New Pornographers leader A.C. Newman didn’t discover that Jimmy Swaggart had written a book titled Music: The New Pornography until after he’d thought of the name. That same auspicious fortune is partly responsible for the band’s still being around at all. Newman assembled the players on a lark in 1997, and everyone in the band had first-tier careers already in…
Missy Higgins’ story is as rags-to-riches as it gets these days. Over the past year, she has become one of Australian music’s more celebrated successes; few recent American comers — fewer of them actually good — can claim similar luck. So let’s go on a walkabout, shall we? In the winter of 2001, Higgins was just another boarding-school student in…
All hail Quincy Jones! Never has such cool walked the Earth than the man known as “Q.” And now we admire him even more as the producer of Thriller, so we can praise that great album without mentioning Michael Jackson. Certainly you would think that, with two child-molestation charges (and the horrible Invisible), the King of Pop would already have…
When I heard that the Brian Jonestown Massacre would be playing the Creepy Crawl in St. Louis on September 27, I called the club for details — only to learn that the show had been canceled. Seems lead singer Anton Newcombe had flipped out. “I got word from the promoter that Anton had a meltdown and that either he had…
Molloy Bros., at Westport Road and Southwest Trafficway, was the best Irish pub in town, for my quid. Given the late Westport bar’s competition in this shamrock-loving town (emphasis on the sham), that’s not saying much, but the place was owned by a real Irishman named Fintan Molloy, who has brothers with equally cool Irish names, and it served not…
Omaha, Nebraska — this is the long and short of it: It’s ugly. You won’t be impressed. Nothing to see here. From beginning to end, this road called Saddle Creek is an unsightly urban necessity, a dense, fast-food-dotted thoroughfare slicing midtown Omaha in half with little purpose but to connect one major avenue to another. That this road has somehow…
Back in the mid-’90s, when MTV still flirted with (intentional) comedy shows, it ran one called The State, which featured performers who now appear on the Comedy Central hit Reno 911. There wasn’t all that much worth remembering about The State, but the show did make one significant attempt at a recurring SNL-style character, a whiny teenage rebel named Doug,…
If you want to believe that David Cronenberg’s A History of Violence, a loose adaptation of a little-known graphic novel, is a work of damning criticism aimed at hypocritical Americans who believe that violence is the only way to achieve peace, then sure, it’s right there. If you want to view it as a commentary on the ever-diminishing line between…
In the tradition of A Beautiful Mind and Good Will Hunting comes Proof, a psychological drama about a math genius and the people who worship, care for and endure him. Based on the Pulitzer Prize- and Tony Award-winning play by David Auburn, Proof is a strong film with intense focus. Its characters are complex and engaging, its central mystery pulls…
Shirts vs. skins: Apparently, our countryman Howard Carson does not understand the distinction between morals and ethics (Letters, September 15). Just as we, a democratic nation, aim to govern ourselves in a secular fashion, the “workplace” should be led by the same principles. One aim is to have, yes, a moral society, but it must be enforced by what is…
Las Vegas police have made an arrest in the May 23 slayings of Kansas City rapper Anthony “Fat Tone” Watkins and his friend Jermaine Aikens (“Tone Death,” July 28). Jason Mathis faces two charges of murder and is scheduled for a hearing in Clark County, Nevada, on October 4. The warrant that led to Mathis’ arrest supports the widely circulated…
The Strip is worried that Kansas Attorney General Phill Kline might be feeling a burning sensation, but not in his pants. We think it might be his pants. After all, the Strip knows what they say about liars, and it’s afraid that Kline might want to take note, lest he feel the fire. Earlier this month, Kline’s infamous quest to…
Hip-hop MC Priceless Diamonds grew up boosting clothes and turning the occasional trick. She swears she’s leading a straighter life now, but we figure she’s still learned lots of life lessons. So listen up, y’all. What do you think of Destiny’s Child’s song “Cater 2 U”? I love that song, because in order to keep a boss like Jay-Z or…
What we have in this city is a failure to communicate. Back in June, the Kansas City, Missouri, Police Department predicted that this year’s murder tally would top 100. The streets have held up their end of the bargain. As the number of homicides creeps toward 90, we’ve heard plenty of inane explanations for the violence. Kansas City Star columnist…
Carlito’s Way: Rise to Power (Universal) American Pie: 3 Movie Pie Pack (Universal) Beethoven: The Pooch Pack (Universal) Billy Jack: The Ultimate Collection (Ventura) Blind Melon: Live at the Metro (EMI) Bouncing Souls: Live at the Glasshouse (Fontana) Britney & Kevin: Chaotic . . . the DVD & More (Jive) The Complete Monty Python’s Flying Circus 16-Ton Megaset (A&E) The…
Robots (Fox) The story of a small-town ‘bot (voiced by Ewan McGregor) who bolts for the big city, Robots is the first non-Pixar film to compete with that studio’s razzle and dazzle; the thing is stunning to look at. (Frankly, it’s better to stare at than listen to, because listening entails putting up with Robin Williams doing Robin Williams.)…
In covering the Kansas City bar scene, we’ve begun to recognize a few of our own Captain Ahab-like white whales — that is, those nightlife characters we sometimes see but never have a chance to talk to. For example, who is the guy at downtown bars who fakes an Irish accent to pick up chicks? And who are the women…
Despite the storm in Louisiana, there’s no shortage of shrimp on local menus. Even before Hurricane Katrina destroyed most of the shrimp boats on the Louisiana coast, the shrimpers in that region were suffering financially because foreign imports had depressed the market price of shellfish. According to one CNN report, many of those Louisiana shrimpers don’t plan to return to…
t’s been almost exactly two years since City Tavern was last reviewed in this paper, and much has happened in the intervening months. But first, a brief look back at 2003: The expensively mounted restaurant was celebrating its first anniversary, and hardworking sous chef Tim Doolittle had recently been promoted to the executive chef position, replacing celebrity chef Dennis…
TUE 9/27 In this brave new world, where basic human emotions are labeled disorders and wink-wink ads for boner pills pop up during every commercial break, the pharmaceutical industry laughs all the way to the bank. Now drug makers are drooling over the prospect of a drug that treats female sexual dysfunction, an endeavor that could prove even more…
SAT 9/24 Stephen Malkmus handpicked Portland’s Swords Project to open for his first solo tour. That’s good enough for us. The Oregonians — who look like sextuplets and sound like Mogwai — play with Jon Sheffield at 8:30 p.m. Saturday at Mojo’s (1018 Park in Columbia, 573-875-0588). Don’t complain; it’s not a school night. — Annie Fischer Debbie Does Dance…
SAT 9/24 It’s true that this weekend’s Oktoberfest on the Wasserfront actually takes place in September; however, that’s not the result of lazy planning. In fact, the world-famous fest in Munich got started last weekend. Why call it Oktoberfest, then? The Germans have their reasons — just be thankful it’s here and get your hinterteile down to Berkley Riverfront Park…
SUN 9/25 The camouflage-clad Army men periodically stationed in the halls of our high school terrified us. They approached scrappy, short-haired wrestlers and untroubled loners with pinpoint accuracy. We imagine that Clara Morris might be less intimidating. Though she’s also a recruiter — explaining application processes, answering questions about safety and security — we’re pretty sure members of the Peace…
All Barbara Ehrenreich wanted was a white-collar job at $50,000 a year, plus benefits. Uh huh … welcome to a little club called America, honey. In Bait and Switch: The (Futile) Pursuit of the American Dream, the veteran social critic uses undercover tactics just as she did for her best-selling Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America. Instead…
