46 items found for your search. If no results were found please broaden your search.
(07/02/12 4:15am)
At one point in Nell Freudenberger’s novel The Newlyweds, Amina, a newly-married Bangladeshi woman living in America with her husband George, explicitly reflects on the unique circumstances of a cross-cultural relationship: “She and George didn’t disagree very often, but when they did it was always because of ‘cultural differences’—a phrase so useful in forestalling arguments that she felt sorry for those couples who couldn’t employ it.” But the cultural differences that Amina faces are only the superficial problems of the complex story that unravels. At the heart of The Newlyweds, there exists the culture-blind problem of the past—are our past selves worth reconciling with the present version for a more complete life? Or are they merely former incarnations forever threatening to sabotage who we want to be?
(07/02/12 3:59am)
Outside of playing the fantasy dinner party game, there are few instances in which authors Haruki Marukami, Toni Morrison and Elizabeth Bishop would ever be in same room, but at the Hinge Literary Center’s launch party in June 2011, that’s exactly what happened.
(04/19/12 4:00am)
At Beyond the Front Porch 2012, 19 undergraduate students pursuing the documentary studies certificate will showcase their capstone presentations, which constitute a semester-long project required for the interdisciplinary program. The free exhibition, which will be on display at the Center of Documentary Studies (CDS) until the end of the summer, will present a variety of documentary works in film, photography, audio and writing.
(04/12/12 4:00am)
Oasis’s Noel and Liam Gallagher should single-handedly discourage any brothers who want to start a band together. Fighting for the title of Most Unlikable Arse across the Pond, the British brothers have created such a notorious reputation of in-house rivalry and feuding that their public personas now overshadow their music. But on the other end of the spectrum, the Beach Boys—an example of how to capitalize on the unique bond of brotherhood and transform it into a successful artistic relationship.
(03/29/12 4:00am)
Britney Spears has said that “Toxic,” her infectious, Grammy-winning hit from her 2003 album In the Zone, is her favorite song she’s done in her entire career.
(03/22/12 4:00am)
In the 2004 movie Garden State, Natalie Portman’s character Sam declared that a Shins song is capable of changing your life. The reference unwittingly catapulted the indie pop band to a level of national recognition only otherwise achieved if Oprah picks your novel for her book club. And while the Shins benefitted from this burst of popularity, they would have found their present level of fame regardless, because at the heart of the Shins, as well as their new album Port of Morrow, is an unrivaled sincerity that they sail on past trends and novelty.
(03/01/12 5:00am)
Aristotle, in his oft-quoted wisdom once said that “the whole is more than the sum of its parts.” This maxim holds true for many things: Arrested Development, the Wu-Tang Clan, lasagna. The adage, however, proves elusive for Wanderlust. Despite its comedic muscle—a director (David Wain) with a sketch comedy background, a producer (Judd Apatow) with a penchant for raunchy, gut-busting humor and a cast that is so damn likeable you could rename them all Anderson Cooper—Wanderlust comes alive only in a few brief moments, creating a lackluster film unworthy of the talent behind it.
(02/16/12 5:00am)
“It All Feels the Same,” the first track off of Tennis’ sophomore album, Young and Old, displays a remarkable sense of clairvoyance in its title. The following songs fail to distinguish themselves and instead create a steady stream of lo-fi pop with delightful instrumentals and charming lyrics. If you had to describe Tennis’ music in a word, it’d be cute. Really, really, cute.
(02/09/12 5:00am)
Just like the antique Peugeot that whisks Owen Wilson to the Parisian 1920’s in Woody Allen’s Midnight in Paris, Sharon Van Etten’s voice has a magical quality of transposition. Nostalgic, smoky and steeped in vulnerability, Van Etten’s voice evokes a bluesy, bedimmed haunt that is saturated with smoke, pierced only by her pain, emanating from a cramped stage in the corner. Despite being so effective at capturing a specific moment—and with the same folk melodies and introspective lyrics from her first two releases—Van Etten’s third album, Tramp, demonstrates her versatility outside the vision of a lovelorn cabaret songstress.
(02/09/12 5:00am)
Just like the antique Peugeot that whisks Owen Wilson to the Parisian 1920’s in Woody Allen’s Midnight in Paris, Sharon Van Etten’s voice has a magical quality of transposition. Nostalgic, smoky and steeped in vulnerability, Van Etten’s voice evokes a bluesy, bedimmed haunt that is saturated with smoke, pierced only by her pain, emanating from a cramped stage in the corner. Despite being so effective at capturing a specific moment—and with the same folk melodies and introspective lyrics from her first two releases—Van Etten’s third album, Tramp, demonstrates her versatility outside the vision of a lovelorn cabaret songstress.
(02/02/12 5:00am)
On Sonic Youth’s widely-regarded 1988 album Daydream Nation, frontman Thurston Moore sang, “Got a foghorn and a drum and a hammer that’s rockin’/ And a cord and a petal and a lock, that’ll do me for now.” The lyrics, accompanied by Moore’s charging electric guitar, define the attitude and aesthetic of a band that became so overwhelmingly influential to musicians thereafter—Sonic Youth’s post-punk experimentation and confrontational attitude to the conventions of rock paved the way for a noisy, crafted musical rebellion that many artists felt compelled to join in throughout the ’90s.
(01/17/12 11:00am)
At most dance performances, a loud, emphatic “Olé!” from the audience is not usually condoned, but Carlota Santana, Artistic Director of Flamenco Vivo, actually encourages it.
(12/01/11 11:00am)
In a recent Slate.com article, in-house pop critic Jonah Weiner mercilessly attacked Rihanna’s success, questioning her substance and authenticity on and off her albums, and ultimately labeling her a “a one hit-wonder several dozen times over.” It’s a provocative (and mathematically dubious) comment that sounds a bit naive in a current pop climate that expects reinvention with every release. While the Barbadian pop princesss isn’t beyond reproach, the criticism seems more appropriate for her contemporaries, who drench themselves in glitter, create impotent alter egos or morph into cartoonish caricatures of themselves. But Rihanna’s aesthetic is more red lipstick than red meat dress. Talk That Talk, Rihanna’s sixth studio album, demonstrates that she does have the capacity to sound genuine, even if that means showcasing the overconfident missteps of a 23-year old celebrity.
(11/10/11 10:00am)
Harold Pinter’s The Birthday Party is anything but fun and games. Presented by Little Green Pig Theatrical Concern, the 1958 absurdist play centers around the events that occur at an English seaside boardinghouse when two unexpected guests arrive to psychologically torture one of the house’s tenants on his birthday.
(10/27/11 8:00am)
When Tom Waits was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame earlier this year, his speech made no concessions for his reputation: “They say I have no hits and I’m difficult to work with, and they say that like it’s a bad thing.”
(10/20/11 8:00am)
The Haymaker theater company is taking a bite out of Durham’s thriving arts community. Starting October 20, Manbites Dog Theater will present Living with the Tiger, Haymaker’s first performance in the Durham area.
(10/13/11 8:00am)
One of the earliest words attached to Bjork’s music was “experimental”—a dubious category that includes artists as disparate as John Cage and Frank Zappa. Often, the experimental label is attached to describe the indescribable, in order to market the unconventional to consumers. Despite enjoying success and a major label platform for this quasi-genre, Bjork has transcended the “experimental music” classification with Biophilia and instead created a musical experiment, a multimedia collection comprised of iPad apps, a physical album release and a concert series.
(09/29/11 9:00am)
In the fifth installment of Duke’s 2011 French Film Festival, the Center for French and Francophone Studies will be hosting a screening of Of Gods and Men, a 2010 French-language film directed by Xavier Beauvois. Winner of the 2010 Grand Prix prize at the Cannes Film Festival, the movie has enjoyed commercial and critical success in its domestic market as well as abroad, despite its limited release outside of French theaters.
(09/22/11 8:00am)
What should medical professionals do when they can no longer save their patients’ lives? That question lies at the heart of What Love Is: The Duke Pathfinders 50, a new film by visiting filmmaker Ted Bogosian, Trinity ‘73, which will premiere at the Nasher Museum of Art this Friday.
(09/01/11 8:00am)
At just 25 years old, Zach Condon has already enjoyed an enviable life. After dropping out of high school, the boy behind Beirut traveled to Europe and heard the Balkan gypsy music and French chansons that would inspire his music and reputation as an indie prodigy importing a worldly sound. Both of his accomplished previous albums are deeply rooted in the cultural sounds of Eastern and Western Europe, which makes his third album, The Rip Tide, an outlier. Foregoing the distinct, grandiose instrumentation of Gulag Orkestar and The Flying Club Cup, Beirut has produced a more domestic pop album that only hints at Condon’s past life as a vagabond.
