Rosalía brings flamenco-tinged chamber pop to the masses
The Catalonian artist Rosalía’s new album “El Mal Querer” presents a step forward for the traditional flamenco genre. For her, too, the album is a step forward, a large transition from the low-fi aesthetics of her first release, last year’s “Los Ángeles.” It’s an expansive, grandly-produced electronic evolution of flamenco. The singer’s strong voice and […]
Native Land: The Indigenous Legacy of Brandeis’ Campus
Brandeis land had significance to indigenous peoples
‘Looted Art for Sale’ symposium explores hidden history of paintings
“To strip Jews of their culture, it’s part and parcel with the Holocaust,” said former U.S. Ambassador Stuart Eizenstat, responding to a question about the legacy of art stolen from Jews by Nazis during the second World War. This was after Eizenstat delivered the keynote address in the “Looted Art for Sale” symposium last Tuesday, […]
The Cold War horror of ‘Suspiria’
“Suspiria” feels like a relic from a bygone age of horror: faux film grain, close zooms on faces, a campy aesthetic that is somehow still terrifying. It’s an art film, too: dreams with editing as stark as Bergman’s “Persona,”—a raised iron aimed at a young girl’s hand, a desiccated corpse, a young woman writhing in […]
Univ. hosts finance and administration meeting
The second annual Finance and Administration Town Hall Meeting reflected President Ron Liebowitz’s campus address, “A Framework for our Future,” the day before. The event was held in the Usdan International Lounge on Tuesday, Oct. 30th. The three main components of Executive Vice President of Admin and Finance Stewart Uretsky’s report were Financial Sustainability, Staff […]
With “Old Shit Show” Boris’ Kitchen keeps it weird
Though there had been due warning, it was still a surprise to see that an a capella group had taken the Mandel foyer hostage. Luckily, this reporter managed to slip through between renditions of Alicia Keys and Florence & The Machine. I snagged a seat at the Boris’ Kitchen show last Friday while keeping my […]
‘Through Lines’ at Rose reveals art connections
“This really will be a conversation, not a lecture,” said Professor Nancy Scott (FA), one of whose specialities is Modernism in Europe and America. The guided conversation was the second in a series, “Through Lines” at the Rose Art Museum, that aims to bring knowledgeable art experts into the museum to talk about a few […]
The Rose teaches ways of seeing
Last Saturday, the Rose Art Museum started its “Through Lines” series with a guided tour by Professor Andreas Teuber (PHIL, FA). The program’s goal is to combine an expert guest speaker with the museum’s considerable collection—to provide a distinct point of view to the sizeable selection of artwork on display. Teuber’s “through line” was a […]
How should we protest?
I love protests. There’s something exciting about seeing people sticking it to the man—expressing themselves in public, risking their comfort and safety for what they believe in. But I worry that we all haven’t thought enough about what it means to demonstrate. What is a protest, and how can it be most effective? Brandeis has […]
‘Dawnland’ screening provokes difficult discussion
“Whose land are we on today?” asked Mishy Lesser, learning director of the team behind the film, at the beginning of the Indigenous People’s Day screening of “Dawnland.” It was a point that was reiterated throughout the film and resulting panel conversation, the ramifications of which have perhaps not been fully considered by Brandeis University. […]
Quiet society: Debra Granik’s ‘Leave No Trace’
I thought I’d seen this story before: man and child living off the land in the Pacific Northwest—and then of course Big Brother steps in to perturb their bucolic idyll, such as in 2016’s indie heart-warmer “Captain Fantastic.” But though the story beats may be similar, Debra Granik’s film “Leave No Trace” proves how […]
Basement Records embraces the flow
Basement Records helps Brandeis musicians get professional. By assisting with branding, audio production and publishing, the club gets aspiring musicians to up their game. “Another Saturday Night in the Basement,” Basement Records’ first live performance this semester, was an opportunity for student artists to showcase their talent and hone their craft. Featuring hip-hop, and R&B […]
“Deuce” season 2 depicts a problematic, exploitative 1970s New York
“The Deuce” is the sleaziest thing I’ve seen since 1974’s “Chinatown.” It’s an HBO series set in 1977 in New York City—back before big money moved back into the city. The show is about exploitation; it is about the systems, institutional or otherwise, that people have set up for taking advantage of one another. And […]
Madeline’s Madeline will break your mind
Noah: Jonah, what did we just watch? Jonah: Well, my friend, we just caught the new indie darling “Madeline’s Madeline” from director Josephine Decker. It’s not quite easy to recap the film—I guess I would call it an avant garde coming-of-age story, think “Lady Bird” meets “Mulholland Drive.” Helena Howard (in her first role) stars […]
Who is Sandi Tan?
“I see it as a very strange and round-about happy ending,” said Sandi Tan at a screening of her new film, “Shirkers,” at Brandeis’ Wasserman Cinematheque on Sept. 16. Tan’s film is a winding, autobiographical cine-essay about a movie—her movie—that dramatically changed her life. It was Singapore in the early 90s, and the small island […]
Brandeis’ got talent
We need to prioritize arts and performance spaces on campus. As a gloomy institution in an even gloomier town, it’s absolutely necessary that we have people and places bringing back life and light. We need more things like Stein Night. Founded a few years ago by Michael Harlow ’19, a student and one-half of the […]
Blood Orange presents a powerful meditation of life on the margins
With alias Blood Orange, Dev Hynes plays the orchestra. Blood Orange is funky R&B—think Prince with the vocals of Michael Jackson. The music project mixes a diverse range of influences to create sonic explorations of race, identity and intersectionality. Their most recent record, “Negro Swan,” prioritizes voices over music—it’s an album full of powerful, difficult […]
‘Big Red Machine’ squanders its indie cred
The new, self-titled album by Big Red Machine was built by a community. It’s a counterpoint to the idea of the “auteur,” the individual who single-handedly wills their creative vision into existence. But most art isn’t really a solo project. Art is usually the culmination of multiple processes, contributions from diverse sets of people, consisting […]
Student Union fall elections garner impressive voter turnout
UPDATED 9/14 3:30 PM The Student Union held their fall elections yesterday, giving students 24 hours—from 12 a.m. on Wednesday to 12 a.m. on Thursday—to vote. The ballots were sent out by email for students to vote electronically, but students could also vote (earning a treat as an incentive) at new voting booths in the […]
A new season begins at the Rose
On Friday, Sept. 7, the Rose opened its new slate of fall exhibitions: “Tuesday Smillie: To Build Another World,” a collection of the trans-feminist activists’ work, and “Passage,” a retrospective of the Rose’s sizeable collection. The result is a museum that looks back on its past and to the future, providing a space to make […]
