The Behrend Beacon I 8
Don’t Panic - Pretty. Odd. is pretty good
Panic
finally
sophomore
And don’t think that we
forgot the exclamation
point., read more to
find out why it’s gone..
By Chris LaFuria
editor-in-chief
csls(X)s(p'psu.edu
Tempting. That's the only
word that can describe the new
Panic At The Disco album.
And don't look twice, there
was no exclamation in their
band name and it wasn’t a typo.
In an attempt to "mature," the
20-year-old Brendan Urie and
his emo posse have dropped
not only the punctuation from
their name but their techno
dance-emo style that was found
on many Myspace pages.
However, listening to the
album is like putting a puzzle
together with the fan on "high.”
All the pieces seem to be pres
ent, just in a bizarre, incoherent
order.
Fittingly, Panic At The Disco
apologizes to the audience with
the first track on their first
album in two years. Pretty.
Odd. The album, released
months after schedule, began as
ihe band took a six-month hia
tus to Mount Charleston, Nev.
after a grueling tour schedule.
“Oh, how it's been so
Weekly Musical Trivia for the Behrend Beacon
Which jazz trumpeter was famous for his horn, which was bent upwards?
A. Louis Armstrong C. Chet Baker
B. Miles Davis D. Dizzy Gillespie
Answer to last week's question: A. Perry Farrell
Recent song reviews:
Yes. yes. yes. since we have a page
entirely devoted to music, why not talk
about the songs? Here's a selection of
songs you may have heard on the radio, on
MTV or not at all. This is a review of pop
ular and indie songs that's been getting the
press by the internet and radio stations
alike. So let's begin, shall we?
Dizzee Rascal f/ UGK - Where’s Da G’s
Off of 2007" s “Maths + English,” UK
grime rapper Dizzee Rascal collaborates
and gets th'owed with the original rulers of
the Southern U.S. rap UGK, the
Underground Kingz. Each of the rappers
talk down on studio gangsters who claim
they are real, but never "robbed or
shanked” anyone. Dizzee's heavy accent
may be clearly evident, but it isn’t hard to
understand as UGK member Bun B chal
lenges any fakers who claim they are
“gangstas.” “Let me see the neighborhood
you control," tested Bun. The song’s high
light. however, may be the third verse
when the late UGK member Pimp C shows
out his swaggering personality and macks
the song down like no other. Some may
consider this song as unfortunate as C's
death prevented his appearance on the
music video being seen on MTV.
Nonetheless, this song is climbing on the
charts as it could be the last anyone would
see Sweet Jones possibly at his prime.
at the Disco
released their
album.
long/We're so sorry we’ve been
gone/We were busy writing
songs for you."
Diving into the album, I did
n't know where to begin.
Knowing the cliche trends of
Panic, I went right to the track
“Folkin" Around," Figuring the
talk about the new revamped
sound and the word “folk" in
the title. To the untrained ear.
this track sounds like an origi
nal bluegrass track, but with
Urie still chiming his false
vibrato emoetry, the song has
one word for a description.
Counterfeit.
The album has all the mak
ings to be a very successful
album: advanced instrumenta
tion, decent lyrics, hype and
prodigious youthful talent. But
factor in the Partridge Family
Nehru jackets, forced vocals,
Beatles copyright infringe
ments and the hype being 17
year-old girls, the grandeur is
lost.
Speaking of Beatles connec-
Katy Perry - Ur So Gay
This song begins peacefully with an
acoustic guitar playing in the background
over pounding drums. A sharp whistle
kicks in as Katy Perry soothing croons, “I
hope you hang yourself with your H&M
scarf.” She continues by still gracefully
singing. “You’re so indie rock, it’s almost
an art/You need a SPF 45 just to stay
alive,” just as the chorus comes up.
“You’re so gay and you don’t even like
boys," are the memorable words in the
chorus. It’s not as if Perry is trying to
change the meaning of the word, but she
sings of her male acquaintance that’s “so
sad, maybe you should probably buy a
Happy Meal” and someone who would
rather “MySpace” instead of having a con
versation with her. “Ur So Gay" is far from
being offensive as she does have beautiful
vocals to guide the track in its right direc
tions (Maybe not including the exception
where she arbitrarily yells “PENIS” at the
end of the song). I honestly would not be
shocked if the song were to be play on Star
104 a couple of months from now, maybe
with a few changes and edits though, pos
sibly changing the title to “Ur So Dumb”
for the song to be politically correct.
LSI’ Wayne f/ Static Major - Lollipop
Producer Jim Jonsin recently revealed
this song was originally for R&B pop
group Danity Kane. Then Lil' Wayne and
former Playa member/songwriter Stephen
“Static Major” Garrett heard the track and
they loved it. So the track is now theirs and
CONTRIBUTED PHOT!
Above: Panic at the Disco releases their second album.
tions. Pretty. Odd. was record
ed at Abbey Road Recording
studio in London, England.
Coincidence?
The album hits a high note
on the track “Behind the Sea."
In a song that sounds similar to
early Shins recordings, Ryan
Ross takes over the lead vocals
in. what I consider, the best
Panic track ever. “Toast the
fine folks casting silver
crumbs/To us from the
dock/Jinxed things ringing as
they leak/Through tiny cracks
in the boardwalk." Not only
has the song writing matured,
but also the singing has come a
long way. Ross should serious
ly consider taking over the mic
or starting a side-project.
Another song worthy of
repeating is their speakeasy
esque "I Have Friends in Holy
Places." which sound like a
cross between the Prohibition
Era jazz scene and an amuse
ment park carousel. The dis
torted song, featuring a ukulele
(or possibly a mandolin. Who's
to tell?), is a nice, mellow
departure from their hyper
dance music from 2005’s A
Fever You Can't Sweat Out.
The only throwback to their
first release happens to be the
album’s first release. "Nine in
the Afternoon" still has rem
nants of the last album. It’s one
of those weird, transition songs
that still echoes of past Panic.
Pretty. Odd. actually turned
out to be pretty good. As for
one of the most anticipated
albums of 2008, it doesn’t
reach the predictions.
However, it's a promising
album that I really want to like.
I guess maybe it will take a few
more listens for these post
teens to dance their way back
to my iPod.
By Erik Holman
staff writer
eths()29C“ psu.edu
Lil’ Wayne and Static made the dark track
seductive
Fall Out Boy / John Mayer - Beat It
Hold up. If you have read the song title
and assumed it would be a Micheal
Jackson remake, then you would be
absolutely CORRECT! DING DING
DING! Give this reader a prize, Johnny!
Out of a trillion Michael Jackson covers
already heard around the world, this one
may be the most recent. Well, not really,
due to the fact Michael’s 25th Anniversary
edition of Thriller contains some of his
remakes by Kanye West, will.i.am, and
Akon as bonus tracks. Instead of the song
appearing as Thriller’s bonus track, FOB’S
version of “Beat It” would appear on their
"Live in Phoenix” set as a special treat for
the fans. The throbbing drums in the begin
ning are just as rocking and loud as the
original version. Guitarist/vocalist Patrick
Stump then plays a riff that is highly famil
iar to Jackson’s fans or anyone who have
heard music in the past twenty years. For
those who accused Stump’s vocal as not
so-great, he actually stepped it up really
well on this song. Dozens may be surprised
hearing John Mayer shredding on the gui
tar solo formerly done by stringed-instru
ment legend Eddie Van Halen. Overall,
while this song doesn’t hold a candle to
Michael Jackson’s version (Seriously, what
song does?), Fall Out Boy still displayed a
fantastic remake here. This song may even
excel a few expectations of Fall Out Boy’s
capability as becoming one of this decade’s
supreme rock groups by 2010.
One man’s view on our
interpretations of the art
known as music
There are infinite perspectives
on the subject of music. How do
we know who’s right? Is anyone
right? The answer is no.
“An art of sound in time that
expresses ideas and emotions in sig
nificant forms through the elements
of rhythm, melody, harmony, and
color.” So I ripped my lead off of a
dictionary; call it uncreative but I’m
going to call it essential. Anyway,
that’s the definition of music accord
ing to the knowledgeable
dictionary.com. Is it good? Well
define good, because when we’re
dealing with music good can be bad
and bad can be magnificent. I’m
labeling that as the essence of the
article and we’re only at the begin
ning folks so let my words lead the
way through a musical journey of
realness.
Often I hear conversations among
friends, colleagues or people I have
never seen in my life. That’s right -1
listen to your conversations, and it’s
not because I'm creepy (or am I?), I
just possess a yearn to understand
communication in its entirety, but
most importantly I want to know
everything about music.
When I say that I want to know
everything about music, I am not, in
any way, referring to aquiring the
impossible
good music.
knowledge of every band in the
world, every genre, or defining what
good music is, and that’s because it’s
impossible. I myself have listened to
hundreds of bands throughout almost
every genre of music, while the per
son sitting behind me in this lab may
have listened to another thousand
bands that 1 do not care for; that’s
because music is subjective and not
one person shares the exact same
feelings about each and every musi
cal group.
In addition to the hundreds of
bands that have graced my ears, with
one of the truest forms of art
throughout history, I have personally
known plenty of groups that never
made it big enough to release an
album through a major or even a suc
cessful independent label. The point
I’m slowly driving towards is that the
amount of music that has been creat
ed in our world exceeds any possibil
ity of grasping music in its entirety.
One day you may think you’re an
elitist of music and the next day an
underground band that has been in
existence for 10 years may play out
of a jukebox in a bar in a complete
state of randomness and your elitist
thoughts and dreams are drowned in
your lager.
There is no way of listening to all
the music in the world. We attend
college or educate students (for the
profs) at one small Penn State cam
pus in one state. That’s just one col
lege in one small city in one state in
one country on one continent in one
world in one universe (I think). That
means that every local band that
helps define your life means nothing
on a larger scale. Sure, to you it
means everything on an intraperson
al level, but to an African culture that
is too far away for my communica
tion based brain to measure, it means
nothing.
Again I’m rambling, but I swear
there’s a cause -1 just haven’t figured
it out yet. I said earlier that it’s
impossible to define good music. To
me, in my own crazy state of mind, I
can define good music. Again it’s
intrapersonal. To me good music is
Elliott Smith, Frank Sinatra,
Thelonious Monk, Conor Oberst, etc.
Friday, March 28, 2008
By Ryan P. Gallagher
music editor
rpgsoo4@psu.edu
- I could literally go on forever, but
that would just bore those of you
who cannot relate to the afore men
tioned artists. That's why it's impos
sible to define good music. To you.
the reader, you may classify Van
Halen as good music and you are 100
percent correct. I personally cannot
attest to that statement because in my
mind. I believe that Van Halen is
garbage, just as you may think the
same towards my Sinatra driven
It’s where one human differs from
the other. It may be due to the cul
ture you were raised in or you could
be considered a music expert by
many and could validate the astound
ing work of Halen to me for an hour,
but you're still wrong. And it’s
because I'm telling you that you're
wrong. Not because I'm smarter
than you or because I'm a better
musician than you. but because I
simply do not possess the same taste
as you, and that goes both ways. You
can tell me I’m wrong too, there's
nothing wrong with that and that's
the beauty of music
In no way do I condone modern
pop radio, but if you like it. then lis
ten to it. It’s your own damn loss
and it's not my problem so I don’t
care. I don’t know why I just wrote
that but it's staying.
An art of sound in time that
expresses ideas and emotions in sig
nificant forms through the elements
of rhythm, melody, harmony, and
color. There. I made you read it
again and you had no way of resist
ing because it came out of nowhere -
I’m a huge jerk. I’m sorry, but I
needed for you to read it again.
Music can reflect society, but society
cannot reflect music. Music is
music; it’s not what the big name
record companies blow it up to be. I
don’t care about the realities of mod-
em music companies because they’re
garbage and it’s not an accurate
depiction of what music was created
to be. Music in the 40s, 50s, 60s, 70s
(not to mention music from earlier
centuries) - society didn’t have to
deal with the bullshit because the
music was much more real back then.
It was real artists conveying real
meaning to real people. Pop music
now is just an excuse for money
that’s pretty much it (with a few
minor exceptions that I won’t get into
at the moment because the article is
already way too long).
So please don’t tell me that Conor
Oberst is a whining drunken fool and
provide a follow-up response that
consists of stating the brilliance of
Metallica because it’s a hopeless
cause. It ultimately means nothing to
me because I don’t relate. If rap is
your coffee at an AA meeting then so
be it. If heavy metal is what you eat
for every meal of the day then good
for you. If jazz is the only
respectable form of music in your
mind then that’s just fine. But don’t
tell me what good music and live the
rest of your life thinking that you’re
right, because to me, you’re wrong.
Each individual is granted their own
opinion if subjectivity lies in the
field. So take advantage of it
because it’s one of the finest individ
ual virtues that exist. Thanks and
keep reading.
to define