The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, June 11, 2003, Page 8, Image 8
CD REVIEW
Radiohead's ‘Thief a stroke of genius
“HAIL TO THE THIEF”
Radiohead
★ ★★★★ out of
BY COREY GARRIOTT
Til It (lAMKCOCK
Here’s why Radiohead is so
great: it was the first band to
integrate electronic tools and
make something beautiful with
them.
The architecture of an age
changes through its materials
and methods. The Greeks laid
columns of stone and the Goths
erected towers of marble. Our
skyscrapers today have steel for
bones.
In music, electronica has
supplanted the nuts and bolts of
guitars and drums. Though
! electronic music has been in the
music scene for twenty years, I
find the synthetic pop of the
1980s soulless. Popular bands of
the ‘90s, when they did use elec
tronic techniques to enrich
their music, still missed the
point. They overused their new
fangled gear and the end result
was a bunch of electronic noise.
Electronic devices are just a
few tools among many-even as
methods change, we still have a
common denominator to help
us determine what is beautiful
in music. Radiohead has had its
sights on the bulls-eye since OK
Computer and Hail to the Thief
has struck it.
The album is emotional,
cathartic, and, in places, un
certain and despairing.
Radiohead emerges from its
electronic experiment tainted
and self-conscious. Whereas
Yorke said he was a “reason
able man” on Amnesiac, he
now fades into the background,
repeating “the rain drops/ the
rain drops” on Hail to the
Thief. From the Sophists to
Shakespeare, everything beau
tiful is touched by the tragic.
Yorke’s trademark gloomi
ness is famous. But the band
sounds best when it-moves
away from its pretentious self
consciousness. Hail to the Thief
works better than Amnesiac
because Radiohead has learned
something from its experimen
tation.
Radiohead is the R.E.M. of
our generation. Stipe’s R.E.M.
experimented with jangles and
white space In the 80s, quietly
going about their business un
til they rose to a higher plain.
Now Radiohead is posed to
usher in another revision in
music. I suggest you keep the al
bum in your car for that rainy
Columbia weather. It won’t be
long before everything sounds
like rain.
Comments on this story?E-mail
gamecockmixeditor@hotmail.com
Field Day Fest moves from
New York to New Jersey
BY TEAL DUNBAR
THE GAMECOCK
Field Day Fest was in the works for
months and was scheduled to be a two-day
buffet of 35 acts. The venue would have been
Enterprise Park in Calverton, New York.
Three days before the event’s kickoff,
Suffolk County refused to provide the nec
essary permits, due to the low number of po
lice officers committed to working the event.
Promoters secured Giants Stadium in
East Rutherford, New Jersey and refunded
Sunday tickets. They re-routed unaware
travelers to the new venue and printed
new Field Day T-shirts with the correct
venue on them.
Rain spewed down on concert goers. The
temperature remained in the 40s during the
festival, complimenting the bone-chilling
wetness. Beck never performed. He slipped
while getting on stage and was rushed to
the hospital. The day was becoming bleaker
with every moment. The rain finally ceased
and Radiohead took the stage resurging a
drenched, exhausted crowd.
P"B-,
Directions: Tost across the Gervais St. Bridge - Left at Second Light
.. .H
‘Dogs’
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 7
Director Christopher Cook,
who also plays Nice Guy Eddie,
moves the actors and the audience
sinuously from moment to mo
ment. Cook, formerly South
Carolina Shakespeare Company’s
“Fight Choreographer-In
Residence,” has a deep love for
theatrical movement and vio
lence, and incorporates it realis
tically at every turn possible,
PAmn+irMAP Tiri4-1a aiiF avm! i Ait v*aa
son. “Reservoir Dogs” takes the
atergoers to a new and exciting ex
treme, welcoming us to join in his
quest to make going to see a play
cool.
There’s one caveat: the F-word
is constant and steady. After a
short while, however, it does lose
its offensive nature. The gunfire
is loud and real. This isn’t a play
for your mom’s bowling team.
“Reservoir Dogs” runs
through this Friday and Saturday.
The show starts at 8 p.m.
-.- PHOTO SPECIAL TO THE GAMECOCK
Comments on this story?E-mail
gamecockmixeditor@hotmail.com Jack Lunan, standing, and Reginald Harvey get Into their roles.