LEVI STUBBS’ TEARS
“Baby, I Need Your Loving.” “Bernadette.” “Standing In The Shadows of Love.” “I Can’t Help Myself (Sugar Pie Honey Bunch).” “Reach Out, I’ll Be There.” “It’s The Same Old Song.” “Ain’t No Woman (Like The One I’ve Got)… No more really needs to be said… Rest in peace, gentle man.
THE TRUTH ABOUT THE GO…
You may have read several rumors on the Internets today that James McConnell and Marc Fellis are leaving the Go and being replaced by drummer Ben and guitarist-singer Danny Kroha of the Readies. Well, here’s the official scoop: No truth to that rumor whatsoever. Says the Go’s Bobby Harlow: “Jim and Marc have not quit…
The Old Picturehouse
I don’t know if you feel as I do, but when I walk into a place like the Fox Theatre or the Detroit Film Theatre, I’m struck with a sense of awe. It’s just amazing that these places were made for film. They don’t make ’em like that anymore and the multiplex just doesn’t have…
EMINEM ANNOUNCES NEW ALBUM AND 313 DETROIT TRIBUTE NIKES…
During the NYC book release party last night (October 15th) for his upcoming autobiography, The Way I Am, Eminem announced that the official title of his next album will be Relapse. The rap superstar also debuted a track — “I’m Having A Relapse” (about a Xanax-popping serial killer) — during last night’s Manhattan festivities. The…
HAWTIN GETS WIRED…
Just in case you’ve missed it thus far, our home boy Richie Hawtin — still based in Berlin these days — made the cover of the October issue of the highly-respected Wire magazine, which features a long, indepth Q&A with the acclaimed electronic musical wizard. Go here to buy a copy…
Stoking the fury
McCain’s appeal to America’s ugly side has hurt him
Conspicuous Consumption – People’s Poll
BEST NEW RESTAURANT Maria’s Comida 11411 Joseph Campau, Hamtramck; 313-733-8406 Mexican food on Hamtramck’s Polish strip? It might have sounded odd a decade ago, but among our readers it has a serious following. No matter how much you like pierogies and kielbasa, traditional Mexican food — with a few of Maria’s “specialties” — make this…
Attack of the killer angels
When artist Derek Hess and Cleveland-area politician Kent Smith finished their book of political art and essays, Please God Save Us, they knew they had to get it out before the presidential election. But none of the interested publishers could make the deadline. So Hess added Strhess Press to his roster of companies and projects…
Conspicuous Consumption – Staff Picks
BEST NEW RESTAURANT Modern Food and Spirits 1535 Cass Lake Rd., Keego Harbor; 248-681-4231 To be sure, Keego Harbor is a schlep for most of us, but it is well worth the time and gas to dine at Modern Food and Spirits, across from Cass Lake. The Modern, which opened at the end of last…
Couch Trip
“We want the world and we want it now,” Jim Morrison cried at the climax of “When the Music’s Over.” He wasn’t kidding around. The ’60s were winding down and they were strange days indeed. The youth were revolting (in every sense of the word) and their struggle made for fine film fodder. Rock ‘n’…
Community Chest – Staff Picks
DETROIT’S BEST STEP FORWARD Detroit’s RiverWalk Once a terribly neglected resource, Detroit’s riverfront has been transformed into a true gem — we’d say a sapphire, given the sparkling blue waters now easily accessible because of the lovely promenade constructed in recent years under the guidance of the nonprofit Detroit RiverFront Conservancy. When completed, the walkway…
Letters to the Editor
Eyes on the bridge Thanks for keeping the spotlight on the Detroit International Bridge Company (“Don’t fence us out,” Oct. 8). Every time I read about more abuses by the bridge company — taking public property, building without permits, violating zoning laws, etc. — I wonder why the city of Detroit or the state of…
Mayor Esham? What?
Esham is, in conversation, an amicable dude. Not what you’d expect from the pioneer of “acid rap” — a hip-hop subgenre that’s been criticized for its dark, satanic images — and an admitted influence on multi-platinum superstars like Eminem and Insane Clown Posse. But the Detroit musician, whose 13th studio album, Sacrificial Lambz, hit stores…
Foreclosure fight
As it became clear last week that the $700 billion federal bailout was failing and talks to avert a worldwide economic meltdown continued, protesters in Detroit called for immediate action they say would address a fundamental part of the crisis: people being forced from their homes as a result of foreclosures. While the group Moratorium…
D-pressed
In the partisan politics of electronic dance music, it’s historically been a case of techno vs. house vs. electro vs. drum ‘n’ bass vs. disco vs. experimental rock vs. whatever else is out there to which you can shake ass. But political wiggling in club culture has become largely irrelevant, giving way to the dreaded…
Foxaganda
Why FOX’s smear of ACORN is nuts
Tiger Stadium: A love story
Henry asks determinedly, “Dad, why is Tiger Stadium damaged?” Our heads twist back, as the car banks slowly on the exit ramp toward his Indian Village preschool. A faint blur of green grass flashes beneath the tangled gray, blue and remaining upper-deck orange. My almost-4-year-old has been asking this question for almost four weeks. He…
War wounds
Detroit attorney sues U.S. on behalf of Agent Orange victims
The Glory of Capitalism – Staff Picks
BEST PLACE TO SHOP GREEN IN THE CITY Bureau of Urban Living 460 W. Canfield, Detroit; 313-833-9336; bureauliving.com Husband and wife team Claire Nelson and Francis Grunow opened the cosmopolitan, hip shopping destination Bureau of Urban Living to fill a need for Detroit residents — a place to purchase home accessories and necessities. But what…
Jeffrey Morgan’s Media Blackout
Step right up and see Jeffrey Morgan’s Media Blackout #193 Ghost Bees — Tasseomancy (Youth Club) :: Anytime I hear an album with violas and violins on it, I know I’m in for a rough emotional ride. But nothing prepared me for this eerie evocation of everything that lies dormant deep in the back of…
Spend the Night – Staff Picks
BEST LEATHER DADDY BAR The Eagle 1501 Holden St., Detroit; 313-873-6969 The Eagle, a cavernous two-story building of dark wood and exposed beams, is filled with flags and awards that herald the heady local leather community. It’s also headquarters to the Detroit Bondage Club: Members hold monthly trysts upstairs wearing combat boots, facial harnesses, straitjackets…
Comics
The Boiling Point – by Mikhaela Reid
Community Chest – People’s Poll
BEST CHANGE IN THE DIA RENOVATION More … more … more … More of what, readers couldn’t agree on. But they celebrated a new DIA that has “more places to roam,” “the bigger, more prominent café,” “more people-friendly,” “more places to view,” “more hangout space,” “more open and transparent to the public.” BEST CHANGE TO…
A better bar
The Pub is open from 11 a.m. to 2 a.m. every day, and the most popular items on the menu (as on all menus) are the burgers. They’re a succulent half-pound of certified Angus, dressed up with white cheddar or goat cheese or caramelized bacon or portobellos, delivered rare if you ask for rare. Other…
The Glory of Capitalism – People’s Poll
BEST WOMEN’S CLOTHIER TIE The GetupVintage 215 S. State St., No. 3, Ann Arbor; 734-327-4300; thegetup.com Nordstrom Locations in Troy, Novi and Clinton Twp.; nordstrom.com On the surface, these winners couldn’t seem more different — a small indie boutique selling reasonably priced retro fashions versus an upscale department store chain toting today’s top name-brands. But…
City of Ember
An underground marvel of decaying brick, twisted wire, rusting metal and assorted scraps, the City of Ember is like a clever mash-up of distopian cinematic playgrounds. But underneath the patina of industrial waste, grime and fading propaganda posters there beats a heart of pure progressive, eco-conscious uplift. This subterranean enclave is the only home its…
‘Definitions have vanished’
“Rest and unrest derive from illusion,” guitarist David Torn intones repeatedly against a droning background on his latest recording, Prezens (ECM). Then he moves to a second line to repeat, what sounds like: “Definitions have vanished.” It’s an almost too-obvious footnote to the collage of sounds that start the record off: something like four musicians…
Body of Lies
Based on veteran journalist and Washington Post columnist David Ignatius’ 2007 novel about a CIA operative working in the Middle East, the film bounces with Bourne-like aplomb from Iraq to Jordan to England to Dubai, as Agent Roger Ferris (Leonardo DiCaprio) pursues a slippery terrorist leader. Lethal but earnest, Ferris is connected by satellites and…
Spend the Night – People’s Poll
BEST NEW NIGHTSPOT (LAST TWO YEARS) TIE Park Bar 2040 Park Ave., Detroit; 313-962-2933 Cherry Martini 50296 Cherry Hill Rd., Canton; 734-495-0550 With its big-windowed view, graceful, roundabout bar and upstairs music venue, the Park Bar truly is a presence in the night, a lovely beacon in downtown D. The Cherry Martini’s high-end club atmo…
The Express
Rob Brown (Finding Forrester) gets the start as Ernie Davis, a humble, hard-working kid asked to fill the cleats and No. 44 jersey of his idol Jim Brown (Darrin Dewitt Henson). Davis succeeds beyond all expectations. In three short years at Syracuse, Ernie Davis racked up 2,386 yards, MVP honors, a National Championship and became…
Best of Detroit 2008
As we go to press early on some of these pages, the stock market’s still tumbling. We were too wrapped up in this issue to listen closely to what the president said about his latest package to deal with the crisis, but there’s a rumor going around the office that he’s asked the Joint Chiefs…
XXY
Alex (Inés Efron) asks her father, Kraken (Ricardo DarÃn), why he’s so intensely protective. After all, this marine biologist with a passionate streak for preserving endangered species has always made his daughter feel that she’s “perfect,” regardless of how others may perceive her. Alex was born with intersex conditions — female and male reproductive organs…
Night and Day
WEDNESDAY • 15 JAY REATARD GUTTER PUNK At the ripe age of 26, Jay Reatard has already been around the punk-rock block more than a few times. At 15, Reatard contributed to a number of bands, from full-time gigs to side projects, before going solo with 2006’s Blood Visions. Reatard is known for trashy, thrashy…
Insightful and sensitive
Fatih Akin, the Turkish-born German filmmaker, can effortlessly glide between the gutter romance of vintage Alex Cox and divine narrative choreography of Krzysztof Kieslowski. Constructed like a novel this film’s complicated plot begins with lonely widower Ali (Tuncel Kurtiz) propositioning middle-aged hooker Yeter (Nursel Kose) to be his paid live-in concubine. The two move in…
A jpeg too far
New to pegging, cottonmouth problems and something that grosses Dan out
MUGGS & CLAWSON: ON THE BLUES-ROCK TIP
The Muggs are releasing two new unreleased songs from their On WIth The Show sessions this Friday, October 17th. The tracks will be available on 7-inch “collectors vinyl” in a classic A-side/B-side format. It’s the trio’s first-ever vinyl 7-incher…and the A side, “Bite of the Weredog,” is described as “a Halloween jam” (well, duh!) with…
“ACTING LIKE A DICK WON’T WIN A WAR…”
More terrific political musical commentary…
