Amos Lee Mountains of Sorrow, Rivers of Song/Blue Note Records Amos Lee knows what an Americana record ought to sound like and Mountains of Sorrow, Rivers of Song is it. This exploration of the simultaneously universal and individual nature of life is put together in dazzling fashion. The track “Johnson Blvd” details the hard times […]
The success story of SOJA sounds improbable: An all-white reggae band from the Washington, D.C. suburbs of Northern Virginia gains global acclaim. But after more than a decade of hard touring and developing a catalog of roots reggae tunes, the band (formerly known as Soldiers of Jah Army) has headlined shows in 20 different countries […]
The early reviews for Machete Kills have largely been unkind, and the big gripe appears to be that Machete Kills is too long, too repetitive, and too super violent. How many of these critics have seen a Robert Rodriguez movie before? I think that if you choose to see a Rodriguez film—whether your editor directs […]
If you’ve been in the vicinity of the Ruth Caplin Theatre and the Arts Commons at UVA, you’ve no doubt noticed some unusual activity in the bowl-shaped area between the buildings. Renowned installation artist Patrick Dougherty, together with a group of community and UVA volunteers, is hard at work weaving a sculpture made from locally harvested […]
With over 15 years of acclaim under his belt, it’s hard to believe Gary Clark Jr. is just releasing his debut album, Blak and Blu. His natural prowess on guitar first surfaced during his childhood in Austin, Texas, a city that declared an official Gary Clark Jr. Day while he was still in his teens. Prodigy […]
Over the last 17 years, Jon Foreman has cemented his status as one of his generation’s most insightful lyricists and dynamic rock singers. He has released four solo EPs, two albums with the rockgrass band Fiction Family—his side project with Nickel Creek’s Sean Watkins—and has achieved worldwide fame for fronting the Christian rock group Switchfoot. […]
Computers and synthesizers are hardly new, yet the face of music is constantly changing thanks to the evolution of electronics. This week, UVA puts its stamp on the computerized art form with TechnoSonics XIV, a collaboration between composition and computer technologies faculty and the drama and dance department as they take on the frontier of […]
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 […]
Rob Browning‘s paintings currently on display at PVCC‘s South Gallery is a less coherent series than his recent show at Warm Springs Gallery. However I find the variety of painting executions to be much more appealing. The content of this show is strange and disjointed. Some images like Mermaid are eerie and surreal. Others are […]
JJ Grey’s voice is unmistakable. It soars with soulful howls and digs in deep with gritty growls, propelled by Grey’s backing band Mofro, which churns out body-shaking swamp rock. Earlier this year Grey released This River, his seventh studio album dating back to 2001 and the latest in a consistent line of Southern-fried stompers that mix […]