The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, September 25, 2002, Page 6, Image 6
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
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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
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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.
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