Cake #5

MagnifcentMouchette

Interview with Beat The Grid

Our Perfect Summer Playlist

Reviews of Manchester Orchestra, Peaches, Rick Ross and Silversun Pickups

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Editorial

Housekeeping And SuchCover Photo : John Blackford

Back Photo : Taylor McIntyre

Financier : Derek Rogers

Layout: Brad Collins

Title Design : Brad Collins

Copy Editor: Alex Palombo

Staff Photographer: Taylor McIntyre

Coloring Crew: Rose Cohen Westbrooke, Danielle Hendrickson, Taylor McIntyre

Assistant Editor : Danielle Hendrickson

Editor In Chief: Ryan Bryant

Advisor: Lauryl Tucker

Special Thanks : Aaron, Hayden, Daniel, Natalie, Dave

The opinions expressed within express those of the individual writers or interview subjects and not necessarily those of the publishers of the magazine as a whole.

And so, another semester is over. Yes, we still have some finals but most of it is over. It’s been a hectic spring and it was all worth it. Cake got itself off the ground, and we even had a concert. Thank you to all who picked up any of our issues this semester. We plan on coming back next semester better than ever. This summer we plan on having a issue up on our website. If you want to be a part of our family, join us at one of our meetings in the fall. We finally have an official room. We’ll be in the Demotte Room in Campus Center from 7-8 on Thursdays. Stop by, have some fun and listen to music with us. Thanks again for a great spring. Have a kickass summer! -Ryan Bryant Cake Editor In Chief

Must Download 1. “Crush On You” – Brakesbrakesbrakes

2. “Ruby Rises” – Oren Lavie

3. “Extraball” – Yuksek

4. “Fresh Blood” – Eels

5. “Three” – Gregor Samsa

Delicious Music Video “The Reeling” – Passion Pit

Artist to Watch:Summer Playlist1. “The Only Thing I Have (The Sign)” - Ace Enders

2. “New In Town” - Little Boots

3. “Wouldn’t It Be Nice” - The Beach Boys

4.” Bros” - Panda Bear

5. “Daylight” - Matt & Kim

6. “Constructive Summer” - The Hold Steady

7. “How We Exit” - Gentlemen Reg

8. “Since I Left You” - The Avalanches

9. “Between Us and Them” - Ulrich Schnauss

10. “Honey” - Erykah Badu

If they’re good enough for Jack Bauer, they’re good enough for Cake. Discovered by Kiefer Sutherland, the band signed with label Ironworks

and released their debut album and documentary, both titled “I Trust You To Kill Me,” in 2006. The CD has the pure and unpolished twang of electric guitar with DeLuca’s raspy vocals and a distinct sound somewhere between alternative rock and country. The band released their second album, “Mercy,” in March of 2009 after three of the band members quit. Despite the star backing and ample buzz, the group still remains a largely LA based group. Hopefully with the new, the band will receive the attention they deserve.

-Alex Palombo

Courtesy of Frenchkiss

Rocco DeLuca and the Burden

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Mouchette brings together some of the hottest musicians in independent music today. Natalie Walker, John Stenger, Aaron Nevezie, John Davis and David Mason are sure to explode in 2009. Their debut EP “Orchids to Ashes” is just the first helping of their delicious brand of music. Natalie, Aaron and Dave chatted about their EP, being played on KCRW and what flavor of ice cream they’d taste like.

Cake: How did the group come about?

Aaron: We’ve been playing with Natalie as part of her group for two or three years. I met her through a friend I went to school with. He was playing keyboards with Natalie. We started touring with her… then we started writing music together. It sort of just seemed natural that this become a separate group to her solo project.

Cake: Was the name inspired by the film?

Dave: Yeah, it was partly inspired by the film and by the fact mouchette means “little fly” in French. Which, is appropriate for some reason, I don’t really know why. Yeah, it’s like Mouchette is a rebellious little character and sort of not willing to fit in with everybody.

Cake: How did you feel when KCRW started playing your music?

Natalie: We freaked out. It was great…Jason Bentley, he’s been very supportive of my singing. He likes, I guess, what I’ve done in the past. He heard Mouchette and really, really loved it and has been supporting it. He’s really cool. He’s been great. I probably screamed or something.

Aaron: Yeah, we freaked out. We were in the studio the other day and we got a text that it was playing on KCRW. We jumped online and heard that the song was playing. We were pretty psyched about that. It was great.

Cake: Can you guys talk about the upcoming EP?

Natalie: Yeah, it’s called “Orchids to Ashes.” It’s going to be a five song EP, just to give people a little taste of more to come basically to get people psyched about the band and what were doing. It’s really beautiful sonically. I’m really proud of it. I speak for the rest of the guys too. We’re all very proud and excited to put the music out.

Aaron: I think for us, Dave the drummer, John the bass player and John the other keyboard player, we’ve written music together before we even met Natalie. When we met Natalie is was an amazing sort of fit for the way she sings, the way she writes lyrics and the way that we write music. We’d kind of been looking for her for a long time. When we found her, and she gave us an opportunity to write music with her…it was really exciting for us to finally have that kind of voice out in front of these people who’d been playing music together for such a long time. For the guys, it’s really exciting to hear Natalie singing the tunes we’ve been writing with her and hearing that come to fruition in a lot of ways.

Cake: If you guys could have a popular band cover one of your songs, which band would you pick?

Natalie: We’ll each have different answers. That’s an absolute guarantee, so we’ll start with Dave. Dave….

Aaron: That’s a really tough question.

By Ryan Bryant Photographs by John BlackfordMouchette

Dave: I think it’d be really cool if Boards of Canada did a remix of one of our tunes. I think that’d be good. Yeah, that’s my choice. BOC remix.

Aaron: That’s a really tough question.

Natalie: I don’t know…I don’t want to say anything cliché. Maybe Madonna? [Laughs] No.

Aaron: I want Neil Young to cover one of our songs.

Natalie: That would be really cool.

Aaron: I don’t know what song but I want him to play a really long guitar solo. That’d be awesome. Yeah, Neil Young. That’s my choice.

Natalie: I feel like I’m ordering at a nice restaurant. Come back to me. Well, I would really love to hear a remix done by, does Aphex Twin do remixes?

Aaron: No, but he will if this is an ideal question.

Natalie: So, Aphex Twin wants to remix our music. No he doesn’t, but I’d be cool if he did.

Cake: If Mouchette could be a flavor of ice cream, which flavor would you pick?

Dave: I’ve got one, green tea white chocolate chip.

Aaron: We’re kind of healthy for you, but not.

Natalie: It’s a little bitter.

Cake: What’s a random fact that most people wouldn’t know about you outside of the band?

Aaron: We’re from all over the world I guess…I’m from New Zealand. Dave is from Ireland.

Natalie: I’m from Indiana. John Stenger is from Kentucky. John Davis is from Connecticut.

Dave: We come from places.

Aaron: We were all born at some point.

Cake: This question is to you Natalie. What is it like being Natalie Walker?

Natalie: It’s very boring. It feels very normal. [Laughs] I have a very normal life and very little money.

Cake: Any advice for bands trying to start their own projects?

Natalie: Have realistic expectations. Always do it for the music.

Dave: Make the music you want to make.

Aaron: Exactly, that’s the most important thing.

Cake: Any last words for the readers?

Dave: Buy the EP when it comes out.

Natalie: Tell your friends. If you like our music, I’m a big believer in sharing music with your friends and with your family and talking about the bands that you love. I feel like I spend most of my time talking about new music and bands that I love. That’s how bands attain success, through their listeners. I never like calling them fans. I never liked using that word. It seems so detached from us and I feel like the people that listen to our music play a really important role in our success. Spread the word.

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Beat The GridArmed with their laptops and a lot of soul, Beat The Grid shines as one of the hottest duos in Ithaca. Hayden Eager and Daniel Frankhuizen make up the indefinable sonic sensation that’s on its way to produce it’s first studio album. The pair open up on their beginnings, Ithaca and their ever-exciting future.

Cake: How did you guys start?

Hayden: [Dan] sent me a Facebook message. The creation of one song.

Dan: Its always been around. The first song we worked on together was “Velosol” and I just knew that it needed vocals. We were hanging out one night and Hayden sang for me. Just out of nowhere, completely a capella and I was like “You have the most beautiful voice I’ve ever heard. I’m working on this song. Let’s do this.”

Hayden: And we were really close friends before, so it kind of just bloomed.

Cake: How would you describe your sound to someone that hasn’t heard you before?

Dan: Do we have a sound?

Hayden: I guess it’s dubbed electronic because we use our laptops, but it’s more an electro-acoustic sound. Sometimes we have a very funky sound, sometimes it’s very Brazilian.

Dan: I started making music and using Brazilian only, but I don’t know if you could even say that it’s just Brazilian. I would say that it’s ethnic. It’s like ethnic electronic music.

Hayden: It’s like mind music too sometimes when your listening. It can be very therapeutic. We do most of our stuff my improv. We’ll practice a little bit. When it comes time for the show I’m just really gathering on what the audience feels and what the nature of the environment is to get the produced sound.

Cake: Can you talk about the upcoming album?

Dan: Yeah. I got a sweet internship hookup and I’m going to have 24 hour access to a professional recording studio. A lot of the tracks are already in progress but I’m leaving a lot of space to do more acoustic stuff, kind of overdubbed. Even the acoustic instruments that you hear as of now on the songs we’re producing are all sample based…I’m leaving a lot of room in the tracks that I’m producing right now and making for the album for that mix of what I think we’re looking for which is that blend of electro-acoustic.

Hayden: I think we were just going to take a bunch of stuff that we’ve had on our minds for the past year and put it all together. Hopefully in the process [we’ll] come up with some new things and have creative imput from our good friends. We were trying to do that this past summer, and we were writing in the studio.

Dan: The biggest thing was that the studio was my room. Now we have the opportunity to do something bigger sounding.

Hayden: Everything that we’ve done so far was recorded just off of a computer in his room. He’s like “Okay, I’m going to walk out and you just do however many takes you need.” A lot of people became aware of our music through out Myspace page. I think the first song that we put up was just the second take or something. It was just recorded in his room all dingy. It was a funny effect because random people were just coming up and saying they’d heard it. It was really through positive influence from our friends that we got where we are now.

Cake: What are your plans for the fall?

Dan: Fall is really far away. I can’t speak for Hayden, because I don’t know if she knows what she’s doing next year. Beat The Grid might not involve Hayden.

By Ryan BryantPhotographs by Taylor McIntyre

Hayden: It will. It always will. I don’t know if I’m even going to be at Ithaca College next semester because I have free flying on Delta. I want to do this opportunity in Thailand. I might just leave for the fall. It ends in November and I’ve had it my whole life. I might go and do some other things and come back later. But, if I’m here we’ll still be hard at work.

Dan: Everything is an opportunity. Even doing Beat The Grid is an opportunity. . We’re trying to mix in a full band right now and that’s proving to be pretty difficult work, but definitely something that I’m up for. If the opportunity arises where we don’t have a vocalist, then it’d be a great opportunity to focus in on the instrumental aspects.

Cake: What are your thoughts on the Ithaca music scene?

Hayden: It’s amazing. I learned everything up to this point very much with the Ithaca music scene. I really like the Reggae stuff going on here. I really appreciate the Grassroots Music Festival. We have many, many friends. [Dan] really is very involved with the local musicians. With the Ithaca College music scene, I’m good friends with a lot of them but I’m not as into the indie type of thing going on right now as I should be. I think there’s an incredible taste for music in this town. There’s really a good taste for personal expression in general…Ithaca is a home for your soul kind of. It’s so open to any expression you want.

Dan: The artist to non-artist ratio is huge. I feel like everybody sees themselves as artists and that’s a really beautiful thing. Even if you go to Brooklyn, there is that art chic thing. You can talk to people and they’ll appreciate art. In Ithaca it’s not just “We appreciate art” it’s “We make art.” That’s so special about this place.

Hayden: Ithaca is a place to come and develop yourself and take the time off….It’s a place to come to terms with your own self…It’s a summer camp type of thing to learn who you are so you can present it out to the world.

Cake: If you guys could play one place in the world, where would you pick?

Dan: Somebody’s basement in Brazil.

Hayden: A really crazy fun party on the beach in Brazil. I’m not thinking about a basement because you can have a basement party anywhere but you can’t have a tropical beach party. You know?

Dan: I like Hayden’s answer. Agreed.

Cake: If you could give any advice to anyone starting their own project in Ithaca, what would it be?

Dan: Do it! Whatever it is that you want to do, do it. I think the fact that we get up there and more or less push play on a laptop means you can do anything. Have it be legit.

Hayden: Do anything that you want. You just need to spend enough time coming to terms with who you are to get that confidence to just go and do it. I think that a lot of people have great ideas and a lot of people will work on things alone. When it comes to showing it to other people, that’s where they have trouble. It is one of the best places to do it because it is such an artistic community. You have really, really good people that are trying to give you good critique.

Dan: It’s nurturing.

Hayden: As far as starting a band, I think you need to do it with the people you love. Do it with your best friends. You shouldn’t put something together like, I need this musician, I need this guitarist because you really need to be with your best friends and you want to spend time with them.

Cake: Any last words?

Hayden: Eat cake! Have fun.

Dan: Drink beer and eat cake. Check our Myspace and our blog.

Hayden: Visit Ithaca in the summer and come to Grassroots. Ithaca is a magical place. Don’t just limit it to the fall.

Dan: I think it’s important that students get involved in the community because there are a lot of beautiful things going on in the community.

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REVIEWSMean Everything To Nothing - Manchester Orchestra

Since 2005, Manchester Orchestra has been a small effort on the music scene. Now they’ve released their second album “Mean Everything to Nothing”, with a surge of power-pop tunes in an already indie-filled music scene. Thankfully, to keep from sounding like the norm, they’ve increased the alternative-rock influence to create an album that stands out among the nameless faces today. As soon as the album begins, we’re introduced to their signature sound: a voice that could be lost in the sea of indie rock while churning out real melodies with hard-hitting percussion and guitar. “I’ve Got Friends” is

a wonderful homage to a 90s sound without the sticky aftertaste of grunge and plaid.

The album is taken to a roar in the middle, where the band dedicates themselves to a deafening guitar-riff along with the lead singer’s screeching. The decision to make something so epic was quite a feat because they pull it off so naturally. The only problem it brings up is: where do they head from here? However, that is a question easily answered, as the rest of the album is epic in its own way. They seem to bring in a Harvey Danger-filled influence on the second half of the record, which will satisfy any lover of the music outlook from the 1990s. “Mean Everything to Nothing” is a splendid sophomore effort from a band that really knows what it’s doing.

-Danielle Hendrickson

“Catch and Release”—share almost identical chord progression, albeit in slightly different keys. The bassline on all three songs are carbon copies, making for the same beat, the same sound and the same bored reaction from the listener. The two standout songs are the violin-laced “The Royal We” and the upbeat

“Substitution.” The rest of the album is less than memorable and sounds like leftover tracks from their previous release “Carnavas”. The lyrics from the “Substitution” chorus actually sum up this reviewer’s general feelings towards the album as a whole: “I know you’ve heard it before.”

-Alex Palombo

Swoon - Silversun Pickups

To borrow a song title from the Silversun Pickups, the band has turned a “Lazy Eye” to their writing and originality on their new album, “Swoon.” The guitars sound like any other alternative rock band, the bass fails to add anything significant to the melodies, and not even talented vocalists Brian Aubert and Nikki Monninger can salvage the songs. With maybe two exceptions, the album lacks creativity and fails to keep your attention for more than half of each track. The originality is so lacking that four of the songs on the album—”Growing Old is Getting Old,” “Panic Switch,” “Sort Of” and 4/10

8/10

Courtesy of Sony Music Entertainment

Courtesy of Dangerbird

I Feel Cream - Peaches

Electro-clash pioneer Merrill Nisker, known by her stage name Peaches, returns from the studio with her fifth album, “I Feel Cream”. This time around she ditches the overtly sexual

innuendos (yes, I realize the album title is not an indication of this) and the stripped down electro-clash production for a more club feel. Of course, the sex is still there, just toned down. On “I Feel Cream” she’s joined by skilled producers and musicians Digitalism, Soulwax, Drums of Death and Simian Mobile Disco to pull off this new direction. Luckily the tracks constructed by these talented producers are very well made and definitely catchy, it’s just a shame that they are covered up by Nisker’s monotonous rapping. “I Feel Cream” confirms all of our suspicions: rapping only about sex was Peaches’ way of masking her horrible lyrical skills. The album also seems to have real identity issues. She clearly attempts to cater to fans of electro-clash, glam rock, hip hop, and electronic, but in the end just assembles a relatively aimless album. It seems to me that “I Feel Cream” is Peaches attempt to move past the gimmicks and clichés of her own discography. It’s just a shame that stripped of these elements, there isn’t much else to her work. While the production is enjoyable enough, especially on the Digitalism collaboration “Mommy Complex” and most of the Simian Mobile Disco produced tracks, it isn’t strong enough to give “I Feel Cream” anything more than a hesitant recommendation. If you enjoyed any of her other releases, you’ll probably find something to like in “I Feel Cream”. For everyone else, just pray that somehow we’ll get an instrumental release. -Derek Rogers

Deeper Than Rap - Rick Ross

Rick Ross’s “Deeper Than Rap” release was pushed back from its original March 29th date to April 21st. It’s released under his own label Maybach Music

Group, unlike his previous two releases with Slip-N-Slide Records. This album contains a wide variety of musical themes appealing to a wider audience then his first two albums “Port of Miami” (2006) and “Trilla” (2008). “Deeper Than Rap” is also the name of a tell-all book written by Tia Kemp, the mother of his child. The CD has an impressive guest list featuring T-Pain, Lil Wayne, Kanye, John Legend, Neyo, Robin Thicke, Mary J. Blige and Nas, along with several other talented musicians. The recurring drug themes within Rick Ross’s music are less overt this time around. His first album, “Port of Miami”, made blatant references to his dealing and using cocaine. Ross’s style has evolved, reaching out to different artists and genres. My favorite song thus far would be “Magnificent” featuring John Legend. The collaboration of different styles works well and sounds unique . Fans will be happy with “Deeper than Rap”. It is a definite step up from his last album and has several noteworthy tracks including “Maybach Music 2,” “Lay Back” and “Bossy Lady.” While the album has some quality tracks, its similarity to previous albums holds it back. -Breanne Durning

3/10 6/10

Courtesy of Def JamCourtesy of XL Records

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