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(04/01/11 12:00am)
It took a while to get there, but by the late '80s hip-hop had cemented its place into mainstream American consciousness. Rap music was everywhere, from the pop charts with MC Hammer to the underground with alternative groups like The Pharcyde. Naturally, as what happens with most genres (think punk or blues music), the movement transformed into a genre, splintering into categories like alternative, gangsta or pop-rap. Even though hip-hop as a unified cultural movement no longer existed, this level of development opened the doors for artists of different traditions to experiment with hip-hop's fundamental ideas. While some '80s bands, like Blondie and the Clash, did incorporate aspects of hip-hop into their music, it wasn't until the '90s that growth of fusion cross-genre bands really picked up.
(03/30/11 12:00am)
Sometimes corporations are cool. Like when they give you cheap things, especially when those cheap things are frozen yogurt. This week we trekked out to Yogurtland, a national frozen yogurt chain based out of Anaheim, Calif. Since California is pretty far from Rice we went to the branch located at Westheimer and Shepherd instead. For those of you who are geographically challenged, this is the same place where such Rice staples as Teahouse and that one Verizon store are located.
(03/11/11 12:00am)
"You're nobody (until somebody kills you)" sings Biggie Smalls, aka Notorious B.I.G. aka Christopher Wallace while mocking Dean Martin on the posthumously released double-album Life after Death. Released just 16 days after Biggie's untimely death on March 9, 1997, at the hand of an unknown assailant during a drive-by shooting in Los Angeles, CA, the album's ironic title symbolizes the career and personality of one of hip-hop's greatest legends. While in death Biggie's status has grown to monumental proportions, his fame and influence while he was alive were massive. In fact, footage of his funeral procession in Brooklyn includes images of Brooklyn erupting after someone plays his single "Hypnotize." With lyrics of frighteningly emotional depth that frequently contemplated his own demise, spelling out life's ills and even the material successes of a man who spent his teen years as a crack dealer, Biggie is one of the most complex, skilled and fascinating emcees of all times.Fourteen years after his death this week, Biggie is not under-appreciated: any rap fan's top five or even top 10 list includes him. He has several chart topping singles like "Juicy," "Mo' Money Mo' Problems" and "Big Poppa," despite only releasing one album while alive: Ready to Die. Not to cheapen his commercially successful singles (some of his best and most interesting songs are instantly accessible), if you listen closely to Biggie you'll learn a lot about a man who is much more than your average rapper.
(02/25/11 12:00am)
Last week, Radiohead dropped their new album along with a video of Thom Yorke's bizarre dancing to their single "Lotus Flower." While watching Yorke dance is interesting, his moves are nothing compared to the godfather of soul and king of feverish dancing, the one and only James Brown. While younger people mostly associate James Brown hits like "Get Up Offa That Thing" or "I Got You (I Feel Good)" with cover bands at bar mitzvahs and weddings, James Brown's place in our cultural landscape cannot be underestimated; through his music he pioneered the new genre of funk, became a symbol for the civil rights movement and had a profound effect on hip-hop. It's fun, easily accessible music that, on a superficial level, sounds like one big party. It wasn't really until I started doing research into the history and origins of all the hip hop music I liked so much that I realized just how influential and important Brown was.Brown grew up extremely poor in Augusta, Georgia. Alternating between living with his father and his aunt, Brown was largely unsupervised as a child and dropped out of school in the seventh grade. He learned how to play various instruments from friends, most notably blues musician Tampa Red. Brown was frequently in trouble, and while playing on a detention center's inmate baseball team at the age of 16, he befriended musician Bobby Byrd. When Byrd noticed Brown singing to other inmates, he arranged for his family to oversee Brown's parole and his career began.
(02/18/11 12:00am)
We're pretty into President David Leebron and his Vision for the Second Century, so we went to eat at the Biosciences Research Collaborative last weekend. It was a poor choice. Dan swallowed something in a flask and had to be hospitalized, while Siegfried got lost in all of the empty office space. To cheer ourselves up, we grabbed a whole bunch of dudes and went to check out a different BRC, located in the Washington area, which was in the New York Times once, so it has to be cool. The BRC, which stands for Big Red Cock (ha!) is not a gay bar - it's a gastropub! Gastropub is one of the pretentious words you learn when you pretend to be a food critic for your school's paper, and it means "a place that serves really nice (expensive) burgers and fries and stuff." While the BRC is a great gastropub, it's comparable to similar restaurants in the area, and it wouldn't be our first choice among them in terms of food, although the service is by far the best we've had in Houston.Upon arriving, the host asked us if we had any reservations. Not expecting to need any, he told us we would probably have to wait about half an hour. Suddenly he said "Hold on a minute, let me see what I can do," and briefly disappeared. Before Siegfried could inform our party that we might have to wait, the host had managed to find a table for all six of us. We also had an extremely pleasant waitress, who was helpful, funny and knowledgeable.
(02/11/11 12:00am)
You know when that sitcom you really, really like starts getting crappy? Like when Jim and Pam got married on "The Office," or when Jessica Biel moved out of her house on "7th Heaven"? We experienced a moment exactly like that when we decided to go review Lankford Grocery, a burger place located in a secret corner of Montrose. Having been there several times before, we were excited to share the experience with the dudes we pay to live with us because we have no friends. Yet, for reasons we don't understand, Lankford wasn't at the top of its game last week. Lankford Grocery, not to be confused with Langford Market (that place that sells women's clothing in The Village), is a hole-in-the-wall burger joint located in what appears to be a condemned house. With floors that curve like waves in the Pacific breaking on the beach in front of you during a beautiful sunset, walking around the restaurant feels a bit topsy-turvy. The overall vibe is like you've been placed in a Norman Rockwell painting, if Rockwell dropped enough acid one day to decide he was M.C. Escher. Actually, the warped floors are a little disconcerting the first time you visit, but after a while they're all part of the charm of this decidedly ?unhealthy establishment.
(02/11/11 12:00am)
There's no better way to celebrate Presidents Day than by examining two hardcore punk bands named after two of our nation's great leaders: Reagan Youth and Dead Kennedys. With their incredibly low production values and occasionally paradoxical political views, these pioneering bands are an important part of the American punk tradition. Reagan Youth's name is a reference to the Hitler Youth: Appropriately, the cover art of the seven-song E.P. Youth Anthems for The New Order, their only release during the Reagan Administration, features a cloaked Klansman chatting up an all-American family. Part of me hopes no young punks in the '80s confused this group of radical anarchists for racists, as some of lead singer Dave Insurgent's (aka Dave Rubinstein) family were Holocaust survivors. A hostile combination of anarchism and socialism, Reagan Youth's politics represented the vocal distaste many hardcore bands had for American conservatism.
(01/28/11 12:00am)
Haters gonna hate. But not on Moon Tower Inn, an exotic meat hot dog establishment that looks like someone's huge-ass backyard. Featuring a fantastic, affordable beer selection and incredible hot dogs made of exotic meats such as pheasant, elk and duck, Moon Tower Inn is totally worth a trip out to the second ward.We parked a few blocks away from the restaurant (for no particular reason), and watched the neighborhood slowly gentrify as we walked between row houses and trendy condos. We know Rice kids get super sketched-out by words like "ward," "second" and "trendy," but don't worry; we overcame our middle-class backgrounds to buy hot dogs from hipsters. Our least favorite former Thresher arts and entertainment editor was so scared, he decided to stay in the car while crying on the shoulders of a certain Wiess College president and listening to the Smashing Pumpkins (that suck) on his Zune.
(01/21/11 12:00am)
And so we decided to embark on a journey to the urban cesspool that is New York City. After a three-day car ride with brief stops in Arkansas, the Maker's Mark distillery in Tennessee, and West Virginia (where bars are open until 3 a.m.!), we arrived in glorious Chatham, New Jersey. Chatham was certainly the coolest place ever, but this is a column about New York City, so Chatham will have to wait until another day. Full disclosure: We were only in New York for two days, so we totally know absolutely everything about it. Our editor says that in order to make this relevant, we need to compare New York to Houston, so we'll provide y'all with a handy Texas analogue to each restaurant we visited.
(11/19/10 12:00am)
Hip-hop is about stories and the people who tell them. Kanye West is one hell of a storyteller, and his latest album, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, cements his place as one of the most important artists of our time. His most personal album so far, Kanye makes a great departure from his previous albums musically, lyrically and in content by telling the story of his comeback from the nadir of his career. Unlike his previous albums, Kanye is no longer appealing to every man; there is no "Good Life" to sing along to on this album. Instead, Kanye delivers a brilliantly crafted, occasionally dark and empowering story of redemption and triumph.This album's story really begins more than a year ago. Whether it was caused by the "Fishsticks" episode of South Park (that prompted an all-caps response on Kanye's infamous blog) or the MTV Video Music Awards snafu with Taylor Swift at the end of 2009, Kanye's public image had completely deteriorated. Kanye stayed under the radar, except for a little known short film released in October 2009, directed by Spike Jonze, that is essentially a metaphor for Kanye's public relations suicide - until he leaked the song "Power" in May. "Power" is an appropriately strong entrance back into the limelight. Cleverly using a King Crimson sample, Kanye simultaneously addresses his detractors for obsessing over him and proudly proclaims his influence on the music industry. Combined with his weekly music releases via his G.O.O.D. Fridays music program, the leak primed fans for the most exciting comeback album in recent memory.
(11/12/10 12:00am)
There comes a point in everyone's college career when they really, really need some pizza at 2 a.m. After a long night of teaching each other how to dougie, Dan and Siggy decided to reward their hard work with a visit to Late Nite Pie in midtown. Late Nite Pie is a rather hip place, so they gathered up their hipster friend (appropriately named) Austin and headed out to get some fairly standard pizza in a pretty neat venue.After driving onto a gravel parking lot that's likely to take out one's muffler, one is immediately attracted to the extensive artwork that covers the outside of Late Nite Pie. The entrance features a large, light blue Ren and Stimpy-like happy face, sure to make anyone in the 18-30-year-old demographic simultaneously nostalgic and creeped out. The art doesn't stop when you enter the place, either: We sat at a table underneath a picture of five scary-looking alien things. The best thing about Late Nite Pie is its local, underground vibe, and the artwork definitely compliments that. The place has three areas, divided in order of brightness: light, dark and outside dark. The dark room has a defunct pinball machine, along with a stage for their weekly live music. We were going to look up when exactly they have bands over, but their website doesn't work.
(11/05/10 12:00am)
Sometimes when you're a senior, you feel like you need to do real-ass adult stuff, like wearing something that isn't even a Rice Athletics T-shirt or going on super hot dates to places that aren't even in the Village. Last Saturday, we decided to fulfill these urges by going to Max's Wine Dive, a moderately classy wine bar located on Washington Avenue. Max's does two things very well: It makes some really solid gourmet comfort food and it costs way more money than either of us will ever have. Upon entering Max's, the first thing we noticed was the light fixtures made of wine bottles hanging from the ceiling. The restaurant's red brick interior and "industrial chic" aesthetic made us feel like we were so not in a dive. There was a massive wine collection on display near the entrance. While the selection seemed impressive, we were shocked by the total lack of both wine in boxes and fortified wine. This, coupled with the hip young urban professional (read: yuppie) crowd, made us feel like we were finally in the company of super high rollers like ourselves.
(10/08/10 12:00am)
Beaver's is not a strip club: This cannot be emphasized enough. Beaver's is more like going to a friend's house for a barbecue, if that friend's dad happens to be a world-class chef. Holding true to the menu's claim that "Fat equals Flavor," Beaver's is an indulgent place to get your fill of icehouse-style dining with expertly crafted food. When we arrived at Beaver's, we were greeted by the combination of the smell of barbecue in the air and the sound of The Decemberists on the radio. The music playing continued to be excellent yet too mainstream for us KTRU fans, so a waitress led us and a few of our friends to a picnic table outside. The atmosphere was casual, and the crowd around us was full of people of all ages. Our waitress was friendly and kicked off the night by asking us if we wanted the special: fried shrimp, New York strip steak and 80/20 mashed potatoes, which are 80 percent mashed potatoes and 20 percent butter. It sounded tasty, but we're pretty bad at math, so we ordered some appetizers instead.
