Edge
Forget the Klan. The much creepier American Nationalist Union was in town this past weekend, virtually unnoticed by the local media. Ostensibly a conservative free speech organization, the ANU is usually a flash point for protesters and watchdog types, who have tied the ANU to militia movements and white supremacy groups. The meeting here unfolded…
Modern Master
Photography is now taken seriously as a major art form, both domestically and abroad, but as recently as 1963, one writer spoke for many when he asserted that “photography remains a minor art because of the limitations of the instrument — the insufficiently constructive control it gives the artist over details of color and form.”…
A Trio of Talent
In the past two weeks, three of our local theaters opened up their portals, commencing their new seasons by happily looking back. Each showed off its own specialty like magicians pulling unique tricks out of their capacious hats. In a pleasing confluence of religion and commerce, The Cleveland Play House’s The Last Night of Ballyhoo,…
Sweet Country Dreams
Call it nostalgia or call it a manifestation of the collective unconsciousness. Call it what you will, but understand that deep within the American psyche there dwells a persistent yearning for a seat at the farm table. We are all metaphorically jostling for a place at the groaning board, a vantage point at a counter…
Promotional Rescue
NEW YORK — More often than not, a night at the ballyhooed CMJ music festival consists of sitting in a dingy club watching Anyband U.S.A. rocking out to an empty room. Panel discussions detail the various ways that major labels screw over their young groups, bottles of Budweiser cost $5.45, and record label representatives hand…
Gaul Power
Considering that the worldly Afrosoul duo Les Nubians (Helene Faussart shares center stage with her little sister Celia) raps in French and cooks up a tasty bouillabaisse on its debut album, Princesses Nubiennes, it truly is a wonder that the often repressive American urban scenesters who run the Soul Train Lady of Soul Awards chose…
Good Vibrations
Few bands deserve a tribute album as much as Bad Brains. Formed in Washington, D.C., in 1979, Bad Brains were a black hardcore punk band at a time when the genre was lily-white. They mixed dub, reggae, jazz fusion, and punk while members of groups like Sublime and Sugar Ray were still getting drunk and…
Playback
Air Premiers Symptomes (Astralwerks) Premiers Symptomes, the new seven-track EP collection from French electronic cheese-wiz duo Air, explores the group’s pre-Moon Safari days. And while the initial shrug may be one of indifference for this stopgap between albums, the fact is that parts of Premiers Symptomes actually rival Moon Safari in terms of both songcraft…
Soundbites
While most of the jazz world might be focused on celebrating the centennial of Duke Ellington, Soundbites applauds the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame for acknowledging the importance of the career of Louis Jordan with “At the Swing Cat’s Ball: Louis Jordan’s Rhythm and Blues,” a series of concerts and lectures devoted to Jordan,…
Slavery 101
Though he considers himself a nice guy, being mean is Carl Casavecchia’s cross to bear. If he ever ran into someone really mean, he’d retire to the land of puppies and birdsong, and let a pro take over. But until that fateful day, the sweet-tempered woodsman must crack the whip. “Put your nose on the…
Going Mensa
Though “the human calculator” and “geek on a stick” are mighty clever nicknames, being an intellectual titan requires more than ostracism from a peer group or a regular flogging by the playground bully. So think fast: If it were two hours later, it would be half as long until midnight as it would be if…
War Is Heck
There is nothing gratifying about watching a bullet blast through a woman’s skull. Exploding helicopters and splattered cattle are utterly indefensible. And few would smile at the image of a little boy being obliterated by a flashy missile. So why is David O. Russell’s Three Kings such rousing entertainment? This is not a question with…
My Fair Ladies
Ah, May-December romance! It’s a grand old tradition in movies going back to Daddy Longlegs, and it’s almost always a male fantasy: With the exception of a very small handful of titles, it’s the guy who’s December and the girl who’s May. And even in that small handful, the older woman is usually someone like…
Northern Lights
The premise is preposterous, the final score inevitable, and the record reading on the feel-goodometer is totally predictable. But Mystery, Alaska comes furnished with some winning quirks and charms — including a very funny bit concerning premature ejaculation at twenty degrees below zero. So even if you don’t really believe that the New York Rangers…
Blowing Smoke
It’s no secret that merger mania is one of the hallmarks of this brave new economy: Exxon and Mobil. Viacom and Cablevision. British Petroleum and Amoco. The merger bug is also dictating the future of the Cleveland Grand Prix, the annual Indy-style car race that takes place on the runways at Burke Lakefront Airport every…
The Glass Sky
Separated from the fighter jets at the Cleveland National Air Show by a fence and a few decades, the 81-year-old pilot and the 57-year-old AT-6 airplane stand together. Passersby stop to snap pictures in the cockpit for five bucks, or with pilot Clarice “Sid” Siddall Bergemann for free. Both plane and pilot are improved yet…
