Mountain Views News          Saturday, May 12, 2012

10

ARTS & ENTERTAIMENT

 Mountain Views News Saturday, May 12, 2012 


SEAN’S SHAMELESS 

REVIEWS: 


The Book Report

By Jeff Brown

Review By Sean Kayden

BEST COAST

 Best Coast, fronted by songstress Bethany Cosentino, return with 
their sophomore LP, “The Only Place”. The band’s first album, “Crazy 
For You” garnered a lot of attention both with critics and fans. Two 
years later, the current sound of Best Coast is both refiner and shaper. The lyrics are 
similar to the ones found on “Crazy For You” as they equally deal with breakups, love, and 
relationships. With the help from mega-producer Jon Brion, Cosentino and company drop 
their fuzzy fidelity for elevated production values and a polished soundscape. In translation, 
Best Coast really hasn’t sounded any better than they do now. Their surf-pop resonance is 
blithe and dreamlike. While some fans may show dissatisfaction with the change, those who 
can embrace it will be captivated. Granted, Best Coast may not transform your life, but their 
latest songs will be the soundtrack to your 
summer, no matter the results. 

 

 “The Only Place” zips by fairly quickly. 
At shy of 35 minutes, the eleven estival 
induced tracks are fun and pleasing to the 
ears. Nonetheless, besides the closing track, 
“Up All Night”, the rest of the songs never 
really stick with you. Nearly all the songs here are gems, but despite having the shiny 
demeanor there’s not much else to report on. Sometimes you don’t need to be completely 
moved or enthralled by the music you listen to. If you simply find contentment with Best 
Coast’s elegant surf-pop sound and their lyrics about yearning for past lovers, then you’ll be 
overwhelmingly satisfied. 

 Best Coast never come up short on making the listener either singing along, bobbing 
their head, or even dancing to their joyous material. The title track plays out like a cheesy 
love letter to California. It’s harmless, but quite good. “How They Want Me To Be” is the 
centerpiece for the record. It’s a dance ballad that shows the ultra sensitive side to Best 
Coast even if most of their songs already deal with mixed emotions. At any rate, the 
abovementioned song is one of the finest off the record. In the end, nothing beats “Up 
All Night” the longest song off the record. It closes out this occasionally uneven affair and 
leaves you contemplating many things. It’s distressing, painfully nostalgic, and wonderfully 
beautiful. It kind of makes you take a step back and recognize why the rest of album doesn’t 
give off the same everlasting appeal. Even with some minor blunders along the way, “The 
Only Place” secures a spot as a definite summer album to listen to even if fades away faster 
than the season itself. 

Grade: 7.5 out of 10 

Key Tracks: “The Only Place”, “My Life”, “How They Want Me To Be”, “Up All Night”

Prague Winter: A Personal Story of Remembrance and War, 
1937-1948 by Madeleine Korbel Albright 

Before Madeleine Albright turned twelve, her life was shaken by the Nazi invasion of Czechoslovakia, 
the country where she was born, the Battle of Britain, the near total destruction of European Jewry, 
the Allied victory in World War II, the rise of communism, and the onset of the Cold War. Albright’s 
experiences, and those of her family, provide a lens through which to view the most tumultuous 
dozen years in modern history. Drawing on her memory, her parents’ written reflections, interviews 
with contemporaries, and newly available documents, Albright recounts a tale that is by turns 
harrowing and inspiring. The book takes readers from the Bohemian capital’s thousand-year-old 
castle to the bomb shelters of London, from the desolate prison ghetto of TerezÍn to the highest 
councils of European and American government. Albright reflects on her discovery of her family’s 
real heritage many decades after the war, on her Czech homeland’s tangled history, and on the stark 
moral choices faced by her parents and their generation. Often relying on eyewitness descriptions, she 
tells the story of how millions of ordinary citizens were ripped from familiar surroundings and forced 
into new roles as exiled leaders and freedom fighters, resistance organizers and collaborators, victims 
and killers. “No one who lived through the years of 1937 to 1948,” Albright writes, “was a stranger to 
profound sadness. Millions of innocents did not survive, and their deaths must never be forgotten. 
Today we lack the power to reclaim lost lives, but we have a duty to learn all that we can about what 
happened and why.” At once a deeply personal memoir and an incisive work of history, Prague Winter 
serves as a guide to the future through the lessons of the past, as seen through the eyes of one of the 
international community’s most respected and fascinating figures.

The First 20 Minutes: Surprising Science Reveals How We 
Can: Exercise Better, Train Smarter, Live Longer 

by Gretchen Reynolds

At one point or another, nearly every person who works out wonders: Am I doing this right? Which 
class is best? Do I work out enough? Answering those questions and more, The First 20 Minutes helps 
both weekend warriors dedicated to their performance and readers who simply want to get and stay 
fit gain the most from any workout. With the latest findings about the mental and physical benefits of 
exercise, personal stories from scientists and laypeople alike, Gretchen Reynolds shows what kind of 
exercise and how much is necessary to stay healthy and get fit.

Blowback: A Thriller by Brad Thor

Scot Harvath’s counterterrorism career has just crashed and burned, thanks in part to a ruthless 
senator with her sights set on the White House. But when the war on terror takes a chilling turn, the 
president has no choice but to secretly bring Harvath back inside. Deep beneath an Alpine glacier, 
an ancient weapon designed to decimate the Roman Empire has been unearthed, and a shadowy 
organization intends to use it for America’s downfall. Racing across Europe, Harvath must secure the 
ultimate instrument of destruction before it brings the United States and the rest of the world to their 
knees. A real page turner from this best selling author!!

Artist: Best Coast 

Album: The Only Place 

Label: Mexican Summer

Release Date: May 15, 2012

WOMAN IN MIND @ SIERRA MADRE PLAYHOUSE


Sierra Madre Spring Art 
Exhibition:

HILDA PITTMAN

The City of Sierra Madre Community Services 
Commission and Arts Advisory Committee is 
pleased to present an art exhibition by Sierra 
Madre resident Hilda Pittman. 

 The art work is now on display through Friday, 
June 8 in Sierra Madre City Hall, 232 W. Sierra 
Madre Blvd. 

For more information please call the Sierra Madre 
Community & Personnel Services Department at 
(626) 355-5278. 

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