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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (March 22, 1985)
-3- Movies Stranger Than Paradise’ is stranger still By MAKCY BASILE Movie Reviewer Currently, the top “art” film in the nation is a minimalistic venture entitled “Stranger Than Paradise.” Named by many New York and Los An geles critics (who were able to view it last year) as one of the top films of 1984, it finally showed last weekend in Hous ton. The film can almost be seen as an exercise in film viewing. Director Jim Jarmusch uses ob vious and sometimes irritating techniques to elicit a response. He uses grainy, often scratched, black and white film as a consistently depres sing backdrop. And the lack of color frees the viewer’s attitude toward the film’s numerous one-take scenes. Without color cluttering up the screen, the characters look as depressed as the scenery around them. Color By WALTER SMITH Music Reviewer The Stranglers can never be labeled as inert. During the years since the band’s incep tion in 1974, these Britons have produced all kinds of music, ranging from the raw, pre-“Sex Pistols” guitar thrashings of the ’70s to the complacent, re served electronics of their pre- vious album, “Feline.” “Aural Sculpture,” the latest release and self-proclaimed master piece, defines a new Stranglers’ sound that successfully blends the energy of their early work with the delicate orchestration of their recent musings into a thoroughly pleasing sound. In the pompous prologue on the record sleeve, the band ba sically banishes the current music world to the scorching depths of Hades in order to make room for their aural sculpture — art enjoyable to only those with the intelligence to comprehend. Overlook their “holier than thou” attitude, then this LP is quite enjoyable. On “Aural Sculpture,” the Stranglers develop a very lush, layered sound. Rich keyboards and stark horns are the domi nant elements in “Ice Queen” and “Under the Name of Sp ain.” Although some lyrics are too just wouldn’t have fit. He also uses an original method to move from one scene to another. Since the shots are all done in one-take style (i.e. the actors stay on one set with a still camera) a natu ral break occurs. Herein lies the genius of Jarmusch. With out being overtly obnoxious, he cuts to a black screen while the audio continues. Consequently, the black screen leaves the au dience with the image Jar musch wanted left in their minds — whether good, bad or indifferent. The continuing au dio completes the imaginary scene. “Stranger Than Paradise” is a three-act comedy of little dia logue and almost as little ac tion. Jarmusch takes a stab at the idiotic, everyday things about life that no one thinks about. Under Jarmusch’s scru tiny nothing is sacred — not even boredom. For example, to “AURAL SCULPTURE” THE STRANGLERS EPIC RECORDS esoterically removed to make sense, the majority of the cuts clearly tote their socio-politicl messages. “North Winds Blow ing” follows in the current fashion of anti-war songs — al though it’s a statement that can be ignored only by the ig norant. The band performs its share of paranoid-baiting in “Skin Deep,” a song warning that all your supposed friends are really the proverbial wolves in sheeps’ clothing. “Stella” is the new album from Yello, one of Europe's a bored person, sitting around plaving solitaire is not funny. To Jarmusch, sitting around flipping cards at ever growing stacks is hysterically humorous and he wants his audience to realize that. In the first act, “The New World,” the audience meets Willie (John Lurie), a Hungar ian who resembles a former boxer (i.e. flat nose and scarred eyebrows). Willie came to America 10 years ago, settled in New York and changed his name from his Hungarian “Be la.” He lives life to the Ameri can fullest. He owns a tele vision, a refrigerator and a week's supply of TV dinners. He doesn’t work — he gam bles. He’s a happy man. Until his cousin Eva (Eszter Balint) stops in on her way to Cleve land. She speaks Hungarian and calls him Bela. Willie hates her — at first. Eva proves to be a little more Music strangest silicon sensation. The band consists of Dieter Meier, who provides the lyrics and the vocals, and Boris Blank, who composes and arranges the music; session musicians fill the remaining slots on this LP. Because the duo is responsi ble for different musical tasks, a duality of sound exists on the album. Blank creates an often cold and obscenely mechanical sound — music with a film noir effect, as exemplified by the sinister instrumental “Ciel Ouvert.” Meier’s deep gutteral singing style (speaking style, as in “Desire”) is juxtaposed with the music, rather than inter- grated with it, because of his distinctly human voice. - While this effect is oddly in triguing, it makes the music unsettling to listen to for lengthy periods of time. En glish does not seem to be Meier’s native tongue, and something in the Ivrics proba bly is lost in translation. But one couldn’t be absolutely sure since Yello sometimes overuses a fuzzy, overdriven effect that masks the vocals beyond com prehension. “Angel No” is one such track that uses the effect, combined with a sizzling fe male vocal line, to produce an excellent dance number. “Vi cious Games,” another neo disco number, is the strongest than Willie bargained for. She asks questions about his TV dinners (“What kind of animal did that meat come from?”) and his cigarettes (“Do Ches terfields taste the same in Cle veland?”). She plays her “S- creamingjoe Hawkins” tape on sound level 10 in Willie’s one room apartment. Eva doesn’t take flack from anyone — es pecially Willie. She dresses like she wants, eats what she steals and leaves for Florida when the urge strikes (which is the only time her expression changes). The third person in this happy trio is Willie’s compadre in crime, Eddie. The best wav to describe Eddie is to say he’s an American version of Willie — only shorter. Oh, yeah. Ed die likes Eva from the minute he first meets her. Act Two is aptly titled “One Year Later.” Eva (now in Cleve land) lives with an aunt from Hungary. Neither are happy “STELLA” YELLO ELEKTRA RECORDS song on the album. This LP doesn’t accompany a film release, but perhaps it should since it seems to be a soundtrack without a movie. Yello created a set of songs that cries out desperately for visual imagery to cohesively unify the songs. Unless you’re on halluci nogens (doctor’s order, of course), then “Stella” doesn’t work as an album, although it does have good songs, fy ALBUMS COURTESY OF MUSIC EXPRESS campers. Eva peddles hot dogs and her aunt complains. Then Willie and Eddie show up on a surprise vacation. Eva takes them to a Rung Fu movie and to see a frozen Lake Michigan. Eddie can't figure out how they could have travelled so far and seem to be in the same city. The final act, “Paradise,” finds the trio in Florida on a spur of the moment attempt to escape the gravness of the north. Unfortunately, Florida is the same pale black. Despite this one small detail, the gang does buy the necessary sung lasses that dub them as tour ists. So why the title? Well, as near as I could figure, “Paradi se” is mundane. Nothing in Florida differs from Cleveland or New York except the frozen lake and the sand. It’s the peo ple that make cities what they are — strange worlds to be ex plored. \ Return of the Judy’s By WALTER SMITH Music Rnmver The Judy’s are back. If you missed their recent concert at Dr, G’s, then now’s your chance to experience per sonally the wild stage antics of singer/songwriter David Bean. Dane Cessae on per cussion and Jeff Walton on bass complete the roster for this fun-rock dance band from Pearland, Texas- After reuniting last year, these guys have continued to thrill audiences with their special brand of music. When they take the stage sporting their matching tacky sweaters, they launch - headlong into their songs, taken from their previous al bum and EPs, You probabfy can expect to hear new. material as well- Their show is at 8:00 pm tonight at the La Fiesta Mb room, 1601 Groesbeek. Tick ets are available for $6 at the door and at Music Express and at Hasting’s Books and RecordsA