Storm Watch
Audiences don’t know what to make of Celtic group Gaelic Storm, says singer and guitarist Steve Twigger. The band — which headlines the Cleveland Irish Cultural Festival this weekend — got its big break as the accordion- and bouzouki-playing combo that got Leonardo DiCaprio dancing a jig in Titanic. “People think we were manufactured for…
The Big Get Bigger
Live Nation may have split from parent Clear Channel, but it’s clearly following the same strategy of consolidating markets. Already the country’s leading concert venues and promotions company — grossing $1.3 billion last year — Live Nation recently announced that it’s buying out rival House of Blues. The acquisition brings to 171 the number of…
Nelly Furtado
We first encountered Nelly Furtado on 2000’s swooping “I’m Like a Bird,” one of the millennium’s first great singles, and the link between the Christina Aguileras and Michelle Branches of the world. Now, here’s Furtado, a new mother, declaring herself Loose on an album of straight-ahead Timbaland beats and eyebrow-raising detours into open bedrooms. Whoa,…
Capsule reviews of current area theater presentations.
Ain¹t We Got Fun! — Writer-director Michael McFaden has come up with a fetching idea, weaving a storyline around vintage, gay-themed songs from pre- and post-Depression-era America. But what should be a sprightly romp instead shudders to an exhausted halt a full two and a half hours after the opening number. The central plot involves…
Runnin’ Down a Dream
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers released their self-titled debut album 30 years ago. Petty’s new solo CD, Highway Companion, comes out today. The Rock Hall bridges those three decades with Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers: 30 Years of Rock and Roll, a memorabilia- and artifact-filled exhibit featuring dozens of never-before-seen items. Highlights include the guitar…
The Need for Swede
When Swedish pop star Jens Lekman plays the Pitchfork Music Festival in Chicago this weekend, he’ll have a blind date: Realizing that his guest list for the 38-band bill “looked sad and empty,” Lekman posted a contest on his website. He was unsatisfied with the simple, cowbell-and-snare meter he’d recorded for a new song, so…
Summer of Ska Tour
Westbound Train round outs the Summer of Ska Tour’s lineup, supporting Catch 22, Voodoo Glow Skulls, and other 2-tone notables who just want to skank. Representing Tim Armstrong’s street-punk stronghold Hellcat Records (home to Dropkick Murphys and Tiger Army), Boston’s Westbound Train knocks back its reggae with a chaser of soul and blues, mashing together…
Capsule reviews of current area art exhibitions.
NEW Alight Here — The terms “exhibit” and “installation” fail miserably to describe Alight Here, by Londoner Jennifer Wright. More accurately, it’s a tight-knit environment, designed and constructed with phenomenal care to challenge the eye and mind. The project stems from a photo taken from inside the storefront gallery, looking out on a fairly mundane…
On the Edge
If you’ve been too busy to check in with the WWE lately, you’re missing some major beef between big-time brawlers John Cena and Edge. It all started when Edge bum-rushed a match between Cena and Rob Van Dam and proceeded to help RVD clobber Cena. The battle heats up tonight with a no-holds-barred street match…
Rock School
You can’t choose your audience the way you choose a set list. One moment you’re catering to a cult following of cool, like-minded fans. The next, you’re playing for the dudes who beat you up in high school. Nobody knows this better than Dandy Warhols singer-guitarist Courtney Taylor, who penned the snide 2000 hit “Bohemian…
Dark Side of the Cop
File Dark Side of the Cop alongside Electric President’s eponymous debut and Dave Pajo’s Pajo; all three share a folktronica bent and an air of bittersweet, understated resignation and exhausted regret best absorbed alone, and are album-length gestures that come across as grand, musical sighs. More smoothly palatable than those other two acts, Dark Side…
Way Out of Sync
Edison Force (Sony) Gritty cop stuff must write itself — just make sure everyone’s tough, corrupt, and talking like they stole Mickey Spillane’s thesaurus. Then cast Justin Timberlake. Screech! Employing the talented (at music) popster as a crusading journalist isn’t this lame flick’s worst flaw — merely the one you’ll notice first. Others include LL…
Blade Runners
The Cinematheque kicks off a seven-week Seven Samurai Films series this weekend with Samurai Rebellion. The 1967 sword-and-kimono epic about an aging warrior who takes on a tyrannical ruler doesn’t stray far from the genre’s usual tropes. No matter — fast and furious slicing and dicing skills are what we’re looking for from this series,…
In Da Mix
For those who enjoy happy hour as an appetizer to their weekend, the Cleveland Museum of Natural History recently offered attendees an unusual but wholly enticing package, when Brazilian music flowed from the outside upper deck of the museum observatory, along with a little acid jazz and a few R&B mixes to keep the crowd…
Los Lonely Boys
It’s hard to believe it’s been only two years since the release of Los Lonely Boys’ self-titled debut. Lauded for its combination of blues-guitar riffs, Latin rhythms, and vocal harmonies, the disc launched a sensation centering on the Boys’ first single, “Heaven,” in spite of the song’s vanilla lyrics and mediocre pop hook. Sacred finds…
Cyber Shula
The history of football videogames is one of adding layer upon layer of complexity. Tecmo Bowl, the first great football game, had just four plays to choose from. Fast-forward to the latest Madden, and it’s more like 400. The logical result of this evolution is Electronic Arts’ NFL Head Coach, a deeply immersive if imperfect…
Where the Antelope Roam
Based on a true story, Mountain Patrol: Kekexili follows a group of volunteers as they search the Tibetan wasteland for antelope poachers. The desperados ruthlessly slaughter the endangered animals (whose pelts bring a high price on the black market) and casually kill anyone who gets in their way. The movie opens with the kidnapping and…
Desert Island Discs
Singer-guitarist Roger Hoover leads the Whiskeyhounds, who have released their third album, Jukebox Manifesto. 1. Bob Dylan, Time Out of Mind It’s an album that generously mixes haunting arrangements with often melancholy and achingly beautiful lyrics. “Not Dark Yet” would be great to listen to on the island. 2. Tom Waits, Mule Variations “Come on…
MSTRKRFT
After a crazy number of hours in the studio, pushing back the release date a few times, and getting crowds worked up with remixes of “Monster Hospital” and “Chewing Gum,” MSTRKRFT churns out a generally repetitive, lackluster knob-twisting affair. Though prime party music, it feels like one of those parties hosted by someone who doesn’t…
The week’s best releases from the pop-culture universe.
CD — Surrounded: Björk’s seven studio albums get a sonic facelift on this terrific DualDisc boxed set. For once, the DTS surround-sound remastering actually benefits the material, bringing out previously hidden aural wonders — from a cornucopia of found sounds on 2001’s Vespertine to majestic a cappella on 2004’s Medlla. You’d swear there’s a freaky…
In Tune
Hudson’s weekly Thursday-evening Music Nights feature live tunes played in the fresh summer air. It also includes plenty of grilled eats and cocktails to make the mood even more festive. Tonight, Fabulous Voices perform a mix of rock, blues, and jazz.
Sock and Roll
Stephen Jacobs could have been part of N.Y.C.’s indie-hipster scene. He could’ve played in bands that made the cover of Spin. But instead, his group, the Dirty Sock Funtime Band, writes goofy, funny, and catchy ditties that make kids happy. And that’s good enough for him. “This is the greatest job I could ever ask…
Return to Rock
The Symposium has returned to its roots, reopening to live bands after a long attempt to establish the cozy Lakewood club as a lounge and dance-friendly bar. “It was worth a try,” says owner-manager Michele De Frasia. “But there just wasn’t enough business. This whole area is a band area. Always will be. On this…
Thom Yorke
On his solo debut, the man who once sang “Anyone can play guitar” often chooses not to. Instead, Thom Yorke and producer Nigel Godrich build The Eraser on the same surround-sound circuitry that bolstered the last few Radiohead albums. The solo project is hardly a sign that Yorke will abandon his mates indefinitely to do…
Our top DVD picks for the week of July 18.
The Best of She-Ra Princess of Power (Brentwood) Carnivale: The Complete Second Season (HBO) The Cavern (Sony) Clean (Palm) Don’t Move (Wellspring) An Early Frost (Wolfe) Flash Gordon: The Complete Series (Brentwood) The Incredible Hulk: The Complete First Season (Universal) Intimate Stories (New Yorker) Jack of All Trades: The Complete Series (Universal) Mirage (Picture This)…
Summer Wonderland
Lake Erie boaters and islanders celebrate Christmas in July today with a holiday light show at Put-in-Bay Harbor. For the annual celebration, boats and local businesses are dressed up with holiday decorations like Christmas lights and stockings. “A long time ago, some of the business owners discovered that the more elaborately they decorate, the more…
Ready to Rumble
Tonight’s winner of the second annual Jillian’s Battle of the Bands will be in the running to open for Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers in New York City next month. The competition boils down to four Northeast Ohio bands, who all won preliminary rounds of the contest earlier this month. Next month, a panel of…
The People’s Champions
Young musician Dylan Francis faces a tough decision: school or rock? Fresh out of high school, Francis is the lead guitarist for the Black Diamonds, an up-and-coming Perry band. But he’s also considering venturing off to college. If Francis needs any encouragement to follow his musical ambition, local fans spoke loud and clear in their…
The Lovekill
These Moments are Momentum feels like a boot to the ass of stagnant post-hardcore. Helmed by rock critics Jonah Bayer and Chris Rager, the Lovekill comes out swinging: Rager’s strident vocals lead the charge like a snottier version of Fugazi’s Guy Picciotto, while the sinewy guitar attack follows with a discordant counterpunch. Comparisons to Fugazi…
Burning Man
At 9:30 a.m., Rover — dressed in a charcoal gray, long-sleeved T-shirt and his requisite Cubs cap — is strolling around the 92.3 K-Rock studio, looking like a fifth grader bursting to tell a secret. It’s almost time for “Dare Dieter,” the weekly morning-show segment where Rover challenges his frat-boy sidekick to do a Fear…
Sweet Birds of Youth
It took 35 years, but legendary blues-rockers the Yardbirds finally followed up their last studio album with 2003’s Birdland. Tonight, the quintet — minus onetime members Jeff Beck, Eric Clapton, and Jimmy Page — performs in Akron as part of the British Are Coming! concert (with Peter & Gordon and Beatles tribute band Revolution). Expect…
Come On Down!
Flash Gordon channels Alex Trebek every Wednesday night at Game Show Mania. With mic in hand, the Around the Corner DJ picks six customers to be contestants. Trivia questions flash on the bar’s TVs. The person with the most points at the end of the game wins a T-shirt. Beware, though: Flash is prepared to…
Brooks & Dunn
Songwriting and performance talent aside, you don’t become the most popular, best-selling duo in the history of country music — and maintain that status for 15 years — without a knack for surveying the landscape, determining exactly what the people are clamoring for, and serving it to them (and isn’t that what country music has…
Self Destruct Button
Self Destruct Button’s Natural Selection of Accidents might be the White Album of Cleveland’s noise scene. A bulldozer of a song, opening track “Comparing Cancers” mingles anger, technology, and blast beats into a dance party. The record walks an odd line, sounding crisp as a 50 Cent LP and then grittier than a gutter punk…
Reins of the Father
On one of the last days of Thistledown’s 2005 winter season, jockey Ricky Feliciano paces the dressing room in leggings and a racing jacket. He shivers, considers a steaming cup of chili, then decides against it. There might not be time enough to digest. He can’t afford that. Today is a big day. Riding one…
California Dreaming
Hurt drummer Evan Johns has lived a charmed rock-and-roll life. His dad, uncle, and cousin are all studio rats who worked with the likes of Led Zeppelin, the Rolling Stones, and Rufus Wainwright. The 24-year-old Johns even spent childhood Christmas dinners with members of Cinderella and Van Halen. Two years ago, a family friend introduced…
Moving Pictures
Transitions: Linda Butler and Philip Brutz Photographs, the latest CMA@MOCA exhibit, is so meta! More than 35 pics chronicle the Cleveland Museum of Art’s renovation project, which started last year. Many of the photos are of sculptures, paintings, and installations being packed away. It may not sound all that exciting, but it’s a surprisingly captivating…
Jimbo Mathus
James “Jimbo” Mathus tasted the limelight as a founding member of the “hot jazz” combo the Squirrel Nut Zippers. Part of the ’90s swing revival, they scored a left-field hit with their toe-tapping ditty “Hell.” After a stint as Buddy Guy’s guitarist, Mathus returned to his native Mississippi, where he started digging into the Magnolia…
Wee Problem
The wine flows freely, business hours are clearly posted, and Edith Piaf on LP has given way to Alanis Morissette on an Ipod. But one thing hasn’t changed at Ohio City’s Le Oui Oui Café: The tiny crêperie continues to serve the same enchanting, sometimes infuriating blend of eccentricity and charm. That’s been the case…
Extreme Makeover, GOP Edition
Derf uncovers Blackwell’s boot camp for shaky right-wingers. For a vision of what DeWine’s in for, click here.
The Rhythm Is Gonna Get You
If you’re downtown this weekend, watch out for people busting salsa and merengue moves. “This is one festival where you will see people actually dance in the streets,” says Puerto Rican Festival and Parade event director Daisy Diaz. The family-friendly celebration features everything from Latin percussionists to head-spinning breakdancers. Music performers include Grupo Fuego, Luisito…
The Yellowjackets
“If you groove them, they will come” could easily stand as the Yellowjackets’ motto. And the listeners have not only come, they’ve stayed a long, long while. Over the past 25 years, the West Coast fusion outfit has cut 21 albums, shuffled personnel, periodically retooled its sound, jumped record labels, and defied precise genre labels.…
Jac’d
You needn’t be a fan of Hell’s Kitchen to realize that restaurants can be hotbeds of ego, intrigue, and backbiting. The most recent episode seems to be unfolding at Jac’s, the new French-inflected spot on West Sixth in the Warehouse District. Though the whole truth remains elusive, this much is certain: Less than a week…
Party On, Uncle Tom
Secretary of State Uncle Tom Blackwell is eager to shovel more lucrative state contacts to Diebold, The Most Trusted Name in Vote Rigging™. Last week, Blackwell asked the state controlling board to pony up an additional $1 million to buy more Diebold voting machines in time for the November election — in which he just…
They Still Don’t Like You
Don’t ask Jeff Anderson, who plays Randal Graves in Clerks and its sequel Clerks II, about Star Wars. Unlike the backward-baseball-cap-wearing Jedi fan and all-around smartass he plays in the movies, Anderson can’t tell you the difference between Tatooine and Dagobah. “I get more Star Wars questions than George Lucas,” he says. “Fans are always…
Blame the Boxmakers
Sharks in the lease-world food chain: I left the leasing business after a 20-year career, but still follow some stories [“Breaking the Bank,” July 5]. Justice, like beauty, is in the eyes of the beholder. Norvergence sold its service to small-business people, many of them unsophisticated. Norvergence then transferred the leases to banks and commercial…
Big Sandy & His Fly-Rite Boys
Retro movements generally suck. They’re usually populated with high-handed trendoids who won’t acknowledge you unless you’re “of the body” (i.e., adhere to their dress code). Most of them probably didn’t even know who Dean Martin, Johnny Burnette, and Louis Jordan were eight months earlier. You can bet the rent Big Sandy and his posse do.…
All Wet
It would be a mighty sweet thing to see M. Night Shyamalan as the great redemptive storyteller he clearly thinks he is — or as he portrays himself in those American Express commercials. Genuine yarn-spinning, even as a doomed ambition, is virtually extinct in American movies; what had been the system’s priority in the studio…
Don’t Eat the Brown Funnel Cake
Think of Painesville’s annual Party in the Park as a sort of mini-Woodstock — without the rampant drug use. For three days, Veterans Park hosts the largest outdoor music festival in Lake County, featuring everything from jazz to bluegrass (plus fair food, raffles, and magicians). “It’s the celebration of music as a universal language,” says…
We Read Sam So You Don’t Have To
Headline: Adding up facts on Blackwell action Date: July 18, 2006 Topic: Angry reader sends e-mail challenging Sam to prove that Secretary of State Ken Blackwell suppressed the black vote. Sam accepts the challenge, then delegates the task to the newsroom gopher. Originality: 10/10. Sam reaches outside of the box, employing high-level managerial techniques from…
LL Cool J
The roll call of hip-hop survivors from two decades ago is one short list. With Run-DMC effectively disbanded and the Beastie Boys musically MIA, only James Todd Smith remains of the titans that once strode the five boroughs. Bucking all the odds, he’s kept his athlete’s physique, his sense of humor, and — most remarkably,…
Unreal Estate
In the latest extravaganza from executive producers Steven Spielberg and Robert Zemeckis, millions of dollars and long hours in the digital animation studios have produced . . . a photorealistic, computer-animated, generic American suburb! Location costs must be getting pretty damn expensive nowadays. As Monster House begins, we follow a leaf slowly descending on the…
Rosebud Rocks
You won’t hear Orson Welles mutter “Rosebud” at tonight’s outside screening of Citizen Kane. That’s because the movie’s soundtrack is being turned off, so that a half-dozen local bands and DJs can “interpret” each scene with original live music at the Museum of Contemporary Art’s Great ARTdoors. “I’m not going to say showing Citizen Kane…
Osama’s Got Mail
Ever wonder if anybody in Washington is paying attention? Joel Foose, a flooring deliveryman from Brunswick, did. So in May, when he requested a copy of a threat-readiness brochure from the Department of Homeland Security, he gave the automated operator a fake name: Osama bin Laden. “I fully expected to get a phone call or…
Brian Auger’s Oblivion Express
Happy Birthday to Brian Auger, the godfather of acid jazz, who turns 67 today. For those who don’t remember when pop music was full of possibilities and FM radio was the ally of creativity, Auger was big-league. He gave us the harpsichord intro to the Yardbirds’ “For Your Love.” He helped launch the careers of…
Go-Nowhere Men
Two weeks ago a colleague insisted that Superman Returns isn’t the remake of the 1978 original, as I wrote, but a reinterpretation — its melancholy flip side. Where the Christopher Reeve model was pop art and a cool breeze, the Brandon Routh version is heavy and solemn, weighed down by the burden of the responsibilities…
A Little Bit of This
Liquid Soul plays a fluid mix of funk, jazz, and R&B that incorporates hip-hop, techno, and spoken word. On its new album, One-Two Punch, the band blends Hendrix-like guitar squalls, frenetic turntable scratching, and old-school beatboxing. Guests like DJ Logic, Living Colour guitarist Vernon Reid, and Widespread Panic keyboardist John “JoJo” Hermann add to the…
LeBron James Contract
As we reported in our print edition, Scene has obtained a secret copy of LeBron James’ newest contract with the Cavaliers, inked just last week. In the document, the Cleveland Cavaliers (the party hereinafter known as “Please, We Have Nothing Else”) agrees in principle to provide LeBron James (hereinafter known as “Daddy”) with several unusual…
The Young Dubliners
The Young Dubliners developed a reputation early on for high-energy gigs fueled by musicianship, pints o’ bitter, and the thrill of a good Celtic-rock mash-up. Drawing on obvious influences (Waterboys, Pogues, U2), the group began as a musicians’ “revolving door” in the early ’90s, but finally hit its stride with a stable lineup to back…
Kicking French Ass
Let’s trade, action fans. Give up all an entire trilogy of Mission: Impossible’s computer-generated bloat. In exchange, you get roughly 1.7 seconds of a movie you’ve never heard of — a fast and furious thriller called District B13. The hero, Leïto — a wiry do-gooder in a crime-ridden slum, who keeps watch over his little…
Swamp Thing
It’s been a couple years since we’ve heard from Florida’s backwater alt-bluesmen Mofro. Before the band heads back in the studio to record the follow-up to 2004’s Lochloosa, it’s road-testing new songs on a month-long tour that comes to town tonight. The swampy brew of acoustic guitars, southern-comfort grooves, and lazy drawls gets plenty funky.…
The Library Masturbator Strikes Back
Carl Monday — the local comedian who portrays a heavily mustached investigative reporter on Channel 3 — is continuing his well-publicized crusade against The Library Masturbator™. For those who missed it, Monday lanched his brave exposé of well-read self-abusers last month. In a breathless report, Monday showed hidden-camera footage of some poor shmuck jacking off…
The Headhunters
The Headhunters have been turning jazz, funk, and world music on its head since Herbie Hancock pulled them together to back him in ’73 on Head Hunters, the first jazz album to go gold. Though Hancock’s gone, and only two of the original members remain, the spirit’s the same as ever. After some time off,…
Dots Entertainment
Endless arguments have flourished through the centuries about the definition of art. Is “Fire Extinguisher,” featured prominently on the museum wall, a wittily unattributed work of realistic sculpture? Or is it a fire extinguisher? There were plenty of heated discussions when Georges-Pierre Seurat began displaying his controversial paintings in late-19th-century France. These conflicts, and the…
Good Taste
The Akron Arts Expo Weekend kicks off tonight, but the big event happens on Saturday and Sunday. That’s when more than 150 artisans display and sell paintings, textiles, and jewelry, with live entertainment and food rounding out the action. Think of tonight’s Taste of Akron event as an appetizer to the main course, with a…
Formula for Failure
Every rapper out there is trying to jump the wave of what’s hot. What they don’t realize is that riding all the trends trying to make albums for “everyone” is a fast pass to falling off. I don’t need to hear how they got songs for the ladies, the club, the hood, and the radio.…
Ane Brun
Norwegian chanteuse Ane Brun is a rare singer-songwriter who captures the theatrical aura of a ’40s cabaret star with Edith Piaf on her sleeve while whispering into the ears of Nick Drake, Neko Case, and Beth Orton. Already a superstar in her homeland — she’s won two Norwegian Grammys — Brun launches her first proper…
Family Feud
When you’re gathered with family, it’s a good idea to be circumspect about the questions you ask. No matter how open and honest your clan is, it’s best not to inquire how long Uncle Frank has been cheating on his wife or why Cousin Marsha always dates unemployed bikers with face tattoos. But most of…
