Enjoy the Summer

Greenville College is pretty much closed for the summer, unless you are working paint crew or clean up dump. This is it for local stuff! But we'll still be around for other things...

Varsity Art XIV (Art St. Louis)

This weekend, Art St. Louis will be presenting the 14^th annual exhibition of Varsity Art. The exhibit features art created by students from 19 different colleges in Illinois and Missouri. One to two students are chosen from each school to present pieces of different media. This year, Greenville College was chosen to select two art students to participate in this exhibition. Our recently graduated Tara Underwood and talented Hayley Sutton, both Art Majors, will be showing off their work. The opening reception starts at 6 pm this Saturday , February 27, and is open until 8 pm. Come out to support our art students and see some excellent art from other universities! The show will be open until March 11 for all to see and is located on Washington Avenue in St. Louis.

Superman Breaks Record

On Wednesday, Feb 22, the original first edition Superman comic—said to be the holy grail of comic books—sold for $1 million. Released in 1938 by Action Comics, the publication features Superman lifting cars, and originally selling for 10 cents a copy. Not only is this transaction significant for its rarity, but it also sets a new record for the highest price paid for a comic book (previous record stood at $317,000). Almost immediately after the comic was placed on comicconnect.com, a collector placed the offer of $1 million for the comic, which rated an 8.0 for its optimal condition. Collectors claim an opportunity like this comes around only once every twenty years. So until 2030—faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful than a locomotive, able to leap tall buildings in a single bound, it’s a bird, it’s a plane—it’s Superman!

The Golden Archipelago

-Joshua Witchger

The music of the Austin based group Shearwater excels in evolutionary manner. Over an eleven-year stretch, their vision continues to unfold into something deeper and more refined than before. With help from the New York Times and NPR, the group’s 2008 release earned them wider attention, as Rook was praised one of the year’s best albums. The sextet’s newest release, The Golden Archipelago, is no exception to the group’s genius.

In The Golden Archipelago (i.e. The Golden Islands), solemn and haunting music expresses wonder, bewilderment, and grief, towards some of the world’s most isolated and “on the edge” landscapes. Front man Jonathan Meiburg, who spent time in various islands as an ornithology grad student, uses his experience with biology and ecology as the main content of The Golden Archipelago. Themes of nature, wonder, and anguish, dominate as the group praises and laments nature through their signature sound. While not explicitly a concept album, the motif of man’s impact on nature and subsequent loss of identity lingers through nearly every track, compelling the listener to contemplate along with Meiburg.

Beginning the album is a recording of aborigine Bikinains chanting their struggle against globalization. According to The Golden Archipelago’s 52 page booklet, the Bikinains have been exiled to a nearby area, while their homeland is used as a testing ground for advancing weapons of war. Their plea translates to, “No longer can I stay it's true/ no longer can I live in peace and harmony/ no longer can I rest on my sleeping pillow/ because of my island and the life I once knew there.” Quickly after this chant, Meiburg delves into metaphor, comparing the echoes of crashing waves to the reverberation of memories from a former life.

At times, Meiburg’s lyrics seem less like 21^st century song material, and more like naturalistic rhetoric from the Enlightenment era. In “God Made Me,” Meiburg seems to yearn with the outcast aborigines pleading, “we call back to the old familiar life… unchain me… I am life breathed in the radiant lie.” Then later in “Runners of the Earth,” the vastness of land and sea is explored further, ending with the line, “I learned a lie that power breeds/ regeneration.”

Finally, the singer takes on the persona of the outcast in singing lines in their native tongue, translated to mean, “The thought is overwhelming/ rendering me helpless and in great despair.”

The whole of The Golden Archipelago swoons and strides in a seamless rhythm. String arrangements, piano, and malleted drums tie the album together perfectly, producing an almost dream-like quality. Excelling in educated lyrical content, backed by music that suits their endeavor, the whole of the album succeeds. Certainly, one will be led to agree with Matador Records’ declaration that “Shearwater’s The Golden Archipelago is the band’s most absorbing and accomplished work to date.”

Show - Friday - Blackroom - 7:30

Up In The Air And Down To Earth

- Matt Stuttler

Jason Reitman’s Up in the Air is a depressing yet humorous look at the state of humanity in the current economic depression. Ryan Bingham, played by George Clooney, is employed by a company whose job is to do exactly what most corporations fear to do themselves: notify the company’s employees that they are fired. This occupation keeps Clooney in the air flying from city to city in order to perform his dirty deed most every day of the year. This means a life of hotel living, efficient traveling habits, and a general (yet clearly welcome) sense of isolation in Clooney’s life. His cycle of sky high living is interrupted by the introduction of two female characters: the first a fellow frequent flier that becomes a love interest Alex Goran (Vera Farmiga) and the second a recently graduated fresh face Natalie Keener ( Anna Kendrick) that tries to change the way Clooney’s company runs.

Based on a comic novel by Walter Kirn, the film analyzes Clooney’s character Ryan Bingham’s interaction with these two females. Bingham’s main conflict occurs when Natalie convinces the company’s director (Jason Bateman) to halt the flights of all employees, causing Bingham to feel utterly “grounded.” In one last desperate effort to maintain his flighty life, Bingham must take Natalie on his flights to show the need for his job. Up in the Air has dozens of scenes of people being fired by the protagonists, each one reacting in a different way. Some act on in anger, throwing things and threatening suicide while others simply weep. The deeper into the movie you go, the more empty the office buildings become due to the corporate downsizing. Bingham manages to console and even help some of these recently fired people into continuing on in their lives even without the stability of their former jobs.

The film itself is sadly beautiful, with hues of blues and sharp blacks protruding shot after gorgeous shot. Many scenes take place in airport terminals and office buildings, which are symbols of efficiency and business, but later become symbols of desperation and abandonment. Much of the film was shot in St Louis, so chosen by Jason Reitman because “…St. Louis has so many offices available to shoot in because all these companies have ceased to exist.” He went on to expound on why St Louis was the perfect choice for the majority of the filming, saying, “I love the extras in St. Louis. You know they're curious about the process, they love the process they are disappointed when the day ends. L.A. extras are disenchanted with the entire film business. But more importantly, it was a city that hadn't been shot by many movies and because of that I felt like I got to be one of the first to shoot a lot of locations and the people are lovely."

Another great part of Up in the Air is the realism it captures. Many of the minor characters were extras pulled off the street, and some of the firing scenes involved actual recently fired workers. Reitman had this to say about the process, “We put ads out in local papers in St. Louis and Detroit looking for people who had lost their job and were willing to go on camera and talk about their experience. From there we chose 60 people, 22 of which are… in the finished movie. They would come in sit at a table, we would interview them about what it's like to lose your job and be searching for purpose in this economy and we would fire them on camera.”

Up in the Air presents a realistic, slightly optimistic look into the current state of the US with both wit and satire. Be sure to check it out this weekend at the Globe Theatre!

Local Natives Release Strong Debut Album

By - Joshua Witchger

When I go to a show, I have a tendency to impose a prejudice upon bands I’ve never heard before; maybe it’s my inner cynic, but I’m often inclined to hesitate on the first listen. That's why this past summer, when Blind Pilot was two hours late for their performance in Pontiac, MI— due to complications getting through U.S. customs— I wasn't too enamored about the extended set the opening group, Local Natives, would be playing.

From the moment they took the stage, I immediately wrote them off as just another proverbial spoke in the fixed gear bicycle of indie rock. Perhaps my personal bias, mixed with a crowd that appeared to be unfamiliar with their music, was the cause for my initial lethargy towards their performance. After the first few songs, however, more and more people entered the venue. Applause grew, dancing intensified, and people’s unfamiliarity didn’t seem to inhibit a good time. This free spiritedness was contagious, and by the end of their set, Local Natives were a hit. Admittedly, I ended up enjoying their performance more than I thought I would.

Now, six months later, I’m just beginning to listen to the music of the Los Angeles rockers Local Natives. As a new name to the emerging scene of rock music, Local Natives stand out as an intelligently minded and energetic quintet. With catchy melodies, a high level of energy, and multiple part harmonies, the group takes on senses similar to Grizzly Bear, Fleet Foxes, and even Paper Route, while also adding unique elements all their own.

Without a substantial fan base in the U.S., Local Natives ironically released their debut album Gorilla Manor in Europe back in November. Recently, however, the group was picked up by US label Frenchkiss, which released an expanded version of Gorilla Manor on February 16.

Despite US obscurity, their debut album is a praise-worthy enterprise, full of songs that grow. Local Natives have a knack for building powerful melodies from simple progressions, heightened by the clicks and clacks of energy-packed percussion. Through carefully constructed pop melodies, vocal harmonies, and even down tempo transitions, Gorilla Manor is music that capitalizes in exhorting joyous energy, yet still leaving adequate room for songs to breathe.

Besides an intelligent musical styling, Gorilla Manor is a lyrical journey. “Sun Hands,” one of the album openers, dives into a hopeful quest, centering on the oft-repeated chorus, “I’ll endure the night/ for the promise of light.” Combining lead guitar melodies with lively percussion, the melody heightens as the group shouts “And when I can’t feel with my sun hands, I’ll promise not to lose her again.” As the song culminates into a heavy rendition of the original guitar melody, it slows down, easing into a milder outro.

Another stand-out track, “Airplane,” opens on howling sounds, suddenly taking turns from loud to soft, as the singer recalls the memory of a friend, “I love it all/ I want you back.” As the song progresses, his voice seems to accept his friend’s fate while still remaining hopeful, singing, “I bet when I leave my body for the sky, the wait will be worth it.”

With a host of memorable lyrics, catchy pop hooks, and sporadic bursts of percussion, Gorilla Manor is a giant step in the band’s very young career. With the music of Local Natives finally releasing in their home country, give Local Natives some support and check out their new album Gorilla Manor. They’ve also got a great video cover of Simon & Garfunkel’s “Cecelia” on Youtube.