REVIEW
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restaurant review // FREE STATE BREWERY the taste of the town. one meal at a time.
The Free State Brewing Co., a local favorite in the heart of downtown Lawrence, has been a hotspot for students since it opened in 1989. The brewery and restaurant combo opened as the first legal brewery in Kansas in more than 100 years.
Free State features a wide array of cuisine including burgers, sandwiches, salads, pasta and more. During my visit, I sampled the black bean quesadillas, the brewery burger and the cheddar ale soup. All of the dishes at Free State were much better than the average fare you might expect at a bar, making it a perfect place to bring famished friends. The staff at Free State is always friendly, and will help you narrow down your choices from the vast menu.
If you have your heart set on Free State, be prepared to wait for a table for up to 30 minutes, even on a weeknight. The ever-popular restaurant seems too small to accommodate all of its loyal fans, although the excellent food proves to be worth the wait. If a little loud, the otherwise fun atmosphere begs you to stay for some post-dinner chat.
try Free State Brewery for a meal guaranteed to be top-notch. If you're willing to wait for a table, you can view a little piece of delicious Lawrence history.
★ ★ ★ // SASHA LUND
Next time you're out with indecisive friends.
book review // 'EVERYTHING MATTERS!' BY RON CURRIE JR. reading. it's not just for textbooks, you know.
Movies, TV shows and books about the end of the world are nothing new. American entertainment is obsessed with when and how Earth's demise will occur. Will aliens destroy us? Is the year 2012 the year of the world's sudden demise? And so on.
Such an influx of apocalyptic entertainment makes it difficult for an author to write about the end of the world in a way that is entertaining without being cliché or repetitive. But that is exactly what Ron Currie Jr. succeeds in doing with his most recent novel titled Everything Matters!
Whether everything (or anything at all) actually matters is what the protagonist, Junior, strives to figure out throughout the entirety of the book. When Junior is still in utero, an unidentified, omniscient voice bestows knowledge about the end of the earth upon his unborn ears. Junior then grows up understanding that the world will end when he is 36 years and 168 days old, and because of this understanding, it is difficult for him to see any rhyme or reason in what he does. Why does
anything matter when the end is just around the corner? Junior struggles to answer that question, and he has to come to terms with his burden of knowledge. He needs to decide who to share the secret with and how to spend his life, and he encounters devastating yet comical situations during his 36 years on Earth.
Everything Matters! is a book that is both unusual and existential, but not too much of either. Currie uses just the right amount of humor in an otherwise tragic story to make the novel an engaging and original read.
// AMANDA SORELL
Though he began in Bay Area hip-hop favorite Clouddead, Wolf's work with a full band has been slowly developing from lo-fi folk-rap into the intelligent pop that Eskimo Snow shows. Wolf's customary way with words shines on this album and his delivery is less staccato, more "sung" than in the past.
Recorded at the same time as the group's previous album, Alopecia, Eskimo Snow has been under production for more than two years but has managed to come out without losing the raw, under-produced sound that Why? relies on.
Why? founder Yoni Wolf says this album is the "least hip-hop thing" he's ever been involved with, which is too bad, but doesn't mean Eskimo Snow isn't a damn fine album.
Check out "One Rose Walk, Insomniac" for a more upbeat dose of folk-pop that features a quirky chorus in the style that has become Wolf's trademark. The title track is a strong example of Why?'s ability to make melancholy enjoyable. "January Twenty Something" and "Against Me" are probably most representative of the forward progress this album represents for Why?, and are two of the better tracks on the album.
music review // 'ESKIMO SNOW' BY WHY? (ANTICON)
KJHK's guide to sonic consumption.
// DYLAN QUIGLEY,
KJHK ROTATION DJ
kjhk charts // WEEK OF SEPT. 14
The 15 most played albums on KJHK 90.7 FM1 new music rotation shows as of Sept. 14.
1 CAVE SINGERS Welcome Joy (Matador)
2 JAY REATARD Watch Me Fall (Matador)
3 FRUIT BATS The Ruminant Band (Sub Pop)
4 PHYSICS High Society (EP) (self-released)
5 BOX ELDERS Alice And Friends (Goner)
6 BIBIO Ambivalence Avenue Warp
7 24-CARAT BLACK Gone: The Promises Of Yesterday (Numero-Group)
8 SHAD The Old Prince (Black Box)
9 OWL CITY Ocean Eyes(Universal Republic)
10 VARIOUS ARTISTS Ze 30: Ze Records
1979-2009 (Strut)
11 PICTUREPLANE Dark Rift (Lovepump United)
12 ELVS COSTELLO Secret, Profane and Sugarcane (Hear Music)
13 VARIOUS ARTISTS The Sound Of Wonder:
Rare Electronic Pop from the Lollywood
Vaults 1973-1980 (Finders Keepers)
14 BJORK Live From Olympic Studios:
Songs From The Volta Tour (Nonesuch)
15 GENERATIONALS Con Law (Park The Van)