Fresh airwaves: Local radio station provides a new home for hip-hop

It’s time to update your car radio presets, Charlottesville. The long-anticipated launch of a new hip-hop radio station happened on October 5 at midnight when WVAI 101.3 Jamz took to the airwaves. The launch came as the result of more than a year of work by Damani Harrison, Elijah Campos, Jaquan Middleton, Cle Logan and […]

ARTS Pick: Shakespeare

Almost 400 years later, the world is still enraptured by the lovers, heroes, fairies and deviant minds that dominate tales penned by William Shakespeare. In tribute to the approaching anniversary of his death (April 23, 2016), a statewide collaboration of arts organizations formed the Virginia Shakespeare Initiative to promote a series of Bard-honoring events and […]

ARTS Pick: Pavel Haas Quartet

Hailed as “the world’s most exciting string quartet” by Gramophone magazine, Prague’s Pavel Haas Quartet features two violins, a viola and violoncello. Thanks to its rich, vivid sound, the group has collected an array of awards including the top prize at the prestigious Paolo Borciani competition in Italy and Best Chamber Music Recording at the […]

Film review: The powerful He Named Me Malala underserves its heroine

Few people in recent memory have risen to the challenge of history as has Malala Yousafzai, the remarkable young Pakistani education activist who miraculously survived an attempt on her life by the Taliban for her outspoken views. Malala began anonymously feeding information and arguments about the status of female access to education in the Swat […]

ARTS Pick: People’s Champs

Brooklyn-based septet People’s Champs artfully fuse West African and South American dance rhythms with futurist synths to create a unique sound endorsed by various music scenes from indie rock to funky soul. The talented ensemble features members of Superpower Horns, the Grammy Award-winning horn section for Beyoncé, as well as powerhouse vocalists. Thursday 10/15. Free, 8pm. […]

Go West: Live Arts opens with a tribute to the original sex symbol

Mae West, the Depression-era starlet and sex symbol, once said, “I never loved anybody as much as I loved myself.” For most of us, the only time we’re told to put ourselves first is on airplanes, in the event that our oxygen masks deploy. The cultured world condemns those who live for themselves boldly, who […]

All-nighter: UVA’s TechnoSonics festival returns for 16th year

“The connection between music and many people’s sense of their spiritual nature is one of the essential engines driving our mad (yet perfectly reasonable) devotion to music,” says Ted Coffey, associate professor in composition and computer technologies at UVA’s McIntire Department of Music. Each year, CCT faculty members lead the process of selecting a theme […]

Getting personal: Waxahatchee shoots straight from the heart on new album

Waxahatchee’s Katie Crutchfield released her second album, Cerulean Salt, in 2013 to high critical acclaim. Full of punk-edged folk songs that are at once quiet and powerful thanks to a stripped-down performance and sublime lyrics, the record was rated an 8.4 out of 10 and dubbed Best New Music by Pitchfork. It landed at No. […]

Album reviews: Thunderbitch, Atlas Genius, Foals

Thunderbitch Thunderbitch/self-released If you think Brittany Howard is too confined as the frontwoman of Alabama Shakes, look no further than her new side project, Thunderbitch. To say she is unhinged here—and good God is it glorious—is an understatement. Guttural roars tear out of her lungs like cannon fire on many tracks, with “Closer” being a […]