Standard Fare – Out of Sight, Out of Town
Lucy Orsi
Standard Fare is a band known for frilly music, a commitment to a unique sound, and dedication to bettering themselves as musicians. On their second full length album, hard work and focused fundamentals bring an average band to new and higher levels of talent. Elements of fun and carefree melodies make “Out of Sight, Out of Town” a fun listen on a dreary winter day.
Last year was a bad year for children’s movies. Pixar had their worst reviewed movie ever in “Cars 2,” which deservedly failed to receive an Oscar nomination. This would have been surprising in a year without decent animated features, but the Academy Award winner in this category, “Rango,” was honestly nowhere near the quality of Pixar classics like “Toy Story” or “Monsters, Inc.” “Hugo,” a live-action children’s film, ran away with the Academy Awards, but it was alone in the race. Following in Hugo’s success, Disney has stepped away from animation momentarily in favor of live-action for it’s newest film, “John Carter.”
On “Go Fly a Kite,” Ben Kweller’s newest album and first on his own label (Noise Company), he is as charming as ever. For the most part, his songs back this charm up with solid musicianship, even though the lyrics are somewhat disappointing. Kweller has always had a unique way of charming listeners. Ever since his debut, listeners have had high expectations. It is hard to dislike Kweller. His songs capture his charm to an impressive degree, even when you dislike a song, you desperately want to like it.
This year’s E-days celebration will feature not just one, but two live concerts, beginning with one of Mines’ own students, Cooper Newby. Newby, a senior at Mines, is one of the two members of the electronic group Catalina Rhyme Mixers. Known for mixing across genres, Catalina Rhyme Mixers has found their niche in today’s electronic mash-ups world.
Shailine Woodley, the most surprising aspect of Alexander Payne’s new movie “The Descendants”, reveals herself as a varied and experienced actress. Poor writing riddled Shailine Woodly’s career, but her role alongside of George Clooney allows her to shine when handed a decent script led by good directing.
Fun., a band known for its desire to create unique music without compromising their integrity, recently signed with a major record label, Fueled by Ramen, with the production of their newest album. Nate Reuss, a singer/songwriter known for his distaste for big record companies, wrote a song called “The Compromise”, effectively terminating him from his previous label. Every aspect of Fun. jabs at formulaic albums produced by record companies.
The Head and the Heart, a band whose journey to the top of the charts proves, even in a world where most people discover music online, hard work can still launch bands. The Head and the Heart signed with Sub Pop Records and, following in the footsteps of many of their pacific northwest predecessors, have been working a long time to see results. Before signing with Sub Pop, their debut album was self produced and sold by the band at concerts and a few local record stores.
Bias, propaganda, and censorship normally fill modern documentary style movies. However, Danfung Dennis does not employ such tactics as he explains the soldier’s blight in Afghanistan. “Hell and Back Again,” the new documentary about the Afghanistan war follows one soldier on his deployment to Afghanistan. Instead of showing viewers the horrors of war with an antiwar bias, Dennis follows one soldier in his first few months of duty until his return to the US.
It is not a new comparison, and I’m sure the band itself is getting tired of hearing it, but it is too obvious not to point out the similarities between the new indie rock band Howler from Minnesota and their New York counterpart The Strokes. They are even signed to the same label. But honestly, what indie rock band wouldn’t want to be compared to The Strokes? These are large footprints to fill, but for modern day indie rock they are the standard. Lead singer Jordan Gatesmith is a promising lead, but he has a long way to go before he will touch Julian Casablancas. While Howler’s “America Give Up” hardly touches The Strokes debut “Is This It,” it’s a genuinely good album of its genre.
Having never seen the Swedish version, the American version of “The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo” proved to be a well directed, well acted, and well filmed compelling mystery/action movie. The movie revolves around the unsolved mystery of Harriet Vanger, a young girl of affluent background, who disappeared forty some years ago. Her entire family lives on an island that is secluded from the rest of the world, yet their contact with each other is minimal. This alone is a great enough concept to start a novel, and while the movie never delves into it, there is something to be said about leaving their interactions as another mystery of the film. While the plot of the movie lies in the solving of this mystery, by the end the audience is far more concerned with Lisbeth Salander (Rooney Mara) than the solved crime, or even her male counterpart Mikael Blomkvist (Daniel Craig).