The James Logan Courier

By Jack Bragg, Courier Editor-in-Chief

Every now and then an indie band will come along and break through to mainstream success. New Zealand Rockers, The Naked and Famous, have done just that with their debut album Passive Me, Aggressive You. The album utilizes a fantastic mix of synths, guitars, and eccentric rhythms that bring a unique and accessible feel to every song. All the while the band revolves around a male/female harmony in the vocals that lend an entirely unique sound to the album.

The album was recorded entirely in home studios and a local New Zealand studio called The Lab. The band consists of singers Thorn Powers (who also plays guitar for the group) and Alisa Xayalith (who also plays keys). The electronics are provided by Aaron Short who also produced the album. Drums and bass are covered by Jesse Wood and David Beadle respectively.

The leading track, “All of This” gives the album a good introduction, with a building sound that showcases the band’s male/female vocalist dynamic. “Punching in a Dream” can be heard on many local alternative rock stations and helps to highlight that bands heavy use of electronic sounds to make their music.

By Zohal Sharif, Courier Staff Writer

A hate crime that broke the hearts of many faithful members of the St. Anne’s Church was discovered around 7am on Ash Wednesday, February 22nd. The vandalism was discovered by Peter Petit, who arrived early Wednesday morning to assist with a Mass. “Emotionally very disturbing and appalling being that this is a day of repentance,” Petit said.

Police say vandals destroyed a cross and spray painted the word “Satan” and other graffiti on the walls of the Catholic church in Union City. “My gut feeling is that it might be local kids,” said police Cmdr. Ben Horner, “They were going for shock value, and they certainly achieved that.”

From wikipedia:
Claude Brown (February 23, 1937 - February 2, 2002) is the author of Manchild in the Promised Land, published to critical acclaim in 1965, which tells the story of his coming of age during the 1940s and 1950s in Harlem. He also published Children of Ham (1976).

Autobiographical in nature, Manchild in the Promised Land describes the cultural, economic, and religious conditions that suffused Harlem during Brown's early childhood and adolescence while constructing a narrative of Brown's tumultuous early life. Starting at age six, his life involved stealing, alcohol consumption, truancy, and gang wars. These were the harsh realities of life in 1950s Harlem that shaped his childhood. At the age of 11, he was placed in a reform school, which he cycled in and out of more than three times.

Read a New York Time's review of Claude Brown's Manchild in the Promised Land, free from racematters.org.

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