The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, October 16, 2002, Page 8, Image 8
m
8 THE GAMECOCK ♦ Wednesday, October 16, 2002
■
pontapt tts ■ THEY SAID IT
SEBASTIEN R. N. CHAMFORT: “The
Story ideas? Questions? Comments? most wasted day of all is that on
E-mail, us at gamecockmixeditor@hotmail.com which we have not laughed.”
Midtown unleashes
intense punk in Midlands
Midtown and Recover, part of the new
generation of punk-influenced bands, will
perform at Senate Park on Thursday night
Right: After
an early
struggle,
Recover has
finally
settled into
its own
element, a
blend of
punk, hard
core and
emo. The
band is from
Austin,
Texas.
PHOTO SPECIAL
TO THE
GAMECOCK
BY WILL MISCHNER
THE GAMECOCK
Punk-rock band Midtown is coming to
Senate Park on Thursday night to share
the stage with up-and-coming rock band
Recover.
But even though they will be sharing the
same stage, the two bands have two com
tuneful melodies and raucous stage per
sona.
“We didn’t really get discovered; we just
played and played and played until people
noticed,” Rannsaid.
Midown’s new album, “Living Well Is
the Best Revenge,” redefines the band’s
sound and focuses on the themes that re
main constant in its lyrics: betrayal, for
pieteiy aitterent stories.
Midtown traces its.
humble beginnings to the
dorm rooms of Rutgers
University in New
Jersey. In 1998, guitarists
and vocalists Tyler Rann
and Heath Saraceno,
bassist Gabe Saporta, and
drummer Rob Hitt
formed the band. They
f>hnco the name MiHtnum
“We didn’t really get
discovered; we just
played and played and
played until people
noticed.”
TYLER RANN
VOCALIST FOR MIDTOWN
giveness, loyalty, love
and power.
And you can expect
the band to sound the
same live. Saporta,
Rann and Saraceno all
sing during shows in
order to capture the ef
fects of background vo
cals present on the
band’s studio albums.
MiHtmx/n ic alcn nn.
because they lived outside New York City
and because it sounded cool, Rann said.
Back then, 40 people attended Midtown’s
first gig in a New Brunswick, N.J., base
ment. But in 2001, the band was playing
alongside Blink 182 in arenas packed with
15,000 fans. Getting there was the interest
ing part.
Midtown is a college-band success sto
ry. It was birthed out of the Northeastern
punk-rock underground when five friends
became determined to create something
real and meaningful, Rann said. They start
ed by writing songs, booking their own
shows and constantly touring, traveling in
a van.
By the time Midtown’s first CD, an EP
titled “The Sacrifice of Life,” was re
leased on indie Pinball Records, it had
gained a fan base that gravitated to its
shows, attracted to its thoughtful lyrics,
litically conscious. All of the members of
the band are vegetarians, and the band has
even gained the support of People for the
Ethical Treatment of Animals on recent
tours.
“Our music is catchy, aggressive and
fun, but we talk about serious things in
side and outside the lyrics,” Saporta said.
“The fun stuff draws people in; the serious
stuff keeps them there.”
Rann said fans can expect a good per
formance here in Columbia. “We love play
ing in South Carolina,” Rann said. “One
of our best shows was in someone’s garage
outside of Charleston for five people.” But
there is sure to be a larger turnout for this
show.
Accompanying Midtown will be
Recover. That band is a product of Austin,
Texas — a far cry from New Jersey.
Guitarist and vocalist Robert Mann,
PHOTOS SPECIAL TO THE GAMECOCK
Top and above: Midtown has increased its audiences from 40 to 15,000.
drummer Jim Vela, guitarist and vocal
ist Dan Keyes, and bassist Ross Tweedy
have been playing together for seven
years. But despite their experience, they
are all only 18 years old. Age, though, has
not hindered the band so far in its at
♦ MIDTOWN, SEE PAGE 9
TOP 10
These were the most requested
songs on USC’s student radio
station from Oct. 7-13.
• 1. “LIVE ON ST. PATRICK’S DAY”
Dropkick Murphys
2. “GOT WHAT WE WANT
Sights
3. “TURN ON THE BRIGHT
LIGHTS”
Interpol
4. “VELOCITY OF SOUND”
Apples in Stereo
5. “PORKTORNADO"
Pork Tornado
6. “SAVE ROCK ‘N’ ROLL”
Flaming Sideburns
7. “START THE PANIC”
Agenda!
8. “RIDE AWAY FROM THE
WORLD”
Stone Coyotes
9. “CLOSE COVER BEFORE”
Luna
10. “MAKE UP THE BREAKDOWN”
Hot Hot Heat
THE YEAR IN MUSIC: 1995
‘Liquid Swords’ is the Genius at work
Genius to go from his rhythm
and-blues-tinged foray, “Come
Do Me,” to talking about chop
ping people’s heads off on
“Enter.”
“Liquid Swords” is not a
record' played at high-school
dances and on popular urban ra
dio. It’s an album that accurately
captures the raw nature reflect
ed in old kung-fu flicks; the album
even samples these cult classics, a
trademark of the Wu-Tang Clan’s
music.
The GZA also makes known
his impressive lyrical capabilh
ties, sometimes outshining the
stellar production of the RZA,
the Clan’s most gifted member.
The GZA best displays this on
“Labels,” a song that features
the emcee using popular hip-hop
labels to complete a verse. The
GZA accomplishes this with
such lyrics as “I ‘Death Row’ an
emcee with mic cables/The
‘Epic’ is at ‘Rush Associated
Labels.’ ”
“Liquid” stands as the GZA’s
best work to date; his follow-up,
“Beneath the Surface,” did not
retain its sharpened lyricism
and hardened production.
Comments on these stories? E-mail
gamecockmixeditor@hotmail. com
“LIQUID SWORDS”
GZA
BY JUSTIN BAJAN
THE GAMECOCK
The precedent was set for the
GZA, a.k.a. the Genius, when his
second album, “Liquid Swords,”
was released in 1995. Prior to
“Liquid Swords,” the Wu-Tang
Clan had let its overwhelming
presence be known with its first
release, “Enter the 36
Chambers.”
On “Enter,” each member of
the group basically introduced
himself to a hip-hop scene that
was just becoming more street
oriented, but not as harsh and
uncompromising as these nine
emcees from Staten Island, N.Y.
But some hip-hop enthusiasts
might have recognized the
Genius from a few years earlier,
when he achieved little success
with his so-so debut, “Words
from the Genius.” It might have
shocked them, however, for the
Mr. Bungle wanders from funk to jazz
I___I
“DISCO VOLANTE”
Mr. Bungle
BY CHARLES TOMLINSON
TUB (iAMBCOGS
When Faith No More was
releasing mainstream rock al
bums, vocalist Mike Patton
was at work behind the scenes
with his bizarre, unpredictable
other band, Mr. Bungle. Patton
was actually in Mr. Bungle
long before he joined Faith No
More in the late ’80s.
“Disco Volante” was Mr.
Bungle’s follow-up to its self-ti
tled debut from 1991. By this
time, the band had cut most of
the funk and ska from its first al
bum and achieved a jazzier
sound. “Chemical Marriage” and
“Backstrokin”’ are jazz-influ
enced, and “Carry Stress in the
Jaw” jingles away at frenetic be
bop tempos.
“Carry Stress in the Jaw,”
however, shows traces of the
band’s death-metal days, and
Patton shrieks excerpts from
Edgar Allan Poe’s works.
“Everyone I Went to High
School With Is Dead” contains
more death-metal remnants
and defies any sense of tempo
or meter.
And Mr. Bungle can’t stick to
one language, either. “ Violenza
Domestica” features Italian spo
ken word over an accordion,
and “Ma Meeshka Mow Skwoz”
is complete nonsense.
The io-and-a,-half-minute
opus “The Bends” tells a story
in 10 sections with titles such
as “Follow the Bubbles" and
“Duet for Guitar and Oxygen
Tank,” and it builds up to an
ear-splitting conclusion on “Re
entry.”
It’s been three years since
“California,” Mr. Bungle’s last
album, came out. But Mr.
Bungle has usually taken about
four years between albums;
perhaps the band will return in
all its weirdness in the near fu
ture.
CD REVIEW
Beck CD
exposes
soul for 0
all to see
“SEA CHANGE”
Beck
*★★★★ out of ☆☆☆☆☆ 0
BY TUG BAKER
TUKCAMKCOCK
Most people know Beck best for
his quirky, ever-shifting song
styling. Never one to remain in one
place too long, Beck’s albums them
selves are like that Rubix Cube you
had as a child. No matter how
many times you turn it and how
much fun it is to try, you can never
get the colors to match up.
rui cAampAc, otruiv s ai
bum, “Odelay,” is without a doubt
one of the best albums of the ’90s,
but can anyone make any sense
out of the myriad of genres and
moods mixed together in that son
ic cooking pot?
Now, in 2002, “Sea Change”
marks Beck’s greatest achieve^
ment to date. Beck has stripped
his music down to its lowest com
mon denominator, and there he
has found his center and a way to
connect with everyone who hears
the album. “Sea Change” is a
melancholy ride through the end
of a relationship. The theme of
this breakup album is so deeply
rooted in personal loss that it’s as
if Beck is pulling back the curtain
and allowing you to see what the
wizard looks like.
in lUAi-viii oiiigci / auugwi nei
mode, “Sea Change” will be a
sharp departure for those who
have listened to the gaudy, Prince
influenced “Midnight Vultures,”
Beck’s last album. On “Se£*
Change,” the music is bare. It is
Beck discovering the country-rock
that has been the driving influence
behind all his music. While his al
bum “Mutations” experimented
with a completely country-rock
sound, its power and meaning
were not realized until now.
One would be remiss not to
mention Nigel Godrich, producer
of “Sea Change.” Godrich also
produced “Mutations,” but per
haps is best known for his work
producing albums for Radiohead,
including “The Bends,” “OK
Computer” and “Amnesiac.”
These albums show an element es
sential to Godrich’s producing that
makes “Sea Change” so unforget
table. He has the power to take tb%
most dismal music and make it
achingly beautiful that it somehow
leaves listeners with a strange feel
ing somewhere between depres
sion and elation.
Of course, Godricn must have
good fabric with which to weave
this mood, and Beck certainly pro
vides it. If one thing is true about
popular music today, it is that not
enough artists bleed for their
work. Not enough artists base
their songs in such personal feel
ings that it is as though they have
laid themselves open to the world,
begging for examination and
scrutiny. What do they lose when
they don’t do so? They lose the
connection. They lose the people
who sit alone in the dark, listen
ing to their music and under
standing. Understanding so much
that they forget themselves. yh
What marks Beck’s “SeV
Change” as a masterpiece is the
fact that it is universal. All peo
ple who listen to it will find a little
piece of themselves in the album.
They will also come away with
the taste of salt in their mouths.
Is it the salt water of the “Sea” in
the album’s title? Perhaps, but
more than likely, it is the salty
taste of the blood and tears poured
into the work by its creator.
i
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