The Arts Desk’s weekly picks for music, movies and more
By NATALIE SALTER — arts@theaggie.org
Movie: “Almost Famous” dir. Cameron Crowe (2000)
When 15-year-old student prodigy William Miller (Patrick Fugit) seizes an opportunity to pursue music journalism, he doesn’t quite expect to find himself on a bus with rising-star band Stillwater on a cross-country tour. There’s a Rolling Stone assignment weighing on his shoulders, the band is hardly ever sober enough to give a proper interview and self-proclaimed teen muse Penny Lane (Kate Hudson) is becoming an unexpected object of his affections — it’s a lot for one high schooler to handle. Still, despite its chaos, “Almost Famous” is also a comedic and heartwarming tale — with, of course, a very memorable soundtrack as well.
Book: “Days at the Morisaki Bookshop” by Satoshi Yagisawa (2023)
Takako is at rock bottom. Her long-term boyfriend casually reveals he’s been seeing someone else and leaves her, she loses her job and she’s spiraling into a deep depression, leaving her unable to get out of bed. However, a curious offer from her eccentric uncle — to come live with him in the bookstore district of Jimbocho, Tokyo and help run his quirky used book shop — gives her a new opportunity to embrace life. In a truly beautiful turn of events, Takako learns the importance of slowing down and appreciating life’s little gifts, finally able to embrace the love of her family and friends once more. It’s a tremendously heartwarming novel that will remind you of the power of little gestures of kindness and the healing power of a good book.
Album: “Windswept Adan” by Ichiko Aoba (2020)
If you have ever wondered what the musical equivalent of soft ocean waves, a quiet breeze through leaves or the soft twittering of birds in the morning is, you need not look further than Ichiko Aoba’s masterful “Windswept Adan.” An ethereal, dreamy LP filled with diaphanous melodies and gentle vocals, Aoba’s artistry is so absolutely transcendent that you’ll feel like you’re floating through the clouds from the start of the album to its end. When the world gets a little too loud, put on “Windswept Adan” and drift away to the peaceful, enchanting world Aoba so masterfully creates. It’s unlike anything else you will ever listen to, and its soothing effects are nothing short of magical.
Song: “1980s Horror Film II” by Wallows (2020)
“She was only seventeen / Oh, why are girls in songs always seventeen?” is one lyric Wallows member Braeden Lemasters sings right at the start of “1980s Horror Film II.” That’s a great question to start a song on, and the band only continues this wry tone throughout a musical chronicle of a not-so-perfect love story with a dream girl straight out of a coming-of-age film. It’s a nostalgic, synth-backdropped track that sounds like it was pulled out of the titular decade, with an amusing lyrical narrative to match. Too bad that the song’s muse reveals at the end that she’s “really not that into guys.” Better luck next time — in the meantime, I’ll be listening to this song on repeat.
Written by Natalie Salter — arts@theaggie.org
