Leisure

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

Leisure

Deadbeats

Rewind your memories to July 31, 2004. Modest Mouse’s “Float On” was sailing along at number one on Billboard’s U.S. Modern Rock Track chart, and Franz Ferdinand’s “Take Me Out” was on its way to number three. Fast forward to August 21, 2007. Vice Records released This Is Next: Indie’s Biggest Hits Volume 1, an indie-rock compilation designed to “reach beyond the core album consumer and toward the casual buyer.” Is this the death of indie rock as we know it?

By August 30, 2007

Leisure

Superbad: Boys just want to have sex

Has Judd Apatow concocted the perfect movie formula? Judging by his recent successes, the writer of The Forty-Year Old Virgin and Knocked Up can make a summer blockbuster with a... Read more

By August 24, 2007

Leisure

Critical Voices: Caribou, Andorra

Manitoba’s 2003 breakthrough album, Up in Flames, was the musical equivalent of an overstuffed toy box; blissed-out paeans to the gods of ‘60s psych-pop and modern electronica, and more ideas than most artists crank out in an entire career spill from every side. One name change and two records later, we have Caribou’s Andorra, an album that trades in the nearly unbridled experimentation of Up in Flames for a more approachable—and ultimately less exciting—sonic palette.

By August 24, 2007

Leisure

Critical Voices: M.I.A., Kala

It’s no surprise that M.I.A. opens her second album, Kala, with the assertion that “I’m comin’ back with power, power”—her brash, confident attitude, is what made her debut Arular a hit. Pairing astoundingly ferocious political raps with a collection of grimy, highly danceable beats made her as intriguing as any new artist in recent memory. On Kala, Sri Lanka’s brightest star mostly duplicates the magic of her debut with a few duds that keep it from greatness.

By August 24, 2007

Leisure

Critical Voices: The New Pornographers, Challengers

Deciding what direction to take a successful indie group in its next album is often difficult. With their first three LPs, The New Pornographers took the safe route and continued in the vein of previous hits. Mass Romantic’s capricious tempo changes, virtually-falsetto harmonies and sharp-enough-to-cut-glass guitar riffs threw an intriguing new paradigm into the canon of pop song interpretation. Electric Version added complex layering and more interesting song structures. Finally, Twin Cinema contributed those irresistible hooks.

By August 24, 2007

Leisure

Goes Down Easy: A Weekly Column on Drinking

It’s time for a refresher—and refreshing—course on the cheap beers of Georgetown.

By August 24, 2007

Leisure

Fall into Theater

Previews of fall shows on campus and off.

By August 24, 2007

Leisure

The Wind That Shakes stirs audience

The Wind That Shakes The Barley is the quietest war movie I’ve ever seen. A story of the Irish War of Independence, a small war on a small island, it manages to convey the horrors of wartime without explosions or flashing tanks.

By May 3, 2007

Leisure

Your guide to getting busy on the lawn

The weather is warm and finals season is ripe for slacking off. Even if you’re sick of getting hit in the face with a passing Frisbee, or not pretentious enough to know the difference between a stick of wood and a croquet mallet, there’s still room on the lawn for some creative tomfoolery. So sit back, unlace your Converse and behold the wonders of freshly mowed grass.

By May 3, 2007

Leisure

Summer Concert Calendar

Konono No. 1 – Black Cat; May 4; $15; 9:00 Konono No. 1, hailing from the Democratic Republic of Congo, brew their own brand of Afrobeat, complete with dancers, percussion, and three electric likembe to provide the melodies. Any number of “found” instruments salvaged from junkyards adds the finishing touches to the performance.

By May 3, 2007

Leisure

Snap crêpes and tea

Snap is the French equivalent of your average pizzeria. The setting inside is casual, with a few tables crammed inside a small hole on Jefferson Street.

By May 3, 2007

Leisure

Deadbeats: a bi-weekly column about music

Music can be a promiscuous art form, and a good musician will exploit all of its whorish tendencies. As genres evolve, they sleep around with different musical styles, take what they want and leave without calling the next morning.

By May 3, 2007

Leisure

Artomatic: where bizarre meets genius

When I first walked into the Artomatic, I was greeted by a large shoebox of a movie still from Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend. The characters, donning barbie-sized silk fabric and tiny pearls, were marshmallow peeps. I obeyed the sign, “Do Not Eat,” and wandered into the exhibit, only to encounter a collection of equally eye-popping and unpredictable art.

By April 26, 2007

Leisure

Lezhur Ledger: Relay for Life a fun-raiser

I could smell the GUGS burgers all the way from the Leavey Center—the scent of a barbeque spread through the clear spring air faster than the keenest relayers. As I got closer to the source of the delicious aroma, the music got louder, the crowd got rowdier and, turning into Harbin Field, I stumbled into the biggest party of Saturday night. The field looked like a combination of a Bedouin settlement, an Oriental bazaar and a children’s fair. There were tents as far as the eye could see. All the summer trends were here: floral Hawaiian, fluorescent brights and the nautical color scheme of the Hoya Blue tent. If it weren’t for the numerous white and purple Relay For Life balloons, this tent city could have been easily mistaken for a mass, al fresco slumber party.

By April 26, 2007

Leisure

Critical Voices: Frog Eyes

The return of Frog Eyes, the most difficult—though occasionally thrilling—Canadian indie rock band of the last decade, is cause for some celebration. As with most things Frog Eyes, it’s also cause for some head scratching. Tears of the Valedictorian, the band’s first album since 2004 and fourth overall, is an amplification of the band’s best traits, and an unexpected leap forward.

By April 26, 2007

Leisure

Critical Voices: Feist

Known for her sultry, lounge-style music and soft vocals, Leslie Feist has successfully expanded her palate beyond the Starbucks-friendly Let it Die in her latest album, The Reminder. It still contains many of the slow jam, coffee-guzzling tracks that worked well in the previous album, but with a few welcome surprises.

By April 26, 2007

Leisure

You Taste Like a Burger

“Eating is cheating.” Studying abroad in Australia, I heard that a lot. “We drink beer here,” Sayd, my stereotypically Aussie friend, explained. “That takes up a lot of room in your belly. If you start the night with a stomach full of food, there’s no room for what matters–more beer.”

By April 26, 2007

Leisure

Fashion Props

By April 26, 2007

Leisure

Translations gives off good vibrations

“Translations,” written by Brian Fiel and directed by JoJo Ruf (Col ‘08), is a solid tale of Irish identity with a little bit of fun and a great deal of soliloquy. It is the first student production to be staged in the Davis Center since it was built last year.

By April 19, 2007

Leisure

Critical Voices: The Field

Axel Willner, Stockholm native and sole member of electronic outfit The Field, has a gift for making the most out of the least. His recently released debut, From Here We Go Sublime, deftly exploits the hypnotic potential of musical repetition with little more than a few looping samples and austere techno beats. Though the album’s lack of variation is an acquired taste, each track is pure bliss for the patient of ear.

By April 19, 2007