22 — Wednesday, April 12, 1989 - North Shore News B KEYBOARD fm hit men Dieter % Meier and Boris ‘XY Blank are flying with Flag, their latest bit of craziness, ; Photo submitted ee Yello fellows find formula YELLO WAVES the flag; New Model Army finds consolation in the thunder; Hitchcock has method in madness. *** Yello — Flag, PolyGram 1988 Dieter Meier and Boris Blank, Swiss synthesizer wizards who have consistently remained a couple of samba steps ahead of the electronic dance-music pack during this decade, are back in the race with Flag. Recording together since 1980, Meier and Blank are being rico- cheted into the ‘90s as favored fodder for the DJs mixing up the vibes on the Acid House scene. At its best, Yello is as subtle as cartoons and as cheesy as your favorite oddball B-movie. There have been better Yello releases than Flag. Blank and Meier have found their formula and seem happy not to test the limits. But even at half-tone, Yello puts out some pretty bright and exotic stuff. **** New Model Army — Thunder And Consolation, EMi Records 1989 With a release title like this, you just know you're not in for a cozy instalment of trendy teen tail- wagging tunes. The Army lobs angst-bombs from the trenches that divide Maggie Thatcher's brave new England. A‘digression is due. God save the Queen and her iron-plated po- . litical counterpart. The social tur- moil and bad blood churned up during the Thatcherite years have provided the enriched grist to feed the creative needs of an army of musical malcontents. The British specialty of injecting into the popular music world a healthy flow of angry-young-man your way to HAWAH Piay Satellite Showdown Trivia Tuesday nighls trom 5:30pm. Highest points accumulated for the month wins you two return ais tickets to Hawaii. Play Countdown Trivia Mondays, and Fridays trom 6:30pm for olher great prizes. ‘Upeizas at the Caach Hoste ina 790 Lillooet aad, North Van bands and cut-through-the-crap iconoclasts, continues un- challenged and unabated. Back to the three-man band in question. New Model Army MICHAEL BECKER record reviewer. songwriter Slade the Leveller {aka Justin Sullivan) echoes the lyrical fixations of Roger Waters during his creative peak-time with Pink Floyd. There are probing songs about the search for self, scngs asking the hard questions about what it means to be family and what it means to be alive and balancing on a knife-edge. The London Times once declared the group “‘the best news for English rock since The Clash released their 1977 debut.” The band’s pedigree was further consolidated when it was refused entry into the United States on the grounds of “‘No Artistic Merit.” There is much merit to be found in this seething and provocative new disc. **** Robyn Hitchcock ‘N’ The Egyptians ~~ Queen Elvis, A&M Records 1989 The clever Englishman, who has a light touch for creating the ab- surd non sequitur, returns with a pocketful of oddities. it must be hard to be Hitchcock. Nothing is fixed or easily nailed down. The world is there to be constantly recreated. All is in flux. Words jammed together in con- ceptual disarray keep the whole thing spinning wonderfully into a newly-minted level of insight. Hitch and the sand people take See Jazz Page 23 Discover our fabulous Mondays — Saturdays 5:30 ~ 9:00 pm a> © Soe * Good selection of hot entrees ¢ Superb salad bar « Delectable desserts ADULTS © SENIORS $8 50 $695 Children: .50c per year (to 12 years) SUNDAY BRUNCH AS ALWAYS 10am - 2pm NO the coach house inn Lawrence re-release worth a peek Cawrence of Arabia ***% (Columbia) (at the Park Cinema) PETER O'TOOLE has his first and possibly best role in this spruced-up re-release of 1962's Best Picture. O'Toole stars as the legendary T.E. Lawrence, the 27-year-old - army cartographer who rises rap- idly through the ranks to unify the quarrelling Arab tribes and lead them in a revolt against the Turks during the First World War. His flair for theatrics and brilliant soldiering raake him a favorite with his superiors and his troops. But you know what they say about fame. One minute you're striding atop the derailed cars of a train you've wrecked to the adulation of your troops, and the next minute you’re an embarrassment catching the first camel out of town. In Lawrence's case, he has an increasingly itchy trigger finger and a messianic ambition to create an independent Arab state, a situ- ation neither the Arabs nor the British welcome. There isn’t much light cast on Lawrence’s enigmatic behavior, just hints about illegitimacy and masochism, but there’s no deny- ing the beauty and power of direc- tor David Lezn’s vision. They don’t make them like this any more. Dance With a Stranger *** (Vestron Home Video) Based on a true story, this’ English film set in the ‘50s explores a@ passionate affair that waltzes into madness. Ruth Ellis (Miranda Richardson) is a single mother running a bar and brothel when she strikes up a hot romance with David Blakely (Rupert Everett), a member of the idle upper class. Despite their social differences, they share two things: an emotional imbalance and a drinking problem. . Attracted by Just and pushed apart by jealousy, it’s only a matter of time before one of them snaps under the strain and it becomes a police matter. A disturbing, sad and powerful film, TIM BELL film reviewer Horsefeathers *** (MCA Home Video) Marxian nonsense about college life (circa 1932) with Groucho as the new dean, Zeppo his lovestruck son, and Chico and Harpo as two incompetents hired to kidnap the top players of a rival football team. - Rapid-fire puns (especially in the classic “The password is sword- fish’’ routine) and a slapstick foot- ball finale still hit the bull’s eye almost sixty years later. NORTH SHORE VIEWS West Van Odeon: Mississippi Burning, The Dream Team, Work- ing Girl Park Royal: The Rescuers, Sing, Rain Man Park & Tilford: Dream Team, Cyborg, Skin Deep, Dangerous Li- aisons, Fletch Lives, Jacknife