Homo Alone
Having already produced a book (Disco Bloodbath) and directed a “shockumentary” (Party Monster) about the “Club Kids” scene that rose brightly and fell murderously in New York during the late ’80s-early ’90s, filmmakers Fenton Bailey and Randy Barbato (The Eyes of Tammy Faye) would seem to have said their piece on the subject. Yet, in…
Coheed and Cambria
A few weeks ago, at the very un-rock-and-roll hour of 6:30 p.m., fans crammed into a Boston club — long before headliners, Thursday and Thrice, took the stage — to crowd surf and scream lyrics in unison with rock’s unlikeliest up-and-comers, Coheed and Cambria. Lead singer Claudio Sanchez sported a ‘fro of heights not seen…
Missing Juice
When we last spoke with Summit County Executive James McCarthy [“House of Horrors,” October 22], he was denying allegations that county animal-shelter employees were staging dogfights, starving cats, slaughtering about-to-be-adopted pets, and otherwise behaving like really sick bastards. “They’ve launched this personal attack against my workers,” he railed at the time. “I’m mad about it!…
Victor, Mature
To get the obvious out of the way first: Something’s Gotta Give is a film designed to appeal to older women, and it very likely will. Diane Keaton gives a good performance in it, as a post-menopausal playwright who gets back in touch with her libido. The movie will probably make lots of money. Not…
The Strawbs
He started out performing the songs of Leadbelly, Pete Seeger, and other American folk icons. Then he began writing his own songs, singing them in a scratchy voice. A few years afterward, he alienated many old fans by abandoning folk music and “going electric.” Bob Dylan? Yes — and also Dave Cousins, the mastermind of…
Dancing in the Seats
Hernando Cortez didn’t want a bunch of moldy oldies cluttering MoonDogg, VERB Ballets’ suite of dances that celebrates early rock and roll. He wanted to show the music’s primitive, seamier side — before poodle skirts became synonymous with 1950s pop. So he dumped the Fonz-approved hits and went with Etta James’s “Roll With Me, Henry,”…
Farrelly Mediocre
Remember the Farrelly brothers? Makers of Dumb and Dumber and There’s Something About Mary? Known for crossing the line of good taste and making fun of the differently abled — but with a sweet streak, which enabled them to be forgiven? Kinda popular, until Trey Parker and Matt Stone came along and one-upped them in…
Eek-a-Mouse
Reggae rodent Eek-a-Mouse first burst onto the international charts in the early ’80s with the thoroughly catchy “Wa Do Dem,” a lightweight novelty tune celebrating the singer’s love for a young and modest “virgin” girl. His nasally, Oriental-sounding “Bidi bidi bong bong” approach became a trademark for a career spanning two decades, but the tune…
Cha-ching Fling
If this planet still sustains human life in 2023, it might be vaguely interesting to see whether today’s teenagers will flock to revival transmissions of the high school comedy Love Don’t Cost a Thing. Perhaps, if human reproduction outside of a government-enforced lottery remains legal, they’ll invite their kids to join in the nostalgia, just…
Papa M
When it comes to robots and space travel, the decade just past has seen a paradigm shift in scientists’ thinking. It used to be, bigger was better — Rocket robots! Mega-satellites snapping photos as they orbit into galaxies unknown! But that was then. Now it’s all about the small: itty bitty ubiquitous ‘bots that scatter…
Christmas Kooky
So you’ve donned your crimson sweater with the sparkly snowman appliqué, the aroma of fresh-baked sugar cookies is wafting out of the kitchen, and you’re primed for some delightful holiday entertainment. Well, how about a twisted version of Dickens’s A Christmas Carol, in which long-suffering Bob Cratchit’s wife, Gladys, is a chronically depressed and suicidal…
Kissmas Koncert 2003
Timbaland and Bubba Sparxxx are the new tag-team champions of rap. With Deliverance, the second Bubba album produced mostly by Tim, they’ve made the best hip-hop record since Jay-Z’s 2001 entry, The Blueprint. The undying punch of their collaboration seems amazing, when you consider how far they travel for their common ground. Sparxxx, born Warren…
Routine Chaos
The metronomic beat of daily routine gets a bad rap in our society; “Same shit, different day,” we observe with a grimace. As stultifying and boring as our routine can be (take a shower — go to work — go home — eat — sleep; repeat until dead), it still gives us some needed stability…
Fefe Dobson
Stop us if you think you’ve heard this one before: Fefe Dobson, a just-legal Canadian teen, has released a disc full of anti-diva rock snarls, junior-prom ballads, and disses to propriety on her self-titled major-label debut. Unlike “Complicated” Canuckette Avril Lavigne, however, Dobson whips out raw riffs and authentic attitude that would send most sk8er…
Funky-Town’s Finest
Like snowflakes, no two pieces of the Parkview’s flatware are the same; and the only feature that the mismatched wooden chairs have in common is their wobble. Depending on your point of view, such eclecticism is either charming or evidence of a troubled mind. In any case, this vintage west-side watering hole isn’t the place…
Rage Against the Machine
Before Tom Morello, Tim Commerford, and Brad Wilk became Chris Cornell’s backing band and started writing above-average radio rock, they were three-quarters of Rage Against the Machine, the only rap-rock band that mattered. Skilled and informed, Rage frontman Zack De La Rocha spat political vitriol over the most violent funk in the history of rock,…
A Fan’s Notes
This being the end of the year, and since none of the people I wanted to write about this week felt it necessary to return any of my calls, from the leftover heap comes this collection of random topics I considered tackling this year but lost interest in after 200 or so words. This is…
Alicia Keys / Kelis
Self-contained female performers have always been a rarity in R&B, so when one comes along, overreaction is perhaps inevitable. In 2001, plenty who heard Alicia Keys (this writer included) were so knocked out by the preternaturally poised 19-year-old pianist, they failed to notice that much of the music from Songs in A Minor was, well,…
Hotz Times in Ol’ Tremont
Those who like their grub dished up with heaping helpings of local lore are sure to dig Big Guys Pizza, the newest casual-eats option in historic Tremont. The pizzeria, scheduled to open today at 2539 West Tenth Street (216-436-8888), is owned and operated by Mike Genco and John Hotz, and occupies the ground floor of…
Kinky
The release of Kinky’s sophomore album, Atlas, perpetuates Mexico’s domination of the rest of the Latin American rock scene. It reflects the band’s determined search for an organic dance-rock sound that feels way more vivid than the original set of loops, samples, and prerecorded songs it presented on its self-titled 2001 debut. Yet bilingual lyrics…
This Week’s Day-By-Day Picks
Thursday, December 11 Hale Farm’s Holiday Lantern Tours are more than just candlelit walks on rural historical grounds; they’re trips back to the 19th century, to the days before Tony Hawk’s Underground, iPods, and the new OutKast CD made life bearable. But imagine it’s 1848, and the village’s residents are awaiting your visit. There’s the…
Christmas a Go-Go
Put Mexican wrestling masks on the men. Outfit the women with fake eyelashes, sequins, fishnet stockings, and hats tall enough to intimidate Zydrunas Ilgauskas. Add surf-style Christmas music and choreographed dance numbers, and you’ve got yourself one unique rock-and-roll holiday pageant, Los Straitjackets style. According to Straitjackets guitarist Eddie Angel, it all came together one…
Avant
If R. Kelly’s straight-to-video epics ever earn him some hard time, there’ll be no shortage of horny R&B singers eager to step into — and out of — his silk robe. Up to this point, Cleveland crooner Avant seemed like only one of many wannabes queuing for the opportunity — and not an especially strong…
Angel’s Return
Dido owes her success to Eminem. And the British pop star knows this. And more than three years after the erstwhile Marshall Mathers incorporated six lines of her moody rumination on loneliness, “Thank You,” into his raging tale of an obsessed fan, she’s still in debt. “It was a bolt from the blue,” she says.…
Oh, Dear!
“In a fantasy world — which probably won’t happen — I’d like to take minimal techno and make pop out of it, the same way Depeche Mode and New Order did, 15 to 20 years ago.” So says Matthew Dear, the most gleaming in a long line of Detroit techno stars. Although he’s doubtful about…
Various Artists
What do Kansas City and Cleveland have in common? Besides being purveyors of wholesome Midwestern values, each city has a small but thriving independent rock community. Enter hipster brew-company Pabst Blue Ribbon, which recognizes each scene’s potential with this surprisingly strong 15-track compilation. Cleveland contributors range from relative newbies (This Is Exploding) to grizzled veterans…
Getting It Up
WED 12/17t’s all Wright if you don’t remember the official name of the 100th anniversary of flight. On Wednesday, the Western Reserve Historical Society celebrates a century of “powered controlled sustained flight,” but most folks will just say, “Happy Birthday Airplane.” In addition to a birthday cake, the program includes The Wright Way to Fly,…
Freak Nasty
So when did R. Kelly become the perverted uncle of the R&B “family”? For us, it certainly wasn’t when the tape, um, leaked. We still haven’t seen it, although everyone we know has, including our friends, Mama, and Bob Saget. In case you’ve been in an ice cave in Greenland for the past year or…
Confessions of a Dangerous Mind
Why did you kill JoLynn? I killed JoLynn for my own personal satisfaction. I yearn to see blood, it’s a need or an addiction and also a fetish. I’m just obsessed with it all. You were caught the same day as the murder, not far from the crime scene. Why didn’t you try harder to…
Horsing Around
12/11-12/23 The eight breeds of horses that take part in Lake Farmpark’s Country Lights go by the collective name of the Light Horse Brigade. Every other night, the beasts are trotted out for performances of the story of a little girl who contemplates asking Santa for a pony. One horse of each breed is selected…
Checkout Time
The road’s where it all started for the GC5, so it’s fitting that the road is also where it started to end. The Mansfield street-punk combo was notorious for playing upwards of 150 shows a year, in places like Conrad, Arkansas, and Yankton, South Dakota — towns in name, if not in numbers, where the…
The War at Home
When Ed Herman sat across the interrogation tent from al-Qaeda fighters and told them about the September 11 attacks, most did not believe him. He had to explain that there once were two towers, more than 100 stories tall, filled with civilians. Then he would play the videotape of the planes crashing in, of the…
Hanukkah Hits
12/12-12/17Each of the songs featured in The Music of Hanukkah is about the festival of lights — the lamps and candles that are traditions of the Jewish holiday. Violinists Stephen and Carolyn Warner perform tunes including “Ocho Kandelikas,” for which audience members are chosen to join the musicians onstage. “We invite a bunch of kids…
Sturdy Metal
Cleveland’s Auburn Records is making the most of heavy metal’s renaissance, with five albums from ’80s metal giants planned for release in 2004, Auburn’s 20th anniversary. “We operate like a big family,” says label president Bill Peters, a marketing rep for Warner Bros. Records and host of WJCU’s Metal on Metal radio show since 1981.…
Thrill Kill
Merle “Mickey” Mishne knew something was wrong the moment he opened the back door of his Medina home. His 17-year-old daughter JoLynn’s car was gone, yet the house door was unlocked. Mickey suffers from a congenital disorder that causes muscle atrophy, so he doesn’t walk well. Haltingly, he climbed the short flight of stairs to…
Pop-Up Goes the Beatle
12/11-12/14 Rock Hall VP of Exhibitions James Henke wants his new book to be a take-home version of the recently shuttered exhibit about John Lennon. “Everyone responded so well to the artifacts,” says Henke, whose Lennon Legend: An Illustrated Life of John Lennon includes 40 removable reproductions, including a report card, handwritten lyrics, and a…
Alabama Thunderpussy
Wish the great southern rock bands hadn’t degenerated into self-parody? Wish they’d embraced the metal that came in their wake? Well, friend, Alabama Thunderpussy is the band of your whiskey-sodden dreams. ATP’s stompin’, redneck-metal sound combines Clutch’s fury and Judas Priest’s dual-lead-guitar majesty with the bluesy strut of the brothers Allman and Van Zant. ATP…
Who’s Burning Broadway?
The building is still burning. Blue, rubber-smelling smoke seeps up through jagged wood and blackened bricks. A hungry-looking man with a thin moustache stands in the middle of the smoldering pile, poking around with a metal shovel, peeling back wooden planks, hunting for scrap metal small enough to carry away. When asked his name, he…
Taking the Rap
12/11-12/22 What’s the best way to make Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Starlight Express a little less cheesy? Perhaps by infusing the 18-year-old musical about roller-skating trains with a hip-hop tune, inline skating, and 3D film sequences. Voilà! Instant hipness. Express has always tackled many different styles of music — country, rock and roll, blues, and pop…
John Arnold
Some people think that if you can spell “rhythm,” you must not have any. Detroit’s John Arnold would handily reject that observation. His brainy, broken-beat tracks have won praises from Detroit techno elites like Derrick May and Carl Craig, though his music doesn’t come off the same assembly line as those legends’ productions. Broken beat…
All Hail, Watterson
All Hail, WattersonA very good story from bloodsucking vultures: James Renner’s cover story on Bill Watterson [“Missing!” November 26] was all about how this guy wants to be left alone. So why don’t you bloodsucking media vultures just leave the poor guy alone? He’s already left behind a fine body of work. I as a…
