They appeared over the summer, three identical wheatpaste posters of anthropomorphic hot dogs in buns, wearing sneakers and pedaling unicycles as they exclaimed in speech bubbles, “Hot dog!” One, pasted to the side of the raised parking lot between Market and South Streets, was gone after about a week, but the others—on Cherry Avenue and […]
This week, something extraordinary will happen in Charlottesville: Four exhibitions of contemporary Aboriginal Australian art will open in four different venues across town, bringing the total number of such exhibitions currently on view to six. And a seventh will open in mid-February. Having this many concurrent shows of contemporary Indigenous Australian art in one locale […]
Who knew the only thing a Michael Bay sequel needed was a new director to rein it in? Say what you want about Michael Bay’s movies (Lord knows I have), but his work is inimitable. You can tell right away if you’re watching authentic Bay or a knockoff. He is a master of his own […]
Son salutation: R&B soul musician Son Little has an eclectic body of work that includes contributions to recordings by The Roots, RJD2, and Portugal. The Man. He cites Paul McCartney, Kendrick Lamar, American indie act Grizzly Bear, and Swedish electronic band Little Dragon as early influences, and earned his biggest props to date for his […]
Rox our world: Roxane Gay can write with both authenticity and wit about Italian restaurants, feminism, body image, racism, rape culture, gun control, and other cultural hot buttons. She’s become internationally recognized for her to-the-point social criticism, and in 2019 Playboy called her one of the most important and accessible cultural commentators of our time. […]
Screen team: Based on its latest material, you could call the Joe Policastro Trio dramatic. The alt-jazz outfit’s recent recordings include the West Side Story suite, as well as Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah,” “Nadia’s Theme (From ‘The Young and the Restless’),” “Twin Peaks’” theme, Blade Runner’s love theme, and many other well-known TV and screen epics. […]
Back on the beats: When Blackalicious’ first album, Nia, was released in 1999, critics praised the duo for their rap skills, production style, and ability to push hip-hop in a new direction. Following up with the equally compelling Blazing Arrow (2002) and The Craft (2005), Chief Xcel and Gift of Gab took 10 years to […]
Swimming in it: Describing themselves as “the world heavyweight champions of Appalachian surf” the landlocked members of Luchadora play hard with a wink and a nod. This appearance finds Will Rourk (guitar/banjo), Will Tanner (bass/guitar), Tiernan Rourk (accordian), Dave Hersman (trumpet), and “crazy long-armed drummer” Jason Bennett turning their high-energy sound into a lively acoustic […]
Walking the talk: Global culture and music are the passions that drive songwriter Riley Moore’s blossoming career. After traveling the world and growing the requisite folksinger beard, Moore settled in Nashville where he lives on a sailboat. A love of the planet moved him to establish himself as a walking, touring musician, and in 2015 […]
In times of war, everything that it means to be human is out in the open. We cannot hide from the truth about ourselves. We must either live up to our morals or live down to our baseness. It’s what happens when our values as a society fracture, but in those cracks, the parts we […]
Get down on it: Whether you were of age to enjoy the ’80s chart-toppers at the time or just think they are totally rad, it’s easy to fall into the groove at a Legwarmers show. Since 2001, Gordon Gartrell, Cru Jones, Chet Reno, Lavaar Huxtable, Roxanne Rio, Captain Morgan Pondo, and Clarence McFly have been […]
Throughout the year, I reviewed some reissues (notably Gene Clark’s magisterial No Other and Prince’s colossal 1999). Here’s a few I missed along the way—more to come next time. James Brown Live at Home With His Bad Self (UMG) James Brown returned to play his hometown of Augusta, GA, in 1969, planning to release the […]
Art of war: Austrian composer Alban Berg drew inspiration for his apocalyptic opera Wozzeck (Met Live in HD broadcast), when he attended a production of the drama Woyzeck, a German play left incomplete by Georg Büchner at his death. Berg constructed his libretto for the production while on leave from his regiment in World War […]
Imagine that an enormous, totally round rock has suddenly appeared in Charlottesville. How would people react? Would the rock be considered a threat, a sign from God, or both? Replace Charlottesville with the fictional Elkisbourne, and you’ve got “The Perfectly Circular Rock,” a new podcast produced by WTJU and UVA’s drama department. Early one morning, […]
Take your pick: Mom, songwriter, singer, and “absurdly talented” banjo player (according to Bluegrass Today), Gina Furtado has two IBMA Banjo Player of the Year nominations to her credit. With the new album I Hope You Have A Good Life, she expands on her versatility with the Gina Furtado Project, playing original material that goes […]
Hot list: When Les Paul names a guitarist to his Five Most Admired Guitarists List (Wall Street Journal, September 2007) you’d think that person would be easily recognized. But despite leading bands for decades, Frank Vignola has maintained a career slightly outside the spotlight by supporting other very recognizable names, including Ringo Starr, Madonna, Donald […]
It would be against the spirit of Greta Gerwig’s adaptation of Little Women to compare it to other versions, particularly the 1994 one directed by Gillian Armstrong. Just as the March sisters are all different yet equally deserving of a fair shot at happiness, so too does each adaptation tap into a separate aspect of […]
Big time traditions: The small town of Floyd, Virginia—its population was 425 in the last census—has become so synonymous with the Appalachian mountain music tradition that visitors often outnumber the residents. The latest to emerge from the robust tiny scene is neo-traditional string band The Wildmans, a fledgling group of top-notch players that includes Aila […]
It was a prolific year for local authors. Popular favorites like Rita Mae Brown, John Grisham, and Ann Beattie added new titles to their extensive catalogs. Several UVA professors published in-depth explorations of their expertise—from tracing the history of Jefferson’s university, to defining the basis of a scientific claim, to analyzing politics’ impact on the […]
This year was an embarrassment of riches when it comes to quality filmmaking. Long-established directors were firing on all cylinders, while new talents were upping their game. Top-tier work could be found at all levels, from megaplexes to arthouses and even on demand. So, while these are my picks for the best of 2019, they […]
Precarious balance Polly Breckenridge’s monotypes at Chroma Projects Part of the appeal of printmaking is that it gives an artist the ability to create multiple copies of the same image. But for local artist Polly Breckenridge, the attraction lies in the printmaking process itself—the way the pressure of the press embosses each design element into […]
Not sure why, but in 2019 I spent a lot of time with a relatively few new albums, so apologies to the stuff I didn’t listen to enough. Here’s an idiosyncratic best-of, the albums I listened to all year (in more or less chronological order), with a “rest-of”—albums I liked almost as much, or loved […]
Lots of people complain that there’s no music scene here. And we get it—there can be lulls in shows (and definitely lulls in good shows)—but a music scene is more than what’s on stage. We love recordings, too, so may this list serve as your entry point to some local sonic treasures. We’ve compiled a […]