Cover Story
The nerdy playhouse
When a gaggle of builders and mechanics crafted their "Banana Car" last year for a contest at the Henry Ford, they wanted it to be loud. They built a rideable toy car with a hyperbolic sound system: four subwoofers, four 6-inch-by-9-inch speakers, and a pair of 3-inch tweeters. When its creators drove it out of…
Child Bite : “Ax murderer” Trailer Footage
In the Metro Times Blowout issue, Child Bite spoke about a supposed “ax murderer” that invited the bands to stay at a trailer park while they were on tour with Prussia. Single Barrel Detroit caught some of it on tape at the trailer park. You can view other tour footage here. The bands even made…
City Slang: Pleasure Seekers to reform for DMAs
Details of this year’s Detroit Music Awards have been released, and the big news is that Suzi Quatro will be honored with some sort of lifetime achievement award. She will perform live at the ceremony, both as a solo artist and with her sisters in a re-formed Pleasure Seekers. The event takes place on Friday,…
City Slang: DMA videos screened at UFF, and the two annoying women
As Jeff Milo blogged yesterday, the organizers of the Detroit Music Awards have a hell of a time getting the city’s real music folk to take the thing seriously. It’s never about who does get included, but the huge amount of talent that seems to be ignored year after year. However, when sat in the…
Detroit Music Awards -On Film
No one I know really takes the Detroit Music Awards too seriously. Then again, my pack may all just be spurned cynics and posturing hipsters, (but then, maybe not?) It shouldn’t have to always come down to who’s too cool for that school or who’s cut themselves too deeply into the cutting edge underground to even…
City Slang: Come Dancing in the D
The Detroit Ballroom Convention (don’t be telling us that City Slang doesn’t cover all bases) takes place on the weekend of March 17 at the Elegant Burton Manor in Livonia. Tickets are $35 for the dinner dance and $85 for a weekend pass. A range of dancers will be showing off their stuff, while good…
Van Halen – Setlist, Photos, Videos & Recap
My alarm clock blared at 9:30am with the sound of Drew & Mike berating a disgruntled listener who had just written in via email about last night’s Van Halen show. They read his wordy email in their fucktard tone they give to anyone they want to make sound like a nitwit, it’s a patented formula…
City Slang: Twiztid tour, Danny Brown on MTV2
Psychopathic Records’Twiztid and Californian weed-smoking rappers the Kottonmouth Kings will spend April and half of May touring the nation, with Blaze Ya Dead Homie and Big B in tow. The tour hits home on April 20, when they play the Emerald Theatre in Mt. Clemens. Twiztid’s Monoxide said, “This tour has been 10 years in…
Judge puts state in charge of bridge project
The Gateway Project’s long, strange trip took another weird turn today when the judge hearing the dispute between the Detroit International Bridge Company and the Michigan Department of Transportation decided the DIBC should pay the state to complete the company’s share of the project. That decision by Wayne County Circuit Court Judge Prentis Edwards came…
Rush Limbaugh attacks Metro Times fellow Tracie McMillan
On and off for a few years, we at Metro Times had the honor of hosting Michigan-born, New York-based writer Tracie McMillan at our office as a Metro Times “fellow.” While she occupied a desk in the back of our office, she was hard at work reporting for and finishing up her new book The…
City Slang: Friends and colleagues remember Michael Davis
Some of late MC5 bassist Michael Davis’ former band mates and friends spoke out over the past couple of weeks about Davis’ tragic and untimely passing. Here are some highlights, released in a statement: Wayne Kramer, the MC5’s guitarist, said that, “Michael and I experienced so much together over our nearly fifty years of friendship.…
John Carter
John Carter B- Dramatic momentum. It’s harder to build than you might think. All the gee-whiz digital effects in the world can’t compensate for stories or characters that fail to emotionally and viscerally connect with their audience. It takes a real gift for storytelling and a mastery of vision to create an epic-scaled adventure that…
TLC’s Controversial ‘All-American Muslim’ Axed After 1 Season
In a victory for small-minded ultraconservatives everywhere, TLC announced it has canceled the Dearborn-based docuseries All-American Muslim after only one season. Laurie Goldberg, spokeswoman for TLC, the network that provides America with such informative programming as Toddlers & Tiaras, DC Cupcakes and My Crazy Obsession, confirmed March 7 that the show’s eight-episode run, which ended…
City Slang: “Too Good to be True” revisited
Sometimes these things happen by accident. I was bought this album by the Malakas as a Valentine’s Day gift by my wife. Sure beats candy. The first thing to note is that the Malakas were not from Detroit, rather they were out of San Diego. Singer Cranford Nix was a Detroit native though, before his…
Coriolanus
Coriolanus B "If the wars eat us not up, they will; and there’s all the love they bear us." —Shakespeare’s Coriolanus Can one be a good leader if he feels scorn for those who follow? That is the foundation of Shakespeare’s opaque and contradictory but still relevant Coriolanus, and the notion Ralph Fiennes…
God on her side
A woman enters the record store, walks past the wall of CDs, past the sign that says "Buy 12 tapes in 1 year, get a cassette free," and over to the counter at the other side of the store to get what she really came here for. "Hi, Miss Simpson!" says Charlotte Laurry to the…
The Manhattan Strings Play Instrumental Versions of Hits Made Famous by the Monkees
I’ve had the privilege to interview the shortest idolized Monkee twice in years passed, once during a tour with Peter Noone and Bobby Sherman. At the moment I was interviewing Noone on the phone, Davy was cracking jokes on the other end trying to break Herman up. "What do you call 10,000 lawyers at the…
Her name is Rio
Jack Scott was the first white rock ‘n’ roller to bust out of the Motor City. His single, "Leroy," dropped in 1958 and sold more than 1 million copies. The Windsor-born Canadian-American is in the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame and he’s a legend the world over among rockabilly cognoscenti. The triangle-faced singer with the…
The problem with a Santorum spoiler
"It all comes down to sex. … Woodstock is the great American orgy. … One thing I will talk about, that no president has talked about before, is the dangers of contraception in this country. It’s not OK." —Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum Believe it or not, those are recent, real remarks from one…
Homage
Homage What: More than 50 local artists paying tribute to those that have inspired them. Where: River’s Edge Gallery, 3024 Biddle Ave., Wyandotte; 734-246-9880; artattheedge.com. When: Displays through March 17. River’s Edge Gallery put out an open call to artists for Homage, asking artists to pay tribute to the artists, places, things and people that…
Baatin rising
It’s undeniable that the late Titus "Baatin" Glover had a series of vocal cadences and styles, unrivaled in the history of Detroit hip hop. He was the spiritual force of Slum Village, often donning his signature turban during the group’s most successful years, often called "the soul" of the group. Glover would’ve turned 38 this…
Rampart
Rampart B Written and directed by Oren Moverman. Starring Woody Harrelson, Robin Wright, Ben Foster, Sigourney Weaver and Ice Cube. Rated R. Running time: 108 minutes. B Woody Harrelson cuts through the screen in Rampart; rail thin, sinewy, his body all sharp angles, he resembles a human bayonet. As veteran LAPD hard-ass Dave Brown,…
The Magnetic Fields – Love at the Bottom of the Sea (Merge)
Synthesizers may return to the Magnetic Fields’ orbit for their tenth album, but the important variance springs from Stephin Merritt’s mood — apparently, the itch to score a Stanley Donen movie. These magnificently-written novelty songs progress nicely from the folk lampoon Realism. You’ll roll your eyes along with the toy pianos and mariachi cheese, but…
Bruce Springsteen – Wrecking Ball (Columbia)
Although the pre-release gossip about the Boss utilizing loops and samples was true — and despite the synthesized sounds that kick off the album’s first single and opening track, "We Take Care of Our Own" (the most generic tune, melody-wise, although it will probably kick ass live) — Wrecking Ball is not a case of…
Joe Muer Seafood is reborn in Detroit
Joe Muer Seafood 400 Renaissance Center, Suite 1404, Detroit 313-567-6837 joemuerseafood.com Handicap accessible Prices: $30-$50 Joe Muer opens for lunch at 11 a.m. and starts serving dinner at 3 p.m. Monday-Friday, closing at 11 p.m. Monday-Thursday and midnight Friday. Dinner is served 4 p.m.-midnight Saturday and 3-9 p.m. Sunday. Joe Muer opens for lunch…
Terry Malts – Killing Time (Slumberland)
Historically, punk is youth; vicious and rotten with the clipped, minimalist fury of Wire or the Buzzcocks: "I’m neurotic/That’s what she says." Transplant this piss and attitude to San Francisco ’12, and suddenly punk’s middle-aged and endearingly honest. Terry Malts slam their hooks out with manic intensity, yet they’re "desperate for some fun," meaning they’re…
Paul McCartney – Kisses On The Bottom (Hear Music)
Sir Paul is finally at home, paying respects to musical greats, such as Fats Waller, and Irving Berlin, who he was raised on, so if you want to end up like Sir Paul, (highly unlikely; no — impossible) listen thoroughly. Otherwise this is exactly what you’d listen to on a date night. (Though I’ve never…
The Ficano Exit Poll
We’ve seen this movie run its course more than a few times, and it rarely ends well for the person whose name appears atop the marquee. This time, it is Wayne County Executive Robert Ficano sitting in the glare of a spotlight he surely wishes was focused elsewhere. Face it, Bob. When a public official…
Food Stuff
Spice is nice The Spice and Tea Exchange in Birmingham has an interesting event planned. It’s called "Spice Up Your Winter Nights," guests can expect herbal lectures from Jim McDonald, intuitive tarot readings from Gail Schmidt and individual yoga mini-sessions with Anton Simper. Or just enjoy browsing among the selection of herbs, spices, teas and…
Justin Durant’s workout playlist
My, oh, my, how the time flies. It seems as if just the other day I was cleaning out my locker after our first round playoff exit courtesy of the Saints. Now, it’s almost time to report back for offseason workouts and OTAs (Organized Team Activities). It’s cool — though I still have a bad…
How the drug war rolls back civil rights
State Rep. Rick Olson (R-Saline) made an amazing blog post last month. He had recently attended a luncheon hosted by the Legislative Black Caucus to hear Michelle Alexander, a lawyer and author who teaches at Ohio State University. Olson’s post was titled "Medical Marijuana Law Needs Clarification, But Should We Decriminalize Marijuana?" Part of the…
Letters to the Editor
Police the police? Thank you. I can’t really say this enough to the fact you followed up on the Facebook post involving the raid at Jumbo’s ("Raided again," News Hits, Feb. 29). Now, I can only ask that you don’t accept the silence from Detroit Police Department and continue to press this issue. In a…
A Thousand Words
A Thousand Words C- Like a bad penny, Eddie Murphy is back again, in a family-friendly PG-13 comedy that nobody wants to see, playing a carbon copy of the same fast-talking cheeseball he always plays now, this time with a role that puts his famous motormouth at rest — even though nobody wants to see…
City Slang: Weekly music review roundup
Remember – if you send it, it will get reviewed. That’s the City Slang promise. It doesn’t matter what genre the music is – as long as it has a Metro Detroit connection, it’ll get in. Preferably, we’d like to concentrate on new releases but, while we’re getting warmed up here, feel free to send…
Wurlitzer Building is still crumbling
Nearly a year ago, a 40-pound chunk of the landmark Wurlitzer Building in downtown Detroit came crashing down on 1515 Broadway next door, busting a large hole in the roof and breaking support beams. The owner of 1515 is still fearful that something similar — or even worse — could happen again. News Hits recently…
