The Rice Thresher, Vol. 88, No. 23, Ed. 1 Friday, March 2, 2001 Page: 12 of 24
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THE RICE THRESHER ARTS * ENTERTAINMENT FRIDAY, MARCH 2. 2001
( \.\ I III, MOB III IS THE STL'PU):
KTRU to play Rice music
Robert Reichle
THRESHER EDITORIAL STAFF
KTRU has a reputation for play-
ing music by bands from all over
the world, but soon they'll begin
playing more music from inside
the hedges.
In an effort to create more
interaction between students and
the radio station, the DJs in
charge of KTRU are planning a
show that will focus exclusively
on Rice bands. The program will
feature songs from CDs recorded
by Rice bands and broadcasts of
live performances from on-cam-
pus venues.
According to incoming KTRU
Station Manager Ben Home, the
program will serve to show that
"while [the station] still serve[s]
the broader Houston community,
we are still interested in serving
students.
"Local music is great, and you
can't get more local than Rice,"
Home, a Wiess College junior,
said. Home is looking for sub-
missions from the 20 or so bands
that have at least one Rice stu-
dent as a member.
The details of the show are
still undecided, and the length
and frequency of the show will
depend on the number and qual-
ity of submissions. "This semes-
ter will be a trial thing, and maybe
in the future it will be a regular
event," Home said.
Last month, KTRU installed
feeds from Sammy's, Lyle's and
the Grand Hall, which has given
the station the capability to
broadcast events live from those
venues. However, Home said
KTRU will have to be selective
about which events to broad-
cast due to prior scheduling
constraints.
To submit material, students
can send their recordings to KTRU
via campus mail or deliver them
to the station on the second
floor of the Student Center.
Ol M.II ) COSTROI.
The best of Impressionism,
five minutes from campus
IMPRESSIONISTS, from Page 11
the personally expressive dimension
of his approach.
Other masterpieces in the main
section of the show include Camille
Pisarro's brilliantly glittering, har-
moniously multicolored "Morning
Sunlight on the Snow," "Eragny-sur-
Epte," Charles Francois Daubigny's
liquid, lurid "Chateau Gaillard at
Sunset" and Jean Francois Millet's
tender mother and child scene in
'End of the Hamlet of Gruchy."
The final section of the exhibi
tion shows Impressionism's matu-
ration and the diffusion of its innova-
tions into new styles and movements.
Two breathtaking paintings by
Monet round out the show's survey
of his career. In "Water Lily Pond,"
foliage, water and a Japanese-style
bridge rendered in vibrant colors
crowd the composition, letting in
just a small corner of violet sky.
"Morning on the Seine Near
Giverny" evokes the river at dawn in
smooth, muted mauves, lavenders,
grays and greens and filmy, almost
silhouetted shapes.
In both paintings, Monet has un-
bridled his emotional responses to
the subjects of his works and al-
lowed them to hold sway on his lib
eral interpretation of them in paint.
This section also shows the adop
tion of Impressionist techniques and
emphases in the work of Stanislas
Henri Jean Charles Cazin and Leon
Augustin Lhermitte. Paul Signac's
"View of the Seine at Herblay" shows
a divergence from Impressionism in
the use of pointillism and scientific
color theories. Finally, Van Gogh's
riotously colored, dynamic "Houses
at Auvers" and forcefully expressive
"Enclosed Field with Ploughman"
herald the rejection of the imper-
sonal remove of pure Impression-
ism in favor of personally expressive
styles.
While Monet, Renoir and the Im-
pressionist Landscape includes nu-
merous widely known works by
some of the most celebrated paint
ers in the history of art. it is not one
of those knockout shows composed
wholly of blockbusters that saturate
calendars and greeting cards.
Far from a deficiency, this ex
hibit gives museumgoers an oppor-
tunity to discover some of the tal
ented hut lesser known contempo-
raries of the big stars and a chance
to become more intimately ac-
quainted with the flurry of influences
on these artists.
INSTITUTE
OF READING
DEVELOPMENT
Summer Teaching Positions
$600 - 700/wk
Reading enrichment programs for children of all ages and
adults. These classes, offered throughout the Houston area
(and in other areas throughout Texas) under the sponsorship
of public and private universities, develop students' reading
comprehension and study skills; more significantly, they
emphasize the love of reading and reading for pleasure.
Graduate students and graduating seniors from any discipline
who love books and reading are eligible to apply. We are
seeking people with warmth, intellectual authority, and a
commitment to high personal standards. Previous teaching
experience (with adults or children) is valuable, though not
required. We provide a paid, comprehensive training
program to equip you for reading instruction. Car required.
1-888-964-0093
www.readingprograms.org
LAURA WIGINTON/THRF-SMER
Jon Spencer and his band jammed for over an hour at the Engine Room Monday night, letting loose the spirit of the
blues and rock 'n 'roll.
An honest-to-goodness blues explosion
Carly Kocurek
THRESHER EDITORIAL STAFF
They've said they don't like their
name, but in concert, the Jon Spen
cer Blues Explosion definitely lives
up to it.
on spencer
lues explosion
Feb. 26
Engine Room
When the New York City based
rock 'n' roll and blues band head
lined Monday's concert at the En
gine Room, they burst out of the
limitations of their albums and into
living color.
Laidback bluesman T Model Ford
opened. The set was enjoyable, but
many of Ford's songs seemed to go
on and on without going anywhere.
In spite of putting on a solid hour
of good old-fashioned blues, he suf
fered the fate of many opening acts,
earning the most applause when he
closed the set by yelling, "Goodnight
everybody, hope y'all enjoy your
selves."
Not being a huge fan of the Blues
Explosion, I expected to hear unmu
sical, "experimental" blues or some
other type of music that talentless
musicians promote as art. However,
after the band's seamless perfor
mance Monday night, I realize that
not only was I horribly wrong, but
that the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion
is a rock n' roll band unrivaled by its
contemporaries.
The Blues Explosion rushed onto
the stage with the raw energy usu
ally reserved for struggling up and
comers, local and regional bands
who know they have to make every
gig count no matter how much it
sucks. Bui the Blues Explosion isn't
struggling: Having released eight
albums since 1993, the band has
definitely established itself.
Without a bass, the band's two
guitar and drummer setup is un
usual, but the lack of bass doesn't
affect the music's richness. Both Jon
Spencer himself and the band's other
guitarist, Judah Bauer, had excel
lent solos throughout the show, and
drummer Russell Simins never
missed a beat.
The Blues Explosion's stage pres
ence projects the star power and
charisma that helped build older
bands like the Rolling Stones and
the Who. This is the kind of band
that inspires kids to grow up and
become rock stars.
Even having listened to the entire
75 minute set, I'm not sure exactly
what the set list was — I'm not even
sure when songs began and ended.
Not only was I too mesmerized to
really care, but the band never
dropped the performance. Not once
was there a pause for someone to get
a drink, to change guitar picks or to
bore the audience with a lot of talk-
ing. It was as if some kind of rock 'n'
roll perpetual motion drove the night.
Spencer let out some of the most
amazing screams in the history of
rock within the first 10 minutes of
the set, and he still had a singing
voice at the end of the show.
One standout performance was
"1 Wanna Make it All Right." The
song emerged from a drum break
with lead singer Spencer yelling (he
song title twice over the music. It
embodied much of what was great
about the show: Spencer's amazing
stage presence and music that is
inventive, yet true to rock n' roll and
its roots in the blues..
< Jt" K
theater
CHICKEN RUN
Film:
kkkk
(out of five)
DVD extras:
k k kk
(out of five)
Until the last few weeks of 2000,
only a handful of enjoyable or even
watchable movies had come out.
Without a doubt, one of them was
the stop animation comedy Chicken
Run. It's a true family film in the
sense that kids aren't the only ones
who'll love it.
Chicken Run is the first feature
film from Nick Park and Peter Lord,
the minds behind the cult stop ani-
mation series Wallace and Gromit.
Although Chicken Run doesn't con
tain any of the characters from its
shorter predecessors, it's just as full
of personalities that are so fun and
eccentric that it's hard to believe
they aren't real.
Several dozen hens are impris-
oned in a coop by the evil Mrs.
Tweedy (voiced by Miranda Rich
ardson), who sells their eggs. Gin
ger (Julia Sawalha) is the leader
who's desperately trying to find a
way for everyone to escape, but Mr.
Tweedy (Tony Haygarlh) and his
dogs catch them at every attempt.
Along comes Rocky Rhodes (Mel
Gibson), a cocky rooster who can
apparently fly; Ginger seems to t hink
he can teach her friends to fly out of
the coop. The gang gets even more
desperate when they find out Mrs.
Tweedy has a machine that can turn
them into pies.
Perhaps the most enjoyable char
acters are the supporting cast, with
the naive and air headed Babs (Jane
Horrocks), the crotchety old rooster
Fowler (Benjamin Whitrow) and the
scheming but helpful rats Nick and
Fetcher (Timothy Spall and Phil
Daniels). They provide many of the
best reasons to watch t he movie: end
less jokes and puns, dopey enough to
be understood by kids but clever
enough to be appreciated by adults.
The film transfer is beyond re-
proach — there are some night
scenes with moonlight hittinga roof,
and the DVD captures the shimmer
ing textures beautifully. And while
the sound mix isn't very complicated,
the audio tracks (Dolby Digital EX
and DTS-ES) are second to none.
The extras include an informa
live commentary by Park and Lord,
two behind the scenes videos and
(of course) a few Easter eggs (a.k.a.
hidden features). Chicken Run con
tinues DreamWorks' tradition of
solid films presented on top of the
line DVDs.
Dalton Tomlin
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Stoler, Brian. The Rice Thresher, Vol. 88, No. 23, Ed. 1 Friday, March 2, 2001, newspaper, March 2, 2001; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth443134/m1/12/: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Rice University Woodson Research Center.