ster carnival live music froi

b r i t e x p e r i e n c e

t he room 1

club tunes from

Hedord 9 co

plus Him techno fi/om

ot m e n

room 2

n d C f a s h .iphop to hardcore

om 4

C o c p l u s r e i

e l d

l i S I C

ie

music f d i i l i f i

common people

O P T A R T

b b q , girls with guns d c o r

h 21 st. 9-3vi£6 / £5 /cu

IMPkHIAL (X)LUi(Jli UNION

ST/1 574 TRAVEL

SUPPORTED BY STA TRAVEL, IMPERIAL COLLEGE TEL: 0171 SSI 8882

3 6 t 9 7 Who needs a national celebration of science, technology and engineeringP If you think

set97 is just a chance for schoolkids to build structures from spaghetti and for Tomorrow's

World to conduct experiments in mass participation... then you would be right, but set97

has a lot more to offer both scientists and non-scientists as SaLraLiD TRDEEDOOD discovers.

Chemical Cluedo, build a Balloon Buggie and

learn to play the Music of the Andes.

Elsewhere at the Exploding Custard workshop,

there were demonstrations of kitchen-table

experiments to try at home. There were sever­

al drama workshops including the People's

Planetarium where the children could become

one with the universe.

Set97 was launched in Imperial College on the

morning of Friday 14th March. Ian Taylor,

Minister for Science and Technology and HRH

the Duke of Kent were both present to open

the 1997 Technology at Work Exhibition tent on

the Queen's Lawn. The red and white mar­

quees were also the venue for BAYSday -

when 3000 schoolkids descend on South

Kensington to participate in science work­

shops organised by the British Association for

the Advancement of Science Youth Section.

Many Imperial students, especially those

involved in the Pimlico Connection, helped out

over the two days of fun-filled activity. Over

6000 visitors were estimated to have trooped

along Exhibition Road this year. For the first

time ever, BAYS had organised a family day

on Saturday, when parents were also invited

to join in the workshops.

This year there were over 20 workshops to

choose from; children were asked to solve a

Whether you're a physicist keen to know

more about genetics or a biologist fasci­

nated by technology, there are plenty of

events going on during the week in

London...and most of fhem are free!

The scientists of the future enjoying BAYSday

on the Queen's Lawn last year

This Friday 21st March, Tomorrow's World will

conduct experiments-live on BBC 1 as part of

National Science Wl ! |c in Megalab '97.

This year Tomorrow's World will be broad­

casting from the National Exhibition Centre in

Birmingham, where the first ever Tomorrow's

World Live exhibition will be in full swing. The

exhibition has the future as its theme and

from the 19th to the 23rd March will be show­

casing many of the inventions of tomorrow

including the concept car of 2096. A special

programme will be broadcast from the event

tonight and the show will go live with

Megalab on Friday.

Last year Megalab '96 investigated the

Mozart Effect, our disappearing dark skies

and the challenge of paper flight, with some

unexpected results.

A national survey of children's exam results

came to the surprising conclusion that listen­

ing to Blur made them perform better than lis­

tening to Bach. In an attempt to break the

world record for paper plane flight a viewer's

design broke the British record live on air.

Viewer's also peered through toilet rolls at the

night sky to discover that 9 out of 10 stars are

invisible from British cities.

In the final Megalab experiment of 1996, a

national phone-in confirmee! the theory of one

British biologist that babies do not look partic­

ularly like either of their parents. One contro­

versial idea is 1ha1 because of infidelity it has

neves • . a )r babies to look like

their.dads. !U

Megalab '97 is hoping to reach an audi­

ence of 18 million, vio SBC TV and Radio, the

Daily, I the Electronic Telegraph

'e web. Tomorrow's World

and the Daily 1 nave already started

a national survey of red squirrels, to update

the last big survey from 5 years ago, but you'll

have to wait until friday to find out what else

than have planned.

Full list of events on the internet: http://www.britassoc.org.uk

Nature and Nurture Whitele/s Shopping Centre, Free

An interactive travelling show looks into

the old problem of how our inherited

genes and our experiences combine to

make us who we are. Until 20th March.

Galileo pays a visit London Planetarium, cost £4.75

Galileo presents his view of the universe.

Until 20th March.

NEURO 97 Wellcome Institute, 183 Euston Rd, Free

19th and 21st Match, 2:00 pm.

Play tricks on your brain, improve your,

memory and learn some psychology at

this hands-on, brains-on exhibition.

The PiHdown Hoax - who done H? Linnean Society, Burlington House

20 March, 4:30 pm, cost £1:00

Debate about one of the longest running

frauds in scientific history.

SFTW j[i;;Sf/ll

3 JM.If!

• The Visible Human Project 20 March 6:00pm Phone 0171 412 7114

Dr Ackerman from the National Library of

Medicine, USA talks about the project to

build a digital library of internal sections of

the entire bodies of a human male and

female.

Visit the stars University of London Observatory

21st March 7:00-10:00 pm

A chance to visit a working observatory

and view the heavens.

Science in the 17th century Museum of London, cost £4:00

21st March 1:10 pm

Find out why doctors were called

'Sawbones' and how people discovered

they couldn't sail off the end of the earth

300 years ago.

the golem and other stories

STAYING IN LONDON OVER EASTER?

NEED TO EARN SOME MONEY?

BUT DON'T WANT TO COMMIT YOURSELF TO A FULL TIME JOB?

I'm looking for 15 Conference Operations Staff for one week from Sunday 6

April - Are you interested?

The rate of pay is good, the work is demanding but rewarding and it will give

you a good opportunity to network with a selection of visiting, international

academics

If the position interests you please give David a call on 49506 or call into the

Conference Office, Watt's Way, Princes Gardens for an informal chat.

The Drama Society's production of Edward II proved excit­

ing and moving, and a credit to all those who took part.

Christopher Marlowe's play revolves around the down­

fall of King Edward, brought about by jealously, envy,

social disunity and unrequited love. Edward's father dies

and after taking the throne Edward decrees that his lover,

Gaveston, exiled by his late father, is to be allowed back.

Overjoyed at his return, Edward bestows certain titles

upon him - an act which is not well received by the exist­

ing earls of Edward's court. This leads to a rebellion led by

the Younger Mortimer and the Earl of Lancaster, aided by

Edward's French wife, Isabella, who deeply resents

Gaveston's role in Edward's life. A civil war in England fol­

lows, with Edward determined to stand firm on his deci­

sions, though unable to win due to his generous and for­

giving nature.

Losing all hope of ever gaining Edward's true affection,

Isabella turns to the Younger Mortimer for love. Through

Isabella's treachery, Gaveston is captured and killed by

the young and bloodthirsty Earl of Warwick. Grief-stricken

and desolate, Edward captures the rebel earls and con­

demns them to death. They are taken to the Tower, but

Edward is again betrayed, this time by his brother, who

frees the Younger Mortimer and the Earl of Lancaster.

These two head for France, and together with Isabella

lead an attack on Edward. Eventually, the King is captured

and forced to abdicate. His son is appointed to the throne

and Mortimer is named the Royal Protector. Edward is

subsequently brutally murdered at the orders of Mortimer

and it seems that all is lost. However, Mortimer's plan

backfires when the new King shows he is the true son of

Edward and not easily deceived. He orders Mortimer put

to death and confines his traitorous mother to the Tower,

leaving him to rule justly.

The play succeeded thanks to an outstanding perfor­

mance by Richard Webb, as Edward. Unfortunately, this

was somewhat marred by the weaker acting of

both the supporting actors and the other leads.

Scenes where "the King" was involved flowed well and the

audience found it easy to empathise with his tragic situa­

tion. A minimal use of stage props and sets focussed the

audience's attention on the content of the play, which

gave Webb the scope to fully experiment with the role of

Edward.

The Younger Mortimer was well acted for the most part

but Mike Wyer, who played the role, was sometimes

unable to convey inactivity well, often over-dramatising

both his presence and his lines. Matthew Williams as

Gaveston gave a fairly uninspired performance, although

he did communicate a certain joie-de-vivre with his

unconventional attitude and bohemian delivery methods.

Humour in the play was mostly ignored by the actors

and their comic timing was out. Some of the poignancy of

Edward's tragedy was hence lost. Unfortunately, the

unorthodox music employed emphasised the amateur

nature of the play rather than highlighting specific moods

and feelings, often confusing, not clarifying, the scenes.

The peripheral actors frequently detracted from the

main body of the play, in particular some of the earls who

should have been strong in order to carry out their das­

tardly deeds.

On the whole the play worked well but some of the

more progressive, and seemingly last-minute, scenes jilt­

ed on the nerves when juxtaposed with the more serious

and possibly more dramatically charged parts. It may

have been better for the directors to stick to a more tradi­

tional approach and so give Marlowe's play the pathos it

deserves.

It was obvious that the entire cast and crew had put a

great deal of effort and time into the production and it

paid off. Edward II was a pleasure to watch and enjoyed

by all those who saw it. Kelly, David, Jiten, Maria

Edward II Drama Society

S F T W

1 0 8 3 / 1 1

198397

If Bach's setting of the St.

Matthew's Passion can not cap­

ture the significance of the cru­

cifixion of Jesus then nothing can; indeed the programme

informed us that we "shall be music-proof if we sit

through the Passion in the vernacular unmoved". Even

with the help of Bach, by performing one of THE greatest

choral works ever written, conductor Eric Brown set IC

Choir yet another near impossible task in trying to bring

across the importance of such an event to a presumably

largely agnostic audience.

Further difficulties were posed by the aesthetically and

to some extent acoustically challenged venue of the Great

Hal, an inappropriate venue for such a religious work

although the organisers did look for a church to hold the

concert in. Alas, a large portion had to be cut. The editors

could have exercised a little bit more care and sensitivity.

It is hard not to expect an extremely high standard from

the choir; fortunately they were up to the deceptively high

demands that this work makes on them. It did, however,

take a little time before they really sounded at ease. The

opening number was a little shaky (the dubious tuning

and hesitancy of the sopranos fortunately proving to be

an exception to the rule), with the various lines, including

the chorale sung by members of the City of London School

for Girls and Putney High School Choirs not being easy to

JS Bach: St Matthew Passion discern Overall I |Q CilOlf COHdUCtCd by ENC BrOWH found the balance a

little top heavy. This hardly distracted those moments,

especially in the chorales, of exceptional beauty and

depth of feeling. With such exposed music, especially the

unaccompanied chorale which comes after the death of

Jesus, it is almost impossible not to have one or two

areas of dodgy tuning or entries, but these were unbeliev­

ably few.

As for the other performers: the soloists coped with their

monumental roles admirably, although most of them

seemed to be uncomfortable with the tempo. Neil

MacKenzie sung the Evangelist with conviction and

impressive technique. It might have helped the overall

structure of the work if he had given a more spoken deliv­

ery in some places. This leads on to my only criticism of

Eric Brown's conducting: there wasn't enough of a feeling

of continuity. Often this is a case of simply moving on

smoothly from one number to the next (or from solo or

orchestral passages to choral ones).

I was also a little disappointed by the orchestra at

times: this was a case of lack of rehearsal time and not

ability. Only the previous Friday, Imperial College

art and theatre

Symphony Orchestra proved that a non-professional

orchestra can play so much better than one made up of

professional players when given adequate rehearsal

time. I don't think that I am alone in wishing that one day

the choir would rehearse more with their orchestra, espe­

cially in such demanding works. Frankly, their standard of

singing demands and deserves it.

Stephen Tarlton

St Nicholas Do you enjoy attending lec­

tures? What about being

put on the spot by the lec­

turer? Would you be willing

T I l P R l l C h T h O O f f D 1 ° P a y for such an event? What if there was a bar I I I C D U O I I I I I G d l l C r j g h t d o w n s t a j r s from t h e | e c t u r e h a | | ? A nttle more

appealing maybe? Or perhaps not.

Strange as it may sound, this is the most accurate way

to describe my experience while watching St Nicholas.

Although it begins with the promising premise of a drunk­

en Irish theatre critic telling the tale of his reckless life, dis­

appointment hits hard with the realisation that this is all

the play has to offer. No more. Just one man (with a mys­

terious intermittent Irish accent, no less) delivering his per­

sonal verbal memoirs to a highly captive audience.

No action, no sets. Well, to be fair, there is one wooden

chair, which the critic rests his old bones in periodically.

Sound exciting? Well, apparently I wasn't the only one

who failed to appreciate such a cosy scene. To complete

the lecture-like atmosphere, there was no shortage of

heavy eyelids or bobbing heads jerking to drowsy atten­

tion. It seems that the only reason any effort was made to

stay awake was out of respect for the actor, whose pierc­

ing glare easily evoked looks of shame from those caught

napping.

If, after this glowing review, you still decide to attend

this production as some sort of character-building experi­

ence, don't forget to grab a seat near the door to beat the

mad rush to the bar at intermission. You'll need it.

Tracey

The Gutting Edge: Fifty Years of

British Fashion at the Van The Cutting Edge is the first major exhibition to celebrate

British fashion and its development

from the austere post-war era to

the latest collections hot of the cat­

walk by some of the top names in

British fashion such as Vivienne

Westwood, Jean Muir, Norman

Hartnell and the distinguished

Saville Row tailors. British

fashion used to be a con­

tradiction in terms, particu­

larly on the continent. Ifs

only in the last few years

that the French, the Italians

etc have sat up and start­

ed to take note of British

designers and their cre­

ations. Now some of the

French Houses are actually j

led by Britons such as the

wacky Alexander

McQueen.

The exhibits are classed

into four major themes -

Romance, Tailoring, Bohemian and Country.

Understandably the most popular was the Romance sec­

tion, showing a magnificent display of evening wear and

several extravagant, over-the-top wedding dresses.

Looking at some of the befurbelowed dresses such as the

Seashell one by John Galliano, I came to the conclusion

that I definitely prefer clean lines with no frills such as the

gorgeous Birdswing dress by Antony Price. Gentlemens'

evening wear by contrast was elegant, discreet, under­

stated, in short the epitome of a British gentleman.

I was particularly struck by Utility wear, suits commis­

sioned by the government during and immediately after

the War. The aim was to create designs as smart as pos­

sible to cheer up the British people,

tired of the hardships any war

brings, whilst still conserving mater­

ial. The result was a collection of

hardwearing suits which were

extremely well cut if a little drab.

Only one word can describe the

Bohemian section: Odd!

Flamboyant draping and

i colours abound. Ifs no

| longer a person wearing

the clothes, but the clothes

j definitely wear the person.

Quite frankly, I began to

I wonder whether the exhi­

bition was achieving its

aim of promoting the

British fashion industry. I

• heard a French group

j gasp in horror at the sight

i of a trouser suit in a fetch­

ing tone of violet with vio-

i i f l E T let and orange ruffles

down the front! And although most of the designs are

high fashion, donated by the designers themselves, some

of these creations have been worn by real people!

All in all the exhibition is a success. The evening dress

and ball gowns are an absolute delight and men's suits,

apart from some misguided flares dating from the terrible

Seventies, excellent. If you want to see the infamous heels

that brought Naomi Campbell to her knees on the cat­

walk, you know where to go.

I came away everlastingly grateful that I shall never be

subjected to the fashion mistakes of that decade. When

they got it wrong, boy, did they make a mess of it! Emma

art and theatre

In 1996, a deadly virus wipes out five billion people -

and the survivors are forced underground as the

surface of the planet becomes uninhabitable

In 2035 a convict, John Cole (Bruce Willis) is

'volunteered' to return to 1996 to recover clues

that may lead scientists to find the source of

the virus and allow humans to once again

live above ground. Unfortunately, time-travel

has not been exactly perfected and he finds

himself sent to 1990 where he is, unsurprising

ly, incarcerated in a mental institution where

he meets a doctor (Madeleine Stowe) and

a fellow patient (Brad Pitt) who may or

may not appear in a dream he has had

since childhood. Or is it just a dream, did it actually—

happen? As Cole is catapulted from one year to the next,

he begins to doubt his sanity, and begins to believe

he is delusional after all.

The film, it has to be said, takes a pretty

fatalistic view of the future but it is not with­

out the mad humour you would expect

from the director Gilliam. As ever, his film

is amazing to look at, the attention to detail

and wonderful set design dazzling. Willis

shows that he can actually act but unfortunate­

ly Pitt lets the side down by acting as if he has

had an overdose of caffeine. If you missed it in the

cinema this is a chance to see one of the best films of

last year and even if you did see it, the video

allows you to appreciate the convoluted and intel­

ligent plot.

12 Monkey is currently available to buy on video Katie

Volume 21

Comes the Inquisitor

Jack the Ripper arrives on B5 as a servant of the

Vorlons to tesfDelenn's and Sheridan's commitment td*

The Fall of Night

All go for the end of season episode as Earth takes

sides, the Nightwatch becomes more aggressive,

Sheridan offers sanctuary to a Nam warship, and Kosh

finally leaves his encounter suit to save Sheridan's life.

the war ahead. Very little else of note happens but he

conflict belween Delenn and the inquisitor is more than

enough to carry the entire episode.

Unlike other series this thankfully doesn't end on a

deliberate cliffhanger episode which means that things

happen thick and fast building up to suitable climax for

the series with the Shadow war now underway.

B5 Vol. 21 is released to buy from 24th March s p o o k y

MAIL BOXES ETC. After Finals ...

The Cramming Begins! Having trouble getting your stuff home from college?

Let Mail Boxes Etc.® pack and ship it for you.

From computers and stereos to boxes of books and

furniture, Mail Boxes Etc. handles your shipments with care.

MBE can pack and ship just about anything.

COPIES FAX PACKAGING STAMPS

el to, el to, el to. ETC, ETC, ETC.

28 O l d Brompton

Road,

South Kensington,

London . S W 7 3 D L

<<q| Te l : 0171 581 2825

Fax: 0171 581 4851

MAIL BOXES ETC:

10% off all Stationery

Valid at 28 Old Brompton Road.

Until May 1997

Also released:

The English Patient

(March 14th)

Nominated for 12 Oscars

including best-picture, best-

actor and best-actress, this is

a classic period romance. But

were not in Merchant Ivory

territory as Ralph Fiennes

lies dying, horribly burned,

narrating the story of his

affair with Kristen Scott-

Thomas to a Canadian Nurse

(Juliette Binoche). Adapted

from the Booker prize-win­

ning novel by the director

and sumptuously shot

against the bag drop of the

Sahara desert.

The Empire Strikes Back/

Return of the Jedl

(11th and 25th April)

Released and restored like

Star Wars the sequels don't

really contain new scenes in

the same way that Star Wars

does but are still worth see­

ing on the big screen. TESB

is the best of the trilogy but

ROTJ does get a bit annoying

with the irritatingly cute

Ewoks.

William Shakespeare's

Romeo and Juliet

(28th March)

The latest version of the

most famous love story

updates the action to the

gang-culture of LA with

Verona becoming Verona

Beach, swords become guns,

and rhyming couplets

become street slang.

Leonardo Di Caprio and

Claire Danes, supposedly

two of the finest actors of

their generation, are the

doomed titular characters

and the whole thing is

directed like an MTV music

video. Surprisingly this high

octane approach works mak­

ing this truly a Shakespeare

for the 90s.

Dante's Peak is an idyllic com­

munity in North Western USA

which has just been voted the sec­

ond best place to live in the US but

unfortunately it also happens to

nestle at the foot of a dormant vol­

cano.

The film stars Pierce Brosnan as

the vulcanologist Harry Dalton who

predicts that the long-dormant vol­

cano is about to 'go up'. Linda

Hamilton stars as Rachel, the

mayor, caught between those who

believe that the mountain poses no

threat and Harry's warnings of dis­

aster. Her dilemma is accentuated

by the signing of an agreement with

a millionaire who has selected

Dante's Peak as the site of his latest

investment - a deal that will sub­

stantially boost the local economy.

Needless to say, Harry is right.

During a town meeting, the auditori­

um is rocked by a series of powerful

earthquakes, and an ash cloud

forms over the mountain, but this is

merely the volcano 'clearing its

throaf before the real eruption.

To sum up Dante's Peak

would be Twister with volcanoes

Computer generated smoke,

ash and lava combined with

models and onset effects create

the film's volcanic eruption with

the aid of the producer of such

films as Aliens, The Abyss and

the Terminator films. The visual

effects are gob-smacking, doing

for volcanoes what ID4 did for

aliens and Jurassic Park did for

h i

•

dinosaurs. Dante's Peak is a disas­

ter movie - buildings collapse and

death looms everywhere.

However, the audience is made to

more or less forget about the dying

people in the community and con­

centrate instead on Harry and

Rachel's desperate attempt to res­

cue her children who have driven

(yeah, right!) up the mountain to

evacuate their grandmother - a

stubborn women who refuses to

leave her home. Despite the fact

that the odds are against Harry

and Rachel most of the way

through the film, the audience

knows that they will emerge as

survivors at the end of it all.

Pierce Brosnan more or less

reprises his 007 role in Goldeneye

but boy, does he do it well! Overall,

both the leads come across as

being worth rooting for and are

more than a means of delivering

us the next set piece.

There is the odd cliche in this

film: Hamilton as the single mother

trying to balance her family

w and professional responsibili-

_ ties, and the dog which is fast

^Pllll becoming obligatory in films of

this type.

Dante's Peak has something

for everyone: romance (as Harry

and Rachel get up close and

personal), humour and comput­

er trickery that excites and thrills

like a white-knuckle ride.

Dante's Peak is released on

28th March. Jenny

The great triumph of the book Fever Pitch by Nick

Hornby was to explain the obsession that grips some

people over football in a way that was accessible to peo­

ple who had no interest in the game. The great disap­

pointment of the film is that the makers have decided that

the great majority of the public cannot handle a film solely

about a man's obsession with a football club. I have to

admit I have read the book and enjoyed it a lot so per­

haps my disappointment is inevitable, but the film bears

little resemblance to the book, save in name.

After many desperate attempts to entertain his children

on his access visits, Paul Ashford's divorced father takes

him to see his club Arsenal play. Paul is immediately

enthralled by the whole experience and soon his enthusi­

asm for the club has overtaken his fathers. Years later,

Paul (Colin Firth) becomes an English teacher but finds that

his fixation with the club interferes with his personal and

professional life. The film focuses on his relationship with

a fellow teacher Sarah and the build up to the 88/89 First

Division Championship.

The focus on the relationship with Sarah is the main

drawback of the film. The makers obviously put the

romance in to appease women who may be dragged

along by their boyfriends to see it. But it is so cliched, par­

ticularly Sarah's 'look at me, aren't I crazy?' best friend that

it becomes very irritating, and the football side of it suffers

because of it. The explanations of the nature of the pas­

sion and addiction of fans which were so eloquent and

interesting in the book are reduced to a few vague voice-

overs. There are some nice touches in the film however -

one of the first times we see an adult Paul is when he is

coaching his school team in the art of Arsenal's offside

appeal - and the climactic game of the season is undeni­

ably exciting, even if you don't support Arsenal (and I'd

like to make it clear that I don't.)

You can see why the filmmakers thought that they

needed to make the appeal of the film more universal,

but in doing so they have removed the passion of the

original book and produced a lightweight film that would

look belter on TV than in the cinema. Ifs not so much

Fever Pitch as Caught-A-Slight-Chill Pitch.

Fever Pitch is released on 4th April. Katie

film

Twenty years after it first came out Star

Wars: A New Hope is back. Revamped,

updated and with several minutes of

extra footage this special edition is

apparently closer to George Lucas* initial

vision.

The original print which had faded

and decayed was restored frame-by-

frame by hand and the sound track has

been recorded digitally to take advan­

tage of the new |Bund system;<-f

today's cinemas. Restoring the print was

not the only c h a | | e made,; many of the

special effects h ive been touched up by

computer to make the dogfights faster

and more realistic and many of the ft.-

, . . - : • *

fixed But probably the most sign:!icanl cha

addition of several new scenes. The space;

Tatootne, Mos Eisely, has been expanded I

'.fco 'tf' ,'<->v (>r, - of scum a:id vii '-.re­

posed to be. Most surprising of all Is the oc

scene between Han and Jabba Itie Hult b*

Mos Eisely for Mdcraon. When if was ongk

planned to add Jabba as a model or pupp

duction but due to budgetary restrictions h<

Now the scene has been re

a comr- ter i rated Jabba who

is even abN . * i u'a < i aiiy

with Solo 1 : s - z'a\ more

small bits here and there such as

more shots of Ihe stormtroopers

searching the desert for the droids,

and some extra aliens have been

generated for the carttirta scene.

Most of the changes won't really be

apparent to those who hasn'1 seen

it many times not that this really

matters as the missing scenes don't

add anything significant that we

i g fr

<now The two photographs

ie difference between the

'ersion, the bottom photo

~i Special Edition, note the

-it-.- - • , o

History.

is probably one of the most

^fining moment in cinematic

77 as cinema attendances

were falling, the release of Star Wars sin-

glehandedly turned around the whole

industry the ramifications of which are still

being feit today. It established the con­

cept of the blockbuster on which so many

•H'S ' ' have been based, c.-c

notably it marked the beginning of the

ascendence of special effects. Today

t and Magic, the company set up by Lucus

•Aou Iht i.-thr.irw: i

ader in special affects responsible for nearly

special effects, from the dinosaurs of

o the tornadoes of Twister..

more than iusl special effects. The semi-

;toryline (developed more In the sequels

e-released In April); the sheer presence of

)robably the best movie villain ever created;

combined wilh Lucas's highly visual

and innovative directive style, has

made Star Wars one of the best

film ever made. Although The

Empire Strikes Back is the best of

the pn son* -riSog'j St: • ar? is

unrivalled for sheer entertainment

value The opportunity to see these

fiims on a large screen with digital

sound is art opportunity than no-

one can really afford to miss.

Star Wars. The Special Edition is

released on 21st March spooky

The story of artist Jean-Michel Basquiat, this is an inter- ts

esting but ultimately unsatisfying film. When the story

begins, Basquiat (Jeffrey Wright) is seen sleeping in a

cardboard box in Central Park. During the day he

mooches around New York City sometimes writing

obscure graffiti on the wall ('Build a fort, set it on fire'). He

hangs out with his friend Benny (Usual Suspect Benicio

Del Toro) and does soft drugs with him, and pursues the

improbably beautiful waitress Gina (Claire Forlani). After a

chance meeting with Andy Warhol (David Bowie, yes that

David Bowie) where he manages to sell him some post­

cards he has painted, his career suddenly takes flight and

before long he is the darling of the New York art scene,

with everyone wanting a piece of him. But he is plagued

by insecurities - he is unsure whether all his success is

because of his colour (he was the first African-American

artist to be internationally renowned.) He forges a strong

friendship with Warhol but manages to alienate most of

his other friends as his drug habit becomes worse.

The writer/director Julian Schnabel, portrayed onscreen

by Gary Oldman, was a close friend of Basquiat and as a

i director he proves to be adept. Unfortunately his writing

has let him down. He fails to satisfactorily explain what

was going on in Basquiat's mind and what led to his pre­

mature death. The performances of the whole cast are

very good, but there are so many cameos by well known

faces (Willem Dafoe and Dennis Hopper, amongst others)

that you get the feeling they were cast purely in order to

finance the film and they tend to distract you from the fact

this was a true story. In a very brief but clumsily written

cameo, Christopher Walken is wasted as an interviewer

whose job seems to be just to fill in the details that

Schnabel felt unable to film. The great surprise is that

Bowie is actually quite good as Warhol, his woodenness

and mannerisms which have made his previous screen

performances almost unbearable to watch actually suit

his portrayal. While Schnabel shows that he is able to put

some nice images on screen, you get the feeling that with

a different writer, a much more satisfying and meaningful

movie could have been made.

Larger than Life

(28th March)

Bill Murray stars in this

not very funny comedy as a

salesman who inherits an

elephant from his father (a

clown) and for some reason

proceeds to take the animal

on a road trip across

America.

The People Vs. Larry Flynt

(11th April)

Milos Forman's Oscar-

nominated biopic has

Woody Harrelson as the

Hustler publisher (Larry

Flynt) whose porn empire

caused no end of offense in

1970s America before a

sniper's bullet landed him

in a wheelchair. Support

comes Courtney Love who

gives a career best perfor­

mance as his drug addicted

wife and from Edward

191397

Norton who stars as Flynt's

whizz kid lawyer.

Everyone Says I Love You

(18th April)

This year's Woody Allen

film is yet another light,

fluffy romantic comedy set

in New York. Paris and

Venice except this time its a

musical. Allen is the bloke

who goes into therapy to get

the lowdown on the would-

be love of his life. Also star­

ring Julia Roberts, Alan Alda,

Goldie Hawn and Edward

Norton.

The Saint

(April)

Val Kilmer takes over

Roger Moore's role as secret

agent Simon Templer, and

Elisabeth Shue is a scientist

whose life is put in danger

when she apparently discov­

ers the secret of a Russian

billionaire's plan to take

over the world or some­

thing.

Basquiat is released on 28th March Katie

film

The Oscars

Also don't miss the Oscar

ceremony on live in the wee

small hours of the night on

23rd March. (Though there

will most likely be high­

lights later in the week.)

The British are out in

strength this year with the

English Patient getting 12

nominations (although it is

debatable how British a pic-

After years of

dominating the

animated film

market Disney

finally are up

against some

sterner opposition

from Warner Bros.

' The Looney Tune creations of

Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Wile E

Coyote, Marvin the Martian, Elmer Fudd et al. Have

always been infinitely better than Disney's Mickey Mouse,

Goofy Donald the Duck, etc., and finally Warner Brothers

ture it is) including nods for have seen fit to release their antics onto the big screen.

Ralph Fiennes for best actor The evil Swackhammer (voiced by Danny DeVito) needs

and Kristen Scott-Thomas new attractions for his theme-park/planet and so sends

for best actress. Brenda his servants, the Nerdlucks, to Earth where Looney Tunes

Blethyn (Secrets and Lies) is a sub-dimension or something. As the aliens are rather

and Emily Watson (Breaking short on stature Bugs challenges

the Waves) are also nominat- them to a game of basketball

ed for best actress. Mike to decide if they stay on Earth or

Leigh (Secrets and Lies) for if they are enslaved for all eter­

nity. The rather grouchy gang of

space creatures, however, have the ability to

absorb new skills. They consequently pro­

ceed to siphon off all the talent of several of

the NBA's top players. This turns them into the

rather large, mean, nasty Monstars who threaten

to totally crush the Looney Tunes. Faced with the

prospect of eternal slavery Bugs enlists the help of a cer­

tain former NBA star turned baseball player, Michael

Jordan. With his coaching the

Looney Tunes might just stand a

chance against

far superior

opposition.

Seamlessly

urn

best director and John

Hodge gets a best adapted

screenplay nomination for

Trainspotting.

Besides the Tom Cruise

190397

blending live

action with 2D

and 3D anima­

tion Space Jam

star vehicle Jerry McGuire

there are very few big holly-

wood films up for the main

categories, with the signifi­

cant absence of any nomina­

tions for Evita. Instead

smaller independent films

such as Shine and The

English Patient have swept

the board. Up for best pic­

ture are The English Patient

Fargo. Jerry McGuire. Secrets Trojan Eddie is a Channel Four film which stars Stephen

and Lies and Shine. Rea as Trojan Eddie', a wheeler-dealer who sells goods

No doubt Bazza will be on a market stall for John Power (Richard Harris). Eddie

there to give us his views on aspires to have a business of his own but has insufficient

how the awards are distrib- capital to do so. Instead, he is trapped in a job where he

uted from some obscure flogs goods through the same routine and making the

restaurant because the BBC same cracks, and his wife, Shirley, left him to look after

don't have enough clout to their two children and comes and goes as she pleases.

get him a ticket and he's not Power becomes infatuated with Kathleen, a young trav

well known enough in LA to eller girl who is old enough to be his grand-daughter. On

marks the suc­

cessful debut of

•he Looney Tunes

team to the big

screen. Although,

ultimately the

animation can't

quite reach

Disney standards the characters

all have decades of familiarity

with the audience (for those that are old enou

unlike Disney who strangely seem to be maki

seem more realistic, the Looney Tunes are free to utilise

the full potential of animation. The animators thus have

had free reign to develop as many wacky ideas as they

can which is ultimately what the Looney Tunes are about.

This, results in some truly hilarious and original moments,

notably a Yosemite Sam and Porky Pig

spoof of Pulp Fiction.

Unfortunately, it is not until the

big-match actually starts about

two-thirds of the way in does

the film really kicks into high

gear. Ultimately, there is too

much dependence upon

Michael Jordan to drive the nar-

i t k rative. He may be able to play a bit

of basketball but acting is not one of his strong

soints. Despite Ihis he is lumbered with too much to

do, and not confined just to the basketball, and you can

even fell his discomfort, especially given that he would

have been acting to thin air with

the animation drawn in later.

K Fortunately, it is

very funny

throughout which

serves to balance

Jordan's discom­

fort. Space dam is

released on 21 si

March s p o o k y

be invited to any of the

after-ceremony celebrity

bashes.

the night of their wedding, Kathleen runs off with Dermot

who is Eddie's assistant and Power's nephew. They take

with them the £11,000 dowry money which the wedding

guest have deposited in the traditional suitcase. Eddie

helps the couple escape and Power suspects that Eddie

knows their whereabouts. He asks Eddie to tell Kathleen

that he will take her back any time.

Audiences will not flock to the cinema to see this con­

temporary story set in rural Ireland. The film focuses on a

community of travellers which is a society little known by

cinema goers. The story proceeds at a slow and unevent­

ful pace until the violent climax and a refreshing twist

where the hero's luck changes. The slogan on posters

promoting the film read "Dying for love is one thing. Living

to tell the tale is another". Trojan Eddie is a tale of deluded

love: Eddie is loved by his partner Betty but Eddie is still in

love with his wife, Shirley; John Power loves Kathleen but

she loves Dermot but Dermot just wants Kathleen

because his uncle wants her - hearts flutter but there's not

much passion there.

Stephen Rea spends the majority of the film with a

deadpan expression and badly needs to smile in order to

make him more likeable to the audience. He is hardly a

crowd drawer and makes for an unlikely hero. John

Power is clearly not a man to be messed with and

Richard Harris gives a fine performance (although one

has to admit that he is past his sell-by-date in terms of

attracting audiences). In short, the cast does its best but

the material provided is to be quite frank, unriveting.

Trojan Eddie is released on 21st March Jenny

film

Trans Am arrive with the baggage of a great deal of criti­

cal acclaim around their necks, and a lot of expectations

to live up to. Initially, they seem up to the challenge,

Cologne is sublime, all warm Arabic squiggles and deft

drumming. But further into the set, it becomes apparent

that they intend to turn songs that are mind-cleansing on

record into a forceful aural enema. Many of the electronic

washes of tracks like American Kooter and //legalize It are

forsaken all too quickly for sub-Fugazi hardcore, with the

guitarist throwing bad shapes, cheeks blown out with

effort. He looks like the ultimate garage geek, his moment

in the spotlight tarnished by too many years playing to no-

one but his band mates. Talking to bassist Nathan before

the show, it transpired that they had indeed spent many

garage years in a backwater of suburban Washington.

Sharing a love of early Van Halen and AC/DC (particularly

apparent on tracks like Enforcer and Carboforce tonight),

Nathan confessed to receiving some inspiration from acts

like Aphex Twin and Autechre, and indeed from anyone

willing to mess around with the accepted conventions of

musical form. Seventies jazz-funk guitar also gets hon­

ourable mention, and this collision of styles works

perfectly on current album Surrender To The Night,

but tonight it's just plain messy. I get the feeling

that the curious sounds coming from the album

are as much happy accident as the result of

perspiration/inspiration (in whatever proportions). When I

suggested that the structural spontaneity of some of the

songs pointed towards a sense of improvised genius, he

seemed keen to blame it on a simple lack of preparation.

Modesty not withstanding, there is an inkling that a bad

gig means little more than an unproductive afternoon's

rehearsal, easily solved by a couple of beers. For a band

so filled with ambition on vinyl, Trans Am display a star­

tling lack of it in the flesh. In many ways this is an endear­

ing quality (and Nathan is nothing if not endearing), and

yet a directionless band can never inspire live.

Apparently, after a short European tour the band intend to

go back to a purpose built studio in the States to record

their third album. Be grateful they're not planning a live

album just yet.

Norm

Trans Am

Ifs about time America sent us over a great band. After

all, we gave them Bush, Republica

and even the Spice Girls and yet

the best they've managed recently

is a ska-punk band who get to

Number 1 with a pop ballad (No

Doubt about who I'm referring to,

I'm sure you'll agree). Thankfully,

Live are here, fresh from selling

nigh on 10 million copies of their

second album Throwing Copper,

better described as the glorious

sound of REM playing heavy rock

and one of the albums of 1994.

Given the splendour of that

opus it would not have been too

much of a surprise if Secret Samadhi had turned out to be

a monumental disappointment. That this is in no way the

case is a testimony to the song-writing brilliance of this

Pennsylvanian quartet.

New single (and a top 30 one at that) Lakini's Juice

proves the point perfectly. It has everything - a gargantu-

GIG+INTERVIEW

Dingwalls SINGLES

cake-the distance

A cracking track that com­

bines the Beastie Boys'

aggressive rhythms with a

quirky lead singer who is

helped along with some

inventive brass playing.

solar race-my enemy Sounding very similar to

Hole, this band have

released a grungy tune

that would have fit right

in with the whole Riot

Crrl thing.

Live ALBUM

an guitar riff, beautiful orchestral strings, wrenching vocals

courtesy of Ed Kowalczyk and a final

chorus that is begging to be shouted

by thousands of people at Live

gigs everywhere. Elsewhere, the S6Cr6l $31113(1111 likes of Rattlesnake, Craze and

Heropsychodreamer continue

the 'semi-acoustic verse, all-electric

chorus' formula to great effect, while

Turn My Head and in particular Ghost

are totally gorgeous slabs of

American melancholia. If there's a

fault, ifs that the album is a little

"same/ ' and that the last Iwo songs,

Merica and Gas Hed Goes West,

sound like mere add-ons compared

to the other ten almost-masterpieces. But this is a minor

quibble, especially when you contemplate the possibility

of Live performing such great songs when they play here

in April. Lefs hope that they really live up to their

name...(8)

Vik

dinosaur Jr.-take a TUB at

the sun

it can't be the same

Dinosaur Jr. that I've

come to know. There is a

real Beach Boys feel to

this but it keeps its origi­

nality with J.Mascis's

unique voice.

Nick Cave's career has been a gradual calming down from an original position of incanaj from then, whilst still dark arvg focused, certainly musicc more songs started te evil at all. Some of the they were Nickb i in the midsfs oTaepravrt change was clear. Now Nil his latest album is not i for the world, but is actuallynovSpHHBk

It is still easily recognisable asf^gflB^usicoiiy not dissimilar to The Goo,. jim n • oice unmis takable. The subject mc • '• -

reflective songs about to - * • ' < ^WnifflH

ortunately nothing too< I I I

;ubject of the album's He*' ' •• '*' • - c >eautifui song which sounds somewhere between a con-entional hymn and &ec | r * j ., •' - • j .

Whilst listening to the album however, one is

with a nagging feeling that it would benefit

jew more dynamic sounding tracks

ce the other Bad Seeds albums,

may be due to the loss of Barry

is busy making fantastic albums

onetheless the musical content is still all you

ct. It is mainly piano or organ based with the

ents providing background texture,

the best Bad Seeds album this is certainly a

S i ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ g U t o J h e i r cannon and fans of Nick Cave are

:r cri by ihenew direction in which

his music seems to be headed, if is just to be hoped that

he can continue to keep the religious content ot his afoums at o manageable level. After oN who would want

an album by Horry Secombe and the Bad Seeds?...(8)

Jacob

Nick Cave The Boatman's Call

supergrass-richard III

This is a real guitar

rock/thrash out with Gaz

sounding scarify like Billy

Corgan (Smashing

Pumpkins fame) and it

looks as though they've

headed in the opposite

direction of 'Going Out'.

JASON

Corduroy Dingwalls

SINGLES

garagehnd-pop cigar

the sound ol the New

Zealand undeigtouuci:

indecipherable lyrics,

repetitive riffs and general

' (two

n ' bass

You can tell just from the queue outside

Dingwalls that Corduroy are in town. The London

Acid Jazzers always attract a trendy bunch of

people, and these are no exception, already

buzzing in anticipation of what's to come. They know

exactly what to expect; voted in the top ten live bands by

Melody Maker a while ago, Corduroy pull off storming

gigs as regularly as the Spice Girls appear in the tabloids.

The assembled fans are here for one thing only, and

they don't need a support band to get them in the mood.

By the time Corduroy arrive on stage the atmosphere is

electric. They quickly launch into The Corduroy Orgasm

Club, a song taken from their second album High Havoc,

which has become their theme. Packed full of juicy

Hammond organ, funky wah-wah guitar, it really sets the

scene for whafs to come.

Corduroy play a selection of material from all three

albums; from the funky organ grind of Dad Man Cat, to

the "filmic pop" (as their guitar player, Simon, likes to call

it) of High Havoc, and onto the guitar based grooves of

their most recent album, Out of Here. Corduroy are here,

however, to promote their new album, The New You, so

there is quite a lot of new material on offer too. They

break into their unreleased new single The Joker is Wild

early, to a muted response. It marks another step in

Corduroy's development. Eager to become more com­

mercially successful. Corduroy seem to be moving

towards more mainstream music. It is ironic then that the

songs that get the crowd grooving are the old ones;

London England being the unsurprising favourite.

Corduroy say the reason they are so good live is

because of the "informality" of their gigs, and that they are

not "intellectually demanding". Watching them live its obvi­

ous that there's more to it than that. Corduroy captivate

their audience. In the first of two encores, Corduroy get

the whole crowd to sit on the floor with ease as they relax

the volume of the music.

Corduroy are a fine band and are amazing live.

Whether they break into the mainstream or not is any­

one's guess, but lets hope so. We could do with a few

more like Corduroy.

Jon

SrrW 1083/1

Morphine ALBUM

"No lead guitar?" I mused as I perused the

sleeve of this CD. "No lead guitar?!" I exclaimed

as the magnitude of that statement sunk in.

Thaf s right, this Is Morphine and they do

indeed play without a lead guitar. I was filled with cer-

LikC SWilllltliny , a ' n ' r e P ' d a , i o n a s ' placed the CD into my stereo and

watched the LEDs flash iike the lights during the fake-off

sequences in BaHtestar Galactica. Fortunately for my sani­

ty after reviewing 18 Wheeler last week I was pleasantly

surprised by the sound of this Canadian bunch.

• J i h e instruments on show are drums, two-string slide

•ilone sax land no lead guitar). This works

(h the sax faking most of the melodic duties

but without the endless wanky solos thai are

jence in most albums with guitar heroes

Hess crusades to emulate the heroes they lis-

ours alone In their bedrooms as their

keeping with those dark, smoky clubs. "Early to bed/Early

to rise/Makes a man or woman/Miss out on the nightlife"

is the main refrain on Early to Bed in which the boys of

Morphine don't really urge y o u ^ d t wddld be too ener­

getic) b|if;mofe::mention irepdssingthat you should

eschew the delights of an early night and do something

more interesting instead; "Sitting oh the back

porch/Drinking red wine" is .-.here we nr.- in F-ranch fries

saata cruz-thirty degrees

below

A pleasant little indie

tune with delusions of

grandeur rather like My

Life Story without the

orchestra.

w/Pepper, arguably!

lyrics evoke images ol

novel, watching the di

. • il the image

on the album. The

lent in an Harper Lee

i a rocking chair and

the Dee: South

one is

tall paul-rock da house

Tired cowboy beats and

worn out vocals besmirch

any sparkle this tune

might eschew.

MICHAEL

oared to the late, great Kurt Cobain (one of the few tal<

ed Americans ever) but much deeper, In keeping with

feei of the group.

The songs are alright as well The sound has a jazz

edge to it, and the attitude of the songs is definitely in

fi­

rm

ley pro|ect seems tore

forced to concede that anyone who can soun

must be. to some degree at least, fucking cool This is an

album that any pretentious fresher poseur trying to rein­

vent himself to his new friends would be glad fo have c\\C\;:-Ar. >-\ iiMt bn«tq:.X-r../. ' : •• ' ' '• '

joint with a plastic bag sellotoped over the smoke detec­

tor. This Is an album you will want to play on coming

whisky to drink

1111 be listening

home from the pub as you hit that boi

to again and agoln.(8)

Gabriel

music

IC GIG

Proudly Presenting the Bands of

Imperial College... Whilst the inebriated masses of people gathered in Da

Vinci's on Tuesday 4th March awaiting the results of the

sabbatical elections, another group were in dB's for a very

different reason - another band night at college.

This year has seen a lot of well-organised college

bandjyjprforming their sets to IC audiences. After two

tfil&mSri nights, Tuesday's gigs were.a relatively low-

affair, byflgqalfi alloweaW4(r*new and more estab-

Pof their talents.

• proceedings were kicked ott by 'Funk & Disorderly',

a l m a P t f g a d K at IL Their sei-Wp was as impressive

*r a j t they jgt0mMh the easy confidence you'd

tolly associate with jazz-funk bands.

F

to give dB's

members clearly

themselves and the audience were equally sup-

brovided a change of

crossover. Influenced

f and Muddy Waters,

Disorderly' before them, brimmed wilh

which manifested (ti§# intherp playfc

provide

extreme

sive rhyjfim:

tion for||uitarist

Mat and singer Akash

to play over anrjthis vWpart icularly evident whilst doing

their Vai #?ver, jj| which Mat acquitted himself expertly.

Perform™ a mixture of covers and their own material, it

was difficult to ascertain their complete style. Their own

songs insisted on being dark and hard rock, whilsf their

covers were of songs like Day Trippeejjythe;Begtle£ arid

The Riverboat Song by Ocean Colour Scene. Gprifusifjg,^

but certainly not unpleasant. > 'y % V> <? %

Arriving next were the 'Sejfish Jeans'., tffeyfcite Jhejr, cj> *<

influences as ranging from^he Cult to-Th'e^ed, Fiat Chilli

Peppers and there are clear sir™iaiifies..Iake thebdssistS

Martin. During the tuning up just before their serine.; *. '

pfe'yeo>some;; '

-bfcflje rffosf* %

amazing b a s s *

° ;1his;reVieWer.;c!

has ever heard - a Flea in the making? Absolutely.. They >

were excellent to watch and their songs, written by the

lead guitarist, Andreas, were all of an energet^ hard jock,

variety perhaps even verging onto metal at p^r^ .^g 'a ' in ,^

this was a well-played set and had enough going on -3; "

without sounding messy. Definitely one to watch'put for at

future gigs. "q, '?•> %

A band night wouldn't be a band night at college witfe.

out 'Fold'. Up until a few months ago, Jon Jansen, jpcelyrv--,

Graham and Steve Barrington had almost taken up a resi- t ;

Selfish Jeans

dency at the Union playing many a night and even

appearing on last year's Phoenix demo tape. At one point

last year, you couldn't turn your head in the walkway with­

out seeing a poster with the Fold logo - a bastardised ver­

sion of the BBC corporate identity. So where have they

been for so long? It seems as though they were practis­

ing away with their new drummer, Derek Hirst.

Their brand of, as they put it, techno/dance/indie is

refreshing. The addition of samples to their rock-indie

tracks provides a subtle combination that works surpris­

ingly well. There is always a danger that the samples

pffgftr take over and so the band would become a cheesy

BI3BI3 shows, but that description would be very far off the mark

as far as Fold are concerned. Suffice to say, the main

sound is with guitars, bass and drums - the programmed

parts are a great supplement, providing fills and back­

ground without impinging on anything themselves.

The performance is a polished affair that contains good

ferformances from all of the band without the 'oh god, I

might as well listen to a record' feeling. Expectations are

turally high for those that have seen Fold before, but

this doesn't mean that there is pretentiousness in the air.

On more than one occasion, singer Jocelyn has to answer

questions as to who they are from people in the crowd.

This is no distraction from the music as the audience

applaud raucously at the end of each track. Their best

patch comes around their best song, Idol, which uses a

samplg of an error message on a BT telephone. This,

f together, with its almost punk middle section, is an ener-

rvgpCrfiumber and is followed by Ruthless, a stomping

' rock.trackyyhich more than lives up to its name. There's

'even jdfidfyo theVtate eighties with their cover of the

&^r\dj)es\JA/dlk likergn Egyptian, which they raced through

with anjrnmerise amount of glee. Then ifs the bassist,

Jon's, fum'to assist wijh vocals on Do You Want Some

^ Funk, a fast-paced rockTout.p (

The overall result of the n^g/it is to show that there is

i'ndeed<g lot ;pf potential $ ctffefge. Creativity as well as

h talent is present1 is vast arftoutttj'and it is very well used.

" J r e o n l y p\p6ler8\Wih thei^hole night was that the length

Of each s e ^ d g a 3 a d | o o sh^rt, (especially for Fold - a

• half-hour slot just didn't do them ft*jktice. Petty grievances

• aside,though, thfe, wason exfr||mejy enjoyable night and

. hopefully will be one of many to come showcasing col­

lege bands. If last yebrfs Rhpenix^bpe is anything to go

':• ijjy,: there are a lot more bands oufjhere lurking in various

< departments |'Keopathy"where are you?!) and so the

potential for some good band nights are huge. And all of

j youjouf there;3get down to one before the bands become

% trip big-fd play fpr free.

\ i\ '°n. Alok

CONTACTS

BBBB «HI»IIII»IH»IHI

email:

sj barrington@ic.acuk

Tel. 0171 706 0018

email:

m.dowle@ic.ac.uk

S F T W

1083 /11

singles

AID lovtn' aiminals-

kihg ofnewyork

"La dlda-di f n v John

Com" doesn't exactly

carry the same clout as

"Free Nelson Mandeia".

and just sounds like a fool­

ish attempt te gam some

gangsta credpoints,

Nevertheless, a laid back

groove with cool guitar

samples from the Bast

Coast Surfers.

do it now

Predictable indie-guitar-

boy-band with a knack for

catchy choruses which

soon become quite irritat­

ing, Where's the inspira­

tion i Where's the attitude?

Where's rijezipzigah/

mess around

The first two tracks are. by

turns feelgood sitcom

theme musk .But the last

track, "popular cult". is an

excellent mix of descend­

ing guitar riffs and rising

BeatleseiQiie vetses

AlBUM+GlGS

singles

cast-

free me

Noelrock par excellence.

Lifted above the trad

guitar drudgery byb a

groovy riff, a catchy

tune and John Power's

pseudo spiritual

baloney.

boyzone-

isn't it s wonder

Have you ever won­

dered what happens to

a Cd when you put it

into a microwave?

SID

m m First up is, Bertie Serveert with Dust Bunnies

Jf I which I found fo be a mixture of straight up pure %M | J pop songs, three minute blasls, and melancholy

ballads. However some of the tracks sound like they've just been put in to fill up a bit of space and don't deserve to be placed alongside some of the gems on this album. Jangly guitars are the main feature of this album and sometimes you find yourself wishing they would do something slightly different with their sound once in a while, so if jangly guitars aren't for you then neither is this album. (6)

Warm Jets blasted through London last week with afterburners blazing and had the infamous celebrity basher Dennis Pennis at the controls of the decks before they came on. How he managed to play Bluf~P/odigy, Chemical Brothers and some sort of dancefrack;M of monkey noises with his arm in a sling is anyone's guess. They played their set to an audience of what I guess was a whole load of music press types (well, iftjotihen all:' their fans are not a day younger than 251 The music was rock with a bit of traditional indie sound thrown which,, resulted in a pretty immemorable set, .apart from the.last song that blew away She rest of the set put together. Shame all of their songs weren't as good;;

Vik had a listen to Mechfrta Head's new album, J?»

More Things Change If you're the sort of person who likes music to be obviously tuneful relatively .simple and

too loud then stay well away from this band. If re the sort of person who likes lyrics to be not too seri-

' marginally thought-provoking, and sung by voices then definitely stay well away from this id if you're the sort of person who thinks that

music

Oasis occasionally rock out in their songs then stop read­ing now...

The music still consists of the organised madness of chugging, de-tuned guitars, head-pummelling drums and gruff vocals, and the lyrics are still hate-filled diatribes rail­ing against everything from the police {Bay Of Pigs) to worship {Down To None] to rape {Violate). At the end of the proverbial day, although The More Things Change... is not a bad album by any stretch of the imagination, I can't help feeling that Machine Head should have been a bit more wary of the great diversify and competence shown on recent albums by bands such as Sepultura and Korn. Maybe, The More Things Change, The Less Our Music Changes..." would have been a more appropriate title.'(5)

Lastly Ramzi lent h.s ears to Fridge's album Ceefax It isob* n * • * F"j are not searching for great com­mercial si.. is« Tl is appears to be a. c q w h w i ; project ht a pr rit cer who is more norma!1 r.. >aated with hip hop and the Brotherhood. Tru " V - 5 . "r- 1 o; ments on show here but the sound • i*x i'bum Isf strange to say the least. It is based arountfan indie three piece fefhula, but clearly there has been ajreat deal of kTOb-fwiddling and electronic manipulation to add all the effects and sounds heard over the conventional instru­ments. Weird clicks, hums and indecipherable samples all add to the depth of the album. There are some very good tracks which put all this together just right like, Helicopter.

Robots In Disguise and the cunningly titled Zed EX Ay-Ti-

W. However af some points you feel self indulgence and pretentiousness creeping in. The album is a sort of jazzy funked up electro-indie mix. It strange hswetrdbut is good '(7) Jason

• F R E S H H A I R S A L O N •

t h e b e s t s t u d e n t o f f e r i n l o n d o n !

C U T He B L O W D R Y

BY OUR TOP STYLISTS

£ 1 4 L A D I E S

£ 1 2 M E N Normal price £28f

Call : 0171 823 8968

w h e r e t o f i n d u s !

15A H A R R I N G T O N R O A D ,

S O U T H K E N S I N G T O N ,

L O N D O N SW7 3ES

I minute walk from

South Kensington Tube Station!!

G E T R E A D Y - G E T F R E S H ! A c c e s s , V i s a , M a s t e r c a r d , C a s h , C h e q u e s

Ents: Easter Carnival preview Doesn't time fly when you're having fun ? It only seems

two minutes ago that I was telling you all about the

Christmas Carnival, and here I am again laying the

delights of the Easter Carnival in front of you!

Following on from the massive successes of Christmas

and freshers' week, which both sold out in advance, so

don't say you haven't been warned, we've tweaked a few

bits and pieces and put together the following list of

goodies

Starting at the top of the building; in the Concert Hall the

night belongs to the banging tunes of the club mafia that

make up Hedonizm. This time they'll be backed up by

The Flowerpot men" who'll be putting their 303s firmly in

the mix with a set of storming techno tunes. Next door in

the gym you can hear a full on Soundclash , where jungle,

hardstep and hiphop collide in a debris of phat beats -

definitely not a room for the fainthearted!

On a lighter note, the Union Dining Hall will become

sophistication central with a selection of cocktails and a

mixed up world of blissed out beats with eklectika - more

than just your usual chill out room. dBs as usual plays

host to the live bands, and this carnival has a more indie

feel than usual with appearances from Burst - an "infinite­

ly cool brutal pop four piece" who have been favourably

compared with Dodgy, plus the rather self explanatory

Britpop Experience - who do a set packed with huge hits

from Blur, Pulp, The Stone Roses etc ... ideal stuff for

throwing yourself drunkenly around the dancefloor to!! To

finish off ifs handbags at dawn as the POP TARTS and

Common People have a huge fight over the technics!

All this, plus a 2am bar, a barbecue and the wildest

decor is yours for just £6 (or £5 with an entscard) - try

looking in Time Out to see what else you get for that

money these days! And of course ifs on the very last night

of term - FRI MARCH 21st - so you don't need to worry

about revision!!

Easter Carnival 21st March, 9pm. £6/£5

with Ents cards.

Tickets may still be

available from the

Union Office.

Fellwanderers To the toughened, hardcore Fellwanderer, last weekend's

trip to the Devon Coast did not look like being one of the

better ones. The hostel was comfy, the weather forecast

was good, and there was not a mountain in sight. Indeed

this was even enough to induce some of our more senior

members to stay in London for the weekend and look at

some dirty old canals in protest. We arrived late on Friday

night at Maypool Youth Hostel near Dartmouth to be

confronted by a highly officious warden who was obvi­

ously more accustomed to dealing with bus-loads of

schoolkids. She insisted on retaining our membership

and Union cards for the duration of our visit. (If we're

good we might get them back at the end of term provided

we bring a letter from our parents.)

Saturday started misty, and also ended misty, with a bit of

mist in between. We took the upper ferry across the river

Dart to Dartmouth, and then various sections of the group

walked various sections of the South West Coast Path.

Under guidance from Dom the Devonshire lad we set off

from Hallsands and took in Start Point lighthouse and

Prawle Point, finishing in time to sample the county's most

enjoyable product (apart from the West Country accent

that is), the traditional Devon cream tea. Then it was back

to the hostel where we had the novelty of eating a meal

which was cooked from a recipe. Such a luxury would

never have been permitted had our president and

treasurer been present. Sunday's weather was much like

Saturday's, with a bit of mist thrown in.

This time we split into Iwo main groups, depending on the

seriousness of our walking intentions. Group one set off

on a punishing 12-mile stomp, determined to salvage

some of the true Fellwanderers' spirit, while group

Iwo spent half the time dossing about on the beaches

with Tamsin's kite. We headed along the newly-opened

Dart Valley Trail to look at some of the

coastline's scenic delights, including Shag Rock (titter titter)

and Scabbacombe Sands, where Tim and Sam provided

an interesting diversion by by damming a stream.

Eventually we all met up again at the impressive 19*

Century fort at Berry Head, and drove back to London.

The mist returned and multiplied to haunt us again on the

M4, but all in all it was not such a bad weekend after all.

S F T W

1083 /11

ICU Riding Club ICU Riding Club is a fun and active club. We go riding

every Wednesday to either Belmont Riding School, or to

Trent Park Equestrian Centre, both in North London.

A wide range of activities, such as jumping, hacking

and polo are available, and all levels of riders are

welcome, from complete beginners to old pros.

All club members are entitled to subsidised lessons,

which work out at about £8 per time. Annual membership

of the club is £12. No expensive equipment is required as

hard hats and riding crops are available at the stables,

so all you need is a pair of jeans, solid shoes with heels,

and a sense of adventure!

We are a friendly, sociable club, with weekly meetings

on Thursday lunchtimes, at 1.15pm, in Southside Upper

Lounge. And the Riding Club parties are legendary...

To find out more con­

tact the chair, Rajesh

Sinha

on

r.sinha@ic.ac.uk

the treasurer, Vicky

Enne cn

v.enne@ic.ac.uk

or come along to

one of our meetinas.

clubs and societies & easter carnival preview

Photographic Society For more Info,

e-mail Kelly

Androutsopoulos on

kal@doc.ic ac.uk

or Gary Purchase on

Disaster has struck! The photographic exhibition will be

postponed to the 17th March and will be on until the 26th

March. This inconvenient delay has been caused by multi­

ple bookings of the ante-room, where our exhibition is

held. This problem occurred last year as well and it result­

ed in our frames being damaged. Despite all this, we are

still determined to exhibit our work (in the ante-room) and

hope it will make up for it. The reception and private view

will be on Monday the 16th March, where you can meet

the photographers in person and discuss their work over

a glass of wine. This is our social event of the year and

our first step in gaining world recognition as professional

photographers! Really, we are not just sad scientists

spending loads of hours in the dark. If you are thinking of

joining our society, this is a great opportunity for you to

find out what we get up to. An example of what will be on

showing is exhibited here to wet your appetite for some

more! We held an eternal competition over Christmas and

this is the winning picture photographed by P Pennet. His

photographs and more can also be viewed on our new

web page, which contains all the information about our

society, at http://www.su.ic.ac.uk/clubsocs/rcc/photosoc.

icsf: writers wanted Hiisslc MUluiel by

e-mail on

m.wi ighi I @ic.tl<: uk

r > * " 16

As some of you may already know (or should ) we at icsf

are kinda hoping to produce a fanzine at some point in

the immediate future. Which of course, means that we're

looking for stuff to put in it. By stuff, I mean stories, articles,

poetry, art work, scribbles, piss takes, graphic novels or

anything else that takes your fancy.

You don't need to be a stanch Treky to write for us

(I for one, would much, MUCH rather you weren't) and

since fantasy covers rather a wide field, the subjecfs up to

you. Anything will be considered, although it would help if

ifs unusual/interesting/attractive/has dragons in it....etc.

We're looking for anything up to a couple of pages long

or pictures of any size or shape (probably black and white

but will consider colour) and if anyone has any other

bright ideas or wants to contribute, come down to our

library or hassle me on e-mail. The dead line is the sec­

ond Monday of next term but it would help if we knew

you are interested before then. So grab a pencil and let

you creative juices run wild ! (sounds messy.)

Oh yeah and thanks to all of you who turned up to

Picocon and also the A G M last Thursday and for those

who didn't go to the Tun afterwards, well, watching Andy

shin up lampposts was somewhat hilarious....

Michael

(maninchargeofsomething,somewhere,somewhen...)

IC Symphony Orhcestra ICSO Concert in the Great Hall

Programme included:

Benjamin Britten

Antonin Dvorak

Camille Saint-Saens

Conductor

Cello

Organ

Four Sea Interludes

Cello Concerto

Third (Organ) Symphony

Richard Dickins

Amanda Truelove

Andrew Earis

A capacity audience heard a programme which spanned

late Victorian and post-war times and which, as it hap­

pens, consisted of pieces which were first performed in

London.

The Four Sea Interludes, evoking the Suffolk coast and

encapsulating a great opera, were played with great ner­

vous energy. The music is transparently scored but with

many strands, requiring a large orchestra in which all of

the sections are very exposed at various times. It poses

problems for the conductor in maintaining coherence, but

these were brilliantly solved by Richard Dickins.

Particularly memorable were the violence of the "Storm"

section and the gentle swells on syncopated beats in the

"Moonlight' interlude.

The soloist in the Dvorak Cello concerto is in the

Mainardi Trio, which gave an exhilarating performance of

a Brahms piano trio at an IC lunchtime concert last term.

In the concerto we heard her give, by turns, an impressive

and lyrical account. An impeccable rendering of the

opening horn solo followed by the difficult see-saw

arpeggios of the cello, negotiated with apparent ease, set

the standard for this performance of the greatest cello

concerto of all.

The emotional content comes mainly from the devotion

of Dvorak for his sister-in-law who died just after comple­

tion of the first version. He revised the last movement,

repeating in subdued form a song of his (0p82 No.l)

which she loved and which he had already quoted in the

slow movement.The concerto is something of a memorial.

The soloist was ideal for the moving Adagio and went

on to play the last movement with great panache. A great

talent developed before our eves. The soaring violin solo

of the last movement was handled beautifully by the

leader, Ed Bale. Dvorak and Dickins both made sure that

the soloist was not swamped by the huge orchestra.

Andrew Earis, a first year RCM/IC student, gave a great

performance at the organ, which prompts the suggestion

that it is high time for a lunch time series of organ recitals.

dubs and societies