Review: Little Girls’ Concepts

23 Oct 2009, Posted by Lucie Zhang in Playground, Review, 0 Comments

Unless you’ve lived under a rock the last couple years, you’ve noticed that the ’80s are back. Embracing this trend, Toronto-based Little Girls cites everything from ’80s no-wave, post-punk to early hip-hop as their influences. What began as Josh McIntyre’s solo project has developed into a bona-fide touring band, whose 11-track Concepts album was released Oct. 13. The concept behind Concepts? Growing up. How cute.

Yet while the idea might seem a bit cliché, their sound is anything but. Layered and gritty, Little Girls’ songs are deliberately imperfect, reflecting how everything on the album was recorded in a home studio and only at night. The theme of growing up is also directly accomplished by having the album include all of the band’s songs, from their very first to their latest recordings, thereby making it actually possible for the listener to hear the band mature into itself.

Despite their innocent-sounding name, Little Girls has some serious, darker undertones. Concept’s strengths are its later songs, such as “Thrills” and “Last Call,” where the band has been able to more effectively balance between its pounding beats, electric tones, and muffled vocals. When the album experiences growing pains itself, it is when it fails to achieve this equilibrium, creating a blurry dissonance of sound. In the end, though, Little Girls, whether deliberately or not, has somehow managed to capture one of the key elements of growing up (besides the adolescent angst): that feeling of potential.

[Image courtesy MBV music]

An adventurous tale of art criticism– book signing TODAY @ The Nasher

22 Oct 2009, Posted by Claire Finch in Art, Playground, 0 Comments

Acclaimed author John Brewer, who the Nasher blog describes as a “fascinating conversationalist” will come to the Nasher today at 5:30, for a book signing and discussion. His new novel, The American Leonardo: A Tale of Obsession, Art and Money, offers a pointed critique of the art criticism apparatus– all through the lens of a 1919 case of dubious art authentication involving Leonardo da Vinci’s “La Belle Ferronniere.” Though Brewer’s book comes nearly 100 years after the initial art world scandal, the debate still rages on, and the painting in question remains curiously locked in a storage vault in Omaha.

Live: Japandroids at Local 506, 10/18/09

20 Oct 2009, Posted by Andrew Hibbard in Playground, video, 0 Comments

Making a solid case for your top 10 of 2009 with the debut album Post-Nothing, Japandroids came to Local 506 last night with opener Real Estate. Check out videos of both bands below:

[Image Courtesy 230 Publicity]

Interview: Washington Post’s Dana Priest on investigative reporting

20 Oct 2009, Posted by Shaoli Chaudhuri in interview, National Politics, News, 0 Comments

The Chronicle’s Shaoli Chaudhuri interviewed Washington Post investigative reporter Dana Priest Monday. Priest spoke at Duke’s Sanford School of Public Policy about uncovering the CIA’s secret prisons and revealing poor conditions at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. She won Pulitzer prizes for both scoops.

Priest told The Chronicle that reporting during Barack Obama’s presidency is not very different from reporting during George W. Bush’s time in office, and said that students interested in journalism should still go into the profession, despite a tough job market.

Excepts from Chaudhuri’s interview are below:

The Chronicle: What do you hope your listeners, particularly those aspiring to go into journalism, take from today’s lecture and the experiences you share?

Dana Priest: It’s a great field to go into even though there’s a lot of turmoil in the business model. I can’t think of a better way to spend your life if you’re interested in doing a lot of different things, in being your own boss in a lot of ways—effecting change really, which you can do with accountability and investigative reporting. I also hope they get the flavor for the excitement of it—the story behind the story of secret prisons, and Walter Reed and the important role journalism plays in our democracy.

TC: If you could take on another beat anywhere in the U.S., where would it be and what would you write about?

DP: I’m at the place where I’ve always wanted to be. If I had a second life, I would do more on the environment and really look into false claim of greenness, but also prove the scientific evidence for different changes in environmental things, the atmosphere, climate change. I’d go to places where there’s degradation and really describe that.

TC: Could you tell me a little about how working during the Obama administration differs from working during the Bush administration?

DP: It really does not differ at all…The same people are in charge of dealing with the press. They’re not more open…I’m not surprised by it. Administration to administration there aren’t big differences in the area of intelligence…Maybe [Obama] will try harder in the future.

TC: Your reports on the CIA secret prisons earned you a Pulitzer, but another consequence was that the CIA fired one of your alleged sources. Did this impact your views on publishing classified information?

DP: No. People who work in the government have to follow different rules than people who don’t. You certainly wouldn’t want to stop what you’re doing as a reporter because someone might decide to go after the people who might be helping you. After 9/11 we automatically went into the classified arena. You automatically get into really sensitive areas [with investigative reporting].

TC: How have you seen journalism evolve over the years and what do you think the future has in store for the profession?

DP: Right now, papers are dying left and right and they’re cutting back on investigative reporting. And if that trend does not stop we are going to be a different country…I still find young people have a lot of desire to get into the field…We haven’t yet figured out how to use the power of the internet to make investigative reporting more powerful and reach more people.

Matt and Kim Interview Post-K-Ville Performance

19 Oct 2009, Posted by Charlie McSpadden in interview, Music, Playground, 0 Comments

Brooklyn-bred music duo Matt and Kim performed this past Friday at Kville in surprisingly chilly 45 degree weather to a nonetheless enthused Duke crowd. The two, whose song “Daylight” has caught the ears of those people over at Bacardi and many a Duke Tailgate DJ, took some time to chat post-performance. Topics ranged from their recently banned video “5K” to Matt’s back brace to their “Lessons Learned” from stripping down in Times Square and to their upcoming tour in Europe. Enjoy: