This 2cc2
An OF AM presentation.
wwu.ofam.org
Natalie
cMaster
:30 pm
Theater
,$28.50
Tickets at
OFAM
-6526
15
Trendy and professional
haircuts by friendly
haircare specialists.
Call Ahead Service available at
WILLAMETTE SQUARE
2526 Willamette Ave.
683-1405
Open 7 days a week; Mon-Sat 9am - 7pm • Sun 11am- 4pm
SUPERCUTS
As hip as you want to be.
No matter how you sliced
it, Sy’s Duck Buck
coupon this term will save
^ you money. A
Get your Duck Buck coupon clipper
m the Oregon Daily Emerald
on Thursday, April I 1.2001.
FEATURES
Firewater’s new CD offers
sarcastic perspective on life
■ ‘Psychopharmacology,’
the band’s newest release,
is a refreshing alternative
to current mainstream rock
Firewater ‘Psychopharmacology’
Jet Set
★★★★☆
By Michael J. Kleckner
Oregon Daily Emerald
Every so often, hearing new mu
sic produces a giddy, excited feel
ing, often accompanied by a faster
heartbeat and the thought, “Where
has this band been all my life?” I re
member that feeling years ago
when I first heard King Black Acid
in concert (and then promptly
bought all their CDs) and more re
cently, when I heard The Strokes’
“Is This It.” What can I say? I like
drug-addled music.
My latest discovery is similarly
intoxicated, but it’s a lot more pop
as well. Firewater’s new CD, “Psy
chopharmacology,” tripped across
my CD player and hasn’t yet left.
This is the New York City-based
band’s third release; their first was
1996’s “Get Off The Cross (We Need
The Wood For The Fire ...).” Like
that title, this band seems intent
upon deadpan irreverence at every
opportunity. In today’s all-too-seri
ous “alternative rock” world of
emotive, intense Pearl Jam copy
cats, the lightness and lazy vocals
are refreshing.
The joy in Firewater’s poppy,
slightly twangy music is reminis
cent of Cake or Cracker, but it also
recalls the seriously twisted humor
of Robin Hitchcock and the
swelling sounds of early-1990s
bands Jellyfish or Dada. Add to that
the whiskey-soaked haze of Mor
phine, and you have a sense of the
feeling Firewater pushes through
your speakers.
For those who prefer the clean
and sober life, fear not; “Psy
chopharmacology” is not glorifying
drug use — at least not openly. The
title track is actually a dark, playful
examination of the way people use
psychoactive drugs as solutions to
Courtesy Photo
their problems. According to the
band’s press information, lead
singer and songwriter Tod A finds
America’s use of prescription drugs
“a little scary.” Mr. A also seems a
bit scared by ambition and life in
general — many of his lyrics (’’And
maybe I could have a great career /
Turn to Firewater, page 7
Mirah’s emotional new album breaks
out of singer-songwriter doldrums
■ ‘Advisory Committee’ is
a light but complex release
that relies on a wide variety
of instruments for texture
CD REVIEW
Mirah ‘Advisory Committee’
K Records
★★★★☆
By Aiix Kerl
Oregon Daily Emerald
Singer songwriters are a dime a
dozen.
For every Elliott Smith or Joni
Mitchell there is a nameless dude at
the "coffeehouse” who introduces
every song with “This is the one I
wrote when..Then there is Mirah
Yom Tov Zeitlyn. The Olympia,
Wash., folk star’s new album, “Ad
visory Committee,” is a fiery emo
tional record that doesn’t suck.
All of Mirah’s albums (she only
uses her full name in a joking man
ner; as an artist she has a singular
designation) have a light, romantic
feel, but her new album is rrjore
■complex and confident. Mirah’s
first full album, “You Think It’s
Like This, but Really It’s Like This”
was light and sweet, but not quite
sugary. It features beautiful and
simple girl-and-guitar songs. “Ad
visory Committee’’carries the same
drama but is more well-rounded.
On “Advisory Committee,” Mi
rah and friends use a variety of un
usual instruments such as a pump
organ, xylophone, Moog and a
handsaw to give the album an
eclectic feel. In the title song, Mirah
provides a mellow moment with
the notes of a steel drum and then
explodes from a crescendo of
drums to emotionally bellow, “Lis
ten for the sound and feel a shaking
under / under ground to have the
weapons and the time / the will to
push off from the side.”
In “Monument,” Mirah’s ballad
to the scared child in all of us, she
sings, “Aren’t you going to come
along / aren’t you going to fight /
aren’t you going to hold your hand
up to the light?”
The most amazing five minutes
and seven seconds on the album are
the entirety of “Cold Cold Water,”
the breathless first track. In this
song, Mirah. bbcomqs a .lost aqd
lonely Cowgirl who Sets off on a
journey. The lyrics are so poetic
that it is a shame to print excerpts.
The line “I saddled up my pony
right and rode into the ghostly
night,” makes you want to cry, but
the sentence is just a ditty without
the cooperation of the strings, voice
and guitars. The song is in the style
of a spaghetti western, the simple,
lone-gunman western film of yes
teryear. Most of those movies were
made between 1960 and 1975 and
were given the moniker because
they were financed by Italian pro
duction companies.
In the style of independent mu
sic, the album isn’t merely a lone
CD lying in a flashy jewel case. It is
a delightful little package abound
ing with images and textures. The
cover is matte white and carries a
haunting scratched image. The
typed liner notes are interspersed
with magical pictures by Tae Won
Yu that show a variety of scenes of
unruly plants outside windows.
The album was recorded over 10
months during 2000 and 2001.
There are so many magical mo
ments on this CD that it is worth
every last penny.
E-mail reporter Alix Kprl , , . /, _ ,
at alixkerl@dailyemerald.com.