City Slang: Little Willie John reading at Book Beat
Between 1955 and ’61, Little Willie John had 17 songs in the charts. The R&B singer had moved to Detroit from Arkansas when he was four and then, after singing in a gospel group with some of siblings, secured himself a contract with King Records in ’55. His better-known tunes include “All Around the World”,…
Public Speaking
Whether you are able to listen and seriously consider the ideas and opinions of raconteurs such as Fran Lebowitz (you certainly don’t need to agree with her) is a good indicator of whether you can accept that, yes, indeed, there are people who are cleverer, more informed and more disciplined in their thinking than you…
Concert Gallery: Cut Copy @ Royal Oak Music Theater
To view pictures from Saturday’s Cut Copy show at ROMT click the diagonal arrows for a fullscreen picture wall.
Dalai Lama’s Chicago Lectures Will Stream For Free Online
Lama Has All Your Lols The big hitter, this Lama, will give two lectures in Chicago this upcoming Sunday and Monday on his second (and final) stop here in the States. After stopping in Washington D.C. earlier this week, for his 76th birthday, HHDL–I believe that is the abbreviation while His Holiness the Dalai Lama…
Mr. B: A2 homecoming … on to Canton and Livonia
Yesterday was glorious for the JBE. Every premise of our project was tested, and the results were fantastic. We started in Chelsea, the winter home of the JBE, where Aberdeen Bike and Outdoors shelters and maintains the piano/bike. Our everlasting gratitude to Mike Casey and his staff. We depend on them mightily, and they always…
City Slang: Dennis Thompson on “Kick out the Jams”
In October 2007, I interviewed MC5 drummer Dennis Thompson for a Rhythm Magazine Classic Track feature about the band’s signature tune, “Kick out the Jams”. Rhythm is a UK drummer’s publication, and Dennis was an ideal interviewee. I just found it, and thought you guys might like it. Classic Track “Kick Out The Jams” 1968…
Mr. B: Riding through Hell … and beyond
Pianist Mr. B, aka Mark Braun, and his band, the Joybox Express, are cycling and gigging — hauling Mark’s piano and a full band’s worth of equipment – from Holland to Detroit, July 2-15th, with a finale at the Concert of Colors — and they’re sharing their adventures with MT blog readers. Yesterday we rolled…
City Slang: Duende! and friends rock the Pike Room
Holy crap, the Eeks are good. Like, pant-wettingly good. There’s something beautifully pure about their sleazy, punky rock ’n’ roll that’s reminiscent of Warrior Soul (the ‘90s acid-punk band that featured Detroit native and former L-Seven drummer Kory Clarke). Warrior Soul suffered because the world wasn’t really ready for them but the Eeks should have…
Mr. B: On to Howell and Chelsea … and some thanks along the way
Pianist Mr. B, aka Mark Braun, and his band, the Joybox Express, are cycling and gigging — hauling Mark’s piano and a full band’s worth of equipment – from Holland to Detroit, July 2-15th, with a finale at the Concert of Colors — and they’re sharing their adventures with MT blog readers. This time I’d…
Horrible Bosses
Tough times are good for comedy, and Horrible Bosses taps deep, steaming fissures of economic fear and workplace trauma, venting it all through fevered comedic revenge fantasies. With a mean streak a mile wide and an inch deep, the movie would seem to be a nasty bit of business if it weren’t so concerned with…
Just Like Us
With xenophobia and anti-Muslim sentiments riding high in the American saddle, and an “Arab Spring” struggling not to wilt under the dog days of summer, comedian-filmmaker Ahmed Ahmed weighs in with a documentary that displays all the social relevance and profundity of a soon-to-be canceled sitcom. Just Like Us, the Egyptian-American jokester’s Middle East concert…
City Slang: On the radio – coming soon to UDetroit, WDET
From next week, City Slang will get a 20-30 minute segment every Thursday night on UDetroit’s Motor City Special show between 9.30 and 10.00 p.m. The show is broadcast live at the UDetroit Café, 1427 Randolph St., Detroit. The show is then available to watch at any time on the UDetroit website. City Slang’s segment…
Just Like Us
With xenophobia and anti-Muslim sentiments riding high in the American saddle, and an “Arab Spring” struggling not to wilt under the dog days of summer, comedian-filmmaker Ahmed Ahmed weighs in with a documentary that displays all the social relevance and profundity of a soon-to-be canceled sitcom. Just Like Us, the Egyptian-American jokester’s Middle East concert…
Electric Forest Recap
Check out past posts leading up to Electric Forest 2011 tagged here. Putting into words what happened at the Double JJ Ranch over the past three large-scale music events they’ve hosted isn’t quite easy, so in part that accounts for some of the delay in this recap blog post. (Along with the fact that…
City Slang: What’s So Warped About Vans?
On Friday, the touring corporate punk spectacle called Vans Warped hits Comerica Park in Detroit. Many of the bands that adorn the covers of Alternative Press all year round are on the bill, and the biggest names on offer are Floridian ska-punk clowns Less Than Jake and Californian over-rated ‘90s punks Unwritten Law. Well, whoopee-shit!…
Mr. B: On to Lansing with ‘an outpouring of emotion’
Pianist Mr. B, aka Mark Braun, and his band, the Joybox Express, are cycling and gigging — hauling Mark’s piano and a full band’s worth of equipment – from Holland to Detroit, July 2-15th, with a finale at the Concert of Colors — and they’re sharing their adventures with MT blog readers. A lot has…
Beyond Rothbury: At Electric Forest Fest, ‘more is more’
Leagues of the weird returned to Rothbury this past weekend for the Electric Forest Festival. Known simply as Rothbury in 2008 and 2009, Madison House brought the fest back after a hiatus in 2010. This year, like the name would suggest, was electronic music heavy, a change from previous years. From Thursday to Sunday, thousands…
Brian Posehn, still metal. Still funny.
Tall as a timber and gawky as a fawn, Brian Posehn doesn’t look like your average Hollywood success story. Yet this Sacramento bred comedian has been right in the middle of some of the most groundbreaking comedy shows of the last decade, including Mr. Show, The Sarah Silverman Program and has written for and provided…
City Slang: Weekly Music Review Roundup
Remember – if you send it, it will get reviewed. That’s the City Slang promise. Send CDs, vinyl, cassettes and 8-tracks to Brett Callwood, City Slang, Metro Times, 733, St. Antoine, Detroit, MI 46226. Email MP3s and streaming links to mt.cityslang@gmail.com House Phone’s Field Trip EP was reviewed recently, and the rock ’n’ soul band…
City Slang: “I Hear a Symphony” Revisited
In Mark Ribowsky’s book, The Supremes – A Saga of Motown Dreams, Success, and Betrayal, the Supremes’ 1966 album I Hear a Symphony barely gets a mention. Right at the end of Chapter 15, Robowsky says, “ in February came I Hear a Symphony, which included their next single, “My World Is Empty Without You”…
Yukkin’ it up with the zeitgeist
In 1996, comedian and satirist Lizz Winstead made an indelible mark on the media landscape when she co-created The Daily Show and became its head writer. From there, she went on to play a role in the founding of Air America, a progressive attempt to provide a counterweight to right-wing talk radio. More recently, she…
Smoking out tourists?
The Dutch government’s current attempt to restructure Holland’s permissive cannabis culture and cripple the thriving cannabis industry continues to baffle local and international observers. The idea — which the courts and other outposts of the establishment are grappling with — is to limit licit marijuana smoking to Dutch citizens and official residents of the Netherlands.…
Letters to the Editor
Delighted with Debbie Re: Jack Lessenberry’s "Defending Debbie" (June 29), he could not be more right. I have met Debbie Stabenow several times. I have never encountered anyone in politics who is nicer and more decent than her. Stabenow has her heart in the right place and is a real class act. Michigan is lucky…
At least no one got hurt
I was standing out front watering my lawn the other day when I saw Mulenga Harangua strolling up the street big as day. I was dumbfounded. Mulenga doesn’t come out to my neighborhood in northwest Detroit much, and when he does he’s usually sneaking. He’s kind of paranoid and always seems to think somebody is…
Oh, that guy
The most successful cable series of all time, The Closer, begins its seventh and final season at 9 p.m. Monday on TNT, preceded by a nine-hour marathon of choice episodes from Season 6. Its Emmy-winning star, Kyra Sedgwick — who is only one degree of separation from Kevin Bacon — felt she needed to stretch…
Franckely speaking
When singer-songwriter Stewart Francke sent a song to Bruce Springsteen’s people in the hopes that the Boss would add some vocals, he knew the odds were slim that he’d get anything back. One can only imagine how many similar requests Springsteen receives, and what he could charge if he so chose. But what do you…
Up against the banks
They came to the microphone, one after another, each bearing witness to a disaster that continues to unfold. As eight Wayne County commissioners and two Detroit City Council members listened, a stream of people spent nearly three hours at the Coleman A. Young Municipal Center in early June talking about the issue of home foreclosures.…
Casual elegance
Tria Inside the Henry Hotel, 300 Town Center Dr., Dearborn 313-253-4475 The Tria staff aims to please! As my party left one evening, even the parking director rushed up to tell us, "It’s less formal now, but we still have the same chef, so they still really know what they’re doing in the kitchen." That…
Indian spice
$=$5-$10; $$=$10-$25; $$$=$25-$50; $$$$=$50+ Aladdin Sweets & Café 11945 Conant St., Hamtramck; 313-891-8050; aladdinsweet.com; $: This was once just a small, neighborhood place, lacking cloth doilies and polished steel cutlery. But what Aladdin lacked in china and stainless steel it more than made up for in flavor and authenticity. And, after a radical makeover, it…
Mr. Softy needs help
Q: Three months ago, I met a woman who I’m really into physically, emotionally and mentally. She’s someone I could see myself with. Problem is, when we started having sex, she insisted on a condom for birth control. I haven’t worn one in probably eight or nine years. (I’m 33 now.) I would be hard,…
Made in Britton
It’s been seven years since Timothy Monger released an album under his name. What he needed was to catch his breath. What he needed was something like a "kick-start." The Ann Arbor-born singer-songwriter known for his balance of folk and baroque pop, capped off his spring by running a marathon (yes, a marathon) along the…
Food Stuff
Fruit of the vine The folks at Capital Grille have come up with a summer promotion that should appeal to oenophiles: It’s called "The Generous Pour" and it begins July 12 and continues all summer long, until Sept. 4. For only $25 per person (with dinner), you’ll get the chance to sample a robust collection…
Cheat Code
Duke Nukem: Forever Windows, PS3, Xbox 360 Gearbox/2K Games Duke Nukem: Forever is closely relatable to a copy of Winger’s greatest hits (digitally remastered). How? Because it’s a revisitation on a name, which, back in the day, was the shit for a moment. See, DN: Forever banks on reaching the old fan base (which it…
Media disgrace
Last month, the local media turned on Karen Dumas, a top aide to Detroit Mayor Dave Bing, with the sort of savagery starving sharks normally reserve for a freshly bleeding swimmer. Suddenly, the press discovered that the mayor’s communications director was an evil sorceress who was bewitching the mayor! Driving good people out of the…
Hobo With a Shotgun
Hobo With a Shotgun C+ Aren’t Canadians supposed to be polite? Jason Eisener — the madman behind this soporific, gore-drenched freak-out — is trying his damndest to puncture the myth of Northern niceness by throwing all manner of mean-spirited depravity at the screen, and seeing what doesn’t slide off. Of course, he has backed himself…
Blank City
I have no problem with “No Wave,” because it says No Wave. So again, it’s defined by what it isn’t. What is it? I don’t fucking know. —Lydia Lunch For those who already know the works of Jim Jarmusch, Lydia Lunch, Lizzie Borden, John Lurie and Nick Zedd, Blank City is an insider’s trip…
