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Cinema review 'Slaugh ter BY DAVID SIMPSON Within the last two to three years, Kurt Vonnegut has become one of the most widely read American authors. His books have satirized just about every aspect of the American Dream and its middle-class dreamers. In "Slaughterhouse Five," Vonnegut extended his barbs to that of war; in particular, to that of the Dresden fire-bombing. Vonnegut was ac tually in Dresden at the time of the fire-bombing as a prisoner of war, and so being a writer, authored his story of the war. It is a novel expressing the futility and senselessness of war, while conveying Vonnegut's sardonic wit, pathos and way-out fantasy. The story concerns Billy Pilgrim, a young, assistant chaplain during World War II who becomes unstuck in time; that is, he jumps back and forth in his lifetime with no control over it. If this premise sounds crazy, its because it is pure Vonnegut. Now, director George Roy Hill and producer Paul Monash have successfully brought Vonnegut's madness to the screen in a mind bending, magnificent picture. Throughout the picture, Pilgrim time-trips from his upper-middle Down by the rive 'We're a BY BOB CRAFT This here record review column may appear from time to to time and the idea behind it is a simple one. That is, America turns out a lot of records each year and most of them good. Sooo, lots of good albums are going to get overlooked. (Yeah, yeah, I know it sounds a lot like the Warnes-Reprise Loss Leaders rap). Anyway, you and I know perfectly well that you are going out and scarf up the new Tull or Neil Young album despite what Rolling Stone or Crawdaddy or Creem or I have to say about it. Right? We are all prisoners of Gibson and Stromberg. So here are some rather obscure new albums that I like and want to tell you about. These guys need help more than the Stones. JIM PEPPER Pepper's Pow-Wow Jim Pepper is an Indian. He's an Indian who plays saxophone. Jim springs from the Kaw and Creek nations. Jim Pepper takes the chants of the Kaw and Creek and Hopi peoples and sets them to rock music. Helping him in this are other Peppers; Gilbert Pepper, who writes and sings; and Ravie Pepper on C Flute. The opening cut on the album is a little tune called, "Witchitai-To." The cut's basis in fact is that "Witchitai-To" is a Z IP K LEEN 1320 Main Street 1-hour cleaning C 4-hour Laundry Service A Monday - Saturday house'good i class house in Illium, N. Y., to Belgium, where he is captured by Germans, to Tralfamadore, a distant planet where he has been taken and exhibited along with a blue movie starlet named Montana Wildhack. To convey the number time changes on film would have been thought an impossible, if not a confusing task. But Hill and writer Stephen Geller have done a marvelous job at this. Through these time changes, the viewer not only experiences Billy's life, but also Vonnegut's attitude toward the middle-class society in America today. After an air crash in which Billy is the only survivor, his wife rushes to the hospital in a hilarious sequence in which she nearly destroys her car. In the process of doing so, however, she dies of carbon monoxide poisoning. When she hears of her mother's death, Billy's daughter stares in disbelief and cries, "But she drives a Cadillac!" The highlight of the film, however, is the recreation of the Dresden fire-bombing. The city of Prague was used in shots depicting the architecture of Dresden, for both cities were similar in this style. i review prisoners o Kaw religious peyote chant. The cut begins with a tom-tom being beaten and a man chanting "Whitchitai-To" chant. This continues for about a minute and a half, cold stop, and then the band starts and takes off with the singer singing the chant. The English words "What spirit feeling springing round my head-Makes me feel glad that I'm not dead" are the only deviation from the chant. The rock-jazz portion of the cut continues for about five minutes, stops cold and the tom-tom chant starts again. The album contains war chants, squaw chants and marriage chants. A very in teresting album. Oh, and for you Mahavishnu fans, Billy Cobham helps out on drums. LORI LIEBERMAN Lori Lieberman Lori Lieberman has a very sweet, clear and lonely sounding voice. She has the voice of a woman who has loved and lost, but is ready to try again. There is a stillness that runs through this album, and the style can be compared to Michel LeGrand without LeGrand's syrupmness. The overall effect of the album is somewhat European, more specifically French, with images of Charles Aznavour, and Fracoise Hardy running around. You fell in love, it was over, and you P0-BOY SPEED SI] omplete Line of Automotive Custom ecessories At Real Po-Boy Prices. 126 Assembly St. - 256-4231 OTHER LnOCA' ribbing of rr The camera captures the horror and confusion experienced when 135,000 men, women, and children were killed by Allied bombers. A young German soldier, hardly into his teens, runs through the rubble, screaming for the safety of his young love, only to find that her home is engulfed in flames. This scene encompasses the meaninglessness of war. The performances are all good, but the standout is Ron Leibman as Paul Lazzaro, a G. I. who takes it upon himself to avenge any in cident that occurs. His wild-eyed looks and manners are hilarious as he continually threatens to kill Billy Pilgrim for the death of a friend. Michael Sacks does quite well in his first role as Billy Pilgrim. MOVIE FACT SHEET TITLE: Slaughterhouse Five CAST: Michael Sacks, Ron Leibman, Eugene Roche, and Valerie Perrine as Montana Wildhack. THEATRE: Palmetto COST: $2.00, $1.75 with student discount card. Playing Dates: Sept. 22 to Oct. 5. Rating: XXXX Ratings are bassed on a four-starr system: XXXX-excellent, XXXW-very good, XXX good, XX/2-average, XX-fair, X/2-poor, X forget it. f Gibson, meet five years later in a crowded street at Christmastime. That's Lori Lieberman. Cuts include: "Killing Me Softly With His Song; "My Lover Do You Know", "Time For Me To Go." Songs wirtten and album produced by Charles Fox and Norman Gimbel. JIM WEBB Letters Speaking of lost loves, Jimmy Webb has a new album. Jimmy is the fpremost American exponent of talking and worrying about lost loves. This is his third album since he quit being "Mr. Tin Pan Alley of Hollywood" and stopped writing for guys like the Fifth Dimensions, Glen Campbell and Richard Harris. Jimmy once said in an interview that he wrote "By the Time I Get to Phoenix", "Wichita Lineman" and "Galveston" at different times of his life and under dif ferent circumstances, but by the time Glen Campbell got through with them, they all sounded the same. Technically, this is known in music circles as the "Cornelius Brothers and Sister Rose Effect" or the "Tommy James Syndrome." Jimmy gets his chance this time around. The first cut on the album is "Galveston" Jim Webb style. Or not Jim Webb style as it turns out. lop P0-BOY C and Speed The Finest Quality Tubes and Speed E Order. 2020 Gerva 'IONS IN FLORENCE AND GREE iiddle class Valerie Perrine ) ftrom berg' Instead of the acres of violins and piano backing that Webb made his in the Harris albums, he uses a single acoustic guitar and one voice, his own, for the song. A dissonent opening set of chords, then some picking, then Jimmy starts his rather simple song about a lonely soldier. Jimmy also takes pot shots at California living in his satiric and funny songs, "Once in the Morning" and "Campo de Encino." If you like the artist baring his soul and telling you how he feels, you have "Songseller" and "Catharsis." Recycle cans, bottles and paper. GIVE A HOOT DON'T POLLWTE YC -SjFEED SHOP v in Seats, Springers, Tanks, Fork quipment. Any Part Available on is St. -- 252-5103 N VILLE 0)O