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6 * THE GAMECOCK ♦ Wednesday, September 25,2002 CONTACT US THEY Sm IT bUxN LAKj 1 l O M scon pECK; „Anything worth Story ideas? Questions? Comments? saying can be said well in one or two E-mail us at gamecockmixeditor@hotmail.com succinct sentences.” Mixed bunch creates sweet sound Honey Child will promote their new album on the Russell House Patio tomorrow night. It will the band’s first time performing In Columbia. The band has gained recognition for Its live shows. PHOTOS SPECIAL TO THE GAMECOCK Honey Child combines a variety of musical styles BY RACHEL BEATTY THE GAMECOCK Touring to promote a new CD can be grueling work, but live performances are what the band Honey Child does best. And USC will get its own Honey Child show to morrow night on the Russell House Patio. During the past 18 months. Honey Child has worked on its sec ond album, “Taller.” Grammy-nominated Clarke Rigsby produced the album, which is a thorough studio effort. “We put out our first album in 1997. We were together a year, so we just threw it together, said Honey Child vocalist Heather Higgs. “This album is three or four years after the first. We’ve played many more shows, and have had a lot more practice writing mu sic and throwing away songs.” The new album also incorporates a 15 piece string orchestra directed and arranged by Emmy-award-winning composer Kevin Stoller. Notable players include Sam Pilafian, who has played tuba for Pink Floyd and the Boston Pops, and Kenny Skaggs, mandolin player forthe Glen Campbell Band. Honey Child, however, has become known primarily for its live shows. Through constant performing, the band has attracted many fans and much praise. Honey Child was selected to perform on the H.O.R.D.E. tour and named Arizona’s best unsigned band in the Kool Band 2 Band Combat Competition. The Arizona Republic newspaper called Honey Child the best straight-ahead rock band of 2000. The mem bers of the band hail from up and down the East Coast, but they came together in Arizona. The focal point of the group is Higgs, whose vocal talents have drawn comparisons to Janis Joplin and Grace Slick of Jefferson Airplane. Guitar player Jason Montero, from New Jersey, also sings a few tracks on the new CD and often offers harmony to Heather’s lead. Dino Gisiano made the leap from chem ical engineer to musician with ease. He writes a lot of music, along with “Open D,” a column for Fender’s online music mag azine, 60 Cycle Hum. “Our influences do include sounds from the '60s and 70s, which was more musical than today.” HEATHER HIGGS HONEY CHILD LEAD VOCALIST Joe Frost brings to the band his brand of Afro-Cuban drumming, which he has been playing for more than 40 years. Drummer Greg Lisi, known as the “cute one,” is another New Jersey native. Steve Green, the bass player, manages a wide va riety of musical styles in his performances and is a veteran of the Arizona music scene. The band has moved its headquarters, however, from Arizona back to the East Coast, specifically Charlotte, N.C. “It’s a little strange out West, not too many people,” Higgs said. “The population is denser on the East Coast, which has po i._A • t C_..._1. icxjucu iwi mwx o noxxi. We’ve been touring out here for the past three months, about 10 or 15 places.” The new CD is easy to get into; many of the tracks are laid back, but the album has just enough upbeat songs to bounce to. The interplay between the six musicians is well-balanced, and no particular sound is overpowering. Higgs’ voice provides an emotional edge, and Montero’s complementary vocal har monies add detail to many of the songs. “Naked” especially shows off Higgs’ pow erful voice and the string orchestra. The sound avoids the poppy and juvenile sounds of the current mainstream and is reminiscent of the rock music from the 1960s and 70s. “Our influences do include sounds from the ‘60s and ‘70s. which was more musical than today,” Higgs said. “It was music for music’s sake, not like today, which just fol lows current tastes. It isn’t a throwback to that era, though; our own sounds comes through.” The band, which be lieves live performances define it best and bring its fans closer, has played all over the nation. Honey Child has also performed • Mill M V* »* V** known artists, such as Gypsy Kings, Blues Traveler, Barenaked Ladies, Fastball, Ben Harper and Box Set. Tomorrow's 7 p.m. show will mark Honey Child’s first in Columbia. Admission will be free. The CD “Taller” is available for purchase online at www.honey child.com, which also features three of the album’s tracks in streaming audio format. Comments on this story?E-mail gamecockmixeditor@fiotmail.com If You Go WHAT: Honey Child WHERE: Russell House Patio WHEN: Thursday, 7 p.m. rn TOP 10 These were the most requested songs on USC’s student radio station from Sept 9-15. 1. “READ AND BURN” Wire 2. “FUZZ TOWNSHEND” FuzzTownshend 3. “AGAIN, FOR THE FIRST TIME” Bleach 4. “A HUNDRED DAYS OFP Underworld 5. “MOUNTAIN TRACKS: VOL 2” Yonder Mountain String Band 6. “SAHARA HOTNIGHTS” Jennie Bomb 7. “WE LOVE LIFE" __Pulp 8. “THE JOY OF SING SING” Sing-Sing 9. “INTERNET DATING SUPER STUDS” Vandals 10. “SOUNDS ECLECTIC TOO” Various Artists Innovative lyrics made groups legendary BY JUSTIN BAJAN THE GAMECOCK There’s no doubting the last ing significance of the talented combination of Pete Rock and C.L. Smooth. Even a decade after their first full-length album, “Mecca and the Soul Brother,” their influence still remains prevalent in modem hip-hop. Individually, the group was extremely gifted, with Pete Rock serving as the DJ and producer and C.L. Smooth handling the emcee duties. Both artists’ abili ties were among the top in hip hop at the time, and the two re main permanent fixtures as one of the best in their fields. C.L. Smooth instantly displays his lyrical forte on the first track, “Return of the Mecca.” What made C.L. Smooth so different from other emcees at his time were his long verses and his un orthodox cadence. Lyrics, such as “Fierce/how I pierce/when you near the frontier/A world premiere/so put the armor on your gear,” display his usage of short double rhymes comple mented by a longer phrase. Even more monumental than C.L. Smooth’s work was the pro duction done by Pete Rock. He, along with DJ Premier of Gangstarr fame, signaled the new wave of hip-hop producers who had signature sounds. Pete Rock’s production included horn samples, crashing drums and turntable scratches to create a more polished sound. Sadly, the group disbanded af ter its next album, but the pair left hip-hop on a good note. Pete Rock continued to produce, while C.L. Smooth made a few cameos alongside Pete Rock on various projects. BY CHARLES TOMLINSON THE GAMECOCK “Automatic for the People” is an album dealing with themes of death and loss, but R.E.M. still manages to offer a glimmer of hope amid the devastation. The album opens with the moody “Drive” and the wistful “Try Not to Breathe.” Then, R.E.M. takes a temporary break from the dreariness with “The Sidewinder Sleeps Tonite.” On this track, Stipe sings jocund lyrics such as, “Today I need something more sub-sub-sub sul?stantial... a candy-bar, a fall mg star or a reading from Dr. Seuss,” and nearly breaks into laughter. Immediately after the lively “Sidewinder,” however, comes the melodramatic “Everybody Hurts,” which exemplifies the main theme of “Automatic for the People”: Even though life is depressing, don’t give up hope. “Sweetness Follows,” a song about death of family members, reinforces the album’s theme of optimism in the face of tragedy. “Man on the Moon,” R.E.M.’s tribute to the late Andy Kaufman, also deals with the subject of death in a bright man ner, and celebrates the shenani gans of the comedian as if he were still on Earth. On “Star Me Kitten,” Stipe reaches into the lower end of his vocal range to sing a dark, haunting tune that parallels Peter Buck’s guitar melody. The piano and orchestrated strings on “Nightswimming” create beautiful art. The album’s finale, “Find the River,” is a simple song featur ing Buck’s shimmering acous tic guitar and a weeping har monica melody. And once again, Stipe’s lyrics remind lis teners to continue searching for happiness despite the woes of life. 11 Pete Rock and C.L. Smooth ■IlffiU R.E.M. Comments on this story?E-mail gamecockmixeditor@hotmail.com Eating without a meal plan CHARLES TOMLINSON GAMECOCKMIXEDITOR@HOTMAIL.COM I’ve found that raisins and Triscuits will go far. When I was paying my USC bill in August, I was contemplating a good way to save some of the mon ey I made at my summer job. But alas, I was living in an on-campus apartment, and my housing fees were through the roof. So I realized my one good option: Skip out on the meal plan. With the tuition increase as well as the prici er housing, it was a good way to cut back expenses, and I saved about $800. Now that I live in an apartment, my resources are abundant: I have a giant refrigerator and a stove, and my roommate brought a mi crowave. Therefore, I decided that, with some wise selection at the gro cery store and smart usage of my kitchen appliances, I could make my own meals and get by without mool nlan Even when I had a meal plan, sometimes I struggled to use all 14 of my meals in a week. And then, when I downsized my meal plan to 10 per week, I had to ration meals so that I wouldn't starve on Saturday and Sunday. Plus, I still bought groceries when I had a meal plan, though the groceries I bought were just stuff like potato chips and Ramen noodles — unhealthy junk that helped me put on the freshman 15 and probably the sophomore 25, too. And because I always bought groceries in addition to my meal plan, I figured I would probably be spending roughly the same amount of money. In theory, the idea not to get a meal plan sounded good. And it still does. After a month, it’s time to evaluate how the idea works in practice. Some days, I know exactly what I want to eat. I make a sand wich or heat up some frozen entree in the microwave. Other days, I might cook a frozen pizza in the nuon But other days, I look with dis may into a sparsely populated re frigerator and wonder where my next meal will come from. That’s usually when I call my girlfriend, who doesn’t have a meal plan, ei ther. “Hey, are you hungry?” I ask. “Yeah, I could go for some food right now,” she says. “Well, what if I come over to your place to eat?” Unfortunately, sometimes her selection of groceries isn’t much better than mine. It’s amazing how many times we’ve transformed raisins and Triscuits into a meal. Sometimes, though, I really en joy the sense of excitement I get when I realize I don’t know where my next meal is coming from. It’s an adventure, really. Will I scrounge up lunch at my girl friend’s apartment or actually ven ture to the grocery store for myself? Occasionally, I will remind my meal-plan-purchasing roommate that he stole some cookies from me, and he therefore owes me dinner. So I’ll weasel in a meal or two at the GMP. It’s a good thing I don’t eat break fast. Before coming back to school, I went to Sam’s and bought a huge pack of assorted individual-sized cereals. I can be assured that, even if I use most of my groceries, a bowl of Raisin Bran can serve as my lunch if I get desperate. And if my milk has expired, my roommate al ways keeps a gallon jug in the re frigerator, so I can just “borrow” some from him. In my adventures, or misadven tures, without a meal plan, there’s one main thing I’ve learned: A loaf of bread can go a long way. But for crying out loud, there’s only so many sandwiches a person can eat. Commentsvn this story?E-mail i gamecockmixeditor@notmail.com