Monster index
A cartoon Rolodex for ultimate Pokemon fans…
Derelicts in charge
Environmental report skewers Gov. Engler…
Satanic glam
Did you know that the devil lives in Texas and he’s got a hell-uv-a voice with a band to match? I didn’t until I listened to Goudie’s coming-out CD, Peep Show. A creepy-sexy fresh release straight from the Lone Star State, its got a very fashionable and eclectic musical hellscape, layered with glitter and vocals…
Video killed the board game
Bart Simpson did it with the lead pipe…
Courting controversy
WSU forum examines state justices…
Fight clubhouse
“Fight like a man,” announces the metallic, boldly straightforward box copy on the back of Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). Trademarked, the four-word quote spells out the theme of this Dreamcast romp very clearly: Fighting like a sissy doesn’t perspire greatness, only shameful, pitiless defeat. So with nearly flawless 3-D photo mapping, 22 of the UFC’s…
Still life anime
Japanese animation figures brought to life…
Green fling
A rockin’ fundraiser for Green Party candidates
Deja vu-du
I’m not quite sure that vu-du has much to do with the sounds coming off this CD, or voodoo either, for that matter. But whatever oracle Corey and Henry felt compelled to consult before laying down these tracks, the result is fairly impressive. For die-hard fans of acoustic, old-style blues that is unencumbered by modern-day…
Once upon a time in Detroit …
Walk & Squawk’s theater palace is a dream come true….
Progress, Motown style
The hole-y Campus Martius development languishes
Molto voce
Although she has recorded full-length operas, Dolora Zajick has never cut a solo CD, until now. And what a debut this is from the astounding singer from Nevada. There is a glut of light, coloratura mezzos today, but there is a dearth of big, dramatic mezzos. Zajick can claim this territory almost to herself, and…
Modified states
Pain is essential, transcendence is the goal….
Double your pleasure
White Stripes’ two-night stand at the Gold Dollar … Watching the budget while on tour … Halloween brings scarily good CD releases from DJ Assault, the Witches, Mod Ev and other locals … & more.
Black skin, black masks
The most incendiary film yet from cultural arsonist Spike Lee is an incredibly complex look at race in 21st century America — and how television continually serves up variations of Amos and Andy instead of the reality of black life — with Damon Wayans, Michael Rapaport and Savion Glover.
Letters to the Editor
Holy Toledo I am amazed to see the sordid yellow journalism going on in this town since Orbit Magazine ceased being the guiding light with its honest, good-natured and inspirational words. I am referring to your moonlighting ambulance-chaser’s petty digs and sour ramblings regarding the enlightened poetry of the great Vic Toledo. Even though you…
Count de Monnaie
Calling all arts lovers – bring your wallets and ballots…
Best in Show
irector Christopher Guest follows a motley crew of contenders from across America as they converge on Philadelphia to compete in the prestigious Mayflower dog show. If you’re a fan of comic mockumentary, this is the best thing showing.
Tragedy, trauma & trial
12 years after Lockerbie crash, Sue Bennett still has questions….
Lessons in vocalese
The most vexing of literary forms becomes easy — when you’re Jon Hendricks.
Billy Elliot
In Billy Elliot, dance is life. Billy stomps out his frustrations, channeling both his rage and Fred Astaire in a rubber-soled tap that kicks the dust from the streets of his Northern England mining town. Though the film raises issues of class and gender only to leave them hanging, it’s still worthy of applause.
Stop the press… please
The so-called debates themselves aren’t the real problem; it’s the media, which swiftly trivializes any discussion of any issue or institution, no matter how large.
The Come Ons
The Come Ons provide the Cliff’s Notes for your Detroit rock history class with Motown pop songcraft, swing-your-hips ’60s girl-group lyrics tied together by the instro-punk machismo of Ann Arbor in the late ’60s and early ’70s. In the ’00s, the band sweats the soul of a hard-working, industrial city — staining the armpits of…
The Ballad of Ramblin’ Jack
This intermittently entertaining documentary is the story of Ramblin’ Jack Elliott (made by his daughter Aiyanna Elliott), a country-folk singer in the manner of his idol Woody Guthrie and widely considered to be the link between Guthrie and Bob Dylan.
New, interesting, gorgeously green
Our intrepid reporter attempts to find new party locales, including indoor fun at Pure …an ultra-stylish vibe at the Temple … & star-studded shiny newness at the Emerald Theatre Complex.
Mod Ev
During a straight-up rock experience, a few things should happen. You expect to get your ass kicked (figuratively of course) and you also want to be turned on. Mod Ev exceeds these expectations, and the quartet has some good songs too! Led by the seductive strength of Tonya on vocals and Eva on guitar and…
Beau Travail
Director Claire Denis’ follow-up feature to Nenette et Boni is a very loose adaptation of Herman Melville’s Billy Budd transplanted to Djibouti, a present-day French Foreign Legion outpost in East Africa. But the only resolution to its sustained ambiguity is an enigmatic outburst at the end.
Free Will Astrology
ARIES (March 21-April 19): For some of you Aries, this is a perfect moment to dive deeply into stories of other people’s suffering. Stretching your capacity to feel empathy and compassion will actually make you a smarter person. And what about the rest of you Rams? I suggest you actively fight against any perverse fascination…
Forced to laugh
Dick Gregory uses the cover of laughter to sneak through his radical thought before you even know what hit you…
Digital French fries
Director Luc Besson’s DVD banquet keeps growing….
Dr. T & the Women
Robert Altman’s latest, for all its fine performances (some terrific actresses in thankless roles), is more style than substance. Even the shock of a graphic birthing scene can’t elevate this women’s tale beyond what can be found in the smothering, perfumed pages of glossy fashion magazines.
Jiffy Pop the question
Q: I’m a 33-year-old, nice-looking, professional guy. I haven’t had a girlfriend in three years because of a demanding job and because I am incredibly choosy about the women I take up with. I would rather be alone than date a woman who isn’t right for me. Two weeks ago, I met a woman through…
All cool on the Web
Kick back, relax, and soak up these tidbits of Internet goodness in yet another cybersurvey edition of Netropolis…
Poppy seconds
For a band to follow up its successful debut album is a guaranteed challenge, especially if your band happens to be Jets to Brazil. Orange Rhyming Dictionary will always be looked at as Blake Schwarzenbach’s (vocal-guitar-keyboard) post-Jawbreaker project. And with a rhythm section formerly of Texas is the Reason and the Van Pelt, this project…
Basic Traneing
Rhino’s been all over the map lately, releasing sets of sci-fi movie themes, vintage blues-rock cabernets and, most beloved of the jazz-smitten, the occasional must-have master session. Falling precisely in this last category are two sides from Coltrane’s Atlantic years. On Coltrane Plays the Blues (recorded Oct. 24, 1960), Trane digs into serene roots with…
Going for the gold?
• As a 33-year-old single woman who knows how to please and be pleased sexually, I would like every man to understand that being pounded for 30 minutes until my sacred groove is numb is not good sex. Instead of worrying about how long they stay hard, I think men should look at their lovers…
Somethings borrowed and blue
Jon Hendricks sings rivers of words as stories in swing….
Tart Thai mango salad
“Eat In Thailand” is the command — or the invitation — and a pulsing neon arrow shows you where Thailand is. Once inside the bare-bones storefront — no travel posters, just a few small pictures of dragons and pagodas — you’ll find fresh food that blends the lightness of lime juice, the richness of coconut…
Hoop! There it is!
The return of a classic, friendly shape to glamour prominence….
Damaged greats
Rock veterans bring crazy wisdom to industrial supergroup….
Basic Traneing
Rhino’s been all over the map lately, releasing sets of sci-fi movie themes, vintage blues-rock cabernets and, most beloved of the jazz-smitten, the occasional must-have master session. Falling precisely in this last category are two sides from Coltrane’s Atlantic years. On Coltrane Plays the Blues (recorded Oct. 24, 1960), Trane digs into serene roots with…
Mystic mud
Want to learn the inner secrets of a double mocha latte? Pay a visit to xhedos coffee shop, Ferndale’s very own Church of the Almighty Bean.
Crazy politics
Take this council seat, please….
No snooze is bad snooze
Sure, you try and review a book that’s actually meant to put you to sleep. You can’t even make all those snarky comments reviewers save for the worst kinds of yawners, like “Better than Nyquil,” “A sure sleeper” or “It fell out of my sleeping hand.” Insomniac author Ellen Sue Stern decided to compile a…
Innard-terrestrial
Game offers gruesome, paranormal fun…
Sorry, wrong number
Detroit News incorrectly reports People Mover closure…
Riotous grrly fun
Double-cross their paths and you’d best watch your back. After a five-year hiatus, the surf ’n’ turf tension of Bratmobile’s vendetta rock is back and still making a party out of target practice. Like the Brats’ riot grrl reign nearly a decade ago, the trio’s victims — dumbshit boys and dimwit girls — will run…
Scoot over, Rollerblades
Modern transportation with a nostalgic feel…
Death sentences
A year later, five more prisoners die in Detroit jails…
Underdawg
Admit it now, you didn’t think he’d do it, did you? Phife, everyone’s favorite 5-footer, seemed increasingly uninterested and uninvolved in A Tribe Called Quest and hip hop in general since his move to Atlanta five years ago. So it seemed possible that he would simply fade away into obscurity after the group’s breakup. With…
