over she Ege « November 2010 arts and culture 9

Buzzard by Margot & The Nuclear So & So's
They Deserve a Spot on Every Playlist

DARCIE SMITH

ARTS EDITOR

Margot & the Nuclear So & So’s are an eclectic alternative rock band from Indiana somehow manages to tap into a sorrow within his voice when he sings about hurting
that deserves a spot on every playlist. For fans of dream-pop and eccentric lyrics, girls, and it hurts to hear but those are the songs that are easily made a favourite. “I
this band is a must. This is the third full length album they have put out and they have Do’ is a very quiet, instrumentally sparse track, but Edwards vocals and lyrics are
once again reinvented themselves with class, wit, and a beautiful desperation in their powerful and humble enough to sustain this beautiful song with very little. The track

sound. Much like their previous efforts,

a lot of the lyrics take a bit of time to
crack and at times it seems easy to
assume that front man Richard Edwards
is spouting off nonsense. However, there
is something controlled and mature about
his songwriting that’s hard to deny.

finishes the album off just as perfectly
as it starts — it just sort of drops off
and disappears.

Margot & the Nuclear So & So’s
deserves a listen. They are
phenomenal and beautiful, and they
need to be heard. If you'd like a
challenge, start at the beginning with
their first album, The Dust of Retreat,
followed by Animal! And finish it off
with this recent stunning masterpiece.

The album starts off perfectly with “Birds,”
a song that breaks off into a fuzzy delight
during the chorus, and employs Emily
Watkins tiny little harmonies that shone
on their previous album. When she’s
heard echoing “let’s make it evil,” it's hard
to believe that she actually manages to
create a darker sound with her dainty
voice. “Claws Off’ has a slight alt-
country feel to it, and paired with the sass
of Edwards and his attitude, it’s instantly
likeable. “Lunatic, Lunatic, Lunatic” is the
saddest track on the album (there always |
has to be one). It is classic Margot.

Singing about the woes of poor, broken ie a a i.

females while simultaneously glamorizing
them is Edward’s specialty. Edwards

A
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Film Review: Tales From the Golden Age

Black Humour and Romainian Communists

DARCIE SMITH
ARTS EDITOR cristian mungiu presents
characters lack a certain amount of more rustic settings and appreciated the

Tales from the Golden Age is a film emotion, but far of coming off as bad economic value placed on food and its
bundled with charm and auance much acting or uninvolved script, this gives providers (were it so easy to woo a girl
of which I'm sure is lost on m self or an the characters’ situations a heavier with a banana for a birthday present).
others not intimately familiar ne the y gravity and makes the audience feel A great benefit of this film style is that
80's Communist ore Romania. While more sympathetic of their plights in the students pressed for time can easily
consistina of a series of urban leaends backdrop of this “Golden Age.” The break the movie into four manageable
that comment on the livin eenditons of actors, in fact, do an excellent job, and 30-minute chunks. Be warned, those
comrades at the time the stories seem develop their characters well. Through who are averse to the use of subtitles will
far more believable than a leaend would them one gets a very real sense of the more than likely find a healthy amount
imply. To be sure. each tale ee odd hardships under such a controlling and of disappointment in the film. During a

ne more reminiscent ofa stranae propagandistic regime, and the ways few short intervals, speech is not given
vn of fortune, or the product of a es people were able to cope. a translation, though these are relatively
modernized time, than a legendary myth. : few instances and do not make a huge

Four separate directors were used, one impact on the understanding of the story.

A black humour pervades each episode for each legend, though it would be hard Otherwise, those with a more favourable
even a sense of incredult on the. art , to tell. Overall, the film direction was disposition to the often more original
of the characters at the situation they've excellent and the setting satisfyingly story-lines of foreign films should find this 4
been forced into. In some ways the nostalgic. | was particularly fond of the film to be a delight! ONLINE SOURCE

A Complicated Kindness by Miriam Toews
A book review of one of Canada’s up and coming authors

DARCIE SMITH

ARTS EDITOR

Author Miriam Toews uses semi-autobiographical the destruction of the family. Although Naomi deserts the
information to tell the story of a teen in a Mennonite society and abandons most of its principles, she deeply

society in rural Manitoba. The protagonist Naomi Nickel loves and respects her father who remains strongly

experiences the break-up of her family due to religious religious and maintains his relation with his brother, the a complicated kindness
conflict within the community. Her sister is excommunicated —§ man who excommunicated his daughter and wife and

from the church and leaves for New York, followed by drove them away. This novel portrays a society that is not MIRIAM TOEWS
her mother who is unable to reconcile with the church often addressed in literature but is a huge part of Canadian

and wishes to spare the family from total isolation within society and is an award winning work for good reason.

the community. Naomi is left to take care of her father

who remains a member of faith but broken due to the
disappearance of his wife. Naomi slowly traverses the path
to atheism with the help of her greasy boyfriend, Travis,

a relationship that most people can relate to. There is
tasteful teen angst and critique of Mennonite society and

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