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Music Review

Various Artists: The Rough Guide to the Music of Hungarian Gypsies

by Deanne Sole

[28.Mar.08] :. Hungarian Roma music, according to this Rough Guide, has a dancing energy, like a ball always bouncing forward.

Recent Music reviews

 

ShortTakes Review

Various: Think Global: Acoustic Brazil

by Deanne Sole

[27.Feb.08] :. The front cover promises rambunctious carnivale, but the blurb on the back is all about “lilting melodies … enchanting acoustic grooves … late-night tracks.” Trust the...

Recent Short Takes reviews

 

Comic Review

The Nightmare Factory

by William Gatevackes

[14.Feb.08] :. On one level, this is esoteric horror for esoteric tastes, but as a graphic novel, it’s not a good fit.

Recent Comic reviews

 

ShortTakes Review

Various: The Matinée Hit Parade

by Deanne Sole

[25.Jan.08] :. The Californian label Matinée loves songs that are jangly, modest in scale, neat in enunciation, tidily formed, and often wistfully expressed.

Recent Short Takes reviews

 

Music Review

Various Artists: Ethnic Minority Music of North Vietnam

by Deanne Sole

[10.Jan.08] :. The music of people who know that they will never be asked to face huge audiences and rarely required to sing to anyone other than themselves and their friends.

Recent Music reviews

 

Music Review

Various: Melodii Tuvi

by Deanne Sole

[3.Jan.08] :. Melodii Tuvi is a lesson in contrasts, a remedial class for anyone who thought that all throat singing sounds the same.

Recent Music reviews

 

Various Artists: Black Mirror

by Deanne Sole

[3.Jan.08] :. Ian Nagoski's selection is culturally broad, taking in Buddhist prayers from Laos, a Portuguese fado recorded in 1927, Irish-American piper folk and a prepubescent Swedish boy warbling over a zither.

 

Various: The Rough Guide to the Music of Paris

by Deanne Sole

[17.Dec.07] :. It's as if World Music Network wanted to release a follow-up to their Rough Guide to Paris Café Music but for some reason decided that it wasn't complete without a bit of Putumayo tucked in front of it.

 

The Fly Collection

by Bill Gibron

[7.Dec.07] :. The 1958 film remains a marvel. Unfortunately, as this box set confirms, there were too many additional 'flies' in the franchise's cinematic ointment.

 

Various: Think Global: World Christmas

by Deanne Sole

[5.Dec.07] :. More like an adventurous sampler of interesting, sometimes surprising, songs rather than just a Christmas album.

 

Cinema 16: European Short Films

by Shaun Huston

[30.Nov.07] :. The Cinema 16 collections are welcome opportunities for a wider public to see works that would normally only be made available at festivals and in specialized screenings, and few at locations outside of major cities.

 

Various: Music of Nat Pwe

by Deanne Sole

[20.Nov.07] :. Despite the piercing oboes and the clashing of gongs, the music on Music of Nat Pwe is sweet and catchy at heart.

 

Various: Porque Este Océano es el Tuyo, es el Mío

by Deanne Sole

[19.Nov.07] :. This album, its mouthful of a title borrowed from Pablo Neruda, is a compilation of indie pop tracks from South and Central America.

 

Various: The Rough Guide to the Music of Brazil

by Deanne Sole

[5.Nov.07] :. The genius of Brazil, according to Armstrong's collection, is intricate and involved, often backed by hard percussion but profoundly light.

 

Various: Think Global: Women of Africa

by Deanne Sole

[26.Oct.07] :. Anyone who has had more than a passing acquaintance with the African part of their music store's World section is going to find most of this familiar territory.

 

Various: Caravan of Light

by Deanne Sole

[25.Oct.07] :. Mystic woodwind, sitars, Buddhist chants, Tibetans, yearning voices -- if it sounds like New Age territory, well, it is.

 

Various: The Rough Guide to Salsa Clandestina

by Deanne Sole

[23.Oct.07] :. Lesser-known, less commercial, more diverse Latin music that still holds to some traditions like the clave beat, but also bears the mark of more underground or alternative strains.

 

The Best American Comics 2007

by Brian Bethel

[22.Oct.07] :. More than any other comics anthology compiled thus far, The Best American Comics 2007 feels like a genuine effort to craft a truly comprehensive picture of comics as they are today, with a gentle nudging towards the various directions they could possibly go.

 

Various: The Rough Guide to Latin Funk

by Deanne Sole

[19.Oct.07] :. The music on The Rough Guide to Latin Funk is, exactly as it says on the box, Latin Funk.

 

Various: The Rough Guide to Latino Nuevo

by Deanne Sole

[18.Oct.07] :. Music that is "exciting, innovative" and identifiably Latino.

 

Ballyhoo Stories No. 4

by Jason A. Zwiker

[17.Oct.07] :. The two forms of media, comics and prose, play against one another well. Proponents of each should find much to enjoy in the other as well.

 
Featured Article

Special Interest DVD Review

The Up Series

by Bill Gibron

[15.Oct.07] :. Give me the boy at age seven, and I'll give you the man. The Jesuits may have had something with that saying, especially after watching Michael Apted's masterwork 49 years into the making.

Recent DVD reviews

 

Various: Think Global: Salsa

by Deanne Sole

[15.Oct.07] :. Think Global: Salsa is a solid, reliable compilation for anyone who wants an album that will cheer them up and not ever sound like anything they don't already imagine salsa to be.

 

Various: Add to Friends

by Deanne Sole

[5.Oct.07] :. Like a sweet little ant that you don't want to step on.

 

Various: The Rough Guide to Flamenco

by Deanne Sole

[1.Oct.07] :. Passion in a tidier form... that's flamenco for you.

 

Various: The Roots of Chicha

by Deanne Sole

[25.Sep.07] :. The Roots of Chicha jogs along on a wave of good humour, jaunty male singing, and an overall vibe of pride and pleasure.

 

Various: Thai Pop Spectacular

by Deanne Sole

[20.Sep.07] :. You might be able to file Thai Pop Spectacular away on the Wacky shelf, but the thrilling stab of Thai Country Groove is less easily dismissed.

 

Various: Gypsy Caravan

by Deanne Sole

[10.Sep.07] :. The album is crammed. It’s a packed smorgasbord.

 

Various: World Hits

by Deanne Sole

[29.Aug.07] :. It's the album you'd buy if you were around in the '80s and found yourself yearning to hear "Lambada" again.

 

Various Artists: Manoeuvres 1

by Courtney Tenz

[3.Aug.07] :. Compiling a series of electronic tracks based solely on geography is a risky venture, especially when said locale is the relatively nameless Vancouver. Manoeuvres 1, put out by So Called...

 

Various: Colombia!

by Deanne Sole

[16.Jul.07] :. The album almost giggles with verve.

 

Various: Merdeka

by Deanne Sole

[19.Jun.07] :. Merdeka is a superior example of a charity comp; it doesn't leave you thinking that the compilers have tossed it carelessly together just to raise money.

 

Free Comic Book Day 2007

by Shawn O'Rourke

[11.Jun.07] :. Free Comic Book Day is one of the few things that I can say I've never heard even the pickiest fanboy attack.

 

What Were They Thinking?! Monster Mash-Up

by Stefan Robak

[27.Apr.07] :. Yes, there are a few missteps, but I feel that the creators will only get a better feel for how to approach the material over time.

 

Planet of the Apes: The Legacy Collection (1968-1973)

by Whitney Strub

Planet of the Apes: The Legacy Collection oscillates wildly between the delightful and the agonizing; but the rewards more than offset the pains.

 
 
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