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THE GAMECOCK ♦ Wednesday, February 5, 2003 7 CONTACT US THE\ SAID IT UUl x FRIEDRICH NIETZSCHE: “Convictions Story ideas? Questions? Comments? are more dangerous enemies of truth E-mail us at gamecockmixeditorC&hotmail.com - than lies.” Behi ' The Mix takes a look some lesser-known mu genres you prob hear on ma Ir ft Josh Hutto, a second year journalism student, hosts an emo radio program on WUSC-FM. Emo, short for emotional punk, started in the '80s with bands such as Rites of Spring and evolved to the mellower, more dynamic sounds of bands such as Sunny Day Real Estate. PHOTO BY TRISHA SHADWELL/THE _GAMECOCK Emo Straying from their punk roots, emo bands are slowing tempos BY QUINN STEINBRECHER THE GAMECOCK In 1985, many music fans sus pected punk would decline after the breakup of groups such as Minor Threat. Bands looked instead for an aesthetic recovery in new avenues. In Washington, D.C., a new movement started up, fueled by bands such as Rites of Spring and Moss Icon. Bands such as these kept the energy of punk, but their vocals became more emotionally driven and the lyrics refocused on self rather than political or social agendas. It was during that summer of 1985 at a Rites of Spring show that someone coined the term “emo,” short for emotional punk. As it grew, emo branched off into _ _v*_ a uumuci of sub sects such as emo core, screamo and indie rock emo. Most of inese sud genres retained their punk roots. Indie-rock emo moved farthest from these roots; it is now the most popular denomination. Pioneered by Sunny Day Real Estate, this is the sound most uni versally known as emo today. The group’s landmark work “Diary” is the album that nearly every emo band has tried to recreate. This idea that everyone is try ing to emulate “Diary” or, more re cently, to rehash the Get Up Kids, has resulted in a vilification of all things emo. A few think it should fade as soon as possible and think that the new emo bands are not puuuig aiij uiuxg ig inal into their music. And it’s true that a few bands like Taking Back Sunday and the Juliana Theory have derived entire albums from past work. In particular, the juuana rneory s song “Is Patience Still Waiting” might come completely from the band Thursday, which uses melodic hard core along with some screaming. It is interesting that while 1993’s “Diary” is considered the zenith of emo, it is far removed from the original idea of emo, which was much more deeply Emo has the opportunity to wrestle kids away from boy bands, rap-rock and all of the other soulless mainstream drivel. rooted in punk. Bands such as Sunny Day Real Estate and Texas Is the Reason quickly moved on from emo, and this dis tancing has only continued through out the years. This might be the biggest prob lem in today’s emo; it has distanced it self so much from its original sound that it barely ever references its punk-rock roots. 1 The new wave of emo bands are simply slowing down the tempo of their songs so that what was once punk is now basically acoustic rock a la Dashboard Confessional. When comparing Rites of Spring’s “End on End,” The Get Up Kids’ “Something to Write Home About” and Dashboard Confessional’s “The Places You Have Come to Fear the Most,” it becomes blaringly obvious that there is a vast expanse separating them. Emo has the opportunity to wrestle kids away from boy bands, rap-rock and all of the other soul ___ess_i less mainstream drivel. But to do this, the genre has to distance it self from the others with creativi ty and originality. Comments on this story?E-mail gamecockmixeditor@hotmail.com Notable Albums Sunny Day Real Estate “Diary” Dashboard Confessional “The Places You Have Come to Fear the Most” Rites of Spring “End on End” The Get Up Kids “Something to Write Home About” Underground Hip-hop BY JUSTIN BAJAN TI1K GAMECOCK Hip-hop, like every other musi cal genre, has undergone many changes from its original form. Initially it embraced a more block party feel — with the DJ taking higher precedence than the em cee. Less than a decade later, the emphasis switched to the emcee, making hip-hop more than just something to party to. The late ’80s ushered in a heightened awareness of social is sues, like safe sex and police bru tality. A few years later, hip-hop became about gin, pot, guns and gangs as the gangsta movement took over. But by the mid-’90s, there wasn’t a prominent sub genre saturating hip-hop records and magazines. By this time hip hop was commercial: You saw it in Sprite commercials; you heard it on top-40 radio; even Bill Clinton started using hip-hop slang. As hiD-hon was becoming the focus of syndicated television shows and clothing lines, some thing was germinating in New York City. Independent labels like Fondle ’Em and Rawkus Records were creating a small buzz among hip-hop purists. What these record labels contributed to hip-hop was like-minded artists who were all pretty much fed up with the cello phane staleness of modern hip hop. Perhaps the most notable of this large flux of independent artists were the New York-based Company Flow, who were com posed of two emcees, El-P and Bigg Jus, and a DJ, Mr. Len. The group’s first album was “Funcrusher Plus,” a recording that found both emcees blasting hip-hop’s status quo over El-P’s raw production. Not to be outdone, harbingers of a different perspective arrived on the West Coast. Artists such as the Solesides Collective, Aceyalone and Jurassic Five reflected a freer spirit that contrasted the East’s rugged sounds. Where commercial hip-hop only focused on three major regions — the South, the North and the West — underground hip-hop began to branch out, as artists began pop Notable Albums Anti-Pop Consortium “Tragic Epilogue” “Lyricist Lounge Volume One” Company Flow “Funcrusher Plus” Blackalicious “Blazing Arrow” i ping up all over the contiguous United States. Atmosphere emerged in Minnesota, Sage Francis represented Rhode Island; Dose-One, Blueprint and Illogic all put Ohio on the map. Even Canada gained recognition through tal ented artists like Swollen Members, Moka Only and Choclajr. ♦ HIP-HOP, SEE PAGE 8 Progressive Rock d i vcmxis numb nivnuLs AND MIKE LUKE THE GAMECOCK “Progressive Rock” describes a rock movement originating in late ’60s England. Some critics credit The Beatles’ “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” as the first pro gressive rock album. In the tradi tion of “Sgt. Pepper’s,” progres sive combines a sense of the space, dynamics, virtuosity and monu mental scope inherent in classical music with the energy, raw pow er and instrumentation of rock. The English middle class pro duced early examples in the genre, as members had the time and money to perfect their art. Here, prog rock first developed a nega tive connotation because so many artists of the genre often wrote pretentious, complex, and lengthy self-indulgent music. The lyrics, often influenced by science fiction or mythology, tended to alienate, rather than attract, mass appeal. Despite barely surviving the end of the 1970s, some progressive rock albums did acquire commer cial success and have transcend ed time. Yes released “Fragile” in 1972. All members of Yes were classi cally trained musicians who knew their respective instruments like their own children. The music they produced for “Fragile” was catchy, skillful, psychedelic and energetic all at once. “South Side of the Sky” is quite possibly the most definitive song of the album, but the range of dynamics and moods expressed in all the record ings makes it difficult to describe any one song as the best. Emerson, Lake and Palmer re leased “Brain Salad Surgery” in 1974. ELP was the most commer cially successful prog-rock band in the,’70s, raking in as much money in album sales and tours as bands such as the Who and the nulling atones, ine aiuum is definitive of their sound because of songs like classically adapted “Toccata,” a radio-friendly “Still ... You Turn Me On,” and a 30 minute keyboard driven master piece, “Kam Evil 9.” Rush’s “Hemispheres” in 1978 and King Crimson’s “Discipline” Notable Albums Emerson, Lake and Palmer “Brain Salad Surgery” Tool “Lateralus” The Beatles “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” Rush “Hemi spheres” in 1981 are two other important al bums. More recently, Radiohead’s “OK Computer” and Dream Theater’s “Scenes from a Memory” have contributed to pro gressive rock’s classics, perfect ing upon the existing genres of metal, jazz and even pop. But the true hold ers of the pro ♦ PROG ROCK, SEE PAGE 8 Alternative Country BY MEG MOORE THE GAMECOCK With “This song is sung for anyone that’s listening/this song is for the broken-spirited man,” the genre of alternative country was officially bom in Uncle Tupelo’s 1990 release “No Depression,” an elixir for the common man. Christened by critics as the “fathers of alt-country,” Uncle Tupelo combined the brash at titude of punk, the raw musi cality of rock and the honesty of country; shook them well; and spun out a tradition-based brand of music. From its appropriately humble beginnings on a MiQQisQinni har-hflnrVs hrpak through album, alternative country, or “No Depression” music, has rocked and rattled its way onto stages and radio playlists nationwide, provid ing the rougher-edged hipster with an unapologetic style of confessional music. Bona-fide alternative coun try music is brutally honest, whether describing a singer’s drinking habits or expounding upon loves lost. The songs rarely make apologies for one’s actions, except when trying to win back a lover. On the surface, it sounds rough edged and raw, yet alt country lyrics generally man ifest an intelligent under standing of life and loss. It’s not for the intellectual, but rather the experienced man — the person who has known what it is to love, to lose and to ache. Although alt-country up start Uncle Tupelo met its demise in the mid ’90s, two of its members have continued to serve as alt-country torch bearers, separately fronting two of the movement’s most prominent bands: Wilco and Son Volt. Jeff Tweedy, Wilco’s frontman, and Jay Farrar, Son Volt’s star, refined and solidi fied the confessional songwrit ing that has secured many alt country artists acclaim. Alt-country has also be Notable Albums I Ryan Adams “Heart breaker” Uncle Tupelo “89/93: An Anthology” I Whiskey town “Strangers Almanac” Wilco “Yankee Hotel Foxtrot” come a favored platform for the singer-songwriter. Augmen-ting the alt-country mix with a dose of folk sim plicity, alt-country’s singer songwriters have earned the attention of critics and fans alike. Most notably, the genre’s poster boy Ryan Adams has ♦ ALT COUNTRY, SEE PAGE 8