Becky Sullivan

Sure, YouTube is great for kitten videos, but one of its most consistent sweet spots is fake movie trailers. Viral video fans take note -- the western epic The Oregon Trail is 'coming soon' to a theater near you.

Like most moviegoers after Inception, I left the theatre with a lot of questions about the movie. Last week, we were presented with yet another.  Inception's soundtrack is comprised of two elements: composer Hans Zimmer's largely ambient, stringy score, and “Non, je ne regrette rien' – the classic chanson sung by Edith Piaf, which Leo and his crew use to communicate with their dreaming teammates.  It is just a tiny bit more complicated than that: Zimmer used a sample of the Piaf tune in the making of his score, which he confirmedlast Wednesday (after Internet speculation).

Over the last few days, the internet has ooed and aahed over a viral marketing campaign from Old Spice.  In just two days, a production team and a charming actor named Isaiah Mustafa created 183 short videos; instead of paying for TV airtime, Old Spice simply uploaded them to YouTube.  It was the kind of bombshell that the creative minds at Sterling Cooper could only dream of.

Illustration is hardly a new art form -- after all, it's been around for just about as long as stories have, although it's generally been confined to children's literature (where it's thrived).  But illustration has recently had a bit of resurgence in the grown-up art world.  Take Zak Smith's exhaustive project to depict every page of Thomas Pynchon's dizzying epic Gravity's Rainbow.  But my favorite is the cleaner and more colorful vision of a different American classic: Moby-Dick.

No soundtrack is more perfect for your 2010 summer than this classic rock from 1991. Songwriter Billy Childish's bluesy punk rock pairs unbelievably well with the stripped-down vocals from the singer Holly Golightly. There's not a bad track out of the twelve delightfully brief garage pop tunes. Start with 'First Plane Home,' where the catchy group vocals and relentless guitar riff are through after just 99 seconds.

 

The Apples in stereo have been turning out impeccable indie pop tunes for nearly 17 years now.  The band's latest album is something a little different: Travellers in Space and Time is a danceable concept album about time travel.

Indie rockers Ra Ra Riot found sonic inspiration in Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird. Singer Wes Miles explains that like the book, their song "Each Year" explores issues of prejudice.

Weigh in: Has a work of art changed your life?

The Apples in stereo have been turning out impeccable indie pop tunes for nearly 17 years now. The band’s latest album is something a little different: Travellers in Space and Time is a danceable concept album about time travel. When the band stopped by Studio 360 recently, frontman Robert Schneider ...

This Sunday is the 234th birthday of the United States of America, and across the nation people will be watching baseball, illegally shooting off fireworks, eating apple pie, and generally swelling with patriotic pride.  And on radio stations across the land, Studio 360 will modestly proffer a new national anthem ...

Sometimes we cling tightly to things we deem 'traditional' without realizing they're not as deeply entrenched in our history as we thought. Take Uncle Sam: he hasn't changed much sin...

Earlier this week, Darci Kistler swung by Studio 360 on her way home from rehearsal. A beloved soloist with the New York City Ballet, Kistler was the last principal chosen by ballet giant George Balanchine, before his death in 1983.  After a laudable 30-year career, she'll ...

This weekend, Renée Fleming will release her 29th album. But it isn't a new recording of a Romantic opera or a set of lieder: America's favorite soprano has gone pop.

Dark Hope features eleven covers, including songs by the Arcade Fire and Jefferson Airplane.  And Fleming ...

Today is a big day for hip-hop: it’s the birthday of both André 3000 and RJD2. Born just one year apart, they both have had an indelible influence on the genre – and in very different ways.

André 3000 is one half of Outkast, whose 2004 ...