Cover Stories
Fall Arts Guide 2012 Listings
EXHIBITS 555 Gallery, 2801 W. Vernor Hwy., Detroit, 888-495-2787. 555’s 10-Year Exhibition Grand Opening, 555 Nonprofit Gallery and Studio celebrates its tenth birthday with a new exhibit feauturing artists who have exhibited at the gallery during its history. An outdoor ceremony will be followed by performances by Monica Blaire, Flatland Star, and more. A. Alfred…
Cars, punk, jazz & deities
The trick with successful collective-based art? Submerge the ego in service of the work. The trick with bringing multiple, otherwise-disparate collectives together successfully? Synthesize the spirit. The ambitious Vision in a Cornfield exhibit — which opened at MOCAD last Friday — pulls off the tricky move of not just collecting and displaying the work of…
Fall Arts Issue 2012
Recreating Detroit How Carl Nielbock uses art to tell his story, our story and history Behind bars with the Bard Shakespeare puts prison life in perspective Cars, punk, jazz & deities Three visionary collectives find a common Detroit ground Fall Arts Guide 2012 listings A comprehensive list of all art-realted happenings in and around Detroit…
Behind bars with the Bard
For information on Frannie Shepherd-Bates’ other theatrical project, the Magenta Giraffe Theatre Company, see magentagiraffe.org. Frannie Shepherd-Bates sits in a hard plastic chair in the front row of what looks like a small school auditorium. Concrete walls painted an institutional white surround the DIY theater veteran, while a dozen orange-clad inmates sit attentively nearby. Shepherd-Bates…
Detroit Design Festival Returns
With five days filled with more than 60 events — many of them concentrated in downtown, Midtown and other inside-the-Boulevard locations — it will be hard to avoid the second annual Detroit Design Festival. More than 300 designers are to take part in the celebration of art, architecture, furniture design, fashion design, interior design, illustration…
Re-creating Detroit
Artist and restorer Carl Nielbock is giving us a tour of his live-work space near Eastern Market. He chatters nonstop in his German accent, guiding us from the first-floor loading area up through the second-floor workshop and design studio, where his plans for future projects adorn the walls. On one half-wall is a photograph of…
Taking ‘nonstop’ music to a whole new level
Saturday, Mark Mallman and his band of trusty technologists started the world’s first transcontinental, non-stop bio-musical webcast (or, “Marathon IV: Road Rogue,” as the team refers to it) during which they will travel from New York to Los Angeles over the course of 7 days — continuously creating and webcasting a live musical soundtrack as…
Indie Singles Roundup
Jeffery Drag Records- This label is really cool, and listening to just one of their records proves it. I had no expectations when I asked for copies of these, but that changed very quickly. Not only does the label release almost exclusively to 7” and cassette, their bands are well known too (Turbo Fruits, Natural…
TIFF ’12 Diary: Day 7
The latter half of Tiff gets a bit sparser in terms of high profile stuff and major premieres, so this is where its fun to try and exit your comfort zone and start seeing stuff that just kind of interests you and might not otherwise be on your radar. Unfortunately today wasn’t the greatest example…
Wild Nothing -with Oblisk and DIIV -Tonight / Right Now (Magic Stick)
Tonight – 9pm – at the Magic Stick – Wild Nothing: Propulsive rhythms, uptempo dance-pop-drives and sweet/hazy harmonies smeared with syrupy reverb – Wild Nothing are instant charmers with their tastefully blended brand of 80’s-ish aesthetics; the feedback flecked-up just enough to affect that surfy-fuzzed swoon of shoegaze, the synthetic strings woozing their swirling wails…
Everybody In The Same Trance
FERNDALE – the morning-after D.I.Y…. ~Rolling my bike through the lots this morning, leaf-blowers utilized for confetti-wrangling and street sweepers sponging-away cakey-beer stains from the asphalt, heart still warmed by the encouraging sentiments slung deep under those white vinyl tents with D.I.Y. artists hanging their hearts on display. Yeah, it was big, bigger than any…
2012 TORONTO FILM FESTIVAL: Day Two
Last year my second favorite film of the festival was TAKE THIS WALTZ by actor-turned-director Sarah Polley (you can read my review here). I was excited to kick off Day Two this year with Polley’s documentary STORIES WE TELL, which not only elevates navel-gazing autobiography to something unique…
City Slang: The Hard Lessons surprise DIY
For me, DIY Sunday kicks off with a stunning set from Phantasmagoria on the Metro Times Stage. Somehow, I had managed to avoid seeing these guys live despite the many hearty recommendations I had been given. Oh well, the wait was worth it. The combination of loops, percussion and stunning female vocals brings to mind…
TIFF ’12 Diary: Day 6
With 5 days down and 5 days to go after this one, it’s hump day at Tiff, so how appropriate that all of the films on my schedule star women. Most of the major premieres have happened at this point, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t still a lot of good stuff to see. Indeed,…
DIY-Day 3: “Been a Minute”
If you’re up on the big stage under the big lights and the sun’s gone down… best do something up-to or at-least-near the level of: … belting out Madonna ballads in your underwear. Illy Mack showed this town a party last night during the D.I.Y. Street sensations… Two brass players, a full rock-suited band firing…
City Slang: The sun shines on Ferndale
It has to be said – the Ferndale DIY Street Fair might not have the cool factor of Dally in the Alley because of its suburban location while not having the pull of something like Arts Beats & Eats because, you know, it’s a fraction of the size, but the feeling surrounding the festival midway…
TIFF ’12 Diary: Day 5
Okay, time to try speed-blogging. I saw four films today: one was very good, one wasn’t very good, I fell asleep in one, and one was one of the most powerful films I’ve ever seen. Let’s do this. Thanks For Sharing When tackling the subject of sex addiction, it seems like there are two…
City Slang: Liz Larin hooks up with FlashClash, but the Dirty Show is off
Liz Larin will be presenting her electronic project Lusterkraft at the Magic Bag on October 5, alongside FlashClash and Wireless G. They say, “’LusterKraft’ is a special solo electronic music project with projected visual art, first released in 2008 on Bona Dea Music which has been touring selective cities in the US and Canada. áOn…
Weekend Hit List
Friday 14th Max Vangeli Elektricity is fast becoming the venue to see the world’s best electronic music artists in metro Detroit. House music chap Max Vangeli was described by MTV as “One of the most promising artists for… [READ MORE] DIY Street Fair The DIY Street Fair is a free 2-day, 3-night event in Ferndale, Michigan…
Detropia
Detropia| B- Symbolism is stock in trade for the film industry, but for those who live in and around Detroit, life isn’t a metaphor, it’s as real as the empty buildings that crumble along Cass Avenue or the shuttered auto plants that loom above East Grand Boulevard. While directors Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady…
Arbitrage
Richard Gere excels at playing jerks, morally ambivalent, smug overachievers who glide through the world on an aura of handsomeness. That particular shade of the veterans star’s screen persona reaches its zenith in Arbitrage, in which Gere essays an alpha male financial predator whose decades of success and toxic sense of entitlement have rotted his…
City Slang: Louder Than Love in Hell
Louder Than Love, Tony D’Annunzio’s documentary movie about the Grande Ballroom, will be screening twice at the Half Mile Film & Music Festival in Hell, MI, on October 5 and 7. They say, “HHM Fest is more than an event for those who simply appreciate film and music. It’s a grassroots effort to develop a…
City Slang: Static Records presents Akabane Vulgars on Strong Bypass
Local label Static Records is responsible for some fascinating releases over the years, not least an awesome Iggy Pop tribute album a few years ago. On Thursday September 27, Static is bringing Japanese (J-Rock) all-girl power trio the Akabane Vulgars on Strong Bypass to the Corktown Tavern. Locals White Shag and the Luckouts support. The…
2012 Toronto Film Festival – DAY ONE.Part 2
It’s no secret that I’m a fan of Martin McDonagh’s work. I love his dark, twisted comedies, particularly his Inishman plays. His short “Six Shooter” well deserved it’s Oscar and “In Bruges” is wickedly funny yet poignantly tragic. Ralph Fiennes’ performance aside, I have tremendous respect for what McDonagh pulled off. So, to say that…
Wealthy folk
Ethan Daniel Davidson celebrates the release of Silvertooth with a show on Saturday, Sept. 15, at the DSO Music Box, Max M. Fisher Building, 3711 Woodward Ave., Detroit; 313-576-5111. It’s hard to believe, considering the backstory, but singer-songwriter Ethan Daniel Davidson has had to struggle to get his music heard and, perhaps more pertinently,…
Black activist’s food for thought
Malik Yakini, director of the Detroit Black Community Food Security Network (DBCFSN), often tries to deflect attention away from himself and toward the many people he works with as a food activist. His congenial sharing of the spotlight will become more difficult after Oct. 17, when he will be one of five 2012 James Beard…
Better than bananas
Q: I want to buy my 14-year-old niece a dildo, some lube, and an age-appropriate book about sex. (Can you recommend one?) I have her mother’s permission, but I wanted to double-check on whether there are legal issues I should be concerned about. (I live in Oregon.) Do you think it would be inappropriate for…
Sleepwalk With Me
Sleepwalk With Me| B Comedian Mike Birbiglia’s style operates at such a low frequency that it probably creates mild electromagnetic pulses deep within the earth; his delivery is not just casual but borderline somnambulistic, but the sleepy tone contrasts with the sharpness and candor of his insights. His debut feature as writer and co-director is…
Food Stuff
German pop The pop-up craze continues with Wine Schnäck, a wine tasting featuring eight German Rieslings from importer Rudi Wiest. Soak in the company of total wine geeks eager to talk up the interesting and historically relevant grape variety, which, incidentally, doesn’t grow too badly in Michigan. For $5, hand-made wurst from Porktown Sausage will…
Sounds of the street
The three stages of the Ferndale DIY Street Fair operate from Friday to Sunday, Sept. 14-16, plus an added one-stage kick-off Thursday, Sept. 13. Full details at diystreetfair.com. Here are just some of the bands performing. Lettercamp Electro-pop genius from Björk-inspired locals who keep threatening to get huge. One of these days, they’re gonna actually…
Ethnic ascent
Chung Ki Wa 2101 15 Mile Rd., Sterling Heights 586-264-4488 Handicap accessible Prices: $10-$30 Open 11:30 a.m.-10 p.m. Monday-Thursday, 11:30 a.m.-10:30 p.m. Friday-Saturday, noon-10 p.m. Sunday Some of the best bites to be found in metro Detroit are tucked into our countless nondescript strip malls, mostly dotting aging thoroughfares in Sterling Heights and Madison…
Conventional madness
There’s a fascinating way in which the Republican National Convention was much like one of the old party congresses of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. The Soviet mythology was that there had been one great, true, infallible and morally incorruptible leader — Vladimir Ilyich Lenin. But alas, Lenin’s legacy had been tarnished since…
Are we better off? Mitt, are you kidding?
Last week News Hits ventured deep into enemy territory, appearing on Charlie Langton’s talk show over at WXYT, the conservative radio station that airs the likes of Glenn Beck and a few other rabid dogs of the right. Langton, however, isn’t of that ilk. He may be right-of-center, but he pays attention to facts and,…
DETROPIA (Original Soundtrack) – (UHF Records)
Sounds swirl, synthesizers affecting a hydraulic hum. These white-noise drones churn as though from behind closed garage-doors at the loading docks of abandoned factories. Composer Dial81captures the sound of Detroit at night, the twilight of a once industrial utopia, for his original soundtrack to Detropia, a Sundance sensation documenting our city’s "moment of truth" as…
A dining destination
$=$5-$10; $$=$10-$25; $$$=$25-$50; $$$$= $50+ Afternoon Delight 251 E. Liberty St.; 734-665-7513; afternoondelightcafe.com; $: Open every day until 3 p.m., serving a variety of creative breakfast and lunch plates to an often — particularly on Sundays — out-the-door crowd. Anthony’s Gourmet Pizza 621 S. Main St.; 734-971-3555; anthonysgourmet.com; $$: The closest thing to Chicago-style…
Candy land
There aren’t many bright colors left in this part of town. There’s the green in the grassy fields along the main road. The gray of the streets. And the shades of brown on the wood houses whose paint has weathered away. But in the midst of it all is this little place that beams with…
Jeff the Brotherhood – Hypnotic Nights (Warner Brothers – Infinity Cat Recordings)
From the very first tune, you know this is going to be a weird album. Jake Orrall of the two-piece Nashville band (neither of whose members are named Jeff, actually) snarls, "I want a place where I can smoke meats." It makes no sense at all, much like the Brother Orrall’s (Nicknamed the Bogus Bros…
City Slang: Black Dahlia Murder to tour with Dethklok
Detroit’s Black Dahlia Murder has announced that it will be going out on tour this fall with Dethklok, the semi-fictional band from the TV show Metalocalypse, plus Machine Head and All That Remains. Vocalist Trevor Strnad comments; “The rumors are true the cat is out of the bag and we FINALLY get to talk about…
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…
Kids Get Away – DIY Preview (Jamaican Queens~ 9/15)
Spirits are staying high… …out on the road, for Jamaican Queens, even if their hygiene’s taking a hit. More on the inherent risks of van-life (as the trio wrapped up their Midwest/east-coast tour with Lightning Love) after you dig their new single…their debut single, actually, from the forthcoming full-length: Worm Food Listen: -…
TIFF ’12 Diary: Day 2
Due to a ticket snafu last week involving my bank falsely assuming my debit card had been stolen, I actually had no tickets in hand for any of day 2 & 3 of Tiff—only the two biggest days of the fest when most of the major films host their premieres. But each day of the…
