Culture

Mumford & Sons’ highly anticipated new album “Babel” is simply “Sigh No More Part 2.” The men, who dress like modern interpretations of characters from Oliver Twist, found a music formula that sells, and they have stuck to it. The sound of “Babel” remains squarely within the overstated, folk-rock-pop style established in “Sigh No More.” From the first track, frantic,...

They call themselves gentlemen of the road. Marcus Mumford and his band of multi-instrumental “sons” –– Ben Lovett, Winston Marshall, and Ted Dwane –– only record albums part time. Their primary business is touring and performing live. It’s been three years since the English folk-rock quartet Mumford & Sons released their debut album “Sigh No More.” The platonic “Cave” and...

While campus can be an enjoyable place, I often find that there are few special events to distinguish Friday nights from any other night of the week here. Fridays are meant to be not just enjoyable, but a blast. However, the closest larger towns are Lansing, Kalamazoo, and Ann Arbor. Those places have clubs, nice restaurants, and museums, but sometimes...

Professor and Kirk Chair Brad Birzer doesn’t sing or play an instrument, but he will make his debut appearance on a progressive rock album called “The Man Left in Space” to be released early next year. In four narrative lines, Birzer acts as the voice of mission control checking on a spacecraft. “It’s really only a minor part, but even...