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music
Melissa Lacey / KANSAN
Love Squad members Al Levine, guitar and vocals, left, and Joe Salem, guitar, play a recent gig at Benchwarmers, 1601 W. 23rd St. Levine and Salem nightly moonlight playing acoustic sets whenever possible.
Love Squad
Acoustic duo lends diversity to its alternative rock group by playing in coffee houses to release creative juices.
A BAND WITH AN EDGE
By JL Watson
Kansan staff writer
When Al Levine whips out his mandolin onstage with the band Love Squad, a tiptoe through the tulips is hardly what he has in mind. Unlike the image of Tiny Tim or the mellow, tragically hip music of REM, Levine has something a bit more uplifting in mind.
"With us the mandolin stuff is the most rockin'," Levine said.
Levine and the other members of Lawrence's own Love Square, guitarist Joe Salem, bassist Byers, and drummer Brad Coffelt, tempt audiences with morsels of alternative rock with an edge. They've just released their third album, "Posertown" on the Mercy label. They've worked hard to achieve an individual sound without citing specific influences for their path of musical direction.
13 "We always end up getting pigeon-holled in John Mellencamp meets REM," Levine said. "We get tagged with that post-REM label. We confronted it on this album." The result is "REM Song." Don't expect to find tunes of such pop icons en masse on the release.
Love Squad is known more for the rocked-out performances that audiences from Wisconsin to New Orleans have come to expect. Just like other road-weary bands, Love Squad, spends too many nights driving into wind-whipped blackness and eats more meals at the palace of golden arches than it would care to admit. To a certain degree, the image holds true.
But for two members of the band, Levine and Salem, there is another chapter to the story. In addition to the loud, head-bangin' grooves of Love Sound, the two play acoustic guitar, in public.
"When it's the two us of playing acoustic, we bill ourselves as The Coffee House Bums," Levine said. Occasionally, they each play solo.
"Everyone from our parents to the publisher of the Note said, 'Don't play alone,' Levine said. It's not that playing solo is the kiss of death. Both Levine and Salem have the talent and confidence to play alone, but the acoustic sounds they create together complement each other. The challenges of playing acoustic differ from those issued from a plugged-in sound.
"You don't want it to be monotonous," Salem said.
"You have to have songwriting and playing skills." Unfortunately, there is not a strong network of circuit venues for acoustic performers.
"People don't recognize the value of it," Levine said. "There are so many people out there with guitars. It's kind of like looking at an abstract painting and saying, 'Oh, I could do that.' But you really can't."
Acoustic audiences come to shows with different expectations than typical rock audiences. "A lot of it is story telling," Levine said. "It's like a conversation with the audience. Very rarely can you be on auto pilot in an acoustic show. Not to say that Love Squad isn't spontaneous, but sometimes I have to psych myself up to play acoustic."
Audiences at acoustic shows usually stay seated and pay attention to the music, Levine said. "It's a much more intimate experience," he said. "You can't stop and have drum fills."
Levine, Salem and the rest of the Squad spend much of their time on the road. Their van, with 250,000 miles on it, is proof that this is a working band. With so much time spent promoting and touring with the band, Salem and Levine squeeze in acoustic performances whenever possible. They play coffee houses and radio stations, using the publicity twofold — as a way to promote the band and as an outlet for their acoustic juices.
Byers and Coffelt don't mind the extracurricular performances, Salem said. "They knew when they joined the band what we do. And everyone in this band has other interests. We all want to work on solo projects or get into other aspects of the industry."
Brian Byers, president of Mercy Records, has heard Salem and Levine play different forms during their recording sessions at the studio.
"They do a lot of the same songs that they do with Love Squad, just with more feeling," he said. "It seems to have a softer edge."
Levine has a hometown style, Brian Byers said. "It has kind of a country feel to it, and for Joe, the writing is stronger than the playing," he said.
Whether playing with the band or as an acoustic duo, Levine and Salem build their blocks of credibility on a foundation of songwriting, as well as vocals.
"Our songs are built around the melody as opposed to the groove," Levine said. "It's more a
band backing up songwriters as opposed to vice versa. The extraordinary musical moments are built around the vocals."
Vocals and songwriting aside, neither Salem nor Levine plan any radical changes in playing techniques in the near future.
"We've just started to hit our stride," Salem said. "In a lot of ways we're already successful. We're playing our own music in front of people who want to hear it. If we could make more money I'd be happier, but that's the only thing I'd change."
Melissa Lacev / KANSAN
Levine sings to a much different tune when playing acoustically with Salem. Acoustic sets are more demanding and intimate than electric rock sets, Levine said.
Tribe, Soul to shake KU's soul at concert
By JL Watson
Kansan staff writer
A Tribe Called Quest, De La Soul use their music to send fans a message of social responsibility
Phife, Q-Tip and Ali comprise the trio of A Tribe Called Quest. They are promoting their second release on Jive Records, "The Low End Theory." The title is a reference to the way society downplays the aspirations of young African Americans. It also refers to the band's music.
They left behind a life on Linden Boulevard in Queens, N.Y., in search of soulful rhythms and rhymes. The journey has led them to the set of MTV Unplugged, recording studios and singing with groups like Dee Lite, LL Cool J and MC Lyte. For A Tribe Called Quest the next stop on the highway to success is 8:30 tomorrow night at the Kansas Union Ballroom.
"Bass and drum beats are real guttural, low sounds, and when you hear a loud system you feel that sound vibrate through you. That's the low end of bass and drums, and that's the low end theory." Phile said.
For "The Low End Theory," the band recruited the talents of legendary jazz bassist Ron Carter. Carter, who had never heard of the Tribe until they mailed him a copy of their tape, immediately agreed to lend his music to the new project. He
A Tribe Called Quest has expanded the boundary of hip-hop from their 1990 release "People's Instinctive Travels and The Paths of Rhythm." However, they haven't sacrificed their original sound.
Not far from A Tribe Called Quest's roots are the rap sounds of De La Soul. The two bands have shared the stage on more than one occasion, and tomorrow's performance will be no exception. Perhaps the main difference between the two is the language they use to convey their musical message.
"The only rule we have is to go off, not to preach concepts and metaphors," Q-Tip said. "This sets the tempo for the whole album. For best results, throw on your hoody, put on your new kicks, and pop the tape in your Jeep or your Honda for your foes and your friends."
recorded all his tracks in one session. The results are melodic raps that maintain a hard edge and have earned the Tribe respect on the street level and considerable cross-over appeal.
A Tribe Called Quest strives to achieve clarity as De La Soul delights in mystifying the audience by speaking in tongue. Their third release on Tommy Boy Records is "NOW," and the message is that the Da.L.S.Y. Age of three years ago is dead.
The only way to fully discover the wonders of the Soul is to be at the performance.
Souls of Mischief opens the three-act show. Tickets are $14 for students, $15 for nonstudents and are available at the SUA Box Office in the Union; Streetside Records, 1403 West 23rd St. and Recycled Sounds in Kansas City.
photo courtesy of Jive Records/ KANSAN
Rap group, A Tribe Called Quest has a dreamy, melodic, yet buoyant style. Tribe expanded the boundary of hip-hop without losing their originality and earned their respect from names like L.J. Cool J.
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
December 8,1993
PAGE 9
People and places at the University of Kansas.
calendar
EXHIBITIONS & LECTURES
Exhibition — "Names Project AIDS Memorial Quilt" and "Photographs from the Bonham Project" will be on display through Dec. 12 in the Spencer Museum of Art, free
Exhibition — Spencer "Presepio" and "Holiday Tree" will be on display through Dec. 30 in the Spencer Museum of Art, free
Beethoven Birthday Concert: University Symphony Orchestra and Friends, Brian Priestman, conductor 7:30 p.m. Wednesday at the Lied Center, $6 public, $3 students, $5 senior citizens
Exhibition — "Abstract Expressionist Works from the Spencer Museum Collection" will be on display through Jan. 9, 1994 in the Spencer Museum of Art, free
Exhibition—“Aspects of Modern Life: 19th Century French Prints and Drawings” will be on display through Jan. 9, 1994 in the Spencer Museum of Art, free
Exhibition — "A Survey of the History of Photography from the Collection" will be on display through Jan. 9, 1994 in the Spencer Museum of Art, free
Performances
Kathleen Goldsmith, MFA Thesis paintings will be on display through Dec.9 in the gallery of the Art and Design building, free
Faculty and staff art show will be on display through Thursday in the gallery of the Kansas Union
Exhibition—"Always There: The African-American Presence in American Quilts" will be on display through Dec. 19 in the Kress Gallery of the Spencer Museum of Art, free
Inge Theatre Series: "Displaced Persons" by Ron and Ludvika Popenhagen 8 p.m. Wednesday at the Lien Cen
ter, $6 public, $3 students, $5 other students and senior citizens
University of Kansas Opera; "The Mikado" by Gilbert and Sullivan 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, Jan. 13-16, 1994 at the Lied Center, $6 public, $3 students, $5 senior citizens.
Upcoming Lied Center events: Minneapolis Children's Theatre in "Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm" Jan. 13, 1994 and Bobby McFerrin and the Kansas City Symphony Jan. 25, 1994
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