On January 21, the Steven Brown Dance Company presented The Sugar Show at the Rose Wagner Blackbox Theater. This was the latest in a series of annual exhibits of local talent. The show took the form of a competition between choreographers, each responding to the same prompt. This year’s prompt was ‘story and narrative,’ and the show featured five different dances meant to exemplify and explore that theme. … read more
Chamber Music Society of Salt Lake: Pacifica Quartet @ Libby Gardner 01.18
From the Violist’s black-haired bow and sail-in-the-wind body gestures to the St.Teresa-like contortions of Ms. Ganatra, the event had the gestalt (minus the gore, of course) of a butterfly tearing free from its chrysalis—a scene of real, emotional events out of important but little movements. … read more
Mates of State @ Urban 11.12
I don’t feel like I can say this very often, but this was the best show I have been to in a long time—there were no parts for which I would have rather been somewhere else. I walked in, took one look at the stage, and knew that it was going to be a good time. The whole wall behind the stage was filled with different colored flowers and there were clouds made of cotton hanging from the ceiling. … read more
Soundcheck Series with Joshua James and McKay Stevens of Northplatte Records 01.24
The Soundcheck Series workshops are a monthly affair, held at Metcom Studios right in downtown SLC. I had never been to one before, but this workshop was a good first-y for sure. … read more
Napalm Flesh: Harm’s Way interview
Welcome to this week’s edition of Napalm Flesh. Today we have an interview with Harm’s Way vocalist James Pliggue, a rundown of this week’s metal events, and blog exclusive reviews of the new albums from Chasma, My Dying Bride, Root and Whitechapel. … read more
Bindlestiffs
A riotous and irreverent tale of three high school virgins and their quest to “fuck shit up,” Bindlestiffs is like Ferris Bueller’s Day Off and Superbad on crack—literally. Suspended from school for graffiti after The Catcher in the Rye is banned, Andrew, Luke and John check into an inner-city motel, determined to experience the world, Holden Caulfield style. What follows is a week of debauchery as the boys go looking for love, good times and poon. … read more
The Opiates- Hollywood Under The Knife & Rainy Days and Remixes Reviews
A long time in the making, the Opiates full-length debut, Hollywood Under The Knife, was worth every single second of wait time. With a world-weary truth—the album’s mostly female protagonists emerge song by song with their faults and weaknesses laid bare for the listener. As the album works its magic and emblazons itself upon the listener’s brain, this ultra-sophisticated concept album triumphs as one of this year’s finest releases. … read more
Wild in the Streets
Peter Baxter, the current president of Slamdance and one of its founders, revealed his latest documentary in a special screening during the Slamdance 2012 festival. Narrated by Sean Bean, Wild in the Streets focuses on the town of Ashbourne, Derbyshire, England, built along the Henmore River, where the townspeople have been playing a game called Shrovetide for over 1,000 years. … read more
Nova Chamber Series: American Composer Andrew Norman @ Libby Gardner Hall 11.13
Mr. Norman is a nice kid, who, at thirty-two years old, is talented as hell, looks like Kenneth Parcell from 30 Rock, and writes chamber music like it came from outer space. … read more
Hope. You Like Crap.
20 years ago, Shaun Parker made a horrible student film. In Hope. You Like Crap., Parker shows the film in its entirety, talking shit on it and his former pretentious self with amusingly scathing, self-depreciating commentary. … read more
Chamber Music Society of Salt Lake: Doric String Quartet @ Libby Gardner 11.17
The English Chamber Music outfit, the Doric String Quartet, played at the Libby Gardner Concert Hall last Thursday, a program of quartets featuring Beethoven, Korngold and Brahms. … read more
Nova Chamber Series: Contemporary Cold @ Libby Gardner 01.22
The Nova Chamber Music Series concert on Jan. 22 started with Eliot Carter’s Elegy for Viola and Piano, whose humid and sunlit tone of joy swept the dust right out of my eyes. … read more
