Music
Section B • Page 3
The University Daily Kansan
Musician takes pride in unusual sound
Thursday, October 12, 2000
By Meghan Bainum
writer@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
Guitarist Ian Moore is not from around here. He's not from around anywhere, really.
The former Texas guitar god who opened for acts such as ZZ Top and Bob Dylan has gone back to his more eclectic, multicultural roots with his new album And All the Colors.
Moore, who lives in Portland, Ore., is front man for The Ian Moore Band, which is appearing at 8 tonight at the Bottleneck, 737 New Hampshire. St. Tickets are $8.
Moore is promoting his album, which features a folk- and blues-based guitar sound. He released And All the Colors on his own Hablador record label and said that he didn't fit in with the indie rock or the young punk rock scene. He said that he considered his music to be an eclectic mix all his own and that he used a variety of instruments such as guitar, violin, bazuki and sitar.
Although he started his career as a mainstream musician, Moore has carved out his own niche in the music world.
What is the hardest part about
being a non-commercial musician?
Really physical survival, like actually paying your bills are the trials. I think that the most interesting thing right now, being someone that works on the periphery (of music) is just getting my music out. There's such a huge gap between commercial music and good music.
You play so many instruments. Do you have a favorite?
I love the guitar, although I went through a period where I was down on it. I think the guitar is such an unexplored instrument. There are so many young people that come up and are so sample oriented that they don't realize how trippy a guitar can be. But, I'd have to say that my voice is my favorite instrument. Nobody has the same voice as anybody else. Everyone is completely different.
What is your goal when you play for an audience?
I just want to connect with people I relate to, that's all. I prefer smaller crowds that are keyed into where I'm coming from and open to what I'm doing to a huge crowd standing around not listening.
Are you happy to be playing in Lawrence?
There's about 15-20 cities where I feel like I'm in my environment, and Lawrence is one of them. Lawrence is quite a bit cooler than most college towns. I always feel comfortable where there's restaurants, good coffee ... It's cool to play in a club, walk around the corner and meet somebody you'd be interested in talking to. What is it like when you go on
What is it like when you go on tour?
We travel in a van with a trailer — busses are too expensive. If you don't have tour support, it's almost impossible to have tour busses because they are $1000 a day. There are four musicians, a sound man/tour manager and sometimes two crew guys if we can afford it. It's almost impossible to pay a band a salary that is above the poverty level and make it work and have crew guys. We're going up to Lubbock, Albuquerque, Denver, Lawrence and then to Chicago.
When you do a six-week tour, by the end of it, you are in a weird space. You've been living out of a van, in a different town everyday, been sick; but as long as there are people coming out to the shows, that validates everything.
Ian Moore, 8 p.m. at the Bottleneck, 737 New Hampshire St. $12.18 and older.
- Edited by Kathryn Moore
**Gillian Weir** — classical guitar,
7:30 p.m. at Bates Racial Hall
next to the Lied Center,
$12.50 general admission.
Tonight:
Live Music
Alicia Bay Laurel — author and artist, 7 p.m. at The Raven Bookstore. 6 E. 7th St.
The Draft, 10 p.m. at The Jazzhaus, 926 1/2 Massachusetts St. $3, 21 and older.
Pearl Jam, 7:30 p.m. at Sandstone Amphitheater, Bonner Springs. $26 to $30.
Zeke Sckek and the Teryakis,
10 p.m. at The Replay Lounge.
946 Massachusetts St. $2, 21
and older.
Maceo Parker with Blackialicious, 8 p.m. at Liberty Hall, 642 Massachusetts St. 18 and older, $18 advanced, 20 day of show, general admission. Balcony reserved $20.50
Pedro the Lion, Death Cab for Cutie and Appleseed Cast, 8 p.m. at The Bottleneck, 737 New Hampshire St. 18 and 18
Tomorrow:
Jeffrey Lee & the Pale Moon Kings, 10 p.m. at the Jazzhaus, 926 1/2 Massachusetts St. $4, 21 and older.
older.
David Wilcox, 7 p.m. at Liberty Hall, 642 Massachusetts St. $13, advanced tickets. $15, day of show. All ages.
Saturday:
James Armstrong, 10 p.m. at
The Jazzahus, 928 1/2
Massachusetts St. $4,21 and
older.
Honor the Earth Tour with
Indigo Girls, Shawn Mullins
Indigenous, 8 p.m. at the Liel
Center, $24 to $34.
Mawelous 3, 7 p.m. at The Granada, 1020 Massachusetts St. $, advanced, $10, day of show. All ages
Waxingws and The Green Door,
10 p.m. at The Replay Lounge,
946 Massachusetts St. $2, 21
and older.
Scotch Bonnet — acoustic
Folk/Celtic trio, 2:30 p.m. a
the Library Auditorium,
Lawrence Public Library, 707
Vermont. Free
Monday:
Jazzhaus Jam, with the Spanktones, 10' p.m. at The Jazzhaus, 926 1/2 Massachusetts St. $2, 21 and older.
Tuesday:
Angel Rot and Croatian, 10 p.m.
At the Replay Lounge, 9:46
Massachusetts St. $2, 21 and
older.
Cellia, 10 p.m. at Brown Bear Brewing Co., 729 Massachusetts St. $2.21 and older.
Saul Williams, 8 p.m. at The Granada, 1020 Massachusetts St. $10, advanced tickets. 18 and older.
Wednesday:
■ Sea & Cake, Town & County, B p.m. at the Bottleneck, 737 New Hampshire St. $10, advanced, $12, day of show, 18 and older.
Interocking Grip, 10 p.m. at The Jazzahtus, 926 1/2 Massachusetts St. $3, 21 and older.
The Loadlevelers and the Buddy Lush Phenomenon, 10 p.m. at The Replay Lounge, 946 Massachusetts St. $2, 21 and older.
Indigo Girls
Retrospective
Instead of a greatest hits, the Indigo Girls released a Retrospective of their career — which fits the group's unassuming style.
The 18-track CD features hits such as "Gallileo," "Kid Fears" and "Power of Two."
which offer the same emotion and powerful lyrics as the original songs.
The CD also has two songs, "Devotion" and "Leaving," that were recorded for Retrospective
Retrospective.
The Indigo Girls will perform at 8 p.m.
Saturday at the Lied Center with Shawn Mullins and Indigenous as part of their Honor the Earth Tour.
It's classic Indigo Girls — with songs that draw on the women's own experiences. "Least Complicated" touches on relationships and tells the story of one of the band members who was ridiculed in grade school for giving her crush a ring.
If you don't have the other classics of the Indigo Girls — Rites of Passage or Swamp Ophelia — Retrospective is a great CD to get your collection started.
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BriAnne Hess
Maceo Parker — Dial:
MACFO
"Maceo? Can I take 'em to the bridge?"
James Brown used to feverishly call out before imploring his ace alto saxophonist
to "Lend Me Your Horn." And, of course, Maceo always did. Just when it seemed that the sound of the JBs, James Brown's legendary horn section, was somehow already tighter than their matching leisure suits, and the rhythm section, in the process of digging even deeper into the pocket, couldn't get any funkier, Maceo Parker simply blew.
And, oh, did he blow like no one else in his day. In doing so, he provided the most important ingredient for The Godfather of Soul's patented musical recipe.
This is why, in light of his past accomplishments, this latest offering on W.A.R.P.? Records titled Dial: MACEO is such a perplexing disappointment. In the liner notes to this album, Maceo champions the fact that he's still hanging after all these years, and to his credit, his stamina appears undiminished. Yet, he seems to be mellowing with age and, unfortunately, the tunes on Dial: MACEO sorely reflect this trend.
The album's lineup is solid, but they can't hold a candle to James Brown's original JBs. Not that this comes as a surprise, but the musicians jack feeling and
prise, but the musician more distressingly, even, soul. It also does not help that many of the tracks are safe, light covers of '70s R&B classics or that
the album is silkly produced, almost to a fault.
But the fact that most of the compositions draw heavily on the latest smooth grooves of contemporary, department-store jazz is inexcusable.
No matter how wistful and wily Maceo's winding sax solos still are, when presented within this context, the whole affair
becomes a farce nearing a fiasco. Unusual guest appearances from Prince, James Taylor, Ani DiFranco and Sheryl Crow serve no purpose and only distract from Maceo's unique sound.
In all fairness, Maceo — in the tradition of his former band leader, the hardest working man in show business — does put on a blistering live show.
He cooked for almost four hours the last time he was in town. Therefore, mark your calendars, because Maceo is coming back and appearing at Liberty Hall Friday, Oct. 20, with Blackalicious. But on Dial: MACEO; the man seems to completely lose sight of what makes his live shows so great.
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- Derek John
A — A vs Monkey Kong
It's the British Invasion! Most bands from the United Kingdom attempt to conquer America and A is no exception.
The band's United States debut, A vs Monkey Kong, has a good mix of hard-driving tunes and fun pop songs that show remarkable depth. The opening track, "For Starters," is obviously a song to get the crowd moving, with walking guitars and not much for lyrics.
"Here We Go Again (I Love Lake Tahoe)"
refers to reviever at a famous vacation spot,
and doesn't forget to mention that "Here's where Sonny Bono died."
The title track brings back a hallmark of Generation X's childhood, the Donkey Kong video game as the game's voice makes a guest appearance.
"Old Folks" explores a topic not often
seen in rock — facing one's mortality. Not to worry, though. A handles the subject lightly.
The instrumentation is not especially impressive or creative. It's just plain old guitar rock, which according to Decca when they rejected the Beatles, "...is on the way out." A definitely could use snappy guitar solos or have different instruments to color its sound. "Jason's Addiction" is the one bright spot, with a muted trumpet adding an unique element. A does rely heavily on synthesized sounds spliced into its tunes, unfortunately to little effect.
*A is made of brothers Adam and Jesu (juvenile) and Diane (adult).
*A is made of brothers Adam and Jason (twins) and Giles Perry with friends Daniel Carter and Mark Chapman. With a guy named Giles, where else could a band be from but the British Isles?
Check A out at the Granada on Oct. 14 for a break from midterms. Watch A try to win over our Yankee hearts. They win hands-down for the strangest song title ever: "Hopper Jonus Fang."
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Melitta George
Lyle Lovett — Dr. T & The Women soundtrack
a mixed bag. The
Movie soundtracks are genre began well, with Simon and Garfunkel's The Graduate soundtrack being the first time rock music accompanied a movie.
More hits came with the Rocky and Top Gun soundtracks. Today, every music star is
**12.** $A = \begin{bmatrix} 0 & 0 \\ 0 & 1 \end{bmatrix}, B = \begin{bmatrix} 1 & 0 \\ 0 & -1 \end{bmatrix}, C = \begin{bmatrix} -1 & 0 \\ 0 & 1 \end{bmatrix}$
**13.** $D = \begin{bmatrix} a & b \\ c & d \end{bmatrix}, E = \begin{bmatrix} e & f \\ g & h \end{bmatrix}, F = \begin{bmatrix} g & h \\ e & f \end{bmatrix}$, $G = \begin{bmatrix} a & b \\ c & d \end{bmatrix}$, $H = \begin{bmatrix} e & f \\ g & h \end{bmatrix}$
**14.** $P_1 = \begin{bmatrix} 1 & 0 \\ 0 & 1 \end{bmatrix}, P_2 = \begin{bmatrix} 0 & 1 \\ 0 & -1 \end{bmatrix}, P_3 = \begin{bmatrix} -1 & 0 \\ 0 & 1 \end{bmatrix}$
**15.** $Q_1 = \begin{bmatrix} 0 & 0 \\ 0 & 1 \end{bmatrix}, Q_2 = \begin{bmatrix} 1 & 0 \\ 0 & -1 \end{bmatrix}, Q_3 = \begin{bmatrix} -1 & 0 \\ 0 & 1 \end{bmatrix}$
every music star is jumping on the soundtrack bandwagon, but with uneven results. Lyle Lovett produces an average soundtrack for the upcoming release of Dr. T & The Women, starring Richard Gere and a number of today's leading actresses, notably Helen Hunt.
The album is entirely Lovett's specialty, a mix of honky-tonk and blues with a little jazz thrown in for fun. The instrumental selections work well — evocative yet not overpowering. The fiddle playing of Stuart Duncan stands out from the rest. The slower piano tunes don't work as well as the up-tempo band tracks. Lovett does not seem as comfortable writing for individual instruments.
Three songs that appear on this album are not always effective. Two of them, "You've Been So Good Up To Now" and "She's Already Made Up Her Mind," originally appeared on Joshua Judges Ruth.
The ballad, "She's Already Made Up Her Mind," aacks a natural quality; the lyrics don't work as written. Lovett doesn't have the voice for that type of music. "You've Been So Good Up To Now" is a great blues tune, with well-crafted lyrics and fabulous solos.
The new song for the movie "Ain't it Somethin'" is the weakest of the three. The lyrics are repetitive and don't say much for all the times they are said. Lovett fans are better off sticking to his solo albums.
The movie, Dr. T & the Women, opens nationwide tomorrow.
- Melitta George
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More information
For audio samples of these bands, go online at www.kansan.com
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2858 Our Wheel Drive • Lawrence, KS 842-8665
Mentors in the Lives of Kids Needs YOU!
Volunteers Needed!
Mentors in the Lives of Kids (M.I.L.K.) places volunteers to work with kids ages six and over. Applications are available in the Center for Community Outreach office, 426 Kansas Union. Call the CCO office at 864-4073 for more information.
Volunteer locations:
- Boys and Girls Club of
- Lawrence
- Pinckney Elementary
- Langston Hughes
Elementary
- Kennedy Elementary
- Cordley Elementary
- New York Elementary
Coordinators Needed!
Help coordinate volunteers for Mentors in the Lives of Kids (M.I.L.K.)! Applications are available in the Center for Community Outreach office, 426 Kansas Union. All applications are due by 5 p.m. on Friday, October 20. Call the CCO office at 864-4073 for more information.
The Center for Community Outreach 426 Kansas Union 864-4073