God, Man of Science
The voice is not what you’d expect. Over the past two weeks, state Board of Education member Michael Cochran has been pilloried across Ohio for trying to include “intelligent design,” the New & Improved term for creationism, in the state science curriculum. Cleveland ACLU chief Christine Link calls it going “back to the 14th century.”…
Mike White Had His Merits
But that last term sure sucked: There is no doubt that Michael White contributed much to Cleveland with his bold and brash decision-making [“Why Mike White Shouldn’t Be Forgiven,” January 10]. While he was the wizard of “Don’t blame me, blame that person” and “I have no comment,” technically he accomplished a lot. And quite…
Still Waters
What happens when two galleries on opposite sides of Cleveland play around with Objects That Don’t Move? Plenty. The action’s just off the canvas, rather than on. The combined showcase of Cleveland artists by the Artists Archives of the Western Reserve and the Dead Horse Gallery is worth attending, both for the glimpse it offers…
Grape Expectations
It’s a Saturday night at Zin Restaurant & Bistro, and the tables are filling up fast. General Manager Justine Frate directs traffic with gusto, guiding guests across the dining room, handing out menus, pointing out the cloakroom. Busy servers rush by in a blur. Chatter has drowned out the background music, and chef-owner Peter Katelanos…
Home-Grown Harmony
Chef Parker Bosley says he never set out to develop a regional network of artisan farmers when he began looking for top-quality meats and vegetables to serve in his Ohio City restaurant. But each new discovery led to another, and today he works with about 20 small local producers who do everything from raise heirloom…
The Kids Are All Fight
“There’s nothing like going to a Pizza Hut in Goodland, Kansas, at one o’clock on a Sunday afternoon,” smirks Signoffs drummer Chris Monroe. “Catching the after-church crowd, plugging in the jukebox, and playing ‘Hell’s Bells’ by AC/DC. That’s one of my favorite moments,” he says, recounting a highlight from his band’s first tour last year.…
Muscle and Melody
Jucifer’s Amber Valentine is a woman taken with the romance implied in her surname. But if she does tend to gush in conversation, it’s over no beau, but rather her vast, varied record collection. “In preparing for this interview and other ones, I was making myself a list of music that I like a lot,…
Fresh Squeezebox
“I’ve never seen anybody headbang while playing the accordion before,” a woman whispered at the Beachland on a recent Friday. She’d probably never seen a polka artist in form-fitting jeans and a Lycra halter top either. Most folks, when they think of polka, picture portly, kielbasa-scented dudes in lederhosen, with beer bellies as prodigious as…
Three 6 Mafia
One thing that has remained constant in the finicky world of hip-hop is the fact that sex, drugs, and controversy sell more records than lyrics, beats, and originality. The most puerile pioneers of this trend may very well be Three 6 Mafia, which built its foundation on controversy, then rounded out its sound with a…
Red Snare
You’ve got to hand it to any romantic comedy that makes The Mexican and the Sweet November remake seem like enduring classics, which appears to be the chief objective of Birthday Girl. This slipshod sophomore effort from Jez Butterworth (Mojo) has been sitting on the shelf since its original release date of September 2000, and…
Varnaline
It’s never really mattered who’s dropped by to lend a hand in the studio; as long as Anders Parker is in the house, so is Varnaline. The band, both a legitimate group and a de facto one-man operation, rose from the ashes of Space Needle six years ago, with drummer Jud Ehrbar following Parker into…
Vanity Project
If actor Andrew May had to choose between being named Cleveland’s Artist of the Year and seeing his latest stage vehicle become a smash hit, he’d take the latter. No hesitation. Of course, the choice is purely theoretical, a little like the premise of the play in question. Written by Murphy Guyer, The Infinite Regress…
The Moldy Peaches
“Anti-folk,” really, is either a) folk mired in self-loathing or b) folk made by wee turd-droppers too damn clever for their own good. As for the Moldy Peaches . . . turd-droppers. Definitely turd-droppers. From the Big Apple, no less: a cutesy duo writing crude, profane garage-folk tunes about smoking crack, dating neurotic indie boys,…
The Home Pros
Matt Fox, co-host of HGTV’s Room by Room, calls his show “guerrilla decorating.” “We come into your home, do what we have to do, and then leave.” Since 1994, he and Shari Hiller have revamped approximately 300 rooms on-camera. Seventy-five million households see the Cleveland-based program, aired daily on the cable network. “We never expected…
Sevendust
“Anybody that reads this, when we’re coming through town this time, don’t think you can wait to see us next week, because we’re not doing that this time,” warns Sevendust vocalist Lajon Witherspoon. It’s hard to take Witherspoon’s words at face value, though, because over the past four years, few bands have hit the road…
Cheaters Never Win
It’s astonishing just how open Screen Gems has been about showing Slackers to the reviewing press well in advance of deadlines. Dim, youth-oriented sex comedies like this often slip into theaters under cover of darkness. The fact that a studio actually wants critics to see its college movie would seem like a good sign, especially…
The Black-Eyed Snakes
Even hardcore fans must admit that the results of most rock side projects are rarely as good as the ideas that spawn them. Magic is rare, with too many half-wit wizards working against their own strengths for dumb glory, misinterpreting wandering artistic spirit for genius. But the Black-Eyed Snakes — a garage-blues move by Alan…
Power to the People
NOPEC shouldn’t be confused with OPEC, says Chairman Dan DiLiberto: “I don’t wear a turban or sunglasses. And we don’t meet in Egypt.” Still, the Eastlake mayor dreams that, someday, his Northeast Ohio Public Energy Council will influence local electricity rates the same way OPEC does the price of crude oil. NOPEC formed just before…
Stephin Merritt
Throughout his wildly eclectic and outstanding career, Stephin Merritt has managed to cloak himself in a variety of band disguises — Magnetic Fields, the 6ths, Future Bible Heroes, the Gothic Archies. They all were put in the service of his frighteningly vulnerable baroque pop songs. The constants in these various personas have been revolving-door membership…
Winner-Takes-All Brawl
He’s the only white man in the room, a jumpy little Irishman with an American flag pin on his lapel and tassels on his loafers. His voice, mimicked to perfection by former employees, is high-pitched and unpolished, the streets of Brooklyn flaring in its nasal A’s. Standing next to his tall, smooth, black opponent, Patrick…
Hamid Drake / Assif Tsahar
Hamid Drake is the most important drummer in jazz right now. Able to play any polyrhythm on the planet, he’s equally at home in the most unfettered circumstances. He’s played with everyone from Fred Anderson to Peter Brotzmann, in every possible configuration. This release documents a performance from 2001’s Vision Festival in New York. Drake’s…
When Johnny Goes Off to War
It was a burst of national pride that felt both retro and admirable. After the September terrorist attacks, flags were suddenly everywhere: waving from front porches, poking out of planters, blazing on the back pocket of the bartender’s jeans. The age of irony, one magazine proclaimed, was over. Cynicism, out. Patriotism, in. So it might…
Various Artists
The first word that comes to mind when skimming through this album is “range.” Showcasing the entire Chop Shop Records family, Bumpivity turns its back on all the gang-bangin’ and ballin’ that’s prevalent on so many local releases in favor of something a little smarter and sexier. The glue that holds it all together is…
