Remix albums are very easy to make and very hard to make well. They’ve become something of a mainstay in modern indie music, but more often than not they consist mostly of tedious, interminable dance versions of perfectly good songs. Dross Glop, Battles’ latest addition to the subgenre, sometimes typifies the excesses of the format, …

At first, The Kid with a Bike comes across as an awkward title—you might suspect that it’s an unsuccessful translation of a more eloquent original in French. The title is in fact, however, a literal translation of the original title, Le Gamin au Vélo, and somehow, it successfully captures the essence of the movie—simplicity, eloquence, …

As a film, Bully is powerful. It is a fine assemblage of harrowing vignettes about the lives of bullied school kids. The bullying is relentless and unbelievable (one girl relates how she was hit by a car simply for being a lesbian), and the school administration is frustratingly passive, often blaming the victims. The stories …

Neon Trees, the recent buzz-band famously backed by The Killers, crafts a sometimes clean-cut, sometimes grimy, but always vintage blend of 1980s alternative pop rock. The only trouble is, on their sophomore album, Picture Show, the band blurs the thin line between influence and imitation.
Yes, these songs are fun, catchy, and sleazy as all hell. …

You do not have to have seen the first two American Pie movies to lose it laughing at American Reunion. A friend who sat next to me in the theater had seen both of them, and aside from a couple of inside jokes (Finch had boned Stiffler’s mom, etc.), the thing is just as gut-busting …

Black Dice’s latest, Mr. Impossible, falls in the way of most “experimental” music. Many would describe it as interesting (classic euphemism for weird), but few would describe it as good. This doesn’t mean Mr. Impossible is bad, but it’s far from readily accessible; most listeners will probably quit after the first three minutes of distorted …

M. Ward’s new album, A Wasteland Companion, kicks off with a soft but driving acoustic guitar pattern—the first few seconds of opening song “Clean Slate” are an intriguing mix of calm and motion. Frustratingly, then, the song slams to a creative halt: Ward begins singing an aimless melody with his lyrics that are candid but …

Footnote is a new offering in the long line of blockbusters about rival Israeli scholars. What’s that you say? That’s not a thing? I suppose you’re right. If Footnote is any indication, though, maybe it should be. Written and directed by Joseph Cedar, it follows Eliezer Shkolnik (Shlomo Bar-Aba), a Talmudic scholar who, for decades …

Orbital’s been making electronica since before you were born, but they took an eight-year vacation in the midst of the most chaotic period in the genre’s history. This has left some critics wondering how the band would catch up in the space of a single album. Silly question. Wonky is a titanic album, in scope …

Prophet, miracle, Christ reborn: The title character in the Dramat’s freshman production of Simon Bent’s A Prayer For Owen Meany gets called a lot of serious things. And in the hands of a driven team, it makes for a seriously riveting play.
Owen Meany, adapted from the John Irving novel, tells the tale of a young …

Nicki Minaj is nothing if not multidimensional. Her overstuffed new album, Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded, boasts 19 tracks with several costume changes in between. But for Nicki, the concept of “spreading oneself too thin” seems to have fallen on deaf ears. Thus we get an album that is half exhilarating and half frustrating.
The first half …

The basic plot of Salmon Fishing in the Yemen seems like an exemplary textbook answer to the question Professor Amy Hungerford asked during her “American Novel Since 1945” lecture last week: “List the variations of the marriage plot we see in modern literature.” In the movie, two beautiful strangers are thrown fatefully into each others’ …

Seduction, deceit, sexual innuendos, and rococo decoration—you’ll find this and more at the Dramat’s production of Les Liaisons Dangereuses, a dramatic interpretation of Choderlos de Laclos’ famous 18th-century novel of aristocratic intrigue.
The production, directed by Bonnie Antosh, PC ’13, wisely retains the novel’s high aristocratic feel, particularly in the characters’ costumes and mannerisms. Although the …

As a complete stranger to the veiled, abstract symbolism of the visual arts, I knew my efforts to comprehend Ellen Priest’s “Improvising on Jazz” would be futile even before I opened the door to the exhibition. The information card there at the Institute of Sacred Music on Prospect Street informed me that each piece of …

Madonna opens her 12th album, MDNA, with the Act of Contrition over some sobbing strings: “Oh, my God, I am heartily sorry for having offended Thee…” she deadpans. Madonna might want to apologize for the rest of her album, too—especially if she thinks it’s a good idea to start with the dreadful second single “Girl …

Mossy teeth, filthy fingernails, a floppy Mohawk, a Yorkshire accent—dubstep producer Rusko would be a perfect extra in the film Trainspotting. Yet when asked about his artistic goals during a 2010 interview with betterPropaganda, this is what he had to say:
“I’m just trying to make some super musical stuff. When I play a track, and …