The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Arts
Friday, March 25, 2016 — 5
Japanese jazz hit
‘Scenery’ excels
By ANAY KATYAL
Daily Arts Writer
Thelonious Monk taught us
the beauty of improvisation.
Louis Armstrong helped us find
fun in swing.
Duke Ellington
showed us the
wonder and joy
to be had with
a big orchestra.
Ryo Fukui had
all the mate-
rial to make a
similar impres-
sion on the world of jazz with
the modal masterpiece that is
1976’s Scenery, but among some
of music’s biggest injustices, the
lack of a global stage for musi-
cians of Fukui’s ilk is one of the
most unfortunate. When listen-
ing to Scenery, it’s hard not to
think about the countless other
potential works of art that the
Western musical zeitgeist has
failed to account for.
Jazz’s liberating nature sepa-
rates it from other genres of
music. Artists are free to stitch
together a variety of styles and
sounds effortlessly, affording
them a significant level of cre-
ativity and improvisation. In
Scenery, Fukui provides listeners
a refreshing take on some jazz
classics, like “Willow Weep For
Me,” “Autumn Leaves” and “I
Want To Talk About You.” While
he relies on the works of other
musicians, he has an undoubt-
edly unique take on every song.
His rework of “Autumn Leaves”
contains an eclectic, soulful
introduction before he breaks
into the slow, subdued jazz stan-
dard. While “Autumn Leaves”
is an oft-used piece for begin-
ner jazz musicians to acquaint
themselves with jazz harmony,
Fukui still manages to create
something original out of an
otherwise rudimentary piece of
music, adding an upbeat cadence
and flair throughout the song.
The drums are thunderous,
but at the same time expertly
restrained, and his keyboard has
an air of both swing and finesse.
Even in his original arrange-
ments, the giants of jazz piano
are
channeled
through
the
sounds of Scenery. Fukui’s style
is immediately reminiscent of
Bill Evans, and his modality
recalls to life the masterpieces
of the John Coltrane Quartet. In
the track “Early Summer,” his
transition between chill melo-
dies and slapping chord pro-
gressions culminates in a grand
three minute solo, mirroring a
lot of the grandiosity found in
both Evans and Coltrane’s rep-
ertoire. Though Fukui remains
calm in some arrangements,
he switches gears on frenetic,
seemingly improvised pieces
like “Early Summer,” a fitting
apex for the album.
While jazz in America was
going through a crisis of iden-
tity and relevancy, Japan had an
artist whose talent and adher-
ence to the purity of the genre’s
sound created some of the
world’s best, and most unno-
ticed, works of art. Scenery is
both an expert homage to jazz’s
best, and a damning illustration
of an artist whose talent can
almost match the musicians he
honors. Scenery fuses elements
of modal, bop and cool jazz,
creating an unbridled spirit of
majesty and excitement. While
even some of jazz’s most loyal
patrons may have failed to sur-
vey Fukui’s work, it’s never too
late to rediscover the mastery of
Scenery.
MUSIC REVIEW
‘More Water’ flops by
trap-rap standards
By HARRY KRINSKY
For the Daily
At one point during a Vice Media
mini-documentary about Atlanta
rapper iLoveMakonnen, the rap-
per eats an
hallucino-
genic mush-
room, and as
it hits him,
he
remarks,
“I
need
a
goddamn
bed with the
booth,
you
know
what
I’m
saying,
just lay down
and record some shit.” It’s a funny
moment and seems to (mostly) be
a joke. It also explains the appeal
of Makonnen’s sound better than
any formal interview can. A peak
Makonnen track sounds some-
where between the thoughts of a
rapper about to go to bed and the
thoughts of a rapper who just took
shrooms, all the while percolating
in a brain raised on the Atlanta
trap-rap sound.
Unfortunately,
Makonnen’s
most recent EP, Drink More Water
6, does not sound like the musings
of a sleepy tripper. The tape, more
than anything, sounds like the
cold authenticity-killing power of
a rapid rise to fame and a major
record deal. This is Makonnen’s
first major studio album. While it’s
been marketed as a mixtape, and
comes as the sixth installment of
his Drink More Water series, this
is his first commercial release. The
album-mixtape ambiguity seems
to manifest itself in the project.
From top to bottom, Drink More
Water 6 feels like a collection of
Soundcloud releases, rather than
an album. It’s not particularly
unique, nor is it necessarily a
misstep, for rappers to dump a
bunch of tracks in a mixtape and
release it without much thought —
Lil Wayne seemingly did it every
other month for a few years. If
Drink More Water 6 was simply
a free mixtape track dump, it
still wouldn’t be very good, but it
wouldn’t have been as much of a
disappointment as it was.
Drink More Water 6 is, or at least
should have been, Makonnen’s
coming out party. He’s done the
heavy lifting. He convinced the
rap world that a goofy, shroom-
popping rapper with repetitive
pseudo-melodic
choruses
and
hard Atlanta beats can be absolute
fire. He’s been featured on a Drake
song and rapped on DJ Mustard
and Carnage beats. In spite of all
his recent success, Makonnen
feels strangely risk averse on Drink
More Water 6, as if his response to
a major studio deal was to just not
mess anything up for himself. On
“Sellin,” and “Pushin’,” Makonnen
sticks with rapping broadly about
the drugs he sells, without much
nuance to his angle. Even his love
songs “Back Again” and “Turn
Off the Lies,” which are rapped to
an elusive female (or females) he
refers to as “you,” don’t contain
the relatable boyish emotion that
makes “Second Chance” work. His
hyped-up braggadocio tracks like
“Uwonteva” and “Live for Real”
don’t come close to the snarl-
inducing tracks like “Where Your
Girl At?” and “I Live Tuh” from
his 2015 campaign. It’s possible
that “Solo,” probably Makonnen’s
most unique track on the mixtape,
could have worked if it were
surrounded by equally strange
songs. But on Drink More Water 6,
the track alone doesn’t have a long
shelf life, and by the third listen it
starts to lose its initial appeal.
While the album is regrettably
generic, it’s only generic by
Makonnen’s
standards.
The
album still has moments of the
fun weirdness that characterize
a peak Makonnen track. On the
final track, where Makonnen
best captures the hallucinogenic
trap-rap fusion, he raps “two
phones going ham, watch the
bag triple double,” over a simple
baseline, next to a subtle snare
progression and under a whacky
distorted set of echoing chimes.
The line, along with the beat,
is dripping with the duality of
playful weirdness and serious
subject matter.
Ultimately,
though,
this
album does not exude the feeling
that time or effort was put into
it. It’s a set of throwaway tracks
that aren’t even the good kind of
throwaway tracks. Makonnen
had the opportunity to harness
all his pent-up strangeness and
push the envelope on how far
the Atlanta trap-rap sound can
stretch. He had the opportunity
to belt quirky yet witty lyrics in
his tonally questionable voice
and have the rap world eat it up.
On Drink More Water 6, he did
none of that, but the flop of an
album will not come as a death
sentence. Makonnen will have
another chance to show the
world what it’s like to fall asleep,
trip, trap and rap, all at the same
time.
C+
Drink More
Water 6
iLoveMakonnen
Warner Bros.
Records
MUSIC REVIEW
A
Scenery
Ryo Fukui
Trio Records
‘Daredevil’ continues
along a sinister road
By MEGAN MITCHELL
Daily Arts Writer
The cast of Marvel’s “Dare-
devil” has finally come into its
own, entering the second season
more comfort-
able in their
roles
than
they
were
last
season.
The complete
new season of
the hit series
began stream-
ing on March
18, and since
then,
paus-
ing an episode has proven crazy
difficult. Before the first appear-
ance of the vigilante Daredevil,
the Marvel Cinematic Universe
was solely characterized by shiny
technology and the crisp suits
of the Avengers. But when law-
yer-by-day, hero-by-night Matt
Murdock (Charlie Cox, “Board-
walk Empire”) finally graced our
screens, we were taken to the
darker, sexier side of Marvel.
Showrunners
Doug
Petrie
(“American Horror Story”) and
Marco Ramirez (“Orange is the
New Black”) helm the new sea-
son of “Daredevil,” taking the
reigns from predecessor Steven
DeKnight (“Spartacus”). So far,
they’ve been sprinting ahead with
the figurative baton. This season
sees the addition of the Punisher
(Jon Bernthal, “The Walking
Dead”) and Elektra (Elodie Yung,
“Gods of Egypt”), who, at first
appearance, are meant to jux-
tapose the actions of Daredevil,
but ultimately end up encour-
aging them. Where a stark line
once stood between the actions of
Murdock and season one antihero
Wilson Fisk (Vincent D’Onofrio,
“Jurassic World”), season two
explores the morally gray area
that comes with vigilantism. It’s
obvious that Petrie and Ramirez
are taking a different approach to
“Daredevil,” putting Murdock’s
hero under the same scrutiny that
Christian Bale’s Batman under-
went in Christopher Nolan’s “The
Dark Knight.”
The season begins strongly
as Matt struggles to balance his
dual identities despite the urging
of partner and longtime friend
Foggy Nelson (Elden Henson,
“Mockingjay: Part 2”) to give up
the mask. As a break from the
secrecy of the first season, it’s
refreshing to have Foggy in the
loop on Matt’s late-night activi-
ties, and this season, he seems to
be acting as the voice of reason.
Although we may have prema-
turely pinned Foggy as the side-
kick to Murdock’s Daredevil,
Nelson is taking over as a solid
force in the series, shining in the
duality of sarcasm and serious-
ness. Another driving force in the
show, Karen Page (Deborah Ann
Woll, “True Blood”), becomes
more comfortable in her skin, fall-
ing into the trio smoothly with
her strong will and unwavering
loyalty to the clients of Nelson &
Murdock.
Just as the characters begin to
find balance in the mayhem, the
unanticipated return of Elektra,
a past lover of Murdock’s with a
taste for blood, begins to deterio-
rate Matt’s relationships. In the
beginning, the audience is enticed
by Elektra, with her suave, ninja-
esque moves. Slowly, her sadistic
thirst for vengeance breaks her
facade, showing something much
darker beneath the mysterious
exterior. Especially since Karen
and Matt have just begun to act
on the spark of their relationship,
Elektra’s arrival comes at a really
a bad time.
As the trial of the century
between the DA’s office and Nel-
son & Murdock over the fate of
the Punisher begins, we see Matt
choosing to abandon Foggy at the
trial’s most crucial point, chip-
ping away at their friendship right
at the hinges. As the season goes
on, it becomes harder to endorse
Daredevil’s actions. Considering
the second episode showcases
Foggy’s desperate plea that Matt
end his days as Daredevil, worried
that his actions will ultimately
lead to his demise, it’s irritating to
see Matt fail to reciprocate Foggy’s
loyalty. Petrie and Ramirez are
making it increasingly difficult
to root for Murdock as the series
progresses. Surprisingly, the only
common feature of the first and
second seasons of “Daredevil” is
the cinematography. There’s one
stairwell fight scene that is so
smoothly choreographed and sty-
listically pulled off that it could’ve
easily appeared in the first season.
Overall, “Daredevil” seems to
be balancing on the cliff between
one of Marvel’s rare treasures and
the cinematic graveyard. Hope-
fully, the slightly rushed plot lines
that characterize the first epi-
sodes of the season will be outli-
ers compared to the smoothness
that eventually characterizes the
following episodes. If “Daredevil”
is picked up for another season, it
should focus on this smoothness
so the series doesn’t burn through
plot too fast. As far as the cinema-
tography and character portrayal
is concerned, though, “Daredevil”
might just be headed towards
the same pedestal as “The Dark
Knight” if they play their cards
right.
A-
Daredevil
Season Two
(6 Episodes
Reviewed)
Netflix
TV REVIEW
NETFLIX
Not really sure what’s going on here.
Lichtenstein-esque
‘Sixty Six’ exuberant
By VANESSA WONG
Daily Arts Writer
1960s pop art and Greek
mythology collide in a dizzying
explosion in Lewis Klahr’s collage
film
series
“Sixty
Six.”
Paper
cutouts
of Lichtenstein-
esque
blondes
scuttle
through period
magazine
imagery,
background
prints
and
photographs of modernist LA
architecture in dynamic stop
motion. It’s the Silver Age of
Greek mythology played out with
the pulpy suspense and visual
identity of the Silver Age of comic
books.
Unlike
some
experimental
films, Klahr’s work usually has
a fairly defined, linear narrative,
but an idiosyncratic method of
reveal. He creates a scrapbook-
like collage, physically overlaying
flat cutouts and 3D found objects,
then intercuts them with digital
imagery, flashes of bold color and
soapy sound bites that guide the
storyline.
The twelve films in the series
work together as chapters of
a larger storyline, one which
switches easily between ominous
melodrama and playful irony.
“Helen of T” features a time
period appropriate jazz to follow
a seductive blonde grappling with
the loss of her youth and beauty.
He then switches visual styles in
“Mercury,” a short fight between
comic book superheroes. Choppy
cuts hover in on various small
details — the point where a punch
meets or a muscle straining —
sparking motion to what was once a
static physical image. Then there’s
“Ambrosia,” a respite from graphic
imagery, focusing on banquet table
photographs alone to tell a story
of the guests unseen. “Lethe,”
inspired by the eponymous river
flowing through the Underworld,
draws revolvers and top hats
from slick noir cinema for a bored
housewife and mad doctor’s romp
through death and rebirth.
Klahr says his films are from the
“present tense, looking back”: that
is, situating present iconography
within the context of ideas that
lead up to it. Cultural symbols may
define an era, but aren’t exclusive
to it. “Sixty Six” revives found
imagery to uncover what relics
of history have stuck and what
they’ve become. After all, Greek
myths were once narrative fodder
for popular entertainment, just as
the Pop Art movement drew from
mass culture.
Still, calling “Sixty Six” a
modern retelling of traditional
archetypes doesn’t encompass
the complexity of its scope.
Klahr sources from an eclectic
variety of well-known cultural
markers,
but
disregards
the
chronological
continuum
that
structures the ideas. He hints at
how past ideas inform modern
thought,
but
spends
more
time reversing it, finding fresh
angles on things that have now
wormed their way into collective
consciousness. He meshes images
together, then flings them in
unexpected directions so all of
these threads of perspective —
Greek mythology, 60’s culture
and the modern viewer — are at
once recontextualized under his
interpretation and stripped of
context to create building blocks
that the viewer can rearrange
themselves.
He invites viewers to engage
with the films within the context
of their own lives, prefacing the
screening
by
recommending
that audiences unfamiliar with
experimental film approach his
series like listening to music.
Just as song lyrics re-enter the
mind during completely different
situations than the original song,
Klahr says because these cultural
markers are already absorbed
deeply into American popular
culture, reassembling them is
“about the way we personalize
those images,” as Klahr said in
the Q&A. With its delightfully
distinctive collage style, “Sixty
Six”
has
an
unparalleled
exuberance that truly does inspire
audiences
to
make
nostalgic
imagery their own.
A
Sixty Six
Lewis Khair
Ann Arbor
Film Festival
FILM REVIEW
ANN ARBOR FILM FESTIVAL
Sure, my life isn’t perfect, but at least my hair is.