Minneapolis and Austin, Texas, aren’t traditional North-South adversaries. The cities played minor roles in the Civil War, and they lack an active sports rivalry. If anything, they’re linked by their similarities: Both boast explosive music scenes, and both have housed enigmatic royalty (Prince and George W. Bush, respectively). Undeterred, Lawrence guitarist Mike McCoy pitted them against each other using an…
Thursday, August 18 We recently picked up a copy of the Midwest Irish Focus and couldn’t believe how many Irish groups are established locally, one for almost every day of the month … and for every bar in KC. The Celtic Fringe? Every first Tuesday at Charlie Hooper’s. The Harp and Shamrock Club? Third Friday of each month at Kyle’s…
Since 1993, the Pratichi Club has dedicated itself to drawing attention to Indian heritage, delivering its rich cultural offerings to Kansas City. Past events such as sitar concerts and Indian classical dance performances have showcased Indian music and movement, exposing Midwesterners to artistic forms that they might not have seen otherwise. “If you go to places like New York, you…
Even today, British kids grow up listening to stories about life during the London Blitz and the hardships their parents and grandparents endured during World War II. American children, by comparison, would be hard-pressed to tell you what nations fought on which side. It’s one of the many weaknesses of our education system, but it’s also because the war was…
So little time, so much trouble. In the 24-hour period that’s dissected in Heights, the first feature from Chris Terrio, an aspiring Manhattan photographer named Isabel (Elizabeth Banks) gets cold feet about her upcoming marriage to a dull but pleasant lawyer named Jonathan (James Marsden); a needy Broadway diva named Diana (Glenn Close), who also happens to be Isabel’s mother,…
Some art-house programmer would be wise to schedule a double bill of The Aristocrats, Paul Provenza’s talkumentary about the dirtiest joke ever told, and The 40-Year-Old Virgin, director Judd Apatow’s near-brilliant movie about a grown-up geek who has simply lost interest in trying to get laid. Both offer countless giddy variations on simple, archaic and utterly foul jokes involving sticking…
Red Eye may not seem like your typical Wes Craven movie. It’s not really horror, there are no marketable monsters and, unlike Cursed, Scream 3, and other recent Craven offerings, it’s actually an enjoyable time at the movies. But heroine Lisa Reisert (Rachel McAdams) is very much in the mold of the traditional Craven girl. Like Sidney (Neve Campbell)…
How many blondes does it take to open a nightclub? We decided to find out when Blonde — the newest Plaza nightspot — had its pre-opening party last Thursday night. Located in the old Frankie’s spot, Blonde is what you think it might be; it’s sleek and swank, and for its premiere shindig, a line of trendoids stretched around the…
Way back in January, when restaurateur Blair Hurst took over Baja 600 (600 Ward Parkway), the four-year-old Mexican restaurant already had an air of cansado, or weariness. After a promising opening in 2001, Baja did great business on its attractive outdoor patio, but when the weather cooled, the neighboring Mi Cocina (614 West 48th Street) had more sex appeal. That’s…
In the summer of 323 B.C., by most historical accounts, Alexander the Great died in Persia, days after a lavish dinner and way too much drinking. Depending on which ancient account one believes, Alexander was done in by too much wine, a sneaky poison or typhoid (a water- or food-borne infection caused by salmonella typhi). But it wasn’t the…
There comes a time in every band’s career when an overwhelming sense of fear and dread of failure begins to creep in, especially for groups that have the fortune to make a big splash right out of the starting gate and then face the daunting task of a follow-up. But try telling that to Los Lonely Boys. Sure, they won…
Legend has it that mountain-music revivalist band Old Crow Medicine Show was discovered by Doc Watson while playing in front of a pharmacy in North Carolina. Now, back when the music OCMS plays was considered popular, pharmacies used to sell narcotics like opium and cocaine over the counter. Moreover, considering that the first song on the band’s self-titled debut,…
With so many bands more concerned with makeup than musicianship, it’s awesome when a band looks further than Myspace.com for inspiration. For the past three years, Steel Train (pictured) has chugged along, leaving its peers waiting by the bathroom mirror, digital camera in hand. Evolving from two guys covering Beatles songs into a fleshed out five-piece, the band channels…
How many otherwise perfectly respectable metal acts have been rendered utterly useless by piss-poor vocals and dirt-dumb, by-the-numbers lyrics about angst, death or Norse mythology? There’s nary a vapid vocal to be found on Chicago quartet Pelican’s latest album, The Fire in Our Throats Will Beckon the Thaw. The band’s sophomore outing is a lumbering, chugging, messy affair that melds…
Among the performers who fleetingly made singer-songwriters cool in the ’80s, Nanci Griffith had deeper folk and country bona fides than her peers, not to mention a potent literary streak. All are in abundant display on her new Hearts In Mind. “I Love This Town,” a prickly account of nosiness and decay, is a hysterical riposte to a glut of…
We first caught Grand Champeen years ago in the unlikeliest of places: a volleyball court. On a balmy Tuesday night, the quartet spent the evening paying homage to its most obvious influence, the Replacements, among barefoot, tank-top-sporting Westport Beach Clubbers. Grand Champeen persevered, however, and rollicked through its set, interchanging bratty roots-rock originals with the occasional winning cover of a…
This spring, having booked Magic Slim (pictured, with friends) and Watermelon Slim, 90.1 KKFI briefly considered naming its first street-festival benefit at Knuckleheads “Slim Fest.” But that East Bottoms train goin’ by close enough to touch makes for a more natural name. Watermelon’s National steel guitar, slippery harp work and booming baritone (which sounds like the very voice of the…
When Anvil Chorus singer and keyboardist Anna Cole brought her band’s debut EP to the Pitch, she expressed concern that it would not be well received. She even went so far as to apply masking tape to a stick of beef jerky (still wrapped, of course — it would just be gross otherwise) and scrawl on it the word payola….
With its hungover vocals, hallucinatory echo effects and saucy attitude, Weird War may seem like just another retro band. In truth, it’s a group of playwrights. Each track on Illuminated sets up a neat little world, complete with characters, a plot and a set built from evocative musical cues. A woman leaves her old man for a biker gang (whose…
Much like Halley’s comet, cicadas and Bono’s humility, the Love Experts appear only occasionally. But when the St. Louis band finally does emerge for gigs, its inviting jangle rock feels plucked from a cache of long-forgotten 7-inch singles — even if it’s devoid of the dated sounds that such a treasure trove might contain. On this year’s sublime Cuba Street…
It takes some patient, ear-to-the-speaker listening before Jamie Lidell’s off-kilter, glitch-funk tendencies come to light on Multiply, but that sultry subtlety makes the album a repeat-play sleeper. Straight out of the box, Multiply bubbles with Stax/Volt soul —easy, husky and heartfelt — with Lidell’s affable vocals colored a vibrant shade of Otis Redding. The straightforward homage is a serious departure…
Sally Seltmann’s voice sounds genuinely guileless, a rarity in modern music. Lacking the self-assured swagger of American Idol-ready sirens and the exaggerated outsider-art quirks of anti-folk warblers, the Australian singer-songwriter conjures images of Björk’s simple, musical-loving character from Dancer in the Dark. Her latest release, The Last Beautiful Day, shares musical ground with that film’s soundtrack, Selmasongs, though there’s no…
When Sean Ingram announced Coalesce’s reunion for New Jersey’s Hellfest and one undisclosed local show, kids across the country halted their role-playing games and paused their porn. The Coalesce message board instantly lit up with postings like “holy fucking shit” and “who wants to carpool to Kansas?” Formed in 1996 when James Dewees (drums) joined Jes Steineger (guitar), Nathan Ellis…
All hail the mighty compact disc! That piece of technology that lets you listen to OK Computer without having to sit through “Fitter Happier.” We know that no audio format lives forever — someday the CD will ascend to take its place next to hallowed eight-track cassettes — but that day has not come yet. That is why we must…
