Architecture In Helsinki is that rare music group that manages to escape traditional categorization. Even its name is misleading — the band is from Australia, not Finland. After a stellar In Case We Die, they’ve returned with Places Like This, a less cohesive but still entertaining record. Places Like This marks, if not a departure, then a diversion from their basic synthesized electro-pop sound, as the band branches out and incorporates new sounds into the mix. I admire their pluck in so doing, since this new sound is understandably less refined than the old. But to accommodate the new, some of the old must be sacrificed and among other sad omissions, the lack of their characteristic harmonizing and simple melodies lends the album a confused feel.

Wait, wait! Don’t turn the page. I know, yet another column about The Real World. When a new season starts, everybody always rushes to offer their analysis of the new cast and the various formulaic roles they fit into. But everyone knows all of that by now. There’s the token slut, the token man-whore and the token psychopath. It’s pretty simple stuff.

My favorite part of “Umbrella” is when Rihanna insinuates a connection between expensive automobiles and her objectified lover as a submediant harmony rises to tonic. Her rhetoric is reminiscent of the Beatles’ “Can’t Buy Me Love,” but with a self-reflexively hip-hop musical aesthetic. Just kidding. My name is Maurice Chammah and I live two lives. They both revolve around my interest in making and talking about music, but couldn’t be more different in the ways they play out. By day and during the school year I take classes and study in the University’s department of music: home of composers, scholars and musicologists. By night, and in the summers, I play rock ’n roll in dingy bars, at noisy coffee shops and in friends’ garages.

Before walking down College Avenue, I usually have to take a deep breath and prepare myself for the abundance of girls that will be wearing leggings. Let me first admit that I happen to be a fan of the leggings look and its ability to turn a long top into a great outfit. However, I do think a great deal of leggings patrons on campus have been too busy doing their problem sets to read the fine print on the packaging. I am pretty sure that somewhere next to size and color on the package, there is a warning that when used improperly, disaster may strike. Just because leggings are trendy and easy to wear doesn’t mean that throwing them on makes you fashionable. A few thoughts before you throw on those glorified spandex.