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(Tljp Sattg alar Uppl fw IR Sgli v J/ jSt Martha Schwendener and Lawrence Chandler compose the Manhattan-based drone rock outfit Bowery Electric. Bowery Electric Duo Provides Pleasant, Mediocre Trip Hop Bv Carl Jacobs Staff Writer Manhattan-based drone rock duo Bowery Electric accomplishes two feats with the release of its third album, Lushlife. No. 1: The band successfully moves trip hop across the Atlantic Ocean. Ambient sound, a genre that originated with bands such as Massive Attack and Portishead in Bristol, §j| CO Review Bowery Electric Lushlife fff England, has been reluctant to leave its European roots. No. 2: It establishes a precedent of mediocrity for the relatively new genre. Mediocre doesn’t mean bad, or even boring in this case. Lushlife is enjoyable from start to finish. Two years in the making, the album EAST CAROLINA UNIVERSITY STUDENT UNION PROGRAM BOARD PRESENTS... \k $4 % PDJViCf Sunday, April 2, 2000 8:00PM ft) George Clinton and The Parliament Funkadelic at Minges Coliseum Greenville, NC — — & —— Tickets on Sale NOW!!! Call 1-800-ECU-ARTS to charge with Visa/Mastercard or get tickets at the door 1 DON'T DELAY! UNIVERSITY f features consistently seductive vocals in ever-present, ever-pleasant atmospheric sounds. It just needs more layers, more varied beats and vocal styles. Without variety, the music fails to fully involve the listener, and involve ment and escape is what trip hop is all about. Massive Attack, for example, uses extremely complex layers to evoke vir tual reality. In contrast, Bowery Electric relaxes the listener to sleep. Perhaps Bowery Electric simply needs more members to create complex sound. Lawrence Chandler and Martha Schwendener show promise, even if this album did not quite reach its potential. With Chandler’s catchy mixes and Schwendener’s mesmerizing voice, Lushlife could be the blueprint for great music. For now' though, it’s better left as a background for conversation. The Arts & Entertainment Editor can be reached at artsdesk@unc.edu. DIVERSIONS Music Frog Holler Blends Bluegrass and Rock By Ferris Morrison Staff Writer I know it’s tough for some of you Northerners to admit it, but there are some Yankees who wish they were from the South. Frog Holler, m CD Review Frog Holler Adams Hotel Road fff a band that hails from Shoemakersville, Pa., is among the wannabes. Beginning as a bluegrass band in 1996, Frog Holler has since evolved its sound to please the more mainstream listener. The band’s second release, Adams Hotel Road, contains an interesting mix Briefs The Unband: Retarder Even more so than hard rockers Limp Bizkit and Korn, the Unband’s balls-to-the-wall mentality holds the secret to dumbed-down rock nirvana. Specifically, the success of an album like the aptly-monikered Retarder is inversely proportional to the presence of melody, harmony and even coher ence but directly proportional to the volume and the amount of beer consumed by the listener. The snotty sneer of “Geez Louise” and the repetitive pro fanity of “Piece of Shit” lead me to conclude that Retarder should be packaged with §|| Music Briefs The Unband Retarder fff Jucifer Calling All Cars on the Vegas Strip fff six-packs of Milwaukee’s Best. Sure enough, a sober listen to Retarder exposes every last repetitive, nonmemorable pratfall that relegated of bluegrass, country and alternative rock. Even a Hank Williams-hater could swallow this band’s sound because Frog Holler carefully blends its bluegrass with rock and alternative undertones. Lead singer Darren Schlappich sounds like a good of boy from a small N.C. town as he croons thoughtful, dreamy lyrics over a mellow acoustic guitar in songs like “Least Most Wanted.” His powerful yet wispy voice sounds like a cross between The Wallflowers’Jakob Dylan and country music star Travis Tritt Frog Holler is anything but run-of the-mill honky-tonk. Tunes like “Lindy” and “One in Traffic” sound like the soft vocals and mellow guitar of artists like Simon and Garfunkel. But tunes like Poison to “Behind the Music.” Thankfully, few of these deficiencies seem to matter, as the Unband resound ingly succeeds in its mission to enter tainingly lower rock’s collective IQ. Jucifer: Calling All Can ... On the subject of rock for rock’s sake, Jucifer proves that the fairer sex can just as convincingly rock out, Sabbath-style. Singer/guitarist Amber Valentine is the duo’s true star. Forget the girl-power-in-numbers mentality of female-dominated outfits like Veruca Salt. Valentine serves as a posse of one, double-tracking her vocals to achieve that good-girl-gone-bad aura that has fueled defiant girl groups from the Supremes to Babes in Toyland. Valentine kicks her punk persona into high gear with the riot grrl-worthy “Long Live the King.” From there she finds her groove, alternating gut-busting riffs and creepily angelic harmonies and even tossing in the occasional ballad. Most bizarre moment: the anti-self esteem fantasy “Hero Worship,” in which Valentine inexplicably professes to envy former MTV talking head Tabitha Soren, of all people. So there’s the lesson to teenage girls who wish to escape the boy-band cycle and assert their gender independence: record some punishing hard rock, and throw in a tribute to Serena Altschul. -Compiled by Josh Love For more information and to see if you qualify, call 881-0309 anytime Monday through Friday B:3oam-s:oopm. After hours please leave a message. If qualified for participation in this study you may receive at no cost: ■■ North Carolina clinical • Study-related physical examination research ■ • Study treatment “ Where patient care and the future of medicine come together. " b ~ Dr. Craig LaForce and Dr. Karen Dunn • Compensation up to $150.00 for your time and travel Conveniently located in Raleigh and Chapel Hill. ds I o-1 Industries & Solid-Grip Prod in vJ||^9B| association w/ Atmosphere Magazine, UK Tflf presents: g Friday A March 24 * 2FIM-10RM S2O @ the door @ Cat *~3 Crad Ie * Chapel Hill NC BSJS msKmmsmmmnMivm/ssmm:-, u M jifti’frT* Z, info lines ’Sr Buddha L s Belly Raleigh - 919.66 4, 8099 ; CD Alley Uil m i ngt on - 910.762.1003 \ ‘ Greenuille - 252.758.0639 •Q ' Chapel Hill - 919.960.9272 fewiMi Free clothing giveaways by Ecko Unltd I W -j c will be on campus Thursday and Friday. To __ , T i up for an interview, call (800) 800-4204 || || |J _ \ ext. 6001 or stop by the career services \ office a f tfi e Journalism school \ For more information, call (888) FYI-JOBS “Anytime Soon” and “Overtime” dis play the band’s love of bluegrass. Other bluegrass songs like “Monorail” bring you back to the woods of the infamous movie “Deliverance.” Unfortunately, monotonous lyrics plague the song, making it difficult to lis ten to. “Knee High by July” offers toe-tap pin’ fun. It’s about corn liquor -a Southern favorite, particularly in the nearby Appalachian Mountains. In addition to songs fit for square dancing, Adams Hotel Road contains soft er songs about lost love. Sad, dreamy songs like “Couldn’t Get Along” make you think about the love that got away. Although a talented group of musi cians, Frog Holler needs to stick to the Arts# Entertainment Calendar MUSIC Cats Cradle. 300 E. Main St, Carrboro. 967-9053. Go! Rehearsals Room 4.1(X) Brewer Lane, Carrboro. 969-1400. Local 506. 506 W. Franklin St., Chapel Hill. 942-5506. Skylight Exchange. 405 1/2 W. Rosemary St., Chapel Hill. 933-5550. Thursday, March 23 ■ Jupiter Coyote at Cat’s Cradle. ■ Koester w/ Balance Affect at Local 506. Friday, March 24 ■ Yo La Tengo at Cat’s Cradle. ■ The Accelerators at Local 506. ■ The Haw River Festival Hootenany Kick-off at Skylight Exchange. ■ Black Mountain and Choose Your Own Adventure at Go!. Saturday, March 25 ■ Hipbone w/ Andy Kunci at Cat’s Cradle. ■ Analogarhythm at Local 506 ■ N.C. Songwriters’ Coop Mini-Tour Showcase at Skylight Exchange. ■ Richard Buckner at Go!. Sunday, March 26 ■ The Seldom Scene at Cat’s Cradle. ■ Black Halos at Local 506. ■ Miguel Algarin at Skylight Exchange. Back Pain Study If you are between the ages of 18 and 55, have muscle pain in your lower back and otherwise are in good health, we invite you to cal! us at 881-0309 and find out more about a short research study that we are conducting. Study treatment includes a heat wrap or over-the-counter pain medication. Thursday, March 23, 2000 rules of blending genres and create a sound that flows rather than one that jars. “The Easy Way” is an example of a failed attempt at genre blending, beginning with an awkward electric gui tar solo that seems out of place with regard to the rest of the album. Frog Holler’s overall sound is a good blend of country, bluegrass and alterna tive rock, but they still need to work on some of their more extreme blending. Note to band: Electric guitar and sleepy heartfelt lyrics don’t mix. Let’s face it - would Slash of Guns ’n’ Roses sing a song like “I Just Called to Say ‘I Love You’”? I don’t think so. The Arts & Entertainment Editor can be reached at artsdesk@unc.edu. m Tara Jane O’Neill w/ Naysayers at Go!. Monday, March 27 ■ Boy Sets Fire at Cat’s Cradle. ■ Open Mic Night at Skylight Exchange. Tuesday, March 28 ■ Ten Foot Pole at Cat’s Cradle. ■ Poster Children at Go!. Wednesday, March 29 ■ Robert Earl Keen at Cat’s Cradle. ■ Open Mic Night at Skylight Exchange. ■ Pilfers at Go!. ART ■ “New Century Artist: Young African- Americans from North Carolina.” Through Wednesdav. Horace Williams House. 942-7818. ■ “From the Molecular to the Galactic." Through May 21. Ackiand Art Museum, UNC campus. 966-5763. THEATER ■ “The Ring.” Studio 2. Friday through Tuesday. Playmaker’s Theatre, UNC campus. ■ “Pericles.” Company Carolina, Through March 31. Swain Hail Studio 6. UNC campus. ■ “Wit” Play Makers Repertory Company. Through April 2. Paul Green Theatre, UNC campus. 962-PLAY. FILM ■ “Do the Right Thing." 9 p.m. today. Carolina Union Auditorium. ■ “Summer of Sam." 7 p.m. Friday and 10 p.m. Saturday. Carolina Union Auditorium. ■ “Fight Club." 10 p.m. Friday and 7 p.m. Saturday. Carolina Union Auditorium. ■ “Skittles" and “A Lighter Shade of Crimson." Independent films. 8 p.m. Monday. Carolina Union Auditorium. 7
Daily Tar Heel (Chapel Hill, N.C.)
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March 23, 2000, edition 1
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