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Heavenly Music: The Sun Interviews Torquil Campbell of Stars

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Just when you start to think that fame and success go straight to every human head, Torquil Campbell, lead singer and songwriter for Stars, proves that the brilliant can still be unpretentious and modest. Stars is typically categorized as an “indie rock band,” and although “indie” has become an arbitrary and unspecific genre designation, Campbell is somehow just what you hope every indie musician would be. In fact, with his simple philosophy on music and his remarkable voice, Campbell is just what you hope all musicians would be, onstage and off: really, really cool.

The Sun: Your albums have unusual names, like Dead Child Stars and Set Yourself on Fire. How did you come up with these titles?

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Student Spotlight: Elsa and the awesomeAWESOMES

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Sam Sveen, creator and single member of Elsa and the awesomeAWESOMES, misunderstood my first question, “Are you a junior?” to be “Are you a genius?” His answer: “Yes. I’d like to think I’m a genius … but wouldn’t we all? I actually have an acoustic song titled, ‘I’d like to think I’m a genius.’”
I’ll let you decide for yourselves whether Sam is a true genius or not, but I certainly think that someone who can make the world’s most boring question into something far more interesting and fun at least has genius potential. Regardless, even if Sam doesn’t quite make the genius cut, there’s no denying that he’s awesome. In fact, make that awesome awesome.

Sun: So I have to ask you one more boring question. Where are you from?

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Bring on the Bloodshed

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Gossip Girl is alluring and utterly addicting. Desperate Housewives, despite Eva Longoria’s recent departure from modelesque glamour and Teri Hatcher’s ever-escalating ability to irritate me (though she used to be my favorite) will always hold a special place in my heart. I hear Lost is fantastic and that The Office is the best thing that’s ever happened to NBC (no, I would not know this from personal viewing experience — please don’t hurt me). As for Grey’s Anatomy, in my opinion if it hopes to be remembered as anything at all, its best bet would be to go off the air immediately. Although a friend recently told me that something amazing just happened with Izzy, I’m going to have to say that it’s too little, too late.

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How to Block out a Holiday

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This year, I rang in the New Year by myself. Okay, that’s not really true. Did I have you worried? This year, I rang in the New Year with my dogs. Still worried? Let me explain. This was not my choice (although I am slightly obsessed with my dogs). Actually, I had a pretty rockin’ new year planned. Three of my friends from high school were going to visit me in Vermont where I was spending the week with my family.

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Our Father Who Art in Doubt

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People don’t like to watch movies with me. It’s not because I have bad taste in movies or because I smell really bad. It’s because I ask too many questions. I can’t help it. I just want to know what’s going on, to find the truth, get answers. Therefore, it is a miracle that I liked Doubt, a movie based on the Pulitzer-winning play of the same name, in which no answers are ever provided — not at the beginning, not in the middle, and not even at the end.
What’s the point of a movie that doesn’t give answers? In the end, at least, I like to know who’s good, who’s bad, and who’s just ugly. But Doubt isn’t about finding answers. In fact, it’s about just the opposite. Yup, you guessed it — it’s about having doubt.

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Student Artist Spotlight: James Orlando

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It’s rare to find a student so passionate about his field that he started his career before coming to Cornell, but that is exactly what senior James Orlando did. Instead of coming to Cornell to figure out what he wanted to do with his life, he came to Cornell to perfect what he was already good at: photography. He also happens to have the perfect name for a photographer.
At 21, James has done photography in London, been a starving artist in New York City and been a congressional page at the White House. Oh yeah, and he teaches snowboarding on the side. Don’t worry; your life isn’t that boring.

Sun: Have you always been interested in photography?

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Kaiser Chiefs: Off With Their Heads

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Any band that attempts to be part rock, part punk and part indie takes the risk of being seen as a sad mishmash of random sounds. The Kaiser Chiefs manage to generally avoid this pigeon-hole with their new album, Off With Their Heads. The most notable aspect of the album, in fact, is its unpredictability. Some tracks, such as “Remember You’re a Girl” and “Tomato in the Rain” are the mellow, perfect-for-listening-to-while-doing-homework type. Others, like “Can’t Say What I Mean” and “Half the Truth,” make you want to blast the volume and start brushing up on your head banging skills.

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Susan Tedeschi: Back to the River

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Susan Tedeschi can do the blues. And not just for a white chick. She can actually do the blues. In her newest album, Back to the River, the forceful opening track, “Talking About,” immediately pulls you into the music and not until the end does Susan give you a chance to turn her off. From the melodic “700 Houses” to the jazzy and soulful “Learning the Hard Way,” Tedeschi succeeds all the way through. She mixes and experiments with different beats, a testament to the different people with whom she co-wrote several of the tracks (including husband Derek Trucks), and never fails to give stellar vocals.

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Ingrid Michaelson: Be OK

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Ingrid Michaelson’s newest album, Be OK, is more than “OK.” It’s awesome. Hits “Be OK” and “The Way I Am” are feel good and light. Ingrid’s voice is beautiful and she hardly seems to be making a conscious effort in her high vocals, making them all the more impressive, such as those in “Oh What A Day.” Instruments in the background vary among tracks and Ingrid’s lyrics are poetic and charming, keeping the large amount of tracks that are on the slower side from being anything but boring. Her renditions of “Over The Rainbow” and “Can’t Help Falling In Love” make you forget that she is not the original singer of these classics.

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Schwartz Center Puts On Alumna's Original Drama

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When a mother tells her daughter that, on the night of her birth, “it was snowing and raining at the exact same time,” it is impossible to believe that Jenny Schwartz ’95, the writer of God’s Ear, was not inspired by the weather of her dear alma mater.
A play originally performed off-off-Broadway, God’s Ear is unlike any other. It seems impossible that a piece of theater could captivate you and make you want to cover your ears at the same time. The Schwartz Center’s production of the work, however, does exactly that.