The Mars Volta
(Photo: Courtesy of Warner Bros.)
The Mars Volta delivers solid sixth album with ‘Noctourniquet’
By Ben Nance
The Mars Volta is back to once again polarize the music world with their weirdness. Some will praise their technical brilliance and see them as innovators of rock; others will dismiss their overwrought salsa-prog songs as silly and self-indulgent. Since releasing their magnum opus “Frances the Mute” in 2005, the band has unfortunately fallen into the Tim Burton pattern, where every other release turns out to be a dud. Thankfully, their latest album “Noctourniquet” follows the highly disappointing “Octahedron,” so the pattern rules say this one has to be good.
If you don’t like The Mars Volta by now, then “Noctourniquet” will do little to change your mind. However, for fans that adored the audacious, aggressiveness of “The Bedlam in Goliath” and the melancholy hooks of “Frances the Mute,” there is a lot here to treasure. In opening track “The Whip Hand,” lead singer Cedric Bixler-Zavala lays in his reverberated vocals on top of frantic stop-and-go drums, while an unexpected dubstep bass line buzzes in the background. It’s a fresh surprise that shows the band’s willingness to evolve their sound into stranger electronic territories. They continue working outside their comfort zone on songs like “Empty Vessels Make the Loudest Sound,” where their trademark eclecticism is temporarily abandoned and traded for something that resembles a commercial ballad. It’s the closest they’ll probably ever come to repeating “Televators.”
While there is plenty of frantic jamming to go around on “Noctourniquet,” as evident in the songs “Molochwalker” and “Dislexicon,” the album takes on an unusual nighttime gothic feel. I never thought I’d be comparing The Mars Volta to Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, but it’s hard not to think of Cave’s “Up Jumped the Devil” while listening to the dark howl of “The Malkin Jewel.” Lead guitarist and prolific songwriter, Omar Rodriguez-Lopez, knows how to restrain his crazy licks at crucial musical moments, allowing room for the studio effects to shine. This has always been an admirable quality of The Mars Volta. Like the greatest and tightest prog-rock bands, they operate as a collaborative team, utilizing whatever sounds necessary to make each song odder than the last.
“Noctourniquet,” for all of its sonic power, feels overstuffed. It makes one wonder what great heights Zala and Rodriguez-Lopez could one day achieve if their goal wasn’t to always back themselves into a corner of unnecessary complexity. Still, this is a very fine, intricately textured album that warrants a purchase. Both genuinely interesting and cinematic, it proudly stands out in an endless sea of forgettable, underdeveloped indie releases.
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Comic No. 8
By Michael Layman
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By Michael Layman
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Comic No. 7
By Michael Layman
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Comic No. 6
By Michael Layman
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Comic No. 5
By Michael Layman
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Comic No. 4
By Michael Layman
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Comic No. 3
By Michael Layman
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Comic No. 2
By Michael Layman
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Comic No. 1
By Michael Layman
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Louisville Cardinal staff meeting!
Interesting in writing? Photography? Graphic design? Come to a meeting and get paid for your work!
Meetings are on Tuesdays at 5:30 in the Cardinal office, located in the basement of the Houchen’s Building.
The Green Leaf Vegetarian Bistro serves food on styrofoam plates, a fact which belies their eco-friendly atmosphere.
(Photo: Nathan Douglas/The Louisville Cardinal)
The Green Leaf Natural Vegetarian Bistro: Green? Leafy?
By Nathan Douglas
The United States is a very food illiterate country. Essentially, a majority of the population does not know what they are eating or how to prepare reasonable food. I say food here referencing real food, not a concoction of pink slime and enriched white flour.
I don’t wish to ever speak badly of any new, local enterprise, and will rarely do so, however I feel like this is a special occasion. The Green Leaf Natural Vegetarian Bistro, which is a part of the chain of eateries along West Cardinal Boulevard, is an apparent attempt to simply capitalize on the faux side of the health craze, or whatever you wish to call it, that is sweeping the nation.
Green Leaf boasts popular buzzwords like “healthy,” “fresh” and “natural,” and is not discreet in their usage. This was the first alarming aspect of the restaurant. In my opinion, if a restaurant has to publicize these things in such a flamboyant manner, there are obviously some insecurities present about the food they are serving, or at least it makes one skeptical…
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Visit the Speed Art Museum to see great works near home.
(Photo: courtesy of thespeedmuseum.org)
The Speed Art Museum’s spring exhibit showcases the ‘Allure of Color’
By Lee Cole
Walking into the Speed Art Museum for the first time, I felt like I had stumbled onto a great secret. Drawn in by the current special exhibit, “Renoir to Chagall: Paris and the Allure of Color,” I didn’t quite know what to expect. I thought that reviewing the exhibit would be rather straightforward, but it became clear to me, as each aspect of the exhibit continued to overwhelm and surprise, that a conventional review just wouldn’t do.
Spring has had an early arrival this year, and flowers and trees that normally wouldn’t be blooming until at least mid-April are now displaying their brightest colors. I can’t help but think that the motive behind the timing of this exhibit of mostly Impressionists and post-Impressionists is rather conspicuous. On campus, many go about their days seemingly unaware of the lovely show nature has put on for us. All of the beauty and color and vibrancy that we could hope for is right beneath our noses. I couldn’t help but think about this fact when I entered the Speed Museum. Like the blooming flowers, the Speed Museum is a secret gem on our campus, full of beauty and culture, and mostly unnoticed.
We live in a society where if you stop to smell the roses for too long, you’re liable to have a policeman come up to you and ask if you’re on any medications. The call to dispatch would go something like this: “Officer, there’s a strange man outside who has been staring at the same patch of tulips for all of 15 minutes. I think he might be crazy.” It’s unimaginable to many that one wouldn’t have something better to do. Art museums are one of the last places one can go to and really get away with staring unabashedly at beautiful objects for as long as one wants. This is why the Speed Museum, and this exhibit in particular, was such a joy.
To read the complete article, click here.
Cardinal fans gathered to welcome the basketball home from their Florida win.
(Photo: Nathan Gardner/The Louisville Cardinal)
Cards fans ‘go nuts’ over Florida win
By Baylee Pulliam and James El-Mallakh
The Cardinals advanced to the NCAA Final Four, after a 72:68 comeback against the University of Florida Gators on Saturday. And fans in Louisville let the world know it, with wild street celebrations long into the night.
Kelly Byrd and Holly Babcock didn’t watch the game – they’re devoted University of Kentucky fans. But they say U of L’s win was impossible to ignore.
“It was like the whole place erupted,” said Byrd, a freshman undecided major.
From the view from her balcony on Sunday morning, the Province looked mostly deserted. “People are probably recovering,” she said.
Babcock, also a freshman undecided major, said she spent the greater part of her night listening to her neighbors cheering and honking their car horns. “The whole place just went nuts,” she said. “People just flooded out into the parking lot and stayed there for hours.”
Both Byrd and Babcock said they were more excited about Sunday’s Baylor versus UK match up.
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(Photo/Flickr: courtesy of chrissatchwell)
Energy conservation competition at U of L
By Caitlyn Crenshaw
Turn off the lights. The U of L Sustainability Council is encouraging all students and staff to conserve energy resources in an effort to create a more sustainable U of L. Campus Conservation Nationals, which includes over 150 campuses, is, “the first nationwide electricity reduction competition on university campuses,” according to Dr. Justin Mog, assistant to the Provost for Sustainability Initiatives.
“This competition is designed to empower the future generation of energy and environmental leaders,” said Mog. The competition is one aspect of the council’s programs promoting conservation and awareness.
In addition to the national competition, March 26 through April 15 marks “Bluegrass Unplugged,” U of L’s competition in its first conservation competition versus the University of Kentucky to reduce the amount of energy used in campus buildings. Mog said the goal is “to achieve the greatest possible energy reductions in 12 residence halls.”
The CCN competition occurs for several weeks. However, many of the council’s initiatives are completed year round to challenge the campus on a daily basis. Barbara Burns is a part of a team teaching a psychology course, “Mindfulness and sustainability.” The course focuses on “sustainability, energy conservation and the psychology of decision making and behavior change,” said Burns, the Sustainability Education & Research Committee Chair.
U of L housing is helping to lead awareness outside of the classroom. Taylor McGovern U’Sellis, residence life coordinator, said, “We want to raise awareness about how easy it is to reduce your impact on the environment by turning off a light or taking a shorter shower.”
Thursday, March 29 marks the Campus Conservation Nationals kick-off when the U of L RSO GRASS will be showing two documentaries about the “highly unsustainable nature of our current energy use.” The kickoff will be from 7:30 pm to 10 pm in the Chao Auditorium.
The competition hopes to promote not only awareness of energy conservation, but also action to create a more sustainable campus, state and nation. Mog said that “to save one gigawatt of electricity is enough to shut down a massive coal-fired power plant for four hours.”
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