Over the Edge ° September 12

CFUR Album Review

JORDAN TUCKER
ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR

Hello UNBC! To those of you who are returning, here's hoping that your summer was
fantastic and that all shenanigans had were mostly legal and all fun. To those of you

who are new to our school, welcome! This section will be where we review albums and
post the top ten albums played at CFUR this fortnight.

#1- Theatre is Evil, Amanda Palmer And The Grand Theft Orchestra

Amanda Palmer, former member of self-
invented genre “Punk Cabaret”, so-called
because she was “terrified that someone
would use the word ‘gothic’ in the
description’, has created a genre-defying
oeuvre, deeply informed by her personal
experience and life on the precipice of
extraordinary and unlimited thinking. Her
husband, acclaimed writer Neil Gaiman,
once said that he felt that he was “living
with a piece of incredible, all-consuming
performance art called Amanda Palmer’.
Her art and music and life are intertwined:
nothing is created without informing the
other aspects of her life. This album was
made possible in part due to her fans.
Amanda Palmer, when still with The Dresden
Dolls, the two-person outfit made famous
by the 2006 album Yes, Virginia, was signed
to Roadrunner Records. While this would be
considered a success story by many, Amanda
found the pressures, creative restrictions

and financial inequalities of the label to be
wearisome. Her process to birth Theatre Is
Evil was so ingenious and unprecedented that
The New York Times, The Economist and other
notable publications took notice. Her formula
was simple: she posted a link to Kickstarter
on her blog, and presented a detailed budget
of the breakdown of how she would spend
a million dollars to create an album. Her
fans responded with a flood of support and
enthusiasm, and an album has been released
and a 14-month tour announced (Vancouver
on September 29th). Amanda Palmer is
brilliant, unorthodox, and controversial. This
album is no different, being a hodgepodge
of pop, folk, rock and ukelele. In one song,
“Ukelele Anthem’, she sings, “Just because
your grades are bad, doesn't mean you're
failing!” (The song itself was debuted at her
Occupy Wall Street performance in 2011,
she and Neil are both ardent supporters of
the movement) In the video for “Want It

Back”, she lies naked on a white bed, and a
tattoo artist draws the lyrics as she sings on
her body, creating a wonderful picture of
the emotional toil and physical vexations a
relationship can take on a person. The song
itself is no less magnificent, with soaring
vocals and the sweet and urgent promise
that “He's already on the outskirts/I'm still
pulling at his sweatshirt/He says "Fate is
not a factor”/ | will let you go if you would
let somebody love you like | do.” This album
is fantastic. Buy it, and support not only the
artist, but the idea that music should be
something sold by artists, to fans, without
middlemen.

FUR

88. 7 im

# 3- No Safe Home, Wax Mannequin

In his role as dramatic performer Wax
Mannequin, Chris Adeney is used to taking
risks. Of his previous five albums, this
may perhaps be the most morose. In a
concert at Nancy 0's, on August 7th, his
performance was theatrical and somewhat
sad. The music seemed heavy, thick, visceral.
He stared intensely out at the crowd, a
searching sentiment to his performance.
However, while Wax Mannequin is theatrical,
extravagant and energetic, he is not
uncalculating. His music is well thought out,
and often fanciful, dealing with themes of
isolation, love, and meowing (check out
“Message From The Queen,’ from his album
The Price).

As a press release states, No Safe Home is "a
subdued collection of ethereal and sombre
folk songs that are rife with the minstrel's
wry wit, morose personal observations,
veiled social commentary and uplifting (if
understated) melodic cadences." The record

was engineered and co-produced by Nick
Johannes of the Kettle Black, resulting in a
"hauntingly spacious, sparsely produced,
acoustic gem." This album is smart and sober,
with all the maturity one would expect from
Canada's favourite troubadour. Please buy it
off of his website, or better yet, purchase one
of the candles with a USB of his entire back
catalogue wedged inside. Our boy has to
remake the tour money that was stolen from
him on his 2011 tour.

NUGSS BACKYARD BARBECUE WITH KINGSFOIL

My,

Over the edge.indd 13

SHELLEY TERMUENDE
MANAGING EDITOR

Another fabulous start to the
school was had by all last Friday
at the annual NUGSS Backyard
Barbecue and concert. This
year, NUGSS and the UNBC
community had the honour of
hosting the musical stylings of
indie/pop rock band, Kingsfoil
and openers The _ Statistics.
Crowds were thrilled to see
their favourite prime-time star,
Frankie Muniz, on stage in his
musical element as the band’s
drummer. Front man Jordan
Davis and bassist Tim Warren had
excellent stage presence along
with strong vocals and popular
lyrics. Kingsfoil’s mainstream
style was very popular with
the UNBC community. After

the concert, lines of screaming
fans (both male and female)
stretched on for hours, all dying
to get merchandise, autographs
and their picture with Kingsfoil’s
famous percussionist. The band
was thrilled with the level of
enthusiasm here on campus,
saying “Honestly, there was a
lot more excitement than our
American audiences, especially
since you guys have never
listened to our songs before.
It was awesome, and we really
appreciate it! We love Canada!”
With another awesome turnout
for the Backyard Barbecue and
concert, NUGSS has once again
outdone themselves.

09/09/2012 9:26:17 PM |