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2B - Thursday, January 19, 2012

The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com

ARTS RECOMMENDS
In this feature, Daily Arts writers will give their endorsements
for the arts you need to experience to help you deal with current events.

Strange Mercy - St. Vincent
Despite the fact that it entirely evaded a review
by The Michigan Daily last year, St. Vincent's
Strange Mercy is arguably one of the best albums of
2011. Maybe we missed it because no combination
of words can do the album justice. Give it a listen
and you'll find yourself smitten - there's a reason
her website is called Ilovestvincent.com.
uROUP
"Nashville"
"Nashville" is the classic no one watches. It's a
lonely country growl desperately wanting to be
heard. It's a testament to the '70s, filmmaking's
most audacious and compelling decade. It's the
Altamont of country. It's a film that emotionally
wreaks us hours after we've watched it. It's stares
across crowded bars, songs drowned out by rac-
ing cars, words that lovers say to un-lovers, people
bumping into each other and barely feeling a thing.
"The Satanic Verses"
Salman Rushdie
"The Satanic Verses" is Salman Rushdie's most
controversial work, sparking a furious debate over
the limits of what literature should allow and things
that offend people. Christopher Hitchens saw the out-
cry and understood instantly what it implied for the
future of our society. Read this book now as a remind-
er of what Hitchens fought for through his life: free-
dom of speech and its direct relative, the freedom to
offend.
"Lost Girl"
Hailing from Canada, "Lost Girl" has found a
home on Syfy. The series premiered in the U.S. this
past Monday. Michelle Lovretta's ("Sorority Wars")
creation follows the succubus Bo and her encoun-
ters with magical creatures like werewolves, shape-
shifters and male sirens. The show seeks to quench
the thirst of TV watchers' supernatural affixations,
and you should watch it simply for your weekly dose
of, "I'm sorry, what just happened?"
SYFY
M AREYOU
SMARTER

JEFFFWARANIAK/Daily
B-Sde Buzz
Joseph Dresch
Vault of Midnight patron
Who is your favorite superhero?
Trite, but always been a fan of Batman.
Which comics have the greatest villains?
The greatest villains, I would say, can be found in Batman.
How do you feel about comic books made into movies?
Done well, (they) can be phenomenal. But done poorly, you end up
with something like 'The Walking Dead' on AMC, which should be
a really good show.
What does a comic book have to offer its readers?
A comic book has to offer nothing different than a good novel
does, a good television show does or a good film does.
Excerpts are taken from the B-Side Buzz video,
which can be found on michigandaily.com.
Interview by Jeff Waraniak

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SINGLE REVIEW

VIKING

2011 was a long year for Mat-
thew Dear fans who waited for
a follow-up to
2010's Black * ***
City. Well,
maybe 2012 MattheW
is their year, Der
as the first
track released Headcage
from upcom- Ghostly
ing Beams is a Internatioal
gem.
The song begins with an
infectious digital percussion
base - one that should be dearly
(couldn't resist) familiar to fans.
But while this song opens like
many of his others, it evolves
into something that exudes a
greater amount ofeool. Dear has
been perfecting a formula for
some time now, and he seems to
have gotten it exactly right.
The beginning is layered
with disjointed whispering
that morphs into a repetitively
broken vocal line, but it's not

until about a third of the way incoherence once more.
through the track that we're The song is funky, flawlessly
blessed with Dear's astound- unwound and is a feel-good
ingly resonant voice. As the song track for these (sometimes) cold
progresses, the vocal line, which January days - not to mention
has become clear ("I suspect, as an enormously promising start
I speak, your hair grows down to Dear's body of work.
to your knees"), crumbles into -EDITHFREYER

ANN ARTBOR, MN 48104
EINSTEIN
(=iJI [EJ II ON A
BEACH?
3 7
8 1 9 4 THEN WRITE
98 FOR THE FINE
9 4 2 8 ARTS BEAT,
8 2 5 SMARTY
6 I-8-PANTS.
5 4 3
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2 5 3 6 Request an
5 3 application by
s e-mailing arts@
michigandaily.com.

EPISODE REVIEW

Sunday's episode of CBS's
delicious legal frolic, "The
Good Wife," brought little in
the way of
plot, but a **
whole lot in
the way of TheGood
setting up for wAIf
next week's
installment. Seon 3
The guest
appearance Dui"
by Jason Dmies
Biggs was CBS
rather tame
for the "American Pie" alum,
and the tremendous amount of
techno-mumbo-jumbo left us
all gently snoring ... until the
snappy ending whipped our
heads right off the backs of our
sofas.
That sly fox at the District
Attorney's office, putting
Kalinda - the reigning favor-
ite of the show (who can beat
her insightful one-liners?) - in

such an impossible situation:
Does she tamper with Will's
case files in an effort to save
her burgeoning re-friendship
with Alicia?
Does she simply hand over
exactly what the DA is asking for

without so much as a whimper?
Intrigue is rampant, and
that's why it's so easy to love
"The Good Wife." Greed,
deception, sex scandals, lies -
no matter what, it hooks you.
-KELLYETZ