You’re Next Not afraid of the big bad wolf? “You’re Next” says you should be. With phenomenal cinematography, sufficient acting and a jarring score, director Adam Wingard composes a surprisingly excellent horror film seeped in tension and violence. While at a wedding anniversary getaway, the Davison family comes under attack by mysterious animal-masked murders.
Neko Case The Worse Things Get, The Harder I Fight, The Harder I Fight, The More I Love You 3 1/2 stars Country/folk For all of the heavy emotions covered on Neko Case’s newest record, her sound hasn’t gained much gravitas.
Saints Apollo We Are Ghosts 3 stars Indie folk Initially a small duo from Raleigh, indie folk group Saints Apollo has grown into a much larger project, and its latest record We Are Ghosts shows it.
Jenks Miller Spirit Signal 2 1/2 Stars Ambient Instrumentally sparse, experimental Chapel Hill guitarist Jenks Miller pushes the boundaries of ambient music on his album Spirit Signal. Unfortunately, what little instrumentation there is is not engaging enough to keep listeners interested for 43 minutes.
Volcano Choir Repave 4 stars Ambient Rock Justin Vernon is one busy artist. When not leading Bon Iver, he’s casually dropping vocals for Kanye West or producing esteemed albums on his own label, Chigliak Records.
3 1/2 stars What The Notorious B.I.G.‘s “Mo Money Mo Problems” says in four minutes is what director Matthew Cooke shows in his hour and a half documentary “How to Make Money Selling Drugs.” By slightly diverging from the traditional documentary style and offering first hand anecdotes, Cooke offers an introspective look at how America’s War on Drugs was established because of money and political power. Through interviews with former drug dealers, addicts and DEA agents, the audience is presented with ten “easy” steps on how to go from broke Joe Schmo to millionaire cartel lord.
4 stars The incredible averageness of overzealous citizens in costumes matched up against shocking spurts of violence is part of what made 2010’s “Kick-Ass” so alluring in the first place.
4 Stars “Lee Daniels’ The Butler” is a film that highlights important historical moments during the civil rights movement and calls into question both the United States’ governmental role in reaching racial equality as well as the public’s ability to implement change.
Mandolin Orange This Side of Jordan Country/Folk North Carolina has long been considered a hot bed for traditional Southern music.
Superchunk I Hate Music Rock It’s been 23 years since Chapel Hill band Superchunk released its self-titled debut album, but the band has continued to remain fresh and current throughout a two decade career.
Trains are a common romantic trope of country music — building up before hitting a powerful, soothing speed.
It all started with the six. Andras Fekete and Matt Guess are three years into the annual Music for Massed Guitars, and have exponentially expanded what used to be a group of six talented guitarists in the Triangle into one of more than 50.
The Love Language Ruby Red ???? Rock After several changes in location and a plethora of contributing musicians, The Love Language is back with the same pop but a different approach in its third album Ruby Red.
The Love Language is an indie rock band from Raleigh. The band released their third album Ruby Red today, and staff writer Charlie Shelton talked to frontman Stuart McLamb about THIS.
There are several bands who can be categorized as having a large range of influences and styles, but few embrace this characteristic with such a fervent pride as Bears in the City.
Steph Stewart & the Boyfriends is a folk group headed by Catawba native and UNC graduate, Stephanie Stewart.
Smith Westerns Soft Will ??? Indie Rock Just by hearing the first two singles off Smith Westerns’ latest record, you would think the album was a masterpiece.
Diali Cissokho & Kaira Ba is a group composed of native Senegalese griot musician Diali Cissokho as well as numerous other North Carolinian musicians who share his love of music based on the Manding tradition.
Steve Gunn Time Off ????1/2 Rock Steve Gunn’s day job as guitarist in Kurt Vile’s backing band, The Violators, appears to have rubbed off on him.
Staff writer Kylie Piper is volunteering at the Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival this weekend. As a part of her experience, she is posting daily blog posts while she is there.
