Hail the loyal opposition
Evidently, there are some media people who think we should now abandon any sort of critical thinking about this administration and their policies. But we need voices of dissent now more than ever.
The Saw, The Fan, The Aquarium (3 CD box set)
Unlike some electronic musicians who clearly draw inspiration and attitude from the flash and dazzle of rock culture, the author of this three-CD box set gets his signals juiced by the raw sounds of everyday objects. Jeff Karolski sculpts three long pieces from source material he might have found in a garage sale: a saw,…
Music of the future
The more minimalistic, futuristic Detroit exponents of electro have made the greatest impact on shaping the global resurgence — Cybotron, Aux 88, Drexciya. Plus: MAERSKMUSIC at MONA.
Jackpot
Set in the cutthroat world of professional karaoke singers, this is another dreamy reverie from the Polish brothers (Twin Falls, Idaho). Basically a buddy movie, it’s a tale of the often strained but unbreakable bond between a karaoke champ (Jon Gries) and his world-weary manager (Garrett Morris).
We’re a winner
Metro Times news and music stories win three first-place Michigan Press Association awards … and Metro Times writers’ talents are honored with some pretty cool awards.
Eternal
After more than 40 years and 36 albums, the Isley Brothers have earned respect and continue to make R&B appealing across generations. Songs such as “Shout” and “Fight The Power” entertained white and black audiences then and now. These days Ronald Isley has increased the lights shining on him with the invention of his alter…
Letters to the Editor
Terrorism begins at home Concerning Jack Lessenberry’s column ("The liberal dilemma," Metro Times, Sept. 26-Oct. 2), the United States has sponsored or supported more state terror since World War II than any other country, except possibly the Soviet Union. There were thousands of Nicaraguans killed by mercenaries bought and paid for by the United States,…
The Heat Is On
Listening to the reissued editions of the Isley Brothers classics The Heat Is On and Harvest for the World, brings to mind a comment made by Professor Griff of Public Enemy during a recent African World Festival panel discussion. According to Griff, contemporary music has grown dull because of two issues. The first is sampling,…
Afghanistan: The long view
By Sunday morning, Washington time, the aerial bombardment of Afghanistan was under way. But what happens when the bombing stops?
Time (The Revelator)
It’s utterly feasible that a first-time listener would assume Gillian Welch to be a dead-and-gone artist from the genre of Depression-era mountain music. She plays the role, alongside partner David Rawlings, to a “T,” incorporating antique guitars, Southern colloquialisms and a hint of drawl. In fact, the Los Angeles born and bred artist excels at…
Re-Union, low lights, high hopes
The true Detroit story behind the Niagara-vs.-CPOP contract imbroglio (and a long list of who showed up) … Coston as the weakest link? … & A benefit concert for RBBS drummer Jeff “Shakey” Fowlkes.
The Girl
In director Sande Zeig’s feature debut, based on a short story by French author Monique Wittig, a nightclub singer is the elusive focus of a tale of obsessive lesbian love that both embraces and dissects film-noir conventions. It’s as elegantly spare as the quiet Parisian streets of its setting.
On the run: Gil Hill
Detroit’s 2001 Mayoral Race: Former cop Gil Hill campaigns for his toughest role to date.
Is This It?
Some argue that rock is dead. If so, then explain the buzz surrounding a certain rock band from New York, which has, in recent months, reached deafening levels. With only a couple EPs and some championing from the English press, the question on every boy’s and girl’s lips the world over is: “So, you heard…
On the run: Kwame Kilpatrick
Detroit’s 2001 Mayoral Race: Kwame Kilpatrick is a parable in the making.
Danse Macabre
Dance-music makers may have bodies in mind when constructing their records, but the Faint takes that notion to its illogical extreme. The Lincoln, Neb.-based band’s aptly titled third long-player, Danse Macabre, isn’t just made for bodies, it’s made of bodies: Torsos, limbs, jaws, tongues, throats and hands populate the album’s New Wave redux, as do…
Ratings war
MPAA film ratings system effectively censors sexual content and other “offensive” material….
Shadows on the Sun
Heavy is as heavy does and Zen Guerrilla, over the course of the late ’90s and early ’00s, has done it a lot. It is rocking live, loud and in every corner of the nation, spreading the rumor that, despite words to the contrary, rock hasn’t lain down and gone quietly just yet. This evangelism…
On the read
Burroughs, Ginsberg, di Prima, Kerouac … The best minds of their generation take us back to beatitude.
Bombs away
We’ve got a war, but hopefully it won’t preempt football….
Tougher love
Denzel Washington is a shady LAPD horseman of the urban apocalypse, a ghetto Macbeth illustrated with artistic effectiveness by director Antoine Fuqua’s (The Replacement Killers) shades and colors — co-starring Ethan Hawke.
Missing the signals
• I have been married 19 years, am 42, have a great job, a nice house, a healthy daughter and a successful, respected husband. Everything looks perfect but, like in many marriages, appearances can be deceiving. I am writing in response to the writer alarmed to find her husband visiting Internet porn sites. I can…
Singing away the blues
Help fight the home-turf wars against hunger and illiteracy….
Serendipity
Serendipity
sounds as if it could be a flavor found in some fashionable café. But this romantic comedy isn’t rich and full-bodied: It’s as light as the foam in a nonfat cappuccino. John Cusack is the main ingredient bringing out the charm this flick substitutes for sweetness.
Free Will Astrology
ARIES (March 21-April 19): Warning: image overhaul underway; persona in flux. Old boundaries partially washed away; new lines not yet drawn. Familiar friends insecure in light of shifting meanings; fresh allies attracted by whiff of sexy risks. Recommendation: Hunt down even pithier questions; shun smooth solutions and premature answers. Harvest delightful revelations resulting from a…
Back to Attica
Former prisoner Shango left his own victims behind….
Haiku Tunnel
Conceived and first performed as a comic monologue by Josh Kornbluth, this office comedy stars Josh as a nebbish temp who accidentally finds himself faced with the daunting prospect of going perm. It’s a nice slice of alienation-lite, both smart and reassuringly inconsequential.
No trespassing
The Donnas penetrate the cock-rock realm, turning that masculinized and misogynist genre into a Third Wave feminist free-for-all.
On the sidelines
Dennis Archer won’t choose between candidates Hill and Kilpatrick….
Going somewhere?
Neither a novel nor a collection of stories, The Blue Guide to Indiana belongs to a unique category: the fake travel book. Michael Martone, a graduate of the Writing Seminars at Johns Hopkins University, hides fictions within nonfiction-style prose to create an artificial Hoosier State. To buttress the hoax, the book’s credits page lists nine…
Fear factor
There hasn’t been much to laugh about lately. But there are things to think about, and from plenty of surprising places, about how our sense of “normal” is changing.
Gimme a commercial break
Patriotism as a way to our pockets….
Good girls and bad bunnies
An indie film shot entirely in metro Detroit, psycho-terror thriller Rachel’s Attic has a big-budget look and attitude, thanks to well-crafted special effects and writer-director David Tybor’s disquieting imagination.
Musical offering
Jazz and poetry benefit to raise funds for ovarian cancer and Gilda’s Club….
5-foot-9 and rising
In a city whose hip-hop talent pool is not to be taken lightly, Detroit native Royce turns the cameras on tha D in two brand-new videos, with tracks from his big-label debut.
St. Thomas Boys Academy
The boys in the Academy teach Punk Rock 101 with a minor in Advanced Fun. Raw guitars and vocals are punctuated with a blast of horn action, and the furious rhythm will soon have you dancing on your desk. STBA’s new EP is a great introduction to the course, but if you really want to…
