Arts & Culture

Spears Falls Short of Glory

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Pop has changed. Over the course of the last decade or so, what was once an outlet for one-dimensional electronic ballads such as Spear’s Top 10, Toxic, has become one that allows expression of the complexities of more than simply romance, artists are expressing the intricacies of their lives. Pop has come to encompass a great deal of music as well. Suddenly, Adele, Ed Sheeran and Britney Spears are all in the same category. That being said, in many respects, the pop bar has been raised in just the last 10 years.

Arts & Culture

The Sun’s Top 10 Movies of 2015

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1) Mad Max: Fury Road

Simply put, Mad Max: Fury Road came thundering into the arena like 2000 horsepower of nitro-boosted war machine and blew the roof off not only every other action movie this year, but every movie this year, period. At 70 years old, Australian director George Miller conjured a magnum opus that leaves all the younger competition eating the dust. It’s a two-hour chase with non-stop action, expert choreography, mind-melting stunts, spectacular visual bravura, gritty tenacity, a vibrant heart at its center and a heroine for the ages in Imperator Furiosa (Charlize Theron). Katniss Everdeen has got nothing — nothing — on her. I’ve seen the thing five times — the first 15 seconds alone are so awesome what with the roar of those engines that I made them my ringtone — and I simply cannot get enough.

albums

The Sun’s Top 10 Albums of 2015

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1.) To Pimp A Butterfly — Kendrick Lamar

Kendrick Lamar’s follow-up to 2012’s good kid, m.A.A.d. city was perhaps the most anticipated album of the year. It seemed impossible that Lamar could equal the accomplishment of his perfect debut. Instead, he blew it away in scope, ambition and depth. Across 16 tracks and nearly 80 minutes, Lamar burrows into complex issues, using his dexterous voice to produce an astounding variety of tones and emotions, from anger to false bravado to introspection to drunken sobbing. The music itself is a history lesson in modern African-American music, blending jazz, funk, soul and classic hip-hop into one omnivorous, fluid sound.

2015

The Sun’s Top 10 Songs of 2015

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1) “I Really Like You” — Carly Rae Jepsen

 

I guess that guy finally called Carly Rae after her endless melodic pleading because now she really, really, really, really, really likes him. Unless this is a different guy? In which case, Carly Rae, you little minx! The perfect song for when you’re just getting to know someone and aren’t quite sure where Netflix and chill’s going to lead: “Late night watching television/but how’d we get in this position?” Jepsen delivers exactly what we expect from her: a feel-good, catchy, pure pop song we can wail along with whose repetitiveness is offset by her sweet, breathy voice. —Gwen Aviles

2) “FourFiveSeconds” — Rihanna, Kanye West & Paul McCartney

Just when we were thinking we had enough and might get a little drunk if Rihanna released another auto-tuned track, she produced a refreshing acoustic guitar-driven tune with Kanye West and Paul McCartney.