Playback
Beth Orton Central Reservation (Arista) Beth Orton really could rip open the phonebook, pick a couple pages, and start singing its contents, and I would listen. Not only would I listen, I’d be transfixed, hypnotized, and totally enthralled. Her voice, a smooth blend of heartbreak and restrained triumph, is so gorgeous that she could record…
Easter Tackiness
When their house went up in flames in the spring of 1994, Jenny Fealkovich and her daughters weren’t at home. All they saw were the ashes–and the replay on the evening news. There, on display for the viewing audience, were shots of the survivors, scattered across the front lawn, grinning from ear to ear. Holding…
Sweet Liberty
The mandolin has seen plenty of action in folk and in bluegrass, but when it comes to jazz, the instrument practically doesn’t exist. Compared to Cecil Taylor’s piano or John Coltrane’s saxophone, the mandolin’s place in the music is wide open. For Jamie Masefield, mandolin player and ringleader of the constantly morphing trio Jazz Mandolin…
Goodwill Hunting
Decorum and order take a wrong turn and end up in a tangled heap on Clark Avenue between West 41st and 44th streets, a desolate stretch that’s home to a ludicrously diverse stockpile of salvaged and donated paraphernalia. Stuff that really brings out the dirt in dirt cheap. Imagine a block-long Marc’s closeout section. After…
Jagged Little Pill
Let’s see–they get all dolled up like whores on a weekend prowl for fashion shoots, they prance around on stage like eager young hopefuls auditioning for chorus roles in Cats, and they had a bit role in the glam-rock period film Velvet Goldmine. So the three members that make up London’s Placebo could be easily…
Night & Day
Thursday April 1 The Rolling Stones may look like last week’s leftover chicken cacciatore, but their songs are still burning cigarette holes in young girls’ hearts and old men’s livers. Maybe they can’t play their instruments so hot anymore, but they’ve got lots of sidemen to pick up the slack. And, though bassist Bill Wyman…
Livewire
Lauryn Hill Outkast CSU Convention Center March 21 Supporting her amazing solo debut, Lauryn Hill rocked the the Convention Center with a show that combined the street beat of hip-hop, the spirituality of gospel, and the retro grooves of ’70s soul. As the house lights went down, things kicked off with “Redemption Song” by Bob…
The Ultimate Illusion
Stuffed full of fantasy comics, addicted to action, and steeped in digital technology, the frenetic moviemakers Andy and Larry Wachowski have done what they must–create an eye-popping, morph-mad, quasi-mythical sci-fi flick that will thrill computer nerds as it kicks serious ass. The Matrix also presumes to (ahem!) think deeply–although this notion is sure to be…
Bored of the Bard?
A couple of years or so ago, Jane Austen suddenly rose from classical obscurity to become the hottest screenwriter in Hollywood. Now, it is Shakespeare himself who has become the magic name to drop. There are straight-up productions of his plays in the works–a star-studded version of A Midsummer Night’s Dream is scheduled for release…
Shadow of a Doubt
On the morning of April 2, 1992, Plain Dealer reporter Michelle Ruess was frustrated that she had been scooped. The 33-year-old Washington-bureau reporter had opened her morning paper and noticed the headline “Oakar resigns from investigative panel.” She immediately read the accompanying story about Cleveland Congresswoman Mary Rose Oakar by Associated Press reporter Katherine Rizzo.…
The Edge
An Exercise in Elimination The hot poop last week swirled around David Hall, deposed editor of The Plain Dealer. Hall announced his resignation last Wednesday to a packed newsroom, surprising absolutely no one. Virtually from the day he joined the paper in 1992, Hall was a marked man. The only surprise was how long he…
Bad Trip
The room inside Tony K’s Bar and Grille in Berea is thick with cigarette smoke, but attorney Kevin Payne’s words cut through it with the precision of a man who knows his audience. “I cannot emphasize enough that you are running out of time,” Payne says to the three dozen limousine drivers seated before him.…
Letters
Left of the Dial The recent purchase of WENZ-FM/107.9 by Radio One has Cleveland’s “alternative” audience by the balls. Those not under a rock know that Radio One is urban-friendly and will probably change the station’s format–leaving the Rock Capital with no commercial alternative rock radio station. Sure, we could sit through fifty Van Halen…
No Sale
Artists out to make a minor point should do so quickly and then raise a glass to their own lack of pretense. Sadly, no toast is in order for Primacy, the exhibit at SPACES, in which slender thematic material is fussed over until aesthetic derailment ensues. Paraphrasing Nietzsche: When you fill an entire gallery with…
Semi-Sophisticated Ladies
No jazz-loving devotee of American Movie Classics who has carried his heart in Ella Fitzgerald’s little yellow basket can resist the sight of tuxedoed men with slicked-back hair, tapping their asses off to “It Don’t Mean a Thing if It Ain’t Got That Swing.” Just a few weeks back, a jet-propelled but rather heartless revue…
Carry On, Doctor
Where will James Levin strike next? The Cleveland Public Theater artistic director’s latest shrine to the cutting edge is Bringing the Fishermen Home, a medical horror show that is described in the brochure as “a savage comedy that examines those who examine us.” Set designer Oliver Sshngen’s wondrous theater of pain transcends more utilitarian needs…
Scaling New Heights
My current favorite meal? Wrap your tastebuds around this image: Take an extra-thick, boneless filet of faultlessly fresh Bay of Fundy salmon and marinate it in a zippy blend of soy sauce and fresh ginger. Next, grill it over a mesquite fire until a thin, crisp crust of seared juices develops, but take care that…
Want Fries With That?
For most ambitious teenagers, an after-school job consists of hairnets, nametags, demeaning uniforms, flipped burgers, slung hash, and royally pissed-off customers. Looking for a way out of this vicious cycle? It helps if you play guitar. Meet nineteen-year-old guitar slinger Jon Siebels. Two years ago, while slogging through his junior year of high school in…
Soundbites
The early success of Lollapalooza inspired a bunch of knockoffs like H.O.R.D.E., the Further Fest, and Lilith Fair. Bands, the thinking went, could pool their fan bases and lure reluctant concertgoers with the promise of an event. Fans get more music for their dollar and the chance to hear music they might not normally be…
