ENTERIAINMENT MARCH
23, 2007 • VOL. 43. No. 11
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"New Magnetic Wonder" proves wondrous by Marty Diamond been at home on a demo, but not the full album. experimental tracks keep the album flowing. In a year like this, when new records start One of them. "Vocoder Ba Ba" is exactly that: But what really keeps the album together is coming out in an avalanche that doesn't stop, singing "ba ba" into a vocoder to sound cool, the multiple part songs. With one exception, none ofthesearedirectly it is hard for bands to distinguish their album but out of place. from the rest, especially if the rest are good. That said, there are still more gems on in a row. "Mellotron" parts one and two keeps Fortunately for The Apples in Stereo, their this album than weird vocal or instrumental the album going. But the true masterpieces new album, "New Magnetic Wonder." does arrangements. "7 Stars" is another example lie in "Beautiful Machine" and "NonPythagorean Composition." just that. ^ "Beautiful Machine" is a work of The album opens with the upbeat^ I orchestral masterpiece, without "Can You Feel It?" From the opening^ H ^ ^making the potentially fatal guitar to the background cowbell. ® • ^mistake of misusing the multiple something about the song creates " Hinstruments in the song, which that feeling that usually comes from ^flhas happened to many an artist. sugary pop songs. Unlike those songs, ^ The three scattered parts of however, the track comes just short "Non-Pythagorean Composition" of being saccharine and is just a great* help keep the album together, feel-good song. not because they are masterful "New Magnetic Wonder" slows music, but that they are the down a bit as it gently flows into perfect interval tracks placed at its fourth and fifth tracks, "Energy" the perfect times. While not great and "Same Old Drag." "Energy" is music on their own. they turn slightly less upbeat than the first song, the album into an experience as but manages to have some more depth I'hohi I oiirifsy (1/ ttpplesiiisieri'o.ti>iii opposed to just another album. while still keeping the tempo high. This is The Apples in Stereo's sixth studio album. "New Magnetic Wonder" is an album "Same Old Drag" stays at about the same worthy of at least trying, for almost any tempo, but with more interesting instrumental of these gems. It keeps an upbeat guitar and musical taste. The band had enough faith in composition. keyboard, which makes the listener feel good, it to put the entire album on their website so In fact, that's both a positive and a negative so they are not as saddened by the terribly there is no excuse for missing it. The album on this album. The Apples in Stereo experiment depressing lyrics. Somehow, the band strikes with a lot of different instrumental sounds. a perfect balance, making for a perfect song. has the potential to be one of the best of the While this lends to a lot of original and exciting And this song doesn't misuse the vocoder as year, but whether it achieves that goal isn't whafs important. The fact that the album is an arrangements, like the aforementioned tracks, the other vocoder-heavy track on the record. it also leads to many short, roughly 20 second The album is relatively long at 24 tracks, but experience, and not just another album, can't tracks that sound more like they would have it stays consistent throughout. Even the short. be said about many albums these days. ^ ^
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The seven deadly sins of fashion by Courtney Vinopal Certain looks are always in style and certain looks w ill ne\ er be in style. Here are the se\ en worst looks out there: 1) Jeans with bleach spots in odd places— Jeans that are a completely one-color w ash look fine, but u hen the bleach monster attacks a good pair of jeans, things start to get trick). An e\ en worse look is w hen jeans are dark at the top and graduall\ become much lighter at the bottom. But the worst of all is acid wash. There are no w ords to describe the sadness in m\ heart w hen I see a pair of acid-w ash jeans. 2) An outfit that is too tight all over— When the button of \our shirt or jeans snaps, it probablv means \ou need a bigger size. Some people become confused and think that w earing smaller clothes will make them seem smaller.
5) Belly shirts and Daisy Duke shortsHowever, this is very untrue. If you keep wearing tight clothes, they'll only make \ou Enough said. look bigger. The right choice is to find clothes 6) Extremely loud prints mixed together— that fit you well, e\ en if that means buy ing the If you've e\ er tried mixing plaid w ith big polka next size up. dots. \ou'\ e probabK noticed that it just doesn't 3) Oversized jeans tucked into boots—It quite work. If you mix smaller prints together, it takes a lot of effort to find the right pair of can work, but \ou have to be very careful. Your boots to tuck jeans into. If \ou bu\ jeans that fit outfit shouldn't make people dizzy. well, they will usualh tuck in nicely. However 7) Mom jeans—There are some bad jean if you try to tuck a pair of oversized w ide-leg styles out there, but nothing is worse than jeans into boots, the result is de\astating. mom jeans. Mom jeans usuall> have a very E\er\thing bulges and the overall silhouette light wash, tapered legs, and an extremely just isn't right. high waist that reaches wa\ above the belly 4) Jean on jean combinations—Jeans are button. If you've ever seen Sally O'Mallev from fine in moderation, whether it's pants or a jacket. SNL. that's exactly what they look like. Their However, if >ou try to combine something like unattractive look is made even worse when a jean jacket and pants of the same wash into an huge t-shirts are tucked into them. These jeans don't look good on an>one. especially moms. outfit, the look is more farmer than chic.