p11, v5.23 — Arts & Entertainment

Arts & Entertainment

Mountain Views News Saturday, June 4, 2011

MVNews this week: Page 11

ARTS & ENTERTAIMENT

Mountain Views News Saturday, June 4, 2011

SEAN’S SHAMELESS

REVIEWS:

DALE EARNHARDT JR. JR.

Acting classes for REAL people, at the...
Join the “FOR THE LOVE OF ACTING” class.
Saturdays 2:00 to 5:00pm on our STAGE. No experience necessary!
NEW BEGINNERS class starts APRIL 02.
For reservations and class info, call June Chandler (626) 355-4572
The duo
behind the
silly (yet
possibly
brilliant?)
band
name, Dale
Earnhardt Jr.
Jr. is Detroit natives, Daniel Zott and Josh
Epstein. They joined forces sometime last
year to release the much buzzed about EP,
Horse Power. It was a four-song collection of
psychedelic indie pop tunes that included the
Beach Boys cover, “God Only Knows”. With
their highly anticipated debut LP due out
on June 7th, the twosome expands on their
eclectic sound. Epstein and Zott both sing in
other bands, The Silent Years and The Great
Fiction, respectively and share vocal duties
on It’s A Corporate World. The amalgamation
of the two singers/songwriters were able to
craft soft, airy, electronic produced rhythms
with their new venture. It’s A Corporate World
is a moderately solid debut, but an uneven
one at that. There may be plenty here that will
resonate with particular listeners. Some will
find more to love than others. When Dale
Earnhardt Jr. Jr. strives in specific tracks,
there is no denying the magic these guys can
bring. However, it’s when they depart from
that signature sound that leaves us to some
extent empty within.

Luckily, none of the tracks on It’s A Corporate
World feel overblown in nature. Actually,
only two tracks, “Nothing But Our Love”
and “When I Open My Eyes” cross the four-
minute mark. In retrospect, the 12-track
record is relatively short-lived at 37 minutes
and 25 seconds. The first half of the album
starts off reasonably strong. Opener,
“Morning Thought” provides us with
glistening patterns, electrifying drumbeats
and mellow vocal harmonies. One of the
standout tracks, “Nothing But Our Love”
(which made its first appearance on the
Horse Power EP) showcases mellifluous vocal
tones, dreamy arrangements and continues
to float effortlessly through its entirety. The
other treasure off the record is, “Skeletons”
a darkly, stripped down song with stick
clanging throughout that ends way too soon.
It’s proceeded with “An Ugly Person On A
Movie Screen” a dangerously catchy tune
with its contagious “na, na, na, na” hook.
So far, so good, right? The second half of
the album, which includes “Vocal Chords”
and “Simple Girl” from the Horse Power EP
takes the album down a slightly different
path. It’s not necessarily a forbidden road
they head down, but one that raises caution
and concern. This is especially true since the
first half of the album is inventive, jaunty and
often catchy.

Like I previously mentioned, this is a
relatively respectable first effort. I would
have expected a bit more given my deep
appreciation for Epstein’s better pop indie
band, The Silent Years. Adding electronics
and synths to your soundscape is all the rage
right now. Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. uses them to
their advantage most of the time. Some of the
songs (toward the second half) start off fairly
strong, but somehow manage to get stale
and unrewarding by the time of completion.
I like to think the band’s name is more than
a gimmick. If they decide in the future to
work on a follow-up album, I’ll still check it
out with no hesitation. Growth and progress
is inevitable, yet I hope Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Jr. can figure out a way to become the band
they’ve set out to be. It’s A Corporate World
does feel special and unique sometimes, but
those moments aren’t everlasting. Hell, those
moments rarely last at all.

Grade: 6.8 out of 10

Key Tracks: “Morning Thought”, “Nothing
But Our Love”, “Skeletons”, “An Ugly
Person On A Movie Screen”

Sean Kayden

FOLK AND COUNTRY CONCERT AT SIERRA
MADRE PLAYHOUSE ON JUNE 19

Musicians Tim Tedrow and Terry Vreeland return to the stage of Sierra Madre Playhouse
and welcome musical guests Severin Browne, Women on the Move, and Bill Mesnik (creator
of the hit show “Three Songs”) in a concert of folk and country music.

At Sierra Madre Playhouse, 87 W. Sierra Madre Blvd., Sierra Madre, CA 91024. Ample fee
parking behind theatre. Sunday, June 19 at 6:30 p.m. Admission: $15. Father’s Day special!:
Dads get in for $10. Reservations: (626) 355-4318. Online ticketing: www.sierramadreplayhouse.
org

Due to the high demand for her tutoring and education services, bookstore
owner, Sally Morrison, is opening a new learning center here in Sierra Madre.
Mindspring Education Center will cater to students (children and adults)
interested in furthering their reading, writing, math, spelling, and
comprehension skills. In addition, Sally offers assistance in study skills,
homework, and test preparation. She also specializes in helping students
with dyslexia and other learning difficulties. Those interested in summer
sessions should contact Mindspring soon because space is limited.
As a result of this business expansion, Sally Morrison and Jeffrey Ingwalson,
owners of Sierra Madre Books, will be closing the bookstore in June 2011.
“We appreciate all the support we’ve received from our customers over the
past few years, but are excited about our new venture. We look forward to
continuing to be part of this community.”
For questions about Mindspring Education Center, please call (626) 355-1972.
For questions about Sierra Madre Books, please call (626) 836-3200.
Announcing:
The Opening of...
Mindspring Education CenterOne-to-One Instruction for All Ages37 Auburn Ave., Suite 7ASierra Madre, CA 91024(626) 355-1972www.mindspringEDC.com
The Book Report

Ghost Hunters: William James and the Search for Scientific
Proof of Life After Death by Deborah Blum

A Pulitzer Prize winning author tells the amazing story of William
James’s quest for empirical evidence of the spirit world . What
if a world renowned philosopher and professor of psychiatry
at Harvard suddenly announced he believed in ghosts? At the
close of the nineteenth century, the illustrious William James
led a determined scientific investigation into “unexplainable”
incidences of clairvoyance and ghostly visitations. James and a
small group of eminent scientists staked their reputations, their
careers, even their sanity on one of the most extraordinary quests
ever undertaken: to empirically prove the existence of ghosts,
spirits, and psychic phenomena. What they pursued and what
they found raises questions as fascinating today as they were
then. Deborah Blum is a professor of science journalism at the
University of Wisconsin and has written for the New York Times,
Los Angeles Times, and Psychology Today.

Founding Gardeners: The Revolutionary Generation, Nature,
and the Shaping of the American Nation by Andrea Wulf

From the author of the acclaimed The Brother Gardeners, a
fascinating look at the founding fathers from the unique and
intimate perspective of their lives as gardeners, plantsmen, and
farmers. For the founding fathers, gardening, agriculture, and
botany were elemental passions, as deeply ingrained in their
characters as their belief in liberty for the nation they were
creating. Andrea Wulf reveals for the first time this aspect of
the revolutionary generation. She describes how, even as British
ships gathered off Staten Island, George Washington wrote his
estate manager about the garden at Mount Vernon; how a tour
of English gardens renewed Thomas Jefferson’s and John Adams’s
faith in their fledgling nation; how a trip to the great botanist
John Bartram’s garden helped the delegates of the Constitutional
Congress break their deadlock; and why James Madison is the forgotten father of American
environmentalism. These and other stories reveal a guiding but previously overlooked ideology
of the American Revolution. Founding Gardeners adds depth and nuance to our understanding
of the American experiment and provides us with a portrait of the founding fathers as they’ve
never before been seen.

If your business paid Federal Taxes last year, and you don’t have a Qualified Retirement
Plan, you just gave money to Uncle Sam that you could have saved and invested for your
retirement instead!
Whether your business is currently not taking advantage of one of the many Qualified
Retirement Plans available today; OR: If you currently have a plan and would like a no-cost,
unbiased review of your plan, I would be more than happy to review your situation and cater
something to your specific situation.
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