The Revolution Will Not Be… (On the Billboard Top40)
They’ve fired smoke bombs on crowds in Oakland… …20 were arrested in Atlanta, and in Cincinnati they’ve been so inspired as to form their own political party – All this born from the Occupy ___ movement – originating from Wall Street protesters who rallied more than two months ago to air grievances of varying forms…
City Slang: Mayer of Detroit wants your vote
Following yesterday’s blog, where we talked about the petition to stop Nickelback from performing at halftime during the Detroit Lions vs. Green Bay Packers Thanksgiving game, local indie-funk star Mayer Hawthorne has announced that he’s ready to step into the Lion’s den, so to speak. Rolling Stone posted Hawthorne’s campaign video (follow the link to…
City Slang: Kem sparkles on film
Motown star Kem will make his movie debut in a remake of the ‘76 film Sparkle, currently being filmed in Detroit. Kem plays the part of Buddy, a club owner. Less impressively, Whitney Houston is also in the film. According to the press release, “Sparkle tells the story of the title character, Sparkle (Jordin Sparks),…
Stoned Free. Harold and Kumar get back in the spirit.
A Very Harold and Kumar 3D Christmas Kal Penn, John Cho, Thomas Lennon, Neil Patrick Harris Rated: R Run Time: 90 min Grade B- The Harold and Kumar franchise is about as rude, outrageous and unrepentantly sacrilegious as mainstream American movies get, at least until Trey Parker and Matt Stone make another picture. Here’s just…
City Slang: No thanks, Nickelback
Now, normally I only write about local bands for City Slang. That’s kinda the whole point of the thing. But this story is relevant, and it shows that the people of Detroit have great taste. Damn, this almost brings a tear to my eye. It would seem that terrible, inexcusable Canadian fop-rockers Nickelback have been…
Kresge Arts in Detroit opens fellowship applications for 2012
“I didn’t think I had any shot at it,” says Steve Hughes, a 2010 Kresge Art Fellow, publisher and writer of Stupor, a zine that compiles pieces of conversation overheard from strangers in bars into a literary examination of human nature with its guard down. “Some friends urged me to do it, and I thought,…
City Slang: Frank Pahl to celebrate birthday with a little bang
On Saturday, Frank Pahl will celebrate his 35th birthday by performing with his band Little Bang Theory at Metal Off Main (220 Felch St., Ann Arbor). The band will perform original music to the Wladyslaw Starewicz classic animation The Mascot. Opening the show is Clem Fortuna’s Microtonal String Quartet. If all of that sounds arty…
Red Pill and Hir-O — “We Are Not Like Them” + Fundraiser for Occupy Detroit
It’s undeniable that the Occupy Movement across the country is growing on a daily basis. What’s good to see is that more musicians and artists are finding ways to use their crafts to keep momentum going. Regardless of if it’s folks like Talib Kweli at Occupy Wall St. or Lupe Fiasco bringing food to those…
Court drops hammer on Matty Moroun’s bridge company
A Wayne County Circuit Court judge today again found the Detroit International Bridge Co. in contempt for failing to follow a court order to complete its share of the Gateway Project in southwest Detroit. The ruling by Judge Prentis Edwards appears to be a turning point in a case that began in June 2009, when…
City Slang: Amy Gore’s Valentines release “Drivin’ Around” single and video
Amy Gore & her Valentines have announced that they will release “Drivin’ Around” as a single, and there is an accompanying video which will be screened at the band’s Thanksgiving Eve show at Smalls in Hamtramck. The song will be available for download on iTunes, Amazon, eMusic and other online retailers. Anybody who attended Arts,…
*Does Cooking Dance* SWAG! SWAG!
I can’t even describe how great it feels to be myself again. For those who don’t know, I suffered a concussion during the Vikings game on Sept. 25, which forced me to miss the following three weeks. But now I’ve emerged from the mental fog and constant headaches and returned to swag. A concussion is…
Tower Heist
Tower Heist C After nearly 20 years of her appearing in films, Hollywood still doesn’t know what to do with Téa Leoni. Funny, unconventionally gorgeous, whip-smart and blessed with a uniquely husky voice, she’s almost always better than the movies she’s cast in. Case in point: her thankless turn as an FBI agent in…
Martha Marcy May Marlene
Martha Marcy May Marlene B Why is it that ambiguous endings inspire so much ire in audiences? Must everything be spelled out? If there’s one place we can expect for a film to present an open-ended conclusion or a finale that insists that the characters’ fates are linked to the imagination of the audience,…
“Black and Brown” Official Video From Danny Brown and Black Milk
No sooner than the duo winds up in the lead spot of the MT’s music section this week than Detroit hip-hop stars Black Milk and Danny Brown release a new video to support their latest EP. Black and Brown, the 10 track, 22 minute cannon shot of a combo album that came out this past…
City Slang: “Lady Luck” revisited
Going back about 8 years, I remember attending the Bulldog Bash in Long Marston, England, just outside of Stratford (Shakespeare country). The Bulldog Bash is an annual rock and motorbike festival hosted by the Hell’s Angels, and it’s always great fun. On the bill on this particular year was Broadzilla. I knew nothing about the…
Unpleasant truths for the Occupy Movement
Just about everybody seems excited about the Occupy Wall Street-inspired protests currently sweeping the nation. Michael Moore himself, filmmaker and patron saint of Flint, has been dashing around various cities, attempting to inspire the protesters. "There’s no turning back, is there?" he challenged the occupiers in Oakland, Calif., where, last week, a poor veteran of…
A classic mix
For a few years now, metro Detroit has seen the new cocktail culture slowly creeping in from the coasts. From the East Coast comes an emphasis on classic recipes and exclusive, almost candlelit interiors; from the West Coast, it’s more an emphasis on fresh ingredients and complex flavor profiles. Luckily, we seem to be getting…
High Stakes
Marijuana has twice played a role in bringing significant changes to the life of Barb Agro. The first time was a blessing. A former police dispatcher, the 71-year-old great-grandmother from Lake Orion suffers from arthritis in both of her knees. "It’s really bad," she says. Because she’s allergic to aspirin, she used Tylenol to ease…
Basic Headiquette
Give the gift of the green hit You don’t have to do much to set the tone for a good session. If you’re enjoying a toke with those seasoned in the smoke — and it’s your herb that’s wrapped up or packed up — defer the hit. Especially if you’re at home. Don’t make a…
Top cop changes his mind
It’s a surprise to hear that Dr. Isaiah "Ike" McKinnon, Detroit’s former top cop, believes that marijuana should be legalized and is speaking out on the issue. "I’ve never taken a public position on this, but I think it’s time to do so," McKinnon says. "We have to stand up for things we believe are…
Maid of dishonor?
I am marrying a man with two children — a boy and a girl — and we want to include his children in our wedding party. My best friend and maid of honor happens to work as an escort. You and I agree that prostitution should be legal and that sex work shouldn’t be stigmatized,…
The Pot Issue 2011
As the third anniversary of the ballot measure victory for Michigan’s medical marijuana is marked this week, proponents are dealing with setbacks from municipalities, police, prosecutors and the courts. Meanwhile, a former chief of Detroit police, Isaiah "Ike" McKinnon, is questioning our decades-long pot prohibition. Plus: Rapper Phat Kat’s perspective as a weed aficionado and…
Dude behind the curtain
There aren’t many hip-hop managers in the music biz now that hold as much sway as HexMurda. He’s been a fixture in the Detroit rap world for years, has managed some of the city’s most revered talent and, in the process, has positioned himself as a true music-biz consigliere. Despite suffering a debilitating stroke in…
Doug Stanhope
Doug Stanhope is close to a living show-biz urban legend, a notorious, near mystical figure, equally known for his relentless, punishing, no-apology style on stage, and for his free-wheeling lifestyle off it. Libertarian leaning, Stanhope has staked out his little corner of the standup universe with a fiercely funny and constantly challenging mind, one that…
Breakin’ the law
Ben Miles doesn’t need to rap. At least that’s what his producer Eddie Logix says. The local emcee’s already gainfully employed as an attorney at law. Still “there’s passion and honesty in [Miles’ music],” Logix says, “he genuinely does it for the love of it.” That’s right, Logix is talking about a lawyer. Miles can…
What’s In a Name?
Reading some of the reviews of Roland Emmerich’s Anonymous, it’s clear that the German director’s track record (Independence Day, Godzilla, 2012) of blowing up cities and, well, whole planets, has made him hard to take seriously. For the film’s fans, there is disbelief that the man who could be viewed as the Irwin Allen of…
Komodo Kitchen is a pop-up paradise
Komodo Kitchen Location varies komodokitchen.com info@komodokitchen.com Handicap accessibility may vary Prices: $25-$35 Hours: Sunday evenings Indonesian food hasn’t been among the more well-represented fare in the generally diverse culinary world of metro Detroit. We ostensibly love our Asian cuisine — everything from spicy tuna hand rolls to Vietnamese soup with pineapple and okra — but…
Morning’s first light
Ronnie Watts is a rapper, not your average line cook lyricist — not even close. His fans know him as Phat Kat, and so do most of your favorite rappers. Soaring under the radar, Phat Kat has maintained a reputation for murdering microphones for more than a decade. He’s Detroit through and through. Collaborations with…
Year of the Lords
When it seems there are more musical genres than bands (maybe not, but you know what I mean), what does Americana mean anymore? At face value, it’s not just a lazy riff anymore on Gram Parsons, Steve Earle and Yo La Tengo. Wikipedia calls it "an amalgam of roots musics formed by the confluence of…
Food Stuff
Queen of shots — Dubbed the "Patron Saint of Whiskey," St. Cece’s Pub has bestowed upon itself quite a name to live up to. Filling the space left by Corktown’s Baile Corcaigh, the pub has already drawn attention from famous pie man Rodney Harris, who stopped in for two days to dish up some of…
Hip Hopposites Attract
It’s just after 3 p.m. in the middle of America, and Detroit rapper Danny Brown does not want to be bothered. He’s pushed this interview back twice and genuinely wouldn’t be answering the phone if it weren’t at his publicists’ nudging. Brown, who graced the cover of Metro Times earlier this year, spent the past…
Me and my arrow
Eric Tomlinson loves bows and arrows. Has since he was a kid. And for years, Detroiters into archery had to head to the suburbs for target practice, because there was nowhere in the city for them to go. So he’d shoot at archery clubs in places like Lake Orion or West Bloomfield, where he’d see…
City Slang: Juggalos are officially a gang now
Quick note – normally, Tuesday is the day we post the weekly music review roundup. However, it has been a slow week, so that feature will be back next week. In the meantime, get your music over to us. Anyway… The NME is reporting that the FBI has now officially classified fans of the Insane…
