CAMPUS NEWS - Durham College and UOIT

28 The Chronicle March 17, 2009
ENTERTAINMENT NEWS
Keri Hilson’s
world is perfect
R&B star
delivers
with debut
album
By Jamilah McCarthy
Chronicle Staff
What do you get when you mix
a beautiful voice with an amazing
face, figure, and fashion sense, and
songwriting skills that have garnered
hits for the likes of Britney
Spears, Mary J. Blige and Usher?
The answer is an artist with every
bit of potential to become the next
big thing. Correction.
The answer is Keri Hilson.
Hilson’s debut album
has been pushed
back many times since
its expected release
back in 2007. The first
two singles “Energy”,
and “Return the Favour”,
were both well
received by critics, but
didn’t quite take off at
radio.
Sometimes timing is everything
and it seems there is no
better time than now to release
the album since her third single
“Turning me on” featuring hip-hop
superstar Lil’ Wayne has become a
huge success, and is currently sitting
just outside of the Billboard
Hot 100 top 10. So on March 24,
the world will get to enter Hilson’s
Durham
welcomes
Canadian
Idol’s Rex
Goudie
By Shenieka
Russell-Metcalf
Chronicle Staff
‘
Canadian Idol runner up Rex
Goudie will be performing at E.P.
Taylor’s Pub on March 20 at 8 p.m.
Tickets are on sale at the tuck
shop in the student centre. Tickets
are $5 for students and $10 for the
public.
$2 of every ticket sale will go
to Skate4Cancer to help fund research
to find a cure for cancer.
For more information on Skate-
4Cancer, go to www.skate4cancer.
com.
world, as her debut album, In a
perfect World will be released.
The 26 –year- old R&B singersongwriter
began her career writing
for the Atlanta based hip-hop
production and songwriting team
The Clutch, and penned a number
of hits for several superstars,
perhaps most notably for Britney
Spears. She gained notoriety as an
artist after the massive success of
her collaboration with Timbaland,
“The way I are”. She has made a
number of celebrity friends including
Justin Timberlake and
her mentor Timbaland, who both
wrote and produced for the album.
Hilson also worked with The
Clutch, the production team she
started out with.
The Timbaland produced “Love
Ya”, is a mix of Indian and hip-hop
beats and it shows Hilson’s sexier
side. The track “Knock you down”,
featuring Ne-Yo
What do you
get when you mix
a beautiful voice
with an amazing
face, figure and
fashion sense?
Jamilah McCarthy
’
and Kanye West,
and produced
by The Clutch, is
utter brilliance.
It’s a song about
redeeming yourself
after a bad
breakup and allowing
yourself
to love again. It’s
also the smartest
choice for a
fourth single.
In a perfect world, also features
production from Polow da Don
and Danja, two of hip-hop’s hottest
producers today.
Keri Hilson is refreshing. She’s
already proven herself to be an
amazing songwriter and in a
perfect world, she will get the acknowledgement
and success she
deserves as an artist.
Anderson Council
gives students a taste
of their sound at pub
By Nicki Lamont
Chronicle Staff
Students at Durham College were left wanting
more after Anderson Council treated the Market-
Place to an acoustic sneak-peek of their new EP on
March 6.
Despite the fact that both their lead and back-up
singer talked about having to do the performance
with throat infections, the Ajax-based band impressed
audiences and proved why they were a
good choice to be Backrow Records’ first signed
band.
“They’re very professional at what
they do,” lead guitarist Jeff Robertson
said about Backrow. “It would be
very hard for us to do what we’re doing
without them.”
Backrow first set their sights on
Anderson Council after they played
a show at the Dungeon late last year.
Since then Backrow, an independent
record label run by first- and
second-year Music Business Management
students, has helped start
the road to success for the band.
Backrow has helped the band set up shows like
the one on the 6th to promote their upcoming release
of Under Auditorium, their six-song debut
release.
But this wasn’t the first time they’ve recorded in
a studio together.
The band used their talent to win them 16 hours
of free recording time at a battle of the bands, but
they quickly learned that it takes a lot longer than
that to show off their best work.
“We thought we won a lot, but 16 hours really
isn’t much to work with,” said Robertson. “It wasn’t
even enough to record three whole songs.”
But Anderson Council has come a long way
‘
Playing live is
like nothing else.
Having the crowd
there to feed
off their energy
pumps you up.
from having to win their recording time.
The band has been in the studio since November
working on their first album with the Durham
College label.
Tracks like Dreadlock Girl and Pinned and
Posted prove they’re not just another college band,
and their unique sound (think of a mix between
Pink Floyd and Straylight Run) has students interested
and wanting more.
With five days of shows scheduled around Oshawa
between March 21 and April 3, students
won’t have to go far to catch a glimpse of their intoxicating
live stage presence.
“We love doing shows,” said bassist Dave Yorke.
Dave Yorke
’
“Playing live is like nothing else. Having
the crowd there to feed off their
energy just pumps you up.”
Anderson Council’s busy schedule
is only a small indication of how
hard they’re working to promote
their album; but it’s not all serious
business with the boys. Even their album
name hints at their light-heart-
ed approach to their first record.
“The studio we recorded in was
literally under the auditorium [at
Durham College],” said lead singer Craig Robertson.
“And it goes well with the band name. Which
looks great on our T-shirts.”
For a band from such a small town, they’re
packed with talent, and students are taking notice.
Anderson Council won March’s Artist of the Month
on The Riot Radio, which is determined by votes on
the station’s website.
The band will take the stage as a part of MBM’s
Rock N’ Reel alongside Beauti, London Swagger
and others for their CD release party on April 3 at
EP Taylor’s.
Check out more from Anderson Council at
www.myspace.com/acouncilband and www.backrowrecords.ca.