Arts & Entertainment

A&E

Baby, I Love Your Wavves

By James Cassar | March 27, 2013

It’s apparent forty-five 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 presses start on a strange chime section, it barrels into a late-90s punk jam. I don’t know if Nathan Williams (vocals/guitar) has a prized copy of Green Day’s Dookie jammed in his stereo, but I wouldn’t put it past him.

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A&E

Timberlake suits up for classy effort

By Eugenie Quan | March 27, 2013

While Justin Timberlake was busy pursuing a career in acting, I was busy wondering whether he’d ever come out with a new album. After a long, seven-year hiatus, he finally released The 20/20 Experience and I’m not disappointed.

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A&E

Phosphorescent shines weakly on latest record

By Harper McGrath | March 27, 2013

Phosphorescent’s Muchacho settles into a groove, but unfortunately it’s one that feels all too comfortable by the end. Houck’s latest does little to offend but, by the same token, little to distinguish itself.

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A&E

Is this it?

By Will Mullany | March 27, 2013

When The Strokes released their first album, everyone said that this was it, that these guys were the saviors of Rock and Roll music. With the album’s melodic take on 70‘s garage rock, 2001’s Is This It generated the template for 21st century guitar music and engendered a surge of interest in “indie” rock as a sound, rather than a designation of contra-mainstream status. Because of this hype, the general populace has held its tongue about the steadily decreasing quality of The Strokes’ records in the hopes that the next record will herald a return to their classic form. Sadly, now with their most recent Comeback Machine, it seems clear that all hope for a comeback is lost.

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A&E

Soilwork: buried, not dead

By Robert Shimshock | March 27, 2013

Scrolling through my iTunes library, cluttered with only the hottest, most mainstream artists of the day, such as everyone’s favorite extreme gothic metal band, Graveworm, I fail to come across many groups that I have ignored as thoroughly as the Swedish sextet of Soilwork (accidental alliteration accomplished). Having previously purchased only two songs from Stabbing the Drama (2005), I had almost no incentive to sit down and listen to the 84 minute, 38 second monstrosity that is The Living Infinite…until I happened across the pre-release singles on YouTube.

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A&E

It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad (Art) World

By Ty Vanover | March 24, 2013

The arts scene at the University is gearing up for its biggest event of the year: Arts Madness. Orchestrated by the Student Arts Committee, Arts Madness is a week featuring an array of lectures, workshops, shows and films, all celebrating the thriving talent of the student body.

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A&E

U.Va. faculty go to the movies

By Stephanie Dodge | March 18, 2013

After Ben Affleck’s Argo scored big at the Oscars a few weeks ago, A&E sat down with History Prof.

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A&E

'God' that's good theater

By Lucie Hanes | March 3, 2013

Par for the course, the University’s Drama department’s most recent production proved that big emotion can spring from the smallest of stages.

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A&E

Extreme makeover: Clemons edition

By Ty Vanover | February 27, 2013

If you’ve ever stowed yourself away in Clemons Library during the wee hours of the morning, writing papers or studying for finals, you know what I mean when I say that Clemons can start to look and feel a little like a tomb around 3 a.m.

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A&E

'Harlem Shake' rattles nerves

By Will Mullany | February 27, 2013

The word “meme” is tossed around quite a bit these days, but most people are unaware that the term, meaning an idea that spreads from individual to individual, was originally coined as an analogy to biological units like genes that self-replicate, mutate and spread.

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A&E

Identity Thief's lack-luster plotline leaves few laughing

By Zafar Shaw | February 27, 2013

In my book, Melissa McCarthy can do no wrong. From her breakout gig in Bridesmaids to her most recent role as a big-haired Florida swindler in Identity Thief, McCarthy has proven that brazen bodily humor can actually work.

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A&E

Wretched red carpet choices make for ceremony's most miserable fashion year in ages

By Sofia Economopolous | February 27, 2013

Of all the Oscar ceremonies I’ve seen in my days, this year’s turned out to be the greatest fashion disappointment yet.

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A&E

'Thao Nguyen & The Get Down Stay Down' on its way up

By Emily Benedict | February 27, 2013

The folk rock band Thao & The Get Down Stay Down originated in a town familiar to most University students — Falls Church, Va., or in other words “NOVA.” The group has since moved past its Commonwealth roots and is now based in San Francisco, but still remains relatively unknown after the release of their full length album We the Common.

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A&E

And the Oscars go to...

By Jamie Shalvey | February 27, 2013

What’s funny about a grown man playing with sock puppets, singing about female nudity in movies and joking about abusive relationships?

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A&E

From hepcats to hipsters

By James Cassar | February 27, 2013

We’ve all heard of them. Several shops in Downtown Charlottesville cater to their every sepia-toned whim.

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A&E

The Punch Brothers blast through the typical and give us the profound

By Catherine Jessee | February 27, 2013

There are few things more entertaining than a prodigious mandolin player. Chris Thile, mover and shaker of the Punch Brothers, is one such musician.

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A&E

British theater company ‘Complicite’ takes U.Va. backstage with Q&A session

By Ben Willis | February 25, 2013

When it comes to live theater, performances can go one of two directions. Most commonly, productions take a straightforward approach, one featuring well-stocked sets, costumed performers and a linear plot.

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A&E

Vive le cinema

By Liz Carleton | February 20, 2013

The joie de vivre embodied by French filmmakers — especially during the silent era and the dawn of the New Wave — has profoundly altered the course of cinematic history.

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A&E

Latest LiveArts production spurs 'speech and debate'

By Ty Vanover | February 20, 2013

Let’s be honest. It’s pretty difficult to point to a film, play or television show centered around high school that doesn’t present what is colloquially known as “our turbulent years” in a melodramatic, angst-ridden way — looking at you, Perks of Being a Wallflower.

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A&E

Marvelous 'Monologues'

By Katie Zimmerman | February 20, 2013

I had no idea what to expect when I first attended a performance of The Vagina Monologues, a collection of monologues dedicated completely to — you guessed it — vaginas.