|
|
|
Current issue:
May 7, 2008 |
Central Connecticut State University |
|
|
|
|
| Entertainment |
|
|
| |
Album: Atmosphere: When Life Gives You Lemons, Paint That Shit Gold
By Marissa Blaszko
When indie hip-hop band Atmosphere’s latest album When
Life Gives You Lemons, Paint That Shit Gold hit stores late last month, it was
released on the little-known label
Rhymesayers—although, according to Epitaph
Records (Atmosphere’s old record label), the
band had been approached by everyone from
Interscope to Warner Bros. While the duo has
been releasing albums religiously since 2002,
the band’s only official Web site remains their
MySpace page.
The sound created in Lemons echoes
Atmosphere’s independent ideals. Not one song
on the CD has a scrap of MTV’s corporate-gen-
erated gangster imagery—like 50 Cent, who
spent years living in Farmington, Conn. but
desperately wanted listeners to believe he was
still hustlin’.
Full Story >> |
Album: Animal Collective: Water Curses EP
By Edward Gaug
Only a band like Animal
Collective can take a four-song EP and stretch it out to feel almost like a full-length. Animal Collective,
known for their long running times and trippy
samples, has taken their
usual formula and
stripped out any production values to deliver a raw, organic record
that flirts closely with
the band’s last fulllength, Strawberry Jam.
Don’t let the weird
concern you when it comes to listening to
Animal Collective; the band still makes music
that is talent-wise on the level of any other indie-rock band floating around today, but it’s done
on completely different terms. It uses a lot of
samples—falling bombs and water dripping,
specifically on this album—and unlike a lot of
experimental outf its, the lead singer is real ly talented. Where most bands sacrifice vocals for
odd effects, Animal Collective has leader Avey
Tare belting out smooth and smart lyrics that
run deep throughout AC’s message on any given
track.
Full Story >> |
Album: Dosh: Wolves and Wishes
By Edward Gaug
anticon. records has seriously taken over
everything I have listened to in the past month,
and once again they have released an album that
fits solely into their target market of electronic-
based rock music. Dosh, a 35-year-old
Minneapolis native, has this genre down to
a tee, and he doesn’t even bother with
vocals.
The first reference point that popped
into my head when listening to Dosh’s music
is the fact it sounds a lot like the numerous
Board of Canada albums I have. Wolves and
Wishes is bolstered by static-laced keyboard
loops and tons of ambient instrumental
samples.
Full Story >> |
Album: El Perro del Mar: From the Valley to the Stars
By Melissa Traynor
his time you don’t even
have to download
the album for free
on the Internet to see if you like it. El Perro del
Mar’s newest, From the Valley to the Stars, is
available in its entirety on her MySpace, however the songs aren’t
available to download.
Sorry, but you can live
with the free streaming
music and support the
artist should she pass
the test-run.
The album altogether has a very heavenly and airy feel to it. I can definitely see why
later release dates were chosen for the States
and the U.K. because a lot of the songs remind
me of the summer-spring transition, when the
sun is taking the skies back from snow in winter
and rain in spring.
Full Story >> |
Album: Terror: The Dammed, The Shamed
By Edward Gaug
When people joke
about the hardcore
genre, there are always
two bands that pop up in
the mocking conversation: one is straight-edge,
t-shirt selling champion Bane, and the other always seems to be Terror. While I never understood why Terror took the spot as hardcore’s
joke band, I listened to the latest album The
Damned, The Shamed and it became pretty
evident.
Terror takes everything you could ever
know about hardcore music from the outside every stereotype and misconception and
throws it together in a single band. Terror’s
single worst problem is a lack of anything original, leaving their sound too generic to actually enjoy outside of an initial head nod. Lead singer
Scott Vogel growls out his disdain for everything in his life, including himself, for nearly a
half hour before the album comes to an end.
Full Story >> |
Album: The Roots: Rising Down
By Peter Decoteau
On the Roots’ last release, Game Theory, front
man Black Thought mused
“Some call it evolution, others say intelligent
design,” and while he was most likely referring
to the societal rift between science and faith, he
very well could’ve been pointing to the music of
The Roots itself. Some longtime fans have for
years been decrying the group’s forays into
social commentary and sonic experimentation,
citing their earlier work, especially on Do You Want More?!!!??!
and Things Fall Apart, as far superior. These are
the same people, no doubt, that turned on the
Beatles after Abbey Road and crucified
Radiohead for Kid A—the same people who
would lambaste the groups for unoriginality
were the music to remain static.
Forever ignoring expectations and eluding the music industry’s want for singles only,
The Roots’ new release, Rising Down, delves
deeper into their condemnation of a failing
American community, taking aim at everything
from homogenous radio hits to school shootings to the demonization of African Americans.
Full Story >> |
Album: We Are Scientists: With Love and Squalor
By Peter Decoteau
The inside joke about We Are Scientists’
debut album, With Love and Squalor, was that they should rename themselves “We Are Scenesters.”
Nevertheless, the release was consistent and
just odd enough to carve itself out a little niche
in between the hipster
scene and the intelligent rock outfits (naming the album after a J.
D. Salinger short story
probably didn’t hurt).
The music featured “angular” guitars,
whatever the hell that means, and had funny/poignant lyrics about
the twenty-something life that many twenty-somethings seem to be living.
What really made it stand above being
simply acceptable in a long line of similar counterparts were the well-structured songs that
featured surprisingly adept melodies and harmonies without ever succumbing to self-seriousness or pretention. With that said, my new
joke is going to be that they should change the
band name to “We Are Crap,” because the new
release, title still TBA, is just that.
Full Story >> |
Catching Up With Pelican
By Nick Viccione
Today, May 7, Chicagoan post-rock powerhouse Pelican will be bringing their show to
Connecticut for the first time when they come
to the Webster Theater with Thrice and Circa
Survive. I was able to catch up with guitarist
Laurent Schroeder-Lebec to ask him a couple of
questions about the tour, future recording plans
and most importantly, the age-old Chicago
question: Cubs or White Sox?
Nick Viccione: So how is the tour treating
you guys right now?
Laurent Schroeder-Lebec: The road is treating
us very well right now. This is a very cool tour
for us to be on, and this is the best time of the
year to tour weather-wise. The routing was
planned out really well, and not to mention we
are opening up for a band, in Thrice, that we
have been wanting to tour with for quite some
time now. It is a pretty different type of tour for
us because we are used to playing to an older
crowd, with longer sets, later at night. Also, the
clubs we are playing in on this tour are much
larger than what we are accustomed to. It is really an opportunity for us that we enjoy to be
able to play our music for a different crowd that
may not have heard us before, and it is going really well.
Full Story >> |
10ALBUMS TO PICK UP THIS SUMMER
By The Recorder Staff
NO AGE
NOUNS
The much-anticipated follow-up to
Death Cab’s highly successful Plans
album is right around the corner. Ben
Gibbard and crew have another easy-
rocking indie album that is sure to
please everyone, except fans like me
who want a new Postal Service album
instead.
For Fans of: Bright Eyes, The Shins,
radio-friendly indie-rock that will be
mistaken for emo.
DEATH CAB for cutie
NARROW STAIRS
The best hip-hop group you never
heard of is releasing a 10-song EP to
follow up their attention grabbing
Totally Flossed Out EP that came out
in 2007. Since then, these bike ridin’,
Jordans-sportin’ cool kids have been
named the most anticipated band of
2008. I’ve been hooked since the first
time I heard them. Also, they are at
Wesleyan tonight (May 7).
For Fans of: Older Beastie Boys and
Nas, streetwear, fun
Full Story >> |
Top Five Worst Horror Films
By Samantha Sullivan
I am a self-proclaimed horror film fanatic.
My movie collection mildly resembles one a so-
ciopath or serial killer might own, ranging in
movies from classics like American Psycho,
which I still don’t quite understand, to newer
movies like The Messengers that definitely get
my juices flowing.
But it’s always a disappointment when I
watch a “horror” movie and either can’t help but
laugh or can’t do anything but keep a straight
face—and there have been plenty of each of
those. The following is my pick for the top five
worst horror movies I have ever seen.
Five – Feardotcom
Full Story >> |
‘I AM IRON MAN!’
By Nick Gorra
One of the most highly anticipated films
of the year is finally in theaters. I can honestly
say the film successfully lives up to the hype.
When I first heard about an Iron Man film
being in development I was excited. However
my excitement began to decline into potential
disappointment as more news surrounding the
film’s production surfaced. First I heard actorturned-director Jon Favreau would be directing
the film. I was not happy about this, as I did not
believe Favreau possessed the proper qualifications to direct a movie as potentially epic as
Iron-Man, plus I never really cared for him as an
actor. Then I heard Robert Downey Jr. was going to play Iron Man/Tony Stark I thought to
myself, “this guy is too old and too small to play
Iron Man and he’s a washed-up actor.” The final
straw came when I heard that Gwyneth Paltrow
(or Mrs. Person whose career went nowhere following her Oscar win and marriage to that bullock from Coldplay); I lost all hope in the film
and thought it was going to be awful. However,
I can gladly say that my early impressions were
largely unfounded and the film ended up being
better than I could have ever expected.
Full Story >> |
Skanking It-Up to Reel Big Fish
By Amanda Ciccatelli
The decision to invite Reel Big
Fish to cover for the unfortunate accident of OneRepublic’s lead singer
was a wise one. The well-known ‘90s
ska band attracted many of their
longtime fans, who brought their
support on Thursday night.
The funky, upbeat sound of ska
caused the student audience to dance
freely and cheer on the fun-loving
guys of Reel Big Fish. The band even
invited two students up on stage to
sing along to one of their hits.
During the show, almost everyone in the audience was skanking to
the sounds of Reel Big Fish.
Full Story >> |
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
| Wednesday, May 14, 2008 |
| 12:45:34 AM |
|
|
| |
|
|
 |
|
|
 |
| |
 |
|
