| Summary: | Page 6 wvvvv.cord.edu/dept/concord/ae.htm January 30, 2004 Preachin' up a storm Photo by Solveig Nesse Comedian Preacher Moss addressed racism during his act Jan. 23. A cappella music Concordia style Elizabeth Capouch A&E Editor The Centrum is frequently alive with the sound of organs, orchestras or bands, but for three groups performing tonight, vocal chords are all that's needed. Campus a cappella groups Aural Pleasure and Almost 6 will join with the nationally-acclaimed Marcoux Corner in "A Cappella Night," sponsored by the Campus Entertainment Commission. "It's something that people don't normally hear," said junior Michael Westhoff, a member of Aural Pleasure. "It's out there, but it's not quite as pronounced as other types of music." Though many students on campus may not be familiar with Marcoux Corner, the four guys in the group are certain-ly familiar with Concordia. Three of them are Concordia graduates, and the fourth transferred to Minnesota State University - Moorhead after two years here. "[This show] is an amalgamation of a cappella over the years," Westhoff said. CEC Commissioner Kris Stcffan said that one of the best features of the evening will be the variety in generations of the musical groups. "Marcoux Corner wanted to come here and we thought there was a lot of a cappella talent here," she said. Steffan is enthusiastic about having Marcoux Corner as the main performers on the line-up because of their notoriety throughout the nation. She also is looking forward to Aural Pleasure and Almost 6 performing with them. "I like a cappella groups and I was really impressed with Almost 6 and Aural Pleasure when I saw them on campus," she said. Westhoff is eager to share the stage with Marcoux Corner. "It's kind of a shout out to the a cappella past with Marcoux Corner and the up-and-coming Aural Pleasure and Almost 6," he said. Sophomore Jesse Johnson, a member of Almost 6, is also excited to be performing with them. Almost 6 opened for Marcoux Corner when they played at the Fargo Theatre last fall. , | "They're awesome on stage, and on' the other side of things, they're the nicest people, too," he said. ''They're just great performers." Johnson said that the a cappella genre is especially diffi-cult to master because of the intricacies of the music. "It's the hardest genre to perform because you can drop pitch in half a second," he said. Johnson also emphasized the different ways of producing sounds, such as vocal percussion. Westhoff agreed that the technicalities of a cappella make it complex. "It takes a lot of effort," he said. "It's a whole different dynamic than choral music." Both Westhoff and Johnson said that despite the chal-lenges, a cappella is also a lot of fun. "It's great because you can do any song," Johnson said. He added, "No other music can convey the classic rock and roll, like'My Girl.'" A cappella night is being held at the same time that can-didates for Concordia's music scholarships will be on cam-pus. Steffan said that the show is one way to show them the quality of the music programs here. "It's a good way to show prospective students that we have good entertainment here," she said. Westhoff agreed that it proves that Concordia music is more than just the academic ensembles. "It shows that people have the ambition to take things far-ther," he said. A Cappella Night begins at 8 p.m. tonight and will be held in the Centrum. LISTEN UP bv Mitch Marr Gorilla/ - Gorilla/ (2001) Virgin Records You all remember the video tor "Clint Eastwood." You know, the one with the undead cartoon gorillas fighting the car-toon rock band. If you liked that, and you should because it was the catchiest song of 1999, then the rest of the album will blow your mind. It's got more grooves than the edge of a quar-ter, not to mention catchier ongs than singer David Albarn has ever been able to write for Blur. Call it dance music for rock fans.Moby with a new-found penchant for Britpop. Oh, and Del the Funky Homosapien, who rhymes on 'Clint" and a few others, is one of the most underrated rappers of the decade. Frente! - Marvin the Album (1994) Mammoth Back in 1994, at the height of the trend unfortunately dubbed alternative rock, this Aussie quartet quietly released a quin-tessential pop album. On the surface it's bubblegum pop with almost too-sweet girl vocals, but underneath that adorable front is a band showing love to every-thing from R&B to disco to reg-gae. It is a subtle masterpiece of sugar-toothed sensibilities stretched over traditional rock, world beats and wrapped in clever production. Frente literal-ly recorded laughter for the bridge of one track, and it's a defining moment in a love album made in the spirit of fun. BOREDOM BUSTERS The art exhibit "Clea Felien: Left and Right*1 is on display in the Cyrus M. Running Gallery in the Frances Frazier Comstock Theatre. The exhibit, which runs through Feb. 22, is free and open to the public. The Concordia Orchestra will present the annual Pops and Popcorn Concert tomorrow at 7:30 p.m. in Memorial Auditorium. The concert, which also features the Red River Dance Company, is free and open to the public. • » . - • ' . ' • • ' * • ' ' . • ' •, •- . ' • , • . . • . - • The art exhibit "ArtView: Photographs by James Henkel" will run through Feb. 29 in the Cafe" Muse, Serkland and Xcel Energy Galleries at the Plains Art Museum. The exhibit fea-tures the repositioning of simple and everyday objects to see their qualities in a new light. The exhibit "A Captive Eye: German POWArt and Artifacts" will run through May 30 at the Clay County Museum Hjemkomst Center. Free and open to the public. An exhibit by S.D. Nelson, award-winning author and illus-trator of children's literature, is being displayed through Feb. 4 in the MSUM Gallery in the Roland Dille Center for the Arts. His work offers a contemporary interpretation of traditional Lokota images. Rice's debut 'O' shines REVIEW Mart a Edman The Concordian Damien Rice's debut album, "O," is one of the best records of 2003. His contempo-rary folk seeps with melancholy —Rice is Irish, after all—and is stunningly beautiful. Rice's lyrics are profound and moving and his melodies are flawlessly crafted. On "O," his voice walks the line between soaring and quiet self-assurance with ease, show-casing both Rice's musical talent and his songwriting skills. The album quietly sneaks up on the lis-tener with Rice and his guitar on "Delicate." When listening for the first time, you can't help being completely drawn in. Rice's con-temporary folk/alternative style is captivat-ing largely because he plays with the bound-aries of the folk genre, but doesn't stretch them so far that it's risky. The album moves from quiet tunes like "Delicate" to the sim-ply orchestrated "Volcano" and "The Blower's Daughter" and the theatrical indul-gence of songs like "Cheers Darlin." Most of the tracks sparkle with a simple beauty, such as "Cannonball," where he sings: "Stones taught me to fly/love taught me to lie/life taught me to die/so it's not hard to fall/when you float like a cannonball." At first glance, the record seems to be a solo effort. It's not. "O" owes as much to Lisa Hannigan, Rice's vocal counterpart, as it does to Rice himself. Hannigan's voice is ethereal and blends perfectly with Rice's, creating duets and harmonies that are unforgettable on tracks like "Volcano," "The Blower's Daughter," and "Cold Water." Vyvienne Long adds a solo cello line to many of the tracks and together these three weave songs that are extraordi-nary. On other tracks, Rice manages to effectively weave in beautiful orchestra-tion ("Amie"), chanting ("Cold Water"), and an operatic solo ("Eskimo"). The two hidden tracks are as important as the rest on the album —one is the haunting "Prague" and the other is a Lisa Hannigan solo version of "Silent Night" with changed lyrics. Rice is a talented lyricist as well. From "Volcano," he sings: "What I am to you is not real/what I am to you, you do not need/what I am to you is not what you are to me/give me miles and miles of moun-tains and I'll ask for the sea." Rice sings about love, relationships and life —typical folk fare, but he isn't sappy about it. His lyrics are effective because they evoke real emotion, and in listening, you can tell he's affected as well. "O" was released in the U.K. in 2002 and has since gone platinum. Its U.S. release was in June of 2003. "Volcano," the album's first single, is currently receiv-ing video airplay on VH1 and MTV2, with a video that parallels the album's simplici-ty— shot in black and white film, showing just Rice, Hannigan and Long singing and playing. This is an album you will recommend to your friends and an album you will buy for those friends because you want them to hear it so badly. "O" works well in all the right places. Damien Rice has given us a great first effort —now we can only wait for more. 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