Merge Records Holds Indie-Rockin’ Auction
Need a holiday gift idea for that indie-rock lover in your life? Merge Records — home to such hipster-approved artists as the Arcade Fire, Spoon, and M. Ward – has just launched a charity auction on eBay. Starting today, the label is auctioning off band-signed posters two at a time till it runs out of…
Concert Cheat Sheet: Peter Björn and John
Who: Peter Björn and John When: Thursday, November 29 Where: Beachland Ballroom Why: The Swedish trio has had a stellar 2007. First, they wowed hipsters with their whistlin’ ditty “Young Folks.” Then they took over mainstream radio . . . with whistling! Latest Album: Writer’s Block Best Album: Writer’s Block Didja Know? “Young Folks” has…
Bud Light’s Real Men of Genius: The Cuyahoga County Commissioners?
Once in a while – a great while – our local television news scores with a visionary and brilliant piece of investigative journalism. But it’s a lot funnier when they just take catchy commercial jingles and dub them with lyrics about our inept public officials. This video clip (look for “Genius of the Week”), parodying…
Breaking News: City Enforces Law, Earth Falls Off Axis
The city of Cleveland has long had a law that forces banks it does business with to at least behave like they care about Cleveland. When bids come in, banks are ranked on how many branches they operate in the neighborhoods, whether they provide competitive loans, and their record on minority hiring. But the law…
Varejao Wants Out — Another Major Cleveland Story Broken by ESPN
Sadly, Anderson Varejao might have flopped his last flop for the Cavs. It looks as if the end of the Sideshow Varejao story is nearing for the Cavaliers. In a phone interview with ESPN.com, the curly-haired wildman said that he wants to be traded. Despite his love for the fans and his teammates, Varejao has…
This Just In: The latest concert announcements, gift wrapped and everything
This week, 32 new shows: Matchbox 20 tickets go on sale Saturday, December 1. No fewer than five members of TSO will visit the Winchester as 0’2L. Dance-punks Action Action. Old-school punks the Meatmen return. Savoy Brown singer Kim Simmonds. A pre-holiday show by Ireland’s Saw Doctors. Richie Havens, that “Freedom” dude from Woodstock. And…
Caller urges club to cut the “hip-hop bull crap,” marking first use of “bull crap” since 1998
In July, the Warehouse District’s Spy Bar leaked to The Plain Dealer a secretly taped tirade by Cleveland vice sergeant Terry Shoulders. In a conversation the day after a shooting outside of the club, Shoulders blamed owner Raj Singh for attracting the violence, calling his club’s clientèle “pigeons” and “rats.” If Singh didn’t change his…
Reader: Judges Story was “Stupid” and “Irresponsible”
When this article [“And the Losers Are…” first appeared several years ago it seemed funny in a non- journalistic-unsuppervised high school-newspaper kind of way. Now it’s just stupid and almost irresponsible. Cuyahoga County has an unbelievably overburdened criminal justice system. Judges work extremely hard to move cases through the system and still come up with…
Marc Dann Extends a Helping Hand to Those Who Use a Helping Hand
Ohio Attorney General Marc Dann certainly had something to be thankful for this year on Turkey Day – his ability to recover from repeated embarrassments. Last week, Dann shocked and offended Christians everywhere — or at least ones with political ambitions — after a newspaper reporter uncovered an internal e-mail he sent comparing a negative…
Cleveland’s Billy Morris Remembers Deceased Quiet Riot Frontman Kevin DuBrow
Quiet Riot frontman Kevin DuBrow died this weekend. He was found dead in his Las Vegas home Sunday, November 25. It’s easy to forget: Even though Quiet Riot was technically a one-hit wonder, and even though it wasn’t the heaviest band to break out of the Sunset Strip, Riot was a landmark metal act. An…
The Professor Gives Browns an A
Let the fawning of the national press begin. — Joe P. Tone
Happy Holidays … You’re Fat!
We rarely fret about calories – like college tuition and taxes, they are simply part of life. (A mean, nasty, entirely depressing part of life, but whatever.) Still, for quelling cocktail cravings and holiday hankerings, there’s nothing like coming face-to-face with calorie counts. For a rundown of your upcoming holiday feasts and the damage they…
Breaking News: Politicians Like Money, Even the Ones Who Wear Robes
The Plain Dealer’s front page today carries a lengthy story about the Ohio Supreme Court and all the cheese justices have to rack up in order to keep their seats. The state’s top judges campaign hard to stay on the bench, and rack up millions of dollars from contributors in the process. As a result,…
What Keeps Star Columnists Up At Night? Chia Pets and Cell Phones
Now we’re all for total randomness and irrelevance. But seriously … Dick Feagler, one of the Plain Dealer’s best-known columnists, graced the so-called Sunday Forum section with a story about Clappers and Chia Pets. Regina Brett, another of the paper’s stars, littered her usual B-1 real estate with the story of how she lost her…
It’s Come to This: Norton Furniture Guy to Make Comedy Debut
If you’ve ever had the fortune of catching Marc Brown — the raspy-voiced, baby-killer-looking dude – on his late-night Norton Furniture commercials, chances are good you were drunk. But no matter how drunk you were, chances are good you never thought to yourself, “I’d like to see what this guy could do with 30 minutes…
Breaking Travel Advisory for City Council Presidents: Do Not Bring Your Gun on the Airplane!
Akron City Council President Marco Sommerville obviously has a lot on his mind – namely, “When is Don Plusquellic finally gonna keel over so I can be mayor?” That’s the only way to explain how he forgot that little rule we have in this country about Not Bringing Your Gun on an Airplane. On November…
Why Zack Reed Should Really Sign Up for Match.com
The drunk-driving arrest of City Councilman Zack Reed was topic one on WCPN-90.3’s weekly reporters’ round-table this morning. As it should have been. Reed, the so-called Mayor of the Warehouse District, is a talented politician with serious ambitions, but he needs serious help. You can be a drinker in this town and still get elected;…
Scott Raab, Ground Zero, and … His Chief Wahoo Tattoo!
Cleveland native Scott Raab, the Esquire magazine contributor who penned last month’s feature story about Dennis Kucinich, now finds himself in a heated back-and-forth with Columbia Journalism Review over Raab’s reporting on the rebuilding of Ground Zero. While both Raab and CJR’s Elinore Longobardi are both obviously fired up, it’s a pretty level-headed debate on…
Tribe signs Japanese Closer; Somewhere, Joe Borowski Punches Hole in Living Room Wall
Kobayashi, the Indians’ new closer, can’t eat as many hot dogs as this dude. The Indians signed Japanese reliever Masahide Kobayashi (no relation to this maniac) yesterday, to take the setup role leading to closer Joe Borowski. Asked at the press conference about what he knew of the city of Cleveland, Kobayashi replied through his…
Green Team! Enviromnental (and crime-coverup) tips from Will Ferrell and Friends
Green Team on FunnyOrDie.com Will Ferrell, John C. Reilly, and that other guy they make funny online videos with just posted their latest masterpiece, Green Team. The three-minute clip features the environmental vigilantes roughing up litterbugs, molesting ladies, and offering advice. Our favorite comes courtesy of Reilly: “Make love to Mother Earth. Make a small…
Money Where Your Mouth Is: Devil Doll and Horror of 59
Right about now, the bands speak for themselves. Band: Devil Doll Web: MySpace.com/DevilDoll or YouTube.com/DevilDoll Hometown: “Cleveland, but based out of Los Angeles.” Sounds like: “Jessica Rabbit meets Joan Jett.” Recommend for fans of: “Sexy women, jazz, old cars and the F word.” Fun fact: “Devil Doll is responsible for saving more marriages, causing more…
Family Affair
It wasn’t long after Gerald Levert passed away a year ago that his younger brother Sean began thinking about getting a reformed LeVert back on the road. Some fans might question the timing; others might wonder, What’s the point? After all, how could the Cleveland-based R&B trio survive without the big voice and equally large…
Dreaming of Bing
The holiday season is elbowing its way into our lives again. Once more we will be subjected to too much airplay for “Feliz Navidad,” too much turducken and tofurkey, and the rest. Of course, another tradition that will show up on TV is White Christmas, the Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye tribute to showbiz, the…
Flick’s Flick
Meet Flick, Randy, and Miss Shields today at the inaugural A Christmas Story Convention. Fans of the 1983 holiday movie can also rub shoulders with some pretty cranky Higbee department-store elves, who herded kids onto Santa’s lap in the film. “The actors and behind-the-scenes makers have a great time meeting everyone,” says organizer Brian Jones.…
Sister Act
A few years ago, when they were barely out of their teens, identical twin sisters Tegan and Sara were performing concerts as an acoustic duo. Even though the Canadians had recorded with a full group, it was just Tegan, Sara, and their guitars onstage when they opened for artists like Ryan Adams. Now 27 and…
Duran Duran
Duran Duran had two options when it set out to make Red Carpet Massacre, its first album in four years: Try to reclaim new-wave disco from contemporary disciples like the Killers, or go for the commercial gusto by teaming with a red-hot producer. And there are plenty of reasons to suspect that the band made…
Cratchet Job
Cleveland’s longest-running holiday theater tradition starts tonight when The Great Lakes Theater Festival begins a month-long run of A Christmas Carol. While the troupe has performed Charles Dickens’ classic tale of Scrooge and his three ghosts for 19 straight seasons, artistic director Andrew May still takes care to make the production true to the script.…
Local Yokel
“Whites Trashed?”, Letters, November 7 Only a varmint would call blacks animals: This letter is in response to the racist remarks made by Mark Lattimer of Akron concerning the racist mayor. He states that blacks kill whites almost every day or at least try to — also that reverse racism hurts the white male, and…
Detroit Rock City
Detroit’s Dirtbombs load their songs with a little bit of everything — from glam to soul. Mick Collins, who’s fronted the genre-defying rockers for the past 15 years, shrugs it off: “Detroit has pretty much always done everything by its own rules.” No shit. The Dirtbombs boast not only two drummers, but two bass players.…
The Howling Hex
Neil Michael Hagerty hasn’t released a great album in five years. That’s peculiar, because the dude — first as a member of Royal Trux, then as a solo artist — released no fewer than 10 great albums between 1990 and 2003. But sometime in 2004, not long after the release of Neil Michael Hagerty &…
Blue ball buster
During her Cleveland show tonight, Chicago chanteuse Liz Mandeville will sing about the “sexual politics” that have made her a Windy City mainstay for more than 20 years. The catalog of originals includes the mischievous “Belly Rubbin'” from her 2000 CD, Ready to Cheat. And there’s her naughty novelty song “He Left It in His…
Baby Boom
When Heather Giammaria arrived at Hillcrest Hospital in April 2006 to have her third child, she knew she had reached her limit. She was a nursing assistant in Willoughby; her husband, Daniel, worked in security and maintenance for the Hospice of the Western Reserve. Their little house in Mentor-on-the-Lake was cozy and clean, but the…
“Other” Music
“Hullo?” Alfreda Benge’s sleepy voice answers from the other side of the Atlantic, her English accent wool-thick. It takes effort not to reply in song: “Alllllllifi, my larder” — the refrain to “Alifib,” Robert Wyatt’s sweet if strange ode to his muse-partner, which comes from his sublime 1974 solo album, Rock Bottom. One is also…
Venomin James
Singer Jim Meador really nails the doom that surrounds Venomin James’ brand of stoner metal. Meador was an Army sergeant in Iraq, and his intensely personal lyrics amount to one helluva riveting listen. But Meador isn’t making political statements on songs like “Abu Ghraib” (where he served). Rather, he’s exorcising demons and ghosts he can’t…
Gay ‘Giving
You bring the side dish, and the bar brings the turkey — deep fried, by the way — at tonight’s A Cocktails Cleveland Thanksgiving Potluck. For the third-annual holiday feast, bartender George Clendenning will also mix up Apple Cider shots made with anise-flavored Jägermeister, Apple Pucker schnapps, and a dash of pineapple juice, so you…
Botched Bank Heist
Last week, Louis Ceron Jr. decided it might be a good idea to knock off the Lorain National Bank branch on Kansas Avenue. So he gathered up the trusty tools of his trade — a red ski mask and a pistol — and set a plan for some wholesome American criminality. He’d sneak in right…
Vampire Weekend
The four guys in Vampire Weekend are fresh-faced Columbia grads aiming to perfect the smartest brand of party rock since David Johansen moonlighted as Buster Poindexter. They’re also shooting for the weirdest. Vampire Weekend is unlike any other band making music these days — offering up a killer blend of funked-up Afrobeat, slick ’80s pop,…
Gabe Schray
Gabe Schray spent more time at the defunct Lime Spider club than the barstools. He was bassist for local bands Houseguest, Intelligent Knives, and Genetically Yours. He also played trumpet for Six Parts Seven, Beaten Awake, and Churchbuilder. Every so often, he makes lo-fi solo records. His latest project alternates white-noise soundscapes and indie-rock instrumentals.…
Travelin’ Funnyman
Every time Ray Devito starts his 2000 Chevy Cavalier, he’s amazed the car still runs. After all, the Lakewood-born comic has logged more than 400,000 miles while traveling from his New York apartment to gigs throughout the country. “It’s in decent shape. There are dents on the outside, but that’s pretty much from living in…
And the Losers Are . . .
Welcome, ladies and gents, to the second official Cuyahoga County Court’s People’s Choice Awards, where Common Pleas judges are the stars of the show, and lawyers cast the ballots. We surveyed more than 300 attorneys to get their honest opinions on the judges — which, around here, is sort of like asking inmates to rate…
Celebration
If you fell under the spell of TV on the Radio’s Return to Cookie Mountain last year, Celebration is good for a similar postmodern fix. TVOTR’s Dave Sitek produced Celebration’s new CD, The Modern Tribe, and he wangled most of his bandmates into fleshing out the Baltimore trio’s brand of tribal indie rock. Afrobeat group…
Band on the Run
George Harrison’s tunic and John Lennon’s guitar go on display today for the Rock Hall’s latest exhibit, Help! Behind the Scenes of the Beatles’ Movie, which brings the Fab Four’s second feature film to life with memorabilia from the 1965 flick.In this spoof on James Bond thrillers, a fan sends Ringo a ceremonial ring, set…
Animal Crackers
A toilet-paper tube full of mushy stuffing awaits a famished 500-pound gorilla for today’s Thanksgiving at the Zoo. The result isn’t pretty, but the hairy beast doesn’t mind the mouthwatering mess. “Stuffing treats into tubes imitates the whole turkey-dinner experience,” says Sue Allen, a spokeswoman for the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo. “It allows the animals to…
‘Zas ‘R’ Us
Funny how fatherhood alters your perspective. Take Jonathon Sawyer, chef-partner at Ohio City’s Bar Cento (1948 West 25th Street), next door to McNulty’s Bier Markt. The onetime N.Y.C. hotshot (and former executive chef at Michael Symon’s Parea) welcomed his second bundle of joy into the world on October 30, and suddenly, he’s noticed all the…
Circa Survive
Circa Survive explores a whole new realm of sonic rock on its sophomore saga, On Letting Go. The Philadelphia-based quintet (whose members have done time in screamo bands Saosin and This Day Forward) has a lot in common with brainy, new-school prog-rockers like Coheed & Cambria. From the symphonic speed emo of “In the Morning…
Gator Gangsta
Dirtbag peddles his new CD, Mr. Never Quit: Volume 1, as he opens for rappers the Kottonmouth Kings and Big B during tonight’s show in Cleveland. The disc sums up the Miami-born, self-anointed “hot sauce to hip-hop” Dirtbag’s take on becoming a spitboxer. “I contradict myself a lot, and I sound hypocritical,” he says. “But…
Eat Up on Aisle Four
The short ribs? Divine. The ravioli? Delish. And the tab? So tiny, we should have brought along a magnifying glass. Sure, the napkins are paper, but the wine list is killer. And talk about your trendy “chef’s table”: Every single seat provides an up-close view of the open kitchen, where white-jacketed chefs flip their sauté…
Triple Trouble
Double Trouble showcases some of the biggest names in the city — from hip-hop celebs to basketball greats. Produced by Cleveland DJ E-V, the new street album is a full-length collaboration between Al Fatz (formerly Fat Al) and Chip tha Ripper, the two flagship rappers of DreamLife Productions, the management company and record-label imprint whose…
Wunder Bar!
Akron teams up with its sister city in Germany today to start a month’s worth of beer, brats, and brass-band concerts for Holidayfest 2007 at Lock 3 Live! And the party begins in the heated Hutzenstub pub, with a German-themed menu of potato soup, dumplings, and sauerkraut-slathered pancakes, washed down with barrels of brew. Revelers…
Jungle Fever
Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker’s Apocalypse (Paramount) At last available on DVD, Eleanor Coppola’s 1991 documentary about her husband’s tumultuous trek downriver remains, easily, the best film ever about the making of a movie and unmaking of a man. Francis Ford Coppola thought he was going to spend 16 weeks in the Philippines making his…
Witchcraft
Sweden’s Witchcraft worships at the dark altar of old-school rockers like Black Sabbath. Muddy metal riffs and oblique lyrics about walls of sleep and tempered thoughts permeate its latest album, The Alchemist. Yet singer Magnus Pelander doesn’t possess doom rock’s usual demon-from-hell growl. In fact, his genial croon — which occasionally stumbles over English phrasings…
Creepy Crawler
In Olivier Smolders’ spooky Belgian film, Black Night (Nuit Noire), an uptight bug-watcher named Oscar spends his days cataloging dead insects at the Natural Sciences Museum. But the days have turned to nights, with the sun making only a one-blink-and-you’ll-miss-it cameo shortly before noon each day. To make the 92-minute plot more bizarre, Oscar finds…
Our top DVD picks scheduled for release this week:
Angel-A (Sony) The Batman: The Complete Fourth Season (Warner Bros.) Bill Maher: The Decider (HBO) Broken (First Look) Chappelle’s Show: The Series Collection (Paramount) CSI: Crime Scene Investigation: The Complete Seventh Season (Paramount) Eric Clapton: Crossroads Guitar Festival 2007 (Rhino) Gene Simmons Family Jewels: The Complete Season 2 (A&E) Hairspray (New Line) I Am Cuba…
Neurosonic/Evans Blue
With all the hubbub regarding illegal immigration from Mexico and its alleged toll on the U.S.’s general well-being, the threat from the Great White North has received precious little notice. Canadian musicians have been snatching listeners’ hearts, wallets, and iPod space from their Yank counterparts for years. From Neil Young to Rush to the Arcade…
Carols at the Spinet
A Broadway heroine’s signature song inspires today’s performance of We Need A Little Christmas by the Cleveland Pops Orchestra. That’s because conductor Carl Topilow dubbed the holiday show after his favorite tune from Mame. “It expresses this wonderful spirit for the holidays,” he says. “We expect the audience to burst into song.”Clear your throats, gang.…
The New Face of Evil
The unsettling tone is established early in Call of Duty 4, when the president of a Middle Eastern nation is publicly executed on the world stage, and you, the player, experience the deposed leader’s final minutes through his own eyes, witnessing — through the rear window of a car — a city’s last throes as…
Ellis Paul
American folk music has gone through at least three revivals over the past 50 years. The first took place in the early ’60s, when urban cowboys appropriated backwoods traditions and created the literate, socially aware style most of us are familiar with. Most recently, Devendra Banhart and Joanna Newsom spearheaded the freak-folk movement, where drugs…
Full of Hot Air
It’ll take as many as 120 musclemen to hold down four ginormous helium-filled balloons as they float down Akron’s main drag during today’s Welcome Santa Parade. But it’s anybody’s guess whether Mother Nature will hold the wind at bay. “That’s the problem: We have a concern, but there’s no way of knowing in advance,” says…
One of Us Must Know
Literally speaking, Bob Dylan isn’t “there” in Todd Haynes’ staggering mixtape biopic I’m Not There. His words are there, in nearly three dozen Dylan songs. And his voice, belting out “Stuck Inside of Mobile With the Memphis Blues Again” over the opening credits. And his looks, from the blue jeans and work shirts of the…
Shonen Knife
More than 25 years into a singularly surreal career that’s seen it evolve from a trio of Osaka office workers to an indie-rock avatar, Japan’s Shonen Knife shows no signs of slowing down. The group just released its 14th studio album, Fun! Fun! Fun!, and is now in the middle of its umpteenth U.S. tour.…
Wishbone Play
If you think your bones are too brittle or your head too throbbing to play in today’s Turkey Bowl VI, here are Nick (John?) Teel’s words of encouragement: It’s only touch football. “You’re just running on the grass,” says Teel, who co-owns the Cleveland Plays recreational-sports outlet. “It’s not like those hardcore guys who play…
They Missed
As one of what novelist Stephen King calls his Constant Readers, I was as jazzed as every other monster-lovin’ geek when word came that filmmaker Frank Darabont was making a movie of King’s classic novella, The Mist. After all, Darabont’s two previous King adaptations, The Shawshank Redemption (1994) and The Green Mile (1999), brought the…
Babyshambles
In his spare time, when he’s not dodging jail sentences or fighting with his supermodel girlfriends, habitual drug abuser Pete Doherty makes music. But he really hasn’t recorded anything worth listening to since the Libertines completed their second album three years ago — right around the time Doherty’s life fell into the crapper. Down in…
Chris Crossin’
In Christopher Columbus (or Did You Say Sphere?), the 15th-century voyager crosses paths with a 1940s news reporter, a modern-day U.S. senator, and the Italian femme fatale Lucrezia Borgia while on his journey. The offbeat play is Michel de Ghelderode’s 90-minute satire, farce, and vaudevillian extravaganza all rolled into one. “You know how Monty Python…
Revenge of the Bricks
TOP PICK — LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga (LucasArts) Nothing beats blasting Darth Maul to a pile of small, colorful plastic bricks. And now that this terrific video-game series (with brand-new levels and characters) has gone next-gen, it’s even more of a blast — especially on the Wii, where gamers wield their controllers like…
Electric Grandmother
Wielding a keyboard, Columbus’ Electric Grandmother (pictured) sings about ’80s sitcoms like a punk-rock Weird Al. For now, songs like “Dragnet ’87” represent the undisputed pinnacle of an uncrowded genre the ‘Mother calls sitcomcore. Opening act Presque Vu features the musical two-thirds of alt-rap group Johnny La Rock & Mush Mouth, joined by RMS for…
Light It Up
It’s a funky way to get downtown Cleveland into the holiday mood. But hula-hoop contests compete for attention with Kris Kringle and his reindeer at today’s Winterfest 2007. “This is a smorgasbord of everything to do with the holidays,” says spokesman Josh Taylor of Downtown Cleveland Alliance.To say the least. In its 24th year, the…
Capsule reviews of current area theater presentations.
Bug — Focusing on a couple of down-and-outers in a fleabag Oklahoma motel, this play will make you itch in places that can’t be scratched. Agnes is on the run from life, holed up in a pitiful roadside room. Her gal-pal R.C. (Jen Kilka) has brought over a quiet fellow named Peter, who winds up…
Devil Doll
Devil Doll’s home for the holidays. The hometown alt-diva traded Cleveland cold for L.A. sunshine, where she blossomed into a living, breathing pinup girl. Since the last time she was in town, she’s polished up her roots-rock cabaret show, which features rowdy tunes like “The Curse” and “Liquor Store.” On the new Queen of Pain…
Survivor: Akron
Just in case Armageddon should overtake the world this winter, Dave Gates will serve up some lifesaving suggestions at tonight’s Urban Survival Skills workshop in Akron. Here’s tip no. 1: For every day a storm contaminates your water supply, stock a gallon of H2O for every person in your home. “There’s not a whole lot…
Capsule reviews of current area art exhibitions..
NEW Light to Spare — Art and light go way back — think Dutch masters, the Impressionists, etc. That’s what makes this little show so fascinating: Four contemporary artists prove that natural light still matters in this electric age. Philadelphian Morgan Craig speaks Cleveland’s language in several large, photo-realistic, oil-on-linen paintings in which light transforms…
Nick Drake
The paradigm of the willowy, sensitive artist remains both endlessly false and eternally true. That’s why Nick Drake can sell Volkswagens and cut to the essence of human loneliness with the very same tune. He so successfully taps into fragile psyches and souls that Fruit Tree — a 28-year-old box set that compiles his three…
Gone to the Dawgs
Tammy Pescatelli now calls California home. But when it comes to sports, the Cleveland-born comic still carries a torch for her beloved Browns. Just don’t make her watch a football game again with her New York-born fiancé. “The other day we were watching the Browns, and they were leading, with 34 seconds left in the…
