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LIVE REVIEWS
TORTOISE / OVAL
May 13,1998
40 Won Club
The (heory of the 70s promulgat
ed by Ihe dominant rock-crit school is
that between maybe 1968 and the
birth of the Ramones. rock and roll
— with the exception ot the Stooges
and a couple o? others — was in a
slump
You can feel a similar sense of
slumping Zeitgeist in the fractured,
post-grunge era The parallels
between 1975 ana 1995 are pretty
striking the 70s saw Jimi Hendrix
beget Grand Funk Railroad wh<te the
90s saw Nirvana beget the likes of
Peart Jam
Both e*as have seen a tew
ampitous. expansion-mnded f ock
mjs.cians flirt with jazz r ocks more
eiegant anc haughty coustn Thou;"
•le'e we r e successes (Mies Davis'
5 ’ones B r e* a^d Jac: Pastonus
:cme to mmc me bulk of the fusion
:t tne iate 60s ana 70s has been
’ ghtfu 1 y dism sseo for forsaking c'
■" a teen-speeabai! immediacy o’ reck
r fufnbetrg cast the elusive sou!
m m
Which Dungs us to Chicago's
T c , to , se. fh? most puzzling band or
ea*th a’ me moment A setf-cc-
■ armed rock pane with mostly pcst-
run. creoen-a s Tortoise does not
: and doesn't 'eally improvise
much However, they have
?;•: vec mto an ali-mstrumentai
d'cup h av? p»CKec up a guitanst with
a" mp°:caDf? azz background »Je”
• <{ me ■■ ~. i ake n . • ;$e ot
**"- • t’ar H "* a r "sfrjment t*v to
. • ’ . tars :$ almost "r*"
• * 7 •
. zern jazz
Tortoise c'nduct makes :eco r d-
dr:o ; the.r CDs a r e exquisite-
,-b3Ckagec ittie paradoxes whose
songs subvert accepted pop-song
s v ucture a r d sport esoteric some-
■ mes pretert ous titles (a song on tne
recent Thrill Jockey release TNT is
• tied "In Sarah Mencken. Christ, and
Beethoven There Were Women And
Men") DubPed “post-rock" by a
media machine charged with regular
ly unearthing Next Big Things.
Tortoise m 1998 find themselves car
rying the hopes of many a pop music
fan looking to be excited by some
thing stateside However, in actually
listening to those records, the prob
lem that arises has a 70s familiarity
despite the bands tantalizing inver
sions ot pop cliches, they want for
iazz soul and rock immediacy
Does Tortoise have a soul 7 In an
interview w ; th Flagpole. Tortoises
Parker, no doubt sick of the question
insinuated that the answer was no
and quipped “I don't know why you
would want to bare your soul on a
record anyway " If anything the
band s Athens concert betrayed
Parkers sarcasm Tortoise
wants to make you teei. wants
to make you swoon as much as
Mozart o’ Little Richa'c or
Charies Mmgus ever d‘d
Whether o r not t h ey succeeded is
a different matte*
The evenmg pecan win a set
by
'"an experimental projec’ Ova
Markus Pcpp the German acade
mic responsible ‘or Ova! treated
the audience f c a view ot
Markus Popp' M* Popp suceecec
m transmitting an oft-putting aura of
hip-blase as tne assembled watened
him stare mto a computer screen
and waggle a meuse around A loop
c f softly ccic'ed amp,enr films we’e
projected ben no h m ana desp'te the
fact that tney weren't exactly ground
breaking * made /ou wcncer why
Poop was on-s»age m the firs* place
: ■ bng the view Watching
gf'dd'cw'ttnan,t.medapmgra~
in 2 compute: 305$ n ,ct T3k£ *Z' 3
radicu any ng mutt-m-dia evpe
nence
Oval's electronically-manipuiateo
mus»c was as soft as me films pat
terned lightly pulsing (though devoid
o f percuss.on) pleasant though net
awe-tnspirmg In 1979 Brian Ero
made an album called Music tor
Airports, and the worid st'H needs
good airport music Oval s subtle
math would be a nice accompaniment
to a walk through the concourse of
Heathrow or Miami International I
mean that as a compliment, though I
admit that when Oval's bell-tones
approached the sound of the moira
— the Zimbabwean thumb-piano —
I had flashbacks o! more rewarding
nights watching Thomas Mapfumo
and Blacks Unlirr ted deliver related
sounds with a stirring dose ot African
lite-torce I! you don't own something
of Mapfumo's. like The Chimurenga
Singles 1976-60 (Shanachie). or.
better yet later recordings I'd hold
out for tnese before purchasing Ovais
Dok(T hr ill Jockey!
Tortoise took the stage, protecting
'hynm. sect'cr is pretty
Traditional — steady and rockist —
but zs what goes over tne top ma:
ma«es Tortoise pleasant. weird With
the except or ;f pass st Dcjq
McCombs -.e*. memo?’ ”ad*d off
' • •• • ■ '• a :
... • •. : ast
•wc a bums a^z add ng a paipap e
■. ’ ■ • jr ■ f Enr
Mo r tic one seemed tc be the most
obvious cu tj'a- 'efe’ent — or maybe
that ghost as conjured up by John
Zor r on The Big Gunpown The varia
tion ot sounds the side-stepping
arounc typical rock-isms and the
technical prowess of it all was stimu
lating in an intellectual kind of way
The band itself seemed pleased to be
getting oft on working out its catalog
like algebra problems — it was sort
of like watching the smartest kids in
class at tne chalkboard And though
songs that feel cold on CD sounded
warmer here mere was stilt a chill
Explaining why Tortoises music
lacks that crucial element — warmth
— is not an easy task Words may
not be up to the trick, and the answer
might be as simple as the bands
infatuation with vibes which gave
much of the Modern Jazz Quartet's
output a sort ot chilly, chamber feel
(is if that unlike woodwind and brass,
the vibes don't mutate the human
voice 0 ) Tortoise multi-instrumentalist
John McEntire also worked on the
most recent Stereolab album. Dots &
Loops which is equally cold Dots.
however plays within the confines of
classic pop which gives Stereotabs
scientific dismantling
sense cf boundary The tracks on
Dots & Loops bounce around tne
murcr*: Urn-nouse o' per n enc
ess y wend ways *epeated iistemngs
f r.ea new trajectories Tortoise hav-
-g stepped ou* ■:* me 'unhouse alto
geme* $ Tore amt t-ous a r d ess
successtu Ana less ’un
Fc one :* t's last songs Tortoise
p ayec 'Djeo me 20-p ; us minute
centerpiece off o’ 1996 s M> : ons
Now Living kV, Never Die Aiin its
ser es c* equally-weighted sections
lined up one after tne other Wnen you
sketch it out on paper the song suc
ceeds in defying the puiid-up-and-
come strucfu r e of the rock opus —
the structure of sex and orgasm and
the vast majority of rock (think
“Stairway to Heaven") It was better
live, imbued with more flesh and
blood, but it still lacked the sex tingle
that makes music whole To Tortoises
credit, at'least the audience got the
sense that the band was trying to get
it up
Richard Fausset
CEILING FAN/
LANDSPEEDER
April 30,1998
I«fy World
An unusual pairing indeed Upon
first glance, it seems that these two
bands would have virtually nothing in
common but somehow it works
While neither band shares much
musically, both seem to know how to
kick it out without taking themselves
too seriously In that respect Ceiling
Fans jagged punk guitars and goofy,
hook-y poo/rock tunes go with
Landspeeder's bone crushing metai
bombas' like chocolate 3nd peanut
Putter, wine and cheese, vodka and
tonic you get the point
As soon as Ceiling Fan started
in on then first song. I *new I was
in for a treat I d a<ways felt that the
Far was one ct Athens most over
looked rands While some folks
dismiss mem as a goof band
they ve p'eved bette r tc me on
more man one occasion and this
evening was no exception As
my anonymous cohort and I
too* our place comfo r tabiy at a
table by the side of the stage
Ceiling Fan began to f ock me
joint with much vigor While the
words dead-on tight might not be
me most apt description Ceiling f an
show more musicianship than most
bands o' their ilk Guitarist swgei Ren
Sprayer .ar write a pep noo* a mile
w de a r a*ent that s mos* evident
some '■ the songs they payeo ,n a‘
'•ght •:!„ding Roanoke K< This
B^g Fo' Me. and Bine L gr *
Special
Ana if Dave Gregcw isn't or - of
me mos* sohe hard-miting drum
mers m mis town ’hen I dor.: know
who is The songs are only further
punctuated Dy Jesse Room's busy
melodic bass lines
Despite the rather lackluster
acoustics and cramped stage ot Tasty
World The Fan an through a great
set of high energy rhythmic
punk/pop. only tc be interrupted by
bouts of country fried chicken pickin'.
Ben Spraker's ear splitting spasms of
guitar noise, weird sound effects and
Casio magic provided by Jason
NeSmith and a smokin punk rock
cover of the old Van Halen tune
“Where Have All the Good Times
Gone’ (Diver Down, anyone 7
Anyone 7 ') The crowd response war.
mixed they didn't seem to know
whether to rock, laugh out loud or
just sit there slack-jawed On occa
sion. I tound myself doing all three
Saving the best lor last. Ceiling Fan
had the guitarist for Landspeeder join
them onstage for a rousing and
somewhat rough version of the
Metallica classic. “Whiplash' Rawk'
Before Landspeeder took the
helm, they began decorating the edge
of the stage with styrofoam teeth and
tangs By the time they were done the
stage looked (or was supposed tc
look) like the bloody lower jaw of
some sor* ot rabid Cujo like beast
The effect was not unl-ke Landspeeder
•hemselves ferocious and yet a bit
kitschy In afraid cf what's about to
happen, replied my drmkm buddy
Bu' I wasn't save for the possibility cf
a littie tinnitus Landspeeder took tne
stage and began brutally pounding
the audience into submission The
bands sound barkens back tc tne
grinding testosterone-fueled thras"
metai ot yore, bu’ with a bit of that
“Damaged era Black Flag punk
intensity While the music was cer-
tamly “heavy metai ‘he band laid
down scm<= suprismg and somewhat
funky grooves, and hart many a heart
a-botbing No wanky guita* solos o f
tight leather pants nere the band
cam- tc rock and nave a good time
Wh. - ' was thoroughly enjoying
m.y tup oewn adolescent memory
ane I **■’ ma' ~os? r landsoeede"
nt e anotf
e f S' d ie t: ibou’ c naif ar. hour ot
serious ear damage as welt as fh»
earnest pieas of m> friend i Tms
sucks’ Le T s get outta here’ ) i began
to depart oruy to be waylaid by
Lanaspeeae f scream,ng Journey's
Anyway You Wan! !!' at the top of
their lungs — had to stay for that
one And when I walked outside to
meet my friend I swear I defected a
slight smiie on his face
Chris Morris
5236 Highway 78 • Stone Mountan, GA 30087 • E-mail Galaxymzk@aol.com
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03 FLAGPOLE MAY 27, 1998