“November 22, 1963, was my 13th birthday. I was planning to have a big party, and all I could think about that day was how much fun it would be. I was sitting in Mrs. Enman’s science class working on a project when she made the announcement that changed my plans — and the world forever.” Personal stories like this…
Thursday, September 16 Contrary to what those in the advertising industry think, women don’t desire handy disposable floor mops, total body makeovers or obsequious male accompaniment on shopping expeditions. What they really want is to run wild in the forest, to beat on animal-hide drums, to penetrate psychic inner worlds, to dance around fires crying the goddess’s name — which,…
There’s something to be said for mass-produced furniture — the some-assembly-required coffee tables and bookcases from stores like IKEA and Target. They’re cheap, functional and bland enough to meld seamlessly into the debt-impaired decorating schemes of the underemployed masses. But however nicely that Swedish-designed, Hong Kong-made cabinet holds Martha Stewart’s Kmart wineglasses, one has to admit: That shit ain’t got…
Avenue of the Arts “Silly” seems to be the overwhelming theme of this year’s Avenue of the Arts, a temporary installation of six public-art pieces along Central Avenue downtown. Kansas City Art Institute printmaking teacher Laura Berman’s “Cowboys and Indians” has a ‘zine-aesthetic-meets-the-USDA’s-latest-fruit-campaign feel, along with a 1950s-nostalgia twist: Large-scale, black-and-white, photocopy-quality images of children in cowboy and Indian costumes…
The problem with video art is that video artists sometimes forget that other people are going to be watching their work. Unlike painting and sculpture, where viewers feel they can get the gist of what’s going on in a few seconds, time-based media require, um, time to understand what’s going on. Something as simple as a place to sit could…
Indie bands have gone gaga over radio lately. Radio Vago, Radio 4 and Radio Berlin all clutter the virtual dial. Not that any of those bands actually get any rotation even on alternative airwaves, mind you, but Radio Berlin at least resembles early-era Cure with riffs that jostle listeners like violent waves and placid keyboards that whisper like the receding…
Now in its 33rd year, the Walnut Valley Festival in Winfield, Kansas, is the bluegrass Woodstock. With six stages featuring a veritable who’s who of acoustic music (Hot Club of Cowtown; Men of Steel, pictured; the Wilders, etc.) as well as camping, games, arts and crafts, and more food than Thanksgiving, Winfield is an annual must for music lovers of…
Tim Kasher is recognized for his ability to reflect upon life’s harshest moments with an unflinching, steady glance, but when the Cursive frontman began writing material that didn’t quite fit the mold, the Good Life was born. Kasher still channels familiar demons (the tension of broken relationships), but instead of the gut-wrenching screams, cutting discordance and dramatic riffs of Cursive,…
The gothic riot grrls of BoySkout are just as likely to light candles at the altar of Siouxsie Sioux as they are to rage about feminist politics. The San Francisco foursome crafts high-quality, dark-wave synth rock on their full-length debut, School of Etiquette. The doomy keyboards and minor chords on “Identity” twitch like Siouxsie and her Banshees while “Ecstasy” ebbs…
Leon Redbone lies somewhere between a circus carnie and a quirky folk singer. The man is recognized as much for his odd appearance (he has sort of a 1930s eccentric socialite thing going on) as for his smooth baritone. Redbone originally gained fame by performing “Ain’t Misbehavin’” on Saturday Night Live and has since sustained his career — which blends…
Hey, Lawrence. Forget for a moment the rich history and politics and positive “consciousness” attendant with afro-funk. Instead, just picture the honkiest honky you know. Maybe that soul-patched college kid in the Barenaked Ladies shirt who, being all Midwestern, can’t even tell his mama he loves her. Now, picture that cat throwing the fuck down, all right? Because when Antibalas…
Chris Barnes, formerly of criminally overrated gross-out “pioneers” Cannibal Corpse, apparently hasn’t lost any of the obsessions that first splattered that band on the map. In fact, Barnes could have ended up a poster boy for why death metal is, um, dead if it weren’t for the intensity of his meditations on gore. In fact, this guy is so preoccupied…
Imagine a passionate band from South Carolina that spreads a message of love, faith and hope. Is screamo the first thing that comes to mind? Probably not. But it should be if you know anything about the guys in Emery. They’re determined to infuse meaning and sincerity back into — here comes the catchall phrase — emo. And while such…
If the American public had any guts, Los Lobos would be the nation’s undisputed flagship act. Short of that, the group is a household name with a large, but not huge, loyal following that allows fans to intimately enjoy the band’s deft blend of Southern rock, art rock, Tex-Mex, country and acoustic folk from both sides of the border. Los…
Akron, Ohio, is the type of rust-belt city that teenagers with big dreams ache to leave as soon as they receive a diploma. Lying an hour or so south of Cleveland, it’s home to a minor-league baseball team (the Indians-affiliated Akron Aeros), the Goodyear blimp, and the ghosts of factories past and present. But oddly enough, the former Rubber Capital…
T he fine line between confidence and arrogance just got a bit thinner. Meet Kanye West, America’s latest — and if you were to believe him, greatest — rap phenomenon. During the last 12 months, the career of the Chicago-bred rapper and superproducer has taken off, hitting stratospheric heights with a number of platinum wall decorations, a BET award for…
In Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow, the filmmakers’ investment in their weird visions is wildly unorthodox, but the payoff is oddly satisfying. The movie features killer robots, underwater dogfights, and Laurence Olivier’s best work since he died 15 years ago. The entirety of this movie, apart from actors and foreground props, was created and composited on computers jacked…
Silver City is being marketed as a biting, bitter sendup of George W. Bush. Hence the copious use of trailer footage in which Chris Cooper, as Colorado gubernatorial candidate Dickie Pilager, stumbles over simple sentences, dodges reporters’ questions with mindless macho explications (“My message to the criminals is this: You straighten up or get out”), and wears his vapid…
Harvey wall banger: As a longtime Harvey House fan (and yes, I know I’m showing my age), I want to thank C.J. Janovy for her article ” Order Up ” (August 26). Ah yes, I remember the Union Station’s Fred Harvey restaurants, both the 24-hour coffee shop and the upscale Westport Room. While I am a frequent customer at both…
Threads Off the rack and on the town. LattéLand, 7:30 p.m. Wednesday In front of the coffeehouse’s window, two men in clumpy boots sit at a small table, one with a neoprene jacket slung across the back of his chair. At the curbside, four motorcycles — two cruisers, one Harley, and one sport bike — are parked as though they’re…
Air Force One sat on the runway at the downtown airport, and we sat in traffic stopped on the Broadway Extension. The gigantic plane looked all peaceful and quiet in the Labor Day sunset, but on the highway no one was going anywhere. One guy got out of his car and climbed up on the concrete divider. We rolled down…
Nearly a decade ago, the cutlet that would become the Strip made friends with author John Whalen and read the book he cowrote, called The 50 Greatest Conspiracies of All Time. The Strip is happy to see that Whalen’s volume of paranoid alternate histories continues to grow in popularity — its latest edition, 80 Greatest Conspiracies, recently hit the market….
Locals call it the “Beirut Building,” its burnt-out appearance suggesting a war-torn locale. Even those just passing through Kansas City, Missouri, have been forced to dwell on its ugliness. Situated at the northeast corner of the downtown freeway loop, the vacant Vista del Rio apartment high-rise is a symbol, to both resident and visitor alike, of downtown’s death. Imagine the…
We noticed the other day that Men’s Health magazine rated KC the fifth drunkest city in the nation, so we weren’t too surprised when little things like heavy rain and widespread flooding failed to stop people from boozing it up on the recent torrential Friday night. During the Great Storm of aught-four, we found ourselves bravely — or stupidly —…
