Passalacqua – Zebehazy Summer
Take a trip back to summer before the snow starts falling. Break the seal and let the funk fume out – these new Passalacqua tracks still retain the beads of sweat broke upon the brows of its two dueling rappers, churning out their rhymes over late 70’s funk samples and boogie-able beats inside an attic…
City Slang: Catfish Mafia to open for Ian Hunter
Local, self-proclaimed “rock and rollgrass” band Catfish Mafia will open up for legendary (and we don’t use that word lightly) former Mott the Hoople singer Ian Hunter and his new group the Rant Band at the Magic Bag in Ferndale on Saturday. Doors at 8 p.m. In Catfish Mafia’s own words, “In 2005, Nick Lucasian…
Flint Rapper Jon Connor, Will Ferrell and Shade 45 Radio
Any rapper creative enough to borrow his stage name from the Terminator movie is alright with me. Flint lyricist Jon Connor, who’ve we’ve given love to on this blog before, continues to impress me every time I hear him rap. Whether it’s from the Vinnie Chase mixtape he released last year or catching him live…
Deadmau5’s Meowingtons Hax tour shakes the Fillmore Detroit
“The floor is shaking, right? I’m not that drunk, am I?” a girl asks from the next stall over. We are on the third floor of the Fillmore Detroit on Friday, Oct. 21, 2011 and the floor is, indeed, swaying perceptibly beneath us with the stomping of the crowd as well as the bass from…
City Slang Reads: The Story of Motown
I know, I know. There are a ton of book out there, and a lot of them will be more academic and intellectually stimulating than this one. However, don’t be put off by the “Illustrated” tag on the front, or the cover art which makes the book look like a ‘60s or ‘70s teen magazine.…
City Slang: ICP prepare to get Hallowicked
On October 31, Halloween, the Insane Clown Posse, plus label-mates Twiztid and Blaze will play the annual Hallowicked show at the Fillmore in Detroit. Doors are 6 p.m. That will be followed by the after-party at St.Andrews from 10 p.m., featuring a performance from Wolfpac and JCW wrestling, which sounds pretty fucking scary to us.…
Occupy Detroit: Grand Circus Park takes to the street
As promised, Occupy Detroit marchers, along with Moratorium NOW!, came back to the Guardian Building on Friday, continuing to demand that Bank of America, which has offices there, end foreclosures immediately. A group of 500 or so demonstrators picketed to the same beat as on Tuesday, chanting to the rhythm ably banged on a trash…
Black Power Mixtape 1967-1975
Black Power Mixtape 1967-1975 Director: Goran Olsson Run time: 100 min Grade B- Just when you thought that we’ve explored every nook cranny and walk in closet of the chaotic, exhilarating cultural upheavals of mid-twentieth century America, there comes a fascinating scrapbook of odds and ends delivered from the unlikeliest of places; Sweden. Yes, though…
City Slang: Ro Spit offers free download
Rapper Ro Spit is offering a free download to anyone and everyone as he prepares for the release of his new album, The Glass Ceiling Project, on October 25. The free song, “Detroit 101”, features guest appearances from Fat Ray, Black Milk, Fatt Father, Guilty Simpson, and Marv Won. According to a statement, “”Detroit 101″…
The Way
The Way B- Emilio Estevez, both as an actor and a filmmaker, is nothing if not sincere. Ever since he played the jock who falls for the geek girl in The Breakfast Club, his career has been punctuated by characters and projects that drip with earnestness. Watching his recent films (Bobby, The War at…
Embattled Ficano retires lavish buyout deals for appointees
A controversial buyout program targeting certain Wayne County political appointees has been discontinued, according to stories being posted on The Detroit News and Free Press websites. The program, which provides eligible appointees with up to 24-weeks pay — on top of the lifelong pension payments they will receive — was first reported on www.metrotimes.com last…
City Slang: Woodman tricks Detroit with some treats
Frank Woodman of local folk-punks Woodman will resurrect his Halloween cover band for a traditional series of shows around the area. According to Frank, “The band consists of Myself, John “Hentch” Szymanski from the Hentchmen and SSM, Alex Glendening from the Decks and Deadbeat Beat and a dude named TJ Grech. This year we have…
Paranormal Activity 3
Paranormal Activity 3 Directed by Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman. Written by Christopher Landon. Starring Laurie Bittner, Chris Smith, Chloe Csengery, Jessica Brown and Hallie Foote. Running time: 85 minutes. Rated R. B- A cheap funhouse ride of a movie, Paranormal Activity 3 is a silly, yet wildly entertaining amusement, as satisfying and regrettable…
Up-and-comers of Edgefest ’97 now lead parade
Back when something new called Edgefest ’97 was happening, Andrew Bishop was a University of Michigan grad student of music and one of the younger and lesser-known participants in the event. These days, Bishop is a U-M assistant professor of jazz and contemporary improvisation. He’s also a widely traveled and well-recorded musician, and the Hank…
City Slang: “Void” revisited
Anyone remember Walk on Water? The local good time retro-rock ’n’ rollers remain one of the most underrated bands from the area, and they will no doubt be the subject of a future “revisited”. For now though, let’s talk Novadriver. Three of Novadriver were members of Walk on Water – vocalist Mark Miers, drummer Eric…
The FBI, a bigger fish, swims into Ficano’s world
In this week’s News Hits column, we provided an overview of the scandal that erupted when Wayne county Executive Bob Ficano’s administration provided Turkia Mullin a parting gift worth more than $224,000 when she quit her job as the county’s economic development director to become CEO of the Wayne County Airport Authority. In that piece…
Hot or not?
Q: I broke up with a girl who wasn’t hot enough for me. I tried my whole life to not be that kind of guy. I treated her carelessly because she wasn’t that important to me. I was self-indulgent and rude and disrespectful, and it made her cry. She’s perfectly attractive, but not in an…
Cannabis cup wrap-up
The idea of a Cannabis Cup conjured up visions of lines of tables in a room with people furiously toking away on numerous joints in the effort to judge the most powerful stuff. That didn’t happen. The High Times Medical Cannabis Cup held at Bert’s Warehouse Theater in Eastern Market over the weekend was no…
Howling Diablos: Detroit stars of a million bars
On just another mild evening in Royal Oak, Tino Gross called Johnny Evans to lay down some saxophone tracks for a Howling Diablos song in his basement-turned-studio. I then received a subsequent call from my brother Johnny and gladly accepted the opportunity to join them as they recorded tracks for their new album, Ultra Sonic…
DPS: FUBAR Planet
The Detroit Public Schools have been laying off teachers and cutting the pay of those who are left. Students have been fleeing in droves, and there’s not enough money to educate those who remain. Nevertheless, the schools, or rather, their emergency manager, have decided to pay out $650,000 because a former school board member masturbated…
Tashmoo Biergarten
A few months ago, this corner of Van Dyke in West Village was an empty lot with an overgrown tree in the back. It was less a place for people to hang out than to cut through to the alley. Not today. On this sunny Sunday, it is fenced in, filled with crowded, communal tables…
DJ Matt Clarke and the rise of dubstep in Detroit
Electronic music’s an odd world. If you’re a newcomer, the genre barriers are near-impossible to decipher. It’s all well and good if you got into the scene early but, if you’re coming in fresh, where do you start? It’s like buying a comic book — you go into a store and there are hundreds of…
Shark bait
For weeks now, there’s been the smell of blood in the waters surrounding Wayne County Executive Robert Ficano, and the media sharks have been dutifully circling, churning up one incriminating story after another. The ongoing scandal resulted in Ficano doing a little bloodletting of his own on Friday, when he suspended two high-ranking members of…
Dream bar crawl
Fort Street Brewery 1660 Fort St., Lincoln Park; 313-389-9620; fortstreetbeer.com; $$: Brewpub and restaurant with a friendly atmosphere, games, and a large beer list, including house-brewed suds like “Doug’s Turbo Sarsaparilla,” a root beer flavored beer. Look out for daily specials like $4 pepperoni pizzas during Monday Night Football. Northern Lights Lounge 660 W. Baltimore…
All the news that brews
Yes, they can Given the ever-growing popularity of craft beer in Michigan, it’s only natural that residents of the Great Lakes State would want some suds packaged in lighter, grab-and-go cans. Great for camping, canoe trips and other getaways, they mean you can enjoy the great outdoors without lugging a 12-pack of heavy bottles. It’s…
Sloshed 2011
Welcome to another Slöshed issue of Metro Times, bringing you the last word in beer, bars and much more. This time, we have the lowdown on Detroit’s first pop-up beer garden, the latest local products, Detroit cocktails past and present, and listings of some of the best places to hoist a pint glass in town…
Occupy Detroit: Reality check
Although we don’t know any of them personally, we do know who the 1 percent are. They are the people on the top rung of America’s economic ladder. We were given a snapshot of just how much better off that 1 percent is than the rest of us in an article by Nobel Prize-winning economist…
Sammy Davis Jr – Jumps With Joya Sherrill (1957)
It brings me no small amount of joy that this record cover could exist during the Eisenhower era, a time when television could only show Elvis’ pelvis from the waist up and Lucy and Ricky sleeping in separate beds on TV. Like a happiness-inducing Rorschach inkblot, I can look at the two figures on this…
Food Stuff
Beer fest Putting it right up front, don’t forget the Third Annual Detroit Fall Beer Festival, happening this Saturday, Oct. 22, at Eastern Market. It’s a cooperative effort between the Michigan Brewers Guild and Metro Times, and it’s a great chance to sample beers from Michigan’s craft brewers, with nearly 200 different beers available to…
The Hummer cocktail: Born in Detroit
The Hummer 1-1/2 ounces rum (usually Bacardi) 1-1/2 ounces Kahlúa 2 scoops vanilla ice cream A couple ice cubes Blend and serve in a 7-1/2-ounce rocks glass. When he started tending bar at Bayview Yacht Club in 1967, Jerome Adams wasn’t looking to create a worldwide sensation. He says he was just trying to…
Warm receptions
Torino Espresso + Bar 201 E. 9 Mile Rd., Ferndale 248-247-1370 torinoespressobar.com Handicap accessible Prices: $10-$30 Creating menus that are short in length but broad in appeal is an elusive skill — though the perfect café menu arguably strikes exactly that balance. Striving for that outcome is Torino Espresso + Bar, one of Ferndale’s newest…
Made in Detroit
The Last Word According to legend, the Last Word was invented at the Detroit Athletic Club in the 1920s. You can still order it at classic cocktail joints, such as Detroit’s Cliff Bell’s. But their general manager, Tony Muzzi, warns, "Don’t try this at home unless you have a delicate hand. It generally takes a…
The Cursed Crusade
The Cursed Crusade Kylotonn Xbox 360, PS3, Windows The Cursed Crusade restores hope in the hack-and-slash genre and packs a good time for everyone. Most of the button-mashing, horde-wrecking games in recent years have only been fun for the first few minutes before sliding into a "when will this nonsense end?" abyss of suckiness. In…
Bobby Charles – Bobby Charles (Deluxe Edition)(Rhino Handmade)
Musical archeology rewards. Look hard enough and you could discover each day until you die a mind-blowing record from any era of recorded music. This 1972 self-titled Bobby Charles album is one of those. It faded upon release and has only in recent years earned a word-of-mouth cult fan base; hence this three-disc deluxe reissue. …
Letters to the Editor
Signs of interest I read with great interest Detroitblogger John’s beautifully written, insightful and compassionate article on some of Detroit’s homeless people ("Ain’t too proud to beg," Oct. 5). About a year ago, I moved from a house in the Seven Mile and Livernois area to an apartment in Midtown. The window of my kitchen…
Footage of Mayer Hawthorne Performing “The Walk” on Conan
As Brett Callwood highlighted yesterday in his online City Slang column, Mayer Hawthorne was in deed on the Conan O’Brien show last night along with his mostly Ann Arbor raised backing band, The County. Earlier in the day, he sent out a tweet to his thousands of followers saying that he’d be jumping a motorcycle…
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…
A demand from Occupy Detroit: Stop foreclosures
The Occupy Detroit group has potentially set a precedent for groups aligned with the flagship in New York City. After their first weekend in Grand Circus Park, the group organized a demonstration with Moratorium NOW!, a pre-existing coalition that seeks to to stop foreclosures, evictions and utility shutoffs. (See “Up Against the banks,” MT News…
They Live! Theatre Bizarre Opens New Portals This Halloween
It’s not that it’s “too soon,” but John Dunivant still uses the word “heartbroken,” talking about Halloween, last year, when Theatre Bizarre was shut down. This Saturday, he’s working towards a resurrection. The multifaceted visual artist (and 2011 Kresge Arts Fellow) still uses the word “here” subconsciously when he speaks “the Grounds,” back on West State Fair that…
Bicyclists to take over Detroit streets for Critical Massquerade
Zombies, pirates, black cats and obscure movie characters — as well as people who are simply interested in a bike ride — will meet at 6:30 p.m. on Oct. 28 at the corner of Trumbull and Warren to participate in the Halloween edition of Detroit Critical Mass, a monthly cycling event that was founded in…
Talking Ibogaine with the Dimitri Mugianis of ‘Dangerous with Love’
Talking Ibogaine with the Dimitri Mugianis the self-styled Bwiti shaman featured in the film “Dangerous With Love”
T3 and Young RJ — “Dirty Mit”
It’s been awhile since Slum Village alum T3 attempted to make a serious move in the national hip-hop arena. Ever since his former bandmate Elzhi left Slum Village and let it be known to the world why he felt so betrayed, T3 smartly decided to distance himself from the hip-hop public in general. Without getting…
