The Unicorns take a whimsical tone to death

A horse of a different color, the Unicorns (Nicholas “Niel” Diamonds, Alden Ginger and of late, Jamie Tambour) are the perfect synthesis of pop music and My Little Pony. Their full-length debut album “Who Will Cut Our Hair When We’re Gone?” was touted by many critics as one of the top albums of 2003, and while cynics were whining about how the ‘Corns seemed to have drank too much cough syrup, the world of indie-pop was abuzz and in love before anyone could say “casiotone.” Based conceptually aro

Shea reports to faculty on financial liabilities

Shea began his presentation after President Tom Gerety prefaced it with statements regarding the heart of the “health care benefit question.” Gerety brought up issues of sustainability. “Is this a sensible set of benefits such that we can sustain them?” he said. Gerety stressed the importance of having realistic and sustainable benefits, while giving his reassurance that the Board of Trustees “expresses a sense that [faculty] compensation and [faculty] benefits ought to be generous and fair when

Destinations: Video To Go

It was a fine relationship in the beginning. Though I spent my first few shifts wearing holes into my sneakers, checking in videos, digging through drop-boxes until my fingers started to bleed and carrying stacks upon stacks of new releases to be shelved in behemoth sections advertising the “guaranteed” presence of the vapid film du jour, I didn’t really mind. I was working at a video store, after all; that had been my goal. I mean, yes, the smell of stale, boxed gummy bears and generic balls o

Function gives way to form in Verbinsky's 'Ring'

This second viewing was a fruitful one. A renewed sense of clarity coursing through my veins, I felt ready as I shuffled through the ice to my car. So now, I’m going to tell you a little something about Gore Verbinsky’s “The Ring.” Introduced to the viewing public in an ad campaign vague and stylized enough to be a BMW commercial, “The Ring” caught my eye from the beginning. A remake of an apparently terrifying 1998 Japanese flick, “The Ring” seemed like it was going to be pleasantly different

Sigur Rós gently drones on to perfect the art of noise

I’d usually tell you within the first few lines, in fact. But I’m a bit confused as to how to start, because this particular album doesn’t so much have a name. I speak, of course, however obliquely, of the new Sigur Rós album. Most easily identified by a set of what resemble parentheses on the cover, the album does its best to preserve a certain air of minimalist mystery. It succeeds. None of the tracks are titled, there are no liner notes (the booklet itself is an eerily sparse layering of what

A perfect fit: Mann charms at the Calvin

Delivering a highly visual (owing to complex, polka-dotted lighting schemes, interesting wardrobes and the visible facial expressions afforded by the intimacy of a small venue) and exceptionally witty performance in general, Mann’s tongue-in-cheek humor and dry vocal stylings (as expressive in their monotone as they are in their dynamically varied form) were in top form last Wednesday night at the Calvin. It’s no surprise that Mann was good, but as she wooed her audience seemingly effortlessly w

'Halls' are full of what make us great

To be a writer, and more importantly, to be a good writer, you’ve got to love language. You have to breathe it, it has to be in your marrow and when that isn’t enough, you have to write daily reminders on your mirrors and your belongings and even your person to mix it into your water like flouride or Thera-flu. Language is your tool so you’d better not be allergic to it, and you can’t particularly forge a note from your mother on this one. My problem, my pesky dilemma (one of them anyway), is t

This is not a love song

This, in addition to the standard questions that every singer/songwriter must deal with when participating in the recording process-How does this sound? What could I do to make this better? Should I add another part here, or should I keep it sparse? Am I ever going to see the light of day again?-seemed to be the question that was repeated the most by Hall, at least in front of me. After a while, I have to admit that I, too, started to ask myself that question. Was she kidding? Was this humorous