The Battaijon • Page 3
lot.
1 of im
pects
oeen
said,
ent fn
'll th,
ium
ards,
-gery
il Cem
toad trips provide
jscape from school
)ressures, demands
p
he road sometimes speaks to us. It says some
thing like this: “Give me your tired, your weak,
a your stressed-out masses yearning to breathe
e f n [ aii ee.” And we go — sometimes.
We should probably go more often, but we don’t. We
ive silly little excuses for not dropping everything
stay
Popov,
^ oni ^ id piling into a
kunt
Ided:
e,
Univ
peo:,
ISt
nete
et
abuse:
nits.
be dit-
lations
lalistii
drink,
ik and
after
irvg on
r when
Natu-
aetbod
cy.
i, here
use
iv your
,e wlw
tners.
Have
ir headed for a
ipone: destina-
on. “I have a
Bt.” “I have
ays st: ork.” “I don’t
lme i ave a car.”
Oops! Wait
those are the
21-yet ood excuses.
ut usually our
l-a-wei Ueness is the
Michael
Landauer
Asst. Aggielife
Editor
Strong vocals illuminate 'Rapture'
esult of a lack
: onl! [initiative rather than any good reason,
he se The list of things that can really keep us from tak-
Indiai ig off on a random road trip is only going to get
inger as the years go by. Soon weTl have to add work
lore often and maybe a family to the list. Then the
ids will be in school, and well take our sick days to
gH lyhome for Christmas. And well only have memories
four road trips.
Well remember that night before school started
vhen we went ice skating at The Galleria in Houston.
iure, we had just spent a month in Houston over
Ihristmas and didn’t go skating once. But it was get-
,ing there that made it fun.
Well remember the time we decided to visit a
friend at another college and only called to warn them
when we got in town.
Well remember weekend road trips when we ate
nothing but pizza from Mr. Gatti’s buffet.
Or if we don’t remember, well regret.
There will be days spent snuggled nicely into the
routine of life. Well be all grown up with a career and
a family. Well be sitting in our office on a Friday af
ternoon wondering what it would be like to play
hooky. We could be asking ourselves, “I wonder what
would happen if...?” instead of telling ourselves, “Re
member that time when...?”
We’re in college. We’re supposed to do certain
things now because we may never have the chance to
do them again. We have our entire lives to worry
about how much mileage we’re putting on our car. We
have an eternity of laziness ahead of us. Some of us
will always have classes to attend.
But how often do we really have an opportunity to
just get the hell outta Dodge? How many spring
breaks do we expect the real world to throw our way?
Some of us already feel that our world is too busy to
walk away from for a weekend. We have classes,
homework and studying to do. But before we gradu
ate, we’re going to attend so many classes — there’s
time to catch up.
And next week there’s no excuse. None of those
classes will be waiting for us. Sure we may have work
— to do, but we can plan a little. We are fully capable of
living a little.
' College Station has two things that make it the per
fect inspiration for road trips. It is located in the mid
dle of all the major Texas cities and it’s only eight
hours from New Orleans.
i The other thing it has going for it — and as much
as we love Aggieland, we have to admit it — is that it’s
a great city to watch disappear in your rear-view mir
ror. It’s nice to come home to, but as Lyle Lovett and
Robert Earl Keen said when talking about their front
porch on Church Street, we remember the “ coming-
back’s” but we don’t “cry about the leaving.”
So when the road calls, go. Go, and leave every
thing else behind. Go, and get to know your friends,
and even yourself, a little better. Go, and make memo
ries or you’re doomed to stay and wonder.
The world’s grip on us is only getting tighter. So if
we have the chance, and next week we do, we should
all get the hell outta Dodge.
A great Greek philosopher once saw things the
right way. OK, I’m really about to refer to Ferris
Bueller, but I tried to add some credibility to this col
umn. He said the world moves pretty fast and if we
ion’t stop and look around every so often, we could
miss it.
Don’t miss it — road trip.
By Erin Hill
The Battalion
Siouxsie and The Banshees
TTie Rapture
Geffen Records
★ ★★ 1/2 (out of five)
W ay back in 1976, Siouxsie
and The Banshees debuted
at a London punk festival
with an “avant-punk” version of “The
Lord’s Prayer.” On The Rapture,
their 14th album, they’ve reinvented
themselves yet again, a feat that not
just any band could match.
“For us, on every album, we’re a
brand new band — and our body of
work shows that,” Siouxsie Sioux
said in a press release. They’ve en
dured the fleeting trends of pop
music and have held on tightly to
their offbeat and mysterious brand
of music.
“We reject being sucked into the
industry, the trappings and games,”
Siouxsie said. We distance ourselves
from all that. We’re outside that ma
chinery and their clinched ideas of
what we’re about. I find that attitude
narrow-minded ... I don’t want us
contaminated by that.”
They’ve maintained their musical
purity without becoming dull, in part
because of Siouxsie’s
knock-out vocals.
Her voice practically
crackles with electric
currents — she de
mands to be heard.
She is one of the
first women in alter
native rock with a
voice so delectable,
hard and forceful
enough to make
Tanya Donelly, Kim
Deal and Kristin
Hersh cry with envy.
But Siouxsie hates being labeled. She
was around before alternative was
“it,” and she will be around for a lot
longer.
“If someone calls us ‘gloomy and
dark’ again. I’ll throw up,” she said.
“We have more facets and are far
more diverse than that.”
While gloomy and dark are cer
tainly in her repertoire, Siouxsie can
do much more.
Take “Tearing Apart,” for starters.
Siouxsie sweetly sings “I know it’s all
in vain ... I think we all should die.”
Even the edge in her voice could
hardly be called dark or gloomy.
For the listener, she shines a light
on the path of life, illuminating both
the dark corners of human experi
ence and the moments of joy.
Every song and theme seems to
have been carefully chosen for this
particular album. Even the order of
songs is important, because she
seems to write about defining mo
ments in the evolving journey of life
as they happen. Starting with “O
Baby,” she takes us to “Fall From
Grace” and “Sick Child.” As we exit
the land of innocence, we hear
“Falling Down.” #
What else could be next then, but
the redeeming title song of The Rap
ture, an exquisite love song with
lyrics as innovative as you’ll find
anywhere.
“Rebirthed in ecstasy, with cheru
bim and seraphim,” Siouxsie sings,
sounding eerily like Jane Siberry’s
haunting voice with the same defi
ance of traditional song forms.
This song carves its way into the
listener’s mind like a headstrong riv
er making its way across a deserted
continent. Siouxsie takes us where
we’ve not been before.
Martin McCarrick’s keyboards
and cello lend themselves well to the
unique sound of this album, and Jon
Klein on guitar. Budgie on percus
sion and Steven Severin on bass
round out the cast of the impressive
and intense Banshees.
“Sometimes we’ve been guilty of
being too intense about things that
have nothing to do with the music,”
bassist Steven Severin said.
But ultimately it is Siouxsie who
steals the show. At once the painter
of a bleak landscape and the portrait
too, Siouxsie has agonized, suffered
and lived to tell.
Her writing keeps getting better.
Check out the vast expanse of the
song “Forever” with the lyrics “Infini
ty stretches unlimitlessly/Countless
days pass by immeasurably/Anniver-
saries gutter in the maelstrom whor-
ling/A snowstorm of lustrous millen
nium.”
With music like The Rapture,
that’s probably how long Siouxsie
and the Banshees will be recording.
Steven Severin, Siouxsie Sioux and Budgie of Siouxsie & the Ban-
Farris explores new territory with solo debut
By Rob Clark
The Battalion
Dionne Farris
Wild Seed — Wild Flower
Columbia Records
★ ★★ (out of five)
HT
PEN
iby
and
// % A /on’t you help me understand your
\/\/ P lan? ”
V V This might be the first time we
heard Dionne Farris, as she sang the emotion
al ending to Arrested Development’s 1992 hit
“Tennessee.”
But Farris has stepped out from behind the
group’s shadows to make her debut solo album
Wild Seed — Wild Flower.
Farris is one of a seemingly new breed of fe
male soul singers with a flair for social con
sciousness. Artists like Carolyn Wheeler,
Des’ree and N’dea Davenport of The Brand
New Heavies have emerged and even over
shadowed the constant flow of mush from
Mariah Carey and Whitney Houston.
Farris continues the spiritual themes of Ar
rested Development’s first two albums, but her
solo status gives her a whole new world to
roam. She adds a touch of funk and even dra
ma to her usually slower folk sound.
From the pulsating bass groove straight out
of Lenny Kravitz’s closet on “Stop to Think” to
the funk twist of “Water,” Farris brings new
ideas to the often-tired themes of love that
seem to dominate soul music.
The be-bop sounds of Take 6 and Bobby Mc-
Ferrin are almost duplicated in the simplistic
but elegant “Human.” Amid the highs and lows
of a myriad of voices, Farris sings “Before I am
black/Before I am woman/Before I am
young/Before I am African — I am human.”
Farris’ main weakness is her songwriting,
probably due to her fledgling status as a solo
artist. But the rhymes of “Now or Later” are
painfully obvious, and bring down an other
wise well-made album. Farris sings “What
have I done to you to make you feel so blue ... I
can see it in your eyes/There is no need to lie.”
An interesting entry is “Don’t Ever Touch
Me (Again),” an emotional offering
discussing the effects of physical
and mental abuse.
Farris sings “She screams out
every night in a billion tears/in
desperate fear that you’re some
where near ... She wants to be
lieve you still love her.”
With improved songwriting,
Farris could become a signifi
cant force in soul/rock/folk
music.
Leaving a highly success
ful group like Arrested De
velopment was a bold
move for Dionne Farris.
But with Wild Seed
— Wild Flower, she
shows enough promise
to prove such a step is
the right one.
RFQTAI |R AMT
ITCO InV/rlMIM I
ALL YOU CAN EAT BUFFET
Lunch & Dinner • 7 Days a Week
• Banquet Room • Mixed Drinks
2232 Texas Ave. S.
College Station 764-0466
Luncheon 11 a.m. - 2:30 p.m. • Dinner 5 p.m. - 9:30 p.m.
Friday & Saturday 5:00 p.m. - 10:00 p.m.
COUPON
BUY ONE, GET ONE
(First one-full price, second one-half price, third one-full price, fourth one-half price)
MONDAY - THURSDAY 5:00 P.M. - 9:30 P.M.
•MUST BE OF EQUAL OR GREATER VALUE
• No seperate checks • Buffet takeout & children 5-10 years not included
Expires March 30, 1995
I
I
I
I
I
l
Government Career Fair
Woricshop Schedule March 8,1995 &
10:00-10:45 How to become a hot commodity!
Internships and Co-op's in Government
Brad Collet
Asst. Dir., Cooperative Education
229 MSC
Is there a government job calling your name?
Opportunities in Government
Kandy Rose
Bryan City Councilwoman
212 MSC
Student Employment Programs and Foreign
Service with the U.S. Department of State
Isabel Flores and Mike Thurston
Dept, of State, Recruitment Division
230 MSC
11:00-11:45 Job hunting in the Career Center Julie Agee
How to use the Career Center Graduate Asst., Career Center
229 MSC
Make a lasting impression!
Interviewing skills
Patricia Allman
Pres., Allman Personnel Consultants
225 MSC
12:00-12:45 Don’t sell yourself short!
How to write a resume
Vicky Satory
Recruitment Coordinator, City of Bryan
231 MSC
1:00-1:45
Student Employment Programs and Foreign
Service with the U.S. Department of State
Isabel Flores and Mike Thurston
Dept, of State, Recruitment Division
230 MSC
Is there a government job calling your name?
Opportunities in Government
Joe Brown
Public Information Officer, City of Bryan
212 MSC
2:00-2:45
Don’t sell yourself short!
How to write a resume
Vicky Satory
Recruitment Coordinator, City of Bryan
231 MSC
How to become a hot commodity!
Internships and co-op’s in Government
Dr. Dixon
Asst. Professor, Political Science
229 MSC
3:00-3:45
Make a lasting impression!
Interviewing skills
Patricia Allman
Pres., Allman Personnel Consultants
225 MSC
Place Your Ad In The Battalion
Call 845-2696