“American Beauty/American Psycho” Fall Out Boy Island Records 4 paws In a mixture of peaceful and crazy lyrics and beats, Fall Out Boy meets the expectations that its latest album name, “American Beauty/American Psycho,” sets up – the sound alternates between angelic and psychotic. Fall Out Boy has returned to the alternative style with its […]
Author Archives: Alicia Sontag
Bandmates pair up as duo Robopope, premier at Kerckhoff
In hopes of moving forward through the busy midterm season, Donnie Laudicina and Dominic Delzompo have formed a duet called Robopope, a name they said embodies their musical philosophy – to please nonmusical and musical audiences alike. Third-year vocal performance student Delzompo and third-year jazz studies student Laudicina have temporarily broken off from their seven-member […]
Album Review: ‘1989’
Taylor Swift should probably leave the pop music of the ’80s to Madonna, Paula Abdul and Michael Jackson. Although Swift’s new album, “1989,” is peppy and cheerful, it is a far fall from her four previous studio albums. In her new album, Swift has exchanged her cowboy boots and country roots for a synthesized pop […]
Mixed-genre band Atomic Walrus to release first EP ‘Slug Life’
When the band members of Atomic Walrus first sat down to pick out a band name, they wanted to encapsulate their style. The band took two names and blended them, mixing the song “Atomic Dog” by the P-Funk and the Beatles’ “I Am The Walrus.” The band’s resulting name, Atomic Walrus, embodies the band’s blended […]
Movie Review: ‘The Giver’
While dystopian films have always been fashionable, they have widely grown in popularity since the success of movies such as “The Hunger Games” and “The Matrix.” At this point, “The Giver” is old news, centering on a theme that has been developed previously on-screen. “The Giver,” based on Lois Lowry’s 1993 novel, features the creation […]
Second Take: Nicki Minaj, Beyoncé’s ‘Flawless’ remix subverts feminist message
If Beyoncé’s first version of “Flawless” was angry, then her remix with Nicki Minaj is seething. But in that seething remix, Beyoncé loses what was originally a powerful message about feminism and convolutes the theme of being a flawless woman. In Beyoncé’s original “Flawless,” she interchanged between a beautiful, soothing voice and a fierce, rough […]
Festival seeks to expand accessibility of classical music on campus
Henry J. Bruman, a UCLA professor emeritus of geography, believed that, in a single hour at lunchtime, musicians can transport listeners to a different place, calming them and allowing them to take a break in their busy days. In 1988, Bruman realized this vision by bringing high-caliber music to UCLA in the form of a […]