Thur sday, November 6, 20 14
E s t abl ished 19 16
w w w.mus t angne w s .net The Audio Files: Top 4 albums of 2014 Nick Cocores @kcpr913
When I was approached by Mustang News to write an article about music — anything about music — my head almost imploded. This was like asking Guy Fieri to write an article about his favorite sources of trans-fats or Cookie Monster to wax poetic on the joy that is the chocolate chip cookie. Once my kid-in-a-candy-store mentality waned, I decided to write about four albums released this year I have greatly enjoyed. So kick back, put one of these beauties on the turntable and always keep it to the left.
BRENNA SWANSTON | MUSTANG NE WS A THOUSAND WORDS | “When you try to show someone else who you are, it’s like going through several layers of translation,” Cal Poly artist Lauren Manning said.
Cal Poly artist uses her past to paint her future Brenna Swanston
BRENNA SWANSTON | MUSTANG NE WS MUSE | Manning paints interpretations of loved ones’ photos to depict how her friends and family have impacted her.
@Brenna_Swanston
Lauren Manning lay naked and silent on a makeshift medical table, surrounded by an audience of classmates. One by one, audience members took dishes of paint, used their fingers to spread the colors over Manning’s bare skin and joined her in meditation to a mix of ambient noise and a highly manipulated version of Daft Punk’s “Touch.” “The piece creates a zen-like experience around human contact,” the art and design senior said of her performance project. “Something that is typically hot and heavy or related to desire or possession, as I present my body calmly as an offering of friendship and peace to an audience of acquaintances and strangers.” Assistant professor Diana Puntar taught Intermedia / Art (ART 353) last year when Manning performed the piece, which Puntar said stood out from other students’ work. “Not too many students jump into that, and Lauren did,” she
said. “It was surprising when somebody did a piece like that here. It made me feel like she was going to take on some difficult projects and put her best into them.” And Manning has. Her work has been featured in the Catharine Clark Gallery in San Francisco, Art After Dark and the 35th volume of Creative Quarterly magazine. She plans to graduate this spring and move to Brooklyn next year to begin her painting career. Manning and her mentors believe she has the chops to make it in the art world — but her story didn’t start so optimistically. The Beginning “I don’t like to say that divorce changed my life.” But in hindsight, it did: Manning’s parents split up when she was 5 years old. She and her brother grew up with their mom in Marin County, where they lived busy childhoods. “All of a sudden, my mom was involving me in everything ever,”
Manning said. Gymnastics, theater, dance and art lessons were just a few activities she tried — art stuck. Manning visited her father monthly, where she would hole up in her room and draw while her brother and dad spent time together downstairs. During this time, Manning’s drawing grew into a passion, and she settled on her first dream of an art career — as a tattoo artist. Enter high school. Manning’s older brother started college, leaving Manning as the only kid at home. She could no longer hide out alone with her sketch pad at her dad’s, so she spent more quality time with her father. Meanwhile, she found herself avoiding mother-daughter time. “So this huge shift happened,” Manning said of her parental relationships, “and it made high school horrible.” But it also inspired her work.
see ARTIST, pg 6.
The Hive Dwellers, Moanin’ Personal bias be damned. So what if Calvin Johnson — lead Dweller, former Beat Happening front boy and founder of K Records — is one of my heroes in life? So what if on a recent trip to San Luis Obispo, the Hive Dwellers stayed at my house where we ate pizza, played with a Ouija board and watched “Big Trouble in Little China?” This album is still a great collection of songs ranging from sweet and candid to somewhat nonsensical. Johnson reminisces about past love on “Love Will Come Back Again” — a song that originally dates back to 1999. He sings fondly about his hometown on “Streets of Olympia Town.” Who knows what the heck “Lynch the Swan” is about, but it’s great. The backdrops to these songs are rooted in throwback sounds; the twang of hillbilly slide guitar, funky Motown bass lines, ‘60s mod drum beats and more. This record is great for riding bikes, eating pie or just lounging in the sun. Allison Crutchfield, Lean In To It On the Swearin’ frontwoman’s first solo release, she trades in her typical garage-laced overdrive and pop-punk exuberance for bedroom jams composed primarily on piano. Joined by Sam from Radiator Hospital, these songs are filled out with simple arrangements — some guitar, maybe a drum machine and plenty of tape hiss. The subject matter, like the music, is also more personal than Crutchfield’s band Swearin’. A fallen relationship is lamented on “You,” another implied on “CC.” Have you ever been distraught or saddened by romantic rejection? Listen to “Rose Knows,” and suddenly that rejection will make sense — and you may even be okay with it.
see KCPR, pg 4.
Football emerges in Top 25 Mustang News Staff Report @CPMustangSports
The Cal Poly football team (6-3, 5-1 Big Sky Conference) is riding a five-game win streak and the nation has finally taken notice. After consecutive home victories were over then-No. 7 Montana and then-No. 8 Montana State, the Mustangs are now ranked No. 21 by The Sports Network media poll and No. 23 by the FCS Coaches Poll. Cal Poly is one of five Big Sky Conference teams ranked this week. Eastern Washington, Montana, Montana State and Northern Arizona are also in the top 25. The Big Sky is extremely congested at the top of the standings, with the top six teams all sitting on one loss. Cal Poly and Eastern Washington are ahead of the other four since they have played one more conference game. After a rocky 1-3 nonconference start, the Mustangs have found their stride in Big Sky play. They are undefeated at home, and their only loss came at Northern Arizona in a close game. The Lumberjacks were able to get into the end zone with just 21 seconds remaining, securing the victory. “I think that loss was a huge portion of our season,” head coach Tim Walsh said. “But it also gave us confidence, I mean,
we’re a play away from being 6-0 in the Big Sky right now.” Junior quarterback Chris Brown has emerged as a star, leading the Mustangs in both rushing and passing. Brown has rushed for 953 yards and 12 touchdowns, an average of over 100 yards per game. He has also thrown for 1,141 yards and nine touchdowns. He has been the catalyst for an offense that is averaging more than 34 points a game. On the defensive side of the ball, senior linebacker Nick Dzubnar has accumulated an impressive 127 tackles, eight of which have been for a loss. He also has three sacks for a loss of 19 yards total. Cal Poly travels to Idaho State (6-3, 4-1) on Nov. 8 to take on the Bengals that are having their best season in 10 years. “If you watch them play, they play extremely hard,” Walsh said. “Overall, you can see an attitude of a mature football team that gets what they’re supposed to be doing when they play the game on offense and defense. If we’re going to look by anybody, it better not be anybody that’s averaging 565 yards a game and 46 points a game. This is a pretty potent offense and if we’re looking by that, we’ll be saying goodbye to a Big Sky Championship.” Nick Larson contributed to this report.
IAN BILLINGS | MUSTANG NE WS RECOGNIZE | After two huge victories, the Cal Poly football team broke into the top 25 rankings for the first time this season.
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