Pain is only bad when it doesn’t lead to something beautiful. And when that beauty is manifested in tortured, cathartic music it becomes really hard to talk about. Elliott Smith played at the Henry Fonda Theater Friday and Saturday night. His music was devastating, but only in the best of ways. As probably the greatest […]
Author Archives: Anthony Bromberg
Folk not just history in “˜Memoirs’
Folk music was born out of the strife of the working man. The spare, socially-conscious songs, played mostly on acoustic guitar, grew up in the Dust Bowl. They got taken around the entire country in a sweep of popularity in the late 1950s and ’60s. One of the most legendary spots for folk music dissemination […]
UCLA at Sundance
Usually when a student tells a professor that he’s skipping class to watch some movies and go to a party, you don’t expect the professor to be very impressed. That is, unless your professor is UCLA film and television directing professor Gyula Gazdag and the place you’re going happens to be the Sundance Film Festival, […]
Artistic revolution absent from “˜The Year of Moby’
I spent the last year writing columns about the fact that there wasn’t any leading voice in the arts world. There wasn’t anything for our generation to unite behind and call uniquely our own. I still maintain that this is all true, but I do think there is one man, one musician, one artist, who […]
Beck performs soulful tunes, moves in concert
Beck Hansen is one of the most talented men alive. Period. Hansen, better known to fans around the world simply by his first name Beck, played at the Universal Amphitheater Monday night with the Flaming Lips. This lineup assaulted the audience (in a really good way). The Flaming Lips is no regular opening act. The […]
Harry Potter: more than just kiddie books about wizards
Sometimes it’s difficult to think of things to be thankful for besides the same old shlock, but not this year. Sure, I love my family, my friends, my girlfriend, my school and my dashing smile. I’m thankful for all of that, but I’m also thankful for news of the release of “Harry Potter 5″ (which […]
Sigur Rós relaxes fans with pretty music
Like pigeons to Bert’s (of Bert and Ernie on “Sesame Street”) shiny bottle caps on “Sesame Street,” the audience at the Wiltern Theatre Wednesday night came for pretty things. The prettiness on this night was provided by Icelandic media darlings Sigur Rós. The group played just over 10 songs and, as expected by fans who […]