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Express Yourself: A Northern Star project
The Student News Site of Northern Illinois University

Northern Star
The Student News Site of Northern Illinois University

Northern Star

Midwesterner has taste for Asian life

By Greg Feltes | February 20, 2003

Susan Russell loves a good mystery. However, the director of the Center for Southeast Asian Studies and anthropology professor does not enjoy the mystery surrounding the existence of her center and what it actually does. "We struggle all the time to make...

Unwritten Law

By Casey Toner | February 20, 2003

Did Unwritten Law need to release an acoustic album to show how big of a wuss it already is?

If you needed any further proof of this, take a glance at the insert. The five members of Unwritten Law are playing in the mountains with their acoustic instruments. Two of the members are wearing sunglasses and the drummer has his full drum set - in the mountains.

Kurt Cobain, Axl Rose, Keith Moon or some dead icon of rock 'n' roll better re-animate and slap off the introspection that graces their pretty, pretty faces.

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All right, now that the petty image issue is out of the way, let's discuss the meat and potatoes of this album that follows in the footsteps of Howie Day, John Mayer and any other preppy pansy that plays an acoustic axe. Not to say that it's all bad, it's actually decent.

Lead singer Scott Russo has throaty, poppy vocals, kind of like Jets To Brazil ... if they ran into Linkin Park.

Soothing is a word to describe Unwritten Law's "Music In High Places."

Even "Blame It On Me," a song that's propelled by angry lyrics (There's black lies/ fake cries/ she's got this bag filled with sentimental lies) and an aggressive swing bass line, is angry, yet reserved.

Unwritten Law's acoustic album is lackluster. When Eric Clapton recorded "Unplugged," the result is arguably the best disc in his catalog. Bob Dylan's switch from acoustic to electric took the industry by storm.

"Music In High Places," unlike Clapton and Dylan, is nothing spectacular in the field of guitar work, except for the occasional solo or fill-in, which makes "Cailin" and most of the CD tolerable.

Many of the songs are recycled. "Music in High Places" is composed of 11 tracks, four of them from Unwritten Law's "Elva."

I never listened to "Elva," but this, I imagine, is a fine compliment to it. Not entirely bad, not entirely good, but entirely mediocre.

Fewer employers recruit at fair

By Jessica King | February 20, 2003

Dressed in business attire, Kamakshi Nemmaluri waited in line for an interview at the NIU Internship Career Fair. The computer science graduate student said she was not nervous at all. "Most of the people here are marketing executives who just pass our...

‘Daredevil’

By Casey Toner | February 20, 2003

"Daredevil," the story of a blind superhero's quest for vengeance, is a bad movie for the following reasons: 1) Ben Affleck is not Daredevil anymore than George Clooney is Batman. Affleck, who might not pride himself on having both the sexual charm of...

Rush

By Mike Larmon | February 20, 2003

Rush, you either love 'em or you hate 'em. If you love ‘em, you can now pick up all their greatest hits on one CD. "The Spirit of Radio," a collection of Rush's greatest hits so you can "rush" out to the store to pick it up. Yeah, I said "rush" out...

Individual experiences are defining

By Michael Klaas | February 20, 2003

Students, staff and faculty debated how to enhance diversity on campus Wednesday afternoon. NIU’s Affirmative Action and Diversity Resources (AADR) office hosted the dialogue. The program, titled "Collective Stories and Cultural Experiences," included...

War protesters to walk out

By Linda Luk | February 20, 2003

The Northern Coalition for Peace and Justice plans to make a statement once war has been declared by walking out of class in the afternoon. "We are planning this walk-out because public demonstration is one of the most public ways to get the message out,"...

Further Seems Forever

By Jessica King | February 20, 2003

Despite suffering lineup changes, emo fivesome Further Seems Forever hits a strong note with "How to Start a Fire," the band's second LP. Jason Gleason replaced Chris Carrabba, of Dashboard Confessional fame, as the vocalist, and Derick Cordoba replaced...

Style hits the runway

By Linda Luk | February 20, 2003

The Afrocentric Fashion Show will provide a taste of Africa and a touch of African style. The Present Perfect Modeling Organization will sponsor their 15th annual Afrocentric Fashion Show at 8 p.m. today at the Holmes Student Center’s Duke Ellington...

Open Barn

By Andrew Smith | February 20, 2003

The building that once housed Fat Boy's finally reopens its doors next week. The Barn, a new restaurant/bar that moved into the building located at 1215 Blackhawk Road, will open for business Monday. It will provide a new atmosphere to DeKalb's nightlife...

Greeks host SA forum

By Nick Swedberg | February 20, 2003

The Panhellenic Council and the Interfraternity Council held their President’s Council meeting Wednesday night featuring SA executive election candidates as guest speakers. Presidential candidates Shaun Crisler and Eric Youngquist, as well as student...

Weekender interviews Andrew WK about partying, partying and partying

By Casey Toner | February 20, 2003

After a miscommunication with Andrew WK's management, the Weekender finally was able to get hold of the man who is set to rock the Holmes Student Center's Duke Ellington Ballroom. His show starts at 7 p.m. Friday with The Lawrence Arms and Infrared opening....

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