March 4, 2014
MUSIC
Albums
Ume – Monuments (Dangerbird)
The Austin trio's sophomore effort is just as exciting and explosive as their Phantoms debut from 2011. They sonic assault on your eardrums begins with the searing guitars of "Black Stone" and thundering beat of "Embrace," while Lauren Larson's soft yet aggressive vocals soar on "Too Big World," "Barophobia" and "Within My Bones." Ume recorded Monuments in Seattle with Grammy-winning producer Adam Kasper (Queens of the Stone Age, Nirvana, Foo Fighters, Cat Power) and kick off national tour in support of the release with several hometown shows this week at SXSW and stop at the Satellite on April 4.
We Are Scientists – TV en Français (Dine Alone)
It's hard to believe that it's been 13 years since the members of We Are Scientists, who met at Pomona College, relocated to New York and eventually broke into the mainstream with 2005's With Love and Squalor. The duo of Keith Murray and Chris Cain teamed with producer Chris Coady (Beach House, Smith Westerns, Yuck) for the first time and enlisted frequent drummer Andy Burrows (Razorlight) for their fourth album, TV en Français. The resulting 10 tracks have you dancing from the get-go with "What You Do Best" and "Dumb Luck," and keep your toes tapping all the way through to "Don't Blow It" and "Take An Arrow." Make sure to bring your dancing shows if you go see them May 9 at the Troubadour.
Also available – Arthur Beatrice's Working Out; As Animals' self-titled; Ashanti's Braveheart; Axxa/Abraxas' self-titled; Bart Davenport's Physical World; Bruised But Not Broken's Fragment; Carla Bozulich's Boy; Clyde Carson's Playboy; Color War's It Could Only Be This Way; Comeback Kid's Die Knowing; DA & The Jones' Sirens; Drive-By Truckers' English Oceans; Eagulls' self-titled; Eternal Summers' The Drop Beneath; Fenster's The Pink Caves; Fuel's Puppet Strings; Ghost Beach's Blonde; Indestructible Grampas' 1-800-Matters; Information Society's Land of the Blind; Jimmer Podrasky's The Would-Be Plans; Jupe Jupe's Crooked Kisses; Kandle's In Flames; Lea Michele's Louder; Linda Perhacs' The Soul of All Natural Things; The Mary Onettes' Portico; The Men's Tomorrow's Hits; The Mighty Fine's Brothers and Smugglers; Morning Glory's War Psalms; Netherfriends' P3ACE; Nothing's Guilty of Everything; Real Estate's Atlas; The Revivalists' City of Sound (re-release); Rick Ross' Mastermind; Roman Remains' Zeal; Shadow Shadow's Riviera; Trust's Joyland; Wake Owl's The Private World of Paradise; Weeknight's Post-Everything
News
Goldfrapp's Tales of Us
The film inspired by Alison Goldfrapp and Will Gregory's breathtaking album of the same name from last fall is screening in cinemas for one night only. Tonight at Laemmle NoHo, Playhouse and Claremont at 7:30 p.m. Co-created by Goldfrapp and director/writer Lisa Gunning (Nowhere Boy, Salmon Fishing in the Yemen), Tales of Us is a 30-minute filmic journey through five of the album's stories and will be followed by a live performance by the duo transmitted from London.
PATH:two
Heyday Media Group presents its second charity licensing campaign, PATH:two, during which 25-percent of every license generated from certain songs provided by their artists goes toward one of 10 organizations that include Farm Sanctuary, weSPARK, Shriners Hospitals for Children and Lamp Community. Artists such as the Parlotones, B*Side Players, Swollen Members, Pokey LaFarge and Amanda Jo Williams are all participating, and you can view a complete list and sample the tunes at pathmusic.net. If you would like to check out performances from some of the artists (Jim Reynolds, Becky Lynn and Gabby Young & Other Animals), head over to El Cid this Friday, March 7, from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m.
BOOKS
Boy, Snow, Bird by Helen Oyeyemi (Riverhead, March 6)
The fifth novel from the 29-year-old author of 2011's prizewinning Mr. Fox is a brilliant reworking of the Brothers Grimm "Snow White" fairy tale. It's 1953 when Boy (Arturo, a widower with a young daughter named Snow) meets girl (in this case she's named Boy and is escaping an abusive father), and they marry then have a daughter, Bird. The baby's dark skin color unlocks secrets from the family's past and is at the center of this powerful story about love, race, beauty and identity.
Also available – Being a Teen by Jane Fonda; The Bootlegger (An Isaac Bell Adventure) by Clive Cussler and Justin Scott; Cycle of Lies by Juliet Macur; The Hard Thing About Hard Things by Ben Horowitz; Mister Owita's Guide to Gardening by Carol Wall; The Next America by Paul Taylor and the Pew Research Center; The Oh She Glows Cookbook by Angela Liddon; Princess Labelmaker to the Rescue by Tom Angleberger; Redeployment by Phil Klay; The Rise of Superman by Steven Kotler; The River by Alessandro Sanna; Roadfood by Jane and Michael Stern; Showtime by Jeff Pearlman; Show Your Work! by Austin Kleon (March 6); Success Through Stillness by Russell Simmons; Uganda Be Kidding Me by Chelsea Handler; Words of Radiance (The Stormlight Archive) by Brandon Sanderson
DVDS
Film – Academy Award winner for Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Supporting Actress (Lupita Nyong'o), 12 Years a Slave is director Steve McQueen's epic adaptation of Solomon Northrup's memoir from 1853, which stars Chiwetel Ejiofor as Northrup; Wong Kar Wai's The Grandmaster, with Tony Leung as Ip Man and Ziyi Zhang as Gong Er; Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson and Liam Hemsworth reprise their roles in the second film of the series adapted from the novels by Suzanna Collins, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (March 7)
Music – Bob Dylan's The 30th Anniversary Concert Celebration (Deluxe); Moby's Almost Home, Live at The Fonda
TV – Breaking Amish: Season 1; Mr. & Mrs. Murder: Series 1; Noah and the Great Ark; Restaurant Impossible: Season 3; Venture Bros: Complete Season Five
Also available – The Best of Men; Billy's Cult; Blast Vegas; Children of Sorrow; Cold Comes the Night; Free Fall; Girl Rising; Hours; The Iran Job; The Last Days on Mars; Oldboy (2013); Rabid Love; Untold History of the United States; Wicked Blood
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