The Edge
Bitter pill! Former TV newsman Dave Buckel has parted ways with Medical Mutual, which he joined as a PR flak to help with the messy transition from Blue Cross/Blue Shield. Buckel was well-liked by his colleagues, but reportedly shut out of the management loop. The final indignity came last fall, when a departmental invitation was…
Journey Into Doubt
Charles Yannopoulos can be reached at cyannopoulos@clevescene.com.
Heart of a Jabberwock
Only the most hardboiled egghead could fail to respond to Jewish Community Center’s Never the Sinner. This sock-in-the-solar-plexus play by John Logan is the stage equivalent of a juicy B-movie. Hypnotic as a Hindu snake charmer is this prismatic exploration of the Leopold-Loeb murder case, the first-publicized thrill killing — a scandal that, along with…
Let’s Do Lunch
Elaine T. Cicora can be reached at ecicora@clevescene.com.
Side Dish
Look for Joseph Haladey’s Old Brooklyn Soup Company (4770 Broadview Road; 216-335-9394) to open within a few days, after more than a month of construction delays. The 25-seat restaurant, with a large exhibition kitchen, will serve up two stews, two types of chili, and more than a half-dozen soups daily, along with panini-style sandwiches, salads,…
Rock and Roll Freaks
“Detroit is a virtual ghost town except for the music scene.” So says John Krautner of the Motor City rock band the Go. The 22-year-old guitarist speaks with authority, having lived in and around the city his whole life. He’s watched as depressed economic conditions and urban flight have turned the once-bustling metropolis into a…
Going the Distance
Live lead singer Ed Kowalczyk might be many things, but he swears a megalomaniac isn’t one of them. The lanky, enigmatic vocalist claims assertions that he’s self-righteous — which have followed him around for over five years now — are the result of misinterpretation. “From the very beginning of my relationship with rock and roll,…
Will Oldham
Will Oldham Guarapero: Lost Blues 2 (Drag City) Ode Music (Drag City) Part of the Palace Brothers mystique lies in mastermind Will Oldham’s ability to shape his lo-fi indie predilections into a postmodern treatise on faux-Appalachian chic. With rugged enthusiasm and somber presentation, Oldham — under various incarnations of the Palace moniker — crafted a…
Noise Annoys
“I hate this business, and I hate being in this business, but I love what I do. I love doing this. If I could just take away that other part of it, I’d be very happy,” says Anthrax drummer Charlie Benante, sounding as if he’s either going to break down and cry or smash his…
A Zoom With a Spew
The trick to virtual reality isn’t just making you feel like you are there, but also putting you somewhere you can’t otherwise be — but want to be. VR demonstrations of Grandma’s kitchen aren’t too thrilling, for example. And, honestly, following a black bear as it plods along looking for berries doesn’t offer too much…
Robbie Fulks
Robbie Fulks The Very Best of Robbie Fulks (Bloodshot) Leave it to insurgent country squire Robbie Fulks to parody himself from the git: The title of his latest CD is a kind of pun, suggesting a compilation of Fulks’s nonexistent greatest hits. Actually, it’s all-new material, and considering Fulks’s past output, whether it’s his best…
Doggy Style
Riding a dogsled is a bit like skiing: You have to bend your knees and help steer around the corners. Fail to do this, and you might wind up in a snowdrift, as the nine-year-old granddaughter of Joann Macias found out for herself. “The dogs made a really nice turn,” Macias, president of the Siberian…
Tara Jane O’Neil
Tara Jane O’Neil Peregrine (Quarterstick) Sue Garner and Rick Brown Still (Thrill Jockey) One of the most accomplished women in independent rock, Tara Jane O’Neil has played in Rodan, Retsin, and the Sonora Pine. On her first solo release, Peregrine, O’Neil defines herself as a multi-instrumentalist: She plays guitar, bass, keyboards, banjo, and piano. Compared…
Rock-Heavy
In Cradle Will Rock, his third directorial outing, Tim Robbins takes on an almost insurmountably ambitious project: a re-creation of an era into which characters imaginary, obscure, and famous are woven into a tapestry that represents the texture of the time. It’s a tall order. E.L. Doctorow was able to pull off a similar undertaking…
Mothertrain
Mothertrain Fool’s Gold (self-released) In the wake of the success of adult alternative bands such as Matchbox 20, Tonic, and the Goo Goo Dolls, there are bound to be countless imitators. Enter Mothertrain, a trio from Mayfield Heights that follows too closely in the footsteps of these multiplatinum acts. On the surface, the band’s debut,…
Sob Story
Boo hoo! Frank McCourt had a miserable childhood! Honestly, who can say their childhood wasn’t impoverished in some way . . . or in many ways? That Mr. McCourt survived and eventually published his inescapable memoir is nice, of course, and the book is indeed a poignant and crafty piece of work. Nonetheless, it seems…
Soundbites
Local rapper Torman Jahi recently held a press conference at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum to announce his upcoming tour, which will include stops at some 50 colleges in 15 states. The tour is unique in the sense that Jahi will not only be performing, but conducting a series of seminars…
Ralph Review
“Hell is a sort of high-class nightclub,” wrote George Orwell, “entry to which is reserved for Catholics only.” This sentiment is on stark display in the work of novelist Graham Greene, whose adulterous relationship (with the very married Catherine Welston, a wealthy farmer’s wife) propelled him to scrutinize the mechanics of desire and betrayal. By…
Acting Up
Mark Naymik can be reached at mnaymik@clevescene.com.
Brawl in the Family
Andrew Putz can be reached at aputz@clevescene.com.
