Word: classical
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...those of her generation--Desai was born in 1937, only a few years after the likes of V.S. Naipaul and Ruth Prawer Jhabvala--foreignness has itself been a driving theme. The classic Desai figure is the title character of her most propulsive novel, 1988's Baumgartner's Bombay, an old-style German long settled in India who comes into fatal contact with a younger German of the mobile, backpacking generation. Nowadays, when millions are living in places not fully their own, foreignness is nothing to write home about. The characters in Ali's and Lahiri's fiction might...
...title, an anagram for vampire is just the first surprise in this wonderfully idiosyncratic French classic. A neurotic imaginative director is trying to remake Louis Feuillade’s classic silent thriller serial Les Vampires, but the plans go awry as plans are wont to do. Hong Kong actress Maggie Cheung, as herself, comes to Paris to take the lead role, Irma Vep. Soon, however, she is waylaid by semi-psychotic journalists lecturing her on the future of cinema and strange, frightening dreams that seem to be connected to the project. This bizarre and amazing satire of modern French cinema...
...make a statement. A decent parallel is early Beck: obscure, illogical, culturally hyper-aware, teetering on the verge of kitsch. It’s a pity Ariel Pink doesn’t have Beck’s talent, or this album might have been a lo-fi classic instead of a half-fleshed out concept. The Doldrums is troglodytic music: the detritus of decades pushed underground and reformed into something unsettling and unfit for the light...
...good at what they do; like My Morning Jacket and Wilco, once upon a time, the Anomoanon straddles the divide between the hipster and jam undergrounds, finding little secure fit in either pigeonhole but appealing to both scenes. Though “Mr. Train” borrows from classic-rock railroad mystique, the music is constantly engaging, especially in the driving percussion and high-hat touches and the smooth vocals. Ned can cover a vocal range without his more celebrated brother’s cracks, and for this type of song he’s more effective. Traditional, yes, innovative...
Stipe broke the somber mood with a dedication to the Red Sox. He did it with not just any song, but with the signature classic, “The One I Love.” The crowd went crazy, singing and shouting along to the subversive love song. The air was electrified, as the guitar’s reverb echoed and Stipe’s voice soared. At several points, Stipe even got down on one knee to serenade the audience, which drew bouts of loud cheering, leading directly into “Bad Day,” another crowd...