‘digiaiied

with Edgar; Ubu is accessible.

** Devo — Now It Can Be Told,
Enigma Records 1989

The devolutionary singularity |
burst into pop-rock space-time
with the release of Q: Are We Not
Men? A: We Are Devo!

Guided by the statement “The
Fittest Shail Survive Yet The Unfit
May Live,” Devo turned Darwi-

#zn notions inside out and played
out their mad program witha .
nuraber of ground-breaking |
releases and legendary live shows.

‘In turn, marketing-smart Devo
introduced plastic suits to the
world and a mumbo-jumbo set of
values to the college crowd. The

MICHAEL
BECKER
record review

Devo concept has always teetered
on the brink on novelty-act antic,
but this high-output concert re-
cording shows the devolutionary
{Man in.cultural and genetic
decay) agenda holds together.
Yet Devo itself seers to be
devolving, not having produced
provocative new material in a
whie. This release will appeal
most to the die-hard collector of
Devo minutiae . jocko Homo
receives an acoustic revamp, but
most of the biggies like Whip It,
Gates Of Steeland Working in A
Coal Mine, are performed origi-
nal-release straight.
*oe¢ Frankie Armstrong, Dave
Van Ronk — Let No One Deceive
You: Songs Of Bertolt Brecht,
Aural Tradition Records 1989
Vancouver Folk Music Festival
fans wil} be familiar with the two

powerful voices here. Armstrong's .

forte, the interpretation of Britis
traditional songs, works to fine
advantage in presenting some of
this great German playwright's
songs. Van Ronk, the kind of
singer who sounds like he chomps
through a tub of gravel for | .

breakfast every morning, was-born .

to sing Mack The Knife. L
_ The two artists tzade off covers,
of songs from the Brécht-Kurt

Our

Brecht’s lyrics
still ring
true today

DEVO STANDS pat; Brecht lives; L. Ron Hubbard rocks

Weill 1928 Berlin theatre classic,
The Three Penny Opera, and other
Brecht plays and poems: Penned
in times of profound social up-
heaval, the anti-reactionary, work-
ing-class themes of Brecht's lyrics
ring true to this day. Brought alive
by Armstrong's big voice and Van
Ronk’s weary growl, the heartfelt
becomes downright riveting.

Twelve pages of illustrated liner .

notes accompanying the album,
outline the history and philosophy
of Brecht by opening a narrative
window to the political context of
Brecht’s work as a product of post
First World War and pre Second
World War Germany.

* Edgar Winter — Mission Earth,
Rhino Records 1989

One of the stranger collabora-
tions to surface in a while, Edgar,
the brother of guitar great Johnny
Winter, teams up with deceased
Scientology founder L. Ron Hub-
bard for a slice of sci-fi pop.

The music and lyrics are based
on the 10-book Mission Earth
science fiction series written by
Hubbard. Hubbard's story turns
ona plot in which aliens preparing
to take over Earth; help “clean
up” the planet when they find
Earth on the verge of self-destruc-
tion due to the threat of nuclear
war, pollution, drug and alcohol
abuse.

A year before his death in 1986,
Hubbard approached Winter with
the idea for a record based on his
books and fed him some melodies.
Winter built lyrics from the books.

While the project’s intentions
are praiseworthy (who can
disagree with the message that
we've got to clean up ous act?),
the execution is musically bland

and lyrically trite.

*** Cloudland — Pere Ubu, Fon-
tana 1989

After doodling about on the ex-
perimental fringe of pop for close
to a decade, the Clevelanders
come up with their most accessi-
ble effort to date.

in some places the fractured-

- metaphor lyrics are reminiscent of

early Talking Heads. Ubu head
man David Thomas chases Mary,
the object of his obsessive desire,
across America along the the Lost
Nation Road. 'n the process, he

'. poses a lot of Big Love And Life

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_ : “PHOTOS 8
THE SONGS of Bertolt Brecht
(pictured above) are brought alive
with rivetting renditions from
Frankie Armstrong and Dave Van
Ronk on Let No One Deceive
You: Songs of Bertolt Brecht.

Questions. Ubu keyboard man
Allen Ravenstine layers on a car-
toon feel to the musical quest with
some weird electronic frequen-
cies. - :

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