He Sure Looks Heavy
This image comes courtesy of Paul Lukas, who got it from Larry Bodnovich, one of his readers. No date, no context, but simply beautiful. Check out The Toe’s right foot, the only non-Chuck hoof in the bunch. It’s snowy and at home (as you can see from the sign in the background), and it sure…
Angels Teepees in the Outfield
And to think, teams these days think that sticking a hill, flagpole, or a monument in center field is ballsy and different. Try a teepee, motherfuckers, like they used to do at League Park.
Vanished Empire has its local debut tonight at CMA
A period piece about teenagers living in Moscow in the ’70s, Vanished Empire screens tonight at 7 and at 1:30 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 1 at the Cleveland Museum of Art Lecture Hall. Here is our review of the movie. Vanished Empire (Russia, 2008) In many ways, Sergei Narbekov (Alexander Lyapin), and Stepan (Yegor Baranovsky) are…
Michael Jackson’s This is It isn’t All That
Opening with interviews with hopeful dancers auditioning for parts in the Michael Jackson concerts scheduled to commence this past summer in London, Michael Jackson’s This Is It begins with a sense of optimism. We see Jackson at a press conference, pumping his fist because he’s clearly excited to tell fans about the shows, which he…
INKSTOPPED
In this economy, it’s the sort of news that sends chills up your spine: A few weeks ago, employees of the Cleveland-based office-supply outlet InkStop learned that management was closing all 152 stores effective immediately, leaving them their last two weeks’ pay. To add insult to injury, the company had — unbeknownst to employees —…
Cavs To Wear 1988-1989 Throwbacks This Year
If you’ve checked out the Cavaliers team shops, you probably could have already guessed this, but the Cavs will officially be wearing the late 80’s uniforms as throwbacks throughout the 2009-2010 season. This comes via Paul Lukas’ Uni Watch NBA preview piece. It’s one of the most cherished uni’s in the team’s history, mainly because…
It’s High Time for High School Rockin’
It’s time for Northeast Ohio’s teen musicians to start thinking once again about performing in public. For the 14th year, the Tri-C High School Rock Off will provide an opportunity for young bands (and solo artists) to gain stage experience, see how they stack up against their peers and maybe win some prizes. Semi-finals take…
Make Sure to Catch Hot Chelle Rae Opening for Third Eye Blind Tonight
Anyone going to House of Blues tonight to catch Third Eye Blind might want to get there early to hear Nashville-based quartet Hot Chelle Rae. The group, whose CD Lovesick Electric is out today on Zomba/Jive, has a walloping, infectious dance-rock sound somewhat along the lines of the Bravery, the Killers or Cleveland’s This Is…
What’s to Do This Halloweekend?
Don’t have plans for Halloween yet? Check out Scene’s clubs listings for a rundown of some of Northeast Ohio’s bigger Halloween bashes. Click here to see what’s happening where and when. —D.X. Ferris
What to Do Tonight: Say Anything and Moneen
Say Anything and Moneen are both Vans Warped Tour alum, and it’s not hard to figure out why. Both bands are rooted in a pop-punk/post-hardcore style that gets gobbled up by fans of the annual cultural steamroller. Neither group can go long without doling out chunky guitar riffs and soaring choruses that are typical of…
Tuesday Music News Roundup
U2’s YouTube show a hit with you and u. Chris Brown tweets about Rihanna: “When I get that bitch home, I’m gonna slap her up!” For a $9 movie ticket, you can see what others were willing to pay thousands of dollars to see live. Do you really think Lars is out there with a…
Ya Know, Back in 1936 $250 Was a Pretty Penny
This Cleveland Indians uniform from Johnny Allen ended up in a Higbee’s window in 1938 for all of Cleveland to see. Why? Cleveland Indians pitcher Johnny Allen was fined in 1938 for refusing the umpire\’s order to cut off part of his sweat-shirt sleeve. Allen, who was famous for cutting the ends of his sleeves…
What to Do Tonight: The Subjects
Clearly influenced by the Kinks (bassist Dave Sheinkopf sounds a lot like Ray Davies), Wings and other vintage British pop groups, the Subjects alternate catchy beats and smart harmonies with more introspective, guitar-based melodies. Their songs pinpoint the disillusion and angst brought on by a recession, a crippling war and an unclear future. The band…
Danzig Days: Tribute Tuesday
Yesterday, we identified the Misfits’ “Night of the Living Dead” as the band’s best song. Now that we think of it, “Skulls” also deserves consideration. It’s yet another poetic and absolutely chipper tune about murder and hellacious gore. Lemonheads frontman Evan Dando recorded an uplifiting acoustic cover — check out above for a taste. It’s…
New Ghoulardi documentary airs tonight on PBS
Based on a book by Gray Publishing, Turn Blue: The Short Life of Ghoulardi is an hour-long documentary about the infamous Cleveland late-night horror movie host. Directed by Phil Hoffman, a University of Akron professor and general manager of University of Akron’s Z-TV, it shows how Ghoulardi (Ernie Anderson) went from being a cast-out to…
Out Today: Florence & the Machine
Florence & the MachineLungs(Universal Republic) Florence Welch jumps around so much on her debut album, it’s hard to nail her down. That’s probably the point, as the restless 22-year-old Brit skips from artsy wails to indie-rock scorchers to torch-song come-ons. But there is one consistent throughout: Florence is one tough broad. Whether she’s declaring “A…
This Just In: Concert Announcements
This week, we have 25 new shows, including an all-star Rock Hall tribute to Janis Joplin, a free show from Psychostick, extreme androgyny from Jeffree Star, hair metal by Bang Tango, Rushmore-indebted indie rock from Company of Thieves and more. —D.X. Ferris CANCELEDGene Loves Jezebel (with Michael Aston): Hi-Fi Concert Club, 11729 Detroit Ave., 216-521-8878.…
What to Do Tonight: Third Eye Blind
There’s no way around it: The super-huge hooks that power Third Eye Blind’s fourth album, and first in six years, are kinda awesome. We were all set to hate on Ursa Major but were eventually won over by those big, crunchy, mid-’90s alt-rockers. There’s also no way around something else: Frontman Stephan Jenkins is one…
Out Today: Wolfmother
WolfmotherCosmic Egg(Modular/DGC) The album title is a tip-off that these Australian rockers are still living in the past. There’s nothing even remotely new-millennium about Cosmic Egg. From the scuzzy guitar riffs to Andrew Stockdale’s shrieking howls, Wolfmother’s second album is a devoted regeneration of the stomping ’70s van-rock of Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath. Songs…
RIGHTWING PUNDIT INFLICTS COLLATERAL DAMAGE
Conservative pundit (and Ohio native) Hugh Hewitt attempted to have some fun at Democrats’ expense over the White House’s increasingly contentious relationship with Faux News. It was ham-fisted and really, really obvious, but somehow that didn’t prevent several other righties from running with it like a breaking story. (Hey, if you only watched Fox, you…
Mushroomhead Halloween: Hanzel Und Gretyl’s Out, Foose In
Sexy industrial duo Hanzel Und Gretyl are no longer on the bill for Saturday’s Famous Mushroomhead Halloween Concert at the Agora Theater. The show will, however, serve as a CD-release for Foose, the grooving new hardcore band from former Spudmonsters/Run Devil Run/Paralyzer frontman Don Foose. You can check out a a taste of the album,…
FARM INDUSTRY SAYS CLIMATE CHANGE NOT ITS PROBLEM
Recently we posted excerpts from a new report arguing that livestock and related land use contribute to global warming more than all other factors combined. That’s staggering, but don’t expect the U.S. government to even think about addressing it. “Farm Bureau” may sound rural and heartlandish, but in reality it’s a multibillion-dollar trade association cum…
Gene Loves Jezebel Canceled
Gene Loves Jezebel’s Halloween show at the Hi-Fi Concert Club has been canceled. It probably would sucked anyhow; it was the Michael Aston version of the band. It’s been replaced with a different kind of glam: a show by ’80s hair metal tribute Poison’d. Here’s GLJ’s “Desire” video to make you smile again. —D.X. Ferris
Danzig Days: Misfits Monday
“Night of the Living Dead” is this fiend’s choice for the best Misfits song. Released on Halloween 1979, the glorious punk-rock frenzy pays tribute to the horror movie of the same name. It also flips a finger to the feel-good vibes that crept out of the ’60s and wouldn’t die in the ’70s. As Danzig…
Rock Hall to show U2 3-D in newly renovated Foster Theater
Yesterday, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum held a media preview of its newly renovated fourth floor theater, now dubbed the Foster Theater after a grant from Gregg and Madelyn Foster enabled the Rock Hall to install a digital 3-D screen and 7.1 surround sound system. The place, which still smells of…
Does Anyone Miss This? Even Just a Little?
I kind of dig the Browns helmet in the end zones. And as awful as it looks laying a football field out over a baseball diamond, I kind of miss it. Don’t you?
eBay Item of the Day: Ferocious Feather
For those of you who don’t think your hat has enough pizazz, you can bid on this genuine Indians giveaway “Ferocious Feather.” A scant $2.99 as of right now will allow you to stick this foam feather into your hat to make you more Indian-y, because everyone loves that these days.
BREWZILLA ATTACKS THE CITY!
The organizers of Cleveland’s first (and hopefully not last) Beer Week deserve a round of applause. Beginning Friday, October 16, and ending this past Saturday, bars and restaurants around the city came together to celebrate ales, lagers, stouts, barley wines and everything in between. The week showcased our favorite alcoholic beverages with events ranging from…
Concert Review: Drummer at the Beachland, 10/24
In Jancee Dunn’s memoir, But Enough About Me, the Rolling Stone writer gives all kinds of advice on interviewing celebrities. When bands are acting too cool to answer her questions, she usually pays attention to the one member of the band who is often overlooked — the drummer. Dunn explains: “[H]is other bandmates, particularly the…
Concert Review: Leonard Cohen at Allen Theatre
If there were a lounge in heaven, rest assured that Leonard Cohen would be the only choice to be the divine house band. Not that Cohen, now 75, is anywhere near ending his reign as de facto poet laureate of rock here on earth anytime soon, as his show last night at the Allen Theatre…
New Saw VI boss same as the old Saw boss
Granted, Saw VI is better than last year’s Saw V, but that’s like saying waterboarding is better than electrodes to the genitals, or listening to Glenn Beck is better than listening to Rush Limbaugh; it’s all torture when you get down to it. The latest installment in the series that heralded torture-porn horror actually makes…
“Light It Up Like Vegas” With Director and Writer Leo Simone
A couple weeks ago I posted the trailer for “Light it Up Like Vegas” — a one-time special starring Mike Polk that will air later this month. Today, a little about how it came into being. Leo Simone was born in California, but moved to Cleveland shortly after. After finishing up a Radio/TV/Film degree at…
A Cleveland Browns Version of Green Day’s “21 Guns” Sung by a Middle-Aged White Guy… Sure, Why Not
5:23 of your life you’ll never get back. Consider yourself lucky. This guy will never get back the hours he spent writing the lyrics, practicing and recording this. And here I thought I had a lot of free time.
LEFT BEHIND IN THE RUST BELT
A writer from another Rust Belt alt-weekly, Buffalo’s Art Voice, reports that in some parts of the country, regionalism is more than just a buzz word. At a think-tank forum in Washington last week, a California bureaucrat described how a couple dozen local governments in his state have figured out how to control local property…
A Q&A with One False Move or I’m Gone director Curt Worden
Curt Worden’s new film One Fast Move or I’m Gone: Kerouac’s Big Sur is an attempt to put the Beat novelist’s memoir Big Sur in perspective. Worden not only interviews people who knew Kerouac during that time but also musicians, writers and actors who cite him as an influence. Featuring songs by Son Volt’s Jay…
10/27: U23D at the Rock Hall
Over the years, dedicated rock fans have heard music legends from the Dead Boys to Pete Seeger hold forth in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum’s 4th Floor Theatre, sitting for interviews and/or playing impromptu, unplugged or stripped-down sets on the small stage. Now the space is getting a facelift to expand…
10/29: FODfest at Kent Stage
Soon after Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl was abducted and murdered in Pakistan in 2002, those who loved him set out to honor his life by doing no less than changing the world. One of the Daniel Pearl Foundation’s ongoing efforts is FODfest (for Friends of Danny), “a touring celebration of music’s ability to…
And Here We Thought God Hated Cleveland Sports
Turns out, he’s a Browns fan. (Via the Cleveland Memory Project. Photo from 1981.)
Swag Alert: Light it Up Like Vegas
“I’ve always felt since I was drafted here that I was going to light it up like Vegas.” — LeBron James I very well might be the last person on earth to know this, but lightituplikevegas.com is a registered domain. And not only that, the site sells “Light it Up Like Vegas” t-shirts in honor…
Swag Alert: “Bronman and Mo” & “Lake Erie Monster” Tees
From the man who brought you the Delonte tees comes these new Cavaliers designs. Glen Infante over at I Love the Hype (also of Real Cavs Fans and LeBron 2010) has two new offerings. First the “Bronman and Mo” — a play off of the constant “Where’s the Robin to LeBron’s Batman” talk that engulfed…
GRAPHIC NONFICTION: THE VIETNAM WAR
Unless you were of newspaper reading age at the time, odds are your understanding of the Viet Nam war is that it was generally bad. It went on too long, wasn’t fought with sufficient political will to win, and was fraught with the complications of fighting guerilla style in someone else’s war. Dwight Jon Zimmerman…
REPUBLICANS’ BITTER TWEETS
GOP shenanigans in Connecticut: Twitter, Inc., shut down 33 fake Twitter accounts created by Republicans using the names of Democratic state representatives. The Republican scheme was to send out posts under the Democrats’ names mocking the liberal tax-and-spend bastards. “That’s unfortunate,” was state Republican Chairman Chris Healy’s response when told of Twitter, Inc.’s decision. “I’m…
Exit Stencil Bands at CMJ
The annual CMJ conference, dedicated to indie music and college radio, is currently going on in New York, with hundreds of artists playing all over the city. Among them are four bands that record for Cleveland-based Exit Stencil Records: avant-rockers Home & Garden, featuring former Pere Ubu members as well as Exit Stencil head Ryan…
Rock Hall Theatre Get In Your Face
Over the years, dedicated rock fans have heard music legends from the Dead Boys to Pete Seeger hold forth in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum’s 4th Floor Theatre, sitting for interviews and/or playing impromptu, unplugged or stripped-down sets on the small stage. Now the space is getting a facelift to expand…
10/23-25: Haunted Yard in Parma
Everyone knows that metalheads love scary, threatening things — loud guitars, lyrics about monsters and killing, chains and spikes on their leather jackets, T-shirts with illegible death-metal logos. So getting involved with the Haunted Yard — a Halloween-season attraction started by a group of Parma kids in their backyard in 1988 — was a natural.…
Ain’t No Halloween Like a Metal Halloween
Everyone knows that metalheads love scary, threatening things — loud guitars, lyrics about monsters and killing, chains and spikes on their leather jackets, T-shirts with illegible death-metal logos. So getting involved with the Haunted Yard — a Halloween-season attraction started by a group of Parma kids in their backyard in 1988 — was a natural.…
AIN’T NO HALLOWEEN LIKE A METAL HALLOWEEN
Everyone knows that metalheads love scary, threatening things — loud guitars, lyrics about monsters and killing, chains and spikes on their leather jackets, T-shirts with illegible death-metal logos. So getting involved with the Haunted Yard — a Halloween-season attraction started by a group of Parma kids in their backyard in 1988 — was a natural.…
Danzig Days: Dirty Black Friday
Everybody likes the Misfits — every Hot Topic store has at least one ‘Fits T-shirt in stock, and they don’t keep ‘em there ‘cuz they don’t sell. And a lot of people like Danzig, which gave the singer his biggest pop hit when “Mother” hit big in 1993. But Danzig’s truest cult of fiends, however,…
Concert Review: Jay-Z at Wolstein Center
I will say the same thing about Jay-Z’s concert last night that I said about his performance at the LeBrom/Obama rally last year: Hova commands an arena with the aplomb and energy of rock’s biggest acts of the last half-century. Dude can throw down. Springsteen, U2, whatever — Jay-Z’s right there with them. Running through…
Debbie Gifford Releases New CD
Northeast Ohioan Debbie Gifford, a longtime singer and music educator who launched her jazz vocalist career in earnest less than a decade ago, will be releasing her third album, One Day at a Time, at a CD-release show at Jazz 28 at 4 p.m. on Sunday. She’ll be joined by pianist John Trzcinski, who wrote…
Remembering NIN
So the final NIN tour didn’t play Cleveland. Not even a secret end-of-trek show for 9-9-09. But here’s some awesome fan-shot, fan-edited video from the final days of NIN. From August, the band opens a set with “Mr. Self Destruct” in NYC’s Webster Hall. NIN’s Pretty Hate Machine, one of the best albums to spring…
You Know You’ve Made It When…
Jay-Z’s tour stopped in Cleveland last night and, naturally, LeBron was right there with him. Now, forget the MVP award, the millions of dollars, the endorsements, the celebrity, the skills. Forget everything else LeBron has done in his life that might be used as a measuring stick for how big he’s made it. Nothing tops…
FORGET WHAT YOU THINK YOU KNOW ABOUT HEALTH CARE
More health care is not necessarily better for you — in fact it could be worse. It certainly drives up costs for insurance companies, who are neither as malevolent nor powerful as you might think. And the whole staggeringly complex system is the accidental product of a series of discoveries and decisions made over decades,…
The Queen and I makes its local debut at CMA
A documentary about the former Queen of Iran, The Queen and I screens tonight at 7 and at 1:30 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 25 at the Cleveland Museum of Art Lecture Hall. Here is our review of the movie. The Queen and I (Sweden, 2008) Growing up in Iran while the Shah and Queen Farah ran…
DO YOU LOVE BOYS WHO SPARKLE?
When I read the Twilight books by Stephenie Meyer, which have garnered staggering sales, it wasn’t just for sweet vampire love. I tried to figure out how the author has drawn in so many readers — many of them girls aged 11 to 14, who are particularly difficult to engage. It didn’t take me long…
A stereotypical biopic, Amelia fails to launch
The only good thing about the otherwise dreadful Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian that came out earlier this year was Amy Adams’ zippy performance as a fast-talking, 1920s-era-slang-hurling Amelia Earhart. I doubt that either the screenwriters or Adams spent much time researching Earhart’s speech patterns or nailing down the details of her…
Should My Political Beliefs Stand in the Way of Good Music?
I love Miranda Lambert’s new album, Revolution. I’ve been a big fan of Lambert’s ever since her 2005 debut, Kerosene. I love her twangy voice. I love her kick-ass ways (on Kerosene’s title tune, she sets fire to a cheating boyfriend’s shit … and maybe more). And I love the fact that she doesn’t seem…
OUR HERO OF THE WEEK IS … A REPUBLICAN?
The Columbus Dispatch reports on Northeast Ohio Republican Matt Dolan, who won’t leave the sidelines for his party’s latest political football toss: Two Republicans joined all House Democrats yesterday in voting to delay Ohioans’ income-tax cut, while new data show that state government is operating today with 1,500 fewer employees than just four months ago.…
Dominick Farinacci Comes Home for a Show Tonight
From Tadd Dameron to Albert Ayler to Joe Lovano, Cleveland jazz musicians have gone forth into the world to make a big splash. Tonight’ marks a homecoming for the latest player on this path, when young trumpeter Dominick Farinacci returns to Nighttown — a club he’s played since he was a teenager — for an…
Danzig Days: Slow Jam Thursday
Through the late ’70s and early ’80s, Glenn Danzig spent years as the hands-on frontman of the Misfits and Samhain. He wrote the bands’ music, designed (or creatively borrowed) graphics and even screened T-shirts until he didn’t have to juggle the business and art any more. When he signed onto Rick Rubin’s Def Jam label,…
NBA Live 10 Predicts Cavs to Win Title
As we all anxiously await next Tuesday’s season opener against the Celtics, we also anxiously dig into any and all relevant news, looking for something, anything to say about the Cavs. More specifically, something, anything to point us towards the conclusion that the Cavs will finally end Cleveland’s sports title drought. Some good news for…
YOU WANT HOW MANY?
Steve Schimoler Cleveland wants to break into the cooking-based reality-show business, and it has extra muscle to help. Crop Bistro owner Steve Schimoler has partnered with some high-powered producers for Feed My Team, a web series that presents professional athletes cooking a meal for a restaurant full of their teammates and friends. The first episode…
TRI-C WANTS TO HELP WITH YOUR ISSUES
So many ballot issues, so little time. Tri-C is here to help: The voting public can learn more about the state and county issues on this November’s ballot during the week of October 26 at each Cuyahoga Community College (Tri-C) campus. The hour long forum will allow experts representing each issue to present the propositions.…
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. Broadway Danny Rose (U.S., 1984) Woody Allen (not to mention cinematographer Gordon Willis) shot this personable comedy in lovely black and white, at a point in his career when he seemed to…
COWS ARE KILLING US
Supporters of Issue 2 like to claim that their opponents want to force veganism on Ohioans. That’s nonsense, of course, but even this wing-and-burger-lovin’ omnivore is thinking about cutting back after reading this report from the Worldwatch Institute. Seems that our bottomless appetite for meat may be even worse for the planet than our obsession…
Teens and tweens will like Cirque du Freak: The Vampire’s Assistant
The storyline in Cirque du Freak: The Vampire’s Assistant revolves around goodie two-shoes Darren (Chris Masogila) and rebel Steve (Josh Hutcherson) are high school best friends despite their differences. This all changes after the boys attend the bizarre freak show of the title. One of the performers in the show is Larten Crepsley (John C.…
COME TOGETHER
Soon after Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl was abducted and murdered in Pakistan in 2002, those who loved him set out to honor his life by doing no less than changing the world. One of the Daniel Pearl Foundation’s ongoing efforts is FODfest (for Friends of Danny), “a touring celebration of music’s ability to…
GOOD GRIEF: PUMPKIN BUSINESS GETS CUT-THROAT
You expect some grisly images around Halloween, though they’re a surprise when you’re talking about pumpkins. Paul Walsh, owner of Doylestown’s Walsh Farms, says competition is getting fierce in the business of big orange fruit. For the past three years, he’s been losing boom-season business to big chain grocery stores, which sell pumpkins cheap. “They’re…
What to do Tonight: Langhorne Slim
Sean Scolnick always had dreams of moving to New York City to become a famous singer, and he figured a good nickname was the first step. So the Langhorne, Pennsylvania, native adopted the name of his hometown and set out to conquer the Big Apple’s open-mic nights. The moniker stuck, even as Scolnick outgrew coffeehouses…
Bites: New Steakhouse
At a time when other restaurateurs are opening burger bars and hot dog parlors, at least one entrepreneur is bucking the trend with a high-profile steakhouse. As the man behind Olde Avon Village, Ron Larson has worked hard to preserve some of Avon’s rustic flavor. His unique grouping of shops and restaurants consists of historic…
Around Hear: New Dogs
Happy Dogs: The Happy Dog has new owners. Eric Williams — owner of Mexican restaurant Momocho in Ohio City — has partnered with owners Rini McNulty and Sean Kilbane to tweak the near-west-side island of retro at 5801 Detroit Ave. “The focus will be on creating a cool corner bar that continues to have live…
Local CD Reviews
Debbie Gifford/John Trzcinski One Day at a Time (self-released) debbiegifford.com After years of training and performing, Debbie Gifford burst onto the local jazz scene in 2000. Her career took off with 2005’s So Many Songs About Love, which launched her on a round of international gigs. On her new album, One Day at a Time,…
Arts District: Puppet Rallies
The Bread and Puppet Theater — founded in 1962 on the Lower East Side of New York and based since 1970 in Vermont — is coming to Cleveland to rally support for the Cleveland Food Co-op. Bread and Puppets is known for its utopian vision and political street theater. Performances include live music, dance and…
CD Review: The Twlight Saga: The New Moon Original Soundtrack
We never thought of Death Cab for Cutie as vampire music, but the band’s maudlin “Meet Me on the Equinox” provides an appropri-ately dreary intro on this soundtrack to New Moon, the sequel to last year’s hit vampire love story Twilight. “Everything, everything ends,” sings frontman Ben Gibbard, sounding particularly pensive. It makes sense that…
Built for cuban Links
Since its 2007 premiere by the Minnesota Orchestra, composer Ricardo Lorenz’s Rumba Sinfónica has been played by 22 different orchestras — an astonishing number for a piece of contemporary orchestral music. But its popularity is easily explained. Scored for symphony orchestra and a Latin band — specifically Grammy-nominated Dancing With the Stars guests Tiempo Libre…
Dream Weaver
IN HIS AUTOBIOGRAPHY, Malcolm X recalled the first time he had his hair chemically straightened: “The comb felt as if it was raking my skin off. My eyes watered, my nose was running. I couldn’t stand it any longer; I bolted to the wash basin.” For Malcolm, the “conk” — as the process was then…
TORTURE IS THE RIGHT WORD
The problem with doing topical plays is that they can go sour so quickly. Why Torture Is Wrong, and the People Who Love Them by Christopher Durang, now at Cleveland Public Theatre, has the last administration in its crosshairs — with specific references to John Yoo’s obscene torture memos, stem-cell rights and other calamities foisted…
Soundcheck: Saul Williams
In the mid-’90s, Saul Williams emerged as one of the key figures in the slam-poetry movement. Since then, his work has evolved, and he’s become a pundit as well as a poet. On his most recent release, The Inevitable Rise and Liberation of Niggy Tardust!, he delivers spoken-word vocals to electronic music by Nine Inch…
JUST PLAIN DUMM
Laura and Gary Dumm’s Another Dumm Art Show? is a cartoonist’s take on that age-old futile question: What Is Art? But in their version — vividly incarnated in Gary’s brightly colored acrylic-on-canvas “Popeye vs. Van Gogh”— the question becomes: What Is Fine Art? The Dumms — he working with line, she with color — are…
CD Review: Lyle Lovett
Generally, a new Lyle Lovett album is like a welcome visit from an old friend or a new pair of jeans that fit as comfortable as if they’d been worn for a decade. Lovett occupies a place in country music similar to the one Randy Newman inhabits in pop: a wry observer of the foibles…
Hail to the Chief
TOP PICK Halo 3: ODST (Microsoft) Yeah, the latest entry in the venerable videogame series (for the Xbox 360) is essentially an extended expansion of the great Halo 3. But who cares when the action is this fast and fun? Biggest change: You no longer play as hero Master Chief but as a trooper with…
CD Review: Mission of Burma
Is it possible for a band to have a sophomore slump halfway through the third album its second time around? That seems to be the case with Mission of Burma. But the concept of a slump may be relative, since this album merely falls short of brilliance. But The Sound, the Speed, the Light is…
DAMMIT, PLANET, WE LOVE YOU
When it launched in Lakewood about seven years ago, Liquid Planet boasted an unusual business model built around the notion that fast food needn’t be junk food. Now with three locations, the small local chain has carved a sweet little niche for itself in an otherwise crowded dining scene. The latest outpost opened just last…
CD Review: Tim McGraw
Country superstar McGraw sticks to the basics on his 10th album. That means there are a few goofball toss-offs (“It’s a Business Doing Pleasure With You,” co-written by Nickelback’s Chad Kroeger), some twangy nostalgia (“Ghost Town Train,” the title tune) and the usual dose of heart-tugging weepers (“You Had to Be There,” “Love You Goodbye”).…
CASH OF THE TITANS
They are like the mega-monsters of Japanese cinema, swatting at each as they rumble through downtown Cleveland, stomping on those who don’t run fast enough. They are the giant figures of this election season, fighting for control over staggering wealth. In reality, they are just men — very, very rich men with familiar last names…
CD Review: Rammstein
Liebe Ist Für Alle Da, the latest album by German theatrical music troupe Rammstein, proves the fires of post-industrial shock-rock are still burning strong. The operatic “Rammlied” opens the album in epic fashion with a chorus that undoubtedly alludes to the first song on the band’s debut album Herzeleid 14 years ago. Given the eclectic…
Feeling Minnesota
Joel and Ethan Coen’s A Serious Man opens with a Hebrew fable set in a 19th-century Polish shtetl — one involving a dybbuk, no less — before seguing to Jefferson Airplane’s “Somebody to Love” blasting out of a 13-year-old boy’s earplugs during a bar mitzvah class. Believe me, that seemingly discordant juxtaposition isn’t as berserk…
CD Review: Daniel Johnston
While he has only experienced brushes with mainstream attention, Daniel Johnston’s impact can be heard way beyond the underground. Without Johnston, who knows if there would have been Kurt Cobain, Beck or Bright Eyes? After a 30-year career of mostly lo-fi recordings, Johnston returns with his most realized effort, Is and Always Was. Produced by…
MONSTER MISH-MASH
Halfway into the second act of Mel BrooksÕ musicalization of his 1974 film, Young Frankenstein, comes one of those sublime moments when song, dance and story coalesce to transform a show-biz snack into a banquet. Frederick Frankenstein Ñ thatÕs FRAHN-ken-steen Ñ is determined to demonstrate to the populus of Transylvania that his monster is a…
Sole Food
For the past three years, following the typical Michael Pollan-fueled, now-I’ve-seen-the-locavore-light conversion experience, I’ve been trying hard to feed my family good food. It’s more difficult than it sounds; the supermarkets are full of tempting, affordable foodlike products that ultimately owe more to industry than agriculture, once you start reading the labels. It took me…
Reel Cleveland: Got City Game!
Got City Game! Cleveland, a new web reality show set in Cleveland, commenced shooting this past weekend. Local music-video director Don Tyler will direct the webisodes, with students from Cuyahoga County Community College assisting. Much like Amazing Race, Got City Game! Cleveland gives three different teams a variety of challenges they have to complete. The…
Rock’s Last Romantic
Was there ever a singer so world-weary yet seductive as Leonard Cohen? Has there ever been less likely an icon? Despite his esoteric nature, Cohen, who at 75 is at an age some consider dotage, is at his peak, proving that poetry, that least lucrative of professions, can pay off. Cohen’s first major tour in…
Great Scots
It’s been 10 years since the Scottish quartet Travis released their seminal album The Man Who, unwittingly building Britpop’s bridge to the ultra-earnest, Coldplay-heavy decade that followed. The obnoxiously humble Chris Martin has even described himself as “the poor man’s Fran Healy,” referring to Travis’ ruby-throated singer-songwriter. But while Coldplay has been playing stadiums, Travis…
The Storm Before the Calm
Located in the basement of a nondescript office building on East 40th Street, Unsparing Sea’s rehearsal space is so inhospitable that the band has to escort guests into its confines. “It’s scary,” says singer-guitarist J.R. Bennett before we navigate the treacherous stairs and dark, low hallway leading to a damp room decorated with Christmas-tree lights…
You Want How Many?
Steve Schimoler Cleveland wants to break into the cooking-based reality-show business, and it has extra muscle to help. Crop Bistro owner Steve Schimoler has partnered with some high-powered producers for Feed My Team, a web series that presents professional athletes cooking a meal for a restaurant full of their teammates and friends. The first episode…
What to Do Tonight: St. Vincent
St. Vincent is really Annie Clark, a 26-year-old singer-songwriter from Oklahoma who loads her albums with synth squalls, chiming harmonies and big, ready-to-collapse background noises. She used to play with the Polyphonic Spree and Sufjan Stevens, so this all comes kinda naturally. On her breakthrough album, Actor, she slips, slides and slinks beneath the grooves…
