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6 • The Red and Black • Wednesday. November 1. 1995
MUSIC
■ BEST BET
Even If you partied so hard last night that you didn't wake up until urtpy)
4 p.m., you still have time to shower, dress and shave your tongue be
fore stumbling ovei to the Georgia Theatre for DISCO!! where there'll be
so many retro 70s outfits, you'll think it's still Halloween.
Toad’s latest
cleans out
garage of
throwaways
By BRANDON ROGERS
Staff Writer
Taking a band called Toad the
Wet Sprocket seriously would seem
as difficult as taking a physician
named Dr. Funnypants seriously,
but it's not
Partly because of its goofy name,
which the band acquired from a
Monty Python sketch, and partly be
cause of its undefinably honest and
melodic music, Toad has been con
sumed and regurgitated from the
bowels of both the college and main
stream genres several times over.
Neither and both outlets will claim
the band entirely for their own.
Fortunately, the band plays on
unaffected.
“In Light Syrup” is Toad’s fifth al
bum, a canned collection of rarities
- soundtrack selections, B-sides and
outtakes - from over the past five
years. Like any other albu^ of left
overs, “In Light Syrup” jumps a bit
bumpingly from theme to theme,
from dark ballad to bouncy pop song,
with all the songs clinging to the
common bond that they were some
how inadequate for a real album.
Toad’s inadequacies, however,
shine a heck of a lot brighter than
most band’s gems.
The first three songs are sound
track excerpts: “Brother" is from “So
I Married an Axe Murderer." “Little
Heaven” is from “Buffy the Vampire
Slayer” and “Good Intentions” is
from the recent “Friends" sound
track.
Even though the band has that
certain soundtrack appeal to it,
that’s not to say it lacks substance.
Plenty of well thought-out sub
stance can be measured in Toad’s
mastery of using different styles of
music and instrumentation within
one song without diluting the song’s
intention.
Slide-guitars, string orchestras,
piano and bongos; these plus lead
singer Glenn Phillips’ closed-teeth
mumbling lyrics and back-up har
monist Todd Nichols’ reverent
“oohs” and “aahs” make the hodge
podge of songs extremely listenable.
The silliest, and maybe my fa
vorite, song on the album is the sort
of Scottish-influenced, fantasy-land
homage “Hobbit on the Rocks.”
When Phillips sings, “The hobbit on
the rocks is crying and the fish up on
the docks are dying," you gotta just
want to give that little hobbit a hug.
“Janitor,” a song that explores
the people who clean up the junk we
all leave behind, “Chicken" and
“Good Intentions” also make for fun
songs on the album, complementing
the eerie dream sequences of “Are
We Afraid” and “Hope.”
The lyrics in “In Light Syrup” are
not as notable as they have been in
past albums, but there are still pow
erful moments like “Talk to yourself
if you think you need talking to” and
“You will exhale cinnamon cries."
Even when the lyrics are either
unintelligible (like I said, Phillips
does tend to mumble) or unimpres
sive, Phillips and the boys add little
Buddy Holly-like fillers like “Woah”
and “Hey Now” that strut their pure
rock ’n’ roll simplicity.
Listening to Toad’s assortment of
throwaways is as much fun as rum
maging through someone’s garbage
and finding a tacky shirt, a half-eat
en doughnut and a ceramic statue of
a gnome.
I mean, hey, who wouldn’t want
that gnome?
Reminisce with Dead’s “newest" release
By JON GALUCKI
Staff Writer
The first release from the post-
Jerry Garcia Grateful Dead can
be viewed as a tribute to the late-
great- M ac-granddaddy-finger-
missing-guitar-noodling per
former we all loved.
Recorded in Germany in 1972,
“Hundred Year Hall" serves as a
sequel to the omnibenevolent
Dead album “Europe 72." This
double CD set contains over two
hours of debilitating Dead dogma.
The opening track on disc one,
“Bertha,” is so bubbly and upbeat
that you’re sure to knock over
your lava lamp as you mindlessly
dance all around your stereo flail
ing your arms about trying to get
the music out of your face.
You know those AT&T com
mercials that make you want to
call your mom? Well, this album
is just as effective in making one
want to call up a fellow Deadhead
and reminisce about past con
certs, or about how you scored
tickets at the last minute or how
you traveled to Utah to see the
Dead with no money, yet some
how got to see the show.
The Dead, in “Me and My
Uficle," continue the energetic,
pumped-up rhythms that are un
familiar in modern day Dead al
bums. The Dead keep coming;
they refuse to let up.
In 1972, the Dead were in their
“Wayne Gretzky of the early ’80s"
prime. They brought the roof
down every night, and thankfully,
this CD captures every morsel of
down-home goodness.
The first disc also includes the
one-two punch of “China Cat
Sunflower/I Know You Rider” and
the bittersweet “Going Down the
Road Feelin’ Bad.”
Based on the first disc alone,
the album is worthy of inclusion
in any Deadhead’s library.
However, the Dead take us into a
totally different realm in the sec
ond disc.
Disc two’s opening track is the
Dead theme song, “Truckin’.” At
the time this was recorded, the
Dead were still experimenting (I
know, I know- imagine that) with
the song, so it contains subtle sur
prises within this 17-minute ren
dition.
The Dead allow no time for fan
applause or for you to even catch
your breath before they jump into
“Cryptical Envelopment.” This
36-minute version, also known as
“The Other Or.e,” is a legendary
song that encompasses what the
Dead are all about.
Jerry expands the audiences’
mind. Bob Weir speaks of old
Spanish ladies, and Phil Lesh
keeps this groovy bass line going
that serves as the proverbial
heartbeat of the song. Top it all
off with an intense drum solo, and
boom, you have another Grateful
Dead gem.
Tribute to late Gaye says nothing inspiring
By JOSH MASSEY
Staff Writer
In the ten years since Marvin
Gaye’s death, the state of the in
ner-city has only gotten worse.
The plight of people everywhere,
particularly in poverty-stricken
areas, was always a strong theme
in nearly all of his work. If he
were still alive, it seems certain
that he would be disillusioned
with the world today.
“Inner-City Blues - The Music
of Marvin Gaye,” a recently re
leased tribute album, only reaf
firms that belief.
Many of the artists on the al
bum seem to be tied into Gaye’s
intention of singing songs with a
message.
Bono, Stevie Wonder and
Speech (of Arrested Development)
have been known to preach once
or twice, and that makes their
contributions here seem all the
more worthy.
If only the songs had done a lit
tle more than use Gaye’s words
and gone down deeper into the
original soul of the music, the al
bum could have done what it had
intended all along: Bring Gaye’s
music to young ears, while keep
ing his message alive in older
ones.
Nona Gaye, Marvin’s daughter,
sings “Inner City Blues (Make Me
Wanna Holler)," but does little
more than repeat her father’s
lyrics, bringing nothing of her own
to the song.
Since “Achtung Baby” in 1991,
I haven’t heard anything worth
praising from Bono.
The lead singer of U2 (whose
pre-“Zooropa” albums are some of
my favorites) seems to have
tripped over his own ego, as it’s
clear he believes that anything he
sings is gold. Alas, it isn’t true,
and his cover of “Save the
Children” shows it.
Madonna collaborates with
Massive Attack on “I Want You,”
one of the album’s highlights. The
song seems like it was written
solely for the Material Girl her
self.
Another strong showing is
turned in by the ensemble Sounds
of Blackness. The group’s “God Is
Love/Mercy Mercy Me (The
Ecology)” is filled with the rhythm
that Gaye intended.
Wonder takes a rare misstep
with “Stubborn Kind of Fellow,”
while Digable Planets uses
“You’re the Man” to praise the
people in their lives, something
that is bound to bore the rest of us.
Other artists include Neneh
Cherry and Lisa Stansfield, who
sing “Trouble Man” and “Just to
Keep You Satisfied," respectively.
All of the press material lists
Boyz II Men’s rendition of “Let’s
Get It On," but for some reason,
the CD I received didn’t include it.
Die-hard Gaye fans are bound
to wanna holler at “Inner City
Blues - The Music of Marvin
Gaye,” while fans of the individu
al artists might be more forgiv
able.
THE LOWDOWN
Marvin Gaye would be spinning
In his grave If he heard what
Bono, Neneh Cherry, Dlgable
Planets and company have done
to his music.
Indigo Girls would like to thank...
By JOSH MASSEY
Staff Writer
“Thanks, y’all.”
If those words annoy you, then
I recommend you stay miles away
from The Indigo Girls’ new double-
CD live album “1200 Curfews.”
The Atlanta-based, nationally-
known Girls, Amy Ray and Emily
Saliers, say it at least three or four
times after each of the 26 songs.
But if you can handle that
phrase, “1200 Curfews” is for any
and every Indigo fan.
The eagerly awaited compila
tion was recorded from 1992 up to
May, 1995 with locations ranging
from Atlanta’s Fox Theater to the
University of Alaska.
One track (“Back Together
Again”) dates back to Amy’s base
ment in 1982.
While including nearly all of
the duo’s favorite sing-along hits
(“Joking," “Least Complicated,”
“Closer to Fine,” etc.), the album
also features the girls bringing
new light to older songs, including
Bob Dylan’s “Tangled Up In Blue,”
Neil Young’s “Down By the River”
and Joni Mitchell’s “River.”
The Indigo Girls have estab
lished themselves as among the
top songwriters currently working
(and perhaps in rock ’n’ roll’s short
history). “1200 Curfews” high
lights Amy and Emily’s best work.
They have never purported to
believe strongly in any one belief
or political agenda, as their songs
seem to question and seek out the
truth in everything. Songs such as
“Galileo” and “Ghost” are a testa
ment to this.
“Bury My Heart At Wounded
Knee,” a new song included in
both live and studio versions, has
a purely Indigo beat, but it seems
too political even for this group.
However, the message is strong
and the music even stronger.
Local Indigo fans can listen for
their own cheers in “Pushing the
Needle Too Far," which was
recorded at the Fox in 1992, and
“Closer To Fine," which was taped
at the Atlanta Symphony Hall in
1994.
“1200 Curfews” is a must for
any Indigo Girls fan. But if you’re
unfamiliar with their work, stay
away. Because immediately after
listening to it, you’ll blow $100
bucks buying all of their previous
albums.
•r;v« tut;*'
THE LOWDOWN
The Girts’ live album marks the
duo at their best. Smart lyrics, In-
your-face guitar playing and
husky-voiced women combine for
a classic album.
‘Wake Up’ with
Freddy Jones
By JON GALUCKI
Staff Writer
The latest album from the windy
city’s Freddy Jones Band is a wake-
up call of sorts that takes the band
to the level of Hootie and the
Blowfish or the Dave Matthews
Band.
The appropriately titled, “North
Avenue Wake Up Call,” is the band’s
third album, and it displays the
band’s open form of catchy blues
numbers.
The opening cut, “Waitress,” is
derivative of the Spin Doctors-hap-
py, fast talking, good mood music.
The album is full of energy that
can be felt in each song. The band
accomplishes a different sound on
each cut, something few bands can
honestly do.
The nice blend of acoustic-electric
in “Hold On To Midnight” and the
sensitive ballad “Rain” propels the
band into a different, more mature
realm.
Perhaps the most likable song on
the album is “Ferris Wheel,” a trib
ute to sunny North Carolina.
The gentle harmonica solo in
“Turn” makes an otherwise aggres
sive track subtly pleasing: “Smoke of
cigarettes lingers on your
MUSIC
40 Watt: Poi Dog Pondering/Abra
Moore
Boneshakers: Retro DISCO!!
Inferno
D.T.’s Down Under: The Nathan
Sheppard Band
Georgia Theatre: DISCO!!
Night Owl Lounge: Karaoke
Wall Street North: Coconut's
Comedy Club
Washington Street Tavern: Tom
Smith
MOVIES
Alps: Apollo 13, Showgirls
Beechwood: Assassins, Dead
Presidents, How to Make an
American Quilt, Jade, Seven,
Strange Days, The Scarlet Letter,
To Die For
Commerce Drive-In: Halloween 6,
National Lampoon’s Senior Trip
Georgia Square Mall: The Brothers
McMullen, Copycat, Get Shorty,
Three Wishes
Georgia Square Mall: Halloween 6,
Mallrats, Never Talk to Strangers,
Now and Then, Powder, Vampire in
Brooklyn
Tate Theater: Exotica
clothes/Billie Holiday singing eyes
closed.”
The combination of well-written
lyrics, catchy melodies and Chicago-
blues-based guitar interplay creates
a well-rounded album.
Lead singer Marty Lloyd's husky
Greg Allman-like voice and Wayne
Healy’s brilliant guitar riffs are one
of the album’s few constants.
Otherwise, “North Avenue Wake Up
Call” is a solid, listenable album.
Greg Louganis
November 7, 1995
7:30 p.m.
Ramsey SPACENTER
Volleyball Arena
Olympic Gold Medalist
Speaking on
Tickets
$2 - Students with UGA Card
$4 - Non Students
Tickets on Sale now at the Tate Center
Cashier's Window and the Ramsey SPACENTER
Sponsored by: Ideas and Issues Division or the University Union
University Health Service ■ AIDS Coalition of Northeast Georgia
★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★ 1
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YOUR DAYS ARE NUMBERED *
November 6-10
Stop by the Tate Center Info. Desk or call
542-2858 for an appointment.
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