Clarks Frontman Hits Akron
Clarks frontman Scott Blasey will make an in-store appearance at the Summit Mall FYE (3265 W. Market St., Fairlawn) at 5 p.m. Wednesday, April 18, to warm up for that night’s show at Akron’s Lime Spider. He’ll perform a short acoustic set of solo and Clarks material, then meet and greet fans. In addition to…
New Nine Inch Nails Today
Read a full review of the new Nine Inch Nails album, Year Zero, in an upcoming edition of Scene. But since the disc drops today, and since we live in an an age of increasingly half-assed — nay, quarter-assed — albums, and since NIN mastermind Trent Reznor is a former Clevelander, and since he’s one…
Mikey G’s Picks o’ the Week
John Legend This week’s top arts and entertainment picks around town, from the guy who’s paid to pick them: Monday: For a soul singer, Springfield native John Legend isn’t very soulful. But he does possess one of the most laid-back voices in pop music these days, and his latest album, Once Again, is perfect for…
Free Music Monday: Mick Boogie and Marco Polo
It’s smokin’ all right. Click here for a link to a free download of “Newport Authority,” a new mixtape from ace DJ Mick Boogie and Canada/Queens producer Marco Polo. The mix is heavy on old-school flavor, loaded with golden-age rappers including Das EFX’s Skoob, Masta Ace, Grand Daddy I.U, and Kool G. Rap. It downloads…
Maybe Eugene Sanders believes in openness after all?
There’s a new PR chief for Cleveland schools, and it appears he actually believes in public relations. For years the office operated on the principle of siege warfare: No public records could be released, no questions answered, until months after you asked — and only after you bombarded former PR chief Alan Seifullah into submission.…
Wanna run a restaurant in Richfield?
Think you have trouble finding someplace to eat? Consider the folks in Richfield. Their favorite hangout, Stancato’s Cafe, closed in January, and it’s been slender pickins in the tiny Summit County crossroads ever since. Old-timers will recall that the cafe’s circa-1880s digs (at 3960 Broadview Rd.) previously were home to The Taverne of Richfield, the…
PD dumps Sam Fulwood’s column. Cleveland weeps.
C-Notes is pleased to report — and yet somehow deeply saddened — that Sam Fulwood III, The Laziest Man in Journalism� and the newspaper industry’s career leader in irrelevance, has been stripped of his duties as a Plain Dealer Metro columnist. Folks at The PD say Fulwood will stay with the paper but will no…
Social worker in caged kids case gets probation
Elaine Thompson Private social worker Elaine Thompson won’t go to prison after all for her role in the “caged-kids” case in Huron County. Thompson, who practices in a controversial field known as “attachment therapy,” was hired by Norwalk couple Michael and Sharen Gravelle as a last resort to help their 11 special needs adopted kids…
Cleveland finishes third on the most hemorrhaging city list
The U.S. Census recently released a report on the fastest growing cities in the country between April 2000 to July 2006. We didn’t make that one. We did, however, make the list of major cities hemorrhaging the most citizens, where we came in third. If we were on Jeopardy, it would probably earn us a…
New DVD on the Tribe’s 1948 World Series run
Jonesing for more Tribe action after the weekend’s on-again, off-again schedule? A&E Home Video’s new Cleveland Indians World Series Vintage Film Collection: 1948 DVD oughta do the trick. The disc features plenty of archive footage of the Indians from back in the day. Best is watching pitchers Bob Feller, Bob Lemon, Gene Bearden, and Satchel…
DJ Getemgump’s top 10 list of Cleveland’s best soul
Both Detroit and Philadelphia overshadow Northeast Ohio when it comes to classic soul, funk, and R&B. But that doesn’t mean the region didn’t produce a wealth of great music. If you read “Rubber City Grooves,” writer Denise Grollmus’ feature on Akron DJ Forrest Getemgump, then you know Getemgump specializes in rare, old jams from around…
The case of the pooping dog has been solved
Carl Monday should be shaking in his gumshoes at Tom Newman, now that the case of “Poo Poo Pee Doo” has been solved. In his March 20 newsletter, Newman — director of the Flats Oxbow Association — bemoaned the driver of a white car, who continuously stopped in front of the agency’s offices on Riverbed…
The battle between the artificial sweeteners
I have a tiny addiction to Splenda. Ever since the zero-calorie sugar substitute came out, I’ve been unable to drink anything else. Equal and Sweet ‘n Low just don’t compare. Last week, I went into the Starbucks on University Circle and ordered a sugar-free, fat-free, substance-free cinnamon dolce latte. (Hold the cinnamon and the latte;…
Money Where Your Mouth Is: Kate Voegele
Kate Voegele The Scene Music Department are tracking down Lost clues on Wikipedia, so they’ll just let a performer speak for herself today. Band: Kate Voegele Hometown: Cleveland Sounds like: “Sheryl Crow mixed with classic rock and blues-inspired pop.” Fun fact: “I’m on MySpace records, so Tom is my ‘real’ friend: Last time I was…
Pink Reason
Retro-rock comes in varying intensities. Take the Rapture: Just a few years ago, the New York outfit’s disco-punk was totally ripped from Gang of Four. But nobody would ever mistake the band’s dance-floor jams for authentic post-punk actually made in the early ’80s. For all its unoriginality, the Rapture never ventured into quasi-tribute band territory;…
Accidental Tourists
Having endured civil war, hunger, and dehydration during a thousand-mile trek through Africa, and 10 years in a refugee camp while awaiting resettlement in the U.S., the three “lost boys of Sudan” in God Grew Tired of Us can certainly withstand their sketchy portrayals in a borderline lazy but nonetheless compelling documentary, co-produced by National…
Full Metal Racket
Sevendust commemorates its 10th anniversary this year by returning to its jagged roots on the new Alpha. Rather than overreach with twisty, complex songs and spit-polished production, the Atlanta quintet sticks to the hard, blunt sound that netted oodles of fans back in the day. The album debuted at No. 14 last month — not…
The Moaners
After a decade fronting the goth-country act Trailer Bride, singer-guitarist Melissa Swingle needed a new direction. So four years ago, she recruited rock-steady drummer Laura King and started playing dirty, slide-guitar blues as the Moaners. Inspired by the percussive throb of hill-country guitarists like R.L. Burnside and Junior Kimbrough, the Mississippi-born Swingle delivers a sweaty,…
Short Takes
Perfect Stranger When the powers-that-be fuck her over on her exposé of an intern-fucking U.S. senator, star newspaper reporter Halle Berry says “Fuck you” to the world of print journalism — until, that is, her old childhood friend (Nicki Aycox) washes up dead in the Hudson and Berry sets out to put the screws to…
Going Once…
At tonight’s 17th-annual Flats Oxbow Auction, a six-day cruise on the Lee A. Tregurtha tops more than 70 items up for bid. Also available: a ride on the Goodyear blimp, a 10-man bachelor party at the Hustler Club, and lunch for you and 49 of your closest friends during a three-hour tour on the Majestic.…
Tribe 2007
Click here for the Indians’ secret to contending in 2007.
Yo La Tengo
Stealing equally from the Velvets’ fragile ballad “Pale Blue Eyes” and the scabrous, ramshackle “Sister Ray,” Yo La Tengo displays an ability to shift seamlessly from delicate textures to ragged, distortion-spiked guitar — an ability exceeding that of any of the late-’80s noise-pop acts that came up around them. But over the past 20 years,…
Capsule reviews of current area theater presentations.
Ella — As the lyric-challenged contestants on American Idol can attest, the words in songs can be a real obstacle. Maybe that’s why someone invented scat singing, in which improvised nonsense words are used and nobody knows if you butcher a line. But no one has ever crooned scat quite like Ella Fitzgerald, whose story…
Bananas!
Louisville’s funky art-rockers King Kong have gone high-concept in the past. They made albums about a yak-lovin’ caveman and an astronaut with more issues than Major Tom. On Buncha Beans — their first CD of new music in five years — the indie group delivers a more straightforward set of songs. Astute listeners, however, will…
Lone Ranger
All those hours, those months of digging amid the dirt and sweat and calloused resistance of working men — all of it had come to this: Bob Dean was being ushered into the Red Room, the power center of Mayor Mike White’s City Hall. Dean was an outsider, a Houston import hired by the Port…
Mono
Like their crescendo-loving peers in Explosions in the Sky, Japanese post-rockers Mono lay down soundtracks for the Oscar-worthy epics in your head. Formed in 2000 as a pet project for experimental guitarist Takaakira Goto, Mono soon evolved into an instrumental quartet consisting of the basics — y’know: guitar, bass, and drums. The group’s early recordings…
Song Sung Long
One of the mysteriously wonderful things about being alive is that depending on how you describe any individual’s life, it could sound like either heaven on Earth or the fifth ring of Dante’s Inferno. Most of us live in an ever-shifting world — where any negative situation (being alone) can have a positive spin (the…
Wife Without Parols
Stand-up comedian Tom Papa spends a big chunk of his act bitching about his wife and their two kids. Naturally, the talk leads to booze. “Alcohol is the only thing that you put into your body that actually comes with a story,” he says. “‘You want some tequila?’ ‘No, dude — the last time I…
A Life Less Fortunate
As a child, Anthony Foster didn’t have much to smile about. So he didn’t. He came into the world in 1955, the son of two schizophrenics. Mom Rosa sometimes had a grip on reality. Most of the time she didn’t. Twin sister Antoinette suffered from a learning disability. While other kids were reading about green…
Wake Up
Wake Up is back and better than ever. Singer Jon Conley briefly broke up the trio, between moving to Seattle and realizing the Pacific Northwest sucks. He’s since returned to Cleveland and is leading the reinvigorated group. They still have roots in roots rock, and they still can’t break the blues — but it doesn’t…
Capsule reviews of current area art exhibitions.
NEW Arte — More than paintings and prints, technique is what’s truly on display in this informative show by nationally renowned Clevelander Phyllis Seltzer. And what a technique it is. Using heat transfer, Seltzer recasts oil paintings as prints on paper — somewhat like posters, but without sacrificing brightness or archival durability. If anything, the…
Batter Up!
The Lake County Captains take on the Lexington Legends at their first home game of the season tonight. Pay close attention to the field; there’s a good chance some future Indians are honing their skills with the Captains, their Class A affiliate. “The development of our players has always been the number one priority,” says…
Wretched Refuse
Now that Republicans have been cast adrift in Columbus, you may be worried that your favorite villains are jobless. Fear not, dear reader. If you’ve ever demonstrated advanced incompetence, there’s always a place for you in Cuyahoga County government. Take Jacqui Romer-Sensky, former director of the state Department of Job and Family Services. She came…
Scott Blasey
Weaned on Tom Petty and the Beatles, Scott Blasey grew up in the Rust Belt. He got out eventually — after about 20 years as the frontman of the Clarks, in which he wrote some of the era’s great (albeit sadly underheralded) album-rock songs. Now living in Texas, he revisited his formative years to write…
Her One Little Secret
Sleeping Dogs Lie (First Look) Writer-director Bobcat Goldthwait takes a subversive concept (honesty is overrated) and marries it to an outrageous scenario (a woman’s family learns that she once, uh, performed for a dog) to create . . . a romantic comedy? Well, sort of. Like Goldthwait’s underrated Shakes the Clown, Sleeping Dogs Lie stakes…
A Knight to Remember
Eleven years ago, singer-songwriter Chris Knight, armed with only an acoustic guitar and a copious amount of alcohol, recorded a batch of songs in his Kentucky trailer. For years, alt-country fans have swapped copies of what became known as the “trailer tapes.” Last week, The Trailer Tapes joined Knight’s four albums as an official release.…
Trash Talking
Mustn’t celebrate a bleeding scab: Again we have Scene trashing those who work during a labor dispute, this time at the Toledo Blade [First Punch, March 28], and again I have to speak up for the freedom of contract. Last time — about two years ago — replacement workers went to work at Youngstown’s Vindicator…
Play Havoc
Question: What makes us think the Play Havoc (pictured) show will be one of the best hip-hop sets you’ll see this year? Answer: Pulsing with new-school grit and old-school smarts, Havoc’s All Things Due was one of the best hip-hop albums we heard last year. Addendum: Everybody else on the bill is worth your time,…
Our top DVD picks for the week of April 10:
The Aura (Genius) Avatar: The Last Airbender — Book 2: Earth, Volume 2 (Paramount) The Batman: The Complete Third Season (Warner Bros.) Beneath Still Waters (Lions Gate) Bobby (Weinstein) Coming Soon (Lions Gate) Dead and Deader (Anchor Bay) A Guide for the Married Woman (Fox) Life of the Party (THINKFilm) Major League: Wild Thing Edition…
Golden Group
The Akron Symphony Chorus celebrates its 50th anniversary today with a concert of its all-time greatest hits. Director James Mismas leads the group in a program culled from some of the 143-member ensemble’s most popular shows — including Frostiana: Choose Something Like a Star, When I Hear Music, and a selection from Aaron Copland’s The…
What a Spectacle!
DragonForce would slaughter Chimaira in an expert-level Guitar Hero match. But in the real world, a spectacle beats chops any day, which is exactly what both bands are proving on their current tour of the United States. While DragonForce’s twin guitarists executed unfathomable tapping techniques and absurdly complex harmonies, hometown heroes Chimaira eclipsed their technically…
P.G. Six
Over the past 10 years, the Tower Recordings collective has produced some notable splinter groups and musicians, including MV & EE, Tim Barnes, and Samara Lubelski. But it’s singer-songwriter/guitarist Pat Gubler (aka P.G. Six) who has proved TR’s most ambitious alum. With over four solo albums in six years, Six not only has shed TR’s…
Olympian Gold
The residents of Mount Olympus haven’t gotten a good night’s sleep since Kratos moved in. Not only is the new god of war a grumpy, self-professed god-hater, he got the throne by killing Ares, something that naturally makes the other gods a little . . . jumpy. It’s not long before Zeus — who presumably…
Face to Face
Two local artists share their penchant for hazy faces in A Painter & a Potter: The Figurative Art of John Carlson and Moira Beale, now on view at Baycrafters. The 35-piece exhibit features paintings and sketches by Carlson and Beale’s glazed pottery. “It’s much more powerful than if they have realistic faces,” says Baycrafters’ art…
Man of a Million Masks
Most of us first encountered Mike Patton in 1989, thanks to Faith No More’s particularly ubiquitous video involving a flopping fish. Over the last 20 years, however, he’s been involved in a wide variety of projects, ranging from experimental excursions with John Zorn and Ikue Mori to the avant-metal of Fantômas and Tomahawk, with plenty…
Jesu
Midway through Conqueror, Jesu’s sophomore effort, a trio of songs (“Weightless and Horizontal,” “Medicine,” and “Brighteyes”) moves in such narcotically slo-mo circles that you can actually feel yourself OD-ing behind a dumpster in Toledo. Or maybe it just sounds like a My Bloody Valentine record played backward? Either way, this is very loud music to…
Here are the week’s best releases from the pop-culture universe:
CD — Warren Zevon reissues: Before he got reflective on 2003’s The Wind, which was recorded while he was dying of cancer, Zevon was a funny, caustic songwriter. Three expanded reissues — which include previously unreleased bonus tracks — find him in his prime. Excitable Boy features his most famous songs (like “Werewolves of London”…
Tot Rock
Local indie-rockers the Helper T-Cells help kick off the new Arts Collinwood Kids’ Concert series at the Beachland Ballroom today. Tots shake, rattle, and roll to songs like “Grilled Cheese” and “Bugs in the Butter,” while Mom and Dad sip beers. “The kids put together this mosh pit with a bunch of blankets,” says Sarah…
Rubber City Grooves
All it took was one sweaty afternoon in the early ’80s, and Forrest Webb was hooked. Webb, just a tween at the time, was killing the summer hours in the basement of his grandparents’ ranch-style house in Akron when he stumbled across a heap of shrink-wrapped records. It was dead stock from his grandfather’s old…
MIMS
It sounds utterly conventional, but Shawn Mims’ debut is courting plenty of controversy. That’s because it teeters fascinatingly on the precipice of several hip-hop fault lines. MIMS demands that New York City regain its rap throne, yet hits a Big Apple sore spot by using southern beats and guest MCs. He speaks movingly to the…
Touched By an Angel
Even if you haven’t seen any of Tony Kushner’s plays, you’re probably familiar with them. His most famous work, Angels in America, is an epic tale of AIDS set in 1980s New York. It was a hit onstage, it was adapted into an Emmy-hogging HBO miniseries, and it snagged tons of accolades from both viewers…
Get a Leg Up
Maintenance worker Jeremy Fuller used to have a tough time deciding which watering hole he’d hit after his Monday-afternoon shift at MetroHealth Medical Center. Not anymore. Since February, the Old Angle Tavern has reserved the beginning of the work week for Hot Legs, Cold Beer. The weekly outing features $2 bottles of Bud, Bud Light,…
Factory Girl
Promoters and bands have organized benefits for Pat Hanych’s club before. There was the one back in May 2005, where the Dreadful Yawns, the New Lou Reeds, and others played to raise money for new gear to outfit Hanych’s local rock landmark, Pat’s in the Flats. “A lot of the equipment at Pat’s is pretty…
Kings of Leon
The cover blurb of a recent U.S. music magazine said it all: “Kings of Leon — When Will America Wake Up?” Treated like rock gods in the U.K., the Kings are — unbelievably — nothing more than the prince’s footmen at home. This, despite two phenomenal records. It’s only natural that the three-brothers-and-a-cousin group stretches…
Burning Love
Two dozen Elvis classics shake up All Shook Up, now playing at the Palace Theatre. The musical — fresh from a successful Broadway run — tells the story of a small-town girl who falls for a ’50s-era greaser who looks, sings, and wiggles his hips just like the King. “Heartbreak Hotel,” “Jailhouse Rock,” and “A…
A Cornucopia of Creativity
Today’s Art Is Alive outing features lots of pretty paintings you can hang on your wall. But the annual event — which takes place at the Canton Museum of Art — also includes music, dancing, and short films. All kinds of art! “There’s nothing like the energy of the art community coming together to share…
Hot 100
The downtown Peabody’s complex will host the Cleveland 100 from Thursday, April 12, through Sunday, April 15. Over 150 Northeast Ohio rock and hip-hop acts will play the showcase. The event is essentially a streamlined version of the controversial Cleveland Music Festival. Organizers have made major strides to improve the event, from centralizing its location…
White Mice
It’s been two years since Providence, Rhode Island’s White Mice donned their mouse ears (literally) and issued a full-length. But make no mistake — the trio does have something fans dig besides those fuzzy costumes: skull-splitting sludge, boasting mammoth bass, an oscillator instead of a guitar, and a double-kick overload that’s as indulgent as any…
Show Tunes for Straihgt Folks
The Blazing River Freedom Band attempts to shed its all-gay image tonight with a tribute to Broadway show tunes and Hollywood soundtracks in Stage and Silver Screen: Act II. Originally known as the Cleveland Lesbian/Gay/Allies Concert & Marching Band, the 30-piece ensemble changed its name so straight musicians could join. Plus, it’s more suited to…
Will Power
On record, Nashville-based singer-songwriter Will Hoge has two distinct styles. At his best, he plays a rootsy blend of heartland rock and blue-eyed soul. When he plugs in and reaches for the faster-louder prize, he stumbles a bit. Hoge always explodes onstage, however. He’s a dynamite performer, leading his band through sweat-drenched sets of terrific…
Billy Joel
Since he’s been a major draw for something like 200 years, Billy Joel has to be considered an elder statesman among American composers. Just listen to “Scenes From an Italian Restaurant” a couple thousand times, if you haven’t already. You’ll see. The song has like 20 parts, and they all fit together perfectly; it’s like…
The Unsparing Sea
The Unsparing Sea filters its measured post-rock through languid jangle-pop and sad country waltzes. It’s a pretty cool idea, if a bit dated: Rex tinkered with similar elements back in ’96. Unlike Rex, however, the Unsparing Sea lacks a loose, earthy groove. But if the band could cultivate that (call it “rustic abandon”), then fairly…
Rage Against Nothing
At today’s Engaging the Personal Shadow program, Swiss-born author James Hollis pinpoints ways to deflate an egomaniac’s self-image and, in turn, calm a raging temper. The process results in happier human beings who are in touch with their “shadow.” “Working with the shadow is not working with evil,” he says. “It’s working toward the possibility…
High Art
Mile-high adrenaline rushes are on tap for this weekend’s Banff Mountain Film Festival, which celebrates its 10th anniversary this year. The annual showcase spotlights the best mountain-based, extreme-sports movies made during the past 12 months. The lineup includes everything from the ice-climbing saga Aweberg to Kids Who Rip, which features junior snowboarders. “We have one…
Casiotone for the Painfully Alone
Owen Ashworth has never been a fan of sugarcoated production: “I was attracted to an abrasive aesthetic from the beginning,” he says. “I thought from an early age that ‘scratchy’ and ‘kind of rough’ just sounded more sincere.” After dropping out of film school in 1997, Ashworth began making music as Casiotone for the Painfully…
Bears
To make his résumé any more diverse, Craig Ramsey would have to take up mixed martial-arts combat. He drummed with metalcore legends Ascension, kept a swing beat for roots-rockers Ace & the Ragers, and plays Pixies-styled power-pop with Kiddo — none of which suggests that he’s capable of creating anything like the Bears’ sophomore EP,…
It’s Like a Brand New Club!
One of Lakewood’s most venerable clubs shows off its new look at tonight’s Phantasy Reborn party. The Phantasy Nite Club went through some cosmetic changes over the past couple weeks. Lakewood art gallery the Pop Shop helped redesign — giving the place a new paint job and hanging original artwork from the walls. Tonight’s festivities…
Hear My Gong
Every Wednesday, Kevin Joseph Kelly — who plays Jimmy Sprinkles on WJW-TV 8’s morning program, That’s Life — hosts Karaoke Gong Show at West Park Station. He even brings along his thespian buds to show ’em how it’s done. “One guy did Frank Sinatra better than Sinatra himself,” says bar owner Jason Salupo. Here’s how…
Neptune
In a world where most so-called musicians brag about the deals they scored at Guitar Center’s green tag sale, the Boston trio Neptune have literally built themselves a world of music by trolling through dumpsters and garbage heaps. True DIY freaks, Jason Sanford, Mark Pearson, and Daniel Boucher have fashioned amplified springs, homemade oscillators and…
Feeding Time!
If Ohio is the heartland, the little towns of Holmes County surely make up its aorta — the broad artery through which midwestern values pump. Even the names sound sturdy and wholesome: Millersburg, Mt. Hope, Winesburg, and Walnut Creek. And as asylum for the world’s largest remaining settlement of Amish farmers, the county’s very air…
Read All About It!
More than 60 vendors unload rare volumes at today’s Akron Antiquarian Book Fair. It’s the 25th gathering of the annual favorite, which includes more than just musty old books. Collectible maps, prints, and posters are also for sale. Plus, food and beverages will be available, in case you need to refuel. Sat., April 14, 10…
Color Us Impressed
The eight artists on view at the Bonfoey Gallery’s Ohio Impressionists: Places and Passages exhibit share a fondness for pastoral scenes that make the Buckeye State seem like one of the most serene places in the whole world. The painted landscapes also obviously nod to Impressionist masters, who could make even war-torn Europe seem like…
Kenny Wayne Shepherd
With the recent passing of Robert Lockwood Jr., Cleveland blues fans learned a hard lesson firsthand: The great creators of the craft grow fewer by the day. Sure, artists who not only mastered the licks, but in many cases invented them still make it to the stage, but the time left for us to savor…
Peeping Bomb
Writers Christopher Landon and Carl Ellsworth receive sole credit for the movie Disturbia — which is surprising, as the film clearly is based on both a previously published work (a 1942 short story by Cornell Woolrich, titled “It Had to Be Murder”) and the John Michael Hayes-penned, Alfred Hitchcock-directed, Academy Award-nominated screenplay of Woolrich’s tale.…
Bringing Out the Dead
In spite of its downer of a premise, director Christopher Johnston insists that A Colored Funeral (which opens tonight at Karamu House) isn’t all that morose of a play. Its 20 scenes are tied together by death — people die of AIDS, are murdered, and succumb to various diseases — but “it’s a mix of…
Mass. Mayhem
Boston’s Vanna really pushes the brutal-melodic dynamic on its new album Curses. Main screamer Chris Preece bellows such a barrage of sounds (we’re assuming they’re words, but we can’t say for certain) that guitarist Nick Lambert’s tuneful choruses act as sort of a salve to all of the aural scars. Vanna’s post-hardcore formula doesn’t scour…
