Tuesday, December 10, 1985
Daily Nebraskan
Page 5
Arts
Petty 's hot live set should put
Cougar, the Boss to shame
By Charles Lieurance
Senior Reporter
Editor's note: The following
are reviews of several current
albums.
The Jesus and Mary Chain,
"Psychocandy," PVC Records
The formidable sound of 10,000 ste
reo televisions tuned into the mosquito
races at full volume, Jesus and Mary
Chain create as much noise as The
Velvet Underground and as much mel
ody as The Beach Boys.
Although these walking, talking
haircuts are too popular in Britain to
last for long (the next big thing lasts as
long as the average sneeze), this album
is a magnificent novelty. "Just Like
Honey" is an ethereal piece of psy
chedelia punctuated by The Chain's
trademark feedback. Maybe it will
strike the charts in America.
Record Review
GPA3.2
Fetchin' Bones, "Fetchin'
Bones," Db Records
Fetchin Bones is yet another ripple
heading our way from the musical
ground zero of Athens, Ga. The Bones
play hoodoobilly rock with a tendency
toward the hallucinogenic and gothic.
Howler Hope Nicholls sounds like
Pearl Harbour (of The Explosions fame)
and wails out her circuitous Escher
like lyric images with all the fervor of a
frothing evangelist.
The band is fixated with disparate
musical styles, and that makes this
debut a stylistic enigma. Guitarist
Aaron Pitkin has an affection for long,
shrieking, bluesy guitar solos that seem
out of place but interesting in rocka
billy songs. Suddenly in the middle of
some desloate southern spiritual the
band can insert a psychedelic inter
lude. Strange,
This is a rough-sounding beast,
especially the minor key Batman theme
clone, "Kitchen of Life." Fetchin' Bones
holds their hoedown in the cemetery
and raise some ravaged old musical
corpses into a post mortem jig.
GPA3.5
Review copy courtesy of Dirt Cheap
Records.
Tom Petty and the Heart
breakers, "Pack Up the Planta
tion, MCA Records
Poor Tom Petty is lost somewhere in
the miasma of working class, gravel
voiced champions of electric folk.
Somewhere between the grandilo
quence of Bruce Springsteen and the
insipid sermonizing of John Cougar
Mellencamp, between the drawling
metaphysics of REM and the greenhorn
sentimentality of Bryan Adams, falls
the shadow Tom Petty.
Petty's shadow does not often make
itself felt on the music scene, but its
absence would be tragic.
"Pack Up the Plantation," Petty's
new live album provides the shadow
with a body. The timely use of cover
tunes like The Isley's "Shout," Sonny
Bono's "Needles and Pins," The Byrds'
"So You Want to Be a Rock 'n' Roll Star"
are an absolutely exhilirating mani
festo for the new folk rock. They are a
more legitimate successor to Dylan's
pioneer electric folk on "Blonde
on Blonde" than all that has come
between.
As live albums go, this is proof of a
major talent.
GPA 3.9.
Review album courtesy of Dirt Cheap
Records.
The Cramps, "Can Your Pussy
Do the Dog?", EP Records
My heart leapt. Visions of zombies
dancing, UFO sex maniacs, insatiable
dining habits and fuzztone euphoria
danced through my head. It was a new
Cramps album. I got fever, the shakes. . .
OK, so The Cramps aren't all that
great anymore. They're into sex kitten
porno stuff now. Where are the mons
ters? Where are the radioactive mutants?
Where are the B-movie script lyrics?
Where's my dose of brain soup psyche
delia? It ain't here.
The Good News: There's still the
fuzztone guitar.
GPA 2.5.
Letterman book tops bestseller list
Following are last week's best
sellers at the University and Ne
braska bookstores:
University Bookstore
1. "Late Night with David Let
terman: The Book," Merrill Markoe,
editor, (Villard, $8.95).
2. "More Than Winning," Tom
Osborne, (Nelson, $12.95).
3. "Lake Wobegone Days," Garri
son Keillor, (Viking, $17.95).
4. "So Long and Thanks for All
the Fish," Douglas Adams (Pocket,
$3.95).
5. "World's Fair," E. L. Doctorow,
(Random House, $17.95).
6. "The Hunt For Red October,"
Tom Clancy (Berkeley, $4.50).
7. "Galapagos," Kurt Vonnegut,
(Delacorte, $16.95).
8. "The Cat Who Walks Through
Walls," Robert A. Heinlein (Put
nam, $17.95).
9. "Penguin Dreams & Stranger
Things," Berke Breathed, (Little,
Brown $6.95).
10. "I Never Played The Game,"
Howard Cosell, (Morrow, $18.95).
Nebraska Bookstore
1. "More Than Winning," Tom
Osborne, (Nelson, $10.95).
2. "So Long And Thanks For All
The Fish," Douglas Adams (Pocket,
$3.95).
3. "Lake Wobegone Days," Garri
son Keillor, (Viking, $14,95).
4. "Garfield Rolls On," Jim Davis,
(Ballantine, $5.95).
5. "Late Night With David Let
terman: The Book," Merrill Markoe,
(Villard, $8.95).
6. "The Hunt For Red October,"
Tom Clancy, (Berkely, $4.95).
7. "Job: A Comedy Of Justice,"
Robert A. Heinlein (Del Rey, $4.50).
8. "The Talisman," Stephen King
and Peter Straub (Berkeley, $4.95).
9. "Valley Of The Far Side," Gary
Larson (Andres, McMeel & Parker,
$5.95).
10. "Good War: An Oral History of
WWII," Studs Terkel, (Ballentine,
$4.95).
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Famous conductor,
soloists in 'Messiah'
1985 comemorates the 300-year
anniversary of the birth of George
Frideric Handel, England's well
known composer famous for his ora
torios. His most famous oratorio
"Messiah," will be presented in con
junction with a four day symposium
at the UNL Kimball Recital Hall
Tuesday and Wednesday at 8 p.m.
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Courtesy of Kimball
Hogwood
"Messiah," which Handel wrote
in three weeks, is the story of Christ,
and contains many famous musical
pieces including the chorus "Halle
lujah". The oratorio divided into
three parts, the first of which cele
brates Christmas, the second, Easter,
and the last a preparation for the
return of Christ.
Christopher Hogwood, one of
Great Britain's most-acclaimed con
ductors, will direct both perform
ances of "Messiah." Hogwood has
made a major contribution as scho
lar, arranger and performer devoted
to the cause of authenticity in the
presentation of Baroque and classi
cal music.
In addition to Hogwood, each of
the soloists is internationally acclaim
ed. Emma Kirkby, soprano, has con
tributed to more than 30 recordings,
radio broadcasts and television pro
grams. Contralto Catherine Denley was a
member of the BBC singers and
today is much in demand as an ora
torio singer. She performs in festi
vals throughout Great Britain.
Ian Partridge, tenor, has attained
international recognition and ac
claim for his recitals and record
ings. He has recorded with most of
the major British orchestras.
Davis Thomas, bass-baritone,
regularly performs with high-caliber
orchestras, conductors and singers.
He recently did a recording of
Mozart's "Requiem," with Hogwood.
The "Messiah" performance will
also include performances by the
Lincoln symphony Orchestra and
the UNL School of Music. The 55
voice University Singers will be fea
tured in the performance. They are
directed by Virginia Covert Colla,
UNL assistant director of music.
Tickets for the performances are
sold out, but the Dec. 11 program
will be telecast live over the Ne
braska ETV network with a simul
cast by KUCV-FM.
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Courtesy of Kimball
Kirkby
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imMUMmuuLwiMiiMWii 11 1 1
Opens Friday, December 13th
At A Theatre Near You.
