Eleanor Friedberger New View (Frenchkiss) Eleanor Friedberger took a step back from the overstuffed exuberance of The Fiery Furnaces with her solo debut, 2011’s Last Summer. Friedberger didn’t blanch out her quirkiness, but unlike much of her former band’s output, the songs didn’t feel like riding a roller coaster with your eyes closed. You could […]
Every great rock ‘n’ roll photograph requires unseen talent behind the camera, and if you follow coverage of jam bands and the hippie scene, then it’s likely the person pressing the shutter is Jay Blakesberg. Since the mid-’80s Blakesberg has been shooting photos of music icons and breakthrough acts from Primus and U2 to Nirvana […]
Will Anderson says his Parachute bandmates like cool music. Him? Not so much. “I’m so fascinated with pop music,” Anderson says. “It’s always been my obsession. I’m sure people get tired of it—my poor friends always have to hear about it. And I’m talking about like ’NSYNC and the Backstreet Boys.” And so it goes […]
As maligned and oversaturated in the market as they are, there’s a real value to the dystopian young adult sci-fi/fantasy tropes that target the tween demographic and are, ideally, familiar to adults who have not forgotten their own journey to emotional maturity. When the genre works, these novels and films can be useful primers on […]
Original indie-rock act Yo La Tengo has managed to stay fresh and relevant over 30 years of touring and recording. Playing off the successful mix implemented on 1990’s Fakebook, the Jersey trio’s latest release, Stuff Like That There, lists covers of The Lovin’ Spoonful, The Cure and Hank Williams, along with new versions of the […]
As dusk sets in over Charlottesville, young girls swing silver buckets to and fro in front of the Ix Art Park entrance on Monticello Avenue. Over dark clothes, they wear filmy white plastic leaf bags fashioned into skirts, tops and oversized hair bows that rustle as they dance. They’re called the Water Bearers, but their […]
Solo artist James Friley’s compositions are a modern tribute to the art rock of the ’60s and ’70s. Performing under the name Idiot Glee, Friley melds his spacecraft pop by blending the influences of electronic pioneers Brian Eno, John Cale and Brian Wilson (among others) with classically trained keyboard chops, rock god guitar work and […]
Makers. Mistresses. Proto-feminists. Those are a just a few of the titles reserved for the artists represented in The Fralin Museum of Art’s “Two Extraordinary Women: The Lives and Art of Maria Cosway and Mary Darby Robinson.” Guest curator Diane Boucher explores the work, themes and ideals that united these 18th-century artists, including the political […]
Back in 1994, Chicago Tribune rock critic Greg Kot reviewed the self-titled debut album by Tortoise. Even for Chicago, a town noted for musicians who tease at and push the boundaries of rock and jazz, the group was difficult to pin down. “The group’s dynamic is to layer textures and construct atmospheres rather than write […]
The Virginia Festival of the Book, in its 22nd year, is holding events throughout Charlottesville and Albemarle County through Sunday, March 20. Read more about some of this year’s featured authors. Click on the link below to watch our C-VILLE Live chat with Preston Lauterbach, author of Beale Street Dynasty: Sex, Song and the Struggle […]