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T he Mc G ill T ribune, Tuesday, 17 O ctober 2000
Whizkidz of hip hop... Continued from Page 7 provided the beats. As the venue fdled up, the excitement grew as the crowd eagerly awaited the headlin ers. Then the bomb dropped, and
and choruses, and when Gift of Gab shouted mid-song, "If your mind and your body and your spirit is free, SPEAK TO ME!" the crowd went ballistic. Highlights included a smokin' version of "Hot People" off of
Lookingtothefuture: prettyrappersallinarow. the crowd went wild. Blackalicous burst onto the stage, joined by MCs Lateef (1/2 of Latyrx) and Versatile (1/2 of the Lifesavers), with DJ DShaun providing additional cuts, and the stunning Laura Fabia pro viding back-up harmonies. Following a fiery Quannum introduction, the group launched into a slammin' remix of "the Fabulous Ones" off of Nia. The bass was thumpin', rumps were shakin' and hands were in the air as Blackalicious stepped up the inten sity level and delivered. Throughout the set, Gift of Gab's lyrics were complemented by the other MCs, and each member on stage had their moment to shine. The chemistry between Gift of Gab and Chief Xcel was evident during "Rock the Spot," where Chief Xcel scratched out the beat while the Man with the Gift rhymed over top. Several times throughout the show, the charismatic Lateef stole the show with his energetic rhymes and stage presence. Each MC got the crowd involved, engaging in numer ous "call and answer" shout-outs
CO Review
D ow nshift Sem i-A ulom atic
Self-released O n e g la n c e a t th e c o v e r o f D o w n s h ift’ s S e m i-A u to m a tic E P , which features a black and white shot o f so m e sh irtle ss guy w ith a ch ain d angling out o f his pocket and said sem i-autom atic held behind his back, and the o n ly tho u g ht that ca m e to mind was a flashback to O zzfest, and the stoned metalhead m asses chanting “S L A Y -E R ! S L A Y -E R ! S L A Y E R !” which is not a good thing, thank you. T h is is truly unfortunate, because the album is actually quite entertaining, far deeper and more creative than the co v er art suggests. T he obvious refer en ce point for this band is unquestion ably T o o l, particularly the classic EP Opiate. D ow nshift’s singer, ironically named Anonym ous, is really anything but on this album, em ulating the pow e r f u l , c o m p a s s io n a te v o ic e o f M aynard Jam es Keenan ( o f T o o l) as w ell as his penchant for intellig en t,
the crowd singing along to the choruses of "Deception" and "You didn't know that though" off of N ia, a skilled freestyle session where the crowd clapped out the beat while Gift of Gab displayed his skills on the mic, and "Bomb on Y'alT' off of Spectrum as an encore. But unques tionably, the highlight of the night was the classic "A to G," where the first word of each verse starts with a given letter of the alphabet. They even rocked the "Alphabet Aerobics" remix, with the Gift rhyming from G to Z as the beat got faster and faster. The people at Quannum know how to put on a show, and as a result received a huge response from the crowd at Soda. We can only hope that Gab was telling the truth when he said "Montreal, y'all are the livest crowd yet," and that they roll through town again soon. Q uannum S p ectru m ,
K e e p y o u r e y es o p en f o r the r e l e a s e o f Soleside’ s Greatest Bumps at the end o f October. forceful, and affected lyrics (with the e x c e p tio n o f “ A nd I tou ch m y s e lf where I shouldn’t be touching" from “Drawing C loser.” Y ik es.) U nfortunately, problem s abound on this d isk as w ell. A ll too o ften , D o w n s h ift re ly o n the u b iq u ito u s drop-tuned distorted guitar sound a la K o rn , S e v e n d u st, and the W o r ld ’ s W orst B and ™ , Lim p Bizkit. T h e best m om ents on Sem i-A utom atic are the surprisingly m elodic ones, such as the d e c e p tiv e ly p o w e r fu l g u ita r - b a s s co m b in a tio n s on “A .T .P .,” and the fantastic opening o f “O rangeface.” It is c o m p le t e ly la c k in g d is to r tio n (gasp!) but it’ s easily the most power ful se q u e n c e on the alb u m . T h e s e m o m e n ts d e m o n s tr a te th e s tro n g song-w riting sk ills the band clearly po ssesses. O ther tracks, such as the non-stop thrasher “2 ,” do nothing but retread the footsteps o f others such as T o o l, albeit successfully for the most part. W hile Sem i-A utom atic certainly doesn’t break any new ground in the heavy genre, it is an entertaining lis ten nonetheless, but w hile bands I ’ ve p re v io u sly co v e re d in the T rib u n e h av e g o n e on to im p ro b ab ly e n o r m ous su ccess afterw ards (S lip k n o t, Sy stem o f a D ow n), D ow nshift w ill have to develop a more unique sound before they follow in those footsteps. A su rp risin g th u m b s up fo r S e m iAutom atic, nonetheless. — P e te r K oven
R ead betw een th e lin e s Is your child a nippophile? By B
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Fans of Japanese animation may be familiar with the term Otaku. Usually pejorative, this term is used to signify a fanboy whose interest in cartoons is at best obsessive and at worst down right perverse. An Otaku follows their favorite characters with an intensity of interest that sets them apart from their fellow citizens. In an attempt to keep up with the times, the McGill Special Investigative Team have coined a term to define the new breed of Otaku that is beginning to manifest in North America: Nippophile. A Nippophile, or lover of all things Japanese, is no longer a creature set apart in their strange passions. On the contrary, as Japanese cultural products, such as film, TV and video games contin ue to migrate across the Pacific in increasing numbers, the once-rare Otaku may become as mainstream as the erstwhile Pauly Shore admirer. At this point you may be scratching your head and asking yourself, where exactly is this mass conversion of media-slaves taking place? Surely it must be the elderly who are being taken in by this chicanery, for it is among their numbers that we find society’ s most love-starved and easily amused. Well, read closely gentle reader, for the scourge is as close to you as your own child or sib ling. Indeed, we must examine this issue carefully for it is amongst the younger generations that this Nippophelia runs most rampant. It is they, and not the elderly, with the most potential to lap up the subversive messages that underlie these cultural imports in startling and aggressive plays against the status quo. Reactionary political com
mentator Silas "Knee" McJerk, quips "this is just like Pearl Harbor - except even worse because a man can dodge a bullet, but how do you defend yourself against Pikachu’s lightning attack?" Could he be right? The fall Saturday lineup on the States’ Fox Networks (the one most-watched by kids) features a block of "Anime" (Japanese animation) that spans six new series all originally aired in Japan. One need look no further than Flint, Time Detective, a midseason replacement from last year that returns in the new lineup to see just how grave a problem we may be facing. The show chal lenges not only the media of the western world, but also the ideals that it holds most dear. Following the adventures of a young caveman who travels through time to repair glitches in the fabric of space, the show does away with the Newtonian physics model that you and I have known for so long. As the titular caveman defends a benevolent, godlike (and decidedly Pokemon-esque) race of geometri cally shaped "travelers" who’ve peacefully co-existed with humani ty throughout all time, the show begins to smack of sacrilege. In the modus of Flint’s most violent and threatening aspect - the giant hammer he wields in battle - we see the very structure of our family lives besieged, for this hammer just so happens to also be Flint’s father. Linden S. Nought, mental health research-editor-in-chief confirms what many of you may have feared for some time: kids today are playing games complete ly unlike the ones you enjoyed as a youth. New products like Sega Dreamcast’ s new "Chu Chu Rocket" subvert the wholesome fun pioneered by games like Pacman into something sinister and undoubtedly damaging to the player’s fragile young brains. The
Pacman-like game board, a twodimensional grid, is filled with mindless space mice that must be guided by the players in complex trajectories leading from the clutches of malevolent space cats and onboard ships which will take them back to "Planet Japan." All this takes place amid a cacophony of flashing lights and synthetic beats which counterculture reporter Tim Blottid assures us very nearly approximates "a psy chedelic freak-out.” Is there any hope that our future generations will escape the insidious manipulations of their beloved media figures? Optimists may speculate that children, hav ing sucked dry the entertainment potential of Japanese imports’ new metaphysical and spatial models will turn against their anthropo morphic svengalis, just as they turned against such fads as the Pog and Barney. Perhaps as Western media meets the new demands of the viewing public we’ll see Japanese media imports supplanted by newer, gentler cultural hybrids which sufficiently dilute the disori enting and morally irresponsible themes we’re faced with today. Still, the prognosis is grim as contrarian editorialist Steve "Joowanna" Fichte reminds us. Last year’s feature anime release from Miramax, Princess Mononoke, may have failed at the box office precisely because of it’s arty west-courting pretensions, which failed to jibe with an audi ence so ravenously hungry for bigeyed, fist-flailing, esoteric-worldview-spouting entertainment. What can you do to fight this disturbing trend? Sell your TV and video game system. Stay away from your local Cineplexe and keep reading our special reports for further updates.
Far reaching Voyages Emmanuel Finkiel's subtle handling of a sensitive topic triumphs over the melodramatic alternative B y Je
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Three women, seemingly con nected only by the legacy of the Holocaust and an understanding of spoken Yiddish, each embark on a journey of discovery in French director Emmanuel Finkiel’s tri umph of a film Voyages. Finkiel intentionally avoids obvious tricks and images in order to present a sincere depiction of his characters and themes. The result is a phenomenal film that will keep audiences in their seats a few extra minutes after the curtain closes. The film is split into three acts. The first focuses on Rivka, a 65-year-old French woman living in Israel. She joins a tour group on an emotional bus trip to Auschwitz. The group is com prised mostly of elderly people who had been children during the Holocaust. En route snippets of
conversation illuminate the vari ous motivations behind taking the trip. When the bus breaks down in the middle of nowhere an already trying situation worsens. Régine also 65, is the subject of the second act, she lives in Paris. One day a man arrives claiming to be the father she had believed was dead. Her life is tossed upside-down as she attempts to discover if his story is true. Third is 85-year-old Vera, who has just emigrated from Russia to Israel in search of a long-lost cousin in the ‘Promised Land’. Unfortunately Israel is not the place she had expected. She roams the busy streets of Tel Aviv wondering why no one seems to speak Yiddish. As the movie pro gresses, the lives of these women begin to intertwine and similarities surface. The brilliance of this film lies
in Finkiel’s refusal to insult his audience or his subject matter with melodrama. Instead he takes a cast of virtual or complete unknowns and has them portray characters that are entirely natural and believable, empowering his film with a pervasive sense of honesty. He combines a seemingly simplistic story line with superbly complex sub-text, addressing issues of loss, loneliness, family ties, and heritage without simply presenting them on a platter. With top-notch cinematography and a beautiful script this film is a must see. V o y a g es w ill ru n at C in ém a d u P a r c f r o m O c t o b e r 2 0 to N o v e m b e r 2. It is in F r e n c h a n d Yiddish with E n glish subtitles.