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At first glance, a TV character whose main hobbies include naming celebrity couples and wearing bold prints doesn’t really give off a feminist vibe, but Mindy Kaling’s character of Dr. Mindy Lahiri is doing more for feminism than you think.
“How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days”
We all know that Tri–Delt star Elizabeth Banks went to Penn and then became a famous actress, but now she’s trying her hand at directing with the second installment of a capella film “Pitch Perfect.” The original movie was based on the International Championship of A Cappella competition, better known as the ICCAs, and Banks offered her comedic chops as an official commentator to the main characters’ performances. There’s not word yet on what the plot of the second movie will be, but until then you can check out the actual ICCAs right here in Philadelphia. They’re taking place on Drexel’s campus on February 1, and campus group The Counterparts will be competing—the first time a Penn a cappella group has been in competition since Urkel jokes were still funny.
“Sons of Anarchy,” which follows the lives of members of a motorcycle club of the same name, is something of a sleeper hit. Not unlike the increasingly popular “Breaking Bad”, the show's ratings hit their peak with its most recent sixth season. As each season brings more viewers, it also brings another carefully crafted soundtrack of "Songs of Anarchy." The show has its own house band, The Forest Rangers, who have quietly built up an arsenal of covers—and a few original songs from some other artists—that comprises the soundtrack of “Son’s.” The story of the soundtrack starts easily with the show's theme song: "This Life," performed by Curtis Stigers and The Forest Rangers. The song is bluesy southern rock, and many of the songs used on the show follow suit.
If you're looking for boobs and blockbusters, look to the theaters. If you're looking for real black and white substance, look to the past. This week's pick: The Philadelphia Story
This article was originally published as part of the joke issue on 12.5.2013
If you ask me about “The O.C.,” I will, with unabashed enthusiasm, explain to you that it’s one of the most important television shows ever to air. There’s a number of reasons I hold this opinion, but a relatively important one is that the soapy and dramatic lives of Orange County residents Ryan Atwood, Seth Cohen, Marissa Cooper and Summer Roberts are soundtracked with astonishing precision. Each song fits each scene perfectly, both consciously and subconsciously imitating the emotion of what’s playing out.
“The men in my family, going back generations, have always just been musicians, and that’s been kind of passed down to me,” Wes Spiro explains about his affinity for music. Growing up, Wes never had any formal singing training, but he often played music with his father, a professional folk guitar player, and began to develop his own voice and sound through this constant exposure. And he watched a whole lot of “Sister Act” movies. “There’s this scene where Lauryn Hill sits at the piano and sings ‘His Eyes on the Sparrow,’ and that’s my favorite scene in any movie ever. And from there I just became obsessed with this black gospel tradition.” This obsession found a productive outlet when Wes saw a performance by The Inspiration, a predominantly African–American a cappella group, at his freshman year convocation. “They stepped out on stage and just started snapping, and they sang Cece Winans [a famous gospel singer], I think; I was just so floored by it, and I decided that was something that I had to try.”
Philly’s only Scandinavian joint outside Ikea is a welcome guest
Philly–born singer/songwriter Amos Lee has always been known for his grass roots musical style, and loyal fans will be more than satisfied with his Americana–inspired turn on “Mountains of Sorrow, Rivers of Song.” Opening track “Johnson Blvd” and fourth track “Chill in the Air” embody the feel of the album best, featuring Lee’s calming vocals with more southern–tinge than usual. A high point comes with the ninth track, “Loretta,” which has an electronically–inspired spark of originality coupled with a spunky lyrical narrative. The album’s glaring weakness, though, is that Lee’s lyrics don’t feel like they matter as much as they should. The melodies are well–produced and powerful enough to keep the album from ever (ever) being called bad, but ultimately the lyrical weakness keeps the album from achieving its potential as an unforgettable feat of neo–folk music.
"Another Bandz A Make Her Dance remix! Sorry for ruining this Sigur Ros song." remixer Nate Belasco writes as the caption for his Juicy J/Sigur Ros musical marriage. "Bandz A Make Her Dance" is often called a "strip club anthem" and epitomizes the type of hip-hop that consistently makes it to the top of the charts. Sigur Ros's "Isjaki" is a prime example of what the Icelandic post-rock group does best: ethereal instrumentation and soothing vocals...that doesn't quite top the charts. So a remix of the two songs doesn't seem like something that needed to happen. Except it did, and it's awesomely inventive. Listen below.
Chillwave artist Toro Y Moi's most recent music video features the concept, direction and artwork of an artist named Lauren Gregory. The video starts off with a series of colorful canvas paintings depicting Toro Y Moi playing the piano in front of a rose quartz background. The vibrant colors of the canvas painting give the video, and by default the song, an upbeat and optimistic feel. The video transitions into more colorful backgrounds while also introducing more musicians into the moving paintings as the song builds. It's definitively trippy, but in a smarter way than usual thanks to the tasteful artwork and animation done by Gregory. It looks like Toro Y Moi might be trying to bring back the "art" of the music video—ha… ha… ha… get it? Good, now watch it.
RiFF RaFF-- the rapper whom (supposedly, but it's basically definite) James Franco's "Alien" character from Spring Breakers is based off of-- has graced with us a new music video for his single "Dolce & Gabbana." With deep and profound lyrics such as "Only f*** with hoes who rock Dolce & Gabbana," RiFF RaFF keeps it ridiculous as usual. Now that we're past talking about the music, let's get down to the most important thing in this video: fashion (no, but seriously). RiFF RaFF rocks everything from cardigans to skeleton costumes to the flyest purple suit you've ever seen, and the result is better than Fashion Week. Check it out below.
Michael Lewis has been playing music seriously ever since he made his mom cry with a ukulele rendition of Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah” and realized he might actually have some talent at this little musical hobby of his. It’s been a whirlwind of songwriting, voice lessons and a capella groups (he’s in Penny Loafers) since that fateful night in tenth grade, and with his first EP, “Hearts of Sand,” Michael is putting a lot out on the table.
Empire of the Sun's "Walking on a Dream" is one of the more under–appreciated songs of the past five years. Ludacris' "How Low" is one of the more over–appreciated songs of the past five years. Together, they make a mash–up worth everyone's appreciation. Put together by a youtube personality who probably didn't realize the gold he was striking, the mash–up perfectly matches the emphasis of the rhymes to the ups and downs of the "Dream" melody. The real kicker is a fun little guest spot by Lil' Wayne that comes off the Young Money medley "Bed Rock." Overall, the song is an especially fun and easy example of a mash up done well.
“Electric Lady” is comprised of the fourth and fifth installments of Janelle Monae’s “Cindi Maywater Android” series that began with her 2007 debut EP. The album, a follow–up to critically acclaimed “ArchAndroid,” is definitely more laidback than her last effort. Featuring a slew of crooner guests like Prince, Miguel and Solange Knowles, Monae delves deep into her R&B roots. “Primetime,” which features Miguel, is a prime example of this as it showcases Monae’s sultry side with the current reigning king of sultriness. The two jammiest songs on the album, “We Were Rock and Roll” and “Dance Apocalyptic,” are fun departures from the general tone of the album and leave you wanting for Monae's upbeat side. She is even found rapping on some tracks, but there are a few too many relaxed songs for an album boasting a 19–song tracklist. Overall, the album showcases Monae’s undeniable musical talent, but the fierceness Monae is striving for is sometimes too understated in the series of slower tunes.
Before you read the rest of this blurb, be warned that it's possible you will glean even more satisfaction from this video by watching it without reading the rest of this blurb. Only five days out of the gate, Norwegian entertainment duo Ylvis' music video for "The Fox" has already gone viral. The song poses an important question about what sound foxes make over a shockingly good EDM melody. While also making fun of music videos in general as it off and on features an angsty guy in a leather jacket singing the words on a couch during slow-mo party scenes, the "The Fox" video is both a brilliant satire and a generally awesome song. Check it out below. RING-DING-DING-DING-DINGERINGEDING.
Big Sean has managed to pull off one of the most graceful avoidances of a sophomore slump in a long time. The rapper, known for hits like "Dance (A$$)" and "My Last," has consistently found his strong suit in smart collaborations with everyone from Kanye to John Legend. He continues in that vein with "Hall of Fame," welcoming guests such as Nas, Miguel, Nicki Minaj, and Common. The result is a collection of rap songs accessible to the masses. This album shows us that while Big Sean may not be Kendrick Lamar spitting fire on "Control," "Control" IS his song.
“The Newsroom” is once again an interesting place to be. 1. The episode starts out with Will ripping on every single Republican presidential candidate hopeful. “News Night” replays footage of the candidates giving the highest praise to soldiers, and then plays footage of a gay soldier, who was in combat while filming the question, asking a question about gay rights in the military during one of the primary debates. The entire audience of Republican primary voters boos and the candidates simply sit there. Will then proceeds to characteristically tear apart all the candidates for a definitive lack of leadership in not defending the soldier and reminds us why, in the end, we always root for him. 2. Nina Howard, the gossip columnist who caused a whole bundle of issues for Will last season, is back and guess what? She knows Will taken off the 9/11 coverage on purpose. Will decides to meet with her to "appeal to her humanity," which has something to do with Will's "mission to civilize." Surprisingly enough, because, well, Nina Howard is a gossip columnist, she agrees not to run the story because she likes that Will was honest with her about what happened. This act of goodness leads Will to see Nina in the way he originally saw her when they met on New Year's Eve last season… 3. …As a woman he'd like to bed. Will sleeps with Nina Howard. We find out about this when Mac calls Nina to ask her about that pesky voicemail from last season. The voicemail where Will told Mac that he still loves her and that she's spectacular and the one that Nina Howard deleted so Mac didn’t know what high–Will said. Anyways, Nina is in Will's bathroom when she lies to Mac about what the voicemail said and we are again eternally frustrated that Will and Mac can't just be together. 4. Jim, meanwhile, has finally had enough of the Romney campaign. After knocking heads with a new Romney rep (played by the lovely Constance Zimmer), he goes on a McAvoy-esque tirade about how the other reporters should start asking hard-hitting questions and stick it to the Romney–man and his non–existent jobs/economy reform plans. Unfortunately, the outburst gets Jim, his new blonde friend and one other reporter kicked off the bus. And while watching Jim tear apart the Romney campaign bit by bit is pretty entertaining, it's probably time he gets back into the newsroom because this is getting a little tired. 5. Finally, Mac and Jerry Dantana (the DC fill–in for Jim) meet with Eric Sweeney, the contact that claims that the U.S. military sarin-gassed an entire village—aka, Operation Genoa. They hear his story and Jerry remains convinced that he's got the scandal of the century on his hands. Finally warming up to the idea, Mac gives Jerry the team he needs. They decide to go through every tweet that was tweeted that night near the area and discover that one user was essentially live-tweeting Genoa. The ball is finally rolling with Operation Genoa. Also, Don and Sloan flirted a lot. All in all, definitely an entertaining episode and a bounce back from last week.
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