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The Student News Site of Northern Illinois University

Northern Star
The Student News Site of Northern Illinois University

Northern Star

Kasabian

By Evan Thorne | October 2, 2006

There are few cooler dance singles than last year's "Club Foot," Kasabian's breakout song. Blending dance grooves with swaggering Brit-rock, "Kasabian" was a mixed bag, but enjoyable overall. On the follow-up, "Empire," the boys seem to have run completely...

Wall of Sound

October 2, 2006

DJ Shadow"The Outsider" The Northern Star . . . . . . . . D+PopMatters . . . . . . 7 out of 10 Tiny Mix Tapes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 out of 5 Kasabian"Empire" The Northern Star . . . . . . . . C+NME . . . . ....

Ben Kweller

By Adrian Finiak | October 2, 2006

-Ben Kweller has grown up.

The 23-year-old earned an honorable mention in a Billboard Magazine songwriting contest at age 9, fronted the band Radish at 16 and finally has grown into the shoes he wanted us to walk in on 2002's "Sha Sha."

His third solo release, "On My Way," distances himself from the routine Ben Folds and Rivers Cuomo comparisons. No longer are songs comprised of either jangley piano or crunching guitars — trademarks of Folds and Weezer. Songs have traces of both, but they are sparse.

The roots of "On My Way" reach even further back. The track "Living Life" is eerily familiar to Elton John's "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road." The opening riff of "My Apartment" could be mistaken for The Beatles' "Two Of Us." The song "Hospital Bed" has the most Liverpudlian moments. The guitars during the chorus resemble "Birthday," the bass line mimics the piano from "All You Need Is Love" and Kweller even tries the occasional Paul McCartney impression.

Despite a few lifted instances, the 45 minutes are refreshing.

His predictably juvenile lyrics have been replaced by age-appropriate questions regarding his recent marriage, the restraints of non-stop tours and the inevitable task of coming to grips with success. Kweller is a master at masking productivity with a naturally lethargic demeanor. If you didn't know better, the stylishly sloppy vocals would seem accidental.

Once a child prodigy with endless potential, Kweller has become a bona fide songwriter by embracing various song structures, instrumentation and vocal arrangements.

Saying BK is "on his way" is cliche and a terrible pun. But isn't rock ‘n' roll just one big cliche?

DJ Shadow

By Evan Thorne | October 2, 2006

DJ Shadow single-handedly rewrote the book on what a DJ was capable of. His 1996 release, "Entroducing," mixed elements of rock, jazz, soul and funk with electronic and ambient music, making one of the most mind-blowing albums the genre has ever seen....

Mastadon

By Keith Beebe | October 2, 2006

Mastodon's third album is a vicious slab of metal that intends to crush all that cower. To get an idea of what "Blood Mountain" is all about, imagine what it would have sounded like if cavemen had invented guitars and drums instead of the wheel. It's...

Too much plot, too little fighting

By Christopher Schimmel | October 1, 2006

"Jet Li's Fearless" is the story of Huo Yuanjia (Jet Li), founder of the Jin Wu Sports Federation. This movie shows Yuanjia's lust for being a champion fighter, which started with his first defeat as a small child. The defeat causes the main character...

Star-studded cast doesn’t deliver on film’s potential

By Stacie Wieland | October 1, 2006

"All the King's Men" is based on Robert Penn Warren's 1946 novel of the same name. It tells the story of Willie Stark (Sean Penn) — a man with ideals who dreams of a life where the government will work for the good of the people and not toward its own...

‘Jackass’ sequel ups the absurdity

By Paul Giuntoli | October 1, 2006

"There will be pain," the tag-line for the two "Saw" films, is a more appropriate tag-line for the "Jackass" movies. The sequel to "Jackass The Movie" has more extreme violence, extreme vulgarity and objects inserted into people's bodies. There is more...

Program in good jazz hands

By Evan Thorne | September 28, 2006

DeKALB | Ron Carter has been the director of NIU's jazz program for more than a decade. Before that, he taught in East St. Louis for 18 years. On top of that, he has logged time as a professional jazz saxophonist, clarinetist, flautist and vocalist. The...

Opera workshop at School of Music

By Stacie Wieland | September 28, 2006

DeKALB | The School of Music will hold its Opera Workshop in the Music Building's Recital Hall at 6:30 p.m. and 8 p.m. on Oct. 10. This class will focus on the performance aspect of musical theater. It is free and open to the public. "It is a chance for...

All famous alumni have to start somewhere.

September 28, 2006

Take a look at one of NIU's most notable Huskies, and a few current students who share a similar DeKalb path. Could they be next? Robert Zemeckis The man behind film such as "Back to the Future," "Cast Away," "Forrest Gump" and "Romancing The Stone" studied...

Museum furthers introspection

By David Rauch | September 27, 2006

The original full-sized cast of Rodin's "Thinker" sits alone atop a stone pedestal, towering over Paris from a cold and solid stoop. When one stands under "The Thinker," it towers over everything. It is one of the only works in the garden surrounding...

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