Longform

Music school honors director

By Brandon Morley and Brandon S Morley · Wednesday, Nov. 12,2003 11:19 p.m.

School of Music students will form an honor guard on Jordan Avenue today to honor a former colleague as his funeral procession passes the school's buildings.

Teach your children the bass well

By C. Warner Sills and Doug Evans · Wednesday, Nov. 12,2003 6:31 p.m.

In order to be a good musician, or a good anything for that matter, one must have a great teacher. In my early adventures with the bass guitar, I was very fortunate because I had the best bass teacher there ever was. He was the Mr. Miyagi of bass playing. It's not that he is the world's greatest bass player, and he's no Mr. Holland's Opus, but simply put, the man loves to play. And he made me love playing.

Music from the back of a car

By C. Warner Sills and Greg O'Neill · Wednesday, Nov. 12,2003 6:30 p.m.

Sitting in the back of a car/ music so loud, I can't tell a thing/ Thinkin' about what to say/ But I can't find the lines." Shakespeare would drink Clorox to have written something that sincere. As it stands, those lines belong to Alex Chilton, chief songwriter for the '70s rock band Big Star.

Catch some air off this Ride

Wednesday, Nov. 12,2003 6:27 p.m.

Any snowboarding video game played since approximately 1997 will automatically be compared to the legendary Cool Boarders 2, and the new SSX3 is certainly up to the challenge. This new arcade style game from EA Big hits the slopes with all the action-packed courses and crazy tricks that have been standard on snowboarding games for the past few years.

Great Nemo DVD swims into stores

By C. Warner Sills · Wednesday, Nov. 12,2003 6:24 p.m.

A children's movie based on the adventures of a cute little fish became the top-grossing summer movie of 2003. Now, Disney/Pixar presents a 2-disc DVD set that includes both the widescreen and fullscreen versions of the film, commentary, documentaries, games and various educational tools for younger viewers.

Hey, at least Tolcher was good

Wednesday, Nov. 12,2003 6:19 p.m.

Friday night's Jim Beam Live Concert Series in Indianapolis could've been great. Sadly, though, it left the audience with a good sound in their ears but a bad taste in their mouths. Maroon 5, the concert's headliner, was celebrating the recent news that their album, Songs About Jane, has been certified gold, and Indianapolis was introduced to up and coming stunner Michael Tolcher.

Jucifer is Livengood and playin' loud

Wednesday, Nov. 12,2003 6:16 p.m.

There are different kinds of loud. There is 12-year-old-girl loud. There is hey-whippersnapper-turn-it-down loud. Then there is the Athens, Ga., rock duo Jucifer.

Classic rockers Plant a 'Hit' or two

By -Val Tsoutsouris · Wednesday, Nov. 12,2003 6:14 p.m.

A growing trend in musical anthologies is that bands and artists are splitting the difference between the usual greatest hits and box set arcana as the following sets prove.

Dog puppet comedy album a Triumph

By -Alec Toombs · Wednesday, Nov. 12,2003 6:11 p.m.

Fans of "Late Night with Conan O'Brien" will be elated to know that his foulmouthed, cigar-chomping puppet foil has finally been given his just due. As such, Triumph the Insult Comic Dog (voiced and created by renowned "SNL" staple Robert Smigel) has released his own comedy record, titled appropriately enough, Come Poop with Me.

If it makes you happy, buy Crow's Very Best

By Natalie A. Trout · Wednesday, Nov. 12,2003 6:10 p.m.

She is one of the few that hasn't sold out. And even though back in 1994 all she wanted to do was have some fun, Sheryl Crow apparently had a blast and a number of hit records without selling out and turning into an ass-shaking sex symbol.

McLachlan fumbles, but not toward ecstacy

By C. Warner Sills · Wednesday, Nov. 12,2003 6:07 p.m.

Although Sarah McLachlan's new one, Afterglow, is hardly better than ice cream, it's more like an Italian ice. That said, you have to be the Italian ice kind to really appreciate it.

P.O.D. hardly on deathbed

By C. Warner Sills · Wednesday, Nov. 12,2003 6:05 p.m.

Following its second album Satellite, the Christian-minded rock group P.O.D. has released another album that is surprisingly heartfelt and melodic. Using their traditional style of rap-metal-hip-hop-reggae, the band raps and sings melodies that preach morality over corruption.

Dear Iggy Pop: stop releasing records

By C. Warner Sills · Wednesday, Nov. 12,2003 6:04 p.m.

Even street-walking cheetahs with hearts full of napalm get old and desperate to remain relevant. If it wasn't cringe-worthy enough to hear Iggy Pop's 1977 ode to heroin addiction "Lust for Life" used in a Royal Caribbean commercial, perhaps his new album (which features collaborations with Green Day and Sum 41) will succeed at invalidating all of Pop's past credibility, something he's been trying to do since he sang "Candy" with B-52's singer Kate Pierson in 1990.

Against some fans

By C. Warner Sills · Wednesday, Nov. 12,2003 6:02 p.m.

About six months ago, I picked up Crime As Forgiven by, an outstanding EP of raw angst (mainly political) as interpreted through an acoustic guitar and drums (no cymbals). Tom Gabel (guitar/ vocals/ songs) screams into a microphone and strums with all his might over a snare drum that marches better than Sousa. It was the stripped-down basics of song.

Wyclef sings; guests rap

By C. Warner Sills · Wednesday, Nov. 12,2003 6:01 p.m.

Ever since the Fugees more or less disbanded after the release of The Score, Wyclef Jean has been proving himself time and again as a solo artist. In fact, it now seems that traditional bounds of rap are a format Wyclef finds too limiting.

Rapper 'rules' with street rhetoric

By C. Warner Sills · Wednesday, Nov. 12,2003 5:58 p.m.

It's ironic Ja Rule and Louis Farrakhan's interview based on the overblown battle between Ja and 50 Cent aired on MTV the same week Blood in My Eye dropped, since Ja's main direction is assaulting back at hip hop's hottest act, 50 Cent.

English comedy attempsts spaghetti western

Wednesday, Nov. 12,2003 5:55 p.m.

To say Once Upon a Time in the Midlands is a western would be a stretch, but throw in some horses and guns and all the elements would be there.

Christmas comes early with 'Elf'

Wednesday, Nov. 12,2003 5:54 p.m.

Sometimes Christmas cheer can come at surprising times from rather unexpected people -- Elf is one such example. Forget that it's not even two weeks past Halloween and that the picture stars hot comic of the moment Will Ferrell (big after streaking his way through the rollicking campus caper that was Old School) and is directed by Swingers/Made alum Jon Favreau. Elf's head and heart are unabashedly in the right place.

Not just another Guitar Player

By Erin Revtyak · Wednesday, Nov. 12,2003 5:52 p.m.

Even before the commercial success of musicians such as John Mayer and Jason Mraz, finding a young, struggling acoustic guitar player to listen to was as easy as finding a rapper with "Lil" in his stage name.

Rock N Roll may never die, but Love is Hell

By C. Warner Sills · Wednesday, Nov. 12,2003 5:48 p.m.

There is no stopping Ryan Adams. He released his first album with his band Whiskeytown when he was 21. His first solo effort, Heartbreaker, a stripped down folk/country album about his broken heart, burst with sincerity.