Artsweek

April 16, 2009

Grading the GreenScreens

By Steven Morris

UCSB's GreenScreen program is one more step in the film & media studies major's recent emphasis that links cinema with environmentalism. The four films, more than two quarters in the making, premiered last Saturday eveni...

April 16, 2009

“Dance Dammit!” Soars Over Expectations

By Steven Morris

as a backdrop. Up front, several dancers tore off their pea coats to reveal orange and blue outfits designed by Jessica Chernicki. The synth-filled glitch pop of Múm combined with the contrast of styles made for a s...

April 16, 2009

Neil Young: An Old Dog With Some Pretty Crappy Tricks *

By Jacob Mark Schpall

Upon first listening to Neil Young's new album, Fork in the Road, one gets the feeling that the artist was on a personal quest to find the most unexciting ideas and lyrics and lump them together as an album. Neil Young's...

April 16, 2009

Otherworldly ****

By Stephanie Leong

English artist Natasha Khan brings back the atmospheric, intricately orchestrated style of her debut album on her follow-up, Two Suns, a record that explores the instability and multiplicity of identity and takes place i...

April 16, 2009

No Chance of Parole *

By Hunter M. Daniels

Stop me if you've heard this one before: A naïve and rage-filled man date rapes a girl so schnockered that she doesn't realize the vomit on her blouse is her own. He pounds away at her until he notices that she has ...

April 16, 2009

“Dragonball” Zzzzzzz… *

By Hunter M. Daniels

Over the holiday weekend, I found myself cornered at the Passover Seder table by a cousin (aged five-and-three-fourths years old) who seemed determined to tell me a story.

April 9, 2009

New UAM Exhibit Honors UCSB’s Brown

By Stephanie Leong

Among the three recently opened exhibitions at the University Art Museum, "Signs of His Times: Gary H. Brown's Works and Selected Gifts to the University Art Museum" is instantly memorable, filled with iconic and inspiri...

April 9, 2009

Dynamic Living Thing ****

By Alexander Congrove Reporter

Swedish trio Peter Bjorn and John spices up its instrumentation a bit on its sophomore effort, Living Thing; the group's addition of a more eclectic, electronic sound to its insanely catchy brand of rock will undoubtedly...

April 2, 2009

A Little Spring In Your Step

By Virginia Yapp

Artsweek compiles some of the season's choice entertainment for your convenience.

April 2, 2009

A Blitz-ful Experience ****

By Aaron Harms

In the early 2000s, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs burst onto the indie/alternative/punk/art garage rock scene with its debut album, Fever to Tell. The New York trio's debut featured a unique sound that it continued to rely on in i...

April 2, 2009

A Cloudy Forecast *****

By Sara Weitz

Although “Sunshine Cleaning” may share some DNA with popular indie hit “Little Miss Sunshine,” the films could not be more different. While “Little Miss Sunshine” follows a dysfunction...

April 2, 2009

A Monstrous Monstrosity *

By Hunter M. Daniels

“Monsters Vs. Aliens.” Stop and think about that for a minute. Monsters. Versus. Aliens. If that title doesn’t give your inner 10-year old boy a seizure of awesome, I don’t know what will. Think a...

March 5, 2009

Pure, Unadulterated No Age

By Hunter M. Daniels

Every generation claims that rock is dead. And every generation has been wrong. Someone always comes around. Whether it's Jimi Hendrix, Axl Rose or Kurt Cobain, there is always someone with a new spin on that old three-c...

March 5, 2009

Q&A: A Chat With No Age Frontman Randy Randell

By Artsweek Editor

Guitarist Randy Randall and drummer Dean Sprunt are collectively known as the noise punk band No Age. Randy and Dean have become iconic in the L.A. music scene, inspiring hordes of imitators and inspiring throngs of rail...

March 5, 2009

Another Acid High *****

By Artsweek Editor

The Black Lips' musical talent somehow surpasses its considerable reputation for debauchery. That's saying a lot for a band that has been banned from multiple concert venues in L.A. for its members making out onstage and...

March 5, 2009

Joaquin’s “Two Lovers” ****

By Sara Weitz

James Gray is one of the rare dark romantic filmmakers left in Hollywood, and he demonstrates his mastery of this style with his most recent film, "Two Lovers." The film, which features a performance by the Letterman-bel...