2003-09 Vital Source Mag – September 2003
Fountains of Wayne
By Brian Barney Fountains of Wayne Welcome Interstate Managers S-Curve Records www.fountainsofwayne.com With their third release to date, Welcome Interstate Managers, New York’s Fountains of Wayne has cemented their standing as one of the great all-time pop acts of recent years. Song writing duo Adam Schlesinger and Chris Collingwood, along with former Posie Judy Porter and drummer Brian Young, have crafted yet another collection of songs that take the best of the timeless catchiness reminiscent of groups ranging from The Monkees to The Knack. Polished with style is the flavor of the day in hit-worthy tracks like “Stacey’s Mom” and “Little Red Light” where hard-edged guitars meet melody lines that remain stuck in the brain from the first listen. The jangly, slightly overdriven layering of vintage guitars through vox amplification resounds throughout in tunes such as “No Better Place.” Although the subject matter of cell phones and late appointments may wax redundant, the volley between electric and down right pretty acoustic in tracks like “Valley Winter Song” keeps things fresh and interesting. A precious gem lies hidden under this vast mountain of pop in the country snippet “Hung Up On You,” which features a guest appearance by steel pedal master Robert Randolph. With equal doses of pop, twang, rock and 60s psychedelica, FOW’s latest has covered all the bases with something for everyone.
Sep 1st, 2003 by Vital Archives
Eliet Brookes
By Brian Barney Eliet BrookesThe Miles Left Over Recorded poetry and spoken word do not get commercially released as often as they should. Look for it in a store and you’ll be sauntering through the same ghetto aisle that has been set aside for “comedy.” Luckily for those of us who wade through Adam Sandler, Weird Al and the Jerky Boys, there exists poetry CDs like Eliet Brookes’ The Miles Left Over — eleven tracks of sheer pleasure. Settle into a pleasant moment, fire-up the CD player, cuddle up with Brookes’ beautiful voice and don’t forget the cocktail party at the bar on the fifth track. Exquisitely produced by Brew City musician Paul Setser, each track features musical accompaniment ranging from the talents of acoustic guitarist Richard Pinney to Paul Lawson to the Aimless Blades to Setser himself. Never obtrusive, the music adds to the substance of Brookes’ voice at every turn. Brookes works from a variety of moods quite successfully. Overall, there is a sense of incredibly tranquil peace, even in the bittersweet moments of the second track, “annie from broken street.” Somewhere halfway through that fifth track, Brookes says, “of course, none of this is true.” Somehow she manages to make even something this haunting sound very reassuring. Remarkably dark moments are traveled through with great grace. Brookes’ voice is not the only one on the CD. The fifth track features cameos by poet Lisa Mahan, musicians/poets Tank Staggers, Voot Warnings Rustle of Luv and several more. And then there’s the seventh track. Eamonn O’Neill manages to make Brookes’ contemporary poetics sound vaguely like Middle English. The journey ends on an intriguingly Asian-sounding “usyoumewei, (eliet’s mantra),” as performed by singer/songwriter Mariah Myerson. Can’t find the CD? Eliet Brookes can be reached at: herontree@ecoisp.com. It is also available at Woodland Pattern. See Eliet: Sept 8: Thai Joes Sept 18: Zodiac Luxury Lounge Sept. 24: Y-Not II Sept 26: Bremen Café
Sep 1st, 2003 by Vital Archives
Brian Jones Lays His Hands on Peter Gabriel
By Brian Jones As sophomores in high school, my small group of friends and I spent most of our time trying to be as cool as possible. By “cool” I mean we knew we weren’t popular, so it was our goal to be as strange, and in our minds, cutting edge as possible. Nobody else in our central Illinois town wore the clothes we wore. Punk meets the new wave and we had an obligation to show everybody else how uncool they were (and, by extension, how cool we were) in our Soviet full-length wool trench coats. Of course nobody listened to the same music. We were determined to be whatever we wanted to be as long as it wasn’t like everybody else. We conformed to being non-conformist. Not many concerts come to Normal, Illinois so when my friend Paul asked me to go a Peter Gabriel show I was psyched. We knew him then only as the former front man for the 70s prog-rock group Genesis. At the time Gabriel was enjoying moderate success with a strange little tune called “Shock The Monkey.” What I did know was that Gabriel was the kind of artist who didn’t conform to any standards. He did what he wanted to do, and I wanted to see what that was all about. Paul and I put on our best punky clothes, complete with Clash and Sex Pistol buttons, and headed to Braden Auditorium one early December evening in 1982. I think Paul’s older sister drove us to the show, and I think we chugged two whole beers before we went in. Our seats were in the 4th row, just to the left of the stage. The house lights were still on when a man walked out. Nobody seemed to notice him at all. I said to Paul, “Hey what’s that guy doing, checking the mics or something?” He stepped up to the mic and said, “Excuse me… Excuse me… .” The man began again. No one really paid attention. “Excuse me. I’m Peter Gabriel. Thank you for coming out tonight. We hope you have a good time. I just wanted to let you know how things are going to go this evening. These fellows are about to come out and play for you and then we’ll be back a little later to entertain you. So please welcome The Electric Guitars.” It was him. He actually came out to introduce the opening act. He had already impressed me. After the Electric Guitars got through pounding an oil drum with a baseball bat and hitting a suspended piece of sheet metal like it was a cymbal, the lights went out. In the distance we heard drums. We looked around but couldn’t tell where they were coming from, when suddenly everybody turned around to see the whole band marching through the mezzanine pounding on marching drums. They headed out into the hallway, then reappeared right in front of us, marched up on to the stage, took […]
Sep 1st, 2003 by Vital Archives
Milwaukee Colleges
The words “higher education” are loaded with meaning. While most would agree that it’s hard to get very far these days without at least some post-high school training, there are as many takes on what constitutes “education” as there are roads to it. For some it’s a Bachelor’s or better from a college or university that, right or wrong, is the required calling card for entry into many white collar professions. For others, it’s a certificate or Associate’s degree in a specialized field or an apprenticeship in a skilled trade. Our city has a rich history of fostering the long-term well being of its individual citizens. And while, through mismanagement or merely the unfortunate circumstances of a changing world (which is more true could be argued without end), much of the higher social conscience that shaped Milwaukee’s development has withered to some extent with time. We still have sidewalks in city neighborhoods, a robust (but shrinking) amount of urban green space and access to nutrition and health care for most children living below the poverty line. On the other hand, our parks system has become the city budget’s redheaded stepchild. As a population, we gave up an excellent trolley system without batting an eye, and have left our current transit system to an eternal struggle for viability. Poor families must work in what could be arguably termed conscription conditions in order to receive aid, forced to leave their children to be raised on the streets without parental guidance. As a community, there’s much to work through. Wisconsin still fosters higher education. Fortunately, higher education is an area where Milwaukee is still strong. Despite tuition increases and decreases in financial aid at both the state and federal levels, Wisconsin has continued to perform well nationally, according to the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education’s study, Measuring Up 2002, in such standards of higher education as affordability (6th), completion (12th) and benefits from a degree. This last bears explaining, for although the state was ranked 41st, it tied or beat the top achiever (Colorado) in four of the nine sub-categories, including both measuring increased income from receipt of a degree. Our state’s overall score in the benefits index was brought down by studies done in 1992 and 1994 on adults demonstrating high level prose, document and quantitative literacy skills conducted by the Center for Education Statistics National Adult Literacy Survey, and the U.S. Department of Education, respectively. In the year 2000 (the last for which consistent data was found), 64
Sep 1st, 2003 by Jon Anne Willow
