Leisure

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

Leisure

Critical Voices: Travis Scott, Birds in the Trap Sing McKnight

Since the release of his breakout debut mixtape, Owl Pharaoh, in 2013, Travis Scott has cemented himself as being synonymous with incredibly ambitious production, hard-hitting basslines, and non-stop partying.  The... Read more

By September 19, 2016

Leisure

Bastille Returns with Confidence

It’s been three long years since Bastille’s first album, Bad Blood, rocketed the band into the public eye. Their single, “Pompeii,” was certified 5x platinum after selling 5,000,000 copies, driving... Read more

By September 16, 2016

Leisure

LVL UP is Lost in the Noise

After two albums full of frenetic energy, LVL UP’s third album, Return to Love, displays many of the tropes of a maturing band. While the band’s songs were previously short... Read more

By September 16, 2016

Leisure

Hanks Soars in Sully’s Gripping Story

News concerning airplanes in New York City is rarely positive, as one character knowingly recalls in Sully. Yet, this film, starring Tom Hanks, uses recent history to make flying exciting... Read more

By September 16, 2016

Leisure

Critical Voices: Wilco, Schilmco

Schmilco, the latest album from Chicago-based band Wilco, offers an acoustic solution to the group’s recent identity crisis. The group’s stylistic waverings between experimental, electronic albums and country collaborations with... Read more

By September 16, 2016

Leisure

Folk Isn’t Dead: The Lumineers at Merriweather Post Pavilion, 9/10

The Lumineers, the indie-folk band hailing from Denver, Colorado, performed at the Merriweather Post Pavilion on September 10th to a packed crowd. Featuring tracks from both their latest 2016 album,... Read more

By September 13, 2016

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Critical Voices: De La Soul, and the Anonymous Nobody…

For most of their career, De La Soul has been operating under the radar of modern rap music. In order to finance their latest album and the Anonymous Nobody…, the... Read more

By September 8, 2016

Leisure

Swept Away with the Tide: A Light Between Oceans tells of the Past’s Lingering Salience

The Light Between Oceans is a sweeping period romance based on T.L. Stedman’s novel of the same name. The story takes place on the remote, bleak Australian island of Janus... Read more

By September 6, 2016

Leisure

Critical Voices: Noname, Telefone

Most people’s first introduction to Noname, formerly Noname Gypsy, was her feature on Chance the Rapper’s Acid Rap. Her unique flow and poetic lyrics made her a standout on “Lost.”... Read more

By September 5, 2016

Leisure

A Makeshift Memorial: City of Ghosts at the Flashpoint Gallery

Art, from graffiti to public sculpture, lies on countless city streets; its subjective beauty can come to define neighborhoods or endlessly evince messages of social change. But often, it is... Read more

By August 31, 2016

Leisure

The Voice Summer Reading List

“Dark Matter” by Blake Crouch — Graham Piro Multiverse theories and quantum physics typically make for dry, scholarly writing. In the hands of Blake Crouch, however, these topics make for... Read more

By , , , , , and August 31, 2016

Leisure

Taking Out the Big Guns: War Dogs Delivers

Rife with action sequences, historical content, and daring endeavors, War Dogs does not disappoint. Looking past the sometimes overt sexual overtones, the viewer finds energized characters pursing a novel plot:... Read more

By August 27, 2016

Leisure

The Boys Are Back: O.A.R. Shines at Hometown Show

You know a show will be good when they have two people drumming. With the percussive energy twice as high, O.A.R. blew the (metaphorical) doors off of the pavilion at... Read more

By August 19, 2016

Leisure

The Spy Who Underwhelmed Me: Jason Bourne Fails to Thrill

Like its predecessors, Jason Bourne has all the makings of a blockbuster movie. Tommy Lee Jones and Alicia Vikander, fresh off her Oscar for The Danish Girl, give phenomenal performances.... Read more

By August 12, 2016

Leisure

The Joke’s On Us: Suicide Squad Delivers a Frenetic Experience

  The first twenty minutes of Suicide Squad make it abundantly clear that the film is doing everything it can not to be Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice. After... Read more

By August 11, 2016

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Mike Birbiglia reflects on success with Don’t Think Twice

We’re not all successful. We’re not all going to be: not conventionally, at least. “That’s okay,” says Mike Birbiglia (COL ‘00) – comedian, Georgetown alum, and conventionally-successful-person – with his... Read more

By July 15, 2016

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Bring Your Dancing Shoes: Fitz and the Tantrums at 9:30 Club

By the time doors opened at the 9:30 Club on June 18, Fitz and the Tantrums fans were already lining the block waiting to flood the classic venue and dance... Read more

By July 6, 2016

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Finding Dory is Familiar Success

Sequels are notoriously tricky. Audiences often leave the theatre underwhelmed or disappointed after hoping for something that can live up to the original that drew them there in the first... Read more

By July 1, 2016

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Critical Voices: Panic! at the Disco, Death of a Bachelor

Since the band’s inception, Panic! At the Disco has been in flux. The departures of three of the originating members have left singer Brendon Urie as the sole original member... Read more

By June 22, 2016

Leisure

The End of the World as We Know It… Again: X-Men: Apocalypse Fails to Distinguish Itself

A surprisingly prescient scene occurs midway through Bryan Singer’s X-Men: Apocalypse that proves equal parts self-deprecating and predicting. A group of young mutants, led by Sophie Turner’s Jean Grey, leaves... Read more

By May 31, 2016