The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Arts
Friday, February 2, 2018 — 5

One of the most remembered 
records by the unparalleled 
Pavement, 
Brighten 
the 
Corners, is turning the big 2-1 
on Feb. 11. Amid the rise of 
teen idol pop bands like the 
Backstreet Boys and the Spice 
Girls, the four college students 
that 
made 
up 
Pavement 
were 
recording 
music 
in 
their friend’s basements in 
Stockton, Calif. and releasing 
lo-fi, melodic, raw-bone noise 
into the world
After 
releasing 
three 
records full of unexpected 
reverb and scratchy guitar 
strums, Pavement perfected a 
blend of classic rock and West 
Coast underground sounds on 
Brighten the Corners. I’ll name a 
few things you should listen to 
this week to celebrate Brighten 
the 
Corners’s 
influence 
on 
modern music of all types, 
from art pop and indie rock to 
lo-fi bedroom shoegaze.
The two introductory tracks 
on Brighten the Corners and 
two of the most well-known 
Pavement 
songs, 
“Stereo” 
and “Shady Lane,” epitomize 
the band’s ability to combine 
steady drum beats with deep 
bass hits and shaky guitar 
riffs. In each song, Stephen 
Malkmus’s double-edged voice 
spills wit into a rhythmic 
atmosphere. 
The 
resulting 
quick 
but 
relaxed 
groovy 
pace for the rest of the record 
creates 
a 
rooted 
balance 
between swift punk clashes 
and smooth rock ‘n’ roll tunes.
The 
diverse 
sound 
of 
Pavement’s music stems from 

their deep pool of sometimes 
unrelated 
influences 
that 
deserve just as much attention 
when remembering Brighten 
the 
Corners. 
In 
“Perfect 
Sound Forever: The Story of 
Pavement” by Rob Jovanovic, 
there is a list of albums and 

artists that each band member 
pinpointed 
Pavement’s 
creation on. The list jumps 
from the art rock sounds of 
The Velvet Underground to the 
ambient noises of Faust.
The shallow bass strums on 
Brighten the Corners bring us 
back to the sounds found in 
the song “A Can of Lemonade” 
off the album Remorse Code 

by The Desperate Bicycles. 
In the song “Walking Talking 
Channel,” Malkmus’s distinct 
vocals that hop with guitar 
hits 
are 
found 
in 
Danny 
Wigley’s jumpy and crooning 
voice. Remorse Code’s fuzzy 
and guttural guitar sounds 
were ahead of their time with 
its 1979 release, handing the 
world endless possibilities of 
exploration with the do-it-
yourself attitude.
Pavement 
was 
also 
influenced 
by 
one 
of 
my 
personal favorite records, Pink 
Flag by Wire. Pink Flag is full 
of chunky bass-lines, weepy 
vocals 
and 
heavy 
reverbs. 
The songs “Strange” and the 
record’s title track hit all of the 
right spots in your eardrums 
and commands your body to 
move with the drums, creating 
an experience that Pavement’s 
“We Are Underused” instills 
in listeners.
Other honorable mentions 
that made Pavement who they 
were, and that also made music 
what it is and what it can be, 
are (of course) “Rise Above” 
from Black Flag’s Damaged, “I 
Dreamed I Dream” from Sonic 
Youth’s Daydream Nation and 
“Dreams Never End” from 
New Order’s Movement.
Each 
of 
these 
songs 
showcases 
how 
broad 
the 
spectrum can reach in the 
worlds of lo-fi, punk and rock, 
and how each band’s distinct 
sounds 
can 
be 
borrowed 
and crafted into something 
like 
Brighten 
the 
Corners. 
At its release, Brighten the 
Corners was incredibly fresh, 
delivering individual sounds 
with honest lyrics, and now, it 
takes its own place on the list 
of eternal influential records. 

Required Listening: Happy 
21 to ‘Brighten the Corners’

SELENA AGUILERA
Daily Arts Writer

MUSIC

‘Please Stand By’ lacks 
in its portrayal of autism

FILM REVIEW

MAGNOLIA PICTURES 

This past year, there have 
been many attempts to give 
proper 
representation 
to 
characters 
on 
the 
autism 
spectrum. “The Good Doctor,” 
starring 
Freddie 
Highmore 
(“Bates 
Motel”), 
found 
a 
receptive audience with its 
portrayal of a young surgeon 
on the spectrum. Highmore’s 
dedicated 
performance 
as 
Shaun Murphy earned him 
a Golden Globe nomination. 
On the other hand, Netflix’s 
“Atypical” 
received 
mixed 
reviews for its treatment of 
the sensitive subject. Keir 
Gilchrist 
(“It 
Follows”) 
wrongly 
transforms 
the 
emotional trials of a person 
with 
autism 
into 
a 
cold 
impression, 
disappointing 
fans with his characterization 
of a depressed teen akin to his 
performance in “It’s Kind of 
a Funny Story.” Add “Please 
Stand By” to the list of earnest 
attempts to destigmatize this 
mental condition in media. 
Unfortunately, like “Atypical,” 
“Please Stand By” lacks the 
caliber of a nuanced actor or 
quality script to succeed.
Wendy 
(Dakota 
Fanning, 
“Brimstone”), a young woman 

on the spectrum, lives in a 
group home. When she hears 
about 
a 
Star 
Trek 
script 
contest, 
she 
eagerly 
goes 
to work writing her own 
installment. She has a rigid 
schedule to help her through 
the day, including shifts at 
a 
nearby 
Cinnabon. 
Soon, 
the 
submission 
deadline 
arrives, but Wendy fails to 

deliver her script to the post 
office on time. In order to 
get her script to Los Angeles, 
Wendy must leave her group 
home and reliable schedule 
to embark on an adventure. 
Along the way, with only her 
429-page screenplay and pet 
Chihuahua for company, she 
meets some helpful and not so 
helpful people. Through her 
dedication, she hopes to show 
her older sister Audrey (Alice 
Eve, “Before We Go”) that she 
can be trusted to return home 
despite her past outbursts.
For a story that focuses on a 
character with an internalized 
condition, the lead actor must 
carry the film. Dakota Fanning 
gives her best effort but falls 
short. Sometimes, when bad 

actors 
portray 
characters 
with neurological disorders, 
the result is catastrophically 
offensive. Thankfully, Fanning 
avoids this fate through her 
earnest approach to Wendy. 
However, if it weren’t for her 
wide-eyed 
innocent 
look, 
Fanning’s performance would 
be an utter flop. She lacks 
the depth to really explore 
Wendy’s need to share her 
creative work or her struggles 
and the lackluster script does 
not help. Instead, a strong 
supporting 
cast 
bears 
the 
brunt of the heavy lifting.
The 
always 
spectacular 
Toni 
Collette 
(“The 
Way, 
Way Back”) adds warmth and 
thoughtfulness to her role as 
Wendy’s psychologist Scottie. 
Collette steals the spotlight in 
every scene, overshadowing 
the litany of plot holes and 
unresolved 
plotlines. 
Tony 
Revolori 
(“Dope”), 
playing 
Nemo, 
Wendy’s 
coworker 
at the Cinnabon, provides 
humor. His cheeky lines and 
energy 
upstage 
Fanning’s 
blank, deadpan look. However, 
the 
standing 
ovation 
goes 
to Wendy’s Chihuahua Pete 
and 
his 
perfectly 
timed, 
judgemental faces. The fact 
that the dog is the highlight 
of the film goes to show the 
mediocrity of “Please Stand 
By.”

MEGHAN CHOU
Daily Arts Writer

“Please Stand By”

Magnolia Pictures

Amazon and iTunes

MATADOR RECORDS

‘Dirty Money’ documents 
the dark corporate world

TV REVIEW

NETFLIX 

Poisoned air. Drug cartels. A 
maple syrup heist. All of these 
equally 
heinous 
crimes 
and 

more are explored and exposed 
in Netflix’s latest docuseries, 
“Dirty Money.”
Produced by Oscar-winning 
documentarian 
Alex 
Gibney 
(“Going Clear: Scientology and 
the Prison of Belief”), “Dirty 

Money” is an in-depth and 
artistic look into the corporate 
greed and corruption that gave 
birth to some of the business 
world’s 
biggest 
scandals. 
It 
employs six different directors 
for six hour-long episodes, each 

Brighten the 

Corners was 

incredibly 

fresh, delivering 

individual 

sounds with 

honest lyrics, 

and now, it 

takes its own 

place on the 

list of eternal 

influential 

records

SAMANTHA DELLA FERA
Daily Arts Writer

one 
stocked 
with 
sickening 
facts and first-hand accounts 
of exactly how far some people 
and corporations will go to turn 
a profit.
The series opens with “Hard 
NOx,” a look into the inner-

workings and manipulations that 
perpetuated Volkswagen’s diesel 
emissions scam. The German 
car company claimed to be 
producing a car that would help 
reduce the release of harmful 
emissions. Instead, Volkswagen 
cars actually contributed up to 
50 percent more than the average 
vehicle to emission levels. The 
company was able to lie to 
consumers by installing a device 
in cars that essentially allowed 
them to cheat on emission tests.
Though disgusting and cruel, 
this topic is admittedly not 
the most engaging. Yet Gibney 

uses his exemplary directing to 
turn a complicated and twisted 

scandal into something no one 
can peel their eyes away from. 
Most effective is his ability 
to personalize the storyline 
— Gibney himself bought a 
Volkswagen and was proud to 
be taking a step towards helping 
the environment. That is, of 
course, until news of the diesel 
scam broke. Gibney is visibly 
infuriated 
and 
claims 
that 
his wife was ready to “take a 
chainsaw to the dealership” (cue 
an episode highlight in which 
Gibney’s wife absolutely roasts 
a Volkswagen salesman. He will 
never recover.).
Things 
do 
get 
a 
bit 
sensationalized, 
as 
any 
documentary must be in order to 
engage viewers. Gibney recalls 
Volkswagen’s beginning as a 
Nazi project, and circles back to 
this point in order to enhance the 
malicious image he is attempting 
to accent. It is an effective 
strategy, and one that is rooted 
in fact. Still, the comparison 
reaches a questionable point 
when 
Volkswagen’s 
fumes 
were paralleled with “gassing.” 
Despite the at-times extreme 
measures taken to stress its 
message, “Hard NOx” remains 
an episode that is equal parts 
educational as it is engaging and 
infuriating.
The remaining five episodes 
follow a similar formula, with 
each new director adding a 
personal touch. Topics vary 
but the core moral persists: 
Corporations care more about 
money 
than 
they 
do 
their 
consumers, and the government 
is helping them despite this fact. 

The costs of a successful business 
vary — in “Hard NOx,” it comes at 
the expense of the environment, 
and in “Drug Short,” that cost is 
someone’s life.
Yet “Dirty Money” does not 
only concern itself with the most 
high-profile cases. “The Maple 
Syrup Heist” follows a storyline 
that is pretty self-explanatory, 
and not as silly as it sounds. 
Each 
episode 
highlights 
an 
aspect of the corporate world 
that is evil — be it ties with 
terrorist organizations or the 
legal loopholes used to trick 
consumers.
The series is by no means 
anti-capitalist 
propaganda. 
Rather, it effectively highlights 
the 
issues 
that 
a 
strictly 
capitalist society sustains in 
order to begin the conversation 
on proper reform. Should the 
government care more for 
corporations or consumers? 
How 
much 
regulation 
is 
too much? How much is not 
enough? Do we have a moral 

responsibility 
to 
expect 
more 
from 
the 
businesses 
we buy from? In this post-
Citizens United era, these are 
important questions that need 
to be asked, and “Dirty Money” 
is not holding back.

‘Dirty Money’ 

is an in-depth 

and artistic 

look into the 

corporate greed 

and corruption 

that gave birth 

to some of 

the business 

world’s biggest 

scandals

“Dirty Money”

Netflix

‘Dirty Money’ 

does not only 

concern itself 

with the most 

high-profile 

cases

