Northern Star

‘Chicago’

By Andrew Duff | February 20, 2003

For anyone who has wanted to see a Broadway musical but never had the time or money to go, "Chicago" offers an excellent substitute. Filled with catchy show tunes, confident actors and mesmerizing dance numbers, "Chicago" brings the musical, and a far-removed...

21 students to attend ‘wild, wild’ conference

By Shivangi Potdar | February 20, 2003

Twenty-one NIU students will be leaving for the Illinois Residence Hall Association’s annual conference at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign campus this Friday. The theme of this year’s three-day conference, being attended by 14 Illinois...

Meet Andrew WK

By Jeff Goluszka | February 20, 2003

Those excited for the Andrew WK concert Friday now have a better way to spend their time after the show. Campus Activities Board is giving away a chance to meet the heavy metal artist after Friday’s concert. The winner of the grand prize will receive...

Time to mix up for the dance kids

By Kim Krichbaum | February 20, 2003

Otto's Niteclub will be spinning come Saturday. Digital Climax, a Chicago-native deejays show, and local talents will play at Otto's, 118 E. Lincoln Highway. It will be presented by the DeKalb Nightlife Association. Heading up the show is DJ 3D, a well-known...

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...

Breaking up is hard to do

By Bonny Beaman | February 19, 2003

The Counseling and Student Development Center wants to mend students’ broken hearts. Coping with Relationship Loss, a new discussion group intended to help students heal after losing romantic relationships, will begin March 21 and will end April 25....

Shining light on Greek Row

By Nick Swedberg | February 19, 2003

Darkness will dominate Greek Row no more. Members of the Phi Sigma Kappa fraternity joined the city of DeKalb employees in a "walk-around" Tuesday night examining the lighting on Greek Row. Ten Phi Sigma Kappa members expressed concern over specific areas...

U.S. Congress approves financial aid spending plan

By Jessica King | February 19, 2003

Vincent Hall knows financial aid can make or break an education. For the 2002-2003 school year, he was to receive a MAP award, but the award was withdrawn in August just before classes started. His initial reactions were shock and panic. Hall, a senior...

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