Arts

Record Review: Tegan and Sara

Alicia Intriago  —  Aug 30, 2007

It’s always difficult for a musical artist to follow up their breakthrough album with an album that meets or even beats the previous one. Tegan & Sara’s 2004 release, So Jealous, was the album that brought these Canadian twin sisters their ultimate claim to fame. So, it seemed quite a challenge to produce a follow up that overcame that sort of musical enlightenment; however, their newest album, The Con, shows that Tegan & Sara truly know how to reinvent even the best of themselves.

Dirt, Dust, Danger: Flames, Metal and Mud at the Trumansburg Demo Derby

Sammy Perlmutter  —  Aug 30, 2007

Smoke billowed from demolished cars and blanketed the air, covering my view and choking my lungs, while mud splashed against my face; shards of metal ricocheted into the bandstand and cars exploded in flames — a man even got hit by a raging car! — all at the Trumansburg County Fair Demolition Derby this past Sunday.

Record Review: Oh No

Mike Gelinas  —  Aug 30, 2007

Hip-hop instrumentalists are a tricky breed. Even the best among them — see MF DOOM’s Special Herbs series, J Dilla’s Donuts and RJD2’s Deadringer — struggle to hold the everyday hip-hop listener’s very short attention span.

Oh No carefully attends to our aural impatience on the Oxperiment — no track exceeds two minutes and the sampled sounds are weirdly eclectic.

VIVA LA VIRAL! Close Up and Personal

Matt Palmer  —  Aug 30, 2007

My studies at Cornell and jobs in the Manhattan Indie film scene and Hollywood have taught me two things. Firstly, I’ve learned a good deal about both film theory and the business in general; and secondly, that I’d much prefer to while away the hours watching videos of dudes kicking each other in the nuts and hillbillies crashing their pickup trucks into telephone poles on the internet than studying or working.

These Things Matter: The Joy of Listing

Justin Rosen  —  Aug 30, 2007

I love making lists. Not shopping lists or Spanish vocabulary lists, but the really important lists, like lists of the best movies of the 1990s, or the worst songs of 2006 or the funniest YouTube videos. Lists like these run through my head all day. Like it or not, conversations with me will often transform into spontaneous sessions of list creation. It can be kind of like High Fidelity, only less relevant and without John Cusack involved.

Ga Ga Ga Great! Record Review: Spoon

Rebecca Weiss  —  Aug 30, 2007

Spoon used to be an acquired taste. So, if you remember that time you stole that first beer from the fridge back when you were fourteen, and took it to the backyard only to spit it out all over Mom’s gardenias (and somewhat on Bobby-the-neighbor kid’s Kid Rock t-shirt), then you can probably understand that concept.

Spoon’s repertoire is kind of like that: Their music is great, addictive, but doesn’t go down so well on the first try.

On the Sixth Day We Danced

Lauren Herget  —  Aug 30, 2007

Justice, like their legal name suggests, ruled my summer. I heard the Parisian duo’s latest album, ✝, played at all of the dance clubs and noticed it name-dropped in many of my oft-frequented music blogs. While I wholly enjoyed Justice’s eager acceptance into our summer’s sonic lexicon, I feel about Justice the same way I feel about Harry Potter: Completely enjoyable but in some ways artistically questionable.

The album is not groundbreaking and does little to challenge the genre. Indeed, it sounds fresh to American ears largely because we have not turned our attention to Paris’s scene since Phoenix’s or Daft Punk’s last album.

The Bias Cut

Martin Ambrose  —  Aug 30, 2007

Hi everyone! It’s me. The guy staring at you with a funny look when you walk out of your dorm room in flannel pajamas as if they are appropriate classroom attire, or gazing with approval and admiration at your well-fitting collared shirt or proper use of leggings.

I don’t claim to be an expert. But I do have quick instincts and loud opinions that I am going to share with you each week in my new column, The Bias-Cut.

In the study of fashion, a "bias-cut" refers to the cutting of fabrics at a forty-five degree angle to create a flatteringly fitting garment. For my purposes, the word bias has to do with high-end fashion, and, well, I think it sounds pretty damn good. So it’s my chosen header and you’re stuck with it.

Record Review: Matt Nathanson

Tara Tavernia  —  Aug 30, 2007

Once known primarily as a guitar-wielding solo artist, Nathanson has essentially transformed into the front man of a four-man rock band. While Nathanson has often performed with a band in the years since 2003’s Beneath These Fireworks, his new album showcases his ability to create songs that truly highlight the entire ensemble.

This evolution of Nathanson’s sound is beginning to gain him attention by a much broader audience and the fuller sound of Some Mad Hope carries through each song, from start to finish. “The Beat of Our Noisy Hearts” is a catchy (but also well-written) song that forefronts Nathanson’s full-band sound. It’s hard to imagine the song played solo, just Nathanson and his guitar.

Uncommonly Innocuous

Dan Goldstein  —  Aug 30, 2007

The first track on Chicago rapper Common’s latest effort, Finding Forever introduces the soft, pleasant and jazzy sound that makes up a lion’s share of the record’s instrumental work and it is perfect. The music is well made and nice to listen to. But, too much of a good thing can have negative consequences.

For the most part, the similarity in the music of each track creates an effect that makes listeners feel like they are hearing one very long song, and not a diverse, musically compelling album. Except for a few stand out exceptions, very little of the material is successful in grabbing — let alone maintaining — attention.

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