“…our city is like a large horse which because of its size is inclined to be lazy and needs the stimulation of a gadfly… before long you will awake from your drowsing, and in annoyance take Anytus’s advice and swat me; and then you will go on sleeping.”

-Socrates

Gadf ly. December 2013

CaposGiuseppe VitellaroWisdom AkpanNick MessinaDavid BurkeGabe MillerMichael Blood

Foot SoldiersSam FentressJames GeoffroyPaul DauesJohn WulfJack EmbryJack Kiehl

GodfadasDr. David CallonGabe NewshamRalph Scozzafava

Concert Calendar12/18 Donny & Marie Scottrade Center12/18-12/21 John & Bucky Pizzarelli

Jazz at the Bistro12/20 Switchfoot Pop’s12/20 Sick Puppies Pop’s12/20-12/22 St. Louis Symphony: Holiday Celebration Powell Symphony Hall12/21 Bullshed Fubar12/23 Trans-Siberian Orchestra Scottrade

Center12/29 The Mighty Belafonte The Demo12/31 Royal Southern Brotherhood w/ Funky Butt Old Rock House1/4 Bobby Bare Jr. Off Broadway1/5 Manifest Fubar1/8-1/11 The Bad Plus Jazz at the Bistro1/17 Sirens & Sailors Fubar1/18 Charlie Wilson The Fox Theatre1/22 Panic! At the Disco The Pageant1/22-1/25 Matt Wilson Quartet Jazz at the Bistro1/23 The Life and Times The Firebird1/27 Phosphorescent Firebird1/30 Cody Simpson The Firebird1/31 Plug In Stereo The Firebird

Concert Calendar

1. The Terror – The Flaming Lips The Flaming Lips’ “The Terror” is a personal favorite of mine from this year. With clanging guitars, a heavy use of synth, and gnarled drums, “The Terror” produces a unique, totally rad sound that earned a high spot on several websites, including NPR and The Rolling Stone. Altogether, the experimental and unique noise of The Flaming Lips never ceased to impress me, and “The Terror” was a strong choice as one of this year’s best albums.

2. My Name Is My Name – Pusha TI felt obligated to put my favorite rap album from 2013 on this list, and out of everything I’ve heard this year, I would have to choose Pusha T’s “My Name Is My Name”. Produced by Kanye West, with strong features such as Pharrell and Kendrick Lamar, this album impressed me a great deal. From “Numbers On The Boards” to “Nosestalgia”, this album creates some wonderful hits with strong beats, making it my pick for the best rap album of this year.

3. Trouble Will Find Me – The NationalAn honest pick as my all-time favorite album of this year, “Trouble Will Find Me” is simply a masterpiece. Matt Berninger’s stellar vocals in unison with the calming, smooth tones of this album create an almost perfect album. Everything about this album blows me away, making it my number one for this year’s greatest albums.

MusicThree of the Best Albums Of 2013Jack Embry

In Dante’s Inferno, there’s a rocky plain just outside of Hell where hordes of fence sitters and lukewarm posers are forced to chase blank white flags for all of eternity. Perhaps this is the way it’s always been, but when I look into myself and around me I see a lot of evidence that suggest that this is where most of us would go if we were to die. We’re always talking about values. Guidelines for how to live life can come up when discussing virtually anything. But when you really analyze the way people interact with the world around them, you find that most of us don’t consistently act on the standards we profess, whatever they may be.

We’re all holding back. Look around and you’ll find it everywhere. It’s the Christian who says he thirsts for justice and yet can’t be bothered to do community, service once a month. Its the empirical atheist who doesn’t believe in God because he can’t sense him yet still lets his life be lead by the pursuit of abstractions like success and happiness. It’s the Pro-lifer who hates abortion with all their heart, but doesn’t want to increase funding for resources for impoverished children. It’s the vocal environmentalist that sings of protecting resources and then spends hours using high consumption computers and phones. Hypocrisy of lukewarmness is everywhere.

This half hearted dedication to personal ethics is pointless. The whole purpose of assigning yourself core values is so that you can guide the rest of your life according to them. It’s a massive waste of time and effort to only sort of follow the rules you’re supposed to set your life around. It’d be more honest to say

Wavin FlagWisdom Akpan

Commentary

you don’t have any values and you let convenience dictate your choices.

It’s better to passionately follow the wrong code of ethics than to have a good set of values only to sometimes live by them. That’s why I’ve always had a special respect for extremists. Although their values are usually built on irrational and hateful dogmas they are really committed to what they believe. When they set something as a core value they make sure that nothing in their life contradicts it. Suicide bomber’s dedication to killing infidels goes so far as to sacrifice their own lives. Now imagine what the world would be like if such dedicated people adhered to ethics based on unity and love.

Not fully applying ourselves to our central beliefs is a frustrating problem. But there is a way to escape the plains of Antihell. For starters, actually identify what you think should be your core values. Just having that awareness of what you really want to stand for makes a difference. And if you find something wrong with your old values, there’s nothing wrong with new ones. Just make sure that no matter what morals you choose, you uphold them to the best of your ability. If you say you believe in justice, don’t just rejoice when a criminal is locked up be–ready to turn in your friend if he cheats. Consistently dedicate yourself to whatever cause you elevate to importance. Because if something is really central to your life, you’ll act upon it all the time and not just when it benefits you.

Alfonso Cuaron’s Gravity is a well-orchestrated 1.5 hours of space and humanity that dances poignantly on the fence between entropy and tranquility. In his 7th feature film (past directing credits include Children of Men and the third Harry Potter film), Cuaron employs a revised recipe for space cinematography and ladles a soup of panoramic, floating, and POV shots into the viewer’s bowl—and the viewer likes it, because the shots of the universe are so convincing you almost forget to breathe.

The scenery is complemented by stark, sound writing penned by Cuaron and his son, Jonas. In the film, two astronauts are left on the cusp of death after debris from a missile strike destroys their craft while they’re on a spacewalk. It’s no surprise that astronauts Ryan Stone and Matt Kowalski are played fairly effectively by Sandra Bullock and George Clooney. Perhaps this is because both are given a universe of dialogue and room to develop their characters—Clooney sinks in to a familiar role

MoviesA Review of GravitySam Fentress

well, albeit somewhat exhaustingly—but it’s apparent also that the two harmonize well. We certainly don’t worry when Bullock has to carry the weight of the film’s second half on her shoulders. The film has so few characters that there could be a very avant-garde stage production in its future.

Thanks to modern cinema technology and severe dedication to realism on Cuaron’s part, the shots of space-walking and the interiors of the crafts (about 98% of the movie) feel more than realistic, save a few moments. In one of the movie’s countless severely gut-wrenching scenes, Stone escapes a burst of flames about as narrowly as the scene misses believability. Luckily, the film moves so swiftly that viewers quickly forget the few weak points in the screenplay. What are not forgotten easily are the careful shots of earth’s lonely seat in the universe.

Thematically, the movie is unsurprising: isolation, silence, and moments of collision all litter the movie. A slow reveal of Stone’s tragic past cripples the film in some ways; too much time is spent trying to remind you that she is a human in space. That’s not to say these ingredients are entirely malicious towards the film’s overall consistency. The emotional levels are so tethered to the physical visual effects that a dose of theatrical familiarity is not unwelcome.

Ultimately, though, Gravity is a movie that diligently distracts—with a plethora of excellent individual components—from the fact that it doesn’t carry any kind of distinct message. The viewer should be grateful that Cuaron put his time into making a space flick but shouldn’t expect to take away something deeper about humanity—except, perhaps, that it can be valuable on occasion to just sit back, relax, and enjoy the ride.

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The Descent of Crystalline Water IceJack Kiehl

Out the window, Isee the flurriesof white layering,the ground r a i s i n g .

School must be cancelled, think I.

Wait.It’s Saturday.

Damn.

Poetry Corner

The MainstreamJames Geoffroy

I hear the small buzzof 50,000 people.Chanting our name,chanting our fame.

We took what life gave us,we made something of ourselves,we chose to dream big,we chose a path of risk in wealth.

It was hard to come by at first,lodged in the van for years,never thought we’d break out,nearing the end of the rope.

It took the world by storm,everyone wanted us.Turbines replaced the wheels,noise replaced the peace.

From clubs to world tours,from the Pageant to Germany,from barely surviving to blowing it all,from being ourselves to forgetting where we came from.

The passion is all but gone,we know each other no more.We had wanted to share with others,but forgot to share with ourselves.

To turn back time,I’d trade 50,000 for 50,the world for my city,somebodies for nobodies.

The Descent of Crystalline Water IceJack Kiehl

Out the window, Isee the flurriesof white layering,the ground r a i s i n g .

School must be cancelled, think I.

Wait.It’s Saturday.

Damn.

Music RamblingsJames Geoffroy

It’s six AM. I pull out of my garage and put one of my many albums in my CD player. Today that album is Pearl Jam’s Vs from 1993. Throughout the drive, I recognize many of the singles such as “Daughter” and “Animal,” but the real reason that I love and appreciate the album is because of it’s other songs. I am not sure if it is the fact that I heard “Daughter” about 50 times as a kid or the fact that my musical tastes have matured and grown a new leaf, but whenever I tell someone like Vs, I also say it is because of the songs on the album such as “Rats,” “Rearviewmirror,” or “W.M.A.” That is a problem with the music industry today. Music retailers and promoters shine so much attention onto singles that many listeners tend not to see the singles within the greater context of the album on which they reside. This problem isn’t untrue for Vs, as it is still overshadowed today by the more memorable crop of singles on Pearl Jam’s first album, Ten. An album’s greatness shouldn’t be based soley

on one of the tracks; songs that are not released as singles are just as good and important as the singles. When an artist or band releases a full album, they intend for it to be listened to all the way through. They use singles as means of advertisement to encourage people to witness the full experience. A solid example of this is the third album released by hip-hop/rap group A Tribe Called Quest (ATCQ) called Midnight Marauders. The album

opens with “The Midnight Marauders Tour Guide,” presenting the broken yet calming monotone voice that gives you information left and right such as how the “bounce meter” will be set in the range of 95 bpm. Following the simple yet perfect intro is the song I like to think of as my real introduction to ATCQ, “Steve Biko (Stir It Up).” The song just really sets the vibe for the album as a laid back cruise—windows down in the 80 degree weather with the driving and crunching sirens that blair while Q-Tip moans “Stir it up” in the background. The next track, “Award Tour,” was a major single from the album as well as being one of the quicker paced songs. Some albums don’t have a force that keeps you entertained at first, but after the chorus breaks in for the first time, you get drawn in for the full 50 minutes. “One Million Stories” is just an honest track where Phife goes through what sounds like a normal day

in the city for someone like him, going from talking about accidentally burning his shirt with an iron to complaining about John Starks’ getting ejected in the Knicks game. On the next track, “Sucka Nigga,” Q-Tip gives a little bit of insight to people who don’t understand the way that people like him talk. In the late 80’s and early 90’s you’d hear the word “nigga” on just about any track put out from Eazy E’s ruthless records, which confused many people. Q-Tip takes his time to clarify why people use the word, explaining that it is a term of endearment for his close friends. “Midnight” is an eerie song that is capable of matching the feel of the streets of Queens in the early 90’s. With an abundant amount of scratching by Ali Shaheed Muhammad, “We Can Get Down” is just a simple song to capture the fun side of hip-hop. Phife also gives the message that he does not approve of the “selling out” done by many rappers when they give up their originality for a paycheck. “Electric Relaxation” may be ATCQ’s most popular song, truly encompassing the relaxed tone of the majority of the songs up to this point and perfecting it. It also did well as a single, even serving a stint as the theme song for the sitcom The Wayans Bros. “Clap Your Hands” feeds off the feelings given by “Electric Relaxation” with Phife and Tip both spitting fairly hard verses over the beat. Busta Rhymes comes back to work with the Tribe on “Oh My God” for the first time since “Scenario” on The Low End Theory. The song opens with a few distinct scratches provided by Ali that lead us into the verses over the smooth bass line. Busta makes his appearance by repeating a line he provided on “Scenario,” saying, “Oh my God, Oh my God,” many times. “Keep it Rollin’” is the aftermath of “Oh My God,” almost like taking a timeout after an intense run in a basketball game, but in an extremely good way. “Keep it rollin’” also features prominent producer Large Professor, known as Xtra P, to close out the song. “The Chase Part II” is like an injection into “Keep it Rollin’,” keeping the laid back feel while pumping up the energy. “Lyrics to Go” begins with an intense screech before dropping down onto a rolling track, bridging the gap excellently between this penultimate tune and the final track. In my mind, the closer, “God Lives Through,” is the masterpiece of the album. It samples Busta’s chorus from “Oh My God” on the smoothest, most relaxed beat of the whole album, only leaving you wanting more. A Tribe Called Quest treats this album like a tour as they lead

listeners through an auditory museum. Along the way, the tour guide spits at you random pieces of information about hip-hop culture and the band itself, such as how even some professional MCs don’t know what the abbreviation of their profession stands for. This tour guide makes many more appearances in between tracks, including right before “Lyrics to Go” when he acknowledges that the album is almost over. The guide spouts typical end-of-tour jargon, saying, “Please exit to the main menu.” Buying a whole album seems to be a bit of a dying tradition, and thanks to online stores and websites like iTunes and YouTube, people don’t have to buy the album if they don’t want to. But when you buy the album, you can listen to it for years and still find something new with it. If you just buy a single, you’ll usually get bored of it very fast if you listen to it constantly, leaving a sense of emptiness. If you want the best possible experience in music, log off the iTunes store and go drive to your nearest record store or Best Buy instead. Sure, a single may be nice, but everytime I listen to Midnight Marauders, I’m always left with a giant smile on my face by the end from the full album’s experience.

MoviesFrozen Review: Disney Magic or Forgettable Folly?David Burke

Walt Disney Animation Studios. Love them or hate them, it’s hard to deny the impact they’ve had in the world of film. Ever since Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs jumped onto the scene in 1937, animated films have taken the world of entertainment by storm. In the 76-year period that animated films have been around, the scale of judgement has always been that of the classic Disney films. From the older classics like Cinderella and Fantasia to those of the “Disney Renaissance” period such as The Little Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast, Disney has set the bar for animated films. No films are compared to Disney’s classics quite as harshly as the Disney films of the present day. Whenever the mouse house releases a new animated film, critics and views alike are anxious to see if it holds up against the classics. On November 27, the latest Disney animated film, Frozen hit theaters. Does it hold up against the masterpieces of the past, or does it fall into obscurity with Disney’s early 2000s efforts?

Undoubtably, the most recognizable of the Disney animated films are those based on fairy tales. The company is well aware of this fact, using Cinderella’s castle to represent the entire film division of the company, showing it prominently before all of their films, animated or live action. Frozen follows in the fairy tale tradition of Disney’s past, loosely basing itself off of Hans Christian Andersen’s “The Snow Queen.” Like most Disney films of the past, Frozen doesn’t follow the original story word for word,

instead taking the basic scenario and using it build something unique. These changes aren’t necessarily a bad thing though, as the film’s story is still very well done. Without spoiling anything, the story does a good job keeping the audience interested, as well as being very enjoyable. The characters themselves are very enjoyable as well. The only real disappointment in the character lineup is the villain, who doesn’t quite live up to the standards of the great Disney villains of the past. Don’t expect anything along the lines of The Lion King’s Scar or Sleeping Beauty’s Maleficent. To be fair though, the villain doesn’t create the story’s major conflict, leaving more room for the film’s more important characters. One particular standout character is the comedic sidekick Olaf, a snowman who is not nearly as annoying as he could have been, but also helps to explain the complex relationship between the film’s central characters, Anna and Elsa. Anna and Elsa are sisters (and, big shocker, royalty) whose relationship is the focus of the film. This relationship is a rather complicated one due to Elsa’s magical control over snow and ice. Overall, the story certainly feels like classic Disney and is a delight.

Equally as famous as Disney’s characters is the music that accompanies them. Frozen follows in this tradition with plenty of original new songs. The soundtrack is fantastic, with fun memorable songs that seem right at home with old favorites. There are lots of winners in this lineup. The beginning of the film is musically dense with songs appearing quite frequently, although the film slows down near the end. Personally, it’s hard to pick a favorite song, but “Fixer Upper” and “First Time In Forever?” are my favorites at the moment, although “Let It Go” and “In Summer” have received a lot of critical acclaim. All of the songs work great on their own, but the film’s visuals are responsible for

really tying everything together.

Frozen follows in the film industry’s current trend of using computer generated imagery (CGI) for animated films. The film looks fantastic. The visual style is reminiscent of the studio’s 2010 release, Tangled, a film that attempted to convey the feel of traditional hand drawn animation through CGI. Characters from Tangled would look right at home in Frozen. (Keep your eyes peeled early on in the film...) Disney really outdid themselves when it came to the snow and ice effects used for the majority of the film. The studio did extensive research into the behavior of snow and it really shows. Like most big releases do these days, Frozen is offered in 3-D. The film makes good use of the technology, especially scenes taking place outdoors and in an icy castle. Where Frozen makes good use of 3-D, the short film the precedes the picture, Get a Horse, uses the effect in a way that seems like something created for a Disney theme park rather than a movie theater. If you’re willing to put up with a higher ticket price, see this film in 3-D.

So, does Frozen live up to the legacy of the Disney classics of the past? In a way, yes. Frozen is sure to become a modern Disney classic. It’s fun story, enjoyable music, and fantastic visuals make it a treat. That being said, it isn’t the greatest Disney animated film of all time. It’s not a flawless film, but it’s still great. Disney has been bringing themselves out of their slump for a while and Frozen represents another big stepping stone for the company. In conclusion, Frozen is definitely worth a viewing for anyone young or old. If you’re looking for a great film to watch this holiday season, Frozen is sure to warm your heart.

Merry Christmas!