Pre-Show Q&A: Daedelus
Mellow yellow squeezebox. Daedelus is the perfect pen name for Alfred Darlington and his unusual musical imagination. As an inventor of unique electronic contraptions, his muse is not unlike that famous mythological Greek craftsman of human wings. Since 2002, he’s released a record every year on labels like Ninja Tune, Warp, Mush and his latest…
Out Today: Sade
SADESoldier of Love(Epic) You can’t rush Sade. In the 25 years since her debut, she’s released only six albums. Her latest, Soldier of Love, comes a full 10 years after her last one, 2000’s Lovers Rock. But it’s always worth the wait. Here, the warm, simmering R&B of her 1984 debut, Diamond Life, receives a…
Mystery of Two Set Up Residency at Arts Collinwood
Following a time-honored tradition, Mystery of Two are colliding art and punk. From Wire’s 1977 debut Pink Flag to No Age’s latest 2009 EP Losing Feeling, art-punk purveyors have been pushing rock music into more visceral visual forms, painting new sonic boundaries using jagged guitar stomps, atmospheric effects, avant-garde arrangements and many times visual arts…
CUT TAXES, ASK QUESTIONS LATER: KASICH’S “PLAN”
Last week, Democrats across the state called press conferences to denounce Republican gubernatorial candidate John Kasich’s tax-cut plan. The stunt coincided with the launch of a website called kasichcuts.com, which shows how much Kasich’s proposal would cost each county. Dayton City Commissioner Dean Lovelace had the quip of the day. “I thought Darth Vader only…
What to Do Tonight: Frontier Ruckus
Suburban Detroit is not a conventional birthplace for one of the new century’s most exciting folk-rock bands, but that hasn’t stopped Frontier Ruckus from embracing their roots. The group’s 2008 debut is a song cycle about the Michigan town of Orion. Frontman Matthew Milia seamlessly blends some interesting influences — a little Lambchop here, some…
Reviews of the Cinematheque’s weekend films
The Cleveland Institute of Art Cinematheque is showing several great movies this weekend. Here are our reviews of just two of them. 35 Shots of Rum (France/Germany, 2008) French modernist/visionary Claire Denis has been crafting sensationally tactile and sensual movies for more than two decades now, yet she’s still virtually unknown outside of the international…
Food Beware makes its local debut at CMA
A documentary about a small French village that starts feeding its school children organic meals at lunch, Food Beware: The French Organic Revolution makes its local debut at the Cleveland Museum of Art Lecture Hall, showing at 6:45 tonight. Here’s our review of the film. Food Beware: The French Organic Revolution (France, 2008) Concerns about…
ZOMBIE REAGAN: DON’T THINK THEY HAVEN’T TRIED
Zombie Reagan Raised From Grave To Lead GOP
Belated Exercises in Futility — The Josh Cribbs Billboard
Earlier this month, just as the new braintrust in Cleveland was being ushered into Berea, the agents for Josh Cribbs launched a media blitz to show just how unfairly they thought their client was being treated by the Browns. Before Mike Holmgren could even fill out his front office roster, Cribbs’ and his camp demanded…
GOOD NEWS & BAD NEWS IN SEC/STATE RACE
Given a chance to fix a mistake they made in recruiting a candidate to replace Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner — now running for U.S. Senate — the Ohio Democratic Party doubled down on the mess they created. After six months of turning a deaf ear to concerns among their base about the anti-choice, anti-gay…
Tuesday Ticket Giveaway: Cold Cave
We have a pair of tickets to Cold Cave’s February 23 concert at the Grog Shop. For a chance at winning them, send your name, phone number and e-mail address to freetickets@clevescene.com. Be sure to put “Cold Cave Tickets” in the subject line. We’ll pick a random winner at noon on Monday, February 22. (Here’s…
About That Sports Columnist Position at the Akron Beacon Journal
Following yesterday’s news that Beacon Journal columnist Patrick McManamon is leaving the paper for a gig at AOL Fanhouse, here’s a little explanation as to what you can expect from the ABJ in terms of replacing him, both short-term and long-term. From the BJ Alums blog: “We didn’t want him to go,” said one of…
Catching Up With Mike Gansey, D-Leaguer and New Blogger
A couple of weeks ago, I mentioned to a friend that Olmsted Falls native Mike Gansey had been traded from the Idaho Stampede to the Erie Bayhawks. Eyes instantly lit up — Mike Gansey? Loved Mike Gansey, I wonder how he’s doing these days. Gansey, if you remember, jumped to the national scene during an…
This Just In: Concert Announcements
Tegan and Sara. Or is that Sara and Tegan? This week, we have — count ‘em! — 64 new shows, from the Dave Matthews Band to Trippin’ Billies, the Dave Matthews Band Tribute. C-Notes: Providing entertainment solutions for every budget. Other hot shows include Tegan & Saram Dillinger Escape Plan, Rocky Erickson, and Keith Emerson…
WHAT DREAMS, MAY COME
Some responses to “Describe a sex dream you remember vividly,” from Scene’s Lust Survey: “One of my first sex dreams, during high school years. Arriving home from school walking up the driveway, my girlfriend and I decided to go underneath a pine tree and have sex. We were in a fort, all the branches hung…
A Young Manny and Julian Tavarez Get Pranked
(Via Meechone’s Twitter.)
Out Today: Midlake
MidlakeThe Courage of Others(Bella Union) It’s not easy for a band to come up with a memorable sophomore album, so it was auspicious when Midlake uncorked a masterpiece on their second release, 2006’s The Trials of Van Occupanther. It’s a distillation of the band’s love for the psych folk and classic rock/pop of the ’70s…
Out Today: Nick Jonas & the Administration
NICK JONAS & THE ADMINISTRATIONWho I Am(Hollywood) As the most talented and ambitious Jonas Brother, Nick carries a lot of weight. Apparently he also carries a head full of ideas that needs cleared every 10 months or so. On Who I Am, a solo project with a group of session musicians called the Administration, Nick…
Out Today: Lil Wayne
LIL WAYNERebirth(Universal Motown) White guys with backward baseball caps and lousy attitudes aren’t the only ones who shouldn’t jump genres. Apparently it goes both ways. On his long-delayed “rock album” Rebirth, rapper Lil Wayne replaces hard hip-hop beats with soggy guitar riffs and primeval drum thumps straight outta 1999. Opener “American Star” even launches the…
Comedian Arj Barker discusses his new CD/DVD, LYAO
Last week, comic Arj Barker released his debut comedy album, LYAO as a CD/DVD and standalone DVD. The culmination of a 15-year career in stand-up, it finds Barker providing observational jokes about everything from gay marriage to scientology. His sarcastic style of humor and ability to naturally portray a dumb guy really distinguishes his comedic…
Telarc/Heads Up Nets Two Grammys
For the second straight year, the Grammy for Best Surround Sound Album has gone to a disc mixed by Cleveland engineer Michael Bishop. The Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and Choruses’ Transmigration took the honor this year. The Best Surround Sound win gave two Grammys to the Cleveland based record labels Telarc/Heads Up. Best Contemporary Jazz Album…
Monday Music News Roundup: Grammy Edition
Taylor Swift: No Kanye = fairy tale score! The only parts of the Grammys I saw last night was Beyonce’s performance and Lil Wayne’s song (it was kinda hard to hear it, since the censor must have fallen asleep on the mute button). But I did read all about what I missed this morning. Here…
The Cavs Will Make You Jump, Jump
Literally. You can’t fault the Cavs for their efforts to make games more entertaining for the casual fan. Personally, I could do without half the theatrics and songs and performances and hot dog guns, but there are plenty of people who like that stuff and the Cavs have unabashedly and effectively targeted and catered to…
Lottery League Announces 2010 Participants
The Lottery League — where local musicians are randomly separated into groups that must come up with something listenable in 10 weeks — just announced the participants of its 2010 edition. We’ll spare you the boredom of going through each and every name on the draft list — there’s a shitload of people here. Head…
Exit Stencil Gives Away the Store
Hot Cha Cha: free all month. One of Cleveland’s coolest homegrown labels, Exit Stencil, just launched Free February. All month long, the record company is giving away free digital downloads of everything in its catalog. Yes, everything. Free. Quite a deal to make the most depressing month of the year a little better. Head on…
Patrick McManamon Joining AOL Fanhouse, Leaving Akron Beacon Journal
The Akron Beacon Journal is about to lose yet another sports writer. Patrick McManamon will be leaving the ABJ this month to start a gig at AOL Fanhouse, as the aggressive web sports destination continues to add former newspapermen to its ranks. McManamon will continue to cover the Browns, Indians, and Cavs for Fanhouse, as…
Concert Review: Anti-Flag at the Beachland Ballroom
Anti-Flag: pro black shirts with white ties. It was a strange scene at the Beachland Ballroom Saturday night — a mix of preteens, old guys in leather Ramones jackets, guys chugging PBRs and some scary-looking punk kids. But as singer Liam Cormier of opening band the Cancer Bats said, this montage of people is “what…
What to Do Tonight: Take Action Tour
You certainly can’t fault the cause. Proceeds from this year’s Take Action Tour benefit Driving for Donors, an organization that 14-year-old Patrick Pedraja started in 2007, shortly after he was diagnosed with leukemia. Too bad the tour’s lineup isn’t stronger. We the Kings, emo’s answer to Jonas Brothers, are the headliners. Songs like the bouncy…
What to Do Tonight: Matt Hires
Matt Hires comes by his musical passion honestly — his first guitar was homemade, given to him by his father. The Tampa native still plays the instrument. Fronting a group called Brer, he caught the attention of a major label. With influences like Bob Dylan, Sufjan Stevens and Wilco, Hires’ debut EP, Live From the…
What to Do Tonight: Ray Fogg
Much like Jimmy Buffett, local singer-songwriter Ray Fogg espouses the virtues of living the life of a beach bum. On his latest CD, last year’s Island Life, he takes a slightly more serious approach than what you’ll find on his previous albums. Sure, there are the requisite party tunes (“Shorts, Sandals and Shades,” “Porch Party”)…
What to Do Tonight: The Antlers
In a rare coup for Akron’s struggling live music scene, one of indie rock’s most fawned-upon acts of 2009 will headline a special show at Musica (51 E. Market St., 330.374.1114, akronmusica.com), a week before embarking on a national tour with U.K. post-punkers Editors. The Antlers went from anonymity to adoration last year with the…
THEY ALL LOOK ALIKE TO ME
According to Scientific American, a recent study claims you can tell the Republicans from the Democrats just by looking at their head shots. Ever-tan John Boehner hopes to make it on the second season of MTV’s Jersey Shore. “The authors [of the study] concluded that people possess ‘a general and imperfect’ ability to infer political…
Ali-Fest Happens This Weekend
Walkin’ Cane plays benefit on Saturday. We got a bunch of additional information on Ali-Fest, the benefit for Ali Porter, daughter of the Town Fryer’s owner Susie Porter. It takes place from 2 p.m.-2 a.m. tomorrow at the Town Fryer in the front of the Agora building. In mid-December, Ali fell down a flight of…
CONGRESSMAN, YOU DO KNOW YOU’RE A REPUBLICAN, RIGHT?
At a time when even prominent Republicans casually accuse Democrats of the most outrageous things, including wanting to kill off the elderly, it’s shocking to hear one speak of working with the president, as Congressman Steve Latourette did this morning on WCPN: “I understand, as a member of the minority, we did such a bang-up…
STOP ME BEFORE I TEXT AGAIN
AAA supports a bill that would ban texting while driving in Ohio: Text messaging is one of the most dangerous things a driver can do while behind the wheel of a moving vehicle, yet survey after survey shows that an alarming number of drivers do it. AAA is calling on the Ohio General Assembly to…
Other Music and Arts events this week
More Music: 1/30: 70 Lewis at the Wincester 2/2: Gov’t Mule at House of Blues More Arts: 2/3-2/7: Matt Haimovitz and CityMusic Cleveland 2/7: Boldfigures opens at Wall Eye Gallery
Thursday Music News Roundup
This is as close to one of these Heidi Montag will ever get. Looking forward to the Grammys on Sunday? Me neither. I’d actually pay to watch these two ladies grapple. Haiti, Haiti, Haiti! Can’t we talk about me for a change? (Relax, I’m kidding.) Whew! Joe Jonas says he and his brothers aren’t breaking…
Joe Walsh Doesn’t Want Joe Walsh Singing His Song
Cleveland rocker Joe Walsh isn’t too happy with Republican congressional candidate Joe Walsh these days. Why? The politician has recorded his own very, very terrible version of the musician’s song “Walk Away,” reworked, of course, as a campaign ad. (You can watch it above.) Head over to Rolling Stone for the whole story. But here…
THE ONLY THING WE HAVE TO FEAR IS TV NEWS
Local television news can be pretty pathetic in general, but is it bad for your mental health?Humor web-site Asylum thinks so and has ranked Cleveland as a top city for most depressing television newscasts. More than a quarter of Cleveland TV news stories feature crime, according to Asylum’s informal survey of its readers. From Newsweek…
CLEVELANDER IS WITNESS TO HAITIAN TRAGEDY
Former Free Times photographer Keith Marlowe (pictured below) is shooting in Haiti for Life. See a gallery of his work here. LIFEembedDrawImage2(‘ugc1027832′,’0’);
Laughs are few and far between in When in Rome
It’s never a good sign when a movie uses the tired old “he’s standing right behind me, isn’t he,” gag within its first five minutes. When that’s immediately followed by a “food stuck to the teeth” joke, you know you’re in for one seriously unfunny comedy, which is the case with When in Rome. In…
Lil Wayne’s Young Money Crew: 6 of the Top 10 Worst Rappers
Gudda, Gudda in the house! As Lil Wayne preps for a yearlong prison stay on weapons charges, he’s busy getting things in order with his hip-hop empire. Next week, his long-delayed “rock album,” Rebirth, will finally be released. And last month, he released the We Are Young Money compilation featuring cuts by a bunch of…
Concert Review: Motion City Soundtrack at House of Blues
“What? What’s wrong with my hair?” When Motion City Soundtrack frontman Justin Pierre sang the first line of “Worker Bee,” it served as the perfect opener to the band’s show at House of Blues last night. “It’s been a good year, a good new beginning,” he sang. Quite appropriate for the Minnesota group, seeing that…
JOKERS TO THE RIGHT: KUCINICH’S GOP ‘CHALLENGERS’
The latest report from the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections shows that five candidates have now pulled petition to vie in the Republican primary for a chance to face Dennis Kucinich next November for the 10th district congressional seat. Good luck with that, guys. The problem is that all five are unknowns without any record…
DEMS STILL NOT GIVING UP ON REPLACING GARRISON (UPDATED)
Ohio Democratic activists, still angry about the state party’s anti-choice, anti-gay-marriage candidate for secretary of state, are trying to recruit former congressional candidate Sharen Neuhardt to enter the race. Since Franklin County (Columbus) commissioner Marilyn Brown bowed out in the fall, the only candidate has been state legislator Jennifer Garrison from Marietta. But she won…
2/3: Frontier Ruckus at the Beachland
Suburban Detroit is not a conventional birthplace for one of the new century’s most exciting folk-rock bands, but that hasn’t stopped Frontier Ruckus from embracing their roots. The group’s 2008 debut is a song cycle about the Michigan town of Orion. Frontman Matthew Milia seamlessly blends some interesting influences — a little Lambchop here, some…
2/2: The Entrance Band at the Beachland
California psych-rockers the Entrance Band’s pedigree doesn’t quite fit the mold of most sun- and pot-stoked groups. Frontman Guy Blakeslee (a Baltimore transplant who spent a chunk of his musical career in Chicago) recorded a handful of solo albums as Entrance, and bassist Paz Lenchantin was in A Perfect Circle and Billy Corgan’s short-lived Zwan.…
2/1: Take Action Tour at HOB
You certainly can’t fault the cause. Proceeds from this year’s Take Action Tour benefit Driving for Donors, an organization that now-14-year-old Patrick Pedraja started in 2007, shortly after he was diagnosed with leukemia. Too bad the tour’s lineup isn’t stronger. We the Kings, emo’s answer to Jonas Brothers, are the headliners. Songs like the bouncy…
1/31: Matt Hires at the Beachland
Matt Hires comes by his musical passion honestly — his first guitar was homemade, given to him by his father. The Tampa native still plays the instrument. Fronting a group called Brer, he caught the attention of a major label. With influences like Bob Dylan, Sufjan Stevens and Wilco, Hires’ debut EP, Live From the…
1/31: Groundhog Sun-day
The groundhogs are going to be real confused. Groundhog Day — February 2 — falls on a Tuesday this year, so the Cleveland Museum of Natural History (1 Wade Oval Dr., 216.231.4600) is celebrating from 1-4 p.m. today. It hosts a variety of programs featuring live animals (including actual groundhogs, we presume), crafts, activities, educational…
1/29: Justin Roberts at Beachwood High
In the past couple of years, many indie rockers have recorded children’s albums. But you can’t accuse singer-songwriter Justin Roberts of jumping on the bandwagon. After playing in a Minneapolis-based indie-rock band during the early ’90s, Roberts made his solo debut with 1997’s Great Big Sun, his first album of tunes geared toward tykes. The…
1/30: Ray Fogg at Put-In-Bay Lakewood
Much like Jimmy Buffett, local singer-songwriter Ray Fogg espouses the virtues of living the life of a beach bum. On his latest CD, last year’s Island Life, he takes a slightly more serious approach than what you’ll find on his previous albums. Sure, there are the requisite party tunes (“Shorts, Sandals and Shades,” “Porch Party”)…
1/30: The Antlers at Musica
In a rare coup for Akron’s struggling live-music scene, one of indie rock’s most fawned-upon acts of 2009 will headline a special show at Musica (51 E. Market St., 330.374.1114), a week before embarking on a national tour with U.K. post-punks Editors. The Antlers went from anonymity to adoration last year with the release of…
1/29-31: Microscopes and Megaphones at CPT
Producer Maria Miranda says Microscopes and Megaphones is “a collaborative series of scenes and dance performances that look at little things that contribute to tension in women’s lives.” She and her collaborators developed the work from stories, poetry, anecdotes and conversation — none of which was originally for the stage. “Back in late fall 2008,…
1/29: In a Most Dangerous Manner opens at SPACES
SPACES Gallery continues to dig into complex issues of the 21st century with In a Most Dangerous Manner, a show that uses publications, found objects, documents, videos, performances and townhall discussions to examine how an “economic crisis” has been used to further divide the rich and poor, especially through market speculation. It’s a far cry…
1/29 & 31: Opera Circle’s The Gypsy Princess
It’s a simple story: The Count hangs out in a music hall, where he falls in love with singer Sylvia. But since she performs in cafés and theaters — a social ranking just a little bit above “whore” — his father won’t let them marry. In The Gypsy Princess, or Die Csárdásfürstin, Hungarian composer Imre…
1/29-31: Cycle World Motorcycle Show
Vroom! Vroom! Vroom! If the sound of a revving motorcycle is an aphrodisiac to you, you’ll want to stop polishing your ride and hustle on down to the I-X Center (1 I-X Center Dr.) for the Cycle World International Motorcycle Show this weekend. Street bikes, dirt bikes, scooters, cruisers, vintage bikes — they’re all here,…
1/29: Dr. Ronald Berkman at City Club
Anyone who passes by Cleveland State University can see that there are a lot of changes going on there. The physical changes — all the new construction — are visible to the naked eye. But there are less visible changes happening in defining CSU’s mission and how it interacts with and helps sustain the urban…
1/29: All Falls Down opens at MOCA Cleveland
After reading about Japanese youth emulating American hip-hop culture, painter Iona Rozeal Brown became fascinated with the subject. Kids who were neither African nor American had created their own version of hip-hop through their clothing and even occasionally darkening their skin. Brown appropriates the Japanese style of woodblock printing known as ukiyo-e and paints a…
1/29: Ain’t Misbehavin’ opens at Cleveland Play House
The Arizona Theatre Company’s production of Ain’t Misbehavin’ opened Thanksgiving weekend in Tucson, moved to Phoenix in early January and heads east this week to open at the Cleveland Play House tonight. Director Kent Gash calls the Fats Waller show “the best musical review of all time, in all of Broadway history.” Its portrait of…
1/27: Lloyd Cole at the Wincester
Lloyd Cole is taking a low-key approach on his current tour, playing gigs accompanied by a three-piece acoustic group he calls the Small Ensemble. During these intimate shows, Cole looks back on his entire catalog, performing folk-inspired medleys that include snippets of many of his songs, including the Commotions-era “Rattlesnakes” and “Brand New Friend.” He…
TSO in Spring: For Christmas’ Sakes
Trans-Siberian Orchestra — the theatrical lite-heavy-metal-goes-Christmas sensation — has announced a spring tour. In addition to material from the group’s recent Night Castle, the massive show will feature a new program called Beethoven’s Last Night. (You ain’t never heard the Fifth like this, baby!) TSO play Akron’s E.J. Thomas Hall on March 26 at 8…
Too many subplots spoil Edge of Darkness
Most of the problems with Edge of Darkness, a remake of a 1985 British TV show of the same name are the byproduct of trying to turn a six-hour miniseries into a feature film that also has to function as a star vehicle for Mel Gibson. It makes sense to focus on Gibson’s grieving police…
Vintage Cleveland Sports Newspaper Ads
I swear, there’s some honest-go-god blog material coming this week and next, but while I’m working on that enjoy a trip in the Way Back Machine and check out some stunning old ads for Clevo sporting events. The one to the right is for the Cleveland Rosenblums, and honestly, how could you pass up a…
Wednesday Ticket Giveaway
Do you like old-school Journey? Do you wish they were still around, serenading you every weekend with the sweet sounds of ’70s/’80s pop-rock? Well, you’re outta luck, unless you wanna see some new dude singing the songs you lost your virginity to. So the next closest thing is Frontiers — The Journey Tribute, a Journey…
AND WE DO MEAN ‘POLLING’: SCENE’S LUST SURVEY
Judging from some of the early responses to Scene’s Lust Survey, y’all some horny mother effers. “I think about [sex] all the time. Every 10-15 minutes while awake. I have tried to quell the sexual fantasies … it makes driving really hard.” “Regardless of who a person is (as long as they are an adult),…
OK, So I Have a Car and You Have … a Used Copy of Thriller?
Early contender for most amusing Cleveland Cragislist post of the week: Someone in our fair city evidently imagines that his used copy of a 25-ish-year-old album — one which practically everyone in North America has owned at least one copy in his or her life — is worthy trade for an automobile. So yeah, not…
GOOD SPORTS
It didn’t take long the other night for me and my wife to fall into a familiar pattern. As I manically flipped the television from station to station, she pleaded with me to settle on a single program. What was different about the situation was that we weren’t planted on the couch at home; we…
Enhanced Interrogation: ERIC GORDON
Eric Gordon doesn’t mince words about the district’s success in educating its 47,000 students: “We do not believe we’ve accomplished the goal of educating every child.” That acknowledgement is the starting point for the transformation district CEO Eugene Sanders announced on January 5. One radical change would be a larger role for charter schools, known…
Witchy Woman
TOP PICK Bayonetta (Sega) In the year’s first must-play videogame, you’re a witch with some big weapons and killer moves (including one that gives you humongous fists to bash enemies with). This action game (for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3) blends intense button-mashing with solid storytelling. Best: Finishing moves incorporate old-school torture devices like…
CD Review: The Magnetic Fields
Stephin Merritt rarely steps into the studio with his rotating collective the Magnetic Fields without a concept. His greatest thematic work is 1999’s 69 Love Songs, a three-disc release exploring the subject in all its melancholy splendor and dysfunctional perfection. Merritt’s last go-round with his band, 2008’s atypical Distortion, is a wildly noisy homage to…
CD Review: Spoon
As Spoon’s sound evolves, one element remains constant: the cool swagger of their rhythm. Much like Penelope Cruz’s hip sway, the songs on Transference have a confident strut that moves coolly with Jim Eno’s drums. It’s noticeable throughout the album, from the bass-heavy funk of “The Mystery Zone” to “Written in Reverse,” where frontman Britt…
CD Review: Beach House
Teen Dream is sure to induce hazy infatuations in both teens and adults. Victoria Legrand’s seductive moans are dreamlike, enhanced by steaming-hot organ and Alex Scally’s intricately laced guitar. “Real Love” and “Zebra” recall the antique, autumnal feeling of Beach House’s self-titled 2006 debut. Think gypsy royalty and thick, velvety thrones. Yet the Baltimore-based duo…
CD Review: Los Campesinos!
After releasing their first two of albums in 2008, Los Campesinos! spent the middle of 2009 prepping their third, Romance Is Boring, whose 15 tracks are a solid blend of the first two albums. The Welsh septet thrives on the scattershot approach to music that’s been their hallmark since the beginning. There’s nothing here as instantly catchy as…
CD Review: Steve Kilbey & Martin Kennedy
It’s tough to find two musicians better at creating vivid worlds of sound and vision than Steve Kilbey and Martin Kennedy — especially on the same continent. With the Church, Kilbey has been charting the cosmic waves of Australian space-pop for 30 years. Kennedy has written and produced eight albums of ambient instrumentals for his…
ADVENTURES IN BABYSITTING
Writer-director-editor Ti West’s The House of the Devil is a pastiche of and homage to early-1980s horror flicks (think post-Halloween and pre-Nightmare on Elm Street) and uses its lo-tech tools to create something that’s startling beautiful in its own funky way. Unlike, say, last fall’s Black Dynamite, whose dead-on simulation of blaxploitation tropes was only…
Reel Cleveland: Cool as Ice
This month’s An Evening With the Arts, taking place at 7 p.m. Thursday, January 28, at the Rocky River Public Library (1600 Hampton Rd., 440.333.7610, rrpl.org), will feature a panel discussion with locally based independent film directors Jeff M. Breyer, David Greathouse and Kevin Kerwin, who will talk about their projects and participate in a…
Film Capsules
Opening American Harmony (U.S., 2009) The 2006 International Quartet barbershop singing competition is the subject of this documentary. Cleveland Museum of Art Lecture Hall. At 7 p.m. Friday, Jan. 29, and 1:30 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 31. Araya (Venezuela, 1959) This Venezuelan documentary, unreleased in the U.S. for 50 years, plays like a meditation on the…
Around Hear: Lockwood All Stars Hiatus
Robert Lockwood Jr.’s All-Star Band is on indefinite hiatus after ending its 20-year run as Fat Fish Blue’s Wednesday night band. Bassist Gene Schwartz says the group may reunite for special shows but has no plans to return with a regular engagement. But Schwartz is back on the scene with brother Glenn. The Schwartz Brothers…
Balls of Confusion
After the unlikely stratospheric success of 2004’s Napoleon Dynamite, director Jared Hess hit the mat hard with wrestling spoof Nacho Libre in 2006. Gentlemen Broncos, his latest uneven offering (co-written, like the other two films, with wife Jerusha), is evidence that Hess may have peaked at 30. The film is a protracted and only intermittently…
Arts District: Money Down, Demand Up
A report released last week by the national nonprofit arts-advocacy group Americans for the Arts contains no surprises for anyone in the business: The people who run nonprofit theatres, orchestras, galleries and other arts providers already know that individual, corporate and government funding have all declined, as have audiences, along with the economy and personal…
Express Yourself
Pop’s unifying message is often a personal one. Just ask the four friends in Lakewood’s 70 Lewis. Since 2007, they’ve channeled big dreams and broken hearts into their well-crafted radio rock. Sardined into a booth at the Boneyard in Broadview Heights on a cold January night, the four mates drink root beer, water and coffee…
TALKIN’ ‘BOUT MY GENERATION
Virtuoso cellist Matt Haimovitz has made a career of bringing classical music to people who don’t hear it much. In the mid-’90s, having played as soloist with major orchestras in venues like Carnegie Hall, the Israeli-born, American-raised musician got frustrated with the narrowness of classical-music culture and the kind of career typically available to classical…
Local CD Reviews
STALEMATE (self-released) myspace.com/stalemateohio Formed in 2001 as Tooth Fuzz, these guys have been kicking around Northeast Ohio for almost 10 years. Silhouettes & Syllables’ sound reaches back to late ’90s alt-rock as the trio evokes the loud/quiet dynamics of Nirvana on “What I Want to Believe” and recalls the call-and-response approach of Jimmy Eat World…
FOND HOMECOMING
It usually takes a dancer many years of auditioning and gaining life experience to be noticed by a major company. But that’s not how it went for Cleveland native Antonio Brown. He graduated from the Juilliard School in 2007 and immediately auditioned for the internationally acclaimed Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company. After numerous callbacks and a…
The Haynes Manual
By any yardstick, Warren Haynes has had an amazing career over the past three decades: guitarist for David Allen Coe at 20, followed by stints with the Dickey Betts Band and the Allman Brothers Band, a solo album and then the birth of Gov’t Mule, a blues/rock group that helped revive the power trio concept.…
Bold and Beautiful
Boldfigures is a vivid show of tall tales, myths and figurative inventions, conveying a sense of the human psyche’s shape-shifting, polymorphous potential. The storylines don’t have a beginning or an end, but tend to stray into the less structured byways of dream or waking fantasy. Some of the paintings, drawings, prints and photographs by the…
School’s Out Forever
If any building symbolizes the state of the Cleveland Metropolitan School District, it’s Empire Elementary on Parmalee Avenue near East 93rd. From the outside, the building looks worn and weary. Boarded-up windows show that the school, constructed in 1915, has passed its prime. Inside, students’ voices echo through the hallways. Five years ago, 567 students…
Bites: Clifton Martini and Wine Bar
It’s been more than two years since the last tenant moved out of 10427 Clifton Blvd. The famous (some say infamous) address has been home to Velocity American Bistro, Giovanna’s, Mise, Jeso and Wilsher Grille. Fortunately for the neighborhood, the new owner has a track record of success. Jeff Rumplik, one of Cleveland’s premier bartenders,…
THE MORE THINGS CHANGE …
Local activist Greg Coleridge plans to push for campaign-finance reform in Cuyahoga County, but he wonders if local officials are as committed to the idea as he is. The suspicion started on the Internet. Coleridge went online to volunteer for one of several workgroups that will meet throughout 2010 to guide the county’s switch to…
1/30: Haiti Benefit at Bugsy’s Speakeasy
“Island attire” is requested at Hot Haitian Nights, a benefit for Habitat for Humanity International’s Haiti Relief on Saturday at Bugsy’s Speakeasy (3180 W. 25th St., 216-661-7070). Suggested donation of $10. For more information contact Inga Laurent at 216-965-8655.
