Binary Soul
“I’m the only lyricist that has frostbitten lips/finger tips so cold, I wear mittens when I spit” raps Versiz in the chest-puffing “Have You Ever Heard Of Me.” But don’t hold 22-year-old Jamaal “Versiz” May accountable because he says he’s so hot he’s cold. The guy has exploded on Detroit’s hip-hop scene like an M-80…
Ghetto fly-by
Call Joseph “Amp” Fiddler gifted, passionate, or eclectic, but whatever you do, please don’t call him old school. “I don’t want to be associated with none of that old school shit. I want to be associated with some new shit,” says the 45-year-old neo-soul entertainer. In an era where a lot of contemporary hip-hop and…
Thompson at bat
Hunter S. Thompson’s Hey Rube is targeted at a very specific audience and should be read in brief sprints by said audience in a very specific context: with drawers down on the toilet during NFL commercial breaks. This is a first-rate bathroom read for the high-falutin’ sports fiend who remains as loyal to the (insert…
Baghdad boy
The going-away party was held in a Bulgarian bar in Washington, D.C.’s Adams Morgan neighborhood. More than a dozen twentysomethings stood around a cramped space chatting; much of the conversation was about Iraq. At the center of attention was a guy with a slight frame to match his baby face and unruly brown hair. Every…
Pray for us
In this harrowing yet poetic story, a trapped and desperate teenage girl living in the poor but beautiful Colombian countryside seals her fate by agreeing to a life as a human drug mule. A beautiful, scary, knowing film that restrains itself from plunging into the all-too easy “after-school special” brand of cautionary statement.
Of Women and Torture
Ever wonder what kind of women spend their lives in prison? In Michigan they are too often women like Barbara Hernandez. According to Carol Jacobsen, a professor at the University of Michigan, this is her story: “Barbara has served over 11 years in prison for a murder she did not commit. It was committed by…
Blind Swordsman: Zatoichi
For those who can watch High Plains Drifter a thousand times and never get sick of it, the same joy awaits you in this samurai film, with the added bonus of one of the most bizarre, ludicrous, yet strangely satisfying endings of any film to date. Treat yourself to its charming, torso-slicing brilliance.
David Enders reports from Baghdad
Losing the Plot: Fear and Loathing in Baghdad High Times, Jan. 4, 2004 Occupied Baghdad is a lot like Detroit. You can replace “white flight” and “hollow urban core” with “We leveled heavy sanctions” and “We bombed the hell out of it,” but the results are pretty much the same: lots of empty buildings, a…
Little Black Book
Hollywood never seems to run out of ways to let coquettish stars like Brittany Murphy dance around in their skivvies. One of today’s most one-dimensional actresses, Murphy again does little more than bat her big eyes and try to look innocent as she behaves badly. Even worse than Uptown Girls, if that’s possible.
Inside Outer (part two)
Second of two parts This journey began on July 4 with the intent of hiking the entirety of Outer Drive, more than 40 miles of inexplicably confusing boulevard that stretches from the border of Grosse Pointe Park on Detroit’s East Side to the Downriver town of Ecorse. It is a trek intended to discover…
Facing Windows
This Italian film plays like a psychological mystery and ends like a Hallmark card. It withholds information (some of which you can guess), has one nice twist, and becomes less interesting and a little schmaltzy at the end when its secrets are revealed.
N&D Center
Saturday • 14 Visual Jam Sessions III MUSIC In his groundbreaking work, Origin of Species, Charles Darwin wrote, “In the long history of humankind (and animal kind too) those who learned to collaborate and improvise most effectively prevailed.” And while the boho types of Detroit’s semi-underground art scene might not have the survival of the…
Open Water
A couple vacationing on a tourist boat wind up left behind in the open sea, surrounded by sharks. This low-budget thriller’s fear factor lies mostly in the raw ocean footage and the scariness of what you can’t see below. The biggest star of the film is the sea: dark, ominous and unforgiving.
Canned Voas
News Hits is grieved to report that Jeremy Voas is no longer editor of this paper. The veteran journalist was fired last week after nearly three years at Metro Times. Anyone who has worked with him can attest to the fact that Voas is mercurial, headstrong, fiercely independent and by nature inclined to rebel when…
Collateral
A hit man (Tom Cruise) employs a reluctant cabbie (Jamie Foxx) as his personal chauffeur for a night’s worth of assassinations in the City of Angels. At best, a failed meditation on strangers lost in the L.A. night; at worst, a hard-boiled bubblegum.
Till next time
The Detroit City Council let out for its annual August recess with a bit of a bang and a whimper. Not that News Hits is surprised. It is no secret that the chasm between council members is as deep as the Detroit River. Much deeper, in fact. We’re talking the Marianas Trench here. Name-calling, threats…
Nomo
When you invite 17 musicians — including a four-piece percussion section featuring a Ghanaian master drummer, a six-piece horn section and a collection of music students and indie rockers — you’re inviting eclecticism. And let’s face it: The ambitious pursuit of musical eclecticism can equal an undisciplined mess. And then there are bands like Nomo…
Political sing-along
Tough political times call for creative ideas. And with American pop culture being what it is, it makes sense that someone would use this election to sing votes, instead of swing them. That said, doo-wop and Dubya dissin’ will be the theme for karaoke — or we should say Kerry-oke — tonight (Aug. 11) at…
Live at Max’s Kansas City
Ignore the all-encompassing five-CD Peel Slowly and See boxed set and each VU album still seems to eventually be individually reissued with bonus cuts, alternate mixes and various other collector-nerd hard-on generators. Throw another one on the pile. More than thirty years after being recorded, Live at Max’s is finally legitimately released in its entirety,…
Spice heaven
Today I rediscovered one of Detroit’s old gems, a well-kept secret from those who do not take time to venture into Eastern Market. Founded 44 years ago by Marty Rafal, the Rafal Spice Company is sure to ignite your olfactory sense before you even open the door. Then, the fun begins. If you consider yourself…
Rubble rouser
The first thing you notice about the pile of rubble on 2867 W. Fisher Freeway is the smell. An old mattress tops the pile of bricks, siding and shingles, an agglomeration of building materials that emits a faint odor of mold and rot. The second thing you notice is the fish sculpture located just southeast…
The Nice Device
Face it; every Detroit band worth its salty tears has gotta know how to rock in overdrive. When they roll call all the great Motor City aggregations, it’s never something like Bread or Four Jacks and Jill — which incidentally was an actual band from South Africa that specialized in morbid folk songs that Fred…
Movie mecca
Imagine if the record shop in Nick Hornby’s novel-turned-film High Fidelity were a video store, without the flagrant snobbery. There you’d have Thomas Video, a place where no video gets thrown out, a place where obscure sci-fi and horror flicks live forever, where cult and foreign classics are the fare. It’s the kind of place…
Warped identity
Hey, kiddies … it’s time to nick a coupla Ben Franks from Pop’s billfold, slip on yer official, tour-sponsoring, Atticus duds (ditch the camo, please), and closely guard your belly, nip and tongue rings, ’cause it’s Vans Warped Tour time again. That’s right, the Lollapalooza-squashing punk rock tour of the summer is here. What’s weird…
In Between Evolution
In a musical landscape that’s currently about as aesthetically parched as an old Okie dustbowl, The Tragically Hip stand ragged and right as one of Canada’s best rock ’n’ roll bands. Sure, it’s a mystery why these smart, literate rockers haven’t yet taken the United States by storm. But if there’s any justice in this…
The Carnival’s clothier
What do you get when you combine 100 yards of fabric, 10,000 sequins, pounds of glue and metal and mounds of feathers? No, not a Vegas show. Think closer to home. Give up? It’s the annual, highly extravagant creations of Ralph Taylor for the Caribbean International Festival parade, which will travel down Jefferson Avenue this…
Little Steven’s big show; who does Fred Thomas think he is?
It’s 2004, and who would’ve ever even considered that the New York Dolls would be crawling along at two-fifths speed, reunion style, 30 years after the fact? Minus the Thunders/Nolan /Killer Kane (all RIP) triumvirate, what price “In Too Much Too Soon”? In a million years we would never have guessed that, say, Detroit pop…
Crashing Atoms
Reasons to like Crashing Atoms — they actually list a hidden track and have the legend “Song Order” over the titles, like they don’t expect the audience is gonna figure things out. And I like that they include the lyrics because it’s important to know what the words are (“I am that funny man, that…
Chance encounter
Q: Visiting my home state, I went to a favorite store where folks buy porn, buy sex toys, or sit in “private” booths and watch XXX videos. It’s always crawling with gay men, such as myself, looking for sex. In the parking lot I ran into my stepfather of 12 years, a man who married…
Letters to the Editor
Bravo to Jack I just read Jack Lessenberry’s article on broadcast media’s coverage of the 2004 Democratic Convention (“MIA: ABC, CBS, NBC,” Metro Times, July 28) and I have to say, “Bravo!” These unelected CEOs are destroying our democratic process because of their incredibly irresponsible, shortsighted greed. Lessenberry’s main point, that we, the American people,…
John and the Sisters
I realize that this is a bit of a stretch for any sane person to do, but try and imagine what a song would sound like if, say, Prince went totally stark raving insane and then mutated into, say, a grizzled axe-wielding Delta bluesman with a hair trigger temper. Nah, on second thought, that doesn’t…
Left off the list
My wife has never missed an opportunity to vote in any election ever since she turned 18 a little over three decades ago (I could get into trouble if I get any more specific than that). My wife was born and raised right here in Detroit and has lived most of her life here in…
Ravenous, baby!
Up Pops the Sac by local hip-hop group Starving Artists Crew sounds like the coolest house party where you could ever hope to get plowed. It’s like this: There’s plenty of microbrew (gratis) and no line to the crapper. There’s a tempting spread of grape leaves, hummus, and sushi on the dining room table next…
Free Will Astrology
ARIES (March 21-April 19): To be an authentic Aries, you’ve got to pretty much always be mobilized by someone or something that thrills your heart. Who and what are those beacons for you right now? A person who fascinates you? An adventure you’re planning or an idea you’re exploring? A devoted animal who always sees…
Polka play
The musical genre of polka often invokes a serious case of the giggles (just ask Weird Al). Yet despite its whimsical nature, the dance has a rich history, and is one of the few remaining dances from the 19th century that is still practiced widely today. Depending on which polka historian you ask, the origin…
Bahn Thai
Though it’s not the lightest version of Thai food around and a number of its dishes need work, you can get a good meal here and the service is friendly and able.
