WHAT IS AND WHAT SHOULD NEVER BE
Nearly every episode of director Jean-Marc Vallée's Big Little Lies had me Googling to find out the artists behind the show's soundtrack, so it's no surprise that his latest work — the incredibly dark and highly entertaining Sharp Objects, also on HBO — is packed with musical wallpaper just as thrilling. The story of a damaged newspaper reporter (Amy Adams) returning to her hometown to investigate the murders of young girls is set to the sounds of Hurray for the Riff Raff, Sylvan Esso, M. Ward and more, but most notable is the consistent stream of Led Zeppelin classics Adams listens to. Zep's constant presence is explained in the third episode of the show, now halfway through its eight-episode run. (DAN NAILEN)
BLED DRY
Even the name, "Theranos," makes the company sound like a supervillain organization. That should have been the first clue that something was amiss at the Silicon Valley startup that claimed to have developed portable, just-a-finger-prick blood-testing technology. And yet profile after profile cooed about the brilliance of Elizabeth Holmes, its young founder. That is, except for Wall Street Journal reporter John Carreyrou, who launched the reporting that exposed the fraud and took down the company. Carreyrou's expansive book Bad Blood yanks the curtain open even further to expose not only Theranos, but its many enablers. As a journalist who dug into Spokane's closest equivalent — the fraudulent Blu-ray company Bluestar — it's a bit maddening to behold just how much detail Carreyrou gleaned despite Theranos' thicket of nondisclosure agreements. (DANIEL WALTERS)
TERRAIN TIME
The time has arrived once again! Local artists, send in your awesome work to be considered for Terrain! The annual, one-night juried multimedia showcase, this year happening Oct. 5, features work by emerging local artists across all media: sculpture, 2D art, film, installation, fiber art, performance and more. This year marks Terrain's 11th year; submissions are due by Aug. 17 at midnight at submit.terrainspokane.com. (CHEY SCOTT)
SMALL SCREEN KING
Hulu's newest series Castle Rock is essentially a Stephen King Easter egg hunt, a serialized mystery set in the sleepy Maine hamlet (and likely supernatural gateway) that links the events in many of the prolific author's novels. Revolving around strange occurrences at the infamous Shawshank Prison, the four episodes now streaming feature nods (both explicit and blink-and-you'll-miss-'em) to entries in King's vast bibliography: Needful Things, Cujo, The Shining, It, the Dark Tower saga. As a King diehard, I'm curious to see what other lore this show digs up. (NATHAN WEINBENDER)
THIS WEEK'S PLAYLIST
Some noteworthy new music arrives online and in stores Aug. 3. To wit:
AMANDA SHIRES, To The Sunset. The fiddlin' Texan is on a hot streak with her solo albums, and this one pushes the boundaries of "country."
LUCERO, Among the Ghosts. The Memphis roots-rockers remain sadly underappreciated.
MAC MILLER, Swimming. Will this be an entire album of songs about Ariana Grande and her new beau? It's possible. (DAN NAILEN)
