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(03/21/10 4:00am)
Grade: B
Inuit elders, uncooked caribou and bowling… oh, my.
Under Great White Northern Lights follows The White Stripes as they hit the road for an extensive tour of Canada in 2007 – a country that had been surprisingly difficult for the band to play throughout the duo's career.
To make up for lost time, the group has made it its mission to play a show in every province and territory in Canada, so all the Canadian fans can have a chance to see The White Stripes.
Before The White Stripes took the stage in each of the small cities on the tour, Jack and Meg White performed in a random spot in the city for free, ranging anywhere from a bowling alley to the back of a fisherman's vessel.
Emmett Malloy helmed the lens on the long trek through the great white north. Malloy does an amazing job combining the footage from the live performances and the dialogue from the interviews.
The best parts of Under Great White Northern Lights are the intervals of the band on stage. It comes as no shock that The White Stripes puts on one of the best live shows, and Malloy captures it in the most candid of ways.
While the band jammed out, Malloy was able to get up close and personal, but the twosome did not even seem to notice him.
This is a result of Malloy getting a lot of frames from backstage, gathering shots from behind the band as well as the front and the sides.
With no cameras being shoved in their faces, the band was able to worry more about the fans and keeping it unique each and every night.
The White Stripes do not have a fixed set list in order to give each show a one-of-a-kind experience. Because of Malloy's voyeurism, The White Stripes did not feel the pressure of being filmed.
Malloy did an excellent job during the filming of the shows to incorporate red, white, and black, the only colors to have ever been on a White Stripes album, into his shots. The events were shot in color, but also in black and white to contrast the band's bright red color scheme.
The grainy video quality of the concerts is a great complement to the raw sound fans have come to associate with the band.
Throughout their time on stage, The White Stripes demonstrate the ability that has enabled them to keep playing for 10 years and put out six well-received albums.
Jack White shows that he is a master of his craft as he shreds the axe harder than any other guitarist. Not only does Jack play the only guitar in the band, he also plays piano and even, for certain songs, the mandolin.
His brilliance as a musician shines through as he performs face-melting guitar solos and delivers near-perfect vocals on almost every song.
Not only does Malloy do a fantastic job capturing their live show, he engagingly documents Meg and Jack White interacting with the indigenous people of the great white north.
The time spent watching the band interact with the locals brings the very private life of The White Stripes to light. Everywhere that the Whites went on the tour, the communities embraced them and got to see a softer side of the duo.
As usual Jack does most of the talking for the band throughout the film, since Meg is a very quiet gal. Even in interviews with the band, Jack does 90 percent of the talking.
The final scene of the film can make anyone tear up. As Jack performs the ambiguous "White Moon," his reasons for writing the song become a little clearer.
Under Great White Northern Lights does a great job portraying both the pure enjoyment The White Stripes got from giving back to fans that have been difficult to see and the musical capabilities of one of the best bands of this generation.
Fans of the band can catch a free screening of Under Great White Northern Lights in the Student Union Theater on Thursday, March 25 at 7:15 P.M
E-mail: arts@ubspectrum.com
(03/21/10 4:00am)
For years, Generation Magazine was a well-established student publication. But the periodical had also been on a drastic decline to the point where half the reason people read it was for a section that wasn't even written by the magazine.
This is what ultimately led for Sub-Board I, Inc. to revoke Generation's charter. In a way, this was a blessing and a curse.
On one hand, a major cornerstone in the UB community had been taken away, but on the other, it had to be done before the magazine was driven straight into the ground.
But as fate would have it, someone decided to turn the once coveted publication into a cesspool for pompous indie hipsters that write about inside jokes among the staff.
Ever since the Generation was brought back into production, it has only had a handful of issues.
It's alright if you did not even know that the Generation was back in print; to this day, I still mistake it for Artvoice. There is almost no difference between the two publications.
But at least with the Generation's reinstatement, the campus will get UB's favorite anonymous message board, the personals, back. Oh, wait – they're nowhere to be found, leaving the students of UB very little reason to pick up the Generation.
Even the "He Says, She Says" section of the magazine – formerly "I'm Right, You're Wrong" – is just a waste of space. A pretentious Canadian and his girlfriend decide to help out the masses by giving advice – except, a kid that ate a gallon of lead paint could give out more helpful advice.
The worse part about the Generation is that it's wasting our money. There is nothing I love more than taken some bills and just flushing them down the toilet.
Doesn't this school have something better to spend money on? I mean, how about the money the school saves on not keeping the Generation? Maybe it can work on bringing some bigger acts for Springfest, which SA still has yet to announce.
Something that I am still trying to figure out is how often the Generation gets printed. It seems they just make an issue whenever the Generation staff wants to, which happens to be about once a month.
That's what I like to hear: people taking my money and giving it to others so they can sit around and rip off other publications once a month. That sounds like some Grade-A journalism.
The staff of Generation doesn't seem to actually care about their publication. It seems that everyone over at the Generation is just trying to fluff up their resumes – which is all fine and dandy, but just don't do it on my dime.
Unoriginal content and a very unoriginal look are continuing to kill what fond memories the student body had of the Generation, and the staff doesn't seem to even care.
So thank you, Ren LaForme, for taking a great memory I had from UB and smashing it into a jelly.
E-mail: jameson.butler@ubspectrum.com
(03/18/10 4:00am)
Grade: B+
Drive-By Truckers remind fans why they fell in love with the group as they drop their latest release, The Big To-Do. Clearly the big to-do for the band is to go back to its southern rock roots.
From the opening track, "Daddy Learned to Fly," the listener is hooked to the infectious guitar licks. The opening track evokes memories from DBT's breakthrough album, Southern Rock Opera.
The three guitars the band incorporates into its music gives the listener's ears plenty to digest even before Patterson Hood uses his vocal cords to demonstrate the song writing capability of the band.
As the listener is taken in by the soothing chords in "Daddy Learned to Fly," Hood sings the haunting lyrics he wrote about losing your father at a young age.
"They tell me that in time everything will be ok/Life gets back to normal like before he flew away/They say he can see me so I'm trying not to cry/But sometimes I can't help it since Daddy learned to fly," Hood sings.
Hood may have written the majority of the songs on The Big To-Do, but the first song written by guitarist Mike Cooley is one of the catchiest on the album.
The simplistic guitar chords, at least for DBT, make way for the tale of young southern hookers and nervous first timers.
"You got a girlfriend don't you boy?/Nervous hands cant lie/Married men don't ask how much/Single ones ain't buying/One day you got everything/Next day it's all broke/Let miss Trixie sit up front/Let her wipe your nose" Cooley sings.
The following song has the listener chuckling at the humorous fable about two friends looking for their missing friend whose old lady is less than pleased that he did not come home the night before.
"Better drag the lake Charlie/Charlie, drag the lake/Remember what happened last time Lester went on the make/I heard it took the cleaning crew two weeks to clean the bar/They never found that teenaged girl/They never found the car," Hood sings.
The Big To-Do continues to be more upbeat than most in DBT's repertoire as the album unfolds. The first song released for the album, "This F*cking Job," paints a picture that most everyone can relate to; the pure disdain they have for their job.
As the album draws to a close, DBT slows down the tempo but continues to show off the amazing song writing capability of the band.
Drive-By Truckers continues to impress as the Southern rock outpost make sure that people know that the big to-do is to go pick up this album.
E-mail: arts@ubspectrum.com
(03/01/10 5:00am)
(02/24/10 5:00am)
Artist: Alkaline Trio
Album: This Addiction
Label: Heart & Skull/Epitah
Grade: B+
Everyone's favorite satanic punk rockers have returned from the dark depths of their minds with their seventh album, which is filled with sex, drugs, and rock n roll.
Following their disappointing 2008 release, Agony and Irony, Alkaline Trio has returned to their roots with This Addiction.
The album starts with the title track and it is a great blueprint on just what the album is going to be about.
With 'This Addiction,' A3 brings back the pop-punk sound that made them so immensely popular.
A3, who have always been fond of bitter ballads, draw the connection between love and drugs, particularly heroin, everyone's favorite opioid.
Just like heroin, as soon as 'This Addiction' enters your blood, you're hooked. The fast paced instrumentals only compliment the hauntingly beautiful lyrics.
'This addiction/Can't seem to live without you/This addiction/Now going clean/This addiction/I go through withdrawal without you/Sick with this addiction in me,' Matt Skiba sings.
As the listener plunges deeper into This Addiction, A3 continues to return to their punk foundation while introducing new aspects into their music at the same time.
The clearest example of this would be 'Lead Poisoning.' A3 does not do anything special with the three static instruments of the band, but rather throw in a few new ones, horns. Although the brass may not be in the song for long, they accompany the stringed instruments remarkably.
When Alkaline Trio slows down the pace for songs 'Dead on the Floor' and 'Fine,' the listener can feel the pain and tears they went through prior to writing the album.
'When you asked me if I'd stay forever/Guess you meant just for the week/We felt so good together/It was way too good to be,' Skiba sings painfully.
This Addiction may supply a great rush at first, but by the end of the album, the listener itches for something more. As good as the album is, This Addiction is strung out towards the end.
Besides the slight redundancy, the band has returned from the abyss with one of its best albums in its long and sinful career.
E-mail: arts@ubspectrum.com
(02/19/10 5:00am)
Two bands that have gathered cult followings came to Niagara Falls Tuesday night, and luckily they did destroy the recently re-opened Rapids Theater.
The Used and Atreyu, both heavyweights in their own right, brought some West Coast sunshine to gloomy western New York.
Opening the evening was Drive A. This punk quartet may not have had the most original material – sounding like many other punk bands – but they made up for it with its enthusiasm.
Lead singer and guitarist Bruno Mascolo may have been singing generic punk lyrics, but his voice and love for the music shined through during Drive A's set. In order to get the crowd moving, he dropped his axe and did a balancing act on the barricade to get closer to the fans.
After literally performing 'on the edge' for half a song, Mascolo fully emerged himself into the crowd and joined the mosh pit, which resulted in much more crowd involvement.
As Drive A's night ran out of gas, the first of the two legends already had the crowd simmering with anticipation.
California-born Atreyu teased the crowd as an epic intro played for a minute before the band walked on stage. After playing a song off their latest release, Congregation of the Damned, the band dove right into its old stuff.
Dan Jacobs, the lead guitarist, stole the spotlight by performing face melting guitar solos with his six-string.
Lead singer Alex Varkatzas accompanied stellar guitar player, and his glass-shattering scream was near perfection. As the quintet played fan favorites 'The Crimson' and 'Bleeding Mascara,' Varkatzas hit the high screams and the low grunts as perfectly as he does on the album.
Even with the dynamic Jacobs and Varkatzas showed off their talent, the liveliest member of Atreyu was drummer Brandon Saller. The drum kit Saller performed with did not have just one kick drum; it had three.
Saller not only rocked out on the drums, he also did some serious singing for the band. When the band left momentarily, Saller showcased his dominance on the drums.
Atreyu performed a great variety of its music, sticking to a lot of classics, but also throwing in some great new songs.
To end out the set, Atreyu performed one of its earliest and hardest singles, 'Lip Gloss and Black,' resulting in one of the biggest mosh pits of the night.
Atreyu left everything it had on the stage and the crowd was finally warmed up for the main act of the night.
The band that helped form a scene that many bands followed into today was ready to show Niagara Falls why it has been around for almost a decade. When main singer Bert McCracken took control of the mic, it was clear what band the majority of the crowd came there to see.
The Used took no time to get to the point, coming out and jumping right into the first track off their new album, 'Blood on My Hands.'
Clearly not one for small talk, McCracken flowed through songs without much delay and moved right into 'Take It Away.' McCracken got the crowd two stepping as he sang the first song off the band's well-received 2004 release, In Love and Death.
The band members cruised through some of their most beloved songs like 'I Caught Fire' and 'Let It Bleed,' but the best song was a mash up of its two biggest songs.
The Used started to play 'The Taste of Ink,' the song that threw the band into the spotlight, but halfway through switched to 'All That I've Got.' The transition between the two songs was beautifully done.
While the band performed this masterpiece, McCracken was almost inaudible as the whole crowd screamed the lyrics, showing the musicians how much of an impact their music has had on an entire generation.
Before the band left the stage for the first time, the crowd separated into two sides. As 'Pretty Handsome Awkward' erupted, so did the mob of people participating in the wall of death.
When The Used came back out for the encore, fans got to hear two of the band's songs off the self-titled debut album.
The band first played the heartfelt 'On My Own,' which made almost every person in the theater tear up. But the group didn't want to leave on a lighter note as one of the hardest songs in the band's repertoire, 'Box Full of Sharp Objects,' was delivered next.
With everyone in the audience dripping in sweat and gasping for air, it was clear that The Used is better live than most bands are on CD.
If you are kicking yourself for missing the show, don't fret: The Used promised that the band would be back very soon.
E-mail: arts@ubspectrum.com
(02/15/10 5:00am)
Tuesday night, the Rapids Theater in Niagara Falls will house one of the best hard rock showcases of the upcoming semester.
(02/12/10 5:00am)
In a world where comedians rely more heavily on self-loathing than anything else, one man has the guts to stand up and say nay.
(02/10/10 5:00am)
When I left for college freshman year, my grandfather gave me some great life advice: 'Don't let your classes get in the way of your studies.' Sure, it was mostly a joke, but to an extent, he meant it.
(01/29/10 5:00am)
The design of the iPad may cause many people to brush it off as an overpriced iPod Touch, but it is much more than that.
(01/25/10 5:00am)
Anti-Flag
(01/22/10 5:00am)
Title: Aliens vs. Predator
(01/22/10 5:00am)
After a nice relaxing Christmas with my family, I returned to Buffalo full of anticipation to finally play Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 with my friends online.
(01/20/10 5:00am)
Artist: Motion City Soundtrack
Album: My Dinosaur Life
Label: Columbia
Grade: A
For all those people who didn't commit it to memory, Motion City Soundtrack returns to ravage the airwaves like a velociraptor tearing into Samuel L. Jackson.
Motion City Soundtrack makes their major label debut as My Dinosaur Life begins its inevitable climb to the top of the charts.
After MCS released Even If It Kills Me, a lot of critics and fans feared that the band would soon fizzle out to a hollow shell of what used to be one of the most promising bands in pop punk.
Well, MCS extinguishes all of those thoughts as My Dinosaur Life returns the band to the dark, but extremely catchy, end of the genre that garnered them fame for their first two albums.
This comes as no shock, since MCS brought Blink-182 bassist Mark Hoppus in to produce the album – the same man that produced their 2005 breakthrough album, Commit This to Memory.
The first track, 'Worker Bee,' begins the album with a slow intro that gets replaced quickly with an upbeat melody. The lyrics from this song alone show the vast changes that MCS has undergone.
'It's been a good year, a good new beginning/ I'm through with the old school so let's commence the winning/ I've been a good little worker bee/ I deserve a gold star,' Justin Pierre bellows.
As the record continues to unfold, MCS show that they truly have been good little worker bees.
'Her Words Destroyed My Planet' is one of the catchiest songs on the whole album. It's impossible for the lyrics to not become trapped in one's head and the beat can cause spontaneous dancing.
Motion City begins to plunge My Dinosaur Life into darker material as 'Disappear' and 'Delirium' propels the listener through a gloomy look at addiction and the immorality that comes along with it.
MCS brings the mood back up with 'Stand Too Close.' The acoustic guitar the band sports during the song perfectly accents Pierre's soothing voice as he reflects on a past love.
The track 'Pulp Fiction' first draws the listener in with a synth-heavy intro, but soon introduces the listener to the lyrics, which are arguably the best on the album. The song is littered with the geeky references and nerdy innuendos that first got them into the spotlight.
'It's like a bad dream, something from the back of a magazine/ Black and white and cheaply put together/ Like a slasher film/ I'm torn in opposite directions/ The plot sucks but the killings are gorgeous,' Pierre chants.
MCS continues the dorkiness as they start to make it a little personal with '@!#?@!.' The band decides to chew out the people that hate on them and their friends.
'My friends get wicked s*** from all the foul-mouth fools you roll with/
Just push your luck, there will be blood/ Most likely your own carnage/ We all just wanna do our thing/ Without the misery you bring/ Go f*** yourselves/ Leave us alone,' Pierre sings.
Motion City explores the unknown in the song 'Skin and Bones,' questioning life and what it truly means. The song is the perfect way to segue into the end of the album as it starts to slow back down.
As My Dinosaur Life draws to a close, 'The Weakends' ends the album perfectly. The verses are slower and dark, but the chorus and bridge are more upbeat with more uplifting lyrics. The dynamic song ends as the band recites the chorus till the album finally fades out.
Motion City Soundtrack is prone to take over the pop punk world with their latest release, which happens to also be their best.
My Dinosaur Life will remind everyone why Motion City Soundtrack got so much attention and proves that they are not going extinct any time soon.
E-mail: arts@ubspectrum.com
(01/15/10 5:00am)
Studio: Paramount Pictures
(12/09/09 5:00am)
Artist: 30 Seconds to Mars
(12/07/09 5:00am)
As a star fades, it does one of two things. Either it goes out with a huge bang or it fizzles out and becomes dust. For rapper Eve, it is the latter of the two options.
(12/02/09 5:00am)
As if you needed another reason to love the Irish, Troy Duffy returns to the silver screen with guns a-blazing.
(11/23/09 5:00am)
Raunchy, filthy and downright hilarious.
(11/16/09 5:00am)
Artist: Them Crooked Vultures