Scene

Kickback

Finally, The Kickback kicks back. This is how this space should work. You, the content-hungry reader, send me, the obnoxiously giddy writer, suggestions for music that you think should be featured. I will listen to anything you send, and the favorites will make it here. This one comes courtesy of our resident underground music scavenger (and Ad Design Manager) Sara Hillstrom (who cannot function, let alone work, without massive headphones that are descendants of those worn at NASCAR races). You may never have heard of Smallpools, but that's because they're new. Not just first-release new, but they actually just formed a few months ago. Incredibly, they've already been invited to tour the country and have been building the buzz ever since releasing their self-titled EP in July. The hardest thing to do with a new artist is to actually give them a real chance, believe it or not. Not too many people actively go out with a desire to sit through entire debut albums and mixtapes of bands and artists they have never heard about. After all, that's why you read this column. But "Smallpools" gives you four unbelievably catchy tracks that won't take up more than 15 minutes of your day. That is, until you hear it and want to run it back over and over again - my first listen took close to an hour. The EP opens up with the project's signature track, "Dreaming," which originally vaulted the group to the masses after it was the No. 1 song on The Hype Machine, a collective music blog that gathers popular songs and reviews from just about every other music blog. If you are an audio scavenger like me, just go to that site to find your new bookmark. But without a doubt, after listening to "Dreaming" you'll be humming the chorus and possibly up out of your seat dancing, or at least bouncing your head, for those of us who are jitterbug-deficient. And each song follows the same way: different tune, different words, same feeling. Every song is a jubilant, fun-loving ode to living carefree and happy-go-lucky. If Foster the People, Passion Pit and Two Door Cinema Club all worked together, this would be their finished project. As Sara told me, it's really, really, really poppy. But there's never anything wrong with that. If you have fun while listening to music, there shouldn't ever be a problem. And if you have fun while listening to music, you should share it. That's what I'll do here, and hopefully, it'll be a result of what you have shared with me.  

Fab Fashion Friday

On a beautiful, sunny South Bend day earlier this week, we ventured around campus searching for our school's best fashion trends. Camera in hand, we scouted out the best dressed on campus and found plenty of material. With a season change ahead of us, we discovered that these students displayed a perfect combination of summer and a slight touch of fall. Coming from hometowns all over the United States and sporting accordingly varying styles, these wonderful fashion experts were kind enough to model for The Observer, so follow their example and keep our campus stylish. It's only the second week of class, so yes, it is too early for workout clothes and Nikes. Let's keep it classy, ladies and gentleman. Who knows, maybe you will appear in the next Fashion Friday article! Contact Maddie Daly at mdaly6@nd.edu and Erin Thomassen at ethomass@nd.edu

Welcome to Dorm Parties

Ladies and gentlemen, but especially freshmen ladies and gentlemen, I welcome you to a new school year. The weather is wonderful (if you have air conditioning), the squirrels are frolicking around campus and everyone is busy trying to figure out where their classes are and why there's so much new shrubbery outside of DeBartolo. But amidst the chaos of these first few weeks, I would like to take a moment to talk about one of our most beloved pastimes at the University of Notre Dame - dorm parties. Oh, dorm parties, where you can see nothing and feel everything. Where there's more sweating happening than did at Rolf's that day. Where the party never stops, until it's 2 a.m. and then apparently, the party moves to Taco Bell. There's not a whole lot that is comfortable about dorm parties, but one thing you can seek comfort in is the music. There is undoubtedly some predictability to the dorm party soundtrack. So whether you're in a new dorm or with new friends and things start to get weird, you can always rest assured that the students on campus will play the same 20 songs and you probably already know the words to all of them. For you sophomores and upperclassmen, you probably already have a playlist going in the back of your head (or maybe even created on your iPod), but to all you freshmen new to the dorm party scene, here's what to expect. 1. "Get Low" - Lil Jon and East Side Boyz This song was released 10 years ago (feel old yet?), but somehow we all love it just the same. "Get Low" is a go-to if no one in the party is dancing because it's a scientific fact that no one can resist the urge to point to the window, then the wall. Bonus points if you know all the words to the "explicit version" because that made you cool in middle school. 2. "Party in the U.S.A." - Miley Cyrus The only thing college partiers love more than singing pop songs is America. This song combines both of those things. I just ask that you refrain from twerking badly to this Miley classic and save it for the bound-to-be-played "We Can't Stop." 3. "Wagon Wheel" - Darius Rucker or Old Crow Medicine Show. This is any Notre Dame student's go-to song for when a party winds down, almost a celebration for the last ones standing. The debate over which version is better rages on. 4. "I'll Make a Man Out of You" from "Mulan." If it isn't already clear, we love nostalgia around here, and there's something about partying to Disney that is so wrong and so right at the same time. Whether this is morally reprehensible or not, you can hold your cup in one hand and point to all your friends with the other as you sing along and maybe ruin a small part of your childhood. 5. Something from a musical. It never ceases to amaze me how much Notre Dame students love singing to musical theater and how often it's played at social gatherings. I've been to parties and watched a dozen people break out into "Joseph and the Technicolor Dream Coat." I've seen a group of men belt out some "Les Mis." Fortunately, I haven't heard any "Cats" yet, but there's still time. 6. "Call Me Maybe" - Carly Rae Jepsen. It's possible that this phase has finally passed, but I'm almost positive that "Call Me Maybe" fever hit harder at Notre Dame than anywhere else. I was once at a gathering where the song was played five times in a row and no one complained. No one. 7. "I'm Shipping Up To Boston" - Dropkick Murphys Particularly popular on football weekends, this pre-kickoff song is an easy way to get a party riled up. This song is made even better when combined with the "Here Come the Irish" intro used at games for maximum authenticity. Even in those miserably hot and tiny rooms, school spirit is alive and well. Contact Allie Tollaksen at atollaks@nd.edu The views expressed in this column are those of the author and not necessarily those of The Observer.  

Fall Movie Preview

"Hunger Games: Catching Fire" Director: Francis Lawrence Starring: Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson Why we're excited: We sort of feel like we're somehow contractually obligated to see this. If you like: Jennifer Lawrence

Big Sean's 'Hall of Fame'

Let me start by saying "Hall of Fame," the sophomore effort by rapper Big Sean, certainly does not belong in a hall of fame, museum or any other miscellaneous institution honoring items of distinguished quality. In fact, the album may be more appropriately placed on the trophy/prize shelf of a Chuck 'E Cheese or in the bargain bin of a foreclosed Radio Shack. That may be a little too harsh, but "Hall of Fame" is, at best, remarkably average. It didn't approach "Fukushima Daiichi" or "Miley Cyrus at the VMAs" levels on the scale of musical events that make you fear for the future of mankind, but I found it to be incredibly disappointing nonetheless, especially considering the high expectations I had carried in from his classic first album, "Finally Famous." "Hall of Fame" is not without its bright spots. "Beware" is undoubtedly my favorite song from the album, catchily outlining the dangers of dealing with a girl who won't move on from a relationship (although I doubt the relationship in question was ever Disney channel material to begin with). "Switch Up" is a strong offering featuring some high quality bars from Common, and "Fire" will likely get stuck in your head despite the repetitive nature of the hook. However, it is the song "MILF" that ties together everything Big Sean has to offer. It isn't the best song on the album, but it may be the only track to prominently showcase everything that made Big Sean famous in the first place: Word play, a catchy hook, creative sampling and wildly irreverent lyrics. With a title like that, I definitely didn't listen to this track expecting to laugh, but that's exactly what ended up happening. Now, it's time for the low-lights of the album. Many of the tracks are either forgettable or just plain bad. Big Sean's flow feels disjointed at times, falling off beats characterized by too much repetition or not enough creativity. In "10 2 10," he even insists on half rapping, half singing/whining off tune while delivering the pleasantly racist line, "I woke up working like a Mexican / that mean I work from 10 to 10." He somehow even managed to ruin an Ellie Goulding sample in his song, "You Don't Know," thus stomping on one of my three main pleasures in life: Goulding's music. The other two are Chipotle and strategically avoiding eye contact with people during my walks to and from DeBartolo Hall. Ultimately, Big Sean strayed too far away from what made his first album great. He swapped his fast flow and fiendishly clever lyrics for attempts at amateur philosophy, mumbling things like "Every minute turns into the longest second, yet never ending" in his song "All Figured Out." When not pretending to be a strip club frequenting, snapback wearing Aristotle, Big Sean spends ample time making references to Detroit, his hometown. I find this not only annoying, but confusing as well. Being from Detroit isn't usually something people flaunt. In fact, it's something people usually hide or admit only under threat of torture, like owning a Razor scooter as a college student or being a Buffalo Bills fan. "Hall of Fame" has its diamonds, but so does Somalia, and I don't plan on traveling there anytime soon. Ok, that's too harsh again. "Hall of Fame" is simply subpar. If it's not a sophomore slump, it's at least a "sophomore showing up to his first day of classes wearing a jean jacket and cargo shorts," and there's a good chance most of its tracks won't make it past the gatekeeper into my iTunes library. Listening to it didn't make me want to drive away into the night and never come back, but that may be because I don't have a car and because I'm afraid of the skunk that has been staking out my house. Here's my final recommendation: Give "Hall of Fame" a listen out of courtesy, download the highlights and move on with your life. Big Sean can and will rebound. All we can do at this point is wait until he does. Contact Dan Brombach at dbrombac@nd.edu  

Earl Sweatshirt is back with 'Doris'

Worst Thing Ever: 'Spring Breakers'

It's an age of superlatives. If you're not the best ever, you're the worst. If you're not Daniel Day-Lewis, you're Nicolas Cage. If you're not a 4.0 student, you're a hobo living under a bridge. In the spirit of buying into and expounding upon possible social ills, Scene staffers will highlight the pop culture experience that was, for them, the WORST THING EVER IN EVER. First up, Scene Editor Kevin Noonan.

OK Go // B1

Legends of Notre Dame threw the B1 Block Party last Friday night, the annual kick off to the new school year that adds a bit of flare and excitement to the student body's first Saturday together. Legends' unofficial congratulatory celebration rewarding the newly christened freshmen on the completion of their first week of classes saw the return of the popular four-man alternative rock band from Chicago, OK Go. OK Go has had an impressive history with Notre Dame. Back in 2004, the band started as simply the latest "up-and-coming" band to perform at Legends. Then, they rose to prominence as they made their return to Notre Dame in 2007 for "The Show" at The Joyce Center, this time as the co-headliner with Lupe Fiasco (Side note: Based on Fiasco's rapid fall to irrelevancy and disgrace, the staying power and quality of OK Go's music career is quite impressive in its own right). They played themselves right into the hearts of the student body, as they included the Notre Dame Marching Band in the music video of their single "This Too Shall Pass," while also returning to Legends for another energetic performance. Needless to say, Notre Dame just can't get enough of OK Go. However, the real story at this year's B1 Block Party came courtesy of another up-and-coming band to perform through Legends. Royal Teeth, a band from Louisiana that doesn't even have their own Wikipedia page, stole the show on Friday night. Featuring lead vocalists Gary Larsen and Nora Patterson, the band performed with high energy and fervent passion the entire set. This was an impressive feat at any rate, but on Saturday even more so. They were burdened with the task of opening the entire event and with playing for a crowd that was still filing into the venue despite the fact that they were halfway through their set, but they overcame these challenges by playing with an "amateur" style. I say that they played with an "amateur" style with absolute admiration, because I appreciated the way they played with joy and genuine pleasure on the stage, looking and feeling as if they were simply happy to be there. A simple look around the crowd was all it took to vindicate their performance. What was once a hesitant and, frankly, inattentive audience gradually transformed into a one that was clapping along. As their performance climaxed with their biggest hit "Wild," which was featured on EA Sports' "FIFA Soccer 13" soundtrack, the audience was enthralled. Legends obtained large "Jumbotron" displays that sat on the stage, displaying text messages from audience members. Amidst some of the typical "Can't wait to see OK Go!!" texts, there were just as many- if not more-messages that reflected audience members' roaring approval and appreciation for Royal Teeth's performance. OK Go will probably forever hold a special spot in Notre Dame's heart, as their continued involvement with the campus speaks highly to their regard for their fans and Notre Dame and this campus' continued appreciation for the band. Even tough fans came to see the star power of OK Go, this year's B1 Block Party treated them to an extra helping of musical entertainment in the form of the impressive up-and-comer, Royal Teeth. Contact Miko Malabute at mmalabut@nd.edu 

TheKickback - Childish Gambino

Welcome back to The Kickback, and I hope you had plenty of them over the summer as well. As I said in the inaugural column, The Kickback is all about hanging out with your best buds, listening to the latest jams and, well ... kicking back. 

Guess Who's Back ... Back Again?

Lost in the hoopla over Miley Cyrus's, um, thing at the MTV Video Music Awards on Sunday was Eminem's announcement of his next album: "The Marshall Mathers LP 2." A little over 24 hours later, he dropped the second single from the album, "Berzerk."

ND Football Preview - The Scenic Route

Ah yes, the sportsball games approach.

On Kendrick Lamar's 'Control' Verse

It was just one verse. One verse. It's not on an album. It's not on the radio. It's not even his own song. But, somehow, he caught everyone's attention. He had the crumbling world of rap crying: All hail King Kendrick. It was just one verse, yet it jumpstarted Twitter, blew up the internet and will continue to feed blogs for the rest of the year until he wins the Grammy for Album of the Year. What Kendrick Lamar did in one verse has never been done before. He's rebuilding the allure of rap while reincarnating the lore of Pac and Big. The amount of response verses and disses that immediately burst from the underground, home studios and labels alike is unmatchable. The lucid passion and rising anger of a 26-year old whose only studio album just went platinum has drawn a quick response and the ire of vets Lupe Fiasco, Joell Ortiz and Joe Budden along with the younger generation of rap like Joey Bada$$ and B.o.B. Who in history has drawn that sort of response, that sort of reaction? Not from individuals but from rap itself. In his "Control" verse, Kendrick condemns the poppy trends that have led to the decay of rap with trifling Macklemorian verses and "Molly" club bangers from across the board. What Kendrick did is pull the dying art over his back, and pull it up single-handedly while calling on his peers. Rap fans put too much focus on who he didn't mention, when they are just missing the real point. We're tired of sitting around and watching rap fall. It's time to do something about it and it starts with a ceremonial call to action. And here Kendrick does that. He wants the new generation to step up, or let this art fall by the wayside. He doesn't care if you're his friend or if you share his song. He's here to win. It's the ultimate competition, something along the majestic lines of Bird vs. Magic: the fiercest competition on the court and the best of friends off it. That's how rap used to be, coast-to-coast, lyric-to-hook. And that's where Kendrick Lamar wants it to return. The way he did it: stunning. The culture he brought back to life: legendary. All hail King Kendrick.

Clearing the air

We were all gone for a whole summer and some of us were abroad last spring, which raises the question, how did you get by without hearing our opinions? Well, we figured it'd be a good idea just to get out everything we feel we need to say about the last few months in the pop culture world, and get a fresh start on the school year.

Breaking Back into 'Breaking Bad'

"My name is Walter Hartwell White. I live at 308 Negra Arroyo Lane, Albuquerque, New Mexico. 87104. This is my confession." This is how the story of the legendary Heisenberg ends. On January 20th, 2008, southern gentleman/mastermind Vince Gilligan introduced the world to "Breaking Bad" and the beginning of one chemistry teacher's descent into fortune, darknes, and destruction. As a severely over-qualified chemistry teacher working two jobs to support his growing family at the age of 50, the life of Walter White (Bryan Cranston) spirals out of control with one devastating piece of news. "Lung cancer. Inoperable..." Walter mindlessly repeats back to his doctor in the pilot episode, followed by muttering his low chances of survival. Between his medical bills and the threat of his impending demise, what can a man do to support his family? The solution becomes clear to him after being exposed to the potentially substantial profits of cooking meth and an opportunity rises to form partnership with a former student turned delinquent, Jesse Pinkman (Aaron Paul - aka greatest "Price is Right" contestant of all time). "You know the business," Walter tells Jesse to reach an understanding, "and I know the chemistry." After purchasing an RV to quietly cook meth in the New Mexico deserts, Jesse learns that Walt not only knows the chemistry, but also makes the highest purity methamphetamine the state of New Mexico has ever seen. After adopting the alias "Heisenberg," and adding a "colorful" twist to his meth formula, Walt begins to learn of the darkness inside of him and what he is truly capable of. "I like to think of chemistry as the study... of change," Walt tells his class in the pilot episode, or rather "growth, decay, then transformation." While these words were directed to explain the science of chemistry, they more importantly foreshadow the journey of Walter White: the first character on television to (mentally) change from one man into another. This is an average man who has thrown himself into from a mild-mannered lifestyle into one of the most dangerous and deceptive businesses on earth. Now throw in marital troubles (that's putting it lightly) with his wife Skyler (Anna Gunn), a growingly estranged son with a love for breakfast (RJ Mitte), a brother-in-law DEA agent on Heisenberg's trail (Dean Norris), a sleazy yet loveable lawyer (Bob Odenkirk), kleptomaniac sister-in-law with an obsession of the color purple (Betsy Brandt), and a badass senior citizen who knows his way around a gun (Jonathan Banks). There's also murder, arson, roof pizza, Pontiac Aztek's, magnets ("yeah, magnets!"), exploding cars, exploding octogenarians, exploding tortoises, lots of coughing, train heists, countless revengeful Hispanic adversaries, and a lot of fun with science ("yeah, science!"). Enough with the recap - let's get into what's really important: how's it all going to end? We're thre3 weeks in to the final season and so far, there's no clear sight of the fate of any character on the show. Fans have dissected "Breaking Bad" from beginning to end and, thanks to"BuzzFee" and the rest of the internet, we've been introduced to some captivating theories - but it's all speculation at this point. Every episode has taken an unexpected turn and continues to deliver excellent performances and storytelling. We were promised an extraordinary final season to this iconic AMC series, and so far, "Breaking Bad" has fully delivered that promise. Will the "one who knocks" finally have what's coming to him? Will anyone have a happy ending to this story? We'll have to wait another fiv5 weeks to find out. Until then, just sit back and enjoy the ride. And if you haven't started watching, shame on you and spend the next several weeks binge watching on your roommate's Netflix account. Contact Will Neal at wneal@nd.edu

On Kendrick Lamar's 'Control' Verse

Kendrick Lamar's music, in general, sounds like bad cartoon characters rhyming over nails-on-a-chalkboard beats. All right, that might be a bit aggressive. He's not, say, the AlanisMorrissette of hip-hop. "Swimming Pools" is a solid song and his verse on A$AP Rocky's "F***ing Problems" is not only straight fire, it gave us the most creative combined usage of the sounds "Dih" and "Deh." But as for the G.O.A.T. claims and the critics calling his latest album, "good kid, m.A.A.d. city" one of the greatest rap albums of all time, get out of my face. I'm not a music critic in the slightest, but to me, he's hip-hop's answer to Arcade Fire or Kings of Leon; somebody who sounds different enough to allow "true" genre fans to love him and lord their knowledge and fan hood of hip-hop over the masses of idiots who think music is "just for the radio" or "just to enjoy." All of which leads me to this discussion of his verse on "Control," Big Sean's latest attempt to get hype for his upcoming album. It's a lackluster song overall, and won't be released with his album due to apparent sampling issues. Lamar's verse is ostensibly a "shots fired" call-out of rappers he considers beneath him. First, he sets himself on the level of Jay-Z, Nas, Eminem and Andre 3000. He then proceeds to cast the ultimate hip-hop insult of "you're not as good as me so don't even try" upon a bunch of recent upstart rappers and Drake. Drake is the biggest name of the group, but is also clearly the least likely musician on the face of the earth to try and answer back to something like this. Oh, and before he disses all of these rappers, he makes sure to say that he's friends with all of them so that their feelings don't get too hurt. I don't know too much about hip-hop, but I don't think friendly rivalries were always a big part of it. It sounds aggressive, but on closer look it's really pretty lukewarm. But because of his status as the Hipster King of Hip-Hop (that's an insult, just fyi), this verse will likely draw grandiose and hyperbolic praise despite it's thinly veiled averageness. And somewhere, Tupac rolled over in his grave (or Puerto Rican hammock) in disgust.

A look at summer movies and television

It's been a memorable summer. Maybe you traveled abroad, took on a part-time job or internship or just sat on your couch making full use of your Netflix account and watching five seasons of "Breaking Bad." Whatever you pursued during the summer months, time to face the music: it's over. Reflecting on the summer's highs and lows always provides a nice concluding note, but unfortunately, I only know how to talk about movies and TV, so I'll stick with that. 

Notre Dame Shakespeare Festival brings 'Richard III.' to the stage

Combine the sarcasm, selfishness and style of Chuck Bass and a strong dose of power-hungry, medieval villainy, and you get Notre Dame Shakespeare Festival's "Richard III."  

To The Freshman

Congratulations!

Wicked' to play in South Bend

ND references in 'Shrek:' fact or fiction?