Ane Brun: It All Starts With One
I first encountered Norwegian singer-songwriter Ane Brun on art-rock master Peter Gabriel's orchestral New Blood tour. While I was slightly put off by her contributions to Gabriel's massive tunes (Brun's quivery, operatic voice felt odd replacing the subtly ethereal Kate Bush vocal on duet "Don't Give Up"), I was intrigued by her opening slot—a brief yet sultry tease in which Brun wowed a jaw-dropped Chicago stadium, beating out time on an acoustic guitar, her singular voice soaring to the rafters. read more
Found in: Music, ReviewsChris Eigeman: The Lost Man of Indie Cinema
Eigeman is best known for his work with directors Whit Stillman and Noah Baumbach, in which he tended to play sarcastic, fast-talking smart-asses that usually turn out to be much less jerky and much more vulnerable than they initially appear. read more
Found in: Movies, FeaturesLower Dens: Nootropics
Whirring forward—at times slick with the velvety magnetism of psychedelic riffs; other times peppered with the oddly attractive hiccups of a vintage movie reel—Nootropics, the latest record from Baltimore quintet, Lower Dens, connects layered loops and trippy chants with catchy rock n’ roll arrangements, delivering a pure punch of sonic bliss. read more
Found in: Music, ReviewsMercyland: Hymns for the Rest of Us
Phil Madeira, like fellow roots icon/salvation witness Buddy Miller, knows the difference and the way to coax the divine from plain dirt. On Hymns for the Rest of Us, an all-star alt-roots collection, Madeira crafts a Sunday morning coming down that can satisfy even a staunch nonbeliever. read more
Found in: Music, ReviewsReptar: Turning Athens Inside Out
While they’re adamant not to be labeled a “dance” band, they were passionate that their music would get people moving. William Kennedy had noticed that those early Athens bands like Pylon had been adept at getting the audience involved and wanted to do the same. read more
Found in: Music, FeaturesLive From SXSW: Of Monsters and Men
Watch Of Monsters and Men's entire set at the Sennheiser & Paste Present the Stages on Sixth. read more
Found in: Featured VideosWhen I Was A Child I Read Books by Marilynne Robinson
When it comes to the pleasures of reading, my tastes grow increasingly promiscuous. My favorite books of the past few years include a father’s outrageous tales of life with his four young sons (Somewhere More Holy, Tony Woodlief); an undertaker’s everyday dealings with dead bodies (The Undertaking, Thomas Lynch); a history of Google (Googled: The End Of The World As We Know It, Ken Auletta); the account of an obsessed lumberjack and an exotic spruce tree in British Columbia (The Golden Spruce, John Vaillant); Jay-Z’s autobiography (Decoded); an anthropological history of modern advertising (The Age of Persuasion, Terry O’Reilly); and... read more
Found in: Books, ReviewsThe Raven
Taking the collected works of America’s original master of horror and drawing on their most gruesome murders as the inspiration for something resembling the love child of Saw and Sleepy Hollow might have seemed like a good idea to director James McTeigue. After all, the former protege of the Wachowski brothers had directed V For Vendetta and Ninja Assassin, films that strain to commodify and stylize bloody violence into some semblance of a meaningful story. Having all the murders already written for you by an American literary icon must have seemed like quite the head start. Unfortunately, the only thing... read more
Found in: Movies, ReviewsReptar: Body Faucet
Just when I was ready to declare that indie-rock was fresh out of surprises, along came Athens' Reptar, a quartet of misfit college drop-outs whose debut EP, 2011's Oblangle Fizz, Yall!, was as dementedly unhinged as it was dementedly catchy. To say they did things their own way would be an understatement: Mingling laser-beam synths, Afro-pop hooks, Jock Jams chants and monstrous drumbeats, they made weird fun again, even if the mania only lasted a half-hour. read more
Found in: Music, ReviewsSantigold: Master of My Make-Believe
Santi White wants our attention. She’s certainly had it before: Almost every facet of her genre-defying 2008 debut was head-turning, from her brash delivery to the invigorating jolt of originality in her songs to the outlandish cover art that looked like the effects of downing a full bottle of Goldschlager. As Santigold, White’s eclectic approach to crafting her music has always been her calling card, and her new album Master of My Make-Believe is almost as varied as its predecessor in that regard. The most glaring difference between the two is simply the passage of time, and Master is Santigold’s... read more
Found in: Music, Reviews
The 50 Best Movies on Netflix Instant
The 25 Best Movies of 2012 (So…
The 50 Best Movies of 2011
The 30 Best TV Shows on Netflix…
The 50 Best Movies of the Decade…
