What to Do Tonight: Kid Cudi
You won’t find any rhymes about what a badass Kid Cudi is on his debut album, Man on the Moon: The End of Day. This glasses-wearing rapper (who’s originally from Shaker Heights) is all about kicking back, toking up and flipping through his existential angst. Kanye West produces a couple cuts (including the all-star single…
That Evening Sun makes its local debut at CMA
A movie about an elderly man who takes drastic measures to get his farm back, That Evening Sun makes its local premiere tonight at 7 at the Cleveland Museum of Art. It screens At 7 p.m. Friday, Jan. 15, and at 1:30 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 17. Here is our review of the film. That Evening…
Reviews of the Cinematheque’s weekend films
The Cleveland Institute of Art Cinematheque is showing several great movies this weekend. Here are reviews of just a few of them. Angel (France/Britain/Belgium, 2007) Based on a tome by British writer Elizabeth Taylor (not that Elizabeth Taylor), François Ozon’s (Swimming Pool, 8 Women) yummy retro fairy tale about the meteoric rise and cataclysmic fall…
The Book of Eli is more than just a good action film
Written by Gary Whitta and directed by the Hughes Brothers, The Book of Eli does a good job of walking the middle ground between the pulpy entertainment of The Road Warrior and the more serious-minded vision of the end of the world seen in The Road. Its story revolves around Eli (Denzel Washington), who walks…
The Josh Cribbs Media Tour Continues!
After his agents blitzed every media outlet known to man last week in their attempt to get their side of the story out, and after Cribbs unleashed his thoughts on his Twitter account regarding the Browns’ insulting contract offer, and after spending an entire day in Bristol, Connecticut, on just about every show ESPN has…
30 Seconds to Mars Sneak Into Classic Albums Series
Thirty Seconds to Mars are part of a Classic Albums series. You can stop laughing now. EMI Music just launched its Classic Albums series, an iTunes-only campaign that makes 11 of the company’s albums available for $7.99 for the next two weeks. The series includes: – Thirty Seconds To Mars: A Beautiful Lie – The…
Cleveland’s Baby Dee Prepping New Album and Tour
Transgendered Cleveland singer Baby Dee has a new album coming out soon. It’s called A Book of Songs for Anne Marie and it’s due sometime in the spring. Dee also has a month-long U.S. tour starting in April, with a pair of hometown shows, including a Beachland Tavern gig on April 15. Dee got some…
GOV CANDIDATES NOT EXACTLY RUNNING TO FIND MATES
As neither Gov. Strickland nor Republican gubernatorial candidate John Kasich has named a running mate yet, speculation has been running rampant statewide. Youngstown Mayor Jay Williams has been prominently mentioned as a running mate for Strickland, although Strickland has been taking his own sweet time making an announcement (Lt. Gov. Lee Fisher launched his bid…
Oh Yeah, This Is Gonna Suck
Director Robert Zemeckis’ remake of the Beatles’ Yellow Submarine — a kinda live-action remake of a cartoon, I should add — just announced its Fab Four. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Dean Lennox Kelly will play John Lennon, Peter Serafinowicz will be Paul McCartney, Cary Elwes will portray George Harrison and Adam Campbell will play…
Out Today: OK Go
OK GOOf the Blue Colour of the Sky(Capitol) Though they’re one of the past decade’s few memorable mainstream pop/rock groups, OK Go have only released two albums. This long-awaited third record preserves everything fun, smart and snappy about OK Go, while adding the heightened confidence and proficiency that ideally comes with age. The band’s current…
Out Today: Ringo Starr
Ringo StarrY Not(Hip-O) There’s a case to be made that there are six good Ringo Starr albums in the drummer’s 14 solo works. Clearly more prolific early on — perhaps because he had more to say in the wake of the Beatles’ demise — Ringo’s recent albums have been as sporadic as their quality. As…
This Just In: Concert Announcements
Blue October are mad at their frontman for hogging all the guyliner. This week, we have 24 new shows. Get ’em first, right here, every Tuesday. —D.X. Ferris Sold Out: Owl City/Lights/Paper Route: Wed., April 28, 6 p.m., SOLD OUT. House of Blues. This Just In: Assembly of Dust/Sultans of Bing: Sat., March 6, 9…
Out Today: Vampire Weekend
Vampire WeekendContra(XL) Forget the Afro-pop label garnered by Vampire Weekend’s eponymous debut. This time around, the four preppy Columbia grads throw in Brazilian funk, reggaeton, dancehall and ska. New cultures collide, cheerfully bopping next to each other on an album that finds inspiration from almost every corner of the world. But somehow, the New Yorkers…
Hear Spoon’s New Album Now, for Free
NPR is streaming Spoon’s new album, Transference, a full week before its release. The record comes out on January 19, but you can check out the whole thing now. Transference is the first album the beloved Austin indie-poppers produced themselves. Fans of the band will hear a lot of familiar sounds here, including some sharp,…
Win tickets to see Fight Club at the Capitol
Fight Club is a 1999 American film adapted from the 1996 novel of the same name by Chuck Palahniuk. The film was directed by David Fincher and stars Edward Norton, Brad Pitt and Helena Bonham Carter. Norton plays the unnamed protagonist, an “everyman” who is discontented with his white-collar job in American society. He forms…
Monday Music News Round-Up
TV gets ready for American Idol’s new season with specials starring past contestants you won’t remember three years from now. Fergie’s kinda gross. Fergie + her husband = really gross. More unreleased Jimi Hendrix stuff is coming out soon. If it’s so good, why has it sat around for 40 years? Just askin’ … Michael…
MASON CAUGHT RIDING UNDER INFLUENCE OF ARROGANCE
Law, order and reform in Cuyahoga County? Yeah right. Prosecutor Bill Mason continues to lose the trust of Cuyahoga County citizens who put him in office and supported his political push for the county’s reorganized government. The big news over the weekend is the apparent cover-up of Mason’s involvement in the drunken-driving arrest of his…
ANOTHER ROGUE IN WTAM’S GALLERY
After seven years in federal prison, and four months on the job market, ex-congressman Jim Traficant debuted a WTAM talk show host on Saturday. In a press release, Program Director Ray Davis said, “I am all about giving people a second chance in life.” Scene had planned on asking him if he was comfortable having…
Akron Art Museum hosts family film festival
The Akron Art Museum will play host to local premieres of a variety of different movies this weekend as part of Akron Film’s Spark: A Family Festival. A film by the producers of acclaimed movies such as Kirkou and the Sorceress and Triplets of Belleville, the Irish animated feature The Secret of Kells kicks things…
Talking With Chris Jent About LeBron James
Most of you know by now that Cavs assistant coach Chris Jent is LeBron’s personal shot tutor, of sorts. There’s a great story from the Dispatch that goes over how the relationship began — LeBron basically saying, “I trust you, Chris,” and Chris going, “Me? Really? Ok.” — and how it’s helped LeBron and what…
Last Elvis Post of the Day — Promise
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum kicked off its two-day celebration of what would have been Elvis Presley’s 75th birthday at noon today with a cake-cutting ceremony. Vice President of Exhibitions and Curatorial Affairs Jim Henke presented the event live on Channel 3 as pieces of the giant white cake were handed…
Northern Ohio Music Festival Is Looking for Performers
The weather outside may be frightful, but for musicians hoping to have a full calendar next summer, it’s not too early to start planning. Last year, the Bowling Green State University chapter of Arts Enterprise — a national Michigan-based organization dedicated to encouraging arts entrepreneurship — staged its first annual Northern Ohio Music Festival at…
Elvis’ Greatest Hits — The Later Years
In honor of what would have been Elvis Presley’s 75th birthday if he hadn’t died on the can in 1977, we offer a video tribute to his Top 5 best songs during the later years. It’s easy to compile a list of the King’s best songs when you have the Sun sessions, the early RCA…
Friday Music News Roundup
Happy Birthday, Elvis. Too bad you’re dead. Looks like Michael Jackson’s doctor may be hanging out with some L.A. criminals soon. Lady Gaga duets with Boy George. It doesn’t get much gayer than this. Mega-asshole Marilyn Manson gets engaged to a girl twice his age. Yeah, this one will last. —Michael Gallucci
MEDMART BACK ON TRACK, SORT OF
It’s been two months since the last episode of “As the Medical Mart Deal Turns.” The last chapter — played out at Cleveland City Hall — included a shifty developer, a disgusted mayor and a whole lot of questions about where exactly to build the much-touted medical showcase complex. In November, MMPI, the Chicago-based developer…
Yeah, This Will Help Show Attendance
Live Nation purchased the House of Blues chain/promotions company in 2006. On Wednesday, House of Blues stopped selling tickets via Ticketmaster and now sells online exclusively via LiveNation.com. Moving ticket sales in-house probably seemed like a good way to centralize operations and reign in costs. And it might be — but not for you. Purchased…
Herb Score a Finalist for Frick Award
Longtime Tribe broadcaster and Cleveland legend Herb Score is up for the 2010 Frick Award, an honor bestowed by the Hall of Fame upon a broadcaster for major contributions to baseball. Other finalists include Billy Berroa, Skip Caray, Tom Cheek, Jacques Doucet, Lanny Frattare, Graham McNamee, Jon Miller, Joe Nuxhall, and Dave Van Horne. That’s…
The Akron Hammer
Never heard of that nickname for LeBron before? Well, then you’re not watching Sportsnation. Michelle Beadle created the nickname for The King and it was their self-proclaimed biggest story of 2009. Personally, it’s pretty freaking lame, but with a Facebook group of over 6,000 members, 23,400 Google search results, and endless banter on Twitter, I…
Remembering… the Cleveland Pipers
After nearly two months, countless starts and stops, and endless admiration and frustration, I finally finished the Sports Guy’s The Book of Basketball. Tons of great nuggets in there, and, on the whole, a fun read. There’s plenty of reviews and criticisms out there if you’re into that stuff (just read the book instead, then…
Sunday Singalong Doubles as Fundraiser for Old Cleveland Club
The Velvet Underground played La Cave back in the day. Impress your friends — tell them you were there. Many old-timers have fond memories La Cave, Cleveland’s first significant long-running rock-music club. Opened quietly in 1962 as just another coffeehouse, it quickly took advantage of folk-music boom that was then going on by bringing in…
Whole Lotta Elvis Goin’ On
Elvis Presley would have been 75 years old tomorrow, if he hadn’t happened to die in 1977. So there’s a whole lotta Elvis goin’ on around town this weekend. In addition to the annual tribute show at PlayhouseSquare’s State Theatre featuring several Elvis imitators and real-life Elvis drummer — and recent Rock and Roll Hall…
Thursday Music News Roundup
Your latest album bombed and you can’t hold your booze. What are we going to do with you, Mariah? Lady Gaga gets a fancy title at a company that makes something people haven’t used in 25 years. Lil Wayne releases new video. Rebirth album pushed back to 2017. Vegas celebrates Elvis’ birth with a bunch…
YEAH, THIS’LL HELP SHOW ATTENDANCE
Live Nation purchased the House of Blues chain/promotions company in 2006. On Wednesday, House of Blues stopped selling tickets via Ticketmaster and now sells online exclusively via LiveNation.com. Moving ticket sales in-house probably seemed like a good way to centralize operations and reign in costs. And it might be — but not for you. Purchased…
Why Wasn’t This Song a Hit?
Two years ago, I Nine had a major-label record deal, an iTunes Single of the Week and band-to-watch status. Then the song stalled on the charts, the album never got a CD release, and the North Carolina band disappeared from everyone’s radars. Why? “Seven Days of Lonely” was one of my favorite songs of 2008,…
BACH IN THE FLATS
In my conversation with Cleveland Orchestra principal flutist Joshua Smith we talked about the influence of classical rhetoric on the work of baroque composers. You can hear that in his most recent CD, J.S. Bach Flute sonatas, which he recorded with harpsichordist Jory Vinikour. We were talking about music and language—specifically about his upcoming recital…
TOP FIVE MUSICAL CRIMES OF THE 2000s
After 29 years, Cuyahoga Heights record store Time Traveler is closing. It may be Northeast Ohio’s most visible independent music retailer; Rolling Stone regularly runs the shop’s Top 10 bestsellers on its charts page. The shop has long been associated with the Rolling Stones and other U.K. bands. It carried a full catalog of groups…
CAN’T GET THERE FROM HERE
RTA officials this week received an earful from angry riders who take exception to the pubic transit authority’s plans to shrink services in April due to budget issues. More than 100 people braved the blustery weather for a marathon, two-hour-plus meeting Monday at the Cleveland Public Library, where they peppered officials with criticism and words…
House of Blues Drops Ticketmaster
As of today, House of Blues (which also promotes Blossom events) has stopped selling tickets via Ticketmaster, and now sells online exclusively via livenation.com. HOB’s website redirects to Live Nation’s. Tickets are also available via Live Nation’s toll-free phone line (877.598.8703) and House of Blues’ box office (216.523.2583), which offers lower fees than the online…
Boyle-ling Point
Do you know anyone who owns Susan Boyle’s album? I don’t, and I know a lot of people who have shitty music in their collections — everything from record collections that stopped in 1994 to flag-waving country to rootsy singer-songwriters who are liked only because they’re rootsy singer-songwriters to obscure metal bands that no one…
Wednesday Music News Roundup
Cute annoying singer gets engaged to attention-craving, self-absorbed asshole. Just when the movie elite were planning to forgive Mariah for Glitter, she goes and does something like this. Green Day gay up their music. He can’t keep his Golden Gloves off her. —Michael Gallucci
1/13: Alejandro Escovedo at the Beachland
Veteran Austin singer-songwriter Alejandro Escovedo has persevered through three decades of rough-and-tumble rock ’n’ roll and lived to make some great albums about it. Escovedo has seen his ballyhooed punk and garage bands the Nuns, Rank and File, and the True Believers come and go. He’s also eluded death after a bad bout of hepatitis.…
1/13: Psychic Sonya at Cuyahga County Library
The depth of winter is a great time for a ghost story to while away the long, dark hours indoors. And no one around here can supply them better than Sonya Hartman, a.k.a. Psychic Sonya, who is renowned for her Halloween-season Haunted Cleveland tours and her ability to communicate with the world beyond the visible…
1/10: Rustem Hayroudinoff
Russian-born pianist Rustem Hayroudinoff made his debut with the London Philharmonic in 2007, performing the famously difficult Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto No. 3. His recording of the Rachmaninoff Etudes-Tableaux was named BBC Music Magazine’s Best Instrumental CD in 2008. This year, he makes debut performances in Prague, New York and — as part of Cuyahoga Community…
1/10: Elvis Birthday Tribute at State Theatre
If you think the world has too many Elvis imitators, you haven’t seen this first-rate show, which is just as much theater as it is rock ’n’ roll. To give it a degree of legitimacy, Elvis’ original drummer, D.J. Fontana, hosts the event, which celebrates what would have been the King’s 75th birthday. This long-running…
1/10: Donna the Buffalo at Kent Stage
For nearly 20 years, singer and multi-instrumentalist Tara Nevins and singer-guitarist Jeb Puryear have guided Donna the Buffalo through a sonic travelogue of American music, serving up a gumbo of bluegrass, rootsy rock, folk and country, spiced with exotic bits of Cajun and reggae. Considering the diverse genres that the band draws upon and the…
1/9: Uzizi at The Wincester
Medieval-inspired alt-rock with a 12-piece choir? That’s Uzizi, the brainchild of local musician Craig Matis, who’s led the band since the mid-’80s. The melodies he writes are inspired by 19th-century Western European sacred harp music. The appropriately costumed band — the quintet includes a fiddle player along with the usual rock instruments — is pushing…
1/9: Dan McCoy & the Standing 8’s at the Beachland
Opening with the maudlin a cappella tune “In My Time of Dyin’,” The Journeyman, the first solo album by Rambler 454’s Dan McCoy, starts on a dour note. But it quickly picks up speed as McCoy offers up barroom-ready songs about overdue taxes and unfaithful girlfriends. McCoy channels Drive-By Truckers’ roots-rock on “Moving Day” and…
1/8: Evan Ziporyn & Gamelan Galak Tika
It’s rare enough for a person to come from one culture and excel in the music of another. But to master the music to the point of becoming part of the tradition is something else. Clarinetist and Bang on a Can All-Star founder Evan Ziporyn has done just that with the jangly sound of the…
1/8: Lost in Yonkers at Cleveland Play House
With 33 plays and a matching number of screenplays to Neil Simon’s credit, the sheer volume of his output would alone set him apart, even if titles like The Odd Couple, Biloxi Blues and Brighton Beach Memoirs hadn’t become staples of theater repertoires across the country. You can also argue that no writer has mined…
1/8: Jerry’s Girls at Cleveland Play House
Jerry Herman was 29 when his first Broadway musical, From A to Z, debuted. Working at the end of Broadway’s golden age, he penned a dozen hit musicals, including Hello, Dolly!, Mame and La Cage Aux Folles. Now 78, Herman was honored last year with a lifetime-achievement Tony Award. That’s good enough reason for Ensemble…
1/8: Disney on Ice at The Q
The latest edition of Disney on Ice that will take up mini-residence at Quicken Loans Arena (One Center Ct., 888.894.9424) for the next 10 days is called “Let’s Celebrate.” The production — which opens at 7 tonight — pays tribute to celebrations of all kinds, with Mickey and Minnie hosting a “winter wonderland” festival, a…
1/7: Nobody Don’t Like Yogi at Actors Summit
Neil Thackaberry says he’s not a huge baseball fan, but he’d still love to play the role of Yogi Berra in Thomas Lysaght’s one-act play Nobody Don’t Like Yogi. But since he’s too tall for the part, Thackaberry will have to be content directing Actors Summit’s production of the one-man show, which stars George Roth…
1/7 & 9: Cleveland Orchestra
Jaap van Zweden and William Preucil have something more in common than a Cleveland Orchestra concert on their schedule this weekend. Like Preucil, van Zweden is a top-notch violinist. He was appointed concertmaster at Amsterdam’s Royal Concertgebou Orchestra in 1979 at age 19, the youngest person ever to hold the post. He sat in that…
Ongoing: Chalet Toboggan Chutes
There’s only one place in the state where the public can experience that winter roller-coaster ride known as tobogganing — and it’s right here in Northeast Ohio. At the Chalet Toboggan Chutes in the Cleveland Metroparks (16200 Valley Parkway, Strongsville, 440.572.9990), you’ll be issued a traditional wooden toboggan and sent careening down one of the…
Blues Explosion
It’s hard to think of another Cleveland band that’s been consistently active in the area as Blue Lunch. Formed 25 years ago by versatile singer-guitarist Bob Frank, the eight-piece group has purveyed a spicy stew of blues, swing, jazz, R&B and early rock ‘n’ roll since the mid-’80s. There have been personnel changes, of course,…
Only the Beginning
The 2008 documentary Anvil: The Story of Anvil was a slow-growing underground sensation. Its Rocky-like storyline was a winner: You found yourself cheering on the unlikely heroes, a couple of middle-aged Canadian heavy-metal musicians who’d been playing together since 1973. The movie detailed the ups and downs of their long-running band Anvil, formed in 1978.…
HOLDING OUT FOR HEROES
Let’s see: At the end of 2009, sweeping county government restructuring was just getting underway; the federal corruption probe that greased the skids for that reform was generating rumors but no big-ticket indictments; the medical-mart proposal was being rewritten by the folks who have the most to gain from it; and all of Northeast Ohio…
12 Bands to Watch
The Buried Wires myspace.com/theburiedwires Maybe it’s fallout from the reshuffling spurred on by 2008’s Lottery League, but 2009 was a hell of a year for CLE supergroups — Casual Encounters, Non-Fiction, Freedom, the Founding Fathers, Megachurch and the Buried Wires all emerged from previously extant and relatively popular indie bands. It’s that last group that…
Local CD Reviews
Eric Vogt Sailor Kiss the Siren (self-released) ericvogt.net A former member of local indie bands Gem and Viva Caramel, singer-songwriter Eric Vogt has gone solo. His debut features moody vocals and quiet arrangements that have a Nick Drake/Josh Rouse vibe. That’s especially apparent on the gentle instrumental intro “Braenar,” which is followed by the equally…
Around Hear: New Year, New Ringworm
It looks like 2010 will bring a new Ringworm album — if the band survives its first gig of the year. On Saturday, January 9, the metal-infected hardcore veterans visit Baltimore to play a brutal mini-fest entitled the Show That Ends the World. Baltimore is home to A-389 Records, the vinyl-oriented label that just reissued…
Arts District: New Zygote Project
Zygote Press — which has been proactive in reaching out to other arts organizations and innovating for survival in tough economic times — launches yet another smart project this week with the first show of what director Liz Maugans calls “the print expedition.” It’s a collection of prints from the organization’s archives, which are packaged…
BAROQUE IN ENGLISH
If you ever thought you were hearing voices in a Baroque melody or that the solo instrument in a given sonata was trying to explain something—to ask if you’d considered it this way and that, or given adequate consideration to the other — then you have an idea what Cleveland Orchestra principal flutist Joshua Smith…
Cinema Show
TOP PICK Genesis: The Movie Box (Rhino) This DVD set gathers four Genesis concert films from the ’80s and ’90s. So yeah, you’re stuck with Phil Collins instead of Peter Gabriel. Still, the soon-to-be Rock Hall inductees dip into their back catalog quite a bit on Three Sides Live, The Mama Tour, Live at Wembley…
ROOT OF THE MATTER
You can learn a lot about Lakewood’s new Root Café from the bathrooms. Proprietors Bobby Breitenstein and Julie Hutchison hired artists to stencil boys’ and girls’ faces on their respective bathroom walls — but not any old faces. They’re drawings of friends and regular customers — the people who gave them faith to keep working…
Cera Smile
At the ripe old age of 21, Canuck actor Michael Cera is awfully young to be typecast. Yet Cera is so dependably charming — and convincing — playing nerdy, virginal dweebs that it’s tempting to cut him, and his apparently unimaginative management team, some slack. On TV’s Arrested Development and in movies like Superbad, Juno…
Luck of the Irish
I’m not Irish, nor have I ever visited the Emerald Isle. But if Newton Thomas Sigel’s lush, picture-postcard-worthy cinematography in Leap Year is to be believed, Ireland may just be the most enchanted — and certainly most rhapsodically beautiful — place on earth. Whereas some films make you hungry, sleepy or sad, Leap Year makes…
Film Capsules
Opening Amarcord (Italy, 1973) A newly restored version of Federico Fellini’s Oscar-winning film that’s loosely based on his childhood days when he lived in a small seaside village. Cleveland Institute of Art Cinematheque. At 5 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 9, and 4 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 10. Amreeka (US, Canada, 2009) Hoping to find a better life…
Reel Cleveland: Malick at the Cinematheque
Starting with a screening of 1974’s Badlands at 6:45 p.m. Thursday, January 7, and 9:35 p.m. Friday, January 8, the Cleveland Institute of Art Cinematheque (11141 East Blvd., 216.421.7450, cia.edu/cinematheque) will show several feature films by American filmmaker Terrence Malick in the series “Visions & Voiceovers: The Films of Terrence Malick.” In addition to Badlands…
Short Takes: Daybreakers and The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus
Daybreakers **1/2 When Ethan Hawke (Dead Poets Society, Reality Bites) was approached about playing hematologist Ed Dalton in Peter and Michael Spierig’s (Undead) vampire flick Daybreakers, he wasn’t interested, because it was a “genre film.” But once he read the script, set in 2019, he changed his mind. “I think science fiction always has something…
IT’S MASON’S COUNTY, WE JUST LIVE IN IT
Time’s running out for Jimmy Dimora or Tim Hagan or someone else in county politics to make one last bid for most controversial figure of 2009, after Prosecutor Bill Mason’s late-game surge. Last week the Plain Dealer reported that Mason had attempted to get involved in a personal injury lawsuit overseen by Cuyahoga County Common…
