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(01/25/07 5:00am)
MUSICREVIEW
Deerhoof
Friend Opportunity
4 stars
Riding the critical success of 2005's The Runners Four, Deerhoof's follow-up album, Friend Opportunity (the band's ninth LP) quickly became a hotly anticipated addition to 2007's early-release calendar.
And indeed, Friend Opportunity excels.
Where The Runners Four was an exercise in endurance with its 20 tracks, Friend Opportunity cuts the track list in half, giving listeners a less daunting experience.
The songs on Friend Opportunity also offer a more traditional approach that, while not without endearing and engaging experimental eccentricities, create a vastly more accessible album.
The band's characteristically saccharine vocals remain a constant presence in each song, balancing the softness of "Whither The Invisible Birds?" and the unpredictability of tracks such as "Cast Off Crown," whose first 30 seconds are a rock 'n' roll explosion on par with The Who's greatest moments of bombast.
But following the initial shock of "Cast Off Crown"'s intro, the song settles into a sweeping, gentle melody accompanied by skittering electronics, that only makes the song's beginning all the more delightfully jarring.
And as could be expected of a Deerhoof album, Friend Opportunity never lets listeners hit a lull.
"Kidz Are So Small" is a sudden shot of percussive dance pop, and the classic pop sound of "Matchbook Seeks Maniac" sounds almost revolutionary coming from a band as eccentric as Deerhoof.
The fact that the band's rollercoaster arrangements have somehow managed to develop into startlingly catchy - if still challenging - pop music is what makes Deerhoof's latest LP great.
Contact the Diversions Editor at dive@unc.edu.
(01/25/07 5:00am)
MUSICREVIEW
Maher Shalal Hash Baz
L'Autre Cap
2.5 stars
Music is often considered in the context of its concept.
An album's individual tracks can come together to form one cohesive whole. Or the composition and arrangement of the music can be done in a conceptually unique way, making a subtle (or not-so-subtle) difference between one album and a similarly styled one.
But often concept outweighs listenability.
With L'Autre Cap, cult-pop composer Tori Kudo and his orchestra of naivete known as Maher Shalal Hash Baz come together to create 27 tracks of fragile folk-inflected pop led by Kudo's frail guitar strums and uncertain warble.
The swarm of largely untrained musicians Kudo assembles helps him in creating the naive sound he seeks.
The effect is a sound that, despite the number of players involved, never quite feels full or confident. It creates a mood of vulnerability.
Errantly tooting horns and oversimplified call-and-response arrangements mesh with Kudo's simple, direct lyrics in a childlike burst of bashful joy.
Given the innocent nature of Kudo's concept, it's no wonder twee-legend Calvin Johnson and his K Records label are behind L'Autre Cap, but like Johnson's Beat Happening, the childlike approach of Maher Shalal Hash Baz is far from accessible.
It also can be far from enjoyable.
The album, though it largely manages to somehow stay together in some magical so-bad-it's good fashion, still sounds like a middle school band playing its first concert.
And no matter how much heart might be behind the project, the amateurish nature of the concept hinders its ability to attract a wide audience.
Contact the Diversions Editor at dive@unc.edu.
(01/18/07 5:00am)
I love heavy metal music.
I find a particular breed of satisfaction in the dark side of rock 'n' roll.
So it is with an utterly heartfelt sincerity that I say this: Metal has hit the same stifling rut that befalls every genre of a certain age.
Despite an increased mainstream awareness and acceptance of heavy metal - specifically its metalcore and screamo deviations - the increased presence of the genre comes at the cost of its progression, and frankly at the cost of the in-your-face intensity that made metal rock's most feared and controversial subgenre. It also made it one of its most viscerally exciting.
The MTV-ready metal featured on the reanimated Headbangers Ball is, for the most part, simply a remake of the '80s hair metal explosion - right down to the bad haircuts.
Really, it's just a natural stage in the ebb and flow of any genre of music between edgy, underground presence and accepted mainstream success. Think country's battle between rough-edged honky-tonk and, well, Garth Brooks (the anti-Hank). Think punk's Black Flag vs. blink-182 dichotomy. Think Slayer vs. Stryper.
And as music naturally cycles, the state of today's metal - at least at the mainstream level - is once again watered down.
Renewed interest in metal at the end of the '70s pushed it into the charts, which inevitably led to its dilution. Exhibit A: The power ballad, a construction of record labels to make metal more accessible.
Metal in the '90s was marked by reaction against the poppy sounds of, say, "Pour Some Sugar On Me," and "Every Rose Has Its Thorn." We got death metal, the most violent, gore-obsessed, musically punishing incarnation of heavy metal that had been seen at the time.
As bands like Cannibal Corpse became as much of a household name as could be imagined, naturally the public caught on, and - as always - the labels followed.
So again comes a (more) radio-friendly deviation. Bands such as Avenged Sevenfold, Atreyu and their peers take the original influences behind hair metal (early metal, Alice Cooper and AC/DC, most noticeably).
But they also borrow the blast beats, growls and technical proficiency of death metal, add an extra dose of Guns N' Roses melody and arena rock bombast to make a sound that is vastly more accessible than what pushes ever forward in the metal underground.
So naturally, today's mainstream metal is harder than hair metal was. But that's merely the benefit of time. The two eras in pop-metal share a kindred spirit.
Both are marketed as an edgier alternative to so-called "corporate" music.
In the '80s hair metal was in direct opposition to the ubiquitous synthesizer, now it's in direct opposition to Jessica Simpson and Nickelback.
Both are loud and (semi) rebellious. Both maintain a certain level of theatricality, wear makeup and project an image of macho androgyny. And both take influence from some of the most controversial music of their age.
So what is a metalhead to do?
All we can do is bang our collective head against the wall, at least until the next movement in metal gives us something to bang our heads to a little more gleefully.
Contact Bryan Reed, a junior journalism major, at breed@email.unc.edu.
(01/11/07 5:00am)
MUSICREVIEW
Shitake Monkey
Street Beef
1 star
When a trio of award-winning major label producers decides to join together and record a pop album, the expectations are reasonably high.
So, naturally, one could expect Street Beef, the debut album by New York's Shitake Monkey, to be a delightful pop gem. And at first it seems to be just so.
The music bounces from genre to genre, combining elements of hip hop, rock and electronica with heavy beats and samples galore. But then the illusion begins to fall flat.
The songwriting is mediocre at best, and the band itself seems to acknowledge its own inadequacy with lyrics such as "Baby, baby, I think you're crazy/ You took your money and went to go see Shitake Monkey" on the song "Baby Baby."
And indeed, it often seems as if any fan of this lackluster act would have to have some sort of mental deficiency.
Listeners are appropriately reminded of a certain other genre-bending primate-monikered pop act. But where Damon Albarn's Gorillaz create whimsy and complexity, Shitake Monkey comes across as a barrage of corny clich
(01/11/07 5:00am)
MUSICREVIEW
The Asteroid #4
An Amazing Dream
3.5 Stars
Meshing British Invasion garage rock (
(11/30/06 5:00am)
MUSICREVIEW
Swan Lake
Beast Moans
3.5 stars
In many ways, the worst accusation one could hurl at an artist is a label of "derivative" or "unoriginal." Likewise, the greatest compliment would be to call an artist unique, even if uniqueness comes at the cost of accessibility.
The debut album, Beast Moans, by indie rock all-star team Swan Lake manages to nestle itself among those delectably obscure releases that maintain a left-of-center quality without becoming unlistenable.
Fronted by Dan Bejar, known for his work under the Destroyer moniker and with The New Pornographers, Swan Lake resurrects the excitement of early psychedelic experimentation, in the vein of the Velvet Underground and The Beach Boys. The album's opener "Widow's Walk" even lifts its droning pulse from the Velvet Underground's "Venus In Furs."
But Beast Moans never feels like a rehashing of the '60s because of its indie rock leanings toward abstract lyrics and lo-fi authenticity. Bejar's familiar nasal vocal tone also sets it apart.
Swan Lake shows an understanding of dynamics learned from late '80s underground rock bands such as The Pixies. The distorted building guitar on "Bluebird" sounds like a Black Francis trademark. But coupled with the innocent, delicate sounds of a toy xylophone and airy synth fills, the song never feels as menacing as The Pixies, opting instead for that unique Swan Lake pocket between post-punk's rage and proto-psych's trippy bliss.
What makes Beast Moans so good is that it can look back and pay homage, without being overly reverent or succumbing to revivalist tendencies. The truth is, Swan Lake sounds like Swan Lake. It's unique, though fortunately for listeners not at the expense of accessibility.
Even though the album freely borrows snippets from its influences, most notably the VU in "Widow's Walk" and The Doors on "Are You Swimming in Her Pools?," Beast Moans makes itself into a first-class indie rock record. By creating a set of 13 songs that is consistently engaging, thought-provoking and listenable without numbing its listener into complacency, the band comes into its own.
And in a world saturated with mopey singer/songwriters, it's about time for an act like Swan Lake to come in and stir things up a bit, even if all that means is reminding the audience of what came first.
Contact the Diversions Editor at dive@unc.edu.
(11/30/06 5:00am)
MUSICREVIEW
Behemoth
Sventevith (Storming Near The Baltic)
3 Stars
Sometimes it's hard to know how seriously to take black metal.
Musically there's a lot going on, given the cross-breeding of thrash and death metal with Eastern European folk music and classical. But then there's that whole Viking paganism and corpse paint and eviler-than-thou aesthetic that more often than not is downright laughable.
Toeing that line is Poland's Behemoth. With the re-issue of 1999's Sventevith, Behemoth has given listeners a good idea of exactly what black metal is. The group is fronted by Nergal, the self-proclaimed black emperor of Behemoth, and driven by the thunderous percussion of Baal Ravenlock, self-proclaimed lord of iron thorns.
It's a niche genre within a niche genre, and for good reason. Black metal's high, shrieking vocals and sinister image make it inaccessible. Not to mention the cannibalism, suicide and church-burning that made Norway's black metal scene notorious. And Behemoth's image certainly falls in step. Song titles include "From the Pagan Vastlands" and "Entering the Faustian Soul."
Since the lyrics are incomprehensible anyway, we'll just have to take Nergal's word for it that they're scary and evil and so on.
Musically, Behemoth makes the strongest case for its genre with a heavy rhythm section, atmospheric keyboards and absolutely melodic folk-inspired guitar parts. Nergal's vocals are in the traditional high-shrieking style, and the production of the album is a bit rough. But the ideas are there, and they're strong.
Sventevith creates an ominous atmosphere, made all the more bleak and terrifying by Nergal's voracious screams. The instrumental tracks "The Touch of Nga" and "Ancient" play like the soundtrack to a medieval nightmare with creepy subtlety in their arrangements.
What sets Behemoth apart from the run-of-the-mill headbanger is its ability to be simultaneously punishing and gorgeous in its textured, and technically adept, arrangements.
The push and pull between brutal thrash beats and delicate, folksy guitar parts make the music feel like a divine battle.
Only thing is, the musicians often truly believe it is.
Contact the Diversions Editor at dive@unc.edu.
(11/30/06 5:00am)
MUSICREVIEW
Enter Chaos
Dreamworker
3 stars
Mixing melody with death metal is a daunting task.
Even with the greatness of influential Gothenburg acts such as At The Gates and In Flames, the formula for a brand of death metal that is as captivatingly melodic as it is visceral and pummeling has yet to be completed.
Enter Chaos is one of the copycat bands that has yet to find its way through the Herculean task of creating great melodic death metal.
With Dreamworker, the female-fronted Polish band establishes itself as an ambitious, but not quite masterful addition to the niche genre's canon.
Thematically, the album is a dystopian world of electronic manipulation and lost humanity. Bursts of pulsing industrial electronics aid in the creation of this atmosphere, as Lady Martex (billed as "throat") growls her way through songs such as "Lethal Dreams" and "Industrial Disease."
Her voice rivals most of the cookie monster school of heavy metal vocals for its ability to be equally inhuman and expressive.
The album's biggest shortcoming comes in its arrangements, which are plenty technical and plenty engaging, but fall short of the soaring, epic melodies of In Flames or At The Gates. And in a genre that will forever hold itself to the standards of the Swedes, Enter Chaos can't help but feel somewhat sub par.
Granted, in between gut-punching buzz-saw riffs, there are plenty of melodic fills amidst the songs on Dreamworker. Still, the band shows itself to be adequate, maybe even solid, but not even close to the greatness of its forebears.
But with the ambition the album shows, Enter Chaos also proves itself to be a band with plenty of potential.
Contact the Diversions Editor at dive@unc.edu.
(11/30/06 5:00am)
DVDREVIEW
"Nirvana: A Classic Album Under Review: In Utero"
3 stars
It is no question Nirvana has that unfortunate status of "icon."
Despite making grunge a household term, and permanently altering the face of modern rock, the status has condemned the band to an eternity of critical nit-picking. The result makes it an absolute impossibility for the band's music to be appreciated solely at face-value.
But given the predicament Nirvana finds itself in long after Kurt Cobain's death, critical discussion of the band's third and final studio album, In Utero, becomes an interesting glimpse into the mind of the troubled Cobain.
Or does it?
The DVD "A Classic Album Under Review" is as much a discussion of the album as the band, and as much a discussion as a worship. In the minds of many critics, Nirvana wasn't even that good, but those critics are nowhere to be found on the video, leaving only those with a strong affection for the grunge poster-boys.
Even so, the DVD offers an insightful - if biased - song-by-song criticism of the album and its overall statement.
As much as In Utero is under examination, so is the band's Unplugged In New York album and Nirvana itself. The DVD offers insight into the band's origins and its connection to hardcore punk and underground rock bands such as Black Flag and Sonic Youth. It also looks at how the ethos of those scenes contributed to Nirvana's discomfort with its own fame.
While the criticism is more an explanation of why In Utero is a classic than it is a fair critique of any strengths and weaknesses, it is yet another glorified but interesting look at the life and death of a revered rock 'n' roll icon.
The only question left unanswered is whether Cobain and his music truly deserve the god-like status they have been given.
Contact the Diversions Editor at dive@unc.edu.
(11/30/06 5:00am)
DVDREVIEW
Pendragon
"And Now Everybody To The Stage"
3 stars
British neo-prog stalwarts Pendragon are still busy after more than 20 years in the game.
This year has seen the release of an acoustic album, Acoustically Challenged, and it's much more enjoyable counterpart, the live DVD cum two-disc live album "And Now Everybody To The Stage."
With a set-list that spans the band's career, and a few new gems tossed in, the show is a delightful romp through an oft-overlooked (or over-hyphenated) genre.
Pendragon, with it's Joe-Strummer-fronting-Genesis vocalist, Nick Barrett, and appropriately shredding and meandering guitar parts coupled with complex rhythms and atmospheric, classically inspired keyboards, shows that maybe it's still OK to play prog-rock for the sake of prog-rock.
Pendragon goes back to the mid-'70s era of album oriented rock, fantastical narrative lyrics and epic song structures that fall somewhere between jam-band and heavy metal.
On "And Now Everybody To The Stage," Pendragon reminds its audience exactly what prog-rock is, going flawlessly and effortlessly through the motions.
But, the fact is, it's still going through the motions. It's as if everybody forgot to tell Barrett and company that it's 2006, not 1976.
More than likely, that won't bother the big-in-Europe's eager fanbase, as the DVD shows a packed hall clapping and bopping along to Pendragon's every utterance.
At the end of the day, Pendragon is still playing a style that is 30 years old. Appreciate it for it's retro-nostalgia-kitsch value.
"And Now Everybody To The Stage" is a more than solid venture, and it's impeccably filmed and produced. But as solid as it may be, it's hard to appreciate it beyond face value.
Contact the Diversions Editor at dive@unc.edu.
(11/30/06 5:00am)
As the year comes to a close, it's time to start thinking about exams, gingerbread cookies and holiday gift shopping.
In the entertainment industry, it's time to start thinking about Ocsar-worthy movie releases, top 10 albums of the year lists and getting as many top-dollar CD or DVD boxsets on the market as possible before the shopping rush hits.
Sure, it's commercial. But it's also a chance to catch up on that hit TV show you never got a chance to watch, that video game you didn't get a chance to play or that band you've read about in Rolling Stone but haven't had the chance to hear.
So here it is, all we want for the holidays:
Johnny Cash, At San Quentin, Legacy Edition: This two-disc (plus a DVD) reissue of the second of Cash's classic prison albums is worth the extra money for additional material. With a personal feel and recordings from all the concert's opening acts, this set is a clear picture of The Man in Black.
Also check out the Johnny Cash action figure (pictured here).
Guitar Hero 2: The original Playstation game was nothing short of addictive. The sequel, with opportunities to play the bass lines and face off against other players, would probably make you fail all your classes.
And with an all-new track list, including "Misirlou" and "Freebird," you'll never put that little plastic guitar down.
The Byrds, There is a Season: This four-CD and one-DVD retrospective offers 99 tracks of career highlights from the sunny California folk-rock of "Turn, Turn, Turn" to the country-rock sound from the band's essential Sweetheart of the Rodeo.
Rockin' Bones: A four-disc box set of 1950s rockabilly that covers the classics (Elvis, Carl Perkins, Buddy Holly) and digs up some forgotten treasures from the era of hot rods, switchblades and drive-in movies.
Couple Rockin' Bones with a can of grease pomade for the full effect.
End-of-the-year CD stocking stuffers: Albums come out in waves over the course of a year. Critically acclaimed releases will be spread out, but the holiday season spawns a special breed: last-minute moneymakers.
This season, the top 40 names putting out records are mostly in the hip hop or R&B game: Nas, Young Jeezy, Bow Wow and Ciara all have releases coming out in December. Ghostface Killah, who set a foot in prospective 2006 top 10 lists with Fishscale, comes out with More Fish on Dec. 12.
"The Office: Season One (or Two)": It might not be quite as funny as the British version, but ABC's "The Office" is the best American look at cubicle-induced monotony since Ron Livingston beat the life out of a fax machine.
Favorite episode: "The Client," with Tim Meadows, from Season Two.
Sugar Hill Records retrospective: The Durham-based record label made its name with roots music from the likes of Ricky Scaggs and a little band by the name of Nickel Creek. This four-disc collection celebrates the label's twangy and impressive catalog.
"Pinky and the Brain, Vol. 1 & 2": The snarky, world-domination ready spinoff of the 1990s show "Animaniacs," Pinky and the Brain are one of the most clever cartoon duos in our lifetimes.
Box office hits now available on DVD: From "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest" to "Monster House," there are plenty of recent movie releases to take home. Best bets for repeated viewing: "Little Miss Sunshine" and "Talladega Nights."
The "X-Men" trilogy: With the DVD release of "The Last Stand" comes the inevitable trilogy box. But since X-Men is easily one of the best superhero movie franchises to come out of the Marvel Universe, it is sure to elicit thrills when the wrapping paper is peeled back.
(11/16/06 5:00am)
MUSICREVIEW
Nauseous Youth Future
Dosage
3.5 stars
Sometimes records are just good. Without a clear explanation or rationale, the music contained on a disc has the power to elicit emotion or thought, seemingly out of thin air.
Such is the case with Dosage, the latest from Nauseous Youth Future, a member of Chapel Hill's Broken Fader Cartel collective.
The melodic electronica of NYF shows the immense talent and creativity of its sole member, Brian Flanders.
With NYF, Flanders has the ability to craft synthesized melodies that summon memories and emotions from listeners - whether it be longing, as on "hicountry" or jubilation as on the album's opener "why, separate knob, why?"
Trapped within the confines of the melodies come the glitchy thumps of NYF's skittering beats, bouncing around seemingly at random and keeping the listener looking for a pattern in movement.
The complex rhythms make the music hard to dance to, at least in a traditional sense of the term, but in headphones, the synapses in your brain have no option but to shake their groove thangs.
Granted, Flanders and his NYF moniker are not the sole progenitors of this sort of electronic music, and crafting a 100 percent unique style is not the selling point here.
The Broken Fader Cartel actually features several similarly styled acts, but the ability to fall into a genre does not take a thing away from the music contained on Dosage.
Each song presents a mood, a story and a personality without relying on words to convey a message.
They flow together as seamlessly as the events in life, carrying their own burdens and joys, but never feeling out of place in the grand scheme.
As if without rhyme or reason, Dosage will grab you, force you to pay attention and leave you feeling better at the end.
Contact the Diversions Editor at dive@unc.edu.
(11/16/06 5:00am)
DVDREVIEW
"Bad Religion: The Riot"
1.5 Stars
As important as some might claim Bad Religion to be, as dangerous as some might call punk rock, and as exciting as a concert-turned-riot might promise to be, "Bad Religion: The Riot" is none of the above.
The DVD shows the band during its emergence into the mainstream, with two performances, one in 1988 and one in 1990.
For stalwarts of punk's outsider, do-it-yourself ethic, the DVD will be an affront, showing a revered band playing shows in 1,000 capacity theaters in all their "no slam-dancing," barricaded glory.
But what's worse is that even though the video shows Bad Religion at the height of its career, the sound and visual production are muddy. Bad Religion's trademark vocal harmonies and pointed lyrics are lost in the mire of staticky, indistinguishable guitar noise. It's not distorted in the grand punk tradition - it's distorted in the shoddy production tradition.
The camera work is annoyingly amateur, but its biggest failing is the video's inability to actually capture the riot that gives the DVD its title.
For viewers, the so-called riot consists of a couple of thrown bottles, a fire truck and a bunch of people standing around.
The venue's smashed windows are an afterthought, which makes the riot unsatisfying and anti-climactic.
Any violence or chaos that might have occurred is overlooked in a way that makes the event seem unimportant, as if the DVD is merely an attempt to make punk rockers feel tougher.
If the riot actually were shown, maybe it would elicit response, either shock or triumph depending on viewers' belief systems. But without any actual footage, it's just people standing around.
After an hour of garbled music and boring "riot footage," viewers are left feeling as if their time has been wasted, and that maybe Bad Religion isn't that great after all.
Contact the Diversions Editor at dive@unc.edu.
(11/16/06 5:00am)
DVDREVIEW
"Culturama777"
3 Stars
Hip hop often falls victim to stereotype.
What is often overlooked is hip hop's thriving underground - a world where intelligent lyrics, social consciousness and creative beats are praised, race is immaterial, and violence, misogyny and materialism are frowned upon.
With "Culturama777," the world of independent hip hop is exposed through a compilation of music videos by artists ranging from underground heavyweights such as Jean Grae and Wu-Tang's GZA to lesser-knowns such as Dooley-O and Evil.
Though not every video or song holds water, and there are some highly regarded artists whose absence is felt on the DVD, the overall function of the compilation is an introduction to a forgotten world.
The collection covers lots of ground, from the more mainstream sound of GZA (here with Cypress Hill's DJ Muggs) to the melodic genre-bending of Stones Throw Singers.
It is a selection of tracks focusing on the genre's credo of intelligent, lyrically driven songs. Social commentary is there; songs about the scene are there. And poseur gangsta is nowhere to be found.
Beats are based in melody and simplicity instead of an over-reliance on a snappy backbeat.
Viewers are likely to be left with a new concept of what defines hip hop and perhaps even a new appreciation of the unseen side of a popular genre of music.
Contact the Diversions Editor at dive@unc.edu.
(11/16/06 5:00am)
DVDREVIEW
"loudQUIETloud: a film about The Pixies"
3.5 Stars
Breaking up is hard to do, but getting back together is even tougher.
In 2004 the influential rock band, the Pixies reunited to tour.
The documentary, "loudQUIETloud" chronicles that tour and the personal issues of the band members leading up to, during and after the trip.
The result is an intimate, sympathetic portrait of a legendary band coming to terms with its past tensions and ultimately returning to form -- at least onstage.
Offstage viewers get a candid look at four people tied together only by their music.
Where "loudQUIETloud" triumphs is in its ability to show the Pixies as a collection of individuals, with the same passion for the music, but completely devoid of common ground outside of their band name.
Conversations are tense and short. Most of the band members' time offstage is spent alone. And the spare soundtrack only emphasizes the separation of the band members.
The documentary also shows the lasting influence of the band, which is seen mostly in its fans. Whether it's the British crowd in line to get tickets, or the spotlight on a young fan, Carla, with a Pixies cover band and a godlike reverence for bassist Kim Deal, the impact is clear.
Viewers are left with a sense of humanity, not often found in rock 'n' roll movies. The Pixies are not shown as flashes of genius obscured by tragedy, or as burnouts of a trying lifestyle, instead they are given human flaws and strengths.
And, perhaps most importantly of all, viewers are left with the knowledge that music can, in fact, transcend our differences and touch others in a palpable way.
Contact the Diversions Editor at dive@unc.edu.
(10/26/06 4:00am)
Zombies, it seems, have come back from the dead and re-entered the social consciousness in recent years.
A genre that first drew screams from moviegoers in the late 1960s with the now legendary "Night of the Living Dead," the niche market of zombie filmmaking is back - for blood.
Not counting "28 Days Later," it's as if 'zombies' never really were undead.
The resurgence started with 2004's "Dawn of the Dead," a remake of George A. Romero's 1978 classic.
Then came the British horror-comedy "Shaun of the Dead," which was billed as a zom-rom-com or "a romantic comedy with zombies," and quickly became a cult hit.
Finally in the summer of 2005, Romero returned to the genre he helped shape with "Land of the Dead."
And movies are just the tip of the iceberg. There also have been a couple of books about the living impaired and a rash of heavily made-up enthusiasts of the undead taking to the streets for "zombie walks."
But what is it about reanimated corpses with an insatiable hunger for human flesh that people find so appealing?
Max Brooks, author of "The Zombie Survival Guide" and, most recently, "World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War," said the repopularization of the genre could be a sign of the times.
"There's a huge mass appeal now, because the zombie subgenre can't exist outside of an apocalyptic subgenre. We're living in times of uncertainty and anxiety, and it's a way for people to explore that anxiety in a safe way," Brooks said.
He also noted that the zombie genre was most popular in the 1970s, and said today's social climate parallels that of the '70s.
"That's why vampires were so big in the '90s. Vampires were sleek and sexy, the '90s were sleek and sexy. There was nothing to do," he said.
So perhaps zombies are the 21st century monster of choice.
The '60s had its Cold War fears, so naturally horror centered around radiation mutants and space aliens. Godzilla was spawned in the '50s as a response to Japan's fear of nuclear arms.
In 1968's original "Night of the Living Dead," the zombies were reanimated by nuclear radiation.
The suburban heyday of the '80s brought the advent of the teen-slasher flick to unsettle the presumed safety of having fled the inner city.
Flash forward to the 2000s, and we have zombies. Given a lack of certainty in the economy, frequent terrorism scares and escalating international tensions, a return to the emotions that originally made the walking dead a viable form of fright makes sense. Coupled with lingering Y2K fears and Generation Y's love of nostalgia, it follows that zombies would make a comeback.
Cameron Price, an employee at VisArt video in Carrboro, said the store has seen an increase in the amount of zombie-themed films in stock throughout the last decade.
"There definitely has been more zombie films released in the past five to 10 years than in the last five years, I'd say," he said.
Price said a friend of his attended a horror-movie-making competition in Texas that's rules expressly stated: "No zombies. We've seen enough of them."
And while they seem to be the obvious choices, movie theaters and video stores are not the only public spheres affected by the undead phenomenon.
Zombies gnarled their way into other media forms in the late '90s, primarily through video games.
As the graphic capacity became detailed enough to give players a legitimate scare, games such as Resident Evil and Silent Hill began to premiere on the Sony PlayStation and other consoles.
Those games spawned their own films in the past decade - Romero even wrote a Resident Evil script. It was later rejected.
One of the most recent gaming incarnations, Dead Rising for Microsoft Xbox 360, allows players to beat their enemies with interactive objects such as stuffed animals.
And zombies, themselves viral in the sense of spreading the desire to eat brains, have gained fans through the viral nature of modern technology. The Internet has helped spread the zombie genre through its easy access to information and easier access to obscure movies.
Facebook, the ubiquitous college networking site features countless groups based on "zombie survival," with hundreds of members nationwide.
UNC-Chapel Hill has two of its own, the "Anti-zombie Coalition of Chapel Hill" and "The Anti-Zombie League."
Elsewhere on the Internet, flash mobbing, the phenomenon of large gatherings of people arranged via message boards and chat rooms, has spawned the "zombie walk" phenomenon.
In zombie walks, participants gather dressed as the living dead and stagger through town moaning for brains.
And they have taken place across the U.S. One occurred at the "American Idol" tryouts in
Austin, Tex. in August of 2005. It's participants moaned "TV rots your braaaaaaiiiiiinnnnss."
Another took place in Asheville, N.C. on Friday, Oct. 13, 2006.
On the same day as the Asheville zombie walk, one was planned for Durham, N.C. as well, according to the zombiewalk.com message boards.
The "It's Alive Show," a late-night horror TV show broadcast in Pittsburgh, P.A., hopes to take the idea to the extreme.
This Sunday the cast will attempt to gather enough people to set the Guinness record for world's largest zombie gathering in the Monroeville Mall in Monroeville, P.A., the site of the filming of the original "Dawn of the Dead."
But what does the future hold? Well, right now remakes are slated for both Romero's "Day of the Dead" and Sam Raimi's "Evil Dead." There's a sequel to "28 Days Later" in the works, and there have been talks of adapting Brooks' "World War Z" to the silver screen.
And with so many films in the works, there is no foreseeable end to the rise of the undead.
On the same day as the Asheville zombie walk, one was planned for Durham, N.C. as well, according to the zombiewalk.com message boards.
The "It's Alive Show," a late-night horror TV show broadcast in Pittsburgh, P.A., hopes to take the idea to the extreme.
This Sunday the cast will attempt to gather enough people to set the Guinness record for world's largest zombie gathering in the Monroeville Mall in Monroeville, P.A., the site of the filming of the original "Dawn of the Dead."
Contact the Diversions Editor at dive@unc.edu.
(10/26/06 4:00am)
There was a time when horror films were substantive. The horror genre was used to explore the dark recesses of the human psyche, to illustrate the evils of society through allegorical monster figures. It was social commentary, nightmare and catharsis all rolled into one feature-length talking picture.
They made horror movies like that because gore technology was severely lacking. Everybody knows all that matters in a horror movie are the inventive methods of death.
Sure a little character development and a solid plot are nice. But all you need are some decent prosthetics and a whole lotta blood.
Nobody leaves the theater after seeing the latest installment of "Final Destination" saying, "I really enjoyed the abstract theme of death's inevitability and the moral implications of unnaturally prolonging life."
But they do leave smiling, recalling favorite moments, such as "when that dude got burned alive and his eyeballs melted out of his skull." That's what the audience wants to see.
The term "psychological thriller" is a veritable kiss of death on the enjoyability of a fright flick.
"The Sixth Sense?" Yawn. Except for the kid with the head wound. That was sick.
"Dead Alive?" Hell yes. It's got a freakin' lawn-mower massacre. What more could you want?
Besides, it's the killers who are remembered after the credits roll - whether it's Leatherface, Michael Myers or the little zombie that bit the dude's throat out at the beginning of 2004's "Dawn of the Dead" remake.
Horror fans have their favorite kill scenes on a mental checklist. Of course the shower scene from "Psycho" is near the top, but what about the splinter scene from "Zombi 2" or the basement feast in George Romero's original "Dawn of the Dead?"
And the plot issue?
Simple. The dead rise from the grave hungry for human flesh. A small band of humans find refuge in some structure and must learn to work together to survive.
Or how about this? Five young friends venture through the backwoods of, say, Texas. When their car breaks down, they must search for help in a nearby small town. But this small town has a deadly secret.
Now let's get to the blood.
Whether it's flesh-eating bacteria, the undead, vampires, a homicidal maniac or death itself doing the killing doesn't really matter.
As long as it's not snakes. There are no good snake movies.
The fact is, gore effects are amazing today thanks to technology and artistic progression. So why let those resources be wasted?
Contact Bryan Reed at breed@email.unc.edu.
(10/12/06 4:00am)
MUSICREVIEW
F--ked Up
Hidden World
3.5 Stars
Rules are made to be broken. Especially in punk rock.
Thankfully, F--ked Up hasn't forgotten that.
With the band's first full-length release, Hidden World, F--ked Up flips the finger to punk standards.
While most punk songs top out at three minutes, F--ked Up crosses the line into five-, seven-, even nine -minute territory.
While most punk lyrics could be written as two-sentence rants, F--ked Up explores metaphor, narrative and polysyllabic diction.
It's no wonder F--ked Up has made fans out of folks such as Owen Pallett of Arcade Fire and Final Fantasy. Pallett even lends his violin skills to three songs.
But make no mistake, F--ked Up plays punk rock through and through.
The guitars, provided by 10,000 Marbles and Concentration Camp, are dissonant and played in simple rhythmic grooves. The rhythm section of Mustard Gas on bass and Mr. Jo on drums blasts out a steady backbeat. And Pink Eyes' vocals are ferocious growls.
F--ked Up would be at home sharing a bill with bands such as U.S. Bombs, Black Flag or Rancid. The sound is a hardcore-tinged street punk - with prog rock tendencies.
What sets F--ked Up apart from the run-of-the-mill mohawk band is the fact that F--ked Up has both the talent and the brains to keep a song interesting for seven or eight minutes.
Unfortunately, that's the only thing that sets the band apart. Despite the epic lengths and strong lyrical skill, F--ked Up is in every other way a standard punk band.
Hidden World's second track, "David Comes to Life" is a mere two minutes, 20 seconds, showing that the band can play by the rules. It just usually doesn't.
To expect it to would be ludicrous. And that's what makes Hidden World such a fine punk record.
Contact the Diversions Editor at dive@unc.edu.
(10/12/06 4:00am)
MUSICREVIEW
My Morning Jacket
Okonokos
4 Stars
There is a complicated nature to the live album.
Many, and likely most, live albums are filler, either intended to capitalize on the success of a previous release (The Fray's Live at the Electric Factory: Bootleg No. 1) or to fulfill a contract quickly and cheaply so the label can drop an artist (Iggy Pop's T.V. Eye 1977 Live).
But in some cases, a live album becomes an artist's crowning achievement. Johnny Cash's At Folsom Prison comes to mind.
With the live album, Okonokos, My Morning Jacket strives for classic.
Granted, the album is a follow-up to 2005's critically acclaimed Z, and the set list on Okonokos utilizes many of its predecessor's songs.
But it also spans MMJ's career with songs from the band's debut album, The Tennessee Fire, through each album until Z.
Many songs are given extended treatment to showcase the band's instrumental talents, but MMJ never loses sight of the songs themselves. It's not an unending series of meandering solos, but instead provides a listening experience unique from the studio originals.
And with no obnoxious banter between songs, MMJ keeps the focus on the music.
With a delicious sonic mixture of pop, psychedelia, country and Southern rock influence, My Morning Jacket moves effortlessly from hook-laden pop-rock ("Off The Record") to ethereal country balladry ("I Think I'm Going To Hell").
The recording is top-notch with each note in each layer coming through clearly while never drowning out James' falsetto.
There's not much more one could ask from a live album.
Whether or not Okonokos becomes a classic is yet to be determined by album sales, lasting influence and so forth.
Point is, Okonokos is a good album by a good band, and it's nice to listen to. Whether or not it becomes another Frampton Comes Alive! doesn't really matter right now.
Contact the Diversions Editor at dive@unc.edu.
(09/28/06 4:00am)
MUSICREVIEW
Decapitated
The First Damned
3 and 1/2 stars
Something about the Old World countries just seems to make people very, very angry.
Take Poland's Decapitated, for example.
The band's latest release, The First Damned, a compilation of early demos, is a 13-track exploration into the world of lightning-fast rhythms, inhumanly technical musicianship and deep, growled vocals.
With song titles such as "Cemeterial Gardens," who needs intelligible lyrics? We get the idea.
But as far as death metal goes, Decapitated is a technically gifted and viscerally punishing band, which is exactly what it sets out to be.
Even more impressive is the fact that the demos compiled on this disc were recorded when the band members, Sauron, Vogg, Vitek and Martin, were in their teens.
The musicianship on these early recordings is more advanced than many bands ever achieve, even with years of experience.
Though each song has its own defining characteristics, such as the unbelievable opening riffs of "Nine Steps," the band keeps a consistent style throughout.
It could wear down on casual listeners, but for die-hard metalheads this is heaven - or maybe hell, whichever you prefer.
Contact the Diversions Editor at dive@unc.edu.