DISC 1 by Forester McClatchey The album begins with a swirl of static, disorienting. Screwed-down vocals say, “This is a test.” A test of sound, yes, but also a test for hip-hop, a test for newcomers (like Killer Mike), and fundamentally a test for ‘Kast: a split album, combining twice the creative energy with twice the risk of failure. After Stankonia dropped in 2000, it … Continue reading Music Review: Speakerboxxx | The Love Below
by Emily Lehman I watched the new Cinderella movie tentatively, waiting for vulgar humor, a sudden flamboyant display of CGI, or a swipe at traditional gender roles. Accustomed to the endless litany of remakes, sequels, and parodies, I expected that this movie would attempt to wink knowingly at the audience in one way or another, and waited for the jarring, if expected, blow. To my … Continue reading Movie Review: Cinderella
by Chris McCaffery If I had no choice about the age in which I was to live, I nevertheless have a choice about the attitude I take and about the way and the extent of my participation in its living ongoing events. To choose the world is not then merely a pious admission that the world is acceptable because it comes from the hand of … Continue reading “Wherefore poets in a destitute time?”: Part Two of Three
by Mark Naida There is a hole cut out of the ceiling on the second floor of a normal-looking house off of Woodward Avenue in Detroit, Michigan. This hole opens up a converted second floor bedroom into a cavernous attic. The echoes of the greats have swirled and beat their way into the thinly insulated attic walls. If you stand under this hole quietly, you … Continue reading Soul Music & Live Recording
by Sarah Reinsel Twentieth century writer and critic Susan Sontag addresses the omnipresence of visual material and photography in “In Plato’s Cave”, sharply warning against the knowledge gained through photographs. She says, The knowledge gained through still photographs will always be some kind of sentimentalism, whether cynical or humanist. It will be a knowledge at bargain prices—a semblance of knowledge, a semblance of wisdom . … Continue reading Retraining the Eye
Encountering human beings in their native tongues By Amelia Stieren Spending eight weeks in Germany this summer brought to surface some of the most lonely and painful moments of my life. Being far away from nearly everyone I love and who love me, living with a family whom I had not previously known, and speaking a language I had spent just two years learning was … Continue reading Windows of Foreign Language
By Lara Forsythe “What is the use of a book without pictures?” Alice asks before tumbling into Wonderland with a pocketwatch-carrying rabbit so familiar to generations of readers. As Hillsdale approaches term paper season and we begin seeing more students toting around stacks of literary criticism (among biochemistry textbooks and backbreaking volumes of the Summa), many of us may find ourselves sympathizing with Alice’s lament. … Continue reading Why We Stopped Reading Picture Books
by Timothy Troutner When Stanley Kubrick released his classic film Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb in 1964, tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union troubled the world. The Cold War and the possibility of nuclear apocalypse dwelt constantly in public consciousness. America had spent nearly the past two decades building up its weapons, shoring up … Continue reading Movie Review: Dr. Strangelove
by Emily Lehman Dear Wormwood, released on October 15, is the third album in the career of the band The Oh Hellos. The brother-and-sister duo (Tyler and Maggie Heath) skates the thin line between darkness and light in the carefully-crafted album, incorporating playful vocals, ethereal sweeps of synthetic sound, and the down-to-earth twang of mandolin and electric guitar into what, according to Tyler, is a … Continue reading Music Review: The Oh Hellos, Dear Wormwood
The bulldozers are coming. By Noah Weinrich HILLSDALE, MI-Amidst the excitement surrounding both new and upcoming renovation projects on Hillsdale College’s campus, some voices aren’t quite so enthusiastic about the changes. Between the renovation of the Simpson and McIntyre dormitories, the tearing down of several houses to make room for tennis courts and parking lots, and the general improvement in the quality of buildings and … Continue reading Satire: Gentrification
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