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©lp> iailif (Tor Hwl NICK PARKER BORN AND BRED UNC rap the next big thing in music Sunday’s game against Duke was a protracted heart attack. You already know the stats, so I won’t rehash them. But it was probably the single most stressful and satisfying event of my young adult life. Given, I don’t get out much, but the energy circulating in the Dean Dome after Marvin Williams’ awkward attempt dropped through the bottom of the net can’t be overstated or emulated. I’ve never felt more like a Tar Heel. But the afterparty was a bit of a bummer. Not the team cutting down the nets or our seniors’ fond farewells (I almost cried when Melvin Scott walked off the court). I’m talking about our alma mater. It’s a bit stale and dated. Yeah, it’s nice linking arms with friends and classmates to sway and sing off-key, but pounding on our seats during “radiant shine” just doesn’t carry the same oomph as a one handed Jackie Manuel jam. Thank God for Julian Bickford. Bickford, clearly a raging Tar Heel fan and apparently a bur geoning rap god, has reinvented our alma mater and what it truly means to be a Tar Heel. His masterpiece, “Tar Heel Hip-Hop” available at www.tar heelhiphop.com (track 12) for free sampling or paid download at the low, low price of $2.99 is the voice of anew generation. It’s the evolution of our aged theme song. It’s shamelessly spir ited. It’s exactly what we’ve all been waiting for. Across three verses and almost five minutes of track, Bickford praises the Tar Heel basketball team, trash talks our ACC com petition and takes a nostalgic, drunken stroll down Franklin Street that ends like any good night on the town should: with a random hookup. It’s a work of pure deconstruc tive genius. “Tar Heel Hip-Hop” is so brash and bad, it’s instantly endearing. Bickford isn’t going to be chal lenging Jay-Z or Mos Def for the hip-hop crown any time soon, but he’s won a place in the heart of any Tar Heel fan lucky enough to stumble on his work. Bickford lays down his hypnot ic lines over a slow, smooth beat that I think he made on a pirated copy of Frooty Loops or maybe his sweet Apple ißook. There’s no real “melody” or “bass line” or “con sistent rhythm,” but who cares. The Neptunes are huge, and they aren’t good producers either. Besides, we’re here for the lyrics. We want something we can sway and sing along to, and that’s exactly where Bickford sets himself head and shoulders above all other independent, Chapel Hill-based, basketball-themed, Tar Heel-praising rap artists. It’s a bigger genre than you might think Black Thought and Common both started out that way. A few of the more priceless gems: “Jackie Man-u-el/You be doin’ it we 11... son/Everybody love Mister Raymond Fel... ton,” “We shinin’ up a steel-toed boot for Duke/Be careful not to slip in any Dookie poo,” and “Let’s hook up at Playas/Drink some Holy Grayals/ A couple Pale Ales/She’ll be shak ing her tail.” This is everything that’s right in the world wrapped in one song. Top it all off with guest appear ances by an echo effect, a soul ful female singer and the Bell Tower (that’s right), and this is an instant Carolina classic. Back off, Petey Pablo. With the upcoming ACC Tournament and a run straight through to St. Louis, we need something to get us jazzed, some thing to inspire greatness, some thing to light a fire under our 3chool spirit. This is that fire. But be warned once Bickford tas captured your ear, there’s no joing back to “the brightest star )f all.” You can’t escape. After tearing it the first time, I wanted o listen to it again and again. So I did. Contact Nick Parker, a senior journalism and English major, at panic@email.unc.edu. Mars Voltas prog-rock works on many levels BY ARLEY WOLBER STAFF WRITER “All we need is just a little patience.” Bear this Guns ’n’ Roses adage in mind when venturing through Frances the Mute, the latest by prog-rockers The Mars Volta. This is space rock at its most grandiose and pretentious finery. And it’s a long, delirious trip. In fact, it’s hard to characterize a large part of the first half of the album as “rock” in the traditional sense of the word. You might say it’s more of a nightmarish waltz in and out of echoing, Robert Plant-esque vocals by lead singer Cedric Bixler-Zavala, moaning guitar carnage and bom bastic, anguished percussion. The first half of the album fully tests the listener, sputtering out many times only to shock itself back to life moments later. You’ll have to deal with oblique, bilingual lyrics to boot. But as the album dips in and out Diesel stalls in family flick Campy plot has been done before BY MIKE SULLIVAN STAFF WRITER Through his tight white T-shirt, we notice a pair of bulging pecs and a hint of a six-pack. His sculpted arms swing around his waist, buck ling a belt fully loaded with baby bottles. With a baby backpack strapped over his shoulders, this lieutenant is ready for war. Pan up to see our hero, Lieutenant Shane Wolf (Vin Diesel), as he opens the garage door. As the door slowly inches upward, the audience is introduced to Red Company: five kids ranging from baby Tyler to 16- year-old Zoe. Confused at what lies before him, our warrior asks Red-One (Zoe) for assistance. “What is that?” “A minivan.” Yes, a minivan —a vehicle so secret that even a 30-year-old Navy SEAL specialist would fail to rec ognize it. Welcome to “The Pacifier,” Disney’s attempt to provide versa tility in Diesel’s one-dimensional career. Instead of portraying a tough guy soldier (“Saving Private Ryan”) or a tough-guy super-spy (“XXX”), Diesel plays a tough-guy super-sol dier. Go figure. This time around, the action hero takes on unconquered terri Top 250 Salon in the Nation! • ISff Certificates'Available A Ls* , • Dav Spa Almosplicic k ’ ■ jjß 1 • Medium Pressure Beds and Booths • Sunless Express Airbrush (aniline) Jm' * Open 7 Days a Week jjgp v • UNC Students show vout UNO ID for a discount , , .. ........ „ Designer Si-on • 1 1 ccJisc cl t oilrej!ate I I"RBRUSH"tANnTn iHESEES lEtiMwl E ■EZZySH iUßßppjl iMpctSU WmSSmSm Salt# 10b A Hams Plaza • ybß-33// ©■ AVEDA INSTITUTE ■ CHAPEL HILL AVEDA Salon & Spa body in touch, heart at peace. let the healing embrace you at the Aveda Institute Chapel Hill Spa. be soothed and nurtured by plant-based products and aromas, call today for an appointment. I—- - I Diversions of consciousness, there remains a compelling electricity —a contin uous, desperate gasp for air that keeps you coming back for more. Eventually the album settles into the more consistent “Cassandra Gemini,” a boundless eight-track soundscape oscillating through Latin rhythms, punk beats, crying saxophones and what sounds a lot like an malfunctioning respirator. Perhaps lead guitarist/producer Omar Rodriguez-Lopez is trying to bring something back to life, as much of the album draws from a diary of the band’s late sound tech nician, Jeremy Michael Ward, who died of a drug overdose in 2003. Convoluted agony and suffering ooze out of every pore of Frances the Mute, but this doesn’t detract from the album’s vivacity there isn’t a hint of self-pity or sentimentality. You get more the impression of a group of mad scientists tirelessly experimenting in an attempt to resuscitate something they slayed on their last album, De-Loused in tory suburbia to watch over the children of an assassinated gov ernment scientist, who left a secret invention hidden somewhere on his property. The plot focuses primarily on the relationship between Lieutenant Wolf and the children. During his two-week stint as baby-sitter, Wolf evolves into a father figure by teaching Zoe how to drive, directing 14-year-old Seth’s play, instructing self-defense tactics to 8-year-old girl scout Lulu, performing the “panda dance” for 3-year-old Peter and changing baby Tyler’s diapers. Toilet humor is ever-pres ent, ranging from the first dia per change to Wolf rummaging through a waste sewer to locate one of the children’s tracking devices. Yes, the children have tracking devices. Like many family films, “The Pacifier” exaggerates adults while stereotyping children in an attempt to hit the target fan base. The film then focuses on how the main character learns just as much from his disciples as they learn from him. “The Pacifier” bears strong resemblance to 1995’s “Major Payne,” in which Damon Wayans plays the killing-machine-turned mentor of juvenile delinquents at a military school. Parallels include war-themed bedtime stories, wake up drills and crude toilet humor. “Payne” hits more laugh bases, MDSICREVIEW THE MARS VOLTA FRANCES THE MUTE ★★★★ the Comatorium. Although The Mars Volta are convinced that “No, there’s not light/in the darkness of your fur thest reaches,” they easily succeed in raising hell and raising the dead. Contact the AdE Editor at artsdesk@unc.edu. MOVIE !W "THE PACIFIER" ★★ but “The Pacifier” provides more adequate family entertainment. The only drastic problem with “The Pacifier” other than the child-pleasing toilet humor is its title. Why name the film after a useless wrestling move that Wolf deems his “favorite?” Why not make the title relevant to concepts actually important to the film? After walking out of the theater, the audience might think that titles like “The Panda Dance,” or “Diaper Adventures” would be more perti nent. Contact theA&E Editor at artsdesk@unc.edu. cprcjcpgp 919-967-9053 300 E. Main Street • Carrboro 10 TH 7SECONDS w/ Champion and The Briggs ($lO/512) 11FR ASH / THE BRAVERY" (Sl2/Sl4) 12 SA SARAH LEE GUTHRIE AND JOHNNY IRION (CD Release Party) 13 SU CYSTIC FIBROSIS FUNDRAISER w/ BRAVE COMBO and IMPERIAL PINTS" (SlO/Sl2) TPM show 18 FR BENEFIT FOR INDEPENDENT lARw/ COUNTDOWN QUARTET, Mercy Filter. The Young Idea, Bleeding Hearts" (SB/S10) 19SA ATMOSPHERE /SAGE FRANCIS" (S2O) 20 SU PIETASTERS w/ 40 Oz." (sl2) 23 WE CROOKED FINGERS w/ Liz Durrett" (SlO/Sl2) 24 TH KING SUNNY ADE" (Sl7/S2O) 25 FR APPETITE FOR DESTRUCTION" (SB/S10) 26 SA REGGAE JAM: Roily Gray and Sunfire, Crucial Fiya, 8i more 29 TU RADIO 4 w/Supersystem" ($8) 30 WE JEDI MIND TRICKS, LIVING LEGENDS. Pigeon John" (sl2/514) 31 TH TODD SNIDER" ($lO/$ 12) IFR BLUEGROUND UNDERGRASS" (SlO/Sl2) 2SA WHO'S BAD (Michael Jackson Tribute)" (SB/$10) 6WE And You Will Know Us By The Trail of Dead" 7TH MWARD BFR FANTOMAS. The Locust, Trevor Dunn" (Sls/Sl7) 9SA MASON JENNINGS" (sl2) 12 TU DON DIXON" 13 WE AMYRAY"(SI2/sl4) 14 TH Jump, little children" ($10) 15 FR SOUTHERN CULTURE ON THE SKIDS" ($ 10) 16 SA AGNOSTIC FRONT w/ Martyr AD. Love Is Red & All Shan Perish" 18 M 0 FLICKER (Local short films) 21 TH DIZZEE RASCAL" (sls) 22 FR EDWIN MCCAIN BAND” (sl6) 30 SA VYXYC 80 s dance 7SA NEIL DIAMOND ALL-STARS w/Mary Prankster" ($8) 11 WE BRITISH SEA POWER" 13 FR THE REVEREND HORTON HEAT/ SUPERSUCKERS / MURPHY'S LAW" (sls) MSA THE BLACK KEYS" (sl2) 19 TH BUILT TO SPILL w/ Mike Johnson" (sl7) 21 SA COMAS/MANDODIAO" 27 FR RAVEONETTES w/ Autolux and Peels • local 6 04/12 Angle Aparo 04/25 damlen Jurado / Iwo galants / sal on, salotl @ Disco Rodeo 03/16 INDIGO GIRLS" ($25) The MSTI live music - 18 & over admitted "Advance ticket sales at SchoolKids in Chapel Hill and Raleigh and Radio Free Records in Durham. For Credit Card orders CALL 919-967-9063 | www.catscradle.com THURSDAY, MARCH 10, 2005 Hipsters flock to Castanets show BY STANTON KIDD STAFF WRITER There is something about the back walls of a stage being book shelves that just naturally makes an event homier. So it was Friday night at Nightlight, where Lazarus, Tigersaw, Castanets and The Stragglers played a varied set. The night started off slowly with Lazarus, whose most distinguish ing characteristics were the lead singer/guitarist’s gigantic hands and an interesting spiel on situationism that roused of the crowd’s attention more than the actual music. Following a brief break, Tigersaw occupied the space between the bookshelves. With the singer from Lazarus holding down bass duties, the group’s singer dispensed with the microphone and sang simple, heartfelt songs in a warbling voice with an out-of-tune guitar. It was easily the most affecting part of the evening, especially when they asked for the audience help sing along at the end. Following this was the headliner of the show, Castanets, though it was actually only Raymond Raposa, the band’s lead singer/songwriter/ guitarist, who played. The album, Cathedral, was easily one of the best releases of 2004, though a great deal of its glory came from its cavernous production and kitchen sink instrumentation. Surprisingly, the band’s songs proved to be just as strong with only an acoustic guitar and voice, though the guitar did get some help from vibrato effects and an odd device that made the strings hhmhhhhhmi Night A OijVPP.L I lit I. Avalon Nl ight Club (919.929.9900 306 W. Franklin Across From Breadman's) LADIES NIGHT College ID required 11 8 to Party ~21 to Drink $4 Daquaries El Banana Strawberry Pina Colada lp| $4 Frozen R Margaritas M $1 Bottles IM LADIES FREE M BEFORE 12:00 H CONCERT iEI W THE CASTANETS NIGHTLIGHT FRIDAY, MARCH 4 irkirk hum in a beautifully wavy way. After his achingly gorgeous set, only made slightly less wonderful by the clinking of bottles and the rolling static of conversation from the bar, came local band The Stragglers. While not awful, after the bril liant avant-country of Castanets and the joyously openhearted sin galongs of Tigersaw, it certainly ended the show with more of a yawn than a yelp. The Stragglers deal mainly in traditional, straight-ahead roots rock, with plinky pianos, tired riffs and a voice eerily reminis cent of Travis Morrison’s of the Dismemberment Plan. What was an admittedly uneven show saved itself from monotony when the artists took advantage of the intimate settings. Raposa and Tigersaw, for example, dis pensed with microphones and let their voices float out into the tight space. The other bands couldn’t capi talize on the peculiar environ ment, so it’s not surprising they made the biggest missteps. Those who succeeded did so by taking the hip crowd out of the normal performer/audience dichotomy, and watching this was really the show’s appeal. Contact the AdE Editor at artsdesk@unc.edu. 7
Daily Tar Heel (Chapel Hill, N.C.)
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March 10, 2005, edition 1
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