Arts

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ARTS

Music department’s final ‘Brown Bag’ concert of semester to stream online

By ALEX WHETHAM | Apr. 6, 2020

Despite the Covid-19 pandemic preventing in-person gatherings and concerts, the music department's “Brown Bag” concert series will go on as scheduled online Tuesday at 12:00 p.m. on the department’s Facebook page. Eric Huebner, UB music department’s director of undergraduate studies, will host the concert, which will run approximately an hour in length. As per the conventions of the concert series, the performers and pieces will not be announced until the concert is in progress.

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ARTS

The best shows to binge watch during quarantine

By ALEX FALTER | Apr. 6, 2020

It’s been roughly a month of quarantine and you’ve already binge watched all of your favorite television shows, some possibly more than once.  Before you resort to rewatching “Rick and Morty” for the tenth time, be sure to check out this list of marathon-worthy shows.

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ARTS

Dua Lipa’s ‘Future Nostalgia’ is a slightly disappointing nu-disco dance party

By ALEX WHETHAM | Mar. 30, 2020

Album: “Future Nostalgia” Artist: Dua Lipa Release Date: March 27 Label: Warner Records UK Rating: 6/10

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ARTS

Quality quarantine: Best ways to keep yourself entertained while social distancing

By ISABELLA FORTUNATO | Mar. 26, 2020

Going into quarantine may feel like losing access to some of the most fulfilling forms of entertainment. It means saying goodbye to watching movies with friends, rock concerts and even visits to the zoo, right? Wrong.  There are still plenty of ways to stay in touch with the boredom-busters you’ve been missing while still being safe and maintaining distance from others. Sit back, relax and make the most of your quarantine with these unconventional ways to stay entertained.

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ARTS

Rapper A.R.I. shows how art can be a source of strength

By MATTHEW ROMANYK | Mar. 26, 2020

Ariana Ross, or A.R.I., has an all-encompassing spectrum of talents, but she doesn’t only balance her talents.

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ARTS

The Weeknd outdoes himself on '80s-influenced ‘After Hours’

By ALEX WHETHAM | Mar. 24, 2020

The Weeknd the world knew and loved four years ago is shifting his image yet again. In the nearly four years since his last full length record, “Starboy,” Abel Tesfaye has been relatively quiet. Aside from his 2018 EP “My Dear Melancholy,” the only other art-related project he involved himself in was the Safdie Brothers-directed thriller “Uncut Gems,” which starred Adam Sandler.

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ARTS

Jay Electronica baffles on his debut, ‘A Written Testimony’

By ALEX WHETHAM | Mar. 21, 2020

Jay Electronica has been in the public eye for so long that people began to doubt he would ever release an album. But the New Orleans rapper proved doubters wrong as he finally released his debut “A Written Testimony” on March 13.

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ARTS

Students in Theatre and Dance department push for exception to ‘distance-learning’ model

By ISABELLA FORTUNATO | Mar. 12, 2020

Students in UB’s Theatre and Dance department sent letters to the department chair, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, provost and president asking for an exception to Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s newly implemented “distance-learning” class model.

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ARTS

Bringing the blue to Buffalo

By ANASTASIA WILDS | Mar. 9, 2020

Buffalonians got a taste of absurdity Saturday night when three blue men stormed the stage at Shea’s.  The Blue Man Group performed at Shea’s Buffalo for its “Speechless Tour” as the four performers -- Meridian, Mike Brown, Steven Wendt and Adam Zuick  -- showed audience members why the performance art company has remained popular ever since it was first started in 1987.

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ARTS

Forty-five years of progressive rock: An interview with Crack the Sky

By ALEX WHETHAM and JUSTIN WOODMANCY | Mar. 8, 2020

Crack the Sky is still able to rock the stage 45 years into its touring career.  The West Virginia-based progressive rock and art rock act has a career-spanning, rotating cast of 17 musicians and 18 studio albums, a catalog which sold out the Tralf Music Hall on Friday. While they never reached the heights of Prog-giants like Yes, Rush or King Crimson, they continue to satisfy their dedicated fanbase.

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ARTS

‘Mr. Brown can woo’

By BENJAMIN BLANCHET | Mar. 8, 2020

Kane Brown, one of the biggest artists in country music, touched down at the KeyBank Center Saturday as he secured another accolade: his song “Homesick” had just hit No. 1 on country radio. The song, dedicated to members of the armed forces, is a country ballad at its finest.

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ARTS

The sexiest bakery in Buffalo

By JUSTIN WOODMANCY | Mar. 5, 2020

Amanda Bernardini enjoyed baking sugar cookies with her mother and grandmother as a young girl in Rochester. Now she bakes and sells penis-shaped and lingerie-clad ass cookies at Mundy Cakes, her bakery on Allen Street in Buffalo. Since opening Mundy Cakes in the summer of 2018, she has stayed unabashedly true to her no-filter business model –– a model she certainly adopted since her youth.

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ARTS

Found through fashion

By ISABELLA FORTUNATO | Mar. 5, 2020

Julia Erbacher was always sure that she wanted to attend the Fashion Institute of Technology.  But her college journey didn’t go as she expected. After starting at Niagara County College Community College, changing her major three times and finally deciding to study Spanish education at UB, she still couldn’t shake her vigor for vogue.

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ARTS

‘Hip-hop is everywhere:’ Professor Mopelolade Ogunbowale shows students the genre’s international effects

By ALEX FALTER | Mar. 1, 2020

Mopelolade Ogunbowale has dedicated her life to studying different cultures. And when she took over UB’s popular Hip Hop and Social Issues class, she decided to carry over her own international focus to teaching one of the world’s most popular genres.

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ARTS

The Lumineers light up Buffalo

By REILLY MULLEN | Feb. 27, 2020

Ten thousand folk-rock fans filled up the KeyBank Center Wednesday night wearing uniforms of flannels, flat-brimmed hats and boots to watch the Lumineers perform cuts from their latest album, “III.” But the folk-rock group didn’t decide on a uniform until their encore, when lead singer Wesley Schultz and percussionist Jeremiah Fraites reentered the stage sporting Buffalo Sabres jerseys.

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ARTS

Embracing the present, blessing the future and honoring the past

By JUSTIN WOODMANCY | Feb. 26, 2020

The Black Student Union is once again planning UB’s biggest fashion show of the year. And it’s turning back the clock this time.

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ARTS

King Krule sets a new bar for himself on 'Man Alive!'

By OWEN BRYANT | Feb. 23, 2020

Album: “Man Alive!” Artist: King Krule Label: Matador Records Release Date: Feb. 21 Rating: 9/10

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ARTS

March Madness, but for gamers

By ANASTASIA WILDS | Feb. 23, 2020

March will be a great month for both sports and video games. As basketball fans look forward to March Madness, there are several highly anticipated video games dropping to stir up some “madness” in gamers as well. To help readers know what's coming up and what to look for, we’ve compiled a list of the most anticipated March 2020 releases.

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ARTS

2019 Fall Fest headliner Pop Smoke dies at 20

By ALEX WHETHAM | Feb. 19, 2020

Rapper Pop Smoke is dead at 20 after being shot in his Hollywood home early Wednesday morning and students are remembering his UB performance just five months ago. The death is being reported as a result of a home invasion. As of 4 p.m. on Wednesday, the suspects have not been apprehended.

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ARTS

Hip-hop and rap artists dominate Spring Fest survey results

By JUSTIN WOODMANCY | Feb. 19, 2020

The Student Association’s 2019-2020 Entertainment Survey revealed students know exactly which artists they want at Spring Fest and the SA Comedy Series, with rapper Megan Thee Stallion and comedian Kevin Hart topping both categories.