LA bands find breath of fresh air at desert fest
LA hipsters and trippy locals mingle at the second annual Manimal Festival, held at Pappy and Harriet’s last weekend.
Musical pleases with its genre-bending minimalism
This is not the stuff of musicals. Gruesome murder, racism in the South, unseemly politicking, media sensationalism, official corruption, Messianism, public morality — rarely are such weighty issues even considered as themes for musicals, a genre serious theatergoers regularly denigrate for its bubbly superficiality and lack of profundity. Musicals are to theater what romance novels […]
Friendship pitted against honesty in low-budget film
“Will you read my screenplay?” This question, sometimes edited slightly to involve reading a novel or viewing a piece of art, haunts friends of those in the creative industry. It is the ultimate test and requires an important decision: honesty or friendship? The new film The Blue Tooth Virgin — winner of the 2008 New […]
Reaching the high notes
Having just released her debut album, USC senior Courtney Fortune reflects on her success.
Rites of passage come in various disguises
Amid gold confetti, topless figureheads and raging techno, I experienced my first encounter with San Francisco’s LovEvolution last weekend. In an extravagant parade down Market Street, I saw pink elephants and cage dancers, penis balloons and some Amazonian wilderness. I even witnessed at least eight nude men, each posing for pictures with girls young enough […]
Yorke graces LA with a new wave of sound
Radiohead’s Yorke provides audiences with an exhilarating performance Monday.
Roman’s holiday inevitably coming to a close
Roman Polanski’s Sept. 26 arrest ignites old controversy and raises new questions.
Crash Love offers emotional rock anthems
Hot Topic shoppers, rejoice: After a three year hiatus, AFI has returned to provide skinny jean and tight T-shirt-wearing, morbid jewelry adorned, pre-pubescent teens with some new tunes to accompany their shopping experience for the next few weeks. Crash Love, the goth emo rock band’s eighth studio album, has recently hit stores in both a […]
Quirky characters liven up static zombie comedy
It’s becoming vogue to combine the seemingly separate genres of horror and comedy, but it’s a tight line to walk.
Serious character examination reveals ‘Hideous’ truths
What do you scream when feeling pleasure? If you’re Subject No. 14, “Victory for the forces of Democratic Freedom!” is the first thing that comes to mind.