Artsweek

Dynamic Living Thing ****

April 9, 2009 by

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 r...
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A Little Spring In Your Step

April 2, 2009 by

Artsweek compiles some of the season's choice entertainment for your convenience.
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A Blitz-ful Experience ****

April 2, 2009 by

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 conti...
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A Cloudy Forecast *****

April 2, 2009 by

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” f...
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A Monstrous Monstrosity *

April 2, 2009 by

“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 kno...
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Pure, Unadulterated No Age

March 5, 2009 by

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

March 5, 2009 by

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 inspi...
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Another Acid High *****

March 5, 2009 by

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 ma...
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Joaquin’s “Two Lovers” ****

March 5, 2009 by

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 ...
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UCSB Actors Prove “Conways” To Be Timeless

March 5, 2009 by

Thespians from the UCSB Dept. of Theatre & Dance showed off their convincing British accents this weekend in a well-acted performance of "Time and the Conways," a melodramatic play written by playwrig...
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Batsheva Dance Co. Comes to SB

March 5, 2009 by

The Batsheva Dance Company is based in Tel Aviv and was founded in 1964. Its members consider themselves ambassadors of the Israeli artistic community. Some people believe that Batsheva is a ploy to g...
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Not Exactly Child’s Play *****

February 26, 2009 by

There is something to be said for taking risks. Without great risk, there can be no great reward. Sometimes that risk leads you to something average like "Keeping Up with the Steins"; other times, it ...
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Watching the Oscars: A Bore of a Chore

February 26, 2009 by

Sure, The clothes were pretty, and "Slumdog Millionaire" won a well-deserved seven awards, including Best Picture, but last Sunday's 81st Annual Academy Awards ceremony was an incredibly stupid event....
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“Friday the 13th” to the Nth Degree **

February 26, 2009 by

You already know if you want to see "Friday the 13th" or not. If you can hum or pant the iconic score, you might very well enjoy the movie. But if it takes more than blood, tits and hockey masks to ge...
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Charming, But Slight ***

February 26, 2009 by

Morrissey has been freakishly successful in his attempt to separate himself from the legendary Smiths. It is an understandably difficult task for an artist to surgically remove him or herself from the...
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