The Wake

I remember registering for classes as an incoming CLA freshman: English Comp 1011, English Lit 1905, German 1022, second semester chem. All I needed to choose was a math class. My advisor told me, her voice heavy with disdain, that I didn’t place high enough on my math test; I’d have to petition and take a class in GC. Petition? That sounded like a pain. Furthermore, what the hell was GC? My advisor explained that GC was sort of the junior primary for grown-ups, for those good enough to graduate high school, yet not quite ready for college — …

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Karl Mueller, bass player for Soul Asylum, died on Friday, June 17th, in his Minneapolis home. He was 41.Mueller was diagnosed with throat cancer 13 months ago, and the past year has been a series of ups and downs for the performer’s health. In October, a benefit featuring Soul Asylum, Paul Westeberg, and Bob Mould and Grant Hart of Hüsker Dü, raised money to help relieve Karl and wife Mary Beth of medical expenses. Minneapolis-based Soul Asylum, a mainstay of the Twin Cities music scene, formed in 1981 as Loud Fast Rules. The band achieved national success with 1992’s multi-platinum …

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The plot has been done and redone since the dawn of time: down-on-his-luck protagonist triumphs over adversity, inspiring those around him or her. I went into Cinderella Man expecting just another ho-hum retelling of this theme with boxing as the backdrop (see Rocky, Rocky II, Rocky III, etc.). Saying I was pleasantly surprised is like saying boxer James Braddock (or Russell Crowe, who plays him in the film) would probably beat me in a fistfight.The film begins in the early 1920s with Braddock in his prime, entertaining crowds and making money. Soon the story jumps to the 30s, with James …

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Playing with a cellist could be the worst decision that a rock band makes. If it’s done in good taste, however, as is the case with Tarantula A.D., it forces the listener to be engaged with the music. On their latest EP Atlantic, the band has ascertained that musical genres are not exclusive and that musical conventions need to be challenged. Armed with a cello, bass, drums and guitar, Tarantula A.D. are an atypical group of musicians with a passion for crafting songs that incorporate an array of ideas. The opening track, “Grazie Signore,” is one in …

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Dear Coldplay, Please stop trying to trick me, this isn’t good music.The new Coldplay album, titled X and Y, is rooted in pretension and laziness. It seems to me that the group ran out of good ideas and talent, and decided to make up for it by producing until there wasn’t one real guitar riff left. The bizarre, encoded liner notes are just a cover, trying to make up for the lack of real music. The front of the album is video game art of a pill bottle in rainbow colors, and when opened the middle of the liner notes …

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“Off time” is the terminology for what are correctly known as rhythyms utilizing time signatures other than 4/4, or common time. Aptly named, common time is widespread, implemented in a variety of mainstream commercial sound applications. Time signatures are a way to organize sections within a piece of music to have a certain number of beats represented by a specific note value. The popularity of common time is apparently due to a lack of higher cognisant functions for processing more complex intervals than the quarter note or occasional sixteenth, or perhaps an underdeveloped theoretical vocabulary stunted by force-fed …

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Finally, there is a band that has a good time, plays fun music and represents a movement. Don’t get it twisted — Slightly Stoopid isn’t necessarily the group for coffee shop hipsters seeking poetic revelations about today’s day and age. Nor is it KDWB brand pop tune material. Instead, this band is for those looking for music that is fun and innovative.Since their self-titled freshman debut, which featured exclusively dub-laced punk, Slightly Stoopid has carried the title of being a band that’s “like Sublime.” While it’s easiest to compare Slightly Stoopid to the band that signed them to Skunk Records …

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The marquee of the Varsity Theater had one word written on it in early June: Sweat. Further inspection of the advertisement would tell a passerby that “Sweat” is the title of Cory McLeod’s “unmediated glimpse into the lives of sex workers, minus both glamour and stigmatization.” Those curious enough to buy a ticket found themselves on a tour of a fictitious escort service, a tour guided by two sex workers named Brooke and Claire. Low lights and bossa nova music set the scene for writer and director Cory McLeod’s Minneapolis debut. “Sweat,” which has had successful runs …

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“Could you please collect these files for an FQA audit?” asks my supervisor.“No problem,” I say, sipping my coffee and staring blankly at my computer screen. “I’ll get them to you by three.” I collect the files and go through the compliance checklist, making sure all the necessary documents are in the file and were printed within the appropriate time-frame. It’s a fine art. It really is. But the whole time I’m thinking about basketball. Not the NBA playoffs or the potential of next year’s Gopher teams. I’m thinking about pick-up basketball.I drink another cup of coffee and check out …

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You may see them from the Washington Avenue bridge as you walk to class in the morning. You may see them from the river flats as you play Frisbee. You may see them as you sit next to the river smoking a joint. They are the crew team. And you have to admit, they look pretty cool when they row by.Senior rower Cheryl Wick, who was recently named to the All-Central Region first team, talks about her rise in crew, the upcoming season, and lots more.The Wake: First of all, congratulations on being named to the all-region team.Cheryl Wick: Thanks!The …

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