It is 1927. A man sits in a chair, bound and writhing from the several thousand bolts coursing through him. He screams, “I won’t talk! I won’t say a word!”  His torturers increase the voltage and command him to speak. But the man does not. And with that, The Artist begins.

Despite a number of band breakups and the decline of radio and MTV, quality music is still alive in 2011, thriving in the social media sphere or by word of mouth. Though we can't elude the music of Lady Gaga or Justin Bieber or Katy Perry every day, it is still a delight that genuine musicians have ...