The Wake

Huddling with the cast of The Rocky Horror Show around take-out food and lip shaped Rice-Krispy bars, I slowly realize I’m not quite prepared for what the evening holds. But I should have known better, considering the subject at hand is one of the most successful cult classics of all time. The Rocky Horror Show is a show like no other: first a play by Richard O’Brien and then a movie – this show is more than a night out on the town. One of the major things that set Rocky apart from other theatrical productions is the fact that …

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With just two tracks at around 28-minutes in length, Black Dice have created yet another release stimulating on both a musical and intellectual level. Continuing the broad themes that 2002’s Beaches and Canyons explored, Miles of Smiles shows Black Dice adding elements of musique-concrete and minimalism into their already intricate electronic-tinged music. The EP begins with the non-metrical title-track, a 13-minute composition that relies heavily on the stark contrast between a smooth, brooding sound and a dry percussive sound, showing its ultimate reliance on differing sound colors for its effectiveness. The second track, “Trip Dude Delay,” also contains this tension …

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It is human nature to define. We love to neatly place and categorize the world around us. This disposition naturally influences our movies, food and CD collections. I have found a new sub-division within Indie Rock, which I have deemed Whimsical Rock I first thought of this branch of music when I was given a Broken Social Scene CD. It seemed different then anything I had ever heard. It used sound to its utmost emotional ability. After that, I began seeking out other bands that sounded like this. I unearthed an entire assemblage of melodically-driven groups that had been buried …

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In the Quest’s main room, platoons of pre-teens are waging a pop-punk war on sadness. But backstage, the mood is decidedly calm.In a small and dingy dressing room, Motion City Soundtrack are awaiting their turn to go onstage. Flanked by empty pizza boxes, bottles of Newcastle and the nuclear-bomb-blast beats of the opening band, the guys in M.C.S. shuffle around, darting in and out of the stage doors like waiters in a cramped downtown-diner. It’s a scene of sustained chaotic calm. Jesse Johnson, keyboardist for the Minneapolis quintet, is quietly patching up his Moog-synthesizer with neon-green electrical tape. Bassist Matt …

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Recently I had the opportunity to speak with Neil Kernon. For those not aware of Neil’s work, he is one of the most talented producers around. In the seventies he worked with jazz fusion bands such as Brand X. In the ‘80s he worked with a wide range of artists, including Dokken, Hall & Oates, Queensrÿche and Kansas. At this point in time Neil produces a great deal of extreme metal, such as Cannibal Corpse, Macabre and Skinless. His productions have been nominated for several Grammy’s and has produced a Grammy winner. Do any particular moments stand out as your …

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Liege Lord is a band that is sadly unknown to many metalheads. Their music is of the traditional American power metal variety, meaning it is more aggressive and thrashier than the ridiculously happy European brand of the genre. On Master Control, Paul Nelson truly shows himself as a virtuoso guitar player, boasting his speed, heaviness, and intricacy. Joe Comeau’s vocals are marvelous. They remind me a great deal of Bruce Dickinson (Iron Maiden) mixed with a little bit of Lizzy Borden and Queensrÿche’s Geoff Tate. It has a commanding and masculine power, but is also of the soaring variety. There …

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Depending on what television networks you watch, what programs pique your interest and what time of day you tune in, you have likely seen vastly different advertisements for The Girl Next Door. Pushed back a month from its original release date, I have watched in amazement as three completely different films have been marketed under this title. The first is a light-hearted film about being a teenager and learning about oneself; the second, a movie about a shy teenager breaking out of his shell thanks to his friends and their wacky adventures; and the third, an all-out frat party, a …

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When it comes to film, women in rock and roll just can’t seem to catch a break. More often than not, females in rock movies are shoved aside into the roles of doting girlfriends or groupies (Almost Famous and That Thing You Do). The notion of an all-girl band being film material doesn’t seem too radical, yet it’s only been successfully carried out in a few ‘80s teen flicks banished to late night play on cable TV, such as the well done but rarely seen Ladies and Gentlemen, the Fabulous Stains.But in the just released on DVD Prey for Rock …

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In the University of Minnesota’s metal sculpting foundry, students and faculty take busted-up radiators, rusty cast-off hardware, and failed art projects, and heat them to more than fifteen hundred degrees Celsius until they are bright red and as runny as milk. Under the watchful eye of professor and renowned metal sculptor Wayne Potratz, molten scrap flows into sand molds and becomes fine art. Only when heat forces iron out of its cool, stable state can it transform. But for graduate student Allen Peterson, the catalyst for transformation was three years in the cold.In order for the emerging artist to become …

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Danger might be attending the party on Friday night. You might only be looking for a few drinks, friends and a good time, but the guy you met at the beginning of the semester may have alternative motives when he offers to hold your drink.“Unfortunately you need to be more wary of the person you’ve known a couple of weeks than the person you just met,” said Melissa Schmidt, the legal advocacy and direct services coordinator at the Aurora Center on campus. “It’s statistically more likely to be raped by someone you know.”The Aurora Center, located on the fourth floor …

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Everybody watched it.Their moods may have differed depending on what their numbers were, but everybody watched it, Sandi Welday said.Families gathered around television sets in living rooms across America to hear the military draft on the nightly news, to hear whether somebody they knew was going to Vietnam.Welday remembers watching the draft as a teenager in the 1960s.“You’d know the numbers of those who were close to you,” she said. A man’s draft number was the same as his birthday. “You’d watch and know if they’d have to go.”Newscasts reminiscent of those from 35 years ago could resurface as early …

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As the semester begins to wind down at the University of Minnesota, graduating students are anxiously awaiting their honorary processional across Northrop Mall to receive their academic honors. While most students will march to the traditional melody of “Pomp and Circumstance,” some students will celebrate their academic achievements to the tune “We are Family.”Since 1997, the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender Programs Office has organized an honorary ceremony for graduating GLBT students. The ceremony, called the Lavender Graduation, offers students an opportunity to be recognized for their GLBT identity as well as to celebrate the end of their academic career.“It’s about …

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Ever walk over the Washington Avenue Bridge, see the various slogans of organized clubs and random messages from assorted students and decide that next year, you’ll come and paint something alongside them? That’s exactly how the student group, Chicks with Flicks began. “My sister [Vice President Ella Schovanec] wanted to start a movie club so that we could paint ‘Frodo Lives’ on the footbridge,” remarked President Anna Schovanec. After signing up as a student group, they were amazed when they actually began receiving e-mails from people wanting to join their club which is described on the Student Activities Office website …

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Look around campus. D’ya see that? No, not that, you pervert - the cell phones! They’re everywhere. It’s as if God himself descended upon the East Bank one day and placed a blessed wireless in every student’s hand. “There shall be Verizon!” he commanded. “And there shall be free evening and weekend long-distance minutes,” he continued. The students rejoiced and it was good. Good, at least, for those lucky few. The rest of us must have been in class or at a Coffman late-night celebration or something. This isn’t a Seinfeldian observation story. I understand cell …

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The University of Minnesota women’s basketball team’s success relied on a highly-touted senior leader, a pillar-like presence in the paint and confident players riding an emotional tidal wave. But as the team progressed further into the season, adaptability also proved vital to its success. The Gophers were still adapting to a second-year head coach and learning how to deal with high expectations heading into this season. Now they have to deal with the pressure of being labeled the best basketball team on campus. Considering their track record, I won’t be the one to say this group of …

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