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CD REVIEW King Missile aimless on release “THE PSYCHOPATHOLOGY OF EVERYDAY LIFE" King Missile *★ out of ☆☆☆☆☆ BY JOSHUA WATSON THE GAMECOCK With its latest release, “The Psychopathology of Everyday Life,” King Missile assembles an album consisting of unique spo ken-word recordings, which dis ciples of the band’s amusing lyricist John S. Hall might con sider somewhat of a master piece. One distinctive track, “JLH”, thanks actress Jennifer Love Hewitt for remaining silent after the Sept. 11 happenings, while also offering opinions on the per formances of former New York mayor Rudolph Giuliani and the president. Another humorous song, though arbitrarily profane, is “The Miracle of Childbirth,” wnicn gives the listeners a chronicle of their own con ception and ends by detail ing adulthood. The other notables are a tribute to Jesus titled “Jesus Was wayoooi ana Domestic dub, a tune concerning an angered dis course between a man and a woman, the woman fueled by her craving to watch the season pre miere of “ER,” even after the en raged husband shoots their tele vision. While some of the album might leave listeners laughing, the “Pain Series” is the album’s nadir, each track lasting only sec onds; they can be justly com pared with Adam Sandler’s recordings of people undergoing severe beatings. These are recordings of an individual JV spilling hot coffee in his lap or smashing his finger with a ham mer — yelling profanities for nearly a minute. Considering the short-lived novelty of these songs and their aveiage uium cianship, half of the album seems success ful, whereas the other ap pears misguid ed. Perhaps if it were only those success ful songs, in cluding the one ueuicaieu 10 jesus, uns al bum could be considered errat ically admirable, accentuating the long-existing comedic vision of King Missile. Currently, the remainder of the release sounds aimless and lacks humor. As a result of its tirades and spoken wanderings, “The Psychopathology of Everyday Life” arrives at its finish stagger ing on one leg. Comments on this story?E-mail gamecockmixeditor@hotmail.com Perhaps if it were only those successful songs, including the ones dedicated to Jesus, this album could be considered erratically admirable. BRIEFLY Minorities return to lower Oscar profile LOS ANGELES (AP) - A year af ter two black nominees won the lead-acting prizes for the first time the Academy Awards are back to a likely sweep of the four actor cat egories by white performers. This year’s two minority nomi nees — Mexico native Salma Hayek for best actress in “Frida’ and black performer Queer Latifah for supporting actress ir “Chicago” — are not considered serious contenders against the white front-runners (Nicole Kidman of “The Hours” and Renee Zellweger of “Chicago” for lead ac tress, Catherine Zeta-Jones ol “Chicago” for supporting actress) Yet some find it encouraging that at least a couple of nonwhite actors managed to score nomina tions from an academy whose ear ly years were virtually devoid oi minority membership and which even in the past decade has had years without a single nonwhite acting nominee. “I try to look at it as, last year was a big year and that meant a lot, and it may take a few years be fore we really see the fruits oi what happened last year. It doesn’t happen overnight,” said Halle Berry, who won the best-actress Oscar last year for “Monster’s BaU.” Last year, Denzel Washington won’ the best-actor prize for “Training Day,” and Will Smith oi “Mi” was nominated in that cate gory. The only other time three blacks were nominated in the lead categories was 1972. Paul Winfield was up for best actor for “Sounder,” and Cicely Tyson of “Sounder” and Diana Ross of “Lady Sings the Blues” competed for best actress. All three lost. Iraq war puts Oscars’ red carpet on hold NEW YORK (AP) - Barbara Walters is stepping away from the Oscars, but Joan Rivers isn’t. ABC on Wednesday postponed Walters’ annual Oscars interview special — this year to feature Nicolas Cage, Renee Zellweger and Julianne Moore — because of the confrontation with Iraq. Since war was under way Sunday night, there was a strong chance Walters’ special would be pre-empted for news coverage any way. The same possibility exists for the Academy Awards ceremony on ABC, as well. Organizers have promised to go on, but have can celled the splashy red carpet ar rivals for celebrities at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood for fear it would set an inappropriate tone. That would seem disastrous for the E! Entertainment network, whose eight hours of pre-Oscars coverage is centered on the com ments about stars’ wardrobes by Rivers and her daughter, Melissa. Her show may be dramatically different this year, focused less on fashion and interviews and more on Oscar predictions, but E! isn’t abandoning it, said Mark Sonnenberg, the cable channel’s entertainment chief. “For a lot of people, there’s a comfort there — if Joan is on the red carpet, it’s OK,” he said Wednesday. CD REVIEW ‘Daylight ’ offers standardfare i “CHASING DAYLIGHT” Sister Hazel ★ ★ ★ out of ☆☆☆☆☆ BY MEG MOORE THE GAMECOCK It’s not every day that a multi platinum band relinquishes its mainstream label and returns to the world of indie releases. Then again, it’s not everyday that a pop-radio band stays around long enough to make that choice. Sister Hazel, the artist formal ly known as “the ‘All For You’ band,” has released its fourth stu dio album “Chasing Daylight” on an independent label, Sixthman. Formally working with Universal Records, the band abandoned its mainstream ties on t Chasing Daylight but not its mainstream sound. Their latest album offers the same vein of sol id pop-rock that has popularized their previous releases—middle of-the-road but distinctly Sister Hazel. “Your Mistake,” the album’s tirst track ana first single, has been getting a respectable amount of air play since its release. In fact, the first few songs on tne aiDum an scream racno single”. The fourth track, “Best I’ll Ever Be,” abandons the up beat feel of the previous tracks but retains their pop-hit poten tial, coming across as a polished paean to love lost. “Life Got in the Way” stands out as the album’s most effective ly inventive. The uniquely deliv ered verses segue into an incred ibly catchy chorus, offering a wel come variation on the band’s sound. The second half of the album, for better or worse, is decidedly more experimental than the first; while it’s refreshing to see some ! unordinary approaches to pop rock, Sister Hazel is best at deliv ering streamlined, inoffensive music. Perhaps they should stick to that formula. Fortunately, the group’s expert harmonies and pop sensibilities snine mrougn even their most obscure moments. Overall, “Chasing Daylight” proves to be another agree aDie, u unevennui, amum. Sister Hazel has never been a boundary-breaking band, but they have never had to be—their approach to pop-rock has held its own among listeners. The songs on their latent re lease appeal to ready-made fans of formulaic, ’90s- era pop-rock. While “Chasing Daylight” may not win Sister Hazel many new fans with its standard approach, tried-and-true mainstream lis teners are more than invited to join the pursuit. Comments on this story? E-mail gamecockmixeditor@hotmail.com Fortunately, the group’s expert harmonies and pop sensibilities shine through even their most obscure moments. Wilco CONTINUED FROM PAGE 7 tinues to sell well. Pieced together from the rem nants of alt-country torchbearer Uncle Tupelo, Wilco began as a new musical outlet for Uncle Tupelo singer-songwriter Tweedy. Uncle Tupelo was plagued by the conflicting ideas of Tweedy and the band’s other singer-songwrit er, Jay Farrar. After Farrar was made songwriter and not singer in Wilco, he eventually quit to form his own outfit, Son Volt. Now alone at the helm of his own band, Tweedy was free tc lead himself and his musical co horts toward musical glory — a goal that Wilco, with its ever evolving, critically acclaimed sound, has anything but faller short of. Wilco released its debut al bum, “A.M.,” in 1995, sticking tc its alt-country guns and firing out a round of reflective, rollick ing tunes. The album was popu lar with both critics and listen ers, earning the band a solid fol lowing. Tweedy’s knack for no frills poetry became immediate ly evident on “A.M.”; the band’s musical aptitude fortified its brand of honest rock. The group’s third album, “Summer Teeth,” released in 1999, swims with studio-infused effects and further highlights Wilco’s willingness to test its musical boundaries — or attest to the lack thereof. But it is last year’s “Yankee Hotel Foxtrot” that has garnered the band relentless praise, earning it the top spot on many “best of’ lists and bowling over critics. Comments on this story?E-mail gamecockmixeditor@hotmail.com Help jUs Celebrate Our, BffiH i>0 lh ^Anniversary^-.',, on Maurice's autobiography, “Defending My Heritage” and I his Southern Gold 18oJf Original Sauceffl 1PSSB3BBSBP11- l^^ijlCTolPfr mm— Tuesday March 25, 2003 7:30pm Daniel Lee Virtuoso Cellist performs Dvorak’s Cello Concerto, OP. 104 Concert also features Winners of USC Young Artist Competition Soprano SERENA HILL & Bass-Baritone JASON SHEALY -- Finlay Parle Columbia, SC ENTERTAINMENT BY; * THE blue dogs * MOON • VOICES OF DISSENT THOMAS REED BAND • LOVE APPLE Ticdkat® are 88 «r» aduance at all f’Jjplilt locaticarw or 810 at the gale a ii Produced by Liquid Assets Events If you arc under the age of 21. H is illegal 10 huy alcoholic beverages. All ABC regulations enforced. 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