‘Coexist’ slows down the sound
College bands rock out the Rat
By Heather Koenig WTSR Assistant Music Director The xx “Coexist”
pidgeonsandplanes.com
There is always a great deal riding on a sophomore release. And when the predecessor was self-titled “xx” there’s a lot to live up to. “Coexist” handles this pressure with grace. Although there are many critics who feel the album doesn’t beat out “xx,” there’s no denying it’s still a solid release for the British group. It’s obvious that this album is much mellower and more laid back than the previous album, which contained a lot of pent up energy and emotion — however, “Coexist” is filled with same minimalist sound that slows life down and brings the focus to the vocals. It’s reasonable for a group to produce a marginally different sound on their sophomore effort, as they have the chance to reflect, refine, mature and vary from their debut. If “Coexist” had been identical to “xx,” there would be nothing new to enjoy and nothing to characterize the release. The album incorporates a strong mix of instrumental and stylistic aspects, while still adhering to their individual dark pop sound. There isn’t quite anything similar to the catchy and exhilarated “Cristalised,” but there are some new innovations that should be noticed. “Reunion” includes some steel drum percussion, which is worked in cohesively with the musical themes of the album. The xx also doesn’t mind further slowing the pace with the heartfelt album-closer, “Our Song,” which may not be a crowd favorite. Altogether, “Coexist” is a creative part two in The xx’s current collection.
October 3, 2012 The Signal page 19
Colleen Duncan / Staff Photographer
‘Last Minute Decision’ perform an interesting cover of Leonard Cohen’s ‘Hallelujah.’ By Ana Lanfranchi Correspondent At 5 p.m. on Sept. 28, some of the College’s most talented bands came to the Rathskeller to spend a relaxing evening playing music and munching on greasy food.
The event was kicked off with newly-formed band, X Sabertooth Tiger Claw X (Explosion) which consists of freshmen Shane Dermanjian, Chris Flannery and Tyler Povanda. The trio performed a few covers, all of which were widely known songs amongst
College students. They concluded their set with a crowd pleaser as they got the entire room clapping along to Taylor Swift’s “Love Story.” Interestingly enough, business management and interactive multimedia major, Chris Flannery, said that his favorite bands are Periphery and Memphis May Fire, both classified as metal. I personally am very interested to see the direction that this band takes. While none of the members of the band are pursuing a musical career, they have all been playing music for at least seven years, and hope that X Sabertooth Tiger Claw X (Explosion) has a solid foundation and will continue to perform together. Open options humanities major Shane Dermanjian said, in reference to Student Band Night, “We were all in bands at home and we’re used to performing so we wanted to do this.” Following the talented boy band was Last Minute Decision, who played an extensive set of beautifully original renditions of popular songs. The band had an interesting dynamic as there were four members,
but they were never all on the stage at one time. The comfortable mood of the evening was complimented by their quirky nature and their interaction with the crowd. The female vocals complimented one another in their performances of “Wide Awake” and “The Way You Are,” and the heartfelt rendition of “Hallelujah” made the performance completely authentic. 10 Paces, who switched gears from soft rock/ indie music to a much heavier alternative rock sound, performed the final act of the night. Hailing from Asbury Park, 10 Paces consists of Dan Demyanovich, Louie Morreale, Chris Michael and The Signal’s Arts & Entertainment editor Tom Ciccone. The music switch allowed for diversity in the performances and freshman economics major Thomas Barr said, “I thought that they brought a really great energy to the Rat.” Student Band Night is a great opportunity for the College’s students to express themselves through music without the pressure of auditions or criticism. This event allowed for a laid back evening filled with undeniable talent.
Student musicians showcase impressive performances Focus Tracks: “Angels,” “Chained” and “Sunset”
By Liz Dinsmore Correspondent
Julie Novak / Staff Photographer
Students perform technically challenging classical pieces as part of the College’s Wednesday Recital series.
Last Wednesday in Mayo Concert Hall, four student musicians performed in front of a full house of fellow students, family and faculty members who were eager to hear what the musicians had practiced so diligently to perfect. The first musician played Johannes Brahms’s “Sonata No. 2 in E flat Major, Op. 120” on the clarinet and was accompanied by a staff musician on the piano. This composition is light and uplifting, lending itself beautifully to the clarinet. Next out on stage was Doug Strahle, a senior music performance major, to perform Bach’s “Suite for Unaccompanied Cello No. 6.” This complex piece of music starts out strong and riveting and establishes a recognizable pattern of notes within just a few moments. These notes are then carried throughout the composition, sometimes in a very prominent motif, and other times as a respite from the fast-paced melody.
“It’s a rather difficult piece of the repertoire for cello, but I find a lot of enjoyment in practicing it and working out the challenges it brings,” Strahle said. His performance of such a quick-moving piece was precise and clear, allowing each note to stand on its own, while simultaneously building upon the composition as a whole. Even with such a large audience, Strahle was able to play the cello gracefully. “Performing for a large audience is definitely nerve-racking, but once you begin to play your instrument those nerves tend to drive you more than they inhibit your performance,” Strahle said. The next performer played “Gliere’s Concerto in Bb, Op. 91” on the horn after a dramatic, yet inspiring opening on the piano. The occasional blast of the horn gave a feeling of strength to the song, but then a slower, more calm series of notes from the horn slowed the composition down and created a sense of depth that could not have been achieved otherwise. To read more go to tcnjsignal.net.
Professors expound on Afghan and ‘zine’ cultures By Julie Kayzerman Correspondent
Artwork may seem like just a combination of lines, shapes and colors to some people, but for two new professors here at the College, it is so much more. Professors Gregory Thielker and Amze Emmons presented “Art in the Real World” in the Ernest and Mildred E. Mayo Concert Hall at 11:30 a.m. on Friday, Sept. 28, as part of the Brown Bag series. To begin, Thielker presented “Taint of memory-Landscape of conflict in Afghanistan,” which embraced the culture of Afghanistan in an underreported perspective — one showing them as often misunderstood. During a two-week trip to a U.S. military base in Bagram, Afghanistan, Thielker was able to compose several sketches and paintings depicting everything from the army base to the average Afghani citizens.
Thielker explained that he had to “work hard to capture accuracy” in his paintings while also being selective with what he thought he was seeing. “The longer you’re there, the less you can say definitively because there’s always something there to contradict you,” said Thielker, describing his journey through the roads of Bagram on which he would frequently stop to draw sketches of a site in order to paint them back in the studio. “The most interesting part was when Thielker described how he had to use six different layers of oil paint to create his desired effect because it really showed how some things in life take more time reach one’s personal level of satisfaction,” said Edward Easse, freshman instrumental music education major. Thielker closed his presentation with the idea that groups of people are constantly misrepresented by photographs or texts, and
showed a photograph of a decorated shrine in order to give the audience a new perspective of Afghani culture. “Despite war and foreign intervention, Afghanistan is building on its past,” Thielker said. Professor Emmons followed with a presentation about the importance of communication throughout a community. He began with an exhibit he helped organize called the, The Rum Riot Press, a month- long community workshop this past summer that featured “zine culture.” This showcased self-published cheaply made, mini magazines referred to as zines. These works covered any topics from over 60 different artists in order to engage the community and expand communication. Emmons then went on to discuss a polling station workshop he created in which he had eight artists including himself design their
own voting ballots containing any issues of their choice. The workshop had over 5,000 participants where people were able to vote on the issues presented on the ballots. Emmons showed two voters’ responses on a ballot that introduced the issue of gay marriage. The first ballot read, “Let’s all be friends,” which resulted in an audible sigh of affection from the audience. The other read, “I’m a racist small minded pig, thanks for letting me vote,” which led to an uproar of laughter throughout the audience. He closed by showing watercolor paintings of different types of polling situations around the world. Emmons said that he tries to take something familiar and recognizable and combine it with other ideas from different parts of the world. “I try to put issues into different perspectives in order to get people to think about issues that they would otherwise ignore,” Emmons said.