The Hives, despite having enjoyed some measure of success in the past, seem to overestimate their "rocking" status. In comparison to fellow Euro rockers who broke the mainstream bubble, The Hives have yet to garner the level of success their attitude alludes to - let's just say that this isn't The Clash we're talking about.
Long before Andy Warhol produced his infamous silk-screen prints of Marilyn Monroe, artists during Japan's Edo period were creating woodblock prints of the supreme sumo wrestlers of the day.
Jim Lambie is a Scottish artist with a penchant for found objects and sculptural relief. His new exhibit at the Museum of Fine Arts is a striking example of his signature style.
The Boston Museum of Fine Art's newest collection, "Symbols of Power: Napoleon and the Art of the Empire Style, 1800-1815," immediately presents an imposing aura of wealth and power to viewers.
Simple, elegant, harmonious: These words do not seem to be in Cliff Evans' vocabulary. Instead, words like "complex," "busy" and "cacophony" are better suited to describe the artwork of this young artist, the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museums' artist-in-residence.
A golden carpet greets visitors walking into the Carpenter Center for Visual Arts at Harvard. As eyes adjust to the shimmering mass of color, the shape becomes a clear rectangle, a sharply delineated plane. Upon moving closer, the field of gold coalesces into a tumble of shapes until it finally becomes apparent what the installation is made of: candy!
When Fred Mascherino left Taking Back Sunday at the end of October, diehard fans of the pop-punk outfit were upset and confused. Why would the lovable screaming backup vocalist and guitarist of the band suddenly drop all ties with the group? After being a critical part of Taking Back Sunday for over four years, Fred has (foolishly) decided to split with the band to focus on his solo project, entitled "The Color Fred."
Avenged Sevenfold is a band usually brushed aside by rock fans and critics alike. While some may argue that this is rather unfair, after listening to the band's newest self-titled effort, it seems that perhaps this discrimination is well warranted.
New Jersey native Armor for Sleep made waves with its first two independent releases, "Dream to Make Believe" (2003) and "What to Do When You Are Dead" (2005), albums full of whiny emo anthems about how terrible life is in affluent suburbs. While these two releases aren't completely awful, they definitely left room for growth from the fairly young group.
Just as Diagon Alley blends into its surroundings, so does the Howard Yezerski Gallery on Newbury Street. Situated between Akris and Juicy Couture, this two-room gallery introduces a world radically and magically different from the commercial and material world of Newbury. The stunning photographs of teenagers in classrooms and on the streets of Harlem reflect the humanism absent from the mega-shopping district surrounding the gallery.
Stark contrast repeats itself over and over again in Kara Walker's exhibit at the Fogg Museum at Harvard. Large lithographs hang in bold, black splashes to interrupt sterile whitewashed walls. The images themselves - altered reproductions of Civil War illustrations from Harper's Weekly - utilize only strong blacks on a white background, using marks to indicate depth and form. Walker's alterations appear in contrast - figural silhouettes superimposed over the original lithographs.
Marilyn Monroe sang in "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes" (1953) that "diamonds are a girl's best friend"
It's fitting that the best song on "¡Viva La Cobra!," Cobra Starship's sophomore release, is called "Guilty Pleasure."
Max Bemis and his group of crazy band mates came out with their second album last week. Say Anything's new album, "In Defense of the Genre" is a monster; it consists of two discs and 27 new songs.
The current exhibit at the MIT List Visual Arts Center is not a typical conceptual art exhibit. An exhibit focusing on sound seems to have no place in an art gallery where the focus is obviously and dutifully ocular; yet "Sounding the Subject: Selections from the Pamela and Richard Kramlich Collection and the New Art Trust" forces visitors to explore the connection between the auditory and the visual.
There are few bands left in the world today that are just generic, good rock bands. Jimmy Eat World bears the burden of being one of those bands and unfortunately, the group is constantly plagued with critics and fans attempting to brand them with a label.
She's an actress, singer, dancer, fashion designer, perfumer and producer. Let's face it, Jennifer Lopez has truly mastered being one thing: herself. While Jen-of-All-Trades exudes all the qualities a superstar of her caliber should, her recent work has taken a turn for the mediocre. From films to music she does it all, but recently it all seems to have left viewers and listeners alike unsatisfied. Unfortunately, her latest effort and fifth English album, "Brave," is no exception.
Nearby Ipswich, Mass. hardly elicits thoughts of artistic grandeur.
While sitting in class and listening to a lecture, picturing the professor outside the classroom, not as a teacher but as a researcher, can be difficult. It's pretty surprising to discover that an archeology professor slathers on sunscreen and dons camp shirts instead of her usual skirt and pumps to excavate ruins in South America. This sentiment of awe is present at Harvard University's "VES New Faculty 2007-2008" show.
Walking into the Boston Museum of Fine Arts' new exhibition of traditional Japanese paintings, "Drama and Desire: Japanese Paintings from the Floating World 1690-1850," the fresh and dynamic look of the show is utterly striking. The architecture of the entryway promotes a feeling of seclusion with a latticework of white beams, shrouding the paintings inside in an atmosphere that feels more like a temple than a museum gallery.
