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CD REVIEW Reed’s Raven’ hardly fit for Poe “THE RAVEN” Lou Reed ★★ out of BY CHARLES TOMLINSON THE GAMECOCK' Any post-’70s double album bet ter be either a greatest-hits com pilation or a “Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness,” or no one’s going to have the patience to lis ten to it. But artsy rock legend Lou Reed has found a way to ease con temporary, ADD-suffering audi ences into an epic, poetic journey that spans two discs: condense the music to one disc and sell that as well as the double album. And at least if listeners decide they don’t want the full thing, Lou’s already got some of their money. In “The Raven,” his new two and one-disc albums inspired by the writings of Edgar Allan Poe, Reed attempts to recreate the emotions of Poe’s writings: “obsessions, para noia and willful acts of self-destruc tion,” says Reed in the liner notes. Occasionally, Reed succeeds. “A Thousand Departed Friends” captures the dark feeling of Poe’s writing, and “Who Am I? (Tripitena’s Song)” brilliantly con veys anxiety and doubt. “Who made the storms?” Reed'sings. “Who made heartbreak? I wonder how much life I can take.” Actor Willem Dafoe recites “The Raven,” which Reed has liberally rewritten. And Steve Buscemi takes the microphone on the hu morous, cool-jazz “Broadway Song.” David Bowie is among the more conventional musical guests, as well as Ornette Coleman, who plays an amazingly sporadic solo over the funky “Guilty.” Some of the songs, however, un dermine the artistic statements the album attempts to make. “Edgar Allan Poe” commences with the pomp and grandeur of a rock-opera overture. Reed claims he’s recently gotten a deeper understanding of Poe’s works, yet his lyrics just state the obvious: “These are the stories of Edgar Allan Poe/Not exactly the boy next door.” Sometimes, Reed tries too hard to work Poe’s writings into his songs, simply throwing references to the poet in a verse or chorus. “Walk on burning embers/The tell tale heart,” he sings in “Burning Embers,” on which he is backed by the annoying overkill vibrato of singer Antony. In “Broadway Song,” however, Buscemi’s ran dom Poe reference adds to the song’s humor: “Good old Poe, don’t he make you cry?/Ain’t it great the way he writes about the mysteries of life?” Buscemi’s not a bad singer, either. Reed works through many of the emotions and themes from Poe’s works. But because Poe was the chief influence of this album, Reed should have better represented the poet’s work. The album has its mo ments, but isn’t the most fitting tribute to the author so known for his morbid themes. Some of the songs capture Poe’s darkness; oth ers just sound like over-produced arena-rock filler. Comments on this story?E-mail gamecockmixeditor@hotmail.com Atkins CONTINUED FROM PAGE 5 ty oils and fibrous vegetables. What your mom told you was true: Eat a balanced diet and lay off the candy. These ideas don’t sit well with the food industry, of course, which pumps wrapped and boxed products full of corn syrup and other artificial flavorings. But the really visceral impli cation is that so-called naturalist vegetarian diets are actually very unnatural. Macrobiotics is particularly antithetical to the Atkins diet. One of the more alternative di ets, it recommends we eat grains, leafs, legumes and berries. Meats, oils and dairy are out of the question. Suspiciously, most macrobi otics pamphlets come with yin yang backgrounds and vague ref erences to a “healing art.” The idea may have motivations oth er than the scientific; it certain I ly taps into pop paganism and a In contrast, the first seven naturalistic ethic. chapters of Atkins’ book are i ilia may explain some of its wacki ness. For in stance, after you’ve bal anced your yin foods with your yang foods, the Macrobiotics Institution of Great Britain, the Kushi Institute and Atkins’ book focuses on presenting scientific evidence. It’s like he isn’t as concerned about your gut as much as your mind; after enduring a lot of sneers, the doctor has something to prove. opcm cApiam ing his model and presenting the scientific evidence of three decades. It’s like he isn’t as concerned about your gut as much as your mind; af ter enduring a lot of sneers, Atkins has something to some macrobiotics Web sites rec ommend that you chew your veg etables until they become liquid. Scientifically, strict vegetar ianism lacks a source of vitamin B12, which is not found in any natural flora, including sea weed. B12 and often other vita mins must then be provided through embarrassingly unnat ural processes. Macrobiotics sounds like philosobabble in tended to justify extreme vege tarian diets. prove. Sure, he’s an annoyingly posi tive writer, which makes th^ whole thing look like a fad. this guy has spent his entire aca demic life waiting for his results to be independently confirmed. Look for the food pyramid to shift around its categories soon. Fads don’t shake up the USDA like this. Comments on this story?E-mail gamecockmixeditor@hotmail.com -1 Rosewood CONTINUED FROM PAGE 5 the Atkins diet brand. Rosewood carries milk from Sandy Run Farm in Gaston, S.C., which DuBard called “jersey milk.” Jersey milk is pasteurized, but not homogenized, and con tains a higher amount of butterfat than other milks. Rosewood also offers unpas teurized goat milk from Anderson and Granny Rachel’s brown eggs from North Carolina. Macrobiotics encourages dieters to eat locally grown foods, and Rosewood tries to get as much food from local vendors as possi ble, DuBard said. Comments on this story?E-mail gamecockmixeditor@hotmail.com — Tlle Ladies offttyha Deft a <Pi woufd fife to cordiaffy invite tfie foff owing gentfemen to attend our (Bfacf Diamond Tormalto he he fdSaturday, Tehruary 1, 2003 True Allison Tim Amey Brian Anclade Travis Anderson Jeff Andres David Bailey Dustin Barnett tiled Bonyata Thomas Bowen Byan Bowman London Boyd Collin Bryant Wesley Bryant Blade Buchanan Trandlin Buchanan Jimmy Buchanan David Butts Jason Bybee Boss Can Boss Cheffis B Chieftan Tim Christman Chad Crawford Dusty Cood 2 Covington Counrtyman 'Eugene Cidlm gray Curry JackDietrich Don Dove Chad Dowdy Bern Dupree Miie Durstine Trent Earhardt James Edwards Will Evans By an Everett Corey Ezell ToddTarrior Qordon Eletcher Laurence (Fritz Chris (jaither Josh Qee Tyler Qihbons Mari Qoddard Brantly daialer Wylie daislip Bicnie dauward Dave dehert Tim defner Bred deidlberg 'Kellie demdon Ben diyp Ben Irons Daniel Irons Ben Izard Adam Jarrext Jason Johnson Warren Johnson Will Johnson Brian Justice Bichard Kimhad J.B. Knight Bryn Lejeune Jay Leonard §reg Literati Ben Little Ben Martin Bryan Mayer Brent McDonald Brie McKeehan Patrick Mille • Brett Murphy AJ. Plorris Jerrett Oates Paul Oliver T*. Opperman TnadOtt Bandy Owen Alexi Papapeiris Tripp Parnell Bryson Phelps B Tristan Porter Landon Powell Aaron Pretulak Brian Price Zach Beeves Blake Bice Tlj.Bich Trey Bodgers Doug Saunders Kevin Schrage Ttm Seaton Adam Shipp Austin Smith Cam Smith T.J. Smith Jason Springs (rfeath Stewart (Matt Stewart Ryan St.John T'eze Stokes Matt Story (Danny Stover Ryan Stuckey Andrew Sullivan James Sutton Johnny Tatum Coles Taylor Michael Taut Thomas Jake Thompson Jason Thompson Oiart Turner Lewis Turner (Eric Van “Dyke Jonathan Walker Andrew Wright 'f ipp Wulbem Spencer Wyant Thomas Young IV Ros Zipper its> Schedule of Events Mandatory Info Session - Monday, February 3 @ 6:00pm Russell House room 322 Open Rush - Monday, February 3,7:00pm - 9:00pm McBryde Quad/Greek Village Open Rush - Tuesday, February 4,7:00pm - 9:00pm McBryde Quad/Greek Village Closed Rush - Thursday, February 6,7:00pm - 9:00pm McBryde Quad/Greek Village T ‘Transportation will be provided between McBryde Quad and the Greek Village* Any Questions please call the Office of Greek Life - 777-3506 ■ I Put a little Sunshine in your Inbox. H HIGH: 84 H LOW: 62 E3 MORE >»>> | Receive Local Weather Updates via Email. 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