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(08/30/12 12:38am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Three. Two. One. One. One.Cymbals crash like white noise and a lumbering bass line rumbles into the mix. Then the stabs of stadium-rock guitar thrash with Sleigh Bells volume.This is the new Animal Collective album?Yes, and its spacey psych-pop will blow up your headphones and stereo alike.“Centipede Hz” is supposed to capture the vibe of an alien band beaming transmissions down to Earth. If that sounds tongue-in-cheek, you don’t know this band.The genre—defying and —defining indie elders debuted their 11th album on their own custom web radio Aug. 19, a fittingly sincere bit of fan service from the increasingly digestible group. But “Centipede Hz” sounds more than accessible. It sounds anthemic.Like, children’s choir anthemic.The album’s immediately catchy songwriting and alien-band high concept should probably come off as forced.Instead, “Centipede Hz” is yet another bold reimagination of Animal Collective’s sound.“Merriweather Post Pavilion” (2009) and “Strawberry Jam” (2007) proved the band could attain indie mainstream success with its well-honed pop songwriting.There was little left to prove except whether Animal Collective’s lineup of husbands and dads could still rock.Turns out they can. If “Merriweather” was the band’s bubbly chillwave album, “Centipede Hz” is its stadium rock album.Shortly after its dramatic countdown, opener “Moonjock” explodes into “Magical Mystery Tour” and Olivia Tremor Control levels of psych madness.Founding member Avey Tare (Dave Portner) continues the style he refined on his 2010 solo album “Down There” with “Applesauce,” one of the album’s most straightforward pop treats. Like most of the songs on “Centipede Hz,” it recklessly bounces from melody to melody and delves deep into its weirder moments.Panda Bear (Noah Lennox), back on a full drum kit for the first time in five years, outdoes himself on the album’s crushing centerpiece “New Town Burnout.”From its thumping bass beat, the song launches into a church organ-fueled, warp-speed trip.Beautiful closer “Amanita” rides out the album’s energy on a cresting wave of psych joy.The record’s sonic density is courtesy of returning “Merriweather” producer Ben Allen, who imbues “Centipede Hz” with IMAX 3-D clarity without losing the band’s manic energy.These melodies and vocal flourishes deserve to be high in the mix, as if Animal Collective were front and center before an audience of thousands.“Centipede Hz” delivers just that level of fun grandeur.If you’re up for the ride, it’s hard not to smile and pump your fist the whole way through.By Patrick Beane
(08/23/12 12:30am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Brains.“ParaNorman” has them and some problems, too.Where horror-heroine Coraline had the spunk to carry her own movie, Norman fails to break from the misfit archetype as a memorable hero.Instead, the strength of “ParaNorman” lies in its spectacular art direction and twisted sense of humor.The movie plays with genre tropes and has fun — but not too much fun — with its witches and zombies.The stop-motion animation sets the movie apart from most studio fare, and the bold character design distinguishes it even more.At times, the script plays to boring and problematic stereotypes. It injects weird life into a handful of minor characters who keep the movie fresh.The plucky Neil is Norman’s only living friend and delivers some of the movie’s sweetest jokes. John Goodman brings the weird as Uncle Prenderghast, who drives the first half of the film forward.The otherwise mostly forgettable characters serve as fodder for sight gags, but with gags this good, some clunky writing can be forgiven.Though light on scares and originality, “ParaNorman” packs a visual punch and morbid funny bone.By Patrick Beane
(08/23/12 12:25am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>This is what music can do.The Russian feminist punk group Pussy Riot is known for its surprise public performances and radical lyrics. The group lineup isn’t fixed. Members tend to wear colorful ski masks when performing.Pussy Riot knows how to call attention to itself. That’s the point. I won’t pretend to know about American hard core, Russian feminist punk history or what the ongoing story of the riot grrrl movement looks like.All I know is Pussy Riot has captivated the indie and mainstream media in the United States ever since three of its members were arrested earlier this year after playing a “punk prayer” in a Moscow church.The three Pussy Rioters were sentenced to two years in prison for hooliganism Friday to the outrage of American supporters.Vadim Nikitin’s recent New York Times op-ed points out that these same Pussy Riot sympathizers might balk at some of the group’s more radical acts, such as setting fire to a police car and participating in a public orgy.He argues it’s hypocritical for Americans to criticize Russia’s intolerance of acts Americans normally wouldn’t condone. Nikitin is partially right. This story shouldn’t be about freedom-hating Russia. It shouldn’t be all about civil liberties.It’s easy to denounce Russia for convicting Pussy Riot, but it’d be nonsense to think an American hard-core band wouldn’t be arrested for doing the same thing.The U.S. isn’t exactly friendly to feminist activists either. Just because we have the right to political music doesn’t mean it goes well.The Pussy Riot story should be about the power of music, especially feminist music, to inspire contemporaries and ignite political discourse in the mainstream. We shouldn’t just hate Russia for its misogyny. We should use this moment to examine what place activist music has in American media.To hope for the second wave of riot grrrl would be too dismissive of all the bands who have carried on the legacy since the movement’s conception. But a resurgence of prominent acts would be radical. If nothing else, this outrage will hopefully result in newsworthy political action from U.S. punks.This is an election year. Punk activism can go a long way to draw attention to the issues our two-party system overlooks.Protest music used to mean something in America. The Occupy concerts transfixed the media for a time but lost traction with the churning news cycle. Is this a problem of form or content?Maybe some radicalism is necessary.
(08/22/12 4:00am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>This is getting absolutely ridiculous.Just when Daniel Tosh’s comments seemed to make him a shoe-in for the summer’s most popular misogynist, Rep. Todd Akin, R-Miss., entered the race with one foot in his mouth.It’s hard not to shake your head at the Missouri representative’s now infamous comment, “If it’s a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down.”In addition to being totally incorrect, the victim-blaming statement reveals a horrifying disregard for women’s autonomy.He has since issued a non-apology and promise to continue his campaign. Akin called rape “evil” but didn’t indicate whether that changes his position on abortion. Given that he claimed to use the wrong words rather than revoking the sentiment altogether, my guess is it didn’t. This is the man who was the favorite for the Missouri Senate race and still remains neck and neck with his opponent. We shouldn’t be rolling our eyes. We should be writing our representatives.Akin is also a member of the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology. Sure, it sounds like an SNL skit, but it’s the sad and not surprising state of affairs here in America.His apology is mitigated by his continued campaign, which will hopefully cost the GOP a seat in the Senate.The foot in Akin’s mouth helpfully reminds many voters about vice presidential hopeful Paul Ryan’s, R-Wis., atrocious history with women’s rights.Ryan, along with most GOP members of Congress, cosponsored a bill last year that would qualify certain types of rape as “forcible.”The movement was interested in denying as many women as possible access to federally-funded abortion.Romney and Ryan have never been accused of being feminists.However, they’re desperate to clean up their messy associations with Akin. In a radical statement, the dashing duo clarified they “would not oppose abortion in instances of rape.”Score one for women everywhere.President Barack Obama’s response is refreshingly forward. “Rape is rape ... What types of rape we’re talking about doesn’t make sense to the American people, and it certainly doesn’t make sense to me.” he said. The president’s comments would be more impressive if they were paired with actual change. It’s one thing for Obama to rebuke Akin. It’s another to encourage substantive equality for women.Preventing the defunding of Planned Parenthood is a laudable defensive measure. Unless Obama makes women’s rights a priority, something he’s not likely to do, it’s not enough.I’ll just hold my breath until we can organize a Marxist feminist overthrow of the state.– ptbeane@indiana.edu
(08/16/12 1:32am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The Indiana Daily Student’s greatest film of all time is... one of this summer’s biggest hits?Why not? The IDS staff has grown up in a media world saturated with stories of economic turmoil, a campus full of political unrest and box offices dominated by superheroes.“The Dark Knight” trilogy paints a big binaristic picture of civilian uprising and government corruption, with a cape thrown in for good measure.Compared to the largely introspective movies in the top 10 of the British Film Institute’s Top 50 Greatest Films of All Time, “The Dark Knight” trilogy seems as brash as it is. So do the rest of our blockbuster selections.The IDS poll might growl, “I am arthouse’s reckoning.”Pretentious generalizations aren’t called for because top 10 lists can only tell us so much. But, the differences between the BFI and IDS top 10 lists are at least a little revealing.The BFI top 10 list only includes films released before 1970.The oldest film on the IDS list is “The Godfather,” from 1972. “Star Wars” is the only other entry released before 1994.These results are not too surprising from a random selection of journalistically-minded undergraduates. Many of the movies on the IDS list are found far and wide on the Facebook pages of 1990s-kids and the IMDb top 25.The IDS top 10 better represents what movies casual filmgoers love.Many of the arthouse classics and cinema forerunners on the BFI list deserve the prestige they’re afforded. I’m not gonna pretend like “8½” doesn’t floor me every time I watch it.Even so, blockbuster juggernauts like “Star Wars” and “The Lord of the Rings” deserve equal accolades for delivering movie escapism at its most digestible and epic.I’d love to see the late Chris Marker’s masterful “Sans Soleil” in the IDS top 10. I’d also love to see “Titanic” in the BFI top 10.Sure, you’d never expect the most prestigious movie list in the world to rank “Avatar” up there with “Tokyo Story.”That’s why the BFI list stinks to me. It stinks of critical stagnation and traditionalism.Have there really not been any cinematic achievements in the past 40 years that equal the BFI’s top 10 of yesteryear? The IDS top 10 draws from students who care about the classics, students who seek out unconventional cinema and students who admitted they were far from film buffs.Our very pop top 10 fills in some of the gaps in the BFI list.I’m proud there’s room on our list for Hayao Miyazaki’s soaring anime “Spirited Away” and Disney’s feel-good football flick “Remember the Titans.” These movies share the same searches for self that characterize the best of the BFI’s top 10. Movie lists should collect cinematic experiences that best move us to think and rethink ourselves. These movies help us to escape the oppression of the mundane. They inspire us to challenge real structural oppressions. They replenish us after long days.Maybe it’s critically embarrassing our staff crowned a movie trilogy completed this summer the best cinema they’ve ever seen.Maybe it’s just as suspect for hundreds of critics and filmmakers to disregard the myriad achievements of contemporary cinema, pop or not.In the best top 10, there’s room for Eisenstein and Spielberg, Cameron and Tarkovsky. I’m proud the IU Cinema shows similar interest in screening pop, pulp and prestige. I also appreciate the BFI list for introducing great films to the masses. Still, I think the BFI’s contributors should have some blockbuster greats reintroduced to them by the masses they hope to influence.Come on, BFI, why so serious?BFI listThe BFI released its prestigious "Sight & Sound" poll at the beginning of August. The list comes out every 10 years and compiles the greatest movies of all time according to hundreds of filmmakers, academics and critics. 10. 8½ (1963)9. The Passion of Joan of Arc (1927)8. Man with a Movie Camera (1929)7. The Searchers (1956)6. 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)5. Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans (1927)4. La Règle du jeu (1939)3. Tokyo Story (1953)2. Citizen Kane (1941)1. Vertigo (1958)IDS Staff listThe IDS Top 10 was compiled from the lists of about 20 editors and staffers.10. Forrest Gump (1994)9. Remember the Titans (2000)8. Star Wars (1977)7. The Lord of the Rings Trilogy (2001-3)6. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)5. The Godfather (1972)4. Spirited Away (2001)3. The Lion King (1994)2. Titanic (1997)1. The Dark Knight Trilogy (2005-12)IU Cinema Director Jon Vickers' listOf the 30 unranked films Vickers listed, we’ve chosen an interesting pick for each decade represented, with an additional choice for the 1990s, Vickers’ most represented decade.Greed (1924)Modern Times (1936)The Third Man (1949)Touch of Evil (1958)The Leopard (1963)Chinatown (1974)Raging Bull (1980)Wild At Heart (1990)Taste of Cherry (1998)The White Ribbon (2009)
(08/16/12 12:06am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The first rule of Hipster Fight Club: You do not talk about Pitchfork.That’s bullshit, of course. Plenty of folks I know who are considered hipsters check Pitchfork on the regular and talk about it without pretension, irony or fear.I want to talk about Pitchfork and specifically how it’s staying relevant. Plenty of niche blogs and hip-as-hell webzines beat it for coverage of the out there stuff, but Pitchfork is undeniably the flagship online music journal.It’s probably the closest thing my generation has to a Rolling Stone magazine, unless you’re talking to kids my age who still read Rolling Stone. I don’t know.In Internet years, Pitchfork is probably as old as Rolling Stone. Somehow it stays cool.It launched Altered Zones, a partner site to rival some of the more prominent hip webzines. Altered Zones was born in 2010 and died a quick death in 2011. Its Tumblr-chic layout and attention to nearly-outsider music from the likes of James Ferraro and John Maus made it a worthy addition to Pitchfork’s brand.Altered Zones’ collapse meant the integration of more hip music coverage into the main Pitchfork site. Maybe thanks to this, Pitchfork is somehow keeping up with most of “alt” music’s prevailing trends.For instance, plenty of readers scoffed at Pitchfork’s seeming refusal to give decent coverage and review space to metal. In the past year or so, a lot has changed.Wolves In The Throne Room landed Best New Music and Liturgy scored an 8.3. Though not unprecedented on the site, there is noticeably more attention being paid to the genre.American black metal was considered a hipster thing by many enthusiasts even before Pitchfork starting using “kvlt” in reviews. Mercy.Nevertheless, the site has helped deliver black metal closer to the indie mainstream, for better or worse.Pitchfork’s latest appeal to relevance is its People’s List, the closest thing the publication has to reader interaction outside of its annual Readers Poll.The People’s List is supposed to be some zeitgeist-tapping collection of indie favorites and records Pitchfork overlooked.It’s sponsored by Converse and connected to Facebook, Twitter and Google. High school kids everywhere will be sharing their favorite albums online, which means more exposure for the site and its readers. Eventually it could be the inspiration for 2030’s “Almost Famous 2.”It seems like Pitchfork might finally be Rolling Stones-ing itself. I can’t wait to tell my kids about how cool it was back in my day.
(07/19/12 12:00am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Music festivals are frustrating. Drunk kids talk over your favorite songs. The crowds induce claustrophobia, if not misanthropy. A tiny cup of Heineken costs $5. Your favorite bands are scheduled at the same time.Pitchfork Music Festival suffers for all these reasons, but it delivers what matters and more.Last weekend in Chicago’s Union Park, thousands braved the rain and heat to enjoy a worthwhile lineup of bands as bro as Vampire Weekend and brazen as Willis Earl Beal.Yes, the price is right, the lineup is diverse and the vibe is comfy. The festival’s three stages all have their moments to shine, and all draw crowds as different and alike as the bands that play on them.Pitchfork officially started early Friday afternoon, but on a sour note.I was riding the “L” to Union Park when the first crack of lightning splashed across the cityscape. The train stopped and the doors opened to let in a roll of thunder and the dismaying sight of rain. Undergrads not really dressed for the festival were scattered around the park under train tracks and church entrances. We took shelter and waited for the skies to clear. They did.Friday’s standout was Chicagoan Willis Earl Beal, who stomped and preached in a whiskey-fueled fervor. The crowd clapped with him and stared, bewildered by his one-man show. It sounded halfway between the possessed howl of Tom Waits and the theatrical groove of Grace Jones.The afternoon’s only other rainfall came during Tim Hecker’s set. Hecker seemed to conjure the winds and raindrops with his sampler, the storm clouds only amplifying his assaultive ambience.After that, the rain let up just in time for rapper Big K.R.I.T. to get the crowd moving at the main Green Stage. Dirty Projectors later warmed up the crowd with a well-rounded show, before Feist took the main stage and eased everyone into a sleepy finale to a long day.Rain returned Saturday, hard enough to shorten Cloud Nothings’ smouldering set. Later, the storm was light enough to complement Bradford Cox’s haunting solo set as Atlas Sound. Cox wore stark white face paint that spirited away the crowd with him.Later Saturday night, after the rain was gone for good, Godspeed You! Black Emperor took the stage with such modest majesty that the crowd didn’t realize the show had begun; the Canadian post-rock legends opened with a murmur of a song that almost everyone mistook for a sound check. No one made that mistake once the band kicked into high gear.The emotional climaxes from that set lingered with me into Sunday’s opening acts, when Chicago natives A Lull proved a smaller band could make just as big a sound as Godspeed.It was hard to keep up with the rest of the sundried day.AraabMuzik drove a sweatsoaked crowd wild with his rapidfire sampling, and I could only watch from afar, jealous of the teenager audience’s stamina. A salad kept me company while I cooled off under a tree, before I joined the crowd for Beach House’s evening set, which set the scene for a gentler, more survivable night.Soon I was surrounded by smiling folks as far as I could see, and the whole crowd seemed primed and ready for Vampire Weekend’s undeniably fun pop. As the band closed out the festival Sunday night, I could only marvel at the weird microcosm I’d enjoyed for the past three days. Even with two years of Pitchfork experience under my belt, my perception of the festival changed by the hour. The place itself was a beautiful thing to grow accustomed to.Union Park is 13.6 acres, which seems daunting enough when you first arrive, but is meager compared to Lollapalooza’s 300 acres in Grant Park, Chicago and Bonnaroo’s 700 acres of Tennessee wilderness.What Pitchfork lacks in size, it makes up for in intimacy.You quickly come to know the grounds and how to make the most of your time on them. There are never more than two bands playing at any given time, and it only takes a few minutes to travel between the stages.I caught at least one song from every act on Friday without stressing myself out. The small space means noise occasionally leaks from stage to stage, but it’s a distraction worth bearing for the easy access to different acts. Pitchfork is negatively associated with hipsters, but you’d never know it from the crowd. I saw as many sunglasses-sporting dads as I did skull-shirted 20-somethings. Even the most outspoken snobs offered a grain of salt with their insight.It seemed like a crowd of music lovers, and music lovers come in all shapes. A few even sat on their parents’ shoulders with pacifiers in their mouths and headphones in their ears.Pitchfork has a rare and comfortable atmosphere. I never felt insecure chatting with a fellow fanboy or taking shelter under someone’s umbrella.I was walking through a crowd of familiar strangers by Sunday night, most of whom were quick to smile. The weekend was exhausting but well worth the waking fantasy of easy laughs and pitch-perfect music.Check out photos from the festival here.
(07/14/12 6:10am)
Saturday & Friday recaps - WEEKEND goes to Pitchfork Music Festival Chicago
(07/12/12 12:14am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Music lovers have saved the date. It’s almost time to sweat it out under the Chicago summer sun. Pitchfork Music Festival is this weekend, July 13 to 15, in Chicago’s Union Park. Headliners Feist, Grimes and Vampire Weekend are impressive, but the festival’s depth is what makes it worth your attention.Artists range from noise elder Tim Hecker to gilded rapper A$AP Rocky; rockers The Men to buzzed dub-songwriter King Krule. You’ll also get a second chance to check out recent Bloomington visitors Danny Brown, Unknown Mortal Orchestra and Liturgy. Chicago local favorites The Atlas Moth and A Lull open the festival Saturday and Sunday.Get ready for a full recap of Pitchfork’s most promising lineup in years. @IDS_WEEKEND will live-tweet all three days of the festival, in addition to posting nightly blog recaps. Look forward to comprehensive online coverage of one of the summer’s best music events and a full-page feature in next week’s print edition.
(07/04/12 11:45pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Louis C.K. is on to something.He’s making headlines for his latest DIY experiment. Selling tour tickets for a flat fee of $45 directly from his website, the revolutionary comedian cut out the middle man of ticket sales.He sold 100,000 tickets in 45 hours.C.K. has also offered two DRM-free live specials for $5 from his website, earning him $1 million. This DIY approach has since been mimicked by comedians Jim Gaffigan and Aziz Ansari.There’s more.C.K. writes, directs, produces and stars in a critically-acclaimed show he can truly call his own (he also edited the first two seasons himself, but he’s since passed on the duty to sometime-Woody-Allen-editor Susan E. Morse).“Louie” premiered on FX in June 2010 and continues to defy expectations.The unconventional sitcom explores the mundane with beautiful and brutal honesty. It takes a closer look at the routine minutia of adult life than most shows dare. Take, for example, FX’s description of one of last season’s most commanding and emotional episodes: “Louie rides the subway and hangs out with his friend.” Most day planners have more exciting plots, but C.K. trusts his audience as he trusts himself to appreciate the nuances of his scripts.Another great episode ends with a fart joke.“Louie” thrives for its range. Most sitcoms hinge on predictable narrative arcs where zany conundrums meet tidy endings. Few “Louie” episodes look alike.The show’s third season premiered Thursday, June 28, to the delight of over 2 million viewers. The second episode airs tonight at 10:30 p.m. on FX.The first episode is a variation on his theme: how to keep a bleeding, bitter heart pumping.C.K.’s comedy is observational and self-effacing. It doesn’t need punchlines like his show doesn’t need pratfalls.His missteps are few, but demand attention. In his ironic acknowledgement of his own privilege, C.K. still eludes meaningful confrontation with race and gender issues. If you can scoff at the notion of these conversations taking place in comedy, you’re not giving enough credit to the form, and not holding a comedian like C.K. to the high standards he sets for himself.It’s important to remember C.K.’s vision isn’t universal, but his observational comedy does unearth relatable experiences. It imagines a way of living in a confusing and often unkind world.The situated perspective he captures so well can breathe meaning into moments we leave unnoticed.Maybe that’s why Louis C.K. is hailed as a “comedian’s comedian” by many and “the country’s best standup” by the New Yorker. He’s a visionary director and performer, willing to sacrifice for his art and go to the sad, dark places comedy was always meant to go.While most mainstream projects demand executive input and commercial support, C.K. decided it was best to do it himself and tell the stories he wants to.It’s paid off, financially and creatively.
(06/28/12 3:31pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>It’s all in the title.If you’re looking for an over-the-top, period picture about a vampire-killing president, this won’t disappoint. If you want a movie with more brains and less blood, look elsewhere.“Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter” features clunky dialogue, inventive kills and too many hyper-stylized zooms. What it lacks in plot it makes up for in action, including a dazzling set piece on horseback in the middle of a stampede.The bloodsuckers are menacing enough to jolt the audience and seem like a real threat, but “Vampire Hunter” is far from a horror movie. The movie is a blockbuster wannabe through and through — the fun comes from laughing at the movie and enjoying its special effects-laden fighting. The montages keep everything moving quickly, if not clearly, which is just as well for a high concept movie like this. Things begin to drag as the Civil War is introduced into the non-plot and unshocking twists convolute the storytelling.Benjamin Walker makes a more convincing hunter than president, and Mary Elizabeth Winstead can’t do much with her cookie-cutter wife role as Mary Todd. The movie is full of surprises good and bad: a cool twist on vampirism, some clever historicism, slaves as plot devices, an insulting portrayal of Harriet Tubman. Thankfully, it plays straightfaced for the most part, which adds to its camp cache and fun factor. If “Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter” is remembered at all, it’ll be remembered as a camp classic.By Patrick Beane
(06/07/12 12:45am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Without a number-one Billboard single to his name, Justin Bieber tops the true measure of today’s music popularity — YouTube.The 18-year-old icon’s YouTube channel has more than 1.4 million subscribers, 2.5 billion video views and the most-viewed video of all time, his first hit single “Baby.” But Justin Bieber isn’t the latest big thing. He’s the same thing that ever was.Canada’s hottest export is one of the United States’ favorite spokespersons for the good old American Dream. It keeps Bieber in the spotlight and the Dream alive.Bieber’s rise from obscurity to fame by way of YouTube has more than something to do with his sustained popularity. It’s an “American Idol” rags to riches narrative where natural talent supposedly earns you your wealth and place in history. Our idols say a lot about our national imagination.Bieber embodied the purest of pure as a child singer, seeming not much older than a baby when singing about his own “Baby” in a prepubescent voice.The video features playful bowling alley rivalry between genders that only hints at the sexuality of his later releases, but stays true to his most consistent theme — love.His innocuous lyrics always have a monogamous and heterosexy overtone, declaring that he just needs somebody to love, he’ll buy you anything and you’ll always be his. He fit perfectly into the desexualized ideal of normative children, which still promises to one day provide capitalist romance and long-term commitment.As proved by the staggering amount of times the video has been rewatched, we love to pretend this fantasy is real, and dream about a relationship with Bieber. By replaying Justin Bieber videos, we recreate something that never was, will be or can be.This is online video fantasy, where his huge fan following connects with the superstar. There are countless tweens who monastically devote themselves to the fantasy of marrying Bieber, which resulted in the seriously amazing “Marry Justin Bieber” online game. His videos can be dangerous, too — as they revive the same fears about childhood sexuality everyone was talking about when Britney and Miley were still controversial.When Bieber overtly tackles sexuality or appears sexual himself, the reaction is less ecstatic and more anxious. The mainstream nods its head to cutesy depictions of romantic longing but expresses outrage at the explicit or implicit fulfillment of that longing. The sexy “Boyfriend” video teasers scared enough people that I wonder if the concept was switched out for the more vanilla and “real” version of the video.The trick for Bieber will be to transition from a puritan child singer to a convincingly sexual adult singer without shocking people out of their adoration. If he makes it through the awkward transition into adulthood, Bieber will join the likes of Michael Jackson and Justin Timberlake as child-to-adult superstars.From there, he can sing more of the fantasy life of pure love, sexual pleasure and wealth that enchants listeners. His moment of truth arrives later this month with the release of his third album, “Believe.”Whatever propelled him into the American music mainstream, there’s no denying the salience of his project. The teen sensation has nearly 23 million Twitter followers, and every tweet of his I’ve read is retweeted and/or favorited by more than 50 followers.Featured on the cover of Forbes, which named Bieber the third most powerful celebrity in the world, his sharp suit and hairdo can’t quite overcome how baby-faced he still appears. This is an artist who sold out all his U.S. tour dates within an hour of going on sale. If you don’t believe in the popular power of the American Dream, you can’t deny how many Beliebers who do.Record label execs probably spend more time than we can imagine trying to figure out what will be well-received in dominant culture. They want to find the next big thing, and they want to be the ones selling it. Talent scouts and industry music producers comb the country for easily digestible and sellable faces and voices. Bieber is “it.” Why?Is it the odd free concert that convinces his younger fans he doesn’t care about money? Is it meeting and greeting Beliebers with neurological disorders? Is it his drug-free public record? The conventional beauty? The catchy melodies? Is it the voice?It’s all of that, and his ability to make us belieb in the American Dream. We’ve watched stories and heard songs like Bieber’s before, but he’s making the same-old same-old look and sound sexier than ever.By Patrick Beane
(06/07/12 12:11am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Other than the best-looking and trippiest enchanted forests I’ve seen in a live-action film, “Snow White and the Huntsman” has little to offer.The autopilot plot hits all the fairy tale’s required beats, while offering no convincing emotional grounding for the characters.The stars have trouble adding nuance to a script that has none.Kristen Stewart suffers worst of all, failing to overcome her woefully underwritten lead role. Even a good blockbuster actor would have trouble delivering an epic speech after not speaking for most of the movie. It’s not a good sign that I can’t remember a single line of Snow White’s dialogue in a movie about her.In a performance that’s at least memorable, Charlize Theron takes the evil queen Ravenna to camp levels of excessive anger. Chris Hemsworth, as the drunken huntsman, is the only actor who manages to inject some charm into a role, but he still fails to justify the character’s inclusion in the title.He and Kristen Stewart share what are supposed to be pivotal moments but are drowned out by the needless action and magical elements that are ditched in the film’s climax. This Snow White is teased to be some pagan Neo but ends up saving the day in what might be the most mundane battle of the year.The single notable story element was the curious and welcome lack of romance between the leads, which sets it apart from almost every other fairytale adaptation. I hate to say it, but that might have at least added some chemistry into the flat film.As was the case in the year’s first Snow White offering, “Mirror Mirror,” the visuals and dwarves are the standouts of the picture, but “Mirror Mirror” moved more easily from setpiece to setpiece.“Snow White and the Huntsman” meanders, and its two visionary forests can’t justify the by-the-numbers plot and dismal script.By Patrick Beane
(05/31/12 6:23pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>On 2003’s “Mount Eerie,” back when Phil Elvrum released music as The Microphones, he asked, “How many times have I made up this song before?” What seemed like unfounded insecurity nine years ago seems like a good question today. Elvrum’s mythological discography is full of deviations and reimaginations, but “Clear Moon” feels more like a final draft of previous ideas. Nevertheless, his frank lyrics hit home, and it’s still amazing how he captures nature in his music. Sheets of strummed guitar sound like rain on a rooftop. Organs loom like fog. The songwriting is solid, if familiar. The album is a pristine revision of Elvrum’s work, but his glow is starting to fade. Don’t get me wrong, majesty is to be heard on “Clear Moon.” Elvrum aficionados will find plenty to love, but casual listeners won’t miss what they can find better and rawer on “Mount Eerie” and “Wind’s Poem.” By Patrick Beane
(05/31/12 6:20pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Laurel Halo is an artist gifted as noisemaker and singer-songwriter. She’s been compared to Grimes and James Blake for setting pop melody against experimental electronics, but dare I say she’s sharper than either. More fitting comparisons are to Laurie Anderson, who was never afraid of making her pretty voice ugly and her ugly music pretty, and to sometimes-collaborator Daniel Lopatin, who builds scrap-sample universes as Oneohtrix Point Never.Touchstones aside, Halo stands above her influences and contemporaries as a visionary sound sculptor and songwriter. “Quarantine,” like its cover, cuts through its pretty surface to reveal the gushing and ugly heart that propels it.Standout “Thaw” opens with anxious screeching before a warm melody and Halo’s flat voice wash over the mix, offering the Panda Bear-like proverb “Don’t get addicted to anything/Just keep walking/One foot in front of the other/Forward motion’s the only answer.”Elsewhere, her vocals are stretched to their limit and folded over to make their own noise. Closer “Light + Space” oozes dreamily into your subconscious and sticks in your head.The result is a cinematic slice of synth- and sample-based noise, riven with acute pop sensibility and demanding of your attention. “Quarantine” is the summer’s first great album.By Patrick Beane
(05/31/12 12:31am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Pulp fantasy has landed on the small screen with big results.HBO’s “Game Of Thrones” is exploding like wildfire. The show averages 10.3 million viewers per episode, including online and repeat viewers. It has won two Emmys and a Golden Globe, which is no small feat for a genre series. As an epic high fantasy, “Thrones” delivers everything you could ever ask for and more: war, magic, politics, dragons and incest.The show is based on the popular and critically acclaimed “A Song of Ice and Fire” series written by American author George R. R. Martin. The enormous books demand dense episodes that expertly juggle several plots and dozens of characters. When the first season began, the episodes seemed saturated with endless characters, dumb violence and gratuitous nudity. The superficial campiness — swords that bisect foes, extended sex scenes in brothels, unabashed magical elements — was soon counteracted by dynamic characters and teleplays that knew when to be self-serious and when to have fun.Like one of HBO’s other great dramas, “The Wire,” “Thrones” evades unambiguous, good-versus-evil storytelling and is unafraid to kill off major characters.Because of this, every character deserves and demands attention. No one seems safe. The vulnerability of even the most central characters effectively raises the stakes for each episode, all the while emotionally grounding what could otherwise turn into ludicrous action and convoluted politicking.One of the show’s main draws and defining traits is its exploration of multiple conflicting viewpoints. Few shows have heroes so vile and villains so heroic, or so many of either. Because the story and cast of characters are so large, there’s almost always someone on screen with whom to identify.Even with the gross-out violence and needless objectification of women, the show’s complex characterization and nuanced storytelling make for rewarding television, which it delivers with Valyrian style week after week. If you’ve been reluctant to start playing the game, now’s a good time to make your first move.TV SPOILERS“Blackwater,” the second season’s penultimate episode, was written by Martin himself and serves up the best climax of the series so far. The scale of the action was unmatched for a TV production, and the emotions ran high enough to qualify the spectacle.Enormous green explosions don’t mean much unless they’re launched by an ingenious half-man or threaten a noble knight.The series might make a seasonal tradition out of fatal ninth episodes. After the endless violence at the Battle of the Blackwater, the lives of Tyrion and Ser Davos are up in the air.Could the series be so cruel? It has been before.Though the last episode featured what was inarguably the season’s climax, plenty of loose ends still need tying up in the finale. That viewers can anticipate what otherwise might feel like a wrap-up episode is a testament to the show’s compelling storytelling.Daenerys is being led on a wild dragon chase by warlocks, Jon Snow remains captive on the wrong side of the Wall, Arya might or might not escape Harrenhal and there are big messes to clean up in King’s Landing and Winterfell. The extended-length season finale “Valar Morghulis” airs on HBO at 9 p.m. Sunday.It’s going to be a long winter before the third season, which will cover only the first half of third book “A Storm of Swords.” Good luck enduring the wait without reading ahead.Gods be good!
(05/17/12 6:21pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Horseback has composed a record for William Faulkner’s blackout nightmares. If Lucifer lit a fire under Earth’s ass and in its bong, the resulting din might sound something like “Half Blood.”The band’s first original release on Relapse, “Half Blood” stitches together the best of doom-drone, post-rock and psychedelia-tinged Americana. That sounds like a peculiar blend of non-genres because it is.The growled black metal vocals lurk deep in the mix, which buzzes with layers of droning guitar and heavy drums. Eerie church organ fills out the sound and recalls the band’s roots influences.The confluence of genres never dulls Horseback’s edge. “Arjuna” menaces with a creeping metallic guitar riff and pounding drums.“Hallucigenia,” the sweeping, three-part suite that closes the record, sounds like a twisted take on some of the Grateful Dead’s more acidic feedback jams from the late ’60s.No matter what, the members of Horseback sound competent riding out the Dead’s influences and breaking them into their own.“Half Blood” is a devilishly face-melting spin on psychedelia and metal conventions. Don’t be afraid to take a dip or two in its deliciously muddy noise.By Patrick Beane
(05/17/12 1:23am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>I dreamed about movie events like this when I was 9 years old. “The Avengers,” “The Amazing Spider-Man” and “The Dark Knight Rises” are all hitting theaters in the same summer. It seems like fantasy.These are the heroes I loved as a kid. I watched the shows, read the comics and played the videogames.There was something about the spandex-sporting supers that grabbed my attention and made me root for them. Despite (or because of) their powers, they were outsiders and freaks.Spider-Man was bullied. Batman was alienated from others by his parents’ death. The X-Men were a bunch of misfit kids trying to harness powers beyond their control.This seems like obvious reading material for nerds who never feel like they fit in. Superheroes have long been associated with geek culture. Hollywood helped change that. After the successful “Superman” and “Batman” adaptations from the 1970s, ’80s and ’90s, dominant culture’s interest began to wane once again. When Bryan Singer’s “X-Men” earned nearly $300 million worldwide in 2000, superheroes and their movies reentered the mainstream.The dawn of superhero blockbusters is behind us. Further “X-Men” sequels and the “Spider-Man” films earned hundreds of millions of dollars in the early and mid 2000s. “Spider-Man 2,” “The Incredibles” and “The Dark Knight” made huge, critical splashes that helped establish the legitimacy of superhero stories.We’ve now slipped into an era where superhero movies reign supreme at the box office. For this, the movie industry is grateful.Three of this summer’s biggest movies are superhero movies. “The Avengers” has already earned $1 billion worldwide in its first two weeks of release and is poised to topple the $2 billion record set by James Cameron’s “Avatar.”The film’s star-studded ensemble cast and Joss Whedon’s smart and fun script guaranteed a big opening. It’s a movie worth seeing for its character-based humor and jaw-dropping action. It’s also worth seeing because it tells a big story about misfits learning to embrace one another as misfits. The heroes might face insurmountable odds and self-doubt, but they can learn and gain from each other.The summer also offers more obviously self-serious superhero fare in “The Dark Knight Rises.” The sequel to the previous highest grossing superhero movie of all time features the Bat-breaking Bane and the ambiguously motivated Catwoman.“The Amazing Spider-Man” lags behind “The Avengers” and “The Dark Knight Rises” in terms of hype, but its existence alone speaks to the popular demand for superhero stories. It’s a series reboot for a “Spider-Man” trilogy that ended only five years ago. Andrew Garfield is a fit for the more Ultimate-styled Spidey, but origin stories are getting a little tired.Superhero movies themselves might also get tired and lose their box office legs if they don’t go bigger and better like “The Avengers” or darker and deeper like “The Dark Knight Rises.”Why do we still need superhero movies?Studios need them because they rake in piles of cash so big Galactus might have trouble digesting them. Audiences need them because superheroes are today’s gods. The movies are doing more than making money. These are larger-than-life, unbelievable and exaggerated moral narratives parading as special effects spectacles. Ticking at the heart of each superhero movie is a story for kids and adults who don’t fit in. If they can find something to talk about with other fans, that’s one step toward friendship — something everyone deserves. Of course, Hollywood only wants box office juggernauts. As long as we can take advantage of truth, justice and the Hollywood way to help geeks find each other, I’m happy.
(05/10/12 5:43pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Detroit-born rapper Danny Brown will perform at 9 p.m. today at the Bluebird in Bloomington.Nomad Prod founder and IU student Sina Astani booked the show when he saw Brown was touring with Childish Gambino.Brown blew up after his 2010 album “The Hybrid,” which he followed up with last year’s critically acclaimed album “XXX.” The straightened hair- and skinny jeans-wearing rapper was also included in XXL’s Freshman Class of 2012.Danny Brown has one of the most distinctive voices in hip-hop right now. “To me, he sounds a little like ODB — Ol’ Dirty Bastard,” Astani said.Pitchfork is releasing an upcoming documentary about Brown called “Detroit State of Mind.” “I wouldn’t call him a hipster rapper, but I would put him in the genre of a different kind of emcees,” Astani said.The show’s opener is Indianapolis-based rapper Oreo Jones. Astani was excited that Jones is “playing with a full live band and DJ” and called him “Indiana’s biggest rapper now that Freddie Gibbs is on a national level.”Astani advised to get to the show at 9 p.m. because it might be a packed house and “there’s gonna be a lot of people coming from Indianapolis.” Brown spits gritty punch lines with a twisted sense of humor and tells bizarre stories full of inventively deranged imagery. His flow catches your attention.Astani said he wanted to make sure Brown came to Bloomington because “he’s different than most rappers.”Tickets are available at Landlocked Music, Ticketmaster and at the door for $15. Doors open at 8 p.m.
(05/10/12 5:35pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>When I was younger, I listened to the Grateful Dead and the Shins like it was the only music that mattered. I was a kid spending time with music that lifted me — irony be damned.I feel like that kid again when I listen to the new Animal Collective single.A-side “Honeycomb” has the bouncy density 2008’s gorgeous “Water Curses.” It’s a manic Avey Tare-fronted track with abrupt starts and stops, and perfect harmonies from Panda Bear. B-side “Gotham” is heavier and slower. The star of the song is Avey Tare’s voice, which he slurs and strains and screams against a busy instrumental as humid as the Midwest summer. This single is the first time Animal Collective has sounded like a live band on record since “Here Comes the Indian.” It’s largely due to the return of Deakin on guitar and Panda Bear on a full drum kit. Animal Collective might have reverted to a more conventional setup, but its music still sounds light-years ahead of any other act in the indie mainstream. They still have it in them after all these years.By Patrick Beane