Monday, April 30,1990
The Battalion
Page 5
4
Musical reunion ‘exploits’ Warhol
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Lou Reed/John Gale
Songs For Drella
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It’s been alnfrost twenty years since
,ou Reed walked out of the Atlantic
[ecording Studio during the record-
ig of the Velvet Underground’s
,oaded.
In the previous five years, Reed
nd company had created one of the
lost distinctive and original sounds
n vinyl, leaving a legacy that would
e-emerge in the music of the Cars,
onathon Richman and the Modern
,overs, Talking Heads, Jesus and
»Iary Chain and countless others.
In the mid-60s, legendary artist
nd innovator Andy Warhol took
teed and his work under wing and
ackaged it into his famous mixed-
nedia event, Exploding Plastic Inev-
table.
One of Warhol’s contributions to
he Velvet Underground and the
iptfit’s Exploding Plastic Inevitable
osjohn Cale.
Cale, like Underground-diva
lico, was an Englishman, who inter-
stingly, brought a contemporary-
classic approach to the fully-modern
(and New York flavored) Velvet Un
derground.
Songs For Drella is Reed and
Gale’s reunion after a twenty-year
layoff begun by Reed’s boot of Cale
from the Underground after White
Light, White Fleat.
The triangle of Reed, Cale and
Warhol (Warhol only produced the
first Underground album), and the
influence (mostly indirect) that the
trio has had on modern art is fully
exploited within the biographical
Drella.
Drella (a nickname of Warhol’s —
a combination of Dracula and Cin
derella) is the story of Warhol’s life
(slightly fictionalized) put to words
and music.
The mostly spoken-word album
was originally a commissioned piece
from the Brooklyn Academy of Mu
sic and The Arts that Reed and Cale
performed in its entirety for the aca
demy last year.
Drella, though a biographical
piece on Warhol, is more' accurately
and completely an introspection on
the lives of Reed, Cale and Warhol.
Reed’s dialogue on addictions and
creative insecurity cleanse his soul as
purely as Warhol’s. A man befallen
to herion, shotty releases and indus
try ostracization, Reed finally
bounced back in 1989 with the re
markable New York.
Free of many hindering vices,
Reed followed a string of hideous,
shallow releases with a biting, intri
cate look at New York, the play
ground for his artistical wanderings.
Drella builds on New York’s suc
cess, adding a more personal feel,
reminescent of Pink Floyd’s The
Wall or Final Cut. Cale, while allow
ing Reed to course the album’s direc
tion, beautifully supports the al
bum’s minimalist aura.
Reed and Cale are the album’s
lone performers, neglecting the tra
ditional rhythm section of bass and
drums. Interchanging viola and key
boards with Reed’s stinging guitar,
Cale contrasts Reed’s tough, New
York prose with the civility of his
classical, English upbringing.
Throughout Drella, the Under
ground roots are unmistakeable. It
was as much Gale’s influence as War
hol’s that distinguished the Under-
gound’s innovative beginnings
through the group’s collage of
metal-grunge, shock-filled with dis
tortion, with the group’s dreamier,
pastel songs.
It was also Cale who introduced
poetry by chainsaw (“The Gift”), a
contrast that solidified the spoken
word in modern music.
In Drella, Reed plays the urban
tough well, allowing Cale to smooth
out his roughened edges.
For a performer so pathetically
lost for most of the last 15 years, it is
extremely satisfying to witness Reed
follow the amazing New York with
the equally strong Drella.
The fact that Cale contributes
aura and spoken word to the bare
knuckle profesizing of Reed, only
strengthens an album artistically
worthy as a tribute to Warhol. But
then, it really is a tribute to Warhol,
Reed and Cale.
Guitarist Eric Johnson jams to a near sell-out crowd at Club Farenheit Friday night.
Aspiring guitarists beware
Johnson’s talent, depth overwhelms
reviewer’s dislike for his musical taste
By JOHN MABRY
Of The Battalion Staff
I do not like Eric Johnson’s music. That’s a statement
that sounds like a forerunner to a sure-fire bad review
of his Friday night«show at Club Farenheit.
My personal taste in music, however, didn’t affect my
ability to appreciate Johnson’s incredible musical talent,
which he effortlessly displayed in a generous 16-song
set that wowed both the audience and myself.
Let’s get one thing straight before I continue: Eric
ohnson can play the guitar. Well. So well, in fact, that
any aspiring young guitarist will go home and throw his
instrument in the trash after seeing his show. Is that
dear enough?
Using his incredible “second voice”, a Fender Strato-
caster, Johnson kicked off the show at about 10:30 p.m.
with a stunning guitar solo, which segued into “F-
riends,” from his 1986 Grammy-nominated album,
Tones.
The sheer volume of the t\yo stacks of speakers may
have been annoying to some, but it was apparent that
the near-sellout crow d enjoyed every delicious decibel.
Johnson continued the show with “Trademark,” a
number off his second album, Ah Via Musicom, that
was a more structured, pleasing song, and showed off
ohnson’s ability as a talented songwriter.
Johnson really got into the third number, “High
Landrons,” which included another guitar solo that left
the audience speechless. Like the first number, “High
Landrons” showcased Johnson’s formidable ability as a
vocalist as well as a hot-shot guitarist.
Johnson showed off his surprising versatility as an
acoustic guitarist with “April, Come She Will,” an old
Simon and Garfunkel tune that was a nursery rhyme set
to music. He continued the acoustic set with the beauti
fully introspective “Song for George.”
Johnson’s minimal backup, consisting of Kyle Brock
on bass and the wonderfully animated Tommy Taylor
on drums, provided the perfect support for Johnson’s
musical mastery.
Nevertheless, it was Johnson’s show-, from beginning
to end, with only a short bass solo given to Brock on
“Alpine.” w -
Johnson began the first of two encores with the refre
shingly different “Steve’s Boogie,” from Ah Via Musi
com, a country-flavored, foot-stomping number with
an infectious beat that kept the audience moving.
For those of you who know who Eddie Van Halen is,
Eric Johnson is as good as that. No, seriously. If you
don’t believe me, then you haven’t seen him.
Senior journalism major Patrick Hayes contributed
to this story.
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Photo by Scott D. Weaver
Guitarist, band
prepare for tour
Austin guitar guru Eric Johnson
and bandmates Tommy Taylor,
drummer, and Kyle Brock, bassist,
visited College Station Friday night
at Club Farenheit to promote their
latest album. Ah Via Musicom.
The album title means “by way of
music communication,” and, Eric
says, is a change from his 1986
grammy nominee, Tones.
“We’re stepping out more on the
new album, trying to get more of a
live feel, but still retaining the pol
ish of the studio,” he said.
The new album is finding a
home with music lovers all over the
country.
Already it has sold more copies
in a month than Tones did in two
years, and it is quickly closing in on
the Billboard Top 100 Chart.
With the success of the new al
bum behind him, Johnson is pre
paring to tour all over the country,
and a European tour is also in the
works.
But Austin is obviously where
Johnson feels at home. He has been
a part of Austin’s live-music scene
for over ten years, performing at
the Aquafest and as the first rock
artist to perform on the city’s popu
lar country live-music program,
“Austin City Limits.”
• John Mabry
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wishes to congratulate the following seniors graduating in May & August
George Andrews
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GOOD LUCK & FUTURE SUCCESS
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