Fancy-schmancy
COCKTAILS & SUPER
SEXY BARTENDERS!
One block from
UofO campus
lounge
opens @ 5pm
1769 Franklin Blvd.
541.342.4872
Abandon all willpower,
YE WHO ENTER
the Siam Society,
The information you need is
in the Oregon Daily Emerald.
Look for the
2004 ASUO Elections Voter’s Guide
included with the
regular paper on
Monday, April 12
or online at
www.dailyemerald.com.
CANDIDATES:
Mandatory meeting tonight!
Meetings held at 6pm and 8pm.
Voter’s Guide photos will be taken.
EMU Maple Room
asuoelefc@gladstone.uoregon.edu • 346-0629
UO School of Music World Music Series
presents
“ of Armenia
The Shoghaken Armenian Folk Ensemble
Sunday, April 4
8 p.m., BEALL HALL
UO School of Music
$10 General Admission,
$8 students & seniors,
available only at the door.
oi
UNIVERSITY OF OREGON
Cacophony, chaos can play
viable role in modem music
Recently, while flipping through a
collection of writings by the late rock
critic Lester Bangs, 1 came across an arti
cle where Bangs presented a guide to
recordings of chaotic, cacophonic mu
sic that he affectionately referred to as
"horrible noise." He argued that such
music had an invigorating quality and
served a distinct purpose in our society.
In these days of heightened produc
tion values and clean-cut arrange
ments, the importance of cacophony
has been mostly forgotten. You'll still
hear it occasionally at some rock con
certs, when bands will just wail on
their instruments for half a minute.
It's usually a gimmick to signal the
end of the show, but it really isn't a
compositional element.
But as a number of 20th-century
avant-garde composers proved, noise,
chaos and cacophony can all work in a
composition. The only limit on music
is the frame that an artist puts around
it Once they make a noise — or don't
make a noise, as in the case of the John
Cage composition that consists of four
minutes and 33 seconds of silence —
and call that noise music, it is up to the
audience to decide whether they will
accept it as music. I find that I will ac
cept it as such in many cases. If I can
find a groovy rhythm in a passing
freight train, I can certainly enjoy some
of the delirious noise that musicians
have put on record.
So, in memory of Mr. Bangs, I have
decided to form the Society for the
Preservation of Horrible Noise in Mu
sic, or SPHNM. Suggested recordings
and monetary donations are being ac
cepted. On that note, here is a list of a
few of my favorite bits of audio terror
ism, minus the selections already
Ryan Nyburg
Budget rack
compiled by Bangs. Feel free to write in
with further suggestions, so that I can
get another easy column out of this.
Beat Happening, "This Many
Boyfriends Club": The closing track
on this Olympia, Wash, band's dassic
"Jamboree" album. It's a live record
ing consisting of lead singer Calvin
Johnson crooning over the howl and
squeal of a feedbacking guitar. A
haunting little ditty punctuated by the
audience screaming in either ecstasy
or agony, depending on who you ask.
The Mothers of Invention, "Prelude
to the Afternoon of a Sexually
Aroused Gas Mask": Another live
track, this one off of "Weasels Ripped
My Flesh," a compilation of material
left over after Frank Zappa broke up
the Mothers. The track is full of grind
ing feedback, maniacal laughter,
drunken opera and other bits of glo
rious cacophony. It's kind of like mu
sic concrete re-created live.
The Ornette Coleman Double
Quartet, "Free Jazz": This jazz experi
ment is about as dose a recorded
work has ever come to sustained an
archy. For nearly 40 minutes, Cole
man and every member of his band
play essentially whatever they feel like,
occasionally coming together for a
moment or two, but mostly just devi
ating as far apart from each other as
possible. Trance music for the ages.
Sonic Youth, "Scooter & Jinx": After
moving to a major label, there was
some speculation that Sonic Youth
might try to soften their sound for
mass consumption. But this track, off
their major label debut "Goo," dis
pelled any fears of selling out. For just
over a minute, layers of overdubbed
guitars grind away with glorious dis
sonance, evoking images of a motor
cycle gang ready to conquer the heart
land of an unsuspecting America.
Captain Beefheart and the Magic
Band, "Hair Pie: Bake 1": One of the
noisier efforts off Beefheart's classic
"Trout Mask Replica" album. An in
strumental piece that starts off with
the entire band playing horns simul
taneously. About half way through,
drums and some atonal guitars kick
in. The whole thing ends with what
sounds like a member of the band
talking to some unsuspecting passers
by. Pure dada music.
John Cage, "Music of Changes,"
performed by Joseph Kobera: A good
example of Cage's theory of "indeter
minism," which removes choice from
musical composition. The musical
passages are selected by flipping I
Ching coins. To most listeners, it
sounds like a guy banging random
notes on a piano at strange intervals.
As with most of these selections, it's
not for everyone. For those who fancy
chaos, it's a masterpiece.
Contact the senior Pulse reporter
at ryannyburg@dailyemerald.com.
His opinions do not necessarily
represent those of the Emerald.
Sexy Cabaret’production sizzles
The Very Little Theatre's
performance of 'Cabaret'
is hot and heavy and worth
the ticket for admission
By Natasha Chilingerian
Pulse Reporter
The musical "Cabaret," whether on
stage or on screen, is full of glamour,
glitter and sex. In The Very Little The
atre's production, these glitzy
elements take command, but the real
backbone of the show is a hard-hit
ting history lesson.
The musical drama, presented in the
75-year-old venue located at 2350 Hil
yard St., tells a heartbreaking tale of de
stroyed relationships in early Nazi Ger
many. When a straight-laced American
writer, Cliff Bradshaw (played by the
lanky boyish Evan Howells), arrives in
Berlin to
work on a
novel, he
finds the
lights and
free living of
the city quite a distraction. He is se
duced by a nightclub singer, Sally
Bowles (played by the sultry Liz Kadel),
who promptly moves into the rented
room where he resides.
The two continue to "live in sin"
among a cast of carefree characters, in
cluding a blond female tenant with a
sailor fetish and their elderly German
landlord, Fraulein Schneider, who
falls in love with a jolly Jewish grocer,
Herr Shultz. They all go about their
THEATER
REVIEW
business with an "anything goes" per
spective until the rising power of the
Nazi party turns their laid-back world
upside down.
The Emcee at the local night club, the
Kit Kat Club (played by the charming,
charismatic Tegue DeLeon) ties the
show together with bright comical
sketches that comment on issues with
in the plot. In one scene, a woman and
a man in drag depict the characters' un
restrained lifestyles by singing behind a
blanket. In another, the Emcee dances
with a gorilla, metaphorically explain
ing how the public views Schneider's
inter-cultural relationship with Shultz.
The interjected skits add a little extra
thought-provoking and creative enter
tainment to the already captivating
production.
The rapport between Schneider and
Shultz brings a touching aspect to the
musical. The actors show a genuine
care for one another, and Shultz is pre
cious and generous in his courting of
Schneider, which centers around gifts
of fruit and leads to an engagement.
Turn to CABARET, page 12
Pregnant?
Talk with a friend.
1.800.848. LOVE
possiblypregnant.org