The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, November 05, 2003, Page 11, Image 11
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Ryan Adams leaves country
for rock on latest release
BY DAVID BAUDER
THE ASSOCIATED I'llESS
NEW YORK - Ryan Adams
hasn’t arrived for a scheduled af
ternoon interview, sending in
stead an apologetic manager with
an explanation.
“Ryan went out last night with
Ron Wood,” the manager said.
Oh. Enough said. The bar tab
for a summit between two gener
ations of notorious rock ‘n’ roll
party animals must have ap
proached the gross national prod
uct of some small nations.
But all is not as it seems. The
next day, Adams insists it was a
low-key evening; his Rolling Stones
pal wasn’t drinking. Twin cups of
Alka Seltzer and black coffee sug
gest some recovery time for Adams.
His music is confounding ex
pectations, too. After making a
name for himself with heartfelt alt
country, Adams releases a rocking
disc Tuesday that’s even louder
and more energetic than the new
one by his buddies in The Strokes.
“All of my band shows have
been loud, rock experiences,”
Adams said. “I got tired of taking
r all my songs and reconfiguring
them into a live rock thing so I
could play electric guitar.”
Asked if many fans wece eager
to hear the change of pace, Adams
said, “I’m hearing the opposite
kind of mumbling, that I’ve totally
deserted people, deserted my craft
and (I’m) bandwagon-jumping.”
Such is life when you’ve spent
a few years on music’s most-likely
to-succeed list, since his days
fronting the North Carolina band
Whiskeytown and mostly since
2000’s “Heartbreaker,” his naked
confessional disc about a failed
love affair.
The expectations have been
there long enough for some fol
lowers to grow impatient and for
Adams, who turns 29 on
Wednesday, to question the worth
of such success.
The prolific Adams, barely able
to sit still for an interview, exudes
restless creativity. He talks about
forming his own record company
— news to his current one — to re
lease songs once a month that
don’t fit on his albums.
The album, “Rock ‘n’ Roll,” is
two weeks’ worth of work with
some friends and producer James
Barber.
“I can’t seem to show people
enough of the puzzle yet to show
them that the picture is more com
plex,” he said. “Every time I make
a record I’ve redefined who I am.
They’re not proclamations of
‘Look at me now.’ They are liter
ally one little bite.”
One interviewer described
“Rock ‘n’ Roll” as Adams holding
a mirror to his record collection,
a description he found fair.
The song “Shallow” is Nirvana
meets Cheap Trick. “So Alive”
channels early U2. Echoes of The
Smiths and Replacements turn up
elsewhere.
In a perversely funny twist, the
title cut is the quietest, most soul
baring cut on the disc. “There’s this
girl I can’t get out of my head,” he
sings, “and I don’t feel cool at all.”
For the most part, it’s Adams
having fun.
The songs lack polish but not
inspiration. Adams describes him
self as a sketch artist who’s always
working. He jokes that if he gets
hit by a bus, he’ll have more ma
terial for posthumous albums than
Tupac Shakur.
“I want as many pieces of art to
get out to as many people as will
have them,” he said. “It’s not
about how many people. It’s about
how many songs.”
Mass popularity seems to confine
many of the artists who achieve it,
he said. Through his song, “New
York, New York,” he’s already had
experience with the more disori
enting aspects of public attention.
It was about lost love—like most of
his songs — but was adopted as an
anthem for the city when released
shortly after the Sept. 11 terrorist
attacks. Adams would perform it on
TV sets inexplicably decorated by
American flags.
His record company, Lost
Highway, will love to hear all this,
just like they love it when he
blows off a round of interviews to
rehearse with his band. He said he
hates explaining himself and his
music.
“I have to defend my personali
ty all the time because people have
decided that I’m going to be some
crazy, alcoholic weirdo who’s
starting fights with Britney
Spears,” he said.
Well, it’s not as if Adams hasn’t
provided them with ammunition.
He’s lived the rock *n’ roll
lifestyle. He dates an actress (Parker
Posey, who co-wrote a song on the
new album). He memorably blew a
gasket at a Nashville concert last
year when an audience member
yelled out a request for “Summer of
‘69,” a hit song by Bryan, not Ryan,
Adams. Adams ordered the lights
on and the fan removed.
The reputation even works in his
favor: Adams says he often has a
few free hours because everyone’s
afraid to call his home before noon.
“There’s a really good chance
that in my early 20s I didn’t know •
how to function as any kind of
complex person or any kind of so
phisticated individual, or even as
an adult,” he said.
Ultimately, he said he doesn’t
want to wake up in his early 40s
and find that he’s wasted his time,
wasted his chances, acting like a
jerk.
“You pay for all the (stuff) that
you miss, all the people you neglect,
all the life lessons that you didn’t
get to learn firsthand and that
morality that gets compromised
into a little world that only func
tions in your apartment, in a rock
club and out of a bus,” he said.
“Those are not interesting things
to me,” he said. “There’s nothingto
write about in that scenario. Who
would want to be friends with that
person? I woke up.”
Candice Bergen exhibits photos
BY BEN DOBBIN
THE ASSOCIATED 1‘HESS
ROCHESTER, N.Y. - Candice
Bergen’s first photography exhi
bition will feature a candid shot of
Arnold Schwarzenegger rubbing
himself down with baby oil.
The “Murphy Brown” actress
snapped an array of celebrities,
from Charlie Chaplin to Paul
Newman, while working as a
photographer for Esquire, Life
and New York magazines early
in her career.
More than 25 pictures Bergen
shot between 1971 and 1976, includ
ing photo essays of Muhammad Ali,
the Ku Klux Klan and Black
Panther Huey P. Newton, will go on
display from Nov. 6 to Jan. 4,2004,
at the George Eastman House, the
world’s oldest museum of photog
raphy.
One is a 1976 portrait of
Schwarzenegger, the newly elect
ed California governor, in a body
builder pose. Another shows the
former Mr. Universe rubbing oil
on his arm as he gets ready for
Bergen’s photo shoot at the
Whitney Museum of American
Art in New York City.
“He was adorable, amazingly
confident and cocky,” Bergen
writes in a caption. “Funny and
flirtatious. The piece ran on the
‘Today’ show. I chose Joe Cocker’s
‘You Are So Beautiful’ to run un
der the photo montage. Today I
would probably choose ‘Hail to the
Chief.’”
Each of Bergen’s subjects is ac
companied by commentary. She
photographed Chaplin in 1972 on
his return to the United States to
receive an honorary Academy
Award. Chaplain, a British citi
zen who lived in California, was
an outspoken liberal and sup
porter of the wartime alliance
with the Soviet Union. He came
under harsh attack in the
McCarthy era and when he went
to England in the early 1950s to
film “Limelight,” his entry per
mit was revoked and he lived the
remainder of his life in
Switzerland.
“Chaplin was terribly nervous
about his return and over
whelmed by the fuss and frenzy he
caused,” Bergen wrote. “He was
• New reality TV show wants to
know: ‘Can you be a porn star?’
BY ANTHONY BREZNICAN
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
LOS ANGELES — A new reality
TV show asks the question: “Can
YOU Be a Pomstar?”
Mary Carey, the porn actress
who ran for California governor
in the recent recall election, is
among the hosts, joining fellow
adult-film stars Tabitha Stevens
and Ginger Lynn.
Silhouette Productions an
^ nounced Monday to shoot seven
“ one-hour shows, with plans to
start broadcasting on iN DE
MAND Networks and other pay
per-view channels on Jan. 8.
A group of 28 women will com
pete for a one-year contract with
a major adult video distributor
and a cash prize of $100,000.
“It’s going to be an R-rated ver
sion for pay-per-view,” Silhouette
Productions chief executive offi
cer Harry Feingold told The
Associated Press. “Obviously,
there will be outtakes that will be
hardcore,” which will likely turn
up on DVD release later.
“It’s like ‘Paradise Hotel,’ when
they go behind the scenes.
Everybody wants to know what’s
going on. Well, here you see it,” he
said, referring to the Fox network
reality series about young people
trying to seduce each other.
In each episode, four women ar
rive at a house in Los Angeles for
photo shoots, interviews and “sur
prises,” according to Silhouette.
Viewers will help pick eight final
ists for a 90-minute finale.
The statement promised “un
inhibited nudity and sizzling sex
uality,” while the show’s official
Web site said it would feature
“Real people having real sex!”
Reeves
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 10
has as much to do with the grad
ual uncloaking of the character’s
humanity as his martial-arts
mastery and superpowers,
Reeves says.
“It’s the journey of self, I guess.
You start with this kind of loner,
outside guy, which a lot of people
can relate to, and he goes out into
the world,” Reeves says. “He falls
in love, he has self-doubt, he’s
questioning the truth, reality.
He’s got great bravery about him,
^ I think.”
“The Matrix Revolutions”
leaves open the possibility of fur
ther sequels, but Reeves says the
story of Neo is complete and his
work is done.
He looks forward to showcas
ing a cheerier side in
“Something’s Gotta Give” and
“Thumbsucker,” about a teenag
er with an oral fixation on his
thumbs, which should help
break the perception that he
gravitates toward da,rk, somber
characters.
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totally childlike in his enthusi
asm. ‘Oooh, all this for me.’ The
‘Little Genius.’ He was utterly
charming and unpretentious, un
guarded and emotional.”
Bergen launched her exhibition
during a guest appearance at the
recent third annual High Falls
Film Festival, which celebrates the
work of women in front of, and be
hind, the camera.
Barenaked -
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 10
chimpanzees' and postcards,
complete with a conga-drum
breakdown. It’s a lot of fun for a
song that does not make much
sense.
Some of the more poppy
tracks like “Postcard,” “Maybe
Katie” and “Shopping” capture -
the trademark silly songwriting
style that has made the Ladies
famous.
Their only straight-ahead
rock song, “Second Best,” is still
on the lighter side of the band’s
repertoire, but has the potential
of becoming a great live song.
The recorded version is some- ’
what lacking, however. The song
just doesn’t come together quite
right on the CD.
The most surprising track on
the record is “War on Drugs." In
direct contrast to most of the al
bum, “Wtar on Drugs” is an im
passioned song written by lead
singer Steven Page about sui
cide. The song has a very somber
tone, yet it crescendos to include
some of the loudest singing Page
has done on a record. The irony
of the song is that it not only
shows the guilt that drives peo
ple to commit suicide, but also
the guilt that keeps them from
doing it. It’s a very powerful song
considering the band it is com
ing from.
Overall, “Everything to
Everyone” is another eclectic
mix of songs arid musical styling
from one of the best bands
Canada has ever produced. New
listeners who are not used to
Page’s and Ed Robertson’s lyri
cal style might have a hard time
trying to get into this record.
However, hardcore fans will eat
it up like a good plate of
Canadian bacon'.
Comments on this story?E-mail.
gamecockmixeditor@hotmail.com
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