The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, September 13, 2002, Page 5, Image 5
THE GAMECOCK ♦ Friday, September 13, 2002 K
7
CONTACT US ' THEY SAID jT
Story ideas?Questions? Comments? oruiAunu CDaui/i ■».
E-mail us at gamecockmixeditor@hotmail.com BENJAMIN FRANKLIN: The best of
all medicines are rest and fasting.
BY RACHEL BEATTY
THE GAMECOCK
Sophomore CD releases can be
a stressful undertaking. Music
critics “lick their chops,” fans are
hopeful and bands themselves
start to get a little nervous.
Local Columbia band Captain
Easy, however, appears to be tak
ing it all in stride. The band has
L fully jumped into the promotion
*' ■ of its second CD, “Picture Perfect
World,” released after three
months in the making.
“We think it’s a little more mel
low, but it’s starting to point in the
right direction of where the band
wants to go,” said Ryan Monroe,
who sings and
plays key
boards.
Captain Easy continues on the
path of the success created by its
first album, “Greatest Hits.” That
CD, along with live performances
and constant touring, garnered
the band quite a bit of praise.
In 2001, Captain Easy won the
WARQ 93.5 Locals Live Acoustic
Challenge. That same year, it was
named one of the top 10 most
promising bands by the Free
Times, which also named
“Greatest Hits” the 2001 top South
Carolina release. Captain Easy fol
lowed up its initial success this
year when it was named the most
promising band by the Free
Times.
In addition to high praise
in local newspapers and ra
dio stations, Captain
Easy has accumulat
ed a fan club in
Khk the state,
Hit
where people traveling to various
cities to see the band perform. The
live shows, which include light
shows and uniforms for the band,
are energetic and original.
Captain Easy’s first album sold
700 copies in less than six months.
This is not surprising, given the
band’s infectious sound. And
Monroe said the new album is al
ready reaching a higher level of
success.
“It’s doing considerably better
than the first one was the week af
ter we released it,” Monroe said.
He also said that, with the mon
ey the band has made so
far from selling
CDs, each
member has
^ bought a
■ dune
B buggy.
By
B incor
W porat
w ing bits
of different musical genres,
Captain Easy can satisfy nearly
all tastes. They focus primarily on
classic rock, namely from the ’70s,
while bringing a contemporary
edge.
A larger band, with six people,
Captain Easy can include a lot of
different sounds and various in
struments in its songs. The band
also commonly uses vocal har
monics in its music.
Captain Easy has pretty hum
ble beginnings, as most local
bands do. The members of the
band began collaborating while in
high school, but each member
drifted away in college to follow
his own musical desires.
In fact, Captain Easy was not
nucnucu iu
Singer and guitarist Josh Roberts
rounded the band up in 1999 to
play at a festival to support his
acoustic career. He recruited for
mer drummer Shaun Riffle, per
cussionist Josh Riffle, guitarist
Matt Train and bassist Matt
Alsup, all former high school
bandmates of Roberts.
The first show went so well,
they decided to give performing a
go. After Monroe was added to the
mix in 2000, Captain Easy’s sound
became a group effort. Roberts
and Monroe take the lead and lay
the framework while the other
band members add their own
twists to songs. On the new album,
Captain Easy has also stretched
out the instrumentation
by incorporating ^ .
tar.
“Picture Perfect World” was re
leased only in Columbia at
Manifest Discs and Tapes on
Tuesday and is available exclu
sively at Manifest until Sept. 17,
when it will be officially released
to the public.
Captain Easy will hold an offi
cial CD release party tonight at
Senate Park in the Vista.
As for the show itself, Monroe
said, “There’s going to be a big
party. We have lots of surprises
planned.”
“I just hope everyone has a
good time,” Monroe said. “And I
love my brother!”
Tickets can be purchased at
Senate Park, Manifest Discs and
Tapes, and online at
http://www.etix.com.
All ages are wel
come. Prices for
tickets are $6 for
people 21 and over
and $8 for those
under 21. The
I show begins at 10
p.m.
PHOTO SPECIAL TO THE
GAMECOCK
Captain Easy will
hold a party tonight
at Senate Park to
celebrate the
^^new CD.
Comments on this
story?E-mail
gamecockmixeditor
@hotmail.com
CD REVIEW
Todd paints poetic portrait
“THE GOLDEN STATE”
-* Mia Doi Todd
. ★★★ out of ☆☆☆☆☆
BY MEG MOORE
THE UAMEGOCK
Mia Doi Todd does not write ra
dio songs; she paints portraits, ex
ploring themes of life and liberty
within tunes primed for art-gallery
play. On “The Golden State,” her
k ' Columbia Records debut, she es
tablishes herself as a perceptive
lyricist, weaving her words over
melancholy melodies. While it is
a solid album, Todd’s latest release
sounds more like a promising start
than a product of her years spent
performing and her three prior in
dependent records.
A skilled poet, Todd mixes
• Eastern ideology with vivid im
agery and throws in a bit of deli
cately veiled feminism to taste. The
somber lull of her musical arrange
ments accent her lyrical claim that
“paralysis is everywhere.”
In songs such as “Independence
Day,” a chilling commentary on
the price of war and ambition, she
weaves visions of lakeside fire
works with the darker realization
that “All [her] heroes have turned
human this year.”
“Growing Pains,” another in
sightful work, explores the
growth of the individual as well
as the evolution of nations. Tracks
such as these establish Todd as a
powerful social commentator.
Meanwhile, “Merry Me” explores
the role of women in society and
“Hijikata” addresses Eastern phi
losophy.
Undoubtedly, Todd has a lot to
say about a variety of subjects
and establishes herself as a pow
erful social commentator. But
her vocals sound more like an
added instrument than a voice of
experience. The songs on “The
Golden State” come across as
New Age elevator music — they
do not do justice to her truly ex
ceptional lyrics.
Todd has the potential to be
the poet laureate of the music
world, but the passive tone of her
music undermines the power of
her words. Granted, the sparse,
dark arrangements that sneak
along beneath her Dido-esque vo
cals complement the ominous,
questioning tone of her lyrics.
The end result, however, is not
as much a powerful exposition of
ideas as it is background music
for intellectuals. “The Golden
State” lacks variety and is void
of the musical power needed to
support Todd’s poignant mus
ings. Lines such as “The hermit
and the hero walk in parallel
lines/One with bow and arrow,
the other bowed eyes” deserve to
be heard, but are buried beneath
the overall effect.
Though loaded with quotable
lines, “The Golden State” plays
like a movie soundtrack — it es
tablishes tone but, without the di
alogue (or in this case, Todd’s ex
pressive lyrics), lacks meaning.
Ideally, Todd could follow the
pop star trend du jour and publish
a book of poetry; her work might
actually sell for its literary merit
rather than star quality.
Todd’s words would sound
more profound if left in text
rather than buried in song.
Because Mia Doi Todd writes so
poignantly, “The Golden State”
shortchanges its listeners by not
letting her lyrics shine.
Todd has released a worthy
major-label debut that is both an
anthology of poetry and a collec
tion of ethereal melodies. She
will have released a masterpiece
when she produces an album in
which the two accentuate one an
other instead of one in which
both struggle to be heard above
the hushed din of art-gallery con
versation.
Comments on this story?E-mail
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DVD REVIEW
Rerelease worth a second look
“RESERVOIR DOGS: SPECIAL
EDITION"
Starring Tim Roth, Steve Buscemi
*★★★★ out of
BY BEN ANGSTADT
THE GAMECOCK
Reservoir Dogs are back again.
It’s the 10th anniversary of
“Reservoir Dogs,” Quentin
Tarantino’s landmark film that
made its debut at the 1992 Sundance
Film Festival. It jump-started a no
table career for Tarantino and
helped spawn numerous filmmak
ers who wished to follow in his bru
tal-yet-straightforward style.
While many moviegoers have
seen the film already, they haven’t
seen it like this: This two-disc set
comes packed with all kinds of
special features, including cast
and crew interviews and two al
ternate camera angles for the in
famous “ear scene.”
This second DVD version of
“Reservoir Dogs” was released
with four different covers, each of
which features a character from
the movie and a corresponding
color, as well as a limited-edition
brown cover that features
Tarantino and his signature.
For those who haven’t seen the
movie, it’s a true masterpiece of
filmmaking that juxtaposes a gritty
depiction of gangland heists with
the simple, realistic humor that
Tarantino handles so well. The
movie is centered on six strangers
who are brought together to pull off
the perfect jewel heist. But when
police ambush the thieves during
the heist, those who lived through
the ensuing gunfight realize they
have a traitor among their ranks.
The rest of the film is com
prised of both present action and
flashbacks that depict how the dif
ferent members of the group came
to be involved in the robbery and
their attempts to identify the rat.
Interestingly, though, the robbery
itself is never shown; it is only re
ferred to in conversation between
the surviving men.
The most outstanding aspect of
the film is the characters’ com
plexity. Tarantino manages to
peer into the psyches of each of the
main characters, a feat that is aid
ed by his talented cast: Harvey
Keitel as the tough yet sympa
thetic Mr. White, Tim Roth as the
young and apprehensive Mr.
Orange, Michael Madsen as the
sadistic Mr. Blonde and Steve
Buscemi as the businesslike Mr.
Pink. Tarantino depicts all the
characters as real people who
have real conversations, with top
ics such as music, women and
waitress-tipping etiquette.
This special edition includes nu
merous features that were not in
cluded in the movie’s 1997 DVD re
lease. Both widescreen and
fullscreen versions of the film are
included, and each of the discs has
its own unique extras. The features
include behind-the-scenes footage
of the making of “Reservoir Dogs”
action figures, deleted scenes, and
short documentaries on the ’92
Sundance Festival and other film
makers in the film noir genre.
The interview with Tarantino is
definitely a must-see; the quirky
writer/director explains his histo
ry in filmmaking, his inspirations
and motivations for the movie, and
viewers’ reactions to the film.
Roth’s and Keitel’s interviews are
entertaining as well.
Be warned, though: This movie
is not for the squeamish or the faint
of heart. But for those who can han
dle the graphic images, this special
edition DVD offers a ton in a small
package. It looks as though the only
decision left is which cover to buy.
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