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Wednesday, September 9, 2009
{The Blue Banner)
Page 8
Rugby Interest
Meeting
Highsmith 104
Wednesday,
7:15 p.m.
Free Pizza
Comedian Chelsea
Peretti
Highsmith Grotto
Friday, 9 p.m.
Second Annual
Founder’s Day Ball
Highsmith Alumni Hal!
Friday, 10 p.m.
Communication;
ethics and etiquette
Highsmith 221
Tuesday,
12:30 p.m. - 1:30 p.m.
Coffeehouse Acoustic
Open Mic
Ramsey Glass House
Tuesday,
12 p.m. - 2 p.m.
For more campus
activities, visit:
www.unca.edu/barker
Blowers Gallery highlights local artist
By Katherine Lancaster
Staff Writer
KELANCAS@UNCA.EDU
A local artist hopes to raise awareness
through her upcoming exhibit at UNC
Asheville.
Local artist Deyanira Chavez will pres
ent an exhibition of her work starting to
morrow in Ramsey Library’s Blowers
Gallery, located on the main floor of the li
brary. The show will feature works in both
drawing and ceramics. The exhibition is
free and open to the public.
. “This is an opportunity to let people to
get to know me better as an artist, to see
what type of work I do and see what I’ve
done before,” Chavez said.
Originally from Mexico, Chavez is a
24-year-old Asheville resident who has
lived in Western North Carolina for 12
years.
She graduated at the top of her high
school class, received honors for her com
munity service and leadership work, and
went on to college at UNC Charlotte,
where she majored in architecture. But
since she had to pay out-of-state tuition
because of her immigration status, Chavez
was forced to leave school.
Chavez currently attends Blue Ridge
Community College, but with this exhibit,
she hopes to raise awareness of her situa
tion and others faced with the same prob
lem.
“I love drawing and eventually I want
to go to architecture school, so I think this
is a way of presenting myself and reach
ing out to a community and letting UNCA
students know about my situation so that
Steven Hall - Staff Photographer
Deyanira Chavez, left, and Nancy Hayes, coordinator of exhibits in Ramsey
Library, prepare for Chavez’s display. Below, Chavez’s “Praying Mantis.”
they can learn about it and maybe help,”
she said. “Not just with my situation, but
others as well.” •
When creating her work, Chavez said
her process depends on the project on
which she is working.
“If it’s something I can see and draw
from, then I have it in front of me, and I
can work from it; if it’s something from
my mind, then I’ll work from it as it
, 'rgSy
See CHAVEZ Page 12
Los Angeles band redefines ambient music on new album
Nudge has worked for more than half a
decade to create an original sound amid
a sea of generic and impersonal elec
tronic music. Their new full-length, “As
Good As Gone” filters spaced-out techno
through a minimalist rock aesthetic, and
the result is a near-perfect, dense work of
avant-garde exploration that never over
loads the senses.
Frontman Brian Foote of Los Angeles
plays seven instruments over the course
of seven tracks, with vocalist Honey
Owens and multi-instrumentalist Paul
Dickow adding rhythmic and ambient
textures that make each song distinctive.
Combining down-tempo rock with am
bient electronica, “As Good As Gone”
reminds us how to be “eclectic” without
compromising self expression.
The word eclectic becomes more and
more ambiguous every time someone
uses it to describe new music. Some
bands like to mix genres together to
Album
Review
By Sam Hunt
Arts & Features Editor
SCHUNT@UNCA.EDU
reach as many audiences as possible.
This is a decent idea, but the music it
self often becomes impersonal and com
pletely unoriginal. Nudge avoids this pit-
fall, utilizing a song-by-song approach to
exploring multiple avenues.
Opener “Harmo” is a five-minute, pure
ambient piece. A simple harmonica pro
gression evolves into a hazy orchestra of
trumpets and droning synthesizers.
“Two Hands” introduces Nudge’s ex
pert use of drum machines and tranc
ing bass progressions, which create the
band’s most accessible arrangements
throughout the middle of the album,
which recalls Portishead and Massive
Attack’s mid-1990s trip-hop heyday.
Closing track “Dawn Comes Light”
explores the apocalyptic undertones of
the first six songs. Nudge seems most
comfortable when they gravitate sound
through cinematic intros, allowing their
loudest parts to briefly emerge from
dense, calming waves of ambience.
Foote seems to consciously avoid ex
cess of any one sound or style, which
is what ultimately makes “As Good As
Gone” so compelling. Even when the
songs border on conventions, Foote
never indulges one sense. There’s never
enough rhythmic presence for a dance
floor, and there’s never enough feedback
to jar the ear.
Nudge is the ultimate middle ground
for any rock or techno music purist.
They aim not to fuse 10 styles into one,
but rather channel their long list of influ
ences through the same hypnotic vein.
“As Good As Gone” is a personal work,
and while it may be an excellent album
to nap with, it never gets boring.