Eleven years in, and few alternative bands can claim the sort of consistent success and stability that Anberlin has. With six successful studio albums and tours with 30 Seconds to Mars and Taking Back Sunday under its belt, the group has enjoyed a smooth ride. “A lot of bands can’t keep together a year, let […]
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Can you hear me now?
Lopez, director of the Norman-based company, said that his love of TV helped inspire the idea for Audivero. “I’m very much a TV-oriented person,” Lopez said. “I thought it would be cool if there was some kind of app that allowed you to stream TV to your phone.” The app lets users hear what they […]
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The Call
Halle Berry (Cloud Atlas) leads the show as Jordan Turner, a veteran 911 operator in Los Angeles. (If anything, she should dial 911 for help with her distracting hairdo.) In the prologue, she’s giving questionable advice to a girl who calls about a prowler, resulting in the teen’s death. Six months later, Jordan is still […]
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Crimewave
When I ran across Crimewave at the Buttons video store at N.W. 63rd and May Avenue in 1988, I had never heard of it. However, I rented it as soon as I spotted that it was co-written by Joel and Ethan Coen; at the time, they had just made this little comedy I absolutely adored, […]
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Smith Westerns — Soft Will
Traditionally, bands aren’t really supposed to hit rock ’n’ roll puberty until they approach their 30s. And you’re definitely not supposed to sound as primed and polished as Smith Westerns do on Soft Will — their third studio album — when you’re barely into your 20s. Admittedly, the act’s youth and the notion of trad-rock […]
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Gimme the Loot
Equally affable as they are gruff, Sophie and Malcolm hustle the streets by day. By night, they’re a relentless tag-teaming duo. Literally, they tag the streets of New York, leaving their mark as would-be graffiti masterminds. When some Mets fans start spray-painting over their turf, Sophie and Malcolm come up with the idea to break […]
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Takeoff Eyeslow — The Prescription
So if Kanye wants to go off on his Alan Vega/Suicide jag, let him. We have a homegrown replacement right here in Takeoff Eyeslow, dropping an album that is a better follow-up to Graduation than anything West has done since. On The Prescription, the Norman rapper exudes sleepy passion. The first track, “Papa Robert,” doesn’t […]
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Maurice Johnson — Peace, Love & Jazz
“Hello My Brother” has a sweet flute interlude that, contrary to the title, leaves me wanting to say, “Hello, my lover,” as I lay her down on a down-filled bed. The Spanish-flavored “A Taste of the Sun” follows this idea up nicely with an aural frolic on a secluded Mexican beach, if only to […]
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Various artists — Woody Guthrie at 100!: Live at the Kennedy Center
One look at the artists featured on Woody Guthrie at 100!: Live at the Kennedy Center — a concert album/DVD recorded on what would have been his 100th birthday — and his far-reaching impact is clear. Who else could influence both Old Crow Medicine Show and Rage Against the Machine’s Tom Morello to the same […]
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Full steam ahead
Photo: Tess Baez Seventeen years is a long time for anyone. For a rock band, it’s an eternity. Yet things haven’t gotten stale over the course of Traindodge’s nearly two decades together, thanks in part to a willingness to evolve that finds the Oklahoma City act chugging along as strong and excited today as it […]