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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (April 11, 1995)
ents ns said' 5 that h apistr, t who's; ; r ho dur:; strong ;; sesofdf;; asedb;: : . / goodth d that tb >r,” he s;.; ‘ legisk an of re; ise susp oilitytci.: er’s lice; ing or h ims off;: £6 30 30 >0 16 15 6 13 ms of fa: .0 .0 .6 .5 .0 .3 .3 .5 .2 i editor ditor r Messer, Goad, e, Bart I Jay uez The Battajlion • Page 3 McLachlan’s latest album gives old songs new Freedom Sarah McLachlan By Erin Hill The Battalion Sarah McLachlan The Freedom Sessions Nettwerk Records (out of five) “I love the Fumbling Towards Ecstasy recording and wouldn’t change a thing, but I love these versions as reminders of where the songs started and of the various paths we wan dered down to discover their identities. It was a joy watching them grow” — Sarah McLachlan Sarah McLachlan’s breakthrough eight- song EP The Freedom Sessions is just that — a breakthrough. It contains a multi-media track featuring over 30 minutes of music, video, pho tographs and information. Those eight recordings are variations on some of the tracks from her platinum 1993 al bum Fumbling Towards Ecstasy. Many of the selections began as acoustic pieces, and were only later changed into the versions that were released with the album. McLachlan and company toyed from the be ginning of the entire album with the idea of putting out two records — one of the original acoustic songs and another with more finely- produced or layered songs from the beginning of the recording process. That notion has come true in The Freedom Sessions. The collection is a nice mix of experimenta tions. Some songs became more complex, while others are simplified. McLachlan tosses in some concert versions, a jam session recorded after “an evening of an immeasurable quantity of red wine” and an early demo version. The live, fun version of “Ice Cream,” one of the lighter tracks on the album, sounds just the way she performs it in concert, with her keyboardist playing bass, her drummer by her side and a heavy dose of vocal improvisation. “Ol’ 55,” the only song not found on Fum bling, was released on the Boys On The Side soundtrack, and is a mellow, soulful cover of Tom Waits’ traveling tune. As a real treat, McLachlan includes two new versions of her current MTV offering “Hold On.” The song as released on Fumbling, is a dri ving, rhythmic ode to a dying lover. But one of the versions, probably the best track on the al bum, is a fragile piano version, with only Sarah and her keyboard. The other version is just acoustic guitar and vocals, and has a much more folksy feel than the album’s rock version. This impressive display of McLachlan’s ver satility — taking one song and come up with three songs — is found repeatedly throughout the album. She’s been known to say that if a song can’t stand alone with just one vocal and guitar, then it probably isn’t a very good song. Well, nearly every track on this album passes that test with flying colors. No matter how she records them, changes them or experiments with them, they are a pleasure to listen to. But it is through the addition of the multi- media track that McLachlan proves that she is ahead of her time — truly an artist who uses “breakthrough technology” in innovative ways. The 30-minute long track is visually breath taking, and technologically impressive. The as sortment of video, audio and interview seg ments provides a wealth of interesting and pertinent information about McLachlan and her music. She uses the medium to spread her message in am effective way, and sets an example that is sure to be followed by other artists in the future. She rises above the constraints of a typical album, and finds a better way to showcase her talents, while still using the CD format. The listener will just sit back, open- mouthed, and enjoy. Freedom Sessions opens doors for interactive-CD technology «T T 1 I 1 I there. JL J-This is Sarah McLach lan. Welcome to The Freedom Sessions. Click on any icon to be gin. Have fun ...” That’s all you hear after you open up the multi-me dia portion of Sarah McLachlan’s new album The Freedom Sessions. The collage in front of you is cer tainly eye-catching, from the iguana in the right-hand comer, to the dangling compass hanging from the middle, to the plants bordering the yellow rectan gle. The word “Sarah” is written across the middle of this work of art, and a hand-drawn sun sits beneath the name. The soprano voice fades, and an ar row appears on the computer screen. You are now ready to experience multi-media portion of Sarah McLach lan’s new album. The Freedom Ses sions. The CD, which boasts over 30 min utes of QuickTime movies, videos, songs, concert footage, interviews with McLachlan and numerous photo col lages of her and her band in cities across the United States and Canada. It is like a photo album extraordi naire, and so much more, compatible with both Mac and Windows, to boot. The word slick jumps to mind. Click first on the passport icon and a photo of McLachlan doing a benefit concert in Thai land comes to the stage. Her voice starts in again, and she explains about a 1992 trip to Thailand and Cambodia, with an organization called “World Vision.” Click on the next icon, and a screen with information about World Vision appears. All the while, McLachlan’s music plays in the background. A different icon brings a screen with the covers of her albums. Further searching leads you to a song list. A highlighted song leads to the actual playing of the song and the screening of the video. They are the same videos that MTV plays, except on your computer screen, instead of the TV. Exploring the tour portion of the multi-media track takes you to differ ent cities across the country where McLachlan has toured. When the pho tos of that particular concert appear, McLachlan tells a little about that community. “I could talk about Minneapolis. Minneapolis is great,” she says. And on the screen you see a picture of the State Theater, the Minneapolis hall she performed in. Austin, which McLachlan describes as “amazing,” is also shown through a photo collage, and McLachlan reveals that Texas is one of her favorite places to play. It’s almost like chatting on the tele phone with her, except that you are staring at vivid photographs and lis tening to her music while she talks. When you click on “Vancouver, British Columbia,” McLachlan tells about her homecoming there — the de light she feels in playing with a home- court advantage. A photo collage appears, and a smil ing Sarah is in the middle of the stage, in front of thousands of delirious fans. It’s unlike anything you’ve seen. It’s unlike anything you’ve heard. And it won’t be a secret much longer. The package that McLachlan has put together wows even the most skep tical, bowls over even the least enthu siastic about McLachlan’s music. Her multi-media track is truly visionary, and rewarding for the fan. McLachlan will not be alone in al bums like this in the future, that’s for sure. Once the word gets out to the gener al public that technology like this ex ists, and can be used in a music album, the general public won’t settle for any thing else. Already, the artist formerly known as Prince has released an interactive CD-ROM program that includes snip pets of performances, photos, Quick Time movies and all of the other jazz. Others can’t be far behind. The CD- ROM mul ti-media track is a fan’s dream, for it allows the listener to interact with the artist. That seems to be a big push in today’s world. More and more artists are using tech nology to connect with their fans. Through computers they become accessible, be it Michael Stipe participating in America Online, or Aerosmith broadcasting a concert over the Internet. Some musicians have home pages on the World Wide Web, with graphics, photos and sounds available to those who are willing to download. The web has also become a cyber market of sorts, with merchandise dis plays and catalogs available for the asking. The possibilities for sales are endless as well. The various Internet news groups services offer bulletin boards on every kind of performer out there, with cate gories like alt.music.Canadian.alterna tive. or alt.music.progressive. There is something for everyone, and everyone seems to be trying to get in on the action. Something’s brewing. Things are changing. Just as they promised, the Internet and advancements in computer tech nology are changing the face of our so ciety, from government to business to education. And now to entertainment. White Heart brings unique mix of music and message to Rudder Auditorium tonight sylor d spring jlidays^ 77840. ;as A&M the e in 013 er is 845- Battalion 5, ^ p.m. ip a sin?!' 1 lOperw By Shelly Hall The Battauon W ith a message of hope and love. White Heart, a Christian rock band, will perform tonight at 7 p.m. in Rudder Auditorium. Rick Florien, White Heart's lead vocal ist, said the band’s music is similar to oth er classic rock bands with a message about life. “We’re musicians like everybody else,” Florien said. “Char music is about life and struggles and putting into practice the love that God calls us to.” Florien said that faith forms the foun dation of their music. ‘The foundation is our relationship with God through his son Jesus Christ,” Florien said. An example of that foundation is in White Heart's song “70 Times Seven”. “It’s all about forgiveness,” Florien said. “If you let go and forgive, the free dom you feel inside is well worth the sac rifice.” Florien, who started out driving a truck for Christian singer Michael W. Smith, said he joined White Heart in 1985. Florien said White Heart members be lieve in their songs because of the forgive ness they have experienced in their own lives. “Some used drugs and alcohol and some were involved in abusive situa tions,” Florien said. “Therefore, a lot of our songs are about the change that needs to come in our lives daily.” Because of that change, Florien said White Heart performs tonight at Rudder Auditorium. White Heart gears its songs to people who may not know the message of hope. “We try to write our songs for people who don’t have a relationship with God,” Florien said. “Our message is — it’s OK to be at a place where you don’t care about God — so let’s talk about it.” White Heart recently signed with Curb Records, a mainstream label, and Florien said it will give more people an opportuni ty to hear the band’s message. “Signing with Curb Records excites me because our music will reach more peo ple,” Florien said. “They haven’t asked us to change a thing.” Florien said signing on with Curb will allow larger audiences to hear the joy in their lives. “People will hear our music and the words,” Florien said. “I love where I am. I want others to experience the joy I have because of Christ.” The Highlands, the name of White Heart's latest CD, ex presses the joy about living a dif ferent life, Florien said. “We’re on the tale end of The Highlands Tour,” Florien said. “The Highlands album is about seeing the world with different eyes. Change can be perma nent.” Florien said the main mes sage White Heart hopes to get across is the joy in love and for giveness. “It’s OK to question why you even exist and its OK for people to go through a lot of different questions to answer those questions,” Florien said. “We hope to be a catalyst for love and giv ing so that they may live life to the fullest.” 211 University 268-DAVE 326 George Bush Dr. 696-DAVE * PIZZAWORKS * We're Always Rollins! 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