Leisure

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

Leisure

D.C. band bangs out beats

It’s dark at the Rock and Roll Hotel—a grungy H St. club in the heart of the Atlas District and Rob Pierangeli, the front man of Casper Bangs, is urging the crowd to come closer to the stage.

By February 4, 2010

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Q&A: Demetri Martin

Comedian Demetri Martin spoke to the Voice earlier this week about his joke-creation process, comedy, and the upcoming second season of his Comedy Central show, Important Things with Demetri Martin.

By the February 4, 2010

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Critical Voices: Lil Wayne, Rebirth

Pushed back 10 months from its original April 7 release, Lil Wayne’s Rebirth is finally here. We waited for it, knowing pretty well what was coming our way.

By February 4, 2010

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Critical Voices: Beach House, Teen Dreams

Following the release of Beach House’s second album, Devotion, in 2006, lead singer Victoria Legrand retreated

By February 4, 2010

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Bottoms Up: Take one down, pass it around

In 1980, sixteen men were pulled from the North Sea an hour and a half after their fishing vessel had sunk. The frozen fishermen headed below deck

By February 4, 2010

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Rub Some Dirt on It: Studying, one nap at a time

For most college students, sleep looks like a poor substitute compared to caffeine. Sleeping wastes precious time,

By February 4, 2010

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Archaeology photography: Can you dig it?

The Lucille and Richard Spagnuolo Gallery is trying to shed its perception as the odd room you might glance at while swiping your GoCard on the way into the LXR courtyard. The banners outside of Walsh announcing its new exhibition, The Creative Photograph in Archaeology, seem to herald the transformation of the space from an afterthought into a legitimate showcase of artistic works.

By January 28, 2010

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Lez’hur Ledger: Please don’t sue us, Scientologists

I need to work on my mind thrusts. Yesterday, I learned that the negativity in my life is the result of my weak dynamic thrusts, which are the product of my overly dominant reactive mind storing engrams.

By January 28, 2010

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Charles Darwin, devolved

“You’ve killed God, Sir.” When Thomas Huxley uses such grave terms to condemn the work of his fellow biologist Charles Darwin in Creation, director Jon Amiel sends a clear message to the audience: this Darwin biopic is rife with drama.

By January 28, 2010

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Extra-bore-dinary

As an intergalactic smuggler-cum-fighter pilot and a whip-wielding explorer, Harrison Ford cemented his status as the biggest badass of modern cinema decades ago.

By January 28, 2010

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Critical Voices: Surfer Blood, Astro Coast

Surfer Blood sounds too “indie” to fill the Strokes’ shoes—that’s a spot best left for Free Energy—but they could be the Shins for a new generation.

By January 28, 2010

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Critical Voices: Kanye West, Storytellers

Kanye West’s episode of Storytellers originally aired in February 2008, immediately following an embarrassing time in his career.

By January 28, 2010

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Yr Blues: DJing is a game of fundamentals

“Do you have any Taylor Swift?!” It’s a daunting question for a bearded 22-year-old, especially when shouted in the dark, point blank, while DJing a Georgetown party.

By January 28, 2010

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Suffer for Fashion: Fashion abroad, at home

When my buddy Ben came back from his study abroad program in Egypt, he presented me with a traditional Egyptian dishdasha that he bought for me in Alexandria.

By January 28, 2010

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Please stop watching Two and a Half Men

If FX is willing to take a chance on animated spy parody Archer, I’m willing to try at least a few episodes. While its highly stylized animation may take some getting used to, the show plays like a smuttier Get Smart—the original series, not the Steve Carell abomination of an adapted movie.

By the January 21, 2010

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Cera-iously twee

Nick is lonely, lovelorn, awkward, and very much a virgin. When his mother and her boyfriend take him on vacation, he falls desperately for Sheeni Saunders (Portia Doubleday), a girl who lives with her very Christian parents...

By January 21, 2010

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Real monsters of meta

The concept of art within art—like a painting of a painting—can often be difficult to grasp. It is not always easy to determine where the the art ends and the frame begins. In The Real Thing, Tom Stoppard’s 1982 play...

By January 21, 2010

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Critical Voices: Vampire Weekend, Contra

Vampire Weekend came out of nowhere in 2008, writing songs about the Oxford comma, ripping stylistic quirks from Paul Simon, and generating not only an astounding amount of hype, but also haters who found them too uninspiring...

By January 21, 2010

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Critical Voices: Spoon, Transference

Seven LPs deep and one thing is abundantly clear: Spoon has the paradoxical gift of consistent inconsistency, a sense of “progression” without dilution. Transference, the Austin band’s fifth album in a decade, has the all the trimmings of a Spoon record...

By January 21, 2010

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Bottom’s Up: Chuck the Chuck, cheapo

There’s nothing worse than being predictable. That’s why I shrink from serving Charles Shaw, or two-buck Chuck, as the bargain Trader Joe’s wine is affectionately known, at dinner these days. As tolerable and affordable—only $2.99 a bottle!—as the wine is...

By January 21, 2010