.. .. f ■*'
Pat Metheny Group
“We Live Here”
Geffen Records
Grade: F+
Various Artists
“Jazz, Ltd., Vol. 1”
Delmark Records
Grade: A+
One day, in the depths of hell, one of the
underworld’s most twisted and perverse
demons decided that bad music wasn’t quite
bad enough. And that demon created the
music known as adult contemporary jazz.
“We Live Here” by the Pat Metheny
Group is a surly exercise in this most de
praved and barren of musical stylings. Per
haps I’m letting my feelings run a bit ram
pant over this album, but I don’t really think
so.
This is the music to which I had prom
ised myself I would never willingly listen.
It makes most VH-1 videos look like hard
rock. It is too sedate and pointless to even
justify Weather Channel airplay. This is
bad music.
Although the liner notes suggest that this
music is produced by actual instruments.
I’d be more inclined to say it is an electroni
cally polished nightmare. At its absolute
best, it sounds like the soundtrack to a
grossly over-budgeted pom flick. At its
worst... no, 1 simply can’t go on.
Instead, I’ll focus on something that
truly warrants attention. While adult con
temporary jazz sputters ahead, other forms
of jazz are flourishing in the oft-forgotten
past. Take Dixieland jazz, for example.
Take the first volume of “Jazz, Ltd.” as an
even better one.
“Jazz, Ltd., Volume One” is a sampler of
the best that Chicago’s legendary literally
underground jazz club had to offer.
What it offers is highly improvisational,
emotionally charged music with rhythm to
spare that is performed by hard-core musi
cians.
Even after 40 years, this music retains
the impact and spark that it held for its
contemporary listeners.
Musicians such as Sidney Bechet,
Muggsy Spanier, Don Ewell and Doc Evans
were legends in their own time, and artists
whose intensity and creativity have yet to
be paralleled by more recent songwriters
and performers.
Listening to this album was an incred
ible experience. I felt as though I was sitting
in the very club where those men once blew
their hearts out. I could smell the smoke and
sweat of the tightly packed room. I could
see them all, out of breath and ready to
collapse, still playing in spite of them
selves.
From the mellow, solo-filled beauty of
songs like ‘Tin Roof Blues” (performed by
Miff Mole and Doc Evans) to the fired-up,
brink-of-chaosjump tunes such as Spanier’s
“Washington and Lee Swing,” this album is
just a taste of what lies ahead when you turn
to the past.
— Jeff Randall
The B.U.M.S
“Brothas Unda Madness: Lyfe and Tyme”
Priority Records
Grade: B
Brothas Unda Madness hail from hip
hop-heavy Oakland, Calif., and follow the
lead of lyrical giants such as Del the Funky
Homosapien, Casual, Souls of Mischief and
Saafir.
However, they don’t copy them. This is
strictly a personal thing for D-WYZE and
E-vocalist, the duo that is the B.U.M.S.
What they do best is freestyle and tell
everyday street stories.
There’s no better place to look than on
the first single, “Elevation (Free My Mind).”
The track is similar to Black Moon’s “I Got
Cha Opin.” The guys kick rhymes like, “It’s
true for what you say is what you do with the
flow/For labels, MCs come and they go/But
B.U.M.S, we leave a mark for hip hop’s
devastation/And I strive to stay alive for my
record’s elevation.”
For about half the songs, this reality rap
is standard. There is nothing too heavy.
Songs like ‘Take a Look Around” and the
catchy “Flex Uv a Finga” are just the anyday
stories of Everyhood, USA.
At other times, the Oakland, laid-back
feel is apparent. “West Coast Smack” uses
a jazzy bass and horn hits to complement
the Souls of Mischief sample. “Non-Stoppin
the Groove” has a beat that lopes along and
a Big Daddy Kane hook.
A couple songs fall short. “Let the Music
Take Your Mind” uses some simple rhymes,
while “6 Figures & Up” makes a gratuitous
plea for money. And there are too many
inserts or interludes. Seven of 19 tracks are
inserts on “Lyfe and Tyme.” They detract
from the album.
For their first effort, the B.U.M.S per
form well. This is just one more group that
will keep Oakland lyrically famous.
—Greg Schick
1111111i»m ■» mmmmsmmmmmm*****' h mmmi im i
Bret Gottschall/DN
Action is key to week’s rentals
By Gerry Bettz
Him Critic
It is going to be a busy couple of
weeks on the video new-release
shelves. Over the next two weeks,
five new flicks will be available for
rental.
“Stargate” (PG-13, available
March 14) — This one is the best of
the five. An out-of-work archeolo
gist (James Spader) is hired by the
military to decipher a 2,000-year-old
artifact that turns out to be a gateway
to another world.
All cast members are good, al
though Kurt Russell — as the gung
ho military leader — is a bit disap
pointing. The special effects are top
notch, and the film is a wild ride.
“Angels In The Outfield” (PG,
available March 21) —This one
couldn’t even meet the fix of the
baseball junkies, but it will entertain
the kids and many adults.
A baseball manager (Danny
Glover) and his loser team receive
help from a little boy and his guard
ian angel (Christopher Lloyd), and
the team starts winning games with a
bit of divine intervention.
It’s pretty dam sappy and predict
able, but well worth renting as a
family movie.
“The Specialist” (R, available
March 21) — Stallone plays a bomb
expert (he should be one by now, he’s
been in enough action movies), and
Sharon Stone is a mysterious woman
who hires Stallone to get revenge on
the underworld.
James Woods, Eric Roberts and
Rod Steiger all make appearances as
various bad guys, but the entire movie
has a very forced feel to it. The explo
sions are pretty cool, and (surprise)
Stone is in the buffski. Skip this one.
“Only You”(PG, available March
21) — A waste of talent about fate
and love. “Only You” stars Marisa
Tomei as a woman who is told that a
man with a certain name is the man
she is destined to marry, and some
guy (Robert Downey Jr.) claims that
name.
Better to get a root canal from
Laurence Olivier than watch this
movie at any point in your life.
PICK OF THE WEEK — Why
wouldn’t you want Olivier to have
anything to do with your teeth? The
answer is in “Marathon Man.”
Dustin Hoffman plays a graduate
student who is inadvertently thrust
into the world of international in
trigue by his brother (Roy Scheider).
At one point, he is “interrogated” by
a Nazi played by Sir Laurence Olivier,
one of the best screen villains of all
time.
Cable
Continued from Page 12
and services, Bates said.
“I assume eventually we’ll be ex
panding our channel services and of
fering more stations, but we will have
to wait until the merger is completed
in order to tell what these will be,” he
said.
In the long term, Bates said, the
merger will make a huge difference
for Cablevision.
“Time Warner owns HBO and sev
eral movie studios. This opens a lot
of avenues to the people of Lincoln
that weren’t there before,” he said.
Whether you're planning to...
or
or just
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are free and no reservations are required. Seats are available on a
first come, first served basis. Call 472-0515 if you have any questions.
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Friday, March 17 10:00 - 11:30 a.m. Bancroft Hall, 239
Electronic News
Tuesday, March 28 3:30 - 5:00 p.m. Bancroft Hall, 239
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