, CD REVIEW
cBlus airs Preach’s passion
“Baby Blus”
Preach
★★★★ out of ☆☆☆☆☆
James Prince
THE GAMECOCK
•>* . .
In the city of Hip-Hop there is
an established government.
Elected officials from all over the
country develop various
campaigns depending on their
own visions. There are the
“commercial” rap officials who will
do anything to bring more money
into the city, however detrimental
“anything” might be. The
“underground” rap officials try to
maintain an honest image of the
city to satisfy the city’s population.
Preach, this year’s newest
candidate, represents Blusic
Productions. With his new album,
“Baby Blus,” he serves his
campaign well.
On the tracks “Amnesia” and
“93-94,” he shares his background:
“The city of Hip-Hop, that was
my birthplace”.
He also shares how he has
learned from predecessors such as
Common, Outkast and A Tribe
Called Quest: “1 remember
Resurrection came out ... Dre
walked the West Out ... reminisce
I wish my face was on Midnight
Marauders, when I thought the
Native Tongues was on top, BET,
Rap City, 4:00
His credibility as an artist lies in
the education he received from
those who helped to develop the
city themselves.
Preach would also like for
people to appreciate children more,
as they will be the future of the city.
From the young child on the cover
to the sounds of kids playing on the
playground, he exhibit? his
dedication to improving the
message sent to youth.
In local debates he gives a
convincing argument of why he is
the best candidate. On “The
Spark” he spits, “U spit raps, I spit
gospel, I am the aposde.” He wants
to be the leader that will enable the
city of Hip-Hop to hear truth: “It’s
not about catchy metaphors, I just
want ya’ to hear me more and see
what I do this for ....”
Obviously, when he continues
by saying “music (is the) closest
thing I got to heaven,” one can rest
assure he went into this business
for the music. His lyrics are backed
by saxophones, trumpets, soft
piano chords and simple drum
beats.
City assistants also featured on
the album include Lyrikal Budcfah,
Taesone, Pro Vocalists, Alone,
Immental squad, Ntelligence,
Khalil and Dan Johns, who all
contribute greatly to his campaign.
The album’s great production
takes one from a blues joint blessed
with the essence of Hip-Hop, to
the parks of the Bronx in New
York, to a local Hip-Hop club.
“Baby Blus” is definitely the album
that will allow listeners to see why
it is important to elect
underground officials as well as
commercial ones.
Preach’s album is available on
his Web site, www.kindablu.com,
and at Manifest Discs & Tapes at
1563 Broad River Road.
Comments on this story? E-mail
gajnecockfeatures@gwm.sc.edu
CBBB
15 OMFVB 315
Special J»TI1E •■'AMKCiH.K
The famous CBGB club in New York City might have to close down because of a disputed debt.
Famed club fears eviction order
IDinam Hill
KRT CAMPUS
NEW YORK — Even in the
silence, the worn wooden stage at
CBGB echoes with the sounds of
legends. Close your eyes and you
can almost hear David Byrne
singing “Psycho Killer,” Patti
Smith performing “Land of 1,000
Dances,” or the Ramones
transforming themselves from a
bunch of guys banging guitars
into the progenitors of punk.
But a rent dispute between the
club and its landlord threatens to
silence those echoes. Despite a
temporary reprieve granted last
week by a judge, preventing
eviction, the dub’s lease expires
Aug. 31 and new terms have not
been reached.
A star-studded group of
musicians led by E Street Band
guitarist Steven Van Zandt, and
including Deborah Harry of
Blondie and Tommy Ramone, has
rallied to save the club, holding
benefit concerts and raising
money over the Internet.
“Looking back, we can see
how significant CBGB was,
being the place where the
Ramones and Television and
Blondie came out of,” Van Zandt
said. “CBGB is basically the last
club left in New York. It’s a
symbol of great hope left
worldwide for people.”
Longtime Village Voice rock
critic Robert Christgau sees it
differently. “Its contribution is
historical,” he said. “Its current
relevance is debatable. That’s
pretty clear, but you know, it was
the crucial arena in which rock ' n’
roll changed irrevocably. There’s
no question about that.”
This year, New York clubs Fez
and Luna Lounge, pressured by
developers and rising rents,
closed. Last year, the Bottom
Line, site of early performances
by Bruce Springsteen and the E
Street Band, among others, shut
down because it owed more than
$185,000 to its landlord, New
York University.
CBGB’s dispute with its
landlord began four years ago.
The landlord, the Bowery
Residents’ Committee (BRC),
which houses homeless people,
began asking for $300,000 in rent
that had gone unpaid over several
years. CBGB owner Hilly Kristal
said he had written the checks but
some had gone uncashed; both
sides agreed the money was being
paid off. But this year, the BRC
said the club also had failed to pay
$85,000 in rent increases. Kristal
said he wasn’t aware of them.
“A lot of mistakes in rent were
made on both sides,” Kristal said.
BRC executive director Muzzy
Rosenblatt has said the increases
were disclosed clearly in the
lease. Last week, a judge ruled in
favor of CBGB, saying the club
could not be evicted for failing to
pay money it didn’t realize it
owed.
Rosenblatt released a
statement saying BRC disagrees
and would appeal. “This rental
income, and every dollar BRC
receives, goes to help homeless
people. With the millions of
dollars CBGB claims to take in
every year, it is unfortunate
CBGB would want to withhold
these funds, knowing who would
benefit from them.”
With the lease expiring Aug.
31, the judge’s ruling is only a
temporary victory. The Save
CBGB’s Coalition, which
includes Kristal and Van Zandt, is
working furiously to renew the
lease but worries that the
committee wants to more than
double its monthly rent of
$19,500.
Van Zandt said talks with BRC
representatives have left him
hopeful that they can negotiate a
new lease.
“I think everybody, even the
Bowery Residents’ Committee, is
in total agreement that we want
to keep CBGB’s,” he said. He is
planning an Aug. 31 benefit
concert in Washington Square. If
the lease expires, Kristal said, it
could take a few months to evict
CBGB. Kristal said he was
considering offers to move the
club, including one from the city
of Las Vegas.
There it would be a tourist site
— as it is today, a popular stop for
tour buses.
Ann Powers, a former New
York Times critic, said she never
much enjoyed seeing shows at
CBGB’s — “it was grimy and
uncomfortable and the women’s
bathrooms terrified” — but the
club served as a reminder that
New York was one of the world’s
great rock ’n’ roll cities.
“CBGB serves the same
purpose as Castro Street in San
Francisco, Sun Studios in
Memphis, or Preservation Hall
in New Orleans — it’s a
touchstone for people eager to
trace the legacy of American pop,
and its mere presence renews
that legacy in the hearts and
minds of many pilgrims,” she
wrote in an e-mail.
Abeles exhibits art, self
McKissick Museum displays paintings,
drawings, life story of creative alumnus
Julia Sellers
THE GAMECOCK
The sketches and drawings of
USC alumnus Sigmund Abeles
are of everyday people brought
to life in an unimaginable way.
He captures his subjects’
complex reality in a simplistic
style.
Art lovers and fans attended a
Friday reception at McKissick
Museum’s new exhibit, titled
“Sigmund Abeles — An
Intimate Look.” Abeles himself
was in attendance.
The exhibit features 26 pieces
from various Columbia
collections, 23 of which
highlight Abeles’ life and work.
A walk-through of the gallery
isn’t only about art, but also
about getting to know Abeles as
a person and an artist. Story
plaques placed throughout the
exhibit offer information about
his personal life and history.
Abeles used etching and dry
point techniques to create the
art, stripped down to raw
components. His subjects are
intriguing and haunting, figures
in a story only Abeles knows.
Abeles said a drawing he did
of his mother listening to the
radio remains one of his
favorites in the collection. It
won him a scholarship (which he
turned down) to the Savannah
College of Art and Design.
“It reminds me we are how we
are and stay who we are,” Abeles
said.
His most striking pieces in the
collection include “Nude to
Vivaldi,” from 1984; it is one of
the larger pieces in the
collection. “Day Lily” from
1978, highlights a lily in coffee
stained yellow and accentuates a
womans slouched manner.
“Conundrum,” from 1978,
features an almost-nude woman.
It accumulated many viewers
Friday evening.
In the story plaques, the
viewer learns that Abeles and his
mother moved to Myrtle Beach
when he was 2. His mother ran a
rooming house, and many of the
boarders became Abeles’
subjects. Abeles also used Brook
Green Gardens for inspiration.
Abeles said it was “exciting” to
be back on campus.
“It brings back memories of
professors that no longer exist.
There is sadness and nostalgia,”
he said.
Jason Shaiman, the museum’s
chief curator of exhibitions,
encourages students to visit the
exhibit and appreciate the art,
not just to see the work of a
recognized USC alumnus.
“Art is for everybody,”
Shaiman said. “You can look and
see something represented
differently from someone else.”
Abeles’ work will be on
display until Sept. 17.
Comments on this story? E-mail
gamecockfcaiures@gwm. sc. edu
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