Cover Story
A City’s Stories, Unplugged
ONE GUITAR. ONE WEEK. ONE SONG. The slogan and premise sound straightforward enough — unless you’re the songwriter-guitarist-singer who agrees to take on the imposing composing challenge, presented by the Acoustic Guitar Project — so relatively simple to accomplish. Well, that depends. For some musicians, like Eva Louhivuori of Finland, a new original song came…
Film Review: Grown Ups 2
Grown Ups 2 | D- These days, Adam Sandler is a one-man stimulus package; providing regular busy-work for a small army of otherwise unemployable flunkies, along with a handful of his more successful show biz pals — who apparently have an annual need for a six-week paid vacation. How else to explain this witless, clueless…
City Slang: Glenn Jones at Trinosophes
Premiere finger-picker Glenn Jones will be at Trinosophes on Friday, July 19. They say, “Glenn Jones strikes the perfect balance between traditional vocabulary and his own creative additions to the canon. Although he first gained notice for his work in the experimental rock band Cul De Sac, it’s as a solo guitar and banjo player…
City Slang: Battlecross War of Will album out now
War of Will, the new album from Detroit metal band Battlecross on Metal Blade Records, is out now. In addition, a video for “Force Fed Lies” can be seen here. According to a statement, “BATTLECROSS triumphantly return as one of the true champions of American Heavy Metal with their devastating sophomore release, “War of Will”.…
City Slang: Vintage King at the Loving Touch
Ferndale-based musical equipment supplier Vintage King will be celebrating its 20th anniversary at the Loving Touch on Thursday, August 1. According to a statement, the company will be parting “with the breakout buzz band, Bars Of Gold and a DJ set by Good Music Gentlemen. “Vintage King is a Detroit musical success story which was…
Film Review: The Lone Ranger
The Lone Ranger | C WHAT MAKES A HERO truly heroic? It seems Hollywood is no longer entirely certain, even though countless jobs, reputations, vast fortunes — and the futures of vast multinational corporations hinge on providing the public with a steady stream of heroes. Being risk-adverse and creatively shy, the studios have become addicted…
City Slang: Grandmothers at the Magic Bag
So here’s a story for ya. I was wandering from my car to the Magic Bag in Ferndale on Thursday evening, when I noticed a rather odd looking older gentleman ambling in front of me. He was wearing green sweat pants pulled up high above his waist, and what looked like a fanny pack. “You…
City Slang: Steve Miller at Book Beat
Steve Miller, author of the acclaimed and quite excellent Detroit Rock City, will be at Book Beat in Oak Park on Thursday, July 11, from 7 p.m. According to a statement from Book Beat, the book “is an oral history of Detroit and its music, told by the people who were on the stage, in…
Vote Know
Detroiters may still be waiting to receive their absentee ballots (and to find out for certain what a judge has to say about letting Mike Duggan run for mayor as a write-in candidate), but residents can get a jump on their decision-making thanks to a nifty website produced by the democracy-loving gals over at the…
What Happens When We Die?
What happens when we die? An existential question plaguing humanity since the dawn of man, now answered. Some readers may have expected a heartfelt story about some near-death experience, where I was heading toward a light at the end of a drawn out, cliché-ridden tunnel. Sorry to disappoint. If you are looking for clichés, read…
Deemable Tech: Can I Get a Refund?
Q: I just bought an app, and it doesn’t work. Is there any way for me to get a refund? A: It depends on where and when you bought the app. Apple, Google, Amazon and Microsoft each have different return policies and practices. The Google Play store has the most lenient refund policy. You may get a…
How We Play With a Shit Hand
Thank you, Metro Times, for devoting 1,100 words to the often-neglected issue of local government finance [regarding Hamtramck’s appointment of an emergency financial manager, “Oops, They Did It Again,” June 26-July 2, 2013, Vol. 33, Issue No. 37]. This issue affects every community, but seems to generate little public interest or media attention until taxpayers…
Fighting to Know Who Owns Us
Before 1865, back when slavery was legal, you at least knew who owned you. Later came the days when we used to say an honest politician was one who stayed loyal to whoever bribed him first. Today, not only are many of our elected leaders largely bought and paid for, Michigan voters don’t even have…
The Wynton Marsalis of Ecuador
The biggest challenge interviewing an accomplished artist like trumpeter Walt Szymanski is deciding what parts of his career to focus on. Throughout the ’80s, he was the great Detroit jazz drummer J.C. Heard’s music director, all while fronting his own hard bop band the Motor City Jazz Quintet. Then there’s his two decades in New…
Food Stuff
Vegan Sandwiches Save the Day: Revolutionary New Takes On Everyone’s Favorite On-the-Go Meal by Celine Steen and Tamasin Noyes Fair Winds Press; $19.99 paperback; 192 pp. Julie Hasson, author of Vegan Diner, The Complete Book of Pies, says of this tome: The Earl of Sandwich would be proud! Celine Steen and Tamasin Noyes have reinvented…
Local 212
Local 212 212 Fifth Ave., Royal Oak 248-591-4789 212royaloak.com Handicap accessible Starters: $8-$12 Entrées: $14-$30 Sandwiches: $7-$10 The name surely wasn’t meant to sound like a union hall. Owners wouldn’t have wanted to evoke for potential customers the image of a big plain room with metal folding chairs and portraits of UAW presidents on the…
Film Review: Despicable Me 2
Despicable Me 2 | C+ The arc from dastardly super villain to doting single dad makes for a warm and squishy marketing hook but, for this amiable, frantic and inconsequential follow-up to the 2010 surprise smash, it makes the storytelling options a bit limited. Now firmly ensconced in domesticity, reformed evil genius Gru (Steve Carell)…
Film Review: The Way Way Back
The Way Way Back | C Why does Toni Collette end up with so many weird wardrobe choices? OK, we get it, she’s an unconventional actress, but enough with the headscarves already! More tragic than the clothes she wears, however, is the doormat of a character that screenwriters Nat Faxton and Jim Rash (Oscar-winning writing…
Film Review: 20 Feet from Stardom
20 Feet from Stardom | B Behind every superstar, and just about every hit single, there is an unheralded legion of session players, studio engineers and backup singers who make the superstar sparkle — just a little bit brighter. Some of these talented but often overlooked songbirds get to snag a little applause in this…
Zoos of Berlin
Zoos of Berlin’s new album might leave more than a few ooh-and-ahh impressions upon its listeners — the trappings of what’s typically perceived as “artsy” stuff. The whispery lilt of its harmonized lead vocalists might suggest a chandelier-lit waltz, dreamy echoing voices pitching woo upon the ballrooms of Bowie — or maybe Scott Walker. Rewarding…
Kurt Vile
We don’t typically assign “epic” to a solo singer-songwriter-type, ostensibly crafting breezy ballads — but Vile, a Philly-based experimental troubadour known for his work with underground Americana outfit the War on Drugs, seems as if he wants to explore as much as possible inside the confines of one song. He toys with a slew of…
The Countess Anastasia
Ever since the birth of rock ’n’ roll music, there has been a great tradition of blurring the boundaries that separate gender. Whether it’s Little Richard basically risking his life in 1950s Southern America by being black and wearing makeup, David Bowie hunting down androgyny like Nugent hunts elk, the New York Dolls appearing to…
A School of Their Own
Some seeds take longer than others to germinate. The ones that grew into the Jimmy & Grace Lee Boggs School, a charter school that will open its doors on Detroit’s east side in September, were planted more than 20 years ago. In 1992, at the age of 16, Julia Putnam became the first person to…
Medical Marijuana & the Google Effect
This is big news for marijuana activists around the world: Michigan Compassion, a Taylor-based medical marijuana nonprofit, has received a major award from Google Grants to support its education efforts. Not only does it help the organization, it adds another layer of legitimacy in an area that had formerly been pushed into the shadows of…
City Slang: Sponge get new deal
Alt-rockers Sponge have signed a new record deal with The End Records. The band has a new album, Stop the Bleeding, out September 17, its debut for the label. According to a statement, “The Detroit-based group, featuring vocalist Vinnie Dombroski, Billy Adams (drums), Tim Patalan (bass), Kyle Neely and Andy Patalan (guitar), has been keeping…
