Wednesday Giveaway: Serena Maneesh Numbered Vinyl
They’re from Norway, so that explains things Norwegian noise-pop band Serena Maneesh will release their second album, S-M 2: Abyss in B Minor, on March 23. To celebrate this joyous event, we’re giving away an exclusive numbered 12-inch vinyl single for the album’s lead cut, “Ayisha Abyss.” Cool stuff. Wanna win it? Just send your…
What to Do This Weekend: Cage the Elephant
Cage the Elephant vs. Matt the Sock Eater Like Kings of Leon, Kentucky rockers Cage the Elephant grew up in a stiflingly religious Southern household where secular music was a big no-no. And like the Kings, Cage’s siblings (singer Matt Shultz and his guitar-playing brother Brad) used to sneak listens to classic-rock records when their…
William Kunstler: Disturbing the Universe makes its local premiere at CMA
A documentary about radical lawyer Willliam Kunstler, William Kunstler: Disturbing the Universe makes its local premiere tonight at 7 at the Cleveland Musuem of Art. It screens again at 1:30 p.m. on Sunday, March 14. Here’s our review of the film. William Kunstler: Disturbing the Universe (U.S., 2009) Emily and Sarah Kunstler directed this documentary…
What to Do Tonight: Ray Davies
“I was playing this thing all day and all of the night” I too was skeptical when I heard that Ray Davies was remaking some key songs in the Kinks’ songbook backed by a full symphonic choir. But The Kinks Choral Collection, which came out last year, is surprisingly tasteful and faithful to Davies’ vision.…
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 a few of them. The Most Dangerous Man in America (U.S., 2009) If you can make it through the sluggish, pedantic first half of Judith Ehrlich and Rick Goldsmith’s Oscar-nominated documentary, The Most Dangerous Man in…
What to Do Tonight: Norah Jones
“The camera’s where?” The sounds you hear on Norah Jones’ fourth album, The Fall, would scare the hell out of all but the most adventurous characters that populated her multi-platinum debut. For starters, producer Jacquire King’s résumé includes outré records by Tom Waits and Modest Mouse. Jones co-wrote songs with Ryan Adams and Okkervil River’s…
Milton Glaser: To Inform and Delight has its local premiere at CMA
A documentary about graphic artist Milton Glaser, Milton Glaser: To Inform and Delight makes its local premiere tonight at 5:30 and 7:15 at the Cleveland Museum of Art Lecture Hall. Here’s our review of the film. Milton Glaser: To Inform and Delight (U.S., 2009) When he was a kid, Milton Glaser discovered that he could…
Wrote a song about it, wanna hear it? Here it goes.
It’s been a minute or two since I’ve said word one about my own L.L. band, Isle of Eyelids, but there hasn’t been much to say since we chose our name and lost our drummer. We’ve been pretty well occupied with our partial electronic re-tooling, but there are at last some results worth sharing. We…
The Fox Sports Ohio/Cavs Text Message Monitor Can’t Catch Everything
After Cavs games, fans can text in to Fox Sports Ohio and cross their fingers that their little “OMGZ Boobie IS SO CUTE GOOOOO CAVS!!1@!” message will be flashed along the bottom of the screen on the crawl during the postgame show. It’s somebody’s job to monitor these and approve them so that nothing obscene…
You’ve Got a Friend: Carole King and James Taylor Coming to Town
James Taylor and Carole King to Play Q Carole King and James Taylor’s Troubadour Reunion tour will play Cleveland’s Quicken Loans Arena on July 7. The two old friends will take the stage together and help each other perform old favorites. Expect fire and rain — they’ll make you feel like a natural woman. The…
Tuesday Ticket Giveaway 2: Trans-Siberian Orchestra
TSO: They kinda sound like they look We got some tickets to see Trans-Siberian Orchestra at Akron’s EJ THomas Hall on March 26 and at the Palace Theatre on March 27. Want a pair? Send an e-mail to freetickets@clevescene.com with the subject “Trans-Siberian Orchestra.” Just send us your name, address, phone, age and which show…
The Ugliest Court in the History of Cleveland Basketball
When Gund Arena first opened, center court was decked out in a pattern that resembles what a middle-aged person might imagine multi-colored strobe lights at a rave would look like. Either that, or they just looked at the floor after a 5-year-old’s birthday party, saw the streamers and confetti laying around and thought to themselves,…
Kid Cudi on HBO Recap
Mr. Solo Dolo … and pal! Kid Cudi on HBO Recap is a weekly summary of HBO’s new dramedy How to Make It in America, focusing exclusively on the supporting character Domingo Brown, some nebulous dude with a hot girlfriend who’s played by Cleveland-bred rapper/actor Chris “Kid” Mescudi. This week, he hung out with his…
This Just In: Cleveland Concert Announcements
Elton John: Captain Fantastic plays Brown Dirt Youngstown This week, we have 45 new shows. Tom Petty tickets include a download of his new album. Elton John and band play Youngstown for the first time ever (congrats, Elton — you have arrived). The Godz are crashing the Breakfast Club. Cleveland’s Britni Elise is showcasing for…
Inside Cerrano’s Locker
Two things are bound to get you a link on this humble sports blog: One is a keen eye and attention to fascinating but overlooked details. The other is anything having to do with Major League. Every wonder what baseball cards Pedro Cerrano had hanging up in his locker? Me neither. I had never even…
Win free passes to The Princess Bride
The Princess Bride, Rob Reiner’s 1987 cult classic, shows at midnight on Saturday, March 20 at the Capitol Theatre, as part of Cleveland Cinemas’ Late Shift series. To win two passes to the screening, send an email to freetickets@clevescene.com. Put “Princess Bride” in the subject heading of your email, include your name, address and phone…
Tuesday Ticket Giveaway: Bowerbirds
Bowerbirds and their metal firecracker We have two pairs of tickets to see Bowerbirds at Oberlin College’s Dionysus Club on March 11. Want a pair? Send an e-mail to freetickets@clevescene.com with the subject “Bowerbirds.” Just send us your name, address, phone and age. No purchase necessary. Must be 21+ years of age. Winners within the…
Out Today: Besnard Lakes
The Besnard LakesThe Besnard Lakes Are the Roaring Night (Jagjaguwar) Married couple Olga Goreas and Jace Lasek are the mainstays of Montreal band the Besnard Lakes. They operate a studio that’s recorded Stars, the Dears and Wolf Parade. That’s given them plenty of time to explore the nuances of their own records, but all the…
Out Today: Jimi Hendrix
Jimi HendrixValleys of Neptune(Legacy) No way could a “new” Hendrix album have the impact of the three studio records he made when he was alive, but Valleys of Neptune comes close. The opening salvo in another Hendrix revival program, the album collects a gang of choice late Experience tracks along with several featuring Billy Cox,…
Out Today: Gorillaz
GorillazPlastic Beach(Virgin) When Gorillaz debut more than 10 years ago, it seemed to be nothing more than a whimsical side project for Blur’s Damon Albarn, who surrounded himself with a cast of “virtual musicians” (Albarn and the group are represented by cartoons). While the project continues to be anything but organic, the albums are carefully…
Out Today: Broken Bells
Broken BellsBroken Bells(Columbia) For all the critical hosannas and fans the Shins have racked up over the years, they’re not much fun. They’re not so musically adventurous either. Which makes Shins frontman James Mercer’s role in Broken Bells all the more surprising. As the voice on top of the audacious beats supplied by Brian Burton…
Tribe Still Desperate to Sell Opening Day Tickets (Oh, And All Those Other Games Too)
Opening Day in Cleveland is rapidly approaching — 35 days and counting — and while the Indians might have hoped signing Russell Branyan would have brought out droves of ticket-buying Tribe fans, it looks as if that’s not the case. It’s pretty easy to gauge their desperateness. A few weeks ago I told you that…
LeCharles Bentley Has Some Things He’d Like To Get Off His Chest
LeCharles Bentley and Je’Rod Cherry subbed for Tony Rizzo this morning on The Really Big Show on WKNR, and after one particular email directed at LeCharles (subject: The Browns paid you and Spielman a metric ton of cash for not playing a single down), LeCharles went on a roll. He started with the “mother’s basement”…
What Happened to Zach Galifianakis’ Beard?
Galifianakis during hairier times Were you wondering what happened to Zach Galifianakis’ beard after he introduced Vampire Weekend on Saturday Night Live the other night? It was there when the band started its second song, but when the host returned for the show’s last skit, the beard was missing. Saturday Night Live fills us in…
Getting to Know Scott Fujita and Hoping Sushi Rock is Reading
Scott Fujita is a football player who has signed with the Cleveland Browns. He is a linebacker. That is the extent of real football information that is necessary in this space. More important? Dude loves sushi. Damn straight. After Saints wins he used to create a new sushi roll and name it after one of…
The Nike Rumor Pack Adds a Cleveland Browns Design
Remember a couple a months ago when pics of a supposed “I Heart NY” version of LeBron’s Nikes were leaked? There was uproar, obviously. Then a report from the New York Post claimed that the shoes were a hoax. It’s so surreal that a hoax was perpetrated on the Web in the past days —…
Concert Review: Pere Ubu at the Beachland Ballroom
Modern dancing, crankily “We’re only doing this because it’s the Beachland,” said Pere Ubu singer David Thomas as the band began to play its 1978 debut The Modern Dance in its entirety before a capacity crowd on Friday in honor of the club’s 10th anniversary. Thirty-plus years later, the album still sounds sharp, as the…
Concert Review: Boys From the County Hell at House of Blues
Take it to the bridge First-timers never cease to be impressed by Boys From the County Hell. And the compliments come — These guys are really good — without the caveat, for a cover band. Banging out classic Irish punk and a repertoire of Pogues songs for the past 10 years, the Boys go beyond…
Concert Review: Flogging Molly at House of Blues
Whatever you do, do not let them out of the room Dressed in black, the seven members of Flogging Molly played to a sold-out House of Blues on Friday. With seven full-length albums, the band’s fiery brand of Irish punk kept the audience moving through multiple cans of Guinness. Opening band the Architects figured out…
Swag Alert: Hey, Delonte — JJ’s Got Those Donuts
I Love The Hype has the natural follow-up to the Delonte “donuts” tee — the JJ Hickson version. Also available in Krisy Kreme colors. Consider this No. 7 on the list of reasons we’re happy JJ didn’t get traded. Follow me on Twitter: @vincethepolack.
Photo Show: Alkaline Trio at House of Blues
Jara Anton reviewed last night’s Alkaline Trio concert at House of Blues. Johnny Angell took some pictures. Here they are.
LeBron’s Tattoo Artist Recreates the King’s Ink
(Via RealCavsFans Twitter.) LeBron James: Tattooed Manneqins from Good Produce on Vimeo. Follow me on Twitter: @vincethepolack.
I Give Up, Lady Gaga. You Win
Gaga ooh-la-la I give up, Lady Gaga. You win. After a year of doing my best to avoid you, your songs, your weird-ass costumes and the way you simultaneously arouse and appall me, I give up. I actually gave up a few months ago, right around the time you released “Bad Romance.” The first time…
The Ghost Writer raises significant issues
Two recent events, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair’s testimony in the UK’s Chilcot inquiry into the Iraq invasion and director Roman Polanski’s arrest on a 1970s rape charge, create an excited curiosity about The Ghost Writer, based on Robert Harris’ novel and completed by Polanski in prison. The film, while not among Polanski’s best,…
4 days late, but hey, whatevs.
The final Lottery League band name has finally been submitted. The last holdouts were Red Resonant Skywalker, the former band 33. (Last band to be picked, last band to come up with a name, I like the symmetry. Be funny as hell if they played first at the show.) That band would be comprised of…
Quickie Ticket Giveaway
Free Energy for free Wanna go see Free Energy at the Beachland Tavern on Monday? Just be the first person to send your name and e-mail address to freetickets@clevescene.com with “Free Energy” in the subject line. It’s that easy.
‘SEMEN SHOULD NEVER COME OUT OF YOUR NOSE’: MORE LUST SURVEY RESULTS
sawyerimages.com Read other responses here and here. What’s the worst pick-up line you’ve ever tried or heard? What was the best? Editor’s note: Two responses to this question came up so many times that they deserve special note. The first: At least two dozen people cited this as the worst pcik-up line ever: “Are your…
Kid Cudi on HBO Recap
Straight outta Shaker Heights Kid Cudi on HBO Recap is a weekly summary of HBO’s new dramedy How to Make It in America, focusing exclusively on the supporting character Ben, some nebulous dude with a hot girlfriend who’s played by Cleveland-bred rapper/actor Chris “Kid” Mescudi. Cudi wasn’t in the show this week. The preview for…
Concert Review: Alkaline Trio at House of Blues
Fatally ours Alkaline Trio brought their brand of genius lyrics and angelic harmonies to a packed House of Blues last night. With such delicate insight and raging hooks, the Chicago group was ready to show off its latest songs, along with a huge handful of older favorites. The trio sounded polished and poised, with a…
Free passes to She’s Out of My League screening
Jay Baruchel (Knocked Up, Tropic Thunder) stars as a nerdy guy who ends up dating a babe (Alice Eve) in the comedy She’s Out of My League, which opens areawide on Friday, March 12. You can see it before it opens, however. To receive free screening passes to a showing on Tuesday, March 9 at…
Alice in Wonderland is a visual delight
Alice in Wonderland, Tim Burton’s psychedelic 3-D take on Lewis Carroll’s timeless fantasy picks up 10 years after nine-year-old Alice first fell down the rabbit hole. When the all-grown-up Alice (Mia Wasikowska) tumbles down to Wonderland again, she finds the evil Red Queen (a scene-stealing Helena Bonham Carter, sporting a humongous CGI-enhanced head) in charge.…
3/17: St. Patrick’s Day
When the 143rd Cleveland St. Patrick’s Day parade steps off at 1:04 p.m. from the corner of East 18th Street and Superior Avenue, many in the crowd will have been drinking since whatever ridiculously early hour their favorite bar opened. But we’ll step over their prone bodies to watch the chubby, determined toddlers in their…
3/17: P.O.S. at Grog Shop
Last year, Minneapolis rapper P.O.S. released his third album, Never Better, a dark record that addresses many Americans’ frustrations. On the jarring opener, “Let It Rattle,” the MC asks, “Do you really think a president can represent you?” At a time when many people are overflowing with hope, P.O.S. is honest with his apprehension. “I’m…
3/16: Toubab Krewe at the Beachland
If you were to chance upon Toubab Krewe’s intoxicating West African instrumental music without knowing anything about them, there are two facts about the quintet that can’t be conveyed by its captivating sound. First, the group has been together for only five years and released two excellent albums (its eponymous 2005 debut and 2008’s Live…
3/15: Third Coast Percussion Quartet
Besides composing some of the most audacious musical concepts of the 20th century (like “4’33”,” which includes three movements of total silence that last four minutes and 33 seconds), avant-garde composer John Cage wrote a series of pieces called “constructions” for exotic percussion instruments. The works call for noisemakers like a “water gong” (which is…
3/14: The White Mice at Now That’s Class
Here’s an experiment you can try at home: Scratch your favorite Black Flag vinyl to hell and put it on the record player, run a magnet over a pirated Japanese noisecore cassette and pop it in the tape player, and then take an X-Acto knife to a recent album by the Prodigy and pop it…
3/14: The Mozart Experience at Severance Hall
The Magic Circle Mime Company was formed specifically for orchestras’ educational-concert series — particularly in the area of audience development. Founders Maggie Petersen and Douglas MacIntyre boast music backgrounds, which they’ve used to build well-informed and witty mime programs that are performed with orchestras around the world. They come to town this afternoon to perform…
3/13: Women’s History Day
It was almost 100 years ago when Blanche Stuart Scott became the first woman to fly a plane — although she flew only a few dozen feet that day in September 1910. (She later became a noted stunt and test pilot.) It’s close enough to celebrate her triumph, as well as other women who contributed…
3/13-14: Maple Sugar Fests
Can you hear the sap running when you put your ear to the trunk of your maple tree? Maybe not, but this time of year, Northeast Ohio offers lots of opportunities to learn about and taste the products made from maple sap. At the Maple Sugar Festival at Hale Farm & Village (2686 Oak Hill…
3/13: Decade 2 Dance at Willows
Call it dancing with the luminaries. The group of people that GroundWorks DanceTheater has assembled to perform at its Decade 2 Dance benefit aren’t dancers, actors or anything like that. They’re chemists and restaurateurs. Sure, they can throw it down in a boardroom or a design charrette, but what about when it comes to the…
3/13: Debbie Davis at The Wincester
“We’ll be bringing a different show this time,” says California-bred guitarist Debbie Davis, who’s getting ready for a four-month tour in support of her first instrumental album, Holdin’ Court. Like Bonnie Raitt, Davies is one of the few female guitarists to make it in the blues realm. “We have a lot more [women playing] than…
3/13: Cinda Williams Chima at Mac’s Backs
Local author Cinda Williams Chima’s first book, The Warrior Heir, was published in 2006. Since then, she’s penned two follow-ups to her young-adult fantasy series, which tell stories of modern-day magical warriors, adolescent love and ancient forces. After the last book in the trilogy was released in 2008, Chima launched another series, Seven Realms,with last…
3/13: Cage the Elephant at House of Blues
Like Kings of Leon, Kentucky rockers Cage the Elephant grew up in a stiflingly religious Southern household where secular music was a big no-no. And like the Kings, Cage’s siblings (singer Matt Shultz and his guitar-playing brother Brad) used to sneak listens to classic-rock records when their parents weren’t looking. But where the Followills play…
3/13: Burning River Roller Girls at Wolstein Center
When roller derby — which was popular in the ’50s and ’60s — was revived in Austin in the early 2000s as a campy offshoot of the city’s indie-rock scene, no one could have predicted it would sweep the country like a virus. The fever hit Cleveland too, with the formation of the Burning River…
3/12: Ray Davies at Lorain Palace Theatre
I too was skeptical when I heard that Ray Davies was remaking some key songs in the Kinks’ songbook backed by a full symphonic choir. But The Kinks Choral Collection, which came out last year, is surprisingly tasteful and faithful to Davies’ vision. It helps that most of the songs Davies covers are from his…
3/12: We Were Promised Jetpacks at Grog Shop
According to Derek Taylor, the Beatles’ publicist, “Being born in Scotland carries with it certain responsibilities.” Perhaps that’s why so many distinctive bands come from there — Big Country, Belle & Sebastian and, most recently, We Were Promised Jetpacks. In their own respective manners, they tangle melancholy and jubilation, thoughtful brooding and boisterousness. We Were…
3/12: Speech and Debate opens at Dobama
Thirty-year-old playwright Stephen Karam has a reputation for knowing how kids talk — specifically, how they talk on the Internet. His most popular play, Speech and Debate, tells the story of high-school outcasts who meet in a chat room after being tied together in a sex scandal involving one of their teachers. After premiering in…
3/11: Ben Sollee and Daniel Martin Moore at Beachland
Ben Sollee and Daniel Martin Moore are a couple of interesting cats. Multi-instrumentalist Sollee was the youngest member of the Sparrow Quartet, an all-star acoustic folk band headlined by banjo virtuoso Béla Fleck and singer Abigail Washburn. Sollee is a walk-it-like-he-talks-it environmentalist, once riding his Xtracycle from his native Kentucky to the Bonnaroo festival in…
3/11: Norah Jones at EJ Thomas Hall
The sounds you hear on Norah Jones’ fourth album, The Fall, would scare the hell out of all but the most adventurous characters that populated her multi-platinum debut. For starters, producer Jacquire King’s résumé includes outré records by Tom Waits and Modest Mouse. Jones co-wrote songs with Ryan Adams and Okkervil River’s Will Sheff. And…
Whitlock on LeBron
Fox Sports columnist Jason Whitlock wrote about King James. We read. We now pass it on. Child celebrity athletes are falling just as hard as child actors. I’m afraid you might be next. That’s why it’s important that we communicate regularly. I reached out to Kobe much too late. And I trusted Barkley and Jordan…
3/11: Bowerbirds at Oberlin College
It’s easy to imagine the Bowerbirds’ Phil Moore and Beth Tacular as a humble Amish couple. Their aching folk is austere, archaic and bucolic; their songs are consumed with the natural world and our faltering ability to forge a sustainable relationship with it. A sweet innocence envelops Moore’s cracking tenor as it glides over his…
Fun With Customizable Knicks Jerseys
CNBC sports business reporter Darren Rovell drew the ire of Cleveland Fan yesterday with this tweet: “Knicks fans can get a jump on things and customize ‘JAMES’ No. 6 jerseys on NBAStore.com. Just went thru for me.” As Clevelanders are wont to do when the subject of LeBron and the Knicks is brought up, vitriol…
Rock Hall Induction Ceremony Snags Guys From Maroon 5 and Train
This guy will be at the Rock Hall inductions The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame just announced a few more performers for the big induction ceremony taking place on March 25 in New York. In addition to the previously announced presenters (the Bee Gees, Trey Anastasio, Billie Joe Armstrong, etc.), a few other artists…
YOU SHOULD’VE BEEN THERE: JUMP BACK BALL
As my wife and I left our first Jump Back Ball last Saturday night, we looked at each other and both said we needed to return every year. Playhouse Partner’s 19th annual winter soiree radiated with over 950 well dressed Clevelanders. Taking place in the illustrious State Theater, the ball’s Carnaval theme included appropriate green…
Actor, Avid Snowglobe Collector To Make Soap Box Derby Film
You can find no more wholesome event that better represents the glory of amateur sport and the Midwest than the All-American Soap Box Derby. Watch it, don’t watch it, you have to appreciate anyone who builds or races those cars, and the people that organize the event. Hollywood has taken notice. Corbin Bernsen, he of…
Alex Bevan Steps Into the New Millennium
Where’s he gonna plug in that thing? Veteran Cleveland folkie Alex Bevan calls himself the “Low Tech Troubador,” but he’s embracing contemporary technology. For those who don’t feel like braving the ice and cold to go out or don’t want to wait until St. Patrick’s Day — when Bevan and Bob Gatewood take the stage…
Indians Get An “A+” For Irony In Advertising
The Tribe had this full-page ad in Sunday’s Plain Dealer. As Crain’s Cleveland reporter Joel Hammond remarked on Twitter, “With a picture of Sizemore at the plate, it reads: ‘Family entertainment ….’ Sure, if your family’s into nude photos and coffee mugs.” Follow me on Twitter: @vincethepolack.
This Moment in This Moment in Black History News
This Moment in Black History rockin’ the double coolness of sunglasses and duct tape Late last year, Chicago-based Smog Veil Records (founded in Cleveland in the early ’90s) released Public Square, the latest album by Cleveland’s This Moment in Black History. Now they’re releasing a split 12-inch by TMiBH and fellow Clevelanders Sun God as…
CANINE BELOW: PETA WARNS ABOUT PUPSICLES
No matter where you stand on the goals of PETA (People for the Ethilca Treatment of Animals), you have to admit, they’re pretty clever when it comes to getting their message out. With a foot of snow on the ground it’d be tough (and arguably cruel) to attempt the popular naked-girl-in-a-cage-on-the-sidewalk stunt, so instead the…
Band 7 – Melted Face Constitutional
A totally unassuming block of E. 36th St. in Midtown harbors far more cool than ought to be allowed — on one end of the street is Ante Up Recording Studio, at the other is the Front Room Gallery and the Gotta Groove record pressing plant. Smack in the middle is a warehouse building which…
This LeBron Snowman Met a Grizzly Fate
On Columbus Ave., just a minute or two from downtown Cleveland and the Q, this happy LeBron snowman was enjoying the weekend and going about his own business. Until… dah dah dah. Apparently not everyone in Cleveland is a fan of snowmen, the Cavs, and/or LeBron. Follow me on Twitter: @vincethepolack.
SPIN CITY: COUNTY GOV TEAM BUILDS ITS ENTOURAGE
Watching the Cuyahoga County’s government transition team in action, it’s hard sometimes not to feel that they’re play-acting democracy. Take Tuesday’s five-hour “public engagement” committee meeting, where a panel of transition advisors vetted three public relations firms. Their goal: hire a firm that will control the transition team’s message to the media and citizens. The…
Concert Review: New Found Glory at House of Blues
Pop-punk pioneers in a pensive pose New Found Glory is that band. The band that everyone has listened to, hated on or worshipped at one point. Face it, if you’re between the ages of 13 and 25, you’ve heard at least one New Found Glory song in your life and probably formed a pretty strong…
Shock Treatment
TOP PICK BioShock 2 (2K) The sequel to one of the greatest videogames of all time is almost as awesome as the first one. Set 10 years after the original, this time-sucking game (for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3) puts you in a Big Daddy suit, whose kick-ass weapon-arms are some kind of wonderful.…
Go Ask Alice
Tim Burton’s psychedelic 3-D take on Lewis Carroll’s timeless fantasy picks up 10 years after nine-year-old Alice first fell down the rabbit hole. When the all-grown-up Alice (Mia Wasikowska) tumbles down to Wonderland again, she finds the evil Red Queen (a scene-stealing Helena Bonham Carter, sporting a humongous CGI-enhanced head) in charge. She also discovers…
LET IT SNOW
Back when I was a kid, I was fond of Laura Ingalls Wilder’s Little House series of books about pioneer life. Such a fan, in fact, that I tried to replicate a scene from Little House in the Big Woods where Laura and her sister boiled maple syrup and then poured it over snow to…
CD Review: High on Fire
High on Fire’s music isn’t for everyone. They purvey smoldering metal as coiled and hissing as the serpents on Snakes for the Divine’s cover. The music ranges from pulverizing Motörhead-like riffs to bottomless sludgy breakdowns and face-melting pyrotechnics. Singer-guitarist Matt Pike wielded the axe for stoner-metal legends Sleep, where he cut his teeth on epic…
CD Review: Black 47
After their 2008 war opus Iraq, you might expect New York/Irish rockers Black 47 to release a similar multifaceted look at the economic meltdown. But Bankers and Gangsters reels and rollicks over the whole stretch of biting, comical, political, immigrant-laced terrain the band has owned for 20 years. They cast a punk-Proustian eye on the…
CD Review: Josiah Wolf
After years of manning the drum kit for his brother’s band WHY?, Josiah Wolf is ready to step out of Yoni’s shadow. On his solo debut, Jet Lag, he proves he’s literally capable of handling things on his own — Wolf played all the instruments himself in a secluded cottage near Cincinnati. Written after the…
CD Review: Freeway & Jake One
Diminishing returns have long been the norm for onetime Roc-a-Fella junior-leaguer Freeway. Since Philadelphia Freeway, his flawed, fresh 2003 debut, his distinctively billy-goats-gruff flow has lost some of its urgency and ferocity. Unfortunately, The Stimulus Package doesn’t do much to rehabilitate his career. Producer Jake One comes correct with earth-toned aural couture that’s alternately head-knocking…
Joanna Newsom
The title isn’t a joke. We know that much seconds into the cocktail-hour chamber music of “Easy.” With indie weirdos left and right now charming fans and the charts by simulating normality — from Animal Collective’s paeans to fatherhood to Yeasayer’s self-help advice — folk anomaly Joanna Newsom spends three discs that could’ve fit on…
THE CLEVELAND JAZZ CONNECTION
On first listen, there may seem little atypical about the band that calls itself Atypicals. Their music pulses with sweaty electronic-dance synths and the vibration of hookup-friendly love poems. But will you want to listen to Atypicals’ music once that initial club buzz wears off? Or will the morning find you walking away shamefully from…
CD Review: Clogs
Behind today’s indie-rock curtain, crossover classical bands like Clogs have been shattering musical barriers by orchestrating instru-mental arrangements for rock nerds. On four albums since 2001, this quartet has evoked everything from post-rock to chamber music to café orchestra, creating classic compositions with a bit of a rock or pop edge, using viola, violin, melodica,…
Thrash Landing
Just as America had its Big Four thrash bands — Metallica, Megadeth, Anthrax and Slayer — Germany had a trio of homegrown powerhouses in the ’80s. Starting in the middle of the decade, Sodom, Destruction and Kreator shaped a uniquely German thrash sound — punkier and more primitive than its slick American counterpart. Kreator’s debut…
CD Review: Guitar Shorty
On the title track of his 2006 album We The People, David “Guitar Shorty” Kearney made a convincing case that, in the right hands, the blues could still speak to the times. Picking up on the street-corner political angst of those days, this Jimi Hendrix mentor has matched his strikingly energetic axe work with old-school…
Around Hear: Live From the Agora
A new digital-only compilation collects both albums by Jonah Koslen and the Heroes. Secret Origins features 18 tracks from 1983’s Aces and demos from two 1982 sessions that comprise a previously unreleased album, Orange. The collection also includes the live track “Dr. Rock,” recorded at the Cleveland Agora in 1983. “It’s a really rocked-out, traditional-style…
HONK IF YOU’VE SEEN SPINAL TAP
As marketing director for the Ingenuity Festival, James Krouse is familiar with what he calls “the burden” that cities place on arts festivals. Especially in the Northeast, where cities have been hit hard by the decline of manufacturing and migration to warmer climes, governments have realized that arts festivals can draw tourist dollars downtown. Some…
A POVERTY OF HOPE
Living under a Bridge IS A crummy way to exist, but it serves as an excellent metaphor for how poor people are treated in this country. While those with means go whistling by, untroubled by the unpleasant sights below, the destitute family in Suzan-Lori Park’s In The Blood scrounges for survival. This taut production by…
Tragic Heroes
Alkaline Trio have made light of the dark. Originals among the guyliner pop-punk set, they’ve been intertwining melancholy, moribund lyrics with bright ringing melodies for 15 years. It’s their signature move, one that’s taken them from unknown Chicago-area trio to the brink of stardom. (Their 2008 major-label debut, Agony & Irony, reached No. 13 on…
No Way Out
A painting isn’t just a thing or a description of other things. It’s also a place and a way of getting there, driving by or parking at the scene of visual events. Gianna Commito’s stubborn paintings are about all that — and about balking, stalling, starting and stopping on the road leading from the brain…
Reel Cleveland: Road to the Red Carpet
The Greater Cleveland Film Commission hosts the second annual Road to the Red Carpet Oscar party at 7 p.m. Sunday, March 7, at Pickwick and Frolic (2035 E. 4th St., 216.241.7425, pickwickandfrolic.com). Guests will walk down a red carpet and be able to participate in an auction that includes items like autographed mini-posters from Oscar-nominated…
An Eastern Western
The type of robustly entertaining, proudly old-fashioned battle epic that’s usually described as the sort of movie they don’t make anymore (mostly because they don’t), the 280-minute cut of John Woo’s historical extravaganza Red Cliff delivers more bang for the buck than any recent Hollywood action flick. Thanks to Cinematheque curator-guru John Ewing, Woo completists…
CD Review: The Whiskey Daredevils
whiskeydaredevils.com At this point, the Whiskey Daredevils (singer Greg Miller, bassist Ken Miller, drummer Leo P. Love and guitarist Gary Siperko) could probably write a new set of cowpunk classics just traveling from gig to gig. Introducing the Whiskey Daredevils is the band’s sixth album since the group debuted in 2004, following Old Favorites, Essentials,…
Poor Souls
For a taste of the true college experience nobody can afford anymore — namely being locked in an auditorium interminably with a graying ’60s-burnout Marxist professor — here’s a white-guilt documentary of the Emma Goldman school (no Michael Moore/Al Franken levity). More one-sided than a flounder, it charges Judeo-Christian multinational free-market capitalistic imperialism (est.1492, no…
Homes Are Where the Art Is
The 2010 Census could show that Cleveland’s population has plummeted since the last official count, and federal funds for everything from roads to schools could follow. So the prospect of an influx of tax-paying, neighborhood-stabilizing residents is intriguing — even if they are artists. In North Collinwood, community activist Cindy Barber has an idea to…
Arts District: Art of the American Indians: The Thaw Collection
There’s an important distinction implicit in the show of art made by Native Americans, opening Sunday, March 7 and continuing through May 30, at the Cleveland Museum of Art. True, Art of the American Indians: The Thaw Collection was organized by the Fenimore Art Museum in Cooperstown, New York. But items like dresses and masks…
GHOSTS OF SCANDALS PAST
The fascinating thing about public corruption is that it can take on a life of its own, far beyond the initial criminal act, and cling like mildew to a community, its image and its future. The story last month that the lights at police headquarters in the Justice Center have been on since 1976 because…
SPEAK TRUTH TO THE DOUR: A PARMA TEEN TAKES ON FAULTY SEX ED
Daniel Sparks, a junior at Parma Senior High, delivered the following testimony before the Parma school board last week: I am here today because a lack of sexual health education has and continues to plague my friends, my school, and my community. Rather than teach age-appropriate and medically accurate information, this school district has opted…
SAY IT LOUD, I’M LIBERAL AND PROUD!
Senator Brown While Ohio conservatives were undoubtedly gnashing their teeth and planning their attack ads, some Ohioans were proud to learn last week that in their latest rankings of Congress from most liberal to most conservative, the National Journal found that Sherrod Brown was the most liberal U.S. Senator — just like the Republicans told…
