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(09/20/01 4:00am)
Faced with Vasen's album Whirled, I had no idea what context to listen to the group in. Not being familiar with what "normal" Swedish music sounds like, there was no point of entry or comparison -- I just had to stick in the CD and see what I thought. After I'd established a first impression, I did some research to see what Vasen is all about.\nVasen, it would seem, borrows heavily from traditional Swedish folk music and instrumentation, but also contemporizes its sound with original compositions and percussion. The band's sound is composed of instruments rarely seen in Western music, including the nyckelharpa (a keyed fiddle) and the Swedish bouzouki. Despite the foreign instrumentation, Vasen produces a sound that is reminiscent enough of some American fiddle music to be accessible, but unique enough to be compelling to the discriminating listener.\nThe interplay of the quartet is impressive, as the mood of the songs veer from joyous and dancelike to moody and reflective. The percussion, unique to Vasen and not usually a part of traditional Swedish folk, helps drive the music forward and meshes well with the strings. Similar in spirit to the alt-country and progressive folk artists operating in the United States today, it's refreshing and inspiring to see a group of musicians with a healthy respect for the music of their roots, but at the same time aren't afraid to add their own personal, contemporary touch.
(09/20/01 4:00am)
ho would have thought that a band that started as a pair of upstate-New York misfits making instrumental soundtracks for nature films would end up here? Who would have thought Mercury Rev would survive massive turnover (including the departure of the band's original singer), heavy narcotics abuse, major-label departure, an airline ban, being kicked off Lollapalooza for excessive noise and, oh yeah, a guitarist shutting himself up in a monastery for half a year?\nNevertheless, Mercury Rev returned from purgatory in 1998 with the stunning Deserter's Songs, and now the musicians have very possibly outdone themselves with their new album, All is Dream. Simultaneously encompassing the orchestral majesty of Deserter's Songs and the titanic noise of their earlier, more erratic days, All is Dream is sprawling and self-indulgent -- and I mean that as a compliment. It's a uniquely American work and a fitting tribute to Jack Nitzsche, the composer, arranger and musician whose work stretched from Phil Spector to the Rolling Stones to film scores. Nitzsche was to produce All is Dream, but passed away last year just before Rev went back into the studio.\n"The Dark is Rising" opens the record with an orchestral swell like a wave crashing against the shore -- it kicks you in the gut and leaves you vulnerable for Jonathan Donohue's Neil Young-nasal vocals and piano melody. "Chains" is the next emotional peak, bringing in the guitar and big drum sound missing from Deserter's Songs pastoral reflections. "A Drop in Time" goes the opposite direction, bringing the band's showtune-wannabe tendencies to the fore. As on all previous Rev albums, the flow from one song to the next is seamless, creating a tour de force statement that will be hard to top next time out.\nThankfully, it would seem that there will be a next time out. On the back cover of 1995's See You On The Other Side, Donohue gazed at a handgun and bullets spread out on a table. Six years later, the trials of the band's salad days would seem to be over, the ship has been righted, and Mercury Rev has taken its rightful place as one of America's premier ensembles. The only question is, where to next?
(09/18/01 5:43am)
Management for Counting Crows said Monday a scheduling conflict stemming from recording dates and the recent international crisis contributed to the band's cancellation of a scheduled Oct. 30 performance at the IU Auditorium. The concert was sponsored by the Indiana Memorial Union Board, who announced the cancellation Friday afternoon, shortly after the public ticket sale began at 10 a.m.\nPaola Palazzo of Creative Artists Agency, the booking agent for the tour, confirmed Monday the band had canceled eight dates between Oct. 26 and Nov. 7. As of Monday, the band still had 12 dates scheduled between Oct. 6 and Oct. 23.\nMichael Meisel, a representative of Counting Crows' management company GAS Entertainment, pointed out that Bloomington was not the only show canceled. \n"IU was not singled out," Meisel said. "We tried to cancel shows that hadn't gone on sale -- IU was the only one that had gone on sale."\nUB Concerts Director Andy Proctor, a senior, said a misunderstanding between UB and the band's management resulted in the cancellation being announced after tickets went on sale.\n"(GAS Entertainment) had thought that it was going on sale Saturday, so they were hoping we could cancel it ahead of that," Proctor said.\nProctor estimated about 2,000 tickets were sold between the Internet pre-sale Wednesday and Thursday and Friday morning's public sale. Refunds have been available at points of purchase since Monday morning.\nNo deposit was paid to the band. UB President Vaughn Allen, a senior, described the financial loss as "minimal."\n"No ads were placed -- it's far enough out that there really wasn't any financial commitment," Allen said.\nHe emphasized the decision was not UB's.\n"It's absolutely out of our control," he said.\nCounting Crows planned to come to Bloomington two years ago, but was unsatisfied with the Auditorium's policy preventing seating in the orchestra pit in front of the stage. That policy has since changed.\nIU's largest student programming board, UB receives a portion of the Student Activity Fee and is responsible for bringing performers and lecturers to campus.\nBloomington has been plagued by concert cancellations in the last several years. In October 1999, a UB-sponsored performance by Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers was canceled the night before the show. Concert organizers cited "production difficulties" in erecting the band's stage set. Less than one week later, a Delta Tau Delta sponsored show featuring The Bloodhound Gang was canceled because of a scheduling problem. In April 2000, the MTV Campus Invasion tour featuring Bush and Moby canceled a Bloomington stop four days before the event. The show's promoter, Rock 'n' Roll Productions, Inc., is still in litigation after some ticket holders failed to receive refunds.
(09/13/01 4:55am)
Ripping apart Stereolab's new album Sound-Dust is a difficult task, because it's hard to really generate any ill will toward it, but there's not much of a reason to be particularly excited by it. The completely neutral reaction the record evokes is exactly its problem. Sound-Dust is dictionary definition Stereolab: laid-back Euro lounge-pop, full of kitschy keyboard noises, jazzy arrangements and Laetitia Sadier's French vocals.\nThe arrangements, production and overall sonic construction of Sound-Dust are, as expected, immaculate. Flanked once again by American hipsters John McEntire and Jim O'Rourke, the 'Lab's studio skill is immediately apparent on short opening track "Black Ants in Sound-Dust," which slowly layers beeps, chimes, synths and horns into a glorious cacophony that segues nicely into "Spacemoth," a multi-part stroll through Stereolab's trademark retro-1960s smorgasbord.\nBut by the end of "Captain Easychord," the third track and lead single, the album has already begun its slow descent into The Land of the Empty Style Exercise. The music slowly fades into the background of the listener's consciousness as track after track features almost exactly the same combination of keyboard groove, horn flourish and smooth vocals. It's not that the Emperor has no clothes -- he has very nice clothes, but he keeps switching neckties so we'll think he has more than one outfit.\nEveryone has a favorite group or artist who they can't get enough of, and for the Stereolab faithful, this record may not be a disappointment. But if you're a novice and want some 'Lab on your shelf, this is not the place to start. Sound-Dust is talent without inspiration, and ultimately, that's not enough.
(09/13/01 4:00am)
Ripping apart Stereolab's new album Sound-Dust is a difficult task, because it's hard to really generate any ill will toward it, but there's not much of a reason to be particularly excited by it. The completely neutral reaction the record evokes is exactly its problem. Sound-Dust is dictionary definition Stereolab: laid-back Euro lounge-pop, full of kitschy keyboard noises, jazzy arrangements and Laetitia Sadier's French vocals.\nThe arrangements, production and overall sonic construction of Sound-Dust are, as expected, immaculate. Flanked once again by American hipsters John McEntire and Jim O'Rourke, the 'Lab's studio skill is immediately apparent on short opening track "Black Ants in Sound-Dust," which slowly layers beeps, chimes, synths and horns into a glorious cacophony that segues nicely into "Spacemoth," a multi-part stroll through Stereolab's trademark retro-1960s smorgasbord.\nBut by the end of "Captain Easychord," the third track and lead single, the album has already begun its slow descent into The Land of the Empty Style Exercise. The music slowly fades into the background of the listener's consciousness as track after track features almost exactly the same combination of keyboard groove, horn flourish and smooth vocals. It's not that the Emperor has no clothes -- he has very nice clothes, but he keeps switching neckties so we'll think he has more than one outfit.\nEveryone has a favorite group or artist who they can't get enough of, and for the Stereolab faithful, this record may not be a disappointment. But if you're a novice and want some 'Lab on your shelf, this is not the place to start. Sound-Dust is talent without inspiration, and ultimately, that's not enough.
(09/06/01 4:00am)
Björk's iconic image is intrinsic to her art. Prominently featured on the cover of all her albums and most of her singles and videos, the way she presents herself on the outside packaging is usually a good clue to what's going on inside. \nCompare the cyber-kabuki queen of 1997's Homogenic with the reclining, vulnerable Björk on the cover of her new album Vespertine and you'll get the idea. Homogenic's Atari bleeps and bloops, skittering beats and taut string quartets have been replaced with a more delicate, flowing musical texture that is not as immediately arresting as some of her earlier work, but rewards repeated listening.\nVespertine's song titles and lyrics seem preoccupied with escape and desire for emotional safety ("Hidden Place," "Cocoon") -- again, the temptation to contrast the mood with Homogenic's far more aggressive "Hunter" and "Bachelorette" is irresistible. On "Undo," she flatly states, "Surrender/Give yourself in/You're trying too hard." Presumably, some of these songs came out of the emotionally draining experience of filming her lead role in "Dancer in the Dark," her first -- and apparently last -- film.\nBjörk has always chosen her collaborators well, and Vespertine is no exception. San Francisco's resident avant-garde techno duo Matmos help out on the electronic end, while harpist Zeena Parkins and string arranger Vince Mendoza give the tracks a lush, layered feel. But the most innovative instrumentation on Vespertine is the music box, arranged by Björk and "adapted to music box" by Jack Perron. Their delicate sounds anchor the middle of the record, giving songs like "Pagan Poetry" a crystalline grace that's undeniably Björk.\nIt's hard to tell after a dozen listens what Vespertine will sound like a year from now, but unlike some electronic-based pop, Björk's records tend to get better with age. Vespertine is not a landmark like Homogenic, but judged on its own merits, it's a thing of rare beauty.
(08/31/01 5:21am)
When Stanley Kubrick\'s final film, \"Eyes Wide Shut,\" was released a few years ago, I heard a rumor that the director had briefly considered Woody Allen for the lead. It\'s probably not true, but regardless, it would have been the casting mistake of the century, for one reason -- Woody Allen is funny. I don\'t just mean his films are funny, or his writing is funny -- the man is a walking gag. That\'s not to say he can\'t strike an emotionally resonant chord in movies like \"Manhattan\" or \"Husbands and Wives,\" but something about the way he furrows his brow or stumbles through a self-deprecating joke is just inherently amusing.\n\"The Curse of the Jade Scorpion,\" Allen\'s 30th feature film, is reminiscent of his other period comedies like \"Bullets over Broadway.\" Set in 1940, Allen plays C.W. Briggs, an investigator for an insurance company who always gets his man, but tends to throw his salary away on gambling. He\'s constantly put upon by the firm\'s new efficiency expert, Betty Ann Fitzgerald (Helen Hunt), who loathes him as much as he hates her. Their constant back and forth is a nice showcase for Allen\'s still undiminished knack for the snappy one-liner. The feuding pair are hypnotized at a party by a magician, who later hypnotically coerces C.W. into breaking into clients\' mansions and stealing their jewels. When he\'s suspected of the crime, Briggs (with the reluctant help of Betty Ann) has to clear his name, not realizing that he actually is committing the crimes while in the magician\'s trance.\n\"Jade Scorpion\" is as light and frothy as the previous Allen film, \"Small Time Crooks,\" and while it doesn\'t reach the screwball comic highs of \"Crooks\"\'s first half, it\'s more consistent overall and a worthy companion to nostalgic Allen period pieces like \"Radio Days.\" Hopefully Allen isn\'t done with the more complex contemporary relationship stories that put him on the \"serious\" filmmaker map back in the 1970s, but in the meantime, light-hearted fare like \"Scorpion\" will put a smile on your face.
(08/31/01 4:00am)
Catalog sales of older CD titles are continuing to dwindle as Baby Boomers finally convert their LP collection to digital. And while it's likely there will always be college freshmen lining up to buy Bob Marley's Legend, you can also expect to see an ever-widening parade of spiffy re-releases advertising remastering, repackaging and the ever-popular extra bonus tracks. Elvis Costello gets his second turn on the re-release merry-go-round starting this month. \nCostello's early 1977-1987 catalog was originally reissued by Rykodisc in the mid-1990s. Now, after some of his older titles are falling briefly out of print, Rhino Records is again re-releasing his first 17 albums in groups of three. Instead of releasing them in chronological order, the groups of three in question are spread out over the periods of Costello's long and diverse career.\nCostello fans who already own these albums in other forms will have to decide if the supplementary material warrants re-purchasing them. Since Spike and All This Useless Beauty were not included in the first reissue series, these two later albums give you the most bonus bang for your buck -- each offer 17 cuts not on the original records, including demos and single B-sides. My Aim is True is another story -- its bonus disc includes only four tracks not included on Rykodisc's 1993 CD reissue.\nIn 1976, when London's punk pioneers were indulging themselves in a protracted adolescence, swearing on TV and tearing up their clothes to shock the (at the time very shockable) establishment, new husband and father Declan MacManus was squeezing onto a train every morning and riding to his job as a computer operator. Sure, the Sex Pistols might seem more angry on the surface, but the songs MacManus (the soon-to-be Elvis) was writing, for what would become his 1977 debut album, burn with a smoldering rage at the disappointments of life and love that's still startling after 25 years. By this time, Costello's gift for the clever turn of the phrase is already well-formed: see "(The Angels Wanna Wear My) Red Shoes" ("I said I'm so happy I could die/She said 'drop dead' and left with another guy").\nThe only pieces not in place on this near-perfect debut are Costello's backing musicians. American bar band Clover (incidentally, the group who would become Huey Lewis & The News) does a serviceable job, but lacks the attitude and skill of The Attractions, the band Costello would assemble in time for 1978's This Year's Model. \nIn 1989, Costello was in the middle of a temporary split with The Attractions and recording his first album with Warner Bros., which would become Spike. The differences from My Aim is True are unmistakable -- instead of his usual small backing band, Spike boasts over two dozen contributors, including Tom Waits sidemen Marc Ribot and Michael Blair, Byrd-man Roger McGuinn and fellow Liverpudlian Paul McCartney. Consequently, the sound is much more expansive than earlier releases, and the record is very much a studio creation. And even if the late-1980s production sounds slightly dated at times (I'm not saying electric drums don't have their place, but it's not here), Costello handles the arrangements of a much larger ensemble handily -- especially considering he wouldn't learn to write or read musical notation until his collaboration with The Brodsky Quartet three years later.\nLyrically, all of Costello's young self-righteous anger is still present on Spike, but tempered with an older man's worldview. His focus is now directed to external injustice instead of personal, like on the death penalty protest "Let Him Dangle," or "Tramp the Dirt Down," the most vitriolic anti-Thatcher anthem since Morrissey's "Margaret on the Guillotine." The dense arrangements and sometimes oblique lyrics ultimately make this record one of Elvis's less immediately accessible -- so it's especially ironic that upon its release, Spike became Costello's best-selling album to date, sales spurred almost entirely by the success of the single "Veronica," co-penned with Paul McCartney. The highlight of Spike's bonus disc are the demos Costello recorded for the album. Stripped down to voice, guitar and basic percussion, the songs reveal new facets not immediately apparent in their dense studio constructions. \nThe final album in the first trilogy of re-issues is also the most recent, 1996's All This Useless Beauty. The sound owes less to the band's earlier amphetamine-and-alcohol fueled rock than the sophisticated pop Costello would make two years later with Burt Bacharach (on 1998's Painted With Memory, not included in this reissue program). The album sees Costello the songwriter's continuing shift toward melancholy over anger-- Consisting mostly of songs written by Costello for other performers, All This Useless Beauty contains some of Costellos' greatest ballads and is helped by crystal-clear production from former Beatles engineer Geoff Emerick. Beauty is truly the lost gem of the Costello catalog -- underpromoted at the time of release, its initial sales were almost nil. Hopefully the re-release of this future classic will inspire some newfound appreciation. Beauty's bonus disc collects some excellent scattered B-sides, demos and non-album tracks that trainspotting Elvis fans will be glad to have in one place.\nIf you're a fan of rock, pop or just enjoy great music and have yet to acquaint yourself with Elvis (don't worry -- I was once one of the unwashed as well), these three albums will serve as a great introduction. Just be careful if you get hooked -- the next three don't hit the shelves until October.
(08/31/01 4:00am)
When Stanley Kubrick\'s final film, \"Eyes Wide Shut,\" was released a few years ago, I heard a rumor that the director had briefly considered Woody Allen for the lead. It\'s probably not true, but regardless, it would have been the casting mistake of the century, for one reason -- Woody Allen is funny. I don\'t just mean his films are funny, or his writing is funny -- the man is a walking gag. That\'s not to say he can\'t strike an emotionally resonant chord in movies like \"Manhattan\" or \"Husbands and Wives,\" but something about the way he furrows his brow or stumbles through a self-deprecating joke is just inherently amusing.\n\"The Curse of the Jade Scorpion,\" Allen\'s 30th feature film, is reminiscent of his other period comedies like \"Bullets over Broadway.\" Set in 1940, Allen plays C.W. Briggs, an investigator for an insurance company who always gets his man, but tends to throw his salary away on gambling. He\'s constantly put upon by the firm\'s new efficiency expert, Betty Ann Fitzgerald (Helen Hunt), who loathes him as much as he hates her. Their constant back and forth is a nice showcase for Allen\'s still undiminished knack for the snappy one-liner. The feuding pair are hypnotized at a party by a magician, who later hypnotically coerces C.W. into breaking into clients\' mansions and stealing their jewels. When he\'s suspected of the crime, Briggs (with the reluctant help of Betty Ann) has to clear his name, not realizing that he actually is committing the crimes while in the magician\'s trance.\n\"Jade Scorpion\" is as light and frothy as the previous Allen film, \"Small Time Crooks,\" and while it doesn\'t reach the screwball comic highs of \"Crooks\"\'s first half, it\'s more consistent overall and a worthy companion to nostalgic Allen period pieces like \"Radio Days.\" Hopefully Allen isn\'t done with the more complex contemporary relationship stories that put him on the \"serious\" filmmaker map back in the 1970s, but in the meantime, light-hearted fare like \"Scorpion\" will put a smile on your face.
(07/30/01 12:46am)
In the opening scene of Jonathan Glazer's "Sexy Beast," Gary (or "Gal"), the movie's ad hoc hero, is almost flattened by a boulder that comes rolling down from the hills surrounding his Spanish villa and into his swimming pool. Understandably jarred by this occurrence, the paunchy retired gangster has no idea that a far more lethal boulder is simultaneously barreling towards him, in the form of Don Logan.\nLogan is played by Ben Kingsley -- yes, Ben "Gandhi" Kingsley, or Ben "Schindler's List" Kingsley, but in this film the great British actor gets to try on an entirely different set of acting trousers. Logan is a wiry, brutal enforcer who has come from London to coax Gal back for One Last Job (cf. this summer's "The Score"). But perhaps "coax" is the wrong word, for that implies a certain subtlety that Logan definitely lacks. Instead, he chooses to let his reputation precede him. He has a marvelous way of answering people's questions before they finish talking, as if he contemptuously anticipates what they are going to say before they know themselves. He is terrifying, and he is wonderful to watch. This sort of role is like the Home Run Derby for actors; Kingsley gets to shout and sneer and make the vein in his forehead pop out, but he also injects just the slightest touch of humanity into the character, as in a scene where he talks to himself in the mirror, reprimanding himself for giving too much away in an earlier conversation with Gal.\n"Sexy Beast" is a crime movie on the surface, but it's not really about crime -- it's about one man trying to impose his will on another. The sledgehammer subtlety of Guy Ritchie's recent live-action cartoons "Lock, Stock & Two Smoking Barrels" and "Snatch" may have set the standard for Brit caper flicks, but in "Beast," the caper almost comes as an afterthought. In fact, when the logistics of the job are revealed, it's not at all apparent why Gal's so-called "expertise" is necessary anyhow. But I'm willing to cede that point to the filmmaker's prerogative, because it serves to bring Winstone and Kingsley together in a remarkable battle of wills. Winstone might not immediately stand out next to Kingsley, but his performance is no less crucial and no less excellent -- the two characters are diametrically opposed. Even physically, Gal is soft and doughy while Logan's skin looks like it's stretched too tight over his body.\n"Sexy Beast" is Jonathan Glazer's first film -- he got his start in music videos, including a few memorable clips for Radiohead and the unforgettable promo for UNKLE's "Rabbit in Your Headlights." But like fellow video grad Spike Jonze, he doesn't get too visually flashy, relying on great performances and close-ups instead of flashy camera work or quick cutting. With the exception of the bloody but necessary climax, the physical violence is minimal. It's the emotional battle that's really violent.
(07/05/01 3:49am)
IU's School of Music hosts the largest harp department in the world. It's been said there are more harps in Bloomington than in most small nations. So it's only fitting that every three years, the "Harp Olympics" come to Bloomington.\nThe School of Music is once again playing host to the USA International Harp Competition, a 12-day event that has brought 38 young harpists, ages 16 - 32, to the IU campus to compete for the prestige and prizes that the contest brings. It's a truly international event, with participants coming from 16 different countries and an eight-person jury from six different countries.\nIt's a high pressure event for the participants, and a unique chance for music fans to hear an amazing amount and variety of harp music.\n"These aren't students -- it's more like athletes in the Olympics," said Susan Lyon, public relations director for the event. "These people have been practicing for years, and this is the culmination of their hopes and dreams."\nThe event brings considerable esteem to the winner, as well as a stunning array of prizes. The first prize winner will take home a hand-carved, $55,000 24-karat gold-gilded harp. It was made by Chicago harp makers Lyon & Healy, and donated by the Victor Salvi Foundation. Additionally, the winning harpist will have the opportunity to give recitals in London, New York's Lincoln Center, Paris, and Japan, as well as make a CD recording and receive $5,000 cash.\nBut it's a long way to go from Wednesday afternoon's opening ceremonies to the grand prize. Lots were drawn at the opening to determine the order of performance, and the judged performances begin this morning at 10 a.m. Three elimination rounds follow, leading up to the Grande Finale concert and presentation of prizes Sunday, July 15.\nIn addition to the competitors' performances, four special solo performances by non-competitors will be held that will showcase the sheer stylistic variety of music that the harp has to offer. Performers include 1998 IHC Gold Medal winner Xavier de Maistre, now the Principal Harpist with the Vienna Symphony Orchestra, 14-year-old harpist Jane Yoon, jazz harpist Park Stickney, and Chinese folk harpist Cui Jun Zhi.\nThe participants began flying in this week, and were still arriving Wednesday afternoon. As they arrive, a network of local volunteers are making sure that the performers, many of whom are traveling from outside the United States, are as comfortable as possible.\n"They're nervous about the competition. Our priority is to give them as much comfort as they deserve," said Kinga Ferguson, an Administrative Assistant for the Competition who has been helping coordinate the hospitality effort.\n"Some of them don't speak English, so it's quite hard. They were really touched by the host families' hospitality," she said.\nThe volunteers include a transportation team that shuttles the harpists and their traveling companions from the airport to Bloomington. Once they arrive, many are staying with local host families that will accommodate them during their stay. One such dedicated volunteer is Nancy Miller. \nDuring her first year of involvement with the IHC, she's had her hands full, matching host families with the 13 competitors who needed them, as well as hosting a harpist from France and Japan herself.\n"I'm jumping right in," she laughed as she prepared a 4th of July lunch for her international guests.\nThe first USA International Harp Competition took place in 1989, and has been held in Bloomington every three years since. It was founded by IU Distinguished Professor of Music Susann McDonald, chair of the IU Bloomington Harp Department since 1981 and current Artistic Director of the competition. Since its founding, the IHC has become one of only six U.S.-based competitions to be accepted into the World Federation of International Music Competitions.\nFor more information call (812) 856-5715 or visit www.indiana.edu/~harpcomp.
(06/21/01 2:45am)
As the wind and rain blew down Kirkwood Tuesday night, a stream of baby boomers and college hipsters took refuge in the Buskirk-Chumley Theater, buzzing with anticipation over the night's performance. Only one of Richard Thompson's perennial stops in Bloomington could bring such a generationally diverse crowd together.\nRichard Thompson first made a name for himself in the late 1960s with the British folk-rock band Fairport Convention and has been recording and performing steadily since then. He's never really achieved significant commercial success but has garnered constant critical acclaim and, as Tuesday's show indicated, a devoted cult following.\nAlthough he's experimented with backing groups of various sizes on his records, the Richard Thompson live experience is a one-man affair. Clad in black from head to toe, he straps on his acoustic guitar and launches into one classic after another. As expected, the set borrowed heavily from the recently released "Action Packed: The Best of the Capitol Years," a compilation of gems taken from his last half-dozen records.\n"I know some of you think 'The bastard only writes two good songs per album," he joked from the stage about the greatest hits package. "'Why should I buy twelve when I only want the two?'"\nBut any fan of Thompson knows he's written a good deal more than one disc's worth of classics. So thankfully, he included a number of pre-Capitol favorites, including three from one of his finest albums, 1982's "Shoot Out the Lights." That album's closer, "Wall of Death," a live favorite which finally came during the second encore, was punctuated with a medley of Bob Dylan favorites. Thompson switched out lines from Dylan's "She Belongs to Me," "It's All Over Now, Baby Blue," "Like a Rolling Stone" and "Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues" at a dizzying pace as the audience laughed and tried to keep up. Other pleasant surprises included an off-the-cuff rendition of "Stardust" (in honor of the song's composer, Bloomington native Hoagy Carmichael), and the rollicking Egyptian singalong "Now My Daddy's a Mummy."\nThompson is definitely road-tested -- he's got the stage presence and easy audience rapport that can only come from thirty-plus years of constant touring. His songs are often dark, cynical tales of lost love and missed opportunities, but the man himself is warm and engaging. Literate, moving, and handy with an acoustic guitar, Richard Thompson is one of modern music's best-kept secrets.
(05/31/01 1:07am)
Last week it was revealed that an Esquire magazine profile of rock and/or roller Michael Stipe contained numerous intentional fabrications by the author, apparently intended as some sort of post-modern "deconstruction" of the celebrity profile. "How marvelous," I thought as I read the news. "In the past, I have written articles by contacting sources and obtaining facts, like a sucker. Now, here in the space-age 21st century, all bets are off!" I then set about to write my own profile of Mr. Stipe, which appears below. Please note that I did not actually talk to him, or indeed anyone, for this profile. None of the information in the article is even the slightest bit true.\nMichael Stipe, kneeling at the Bone Altar, raises his head, the glint of frenzied evil still in his eyes. He wipes the entrails from his mouth and nods grimly.\n"It is finished," he intones. "I am BlüdKing." \nYes faithful readers, you heard it here first -- Michael Stipe and the rest of R.E.M. have reached worldwide mega success because the singer steals babies from hospitals, then kills and eats them in the name of the great sleeping nightmare god Cthulu. In fact --\nWhoa! According to my editors, that's all we can print of that one. Apparently the Warner Bros. lawyers can sue us for something called "libel." Guess that one's too hot to handle! Not to worry; I've got dozens of these fake celebrity profiles lying around. They practically write themselves! Check out excerpts from some that I hope to publish in a general interest men's magazine in the near future.\nQ: John Stamos, in your years as Hollywood's biggest cocaine connection, who has been your biggest and most consistent customer?\nA: Without a doubt, Craig T. Nelson.\nQ: The beloved star of "Coach" and "The District"?\nA: Oh yeah. The guy's got a nose like a Hoover. \nWhy, it's Mr. Jerry Maguire himself, Tom Cruise! Hey, Tom...show me the truth!\nQ: Tom…why the sudden break-up with Nicole?\nA: She didn't like that I stored my urine in jars. She said it was the jars or her. So I kept my precious, precious urine jars.\nOr how about this exclusive scoop from notoriously reclusive author J.D. Salinger!\nQ: Mr. Salinger, what have you been doing all these years?\nA: Davin, your incisive interviewing tactics leave me no recourse but to admit the truth. I ghostwrote every "Sweet Valley High" book so I could buy "pogs."\nQ: And…?\nA: And…"The Babysitter's Club." Damn it.\nAnd don't forget, when you write fictional interviews, you're not bound by the shackles of space and time. For example, let's step into the way-back machine and read this interview with a major American historical figure:\nAbraham Lincoln, kneeling at the Bone Altar, raises his head, the glint of frenzied evil still in his eyes. He wipes the entrails from his mouth and nods grimly.\n"It is finished," he intones. "I am BlüdKing." \nWell, you get the idea. If you need more help, I'm holding a Fictional Interview Seminar at the Holiday Inn by the highway this weekend. Celebrities that will not be there to be interviewed include red-hot "swinger" Vince Vaughn, the very classy Ms. Kim Basinger and the bad boy of golf, John Daly. Don't miss it!
(05/24/01 2:36am)
For some folks, jazz is in the blood. Once it's got you, it doesn't let go easily. You have to hear it, you have to play it. You can't stay away for long. For three high school buddies from central Indiana, that has been the case for more than 30 years.\nNow, those same old friends, who have been playing together since high school but performing publicly with other local musicians since 1990 as the Üt Haus Jazz Band, are celebrating their past so they can get on with the future. They're releasing their first two CD-Rs this week -- Best of the Basement and alt.basement, a compilation of music recorded in their rehearsal space in 1992.\n"Hopefully what the recording is doing is providing a benchmark as to what we started out as," said David Miller, the band's trumpet player. "I think the interesting thing about the group is that it has retained that core of original players. What you hear in that recording is the unique improvisational chemistry between people who had known each other for a long time."\nThat "core" is comprised of Miller, bassist Steve Johnson and Jerry Morris, who plays French horn, clarinet, cello and serves as the band's musical director. The three graduated from Greenfield High School (about 75 miles from Bloomington) in 1966. They all attended Indiana University, but went their separate ways after college before reuniting in 1990. Since then, they've been playing together on an almost-weekly basis, be it on the stage of a local club or in the basement of Johnson's house. In addition to the three from Greenfield, the lineup of the band at the time of the Basement recordings includes saxophonists Brian Kearney and Greg Marsden, drummer Kevin Newcomb and flutist and poet Steve Gardner.\nThese discs are Üt Haus' first full-length releases -- the costs of a professionally recorded release had unfortunately been too prohibitive for the band. But the advent of recordable compact discs provided them with the opportunity they needed. Johnson, the group's bassist, compiled the two CDs.\n"I really enjoyed the quality of the music we were performing at that time," he said. "When we started the band in 1990, we got into doing a lot of recording in my basement. We listened to them, enjoyed them, and thought other people would enjoy them."\n"We're a group of old friends, so when we get together in the basement, we're pretty uninhibited," Miller said of the recordings.\nTo celebrate the discs' release, Üt Haus are throwing a CD release party at Bear's Place Thursday night. They'll be performing material from the CDs, some of which has not been in their repertoire for some time. The band has also expanded instrumentally since the 1992 recordings, adding vibraphonist Robert Stright and saxophonist Tom Clark.\nÜt Haus (pronounced "oot-house") takes the "Üt" in their name from a jazz term that refers to more avant-garde styles. Its members draw influences equally from jazz pioneers like Miles Davis and Ornette Coleman and rock mavericks like Frank Zappa and Captain Beefheart.\n"Compared to straight ahead jazz, we tend to play music that is more open in terms of harmonies -- at the time we recorded these, we weren't using any rhythm instruments," Johnson said. "That frees things up a lot in terms of what you can do harmonically. Sometimes less means more."\nThe group's repertoire attests to their diverse influences. Next to jazz compositions by Sonny Rollins and John Coltrane are pop standards like The Tokens' "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" and Dion's "Runaround Sue."\nThe band hopes to get some of their pop arrangements on CD in the future.\n"Our goal down the line is to ultimately start documenting more material," says Miller. "When we get together a significant mass of that, we'll come out with a more recent recording."\nBut for one night, the band is content to look backwards.\n"In some ways, those values that we had at that time and the improvisational chemistry that we had in those days still has remained. We want to get those examples out"
(05/21/01 1:36am)
The Bloomington Playwrights Project opened its annual short plays festival "Puttin' On Our Shorts" last Friday. Founded by two IU graduates in 1979, the BPP has for more than 20 years provided Bloomington with an opportunity to see new and experimental theater in an intimate setting, as well as giving budding local playwrights, actors and actresses the chance to hone their skills in a performance setting. \n"Puttin' On Our Shorts" is, as the program puts it, "a festival of works in various stages of development with the intent of giving playwrights the opportunity to work on productions of their short plays and to give promising and established directors the opportunity to work on new plays in a manageable format."\nFor those who have never visited the BPP, now located in a converted storefront on 312 S. Washington St., it's a bit of a surprise to walk through the front lobby into the small theater in the back. The small stage and floor area is surrounded by about 50 seats, so no one is more than a few feet from the action.\nThe material proves as quirky as the setting. The seven plays were written by both local and out-of-town playwrights, and run the gamut from the strictly fanciful to more serious fare. "Good Girl" is a disturbing solo piece about a little girl's troubled family life told from the viewpoint of her favorite doll, played by Kelly Ann Ford. "The Burial" strikes a poignant chord as two sisters (Amanda Scherle and S. Beth May) lay their dog to rest, and "Malibu Cars Look Like They Can Float" is a rambling but strangely compelling (and often very funny) piece about a torrid love affair between an underachieving McDonald's manager (Brent Burcroff) and his troubled 15-year-old employee (Lesley Dial). The high point is undeniably "The Perfect Moment," by local playwright CA Trueblood. In the piece, a man tries to propose to his girlfriend, but is constantly thwarted by conditions beyond his control. It's a hilarious spoof of the emotional give and take required of romantic relationships.\nThe BPP is yet another unique resource fans of the arts in Bloomington have to see performances they might not see anywhere else in the Midwest. The festival continues with performances at 8 p.m. Thursday, Friday and Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday.
(05/21/01 1:33am)
Here's how I imagine the conversation took place at Kerasotes World Headquarters (located on a small asteroid in geosynchronous orbit above the Midwest):\nKerasotes Guy #1: "Hey, it's been about four months since "State & Main" got a nationwide release. There haven't been any TV ads for months, and everyone's probably forgotten about it. If we put it in Bloomington this weekend, no one will notice, and it'll be gone in time for "Pearl Harbor".\nKerasotes Guy #2 (while stroking his Van Dyke beard): "Excellent."\nYes, David Mamet's newest film, "State & Main," has finally made it to local theaters. Mamet has been spreading his wings stylistically since the late 1990s, proving in "The Spanish Prisoner" and "The Winslow Boy" that he could make an intelligent movie without a single "F" word, and "State & Main" is his first foray into out-and-out comedy. It's an unparalleled success, and the funniest movie about filmmaking since Truffaut's "Day for Night." The plot concerns a troubled Hollywood production that comes to a small town in Vermont to shoot. The perpetually beleaguered director (William H. Macy) is joined by the intellectual playwright-turned-screenwriter (Philip Seymour Hoffman) who insists his script is about "the quest for purity," the borderline-sociopath leading man with a predilection for underage girls (Alec Baldwin), and the not-the-sharpest-tool-in-the-shed actress (Sarah Jessica Parker), who finds religion and decides she doesn't want to do the nude scene -- unless they can pay her another $800,000.\nWacky hijinks ensue as the movie people and the sleepy Vermont townspeople interact. The town was chosen so they could shoot at its historic old mill, but when they get there they find the mill burned down in the 1960s. This forces the screenwriter to find a way to rewrite a movie called "The Old Mill" so they don't have to shoot at an old mill. Meanwhile, Baldwin is seduced by a young lolita (Julia Stiles), and the director has to figure out a way to stick a dot-com product placement in a film set in the 19th century.\nThis movie features some of the greatest character actors of our time, and they're all having a blast. Everyone is parodying his or her typecasted image -- Macy gets even more hapless grimaces than in "Fargo," Baldwin and Parker send up the brainless Hollywood sex symbol and David Paymer chews scenery as the high-powered producer who threatens someone that "you, your children and your grandchildren will die in poverty."\nMamet avoids annoying plot contrivances that would have bogged down a lesser movie. Rebecca Pidgeon (Mamet's wife and a mainstay in his recent films) plays the director of the town's local drama club. She becomes involved romantically with Hoffman's screenwriter, but when she comes to see him at the hotel, she finds Sarah Jessica Parker naked in his bedroom. When the flustered Hoffman tells her that Parker had just barged in and stripped, Pidgeon takes his word for it (it also happens to be the truth). There's no fight, no misunderstanding; instead, the film gets to move on. It's a breath of fresh air from the standard, excruciating romantic comedy nonsense.\nWith his last few movies, David Mamet has proved that he can write and direct a wide range of material, and now comedy can safely be added to his resume thanks to "State and Main." In another year of teen gross-out comedies, it's smart, fun and refreshingly free of bodily fluids.
(05/17/01 12:42am)
Musicians from all over the world will descend on Bloomington for the next ten days to take part in the Bloomington Early Music Festival. Now in its eighth year, the Early Music Festival will offer Bloomington residents and out-of-town visitors the opportunity to introduce themselves to a sometimes overlooked period of music history.\nThe Festival is being staged in conjunction with the IU School of Music's Early Music Institute.\n"We're very fortunate in Bloomington...it's one of the best-known institutions around the world," said Alain Barker, executive director of the festival. "We have right at our doorstep some of the best players in the world. It's an attempt to merge world class musicians with the talent that lives in Bloomington."\nThe term "early music" generally refers to the Medieval, Renaissance and Baroque musical periods, all of which predate the Classical period of the 18th century. One of the better known early music composers is Johann Sebastian Bach.\nOne of the many unique performing ensembles to take part in the festival is Anima Fortis, an all-female ensemble that will be performing a special program of 17th century Italian female composers Barbara Strozzi and Isabella Leonarda. IU School of Music doctoral student Gesa Kordes plays baroque violin in the ensemble.\n"Baroque music has been played all along, but early Italian baroque is fairly rare still," she said of the performance's selections. \nThe baroque violin she will play differs from the more familiar modern violin in several noticeable ways, visually and aurally. There is no chin rest and the bow is curved outward. A baroque violin is also tuned lower than a modern violin, giving it a darker, more mellow sound.\nAnima Fortis' performance will be further enhanced by stage director Nasrin Hekmat-Farrokh, whose staging will add a visual element to the performance.\n"It's really something a bit unusual. These women really suffered," she said of the female composers.\nAnima Fortis is Bloomington-based, but performers, as well as audience members, are arriving from all over the world. Paul Hoxbro, a musician and storyteller from Denmark, will be performing his solo show "Tones and Tales From Distant Times: A piper's journey through medieval Europe."\n"People applied from all over the world...We got applications from every continent except maybe Africa. We were quite blown away," Kordes said. "It was really tough to make a choice. Let's just say a music festival of this kind of variety and this kind of specialization of the performers...you're going to be very hard pressed to find this anywhere around here."\nOther highlights of the festival include "An Evening of North Indian Flute Music" by Deepak Ram and I l'avori d'amore persi, an opera adapted by EMI faculty member Nigel North from madrigals by Monteverdi.\nFor more information about the festival, visit the Web site at www.blemf.org or call 331-1263\nSaturday, May 19\nDeepak Ram (North Indian Flute Music) - Recital Hall, 8 p.m.\nSunday, May 20\nThe Concord Ensemble (Music of Sweelinck) - Unitarian Universalist Church, 8 p.m.\nTuesday, May 22\nLecture on I lavori d'amore persi by musicologist Massimo Ossi - Ford Hall, 8 p.m.\nWednesday, May 23\nCatherine Webster, soprano and Holly Chatham, fortepiano (Works of Haydn and Mozart) - Ford Hall, 8 p.m.\nThursday, May 24\nI lavori d'amore persi - Staged Monteverdi Madrigals - John Waldron Arts Center Auditorium, 8 p.m.\nFriday, May 25\nReception - Unitarian Universalist Church, 6 p.m.\nBloomington Baroque - Unitarian Universalist Church, 8 p.m.\nSaturday, May 26\nChildren's Workshop - Renaissance Festival - Unitarian Universalist Church, 10 a.m.\nAnima Fortis (Barbara Strozzi/Isabella Leonarda) - Ford Hall, 1 p.m. \nPoul Hoxbro (Medieval Tones and Tales ) - John Waldron Arts Center, 4 p.m.\nI lavori d'amore persi - Staged Monteverdi Madrigals - John Waldron Arts Center Auditorium, 8 p.m.\nSunday, May 27\nRound-table discussions - Barnes & Noble, 10 a.m.\nEnsemble Ouabache (Classical winds and strings) - Ford Hall, 1 p.m.\nNigel North (English lute works) - Ford Hall, 4 p.m.\nBLEMF Orchestra & Dance (Concertos & costumed dance) - Buskirk-Chumley, 8 p.m.\nMonday, May 28\nEx Umbris (Spanish Renaissance Music) - Universalist Unitarian Church, 8 p.m.
(05/10/01 2:37am)
Spike Lee's latest film, "Bamboozled," was released in late 2000, but never made it to Bloomington. I should know. Every Wednesday morning when Kerasotes updated their movie times for the coming weekend, I would eagerly log on to the Web site in the hopes of seeing that "B" word in the listings. I got even more excited when the College Mall theater put up the film's poster with the words "Coming Soon" below it. Promises, promises. For whatever reason, the movie never made it to these parts. Spike Lee fans have had to wait until now to get their hands on his newest joint.\n"Bamboozled" tells the story of Pierre Delacroix (Damon Wayans), an Ivy League-educated TV writer who hates having to stoop to the levels his network asks of him. His boss (Michael Rapaport) admonishes Pierre to come up with a new show that will be hip and edgy (read: more "black"). Disgusted with the lowest common denominator approach and veiled racism of his superiors, Delacroix develops "ManTan: The New Millenium Minstrel Show," a shockingly racist variety hour featuring dancers in blackface, set in a watermelon patch. The idea is to get fired. Instead, the suits love it, the show goes on the air and it's a huge hit. \n"Bamboozled" is satire -- very broad satire. It is not a comfortable film to watch. Minstrel shows and blackface performers are a relic of the early 20th century that most of us would probably prefer to forget, but Spike Lee's job as a filmmaker is to make us remember, and if necessary, to make us uncomfortable. Along the way he deals with the way race is socially constructed and the subversion of black culture by white corporate America. For more than a decade, Lee has made uncompromising films on controversial subjects that always retain an element of fairness. "Bamboozled" treads the thin line between thought-provoking commentary and lopsided rant, and unfortunately comes down on the latter side more often as the film progresses. Still, even if you don't always agree with Lee, the questions his film raises are ones that need to be asked.\nIf it seems unlikely that something as over-the-top as "ManTan" could hit the air, consider such recent UPN sitcoms as "Homeboys from Outer Space" or "The Secret Diary of Desmond Pfeiffer," a show that was about Abraham Lincoln's sassy black butler (I swear this is true). "Pfeiffer" thankfully lasted only four episodes, but a real-life "ManTan" could always be on the horizon.
(05/07/01 1:45am)
\"I believe you're the wickedest man I've ever met," gasps a female character to Andy Osnard toward the end of "The Tailor of Panama."\n"I thought that was the attraction," Osnard replies amusedly.\nIt is indeed. Osnard is played by Pierce Brosnan as only Pierce Brosnan can, and although he might be exceptionally wicked, he's not the villain. In fact, in Panama City -- "Casablanca without heroes," as one character puts it -- he could be the closest thing the film has to a hero, if only because he's the smartest and the best-looking. \nAt the beginning of the film, Osnard, an MI6 agent (yes, just like that Bond fellow), is assigned a thankless post in Panama City after committing certain indiscretions with a Spanish diplomat's mistress. Osnard immediately looks for a point of access into the wealthy social and political elite of the canal country, where he's sure somebody can be exploited for his own financial gain. He finds his man in Harry Pendle (Geoffrey Rush), a British tailor who makes suits for anyone who can afford his high prices. Osnard suspects Pendle is privy to the latest wheelings and dealings and starts pumping him for information. Pendle is reluctant, but his massive debts eventually convince him of his "patriotic" duty to help the British intelligence man.\nInformation is currency in the film's world, but no one seems concerned about whether it's counterfeit as long as they can convince the next man up the totem pole that it's legit. Pendle starts giving Osnard gossip that someone as savvy as the spy can't possibly believe -- but it doesn't really matter, because it's what he wants to hear. The web of who's telling who what and how much of it is true grows increasingly complicated as Pendle's American wife (Jamie Lee Curtis) and a burned-out Resistance fighter from the Noriega days (Brendan Gleeson) are caught up in Osnard's machination.\nDirector John Boorman (Deliverance, The General) handles John LeCarré's novel with style and wit -- here's a South American spy thriller with no car chases, surprise killings or gigantic explosions -- just a well-crafted story and actors who are obviously having a ball. Geoffrey Rush is bulbous and vile, but somehow evokes sympathy. Brosnan gets to parody his 007 persona by bringing the nasty, misogynist undercurrent that sometimes pervades the Bond films to the fore. He's unscrupulous and unprincipled -- but you might find yourself rooting for him anyway.
(04/30/01 5:51am)
J.C. Penney's of College Mall, 2966 E. Third St., opened its doors for the last time Saturday before closing them permanently after 20 years in Bloomington. The store was closed as part of a restructuring program for the department store chain that has closed 44 Penney's stores nationwide, including four in Indiana.\nBetween the Martinsville and Bloomington stores, 150 people lost their jobs.\nAfter it announced in January that the store would close, J.C. Penney's held a series of closing sales, culminating during the store's final week, where markdowns went as high as 90 percent in an effort to empty the store of its merchandise. \nThe sale seemed to be working. By midday Saturday, the remaining stock fit into a 20 foot square area near the front of the store.\n"Just this last week, we have been very busy," acting store manager Mary Lynn Kinsel said of the rapidly emptying racks of clothes. "I don't know if it's word of mouth… It's amazing."\nThe progression of sale signs indicated the escalating discounts of the store's final days. Signs of "50 percent off sale price" gave way to "90 percent off lowest price marked." One table advertised shoes for a dollar a pair. Although the store originally planned to close at 5 p.m., Kinsel estimated it would run out of merchandise hours earlier.\nKinsel and a skeleton crew will come back to the store today and spend another seven to 10 days stripping the store's fixtures. Some of them will be sent to other Penney's stores, and eventually a public sale will be held to dispose of what remains.\nThe large store already looks deserted, with much of the shelving and other fixtures dismantled, leaving vast spaces where empty metal clothing racks huddled together along with employees watching the last few dozen shoppers browse through the lingering pairs of jeans, slacks, shirts and shoes. Some bargain hunters came away with $34 jeans marked down to $3.50.\nThe extra help required for the store closing was a boon for some IU students in need of short-term employment. Senior Staci Wilkinson will graduate next weekend. After the last store she was working at closed earlier this year, she needed a job for her last three months in Bloomington. She said a lot of college students at the store are graduating, and some of the older employees plan to retire.\nNot everyone has those options. Kinsel said some employees are being relocated to other Penney's stores -- as near as Bedford and as far away as Fairfax, Va. Others will seek work elsewhere.\n"Whoever gets these employees will be extremely lucky. They've just been fantastic associates," Kinsel said.\nWilkinson said the last week's feeding frenzy had been stressful.\n"It's been the worst experience," she said. "People have been trashing the fitting rooms."\nThe store closings have been one of several recent maneuvers by the troubled department store chain in the hopes of improving its financial position. In March, Penney's sold off its Direct Marketing Services branch. The $1.1 billion proceeds from that sale were expected to go towards debt reduction, J.C. Penney chief executive officer Allen Questrom said in a press release.
