The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, October 09, 2002, Page 8, Image 8
8 THE GAMECOCK ♦ Wednesday, October 9, 2002
CONTACT IIS THEY SAIDIT
IjUxN 1 Au L o HENRY WARD BEECHER:
Story ideas? Questions? Comments? “Vigilance is not only the price of
E-mail us at gamecockmixeditor@hotmail.com liberty, but of success of any sort.”
— ■ ■. — ... —
Christian music
has entered the
mainstream, and
with artists on
major labels, it is
growing in
popularity
BY HOLLY DUTTON
THE GAMECOCK
The progression of music over
time can be a gauge of the changes
within a society. The integration
of Christian music into the main
stream has been one of the recent
developments in popular music as
such bands as P.O.D. and
Blindside receive airplay on MTV
and MTV2. And Lifehouse, though
not on a Christian label, has a
Christian message, and its music
is now accepted more than ever.
Big record labels such as
Atlantic Records are now more
willing to sign Christian bands
such as Project 86; and these
bands are proving that Christian
music shouldn’t be limited to
gospel and church hymns.
Project 86
Project 86, a hardcore band
signed to Atlantic Records, justre
leased its album “Truthless
Heroes.” Inside lies an autobiog
raphy of a typical hero looking
through pop culture to find some
source of fulfillment.
The band’s Web site, www.pro
ject86.com, describes the album
as “the story of modern civiliza
tion; all the answers we are feed
ing ourselves lead to nowhere. We
have nowhere to turn and no one
to look to. It is a story about self
loathing, the human void and the
role that contemporary pop cul
ture plays in exploiting our own
insecurities.”
The band’s Web site also says,
“The music we write is the pro
cess of self-discovery amidst a mu
sical and cultural landscape that
is uninspiring at best. We hope to
be a small light of true inspiration
in the middle of our new millen
nium of consumer-friendly art
and sound.”
Blindside
Blindside, a Swedish rock/met
al group, has done just what its
name claims: blindsided the main
stream music industry; its hit sin
gle off its newly released album,
“Silence,” is the song most often
added into rotation at rock and al
ternative radio stations nation
wide. If you miss the band on the
radio, you can also now see its
video “Pitiful” on MTV2. You
might also recognize he band’s
music from the new Xbox game
“NHL Hockey 2003.”
Sonny Sandoval of P.O.D., a
Christian metal band that has also
made it into the mainstream, says
on Blindside’s Web site,
www.blindside-silence.com, that
“ ‘Silence’ is, by far, the best al
bum of the year — a refreshing
break from all the cookie-cutter
acts that are out there today.”
Sara Groves
Sara Groves makes the type of
music a listener could fall asleep
to — not because it’s boring, but
because it’s so soothing. Her new
CD, “All Right Here,” has a folk
and pop sound and, according to
www.billboard.com, “its appeal is
not limited only to a Christian
market.”
“It’s amazing to me the doors
music can open,” she says on her
Web site, www.saragroves.com.
She says singers can tell listeners
“about Christ and who he is... in
the music.”
“I used to struggle with the fact
that I don’t write as poetic as some
people,” Groves said. “I used to
think good music was something
you couldn’t understand, all these
veiled literary references that the
average person couldn’t decipher.”
But, she says, when it comes
down to it, “my music is not so
much about the poetry or the art
as it is about being understood.”
Groves, an English teacher,
uses not only her voice but her lit
erary knowledge to share what is
most important to her, and ha1
successfully interwoven her faith
and convictions in her music.
John Reuben
Eminem and old-school Vanilla
Ice have redeemed the white male
by proving that, though he might
not be able to jump, he can rap.
Reuben’s mother was in an Ohio
based assistance program, which
was started by an ex-gang mem
ber from Brooklyn. A church
sponsored the program, and
Reubens grew up on the church’s
property, where he interacted
with inner-city children from
across the country.
Reuben had his first lyrics pub
lished in elementary school and be
gan freestyling in junior high.
Reuben, at the age of 18, saw all
kinds of hip-hop come through the
reggae club at which he ran a hip
hop night.
His debut album, “Are We There
Yet?” was a hit with his positive
lyrics and evident hip-hop talent.
His follow-up album, “Hindsight,”
was released this year, and brings a
♦ MUSIC, SEE PAGE 10
Clockwise
from top left:
Project 86,
Sara Groves,
and Bllndside.
Project 86
and Blindside
have been
signed to
major record
labels.
PHOTOS SPECIAL TO
THE GAMECOCK
TOP 10
These were the most requested
songs on USC’s student radio
station from Sep. 30 - Oct 6.
1. “VELOCITY OF SOUND”
_Apples in Stereo
2. “FIGHT DIRTY”
Forty Fives
3. “START THE PANIC”
_ Agenda!
4. “TROUBLE BOUND”
Blasters
5. “CAUTION”
Hot Water Music
6. “GOOD MORNING BEAUTIFUL”
Irving
7. “CLOSE COVER BEFORE
STRIKING”
_ Luna
8. “LIGHT AND MAGIC”
_Ladytron
9. “FINALLY THE PUNK
ROCKERS...”
_ _ naming Lips
10. “GUSTO”
Guttermouth
THE YEAR IN MUSIC
Sunny Day Real Estate made picture-perfect emo
Diary
CHARLES TOMLINSON
THE HAMECOCK
Sunny Day Real Estate broke
up for the second time in 2000.
But, during its existence, it was
an interesting creature. In 1994,
during the band’s early stages, it
maintained an air of secrecy; it
did only one interview and re
leased only one photo to the pub
lic.
“Diary,” the album the band
^released that year, reflects
SDRE’s clandestine sensibilities.
The band’s name is nowhere to
be found on the album cover,
which features only a painting of
a toy family standing around a
smoking toaster in a darkened
kitchen. The album’s credits, de
livered in an almost-conversa
tional tone, can be found in small
type on the back of the liner
notes.
It’s easy to get drawn into the
artistic and poetic nature of the
liner notes, but they become just
icing when one actually listens
to the music.
SDRE is the quintessential
post-emo indie rock band be
cause of this album, which gives
perfect examples of the genre’s
trademarks: soft-to-loud dynam
ics, poetic and crooning vocals,
and shimmering guitar parts.
“In Circles,” “Song About an
Angel,” “Sometimes” and the
band’s trademark song “Seven”
are picture-perfect post-indie
emo tunes.
Jeremy Enigk’s vocal range is
amazing; he might sing softly at
first, but a burst from his lungs
during a powerful chorus can
wrench up every human emo
tion. Dan Hoerner’s lead guitar
placing is beautifully simplistic,
and'William Goldsmith’s rhyth
mic nuances are always surpris
ing. Nate Mendel, who later
joined the Foo Fighters, kept the
lower ranges interesting with flu
id, melodic bass playing.
A new album is in the works
from the Fire Theft, which com
prises Enigk, Goldsmith and
Mendel in a reunion of sorts. It
won’t be the same as SDRE, but
it’s always great to hear anything
these amazing musicians do.
Comments on these Stories?E-mail
gamecockmixeditor@hotmail.com
Nas changed the world of hip-hop
Illmatic
BY JUSTIN BAJAN
THE liAMECIICK
In the year 1994, the world of
hip-hop was divided into two
equally popular musical hemi
spheres: the West Coast and the
East Coast. In the west, Dr.
Dre’s signature G-Funk sound
reigned, as well as gangsta rap
pers such as Snoop Doggy Dog,
2Pac and Ice Cube. In the east,
you had grimy street rappers
such as the Notorious B.I.G,
Onyx and the Wu-Tang Clan.
But there was one rapper
who created an album that
seemed to levitate in compari
son to his counterparts. Nasty
Nas was his name, a moniker
that described his rugged style
and honest approach toward
music. Nas sent tremors
throughout the streets with his
cameo on Main Source’s “Live
at the Barbecue” back in ’91 and
took three years to finish his
opus, “Illmatic.”
“Illmatic” is a near-perfect
amalgam of stellar production
and lyrics. Ostensibly, no em
cee could miss with a line up of
producers such as DJ Premier,
Pete Rock and Large Professor,
but it takes a genius lyricist to
outshine his beats, and Nas did
just that.
On “N.Y. State of Mind,” Nas
reflects his mix of street sensi
bility and fine-tuned rhymes
with lines such as “Beyond the
walls of intelligence, life is de
fined/I think of crime, when I’m
in a New York state of mind. ”
There is no weak song on
this 10-track masterpiece,
which could have catalyzed a
potentially flawless career for
Nas. But he decided to forsake
his Nasty image for a cham
pagne-sipping hustler named
Nas Escobar, disappointing the
many fans of his first work.
Now Nas is desperately trying
to recapture the magic he had
on “Mmatic,” but without crit
ical success.
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