The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Arts
Tuesday, February 9, 2016 — 5
On new Elton, Yellow
Brick Road is closed
By SHIMA SADAGHIYANI
For the Daily
Elton John peaked at “Can
You Feel the Love Tonight.”
Since 1994, the legendary
British
art-
ist has been
on
a
rapid
decline. Won-
derful
Crazy
Night is Elton
John’s
last-
ditch attempt
to relive the
glory
years;
much like an
aging 50-year-
old dad going
through a mid-life crisis, this
album reeks of desperation.
Throughout the ’70s, ’80s
and early ’90s, Elton John was
a force to be reckoned with.
He was spontaneous, jumping
from power ballads “Empty
Garden (Hey Hey Johnny)” and
“Goodbye Yellow Brick Road”
to classic rock ‘n’ roll numbers
“Crocodile Rock” and “Rock
and Roll Madonna.” Elton John
was in the prime of his life, and
everybody could tell. His rich
singing voice exploded with
vivacity and liveliness, making
any song an instant classic.
His new album is the exact
opposite. Through garish and
loud melodies, Elton tries to
breathe life into an already
exhausted career. His effortless
dream of a singing voice is off-
putting when paired with back-
ground tunes that are just this
side of trying too hard. Won-
derful Crazy Life is just a crazy
disaster.
At its peak of originality, the
album begins with the song
“Wonderful Crazy Life.” A
whirl of tacky melodies nearly
overpowering
Elton
John’s
vocals sets the scene as he tries
to drag his listeners back to
the era of parachute pants and
shoulder pads. “Some things
you don’t forget, some things
just take a hold / a wonderful
crazy night like that takes you
back, won’t let you go” he sings,
and the audience is reminded
why they should never try to
revive the past. This song is
a chandelier in a frat base-
ment: lurid, exaggerated and
completely out of place. These
unsuitable
peculiarities
are
mimicked in “Claw Hammer”
and “Tambourine.” Filled with
muted guitar strums, “oh, my
lord”s and uninventive, tam-
bourine-inspired lyrics, these
songs are so unlike Elton John
it hurts. What happened to the
man that won hearts over with
“Your Song?”
The only two songs that
redeemed the album from total
failure were the back-to-back
“Looking Up” and “Guilty Plea-
sure.” These two casual rock
‘n’ roll anthems were a breath
of fresh air among the achingly
slow and stuffy “Blue Wonder-
ful,” “A Good Heart” or “Free
and Easy.” With both the steady
beat and Elton John’s vocals
keeping the songs from drag-
ging along, his abilities as a
musician are somewhat vin-
dicated. The problem is, these
songs only stand out because
they aren’t as tedious as the rest
of the album. Standing alone,
they would be only decent at
best.
Overall,
Wonderful
Crazy
Life is a lackluster stab at rel-
evancy. Through trying to keep
his old sound while also trying
to channel artistry from cur-
rent pop hits, Elton John cre-
ated a chaotic album that is a
burned out husk compared to
the bright flames of his past.
With 30 solo albums in the last
44 years, his music is already
timeless. It’s time for Elton
John to take a step back and
let people remember “Candle
In The Wind,” “Rocket Man (I
Think It’s Going To Be A Long
Long Time)” and all that he
used to be, in peace.
FILM NOTEBOOK
Sundance shorts are
creative slices of life
By VANESSA WONG
Daily Arts Writer
“Festival shorts could be any-
thing,” a friend warned me, but
therein also lies the charm. Bit-
tersweet, sensitive and surpris-
ingly funny, the Sundance Shorts
touring program, which came to
the Michigan Theater last week,
spans genres for a gymnastic
study of just how agile film as a
medium can be.
Starting off is a naturalistic
film from the US Fiction cate-
gory. “SMILF” tacks “single” on
the MILF (“Mother I’d Like to
Fuck”) acronym and reveals the
unsexy reality of motherhood
in a hilariously awkward casu-
al sex encounter. Uncomfort-
able physical insecurities and a
mid-coitus conversation about
the toddler sleeping on the bed
beside them illustrate the bal-
ance between a single mother’s
old freedom and shifting post-
pregnancy priorities.
Competing
in
the
Visual
Poetry category, glacially beau-
tiful “Object” is grounded in
pursuit, a wintery underwater
search from three perspectives.
It switches between clean, geo-
metric shots tracking workers
methodologically
cutting
ice
and checking machinery, claus-
trophobic close-ups of the div-
er’s face as he swims through
murky water and the still seren-
ity of unknowing pedestrians
strolling far beyond on shore.
Creative framing and a deft use
of both sound and silence make
it an immersive technical feat.
Next is the silly, animated
chaos of the French film “Storm
Hits Jacket,” where two scien-
tists ward off a witch-induced
cow storm (yes: cow storm), a
doom-be-upon-all evil villain
set on stealing their invention
and a side of spy-on-spy romance
thrown into the mix. Scratchy,
cartoon-esque animation ushers
in delightful and progressively
weirder oddities with every turn
of scene.
In one of the program’s stand-
outs, “Oh Lucy!,” a middle-aged
woman in Japan grapples with
the loneliness and self-doubt
of aging. She escapes colorless
cubicle drudgery to conversa-
tional English classes where
she adopts a Western name and
the mask of a youthful, worldly
persona to match. Actress Kaori
Momoi (“Memoirs of a Geisha”)
bares her character’s every vul-
nerability, and hearts pang upon
witnessing her jealousy for a life
and personality she does not
have. In just 22 minutes, “Oh
Lucy!” unearths a level of char-
acter development that many
feature-length films dream of
creating.
Casting audition tapes act
as the narrative framework for
the next short, “The Face of
Ukraine: Casting Oksana Baiul.”
The camera stays locked as a
stream of dolled-up preteens in
pink velvet pose prettily against
a generic studio background,
with tears, troubles and hopes of
their nation’s post-war climate
flickering poignantly beneath
their pageant-level poise.
The program closes with the
Grand Jury Prize for Short Film
winner “World of Tomorrow,” a
science fiction cartoon of a tod-
dler’s now adult, third-genera-
tion clone, Emily 3G, traveling
back in time to show original
Emily Prime the future. Both
stick figures, Emily 3G walks her
original counterpart through
the spatially flat, simple vector-
designed internet void that is
the new world. She explains the
detachment that comes from a
hyper-digitized extended life,
where to experience something
is rarely more than reliving pre-
viously archived memories. Her
robotic monotone narrating the
story reveals a startling depth
of emotion, a bittersweet and
wryly humorous juxtaposition
against Emily Prime’s vibrant
naiveté. (This short is also avail-
able on Netflix for those who
missed the Sundance screening.)
For viewers who don’t have
much
experience
watching
short films, this is an excellent
introduction.
It’s
astounding
how such complex stories can be
compressed into mere minutes,
and these award-winning shorts
use that space to experiment
with technical effects or niche
plotlines. But for all its serious
artistry, the collective program
still manages to stay accessible
to emotions everyone experi-
ences. You laugh. You might cry.
You definitely live.
ALBUM REVIEW
Young DIIV plays it
safe on follow-up LP
By SAM ROSENBERG
Daily Arts Writer
As a relatively new band, DIIV
still has some time to figure out
its approach to music. After an
entrancing
debut,
2012’s
Oshin,
the
Brooklyn
out-
fit
cemented
their style as
an
eclectic
cross between
shoegaze
(My
Bloody
Valen-
tine),
grunge
(Nirvana) and modern surf rock
(Mac DeMarco, Real Estate).
Despite looking like most indie
rock groups trying to make it into
the music industry, DIIV’s mel-
low and pleasant sound is oddly
refreshing to listen to, especially
with tracks “Sometime,” “Fol-
low” and most notably “How Long
Have You Known.”
With its newest record, the
awkwardly titled Is The Is Are,
DIIV disconnects from its multi-
genre roots and instead plugs into
a simpler, more relaxed sound.
But by attempting to deconstruct
its composed and nuanced music
into something very laid-back, the
group ends up creating a banal,
hour-long record that moves at a
gratingly slow pace. The album’s 17
songs all contain similar elements:
a mid-tempo beat, glimmers of
guitar screeches and reverbs,
soft vocals and a general feeling
of drug-induced numbness. And
while it all sounds nice, Is The Is
Are doesn’t take any risks nor does
it break any boundaries.
Though the first few tracks
radiate some potential, the major-
ity of the record squanders any
possibility for something to pop
out. The enchanting “Out of Mind”
opens Is The Is Are, followed by
the chill “Under the Sun.” But by
the third song, the droning “Bent
(Roi’s Song),” the album starts to
tire — and there’s still about 50
minutes left.
The rest of Is The Is Are is a
rather hypnotic mess; there are
moments when DIIV can sound
captivating, but it’s easy to tune
them out. “Take Your Time,” “Yr
Not Far,” “Healthy Moon” and
“Loose Ends” are such examples
of that: their languid speed and
faint instrumentals make for good
vibes, but not much else. Addition-
ally, the dark and hollow “Mire
(Grant’s Song)” is fairly reminis-
cent of Nirvana, yet it stands out
not for its familiarity, but how
much it grossly contrasts against
DIIV’s own sweet-sounding musi-
cal pallette.
On the other hand, Is The Is Are
contains some highlights, particu-
larly the drugged-out romance
ballad “Blue Boredom.” Though
DIIV frontman Zachary Smith
doesn’t sing on “Blue Boredom,” he
gives his girlfriend and indie rock
enchantress Sky Ferreira the lead,
her breathy vocals energizing the
drowned-out production. The title
track provides some much needed
escapism, even though the album
has already done a pretty good job
of that; the dazzling, 17-second
interlude “(Fuck)” sounds like a
song waiting to be finished; and
the poignant, multi-layered album
closer “Wasted Breath” gives a
solid ending to an otherwise drab
record.
While these songs are decently
written and well-produced, they
just don’t have the vitality nor the
gravitas that Oshin displayed. It’s
even difficult to hone and com-
prehend the lyrics, as Smith’s
benign vocals are buried under
several strands of noise. Perhaps
the album’s lack of effort and cre-
ative sparkle can be traced back
to the actual recording process.
DIIV began work on Is The Is Are
a year after Oshin’s release but ran
into some delays for a variety of
unfortunate reasons: failed ses-
sions with Chet “JR” White of the
defunct indie rock group Girls;
Smith’s drug addiction and arrest;
controversial
online
remarks
regarding bass guitarist Devin
Ruben Perez; the departure of the
band’s drummer Colby Hewitt due
to an alleged drug addiction. Even
with all that mind, it’s disappoint-
ing that Is the Is Are offers noth-
ing new for DIIV or their listeners.
Instead of propelling to greater
musical and thematic heights, the
members of DIIV just kind of sit in
place, not really sure of where they
want to go.
E
nglish Prof. Jeremy
Chamberlin opens every
class with the same
phrase: “Does anyone have any
gigs they want to share?” He
doesn’t just
offer the
time to share
interesting
happen-
ings around
campus
because he’s
a fantastic
teacher and
cares about
building a
community,
(although he
is and does, and everyone should
take a class with him if they have
the chance), but because there
are fascinating and neoteric
ideas, groups and businesses
emanating from almost every
crevice of Ann Arbor.
This city promotes creativ-
ity and imagination through so
much of what it does, but growth
has been especially surprising
and noteworthy in the burgeon-
ing literary community. Inde-
pendent publishing companies
in particular have been inclined
to take root in Ann Arbor, as
love for books generated in the
University flows with ease to
the surrounding areas. One such
benefactor of this ardor is Fish
Out of Water, run by Jon and
Laurie Wilson, a husband and
wife publishing team based in
Ann Arbor. They have lived here
for 20 years but only recently
acted on their dream of going
into publishing.
“I met Laurie after she had
moved from suburban Detroit
to Manchester, England in 1988.
We were married in 1989 and
moved to Ann Arbor in 1993,”
Jon said in a recent interview.
“We had been considering the
idea of starting a publishing
company that would reflect our
mutual love of fish out of water
stories — about visiting other
countries, having to integrate
yourself into a foreign culture or
simply growing up as a fish out
of water in your own neighbor-
hood.”
After leaving Manchester for
Michigan, Laurie insisted that
the Wilsons settle in Ann Arbor.
Both Laurie and Jon worked in
other creative industries — mar-
keting and academic publishing
respectively — before following
their dream of starting their
own publishing company.
“In many ways, Ann Arbor
feels very much home-from-
home. We have met friends from
all over the world in this six
square miles surrounded by real-
ity. The diversity and vibrancy of
the Ann Arbor community has
provided us with a very recep-
tive audience. This is most defi-
nitely conducive to independent
book publishing,” Jon said.
Listing some of the upcoming
events in the local literary com-
munity, Jon said he was espe-
cially excited about them after
just releasing the first book for
Fish Out of Water.
“This is an exciting time, with
the recent addition of Midwest-
ern Gothic’s “Voices of the Mid-
dle West” conference, along with
the Ann Arbor Book Festival in
mid-June and the Kerrytown
BookFest in September. Both of
these events have grown signifi-
cantly over the last 10 years and
attract writers and an audiences
from far and wide,” Jon said.
The first and newest book
published by Fish Out of Water
also bears the proud stamp
“Made in Ann Arbor.” The novel,
called “Love & Vodka,” was
written by R.J. Fox, a teacher at
Huron High School.
“In my first year (at Huron
High), I had a student who hap-
pened to be the son of John
Wilson and Laurie Wilson all
four years,” Fox said. “I was
publishing pieces of my book
on Facebook and (Jon) just hap-
pened to be launching a pub-
lishing business. And the types
of books they were looking to
publish match the story I had,
a sort of fish out of water. They
approached me and asked if I’d
be interested. I figured why not?
It’s kind of risky. They were a
new company, and there’s noth-
ing guaranteed, but it’s been
amazing. It’s their first book
so they have so much at stake
themselves. We’ve really just
enjoyed the last few months of
getting this book out there. The
support here in Ann Arbor’s just
been unbelievably fantastic. It’s
obviously a very literate com-
munity.”
Despite the challenges of a
shoestring budget and adaptation
to publishing and distribution in
the twenty-first century, Fox and
Fish Out of Water released “Love
& Vodka” in 2015. It was met
with spirit and warmth from the
literary community, which Fox
credits toward the general zeal of
Ann Arbor.
“I’ve been living here in Ann
Arbor for about 6 or 7 years. I
feel like the literary community
was already in place when I got
here. I feel like since I’ve lived
here, they opened up some more
places. Literati’s opened, and
they’ve been just phenomenal
and want so much to support
authors,” Fox said.
He added that he thought the
literary community, hit hard
by the recession and changing
technologies, is rebounding with
a life force that few would have
expected. But he also made the
point that in the bubble of Ann
Arbor, we are fortunate in the
enthusiasm that the University
and the town itself generate for
literature.
“People say books are a dying
breed, but by the same token,
these stores are thriving,” Fox
said. “I couldn’t have asked for
a better place to launch a book
than Ann Arbor.”
Lerner is looking for a
book to interpret her dreams.
To recommend one, e-mail
rebler@umich.edu.
LITERATURE COLUMN
Homegrown
literature in A2
REBECCA
LERNER
MERCURY
Daily Tooth Gap Columnist
ALBUM REVIEW
D-
Wonderful
Crazy
Night
Elton John
Mercury
C+
Is The
Is Are
DIIV
Captured Tracks
A gymnastic
study of just
how agile film
can be.
The songs don’t
have the vitality
that ‘Oshin’
displayed.