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LIFESTYLE
Childhood all just an act
By ERIK VOSS | Dec. 3, 2008Nobody gets away with more than children.
The Avenue
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MUSIC
All you need is Beatles to make a band
By CAITLIN HEAD | Dec. 3, 2008For one Gainesville band, a day in the life involves a walk down Penny Lane, past the strawberry fields, across the universe and back in the U.S.S.R.
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MUSIC
Album review: Valencia – "We All Need a Reason to Believe"
By ROBERT HILSON | Dec. 3, 2008The cover art of Valencia's "We All Need A Reason to Believe" features five guys striking contemplative poses in the middle of the desert, no doubt asking themselves, "How can we make our predictable emo shtick appeal to people with ears?" Unfortunately, this fleeting practical thought escaped into the cool evening air, and our skinny-jeaned friends promptly built a ceremonial bonfire to summon the spirit of Pete Wentz. Perhaps taking mushrooms with Vince and Ari would have been a more constructive wasteland endeavor because "Free," "Holiday," "Safe to Say," etc. prove that there are three certainties in life: death, taxes and the shameless pairing of soft, gut-wrenching bridges with loud, bombastic choruses. The sun can't set on this band fast enough.
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MUSIC
Album review: Belle & Sebastian – "The BBC Sessions"
By ROBERT HILSON | Dec. 3, 2008From the first endearingly fragile a cappella notes of classic "The State I Am In," a bashful Stuart Murdoch symbolically declines an invitation from England's prying radio ears: No thanks, we're staying in today. You see, back in the mid-90's, Belle & Sebastian was the would-be prom queen still too shy and self-aware to realize her own beauty. "The BBC Sessions" dusts off a snapshot of the sleepy collective in their formative years, before Isobel Campbell fell for the bad boy, and when the singer nervously laughed at himself just in case you thought he was a joke. These tracks are unnervingly intimate, even for this band, and that's why this rare look-in is so special - because B&S, a bedroom act if there ever was one, was never meant for the light of day.
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MUSIC
Album review: Raphael Saadiq – "The Way I See It"
By ROBERT HILSON Avenue Writer | Dec. 3, 2008Temptations disciple Raphael Saadiq just beat out 007 and ice cubes in a cool contest. His throwback style has more soul than a shoe factory. Soda fountains think this guy has retro down pat. You get the point - the man is fly, and on "The Way I See It," he channels a radiant, doo-wop-era rhythm and blues that tips a suede top hat to Berry Gordy and Phil Spector. "Keep Marchin'" reconnects with the effortless groove of early Motown classics, exuding a lighthearted confidence laced in tambourine percussion and backing falsetto. "Just One Kiss" pops with orchestral flourishes and female harmonies, but neither element matches the zeal of the show-stopping lead vocal. How does one account for Saadiq's silky delivery? Like satin pajamas and other sides of pillows, some things are naturally smooth.
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MUSIC
A walk on the dark side
By HENRY TAKSIER | Dec. 3, 2008Bryan Poole, guitarist and singer for the indie-pop band Of Montreal, said the band recorded its latest album with the help of Georgie Fruit, a "64-year-old black she-male who's been in and out of prison a couple times."
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MUSIC
Album review: The Knux – "Remind Me in 3 Days"
By ROBERT HILSON | Dec. 3, 2008How about some role play with your rap music? A technique long ago mastered by those cheeky Wu-Tang lads, the tempting habit of cramming one's album with scripted banter and wink-wink inside jokes occasionally sidetracks the Brothers Lindsey. Yet when Al and Krispy focus on the actual songs, the young duo confirm themselves as genre-bending hip-hop impresarios. "Bang! Bang!" would make a devastating TV on the Radio cut as it begins a Matrix-worthy techno rocker before exploding into electric, rhyme-heavy verses. Likewise, side one of "Remind Me" is an exercise in style-mashing precision, but when the half-assed skits creep in during the second half hour, one gets the sense that The Knux could be truly great if they could only consistently answer the classic actor question: What's my motivation?
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MUSIC
Album review: Tom Gabel – "Heart Burns"
By ROBERT HILSON | Nov. 19, 2008You say you want a revolution, and you got one, Tom Gabel. Now what? If the measure of a good protest album is that it still sounds important when there's not as much to protest, then "Heart Burns" passes with flying red, white and blue colors. Detached from its weighty political agenda, the fearless screamer's solo EP would still rouse a sweaty, brothers-in-arms battle cry, due in no small part to impressive sonic diversity. Opener "Random Hearts" works as a new-wave dance track while the folky "Anna Is A Stool Pigeon" - best line: "Eric fell in love with an FBI informant" - peels back layers of calloused tattoos to reveal a soft side. In these lighter moments, Gabel's message becomes clear: When you talk about destruction, don't you know that you can count me out.
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MUSIC
Album review: Snow Patrol – "A Hundred Million Suns"
By ROBERT HILSON | Nov. 19, 2008Q magazine calls this album "essential," which suggests that Snow Patrol has pictures on the editors of said magazine. The two defining elements about this hook-challenged, wuss-rock are its neutrality - this is the Switzerland of pop music - and "If There's a Rocket Tie Me to It." Great title. "Take Back the City" and "Please Just Take These Photos from My Hands," which have ho-hum titles, are actually peppy, catchy little numbers. "Peppy" and "catchy" cannot otherwise be associated with this record. For those who noticed the inconsistency of this review - a neat line or two scattered amongst sketchy, bland ones - now you know what it's like to listen to "A Hundred Million Suns."
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MUSIC
Album review: Hinder – "Take It to the Limit"
By ROBERT HILSON | Nov. 19, 2008Fast women. Fast cars. Fast-forward - all of it. Hinder looks like they're posing for the next episode of "MTV Cribs" on the cover of "Take It to the Limit," and their look-at-my-bling posing proves to be, by a long mile, the most tasteful element of this Mötley Crüe tribute package. "Use Me" kicks off the testosterone-fueled showboating with a dazzling display of cocksure guitar rawk sure to boil the blood of any aspiring Ultimate Fighting champion. The Bon Jovi-ripping follow-up "Loaded and Alone" will stoke your hair-metal hunger pangs by prompting a crazed YouTube search for "Livin' on a Prayer." Let's be frank: Hinder is compensating for something. You know what they say about bands with big vocals and bigger guitars: small ideas.
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MUSIC
Album review: Little Joy – "Little Joy"
By ROBERT HILSON | Nov. 19, 2008Ever wondered what would happen if the Girl from Ipanema bumped into one of the Strokes in a tiki bar in Waikiki? Meet "Little Joy." A happenstance collaboration between Fabrizio Moretti and Rodrigo Amarante, the debut album from the prince of New York and his new Brazilian bud taps into a wistful, pre-rock 'n' roll era sound brimming with bossa-nova charm and Rat Pack cool. Chock full of ukulele, staccato guitar and love-styled horns, these woozily delicate lounge-pop songs, especially standouts "Keep Me in Mind" and "Brand New Start," carve out a singular niche: irony-free indie for hipsters who dig hula and Frank Sinatra. This might well be a come-and-go one-off, so here's hoping LJ's "aloha" means hello, not goodbye.
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NIGHTLIFE
The benefits of being regular
By GABRIELLE FALCONEIRI | Nov. 19, 2008College students in Gainesville have the ability to go to a different club or bar every night of the week, but it can be useful to find a place that becomes "your spot."
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SEX
Quick tips for having sexy time any time
By STEPHANIE DUNN | Nov. 19, 2008We want our sex like we want everything else: right now. Society, unfortunately, has burdened us with niggling demands, known to some as public decency laws, that prevent us from dealing with our tingles and jingles in a time-efficient manner. But to avoid getting slapped with indecent exposure charges, you don't need to go home to have sex. Just don't get caught. Embrace the art of the covert quickie.
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LIFESTYLE
Band success story starts at the top and continues
By ZACH SEYMOUR | Nov. 19, 2008Braxton Adamson and his band, 3 Story Fall, are doing things backward. Adamson's played at Gator Growl in front of 40,000 people. The band has played in front of enormous crowds, opening for legendary acts such as Kansas and the Doobie Brothers, and it has sponsorships that provide members with free instruments, clothing and equipment. These are all privileges usually only enjoyed by major acts, but this band doesn't even have a record deal.
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LIFESTYLE
One bad habit of biting off more than you can chew
By ERIK VOSS | Nov. 19, 2008I bite my fingernails shamelessly.
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MOVIES AND TV
Trend rises from the dead
By ALISON SCHWARTZ | Nov. 19, 2008The latest trend in pop culture may never die out - that is, if vampires are really immortal. Pushing pirates and wizards aside, the release of books such as "Twilight" and television shows such as "True Blood" shows that vampires have seemingly reclaimed their spot in the entertainment industry.
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MOVIES AND TV
New Bond movie offers solace but needs more quantum
By DAVID STUZIN | Nov. 19, 2008There's a new Bond in town, and "Quantum of Solace" doesn't hesitate to showcase this fact. Making a distinct move from the Pierce Brosnan era, "Quantum of Solace" has a more realistic James Bond, quick-moving action sequences and, to the disappointment of almost every guy in the theater, no sex scenes with the lead actress (Olga Kurylenko).
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MOVIES AND TV
'Role Models' is a model comedy
By DAVID STUZIN | Nov. 12, 2008From "Zach and Miri Make a Porno" to "High School Musical 3: Senior Year," there seems to be a lot of coming-of-age movies playing this fall. Though they all span different ages on the 18 to 39 range and have individual takes on the genre, they boil down to basically the same struggles, general plot points and quirky romantic involvements, which can get boring. But "Role Models" takes the conventions of the genre and somewhat reinvents them in a way that is both original and hysterical.
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MUSIC
Album review: The 88 – "Not Only … But Also"
By ROBERT HILSON | Nov. 12, 2008Alert the accent authorities. Joining a long list of faux pond-hoppers - Madonna, Johnny Ramone - On "Not Only … But Also," The 88 take their sunny, So-Cal pop tunes and cake them with a heavy layer of English inflection. You can't blame these lads for wanting to sound like the Beatles, but fact is, their talents lie elsewhere. For instance, Keith Slettedahl manages some Blind Melon-esque notes on uptempo ballad "Sons and Daughters." "Save Your Breath" fits the heart-on-sleeve, crooner mold, though impressively displays powers of ESP with the line "I don't want this anymore." Mind reader! Still, bogus Brit-pop influences undercut melodies like, "I'm gonna run through the door/ talk to the floor/ it must be true." A word of advice: Lock the door. The British are coming, sort of.
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MUSIC
Album review: Lady GaGa – "The Fame"
By ROBERT HILSON | Nov. 12, 2008The CD spine says Lady GaGa, but music for "The Fame" was actually co-written by Bilal Hajji, Josh Schwartz and a handful of other less attractive, more talented songwriters who churn out star-making cuts for the likes of Britney Spears and Nick Carter. You won't see the funnily-named song writer Brian Kierulf on "The Hills," but GaGa, a Factory Girl in training, hit up an Audrina party on said program thanks in large part to catchy, beat-heavy club cuts like "Paparazzi" and "Money Honey." Don't equate GaGa with fluff. She flourishes lyrically - "Let's have some fun, this beat is sick." And she pulls her weight in marketing: Rob Fusari can't rock jet-black spandex, and Martin Kierszenbaum doesn't sell records.
