Leisure

Reviews and think pieces on music, movies, art, and theater.

Leisure

Critical Voices: N*E*R*D, Nothing

Originally a side project of the production duo The Neptunes, N*E*R*D gained notoriety for blending beat-making prowess with heavy rock influences. Over their last four albums, however, the band has gravitated away from rock and toward a more danceable sound.

By October 28, 2010

Leisure

Rub Some Dirt On It: A different kind of bar food

It’s Monday morning. You roll out of bed at 10 a.m., go to your 10:15 class, another one at 11:40, and then head to a club meeting. And, oh yeah, there’s an essay that you need to write and submit by 3 p.m. There’s no time for breakfast, or even a stop at Leo’s.

By October 28, 2010

Leisure

Warming Glow: Enough cable to hang itself

One evening this summer, my father came home to a disturbing scene: I was sprawled on my couch in front of the television, eating cereal out of the box and too dazed to notice that he’d entered the house.

By October 28, 2010

Leisure

There’s no shame in being a Phone Whore

Camryn Moore has a very nice speaking voice. It’s clear, articulate, and engaging, the kind that an acting coach tries to coax out of his aspiring thespians who just can’t sem to vocally grip their audience. So it makes sense that Moore is the star of her own one-woman show, which has won both audience and critical acclaim.

By October 21, 2010

Leisure

Documentarians explore life after Georgetown

Weeks before graduation, Rachel Shone and Laura Sortwell decided to move to India to explore low-income housing and Bollywood filmmaking. Neither wanted to leave when Rachel was unable to find a job, so they talked Carlee Briglia and Mary Clare Semler, into filming a documentary.

By October 21, 2010

Leisure

Acting like a Jackass still pays

A lot can change in a decade. In 2000, the highest-grossing movie in the country was Meet the Parents. Nobody knew the name Barack Obama. A “face book” was a printout with names attached to photos. And a group of drug-addled skaters became famous for filming stunts and pranks on MTV. Some things never change.

By October 21, 2010

Leisure

Critical Voices: Suuns, Zeroes QC

Modern indie music is too often composed of clichéd hooks and replications of once-original devices. The genre’s progression towards artistic homogeneity makes new approaches all the more refreshing to hear. Montreal’s Suuns is one of those bands that surpasses expectations, and has redefined the limitations of the song as a means of expression.

By October 21, 2010

Leisure

Critical Voices: Stereolab, Not Music

Stereolab is a band that has long defied convention. The lovechild of England’s Tim Gane and France’s Laetitia Sadier, the band has achieved great critical acclaim as one of the foremost members of the mid-90’s electronic indie music movement. Then, earlier this year, they decided to take an indefinite hiatus from their 20-year career.

By October 21, 2010

Leisure

Literary Tools: Drug addled and dangerous

Counterculture is a dirty word. Instead of diluting the influence of social pressures on individuality, the counter-culture imposes a new hegemony on those who don’t belong to the mainstream. It is composed of its own ideals and standards and, under the guise of rebellion, pushes for an even more rigid social structure than the one it opposes.

By October 21, 2010

Leisure

Suffer for Fashion: I think he played music too

This month, on what would have been his 70th birthday, John Lennon’s friends, family, and fans gathered to celebrate the life of one of the world’s most admired, adored, and controversial musicians. People placed flowers at the Strawberry Fields memorial in Central Park. The city of Liverpool, his hometown, unveiled a statue of him.

By October 21, 2010

Leisure

Bad haircut, worse movie

Ed Norton, in full prison garb, walks into a counseling office. He informs his parole officer that he has found religion. Suspicious, yes, but it appears that his epiphany has some degree of sincerity to it, and Ed has become a new man. Sounds like American History X, right?

By October 15, 2010

Leisure

Alone in his room, Edwards creates Monsters

There’s nothing new about a young filmmaker venturing out on his own and making an independent pet project. Most of the time, these are low-budget affairs that shuck special effects in favor of small-scale stories and clever writing. Some are brilliant, but budgetary restraints and production limitations guarantee that most are just film festival fodder.

By October 14, 2010

Leisure

Bill Ward explains the Things That Fools Do

Most seniors will spend their final year taking classes they’ve put off since they were freshmen, and then either applying to graduate school or frantically begging for employment. So Bill Ward (COL ’11), who already has a job lined up at Morgan Stanley, is liable to make his classmates pretty envious.

By October 14, 2010

Leisure

Improv incoming!

There’s a whole lot to look forward to this weekend—convincing your visiting parents to buy you everything you can’t afford, kicking off the basketball season, and seeing Despicable Me in the ICC auditorium. But for those of you still looking to fill your planners, there’s the Georgetown Improv Association’s first show of the semester, Holy Moly!

By October 14, 2010

Leisure

Critical Voices: Mount Eerie, Song Islands Volume 2

Song Islands Volume 2 is like an ice cream cone completely covered in ketchup: there’s something of value in there somewhere, but you’re so afraid to take that first bite that you’ll never find out exactly what that is. Mount Eerie frontman Phil Elverum tries to represent a wide variety of styles with his compilation album.

By October 14, 2010

Leisure

Critical Voices: Belle & Sebastian, Write About Love

Few bands embody the rise of independent music over the last decade better than Belle & Sebastian. This Scottish seven-piece began their career as the final project of front man Stuart Murdoch’s college music class in 1996. Since then, Belle & Sebastian have been hailed as the triumphant return of classic British pop.

By October 14, 2010

Leisure

Warming Glow: Glee is bigger than Jesus

In 1966, when John Lennon quipped that the Beatles were “more popular than Jesus,” people went nuts. They burned records and religious groups pounded home the argument that Satan loves rock and roll. A little ironically, the Beatles have since become so canonized that these days comparing any musical act to them is decried as blasphemy.

By October 14, 2010

Leisure

Rub Some Dirt On It: The no-saline-solution blues

The hardest-working organs in any college student’s body are probably the eyes. They are continuously glued to a computer-screen lit in harsh, artificial light, gazing at power-point slides during class lectures, pouring over glossy textbook pages into the early morning, or adjusting to the strobe-lights at a Saturday night party.

By October 14, 2010

Leisure

Considerate comedy with Mike Birbiglia

On Tuesday night, comedian and Georgetown grad Mike Birbiglia (COL ’00) spoke with the Voice about his current tour, upcoming book, and his time on the Hilltop. Interview conducted and transcribed by Heather Regen.

By October 7, 2010

Leisure

Lez’hur ledger: There are no winners at the Air Sex World Championship

So here’s the thing about showing up to the D.C. leg of the Air Sex World Championship alone: it’s awkward. Like, hanging out alone at the back of an indie rock concert by yourself awkward, with the fear that everyone around you will think you’re some kind of pervert.

By October 7, 2010