4
THURSDAY, JUNE 26. 2008
Silver Jews fail
to grali attention
BY JAMIE WILLIAMS
SENIOR WRITER
David Berman is known as the
type i if songwriter capable of craft
ing songs that stick around long
after first listen.
Not that they arc melodically
catchy or anything like that quite
the opposite, actually Berman
just writes song*, that grab your
attention.
With his band Silver Jews.
Berman has penned some of the
most interesting declarations in
indie rock.
He famously opened 1998's
American Water with the line.
“I was hospitalized in 198+ for
approaching perfection."
And while The Joos' latest.
Lookout Mountain. Lookout Sea.
never comes close to the truly per
fect American Water, it does have
its moments, flashes of lyrical bril
liance that help cement Berman s
place alongside John Darnielle and
Dan Bejar as one of the most cre
ative and innovative songwriters of
his time.
But. for all of those gems, there
are just too mam throw-away
songs. And while 1 wouldn't pre
tend to be qualified to offer writing
suggestions for Berman, it seems
a bit of self-editing would have
greatly henefitted the record.
< Ipcning track "What Is Not But
Could Be If" was a strange choice
to kick off the album, offering
nothing close to the memorable
“Random Rules" from American
Water.
In main ways, the song just
meanders along, offering a bit of
pace but none of the quote-ables
that make up Berman's canon.
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SILVER JEWS
LOOKOUT MOUNTAIN, LOOKOUT SEA
rou roc*
on track with “Alovisius Blucgrass
Drummer," which sounds like
Berman's take on “Devil Went
Down to Georgia."
The record doesn't truly hit
its stride , though, until “Strange
Victory. Stange Defeat." a song on
which Berman wonders aloud.
“What's with all the handsome
grandsons in these rock band mag
azines? And what have they done
with the fat ones, the bald and the
goateed?"
That's more like what we've
come to expect; it just takes a bit
long five tracks to get there.
Maybe the amount of less than
stellar tracks around it makes the
album’s highlight. “San Francisco
8.C.," stand out even more.
Its a tale of young love, told in a
way only Berman is capable of.
“Romance is the douche of the
bourgeoisie was the very first
thing she imparted to me," is the
sort of couplet that catches the
listener off-guard and makes up
for some of the record's nonsensi
cal junk.
In the end. Lookout Mountain.
Lookout Sea is the type of record
that hard-core fans will appreci
ate. due to the rarity of Silver Jews
releases. And it certainly deserves
a place alongside the band's other
works, just nowhere close to the
front of the line.
Contact the Diversions Editor
at dive (a unc.edu
Is the Instinct Really an iPhone Killer?
Samsung Instinct
Released June 20
Ij • KJS3
m i
6.49" 2.17" j
I*l3 mss
w I L ||
SOURCE: USER REPORTS
‘WALL-E’ melts hearts, even metal ones
BY RACHAEL OEHRING
STAff WRITER
After the barrage of “Shreks",
“Madagascar" and myriad other
animated movies featuring talk
ing bees and sharks, Pixar is back
with its newest animated offering.
“WAI.L-E." to show Dream Works
who's boss.
Instead of ridiculous fast-talk
ing insects making dumb jokes
that entertain neither adult nor
child, robots rule in this movie,
namely WALL-E, a sad-eyed trash
compactor that's the last robot left
on an abandoned Earth.
News
Cost • Instinct Wins
Through two years, the iPhone 3G wifi cost $l6O more than the
original iPhone (due to the increased service plan price from AT&T)
and S2OO more than the Instinct because of Sprint's unlimited plan
Design/Display • iPhone Wins
Although the 3G is a little bulkier (4.70 z), the Instinct (4.40 z) has
two-thirds as many pixels as the iPhone, which means it displays less
information with limited display colors
Phone Calls • iPhone Wins
The quality of the Sprint network is poorer than AT&T's. Sprint's
network is not compatible with the dominant network standard
overseas while AT&T's network allows the iPhone to roam in more
than 170 countries
Internet • iPhone Wins
The Instincts EVDO technology might be faster than the iPhone's
EDGE, but the iPhone has a cleaner, easier navigation. Plus the
Instinct doesn't have Wi-Fi capabilities
GPS • Instinct Wins
If you have a tendency of getting really lost, the Instinct's tum-by-tum
feature will help you out much more than the iPhone's geotag photo
application or Google Maps
Live TV/Video • Instinct Wins
The Instinct can stream 30-plus live TV channels and shoots video,
while the iPhone cannot.
Music •Instinct Wins
The iPhone only allows you to download music through a Wi-fi
connection, but the instinct lets you download through any wireless
network.
Set in that not-so-distant future
of all impending cautionary tales,
Earth is an abandoned trash heap,
populated solely by roaches and
robots left to make some order out
of the piles of corporate waste.
WALL-E is virtually the only
being left on Earth, a quirky. “Hello
Dollv"-watching machine whose
monotonous trash-collecting life is
changed forever when another robot
EVE (whose sleek, white, futur
istic appearance is conspicuously
reminiscent of a certain computer
company's products), touches down
looking for signs of biological life.
The complete lack of dialogue
leaves little room for quick-to-stale
pop-culture jokes, but the blips and
beeps of the robots convey more
sweetness and affection than any
wisecracking donkey ever could.
It's sad that a couple of animated
robots end up being the most sym
pathetic characters put on film so
far this year.
Disney also pulls out all the
stops on the animation. Shots of
robots dancing around in outer
space and a New York City where
the piles of garbage arc taller than
With the recent release of Sprint's Samsung Instinct, experts still have mixed
reviews on its status as an iPhone killer. The Daily Tar Heel lets you decide.
MOVIE REVIEW
WALL-E
the Empire State Building are quite
breathtaking.
The animation is so seamless
that you don’t even notice when
Fred Willard, playing the CEO of
the long-ago global conglomerate,
pops up on-screen in all his non
animated glory.
The soundtrack, filled with gor
geous orchestrations and sweet
show tunes, subtly evokes a time in
the past when we were all mesmer
ized by the thought of space travel,
and all Earth's problems could be
solved by colonizing outer space.
The movie, with its gentle mes
sage about being grateful for the
beauty of our Earth and taking care
of it w’hile we have the chance, is
digestible for even the youngest
viewer in the audience.
Just like its classic predecessors,
such as “Toy Story” and “Finding
Nemo." “WALL-E" manages to be
family friendly while injecting the
iThr Daily ear Hrrl
Apple iPhone 3G
Will Release July 11
2.4" 0.48"
DTHTBIBS PIERCE
perfect amount of heart. W r hile
children will be mesmerized by the
robots and spaceships, adults will
appreciate the universal themes of
friendship, loyalty and even love.
Instead of pandering to certain tar
get demographics with inappropri
ate jokes. “W r ALL-E” aims to tell a
story, and it succeeds in a beautiful,
visually arresting way.
“WALL-E" is so sweet, it’s pain
ful. but only in the best way. A
charming oasis in the vast desert
of modern animation, “W r ALL-E"
brings personality and humor to a
movie about hunks of metal.
Contact the Diversions editor at
dive(a unc.edu
STAR SYSTEM
ir poor
★★ FAIR
★★★ GOOD
irkirk excellent
★★★★★ CLASSIC