Chances are you’ll fall into one of two categories when describing the bagpipes: fierce animosity or reverent loyalty. It’s the archetypal “love it” or “hate it” instrument ­­­— the squawking reeds and repetitive drones are deemed beautiful by some and atonal by everyone else.

It’s no wonder that traditional Scottish folk music is typically deemed accessible only to those who possess that common heredity.

When cartoon group Gorillaz emerged in 2001, it didn’t promise to be more than a temporary distraction, a foray into hip-hop from former Blur frontman Damon Albarn. With a mix of Brit pop, rap and electronic influences, Albarn and his ‘toon troupe delivered an eclectic product, yet the potential had obviously not been realized.

Now into the group’s third full-length, Albarn has found a formula that works. The hip-hop aspect is on point with collaborators Mos Def and De La Soul contributing to some of the album’s most potent tracks.

The summer of 2009 was dubbed the summer of “chillwave” by many music critics and bloggers. Artists like Neon Indian, Washed Out and Memory Tapes all released synth-heavy, lo-fi atmospheric albums.

Kids are the only ones who can get away with telling their stories using nothing but drawings.  Somebody neglected to tell this to Tim Burton.

Working with 3-D CGI technologies instead of crayons, Burton lets his “Alice in Wonderland” flourish with extraordinary visual life at the expense of both multi-dimensional narrative and his trademark zaniness. With the proper Burton touch, this famous fairy tale could have wound up a movie instead of what feels like a really bad dream.

At the South by Southwest festival in Austin, Texas, music lovers cruise the streets of the Lonestar town to watch bands from all over.

Don’t let the opening shot of a head-butt fool you. Director Andrea Arnold’s “Fish Tank” is far more than a homemade homage to teenage angst.

The film rejects a high budget and elaborate effects in favor of a raw and emotional portrayal of a 15-year-old girl growing up in a poor English household.

The Oscars are always incredibly difficult to predict, as personal preferences give way to the more likely Academy favorites.

This year, Dive gives you both sides of the story with our picks for who should win and also for the nominee who will actually take home the Oscar Sunday.

Under the moniker Peasant, singer-songwriter Damien DeRose combines poppy piano with elements of folk to make relationship woes appear more upbeat than his lyrics actually suggest. With a style almost too similar to Rocky Votolato, Peasant creates a folk- infused mixture passable for love-sick hearts.

Don’t let Lost Souls Like Us trick you into thinking you’re about to listen to a deep, revelation-filled composition. The title of the album is the only really arresting thing about it.

Ted Leo and the Pharmacists is well versed in the art of despair. On The Brutalist Bricks, the band touts its heartbreak like a battle scar, weaving tales of unrequited, unresolved love alongside Leo’s restless, punk rock libretto.

Ernest Hemingway is said to have once been asked if he could tell a story in six words. His response: “For sale: baby shoes, never worn.” The same evidentiary storytelling marks Michael Haneke’s film.

Ensnaring viewers in the trepidation of events unseen and characters unexplored, this film disciplines you to imagine what lies beyond the frame and handsomely rewards you for it. You find yourself conceding to Haneke’s bleak portrait of humanity, arriving at disturbing revelations he has hidden in this striking, quiet picture.

Feeding The Fire stands as an oddity in Chapel Hill’s music scene.

In an area dominated by garage rockers and pop outfits, Feeding the Fire’s progressive rock sound is an unlikely match for the Southern part of Heaven.

“It’s lonely,” said bassist Eric Smith.

Cop Out” begins with The Beastie Boys, along with a sky-high perspective of New York, a shot straight out of ’80s-era cop movies.

The title, “Cop Out,” refers both to the buddy-cop genre of the movie and to the fact that director Kevin Smith had to soften the original title, “A Couple of Dicks,” so the movie could be promoted on major networks before 9 p.m.

In talking about Horsefly, the finally released 1996 album that was set to make the career of Chapel Hill’s Capsize 7 until the band was dropped from Caroline Records, former front man Joe Taylor told me that parts of the record sound dated to him.