Released earlier this year, the Chemical Brothers’ seventh effort, Further, can start to sound like a concert album after a few plays. Unlike many of the Brothers’ earlier releases, the album captures the raw intensity and structureless flow of a live set, filled with unexpected drops, blips, and volume shifts.
Arts & Entertainment
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CD REVIEW: Sweet Thing- Sweet Thing
With their self-titled debut, it’s easy to see that Toronto’s Sweet Thing have Top 40 ambitions. Whether or not they’ll get there remains to be seen. The album certainly contains elements that suggest they will: the punchy guitars of “Gun,” the shimmering synths of “Lazy Susan,” and the soaring vocals of “A Change of Seasons” are all perfectly pop rock enough to satisfy any fan of the genre, but they still have a long way to go.
Summer Entertainment Report Cards: CDs – Sufjan Stevens – All Delighted People EP
Dropping out of nowhere this summer, the All Delighted People mega-EP (the thing is 60 minutes long) is Sufjan Stevens’ long-awaited return to song-based material. The EP is an all-encompassing affair and serves as an both an excellent reminder of Stevens’s work to date and a crash-course for the initiated.
Summer Entertainment Report Cards: Movies – Shrek Forever After
Reclining in my IMAX chair and slipping on my 3-D glasses, I was totally prepared for Shrek 4 to suck. Instead, I partook a fun, genuine, and hilarious ride through the fairy tale world in absolutely gorgeous IMAX 3-D. The movie gets off to a bit of a slow start, with Shrek trapped in a “Groundhog-Day-esque” scene of mundane family life.
Summer Entertainment Report Cards: Movies – Toy Story 3
Just when you thought that Pixar couldn’t perfect another timeless movie, they’ve done it again. Although I’ve always been pretty skeptical about sequels within the animated genre-need I mention Little Mermaid 2, Lion King 1.5- this third instalment of Toy Story has truly proven that sequels can rank up to par with their original.
Summer Entertainment Report Cards: TV Shows – True Blood
Picking up immediately from the intriguing cliff-hanger of season two, season three begins with Sookie Stackhouse enlisting the help of the (very sexy) vampire Eric in order to look for Bill, who has just been abducted by a mysterious source. As the season unfolds, it turns out that it is Russell Edgington-the vampire king of Mississippi- who, along with a brigade of werewolves, has taken Bill as a prisoner.
Summer Entertainment Report Cards: Movies – Inception
It would not be presumptuous to call Inception the movie event of the year. Certainly no other film this year has generated nearly the same amount of buzz as Christopher Nolan’s most recent blockbuster. Dom Cobb (Leonardo DiCaprio) is an extractor, a thief who steals thoughts from the minds of his targets through their dreams.
Summer Entertainment Report Cards: CDs – Best Coast – Crazy For You
If you believe the hype (and the blogs), California’s Best Coast have made a life-changing, must-own debut record in Crazy For You. I’m not as convinced. Sure, frontwoman Bethany Cosentino and partner Bobb Bruno have crafted a warm, hazey, washed-out record with reverb-soaked vocals and some pretty killer melodies, but that can describe most noisy, pop-punk garage bands operating today.
Summer Entertainment Report Cards: TV Shows – The Real World: New Orleans
Despite wavering in popularity, The Real World is to reality TV what Columbus is to accidentally finding continents. Call it an innovator, call it an institution-either way, the franchise has produced 23 seasons, not including their latest, The Real World: New Orleans.
Summer Entertainment Report Cards: TV Shows – Entourage
Going into the show’s seventh season, Entourage followers have been anxiously waiting all year for some new excitement in the life of Vincent Chase and the boys. After leaving off last season with Vince filming in Rome and Eric finally proposing to Sloan, Vince begins shooting a new movie in which he’s persuaded to do his own dangerous driving stunt.
