Leisure

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

Leisure

WGTB Recommends …

Unless you’re a troglodyte (we know some of them, it’s OK), you’ve noticed the oppressive gray skies and rainfall. The WGTB staff and Voice Leisure have joined forces to create a list of our favorite wet weather songs. Keep your May flowers to yourself.

By the April 15, 2004

Leisure

Lezh’ur Ledger

If you’re tired of having your closet cluttered up by old skin mags, or if renting a climate controlled mini storage unit isn’t stylish enough for your cultural debris, a truly viable option is now on the market. For a starting bid of merely six million $US (easily within reach for many young Georgetown heirs and heiresses), the Nebraska-based corporation Orbital Development is now accepting offers to launch precisely 22 pounds of cargo of your choosing into space, and to crash said payload directly into the moon.

By the April 15, 2004

Leisure

Hip, oh!

As an English major, I thrive on definitions. So let’s take, “hippie.” My friend Webster says it means “1. any of the young people of the 1960s and 1970s who, in their alienation from conventional society, turned variously to mysticism, psychedelic drugs, communal living, etc., 2. any person having a similar lifestyle”. My friend The Hoya says it’s “Voice staff.”

By the April 15, 2004

Leisure

‘Wit’ deftly examines mortality

The certainty of death and the joy of eating popsicles. 17th century poetry and pelvic exams. This curious array of topics finds its way onstage in the Pulitzer Prize-winning play Wit, written by Georgetown graduate Margaret Edson (GRD ‘92) and presented by Mask & Bauble Dramatic Society.

By the April 15, 2004

Leisure

Death Cab for Cutie repeat

Despite moving from the Black Cat to the 9:30 Club, selling out at both venues, and having their television debut on CBS this January, Death Cab for Cutie doesn’t like to think of itself as a big deal. When asked about the band’s increasing popularity, new drummer Jason McGerr explained, “It’s cool. I would rather make a record and have a couple hundred thousand people have the option to get the music rather than not … But we haven’t changed the business formula, we haven’t sought out a huge, new audience.”

By the April 15, 2004

Leisure

Acts coming in April

List of shows from April 17-25, including Stereolab, Sleater-Kinney, Jurassic 5, and Blonde Redhead.

By the April 15, 2004

Leisure

Carnaval Mexicano spices it up

LEISURE BY LAUREN GASKILL The lights come up, the music begins, and the stage suddenly comes to life with bright skirts, excited faces and the synchronized rhythm of dancing feet. The members of the Ballet Folklorico Mexicano de Georgetown move through a whirlwind of dance and music styles from the nation’s different regions, in the showcase “Carnaval Mexicano,” rich in talent and culture.

By the April 1, 2004

Leisure

On the Broken Social Scene

For a rock band, being a so-called “critical darling” generally means you’re doing something right. Broken Social Scene, a fluctuating 10 to 15-member experimental pop collective from Toronto, is the sort of critical darling that, until now, has tended to land on music writers’ year-end best album lists but not in the CD players of the average music listener.

By the April 1, 2004

Leisure

‘Goodbye, Lenin!’ nostalgic for East

If there ever were an ideal place to fall into a coma, it would not be the Eastern Bloc, especially not in 1989. And typically, if you fall into a coma, everything you believe in hasn’t disappeared by the time you wake up. In Goodbye, Lenin!, this happens for devout socialist Christiane Kerner (Katrin Sa?), who has a heart attack and falls into a poorly-timed eight-month coma at the sight of her son Alex protesting.

By the April 1, 2004

Leisure

Acts coming in April

Voice Leisure listing of April concerts.

By the April 1, 2004

Leisure

WGTB Recommends …

Easter’s almost here, and the WGTB staff and Voice Leisure have joined forces to create a list of our favorite Jesus, sin, and death-related songs. Morbidly fascinating, we think.

By the April 1, 2004

Leisure

Danceable, really

There is an unfortunate style of music that trades on nothing other than being life-affirming. But synthesized women singing about the night and your inherent self-worth do not make for a good time. Fortunately, there are many people who think so too, and some are making music.

By the April 1, 2004

Leisure

‘Eternal Sunshine’ lights theaters

LEISURE BY MARY KATHERINE STUMP Have relationship woes and gripes? Does your girlfiend spend more time decorating potatoes than hanging out with you? Don’t be too quick to complain about idiosyncrasies. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, written with the eerie intelligence of the famed Charlie Kaufman (Adaptation, Being John Malkovich) and directed by Michel Gondry (various Bjork videos), the film clearly executes its message-that perfect relationships are elusive.

By the March 25, 2004

Leisure

Julia Child exhibit boasts utensils of greatness

For the high-cultured kind, living near Washington D.C. is a blessing. The Smithsonian Museum complex is filled with enough art and exhibits to satisfy almost everyone. For the those who enjoy kitschy Americana, there’s the Smithsonian’s Museum of American History.

By the March 25, 2004

Leisure

Tv on the Radio, in print

In the world of indie rock, where buzz bands tend to come hard and fast but often lack staying power, Brooklyn-based TV on the Radio burst into the scene faster than most with 2003’s flawless Young Liars EP. With the release of their debut LP, Desperate Youth, Blood Thirsty Babes, earlier this month, TVOTR have managed to expand their sound impressively and maintain the energy, power and beauty of their EP.

By the March 25, 2004

Leisure

‘Misery is a Butterfly,’ Blonde Redhead, 4AD/Beggars

By virtue of its avant-garde style, art-rock has long received both critical acclaim and accusations of being “inaccessible.” On their latest release, Misery is a Butterfly, New York art-rockers Blonde Redhead attempt to bridge this gap between artistic integrity and melody.

By the March 25, 2004

Leisure

‘Winning Days,’ The Vines, Capitol

No matter how many times I listen to the latest release from Australian faux-garage rockers The Vines, I simply can’t get over how bad Craig Nichols’ voice is. Ignoring the virtues of originality and artistic merit, a decent portion of this album might be at least somewhat pleasing to the ear if Nichols wasn’t howling away so loudly.

By the March 25, 2004

Leisure

Le cin?ma

Georgetown francophiles are humming like a well-oiled Renault this week with Wednesday night’s lecture from French Ambassador Jean David Levitte, along with the upcoming French Film Festival in Richmond, Va., this weekend. Held at Virginia Commonwealth University, the festival promises the best and the latest from France, sans Gerard Depardieu.

By the March 25, 2004

Leisure

Upcoming Shows (March)

Mar. 18-Black Heart Procession/Enon (Black Cat), $12 Mar. 23-Decemberists/Clearlake (Black Cat), $10 Mar. 23-Grandaddy/Saves the Day/The Fire Theft/Dios (9:30 Club), $25 Mar. 25-Broken Social Scene (Black Cat), $13 Mar. 27-Josh Groban (DAR Constitution Hall), $450 for nosebleeds Mar.

By the March 18, 2004

Leisure

‘The Balcony’ shows off assets

LEISURE BY ADAM FRISOLI Dressed only in black bras and mini-skirts, dancers gyrate provocatively in time to to Britney Spears’ “I’m a Slave 4 U.” No, it’s not your regularly-scheduled TV programming, it’s Nomadic Theatre’s production of Jean Genet’s The Balcony, where sex reigns supreme.

By the March 18, 2004