Arts

Arts

'Beast Moans': Swan Lake could not have given their new album a more fitting title

December 10

Perhaps it's when the opening track fails to present anything remotely coherent or, for that matter, anything remotely musical, that the Wolf Parade fan begins to have doubts about this album. Or maybe the realization sets in later, as the disappointed fan flicks off the last track in disgust and returns to the straightforward and familiar ground of "Apologies to Queen Mary" (2005).

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Arts

'More Fish' will leave you stuffed to your gills; follow-up to 'Fishscales' disappoints

December 7

As far as personalities, Ghostface Killah has to be one of the most interesting emcees in hip-hop. With a menacing moniker ripped from "Ninja Checkmate"'s (1979) lethal villain and an often brutally punishing flow, it would seem easy to pigeonhole the Ironman as a rough-and-tumble rapper, a gritty, salty vet that you wouldn't want to piss off.

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Arts

Only five worthwhile songs on new Incubus album

December 5

When Incubus released "A Crow Left of the Murder" in 2004, it was met with mediocre reviews, some saying it reflected maturity and others claiming it was the beginning of the end. The band's new album, "Light Grenades," picks up where "Crow" left off, which will either be good or bad news depending on what the listener thought of the band's previous effort.

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Arts

Akon should be 'Konvicted' of ruining hip-hop

December 2

It's a busy Monday night at Tufts, and students are filing into Brown and Brew to crack open the books. The study mood was set by a local pop/hip-hop radio station playing a club mix.

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Arts

There's more than 'Reasonable Doubt' about Jay-Z's motives on his 'Kingdom' comeback

November 28

Amidst hip-hop's incessant braggadocio, few rappers have as thoroughly earned their right to talk as Jay-Z. Journalists have made careers out of chronicling Shawn Carter's now 10-year tenure as an artist, from the hustler wordplay of the still-astounding "Reasonable Doubt" of 1996 (still one of the best debuts in hip-hop history) to his 2001 opus "The Blueprint" (still one of the best records in hip-hop history).

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Arts

Clipse blows by coke-rapping contemporaries on 'Hell Hath No Fury'

November 26

Over the past year, the hip-hop airwaves have been dominated by "trap-hop," a rap subgenre in which self-proclaimed dealers-turned-rappers glorify the selling of cocaine with clever metaphors like trap-hopper Young Jeezy's "I sling so much white/ it'll hurt your eyes."

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Arts

Fogg exhibit 'Dissent!'s from its normal gallery exhibits

November 26

Ever since printmaking became an art form over 500 years ago, it has been used as a quick, easy and cheap form of communication. Just as other publications like newspapers and pamphlets flourished with the introduction of the printing press, the means for communicating among artists, between social movements, between the maker and the viewer were made so vast that artistic prints entered a realm oil paintings were incapable of.

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Arts

Blink-182 minus Tom DeLonge gives you mediocre +44

November 26

In the wake of Blink-182, the world seems a bit lost as to in what direction pop-punk is supposed to go. The former Blink members - Mark Hoppus, Tom DeLonge and Travis Barker - have all found new groups, but as of yet, none have come close to filling the void left by their former '90s juggernaut.

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Arts

Foo Fighters' 'Skin and Bones' is a live look at an old body of work

November 19

Dave Grohl has everything a rock star could want: cred as the drummer for Nirvana, his own band and a sweet beard. After five consecutive platinum albums (two of which were double-platinum), the Foo Fighters needed some way to commemorate their success. Instead of doing a typical "greatest hits" compilation, Grohl opted for a live album, this time: "Skin and Bones." An accompanying DVD will be released Nov. 28.

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Arts

High drama, high fashion at the MFA

November 18

Four times a year, Paris welcomes onto its famed runways some of the most gifted and creative fashion designers from around the globe. While each collection showcases the individual themes and artistic visions of the designers, the runways also serve as a lens through which the designers analyze the relationship between fashion and art.

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Arts

Campbell's voice could use some Belle, or maybe Sebastian

November 16

Occasionally, an album or film has the misfortune of being released the same week as a critical darling, causing it to either be forced under the radar or unfairly compared to the other work.

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Arts

That guy from The Strokes blazes new ground on solo debut despite a few subpar choruses

November 15

Strokes fans, brace yourselves for a surprise: The guitarist from your favorite band, a man who, for years, has been lying in wait behind the ostentatious personality of lead singer Julian Casablancas, has just released a solo album. It appears that there is not only a personality difference between the two; Albert Hammond, Jr. also seems to have very different musical ambitions from Casablancas.

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Arts

'Opening the Doors' exhibit unlocks little

November 13

With something as emotionally infused as artwork, especially child art, an exhibit of works by autistic children is extraordinary; it is art serving as a creative outlet for those who are emotionally blocked. Autism, while still essentially a mystery, is on the rise, with current Department of Health and Human Services statistics showing that up to one in every 166 births yield children diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder.

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Arts

Boston Gallery makes intimate setting for Avery's seascapes

November 12

Everywhere in America, one sees the same Main Street, same Sears, same Coca-Cola, same chain drugstore, same fried shrimp and the same local museum reflecting in a lesser way the same big museum. Instead of venturing to the "big museums" this November for whatever universal art they are highlighting, search for a more intimate American vision "'bury"ed closer than you think.

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Arts

Super + Sunny + Speed Graphic = finally, a 'new' Ben Folds album

November 11

When looking at the new Ben Folds album, it is easy to dismiss it in its entirety, since it is really just a recycled production of old material. It would seem at first to be a marketing ploy to capitalize on his music without wasting any time actually making the music.

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Arts

New Who doesn't stand up to classics

November 7

When you hear the beginning of The Who's new album, you'll be forgiven if you laugh out loud. The first 40 seconds of the record's first track sound like a mildly inventive recreation of the intro to "Baba O'Riley," the song that opened the classic 1971 album "Who's Next." And when the drums kick in, they sound like a tamer version of the heart-stopping drum fill that capped "Baba"'s intro.

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Arts

March resumes in 'Black Parade'

November 5

There are many reasons to be afraid of My Chemical Romance: they're pale, they wear black, they love blood, they're from New Jersey. But rock fans across the nation now warmly embrace them as the up-from-the-underground sensation that took the world by surprise with its smash 2004 release "Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge."

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Arts

'In the Absence' not missing anything; Isis rocks

November 5

No strangers to experimental rock, Boston-based Isis once again delivers a release that nestles comfortably and sequentially into its already-extensive discography. "In The Absence of Truth," Isis's third LP for Ipecac and 15th release since 1998, continues to push the limits of experimental/instrumental music. Fusing elements of prog-rock, metal and ambient by creating a record that stays true to the band's signature sound, "Truth" also vibrantly underscores Isis's progression.

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Arts

'Young Machetes' is as dull as an old knife; Blood Brothers betray genre

October 29

If you killed a Great White Shark and used your bare hands to take out its teeth, then devised a way to put those teeth - along with a substantial amount of razor blades - into a mine or explosive of some kind and set the mine or explosive off at a Green Day show, you would rival the volatility, ingenuity and utter disregard for contemporary punk/emo/whatever conventions that characterize the work of Seattle's The Blood Brothers.

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Arts

'Born in the UK' is a 'badly' made album; Badly Drawn Boy's new album far from a perfect fifth

October 25

The great thing about the indie music world is that it is actually possible for three 15-year-olds playing in a garage for their grandma to be considered an actual band.

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