“I APOLOGIZE FOR NOTHING”
We’re a tad disappointed that Ted Nugent himself hasn’t weighed in on my review of his ghastly new album that ran in the paper this week. Perhaps that sounds like we think that the review is more important than it really is in the grand scheme of things … but my good friend Gregg Turner,…
KEEP IT FREE!
MotorCityRock.com is one of the city’s finest resources for info on the Detroit rock scene and bands that came out of the area between 1980 and ’90. To help pay for the site, founder John Patrick has organized a “Keep It Free” benefit concert tomorrow night (Sept. 15) at the Hayloft Liquor Stand in Mt.…
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, FRED
Happy birthday to Fred “Sonic” Smith, born 58 years ago today. [Patti] talked about how her next New York performance, this Friday at the Beacon, falls on the birthday of her late husband (and MC5 guitarist) Fred “Sonic” Smith, who died in 1994 at the age of 45. “Even if you aren’t at the show…
MOURNING JUMA SANTOS
His discography as a percussionist includes Miles Davis’ Bitches Brew and sessions with Roy Ayers, David Sanborn, Taj Mahal and Tom Jones. He was also a photographer of note, with his work included in numerous exhibitions, both locally and nationally. And now word is circulating that Juma Santos – a serious traveler, scholar and teacher,…
WHOLE LOTTA LOVE?
Led Zeppelin was always a favorite of Detroit and had a unique relationship with the city, whether it was one of their early shows at the Grande Ballroom or one of the latter shows at Cobo Hall. Thus, some locals may be interested in the band’s upcoming reunion (with Jason Bonham filling in for his…
ANXIETY CANCELS WHITE STRIPES TOUR
Following on the heels of yesterday’s cancellation of their weekend gigs in Austin, the White Stripes announced today that they are canceling their entire forthcoming Icky Thump tour, again citing health issues. According to a press release, Meg White is suffering from acute anxiety and is unable to travel at this time. The White Stripes…
Of human bondage
When your friends are being used by their lovers, don’t be an enabler.
Departed department
Wayne State University eliminates interdisciplinary studies program.
Microwave man
Rod Modell does not immediately look the type to receive paranormal interplanetary information that he converts — by tweaking various sound machines — into some of the most strangely beautiful music on earth. But look again. Go deeper and you begin to suspect that, yep, he sure does. You don’t see it so much as…
Long shots
Jane Campbell never walked at graduation. Instead, she swam. The University of Michigan senior could have turned her tassel with the class of 1974, but competed instead in the only annual synchronized swimming competition of the year. The meet coincided, as luck would have it, with her commencement. At the time, women athletes at Michigan…
Cin tax
Rio Bravo (Special Edition) Warner Bros. John Wayne. The Duke. An actor, a man, an American icon. Despite the indelible line from the cult hit Repo Man (“John Wayne was a fag. He came to the door in a dress.”), Wayne’s macho cowboy image has remained unsullied, and never is that image more powerful than…
A straight-shooter’s tale
How Roberta Gubbins aimed high and hit her mark.
Bishop’s block
Strong words for Michigan’s senate majority leader.
Comics
The Boiling Point – by Mikhaela Reid The Perry Bible Fellowship – by Nicholas Gurewitch
Cells of urban sweetness
A gauzy cloud of softly buzzing bees enfolds me as I stand in an abandoned lot in downtown Detroit. A tall man in a white suit like an astronaut’s saunters through the tall weeds, carrying a device similar to a silver teapot with grass protruding from its spout. The “teapot” emits a trickle of smoke…
Far-out fare
The setting is exquisite. Tapawingo, the Native American name for the land that the restaurant occupies, is a remodeled handsome country home, bordered front and back with lush gardens. Tapawingo’s prix-fixe dinners run from $50 to $65 for three courses — appetizer, entrée and dessert. The menu changes frequently through the seasons, as does the…
The Cole report
As this paper goes to press, Gen. David Petraeus is set to provide Congress with his long-awaited report on the U.S. troop “surge” in Iraq. But George Bush didn’t wait to hear what Petraeus had to say before offering his views on how the war’s going. “We’re kicking ass,” the president reportedly told a high-ranking…
3:10 to Yuma
Based on an early Elmore Leonard story that’s a marvel of tick-tock efficiency, building tension every step of the way on the road to a fateful climax, Yuma is stark and focused with only the mildest distractions spoiling its ride. Bale plays wounded Civil War vet turned rancher Dan Evans, struggling with drought and debt…
The story of O + O
Obama, Oprah and that star-studded fundraiser.
The Boss of It All
Billed as the first comedy from Dogme95 co-founder Lars von Trier, The Boss of It All is actually the latest mindfuck from the Danish provocateur. There is nothing innocuous about a von Trier project, even one in which the filmmaker himself appears in the opening scene (reflected in the windows of an office building) to…
The nature of seeing
Each of the artists in Paint Creek’s I Paint What I See could easily sustain large solo exhibitions, so one wonders about the reason for this seemingly disparate grouping. As it turns out, exhibition director and curator Mary Fortuna wanted to show Tom Humes’ new, breakthrough paintings, and it was through discussions with Humes about…
Shoot ’Em Up
It takes all of 10 minutes to decide whether or not you’re on board with writer-director Michael Davis’ giddy, balls-to-the-wall celebration of handheld ballistics. That’s when Clive Owen, mid-gun-battle, shoots off the umbilical cord of the infant he’s just delivered. Yow. If the flash flood of hysterical violence, visual puns and bad one-liners in the…
Head Cheese
The Amino Acids burn through their top five.
Going faster miles an hour
Postcolonialist scholars, rejoice! Especially those who love a good beat, because the second album by the Sri Lankan Maya Arulpragasam, aka M.I.A. — who has also lived in London, India and now, finally, Brooklyn — is chock-full of the contradictions and oddities that arise when cultures meet, giving voice to the Third World, or at…
Even the losers
My eyes are as bulging and bleary as SpongeBob’s, my mind a fevered blur of images, actors and subplots. And I did it all for you. The coming of the fall television season typically sends a TV reviewer deep into his home entertainment grotto for hours, watching each new series the networks offer up. I’ve…
Smokey Rolls Down Thunder Canyon
The biggest problem with being part of a “scene” is that eventually the outside air no longer gets through. You either begin believing your own hype or your weirdest idiosyncrasies get far too much encouragement. Devendra Banhart, the Texas-to-Venezuela-to-San Francisco pied piper troubadour of the “freaky folk” scene of the 2000s, was already an eclectic…
Back at it
In little more than 30 minutes, and with a mere 11 revved-up songs, the Von Bondies marked a long-awaited return to the stage with a triumphant if low-key club gig. Fortunately, when vocalist Jason Stollsteimer sang, “I’m a broken man, this here’s my broken band,” to a packed, appreciative crowd, it wasn’t a self-fulfilling prophecy.…
Humanity Hour Vol. 1
In a blind taste test, this sounded like the album Clive Davis probably wished Kelly Clarkson had made — heavy rock with radio choruses straight out of Breakaway casting central. And sure enough, there’s not a song on this 14-song collection that parenthetically escapes Desmond Child’s involvement — and more than a few feature an…
Food Stuff
Full plates for local foodies.
Lady Chatterley
When Lady Constance Chatterley (Marina Hands) accidentally comes upon Parkin (Jean-Louis Coulloc’h) as he’s washing up, there’s something about his broad, muscular back that completely unnerves her. Ferran doesn’t film this as a Harlequin moment, but a shock of recognition, a reminder of the corporeal world. As she begins regularly visiting the hut where Parkin…
Motor City Cribs
West Grand is grand indeed for Brendan Gillen and Amber Elle.
The Brothers Solomon
John (Will Arnett) and Dean (Will Forte) Solomon are brothers who want to have a baby before their father dies to fulfill his dream of becoming a grandfather. Their social ineptness and seemingly innocent baby-making motives scare Jeanine (Kristen Wiig), the lucky surrogate, at first. As the movie goes on, Jeanine convinces the brothers that…
Promises, promises
David Cronenberg sits at the head of a long table in the lovely L’Ermitage Hotel in Beverly Hills. His silver hair is strangely out of place in the warmly lit room that seems to want to resist its brightness, like most rooms in southern California. He smiles, he jokes and he’s not creepy at all.…
Letters to the Editor
No hustings here? Kudos to Jack Lessenberry for a pretty good piece on the mess created by the Michigan Democratic Party’s decision to join Florida in bucking Democratic National Committee (DNC) rules on the dates for presidential primaries (“Primary concerns,” Metro Times, Aug. 29). While Jack’s explanation of why Michigan Democrats want to trump the…
What an asshole!
Ted Nugent has never been a bad guitarist — just a tad unimaginative and plodding. Nevertheless, he destroyed any cred he may have once had via his ridiculous antics and “political” statements that have “evolved” from merely cartoonish to damn near dangerous over the years. And, sure, part of it’s an act, mere “entertainment.” But…
Jeffrey Morgan’s Media Blackout
Why Spacekitti is lapping up the Milky Way.
Night and Day
Friday-Saturday • 14-15 Eugene Chadbourne and Jimmy Carl Black BEEFHEART RULES, OK? One time we went to see guitarist Eugene Chadbourne, and folks in the audience were yelling for “the rake.” We figured it was some underground hit single or something. But then Chad pulled out this amplified rake (yes, a garden-variety rake), and dragged…
American Life in Poetry
A poet runs with scissors.
Fires and flashbacks
Dr. Soon K. Kim linked to illegal burning of medical records.
NO STRIPES FOR AUSTIN…
Next to the annual South By Southwest music conference, the Austin City Limits Music Festival is that American music mecca’s biggest event of the year. Detroit expatriates the White Stripes were scheduled to headline the fest this Saturday night, but the band informed the festival’s producers today that they are canceling their performance, as well…
