38 items found for your search. If no results were found please broaden your search.
(09/03/13 2:21am)
The University is home to a variety of notable alumni, but it’s not every day that current Wahoos can enjoy former students’ career choices on the radio. With local favorite Parachute’s third full-length album “Overnight,” the group’s pop sensibilities have hit an all-time high and could catapult the group into an “overnight” sensation. Charlottesville’s little secret is on the cusp of becoming a national phenomenon.
(04/24/13 3:40pm)
It’s April 20 and I am a deep sea diver. Instead of exploring the ocean for coins, I’m scouring an endless tangle of milk crates and dust-caked paper for a perfect find. I’m not blazed, but I am blazing a new trail at the sweet speed of 33 1/3 RPM. After all, it’s Record Store Day, an audiophile’s second Christmas.
(04/17/13 4:25pm)
There are two songs called “Thriller” on my iPod. One is by the late King of Pop and the other is by Fall Out Boy — track one on 2007’s ‘Infinity on High.’ In that version, machine-gun drums and guitar chugs set the stage for Patrick Stump’s ethereal vocal range where he assures us that the band’s thoughts are precious, for “every dot-com’s refreshing for a journal update.”
(04/17/13 4:05pm)
We’ve reached the final stretch of spring semester. With the weather finally warming up after a frigid, punishing and all-too-long winter, it’s time for summer. What better way to kick it off than with a look at a massive two-weekend live music festival in California’s sweltering Indio desert, where temperatures can hit up to a comfortable 110 degrees Fahrenheit? Welcome to weekend two of Coachella, ladies and gentlemen. This isn’t your little brother’s Warped Tour.
(04/10/13 8:04am)
The career of Boston pop-punk outfit Transit has been characterized by musical baby steps. Its first effort, ‘This Will Not Define Us,’ was surprisingly derivative in definition, blending melodic sensibility while flying the no-holds-barred flag of the New England scene. The group showed its mosh-pit chops on its ‘Stay Home’ EP, maintaining ferocious power while also paying tribute to one of the more prolific acts in the late-’90s emo scene, American Football.
(03/27/13 3:20pm)
It’s apparent 45 seconds into lead-off track “Sail to the Sun” that Afraid of Heights, the latest record from surf-rockers Wavves, is sunkissed and spontaneous. After the album starts with a strange chime sequence, it barrels right into a late-90s punk jam. I don’t know if Nathan Williams (vocals/guitar) has a copy of Green Day’s Dookie permanently jammed in his stereo, but after listening to Heights, I wouldn’t put it past him.
(03/20/13 5:02pm)
The ’90s were a strange decade for music. It seems the catharsis for the laughable panache of hair metal, the unmistakable sheen of shameless power-pop outfits, and the homebrewed sincerity of hip-hop’s early years split into two dominant camps. There was the talent bred in MTV test tubes — your boy bands, Britney Spears and the like — that was limited to overproduction and catchy hooks. The other side found an affinity for flannel and downturned guitars: grunge popularized by the snotty middle-finger attitude of Nirvana’s Nevermind and its moody offshoots.
(02/28/13 1:11am)
We’ve all heard of them. Several shops in Downtown Charlottesville cater to their every sepia-toned whim. Even I, the shameless writer, have been deemed one since early on in high school — it’s probably my gargantuan Buddy Holly glasses or my aversion to cultural trends. But I digress.
(02/14/13 2:53am)
Valentine’s Day is the Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup of Hallmark holidays. Some prefer the smooth layer of chocolate, while others dive in for a delectable rush of peanut butter, but there are always the naysayers who can’t handle any strain of the sugar rush. Here we are on Feb. 14 witnessing another round of the annual faceoff between the loved and the lovelorn. Whether you’re forever fallen or forever alone, one thing’s for sure: somebody has probably written a song about it.
(01/24/13 4:44am)
There’s a scene in the first American Pie where Jason Biggs’ character, desperate to land a prom date, creates a profile on a fictitious dating website. A year after the film’s release, eHarmony launched. Various competitors soon began creating rival matchmaking services, for everyone from older singles to unsatisfied married folk. Although not every hopeless romantic logs onto these sites, love is still in the air — albeit via ones and zeroes — through the billion-member megasite Facebook.
(01/17/13 4:24am)
This Christmas, as I was thrust into the past by an assortment of old-school gifts, I found myself in the good company of blink-182. After tumultuous years of side projects and split-ups, this trio of late 30-somethings has attempted to breathe new life into the fragments of their lost youth. Unchained from the restraints of a major label, blink-182 wrestled with their inner Django and tried to revamp the conventions that their music helped create, albeit with less blood than the Tarantino film.
(11/08/12 4:30am)
In my third review of Virginia Film Festival screenings, I’m faced with a reprise of sorts. Not That Funny is what I Am Not a Hipster is titularly: sort of a misnomer. Well, yes, it tends to be what Thursday’s delightfully indie film could not accomplish and carries a plot that does hold close to the promise its title strings up in lights. But, despite the relatively serious nature of its plot, Not That Funny has its chuckle-inducing moments.
(11/08/12 4:12am)
I have been dressed for this occasion for two days straight: ironic, muted, flannel jeans skinnier than Nicole Richie, blister-inducing Chuck Taylor kicks, a trapper hat straight out of Northern Michigan and, of course, imitation Ray-Bans. But don’t worry — unlike most people afraid to be stamped a “hipster,” my fay-Bans have lenses to accommodate my 20/80 excuse for vision.
(11/01/12 4:44am)
When Inception hit theaters two years ago, moviegoers left with their jaws permanently dislocated and their minds left unattended in their vacated seats. Since then, it’s been common to associate interwoven storylines in movies — a tool as unoriginal as the trite summer blockbuster — with Christopher Nolan’s “dreamy” cerebral thriller, which shamelessly steals elements from his equally brain-boiling flick Memento. Neither of these movies accomplished what most audiences crave: a comedic undertone. With an ensemble cast, an absurdly convoluted premise and a dash of satire, Seven Psychopaths attempts to revamp the rulebook on thought-provoking films.
(10/11/12 4:22am)
Let’s start with a social experiment: Take the next five people you encounter on the street and ask one question: “Was ninth grade a fairly awkward year for you?” If these folks had a freshman experience like mine, I’d bet their responses would consist of a rushed affirmation and fits of laughter after visualizing the dorks, geeks, dweebs or complete misfits they were so many years ago.
(10/04/12 5:43am)
The entertainment world constantly regurgitates formulaic and uninspired ideas. The film industry is supersaturated with half-hearted continuations of franchises. The music industry, too, has franchises of its own.
(09/27/12 4:39am)
Ben Folds is a busy guy. He has sat alongside fellow precocious pianist Sara Bareilles as a judge on NBC’s The Sing-Off. He has shared the microphone with William Shatner. He has collaborated with novelist Nick Hornby on a stopgap EP and has covered everyone from Elton John to Dr. Dre.
(09/13/12 4:46am)
In the age of Internet streaming, digital downloads and miniature attention spans, music as an art form has fallen by the wayside. To be sure, hometown hero Dave Matthews has filled amphitheaters with his signature band’s eclectic sonic melting pot for almost a quarter of a century, but it’s commonplace to hear less adventurous noise spill across Grounds.