Arts & Events

On his latest EP, “Enough Thunder,” James Blake steps further away from dubstep’s seemingly quintessential sound, the “womp.” Blake brings complexity to a genre whose creativity seems to be diminishing by the second. His specialty has always been minimalistic bass lines and delicately crafted beats, and he pushes the definition of dubstep even further on these new tracks. Blake leans more towards the emotive nature of dubstep. He is careful to not stray the line between his own personal brand of dubstep and dance music. It is entirely possible that...

At a convention in Las Vegas on Nov. 18 or 19, a Swedish game developer will announce the “release” of a game that has already sold nearly 4 million copies, earned a “big pile of awards” (developer’s words) and assembled a devout fanbase as dedicated to the game’s growth as its creators—Mojang’s “Minecraft.” “Minecraft” is an indie, open-ended sandbox game that, in the humble words of the minecraft.net homepage, is “about placing blocks to build anything you can imagine.” Judging from the game’s astronomical success—in its cultural impact (particularly among...

On Wednesday, Oct. 5 the University of Puget Sound’s String Orchestra gave their first performance of the year, clocking in at just under 90 minutes. Led by conductor Christophe Chagnard, the orchestra worked its way through three pieces by 20th century composers, and no two sounded alike. The first was Samuel Barber’s “Adagio for Strings,” a shorter piece worked around a melodic ascending melody. The second was Chagnard’s own “Roma,” a piece composed in 2010 which Chagnard dedicated to his guitar teacher Neil Andersson. The piece is heavily influenced by...

If there was a musical response to Tacoma’s sunless winter weather, it would be gothic-pop princess Zola Jesus’ latest EP, “Conatus”. Zola Jesus, also known as Nika Roza Danilova, was originally trained as an opera singer; however, these days her voice sounds like a fiercer version of Lykke Li…in mourning. Danilova’s tracks drip with lovely string instrumentals meticulously laced into hearty synthetic beats. Despite the heavy emphasis on electronic noises and deep bass, this is not a dance record. Danilova has woven an aura of solemnity throughout the tracks and...

On Thursday, Oct. 6, the sixth annual Tacoma Film Festival began. A celebration of modern independent films, the festival will last one week and include screenings at the Grand Cinema, School of the Arts, the Blue Mouse, Tacoma Art Museum and the University of Puget Sound’s own Rausch Auditorium. The films screening during the festival include both dramatic works and documentaries. Many of the filmmakers will be present for the screenings, which are open to the public for a small entry fee. One intention of the festival is, as stated...

To bone or not to bone? That is the question. More precisely, that is the question many will be asking this Saturday night as they hunker down with a real cutie in a dorm room with all-too-thin walls. I’ll be honest, boys. This week’s article is mostly for the girls. Mostly for us hetero girls who find that sex carries serious stigma. If you don’t do it, you’re a prude. If you do it, you’re a whore. I used to spend much time pondering this while getting down with a...

Assuming you have had any amount of spare time since the late 90s, you have probably logged more than a couple of hours in simple simulations of matching jewels, numbered minefields, virtual crops and cattle or (most likely) green pigs and fowl-flinging slingshots. The upstart industry of “casual gaming” continues to enthrall the masses, mystify the diehards and rake in loads and loads of cash—love them or hate them, “casual” games like “Farmville” and “Angry Birds” have earned both economic and pop culture relevance. From Microsoft’s “Solitaire” and “Minesweeper” to...