OUDaily.com | Matt Carney

'Page One' captures behind-the-scenes action at New York Times

June 12, 2011 | 0 comments

Inherently, documentaries — like journalists — ask difficult questions. Any good documentary, like any good journalist, seeks the most functional version of a truth available at a given time. READ MORE

'Purple Hearts' comes up just short of flat-out misinformation

June 11, 2011 | 1 comment

There are documentaries, and there are propaganda films. Billed as the former, “Purple Hearts: Requiem for Mad Dog 5” is clearly the latter. Oklahoma filmmaker Mike Wilkerson spends most of his 90 minutes trying to convince his audience that the U.S. military royally screwed 1st Lt. Michael Behenna, an Edmond native, in his 2009 conviction for the unpremeditated murder of a purported Iraqi terrorist. READ MORE

'Talihina Sky' kicks off deadCenter with a rock-'n'-roll bang

June 10, 2011 | 0 comments

About three-quarters through the worldwide premiere of director Stephen Mitchell’s Kings of Leon-focused rockumentary “Talihina Sky,” the brothers and cousins Followill whip their hair back and forth (sorry) in a montage of high-octane, rock-'n'-roll-driven frenzy. READ MORE

Nights to remember: Local shows of the year

May 9, 2011 | 1 comment

I’m proud to say that the first and last stories I wrote in my three years at The Daily were about local concerts. From spring 2009 when I first wandered into Opolis to see Blitzen Trapper to April’s totally epic, full-scale sonic assault that was Norman Music Festival 4, it’s been an eventful and exciting adventure. READ MORE

Norman musicians find new recording ally

April 29, 2011 | 0 comments

For one former Southwestern Bell repairman and long-time Norman resident, a newly opened recording studio was a dream come true. At a rented space in north Norman, Chris Harris flicks one of the many switches spread across the board before him and speaks to somebody he can’t see. READ MORE

Norman Music Fest to rock audience

April 26, 2011 | 0 comments

A list of totally awesome bands who, according to Opolis owner Andy Nunez, have performed within the cramped, black walls of his venue is: Vampire Weekend, The National, Blitzen Trapper, Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti, Lightning Bolt and more. READ MORE

New Music Tuesday: 'W H O K I L L' by tUnE-yArDs

April 26, 2011 | 0 comments

For most, the reflexive, hipster-condemning reaction to Merrill Garbus’s bizarre stylizing will be enough to prevent them from ever experiencing the steady tenderness of “Powa” or the primal, aesthetic pleasure in singing the chorus of “Gangsta”. They’ll have never given her a chance, in other words. READ MORE

'The Verdigris' to educate Oklahomans

April 21, 2011 | 0 comments

You can take the boy out of Oklahoma, but you can’t take Oklahoma out of the boy. That’s the short story for Tulsa-bred, Brooklyn, N.Y. singer Beau Jennings. READ MORE

New Music Tuesday: 'House of Balloons' by The Weeknd

April 19, 2011 | 0 comments

Seduction seems both the dominant theme and purpose of modern R&B, at least the kind of modern R&B that makes any money. It’s become a staid cash cow during the last 20 years, with few artists straying from the standardized formula. READ MORE

Norman Music Festival Preview: Blackwatch Stage

April 13, 2011 | 0 comments

The final lineup for Norman Music Festival 4 has been announced, and you’ve had a few weeks to scan this year’s impressive field of more than 220 performers. READ MORE

New Music Tuesday 'Gimme Some' by Peter Bjorn and John

April 12, 2011 | 0 comments

Swedish rockers Peter Bjorn and John mostly are known for their 2006 single “Young Folks,” which owes its universal catchiness to the whistled refrain. READ MORE

Norman Music Festival urges fans to back downtown business

April 1, 2011 | 0 comments

With the fourth Norman Music Festival less than a month away, festival organizers are implementing an innovative strategy to encourage business for downtown stores that will either lose money or close April 30 when the festival shuts down the street. READ MORE

Book review: Journalist takes trip with author

March 30, 2011 | 0 comments

After sharing breakfast in the now-dead author’s Bloomington, Ill. home in 1996, his two Labrador retrievers rolling on the floor and moaning for attention, journalist David Lipsky elicited from David Foster Wallace a frank description of his life’s and work’s driving conflict. READ MORE

New Music Tuesday: 'Rolling Papers' by Wiz Khalifa

March 29, 2011 | 1 comment

The fact that Wiz Khalifa’s slender, peach-fuzzed face occupies the cover of Rolling Stone’s recent “New Faces 2011” issue (Snooki spread herself across the back) with “Teen Dreams, Starlets, A Muppet & Lenny Kravitz’s Smokin’ Daughter” is a telling example of the 23-year-old Pittsburgh rapper’s mass appeal. READ MORE

Which is better: Remakes, updates or originals?

March 23, 2011 | 0 comments

Stories can be tweaked into a hundred different versions, and screenplays are no different. Whether you’re a traditionalist who insists that the original is always better, or of the school of thought that special effects make any story superior, it usually is a case-by-case deliberation. READ MORE

COLUMN: SXSW finds new festival competition

March 11, 2011 | 0 comments

South By Southwest had better keep an eye out because 35 Conferette’s hot on its heels. READ MORE

35 Conferette festival must-see performances

March 11, 2011 | 0 comments

Who to see at 35 Conferette Music Festival in Denton, Texas. READ MORE

Professor sheds 100 pounds — the right way

March 3, 2011 | 1 comment

Professor Larry Hammett clasped his meaty, manicured hands together before the big announcement. “I weighed 174 pounds this morning,” the 20-year faculty member said, glowing with pride. READ MORE

Lecturer journeys from Paris to OU

February 24, 2011 | 0 comments

Coiffed like a younger Albert Einstein with a pair of Martin Van Buren-style sideburns, intellectual historian and Expository Writing lecturer Ron Haas came to OU after vowing never to leave Paris, France. The McAllen, Texas, native discovered his passion for French and German thought during his undergraduate studies at Rice University and eventually moved to the French capital where he found a home within its thriving intellectual community. READ MORE

New Music Tuesday: 'The King of Limbs' by Radiohead

February 22, 2011 | 1 comment

Creepy, clear imagery and lyrics about alienation, loneliness and the vulnerability in intimacy? Check. READ MORE

COLUMN: Radiohead regains shared experience

February 21, 2011 | 1 comment

Excluding Super Bowls, we haven’t shared an experience in a long time, people. Lucky for us, Thom Yorke’s insisting we do it again. Sort of. READ MORE

Veteran inspires students to lead

February 18, 2011 | 0 comments

Adjunct professor retired Maj. Gen. Jerry Holmes didn’t expect to still be teaching in 2011. In fact, he didn’t expect to be teaching in 1999, his third year of lecturing his now always full leadership and management course. READ MORE

COLUMN: Norman Music Festival attracts big-name act for fourth year

February 15, 2011 | 1 comment

The next time you see a Norman Music Festival organizer, be sure to give him or her a pat on the back, if not a pair of thumbs-up or a great big hug if you can spare it. READ MORE

New Music Tuesday: 'James Blake' by James Blake

February 15, 2011 | 0 comments

James Blake creates dance music the way Chuck Palahniuk writes sentences, reducing each part until it becomes elemental: simple and easily understood. It’s a style that sharpens the drama in a story, whether it’s “Fight Club” or Blake’s eponymous debut LP, which trembles with dubstep paranoia and his rich, English voice. READ MORE

Grammys should focus on talent, not profit

February 11, 2011 | 0 comments

If you’re of the belief that the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences is living up to its website overview’s claim to “honor artistic achievement, technical proficiency and overall excellence in the recording industry, without regard to album sales or chart position,” then I strongly recommend a brief scan of this year’s Grammy nominations. READ MORE

Literature professor mixes writing, drama

February 10, 2011 | 0 comments

It’s been a long time between teaching gigs for OU visiting professor Win Blevins, who first lectured about English composition and American literature at Purdue University in the mid-1960s. “Believe me, once they let me write books, I didn’t look back at university teaching again,” Blevins said with a short laugh echoed by his wife, novelist Meredith Blevins. READ MORE

The Daily's 10 albums to pick up this semester

February 8, 2011 | 0 comments

Spring needs Fleet Foxes like flowers need admirers. Because really, what’s the point of natural beauty if nobody celebrates it with art? READ MORE

OU professor trims hair for charity

January 27, 2011 | 0 comments

Scott Williams’ father died in 2009 after a 12-year bout with prostate cancer, but the OU professor resolved not to resort to anger and despair. Instead, he grew out his hair for three years before cutting it Monday afternoon to donate to Locks of Love, a non-profit organization that provides wigs to children who have medical hair loss. READ MORE

Local hip-hop artist raps 'to inspire children'

January 21, 2011 | 0 comments

Jabee Williams was only 7 years old when he learned the shock value of hip-hop. “You know who Bushwick Bill is?” he asked from across the little white table in the corner of Sara Sara Cupcakes, not far from the east side of Oklahoma City where he grew up. READ MORE

A women's guide to high heels and what men need to know

January 20, 2011 | 0 comments

Why do women spend so much money on accessories that make for such impractical and painful walking? And why should men care? READ MORE

COLUMN: 'Professional' advice from a student in final semester

January 19, 2011 | 0 comments

Like me, many of you will graduate from OU and aren’t precisely certain how to earn the gobs of money to which our degrees will entitle us. Obviously many of you don’t have anything to worry about because you will be marrying into well-moneyed families or are Sooner football star Jeremy Beal, so you can probably stop reading now. READ MORE

The best albums of 2010

December 13, 2010 | 4 comments

The Daily’s Life & Arts staff voted on the best albums of 2010. The top 25 from that poll are included here. READ MORE

Brewing good study habits

December 13, 2010 | 0 comments

I like coffee. A lot. Particularly, I like to drink it as an incentive to do some writing, which I do fairly often as a professional writing major. READ MORE

Hipster vs. Metal Head

December 9, 2010 | 2 comments

You’d be hard-pressed to find two life & arts staffers with more divergent musical tastes than our metal aficionado AJ Lansdale and our indie kid Matt Carney. But college is the time for experimentation, so each curated a playlist that would help the other better understand a foreign aural landscape. READ MORE

Jingle Bell Rock: Local Bands to gather 'round Union for free show

December 8, 2010 | 0 comments

Norman arose to such a clatter at the beginning of this year’s holiday season to find neatly wrapped presents awaiting its residents. READ MORE

New Music Tuesday: Bruce Springsteen, Curren$y, My Chemical Romance, Air Waves

December 7, 2010 | 0 comments

The Daily reviews new and notable music releases from Bruce Springsteen, Curren$y, My Chemical Romance and Air Waves READ MORE

Octopus Project to rock out tonight at OU

December 1, 2010 | 0 comments

If there’s one thing that the guys and gal who compose Austin’s The Octopus Project seem to embody, it’s a pure, unfiltered joy in musical composition. READ MORE

New Kanye Tuesday: The Daily reviews 'My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy'

November 30, 2010 | 0 comments

Kanye West is one of the biggest names in popular music today — with the talent and ego to match. We felt a single review wouldn’t do his latest album justice. READ MORE

Restaurant Review: Fuzzy's Taco Shop doesn't stand out from the crowd

November 17, 2010 | 2 comments

Is it just me, or are there way too many Mexican restaurants on Campus Corner? You’ve got La Luna, Chipotle, Freebirds, the ghost of Moe’s and now, the new guy — Fuzzy’s Taco Shop. READ MORE

Stardeath and White Dwarfs hits Opolis before national tour

November 12, 2010 | 0 comments

It’s practically impossible to write anything about Stardeath and White Dwarfs without mentioning the state’s best and most awesome band of any type — the Flaming Lips. Internationally beloved eccentric and Lips singer Wayne Coyne is the uncle to Dennis Coyne, who fronts Stardeath. READ MORE

Norman arts experiences a decade of progression, enrichment

November 4, 2010 | 0 comments

An increase in non-profits and quality venues promotes development of art within the community. READ MORE

Coffee shop celebrates first year as local hub

November 3, 2010 | 1 comment

For Gray Owl Coffee shop owner Mike Beavers, coffee isn’t just a business or even a lifestyle. It’s a way for people to connect and share ideas. For most, this trivial ritual is a morning habit or a temporary day job, but for Beavers, the act means much more. It means that he’s realized a dream. READ MORE

New Music Tuesday: Belle & Sebastian, Sufjan Stevens

October 12, 2010 | 0 comments

The Daily reviews new and notable music releases from Belle & Sebastian, Sufjan Stevens and Antony & the Johnsons. READ MORE

Students flock to Austin music festival

October 11, 2010 | 1 comment

Rivalries be damned, droves of OU students skipped Friday classes and even tests to travel to Austin this weekend all because of three little letters: ACL. They were rewarded for their efforts at Austin City Limits music festival. “The weather has been perfect,” said University College freshman Patrick McSweeney, shortly after Ted Leo and the Pharmacists’ Sunday morning set, as wispy clouds circled above his head. READ MORE

Austin City Limits diary: Sunday, Oct. 10, 2010

October 10, 2010 | 0 comments

On the final day of a music festival, crowds are often be pretty difficult to motivate. For many, it’s their third consecutive day of braving constant heat, dust and body odor, of having to pay $2 for 16 ounces of water and $6 for a hot dog. It wears down on people, and a very special act is necessary to maintain a crowd’s collective attention. Enter Wayne Coyne. READ MORE

Austin City Limits: 3 questions with Local Natives

October 10, 2010 | 0 comments

Local Natives left an Oklahoma City crowd (composed of many OU students) wowed last week when they played at the new ACM@UCO venue in Bricktown. The boys from Los Angeles trekked down Interstate 35 to play Saturday at Austin City Limits, hoping to hook even more fans with their expansive, lovely rock sound and folky lyrics. READ MORE

Austin City Limits: 3 questions with Dan Black

October 10, 2010 | 0 comments

English wonky artist Dan Black is tall, imposing and perhaps a little bit eccentric in person, but that only feeds into his dominating onstage persona as a French electro-pop maestro. He had a collaboration with Kid Cudi earlier this year that hit big on the charts, and now he’s at Austin City Limits promoting his 2009 album, "UN." READ MORE

Austin City Limits diary: Saturday, Oct. 9, 2010

October 9, 2010 | 0 comments

The heat offered no respite in Austin today. Patrons of Zilker Park baked just as hot as they did Friday when temperatures hit the lower 90s with not a single cloud’s cover. No matter — they’d have to move the festival to Death Valley to prevent the kids from dancing. READ MORE

Austin City Limits: 3 questions with Vonnegutt

October 9, 2010 | 0 comments

As one of the few hip-hop acts playing Austin City Limits this year, Vonnegutt’s lineup more closely resembles a Dashboard Confessional cover band. But don’t be fooled, lyricists Kyle Lucas and Neil Garrard showed off their chops to one of hip hop’s biggest names this year in Big Boi, earning the rights to appear on the best rap album of the year, Sir Lucious Left Foot: The Son of Chico Dusty. READ MORE

Austin City Limits: 3 Questions with Bear in Heaven

October 9, 2010 | 0 comments

It shouldn't be a surprise if you haven't heard of Bear in Heaven, them being from Brooklyn and all. That just means that now’s the time to hop on board because the bandwagon’s going to be loading up soon for these Animal Collective contemporaries. READ MORE

Articles by Matt Carney