Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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Friday, October 13,1995 BASSETT What's "Strange" got to do with it? LOS ANGELES (AP) ? Filming "Strange Days" made for some strange nights for Angela Bassett. An early-to-bed type, she found the nighttime film schedule on the Los Angeles streets grueling. "There were all these people in these outrageous outfits," she said of an army of extras. "And half of them, that's the life they live. Those are the hours they're up anyway. I mean, you would think these extras would be exhausted, but they seemed to be perfectly comfortable with that after-hours kind ofliving. The film, co-staning Ralph Fiennes, revolves around a series of murders recorded on a new type of video device that allows users to relive the memories of others. Bassett, whose portrayal of Tina Turner in "What's Love Got to do With If won an Oscar nomination, said she was pleased with "Strange Days." "Just as an actress, and then as a black actress, to be this hero for the 21st century in this big action thriller, '1 '' ?i J n mat s pretty amazing axiu eAcitmg, she said. Bergie gets the Gish NEW YORK ? Ingmar Bergman's boyhood love for Lillian Gish had a happy ending: a $200,000 award from the late actress' estate. The 77-year-old Swedish director is this year's recipient of the Dorothy and Lillian Gish Prize. Gish, who died in 1993, created the honor in her will, stipulating that it go to a person "who has made an outstanding contribution to the beauty of the world and to mankind's enjoyment and understanding of life" through the arts. T 'inn Ullmann, Bergman's daughter with actress Liv Ullmann, collected the award Wednesday on his behalf. She read a statement from him thanking Gish and noting that, at age 9, Bergman fell in love with the actress after seeing her in a film. "Ever since that Monday night in March, nearly 70 years ago, I have tenderly preserved my young love for Lillian," Bergman said. Homecoming queen TULSA, Okla. ? Miss America Shawntel Smith came home to Oklahoma for the first time since winning the crown last month. "I have been counting the days until I came back to Oklahoma," the 24year-old Miss Smith told a crowd of 300 Wednesday that included her aunts, uncles and friends. Her tiny nometown 01 Muiarow on the Oklahoma-Arkansas line is throwing her a parade Saturday. The number of floats has increased from 25 to 85 in the past two weeks. "My mom told me they would have to double up the entries so it won't take two to three hours," she said at a news conference Thursday. Shut out AMHERST, Mass. ? Dave Pallone, who wrote a book about his 10 years as a gay umpire, wants his job back. "I was fired because I was gay," he told about 750 people Wednesday night at the University of Massachusetts. "If they say I retired, then I want to come out of retirement." Pallone, 44, said he was forced out of Major League baseball in 1988. He oniJ lialioon't filoH a lawsuit. hnnincr OCLLVl lie liaon w xxivv* I* *v?T? instead to persuade league officials to rehire him. His book, "Behind the Mask," was published in 1990. Pallone joined semi-retired tennis great Martina Navratilova on a panel discussion of gender and sexual orientation in sports, in observance of "National Coming Out Day." Have a snappy EaJl Break. ^Rnftcock i r<w UUif So you may not J have heard of Little Sister because they're ^B J m not Hootie, but ^B ^B fl they seem to ^B ^B ^B love "Free Love ^&^B and Nickel Beer." BEN PILLOW Asst. Features Editor H JB Bf hen a band as varB JH K ious, physically and Bn K background-wise, as B J^B Little Sister comes ^B ^B together, the next natural progression is exploring a wide range of musical directions ? a narrowing process the quartet is just now beginning to hone into one cohesive sound, lead singer Patrice Pike said. The 4-year-old band returns to Columbia next week after a year and a half absence, touring in support of their latest self-titled release. They will play at Elbow Room Wednesday. Made up of Darrell Phillips on bass, Wayne Sutton on guitar, Sean Phillips (no relation to Darrell) on drums and Pike on vocals and guitar, Little Sister has emerged from a "long period of figuring out how we could gel," to create a record that combines funk, folk and rock into one greatsounding album. "We wanted everything to be eclectic, but find a sound that keeps everything flowing," Pike said of their most recent effort. With influences from The Eagles to 7Cs funk to 'BO'S alternative, Pike admits that in the band's early stages, finding one unique sound was fairly 'Strange IohI BN * * Kgf Sk^ JiM Ralph Finnes, on-screen, stars as Sonic Yo SOUND mm ROBERT BERNSTEN Staff Writer WASHING MACHINE Sonic Youth *** (out of four stars) Sonic Youth. They get little to no airplay anywhere except on loyal college and modern rock stations. Commercial success (in Green Day terms) has eluded them over their thirteen year career. This summer tons of people shelled out $50 to see Lollapalooza only to skip Sonic Youth's set to beat traffic. To beat traffic. Simply, sadly, Sonic Youth is the definition of musical unappreciation. Washing Machine further develops Sonic Youth's musical legacy with its patented Sonic guitar layering, metronome drumming, and trade off vocals between Thurston Moore, Kim Gordon, and Lee Renaldo. While the layers of guitar merge together and then go off in their own directions, drummer Steve Shelly is the glue holding the band together. The backbone of Sonic Youth's greatness has always been the guitar, creating some of the purest and awe inspiring sounds since Jimi Hendrix. Moore, Renaldo, and Gordon fit 159 Mge difficult. The band took the entire summer off from their tireless touring schedule (they are a former HORDE act and at its height Little Sister was on the road 80 percent of the year) to complete the new record, a follow-up to their 1994 live EP "Free Love And Nickel Beer." "I love (the new album)," Pike said. "I'm so happy because we worked so hard to get it out and got next to zero help from anyone." Formerly under EMI, their selfsufficiency came as a result of the band's alienation from, and subsequent dropping of, the label. "We just didn't believe in what they were doing," Pike said. "I think, though, we came out of it really strong." Little Sister, who hail from Austin, Tex., has since signed with Rhythmic Records, a cooperative label made up of many different bands. Pike says everything has been made much easier through the switch, because the band can dictate their own actions to a much greater extent. "I think signing with a co-op label is something good for a lot of bands to do," Pike said. "If a band would get together with other bands who have a lot of similar interests, it makes everything work out better. So much is happening for us now and they're i Days': 20th Century Fox Lenny Nero in "Strange Days." uth does all have that rare quality that Hendrix had of being one with their instruments. They are not playing the guitar, they are the instrument The guitar's diversity ranges from the exact tightness of "Becuz," to the free flowing, dream sound of "The Dia mond Sea." Washing Machine is a quieter, lighter Sonic Youth album than past albums like Goo or Dirty. Even though it's been seven years since their perfection Daydream Nation, Sonic Youth keeps adding new dimensions to their sound. While REM has a different, distinct sound changing every album, Sonic Youth does the same thing with every song. "Unwind" combines Thurston Moore's gentle vocals with a soft, sweet melody. The next song, Little Trouble Girl, features guest Kim Deal's (Breeders) early (JO'S style background vocals under Kim Gordon's coming of age story. "The Diamond Sea" is the masterpiece of Washing Machine. The nineteen minute epic opens with a quiet, reserved, humble melody and slowly spreads into a guitar free for all. Refereed by drummer Shelly, the foursome eventually regroup and re c jH I fjfmWKFfc I HhkcJ Hw V wmr E&k I I mBBL K/jpH Kk' i I LITTLE SISTER all things we wanted to happen." Ironically, the band's evolution has, in a large part, come at the expense of their differences. "TTiprp's Tint, a sincrlp nprsnn flint. ~ "ww leads the band from a musical standpoint," Pike said. "We're very different people, and that's both hard and beautiful. A lot of bands break up because they can't get along, but we went through a deal where we did everything together." That trend continues now, evident is Strang LIGHTS! CAMERA! REACTION! * BOB WERTZ Staff Writer ? STRANGE DAYS I *1/2 (out of four stars) ! "Strange Days" is definitely strange. Unfortunately, it isn't any good. It has some high points. The cinematography and special effects are ? incredible. Ralph Fiennes is excellent * as the ex-cop, turned slimy black-mar- ? ket technology dealer. But nothing d could make up for the poor plot, cliche e theme, and unoriginal scripting. The whole premise of the movie v seems like it has been done before. Is- ^ sues in the film include race relations, ? the abusive behavior of the LAPD, vi- " olent lyrics in music, and virtual reality. The only original aspect of the d plot, the fact that it is set on the eve A of the new Millennium, is hardly f h laundry join in the original melody. Defying the trained verse-chorus-verses of most radio fnendly bands, there is no verbal communication past the eight minute mark. The peaceful melody lasts for a few minutes, giving the listener a false sense of mild stability. Then it all comes crashing down in a wave of distortion, finally giving way to a sudden silence. The ship lost at sea. As I sat watching Tabitha Soren giggling at Thurston Moore's jokes, a certain unpleasantness hit me. Again it was that familiar ache that unless o v?j-v. ? ? v.1 ^.4- A ounit luuui gets a oung piaoici cu across music Monopoly TV, most people will never really hear this band. While radio stations and shows boldface the A word in their billboards, the continue to neglect Sonic Youth's musical expansion and uniqueness, qualities that "alternative" used to represent. This lose-lose situation in mind, I turned off my television, opened my window, and played Daydream Nation. Maybe the kid next door, who just returned home from beating traffic, heard it too. 0 //Ji*iS\ ** ^BB^%KaP|3^^^^^y^rn|ir^w^L E^hEpbHP U^p mrnmSKSs^KuMf^t^ jH^I j^H^Mjf** * in the band's processes for coming up to1 with new material. sin "We just go into a rehearsal space gel and just play and talk about what bei each one of us wants to do," Pike said, pei As for the future, Pike said the band is planning to record another al- jus bum in nine months, another exam- arc pie of how they can set their own sched- wh ule ? something they could have never done under EMI. ba< "We're open to whatever comes," "I' Pike said. "The other day we went in ah ;er than: ouchedon. In fact, it made the movie thir eem less believable. With the year Tw 1000 less than five years away, the tec echnology and changes depicted in enc he film hardly seem realistic. goy Ignoring problems with the entire iremise of the film, the movie is still niserable. The characters, with the Jor xception of Lenny Nero, played by ^ ^iennes, lack any depth at all. An- P^ ;ela Bassett does a fair job as a limo ath [river and Lenny's best friend. Juli- em tte Lewis turns in an average per- rap irmance as Lenny's ex-girlfriend and shc wannabe rock star. Relationships beween characters are not well-devel- ^ ped and the entire supporting cast saves something to be desired. The movie is also very long, and [rags for the first hour and a half. ^ here is a good chase seen near the big nd of the film, and the film seems a sc ike its starting to build up into some- eitl WMmtUJH WUSCFM ? ALTERNATIVE 90.5 Afl 3 , 0 0 0 WATTS e.p wit Bv 1. In/Humanity da 2. The Fall * 3. Citizen Fish *g< 4. Picasso Trigger Ag 5. Air Miami 6. Don Caballero ? 7. U. Srinivas 8. Superchunk Jav 9. Antioch Arrow Cl< 10 Give Me the Cure 5 ' p. Vp |j^JflH9 HHpM write some stuff for the first time ce recording the record and we keep tting hybrids of what we've done fore. I guess well see what hap99 IS. For now, though, Pike said she is it happy to be coming back to an ia where they haven't played in a tile. "We're real excited about coming :k out to the East Coast," Pike said, hope our fans haven't forgotten out us." fi rvn Ll^llWll ig exciting. Don't be fooled, it doesn't 0 much time is spent setting up the hnological background and not >ugh time is spent on the creating d characters. The cinematography is the only mareason I can think of the attend this 1 There are some interesting firstson perspective shots and some crere special effects related to the cinatography. However, cinematogihy cannot make up for the movies irtcomings. Film something ugly 1 its still going to be ugly, no matter v well you may have filmed it. You may want to check out "Strange ys" when it comes out on video, it make sure someone else is pay. This sci-fi thriller isn't much of i-fi film and it isn't much of a thriller ler. Its just boring. In/Humanity: In/Humanity ts Killed by Robots" er one full e.p. and two split >.s, In/Humanity comes at us h a total blitzkrieg of brutality, far their best recording to te, they are only getting bet. The first song brings a fast ...UU 4UXI, ffCMVftsViHt? OWIWHIJ >nzo* style lyrics that, on the ole, bring to mind Born ainst. The first song on the 3ide is a very deep, intricately ven song with drastic anges, that has a silly, yet tremely catchy, part. The sals on this seven-inch rule, ailable exclusively at New *ar Days, 919 Sumter Street ?Brian Motizon WUSC-FM Di