“The thing about working for the encyclopedia is that you’re just surrounded by stories all the time. I never get tired of all the interesting stuff that you come into contact with.” As the managing editor of Encyclopedia Virginia, it’s no surprise that Brendan Wolfe feels this way. Where many would envision dull days of […]
“The thing about working for the encyclopedia is that you’re just surrounded by stories all the time. I never get tired of all the interesting stuff that you come into contact with.” As the managing editor of Encyclopedia Virginia, it’s no surprise that Brendan Wolfe feels this way. Where many would envision dull days of […]
Part modern folklorist, part “Portlandia,” The Decemberists never fail to deliver a fascinating set of intelligent, cathartic indie rock. Front man Colin Meloy defines the band’s stylish, experimental narrative while throwing in enough whimsy to lighten things up and extract a few giggles. The revered act seems to have discovered the secret to engaging the […]
There is far more wrong than right with Disney’s Tomorrowland, but there is one bright, gleaming asset to the film that should be taken into as much consideration as its (many, many) setbacks. It’s been noted that apocalypse fatigue has set in among moviegoers who are beginning to wonder how many times they can witness […]
When you’re the daughter of a well-respected singer-songwriter and blazing a trail with your own talent, it stands to reason that you’d feel some added pressure. Lilly Hiatt shines brightly enough to illuminate the shadow of her Americana rock star dad John, and kicks it up a notch through a blend of punk, indie and […]
Back in the 1980s music scene, the West Coast was all about the glamour of “hair metal,” while the embryonic stages of rap and DIY punk rock were taking shape in New York and Washington, D.C. A new documentary, Salad Days: A Decade of Punk in Washington, D.C., examines the movement and takes a look […]
The vibrant color hits you first—long swaths of it—before your brain can synthesize the spectrum as quilts, bright fabrics cut and pieced together in geometric patterns and draped against high walls and room dividers. Then you notice the buzz—the palpable warmth of the gallery’s attendees. Three of the exhibited artists, young men in suit jackets […]
Downbeat Project, a local fusion band with a rainbow of influences, is technically broken up. Last year founder Clarence Green and his “core guys,” Zack Blatter and Gerald Soriano, decided to put things on hold. The band’s third album, begun in 2013, still hadn’t materialized, and to paraphrase Green, life got in the way. But […]
Jack-of-all-trades Philippe Bronchtein crafts rustic, witty Americana as the one-man folk band Hip Hatchet. His years on the road have fueled earnest lyrical examinations of classic folk tropes like hard life lessons and the trials of romantic love. While he currently roots himself firmly in the singer-songwriter tradition, Bronchtein’s style also shows traces of his […]
When I think of my father, I think of clipping down the Brooklyn Promenade, trying to match my 10-year-old legs to his 6’4″ New York stride. I think of running a wind-up toy race car down the swoop of particle board framing his Ikea armchair. I think of his proud smile at my high school […]
There have been plenty of good/above average blockbusters in recent years that leave you thrilled, invigorated, entertained and properly conditioned to buy the eventual mega-deluxe Blu-ray special edition. But Mad Max: Fury Road is no ordinary blockbuster. You won’t just be entertained. You’ll wonder why anyone has ever bothered to make a movie that isn’t […]