6 .:E a ae@technewsiit.com | Tuesday, February 23rd, 2016

Reviews:

‘At Hope's Ravine' by Holy Esque: stadium-size rock for bedroom-size thoughts

Soren Spicknall
WIIT STATION MANAGE R

Holy Esque is the kind of band that
you find yourself forming an opinion of within
the first verse you hear. Vocalist Pat Hynes has
a growling, all—or—nothing presentation that
grabs your attention whether you like it or not,
contrasted against a ceaselessly loud and gritty,
yet somehow equally polished, soundtrack.
This divide is found in plenty of groups (in—
cluding current post—punk darlings Titus An—
dronicus and folk rock fixtures Delta Spirit),
but rarely does it make an appearance in as
catchy a form as on Holy Esque’s debut full—
length release, “At Hope’s Ravine,” which drops
on the 26th. The Glaswegian group splits the
difference equally between Bruce Springsteen
and Silversun Pickups, and while they haven’t
yet quite reached the crowd chorus heights of
the former or the emotional density of the lat—
ter, they’ve carved out a niche all their own,
informed by dreary U.K. days and shoegaze
roots.

“At Hope’s Ravine” begins with argu—
ably its least appealing song, “Prism,” a confus—
ing sequencing choice that makes a little more
sense when you realize that the track would
be completely forgettable if it wasn’t put first
in the collection. “Prism” isn’t necessarily a
bad composition, but it suffers from a case of
overblown production not fit for its melody,
something that becomes an issue a few times
throughout the LP. The track doesn’t have a
structure conducive to stadium rock, but is
mixed with every element turned up to 11 in
a misguided attempt to make it catchier than

it really is. One of Holy Esque’s biggest flaws so
far as a group has come from struggles with the
concept of dynamic contrast, and it’s unclear

Image courtesy ofHoly Esque

whether that can be pinned on the band them—
selves, or on this album’s producer.
Luckily, the second and third pieces

on the album both immediately demonstrate
why Holy Esque are rising stars in Scotland
and abroad; “Rose” begins with a compelling
guitar hook that’s purely original, something
nearly impossible to find in today’s rock land—
scape, and “Hexx” (the album’s first single) ris—
es from distortion to an eventual peak rivaling
early U2 or Who’s Next—era The Who. While
detractors will almost certainly point out that
neither of these tracks quite match the com—
plexity of either of those referenced artists, it’s
important to note that Holy Esque is still a very
young band. Output of this quality on a first al—
bum is often a sign of great things to come, and
hopefully that will be the case with this group.

Though the majority of the LP is
solid, there are some pieces here and there that
make you think that the collection might be
better off with a slightly smaller track listing.
Because of less impactful pieces like “Covenant
(111)” and “St,” most listeners won’t be paying
enough attention by the time the titular, final
track rolls around to appreciate its power. And
again, none of the less compelling songs on At
Hope’s Ravine are bad, per say; they simply
are much louder than they need be, creating
an album environment with few sonic breaks
or perceived stylistic differences from song to
song. Notably, the late—album track “My Wil—
derness” seems to have been mixed with some
awareness of this problem, and is much better
off for it. With a few adjustments or remov—
als, this would be a stellar debut album. In its
current state, though, Holy Esque have a little
more sonic development to do before they can
put out a truly compelling full—length release.
5.5/ 10

‘The Asia Project' gives a stunning poetry performance at Hawks Coffeehouse

Reno Waswil
TECH N EWS WRITER

‘The Asia Project’ is a successful
touring performance poetry group consisting
of the poet and namesake of the group (who
performs under his first name) Asia, and his
brother—in—law, Iollan Aurelio, who is a multi—
instrumentalist with, as his biography reads,
an “uncanny guitar talent,” who accompanies
him on guitar and effect petal to add a spacey
atmosphere to Asia’s art. They are considered
one of the leading touring college spoken word
poetry acts in the United States performing at
an average of 150 colleges a year.

Illinois Tech students had the plea—
sure of seeing ‘The Asia Project’ perform at last
week’s Hawks Coffeehouse, which is a bi—week—
ly Tuesday evening event wherein an artist,
usually one of a folk inspired and acoustically
minded styling, performs for the student body
in the MTCC Welcome Center from 7 to 8
pm. The attendees of the show are free to relax
in the area, possibly to do homework or social—
ize, drink some of the complimentary coffee,

tea, and hot chocolate available, and survey the
assortment of sweet snacks provided.

Due to the nature of the perfor—
mance that night though——the passion and
power of the group; Asia’s what can only be
described as yelling and crying style of speak—
ing; the loud, synth—y, and hypnotic tone of
the guitar accompaniment——it may have been
more difficult than usual to pay attention to
things other than the artists compared to other
more pop and folk sounding acts that tend to
be featured at the recurring event.

This week’s artist happened to fall in
line with a regular sub category of the event
called “Poetry and Pancakes,” so in addition to
the refreshment selection, there was also a full
pancake bar, which included maple syrup, fruit
preserves, chocolate chips, whipped cream,
and of course, four dozen pancakes, which
were all gone by the time Sodexo came to pick
up the food that night at 9 pm.

Asia came with an ample amount of
pre—prepared promotional material, a script to
introduce him with, and an entire media kit,
complete with biographies of the group mem—

Adveriise in

TechNews

bers, pictures, and an extensive list of accolades
to speak to the quality of his art. To name some
of these accolades, Asia has been featured on
Home Box Office’s (HBO) “Russell Simmon’s
Def Poetry” and Black Entertainment Televi—
sion’s (BET) “Lyric Cafe,” has received first
place in poetry competitions Florida Hot Air
State Championship and Southern Fried Re—
gional Championship, titles like Performer of
the Year by the Association for the Promotion
of Campus Activities (APCA), and has per—
formed with artists like KRS—One, Dead Prez,
DMN, and Jill Scott.

To speak to the performance, the
poetry was heart—wrenching. Asia, as his biog—
raphy explains, sees his show and his poetry as
“an honest and genuine testimony of his life”
which includes, most memorably his battle
with cancer and the death of his sister and how
it affected him and his family. His poetry was
both vulnerable and inspiring, and his tenden—
cy to get louder and louder as each poem went
on was invigorating and moving and could
bring the more sensitive observer to tears.

The other of the duo, Aurilio, was

absolutely stunning as well and added as
much to the overall performance as the po—
etry. Thanks to his talent on both guitar and
guitar synthesizing equipment along with the
expert work and booming sound equipment
offered by Alien Sound and Lighting, the back—
ing music came as a wave of airy tone which
greatly enhanced the words and gave them
an unexpected and amazing force. It became
abundantly clear why they are considered such
a great act.

For those enticed by this descrip—
tion, for more live intimate artistic perfor—
mance art, the next Hawks Coffeehouse is
planned for March 1, 2016 from 7 to 8 pm.
in the MTCC Welcome Center. This show will
feature the musical styling of Justin Young, a
Hawaiian guitarist, ukulelist, and keyboardist
who is considered a star in the Hawaiian music
scene with four number one hits off his 1997
album “Southe You” alone. For the occasion,
pineapple upside—down cake bites along with
the usual coffee, tea, and hot chocolate will be
provided.

COHTOLCT bUSiflZSSE’TZCWHZWSiiTfiOYi/l

Discovnfed 0rd contracts now available for spring we