Free Will Astrology
ARIES (March 21-April 19): Cut out the following testimonial. Photocopy it 50 times and hand it to anyone who’s in a position to advance your grand experiment. Dear Big Shot: It is with unabashed glee that I recommend this hot-blooded self-starter for the jobs of alligator wrestler, fire-eater, icon smasher, fun generator or CEM (Chief…
Soul soil
Looking back on their 10-year-plus existence, the only consistent factor surrounding the music of Warn Defever and the loose collection of musicians called His Name is Alive is that of constant reinvention. The latest evidence of this finds form in Someday My Blues Will Cover The Earth, a 10-song collection that is more rooted in…
Letters to the Editor
Where is it happening? I want to thank Jack Lessenberry for his column “But what would they do?” (Metro Times, Aug. 8-14). As a resident and community activist in Southwest Detroit, I appreciate his kind words about the Bagley Housing Association (BHA). Throughout Southwest Detroit there exist visionaries such as Dr. Vince Murray who are…
Kitsch my ass!
The term “retro” gets tossed around like a skin-tight, poorly embroidered, permanent-press bowling shirt in the washing machine of pop culture. But in the case of the Rants, retro is a subconscious theme, an impression, an abstraction. It’s a journey back to the preironic era when people actually got down at rock shows — or…
Pale fire
Tilda Swinton embodies daring roles with a subtle strength….
Suzuki revolution
Producing, creating and goosing hip hop and indie rock in equal measure, Dan Nakamura (aka “The Automator”) has worked with and around DJ Shadow, Kool Keith, Prince Paul, JSBX, Kid Koala and Del The Funkee Homosapien. His last project, Deltron 3030, with Del, Koala and himself, as well as cameos by Damon Albarn and Paul…
Jack swift
Cartoon Network adopts the grandeur of David Lean and sharpens a katana — all in the name of animation….
Murrayism
Tenor saxophonist David Murray seems to have come a long way from his mid-’70s debut albums when his solos circled around a searing version of the late Albert Ayler’s ghost wail and his accompaniment was sparse and nodding. An absurdly prodigious recorder — at one point he seemed to be releasing an album a month…
No sweat, kid
Uncle Kracker leaves the worrying to us….
Uplifting devotion
Imagine your band loses its lead vocalist, lead guitarist and producer in a little more than a year. For most groups, it would be a death sentence, but the Mahotella Queens aren’t like most groups. In 1998 and 1999, they lost legendary singer, Simon “Mahlathini” Nkabinde (aka “King of the Groaners”), guitarist Marks Mankwane, and…
Message from the hood
Whether in areas upscale or struggling, Detroiters want one thing from the new mayor: “Take care of the neighborhoods.”
Hungry heart
Beginning in the self-indulgent 1970s, long before Live Aid and “We Are The World,” musician Harry Chapin was a one-man army, working tirelessly for social causes including hunger and the arts. Chapin performed more than 2,000 concerts throughout his career, and better than half were benefits. But there were no TV specials or newspaper articles…
What’s a Ghoul to do?
Detroit fans want him back, but love may not be enough….
Hating it all
Enid (Thora Birch) doesn’t love the modern world. Neither does writer-director Terry Zwigoff (Crumb), and the cranky synergy of lead character and filmmaker provides this comic celebration of discontentment with its disarming charm. A rare teen film: sharp, funny and poignant — with Steve Buscemi.
Voting for the future
Never in our lifetime has Detroit faced a more important mayoral election. Jack talks to a devoted city-dweller about the issues she’s concerned about.
The Princess and the Warrior
Set in contemporary Germany and without a castle or dragon in sight, this film is a balancing act, and to succeed it must avoid falling into pretension on the one side and silliness on the other. Director Tom Tykwer (Run Lola Run) succeeds for about two-thirds of the film and it’s exhilarating to watch him…
Ghoulosophy
Wit and wisdom by and about our friend, the Ghoul.
The Deep End
The writing-directing team of Scott McGehee and David Siegel have made this intimate thriller about the terrors of emerging sexuality compelling through two key choices: the casting of icy redhead Tilda Swinton, and the use of Lake Tahoe as principal locale. Both are stunning, chilly and quite deep.
Dead deal
As we predicted, the riverfront casino deal has fallen apart….
No page like home
The personal home page was the Web’s first experiment in the democratization of publishing. How come no one builds them any more?
Keep the River on Your Right: A Modern Cannibal Tale
This documentary tells the story of artist Tobias Schneebaum, a nice Jewish boy from Brooklyn who became a cannibal in Peru. Though the payoff we’re waiting for is Schneebaum’s return to Peru and the site of his great transgression, the trip there is satisfyingly strange.
Houdini Hill
Candidate Gil Hill comes and goes….
Summer skool
A bounty of beats at the Attic’s weekly hip-hop showcase … Sniffs and hugs for Stroker Ace … & a shopping bag full of new, local CDs from the Pop Project, Slumber Party, TOBASOL and HNIA (plus a cool comp of Detroit punk rock).
American Outlaws
The Jesse James Gang seen through the rosy glasses of a hormonal teenager might look like this Western version of Hollywood’s Robin Hood and his Merry Men studded with action-flick clichés. The real crime of American Outlaws is its ridiculously revisionist history — and a waste of good talent.
Wagging tongues
Motown mall king A. Alfred Taubman is now the talk of the town….
Warped and stripped
Warped Tour punkers keep getting younger … plus, cold beer and hot girlies at Drag Strip, a psychobilly blowout with bands and burlesque.
Osmosis Jones
Osmosis Jones attempts to be as clever and hip as its shades-wearing and goateed single-celled hero. But it fails. Its takes on popular movies (from Airplane! to Titanic) fall as flat as its derivative animation — with Bill Murray and the voices of Chris Rock and Laurence Fishburne.
Kids on the skids
Detroit wins second prize for least kid-friendly city in the U.S….
Pop Project
I stand before the stage, rocking out to the Pop Project. I look like a dork, but I cannot help myself! The fast, boppy guitar rhythms… The sharp and witty lyrics… The “whoo-la-la” harmonized choruses… It is all irresistible to me! It is the Motown of the future! It is colorful, bright exuberance – a…
Alternative superheroes
Superheroes have dominated comic books medium since the 1938 debut of Superman in Action Comics No. 1, much to the dismay of the many fans who fear such adolescent stories prevent the form from getting the respect they feel it deserves. Despite the inherent clunkiness of the superhero format, there’s no end in sight to…
Hood talk
During interviews with six of the leading mayoral candidates, Metro Times asked each about plans to improve the city’s neighborhoods.
Monkey mysterians
Tim Burton reworks this pop culture icon for our more cynical age — with Mark Wahlberg in the role once played by Charlton Heston. Though it’s damn impressive in its apes-against-humans battle scenes, no character in this extremely fast-paced fusion of action adventure and science fiction makes any impact as an individual.
Murrayism
Tenor saxophonist David Murray seems to have come a long way from his mid-’70s debut albums when his solos circled around a searing version of the late Albert Ayler’s ghost wail and his accompaniment was sparse and nodding. An absurdly prodigious recorder — at one point he seemed to be releasing an album a month…
Jazz joys and jellies
This year’s Ford Detroit International Jazz Festival promises lots of tasty treasures (let us help you find them all).
Rage to live
Trapped somewhere between genders, the flamboyant Hedwig adopts a brash rock persona which exudes powerful femininity with a masculine undertone (imagine Tina Turner as a slim white boy). As part of his/her embrace of opposites, there’s a perpetual vulnerability on display, a pain beneath the rage.
A brief solution
• This may be a cheap fix for the guy with his penis bent to the left. I had the same condition until I was about 25 and had a complex about it. The problem was caused by my wearing boxer shorts. The penis can only hang left or right in those shorts, not straight,…
Spicy surprise
The food is above average at Hamtramck’s newest Indian/Bangladeshi restaurant (and the portion sizes are larger than average, too). The chicken Kashmir (cooked in a creamy banana sauce) and the fish masala (salmon with spicy tomatoes and chilies) are both interesting, flavorful dishes. Also good are chicken tikka, chicken dansak, and begam bharta, a very…
