St. Louis music makes a scene

Kari Williams

by Kari Williams, Alestle Reporter

With mainstream music turning away from true musical talent and leaning more towards theatrics and sex appeal, bands that deserve recognition and a chance in the spotlight get left in the dark.

Luckily, the St. Louis music scene has undergone a resurgence in the last five to 10 years. Anyone sick and tired of hearing the same songs on repeat from one radio station to the next needs to look no further than across the river.

St. Louis artists, who range from thrash to alternative to not even fitting into a category, offer the best alternatives to the trends.

Head on Collision is local metal at its best. As proof by them touring all over the country, Head on Collision get the job done with their cutthroat lyrics and hellacious beats. With their debut CD ‘Ritual Sacrifice’ already out and its follow up in the works, one can only bet that they will arise from the wreckage as a force to be reckoned with.

Last Nights Vice can only be described as enigmatic. This charismatically charming band lets the world know that they have a passion for music that will not be denied. Though they are self-described cartoon characters, that does nothing to dissuade people from making Last Nights Vice their musical vice. When a band’s goal is to create music that record stores cannot find a category for, you know they are something special.

I could go on and on naming bands that deserve the spotlight more than Owl City, Hollywood Undead and any other band that finds its way into a record deal. Ready the Cannons, Building Rome, Dude Nukem and Terra Caput Muni are just ones off the top of my head. But if you dove into the sub-cultural world of independent music, you would see that there are golden nuggets of musical magic waiting to be dug up.

Disney returns to classic 2-D magic

Rachel Carlson

by Rachel Carlson, Alestle A&E Editor

This Friday, Disney will release the animated film “The Princess and the Frog.” It is yet another Disney take on a classic story. This film, besides being set in the Louisiana bayous, a different setting than the usual Disney fairy tales, is not like what viewers have been seeing the past few years from big companies Pixar and Disney. This film is the return to 2-D hand-drawn animation.I grew up watching Disney movies like “The Little Mermaid,” “Sleeping Beauty” and “Aladdin.” Besides wanting to be Ariel or Jasmine, the cartoon animation is what I remember the most. For me, the hand-drawn quality of the characters is what I identify with a Disney movie. As a kid I didn’t care if Cinderella was in high definition or not. I just wanted to see her end up with Prince Charming.

As we all have grown older, technology has expanded, especially in the film arena. Movies like “Up” or “Toy Story” have taken animation to another level. Wind actually moves strands of characters’ hair and objects reflect and shine like mirrors. Computers have turned what was once a flat image on a TV screen into a 3-D adventure and animation has become almost lifelike. At times it’s almost easy to forget that you aren’t watching a film with live characters.

While these are great feats and Disney has still managed to release successful films, a return to the past is a nice change of pace. By bringing back “Aladdin” and “The Little Mermaid” directors Jon Musker and Ron Clements, Disney is taking a technological step back into an art form that sometimes doesn’t receive the credit it deserves.

Hopefully ‘The Princess and the Frog’ will impact kids today as it did for me and my peers when 2-D animation was all we had.