The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, September 11, 2002, Page 10, Image 10
10 THE GAMECOCK ♦ Wednesday, Septemeber 11, 2002
dfmTJJ? 1\ /TT V THEY SAID IT
CONTACT US I-I H I/I I X BENJAM.N FRANKLIN: ‘Those who
; 7OI I I I J m/ 11/ m sacrifice essential liberty for tem
Story ideas? Questions? Comments? ■ I B | A VI 1/1 porary safety are not deserving of
E-mail us at gamecockmixeditor@hotmail.com —■— ■■■■ - —■ ■—* —■ ■— either liberty or safety.”
CHILDREN sl
to France
and Italy
rBY ASHLEY VAUGHAN
ump, Little Children will
play Senate Park tomorrow
night to promote its new
DVD, “JLC Live at the Music Farm."
The DVD features 90 minutes of
the band — Jay Clifford on lead vo
cals and rhythm guitar; Matt Bivins.
on harmonica, mandolin, tin whis
tle, accordion and vocals; Evan
Bivins on drums; Jonathan Gray on
upright bass; and Ward Williams on
cello and lead guitar — at their best:
on stage in front of a sold-out crowd
in Charleston, the band’s home base.
Interspersed among the concert
footage are comedy skits in which
each member of the band tries to con
vince the viewer he is the “best and
most important member of Jump,
Little Children.” The interactive
DVD supplies five different endings,
and each outcome depends on which
member the viewer votes for.
The inventive concept is the brain
child ot lans-tumed-hlmmakers Matt
Sterling and Clay Wormacher. In a
phone interview, Matthew Bivins ex
plained: “All of us were trying to come
up with a theme that runs through the
DVD, one that would set it apart. Clay
and Matt called and said, ‘We’ve got
it,’ and it was perfect.”
“We would bounce ideas off of
each other,” Bivins said. “It was very
collaborative. Those guys are very
funny. We knew we were in very
good hands.”
The DVD’s theme reflects not only
the wacky humor, but also the inge
nuity, of JLC, a band that has man
aged to stay on top despite many
bumps in the road, including being
dropped from its label.
Bivins talked about JLC’s strug
gles and successes: “My definition of
success changes a lot. At first, we
wanted to be on David Letterman ...
Success meant playing late-night TV
and fame and selling lots of records,
rhen, we started getting and having
success and feeling senses of accom
and playing, being able to sell out a
Los Angeles venue on our own and
putting out ‘Vertigo’ on our own.”
Bivins is content with life on tour
and thinks that, while worldwide
fame would be nice, his realistic goal
is a comfortable lifestyle. He said:
“We’re not making a lot of money,
and that’s hard sometimes.... Rock
‘n’ roll really doesn’t pay that well
until you get to a certain level.... We
would love it if we could get to a point
where it’s our job and it’s a good liv
ing. I think we will get there.”
For someone who has only lis
tened to the band’s albums, attend
ing a concert is a must; JLC has per
fected the art of performance. Bivins
revealed his and his brother’s [Evan
Bivins’] secret to good stage presence.
“Our mother is an actress. ... She
would put us in plays when we were
little to keep an eye on us, so being
on stage was never difficult for me.”
He compared being onstage to “a
game where you have to try some
thing and realize what works and
what doesn’t and keep adding to it
and building on it until it affects the
most people.”
Veterans of JLC shows should
look forward to hearing a few new
songs that might appear on the
band’s upcoming album.
“We have a couple that we’ve been
trying out live and are going pretty
well,” Bivins said.
As for who is “the best and most
important member of Jump, Little
Children,” Bivins has an interesting
answer.
“Since it’s my brother’s birthday,
let’s just go with my brother because
he is the funniest member, hands
down. He’s the one who keeps the
rhythm, and he’s a good songwriter.”
“If it wasn’t his birthday, I’d prob
ably say me,” he added.
Don’t take his word for it; you can
judge for yourself Thursday night.
The show will begin at 9 p.m., and
the opening act will be Matt
Nathanson. Fans can purchase the
DVD at JLC’s Web site,
www.jumplittlechildren.com, or at
Thursday’s show.
Comments on this story? E-mail
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PHOTO SPECIAL 10 IHt GAMECOCK
Jump, Little Children — from left, Matt Bivins, Ward Williams, Jonathan Gray, Evan Bivins and Jay Clifford —will play Senate Park tonight
to promote its new DVD, “JLC Live at the Music Farm,” which shows the band at its best in front of a sold-out Charleston crowd.
ssaasss*
BY JUSTIN BAJAN
THEIiAMKCOCK
When the ’80s gave way to the the
’90s, many hip-hop groups couldn’t
make the transition. Whether it was
their lack of drive or an inability to
evolve, groups that dominated the
’80s traipsed off into obscurity.
So with “Let The Rhythm Hit
’Em,” Eric B. and Rakim had a
chance to retire into nostalgia or
provide a link from the old school
to the new school. The duo accom
plished the latter by leaving a
highly evolved artifact preserved
by a transcendental effort.
BY CHARLES TOMLINSON
THE GAMECOCK
They Might Be Giants’ "Flood”
is an album that immediately
dates itself when, during the intro,
a choir sings, “It’s a brand-new
record for 1990.”
TMBG is still going in 2002; in
June, it released “No!” an en
hanced CD containing interactive
animations accompanying each
song. And on Sept. 17, it will re
lease the box-set career retrospec
tive “Dial-a-Song: 20 Years of They
Might Be Giants.”
John Flansburgh and John
Linnell are the duo that make up
The title track sounds like the
Chemical Brothers collaborated
with a rhyming cyborg. Rakim un
leashes a rapid delivery while Eric
B. lays down a quick and gritty
drum ‘n’ bass beat.
“In the Ghetto” finds the group
slowing things down to create a
dismal bass-driven reality. Rakim
methodically rhymes, “I learn to
i cidA m my
room/and
escape from
New
York/and
return
through the
Eric B. and Rakim
TMBG, and
“Flood” is a
classic show
case of their i
collaborative rl
abilities. The B
genius Johns g
crafted the n,ey Might Be
catchy “Bird- Giants
house in Your
Soul” with lyrics that sound like
passages from a children’s book.
“Flood” is probably best re
membered for “Particle Man” and
a cover of the Chestnut “Istanbul
(Not Constantinople).” “We Want a
Rock,” “Whistling in the Dark,”
“Dead” and the self-proclaiming
womb/of the world as a thought.”
“Mahogany” is a suave “ro
mance” story following the emcee’s
love interest. Rakim summarizes
his serious demeanor with, “She
asked me how come I don’t smile, I
said everything’s fine, but I’m in a
New York state of mind.”
This classic is good enough to let
people forget the group’s ho-hum
next release and displays a group
at the peak of its creativity.
i In YEAR
in mUSIC
1990
“They Might Be Giants” also all
show the comedic craziness of the
band; no sane band would sing,
“Everybody wants a rock to wind a
piece of string around.”
During the 19-song tilt-o-whirl,
They Might Be Giants uses horns,
accordions, booming bass drums
and even a whipcrack to implement
its wild instrumental ideas. And
throughout the years, TMBG has
retained the lyrical nonsense from
its geek-rock manifesto “Flood.”
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gamecockmixeditor@hotmail.com
COLUMBIA
remembers
BY JESSICA
MANNING
TIIK CAMKCOUK
Columbia and USC’s
School of Music will
sponsor “Summon the
Heroes: A Commemor
ative Concert” tonight
at Finlay Park, start
ing at 7 p.m.
The free family
event will feature in
spirational, spiritual
and patriotic music
by the USC
Symphony Orchestra
and USC Concert
Choir in conjunction
with the USC
University unorus, the South
Carolina Philharmonic, the
Columbia College Chorus, the
Sandlapper Singers, Cola
Voce, the Columbia
Symphonic Chorale and the
Capital City Chorale.
Mayor Bob Coble and Gov.
Jim Hodges will speak during
the commemorative concert,
and USC President Andrew
Sorenson is expected to recite
from Aaron Copland’s
“Lincoln Portrait. “
Sara Beardsley, adminis
trative assistant for choral ac
tivities at u&c,
said the School of Music origi
nally organized a commemo
rative concert at the Koger
Center on Sept. 11. When the
school discovered that
Columbia was also planning a
concert in memory of 9/11, the
programs were combined to
form “Summon the Heroes.”
In a news release, Coble em
phasized the importance of
coming together to honor the
nation’s heroes and the neces
♦ REMEMBER, SEE PAGE 11
Short
films
honor
9/11
BY BROOK BRISTOW
THE (1AMECOCK
While there will be lots of Sept.
11 programming this year, the
Nickelodeon Theatre is offering
something a little different.
“Underground Zero” is an al
ternative way to find perspective
and discuss the events of last year
through independent film.
This innovative short film com
pilation studies the significance of
Sept. 11 through a variety of cre
ative, personal and cultural lenses.
It will run at the Nickelodeon
Theatre on Sept. 11 only.
Columbia Film Society
Executive Director Anne Raman
has high expectations for
“Underground Zero” because of
how it deals with Sept. 11.
“It’s an event that has been han
dled a certain way in the major
media,” she said. “This program
is an important opportunity for in
dependent filmmakers to express
their responses that might be
more personal.”
This program came about
through the efforts of San
Francisco filmmakers Jay
Rosenblatt and Caveh Zahedi.
One week after Sept. 11, 2001,
Rosenblatt and Zahedi asked 150
independent filmmakers nation
wide to create short films or
videos related to the events of
that day. Thirteen of these films
were compiled to create
“Underground Zero.”
The films range in length from
two minutes to 14 minutes.
A highlight of “Underground
Zero” will be program innovator
Caveh Zahedi’s 14-minute short
“The World is a Classroom,”
which is the good vs. evil conflict
of George W. Bush and Osama bin
Laden and applies it to each indi-.
vidual.
Also on the schedule is co-pro
gram innovator Jay Rosenblatt’s
three-minute film “Prayer,” which
takes a quick look at how faith and
fear interact.
The other films vary in length
and topic. But all fit under the
“Underground Zero” mission um
brella.
Frazer Bradshaw’s “The End of
Summer” shows a child’s per
spective of the events.
Robert Edwards’ “The Voice of
the Prophet” is a seven-minute in
terview with Rick Resorla, who is
a retired Army colonel, veteran of
three wars and head of security for
Morgan Stanley Dean Witter.
What makes this video eerie is
that the interview was filmed in
1998, on the 44th floor of the World
Trade Center.
Eva Brzeski’s “China Diary” ;
is the story of the actual film
maker on Sept. 11. Brzeski’s
home was only a mile away from
the World Trade Center, but she
was in China at the time of the
terrorist attacks. In her film, the
other side of the world watches
the unfolding of the Sept. 11
events while life continues nor
mally in China.
ram Harrill’s ‘.‘Brief Encounter
with Tibetan Monks” leaves him
bewildered as his mission to find
nonviolence in the world seems
harder than he once thought.
The remaining seven films ad
dress topics varying from patriot
ic fervor to discrimination.
“It’s important to us to listen to
as many viewpoints as possible,”
Raman says. “We have to be will
ing to talk about this.”
“People are going to be over
loaded with September 11 pro
gramming. If you are looking for
an environment to share efforts of
independent filmmakers and then
work on different perspectives,
then this is a great place to come,”
Raman said.
The screenings will be at
tonight at 7 and 9 p.m. The moder
ated audience discussion will take
place after the earlier screening.
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