A few strums from his acoustic guitar and Adam Arcuragi’s clear deep tone begins to spill out words like a river busting free from the restraints of a damn. The published playwright has a lot to say. And in I Am Become Joy—Arcuragi’s sophomore album—his words are woven into a timeless and detailed collection of portraits, musings, and stories, each accompanied by a multitude of acoustic in
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Add funked-out bass lines to that list. In this case, a line from outer space that loops atop cool waves of synthesizers. "Feel It All Around" by Washed Out is one of the few cases where a song title and band name perfectly describe its own sound. (Illustration by Richard Perez)Washed Out - "Feel It All Around"
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Recently, I've been rereading my grandfather's Calvin and Hobbes winter collection, It's A Magical World, and obsessing over the brilliance of the characters, dialogue, and story lines. It's easily one of the best—if not the best—cartoons of all time. The philosophy and pro-environment undertones in each panel seem so far ahead of its time, even if it was only a decade before Al Gore hit the s
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In each one of Quentin Tarantino's last three films (Kill Bill, Death Proof, and Inglorious Basterds) he's subverted weak female archetypes with strong willed characters that are often as devastatingly beautiful as they are murderous. Inglorious Basterds features the director's most compelling female character to date. Actress Mélanie Laurent plays Shosanna Dreyfus, a French Jew who watches her..
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I was underwhelmed by Wes Anderson's last feature length The Darjeeling Limited, mostly because of the soundtrack. The movie's music selection was dominated by the Kinks' 1970 satirical look at the record industry, Lola Versus Powerman And The Moneygoround, Part One—one of my all-time favorite records. But topically, the songs had little if anything to do with Anderson's film. Sure, "This Time .
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The Flaming Lips mafia took over Troutdale, Or. on Thursday night as a host of orange clad roadies set the stage at Edgefield for an epic confetti- and smoke-filled extravaganza starring the Lips and Built To Spill. While giant balloons and set pieces transfixed the audience later in the night, it was the night's openers Stardeath and White Dwarfs that stole the show's first half. SDWD are a...
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After the wildly successful and brilliant Bon Iver debut For Emma, Forever Ago, the doors were open for the multi-talented and unworldly-voiced Justin Vernon to explore whatever musical path he saw fit. Vernon chose to make a record with his favorite band and fellow Wisconsinites—the experimentally inclined Collections of Colonies of Bees. Together, they are the Volcano Choir. The group's debut.
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I recently received an email from Corte Real, a band hailing from Versailles that cites its influences as the Arcade Fire, Kinks, Pogues and The Walkmen. But after a few listens from two of the group's offerings—"Ligne 15" and "Navigator"—one influence outweighs the rest: Bob Dylan. The tracks specifically recall "Queen Jane Approximately" and "Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues" from Highway 61 Revi
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Electric guitar innovator and extraordinaire Les Paul died today at the age of 94 of complications from pneumonia. According to the Associated Press, his family and friends were by his side.Born Lester William Polfuss, Paul helped pioneer the solid-body electric guitar—which more or less gave birth to rock and roll—as well as recording innovations including multitrack recording, overdubbing,
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The second trailer for Spike Jonze's adaptation of the classic Maurice Sendak book Where The Wild Things Are looks even more breathtaking than the first. With music courtesy of the Arcade Fire and Jonze at the helm—a director whose produced some of the finest films and music videos of the past decade (Being John Malkovich, Adaptation, "Weapon of Choice")—I simply cannot wait. And how good does
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