FRI 12/24 Besides those Sunday mornings after nights of self-destruction, Christmas Eve is about the only time we seriously consider going to church. Here are a few places we might get some religion before the materialistic orgy of Christmas Day. The most traditional services are the midnight Masses at Catholic churches, such as the gold-domed Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception…
Years ago, before voters picked superstars on American Idol and a few labels controlled the majority of artists, musicians wrote holiday songs. Many of these, such as Ray Charles’ “Merry Christmas Baby,” became instant classics. Others, such as James Brown’s “Santa Claus Goes Straight to the Ghetto,” did not. Chuck Haddix spins both types of records this Christmas Eve during…
Thursday, December 23 Among the many bad habits a loved one can develop — nose-picking, heroin addiction, use of the expression my bad — indulging in bluegrass music is a vice that actually can be worthwhile, but only with the proper guidance. To find evidence of the uplifting powers of a well-plucked dulcimer, mandolin or double bass, visit the Americana…
Most people think of Science City as a place where kids wipe their boogers on space shuttle replicas. But without it, Wyandotte County native Linsey Lindberg never would have made it to the unholy heights of the New York City burlesque scene, where she performs several nights a week as sultry pinup girl Mama Lou. Far from schooling Lindberg in…
Christmas in Song Whether your holiday play list veers toward traditional carols or the pop of Bing Crosby and Eartha Kitt, you should be sated by Quality Hill Playhouse’s annual Christmas show. Joining pianist and master of ceremonies J. Kent Barnhart are Sylvia Stoner, Matt Leisy and, following a last-minute casting change, Toni Gates-Grantham. Last year’s audiences reportedly leapt…
Diane Arbus, Family Albums The mother who challenged compulsory prayer in public schools. The doctor who treated poverty and its side effects (hunger, parasites) as diseases needing cures. Diane Arbus assembled these and many other figures for Family Albums, a project the photographer left uncompleted before her death. We recognize some of the subjects for their blood relationships: Lee Harvey…
Kelly Clarkson won the first American Idol title, but, more important, she has released the only decent songs to emerge from that overhyped karaoke contest. “The Trouble With Love Is” and “Miss Independent,” the first two tracks on her debut disc, were ideal vocal vehicles indistinguishable on the radio from pop stars like Christina Aguilera (who co-wrote “Miss Independent), despite…
This first collaboration between violinist and composer Eyvind Kang and producer and sound sculptor Tucker Martine splits its 40 minutes among breathtakingly vivid ocean-floor gazes, uneasy stirrings from the bottom of a chasm, and syntheses of the two. On the opening “Horizon,” crisp, clipped guitar gradually succumbs to autumnal, needlepoint violin and bleeding, watercolor synthesizers. The muted “Madrona” simmers like…
Doctors, Professors, Kings & Queens doesn’t aim to be a mere survey of Crescent City music, let alone a definitive one. Rather, this four-disc collection wants to convey the vibe of the city itself; it wants to be the next best thing to being there, a Big Ol’ Box of New Orleans right there in your own home. Many of…
This isn’t a traditional live album. It isn’t ignited with bombastic introduction or a clamorous crowd. It’s just Case, her full-throated roar and some crisp, jangly riffs in what seems more like a covert practice session than a show taped in front of a live audience. Not that it’s sedate. Case rips through turbo-charged twang-bangers, letting fiddles fly and drums…
America’s Pub: 510 Westport Rd., 816-531-1313. Live DJ, party favors and a champagne toast, $20. Ameristar Casino: 8201 N.E. Birmingham Rd., 816-414-7000. Music by 18 Karat and various dinner specials at each restaurant, including prime rib, crab legs and shrimp for $21.99 at Great Plains. Argosy Casino: 777 N.W. Argosy Pkwy., North Kansas City, 816-746-3100. Music by the New Kansas…
Christmas traditionally provokes a box-office bonanza. Families shred their wrapping paper, fiddle with their new acquisitions, gorge themselves on honey-baked ham and head out to the multiplex, where they can lounge without talking to one another. But when Christmas falls on a Saturday, revelers seek more adventurous entertainment. Saeed Younan, a veteran Washington, D.C.-based techno-tribal DJ, uses percussive momentum to…
I don’t like my Kringle served neat. I want Old Saint Nick to be a prick. No milk and cookies, just a fifth of Jack and a can of Skoal. To hell with holiday cheer — hand that man a beer. Slick Rhodes isn’t exactly Santa. But Arthur Dodge’s unkempt alter ego proved capable of kicking the holiday season in…
You never see people change their names from Barry Manilow to Barry Alan Pincus. Which is a shame, given the dearth of people named Pincus in the world. But in fact, there’s a long, clandestine history of Jewish musicians shirking their given names for flashy stage monikers like Neil Diamond. OK, so that’s actually his name. But what kind of…
Sympathies flooded the Web shortly after guitarist “Dimebag” Darrell Abbott was shot and killed during a December 8 Damageplan concert in Ohio. Frenzied metal message boards were filled with tearful statements from rockers prominent and obscure. Some called Abbott’s murder the metal 9/11. Korn played a “tribute solo” at a Dallas concert, and boozy ax-man Zakk Wylde insisted that Dime…
When a group moves from Kansas City to Los Angeles and doesn’t become a major-label staple, hometown fans often assume that the disillusioned dreamers have pawned their gear and donned In-N-Out Burger uniforms. But the Startown scene isn’t a platinum-or-bust proposition. Los Angeles, like any city, has its share of strictly local acts that fill area clubs without denting the…
Recently, a few friends and I gathered for a Christmas celebration. With my girl on my arm, some nog in my hand and a fire raging nearby, the night was a sublime salute to love, friendship and general goodwill. Then someone had to go and fuck up a good thing by playing Christmas carols. If you’re like me, you feel…
By all accounts, the only living creatures who’ve never taken in a stage production of The Phantom of the Opera are Osama bin Laden and Uncle Elmer’s deaf hound dog Bart — which means that everyone else on the planet has an opinion about how Joel Schumacher’s zillion-dollar movie version of the enduring Andrew Lloyd Webber hit should look, and…
When your movie gets riotous laughter out of endless utterances of the word “Focker,” it doesn’t have to try very hard. So it’s no surprise that much of Meet the Fockers, the inevitable sequel to the 2000 hit Meet the Parents, barely breaks a sweat. When in doubt, after all, just have someone refer to Ben Stiller’s character by his…
The critic who takes notes during The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou will ultimately fill a notepad only with scribbled details: “All the crewmen wear red stocking caps with their tuxedos,” “One crewman does nothing more than perform Portuguese versions of David Bowie songs,” “There’ s a Zissou pinball machine onboard the ship — cute.” By the time the movie…
A Very Long Engagement, the new film by French director Jean-Pierre Jeunet (most famously of Amélie), will have its fans. For one thing, there’s no denying its beauty, an onslaught of gorgeous tableaux, painstakingly arranged and shot through filters to exclude colors that don’t suit (i.e., anything other than sepia or charcoal). There’s Audrey Tautou, with her Audrey Hepburn…
Left turn: I admire the King family for their decision to leave the Catholic Church to become members at Country Club Congregational (C.J. Janovy’s “Pro Choice,” December 9). My family went through the same dilemma but from the opposite end of the spectrum. The Catholic Church is not designed to be like a cafeteria, where you can pick what you…
Jimmy the Fetus Notes from KC’s blogosphere. Hey, kids, Jimmy the Fetus here, your guide to moral values in the Midwest, helping everyone see that what we learned in Sunday school really matters. Dear Jimmy: This guy named Brian in our history class thinks he’s really smart, and he says there’s no way Jesus was born on December 25. He…
When Overland Park businessman Ken Saathoff bought the crumbling Loose Mansion on Armour Road last year and spent $1 million renovating it, the project brought gushing from the media. The Kansas City Star featured the mansion on the front page of its business section, and local television stations clamored to broadcast live from the historic residence. Saathoff’s business venture —…
