Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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CD REVIEW Wannabe-John Mayer veers off ‘Tracks’ “THE TRACKS OF TYLER HILTON" Tyler Hilton ★★★ out of ☆☆☆☆☆ By MEG MOORE THE GAMECOCK As the reigning coffeehouse crooner-turned-pop star, John Mayer’s continued success has paved the way for fellow singer songwriter startups. When it looked as though the music industry had turned its back on the acoustic-guitar wielding, artists like Mayer, Jack Johnson and Jason Mraz took to the airwaves bringing heart-on sleeve pop rock back to the big time. At possibly the tail end of this trend comes Tyler Hilton, a young, poofy-haired singer with a Mayer esque knack for crafting airy acoustic rock. His Maverick records debut, “The Tracks of Tyler Hilton,” includes 11 tunes that muse over the expected: love and love lost. From the lead off single “When It Comes” to the sparse, closing number “Picture Perfect,” the album contains few surprises. But it highlights the bare-bones, darkened bar sort of songwriting that, while perhaps trite, wins over listeners with its simplicity. Hilton lacks Mayer’s consistent knack for clever lyrics, but with lines such as “Well I’ll comb my hair like Elvis / And grab an old Gretch ‘59,” he has his moments. It’s Hilton’s ability to consistently craft well-packaged tracks that bolsters his debut. Mixing a mainstream sense for structure with a country-tinged roughness, Hilton sounds like a young Edwin McCain, able to turn out both pop ballads and more soulful tunes. While tracks such as “When It Comes” and “Kiss On” have obvious radio appeal, the vulnerable “Insomnia” stands out as the record’s highlight. The lone piano song, “Insomnia” is one of those “love lost” numbers, echoing Hilton’s lyrical ache with its spare instrumentation. When he sings, “Everybody expects to hear a love song,” Hilton couldn’t be more right or more telling concerning his own artistic shortcomings. Granted, pop radio is built around relationship songs, but its still possible to sell records without selling oneself short. On tunes such as “Rolling Home,” Hilton evidences a raw, open highway-worthy side of his songcraft that takes . standard pop rock in a more original direction. At his most evocative moments, Hilton offers a more personalized version of coffeehouse-honed performing — it is by mining such artistic roots that Hilton has the potential to stand out from other Mayer sound-alikes. Comments m this story? E-mail gamecockfeatttres@gWm.sc. edit MOVIE REVIEW Addictive ‘Nicotina’ brings Mexican flavor “NICOTINA” ★★★ out of ☆☆☆☆☆ By D.E. NIcGUIRT THE GAMECOCK The Nickelodeon Theatre kicked off its third annual Latin American Film Festival on Friday with a screening of “Nicotina,” a goofy, entertaining crime caper starring Diego Luna and Marta Belaustegui. Luna plays Lolo, a computer hacker whose obsession with his neighbor, the lovely Andrea (Belaustegui), causes him to screw up a deal with the Russian mafia. He watches her through concealed cameras in her apartment, records her phone conversations and burns everything onto disks that he catalogues in his apartment. When Andrea discovers this, she destroys his disks, including one meant for the Russian gangsters, that contains codes for Swiss bank accounts. When the exchange with the Russians goes sour, a hyper screwball chase ensues through the streets of Mexico City that involves petty thieves Nene and Tomson along with two feuding bourgeoisie couples in the wrong places at the wrong time. It’s a complicated plot viewers won’t remember a half hour after leaving the theater. Shots are fired, dogs growl, marriages fall apart in dramatic fashion and guts are spilled (literally, and in a grisly, comic manner). It’s a fun, flighty ride that’s peppered with shallow but witty dialogue, cute editing effects like split screens and highlighted zooms and the occasional bloody sight gag. The violence is Tarantino esque in that it comes with almost no consequence; death and blood are used effectively as comic plot devices. Director Hugo Rodriguez is good at building suspense in a scene. At certain points the viewer’s body will become tense with anticipation, not because there’s any reason to care about whether a character will get whacked, but simply because it’s fun and exciting, and that’s just what we do when guns are flashed in movies like these. Over the past few years, cinema has moved up to stand alongside Jose Cuervo and Salma Hayek as one of the most appreciated Mexican exports. Films coming from Mexico lately have a vitality to them that makes them fun to watch. They’re stylish, the actors have interesting and appealing faces, and Mexico City seems to be a lot like what Paris was to the French films of the Sixties and New York to the films of the Seventies. Movies such as “Amores Perros,” “The Crime of Padre Amaro” and “Y Tu Mama Tambien” have made their way across the Rio Grande and found enthusiastic audiences. “Nicotina” will do the same, thanks in no small part to Luna. Luna has an appealing, youthful charisma we first saw a few years ago in his performance as Tenoch in “Y Tu Mama Tambien, the only truly great film to emerge thus far out of the Mexican New Wave. Get used to this guy, because he’s going to be in a lot of movies for a long time. He’s starting to land roles in Hollywood films, but let’s hope that he keeps going back to Mexico every once in a while to shoot movies. Because right now, south of the border seems to be where it’s at. Comments on this story? E-mail gamecockfeatures@gwrn.sc.edu' New Music <^rsept. 20 i ne ueitvery man /■ _ u 'sogno _ Elvis Costello & The Impostors Elvis Costello r wmmmm aamammi “Amenam Liiot" / Green Day John Fogerty “Be Here ”_/ Keith Urban Shadows Fall ■ PHILHARMONIC Continued from page 5 for the evening, Tuesday’s performance will feature several pre-concert activities including traditional dance from the Palmetto Scottish Country Dancers and a demonstration and performance by Pipe Major Bill Dubose of Palmetto Pipes and Drums. After the concert, the celebration of all things Celtic continues at Delaney’s Pub and Eatery with Happy Hour prices extended from 9:30 to 10:30 p.m. The Philharmonic Rocks! series continues March 15 with the SCP joined by the Beatles tribute band The Return. Comments on this story? E-mail gamecockfeatures@gwm.sc. edu Thomas Dolby Robertson, known for albums such as “She Blinded Me with science,” believes that pirating a copy of your favorite artist's CD is no different than looting that artist's house.