Women's Golf

A fresh alternative

By Benjamin Derrick · Friday, April 23,2004 8:44 p.m.

Split Shift enters mainstream hard rock with a bang. Its debut album, Tension, is creative but hardly unique. It follows a path laid by many bands before it by providing gut-wrenching grunge with slower lyrical passages. Tension opens well, tightly bound with an emotional soul, it releases fervor and sets the tone nicely.

Alt-country well represented on new collection

By Ryan Whirty · Friday, April 23,2004 8:43 p.m.

In 1995, Peter Blackstock and Grant Alden started publishing No Depression, a bi-monthly magazine devoted to alternative country music, a genre which can trace its roots back to Gram Parsons' hugely influential albums of the early 1970s (or even earlier, to late-'60s Byrds stuff) but remains decidedly indefinable.

R'N'R = AC/DC-core

By Mike Ley · Friday, April 23,2004 8:42 p.m.

Boston boasts a hefty resume of hardcore music, going back to SS Decontrol and D.Y.S. R'N'R keeps greater Boston's tradition alive, but brings a unique sound to the otherwise bland hardcore of today. While many bands are ripping off Iron Maiden riffs, R'N'R is turning to AC/DC and Thin Lizzy for inspiration, belting out a bastard child which will make long-hairs and floor-punchers equally happy.

She's sexy, she's hyped, she's tedious

By Ryan Whirty · Friday, April 23,2004 8:40 p.m.

Pretty African-American woman dresses sexily, sings cloyingly and releases albums filled with all-star collaboration and syrupy, over-produced pop R&B.

Soundtrack a cut above the rest

By -Alec Toombs · Friday, April 23,2004 8:39 p.m.

It's been said before and I'll say it again: Quentin Tarantino sure knows how to compile one hell of a soundtrack. Once more, he resurrects numerous forgotten musicians and songs, while seamlessly integrating his snappy dialogue into the proceedings. Those who dug the album accompanying "Vol. 1" may be disappointed with the new record.

Hip-hop to 'Watch' out for

By Adam Van Osdol and Adam VanOsdol · Friday, April 23,2004 8:38 p.m.

Dilated Peoples still work the angles sharp and precise. With the no-nonsense lyrics of Rakaa Iriscience and Evidence, and with DJ Babu on the cut, the Expansion Team has crafted an album which is hip-hop in its truest form.

Lovingly-crafted for lovers of power pop

By -Alec Toombs · Friday, April 23,2004 8:37 p.m.

Ben Kweller broke onto the scene two years ago with the inspired pop/rock of Sha Sha. A lot has happened since -- he's gotten married, toured extensively and teamed with fellow Ben's -- Folds and Lee -- for the solid The Bens EP. Now, he's returned with the less catchy but more mature, On My Way, and in doing so he's avoided the sophomore slump admirably.

Cedric's 'Johnson' flops

By Parker Witman and Parker Wittman · Friday, April 23,2004 8:36 p.m.

Go ahead, accuse me of breaking what has to be the cardinal rule of reviewing a movie. Come on, really. Tell me that I shouldn't have walked out before "Johnson Family Vacation" ended and tell me that, as such, I have no business discussing it in a public forum. You know what I think? That damn movie had no business wasting such a beautiful Saturday night.

Bertolucci's 'Dreamers' ride the New Wave

By by Isaac Edwards and Isaac Edwards · Friday, April 23,2004 8:36 p.m.

Sex. Cinema. Politics. Pure Bertolucci. Opening to critical acclaim and controversy, such things synonymous with the name Bertolucci, Italian director and auteur Bernardo Bertolucci has crafted his finest return to form with the new film "The Dreamers."

Corporal 'Punish'-ment

By Neal Taflinger · Friday, April 23,2004 8:35 p.m.

Marvel Comics has gotten a lot of mileage out of a simple premise: Vietnam special operations vet Frank Castle comes home only to see his family gunned down in a gangland firefight. He experiences a psychotic break, dons a skull t-shirt and begins laying waste to criminals, hoodlums and anyone who looks at him sideways. Easy enough, right?

Tarantino to 'Kill' audiences with latest

By -Alec Toombs · Friday, April 23,2004 8:34 p.m.

Those of you out there who hated "Kill Bill: Vol. 1" (being an unabashed snobbish asshole, I refer to you as the culturally retarded), take solace. Quentin Tarantino, in his infinite wisdom, has created a captivating capper to this epic grindhouse saga which even you'll love.

CREATION VS IMITATION

By Jess Huffman · Friday, April 23,2004 8:32 p.m.

Different people have different ways of expressing themselves. When it comes to music, some try to create and communicate a unique style to their audience. Others admire the work of others, recreate it and put their own personal touch on it. Original bands and cover bands will always defend their own method and possibly bash the other, but they can both be argued as forms of musical expression.

THE ODD COUPLE

By Annie Tasker · Friday, April 23,2004 8:32 p.m.

One Arab, one Jew, one stage. It sounds like the set-up for an ethnic slur. But comedian Ahmed Ahmed and Rabbi Bob Alper are sending a message to audiences across the country that is anything but inspired by hate.

THE PARTY PLANNER

By Jennifer Whalen · Friday, April 23,2004 8:24 p.m.

It's pretty much assumed that college students know how to throw a good party. But what if you could throw a party every day? Or better yet, what if you could earn a living by throwing parties?

THE DIRECTOR

By Chris Freiberg and Warren Christopher Freiberg · Friday, April 23,2004 7:58 p.m.

Sophomore Brandon Parker went to Los Angeles over spring break hoping to get lucky on "The Price is Right." And though his dreams of a "Showcase Showdown" didn't come true, he received an equally exciting parting gift for waiting in line: tickets to "The Wayne Brady Show."

A match made in hip-hop

By -Brandon Tucker · Friday, April 23,2004 7:44 p.m.

It's no secret that about 99 percent of all popular music in America is influenced by African-Americans. It's also no secret that white people are damn good at exploiting it and calling it their own, while making truckloads of money off it.

Rock coverage

By Ryan Whirty · Friday, April 23,2004 7:40 p.m.

Virtually every musician who has ever strummed a guitar or banged on some drums started out playing other people's music. The biggest names of every type of American popular music -- blues, jazz, country, R&B, rock 'n' roll, soul, funk, metal, hip-hop -- formed their own sound by covering the music which inspired them.

Eye of the rider

By Brian Janosch · Friday, April 23,2004 2:20 a.m.

In 1988, the women of IU were finally granted permission to have their own Little 500. After a team of girls from Kappa Alpha Theta tried to participate in the men's race, a women's division was formed, and 31 teams instantly joined. In 1988, the women's race had no hype, no superstars, no history. They have had to fight from the shadow of the men's race and establish a reputation of their own.

IU celebrates Earth Day

By Amber Kerezman · Friday, April 23,2004 2:17 a.m.

For the Indiana Public Interest Research Group, Thursday's rain may have affected the turn out for the Earth Day celebration in Dunn Meadow. But the rain did not dampen the spirits of many INPIRG volunteers, who continued to celebrate the event while educating passers-by about this year's list of environmental issues.

Rain doesn't damper festivities

By Jenica Schultz · Friday, April 23,2004 2:16 a.m.

As rain poured down from the cloud-laden sky Thursday, Bloomington's sole public event celebrating Earth Day consisted of a small parade, music and a scattering of tents on Dunn Meadow. The festivities were sponsored by the Indiana Public Interest Research Group.