Spring Semester Lab Bands

(Photo by Beky Smith)
Robert Varner
Ashley Johnston
Last November, Greenville faculty held auditions for the spring semester Lab Bands; out of the auditions, four of the bands are returning from the fall semester and two new bands were welcomed to the GC music department’s CCM experiment. The idea behind the Lab Band program is to bring together several diversified musical groups and give them professional instruction from professors who have been developing one of the nation’s most renowned CCM departments. Bands gain priceless opportunity and the experience could be a potential turning point in their career. Returning bands include Hot Fever, Lowland Sea, Nester Class 5 and Photoside Café. The newbies to Lab Band include Allez and Dressed to Kill.
The members of Hot Fever are lab band veterans - a vivacious group that woos their crowds with their catchy tunes and an energy that keeps you dancing from the first song to the last. The band has gone through several member changes since its commencement last year. Vocalist Dane Boffey, who is credited with writing a majority of the music even before coming to campus, was the original rhythm guitarist when Hot Fever first became a Lab Band three semesters ago. Now the band has only two original members: Dane on vocals and Sarah Whittman providing back-up vocals and keys/synth. The group added four new members at the start of Fall semester ‘08.
Lowland Sea is an alternative/rock band at their best. They are another returning Lab Band and are influenced by Muse, Coldplay and U2. June Sim, vocalist and guitarist, says they will continue to build a live set and play shows on and off campus this year. Lowland Sea has also undergone extensive member changes but still has a positive outlook on the future.
Nester Class 5 is also returning from last semester. They are an energetic band combining vocalist Charlie DeVos’ rap influences with a heavier style of rock, producing sounds reminiscent of both Rage Against the Machine and Family Force 5. Ever since their start, their music has gradually evolved, both technically and in a solid live performance. The band has set out quite ambitiously, trying to produce music that is both fairly foreign to the campus scene as well as hard to create.
Photoside Café is the final returning band this semester. Their distinct combination of acoustic alternative rock accompanied by an atmosphere of overdriven violin, brings to the table music that imitates Dave Matthews Band and John Mayer. Last summer they were signed to Grr Records, based out of Chicago, while performing at Cornerstone Music Festival. With their solid sound and effective use of a non-traditional rock instruments, Photoside Café has another exciting few months to extend their progress and develop within the music business.
Newcomers to Lab Band this semester include Allez and Dressed to Kill. Allez is a band that comes from a very different place from the other lab bands and each member contributes a variety of influences to the music they play. The material they have right now is a mix between progressive rock and jazz. The relatively strong musical influence is jazz and fusion. Dressed to Kill is an energetic metal group that has shredded their way into the hearts of many since 2006.
www.myspace.com/hotfevermusic
www.myspace.com/lowlandsea
www.myspace.com/dressedtokillkills
www.myspace.com/nesterclass5
www.myspace.com/photosidecafe

The Firebird Grand Opening

- London Novak

February 5th marked the grand opening of a renovated and renamed St. Louis music venue, once known as The Bluebird, now known as The Firebird. The venue is new and approved and the smell of paint fumes proves it when you enter. Last Thursday the Firebird was packed with STL locales celebrating the grand opening with DJ’ing from Gil Mantera’s Party Dream, rap duo Jason and the Beast, So Many Dynamos metal progressive rock side project Thor Axe, and the one man stand-up musician Superfun Yeah Yeah Rocketship, all fitting the bill that night to give everyone an array of entertainment.
Thor Axe, the side project of St. Louis’ own So Many Dynamos, is a seven-piece band including three guitar players, two bassists, a drummer, and a keyboardist. Usually it is pretty difficult for a band to pull off that many members, but when talking about Thor Axe, you have to know that we’re talking about professionals.
When I try to think of a good way to describe their sound, I think of a combination of The Advantage, 8 Bit Weapon, and a metal version of Final Fantasy, but pumped with more creativity and newness. If you don’t know the two above bands, they cover all our favorite Nintendo and computer game music, but with a kind of metal undertone. Anyway, Thor Axe doesn’t cover any music but their own.
They performed after Jason and the Beast, who simmered the crowd down, but once Thor Axe took stage the crowd was anxious to hear. Once they did take the stage, everybody had their rockin’ ears on. They played some of their more popular songs, like ‘The Beagle Has Landed’, ‘Girthquake’, and ‘Here’s To Swimming with Bow Legged Women’.
The Firebird’s website is re-designed and the schedule is tight, with different bands playing almost every night. Tonight, GC’s own Eagle Scout will be performing at The Firebird with Krafted in Korea, so in case you get a hold of this issue before the show, which starts at 9:00PM, you should grab $7 if you’re 21 and older or $10 if you’re not, and head over to 2706 Olive in St. Louis to support your fellow students!
http://www.firebirdstl.com/
www.myspace.com/eaglescout
www.myspace.com/kraftedinkorea
www.myspace.com/partydream
www.myspace.com/jasonandthebeast
www.myspace.com/superfunyeahyeahrocketship

The Sheldon and the Greenville Community Present "The Acoustic Aces"

The Sheldon Concert Hall in St. Louis has been touring music ensembles through Missouri and Illinois during the 2008 and 2009 season. It is with The Sheldon, Greenville College, and support from Our Common Ground that the music ensemble The Acoustic Aces will perform in the Whitlock Music Center Sunday February 15th at 4:00P.M. The group will perform acoustic music including Americana, Traditional Folk and music by contemporary singer-songwriters. John Higgins, guitarist assembled some of the best acoustic performers in the region to form The Sheldon Acoustic Aces. Members include Thayne Bradford, fiddle and vocals; Charlie Pfeffer, mandolin, guitar and vocals; Bob Bridenbach, dobro; and Vince Corkery, upright bass. Tickets are $5 and are available at Watson’s Drug Store, Jo’s Java and the Music Department Office Room 211 in Whitlock. You can also listen into Ryan Mifflin’s Dirty Roots show on Greenville College’s 89.5 FM WGRN tonight (Thursday) from 8:00P.M. - 10:00P.M. for a chance to win a pair of tickets to The Acoustic Aces.
www.greenville.edu/content/view/1790/38/
http://www.thesheldon.org/

Grammy's Recap

Sunday’s Grammy ceremony was seen by an estimated 19.1 million people. That’s about 2 million more viewers than last year’s show and its highest number in the past 5 years. M.I.A. performed even though she was due to give birth that day, Coldplay only won 4 of the 7 Grammys they were nominated for, Blink 182 is officially back together, and as usual the winner for album and record of the year goes to a surprising odd couple, Led Zepplen’s Robert Plant and bluegrass/country icon Allison Krauss. But the biggest talk of the night and the days following were about two people who weren’t even present for the awards show. Chris Brown and girlfriend Rihanna who were both supposed to perform separate songs that night were no-shows, due to Brown allegedly physically assaulting Rihanna after the Clive Davis Pre-Grammy party the night before the big show. Justin Timberlake, Al Green, Keith Urban and Boyz II Men stepped in to fill their spots.

So Many...What?

- London Novak

This weekend I had the blissful and extraordinary privilege to attend two events that weaved into each other. The first was watching one of my favorite bands twice and the second was getting the chance to interview them: So Many Dynamos from St. Louis. On Friday they performed with GC’s own The Pragmatic at Off Broadway and on Saturday performing again at the Billiken Club this time without The Pragmatic, both in St. Louis.

The band is made up of four members, Clayton who’s the percussionist, Griffin and Ryan who rock out on guitar and sing, and Aaron who does the lead singing and keyboarding. However, this isn’t the kind of band when watching them seems like there are four members acting separately, trying to outdo the other, but working together as one. This is something I feel like some bands who make it to the “big time” forget to do. When I asked who came up with the lyrics, they told me that it was a collaborative effort that usually took a pretty long time. Because it’s not dependent on one person, if somebody feels uneasy about a certain stanza, then it is reworked until that member is content. That is, of course, if there is no time crunch involved.

Starting out as little tykes who just played music, they decided to start a band while Clayton was still in high school. Soon after, in 2003, they put out their first single, Are We Not Drawn Onward to New Ear?, produced by Ambivalent Records. Within the next year, they put out their first full-length album titled When I Explode. It was during this time that Ryan and Griffin, who were attending college for jazz music, decided to drop out to focus more on the band. Their parents’ weren’t at all thrilled, but were still very supportive in whatever their sons were doing. Their parents still support everything they’re doing, so much in fact, that Ryan’s parents came to the show on Saturday to pinch and kiss his cheek for good luck.

Influenced by Weezer, Talking Heads, Radiohead, and DeathCab, the band has worked hard to come up with their own sound, and have done so quite successfully. Griffin told me, “I think we’re more self-aware of our strengths and weaknesses. We’ve made a lot of mistakes, and it’s not that they were wrong, but they helped us gain our balance.” When I asked how they’ve progressed as a band, they looked around at each other not knowing where to start. “When we first started, we tried having a sound that was somebody else, and it took us awhile to get out of that stage and find who we were and what we wanted,” told Ryan.

Listening to S.M.D. is like a dropkick of ecstasy to the ears while adrenaline lines every crevice of your body. When they play, you could just feel the good vibes excreting from them and penetrating the audience. Watching them is just as exciting because they’re totally into the music. In fact, there’s not too much that they do that doesn’t revolve around playing music. They have two other bands, one being a Weezer cover band In the Garage and Thor Axe which is a seven member instrumental band. Besides watching some T.V. shows (Lost, Dexter, Flight of the Concords), having the occasional potluck with some friends, and catching up on current news by listening to public radio, music has proven to take over the majority of their time.

One of the last questions I asked was what they wanted to be when they were ‘little’. I knew this question didn’t have too much to do with them and the band, but it was asked only for the sake of humor, and some of the responses I received were pretty funny. Griffin always wanted to be a diehard guitarist, while Ryan wanted to be a famous baseball player until 12 when he wanted to play music. Clayton’s answer was quite interesting being that he wanted to be either a marine biologist or a private investigator. Who knows, maybe he could’ve been they guy to uncover the Blagojevich scandal. Then that leaves us Aaron who wanted to be ‘the nerd of my dreams’, it was beautiful. Seriously.

Thus concluded our interview and I bought the boys their promised sodas which they extremely enjoyed before they went on to play. All in all, it was a great weekend for me and all their fans who will continue to cheer the group on. Rock on, boys. Rock on.

You can check out So Many Dynamos and The Pragmatic’s performances from Off Broadway at www.papyrusartsandpopculture.blogspot.com

www.myspace.com/somanydynamos

Blackroom Cafe is Back!

-Lucas Harger

When the Blackroom Café opened last semester with the first performance by Steph Plant, no one was aware of what the response to the Blackroom Café would be. However, students shared the feeling that singer/songwriter acoustic artists had a lack of opportunity to perform on campus. The gaping hole of an acoustic outlet seemed in direct contradiction to the obvious plethora of acoustic artists around the Greenville area. It was soon apparent that the Blackroom Café might gain enough momentum to last for a semester. Needless to say, on opening night Steph Plant was a perfect paradoxical mixture of uplifting and heart wrenching lyrics and the performance was sure to bring people back the following Tuesday night.

From that week on, the Blackroom Cafe proceeded to feature artists from Greenville campus, such as Johannah Swank, Kelly Latimore, and Caitlin Macri, as well as a recoding singer/songwriter from Nashville, JJ Heller. The Blackroom Café continued to mold, take form, and turn slowly into a consistent intimate stage for artists.

The "Blackroom Café Live" album was put out as a result of the overwhelming positive feedback received from the student body that attended. This album includes three campus artists: Kelly Latimore, Johannah Swank and Steph Plant. The CD features five songs that were all performed live in the Blackroom Cafe. The album was sold for $5.00 and I heard nothing but positive feedback from everyone I had conversation with about the album.

As the new semester begins, the Blackroom Café is getting ready for another semester of great music. The idea of this venue is to provide a place where singer/songwriters have an opportunity to perform and grow while providing the opportunity for the audience to take part in shaping the acoustic folk atmosphere that is evident in the Blackroom Cafe.

Tuesday February 10th, at 9:00 PM, the campus folk band, Ellery Grange, will play and it is sure to be a great night. If you have any questions or comments about Blackroom Café or fall into the category of acoustic, folk, or singer/songwriter and would like to perform, email Lucas Harger at blackroomcafe@gmail.com.

Dirty Roots at GC

- Megan Garrison

Bored on Thursday nights and need something to do? Tune in to the Dirty Roots show hosted by Ryan Mifflin on WGRN 89.5 from 8:00 to 10:00pm. This show combines numerous music styles such as renegade country, raw blues, vintage gospel, greasy soul, punk, funk, and reggae and features artists such as Johnny Cash, Bob Dylan, The Blind Boys of Alabama, Hank Williams, and many more.

According to Mifflin, his show combines “roots music” with “a healthy dose of revolution and change-the-world attitude” as well as his own thoughts and interaction with his listeners. Mifflin’s idea of “revolution” came about from he and his wife’s college ministry, Wired, at the First Christian Church. Most of the discussions in the class have been about different ways to positively impact the world and “truly make a difference.” This concept, along with Mifflin’s radio background brought the show to what it is today.

Mifflin has been hosting the Dirty Roots show at WGRN for three years, but he has had many experiences in radio including his time as a student at Greenville College. During his sophomore year at Greenville, Mifflin teamed up with a friend, Kris Dothager, to host the Kriff-and-Miff Radio Hour for a semester. The following year, Mifflin started to host his own show, The Miff Till Midnight Show, which continued for two years. Following college, Mifflin worked as the Assistant Program Director and Morning Show Producer at 93.7 KSD in St. Louis. He also had experience at the local radio station, WGEL, which he began working with when he was a senior in high school. These experiences, along with his love of music, have encouraged him to continue hosting radio shows at Greenville College.

Mifflin believes that his show is not only about just the music, but feels that it has “grown into something more, something that allows listeners to be involved and have an active role.” In the future, Mifflin plans to allow the listeners to become even more involved and is also planning on setting up a community-based webpage called “Dirty Roots Revolution” which will allow listeners to play an even more active role in making a difference in the world. Listeners can contact the Dirty Roots Show via email at dirtyroots@rocketmail.com. Keep an ear and eye out for the up and coming Dirty Roots Revolution webpage.

Movin On Up!

- London Novak

For some reason, every time I think of The Pragmatic, I have the Movin’ On Up theme song from The Jeffersons running through my head. You might ask why I would have such a song in my mind, but it’s pretty obvious if you’ve ever heard the band.
Members of The Pragmatic include both recently graduated Greenville alumni (Andre Anjos, Liz Anjos and Karl Kling) and current students ready to kiss this school goodbye (Jonathon Goldstein and Jeremiah Clark), have been working hard to make a name for themselves while trying to live exciting lives or finishing school. This past weekend they played at Off Broadway in St. Louis. They were asked to perform the opening act for So Many Dynamos. It was amazing to see them up on stage jumping and getting excited to their music just as the crowd was doing.
There were many people there for So Many Dynamos, but they all seemed very enthused for the opening band. As Caitlin Tadlock and I were near the front dancing our butts off, I looked around and saw some people dancing as well as others listening and bobbing their heads to the new sound. The show definitely went over as a major success.
“It’s really exciting to be playing with all these bands that have such prestige behind their names, and whenever they come up to us and say that they enjoy our music and want us to play with them…well, that’s just mind-blowing,” says lead singer Karl Kling.
The Pragmatic recently played with The Faint at The Pageant in St. Louis right before Christmas break started. This past weekend they played with Cordivae and So Many Dynamos. Near the end of March, they plan on playing their most exciting show yet with Anathallo at a new venue that is not yet finished called The Luminary. The show will be the first played in the venue, so be sure to come out and support the band.

www.myspace.com/thepragmatic

"What a Bunch of Fools We Lovers Are..."

- Kara Wenthe

It’s February, a month occupied with lovers exchanging candy hearts, cupids’ arrows, chocolates, homemade doily-cards, condoms, etc. Fools, I say. Consumer whores who still don’t know what love means. I promise I’m not speaking from bitterness, here. I honestly believe the holiday to be a capitalist invention to boost the economy, and I know I am not alone in that belief.

But what is there to do on the day following the fourteenth, built-up and disappointing, unfulfilling day of cliché romance, St. Valentine’s day? Regret? Remorse?

Look beyond the splendour of pink and red décor to find hope in the heartache. Lonelies, singles, recently released, or still hitched: La Dispute is coming. Myspace description: Blues/Soul group from Grand Rapids, Michigan will be stopping by Greenville the Sunday after Valentine’s Day. Their lyrics: epic. Their beats: beautiful.

Jordan, Brad, Chad, Kevin, and Adam will be performing for fools and lovers in the basement of St. Paul’s alongside Nate Henricks & the Lost Boys, Anchors and Greenville’s own Dressed to Kill. Bring yourself, your new girlfriend, your box of chocolates, and five dollars to St. Paul’s at 6pm Sunday, February 15^th. Oh, and Happy St. Valentine’s day!

Righteous Jams at St. Paul's

Before GC let out for Christmas break, Eagle Scout played along with Yours For Mine, Wind and Sail, Virgins and Of Kites and Cars.
The Following are clips of Eagle Scout's Performance.





www.myspace.com/yoursformine
www.myspace.com/eaglescoutmusic

The Pragmatic and Somanydynamos play at Off Broadway

Friday January 30th, Corvidae, The Pragmatic and somanydynamos played in St. Louis at Off Broadway.
The Pragmatic



somanydynamos

www.myspace.com/thepragmatic
www.myspace.com/somanydynamos

Bolt - Movie Review

Caitlin Tadlock

Child actor turned singer Jenny Lewis lends her voice to the soundtrack of the recently-released Disney film Bolt, starring Miley Cyrus and John Travolta. Bolt (Travolta) is an actor dog unable to distinguish television from reality. Lewis said she immediately related to Bolt, being a Hollywood actress at a young age herself.

Lewis wrote a few songs while on tour with Rilo Kiley for the film. Only one made it to the soundtrack, Barking at the Moon. She said that, even though she could relate somewhat to the dog, writing songs for the film was a tough task since she is used to writing songs with some “dark perspective.” She didn’t want to “ruin the children” later on with her song, so she wrote it upbeat and positive instead. They picked I Thought I Lost You, co-written by Cyrus, as the title-track. The song features Cyrus and Travolta singing a duet. Cyrus’ song is listed as a presumptive favorite in the Oscar category Best Original Song. The song is up against other Disney films of the year, including WALL-E and High School Musical 3: Senior Year.
The 3D Disney picture has been out for a few weeks, filled with action and cute as-a-button animals including a slew of cock-eyed pigeons. Bolt escapes his Hollywood set to find Penny (Cyrus), his owner, who he believes is in danger. The dog thinks he is the genetically enhanced super dog he portrays on a TV show. He accidentally gets shipped to New York and realizes his super powers do no good in the unfamiliar land.

Bolt makes a few friends a long the way. Mittens the alley cat and Rhino the fanatic hamster both team up with Bolt and use their combined non-super hero talents to make their way back to LA. The basic story line of the movie isn’t different from many other Disney films. Although there is no real villain in the story, the animals must overcome their own state of mind instead of fighting the bad guys.
Bolt is full of funny and exciting parts and adding 3D to the picture makes it even better. Watching it in 3D lets us enjoy the movie’s detailed animation and the textures of everything from the sidewalks to the space inside the hamster ball in the film. The beginning gives a lot of action sequences to really appreciate the 3D experience. The film has grossed 79 million dollars in the past 3 weeks and will still be in theatres throughout the holidays. Not all theatres offer Bolt in 3D, so make sure you find a theater that does offer the goodness.

Critical Mass Hits Black Friday

- Dav Timm

A good 300 people or so turned out in mid-20's weather at Chicago’s Daley Plaza on November 28th for Critical Mass. For those unfamiliar, Critical Mass is a bike ride that takes place on the last Friday of every month in cities all over the world. According to the unofficial Chicago Critical Mass website, “a Critical Mass is created when the group of riders comes together for a few hours to take back the streets of our city.” This was my second Mass – I rode in it last year on Halloween. This year my friends Dave and Josh joined me, and although there weren’t quite 5000 riders like there was last October, we formed quite a bike army and partied through the streets of Chicago.
Because this was the Friday after Thanksgiving (Black Friday), it was the biggest shopping day of the year and folks were out in droves doing their holiday shopping downtown. We rode through downtown, hooting, hollering, and wishing everyone we passed a “HAPPY FRIDAY!” After that we rode north through Wicker Park toward uptown, massing up in six-point intersections along the way. We rallied every time we passed under a bridge or whenever a motorist would get impatient and honk.
Although some people claim that Critical Mass is a movement to promote a certain political agenda, it really has no official stance on bicycling issues. Rather, it is a great way to have fun and meet other cyclists while exercising our right to assemble. We saw a lot of sick bikes and met some cool people, and even when the ride ended, we had a good time riding through the streets by ourselves. We’ll definitely be heading up to Chicago many times in the future to participate in Mass again, so if you’d like to give it a shot, let me know.

GC Student Art Show

GC Student Art SHow

- Tara Wepking

Students gathered in the Maves Art Center on December 9th to view an art show with work by the Independent Studio, Advanced Studio, and Digital Video II classes.

Students Joel Bannister, Curtis Blackwell, Katie Bodgdanowicz, Lydie Borah, Keith Davis, Joey Graves, Richie Hedges, Nate Henricks, Dennis Ison, Karl Kling, Sarah Miller, Steph Plant, Hayley Sutton, Tara Underwood, Deylnn VanValin, Kara Wenthe, and Jennifer Zeola all displayed their art throughout the course of the night.

Karl Kling and Nate Henricks filled the basement of the Art Center with sweet tunes as students wandered through the exhibits, indulging in sweet treats while feasting their eyes on the sweet sights all around them.

For those displaying their work, it was a chance to unveil the art they'd been slaving over for months. "You spend so much of your time down in these studios, or taking pictures or anything,” said Junior Hayley Sutton. “Night after night, spending countless hours, and not many people from the school get to see what you're doing. You just have to wait for your senior show. So it was really great for everyone to get to show their studios, to show where we work or what we've been working on."

Those sleepless nights did not pass by unnoticed—students looking through the exhibit were thoroughly impressed by their efforts. "I thought it was really fascinating. It was cool to see how creative and talented those people were," Caleb Romoser said. "It was great to see projects they've been working on for so long and to see how they presented it as their own."

Role Models - Movie Review

Role Models

Thomas C. Johnson

This is my last review of the year. I will be traveling to England next semester to study, and while I may turn up from time to time to share some thoughts with you, someone else will be telling you what to think about the movies that come to The Globe.

Role Models was everything you can expect from a movie by Seann William Scott, whom you probably know as Stifler from the American Pie films. Lots of sex and some good humor. Wheeler (Scott) and Danny Donahue (Paul Rudd) work for an energy drink company. Wheeler is a party animal and loves his job as the dancing, costumed mascot for Minotaur Energy Drinks. Danny, though, sees the job as “Selling poison to kids,” and is in the throes of a mid-life crisis. When Danny 'snaps' and runs the company truck into school property, he and Wheeler are sentenced to community service.

Their hours are to be worked off as big-brother figures in a mentoring program. Here the story moves beyond the party/sex comedy Wheeler plays out with his kid Ronnie (Bobb'e J. Thompson), as Danny and Augie (Christopher Mintz-Plasse) form a meaningful relationship, each helping the other cope with the difficulties of life. Danny learns to find meaning in supporting Augie in his strange obsession: Augie has redefined himself within a culture of Live Action Role Players, something like D&D-meets-Medieval-Times.

Despite the vulgarity and unnecessary nudity, seeing Role Models was an overall positive experience. Though it might be awkward to see with your parents, and I wouldn't bring any young siblings to it, it'd probably make a good night out with friends.

Thanks for reading my reviews! Have a great Christmas and a great next semester!

Dav and Dave's Fav's of 2008

Dav & Dave’s Favs of 2008

The year is rapidly coming to a close, and you’ve probably been seeing plenty of year-end lists that highlight the bests of 2008. While these lists are sometimes insightful, they’re too often biased and incomprehensive. So when we were asked to make a list of our favs of 2008, rather than give you a top ten list, we opted to offer you our perspective on some of our favorite things of this year.

Music Videos

2008 showed us some of the most creative, weird, and awesome music videos we’ve seen to date. Our favorite was “Black Mirror” by Arcade Fire. It’s interactive: you can toggle with the audio by pressing 1-6 on your keyboard. This video kept us entertained for hours. Check it out at rorrimkcalb.com. Interactive videos were a trend this year, too. One of the best new bands of 2008, MGMT, put out an interactive video game for their song “Electric Feel” that you can download for free at whoismgmt.com/efvideo. Two other crazy videos this year are Grizzly Bear’s “Knife” and Bjork’s “Wanderlust”, which both featured a technique that used a hybrid of live action and claymation footage.

Road Trips

You’ve been thinking about doing it for a while, but the right time just hasn’t come. Well we decided that the time was right this past Thanksgiving and rented a big cargo van. We filled it with couches, pillows, lots of snacks, bikes, and a full tank of gas and set out for Canada. We won’t bore you with our account of this stellar trip, but we will say that this has been the year for road trips. Between the two of us we’ve been to North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Ontario, Indiana, Oklahoma, Georgia, Florida and multiple tours throughout Illinois including a host of stays in Chicago. Gas prices are low, so now is the time to travel, when you’re young, adventurous, and willing and able to spend a lot of hours in a car.

Riding Bikes

If you’ve read many of our previous columns in the pap, you probably know we’re avid bike-riders and fixie enthusiasts. Being broke and not wanting to pay for gas, we were encouraged to adopt bicycling as a means of transportation as well as a hobby. We’ve discovered that bikes are simple machines that don’t require a ton of mechanical knowledge to work on, but we’ve also tried our hand experimenting with building and altering bikes. Most of all, we’ve enjoyed riding around Greenville and other places (see Dav’s article on Critical Mass) because it’s fun, even when it’s cold out.

Dav & Dave’s 2008 Playlist

We’ll leave you with a playlist of what we’ve been listening to this year. We’re not claiming that these are the best songs of 2008, but we liked them and our ears heard them quite a bit.

1. We Are Rockstars – Does it Offend You, Yeah?
2. Electric Feel – MGMT
3. Ragged Wood – Fleet Foxes
4. The River – Anathallo
5. The Ave – Blue Scholars
6. Flume – Bon Iver
7. No One Does It Like You – Department of Eagles
8. Fools – The Dodos
9. Run To Your Grave – The Mae Shi
10. The Hollows – WHY?
11. Set It Off – Girl Talk
12. Moses of the South – Colour Revolt
13. Sec Walkin’ – My Morning Jacket
14. Inni mer syngur vitleysingur – Sigur Ros
15. So He Won’t Break – The Black Keys

Christmas Time

Jakob Lewis, Steph Plant, Catherine Burns, Mark from Cool Hand Luke and more played in Ladue before Christmas break.
This is a performance from Jakob Lewis, Catherine Burns and Steph Plant.


www.myspace.com/jakoblewismusic
www.myspace.com/stephplantmusic
www.myspace.com/therealcoolhandluke