Tonight debuts the fourth annual New York City Food Film Festival. The NYC Food Film Fest is the delicious brainchild of documentary filmmaker George Motz, director of the documentary Hamburger America. Motz wanted us to be able to explore a multi-dimensional method of tasting food - by learning about it at the same time! So what exactly is this food and film fest? The best answer is that its an exploration of an overall sensory experience ... Read More

I found myself in the art/ photography publication section of a Borders this morning; where on the cover of Color Magazine the face of Kimiko Yoshida was discovered gazing back at me. The art nerd in me lost it to her technique: the neon green and highlighter yellow layered over a matte grey, the choice of tonal variations within a monochromatic field, the fact that somewhere in this latticed color landscape is a distinct, yet sinking, ... Read More

It’s been three years since the seven piece (plus guests) Canadian ensemble Arcade Fire toured the United States. Which is ironic because they seem so, well, American.  When Arcade Fire released Neon Bible in 2007 they ended up articulating an image of disenchantment so real to Americans it hurt. Delivered with the hollow, melodic voice of vocalist Win Butler and accompanied by the soulful droning of a church organ and the ... Read More

If you’re living in New York you may have noticed the quiet shifting of scenery on the walls of the city. By the hand of artist Swoon, a new cast of imagery extends into brickwork and steel, transforming the regular into dreamscape. Swoon’s work might qualify for a type of expressionism called magic realism, where the weight of reality is lifted through manipulation of light, line and color. But it’s not all manipulation. ... Read More

It never surprises me when I stumble upon an amazing, independent musician in the vast depths of the internet. They are out there; multiplying; so it will always be impossible to find them all. Recently, however, I came across Noemi Calumarte (from Barcelona) on her MySpace page and fell in love. Calumarte has the kind of voice that is thick and soulful, reminiscent of Nina Simone but with the heart wrenching poetics of Leonard Cohen. One ... Read More