November 11, 1997

The Cadre

Prychedele TVhostalgia

By Matthew Hennessey

Technical versus creative. That is the combative element in music today. Despite the tolerance that many musicians have shown to one another, they are human; competitive and envious. When we hear the honour of GREAT being bestowed ona musician, it usually follows the technical genius that she/he portrayed. We need not look any further than the decade that we are living in. For example, Pearl Jam is considered by some critics as a GREAT band. Stone Gossard, Mike McCready and Jeff Ament, all know how to play their axes...they are technically wonderful. Their, now deceased, hometown rivals Nirvana, would never be know asa supreme band in the realm of technique. However, they were innovators, they were creative, they changed the a of music. At least, to an extent.(I don’t want to push It).

Anartist who creates the culture and doesn’t just live in its shadow is David Bowie. Without question, an innovative, and creative musician. He jostled the limits of rock and roll into another dominion, focusing on post White Album record- ing standards and ex-centric ism that baffled the critic ofhis lyrics. Starting off simply asa folk-rock singer, his first album David Bowie is hardly unique; however, but a couple of years later, he shook the avant guarde music scene in the UK with his album Space Oddity. \t was actually released in the UK as David Bowie and this was confusing, the name changed with it’s re-release in 1971. Along with would be l ecollaborator, Tony Visconti, Bowie developed quirky sou es that su any genre of music. The title track being the most famous with, “ground control [calling] Major Tom,” was coupled with 8 other tracks of simplistic madness.

David Bowie had become an unpaired craftsperson in his art form. The early 70’s would establish Bowie as a individual ina sea of collective rock cliches. With his albums The Man Who Sold The World (1971), and The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars (1972) Bowie was indeed on the climb into unchartered territory. In 1974, he release Diamond Dogs which became his biggest hit yet, peaking at #1 in UK and #5 in US. It was full of Bowiesque confessions and Orwellian themes with tracks like “1984" and “Big Brother”. “Rebel Rebel”s echo of alienation was and the album reached out to more

le than any other Bowie album. Ziggy Stardust was far Ties his descent into death, indeed, the rise was sweet.

His influence on artists after him have been countless, and he continues to move forward instead of sticking with any formula that would keep him contained ina genre jar. Hismod attitudes have left him to a degree, as has Ziggy, but he progresses and fulfills his desire to be creative and be an innovator. It is the artist that creates society and not the other way around.

Oddity(re-released in 1971) space oddity-un- -washed’and somewhat slightly dazed-letter to hermione- cygnet committee-janine-an occasional dream-the wild

eyed boy from free cloud-god knows i'm good-morning of a free festival

fes Diamond 1974) future legend-diamond dogs- sweet thing-candidate-sweet thing(reprise)-rebel rebel- rock and roll with me-we are the dead-1984-big brother- chant of the ever circling skeletal family

bob snider to charlottetown

Bob Wiseman used to sing with his eyes closed until a salesman friend pointed out that the audience really has no reason to pay attention to him when he wasn't paying attention to them.

Since then, the polite 52 year old singer/songwriter has made eye contact with numerous audiences, bringing his words to the masses and satisfying his own personal ego. Snider brings = show to Myron's Cabaret Monday, November 17th, on a bill featuring Mae Moore and

Snider has played a number of venues for many different kinds of people, accessing a diverse audience beyond the expected folk-oriented fans as an opener for rock and roll groups.

Musically, Snider revels in the American classics, such as Cole Porter, and George Gershwin, drinking in their good word usage. Asa singer-songwriter, however, he is inevitably influenced by writing and literature, with a fondness for innovative authors such as Graham Greene and George Orwell.

In writing his music, Snider values vocabulary. "I always thought of myself as a word person. I like to get a line of music, and a line of words together." Snider also works with other forms of literature, having dabbled with poetry, short stories, travel literature, and novels. He concedes, "yeah, I guess there's a writer in me."

Oblige this entertainer with your presence. His work is pure, driven by the sheer love of one interacting with the audience. i

ith his eyes open. - KR.

ss Christian Music Corner with Marko Peric

Clay Crosse Stained Glass (Reunion/CMC)

With his third album, Clay Crosse has expanded his musical horizons with a new, somewhat edgier sound. Mind you, he hasn’t started screaming or anything so drastic, but some of the songs on this album have more of a rock feel to them, replacing the blue-eyed soul of his previous efforts. The rh li wever, is not soextreme as to alienate his established ans.

The new CD isa pleasant mix of calm, soulful tunes and more aggressive numbers. One cut almost everyone will recognize is a cover of “He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother”. Crosse does an excellent job on this song, sounding close enough to the original Hollies version, yet unique enough to be im ive.

If you’ ve listened to and liked Clay Crosse in the past, this isaCD you should get. If you haven’ t listened to him, this might be a good place to start. :

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