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(09/06/17 8:19pm)
By Gunner Masters
Martial arts is a term synonymous with combat and spirituality that every person has heard about through one media source or another. Often the arts are portrayed in movies, anime and art as a path to enlightenment and supernatural abilities. However, while the former is true to a degree unfortunately there is no way for a person to fly or shoot Kamehameha waves from their hands.
Knowledge and discipline are the spiritual goals of martial arts, especially in Kung Fu, Karate and other Eastern styles. The same can be said of those from the West that focus on chivalry and honor. And the martial artists from these areas trained for the battlefield or duels.
In modern times, martial arts have become more combat sport than battlefield focused. This can be seen in Boxing and the UFC and where recently Floyd Mayweather won his 50th straight victory against Conor McGregor in a boxing match. The referee called the match in the 10th round when McGregor showed signs of fatigue and took several good shots to the head and body to ensure his own health and safety.
The fight was portrayed as a clash of titans from different worlds and they payout ran into the hundreds of millions.
In film and television, martial arts take on another form as heroes and villains fight using flight, Ki-blasts and god-like speed. In the case of Bruce Lee, he was phenomenal at Kung Fu and used his fighting abilities to take on multiple opponents at one and some wielding everything from swords, pipes and nunchaku. However, these battles include graceful and flashy moves because of choreography and movie magic.
Reality is far quicker and often brutal.
Jeff Glant, 36, is a 4th Dan Blackbelt and Head Instructor at Muncie Mudokwan with over twenty years of training experience and some of that time spent fighting in the cage in smaller MMA circuits.
“Fictionally, there’s nothing wrong with it. It’s just storytelling,” he said as he began to unbind his knee brace from his leg in the changing room at Mudokwan. “Obviously, what works on movies doesn’t work in real life.”
“You see a lot of things that are pretty and high-flying, but it’s not real,” Glant said.
Glant’s experience in the dojang and elsewhere taught him what works for real life and what doesn’t. Those skills that he built over years came in handy when he had to defend himself for real.
Glant was on break from working the kitchen at J.D.’s Bar in Decatur, Ind. He sat at the bar while his friend, Michelle, worked the bar. The bar was empty besides them and two couples that went out for a few drinks. Then three men walked in and were visibly buzzed and ordered drinks from Michelle. She gave them their orders and they drank the alcohol away and became more inebriated.
“Fictionally, there’s nothing wrong with it. It’s just storytelling,” he said as he began to unbind his knee brace from his leg in the changing room at Mudokwan. “Obviously, what works on movies doesn’t work in real life.”
They started harassing the couples at the pool table and tried to flirt with the women and became belligerent. Their boyfriends asked Glant, who was exhausted from working in a hot kitchen for most of the night to step in, but he told them, “You guys tell ‘em to stop, it’s not my problem.”
The boyfriends confronted the drunks and they apologized, but they got loud and belligerent again. “All right guys. We warned you and you’re doing it again. So, please leave,” Michelle said.
One of the men yelled, “I ain’t going anywhere!”, then slapped Michelle and knocked her down.
Glant jumped out of his seat, ran up to Michelle’s attacker and pushed him into tables and chairs.
“Out of the corner of my eye, I saw something moving and something told me to kick,” Glant said. He shifted slightly and picked up his leg, then launched his heel into another man’s chest. He toppled backward and fell over the pool table.
Glant then turned his attention to the final man who immediately put up his hands in surrender. However, the first man recovered from being thrown into the tables and tackled Glant to the ground.
“We kinda rolled around and got into a wrestling match on the steps leading up to the bar,” Glant said. They fell down the stairs bound up in combat. “Somehow, I turned in the air and pin him to the stairs. Then I just pushed his jaw into one of the stairs,” he said.
The police arrived moments later and broke up the fight.
Western martial arts like Rapier Fencing are portrayed in films like The Princess Bride and the Three Musketeers as fast paced footwork and flourish-filled bouts where heroes and villains seem to dance back and forth and around each other. While the moves and footwork are real, an actual duel would usually be over quickly as stabbing an opponent’s lung, heart or face with a powerful thrust would be certain death and wounds could also render an opponent incapable of continuing a fight.
Kaitlyn Sims, a senior at Ball State and President of Ball State’s Fencing Club, has years of experience fencing with the Epee, which is a foil with a heavier blade and larger hand-guard.
“The biggest discrepancies that I always see is all the witty banter and all of the swooshing noises that happen. Anytime you hear a sword making a swishing noise in a movie, I can almost guarantee you it’s somebody recording a Foil swiping through the air,” Sims said pretending to slash the air with an invisible sword.“I love to see it because it’s flashy and cool and it’s why I’m interested in the sport to begin with,” she continued, “but it is fairly inaccurate.”
The reality of Fencing, like any other martial art is that everything is learned gradually with great effort. Stances, footwork, strikes and parries are all broken into separate movements then blended together over time until they become instinctual.
“When I first came to club, I wanted, I KNEW I was going to do Sabre because I wanted to either be a Jedi or be a pirate!” Sims said, laughing. “And it’s not at all like that.”
Despite this, Sims continued to practice with her Epee so she could get as close to true Rapier Fencing and her desire to be a pirate as possible.
In Birth of the Dragon, the fight between Bruce Lee and Wong Jack Man was shown to be a huge affair born out of old tradition versus street fighting and Lee’s instruction of Caucasians in the art of Kung Fu.
The fight in the movie is blown up into an epic battle between these opposing ideologies, yet the actual fight, as told by Lee’s friends and wife who witnessed it, Bruce chased Wong Jack for a few seconds, tackled him and finished him with a UFC style ground-and-pound. His opponent surrendered and Lee walked away free to teach and spread Kung Fu to whomever he wished. Following this, he starred in the Green Hornet T.V. show and several classic movies such as Enter the Dragon.
Martial arts and their portrayal in media isn’t a bad thing, however it creates misconceptions of what they teach and what training and fighting are really like. Whether it’s movies, TV or anime, they all spread awareness in the martial arts and lead to people to explore that inspiration. However, the reality is that martial arts are among the most difficult things to do because of the physical and mental demands that cause many to drop out before they realize their potential.
As Bruce Lee said, “There are no limits. There are only plateaus and you must not stay there, you must go beyond them.”
(09/05/17 11:53pm)
https://soundcloud.com/user-519363288/remixed-s2e1-the-old-taylors-dead-and-vmas-recap
We're back with a new season of Remixed! This week we take a look at New Taylor's new song, give our thoughts on Frank Ocean's nonchalant single release, and recap what went down at the VMAs. Tune in next week for another episode of Remixed!
Hosts: Sarah James, Tyler Wheatley, Matthew Yapp
Edited by: Michael Robb, Sarah James
Graphic: Daley Wilhelm
Follow us on iTunes!
(09/01/17 8:00am)
by Eben Griger
Uber announced this week that they will be ending their practice of tracking your phone after your ride ends. So in other news, Uber was tracking you after your ride ends. Okay, so this wasn’t exactly a secret. The story originally debuted in 2016, but aside from privacy advocates it never really gained much traction. Also you’re only tracked for five minutes, which isn’t huge for an app that already has your end destination.
But it’s the principle of the tracking that’s important here. The app doesn’t ask you to opt in to what they call “post trip collection,” and the only way to opt out is to turn off location services (which kind of defeats the purpose of Uber). That, paired with Uber’s below-average track record of handling that data puts users in a pretty startling situation.
Unlike with AccuWeather, there is no record of this data being sold, but that doesn’t mean it’s not being shared. Uber gives the data to Google, who gives it to Hotbox, who now knows where a bunch of college student are going to be and start passing out flyers there to drum up some business. This is purely hypothetical and relatively harmless, but it’s done without the users’ knowledge and done so automatically.
So without getting too Orwellian (more than this already is), this issue really falls on the users. Do we want more convenience at the cost of privacy or safety at the cost of what makes many apps run so smoothly?
Sources: cnet, TechCrunch, ZDNet
Image: TechCrunch
(08/29/17 11:42pm)
by Eben Griger
Steve Bannon, former Executive Chairman of Brietbart News, is set to return to the outlet after being dismissed from his chief strategist position at the White House. Bannon played key roles in President Trump’s 2016 campaign and in several legislative decisions made in Trump’s presidential term.
During Bannon’s absence, several changes were made to Breitbart from the firing of Senior Editor Milo Yiannopoulos and Editor Katie Hughes (two of the more controversial personalities) to appearing less inflammatory in the media.
While Editor in Chief Alex Marlow has been keeping a lower profile than Steve Bannon ever did, keeping Brietbart out of the spotlight for a few months, that is likely set to change upon Bannon’s return. According to a former Breitbart employee, “Marlow has zero power… Bannon’s clearly the boss.”
While it is still too early to tell what kind of effect Bannon will have, either on Breitbart or on the Trump cabinet, Bannon being back with the publication directly means that staffers know exactly the direction he wants to go, and according to those staffer, he is a very hands-on boss.
Source: The Atlantic
Image: CBS News
(08/24/17 2:23am)
by Jeremy Rogers
Blizzard made no fancy show of starting their Gamescom conference; they just dove right into the fray with an announcement about their hit collectable card game, Hearthstone. A Blizzard representative announced that the next challenge in Hearthstone would be the final mission for the Knights of the Frozen Throne. Now players will be able to pit their decks against the Lich King for the Frozen Throne itself. This enemy will be the first enemy in the game to modify its strategy based on the player’s class that they bring to the fight. Fireside Gatherings everywhere will soon get access to the Lich King raid after its exclusive first run at Gamescom. After the announcements about Hearthstone, a new cinematic short was revealed that shows off how the folks at Blizzard could stay in business should that whole video game fad stop making them money.
[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vPguoeYTvMI[/embed]
If the characters shown make you yearn for more, fear not. Blizzard announced that they will be producing more content in the form of shorts, comics, and the like that explore the diverse cast of characters that populate the tavern.
The next game to get the Gamescom treatment was Heroes of the Storm. The game director, Alan Dabiri, came out and primiered a new hero’s video. The lich lord Kel’Thuzad will be the next playable hero to join the playable ranks of Blizzard’s popular MOBA. After showing off the character’s abilities in game, attendees were shown an event quest called Obey the Call, where players can earn portraits and other in-game rewards. To finish off this segment, Dabiri announced that Blizzard would be releasing a five-part documentary of all the behind the scenes work that went into putting a new character into the game next week. The title of the documentary is Raising Kel’Thuzad.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uv35ukl8c-w
World of Warcraft was up next. A trailer for the upcoming 7.3 patch of the relatively venerable MMO was shown. The patch will be called Shadows of Argus. The patch is described by WoW game director Ion Hazzikostas as being a story heavy update packed with loads of new content. The patch will be expanding on Legion features and adding new features in the patch. Players exploring Argus will get to explore the home world of the Legion which is also the home world of the Draenei. Fans of the lore of the WoW will have plenty to dig into with this newest load of content. Players will be able to stride across Argus’ surface starting August 29th in the United States.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ysRqfZPvijE
Blizzard’s latest mega-hit was next to take the stage with Chacko Sonny, the production director of Overwatch, announcing all the new content coming down the pipeline. Junkertown, the new escort map for the game that canonically serves as the home of JunkRat and RoadHog was explored in more depth. After a short talk the project director of Blizzard Animation, Ben Dai, came to the stage to introduce the next animated short for one of the heroes of Overwatch.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8tjcm_kI0n0
The short ended with snow falling from the ceiling onto the Gamescom attendees below. This follows conferences from Microsoft, EA, Blizzard, Nvidia, and Nintendo earlier this week.
Source: YouTube
Image: buffed
(07/28/17 12:37am)
by Preston Radtke
“Pumped Up Kicks.” It seems that mammoth bubblegum rock release of yesteryear has become a curse that Foster the People is wishing to exorcise. Torches, the band’s initial full-length release in 2011, was dotted with carefree indie numbers with danceable, benevolent beats. The album has sold literally millions of copies and received praise from Paul McCartney and other luminaries in the mainstream rock canon. Then Supermodel happened, a slightly similar package to Torches but with less rhythm and more storytelling. Though the 2014 release didn’t garner as much immediate success, critics were pleased with the implied direction and songwriting of the group.
Which brings us to Sacred Hearts Club. To put it bluntly, Sacred Hearts Club is what happens when you only pay attention to the EDM fans who loved the beats found on Torches and paid no mind to song structure or writing. If you like overdone, corny beats, annoying synths, and amateurish vocals, this record is for you. If you want to hear the same song twelve consecutive times, this record is for you. If you enjoy listening to a blend of well-measured guitar and percussion bars, smooth vocal deliveries and varied yet applicable themes, this record, unfortunately, is not for you.
The apple doesn't even fall from the tree
So here’s how song structures work on Sacred Hearts Club: electronic intro with hip-hop beat, echo-y, repetitive rolling vocals by Mark Foster, and a rising chorus featuring hypnotic electronics and heavily punctuated vocals. Repeat this twice more plus a bridge that’s basically the chorus with alternate instrumentation, and there you have it. Then multiply by 11 to make a full album worth of songs. It would have been nice to see more elaborate and adventurous songs off this record. The band’s first and second albums allowed Foster to carve out a niche and perfect their song archetypes. Longer songs, more complex choruses and expansive verse structures would have been an effective direction for the outfit. But instead they picked one style and beat it to death multiple times to stubbornly unvarying lengths.
Honestly though, the issue isn’t exactly that this style gets done over, and over, and over again; it’s just that the presentation of this style is so poor, and the band isn’t aware enough to try something different. For instance the introductions almost always feature an extremely obnoxious and over-the-top synthetic part (see “Loyal Like Sid and Nancy”) that assaults the ears more than inspires the revelry. It’s so obvious that Foster the People was trying to make a record for the EDM crowd that they committed synth overkill. We get it; you want to be played at a massive club with stretch limos out front. But maybe after the eighth song you could at least add a little in the way of dynamics.
Foster’s vocals are also incredibly predictable. Gone are the days of slight vocal experimentation and frankly, any ounce of vocal life. His vocals on this album are delivered so blandly and disinterestedly as to be a highly unfortunate foil to the dramatic synths.
Is this the new normal?
Forecasting what could come next for Foster the People is an extremely grim affair. The songwriting, delivery, and deficiency of personality paint a solemn picture of what the band may do next. Both Torches and Supermodel had a lot of promise. Standout songs like “Broken Jaw”, “Best Friend”, and yes, “Pumped Up Kicks”, alluded to a band who could become a giant in the indie, dance, and pop genres. Back then they had perfectly toed the line of rhythm and accessibility. Now though, they are one-dimensionally rhythmic with virtually none of the positives from past material.
On the other hand, with some experimentation and refining, Foster the People could reshape themselves in the future. They’re going to need to scale back and more astutely craft beats and rhythms, and vocalizations from Mark Foster will need to be cut down. Some sampling and maybe even guest appearances could also provide more interesting shades for the band. Sadly though, there’s almost nothing that the band could positively build from Sacred Hearts Club.
The meaning: Maybe I'm just not getting it...
Probably the most effective inclusion on this record are song titles. Titles like “Loyal Like Sid and Nancy” and “Static Space Lover” are as evocative as they are alluring. However, these songs and many others off this record lack any sort of personality or story arc. “Loyal Like Sid and Nancy” instrumentally feels like a hard-cutting dance experience with little linking it to the musical Sid and Nancy pairing to which the title almost certainly alludes. “Static Space Lover” seems to be about some acquaintance or daunting relationship. But Foster’s vocals are so vague and elementary that the only other parable we can look to for understanding is the instrumentation, and again, all we have is a hopelessly generic blend of percussion and synthetics. Foster’s lyrics are obviously written more to prop up the instrumentals, but in that light the personality and context of these songs is miserably hard to discern.
Don’t fool yourself; Foster the People has never been a band to stand on any soapbox to deliver political or social commentaries with their music. Nonetheless, previous songs like “Are You What You Want to Be” and “Helena Beat” gave just enough assumed context and personification for listeners to feel a greater connection to the band. Sacred Hearts Club is impersonal and generic. That ever-present rhythm and bass shrouds any semblance of personality or concept for the record.
All images from Genius
(04/20/17 11:43pm)
Tonight: We'll see one more possible line of showers pass through this evening. We've had several lines of showers pass through, bringing over 3/10th of an inch into the Muncie region. You can expect calm winds with an overnight low of 48 degrees.
(04/02/17 11:54am)
https://soundcloud.com/user-519363288/remixed-s1e4-covers-and-controversy
This week on Remixed, we talk about Weezer's newest song, Pentatonix's cover of John Lennon's "Imagine," the overwhelming controversy surrounding Snoop Dogg's "Lavender," and more.
Hosts: Sarah James and Dara Metcalfe
Graphic by: Daley Wilhelm
Edited by: Sarah James
Follow us on iTunes!
(03/28/17 10:00am)
by Preston Radtke
On their fourth full-length studio release, Real Estate continues to perfect their much-defined art and aesthetic despite noteworthy changes. The New Jersey-based dream pop outfit has wrought a consistent, yet unrevolutionary sound on their previous three albums. Real Estate molded the sounds and moods of early 2010’s Beach House, with the structural motifs of the Feelies and the instrumentals of (gasp) the Grateful Dead. This record, however, had the possibility to change and redefine Real Estate’s sound in many directions. Lead guitarist, and seminal “mood guru” Matt Mondanile, left the band in 2016 at the beginning of the writing for "In Mind." Former collaborator and band friend Julian Lynch was rather hastily brought into the fold and dropped right in the middle of the writing process. On "In Mind" though, it’s apparent that Lynch’s guitar work, while not band-altering or innovative, shares many of the same characteristics with his predecessor, thus allowing Real Estate to maintain their sound. The album as a whole focuses less on lyrics and explicit meaning and more on intrinsic reflection and instrumental mood setting.
Guitar (an entire section just for a guitar!)
Contrasting the lyric-driven experience that was 2014’s "Atlas," "In Mind’s" lead contributor was Julian Lynch, the somewhat new lead guitarist. Many previous Real Estate songs attempt to create a mood or feeling primarily through melodic drum sections or concise yet punctuated vocals. On this album however, the mood ran through Julian Lynch. Songs such as “After the Moon” and “Serve the Song” find Lynch’s guitar section as a catalyst for the song’s aesthetic. Both songs are very mellow and dreamy, in a guitar-based Beach House sort of way, yet it’s Lynch’s steady and efficient guitar playing that truly drives home the meaning and sense of the song. Other pieces, like the surprisingly radio-ready “Holding Pattern”, find Real Estate experimenting with traditional drum and lyrical constructs, only to be brought back to normalcy with a drawn-out mood altering guitar solo at the bridge. Lynch’s work on this album is so dominant and auspicious that Martin Courtney’s vocals operate more as a backing instrument, not the normal leading role that vocals usually fill.
Production: A Topographical Experience
"In Mind" is a slight study in geography concerning production. Close listening will reveal that Real Estate deviated from normal recording and overall band layout for this record. Traditionally, a studio or live band will feature the singer up front, the furthest from the drums/closest to the audience; behind him/her the guitarists usually stand to either side of the vocalist; off to the side at about the same level as the guitarists are any keyboardists or string players; the drummer is the furthest back, usually the most secluded and distant band member. The seclusion of the drummer allows for more contributive and backing sections that do not provide seminal parts to the experience. On this record though, Real Estate positioned the drummer either at the same level of the guitarists or off to the side, between the vocalist and guitarists. The resulting sound is a much louder and relevant drum section that somewhat overshadows Courtney’s vocals. Furthermore, the positioning of the drums allows for a parallel interplay between Lynch’s lead guitar and Alex Bleeker’s bass guitar. The sound that’s created by the parallelism of the guitars and drums annex Courtney’s vocals and make it a part of them. Again, instead of setting the mood vocally, Courtney’s contribution operates as a collaborative instrumental that shapes the entire mood of the song.
Innovation: Maybe They’ll Have Change In Mind Next Time
Real Estate has always been described as a “safe band.” Never dabbling in any taboo or racey subject matter, their music has been a cultural oasis for listeners who grow weary of concept and politically-infused records. Unfortunately, the band should progress on their fourth release. Real Estate needs to take a stand or occupy a more controversial emotional space in order to connect with the listener and remain relevant. On the other hand, Real Estate may be stagnating to remain different. The year 2017 has been described as “the year of the protest album” by Pitchfork. The current political and social landscape has wrought concept albums from artists as wide-ranging as Pissed Jeans to Girlpool. Listeners today expect, and at times demand, a social commentary on their band’s records. But Real Estate doesn’t do that; they attempt to drag the listeners back to a simpler time before “fake news”, WikiLeaks, and gender-neutral bathroom legislation. The problem is, "In Mind" isn’t so different from their previous three albums. They almost sound old and out-of-touch instead of classic and dependable. If Real Estate wanted to remain relevant while steering clear of controversial content, then they should have diversified their sound just slightly enough so that fans wouldn’t get frustrated and label them as “boring.”
Top Tracks:
“White Light”
“Stained Glass”
“Holding Pattern”
“Time”
Also in the In Mind Family:
The War on Drugs: Lost in the Dream
Mac DeMarco: Salad Days
Atlas Sound: Logos
All images from Jambase
(03/24/17 12:51am)
Tonight: We'll see temperatures drop just below the 50 degree mark overnight, with a low of 49 degrees. Winds will be moderate, ranging between 15 to 20 miles per hour. Expect mostly cloudy to overcast conditions.
(03/21/17 11:24pm)
MUNCIE, IN (NewsLink Indiana)
(03/21/17 12:00pm)
by Preston Radtke
After five years of nomadic wandering in near irrelevance, The Shins surprisingly dropped an album. Heartworms is the fifth studio album by the New Mexico-based entity, following up 2012’s critically-acclaimed Port of Morrow. From the very beginning of the Shins, through all of their EP’s and LP’s, they strayed and scurried between three or four different somewhat-related genres within all of their albums. There’s the lo-fi indie-infused “New Slang” off of Oh, Inverted World, the fifties/sixties linked “Phantom Limb” from Wincing the Night Away, and the alt-pop classic “Simple Song” off of their 2012 release. But for the first time in their twenty-one year existence, the Shins may have strayed too far and too late. Heartworms dabbles in traditional Shins genres such as surf rock, indie rock, and traditional alternative rock. However, tracks like “Painting a Hole” and “Name for You” find the Shins crashing into the territory that is indie dance pop with confusing results. Unfortunately for the Shins, lead singer James Mercer still maintains his folk-leaning lyrical structures and delivery even on these new, beat-infused works. Furthermore, songs like “Cherry Hearts” and “Fantasy Island” see the Shins experimenting with some electronica and slight psychedelia. All of these stumbled-in-to-genre experiments all build to a singular question throughout the entire album: Is the rotating ensemble of bandmates and writers finally taking its toll on the Shins and rendering their music confused and misguided?
Vocals (Oh, to be young again):
This section will unsurprisingly center mostly on James Mercer. James Mercer’s light, care-free vocal delivery has won many hearts within the alternative and indie scene. Sadly though, Mercer’s voice comes across as much older and weathered on this album. He sings much lower, lower than even some of his low points on other albums, and he takes very few risks regarding high notes. The high notes he does attempt however, appear to be significantly diluted through use of generous reverb and vocoder. A prime example is “dead Alive”, a somewhat trippy experience hinting at folk rock, surf rock, and psychedelia. Mercer’s voice in this song is extremely distorted and echoey. When he goes up a few octaves, his voice takes on a more distant, and mystical sound. Aesthetically pleasing as this may be, this only furthers the idea that Mercer’s range has decreased noticeably from previous years. Frankly though, lots of reverberated vocals aren’t a bad thing, except the Shins do it so often on the previously mentioned “Dead Alive” and the title track, that the audience may get annoyed and disconnected from Mercer’s actual voice and consequently, the music as a whole.
There are vocal highlights on this album though. “Mildenhall”, the second single off the album, features beautiful imagery and pacing reminiscent of “New Slang” and other folksy Shins works from the past. The song “Half a Million” is an outstanding, hard-hitting dance ballad with perfect mixing and vocalizations by Mercer. The track prominently features the melodic randomness that the Shins have thrilled with before. The vocal patterns paired with the simple drum beat coexist to form not only the best dance track but one of the best songs off the album. “Half a Million” should have been the template for the Shins on their other dance-infused tracks. Instead, they focused more on beats and instrumentals and less on actual melody and vocalizations. When listening to this song, one thinks that Mercer wrote the lyrics, then crafted the beats around the structure and let them fill-in the vocal gaps in the piece.
Production: A New Kind of Anti-Folk
The majority of the tracks off Heartworms carry an unpleasant, almost too-perfect production standard that at times distracts from the actual songs. Save “Mildenhall” and “Half a Million”, all of the drum sections, guitar interplays, and synthes are just so clean and sleek sounding that they basically operate independent from Mercer’s vocals. The title track and “Name for You” feature overly produced instrumentals that nearly overwhelm Mercer’s folk-leaning lyrics. Furthermore, Mercer’s lyrics and delivery are not congruent with the production style and delivery of the instrumentals. The drums, guitars, and synths remind one of a slightly generic sounding pop rock work, whereas Mercer’s lyrics conjure up thoughts of surf rock, and mainstream folk rock. Other times on the record the mixer increased the relevance and dominance of Mercer’s voice to both overtake the odd instrumentation and to enhance his overall vocal reception. Admittedly, this does sound good, but it also furthers the divide between Mercer the artist, and Mercer the robot. The effect makes Mercer’s voice sound so much louder and more prominent than any backing instruments. With this increased comparative volume also comes increased echo and atmospheric constructs that allow his low-range voice to be hidden and distorted. No matter how much reverb and volume mixing, Mercer’s voice still lacks the range that it once had.
The State of the Shins (Is there a new Port?):
The Shins have thrived on randomness and kitschy quirk throughout their existence. Never taking things too seriously, the Shins have done numerous surprise shows, dropped singles after years of silence, and changed lineups rather cacophonously. That being said, one begins to wonder what the next steps could be for the Shins. This album was released five years after Port of Morrow, a fact that hints at irrelevance, desperation, and aimlessness. Why would a band release the lead single off of their new album nearly a year before the release date? Why would a band so late in their career try to near-drastically change their sound? Finally why would a well-established band with a reputation to uphold employ bandmates that virtually no one in the rock world knows of? In listening to this record, it almost feels as though this is Mercer’s big way of trying to show the music industry that his supposed single-handed dismantlement of the band in 2009 and all star lineup in 2012 was justified; as if they were all leading to this work. Unfortunately, this work doesn’t live up to the standards and expectations set forth by previous Shins releases. In the end, Heartworms is a solid enough pop idea, performed by a man trying to change things up too late in his career.
Top Tracks:
“Mildenhall”
“Half a Million”
Also in the Heartworms Family:
Band of Horses: Why Are You OK
Yeasayer: Amen & Goodbye
Deerhunter: Fading Frontier
All Images From: Billboard
(03/20/17 11:04pm)
Today:
(01/31/17 6:57pm)
We started off with Cloudy skies and gusty winds this morning, and that's going to stick around, at least until tonight.
(01/31/17 4:03am)
We started out quite chilly this morning with lows in the teens and even single digits in some places.
(01/25/17 8:29pm)
Editor's note: "Breaking Stereotypes " is a short video series inspired by BuzzFeedVideo featuring student organizations of Ball State. If you have any suggestions as to who we should feature next, send an email to news@bsudailynews.com.
(01/17/17 9:21pm)
Editor's note: "Breaking Stereotypes " is a short video series inspired by BuzzFeedVideo featuring student organizations of Ball State. If you have any suggestions as to who we should feature next, send an email to news@bsudailynews.com.
(12/16/16 1:44am)
MUNCIE, IN (Newslink Indiana) -- We are currently in a wind chill advisory for the following counties: Grant, Blackford, and Jay. Tomorrow we will reach a high of 27 with overcast skies. The wind chill at times will be around -7. Please, limit time outdoors and be bundled up before going outside. A line a snow will push through around 5:00 P.M. tomorrow night. Temperatures are going to continue to get warmer over night, switching the snow to a wintery mix. There could be freezing rain, so please be careful if you will be driving. The temperatures will warm up to the mid 40s on Saturday, with rain throughout the day. On Sunday, the temperatures will drop back down to the teens with partly sunny skies. Cold, dry, and sunny conditions for the start of next week. Temperatures will warm back up to the mid-30s by the end of next week. Please follow us on Twitter @NLIWeather for more weather updates.
(12/09/16 5:38pm)
A snow-covered start to the day it was! Although the snow has moved out of the Muncie area, the cold temperatures have not. Our average high for this time of year is right around 40 degrees; however, our highs for the next couple of days are going to be well under that. The next chance for snow will come heading into next week on Sunday where accumulations are expected to be between 1 and 3 inches. Temperatures will dip down into the mid teens next week with wind chills expected to plunge the feels like temperatures well down into the negative values. Make sure to bundle up as these temperatures pose a hazard to those who are outside without proper winter protection! Make sure to follow us on Twitter @NLIweather for continued winter weather updates.
(12/09/16 3:04am)
MUNCIE, IN (NewsLink Indiana) -- Good Evening! The jet stream has moved south from Canada, bringing much cooler air along with it. Today, Muncie also first got its taste of sticking snow! It began as flurries throughout the day, but got a bit heavier in the beginning evening hours around dinner time. These flurries will move out overnight, still leaving cold air as the last full week of classes for the Fall 2016 semester end here at Ball State. After a high of 26 for tomorrow, temps will get a bit warmer into the lower 30s for Saturday and Sunday. Coming along on Sunday, this is when the next frontal system will move through the area, bringing a few inches of snow along for the ride. Expect snow throughout the day on Sunday, turning over to rain going into Monday. Temps will be in the mid-to-lower 30s for Monday and Tuesday, before an even colder Arctic air blast moves into Indiana Wednesday night and into Thursday. With that new blast, temps will drop into the high teens to near 20, with slight snow chances. As always, make sure to follow us on Twitter, @NLIWeather for all your weather updates!