Album unites vocal power, variety of styles
Milira
“Back Again!!!”
Motown Records
“Back Again!!! ” fuses the voice of
experienced 21 -year-old black singer
Milira with passionate love songs
and great instrumental backups. “Back
Again!!!”is Milira’s second Motown
album with Apollo Theatre Records.
Although each of her 11 songs
range from ballads to jazz to snappy
blues such as “Love You Forever,”
occasionally Milira’squavering, quiv
ering voice sounds monotonous
throughout one or two songs, not nec
essarily the entire album.
You can ’ t help but be impressed by
her husky vocals when she sings the
blues track, “One Man Woman,” with
all the muscular passion of the late
Janis Joplin.
This woman’s vocal range and
depth is incredible.
I
Milira can make a magical transi
tion from high soprano to bass in one
breath, especially apparenton “Ready
for Love.” In this song, Roger Byam ’s
saxophone accompaniment can’t be
ignored as he fades in and out, front to
back, locking the listener in to a mel
low mood.
On “Three’s a Crowd,” Milira
again shows off her vocal range, but
focuses on a lighter, sweet-as-molas
ses sound. The impressive backup
bass and vocals further add dimension
to this blues number — the type of
song you could imagine, blues artist,
Michael Bolton singing.
The last track, “Love Always,
Milira,” a song written by the singer
to a far-away boyfriend, crosses hip
hop and reggae with dinner music. A
song you have to hear to believe. At
times, the background vocals possess
an eerie electronic sound — a sound,
however, not disconcerting.
Hearing the compassionate “Love
You Forever,” makes you want Milira
I
■ 1 mill1 —
William Lauer/DN
Aaron “Skinny” Logan, of Skinny and the Wingtips,
performs during the Prairie Peace Park Benefit at the
zoo Bar Sunday. The Prairie Peace Park and Maze is a
planned recreation and environmental area seven miles
west of Lincoln.
Intricately woven story
joins sci-fi, social trends
Judith Moffett
“The Ragged World”
Del Rey Books
By Sam Kepfield
Staff Reporter
Judith Moffett’s second book (her
first, “Pennterra,” appeared to critical
acclaim in 1988) is, the cover tells us,
a New York Times Notable Book.
This ought to give you a clue.
Science fiction that gets noticed by
the mainstream is rare and is usually
to the detriment of the science side of
- the equation.
Moffett’s book is not a traditional
hard science-fiction tale filled with
gadgetry, & la Gregory Benford or
David Brin. That aside, it is part of a
noble science-fiction tradition, thatof
following current social trends into
the future.
The alien Hcfn arrive on an Earth
on the brink of ecological disaster.
They tell Earthlings to save them
selves, on their own, in 10 years, or
they’ll destroy us. For their own good,
no doubt.
The story is not mainly about
humanity’s efforts to stave off immi
nent destruction.
It is, rather, a person tale, focusing
on a group of people swimming
through the social currents of late
20th and early 21 st century America.
One of them copes with having
AIDS. Another is party to a time
travel accident by the Hcfn that leaves
him a crusader for nuclear power
plant safely (the time-travel loop be
comes a major theme in the book).
Another encounters the gnome-like
aliens, is shown their technology and
is mindwipcd afterwards (while the
aliens go into hibernation).
The book resolves itself happily,
with humanity saved, and the time
travel loop is a prophecy fulfilled.
So it doesn’t have rocket ships and
lots of laser blasts, but it is a good,
finely and intricately woven tale that
deserves a look, and may gamer a few
awards next year.
to succeed in love. You want to yell;
you want to cheer, “Go for the man!
Make him yours, honey!” Not all her
songs are as emotionally intense, some
are more subtle.
On the track, “ All N ight,” the music
combined with Milira’s voice waltzes
and whirls you slowly around the
dance floor in your partner’s arms.
To sum it up, “Back Again!!!” is a
rich banquet of dinner and dance
music, except for “Rocket Love,” a
catchy shoulder-shaking, slow-rock
ing remake of a Stevie Wonder clas
sic. She would have done well to
include another number or two, just
like it, with the same driving beat.
No parental guidance needed on
any of her songs. The lyrics of her
chosen covers are clean and straight
forward, but as love songs go, full of
cliches. But what can you expect?
“The album is all about love,”
Milira said, “the different things
people experience in relationships.”
— Jill O'Brien
"1 Courtesy of Motown Records
Milira's second album, “Back Again!!!,” features husky blues
and jazz.
A -A ^ ^ ^ -4
Newest vampire flick bloodless,
lacks direction, squanders talent
By Gerry Beltz
Staff Reporter
In John Landis’ latest release, “In
nocent Blood’’ (Cinema Twin, 13th
and P Streets), he has his cinematic
tongue planted firmly in cheek.
Unfortunately, he plants it so far
over that he loses track of the movie.
Anne Parillaud plays Marie, a
young woman with a taste for blood.
In fact, she would kill for it: She’s a
vampire.
However, she is what one might
call a “nice” vampire; she only kills
those who “deserve” it — like gang
sters. After she gets what she wants,
she blows off the head of her “supper”
to avoid any undead uprisings.
* Enter Sal (RobertLoggia), a cold
hearted gangster who kills without a
second thought. He meets up with
Marie and gets drained, but Marie is
forced to flee before she has a chance
to Finish the job.
Eventually, Sal comes back to life
(much to the surprise of guest coroner
Frank Oz) with a taste for blood, raw
meat and revenge against Joe Gennaro
(Anthony Lapaglia), the cop who in
filtrated his organization.
Joe reluctantly teams up with Marie
to get Sal, but is there a chance that
Joe will fall in love with a vampire?
“Innocent Blood” had a lot of po
tential, but it never got any firrn direc
tion to go on. Some great talent in
LaPaglia and Parillaud goes to waste
in the film — their characters arc
given all the depth of a puddle.
Loggia, however, is tc :fic as the
foul-mouthed, ct blooc . Sal. His
gradual realization of his newfound
vampirism is quite amusing as well.
The movie is full of inside jokes
and tongue-in-cheek humor. Watch
ing movies such as “Dracula,” and
“King Kong,” offering a vampire an
Italian dish heavily seasoned with
garlic and one gangster that adores
Frank Sinatra provide several joyful
moments for the audience.
Guest appearances in the movie
include Don Rickies as Sal’s lawyer
and Linnea Quigley, the B-movie
scream queen, as a screaming nurse.
Rated R for violence, language
and nudity (LaPaglia and Parillaud
get nasty with a pair of handcuffs), it
would be advisable to leave the little
ones at home for this one.
Album shows newcomer’s depth
with up-tempo tunes, soft ballads
R,euieu/st,
CeCe Peniston
“Finally”
A&M Records
You might have heard her voice,
but did not recognize who she was.
Twenty-three-year-old CeCe
Peniston first debuted on the Over
weight Pooches LP, “Female
Preacher,” and since then, it has been
nothing but success for Peniston.
With three Top 20 singles to her
credit, CeCe Peniston is well on her
way to establishing herself as one of
the best newcomers of 1992.
“Finally” is a well-crafted album
that leaves the listener wanting more
when it is over.
“Finally,” the first single off this
disc, is an up-tempo, catchy song that
gets the attention of the listener right
away and sets the tone for this LP.
“We’ve Got A Love Thang” lets
the listener feel the radiance and spirit
that Peniston brings with her. This is
one of the best songs on “Finally.”
“Keep On Walkin’,” Peniston’s
third hit, has a house swing to it, and
the listener gets a good dose of the
depth of Peniston’s powerful voice.
While Peniston excels at singing
up-tempo dance tunes, when she
slows it down she is equally talented
at singing ballads. Peniston is able to
put the listener at ease with her soft
melodies.
“Inside That I Cried” is a slow
track that once again shows the range
and depth of Peniston’s voice.
“Crazy Love,” is another ballad
that provides Peniston another op
portunity to show off her talents and
justify why her album should be
bought and listened to.
“Virtue” is a great way to round
out “Finally.” This tune has a funky
“New Jack” house swing to it, and it
is a great song to end a great album.
The other four songs on this LP
are equally as good as the above
mentioned ones.
The variety on the LP also is im
pressive for a debut artist. Pcniston
credits Shirley Murdock, Luther
Vandross and Patti LaBelle as her
influences.
“Finally” has put CeCe Pcniston
on the map to stay, and in the coming
years, she will be one of the soul divas
in the music industry to contend with.
Peniston will perform tunes from
“Finally” in concert Oct. 15 at the
Music Hall in Omaha.
— Anthony D. Speights
Cyberpunk novel predictable, tedious sci-fi
Don H. DeBrandt
“The Quicksilver Screen”
Del Rey Discovery Books
By Sam Kepfield
Staff Reporter
“Cyberpunk” is a relatively new
sub-genre in science fiction.
The only problem with cyberpunk
"7 Vv T ■ ' *•' “"y? ~
is tnat it nas become a predictable
genre. “The Quicksilver Screen” is a
perfect example.
If vou believe the blurbs on the
covers, it’s about the discovery of
Infinite Range Television, a video
window into alternate realities, and
the possibility of communicating
across realities. It is, and it isn’t.
The first 20 pages begin the book
nicely. But after that, it sinks into
every cyberpunk cl ich6 one can imag
ine.
During the quest, DeBrandt throws
in the standard cyberpunk vehicles—
street gangs, senseless violence, high
tech man-machine interfaces, martial
arts, bizarre punk costumes and bi
zarre sex variations, with a ritual flog
ging thrown in. The plot becomes a
thinly connected string of random
incidents.
Not until the last 30 pages does the
plot again fade into view. And the
reader still is not told in any great
detail why this artist has to be saved;
we’re in the dark about the corporate
machinations behind IRTV.
“The Quicksilver Screen” could
have been a decent 60-page novella, if
it gave more background in places.
Putting it in a 250-page book is too
much of a stretch, and it doesn’t hold
up at all well.