Formed in Montreal in the late ’90s, the band Godspeed You Black Emperor! took its name from a documentary about Japanese motorcycle gangs. The group added musicians and instruments as it grew, at one point totaling 15 members before whittling down to a nine-person line-up with two drummers, three guitarists, a bassist, and a three-piece […]
The Virginia Film Festival has announced the schedule for the 2013 Festival, which will take place from November 7-10. It’s the festival’s 26th year, and the fifth with Jody Kielbasa as the festival director; the past 4 years have all broken attendance records, and expectations are high. The festival will again showcase contemporary films making […]
For years, people around the country have been participating in Community Supported Agriculture (CSAs), programs where locavores and the green-minded can subscribe to weekly shares of local produce. Now The Bridge PAI is launching its own CSA: Community Supported Art. “You already eat local; it’s about time you ART local!” is the slogan. The program […]
In 1932, a group of 21 African-American artists and intellectuals, including Langston Hughes, traveled from Harlem to the Soviet Union. The trip was part of an outreach effort by the Meschrabom-Film studio, which hoped to produce a propagandistic feature film, Black and White, criticizing segregation and racism in the U.S. The intention was to forge solidarity […]
For two weekends beginning September 28, a traveling fair entitled the Carnival de Resistance will visit Charlottesville and set up a mobile village in the parking lot of the Sojourners United Church of Christ on Elliott Avenue. The carnival theme is centered on four performances featuring earth, air, water, or fire, and combines dance, music, […]
The term “indie rock” is so widely used that it has come to mean drastically different things to different people. It’s had a strange life over the past 25-odd years, one that weaves its way through significant changes in musical styles and cataclysmic shifts within the record industry. In many ways, the story of the […]
Light House Studios, the award-winning program of filmmaking workshops for local youth, will present its 12th annual screening of student work on Friday, September 13th at the Jefferson Theater. “This year we have more narrative films than usual, including an FX-heavy Sci-Fi adventure called Space Girl.” said Light House program director Jason Robinson. The program […]
In 2010, The Fire Tapes were virtual unknowns in Charlottesville. Made up of recent transplants from D.C. and Richmond, they had a strong sound and solid songs, but had yet to gather a following or make local connections. Three years later, they’ve become a beloved staple in the rock community. Their second album, the excellent Phantoms, […]
Magik Markers is one of America’s finest contemporary noise rock bands and its greatest asset is frontwoman Elisa Ambrogio. Her commanding and hypnotic vocals recall Sonic Youth’s primary songwriters combined, which can range from sweetly mysterious Patti Smith-esque poetic declarations to cathartic, frightening moments of unhinged aggression. Ambrogio’s raw, wild playing suggests a constant push-pull […]
In 1961, Murry Wilson founded The Beach Boys, a family act consisting of his sons Dennis, Carl, and Brian, their cousin Mike Love, and family friend Al Jardine. Combining the vocal harmonies of the doo-wop era with the instrumentation of surf rock, and subject matter rooted in West Coast youth culture, The Beach Boys were an […]