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(04/13/06 4:00am)
Snacky Chan paused in reflection. "I was introduced to hip-hop probably in middle school by my neighbors," he said. Together they listened to LL Cool J, Run DMC and other household names from mid '90s hip-hop. "But, I didn't have anywhere to align myself. I was Asian, one of the few Asians, so the black culture really made sense to me to gravitate towards. I guess their culture, the whole struggles they were having as minorities attracted me."
(03/06/06 5:00am)
It's 6:30 p.m. in the Duke Coffeehouse, and the student band Makeshift is on stage. Unlike usual performances, however, saxophonist Chauncey Nartey, a junior, is facing the back wall as he releases a quavering, deliberate peal over the riffs of his bandmates and into the head of a recording mic. On the surrounding couches sit juniors Pulsar Li, Alex Cornell, Ian Holljes and Clint Twaddell, among others. Bombadil and the Pulsar Triyo have already performed, and Twaddell is on deck.
(02/09/06 5:00am)
"I don't know what they're thinking. They're really talented, and they've done amazing things, and I don't like to jump too quickly to damning things like this when they've made stuff I've really believed in. Because sometimes people are doing something that you don't realize."
(12/08/05 5:00am)
The Sufjan Stevens ethos may seem presumptuous to many: recording a concept album dedicated to one of the 50 states, inundating it with unambiguous references to his Christian faith and directing the indie dissenters to talk to the sheepskin on his banjo head. Those who made it to his sold-out September show at the Cradle witnessed firsthand the star-spangled tracksuits, pompom cheers and human pyramids. Stevens actually might have actually been susceptible to such criticisms of his cheekiness had his previous record Illinois not been one of the best albums of 2005.
(12/01/05 5:00am)
The Darkness' Delorean must have been hit by that train on the album cover, as they've apparently been stuck in 1981 since 2003's Permission To Land. It's a shame that despite legendary Queen producer Roy Thomas-Baker (think "Bohemian Rhapsody") the only noticeable differences between the Darkness' first and second records are the multi-tracked falsettos on every single refrain. And honestly, it's going to take a lot more than a pan-flute intro followed by the sound of coke being snorted to even think about approaching "Bohemian Rhapsody." Future singles "Hazel Eyes" and "Is It Just Me?" might be catchy but are nothing but disguised derivatives of mid-1970s prog rock and early '80s metal. Just compare "Girlfriend" to Permission to Land's "Friday Night" and it's painful how similar yet creatively stunted their latest attempt has turned out. The new Darkness is just less Darkness, and the grandiose production fails to hide it; for example, not one of the new tracks can out-crazy the older "Stuck in a Rut." I blame it all on the ousting of bassist/Swedish mercenary Frankie Poullain. This is what happens when you cross the Moustache.
(12/01/05 5:00am)
I love Scott Stapp. I want to drag him by the collar and slam him against the barnyard wall, beating my fists over his sculpted chest while crying out, "I wish I could quit you!" It was Scott's specter that I envisioned all night during last year's LDOC, when I had a 102-degree fever and Collective Soul's boar-belching was the only thing preventing me from the sweet ecstasy of unconsciousness. All those curmudgeony critics probably had a field day when Creed got sued for their poor showing in Chicago, or when Fred Durst personally questioned Stapp's manhood, or when all Creed's bandmembers abandoned him to start Alter Bridge- but Scott showed them all up by returning stronger than ever.
(11/17/05 5:00am)
While Duke seniors Bryan Rahija (guitar), Daniel Michalak (bass), and Stuart Robinson (keyboard) might not have had visions of Tolkien's murky forests, trickling brooks or a small fat mule named Fatty Lumpkin in mind when they decided to call their band Bombadil, they do acknowledge that The Lord of the Rings bears a certain ageless quality that resonates with their music.
(11/03/05 5:00am)
The night after the Goats (see cover story), another kind of animal will be stomping its way to the Duke Coffeehouse Saturday night. The now-senior member among all former Elephant 6 bands still recording music, Elf Power is ready to unveil new material from an upcoming, as-of-yet untitled album, kicking off its fall tour in front of the Duke masses.
(10/27/05 4:00am)
It's been six years since Fiona Apple's last commercial release and almost two years since an earlier version of Extraordinary Machine was leaked to the public. Long gone are the Maya Angelou acceptance speeches, the ninety-word album titles and the suggestive music videos of the frail teenager in the bathtub. Such pretensions have latched onto the coattails of the industry's more recent upstarts-after all, fellow piano divas Norah Jones, Vanessa Carlton and Alicia Keys are respectively two, three and four years her junior. Not that Fiona Apple relying only on her music for success is a bad thing.
(10/20/05 7:00am)
Tucker Max, Duke Law '01, has witnessed firsthand the benefits of the dotcom boom. He worked as a lawyer for a major Silicon Valley firm, before being fired after three weeks. On a bet, he posted an application form online where girls could apply to go on dates with him. It has since transformed into a full-fledged website that has received tremendous publicity for posted accounts of his sexual escapades. In the process, he has crafted an online personage that is equal parts comedic virtuoso and present-day cultural icon. In anticipation of the release of his third book, I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell, Tucker talked to recess about his hatred of Duke basketball, breezing through law school and (not) punching Carson Daly.
recess: What do you think of Duke?
Tucker Max: I'm a born and bred Kentuckian, so I hate being called Duke alumni. Because, as a Kentucky basketball fan, Duke is like Satan to us- Don't even get me started on Duke basketball. Every time Duke has an away game I say a silent prayer that the plane crashes, and Coach K dies. I was there when they won the national title. I was on the quad, where everyone was burning sh--, and I was like, "This is the weakest national title celebration I've ever scene." When UK won the national title, they f---ing had to call the riot police, and Duke kids think they're crazy because they're burning a chair. I'm like, "You guys suck."
What do you think of the social scene in Durham?
The only good thing about Durham is that it's ten minutes from Chapel Hill. No, seriously, Durham sucks. We'd usually just start at Top of the Hill, and all the sorority girls would meet us, and we'd go wherever they wanted to go. I was hooking up with one of the UNC soccer players at the time, and so- I ended up hooking up with a girl whose brother is a current UNC football player. Anyways, she (the soccer player) asked who I had hooked up with, and I told her the name, and she laughed and said, "Tucker, that girl f---ed like every dude I knew at UNC." I was like, that's great, thank you. I'm pretty happy to hear that.
Did you learn anything at Duke?
I bought all my textbooks for my first semester for the first year. After that, I think I bought two textbooks for my next five semesters- Literally, if the final exam was "Pick Your Professor Out of A Crowd" I would have failed. Dude, I didn't know where many classes were. We had a bet my second year- that I could never show up to a class and walk in [to the final] cold, without studying, just with an outline someone else wrote, and pass the class. So I bet my buddy Rosenfield, his name is Hate in the stories. I think it was 50 bucks. I let him pick the class. He picked Tax Law, which is like the hardest f---ing class in law school. So I sign up for Tax, I never walk in the class once, didn't buy the textbook, didn't study for a minute, but one of my other buddies, Jeff, who's El Bingeroso in the stories, he gave me his outline from Tax, walked in cold with the outline, got a 2.6 on the exam. Law school's a f---ing joke, don't let anyone tell you otherwise. Dude, my second year Spring semester, when I was enrolled in school, I spent six weeks in Cancun, and worked there for a month and a half.
How do you recount your drunken nights so well?
First off, when I go out, I take a voice recorder with me, so the next day, if this is a crazy night, I'll have like ten voicemails. It's also pretty funny too because if you listen to the voicemails in succession you can totally tell that the first one is clear and lucid, then by the time you get to the second one I'm kind of slurring my words. And the last two or three I usually can't understand anything I said on it. I'll listen to it fifty times in a row, I'll put it on my computer, slow it down, speed it up. Nothing.
Can you give a typical day in your life?
I get up around 11 or 12, I go eat breakfast, I check my e-mail, I'll post some sh-- on [my message board], I go work out, come back, play on the computer for two more hours, watch some TV, whatever- I got a f---ing great life dude, I just get drunk, hook up and write stories about it, and I get paid for it?
Who's the most famous person you've hooked up with?
I can't tell you on record, because I promised her I wouldn't say. I'll tell ya what, when I hooked up with her she was almost famous. Now she's for-real famous.
Do regret anything you've done?
One of these things I'm going to regret the most, is that I had the chance to hit Carson Daly right in the f---ing mouth! And I didn't- I mean, right when he was at the peak of his douche-baggery- and I didn't take it. I've never ever in my life been more disappointed in myself. It's totally one of those situations where the gods where totally f---ing with me because I was [in] the green room in Kimmel, I was almost the most famous person in the room at the time. And then all of the sudden I look over, and totally out of nowhere, not even two feet from me, Carson Daly is standing there. It was a total moment where the gods were like, "Alright a--hole, you're talking sh-- about punching him in the mouth. Here he is. There's nobody guarding him, no one around. Hit him in the mouth." And I totally totally buckled. I was so mad at myself. Still to this day- I don't know who will replace him. The obvious thing is Ryan Seacrest, but Ryan Seacrest is such a dipsh-- that he's like a parody. I mean, hitting him in the mouth is like, whatever.
(10/06/05 4:00am)
Once in a while a band comes along that actually does "defy genre classification", "hook you in with their rockin' beats" and "get better with every listen." The Bellrays do not. With the perspective of a 15-year musical existence that has seen numerous flirtations with mainstream popularity, they're the first to say that such vapid and uninformed descriptions wear thin upon their veteran ears.
(09/22/05 4:00am)
More mature and much more accessible than the first three albums, New Comes and Goes takes no musical chances, but maybe that's just what's needed. Other bands from Weezer to Rooney and even Cake have been hard at work ruining the California sound for everyone else, so it's literally a breath of fresh air to hear a West coast act that actually has some skill. And don't mistake it, the band sounds like California; heck, Oranger even rolls off the tongue like California.
(09/22/05 4:00am)
In the world of blanket indie genres, the past decade's psych-pop movement may hold the standard for consistency, as nary a band under its wings has proven to be a dud. Influences ranging from the Beach Boys' Brian Wilson to Tropicalia founders Os Mutantes have established the foundation for a style of music that is undeniably catchy in all its forms, yet littered with enough Moog overlays, synthesizer distortions and experimental noise to deter the radio stations.
(09/16/05 4:00am)
Though he may not have quite the name-recognition of other reggae and hip-hop artists, protest icon Michael Franti has proven himself over the course of two decades to be a prevailing musical heavyweight.
(09/15/05 4:00am)
Though he may not quite have the name-recognition of other reggae and hip-hop artists, protest icon Michael Franti has proven himself over the course of two decades to be a prevailing musical heavyweight. As the leader of the Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy, he toured with such headliners as U2 and Nirvana, and broke into the mainstream when he formed Spearhead in 1994.
(09/08/05 4:00am)
In a distant land far, far away, the sky pours sheets upon the unforgiving grind of pavement, the shimmering skyscraper walls reflect only the apathetic shadows of the masses, and the garden daffodils bend their brows beneath the dark cloud known as Clear Channel. However, here in this cushy homeland of tailgates and angry dwarves, indie music is thriving like mildew on a shower curtain, mutating into all so many species they can't classify them fast enough. With each coming year the stable of bands making their rounds in the area has become stronger, broader, and in many cases more bizarre.
(09/01/05 7:00am)
With its third release, the Vancouver-based indie-pop ensemble The New Pornographers finally seem to have learned what makes critics putty. Make a debut album full of part-retro, part-lollipop singles, follow it up with a letdown sophomore release, then strike back with the essential ‘expanding your sound’ campaign on your third attempt and you can, too.
By all accounts, Twin Cinema is intricate, addictive and worth a listen. Every song is strong but manages to avoid the repetitive nausea incurred by mainstream crock-pop singles by pushing the band's sound in a new direction with each subsequent track.
In this respect, it is perhaps the most consistent album of the summer, reminiscent of such works as The Shins' Chutes Too Narrow or Belle & Sebastian's Dear Catastrophe Waitress.
As a pop album, the hooks are subtle and staggered throughout, wherein lies the album's charm, and also it's flaw: no single song can outdo the two or three top tunes from their first installment Mass Romantic.
While it doesn’t have that knockout track characteristic of truly great albums, Twin Cinema can only accelerate The New Pornographers’ ascension into the critical and popular spotlight. The immediate gratification is less, but the staying power surpasses anything The New Pornographers have ever made. Tickets for their October 16th show in Chapel Hill are scarce if not already sold out.
(04/14/05 4:00am)
What’s that, you say? Mariah Carey’s back? Stop, I need space to breathe…
