An unexpected mix of King Crimson-style progressive jams and Talking Heads-like new-wave tunes, What’s Happening Here unveils several facets of Proudentall’s personality. Three of the album’s 10 tracks are instrumentals: One builds to a sweeping crescendo (“Instrumental Like a Coupon”), another slowly spreads out its decadence (“Live Drawing Dead Winter”), and finally an intricate and complex composition winds down countless…
To listen to Invisible City is to enter a different world — specifically, one where spacing between words is discouraged and everything functions at a slower speed. Adjusting to the group’s snailcore sound takes time, but eventually the charm of its sleepy songs becomes apparent. The springiest tune, “Lemon Slice,” is powered by a bouncy guitar part that brings…
Bands come and go in this area with the frequency of drug-abusing local athletes, but like any quality addiction, Go Kart seemed to be one act that would never fade away — until now. “We’re still getting along, but we lost our fifth bass player,” says drummer Scotty Rex. “And we got Brad Gaddy from Outhouse sitting in, but I…
Huey Lewis has asked that his song “Hip To Be Square” be removed from the soundtrack of the new movie American Psycho, proving that even a fossil of the greedy ’80s can be drawn back into the spiraling jabberwocky of rock and roll irony. As a result, many of us are having an Obi-Wan Kenobi moment — scratching our…
There’s only a week or two to kill before Sleater-Kinney’s newest effort arrives in stores, and the trio is already booked for a show at The Bottleneck in June, but then, Corin Tucker’s side project, Cadallaca, is much more than a teaser to tide over rabid S-K fans during the brief intervals between its releases. Although this album’s Out West…
Like libations, insurgent country is available in numerous flavors and potencies. On Beneath the Country Underdog, Kelly Hogan & the Pine Valley Cosmonauts serve listeners cocktails of light country that are comparable to wine coolers. They are sugary sweet and go down easy, but without corn whiskey’s strong wallop. The band’s sound is a brew of slow country rock with…
Everybody gets old. Sadly, it’s just a fact of life. There’s a difference, though, between that guy who in an attempt to keep hanging with the cool kids gets an earring and dons a muscle shirt and those who acknowledge age but manage to preserve the attitude that made them young in the first place. The three-minute pop trio Papas…
Almost any music fan can appreciate Tom Waits’ artful songwriting and masterful lyricism — it’s his voice, which sounds like a pit bull attempting to bark fiercely after some joker spiked its water dish with vodka, that has relegated him to cult-favorite status. On New Coat of Paint, a remarkable lineup of performers lend their unique styles and universally more…
Like Sepultura, Anthrax, and, most notably, Metallica before it, Pantera has managed to kick its speed addiction. Granted, this New Orleans-based quartet’s tunes were almost always more Sabbath than Slayer in pacing, riffs, and structure, but there were at least a few selections on each of its previous albums that would give headbangers whiplash if they tried to keep up…
Despite the inherent rivalry between Kansas City and Missouri’s other thriving metropolis, there are a few treasures that natives of both can appreciate. One of these mutually respected entities is the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, now in its 120th season. Joining the world-renowned orchestra, led by conductor laureate Leonard Slatkin, is violinist Sarah Chang, who will be making her first…
Between the ferocious mosh pits (though perhaps not at El Torreon, where slam dancing is probably as prohibited as regular dancing) and the muscular musicians playing fast metal-tinged songs, outsiders might find hardcore shows a bit intimidating, but bands such as Shutdown are trying to prove that the scene is all about positivity. On its latest EP, aptly titled Something…
North of a certain latitude, zydeco is just a 21-point Scrabble word. Even those familiar with the form’s caffeinated Cajun Tilt-A-Whirl sound are challenged to define it better than “It’s the kind of music played during hot sauce commercials.” You just know it when you hear it — unless you’ve heard Lil’ Brian and the Zydeco Travelers. Maybe because the…
Hip-hop has long been in need of a cosmetic makeover — the type of surgery an aging Hollywood starlet needs to exterminate the wrinkles that have crept in like roaches in a run-down apartment. The genre has been scarred by a glut of rappers who concentrate more on their worldly possessions and thuggish pondering than on elevating the community, celebrating…
It’s not the sex and violence in American Psycho that’s scaring the Hollywood establishment, it’s the kinky, unapologetic nature of the film’s sex and violence. Of course this kind of advance word is a movie publicist’s dream, guaranteeing long lines of eager ticket-buyers on opening weekend chomping at the bit to see the “disturbing” film. The same was true of…
This Danish entry from director Søren Kragh-Jacobsen has a routine storyline, but it is stylish and offbeat enough to remain entertaining. Anders W. Berthelsen stars as Kresten, a yuppie whose marriage to his boss’ daughter faces a snag. The father he denied having just died, and he has to leave his honeymoon to take care of his insane brother, Rud…
The “money” of the film’s title should refer to Paul Newman, because the actor’s presence elevates this routine caper into a pleasantly bankable diversion. In Where the Money Is, Newman plays an apparent stroke victim who is transferred from prison to a nursing home. His nurse (Linda Fiorentino) discovers that he is a notorious bank robber and wonders whether he…
Making a comedy about rehab is inherently risky. Although recovering addicts often use humor to help them through their struggles, there’s a fine line between that and trivializing the experience. 28 Days walks that line fairly successfully, laughing with its characters rather than at them. In fact, that dry sense of humor is just about the only thing in…
“I never thought it was possible that someone could rave for 48 hours,” director Werner Herzog says, recalling how he once shared an apartment with Klaus Kinski and witnessed the actor lock himself in the bathroom and rant for two days while destroying the fixtures. That early encounter foreshadows the pair’s turbulent relationship. Herzog and Kinski made five features together,…
Patrick (Christian Bale, Velvet Goldmine) brings his secretary, Jean (Chloë Sevigny, Boys Don’t Cry), to his Manhattan condo before their dinner at an overpriced bistro. Patrick opens his refrigerator and offers Jean some sorbet, which she accepts. Cut from Jean sitting in Patrick’s living room to the interior of Patrick’s stainless steel refrigerator: There’s a severed human female head…
Oz fest Thank you for your detailed review of the presentation by Robert Kory to the Lenexa Chamber of Commerce (“Kory Goes Public as Oz Faces Increased Opposition,” April 6-12). It is the only published report I have seen that gave a factual account of his story. Your observations and analyses of the Land of Oz project were right on!…
It was full-bore coverage and a must-be-there happening. A row of TV video cams, tripod to tripod, pointed into the inner sanctum of the city council chambers; print journalists flipped open their reporter’s notebooks, tape recorders were set on pause; Madame Mayor decked out in green; and a who’s who of the city’s development lawyers were in attendance. Smiles, waves,…
The bar at Chili’s is nearly empty except for Howard Terry. He sits reading a magazine, a frosty mug of beer before him. He has just come from the Associated Wholesale Grocers (AWG) warehouse in Kansas City, Kan., and he’s letting the world’s troubles slide by. Terry worked for AWG for nearly 20 years before he walked away from…
It was a storybook Jewish wedding. The grooms picked out beautiful wedding bands and found a rabbi willing to marry a gay couple. They crafted a “brit ahavah,” or covenant of love ceremony, by rewording traditional wedding prayers. They carefully chose words that would flow from Hebrew to English, and they had a “ketubah,” a Jewish wedding contract created on…
Miles McMillin just couldn’t take it anymore. He had enjoyed most of his four years at Sun Publications, rising up the ranks from associate sports editor for the Sun newspapers to become the editor of College Boulevard News and the Johnson County Business Times. But the last three months of his employment there had been hell. Despite working 16 to…
