Leisure

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

Leisure

Critical Voices: Lady Antebellum, Own the Night

Yes, it’s country music. But it ain’t about sexy green tractors, farmer’s tans, or improper grammar. In fact, iTunes first mistakenly labeled all the tracks from Lady Antebellum’s third studio album, Own the Night, as “pop.” Perhaps the trio has begun to head the way of Taylor Swift: cranking out faux-country for a mainstream audience with little respect for true southern rock. Much of the new album, which drops on September 13, is missing the twang of older hits, such as “Lookin’ For a Good Time.” But oddly enough, the group’s transition to an increasingly diverse sound has, for the most part, worked.

By September 8, 2011

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Critical Voices: CANT, Dreams Come True

If anyone in the music industry is on top of their game right now, it’s Chris Taylor. Best known as the bassist and backup vocalist for Grizzly Bear, Taylor has also done behind the scenes work on other well-regarded projects, producing records for Twin Shadow and the Morning Benders. Dreams Come True, the debut album from Taylor’s new solo project CANT, is predictably well-produced, but few of its songs display the songwriting ability that made Grizzly Bear’s Veckatimest an indie classic.

By September 8, 2011

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Not afraid of the Dark

When screenwriter Guillermo del Toro and director Troy Nixey began work on Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark, they set out to make a PG-13 picture. After all, the film is a remake of a 1973 TV movie that, despite its lack of gore, made quite an impression on a young del Toro. The MPAA had other ideas, and ended up giving the film an R rating, because they found it “pervasively scary.” One might consider this a ringing endorsement of the summer’s latest horror venture, but the MPAA was, as expected, terribly wrong. Nixey’s directorial debut is undone by the simple fact that its CGI monsters belong in a comedy, not a supposed fright-fest.

By August 26, 2011

Leisure

Where have all the space cowboys gone?

This summer, NASA’s announcement that it was ending its space shuttle program prompted reactions of nostalgia and sadness from many Americans. The idea of American astronauts having to use Russian space transports to reach the International Space Station seems like a retreat from victories won during the Cold War. But for those wishing to relive the heyday of America’s space program, the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum recently opened NASA: 50 Years of Exploration, an eclectic gallery featuring artistic interpretations of NASA in its prime.

By August 26, 2011

Leisure

lez’hur ledger: SlutWalk 2011

Lafayette Square has never seen so much skin. As I wandered into this designated meeting place to march in the SlutWalk, I was relieved to note my outfit—we’ll call it a costume—fell in the mid-range of concertedly slutty ensembles. That put it just above the leopard-print-bra-and-stiletto combo and slightly below the same combo overlaid with a mesh dress borrowed from the Village People.

By August 26, 2011

Leisure

The joy of eating

As soon as students step foot on campus, Avocado Cafe and its delivery-food rivals make it their mission to litter the school with menus. New to Georgetown, Eat & Joy hasn’t missed out on the race to inundate the lobby of New South with its pamphlets, calling out to Leo’s-weary freshmen who need to stock up on CampusFood.com points.

By August 26, 2011

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Whiskey Business: Beer eye for the frosh guy

The beginning of senior year is a great time for enjoying kegs on the Esplanade, reflecting on your college experience, and above all, desperately searching for an answer to the question posed by just about everyone you come across: “So, what do you plan to do after college?” I am nowhere near close enough to having an answer to that question, but I do have one way to show the people in my life that I have grown and matured at college: my drinking habits.

By August 26, 2011

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Byte Me: Pre-frosh poketacular

Each year, after receiving their acceptance letters and sending in their tuition deposits, most of the new crop of pre-freshmen take what must seem like a big step toward becoming part of the Georgetown community: joining the Class of [fill in year here] Facebook group. This group facilitates Facebook stalking at its finest: it’s full of hundreds of complete strangers, all of whom have the potential to be a roommate, classmate, or new best friend. And before ever meeting them, Facebook allows soon-to-be freshmen to imagine exactly where all these strangers might figure into their next four years at Georgetown.

By August 26, 2011

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Girls, Father, Son, Holy Ghost, True Panther Sounds

Of the litany of complaints that doctors and educators have made about the tolls of the technological age on American youth, one of the most prominent is the obvious shortening of our national attention span. But if Father, Son, Holy Ghost, the sophomore album from San Francisco indie duo Girls, meets any kind of acclaim or success, our nation can rest easy that many of its youngsters are superhumanly attentive—because getting through Holy Ghost’s tediously repetitive 57 minutes in one sitting is enough to make anyone feel like a fifth grader trapped in Catechism.

By August 26, 2011

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Beirut, The Rip Tide, Pompeii

Considering that Beirut’s Zach Condon once described himself as a musician in search of an “epic melody,” it might seem odd that his band’s third album, The Rip Tide, clocks in at a decidedly non-epic 33 minutes. But despite its brevity, the album once again showcases Condon’s continuing development as a songwriter and the brooding, lyrical instrumentation that has been the band’s hallmark.

By August 26, 2011

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Critical Voices: Fucked Up, David’s Town

In a little over a month, Fucked Up will release David Comes to Life, the much-anticipated follow-up to the Toronto-based hardcore group’s Polaris Prize-winning Chemistry of Common Life, which promises to have an even broader appeal than that album’s hardcore crossover: more complex melodies, more ornate arrangements, and more guest appearances. And it’s a rock opera.

By April 28, 2011

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Critical Voices: Thao and Mirah, Thao and Mirah

When two solo artists come together for an album, the result usually falls short of the lofty artistic goals they strive for, but Thao and Mirah, a joint effort from Thao Nguyen, founder of San Francisco alt-folk group Thao and the Get Down Stay Down, and singer-songwriter Mirah is the rare collaboration that truly impresses. The synthesis between the two women’s styles is remarkable, with each track exploring new layers of unity as the vocally-driven artists push each other to greater and greater heights.

By April 28, 2011

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Throwback Jack: Senior Week Shenanigans

In a few short weeks, the graduating seniors of the Class of 2011 will happily abandon campus in pursuit of exciting summer plans, relinquishing all of their Georgetown territory to the rising senior class. But before they leave, they’ll spend their last days on campus drinking, dancing, and partying their way through one last University-sanctioned event—Senior Week.

By April 28, 2011

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Idiot Box: Baked and Wire-d

During pre-registration a few weeks ago, I was hell-bent on taking one specific philosophy class. It seems odd, considering that I’m not a philosophy major, and generally find the subject to be a pointless, theoretical pain in the ass. But the title of this class alone was enough to make me, and, my guess is, a good chunk of the television-watching population of Georgetown, slide it all the way at the top of my pre-reg list—“Philosophy and The Wire”.

By April 28, 2011

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Lincoln-themed restaurant loses the nibble war

Lincoln. Often hailed as the greatest American, the name carries connotations of freedom, perseverance, liberation, and food. Wait, food? Some might assume that Honest Abe’s slim figure was the result of his relentless dedication to performing the duties of leadership leaving little time for peripheral activities such as eating. But that’s where they’re wrong.

By April 28, 2011

Leisure

Landscapes fails to illuminate

Human life is carried out on diverse backdrops. However, in the drama and hustle of it all, rarely do we get the chance to step back and appreciate these landscapes. A stroll over to the Illuminated Landscapes exhibit at the Pepco Edison Place Gallery on 8th and G Streets allows one to do just that for free.

By April 28, 2011

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Freshman rapper Dreams big with mixtape

It’s no secret that Tate Tucker (SFS ’14) loves the west coast. From his lucky San Diego Chargers hat to tracks like “West Coast Girls” and “L.A. Sunrise,” the freshman rapper is constantly California dreaming. In fact, Tucker is so eager to get back to Los Angeles that he cancelled a performance at Dartmouth College scheduled in May after his last exam.

By April 28, 2011

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Nomadic gets Hot in Walsh Black Box

As its racy title suggests, Jose Rivera’s References to Salvador Dali Make Me Hot abounds with passion, sex, and allusions to everyone’s favorite mustachioed surrealist. But while advertising those elements may pique the audience’s interest, the play, which Nomadic Theater chose for their final production of the season, achieves far more than sexy overtones. It explores the complexity of human relationships and the pertinence of political tensions with Nomadic Theater’s fiercely talented cast executing witty, impassioned dialogue, and the play succeeds in both entertaining and touching its audience.

By April 13, 2011

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Don’t believe your health teacher: Rubber is not safe

A few years back, panic abounded when Firestone tires began spontaneously exploding, causing severe injuries to drivers. To most people, this is the extent to which tires can be seen as frightening, life-threatening entities. But most people are not director Quentin Dupieux, who apparently thinks that the malice of tires goes far beyond some technical malfunction. Rather, he takes a bold, completely absurd look at the killing possibilities of this common piece of auto equipment—he makes a villain out of a cold-blooded, murderous rubber tire.

By April 13, 2011

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Meet Metsu at Nat’l Gallery

Gabriel Metsu was a dog person. Sure, he was other things too—a prodigy, a technical master, a champion of capturing human emotion with a paintbrush, and, despite not even living to 40, one of the most prolific of the impressive band of seventeenth-century Dutch painters. But looking at the paintings in Gabriel Metsu, a new exhibition on display in the National Gallery of Art’s East Building, it’s clear that the artist really loved man’s best friend.

By April 13, 2011