MOVIE REVIEW ★★ Shopaholic During a Recession?
Movies make the worst first dates — unless they invoke insightful discussion. This Valentine’s Day, I decided to watch <i>Confessions of a Shopaholic</i> — on a first date — because, well, I wasn’t expecting much from the date nor the movie. Instead, I had a great first date, at the expense of not taking the movie seriously.
Staff Picks
Trumpeter Dominick Farinacci performs repertoire off his US debut album Loves, Tales & Dances (E1 Music) at Scullers Jazz Club in Boston. Since being “discovered” by Wynton Marsalis at the age of 15, Dominick has charmed fans and critics alike with the warmth and rich lyricism of his sound. Produced by the legendary Russ Titelman (Eric Clapton, James Taylor, etc), Lovers, Tales & Dances features some of the greatest players in jazz, including Kenny Barron, James Genus, and Joe Lovano.
CONCERT REVIEW ‘Where the Word Ends’
It’s hard to be a living legend. It’s hard enough having one brilliant idea. It’s even harder moving past it. To be an over-the-hill performer without just regurgitating the epiphanies of one’s early years is certainly something.
CONCERT REVIEW A Renaissance Fervor
Johannes Ockeghem was writing in the fifteenth century, a time whose musical traditions may already have been lost to the ages. Ockeghem’s music, still a matter of active research and lively debate in terms of its performance and practice, was written in a time that preferred vacuous perfect intervals to plump triads at the close of cadences, when tritones were still considered <i>diabuli in musica</i>, when audiences were still intimately familiar with the melodies of Gregorian chant and plainsong.
CONCERT REVIEW Matt Wertz Rocks the Paradise
Having been branded with a black “X” on each hand and informed not to drink “adult sodas,” I entered the Paradise Rock Club last Friday for the concert I had been enthusiastically anticipating — Matt Wertz.
MOVIE REVIEW ★★★ ½ Only for the Brave Children
If I were a young child, I do not think that I would have been able to watch the entirety of <i>Coraline</i> without screaming my head off. The genius of the stop-motion 3D film is its ability to transcend age barriers.
INTERVIEW From The UK to the US
In 2008, Los Campesinos! burst onto the indie rock scene with the release of their debut album, the critically acclaimed <i>Hold on Now, Youngster</i>. Their latest effort, the equally praised <i>We Are Beautiful, We Are Doomed</i> hit stores last November. The Septet from Cardiff, Wales is currently on an extended American tour that takes them to the Paradise Lounge in Boston next Friday the 13th. Singer Gareth Campesino took time to talk to <i>The Tech</i> ahead of a show in Lawrence, Kansas.
RESTAURANT REVIEW Good for a Romantic Date Or Monday Night Foodie Fun
With Valentine’s Day looming around the corner, I thought I would try some restaurants that hopefully won’t break the bank while still maintaining a high level of quality. Sibling Rivalry, a self-proclaimed “modern American restaurant,” does just that. As you may surmise from its name, the restaurant is run by two siblings, Chefs David and Bob Kinkead, and each offers his own unique culinary creations on the menu. To add to the brotherly competition, they offer a special deal on Monday nights, two separate prix-fixe three-course menus for $35 each. The opportunity to be a judge, Iron-Chef-style, for a night? Sounds like my type of fun.
CD REVIEW This Album Brings Me Down… In a Good Way
Chicago-based songwriter and indie superstar Andrew Bird garnered peculiar amounts of attention after his 2005 release of <i>The Mysterious Production of Eggs</i>. Since then a relentless schedule of gigs, a successful album and EP release, and spots at larger festivals like Chicago’s Lollapalooza have driven Bird to surpass his contemporaries. Add on top of that success a writing gig at the <i>New York Times</i> and you’ll wonder how Bird does it all.
THEATER REVIEW Vietnam: In Your Face
Last season’s production of David Rabe’s classic 1970s play, <i>Streamers</i>, gives new meaning to the power of theatre. Executed by the Roundabout Theatre Company at Laura Pels Theatre in New York City, the performance included a cast of seasoned actors who brought an eerie realism to the tale of young soldiers awaiting deployment to Vietnam.
Important Albums of 2008
Album sales might be decreasing every year, but that doesn’t mean anything for 2008. Whether you bought them on special edition vinyl, downloaded them, or streamed them off of Seeqpod, the following albums probably made it into your playlist at some point during the course of the year. The past twelve months have given us plenty of important debut albums, career-shifting solo efforts, and also a good handful of reliable releases from well-established acts. You know it’s a great year when campus geeks Vampike Weekend take the world by storm within months of the release of Coldplay’s piéce-de-résistance, “Viva la vida, or Death and All His Friends.”
Songs With Words
Fundamentally, choral music is difficult to listen to. Certainly, there are technical issues that are prevalent throughout all of music — unusual dissonances, uncompromising forms and lengths — but choral music, in particular, adds another significant complexity.
Freddie Hubbard: 1938–2008
Playing trumpet with the masters of jazz (Sonny Rollins, Eric Dolphy, Quincy Jones) by twenty, Freddie Hubbard was key in the development of both free jazz and jazz fusion. A protege of Miles Davis, Hubbard brought a new fire to the instrument with chop-busting high notes and a controlled, unique tone. He participated in innovative work both as a sideman (Herbie Hancock’s Maiden Voyage, Oliver Nelson’s The Blues and the Abstract Truth, Ornette Coleman’s Free Jazz) and soared as a frontman (Hub Cap, Ready for Freddie). In the 70’s, Hubbard signed on to the new Creed Taylor label CTI, going on to produce some of his most famous albums: Red Clay, Straight Life, First Light, and others. Hubbard continued playing to general acclaim for several decades, even after suffering an upper lip injury in 1992 that would largely remove him from the scene (an injury tragically brought on by Hubbard’s unrelenting lip technique). Hubbard died on the morning of December 29, 2008, at his home in California. He is survived by his wife, Briggie, and his son, Duane.—<i>Samuel Markson</i>
The Year in Campus Concerts
Two thousand and eight saw an explosion of student music groups and student-organized concerts on campus. Dormitories cleaned out their basements and put on shows to increasingly eager crowds. Kicking off the year with Bexxxley Roxxx Some More, an epic concert at Bexley Hall in February 2008, soon other dorms and frats followed suit in a chain of concerts to remember. The growing music scene encouraged bands like Fortran, The Pears, Space Faces, Chicken Scratch, and Pesticide Red to form. The end of 2008 saw the birth of many new bands as fresh talent from the freshman class came in. The advent of WMBR Live also brought concerts to campus, encouraging bands to write new material and put on riveting shows. Here’s a look at some memorable shows from the year!
CONCERT REVIEW The Man Who Makes Gypsy-Rock Symphonies
Having just returned from a Killers concert earlier in the week, I was both anticipative and tentative about the Andrew Bird concert at the Orpheum. On the day of the concert, I still hadn’t received my tickets in the mail, so I fearfully asked my roommate if I would be placed in the mosh pit. “Andrew Bird? A mosh pit? It’s in the freakin’ Orpheum for crying out loud!” Apparently “mosh pit” should never be in the same sentence as “Andrew Bird” — correction, not even in the same line of thought.
CD REVIEW Beats and Electronics on Beats and Electronics
Most Radiohead fans consumed Thom Yorke’s 2006 solo effort, <i>The Eraser</i>, as a welcome treat in that awkward limbo period between the releases of <i>Hail To The Theif</i> and <i>In Rainbows</i>. But it you call it filler, at least call it good filler. Now that the <i>In Rainbows</i> craze has died down a little, we find Thom Yorke releasing a remix album to satiate our thirst for Radiohead-related material (at least temporarily, that is). Last week, Yorke released a compilation (available only in Japan until now) entitled <i>The Eraser Remixes</i>, housed in a package mimicking the original acclaimed artwork of its predecessor.
CONCERT REVIEW Making Mainstream Cool
The Killers are a well-established band. While some may categorize them as “mainstream,” to me, they will always be in their own class. They’re just a bit too off, a bit too awkward, and a bit too raw to fit in with the likes of, say, Coldplay or Switchfoot. Their creative usage of electronica, sometimes profound lyrics, and eccentricity were all virtues that had me shrieking when I was first offered a free concert ticket by a friend.