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(11/29/06 10:50pm)
Jay-Z is the Michael Jordan of rap.\nAfter a long reign on top, Michael Jordan retired, tried his hand at playing baseball and being an executive and returned, slightly shamed and not quite as skilled to the game. After Def-Jam's crushing failure with Rick Ross' ill-conceived "Port of Miami," Jay-Z, the self-proclaimed MJ of rap, was forced out of retirement and Kingdom Come is his slightly shamed, not-quite-cutting-it attempt to breathe life into his talent-starved record label. \nKingdom Come is almost completely about an aging Jay-Z's insanely large bank account. Jay-Z also talks a bit about other rappers' lack of skill (compared, of course, with his stellar rap abilities), weed and women, including a stripper who will always have a special place in his heart, but for the most part, it's all about having more money than God. Juxtaposed with rap's humble beginnings as party music in the projects of New York City, Jay-Z's approach will sit well with Republicans everywhere.\nAn entire generation of yuppies will be glad to hear "30 Something," Jay-Z's ode to being nearly 40. In this song, Jay-Z, now 37, claims 30 as the new 20, boasts about his good credit, being able to buy his favorite basketball team and nightspot, and being young and hip enough to know what clothes, cars and watches are cool, but old enough to manage his money.\nEven more ridiculous than "30 Something" is the pairing of "I Made It" and "Anything." "I Made It" reminisces about his rise from young boy freestyling over a cheap boombox to rap icon. The hook pays tribute to his mother, who encouraged him all the way. The next song "Anything," is about getting nasty with a stripper. Mom must feel great! \nIn his defense, Jay-Z's flow is more polished than ever, his beats are worlds above those on The Black Album, and lyrical content aside, Kingdom Come is a pretty solid album. The complete package is pretty mature, but it's clear that Jay-Z has lost touch with his roots. If this were his freshman or sophomore effort, it would be a very impressive display of great promise, but for a seasoned veteran with 10 albums under his belt, Kingdom Come is as pathetic as MJ's batting skills.
(11/29/06 5:00am)
Jay-Z is the Michael Jordan of rap.\nAfter a long reign on top, Michael Jordan retired, tried his hand at playing baseball and being an executive and returned, slightly shamed and not quite as skilled to the game. After Def-Jam's crushing failure with Rick Ross' ill-conceived "Port of Miami," Jay-Z, the self-proclaimed MJ of rap, was forced out of retirement and Kingdom Come is his slightly shamed, not-quite-cutting-it attempt to breathe life into his talent-starved record label. \nKingdom Come is almost completely about an aging Jay-Z's insanely large bank account. Jay-Z also talks a bit about other rappers' lack of skill (compared, of course, with his stellar rap abilities), weed and women, including a stripper who will always have a special place in his heart, but for the most part, it's all about having more money than God. Juxtaposed with rap's humble beginnings as party music in the projects of New York City, Jay-Z's approach will sit well with Republicans everywhere.\nAn entire generation of yuppies will be glad to hear "30 Something," Jay-Z's ode to being nearly 40. In this song, Jay-Z, now 37, claims 30 as the new 20, boasts about his good credit, being able to buy his favorite basketball team and nightspot, and being young and hip enough to know what clothes, cars and watches are cool, but old enough to manage his money.\nEven more ridiculous than "30 Something" is the pairing of "I Made It" and "Anything." "I Made It" reminisces about his rise from young boy freestyling over a cheap boombox to rap icon. The hook pays tribute to his mother, who encouraged him all the way. The next song "Anything," is about getting nasty with a stripper. Mom must feel great! \nIn his defense, Jay-Z's flow is more polished than ever, his beats are worlds above those on The Black Album, and lyrical content aside, Kingdom Come is a pretty solid album. The complete package is pretty mature, but it's clear that Jay-Z has lost touch with his roots. If this were his freshman or sophomore effort, it would be a very impressive display of great promise, but for a seasoned veteran with 10 albums under his belt, Kingdom Come is as pathetic as MJ's batting skills.
(10/12/06 4:00am)
This summer at Bonnaroo, in front of a crowd of roughly 80,000 people, a mellow Beck was joined by a troupe of puppeteers and marionette likenesses of him and his band. He was shy, soft-spoken and unemotional, barely moving at all. Meanwhile, the jumbo screens flanking the stage exploded with psychedelic videos of a puppet Beck and his puppet band. \nHe isn't the same wild dancing, falsetto singing Beck his fans fell in love with. He's a more subdued, stranger version of himself. \nBeck's ninth album, The Information, his second collaboration with Radiohead producer Nigel Godrich, reflects these changes in Beck's persona. The Information is a more mature, more varied and ultimately a more difficult version of his earlier albums. The grooves of Odelay and Midnite Vultures, the country twang of Mutations, the heavily orchestrated sounds of Sea Change and the Gameboy blip bleeps of Guero -- all of these elements show up in his latest record. Also, Beck embraces the simple beats of grime hip-hop, the lush minimalism of indie rock and the ominous drones of Radiohead.\nThe foreboding atmospheric sounds that permeate through the album, courtesy of Godrich, are at first off-putting. This awkward feeling eventually gives way to a feeling of fulfillment. The Information shows that Beck is growing with his audience. He challenges listeners by quickly shifting between opposing moods and genres. At times, the changes sound forcefully mashed-up to incorporate as many different feels as possible. "Cell Phone's Dead" sounds like a mix of Paul Simon's world music forays, The Streets' awkward rapping and Parliament Funkadelic's bottom-heavy funk. Somehow Beck manages to make this work.\nThe album art also contributes to the confusing elements of the album. There is no printed art. Each CD comes with a set of stickers to decorate the blank cover. This disconnected artwork fits well with the patchwork qualities of the album.\nThe Information is confusing but worthwhile. It's Beck's most intricate and far-reaching album. It won't sit well immediately, but ultimately, it's just as well-crafted as Odelay or Midnite Vultures.
(10/12/06 2:54am)
This summer at Bonnaroo, in front of a crowd of roughly 80,000 people, a mellow Beck was joined by a troupe of puppeteers and marionette likenesses of him and his band. He was shy, soft-spoken and unemotional, barely moving at all. Meanwhile, the jumbo screens flanking the stage exploded with psychedelic videos of a puppet Beck and his puppet band. \nHe isn't the same wild dancing, falsetto singing Beck his fans fell in love with. He's a more subdued, stranger version of himself. \nBeck's ninth album, The Information, his second collaboration with Radiohead producer Nigel Godrich, reflects these changes in Beck's persona. The Information is a more mature, more varied and ultimately a more difficult version of his earlier albums. The grooves of Odelay and Midnite Vultures, the country twang of Mutations, the heavily orchestrated sounds of Sea Change and the Gameboy blip bleeps of Guero -- all of these elements show up in his latest record. Also, Beck embraces the simple beats of grime hip-hop, the lush minimalism of indie rock and the ominous drones of Radiohead.\nThe foreboding atmospheric sounds that permeate through the album, courtesy of Godrich, are at first off-putting. This awkward feeling eventually gives way to a feeling of fulfillment. The Information shows that Beck is growing with his audience. He challenges listeners by quickly shifting between opposing moods and genres. At times, the changes sound forcefully mashed-up to incorporate as many different feels as possible. "Cell Phone's Dead" sounds like a mix of Paul Simon's world music forays, The Streets' awkward rapping and Parliament Funkadelic's bottom-heavy funk. Somehow Beck manages to make this work.\nThe album art also contributes to the confusing elements of the album. There is no printed art. Each CD comes with a set of stickers to decorate the blank cover. This disconnected artwork fits well with the patchwork qualities of the album.\nThe Information is confusing but worthwhile. It's Beck's most intricate and far-reaching album. It won't sit well immediately, but ultimately, it's just as well-crafted as Odelay or Midnite Vultures.
(08/03/06 4:00am)
Think back to the worst band in your high school. The one with that awful singer, that dude who could barely play guitar and that drummer who couldn't keep a steady beat. In their best moments, they were still barely holding it together. Then imagine them sticking it out for twelve years and becoming one of the most influential indie rock bands in history. In fact, they basically invented the genre. This is the story of Beat Happening.\nBy their last album You Turn Me On, Beat Happening had toured the world, received critical acclaim in major music magazines and founded K Records which would become indie rock's most prosperous record label. They still couldn't play their instruments that well and their singer's rumbling bass singing still wasn't quite in tune. These idiosyncrasies are what make them so influential. They made the best of what they had.\nYou Turn Me On is genuine and unpretentious, two peculiar qualities for the majority of indie rock. As outsiders to the music world, Beat Happening was able to cultivate it's idiosyncrasies to the point of virtuosity. The simplicity of music on this album is perfectly paired with its lyrics' childish nostalgia.\n"Pinebox Derby" explains how to catch a witch, "Teenage Caveman" is a Neanderthal love song and "Tiger Trap" is a treasure map for finding way into your lover's heart. Although these songs are steeped naiveté, they are emotionally complex. "Noise" features the lyric "Our hearts beat now, but it's only noise." The title track is pays homage to the Beatles with its chorus of "Turn me on dead man."\nYou Turn Me On is very simple musically. It's obvious that the band still isn't great their instruments. This simplicity is what makes this album so endearing. So much of indie rock is built around a very technical framework and ends up lacking emotion. Beat Happening is all emotion and not in a saccharine or angsty way.
(08/02/06 7:22pm)
Think back to the worst band in your high school. The one with that awful singer, that dude who could barely play guitar and that drummer who couldn't keep a steady beat. In their best moments, they were still barely holding it together. Then imagine them sticking it out for twelve years and becoming one of the most influential indie rock bands in history. In fact, they basically invented the genre. This is the story of Beat Happening.\nBy their last album You Turn Me On, Beat Happening had toured the world, received critical acclaim in major music magazines and founded K Records which would become indie rock's most prosperous record label. They still couldn't play their instruments that well and their singer's rumbling bass singing still wasn't quite in tune. These idiosyncrasies are what make them so influential. They made the best of what they had.\nYou Turn Me On is genuine and unpretentious, two peculiar qualities for the majority of indie rock. As outsiders to the music world, Beat Happening was able to cultivate it's idiosyncrasies to the point of virtuosity. The simplicity of music on this album is perfectly paired with its lyrics' childish nostalgia.\n"Pinebox Derby" explains how to catch a witch, "Teenage Caveman" is a Neanderthal love song and "Tiger Trap" is a treasure map for finding way into your lover's heart. Although these songs are steeped naiveté, they are emotionally complex. "Noise" features the lyric "Our hearts beat now, but it's only noise." The title track is pays homage to the Beatles with its chorus of "Turn me on dead man."\nYou Turn Me On is very simple musically. It's obvious that the band still isn't great their instruments. This simplicity is what makes this album so endearing. So much of indie rock is built around a very technical framework and ends up lacking emotion. Beat Happening is all emotion and not in a saccharine or angsty way.
(07/20/06 4:00am)
There are two types of Radiohead fans: Those who yearn for the days of Pablo Honey and The Bends and those who saw the future in Kid A and Amnesiac. The old guard versus the avant-garde. Alternative rock versus some strange incarnation of rock and modern classical. Thom Yorke's new solo album, The Eraser, is guaranteed to please neither.\nThe Eraser represents an attempt to appease two rival camps. Rather than pick a direction to head, the album inhabits a grey area between the simple song structures and driving rock grooves of Radiohead's earlier albums and their more recent futuristic noise experiments.\nThe fans who miss the guitar solos and rock n' roll sensibilities of those early albums will be dismayed to find that this album is completely without live drums and only minimally uses guitar on one track. The other fans will find that the song structures are predictable, formulaic and devoid of any kind of unscripted experimentalism. Eraser is basically nine tracks of Thom Yorke laying out his insecurities and social awkwardness over blip-bleep laptop beats.\nUp until now, Yorke has indirectly addressed his shortcomings and fears by creating a futuristic world of terror. A world where androids are in control and the next Ice Age is around the corner. On The Eraser, he focuses directly on himself. Thom Yorke's dirty laundry is old news. It has been public domain since the documentary "Making Friends is Easy" exposed him as an awkward egomaniac. An entire album of Yorke whining about whether or not girls like him and just how messed up his life can get is a new low.\nThis indiscretion might not be so egregious if the music on this album were stronger. The title track begins with a chopped up, fuzzed out piano sample and a computer sequenced beat. Yorke croons about how he will not be erased and much to his dismay neither will the subject of the song. Later he is joined by a ghostly chorus of Thom Yorkes and heavily distorted version of the piano sample that opened the track.\nNow you have the not-so-secret formula.\nJust make some slight variations and you have nine tracks that sound eerily similar. Piano samples, laptop beats, preprogrammed swoops of noise and the haunted choir were once innovative ideas but now Yorke refuses to move on. The Eraser suggests that Thom Yorke may not be the musical visionary he was once thought to be. \nThe album does have its moments. The vocal pyrotechnics on "Atoms for Peace" are beautiful in a way seldom heard in Radiohead's discography. The lyrics to "Cymbal Rush" portend Thom Yorke's famous future world that fans have come to love and fear. If it weren't followed by eight variants, the title track would stand out as an interesting experiment in fusing pop and noise. If Yorke's fans didn't have such high expectations, this entire album might go under the radar and occasionally a track might appear on the radio or a mixtape your friend made you.\nThe sad, but true, reality for Thom Yorke is that these expectations are very real and very justified.
(07/19/06 5:26pm)
There are two types of Radiohead fans: Those who yearn for the days of Pablo Honey and The Bends and those who saw the future in Kid A and Amnesiac. The old guard versus the avant-garde. Alternative rock versus some strange incarnation of rock and modern classical. Thom Yorke's new solo album, The Eraser, is guaranteed to please neither.\nThe Eraser represents an attempt to appease two rival camps. Rather than pick a direction to head, the album inhabits a grey area between the simple song structures and driving rock grooves of Radiohead's earlier albums and their more recent futuristic noise experiments.\nThe fans who miss the guitar solos and rock n' roll sensibilities of those early albums will be dismayed to find that this album is completely without live drums and only minimally uses guitar on one track. The other fans will find that the song structures are predictable, formulaic and devoid of any kind of unscripted experimentalism. Eraser is basically nine tracks of Thom Yorke laying out his insecurities and social awkwardness over blip-bleep laptop beats.\nUp until now, Yorke has indirectly addressed his shortcomings and fears by creating a futuristic world of terror. A world where androids are in control and the next Ice Age is around the corner. On The Eraser, he focuses directly on himself. Thom Yorke's dirty laundry is old news. It has been public domain since the documentary "Making Friends is Easy" exposed him as an awkward egomaniac. An entire album of Yorke whining about whether or not girls like him and just how messed up his life can get is a new low.\nThis indiscretion might not be so egregious if the music on this album were stronger. The title track begins with a chopped up, fuzzed out piano sample and a computer sequenced beat. Yorke croons about how he will not be erased and much to his dismay neither will the subject of the song. Later he is joined by a ghostly chorus of Thom Yorkes and heavily distorted version of the piano sample that opened the track.\nNow you have the not-so-secret formula.\nJust make some slight variations and you have nine tracks that sound eerily similar. Piano samples, laptop beats, preprogrammed swoops of noise and the haunted choir were once innovative ideas but now Yorke refuses to move on. The Eraser suggests that Thom Yorke may not be the musical visionary he was once thought to be. \nThe album does have its moments. The vocal pyrotechnics on "Atoms for Peace" are beautiful in a way seldom heard in Radiohead's discography. The lyrics to "Cymbal Rush" portend Thom Yorke's famous future world that fans have come to love and fear. If it weren't followed by eight variants, the title track would stand out as an interesting experiment in fusing pop and noise. If Yorke's fans didn't have such high expectations, this entire album might go under the radar and occasionally a track might appear on the radio or a mixtape your friend made you.\nThe sad, but true, reality for Thom Yorke is that these expectations are very real and very justified.
(07/06/06 4:00am)
Until recently, recordings of Thelonious Monk and John Coltrane's legendary collaboration had been the stuff of dreams for jazz fans. For five months in 1957, the two played six nights a week at the Five Spot in downtown Manhattan. The Complete 1957 Riverside Recordings are a miracle. They document one of the most important pairings in all of jazz history\nIn 1957, Thelonious Monk's chopped-to-bits, harmonically complex and delightfully left-footed style was already legendary. He had been struggling to renew his cabaret card after the mass revocation of the cards of musicians with criminal pasts. Monk's 1957 stint at the Five Spot marked his renewed ability to play in clubs, regardless of his status as a convicted drug addict. \nJohn Coltrane had only recently been thrown into the lime light by his time with the Miles Davis quintet. His style was immature and not really deserving of the prominence Davis bestowed upon him. After his time as Monk's protégé, he began to sound like the John Coltrane that would revolutionize jazz.\nThe Complete 1957 Riverside Recordings is the first glimpse into Coltrane's budding genius. This two-disc set is really one and a half discs of mistakes, poor playing and one track where the drug addled Monk falls asleep on the piano. The other half a disc's material is some of the starkest and most beautiful music ever created.\nThe first complete track on the album is a trio version of the lush ballad "Monk's Mood" which first appeared on an album of Monk playing solo piano. It's hard to imagine this is the same John Coltrane of the Miles Davis quintet. His playing is personal and confident in a way the Davis recordings do not reflect. Monk's influence is apparent in Coltrane's new harmonic and melodic sensibilities. \nThe two renditions of "Ruby, My Dear," one featuring Coleman Hawkins and the other John Coltrane, foreshadow the uncharted realms where Coltrane is taking jazz. Hawkins, the first tenor virtuoso, plays beautifully. Coltrane is more harmonically and melodically adventurous.\nMonk's playing, excepting the false starts, too many takes of "Crepuscule with Nellie" and the track where he is asleep, is what one would expect from the consummated master -- nothing short of brilliant. He stands out on the ballads and the full-length version of "Well, You Needn't."\nAll the mistake tracks provide a window into Monk's character. He is temperamental and inconsistent, but his idiosyncratic playing shows through these flaws and easily eclipses his most well-known contemporaries.
(07/05/06 7:00pm)
Until recently, recordings of Thelonious Monk and John Coltrane's legendary collaboration had been the stuff of dreams for jazz fans. For five months in 1957, the two played six nights a week at the Five Spot in downtown Manhattan. The Complete 1957 Riverside Recordings are a miracle. They document one of the most important pairings in all of jazz history\nIn 1957, Thelonious Monk's chopped-to-bits, harmonically complex and delightfully left-footed style was already legendary. He had been struggling to renew his cabaret card after the mass revocation of the cards of musicians with criminal pasts. Monk's 1957 stint at the Five Spot marked his renewed ability to play in clubs, regardless of his status as a convicted drug addict. \nJohn Coltrane had only recently been thrown into the lime light by his time with the Miles Davis quintet. His style was immature and not really deserving of the prominence Davis bestowed upon him. After his time as Monk's protégé, he began to sound like the John Coltrane that would revolutionize jazz.\nThe Complete 1957 Riverside Recordings is the first glimpse into Coltrane's budding genius. This two-disc set is really one and a half discs of mistakes, poor playing and one track where the drug addled Monk falls asleep on the piano. The other half a disc's material is some of the starkest and most beautiful music ever created.\nThe first complete track on the album is a trio version of the lush ballad "Monk's Mood" which first appeared on an album of Monk playing solo piano. It's hard to imagine this is the same John Coltrane of the Miles Davis quintet. His playing is personal and confident in a way the Davis recordings do not reflect. Monk's influence is apparent in Coltrane's new harmonic and melodic sensibilities. \nThe two renditions of "Ruby, My Dear," one featuring Coleman Hawkins and the other John Coltrane, foreshadow the uncharted realms where Coltrane is taking jazz. Hawkins, the first tenor virtuoso, plays beautifully. Coltrane is more harmonically and melodically adventurous.\nMonk's playing, excepting the false starts, too many takes of "Crepuscule with Nellie" and the track where he is asleep, is what one would expect from the consummated master -- nothing short of brilliant. He stands out on the ballads and the full-length version of "Well, You Needn't."\nAll the mistake tracks provide a window into Monk's character. He is temperamental and inconsistent, but his idiosyncratic playing shows through these flaws and easily eclipses his most well-known contemporaries.
(06/29/06 4:00am)
Kool Keith's favorite rhyme is doodoo and voodoo. \nDr. Octagon, Kool Keith's most famous alter ego, is the hip hop embodiment of his scatological, occult obsessions. While his contemporaries were glorifying gang violence and misogyny, Kool Keith was exploring his own brand of interstellar, mutant gore and bizarre sexual fetish. At times, it's hard to tell which is more obscene.\nDr. Octagonecologyst, released 10 years ago, opened up the world of underground hip hop to an otherwise oblivious audience. The album's critical acclaim has been a mixed blessing for Kool Keith. He is by no means an unskilled rapper, but he has struggled to prove that he is more than aliens, monsters and porn. This year's The Return of Dr. Octagon and Nogatco Rd, which continue the saga of the vulgar doctor, do not speak in his favor. Controversies aside, Dr. Octagonecologyst is an important album to the history of rap.\nThe album begins with an ominous groove layered with a sample from a doctor/nurse porn scene. This track sets the mood for the rest of the album, an even mixture of b-horror movie and x-rated movie. "Halfsharkalligatorhalfman" and "Girl Let Me Touch You" perfectly embody this dynamic. \nNo track on the album comes close to what you would expect from a rap album, especially not one from 1996. Tracks like "3000," "Earth People" and "Blue Flowers" most closely resemble traditional hip hop. Even those tracks are a stretch. The hook for "Earth People" is "Earth People, New York and California. Earth People, I was born on Jupiter," and "3000" contains the diss "Your whole crew is ice cream." Hardly the words of a ruthless gangster.\nWhile undoubtedly great, this album is still plagued with filler. Skits are par for the course in rap, but Dr. Octagonecologyst is bursting at the seams with skits, whose uncompromising anatomical and sexual specificity could make Dr. Ruth blush.\nThe album's disjointed flow almost seems an appropriate companion to Kool Keith's angular, stream of consciousness raps. His lyrical skills are on par with better known, yet comparable, MCs like MF Doom and Ghostface Killah, but his pacing leaves something to be desired.
(06/27/06 7:09pm)
Kool Keith's favorite rhyme is doodoo and voodoo. \nDr. Octagon, Kool Keith's most famous alter ego, is the hip hop embodiment of his scatological, occult obsessions. While his contemporaries were glorifying gang violence and misogyny, Kool Keith was exploring his own brand of interstellar, mutant gore and bizarre sexual fetish. At times, it's hard to tell which is more obscene.\nDr. Octagonecologyst, released 10 years ago, opened up the world of underground hip hop to an otherwise oblivious audience. The album's critical acclaim has been a mixed blessing for Kool Keith. He is by no means an unskilled rapper, but he has struggled to prove that he is more than aliens, monsters and porn. This year's The Return of Dr. Octagon and Nogatco Rd, which continue the saga of the vulgar doctor, do not speak in his favor. Controversies aside, Dr. Octagonecologyst is an important album to the history of rap.\nThe album begins with an ominous groove layered with a sample from a doctor/nurse porn scene. This track sets the mood for the rest of the album, an even mixture of b-horror movie and x-rated movie. "Halfsharkalligatorhalfman" and "Girl Let Me Touch You" perfectly embody this dynamic. \nNo track on the album comes close to what you would expect from a rap album, especially not one from 1996. Tracks like "3000," "Earth People" and "Blue Flowers" most closely resemble traditional hip hop. Even those tracks are a stretch. The hook for "Earth People" is "Earth People, New York and California. Earth People, I was born on Jupiter," and "3000" contains the diss "Your whole crew is ice cream." Hardly the words of a ruthless gangster.\nWhile undoubtedly great, this album is still plagued with filler. Skits are par for the course in rap, but Dr. Octagonecologyst is bursting at the seams with skits, whose uncompromising anatomical and sexual specificity could make Dr. Ruth blush.\nThe album's disjointed flow almost seems an appropriate companion to Kool Keith's angular, stream of consciousness raps. His lyrical skills are on par with better known, yet comparable, MCs like MF Doom and Ghostface Killah, but his pacing leaves something to be desired.
(10/06/03 6:32am)
Few performers start a concert with an apology, and usually it is not a good sign when they do. In Paul Vondiziano's case, the apology spoke more of his humility and supreme love for performing than his ability.\n"The guitar is a very sensitive instrument," Vondiziano said before he began playing. \nAlthough he was referring to the bothersome tendency guitar strings have to fall out of tune, he could not have spoken truer words about the music that followed. For two hours Friday at the John Waldron Arts Center, Paul Vondiziano's playing transported the listeners to a foreign world of subtlety and perfection. Instead of a simple evening of guitar music, the whole performance was an essay on sublimity expressed in beauty and emotion.\n"The performer serves a liturgical purpose," Vondiziano said at his lecture at the Monroe County Historical Museum, 202 E. Sixth Street, Saturday. At his performance the night before, Vondiziano entered from the wings of the small studio and took his place in the chair at center stage. He is a simple man with long, curly hair and soft eyes, but was filled with quiet fire and soft-spoken intensity the moment he began playing. Like an epiphany, his playing began suddenly with a burst of emotion sustained through the entire concert.\nAfter meticulous tuning, the concert began with Fernando Sor's "Second Fantasy." Immediately, the audience was enthralled by the piece's subdued character and harmonious opening. Vondiziano's love for the music was apparent in every gesture.\n"I'm able to connect with his playing on an emotional level," said Mark Bisesi, president of the Bloomington Classical Guitar Society.\nThis concert was the first in a series this year sponsored by the Bloomington Classical Guitar Society and the Bloomington Area Arts Council. Bisesi said they showcased Vondiziano first because of his subtle virtuosity and his deep understanding of the music. Although he writes his own music, he did not perform any of his own pieces.\n"He has given quite a bit of thought to the music," Bisesi said. \nThroughout the concert, even during the most technical passages, Vondiziano held the same faraway look of peaceful intensity. In a world full of melodramatic violinists and clarinetists swaying like small boats in a storm, Vondiziano's subtly emotional expression is quite welcome.\nThe emotional high point of the concert was Vondiziano's interpretation of "Koyubaba" by Carlo Domeniconi. This exotic piece pushes the technical limits of the guitar. By completely retuning the guitar so that the lower strings create a drone effect, the piece evokes the sound of Middle Eastern lute playing. By this point in the concert, tuning had become an almost ritualistic obligation that took place even between movements of a single piece, and was beautiful in its own way. \n"This piece truly speaks my language," Vondiziano said before beginning. \nIt is a language of passion and love that is not only heard but also seen in the plethora of beautiful images evoked by his every gesture.\nAt the conclusion of the concert, he and the audience shared a moment of beauty too intense to sustain. When he finished the final technical movement, before the standing ovation, there was almost a minute of pure silence so that his fragile creation could linger for another few moments, without apology.
(10/03/03 5:05am)
Close your eyes. The steep mountain path below your feet climbs toward the sky. Suddenly, you are walking under the hot sun in a small forgotten village. Then, you are staring up into the starry sky on a warm summer night. Every strum and pluck of Paul Vondiziano's guitar evokes a different fresco, a different village, a different verdant landscape.\nVondiziano, born in Lamaca, Cyprus, began studying the guitar at the age of eight. \n"Guitar was the concurring of different factors for me," he said. \nPlucked stringed instruments are a big part of the culture in Cyprus, Vondiziano said. He was surrounded by music as a boy and developed a passion early on. He came to the United States to study guitar and philosophy at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, Pa. \nToday, he is an internationally recognized soloist who has performed in Germany, Cyprus, Scotland, Sweden, the Netherlands, Norway and all over the United States. He has also performed with the Cyprus National Chamber Orchestra, The Boise Philharmonic, Opera Grand Rapids and many Greek music ensembles. He has also been featured in many television and radio programs throughout the world. \nAt 8 p.m. tonight, Paul Vondiziano brings his unique guitar stylings to the John Waldron Arts Center at 122 S. Walnut St. He is one of three guitarists featured in a series sponsored by the Bloomington Classical Guitar Society and the Bloomington Area Arts Council. Throughout the year, their performances will highlight three different styles of guitar playing.\n"We are bringing Paul because we think he really complements the other performers," Kaira Hogle of the JWAC said. Vondiziano will focus on namely European styles of playing with a heavy emphasis on the Mediterranean.\nThe program will feature a "Partita" or one variation contained in a piece by Johann Sebastian Bach, "Three Pieces" by Isaac Albeniz and "Koyunbaba" by Carlo Domeniconi, along with a few shorter works. The pieces span more than 200 years of guitar music. Most interesting on the program is Koyunbaba which uses non-standard tuning to re-create the sound of Middle Eastern lute playing. The work is deeply steeped in the folk music of Vondiziano's homeland. \n"Classical music allows me to explore so many different things," Vondiziano said. "I approach music as an intellectual person, with a lot of emotion."\nOn top of performing, Vondiziano said he loves philosophy and poetry. To express this love, he is also presenting a free lecture on philosophical approaches to music at 2 p.m. Saturday in the Monroe County Historical Museum.\nTickets for tonight's performance are $12 for general admission or $10 for seniors and students. They are available at the JWAC. Tickets are also available for the other two concerts in the series. For more information about the concert, visit the Bloomington Area Arts Council at www.artlives.org or call 334-3100. For more information about Paul Vondiziano visit www.paulvondiziano.com. \n-- Contact staff writer Josh Millrod at jmillrod@indiana.edu.
(03/13/03 5:27am)
Twenty students lounged around on couches waiting for the meeting to start. None of them really knew that by the end they would have all the information they needed to be almost anywhere in the world this time next year.\nKatmandu, Nepal, for example.\nThat's where Adam Ploshay, a student representative and a veteran of IU's Overseas Study Program, spent a semester. \nPloshay shared his experiences Tuesday night in Read Center's Landes formal lounge at one of a series of informational meetings to educate students about IU's study abroad options.\nThe Overseas Study Program, which now includes more than 70 programs in 33 countries, is trying to spread the message that studying abroad is easier than ever before. \nAnd an interest in studying in a more exotic location, even one which isn't offered by IU, isn't something to worry about, Ploshay said. \n"The goal of the office is to find a match for what you are looking for," Ploshay said.\nPloshay, a senior studying cognitive sciences, spent two semesters and a summer studying abroad. He is proud to say he is still going to graduate in four years. \nHe also suggested students look into less traditional programs because more scholarship money is available. He spent the first semester of his junior year in Katmandu, Nepal.\nIU's Overseas Study Program's wide variety of choices for studying abroad, more than half of which are for English speakers, have established it as one of the most reputable programs in the United States. IU strongly encourages students to participate in the program by accommodating them every step of the way. \nEach year almost 1,200 students from all different schools on campus study abroad, according to the Overseas Studies Program. This means about 14 percent of every graduating class studies overseas at some point. \nStudents participating in study abroad programs through IU retain their status as full-time students, which allows them to keep scholarships and receive full IU credit for the courses they take while abroad. Programs hosted directly by IU also provide tuition breaks for in-state students, according IU's Guide to Overseas Study Programs.\nThe price of studying abroad varies greatly between programs, but in many cases ends up costing almost the same amount as tuition. Often, students receive more scholarship money for studying abroad.\nGenerally, direct IU programs require a 3.0 GPA and co-sponsored programs through another university require a 2.75 GPA. In addition, faculty recommendations are an important part of the application process, Ploshay said.\nStudents become eligible to study abroad junior year, except for summer programs which students can attend after completing their freshman year.\nThe Overseas Study Program recommends students begin considering their options a year before they plan to study abroad.\n"We won't send you abroad unless you are going to have a productive semester," Ploshay said. It takes careful planning to make sure the time spent abroad will not adversely affect a student's academic future, Ploshay said.\nThe only time IU will not sponsor a student is when the program is in a country the U.S. Department of State has designated a danger zone, such as Israel, Colombia or Algeria. \nA full list of these countries can be found at http://travel.state.gov/travel_warnings.html.\nIU's Overseas Study Program's message is that studying abroad is realistic and affordable.\nFor more information students can attend Study Abroad 101 meetings at 4 p.m. on Wednesdays in Franklin Hall Room 303, or access the Overseas Study Program's Web site at www.indiana.edu/~overseas/.