Bruce Almighty
DVD — Bruce Lee Ultimate Collection: The martial-arts legend stars in five high-kicking adventures from his later years: The Big Boss, Fist of Fury, Way of the Dragon, Game of Death, and Game of Death II. There aren’t many extras here, but the set does include more than eight hours of bad dubbing and head-scratching…
Capsule reviews of current area art exhibitions.
NEW Design for the Modern World: The Arts and Crafts Movement in Europe and America, 1880-1920 — The art museum’s first major arts-and-crafts show in years is notable not only for its enormous size, but for the many far-flung cultures (included are works from Germany, Scandinavia, Scotland, and Hungary) that share space. But what really…
Thrice
Dave Eggers designed the ornate, ouija-board-like cover for Thrice’s latest, Vheissu, and he’s an apt artist for an album that many critics will hail as a work of genius. This ambitious effort incorporates everything from a music box to simulated call-and-response field hollers, and it performs all this experimentation with concision. Thrice shortens the soft-loud…
Style TIPS
Clothes make the tot: I just read your “School Daze” story about The International Preparatory School [First Punch, October 5] and the earlier article, “Dream Killer” [July 29]. I have two friends whose children and grandchildren attend the school. Both say that the school charges $300 tuition per year. However, according to the Ohio Charter…
Fresh Fruit & Old Tricks
It’s been five years since we last turned our tootsies toward chef-owner Jia Wei’s restaurant on the northern edge of Great Northern Mall, where the long, lighthearted menu dances to a medley of pan-Asian flavor notes and presentation is a study in culinary whimsy. Since then, the place has changed names from Weia Teia to…
Marah
Back in 2000, just as Marah’s second album, Kids in Philly, birthed a cult, band mainstays Dave and Serge Bielanko got sick of the salty, E-Street Jr. image they’d made for themselves. With the new If You Didn’t Laugh, You’d Cry, the brothers seem to be learning to love it again. Closer to the rowdy…
House Calls
Lesbi-rocker Lojo Russo defies classification. If she’s feeling rebellious, she’ll work out hard-charging strings of chords. When she’s mellowing out, she’ll lay down an easy-on-the-ears melody. “I’m in this weird kind of genre purgatory, where the rockers think I’m too folky and the folkers think I’m too rock,” she says. “Either way, I can put…
Away They Go!
Chefs and restaurants are always parting company, for reasons as varied and complicated as the personalities involved. Among the biggies, though, are the allure of greener pastures and culinary visions that are incompatible with management’s business plan. That last one seems to have done in the relationship between Executive Chef Adam Schmith and his employers…
Lorraine Feather
Plenty of jazz vocalists are influenced by Billie Holiday; celebrated singer-lyricist Lorraine Feather has a direct link: She’s Holiday’s goddaughter. Her fresh/retro jazz hearkens back to the Duke Ellington small-band sound, and her moody, rhythmic vocals aren’t much like Holiday’s squeak; her father, songwriter Leonard Feather (he penned B.B. King’s “How Blue Can You Get?”),…
This Week’s Day-By-Day Picks
Thursday, October 20 We’re sorta bummed that tonight’s Charity Bachelor Auction won’t put host Sandra Hubby (better known as Playboy’s Miss March 2004) on the block. Still, the dozen guys plucked from GD Water Street Tavern’s stable of bartenders and bouncers reveal some interesting pre-auction tidbits about themselves. For example, Paul lists The Little Mermaid…
Smart Asses
Despite published reports to the contrary, Bloodhound Gang frontman Jimmy Pop is a gifted writer, performer, and producer. No, really. Inspired by a sincere love of Europop, Pop has a knack for writing catchy songs that strike a fine balance between being juvenile and poignant. In the indelible new single “Foxtrot Uniform Charlie Kilo,” Pop…
Traffic
Long at the top of West Sixth’s swankier dance clubs, Traffic still keeps it fresh. The upscale downtown danceteria has reshuffled its schedule, creating a distinct vibe on each of its two levels. Friday nights, the club’s downstairs is a den of world dance music, spiced up with techno, house, and salsa. Upstairs, J-Nice hosts…
Nature Boy
Devendra Banhart — copping Jesus’ locks, beard, and beatific smile — looks exactly like someone who’d use the word groovy without a trace of irony. Sure enough, not two minutes into a conversation, the San Francisco-based singer-songwriter drops a groovy. A couple minutes later, another one falls from his lips. But if anyone can get…
Anti-Rock
James Murphy is tired. It’s 10 a.m. in Brooklyn — a decidedly unrockin’ hour for any rock star. But it’s not only the time of day that’s weighing on him. “I just don’t see the point of being in a rock band,” the 35-year-old musician-producer laments. “I love rock. I was raised on rock. But…
Alicia Keys
Can anyone remember the last great live R&B album? If you disqualify Prince bootlegs, the question becomes further vexing, and this CD doesn’t help matters any. Why it fails to impress is even harder to discern. After all, pianist Alicia Keys is everything critics have demanded: a skillful, self-sufficient, soul-singer/songwriter, who plays her own instrument…
Big Top, Big Hair
10/21-10/30 Bello Nock says he’s the “oddball” from an eight-generation dynasty of acrobats. In the Greatest Show on Earth, his eight-inch tuft of straight-in-the-air red hair backs up the claim. “I wear it with the help of a lot of hair spray,” says the 37-year-old Nock. “I’m a daredevil that makes people laugh.” The Ringling…
Critical Fatwa
All hail that doe-eyed siren Fiona Apple. Though she can be pretentious and sometimes seem unstable, these are faults we can forgive. No, we do not fatwa Apple, even though her last album title had twice as many words in it as a standard Ramones song. We like Fiona Apple. That is why we listened…
Exodus
The retro-thrash movement continues apace. Bay Area pioneers Exodus released Tempo of the Damned last year, but while that album didn’t suck outright, neither was it the triumph required to measure up to the band’s legendary pedigree. Shovel Headed Kill Machine, on the other hand, is everything a metalhead could want from these reunited (and…
P.O.O.L. Party
10/20-20/26 After 15 years of knocking 8-balls into corner pockets, Tina Romito-Cammarata can hold her own in the Association of P.O.O.L. “Before I shoot, I envision where I hit the cue ball to get the object ball into the pocket,” she says. “If you can’t make it, don’t leave your opponent with an open shot.”…
Sound Advice
Death rock, doom, punk, heavy metal — Abdullah does it all. Frontman Jeff Shirilla shares his eclectic tastes to help you improve your CD collection. What have you been listening to lately? Fall has always been my favorite season to listen to music, and this year I’ve been trying to search beyond my tried-and-true Bauhaus…
Audion
Since techno is a genre largely dominated by the clanging of heavy machinery and the chirps and clicks of computers, it rarely makes sense to anoint any producer as the new voice of the scene. Matthew Dear, however, has earned the title over the last few years with the untrained yet oddly endearing voice that…
Let the Music Do the Talking
FRI 10/21 Timothy Schaffert may have grown up on a small farm in Nebraska, but he knows what big-city people like. So the author of The Singing and Dancing Daughters of God enlisted local musicians to help him sell a few books when he hits the road this fall for a midwestern jaunt he’s dubbed…
Money Where Your Mouth Is
Band: In Winter (www.inwinter.net) Hometown: Cleveland Sounds like: “If Garbage had a three-way with Nine Inch Nails and the string section of an orchestra, we’d be the love child.” Fun fact: “If you ask him to, our drummer, Jon [Vincent], can play off-timed death metal faster and more accurate than anyone you’ll ever meet. But…
Boards of Canada
Anticipation for new Boards of Canada albums always runs high, and justifiably so. Anyone who has luxuriated in the slow-motion, funkadelic splendor of 1998’s Music Has the Right to Children or rapturously shuddered to the Wicker-Man-on-potent-weed vibe of 2002’s Geogaddi understands BOC’s hypnotic appeal. Compared to the Scottish duo’s previous work, The Campfire Headphase initially…
Ray of Light
FRI 10/21 It’s no secret among Indigo Girls fans that Amy Ray’s the hardass of the group. Often sporting T-shirts emblazoned with the names of her favorite punk bands and singing in a rough-and-tough rasp, Ray’s the sour to musical partner Emily Saliers’ sweet. “It’s always going to be less raw with the Indigos,” Ray…
Last Word
“Alex and/or Damien from Red Giant have rockin’ bods that hypnotize while their music mesmerizes. Always a pleasure to watch them rock out.” — Violet Heirr, Brooklyn, Ohio “Anne E. DeChant is hot, hot, hot.” — Randy, Leavittsburgh, Ohio “Us, of course! Do we have to play instruments?” — Matt Wardlaw and Chris Akin, The…
Roy Rogers & the Delta Rhythm Kings
“Chops Not Chaps” is the slogan Bay Area guitarist Roy Rogers uses to distinguish himself from celluloid cow-babe Dale Evans’ main squeeze. Yes, both Roys took on the six-string, but the surviving Rogers has made a name for himself as a world-class slide player, alongside such peers as Ry Cooder and Sonny Landreth. One of…
Cape of Good Hope
Batman: The Motion Picture Anthology 1989-1997 (Warner Home Video) There’s good reason to be skeptical of an eight-disc Batman set that forces you to buy the campy Joel Schumacher movies (Batman Forever, its title a veiled threat, and Batman & Robin) when all you need are the dark Tim Burton ones (Batman and Batman Returns).…
Mine Kampf
When we first see the working-class heroine of North Country, she is sporting a black eye and a slight limp, the results of an encounter with her abusive husband. We soon learn that Josey Aimes, portrayed by a deglamorized Charlize Theron, is only now beginning to take her lumps. Desperate to support two kids and…
Heavy-Metal Homecoming
“It’s so big,” the young blonde gasps. A man lives to hear those words — especially when he’s a musician, and the girl in question is marveling at the size of his tour bus. Standing aboard Chimaira’s 25-foot-long home-on-wheels, the blonde is among a flock of crew members, bandmates, runners, and friends who pass before…
77 South
Country is a tradition-bound form, and while a country crooner can’t go wrong with tunes about horses, beer, or line dancing, merely singing about the fact that you’re singing country music will suffice. In “A Country Tune,” Cleveland’s 77 South maintains the practice: “When I hear a country lick/If I don’t hear one quick/I think…
Puppy Love
It’s ugly to watch a grown man gush over a puppy. The kissing. The cooing. The “widdle-doggie” talk. Embarrassing stuff. So it was with trepidation that I approached Nintendogs, the cuddly dog-rearing sim for Nintendo DS. A million and a half people have already adopted virtual pooches, making the game a smash hit and stirring…
Requiem for a Dreamer
DreamWorks is so anxious to have you believe in its latest family movie that the words “Inspired by a True Story” are actually part of the title. Yep, Dreamer: Inspired by a True Story is the proper name, and publicists have been well coached to say and write out the whole thing every time. A…
My Morning Jacket
Critics have marveled at this Louisville quintet’s ability to survive the departure of two members (or “lifelong friends,” as the press release puts it) to make its best album yet on its fifth outing, the newly minted Z. But no matter who comes or goes, nothing can disturb the most intense relationship in the group:…
Schnauzer
Schnauzer first gained infamy for its duck-and-cover live shows, where the band hurls furniture, stuffed animals, and other thrift-store detritus at the crowd. When Your Bitch Is in Heat . . ., which has been circulating in the metal underground for some time, builds upon the chaos of its gigs, successfully recreating the sensation of…
Our top DVD picks for the week of October 18
The Adventures of Superman: The Complete First Season (Warner Bros.) American Movie Musicals Collection (Columbia/Tristar) Batman Begins (Warner Bros.) Bruce Lee: Ultimate Collection (Fox) The Care Bears: Big Wish Movie (Lions Gate) The Coen Brothers Collection (Universal) CSI New York: The Complete First Season (Paramount) Dark Shadows: The Complete Revival Series (Columbia/Tristar) Elektra: Unrated Director’s…
Exhuming McCarthy
Good Night, and Good Luck, a riveting movie that’s as entertaining as it is socially and politically important, could not have come at a more propitious time. But more than just the right film at the right moment, George Clooney’s sophomore directorial effort is dynamic filmmaking: brilliantly conceived, visually arresting, beautifully acted, emotionally engaging, and…
Cleveland Cares
More than a dozen Cleveland night clubs and restaurants will contribute to the Hurricane Katrina relief effort on Thursday, October 20, hosting Fat Tuesday on Thursday. More than 30 local groups of all styles will perform. “Such a widespread disaster deserves the help of anyone who can offer it, no matter where they live,” says…
Knocking the Vote
Ion Sancho wants to get things right this time. As supervisor of elections for Leon County, Florida, he stood at the epicenter of the election fiasco of 2000. Voter confidence, he realizes, is paramount. That’s why he’s let a computer hacker have a go at one of his new machines. The apparatus in question is…
Truth Syrup
It’s the cover-up, stupid! It doomed Nixon during Watergate, got Clinton impeached, inspired outrage against the Catholic Church, and apparently it’s just part of the day-to-day operations at places like Enron and Tyco. The initial crime is bad enough, but the conspiracy to hide it always ends up hurting more. Whatever happened to “Confession is…
Freakwater
The oft-stated influence of the Carter Family is plentifully heard in the music of alt-country duo Catherine Irwin and Janet Beveridge Bean. But lyrically — thanks to the slightly skewed worldview of primary songwriter Irwin — the band manages to hold tight to the genre’s plaintive angst while stretching the fabric of more traditional country…
All the President’s Men
Howard Jackson sits in the center of his East Side living room, his back to an ancient television. The Browns are losing to Indianapolis, and he can’t bear to look. With his slippers on the footrest of his wheelchair, the 67-year-old towers over everything in the room, including two plastic-lined pink sofas, on which he…
Off the Marx
A great play is like a Tootsie Roll Pop. No matter how bright the colors or how sweet the candy on the outside, it’s the center that holds it all together. This is particularly true in farce, where unfortunate decisions and panicked responses build, one upon another, until the final catastrophe and resolution. A strong…
The Frames
Some bands are like fireworks, others are like wine. Some burn brightly and die quickly; others need time to develop their full bouquet. Ireland’s the Frames came out of the gate with a vengeance, led by the powerful, elegant voice of teenage frontman Glen Hansard, who’d quit school at 13 and begun busking. But shortly…
New Kook Crusade
Evangelicals sure know how to make friends. After trying to kill off Ohio’s strip-joint industry, home to 20,000 jobs, they’re now after . . . technology? Yes, the Christian Coalition and Right to Life of Greater Cincinnati are using their direct access to God to fight Issue 1, Governor Taft’s $2 billion bond initiative that…
Bigots on the Beach
One of the secrets to success is being aware of your weaknesses as well as your strengths, and making decisions accordingly. Before Mary Martin agreed to play Nellie Forbush in South Pacific back in 1949, she insisted that there be no duets between her and co-star Ezio Pinza — an unusual demand, since they were…
The Howling Diablos
If the present-day Mississippi blues-and- boogie crowd hasn’t already heard the footsteps from up North, it oughta. A particularly nasty fivesome from Detroit has been generating some of the strongest hoodoo energy around, and in the tradition of the original Mississippi-to-Motown boogiemeister John Lee Hooker, has put a rough-and-ready urban spin on its sound. The…
Jilted Lovers
Indians General Manager Mark Shapiro had built a baseball trifecta certain to sell: a winning, likable, long-ball-hitting team. But the turnstiles weren’t spinning. As September dawned, and the Tribe’s hammers grew to mauls at the gates of the American League Central, attendance still hovered around 20,000. Radios came alive with calls from Bob in Garfield…
Capsule reviews of current area theater presentations.
Amadeus — If your mortal enemy were in the same profession as you, chances are you’d wish him every failure possible, so that you could wallow in all the attendant misery. But Amadeus author Peter Shaffer might advise that you be careful what you wish for. Indeed, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was a giant thorn in…
The Coup
Thus far, the Coup remains best known as the group with the worst timing in history. The Bay Area hip-hop duo got the attention of the FBI after the cover of its fourth album, 2001’s Party Music, originally depicted leader Boots Riley blowing up the World Trade Center. (Created shortly before the terrorist attacks of…
