rolled around
— prior albums (i.e. their debut,
Parachutes) supply truly emotion-
al and experimental tunes. Songs
like “Yellow” and “Trouble” and
“Shiver” took the ballad arche-
type and spun it around on its
head, changing the shape of what
a new-millennial slow jam could
sound like for good. So whether
or not you think Coldplay is abys-
mally vanilla, it can’t be denied
that the band’s history is solid.
On their latest release, A Head
Full of Dreams, the Brits are
reaching with every last limb to
pull themselves out of history and
into the now. They strive for color,
and they aim for flavor, funkiness
and relevancy. Sometimes they
get there; sometimes they don’t.
Regardless, A Head Full of Dreams
is a complete thought — capped
off with a certain energetic charm
that shows itself marvelously on
some ditties, though, lamentably,
not on all.
The titular track, “A Head Full
of Dreams,” opens the quasi-
psychedelic album with tropical
drumbeats and jungle synths. It’s
like U2 took a trip to Jamaica —
the isolated guitars sound like
classic Edge, but the intrinsic
bumping rhythm of the song tells
its listeners to move their British
booties. “Adventure of a Lifetime”
rivals “A Head Full of Dreams”
on the funkiness scale, but isn’t
nearly as sleek. A snicker escaped
me as “Adventure” commenced:
“Turn your magic on!” OK, Cold-
play. I’m on it.
Because the band isn’t groovy
by nature, too often the explor-
atory tunes of the album fall
into milquetoast MGMT ter-
ritory — not a sexy place to be.
“Kaleidoscope” is like an actual
kaleidoscope in that it’s a mess,
an
incoherent
conglomeration
of spoken word lyrics and banal
melodic lines wrapped up in a
package of “pretty” colors (aka,
fancy production). “Fun” with
Tove Lo is not fun at all, and Mar-
tin overpowers her on the har-
monies to the point where Lo is
stripped of the smoky vocal zest
that makes her, her — it could be
anyone singing back-up with the
human head cold, Martin, on this
one.
Beyoncé sashays into the mix
on “Hymn For the Weekend”
and emits her undeniable grace
— she improves every tune, even
this one. It, once again, is sealed
with flawless production value
and turns out to be really catchy.
Though Beyoncé’s super-powers
are substantially underutilized
(she hums a lot), “Hymn” has the
potential to be another radio hit
for the band. Equally carefree
is “Birds,” which sounds eerily
similar to The Cure’s 1985 hit
“Close to Me.” But “Birds” is chip-
per, earthy with an apt amount of
restrained psychedelia. Vanilla, in
this case, is good.
When all is said and done, we
get back to the ballads — the
songs that made Coldplay what
it is. “Everglow” has been the
most
aggressively
promoted
of them all, with its nursery-
rhyme simplicity and peaceful
resolutions. It’s more pleasant
on the ears than, say, “Army
of One,” which resurrects the
ne’er-missed spirit of Mike
Posner. (No pseudo-hip hop,
please.) “Amazing Day” is a cool
waltz that builds on symphonic
energy, strings and all. At first lis-
ten, it could almost be mistaken
for Parachutes-era Martin and the
gang.
“Up&Up” pulls us out of the
Amazonian abyss and into the
stadium: a culmination of the
album’s
consistently
inspir-
ing tone, “Up&Up” works. This
one’s a wave-your-lighter and
kiss-your-lover type of song, the
one that plays at the end of the
sweaty London concert and hits
all the right notes with the audi-
ence. If only all of the songs on
A Head Full of Dreams emanated
these vibes, these calm, imagina-
tive and characteristic waves
of sonic fuel. The song’s chorus
rings: “I know we’re gonna get
it together somehow.”
Well, Coldplay, at least you’re
hopeful.
A case for new capes
By MARIAM SHEIKH
Daily Style Editor
An accessory once associ-
ated with the likes of comic book
superheroes, the cape is the new
trend among every it-person in
fashion this season, both men
and women alike. While for some
it may be a bit too cold to get
away with wearing one right now
in Ann Arbor, for others brave
enough to try, a cape never fails
to take an outfit to the next level.
Seriously, just Google it, they are
amazing.
Sleek, comfortable and tai-
lored to perfection, capes are
the perfect transition piece from
morning to evening, class to din-
ner, streets to runway. Coming
in an array of styles, both long
and short, they can also be tran-
sitional in season. Personally, I
tend to prefer the shorter ver-
sions of the cape, they are more
clean-cut and don’t completely
overwhelm the rest of the outfit.
However, if you’re taller than me
(which you most definitely are)
and feel you can pull it off, the
longer, fuller capes may be just
for you. Go crazy, even get one
with a hood, don’t worry its not
as grim reaper/dementor as you
would think. Let’s face it: goth
is the new haute couture all over
the world right now.
In terms of color, anyone who
knows me will immediately call
out my bias in saying I tend to
favor the darker and more neu-
tral colors. However, a pop of
color during the gray winter
months could actually go a long
way this season, especially in
Ann Arbor right now.
Now for material and pattern
of your soon-to-be new cape,
this can either make or break
your attempts at this trend, if I
am being honest. From leather,
to cashmere, stripes to plaid, due
to the overwhelming popular-
ity and versatility capes have,
they are basically available in
any shape or form you desire. But
keep in mind: heavier and stiffer
materials tend to work best. This
ensures the cape in line with the
idea of structure and impeccable
tailoring I mentioned earlier.
Think of a cape as a quick-fix style
staple meant to make you look
more put-together, the fit is key.
Anything too loose and baggy
will simply make your cape look
like a an oversized poncho, and
while I will admit those seem to
be making a comeback as well, if
you are going for the effect given
by a high-fashion cape, it is vastly
different than the one created by
a frumpy girl-next-door looking
poncho.
I will say, and don’t say I didn’t
warn you, there seems to be a bit
of confusion among retailers and
bloggers, alike, on this matter.
There is a difference between a
wrap and a cape, yet people use
them and stores tag them inter-
changeably. Both accomplish the
same job, but wraps tend to be
more difficult to play around with
since there is no enclosure. Being
that you simply wrap it around
your body, there’s less functional-
ity with it. Whereas with a cape,
that often has armholes, buttons
and a collar, it’s akin to wearing
a light jacket, but with more arm
mobility. For people thinking
about trying either of these trends
while at Michigan, the cape is
much more forgiving to a huge
backpack.
What I love about the cape
trend even further is the fact that
it is pretty androgynous. Don’t
get me wrong, there are definite-
ly styles tailored specifically for
women, but there are options that
are just as popular with men as
well. Giving off less of the classic
superhero vibe and more of a Le
Marais Parisian shopping district
vibe. It’s clearly a very high fash-
ion inspired trend, yet it’s easily
accessible for the everyday man,
woman, student, you get the gist.
So I present to you the cape.
It’s 2015; you don’t need to be a
superhero to wear one.
‘Dreams’ will leave
you looking for more
C+
Head Full
of Dreams
Coldplay
Atlantic
FILM NOTEBOOK
Merits of trashy art
By LAUREN WOOD
Daily Arts Writer
“Dirty Dancing” is my favor-
ite movie. Ever. Last semester,
while scrolling through photos of
friends’ adventures abroad, work-
ing through a fresh breakup, bal-
ancing five classes and hiding away
from the subzero temperatures,
I shamelessly watched it almost
every week. I probably have most
of it memorized by now, but still get
a thrill whenever I see the opening
credits start to scroll and hear the
music kick in. It doesn’t matter that
the plot is cheesy and the acting
overdramatic — I love it, and don’t
really feel guilty about that. But, I
still know it’s seen as a “guilty-plea-
sure” movie, and I still feel some
need to justify myself whenever
people ask about my favorite films.
The concept of a “guilty plea-
sure” comes up a lot when deciding
what to watch on a Friday night or
realizing you actually want to go
see the latest rom-com at the the-
ater. Choosing to watch something
tacky or simple seems to require
a disclaimer, an “I’m not as dumb
as this makes me seem” tag. But
why should it? What does how we
relax and find entertaining have
to do with feeling guilty? As a film
and English major at a large uni-
versity, there’s an implicit pres-
sure to sound smart and cultured
when asked in class icebreakers
or discussions to list off favorite
movies, TV shows and books. We
are meant to impress our profes-
sors and classmates with the level
of intellectualism we require from
our free-time media, and establish
ourselves as serious and smart for
all to see.
But when actually sitting down
to watch a movie or TV show, the
decision of what we choose to
put on versus what we profess is
best may not line up exactly. Let’s
look at statistics of who watches
“The Bachelor/Bachelorette,” one
of the seemingly tackiest reality
shows on TV — overdramatized
and unrealistic but wholly enter-
taining nonetheless. According to
The New York Times, the Mon-
day night special regularly pulls
in millions of viewers, the major-
ity of them women 18 to 49 years
old. It is especially popular among
those from upscale, well-educated
homes, ranking 34 percent more
popular than other programs put
on in these households.
I, frankly, love “The Bachelor-
ette.” It is dramatic and hilarious
and sad and romantic and weird
all at once. I also have never seen
a group of people get more heated
than when I bring up the Nick vs.
Shawn debate with my house-
mates, an amalgamation of smart,
motivated girls in pre-med, Ross,
psych, women’s studies and educa-
tion. Interning in the newsroom of
a major national network this sum-
mer, the uber-successful women
I worked under were the same,
coming in every Tuesday morning
ready to hash out the details of last
night’s episode. What we choose
to watch in our free time has so
little to do with our intellect or our
potential, so why do we rate it as if
it does?
So, to be short, I love “Dirty
Dancing.” I love it for no other rea-
son than watching it puts me in a
good mood, and it’s bright, flashy
and entertaining. We watch mov-
ies and TV for the spectacle. We
watch them to see sex and vio-
lence played out in an enormous
variety of stories and forms, and if
you think that any of your favorite
films aren’t revolving around these
two themes, then take a closer look
at them. No matter how we dress
up these desires, they’re the same.
We are entranced by the creativ-
ity with which these topics are
approached. There shouldn’t be
implicit guilt in confronting this.
We like what we like, no strings
attached.
‘Kaleidoscope’
is like an actual
kaleidoscope in
that it’s a mess.
ATLANTIC
Consider consciously uncoupling from the music business.
ALBUM REVIEW
Mythic quality
of tragic artists.