Looking into the abyss
In his State of the City address last week, Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick laid out many problems that were created before his administration and contributed to the enormous budget deficit that has put the city in crisis today. But he failed, in any specific way, to describe his own part in the mess and what…
The hype tripe train
That kabob money Bloc Party paid to the hype pimp was well-spent. In a short year the London unit has zoomed from chatted-about demo status to being the proper noun in a thousand overheard rock club conversations. Yelled: “This is Bloc Party! They’re the new—” … and there’s the problem. Because Bloc Party isn’t the…
Free Will Astrology
ARIES (March 21-April 19): Sabotage all attempts at cooperation. Resist acts of unification. No matter what, refuse to forgive anyone. Your role models should be the Israeli rabbis who prayed for the failure of February’s peace summit between prime minister Ariel Sharon and Palestinian leader Magmud Abbas. APRIL FOOL! I was just kidding, of course.…
N&D Center
Thursday • 31 Byrd’s Boy THEATER For the second show of the 2005 season, the Detroit Repertory Theatre presents Byrd’s Boy by Bruce Robinson. The story, which centers around two characters — a homeless man named Byrd, and Birdie, the female security guard who befriends him — is a heartwarming look at friendship in the…
Frances the Mute
The Mars Volta toes a thin line between intriguing storytelling and overwhelming absurdity with this 77-minute monstrosity of a concept album. Revolving around “abandonment and addiction” abstracts (direct from singer Cedric Bixler), this is a fractured, convoluted yarn with almost poetic references to rape, child abuse, drugs, regret, murder, evisceration and family loyalty. Sure, the…
Dirty Love
How times do change. The last time I interviewed the Kills, in 2002, we were talking about their stellar debut EP, Black Rooster, which had just been released on the upstart Dim Mak label. Black Rooster’s five songs had been recorded to 8-track analog in London’s fabled Toe Rag Studios, by a bunch of people…
Warning signs
A state takeover of Detroit’s financial affairs is not only undesirable, but anathema to all involved, both for practical and political reasons. But as time goes on, with very little progress in addressing the city’s budget deficits in any meaningful way, that specter looms larger and larger. Although it has not yet happened, the receivership…
Evil or Divine: Live In New York
Back before the dawn of time, the elders of rock bestowed the mystical secrets of metal magick on a few men whose souls were the blackest of black. One of the keepers of those legendary secrets is Ronnie James Dio. (The others include the members of Black Sabbath, Slayer and Tenacious D). Now, with the…
Detroit shines in Holland
In just 30 years the small city of Maastricht, the southernmost city in the Netherlands, has become a destination for art lovers across Europe and the United States. Each year, before the spring arrival of tulips and tourists, this ancient town hosts TEFAF Maastricht, a gathering of prestigious dealers in art, antiques and jewelry from…
OttO Vector commended by MTV; Hamtramck Steve-O; a star on the rise
Shine that star booty One way to whip up interest in your band is to kick ass in canned contests like MTV University’s Best Music On Campus competition. But don’t hold such a platform against Detroit electro-pop retrovaudevillians OttO Vector, who are, by the way, a pretty swell if not overlooked area quintet fronted by…
The Rutles 2: Can’t Buy Me Lunch
This certainly isn’t a worthy sequel to the pioneering 1978 “rockumentary” The Rutles: All You Need is Cash. Instead it’s a hastily cobbled together Rutles TV infomercial that was supposed to air on TV like Tragical History Tour, except no one was interested in seeing negligible outtakes and repeats of the original movie interspersed with…
A bite of Basque country
To really introduce someone to the wonders of Basque cooking, first I’d wax on for a while about one of the true delicacies and taste bud-teases of that world, angulas. I’d have to describe their silken texture as they slip into the mouth from a wooden fork. Then their tiny sizzle, as they nestle in…
Home values
This story isn’t new: A development company buys property in an aging neighborhood. Neighbors feel pressured to sell and worry that their quality of life — and property values — will plummet, leaving them with no choice but a rough deal and hasty move. They worry that otherwise they’ll wind up the last holdouts on…
The Complete Motown Singles, Volume 1; 1959-1961
Casual Motown fans look away. This is not for you. Tune to WOMC instead; they’ll play “Baby Love” in five minutes. In fact, Hip-O Select deserves its own wing in the Detroit Historical Museum for the mammoth significance of this project. Every single released on Motown and its affiliated labels (Tamla, etc.) between 1959 and…
Before punk broke
On that night 20 years ago, Detroit’s most notorious all-ages punk venue might never have opened. Al “Carp” Halversen, the guy with the keys, had walked into the Iron Coffins biker club down the street only to have a pistol jammed in his mouth and be held prisoner all day. “That day I saw a…
Letters to the Editor
Correctional comments Re: “Hard Time” (Metro Times, March 2), I believe that the Michigan Department of Corrections or the corrections officials should have decided to move the female prisoners from the Western Wayne Correctional Facility in Plymouth to Huron Valley at a later date. I feel this way because Huron Valley may have not been…
Weekly Fecal
Mississippi’s 3 Doors Down serves up its brand of song-free Southern rock with occasional nu-metal superfluities while copping from themselves (their 2003 Iraqi war-assisted smash “When I’m Gone” gets reworked). And catching a cinderblock with your face would be more fun than listening to “Landing in London,” which, incidentally, sports a Bob Seger appearance. In…
Fever pitch
Fans run the gamut when it comes to Opening Day at Comerica Park. For some, the spring ritual is the prime excuse to play hooky. For others, it’s the perfect motivation to drink before noon. But for many — those who understand the virtues of our national pastime, those who believe that the smell of…
Comics
This Modern World Red Meat Comix
Art Bar
Ars brevis — Artist Vito Acconci may take over the universe. Since the late ’60s, his work has gradually gotten bigger, metaphorically and literally. At first he penned words on the page, then the New York writer-poet slowly turned to photography, which was accompanied by text. Then he began to move his image, inserting himself…
Words of service
Just got back from a quick trip out of town, where I saw a message in golden letters embedded in the granite floor of a glittering, enormous and well-run municipal building. Finding the communiqué, literally written in stone, was serendipity. If I used words like “resonance,” I’d say these few sentences have it in abundance…
Backslash
Feeling a little lonely and disconnected? Looking to meet new and interesting people? Craving a bit of excitement and danger? Then consider becoming a pen pal to a convicted felon. At prisonpenpals.com, you can hook up with all manner of law-breaking lonely hearts, who yearn for a connection outside of the walls. Yes, prisoner personals,…
Another Nail in the Remodeled Coffin
During the Mirrors’ original 1974-75 heyday, the Cleveland combo gushed forth fetid no-commercial-potential proto-punk and avant-psych with the same kind of dark pizzazz as their heroes the Velvet Underground mustered a decade or so earlier. ROIR now takes a look at a lesser-known incarnation of the band, recorded in the late ’80s by original members…
Toys are us
I first became aware of the art form known as urban toys last year in New York City, when an artist friend left a bizarre message on my answering machine. “Veence,” the voice with a thick Russian accent exclaimed, “Call me right avay! Dey are stealink my soul on Grand Street.” It turned out that,…
Dream
What do you do when you like only three songs on one of your favorite gospel singer’s new album? You pretend that the eight of 11 tunes, the ones lazily written, do not exist. And that another, the first-ever musical rendition of the entire “I Have a Dream” speech, is a wonderful, if novel, concept.…
Head cheese
We could gob on for hours about the merits of Leslie West and Mountain. Like a lineman springing the tailback into the secondary, these ’70s stoner-rock prototypes did lots of heavy lifting without receiving much glory for their contributions to rock ’n’ roll. In short, their 1970 debut, Mountain Climbing!, influenced generations of thud specialists,…
Run the Road
It’s hard to hear grime when 50 Cent’s on five channels. But if you’re sick of Bacardi/party rhyme schemes and flimsy-ass chorus hooks written with an eventual ring tone in mind, find Run the Road and prepare to get lice. Vice’s compilation gathers 16 of the UK grime movement’s sickest — or at least most…
Jeffrey Morgan’s Media Blackout
This week the Mercury Theatre presents a dramatization of The War of the Worlds by MB26! • Jim Morrison — The Complete Birthday Poetry Sessions (Elektra) :: On his last two birthdays, Morrison grabbed a six-pack and went into the studio to record some of his poetry. The Doors overdubbed some of these tapes on…
You talkin’ to me?
These two short documentaries by Martin Scorsese are mainly interesting as footnotes to the director’s career, as a back story to some of his signature subject matter. Italianamerican was made in 1974 and delves into Scorcese’s family, via an interview with his parents. American Boy is a series of hard luck stories told by actor…
Balls and brawls
The first rule of Fight Night, EA’s Boxing Game? You can’t talk about Fight Night. This is a game that must be played. The brutal, expertly rendered action, the measured pace and overall feel are so authentic that you can taste the leather. This is partly the beauty of the game’s interface, which uses the…
Guess Who
Bernie Mac brings a much-needed jolt of energy to this spin on Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner, the 1968 classic about interracial romance. It’s a surprisingly warm, fitfully hilarious culture-clash comedy that wrings considerable mileage out of a seemingly done-to-death premise. Despite a few missteps, director Kevin Rodney Sullivan and the sharp supporting cast keep…
Through thick and thin
The other day, I made some crack about a pro-ana site to a friend — and was met with a blank stare. After pro-eating disorder Web sites blew up in a storm of media controversy circa 2000, I thought everyone knew about this sadly sick and strange Web phenomenon. Guess not. In case you’re not…
Walk on Water
This story of an Israeli professional assassin (Lior Ashkenazi) who slowly cracks under the pressures of his job isn’t nearly as dramatic as it may seem. Leisurely paced, it ends up as a character study with not quite enough depth of character. Although worth seeing for Ashkenazi’s performance — the guy has charisma to burn…
Bare cupboards and empty skirts
Recently I was talking to a high-ranking official of one of Michigan’s best universities. She told me she had never imagined she could vote for a Republican for governor, given the far-right nature of that party today. Nevertheless, this woman, who has spent her entire life in higher education, is more than half-ready to commit…
Beauty Shop
While somewhat funnier than Barbershop 2, Beauty Shop is a lot like the original Barbershop with an up-do. The movie closely mirrors the formula established by its hairy predecessors, but with more heart than soul. Queen Latifah stars as Gina, who has moved from Chicago to Atlanta to start her own shop and give her…
Jazz funks the dance floor
Detroit’s Painted Pictures is making music for the soul. Having recently been granted a fiery weekly performance slot at Detroit’s Fifth Avenue, Painted Pictures has been bringing oodles of hotness to otherwise cold Wednesday nights. “The band has been having a ball at Fifth Avenue over the past month,” group frontman Malik Alston says. “The…
Translating Nine Mile
Three soups, eight pasta choices, and dinner comes with crusty focaccia, brushed with butter and dotted with herbs. Veal, shrimp, salmon, sole, chicken and filet mignon make up most of the entrées, and they’re prepared in ways that go beyond the ordinary. Open daily except Monday. Full bar, nice selection of Italian and California wines.…
