8
THURSDAY, MARCH 30, 2006
Side project spells success
for ‘Born Again’ musicians
BY MORGAN ELLIS
STAFF WRITER
“Side project” in many cases
that’s code for experimental.
And often, the quality of the
music does not live up to the art
ists’ regular offerings.
Composed of former Sonic
Youth member Jim O’Rourke and
Jeff Tweedy and Glenn Kotche of
Wilco, Loose Fur does experiment,
but the music’s caliber isn't dimin
ished on Born Again in the USA.
The band’s second offering, Bom
Again, shies away from the noise
rock culled in Loose Fur's self
titled debut in 2003, and instead
it presents listeners with a more
straightforward rock album.
Where the 2003 release exhibits
an easygoing sound that seems to
float gently through listeners’ ears,
the latest release at times assaults
audiences with crunchy guitars and
furious dramming.
The band truly appears born
again on the album’s opener, “Hey
Chicken,” where searing guitars
leave past material behind and
drive the new' work to a much
heavier sound.
And as expected with this group
of musicians, “Hey Chicken” relies
upon technicality as Kotche makes
use of his entire drum kit and the
bass proves just as dynamic.
“Apostolic” continues the rock
ing trend with guitars somewhat
similar to those on the album’s
opening track. But what makes the
track so impressive comes from the
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MUSIC REVIEW
LOOSE FUR
BORN AGAIN IN THE U.S.A.
interplay of guitar and bass, swirl
ing together to grab the audience's
attention.
But the track also harkens inter
mittently back to the more placid
sounds of Loose Fur and the feel
of O’Rourke’s 2001 Insignificance.
The best track on the album,
especially if you’re a sucker for a
good instrumental, comes in the
form of “An Ecumenical Matter.”
The cut’s marked by tick
ing drums, a laid-back bass line,
dreamlike piano and guitar, which
aptly doesn’t go crazy like it could
have.
Born Again is anchored by three
guys who know' how to produce
some off-the-wall sounds, but they
restrain themselves here. And it’s
for the better. Album tracks don’t
sprawl out over six or seven min
utes as they did on the band’s pre
vious album.
This album is tighter, but still
retains the best elements from
Loose Fur’s first effort. Tweedy
and O’Rourke get better with every
release.
And Loose Fur has again com
posed a worthy album even if it
is just a side project.
Contact theAtdE Editor
at artsdesk@unc.edu.
Diversions
COMEDY
FROM PAGE 7
to New York City to join Castrone.
They launched their Web site in
September.
ThePostShow.com features two
new episodes a week, airing on
Mondays and Thursdays.
The relative speed with which
new episodes can be created allows
them to poke fun at current pop cul
ture: The breakup of Nick Lachey
and Jessica Simpson and Larry the
Cable Guy’s antics are just a few of
the topics tackled on the Web site.
Castrone said the site has gar
nered more than 1 million hits in
six months, which he says indicates
the popularity of the skits.
As if that wasn’t good
enough for a fledgling Web site,
CollegeHumor.com began featur
ing ThePostShow.com in January.
“We had seen their videos a while
ago, before we were hosting skits,
and we didn’t think anything of it,”
Rubin said. “A few of them were sub
mitted to our ‘Hotlinks’ section.”
Once editors took a closer look,
they were impressed by the ama
teur Internet skits.
“We loved them and got in con
tact with the guys,” Rubin said. “I
think we were attracted to their
consistency and high production
values.”
Castrone and Levin agreed that
the deal with CollegeHumor.com is
a great one. They said that they get
more exposure and that they don’t
have to independently shoulder the
extra bandwidth cost of new users.
“We like having an audience for
what we do,” Castrone said. “We
have a medium, and we’re able to
get immediate results from it”
Castrone and Levin said they use
“Final Cut” video-editing software
on an Apple G 4 computer.
“Usually it takes one day to shoot
and one to edit,” Levin said. “The
quickest shoot was two hours, and
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the longest was multiple hours.”
The pair has 39 skits available
online for viewing and will round
out the end of the second season
with 40.
“It’s a lot of work to get two pro
ductions done in a week,” Levin
said.
Castrone said that they hope
to use their work on “The Post
Show” for future careers in televi
sion. Castrone is working as a head
writer on VHl’s “Best Week Ever.”
Monday’s episode, “Model Home,”
spoofed the concept of models living
together as on MTVS latest reality
show “Bth & Ocean.” The parody
features a variety of stereotypically
unsexy models played by the site’s
creators and their friend, Jason
Zumwalt, a “Post Show” regular.
Todays skit is slated to focus on
Stewart Clifford Andrews, an inex
plicably famous singer/songwriter
who croons about pedophilia. The
character was introduced in the first
season in the skit “Sing Along.”
“He’s the first reoccurring
character in ‘Post Show’ history,”
Castrone said.
The episode April 3 will be the
season finale, after which Castrone
and Levin plan to take a short
break and return in late April.
“We’re gonna take a little time to
regroup, slap together a season two
DVD and get right back to writing
for season three,” Castrone said.
Both men expressed gratitude
to their fans for the support they’ve
shown in such a short time period.
“I got recognized at a Strokes
concert by a wide-eyed high school
kid,” Levin said. “I’m just happy he
chose to come over to me to say he
liked my stuff instead of going up
to Jimmy Fallon.”
Another young entertainer
using the Internet to make a name
for herself on the New York City
comedy circuit is Mindy Raf.
The multitalented Raf s resume
speaks for itself published col
umns, stand-up comedy and acting,
including frequent appearances on
episodes of “The Post Show.”
Raf graduated from the
University' of Michigan at Ann
Arbor in 2002 and spent time
developing her comedic craft there,
especially with an improvisational
group called Comedy Company.
Raf said she met Castrone and
Zumwalt while doing stand-up com
edy, and they began collaborating.
To showcase her work and get
her name out, Raf has established
a triple presence on the Internet:
a personal Web site, a blog and a
MySpace account.
“The Internet is great for (public
relations),” Raf said. “It’s accessible
now to everyone, even people who
aren’t too computer savvy.
“Yet, most performers still use
fliers and postcards too. When
you’re at a show and talking with
people you w r ant to be able to give
them something to take home.
“What’s funny to me, is that a
lot of comics myself included
are using traditional advertis
ing methods post cards, stickers,
fliers, .even T-shirts —to advertise
their Web sites, MySpace pages
and blogs.”
Castrone echoed the usefulness
of the Internet as a networking tool
for rising entertainers.
“If you’re in comedy and you’re
not on MySpace, you're screwed.”
Contact the Editor at
artsdesk@ unc.edu.
STARSYSTEM
★ POOR
★★ FAIR
★★★ GOOD
**** EXCELLENT
★★★★★ CLASSIC
lath; (Ear Hrri
MOVIES
'WHY WE FIGHT'
Michael Moore without the
sensationalism, page 9
'INSIDE MAN'
Spike Lee shows his subtle side
on his latest film, page 10
'THE LIBERTINE'
Johnny Depp writes plays and
contracts STDs, page 12
'SHE'S THE MAN'
Gender-bending teen movie
bumbles the Bard, page 12
ALBUMS 1
LOOSE FUR
Side project turns out better
than expected, page 8
DONALD FAGEN
Steely Dan gets brushed down
on latest release, page 9
SOUTHERN CULTURE ON THE
SKIDS
Hillbillies rock lively, page 9
HARD-FI
Brit-rock kids ride the hype
ship to America, page 10
E-40
There's bad, and there's really
bad. E-40 is both, page 10
MEN, WOMEN & CHILDREN
Ex-Glassjaw members form
bad dance-punk act. page 12
PRINCE
He’s back, and he's talking
about sex, religion, page 12
CONCERTS 1 •
JENNY LEWIS WITH THE
WATSON TWINS
Well worth the ticket, page 9
dive recommends
[ 'WEEDS' ]
As addictive as its namesake
implies, this Showtime original
series explores the world of a drag
dealing single mother and her
escapades as the self-proclaimed
“suburban baroness of bud.”
Starring Mary-Louise Parker,
this hit fires on all comedic cylin
ders in the vernacular, it’s dank.
Contact Harry Kaplowits
at hrk@unc.edu.