THURSDAY, AUGUST 29, 2002
MUSIC
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN = 3
Band rocks Abe and Jake's
By Amy Kelly Jayplay writer
If you've ever seen Oliver Stone's The Doors, particularly the scene at The Whiskey A-Go-Go where the audience stands mesmerized, then you have a slight notion of the effect Blues Traveler had Tuesday night on the crowd at Abe & Jake's Landing. 8 E.Sixth St.
Blues Traveler may have disappeared from the limelight in the wake of the Justin Timberlake and I-Lo crazed, but that doesn't mean the music ever stopped.
To many a Top 40 devotee, Blues Traveler is the band that produced the catchy number "Run-Around." But dig past the marketing bonanza of radio stations, and Blues Traveler reveals itself to have some incredibly talented musicians.
The Lawrence performance was a testament to the group's vitality, which could have been extinguished by trials of recent years. Heart problems forced vocalist John Popper to perform in a wheelchair at the Horde Festival in Bonner Springs six years ago; in 1999, bassist Bobby Sheehan died of a drug overdose, and Popper was plagued by a blocked artery.
When they took the stage for the nearly three-hour show, the band did not just play songs — it devoured them with absolute ecstasy. Popper and guitarist Chan Kinchla seemed to be in another world, one the
"It was really awesome." It really got the crowd going."
Courtney Sullivan Chicago senior
audience members were aching to explore for themselves.
"Slow Change" melded infectious melodies into the sound of a train chugging down a track. The song showcased the talents of Popper, bassist Tad Kinchla, drummer Brendan Hill and pianist Ben Wilson.
Most of the evening was dedicated to traditional jams, and the hypnotic results were most evident when Blues Traveler set aside its Southern feel for a touch of the psychedelic.
Bassist and vocalist Victor Wooten, named "Bass Player of the Year" by Bass Player magazine three different years, dominated the show's opening. Wooten could dethrone George Clinton as the king of funkdom.
Jessica Havlicek/Kansan
"It was really awesome," Courtney Sullivan, Chicago senior, said of Wooten's act. "It really got the crowd going."
Wooten was joined onstage by former Arrested Development vocalist Speech, who was greeted with hands in the air.
Chan Kinchla, lead guitarist for Blues Traveler, rocks out Tuesday night at Abe and Jake's Landing. The well-attended Lawrence show was a testament to the group's vitality.
When the 1992 Grammy Award winner broke out into the MTV darling "Everyday People," the crowd went wild.
"I'm a big fan of Speech, so it was a great surprise when he came out onstage," said Steve Cramer, Wellington graduate student.
Spin City Albums with most spins at KJHK, 90.7 (week of 8-18 through 8-26)
ARTIST Recording
1 HOT SNAKES Suicide Invoice
2 BECK Sea Change Sampler
3 SLEATER-KINNEY One Beat
5 COLDPLAY A Rush Of Blood To The Head
4 SPOON Kill The Moonlight
7 AIMEE MANN Lost In Space
6 SOLOMON BURKE Don't Give Up On Me
8 BILLIONS Never Felt This Way Before
9 RJD2 Dead Ringer
10 GOLDEN Apollo Stars
11 MARK MALLMAN Red Bedroom
12 ROCKET FROM THE CRYPT Hot Charity
13 AMERICAN ANALOG SET Updates
14 BRIGHT EYES LIFTED Or The Story Is In The Soil, Keep Your Ear To The Ground
15 PAPER CHASE Hide The Kitchen Knives
16 DEATH OF MARAT All Eyes Open
17 24 HOUR PARTY PEOPLE Soundtrack
18 STANDARD August
19 VINES Highly Evolved
20 RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS By The Way
Spoon serves up best eclectic album yet
By Jeff Hayes
Jayplay writer
Spoon's Kill the Moonlight, released last week on Merge Records, opens with a propulsive keyboard riff, joined shortly by Britt Daniel's faux Brit-pop vocals as "Small Stakes" builds layer by layer.
The song coils itself tightly, reeling in the listener and offering no release.
The following eleven tracks are a colorful explosion of handclaps, tambourines, ear-catching choruses and undiluted pop hooks.
Combining rock 'n' roll grit with the keen pop instincts that fueled Squeeze and Elvis Costello 20 years ago, Kill the Moonlight presents a newly evolved Spoon.
Austin rockers Spoon haven't sunk to churning out vapid, bubbly pop, though.
Their sonic palette has expanded even further than on last year's fantastic Girls Can Tell, where Spoon began their meta-
Careening from bouncy piano jaunts such as "The Way We Get By" and "Someone Something," to the nervy guitar slushings that propel "Jonathon Fisk," Kill the Moonlight, is concise, punchy and vibrant.
Although guitarist Daniel is unquestionably the band's frontman, drummer Jim Eno deserves credit for much of Spoon's current eclecticism.
Eno, working behind both the mixing boards and the drum kit, brings a distinct flavor to each track.
"Stay Don't Go" employs a human beatbox sample, while "You Gotta Feel It" and "Back to the Life" dole out heavy rhythmic drum patterns.
sophisticated indie pop.
This airy aesthetics started in "Small Stakes" is brought to a head on "Paper Tiger," where clinking drumsticks and outer space thumping provide a fragile bed for keyboards, brief piano fills and minimal
On "Jonathan Fisk," he snarls through a recollection of a childhood bully who "speaks with his fists," clenching his teeth as he details the title character: "Jonathan then says it's a sin / But he don't think twice cause to him / Religion don't mean a thing / It's just another way to be right wing."
Daniel's lyrics are often vague, sketching little more than outlines of his topics, but the album is stuffed with memorable lines.
The elements of "Paper Tiger" seem on the verge of slipping apart into nothingness, tethered only by Daniel's plaintive vocals, proclaiming "I'm not dumb / Just want to hold your hand."
In "The Way We Get By," Daniel takes dead aim at the lives of modern teenagers, producing an anthem for an aimless generation: "We go out in stormy weather / We rarely practice discern / We make love to some weird sin / We seek out the taciturn."
piano pounding, could easily be a lighthearted outtake from an early David Bowie album.
Spoon's sense of history and knack for combining the best parts of rock music's past lends a resonance to Kill the Moonlight that was missing from previous efforts.
Likewise, "All the Pretty Girls Go to the City," among the album's finest cuts, bubbles over with the jittery tenseness that Bowie and Costello so expertly dished out in their respective primes.
Yes, Spoon draws comparisons to other rock acts, but has carved its own identity, song after song building an aural portrait of a talented band at the peak of its powers.
By the time the album drives to its conclusion with "Vittorio E.," a wistful, dreamy ballad, Spoon has cemented its best album yet and compiled one of the best rock records of the year.
morphosis from scruffy guitar rock to strings. "Someone Something." with its jaunty Bottleneck.
Spoon will play at 9 p.m. Sept. 11 at the Bottleneck.