THE EMORY WHEEL
Arts & Entertainment Tuesday, September , A&E Co-Editors: Stephanie Minor (snminor@emory.edu) and Annelise Alexander (aalex22@emory.edu)
FESTIVAL PREVIEW
CONCERT REVIEW
Atlanta Festival to Return to Midtown By Annelise Alexander Arts & Entertainment Co-Editor
Courtesy of DornBrothers Photography
The Vega Quartet (left to right, Yinzi Kong, Guang Wang, Domenic Salerni and Jessica Shuang Wu), performed with William Ransom, founder and director of the Emory Chamber Music Society of Atlanta.
Music Society, Vega Quartet Grace Carlos By Jennifer Li Contributing Writer Emory’s resident string quartet is back with a bang as they begin the Emory Chamber Music Society’s 20th anniversary season with a concert of vivacious repertoire accompanied by the cameo of a longtime favorite, the Vega Quartet. The Vega Quartet debuted in 2001 at Lincoln Center and toured at various concert halls around the world, including venues in Los Angeles, London, Paris, Vancouver, Seoul and Tokyo. The Quartet have been in residence at Emory since 2006. They have played a wide range of works as well as taken part in collaborative programs with the Emory Dance
Company, and frequently collaborate with some of the best musicians around the globe. Last Friday, the Vega Quartet, along with William Ransom, the artistic director of the Chamber Music Society, presented their noontime audience with a diverse, colorful program beginning with the resonant harmonies of Handel. The program continued with the lively Moszkowski and bittersweet Rachmaninoff, as well as the appearance of none other than Ludwig van Beethoven himself, or so it appeared. The Reception Hall at the Michael C. Carlos Museum is cozy and lighted with menorah-like chandeliers. A large window opens to display the sprawl of the grassy green Coca-
ALBUM REVIEW
Cola-shaped quad, sunlight pouring in from the window slanting onto the wash of pastels and beiges in the audience. With an unassuming position on the ground against the wall, it was surprisingly pleasant to be in almost overbearingly close proximity to the performers, close enough to make out the rise and fall of notes marching across the pages on their stands while we waited for the performance to begin. Ransom, dressed clean and sharp, approached his introductory speech with genuine enthusiasm. He gave a brief overview of the quartet and what it means to both the Emory campus and Atlanta at large. The Vega Quartet, according to Ransom, aims to become the permanent resi-
dential quartet of the Emory and Atlanta community — a goal that, without the help of monetary support, could very plausibly have the potential to be achieved. Ransom expressed, simply and eloquently, the importance of retaining classical music and its impact on the upcoming generation, then took his seat on the piano stool. As the program started with Handel’s “Passacaglia,” the intimacy of the stage was entrancing, as it bore a strong resemblance to the warmth of smaller performances in Vienna and Salzburg, cities deeply rooted in the culture of Western classical. The Vega Quartet wielded their strengths with a sense of ease and practiced
See EXPLOSIVE, Page 10
Music Midtown returns to Piedmont Park this weekend with a fresh batch of coveted headliners and promising fresh faces. The festival boasts superstars Pearl Jam, Foo Fighters, T.I. and Florence + the Machine, among other established veterans and lesserknown up-and-comers. The festival’s stellar lineup is due in part to last year’s success. Featuring Coldplay, the Black Keys and Cage the Elephant, Music Midtown returned with a vengeance after a six-year hiatus. The festival was held annually in Atlanta from 1994 through 2005, but was postponed indefinitely in 2006 due to decline in attendance and rising expenses. After last year’s success, it seems that the festival will return once again as an annual Atlanta staple. Tickets will be sold both online and at the gate. Prices start at $55 for a one-day ticket and $100 for a two-day pass. Gates open Friday at 4 p.m. and Saturday at noon. Parking is limited, and attendees are encouraged to carpool or use public transportation.
MUSIC MIDTOWN
LINEUP
Friday, Sept. 21 Van Hunt Joan Jett & The Blackhearts T.I. The Avett Brothers Foo Fighters
Saturday, Sept. 22 O’Brother Civil Twilight LP Garbage Adam Ant Ludacris Neon Trees Florence + the Machine Girl talk Pearl Jam
— Contact Annelise Alexander at aalex22@emory.edu
Courtesy of Music Midtown
Last year’s Music Midtown featured artists such as Young the Giant, Cage the Elephant and Walk the Moon.
MOVIE REVIEW
Anderson Film ‘Masters’ Post-War America By Mark Rozeman Senior Editor
Courtesy of Little Nasty Man PR
Band of Horses members Brooke, Arone, Bridwell, Hampton and Barrett recently released their fourth album, Mirage Rock.
Band of Horses Gallops On with Fourth Album By Mark Rozeman Senior Editor Much like My Morning Jacket — the band with which they are most frequently compared — Band of Horses’ early albums relied on a roots-rock-via-indie-rock aesthetic and the reverberating, echoing vocals of frontman Ben Bridwell. However, while Jim James and Co. tended toward the gritty, dirtier parts of their influences, Band of Horses were content to work within the milieu set by their first album Everything All The Time — an earthy, roots-rock sound filtered through a polished modern-day sensibility. And you know what? They did just fine with that. A change, however, came with 2010’s Infinite Arms. Whereas the band’s line-up was initially a proverbial revolving door of musicians, Infinite Arms featured a more solid line-up. The result was, for better or for worse, their most polished work to date. Though the album boasted beautiful numbers like “Evening Kitchen” and the dynamic title track,
Band of Horses Mirage Rock the mostly mid-tempo rock numbers tended to blend together after a while. Perhaps the subsequent touring experience behind Infinite Arms did the band well. Mirage Rock, the band’s most recent album, is the sound of a band who is less selfconscious and more comfortable in its own skin. While the lush, polished sound that has permeated every Band of Horses album is still present here, there’s a definite looseness to their chemistry as well as a greater diversity of sounds and tempos. Frankly, they sound like they’re having fun, and the feeling is contagious. The opener “Knock Knock” sets the mood. Headed by a propelling guitar riff, the song is a fist-raising rock tune with a chorus destined for a sing-along. Other songs like “Feud” further prove that the band is here to rock out.
See MIRAGE, Page 10
We first meet Navy man Freddie Quell (Joaquin Phoenix) at the dawn of a new American era. World War II has just ended. America is preparing to venture into the idealism and boom of a post-war era. Men will soon be returning to their wives and girlfriends to start families. As we soon see, however, there is little place in civilian life for the likes of the damaged Freddie. The opening scenes show him lounging around, wasting away in a fog of booze and other assorted substances. When he’s not committing lewd acts in public or instigating random, violent skirmishes, he’s concocting his own alcoholic spirits with MacGyver-like resourcefulness. Whether his behavior is the result of innate psychological trauma, post-traumatic stress disorder or a deathly combination of the two is never made explicit. In any case, while everyone around him lives in a world of peace, it’s clear that a violent war still rages within Freddy’s psyche. One night, Freddie wanders onto a yacht party hosted by Lancaster Dodd (Philip Seymour Hoffman, “Doubt”). Rather than tossing the drunk Freddie overboard, Dodd invites the man to participate in the next day’s festivities. It soon becomes clear that the other guest members are more than just friends and family: They are a congregation. Dodd (or “Master” to his followers) has published a book entitled “The Cause.” In it, he postulates that our spirits have existed for trillions of years in various forms and vessels. According to the “Master,” over the years we have accumulated trauma that now forms the foundation for all of man’s suffering. This amalgamation of Freud, spiritual hypnosis and science-fiction earns Dodd a loyal following but also leads others to brand him as an opportunistic cult leader. In fact,
Courtesy of The Weinstein Company
In Paul Thomas Anderson’s “The Master,” Joaquin Phoenix plays Freddie, a man contorted by alcoholism and post-traumatic stress disorder.
The Master In Theaters Sept. Starring: Joaquin Phoenix
this polarization extends to Dodd’s own family. At one point, his son Val (Jesse Plemons, “Friday Night Lights”) expresses his belief that his father is “making this up as he goes along.” Despite Freddie’s seemingly incurable alcohol problem, he becomes Dodd’s close companion, much to the displeasure of Dodd’s dedicated, if dour, wife Peggy (Amy Adams, “The Muppets”), who views Freddie as a bad influence. The film’s narrative subsequently fixates on the ebb and flow of Freddie and Dodd’s relationship. Sometimes loving, sometimes
explosive, it’s a dynamic that is part father/son, part mentor/mentee and part protagonist/antagonist. Since catching the attention of audiences and critics alike with his 1997 classic “Boogie Nights,” director Paul Thomas Anderson has never been one to take a conventional route in filmmaking. This film is no different. In many ways, “The Master” feels like a kind of spiritual sequel to “There Will Be Blood,” Anderson’s Oscar-winning film about a megalomaniacal oil tycoon’s quest for wealth and his ideological conflict with a local preacher. Like “There Will Be Blood,” “The Master” also explores the lengths that a man will go to for power and illustrates what happens when two individuals who should never have met come face to face. Reviewing a film like “The Master” after one viewing feels,
in many ways, like a fool’s errand. There’s much to talk about. Shot in 65 mm and presented in glorious widescreen, the film’s aesthetic beauty is undeniable. It’s what occurs in these meticulously crafted compositions, however, that will have people talking. Aside from occasional flourishes, director Paul Thomas Anderson’s previous films were all fairly straightforward. “The Master,” by contrast, revels in its cryptic nature. Concepts and relationships are brought in and then seemingly discarded. The film does not so much conclude; rather, it gently fades away. No doubt some audiences will emerge convinced that Anderson, much like Dodd, may be making this all up as he goes along. Yet, even this meandering quality
See MOVING, Page 10