University of South Carolina Libraries
* « ' THE GAMECOCK ♦ Friday, September 12, 2003 5 CONTACT US 81LUE; IT BILLIE JEAN KING: Be bold. If you re Story ideas? Questions? Comments? going to make an error, make a doozy, E-mail us at gamecockmixeditorlwhotmail.com and don’t be afraid to hit the ball.” Si* n 4 pe QA^rA Ovulv Hit the books to honor Library Card Sign-up Month and National Literacy Month BY MEG MOORE THE GAMECOCK Encouraging Americans to hit the books, September has been dedicated as both Library Card Sign-up Month and National Literacy Month. As college stu dents, we have unique access to an assortment of books and re search materials right on campiis; as Columbia res idents, we have an award-win ning public li brary available for our use. The Richland County Public Library’s main branch on Assembly Street is located within walking distance ofUSC. South Carolina’s li brary system dates back to 1700, when the state was a colony and passed its first public library law. According to the Richland County Public Library Web site, the subsequently tormed Charleston Library Society was one of the first in colonial America. When the seat of government moved to Columbia in 1786, liter ary enthusiasts moved with it, and by 1825, the Capitol City supported three separate libraries. The Columbia Athenaeum emerged as the most popular library of the day. Financial scandal crippled the library’s resources in 1859, and the building itself burned down during the Civil War. In 1896, the city finally re-estab lished a lending library located within City Hall. From its humble beginnings, it expanded to a new site in 1901 and eventually was switched over to city leadership in 1924. The newly named Columbia Public Library continued to ex pand because of growing commu nity support. Today, the Richland County Public Library system maintains sev eral branches and offers li brary cards free-of-charge to area citizens, allowing them to check out up to 30 materials at a time, each with a loan pe riod of 21 days. On campus, students have another unique re source in the South Caroliniana Library, locat ed on the Horseshoe. Designed by Robert Mills in 1838, the build ing opened in 1840 and was established as the first free-standing academic li brary in the country. The build ing endured as the university’s main library until 1940. The need to maintain a collec tion of Caroliniana materials was recognized by USC President Davidson Douglas in 1931. A com mittee was formed, and the group eventually grew into the University South Caroliniana ♦ LIBRARY, SEE PAGE 6 PHOTOS BY MORGAN FORD/THE GAMECOCK Both the Thomas Cooper Library, above, and the South Caroliniana Library provide students with on-campus access to research materials. The Richland County Public Library on Assembly Street Is another resource within walking distance from campus. CD REVIEWS Sevendust offers fresh familiarity “SEASONS" Sevendust ■kirk OUt of ☆☆☆☆☆ BY BEN ANGSTADT THE GAMECOCK With the overabundance of one-al bum wonders on the current music scene, seeing a familiar face every once in a while can be refreshing. With its upcoming album “Seasons,” Sevendust has managed to stay active and productive for more than six years despite the turbulent nature of modern rock. Much of this success can be at tributed to the band’s style of song writing. Sevendust’s strength as a metal band has always been the sheer musicality of its songs. Rather than just screaming, front man Lajon Witherspoon.sings with clarity in a gritty but soulful voice. His lows are almost gospel-like, and his powerful hig^s are reminiscent (£ Henry Rollins. Moreover, the instrumentation is composed of more than just the stan dard power chords and furious drum beating. Of course, those elements are all there as well, but they are tem pered by complex vocal harmonies and stylish acoustic guitar riffs. On “Seasons,” the band’s third ma jor release, the basic Sevendust for mula stays the same, but the group’s sound has seemingly been influenced by some of its hard-rock contempo raries as well. Hints of P.O.D., Slipknot and Mudvayne — to name a few — crop up throughout the album. Fortunately, Sevendust still main tains its own style, enough so that these similarities don’t take away from the individual feel of the album. If anything, the band sounds a bit too much like itself in a few spots. The album’s opening track, “Disease,” begins with a distorted gui tar line — a familiar element in the group’s music — but gains complexity as it changes meter during the cho rus, piquing the listener’s interest with a bit of variety. The following track, “Enemy,” is reminiscent of Mudvayne with its an gry back-and-forth rapping that rico chets through the verses. The title track, “Seasons,” follows but some what disappointingly sounds like it could have come straight from Sevendust’s 2001 release, “Animosity.” Next comes “Broken Down,” a ra dio-ready number with appeal, though it also seems formulaic in its reseijt blance to earlier Sevendust singles. “Separate” and “Honesty” come next, but they too suffer from the fact that they offer nothing particularly new. On “Skeleton Song,” however, things become more interesting. Electric guitars are abandoned for acoustic axes, and a piano even enters into the mix. The song has a melan choly feel, vastly different from the majority of the band’s earlier work, which suggests that it has matured in its ability to diversify its songwriting style. The album closes out with a run of heavy tunes, which fortunately avoid the same outright resemblance to ear lier Sevendust songs that many of the earlier tracks exhibit. Among the best of these is “Burned Out,” which features a hard driving guitar rhythm within the verses but has a slower, more melod ic chorus. “Gone” also shows inter nal variety as Witherspoon’s vocal melody is accented by both the cho rus’ sedated instrumentation and sol id backup harmonies. While “Seasons” is not a great dis play of growth for Sevendust, it is cer tainly a testament to its versatility and solid songwriting ability. Ultimately, “Seasons” achieves a two tiered appeal: it’s a comfortable con tinuation of Sevendust’s earlier works yet contains enough new elements to keep the songs sounding fresh. Comments on this story?E-mail gamecockmixeditor@hotmail.com ‘Spot’celebrates honesty “SOFT SPOT” Clem Snide BY MEG MOORE THE GAMECOCK ' The world has an indelible need for rainy-day music, for albums that soothe and comfort and reach for something deep er than the eardrums. Such records sneak their way into the CD collections of those who recognize the beauty in music so un obtrusive that it begs to be invited in. Clem Snide’s latest release, the appro priately titled “Soft Spot,” epitomizes that lazy-day appeal. The acoustic guitars and tempered vocals convey a sense of deli cacy that succeeds in sounding comfort ing rather than frail. Relatively short in length—at less than 38 minutes—the album offers listeners 11 generally mellow tracks from the sparse opener, “Forever, Now and Then,” to the closing number, “Every Moment.” Clem Snide has become an expert at the art of Optimistic melancholy, sailing literate lovj? poems over bittersweet instrumental lines. Yet, the lyrics do not lament lost love as the album’s somber sound might sug gest, but assert that love lingers despite mistakes and misgivings. The band has a reputation for turning out clever lines, and songwriter Eef Barzelay’s most re cent creations do not disappoint. Barzelay has a unique talent for creating quirky yet effective phrases that get inside the listener’s head and Somehow make even the dreariest moments a little bit easier to handle. He poignantly expresses a real, if rough-around-the-edges, sort of love with phrases such as “I’ll tie a string around my finger/ So I don’t forget/ Not to get so tied up tb/ The things that I regret.” A few tracks, including the horn-in fused “Happy Birthday,” pick up the pace with their rootsy honky-tonk undertones, reminding listeners why the band is often categorized as “alt-country.” Although the CD’s more upbeat tracks are engag ingly fun, the strength of “Soft Spot” is its sincerity. Musically, Clem Snide does many things well, but the band’s most apt ability is its knack for sounding heartfelt. Clem Snide may never score a Top 40 hit or put out the single of the summer, but “Soft Spot,” its fourth release, further establishes it as a group that every record connoisseur should have around. Witty, sincere and an indispensable rainy-day staple, the band’s most recent release achieves both fragility and familiarity. “Soft Spot” succeeds at sounding human, something that every music listener can relate to. Comments on this story?E-mail gamecockmixeditor@hotmail.com r