91
wrsday, July 11,1991
Lifestyles
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Curses on Sex Machined debut album
by Todd Stone
Carter the Unstoppable Sex Machine
101 Damnations
Big Cat Records
Carter The Unstoppable Sex Machine
creates a sound that mixes basic punk with
new wave pop arrangements on its most
recent release,201 Damnations.
I THE UNSTOPPABLE SEX MACHINE!
G
The London-based duo is another post-
unk band that has found its way to the
nited States as an opening performer on
tour with EMF.
Unfortuna tely, the group's combination
of musical genres just doesn't work on this
release. Most of the songs are just too simple
for all the arrangements, which include vari
ous synthesizers, noises and bells.
Still, simplicity is the foundation for the
post-punk era because high energy is re
quired to make that type of music success
ful. But when the arrangements extend
beyond guitars, drums and screams, the
songs become cluttered, and any raw en
ergy is snuffed out.
Most of the tracks' foundations are
simple guitar riffs or bass lines, supported
by heavy,basicdrumming. Synthesizers that
sound like K-Mart specials fill the back-
101 DAMNATIONS
ground.
The lyrics are performed like something
from a punk poetry recital - more reading
than singing mixed with occasional screams.
The lack of singing, or even screaming, makes
the music sound extremely monotone; thus,
listening to all the tracks in one sitting be
comes tiresome.
Still, there are some good points. The
two members, named JimBob and Fruitbat,
wrote some great lyrics that offer both wild
images and biting social criticisms.
On "G.I. Blues," a song exploring the
psychological and physical struggles of serv
ing in the military, JimBob sings, "My eyes
are tired and grey/Tve lost a stone/I'm just
skin and bone/and when I come home to
day/look away, turn your eyes to the chil
dren."
"Sheriff Fatman," a song that attacks
greedy, uncaring landlords, also generates
some strong images — "There's bats in the
belfry/the windows are jammed/ the toilets
ain't healthy/and he don't give a damn/he
just chuckles and smiles/ and laughs like a
madman."
Musically, 101 Damnations offers a strong
finish with "Midnight On The Murder Mile,"
"A Perfect Day To Drop The Bomb" and "G.I.
Blues." "Midnight" is the best composed
song that has the least amount of punk influ
ence on it. It combines a more commercial
sound with a strong bass-line, catchy lyrics
and quality synthesizer sounds.
"Drop The Bomb" features the raunchi
est guitar on the entire release and maintains
a fun pace with a musically chaotic ending of
feedback and obscure noises. "G.I. Blues"
starts as a smooth ballad with some wonder
ful piano playing by Rob Sheridan, then,
climaxes with thundering drums and gui
tars.
101 Damnations has successful moments,
but as a whole, the project is an interesting
effort with mediocre results.
House in Orbit, Blood
Oranges to play Friday
By Holly Becka
House in Orbit, a ska band
from Austin, foments its revolu
tion Friday night at AnNam Tea
House with both world-beat mu
sic and messages of world peace.
Making their second Texas ap
pearance since a tour around New
Mexico, Colorado, California, Or
egon and Canada, band members
will alight the Tea House at 9 p.m.
with local group Blood Oranges as
special guests. Cover is $4.
Nick Brophy, vocalist and bass
player, describes House in Orbit's
brand of music as "reggae-funk-
African beat."
"We're world dance beat mu
sic," he says. "A lot of our influ
ences come from two-tone ska
bands of the early '80s. English
Beat, Bad Manners and the tradi
tional reggae of Bob Marley and
Peter Clin Influenced us."
Brophy says he, guitarist-vo
calist John McClane and percus
sionist-drummer Dale Johnson
would like audiences to under
stand the message of harmony be
hind the music.
"We promote world peace as
individuals and as an organiza
tion," he states. "We promote self
thought and the idea that people
can live together in peace despite
what the right-wing media says."
In fact, the group leaves
Wednesday to play in the Chicago
PeaceFest.TheaucLienceat AnNam
will get a preview of new music
the band will perform in the Mid
west.
House in Orbit has been to
gether for almost two years. Brophy
and McClane grew up in Fort
Worth together before moving to
Austin to work on original music.
The group sometimes is joined by
a horn section, which adds to its
eclectic, unique sound.
Brophy says the first time band
members played at Front Porch
Cafe they didn't know what to ex
pect.
"Everything I had always as
sociated with Bryan-College Sta
tion was about Aggie jokes, but we
found very cool people there who
knew our Kind of music," he says.
"It was a great response and we're
looking forward to coming back.
Hopefully, a few people still re
member us."
The group's name came up
when band members were tossing
around ideas about what to caU
themselves. Brophy admits a friend
suggested House in Orbit,but says
they immediately liked it because
the name doesn't mean anything
but could mean lots of things.
Solar eclipse today
Brazos Valley Museum to offer viewing program
’Metropolitan,' 'After Dark, My Sweet'
excellent choices for home-viewing
By Holly Becka
If you've ever looked into the
sky and wondered if people in
other parts of the country could
see what you're witnessing, well,
it's happening today - almost.
Many Bryan-College Station
residents will turn their thoughts
to the sky, specifically to today's
eclipse, along with people in vari
ous parts of North America, who
should appear covered by the
IK
Mexico will offer the best of the
heavenly show.
In the local area, the eclipse
will be most evident around 2:15
p.m. when the eclipse, or 60 per
cent of it, can be seen to the fullest
in this part of the United States. At
about tne same time in Mexico City,
residents will enjoy a total eclipse.
In Houston, and similarly here,
the partical eclipse will be evident
starting about 1 p.m. Between 2:15
and 2:20 p.m., 60 percent of the sun
moon, ana Dy about 3:30 p.m. the
moon will move away from the
sun.
Those wanting to view this
phenomenon can do so simply, yet
carefully, by themselves, or at the
Brazos Valley Museum in the
Brazos Center, 3232 Briarcrest
Drive. The museum is offering a
viewing program, $3 for members
and $4 otherwise, starting at 2 p.m.
Randy Smith, museum pro
grams director, says viewers will
get solar filters and an instructional
"tour" of the eclipse.
"This eclipse is a strange thing
because it's not every day you can
get to see such an astronomical
event," he says. 'This will be one
of the longest eclipses Texans will
f et to see. This one is supposed to
e five to seven minutes long, and
they're usually only one to two
minutes long."
The American Academy of
Opthalmology is warning every
one not to turn their eyes to the
skies, but instead to viewthe celes
tial event through homemade "fil
ters."
The easiest way to protect your
eyes from retinal bums is to get
two pieces of white cardboard. Cut
a hole the size of a dime into the
first piece and cover the hole with
aluminum foil. Punch a pinhole
into the aluminum foil. Stand with
your back to the sun and line up
the hole in the aluminum foil so
the sun shines onto the second piece
of cardboard. This will be an in
verted image of the eclipse. Focus
the image by moving tne second
card closer to or farmer from the
first one.
Astronomers say to be sure
and catch this showing of the
eclipse because the sun, moon and
eartn won't be playing the United
States like this for another 26 years.
And Texans will have to wait even
longer - until the year 2024.
By Julia Spencer
Tired of waiting in long lines
and shelling out big bucks to see
the latest summer olockbusters?
Two films you may have missed
seeing on tne big screen are now
available on videocassette for home
viewing at your convenience.
Himmelman 's 'Strength' deserves attention
by Timm Doolen
Peter Himmelman
Strength to Strength
Epic
Peter Himmelman is a relatively unknown gui
tar-oriented singer-songwriter who deserves more
attention than he has been receiving.
On different songs of his recent, self-produced
album. Strength to Strength, one can alternately hear
■
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the influences of Bob Dylan, James Taylor and Elvis
Costello. In fact, when I first heard his album, I
thought it was Elvis Costello, because the voices are
so similar.
Most of his songs are simple arrangements, and
you'll rarely hear more than a handful of instru
ments on any of the 15 songs. But there is truly
beauty in simplicity, and he has a sound that makes
one long for the days when songs were not drowned
in a sea of synthesizers, drum machines and heavy
guitars.
This album shows Himmelman has matured as
a songwriter and musician. The only other work of
his I have heard is his 1989 release. Synesthesia, which
is blown out of the water by S trength. He has a poetic
quality to his lyrics that is refreshing in an age of
mindless love songs — there is only one track on the
album that could be considered a "love song."
On one of the best tunes of the album, "Imper
manent Things," he bemoans the transient nature of
many aspects of life: "All these impermanent things/
Well their beauty's never aging/ But their
worthlesness's enraging/ You know we stand alone
when we're together."
In "Woman With the Strength of 10,000 Men,"
he picks up the beat and the arrangement to pay
tribute to a woman who he felt had been through a
lot in life: "From the moment I saw your face/1 knew
all my so-called troubles were for nothing/ You put
me in your place/ I knew right then I better start
living for something."
Peter Himmelman has that folk feel to him that
would probably appeal to fans of the Indigo Girls,
but with a harder edge on some songs that will
appeal to fans of REM.
I highly recommend this album, especially for
those who want to experiment and hear some differ
ent artists. If Strength is indicative of future achieve
ments, Peter Himmelman will have a strong career
indeed.
"Metropolitan" is a witty, so
phisticated, ensemble piece about
a privileged group of Manhattan
college students whose clique is
shaken up when a charismatic out
sider joins them for the Christmas
social seas.
Tom Townsend (Edward
Clements) is a West-sider and an
idealistic, earnest socialist who
scorns the glittering, superficial
world of high-society galas and
Park Avenue post-parties. By acci
dent, he shares a cab with a group
of young people, on their way to
oneof these very same parties. He
clearly states his distaste for such
affairs, citing his political views,
but justifies his presence as an op
portunity to observe firsthand at
least once the kind of existence he
is criticising. To his surprise, he
finds the septet intelligent, well-
spoken, and quite congenial, espe-
cially the lovely, sincere Audrey
Rouget (Carolyn Farina).
Nick Smith (Christopher
Eigemann), a cynical, jaded indi
vidual who hopes to offset his lack
of prospects by marrying rich, sees
in Tom the perfect solution to the
shortage of escorts and bridge part
ners. After being persuaded that
this sort of social life is actually
S uite economical - the food and
rinks are free, and all one needs
are some decent evening clothes -
and that the girls are eager to keep
him around, Tom not-too-reluc-
tantly agrees to become oneof their
number.
Before an object of pity, due to
his thin coat and meager resources,
he soon finds that his quick entree
into this select group has, at least
in the eyes of others, placed him in
the inner circle of society. As a
member of the self-namea U.H.B.,
or "Urban Haute Bourgeoisie", and
the apple of Audrey's eye, he is
suddenly one of the "more fortu
nate", a person to be envied, and
maybe even despised.
Writer/producer/director
Whit Stillman's Academy Award-
nominated screenplay cleverly and
incisively delves into the minds of
these young people, perfectly cap
turing the nuances of their conver-
sations on subjects from sex to
Bunuel, their hypocrisies, their fa
vorite pastimes (Truth and Strip
Poker), and their overwhelming
fear of failure and downward mo
bility.
"Metropolitan" is kind of like
the "Big Chill" with wealthy so
cialites instead of yuppies, only it
doesn't take itself so seriously. The
actors and actresses are impres
sive naturals who seem as if they
were bom with cigarette and cock
tail in hand, and erudite dialogue
of the tip of their tongue. Keep
your eye out for this bunch in fu
ture projects. With this much tal
ent, you're bound to see them
again.
"After Dark, My Sweet" is a
sweaty, atmospheric thriller set in
the California desert, where the
sun shines bright, but not nearly
bright enough to illuminate the
dark, greedy, murderous thoughts
of some of its inhabitants.
Hunky Jason Patric (credited
with being one of the reasons Julia
Roberts "postponed" her wedding
to his "Lost Boys" co-star Kiefer
Sutherland), stars as Kevin "The
Kid" Collins, a brooding ex-boxer
and escapee from a mental institu
tion. Collins stumbles into a dusty
desert town, where sultry widow
Fay Anderson (Rachel Ward) and
former cop Garrett Stokely (Bruce
Dem), who goes by "Uncle Bud",
are cooking up a scheme to kidnap
the young son of a wealthy local.
They figure the slow-witted
Collins, or "Collie" as Fay calls
him, will be the perfect man to
make the snatch - and take the fall.
A kindly doctor (George
Dickerson) tries to take Collins in
and protect him from the mistake
he's about to make, but Fay's siren
call lures him back to the house,
and into the midst of the kidnap
plot. When the plan goes awry, as
such plans always do, and Collins
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