Post-Sept. 11 America, Creed inspire recent albums CD review Ryan Nyburg Pulse Columnist Time to clean out the ol’ collec tion of music albums from the past few months. You can’t say the music industry hasn’t been eclectic this year, so let’s have a listen at some of the good, bad and bland among the recent releases. First off is the debut from Social burn, “Where You Are.” Here’s an idea, kids. Start a band, give it a one-word name, learn some decent but uninteresting chops, write songs with names like “The Pain Inside” or “She Left Me, Now I Want to Stick My Head in the Oven” and al ternate between melodious singing and heavy metal grunts and you to can be a top-40 rock radio success. Socialburn follows this advice to a tee. These guitar-heavy trend-riders are another creation from the Nick leback factory. Teen angst as a marketing tool has to be one of the most disgusting social aberration since they started using sex to sell clothing. What per sonal neurosis will they sing about next, existentialist dread? Damn you, Nirvana. If Socialburn lead singer Neil Al day’s life has as much suffering as these songs express, he should get some serious therapy rather than sharing it with us. This band will probably end up with the same amount of cultural value as Seven Mary Three, whom it actually thanks in the liner notes, believe it or not. Next up is the latest from Long wave, called “The Strangest Things.” This fits the Radiohead mold instead of the Creed mold, so I guess it’s a move up. The general idea seems to be a diluted version of My Bloody Valentine, stripped of the over-amped guitars and leaving only some feedback and pop melodies. The question that this album pos es is whether this is experimental music held back by an overdepen dence on pop hooks, or if it’s pop music with the occasional experi mental touch thrown in to give it some validity. Neither viewpoint makes it look all that great. Not an astounding album, but not a totally wasted effort. Now to completely change di rections. Singer/songwriter Jess Grant brings us “Washington Waltz,” a nice little bit of folk rock from up in Seattle. Grant seems to remember something that many a coffeehouse twit with a guitar has forgotten: Good song writing counts for a lot and can often com pensate for other failings. Grant’s lyricism is good, and his songs are often funny, containing the intelligence and wit so often missing from most modern music. While the album never seems to mesh into anything great, it’s a wor thy effort nonetheless. Last on the list, and best of the bunch, is Eric Idle’s “The Rutland Isles.” Here, Idle revives the too long-dead style of the comedy record in the form of a travelogue, documenting the fictional island na tion of the title. An ongoing stream of songs, skits, spoofs and vignettes, the album touches on so many bases you often UNIVERSITY OF OREGON Stretch Your Summer Check out the September Experience Program September 2-12, 2003 • Short on group requirements? • Looking for a unique way to wrap up your summer? • Want to get ahead in your course of study? • Excited to get back in the swing of classes? • Does $500 for 4 credits sound like a deal to you? If you answered “yes” to any of these questions, you need to find out more about the September Experience Program. Resident and nonresident students take one course for 4 credits in nine days for just $500. All are group satisfying! Classes meet from 8:00 a.m. to 11:50 a.m. Monday - Friday. We have the courses you want, the courses you need, and the courses you should take. Courses are included in Summer ‘03 DuckHunt. figsm.lffr CwrwTftlg JasSwstm._m_fifisa. ANTH 110 Intro Cultural Anthropology ANTH 170 Intro to Human Origins GE0G 206 Geography of Oregon HIST 192 Japan Past & Present HIST 382 Latin America 1910-Present INTL 240 Perspectives on International Development PSY 330 Thinking PSY 375 Development S0C 301 American Society Fulton, K. 42479 360 Condon Nelson, G. 42480 203 Condon Power, M. 42481 106 Condon Hanes, J. 42483 373 McKenzie Aguirre, C. 42482 112 McKenzie Verdu-Cano, C. 42484 Arrow, H. 42485 Measeile, J. 42486 Dreiling, M. 42488 112 Eslinger 154 Straub 216 Allen 123 McKenzie UNIVERSITY OF OREGON SUMMER SESSION SEPTEMBER EXPERIENCE PROGRAM Register using DuckWeb . Visit our Summer Session web site, ; call us, 346-3475, or send us email, longwave Tur strangest things Courtesy forget its supposed focus. The com edy is often raunchy, often stupid and often dead-on satire. The island of Paranoia (motto: “Look out be hind you”) sounds suspiciously like post-9/11 America. Its national anthem includes lines like “We’re much better than you are / We’re much bigger than you.” Religion doesn’t escape Idle’s mock ery, with songs like “Killing for God,” and a description of how bishops are trained to handle media criticism (hint: small-arms fire). Much like Idle’s post-Monty Python career, the album is often hit and miss, but what hits makes the whole thing worthwhile. Let’s hope for a more consistent level of quality in our music over the next few months — probably not likely, but one can dream. Contact the Pulse columnist at ryannyburg@dailyemerald.com. Found continued from page 7 Rothbart said. These days, readers send Roth bart more than just notes. Recent ly, he received a dead frog from a finder in Chicago. Rothbart includ ed the animal, flattened and cov ered with lint, in Found’s second edition. The frog is still lurking somewhere in one of the many box es crowding Rothbart’s home. “It was pretty gross,” he said. “It still sends a little chill up my spine. I have no idea where that thing is now.” Rothbart doesn’t want to open anymore dead animals, but he said he hopes people will continue to send him their discoveries. “For people to really respond, it feels good,” he said. “It was a sort of stunning, overwhelming and unpre dictable, but I feel like it’s worth honoring. I’m learning that it does seem to really affect and touch peo ple in ways I would have never seen or imagined.” Rothbart plans to publish a Found book in the near future, and he has just finished writing a collec tion of short stories, titled “The Lone Surfer of Montana, Kansas.” Rothbart is on tour promoting Found and “The Lone Surfer” this "It was pretty gross. It still sends a little chill up my spine. I have no idea where that thing is now" Davy Rothbart Found Magazine creator month, and he will stop in Etigene at Sam Bond’s Garage at 9 p.m. on June 12. Rothbart will travel with musician and brother Peter, as well as Virginia folk darling Devon Sproule, both of whom will perform at the show. Visit www.foundmagazine.com for more information, and send your finds to Found Magazine, 3455 Charing Cross Road, Ann Arbor, MI 48108-1911. Contact the Pulse editor atjacquelynlewis@dailyemerald.com. Carlson continued from page 7 glossier paper so they would look more like prints. Total cost: #1.68. I put my prints in gold frames that I found at several thrift stores. I’m fully convinced that one almost never needs to buy new household items. I found five nice frames of various sizes, all in good condition, for about #3. The whole project took a couple of hours and cost less than #5. It looks polished, and the idea is ap plicable to any design. I found a few books on the history of wall paper with some amazing patterns that would look incredible in a more colorful room. The process was cheap, easy and resulted in unique art that’s far from standard college decor. My new art hangs above my bed. I’ve never gone for the whole Goth thing, but I think the insect/lace combination is charming. It’s very Victorian, Edward Gorey, “Arsenic and Lace,” a strange union of lovely and macabre. Contact the Pulse columnist at nikacarlson@dailyemerald.com. Her views do not necessarily represent those of the Emerald.