Three surprising things that I have lived to see Barry Williams do: (1) imitate Chewbacca; (2) rap, kind of; (3) move an audience simply by being — or, more to the point, having been. More on that last one later. But there’s one notable thing that isn’t on the list, something the one-time Greg Brady might have done in the…
Councilman Terry Riley is upset. He says he’s been done wrong. “All you guys do is fuck me every time we interview,” he says. Riley shares this feeling with me before a recent Kansas City, Missouri, City Council meeting, after I’ve stopped him in the hall and asked if we can set up a time to talk. I ask when…
DJ Amplive faced the new year with a cease-and-desist order from Warner Bros. for his unauthorized tribute to Radiohead’s latest album. He obliged and took his case directly to the Man via YouTube, concluding his online plea with a very sincere, “Thom, holler at me.” It must have worked. Watch the video for yourself and download the now legit Rainydayz…
Don’t fret if you haven’t caught a Gnomes show yet. “Gnomes aren’t out to be seen,” explains upright-bass player Dave Bruchmann, looking especially gnomish in his tufted red goatee. “They usually like to stay in the inner forest — under trails, under trees.” In the beginning, the acoustic Lawrence trio shared its namesake’s predilection for covert activity. While painting his…
Dear Mexican: Why won’t Mexicans vote for a black man? Hillary Hater Dear Readers: Dozens of ustedes have sent the above question since the Iowa caucuses, forwarded mainstream media reports on this supposed phenomenon, and cringed with me when pundits took as gospel Hillary Clinton pollster Sergio Bendixen’s assertion to The New Yorker: “The Hispanic voters — and I want…
A couple of Saturdays ago, I was driving downtown with a couple of friends, and we decided to stop in for lunch at the three-month-old McFadden’s Sports Saloon across from the Sprint Center. “It’s going to be noisy as hell in there,” warned my friend Ned, but I was game, and we found a parking place fairly quickly. It was…
I love the fabric of personal and intimate information. You want to tell me something personal about yourself, I’m in. Recount that story in a way that adds cultural, historical and other references, and I’m captivated. Artists in the jampacked Locate/Navigate explore the territories of their emotional, physical and intellectual lives as they play out in the broader world….
Barbie: Mariposa and Her Butterfly Friends (Universal) Comanche Moon (Sony) Day Zero (First Look) Extras: The Extra Special Series Finale (HBO) Family Affair: Season Five (MPI) The Fugitive: Season One, Volume Two (Paramount) Goya’s Ghosts (Sony) Highlander: The Source (Lionsgate) Jesse Stone: Sea Change (Sony) The Last Emperor: The Criterion Collection (Criterion) Led Zeppelin: The Song Remains the Same Collector’s…
%{}% BY DAVID MARTIN Kansas City, Missouri, Councilman Terry Riley called me this morning to complain about this column. Riley accused me of misquoting him when I wrote that he said: “All you guys do is fuck me every time we interview.” Riley said this morning that he used the verb “screw.” I told the councilman that I quoted him…
By AARON LADAGE He doesn’t look like the glutton-for-punishment kind of guy, but Nathan Reusch, co-founding father (or is it founding co-father?) of local-turned-national label the Record Machine has been burning the candle at both ends this week. On Tuesday, the Machine launched a spit-polished new Web site, released the marvelously peculiar Mostly Ghostly by Ohio’s State Bird (who, coincidentally,…
The Ssion continues to blow up, this time on the shoulders of Tilly and the Wall, with a Critcheloe-created video for the Nebraska band’s new single that premiered on Stereogum and was picked up by celebrity gossipppper Perez Hilton. Wow. Some Peggy Noland costume-action up in there? Tilly and the Wall: “Beat Control” Categories: Music Tags: The Ssion, YouTube
%{}% By CHRIS PACKHAM • Kansas City, Kansas, is mounting surveillance cameras in high-crime neighborhoods. Community Watch volunteers will be able to monitor the cameras via the internet. And if you think there aren’t any people interested in pretending that they’re Batman from the warm safety of their basement rec-rooms, you haven’t been watching To Catch a Predator. The cameras…
By NADIA PFLAUM BlogKC spotted this link, a farcical yet helpful Web site for educating out-of-towners. It was apparently created by “Concerned Missourians for Truth,” which is sick of explaining our curious twin-cities-that-aren’t-really-twins phenomenon when they travel outside the Midwest. A word of caution: They claim that the existence of a Kansas City, Kansas, is purely mythical, which is sure…
By CAROLYN SZCZEPANSKI In Kansas, the battle over a pair of new coal-fired power plants in western Kansas has gridlocked state politics for nearly two months. But on the Missouri side, officials aren’t too concerned about a little inconvenience like global warming. Yesterday, the Missouri Department of Natural Resources said: Show-Me more coal! The new plant will be built…
%{}% By CHRIS PACKHAM • State ethics officials have been looking into Mayor Mark Funkhouser’s campaign finance reporting, but papers reviewed by The Kansas City Star are so completely without interesting malfeasance that reporters Michael Mansur and Dave Helling spend the bulk of the article entertaining each other with the filthiest language I’ve ever seen in public affairs journalism. No,…
By DAVID MARTIN Kansas City sports fans are lucky to have a writer as talented as Joe Posnanski covering their teams. If you don’t know what I mean, spend a few weeks subsisting on the poop Woody Paige leaves on Denver doorsteps every other day. Yeah, it’s nice to be greeted by Joe’s big ol’ round head after getting through…
By ANDY VIHSTADT DangerKeys Photo by Melanie Pullen for Fat Possum Records Akron, Ohio’s Black Keys called on Danger Mouse and a handful of guests to flesh out their two-piece sound for LP5. Stream the first single, “Strange Times,” at the duo’s MySpace page. Attack & Release hits stores April Fool’s Day on Nonesuch. Thought @ Work The Roots return…
The winner of The Pitch Ultra Music DJ Contest is… these guys! Photo by Emily Moore (www.emilylaurenmoore.com) Woo! Congratulations, Nomathmatics. You guys rocked this past Friday night at NV. Enjoy your trip to Miami. Send us a postcard. To the other DJs: Thank you — you were all phenomenal. Categories: Music Tags: ultra music, woo!
%{}% By CHRIS PACKHAM BE TERRIFIED FOR THE CHILDREN! • In a potentially lethal collision of trucks and children, a pickup truck rear-ended a stopped school bus in Kansas City, Kansas, injuring 10 students. Remember: School buses don’t have seat belts, and I understand that children have soft little fontanelles where their skull bones have not yet ossified. That’s what…
BY DAVID MARTIN The Kansas City, Clay County & St. Joseph Railway collected fares from more than 2 million passengers in 1923. Known as the “maroon line” for the colors of its cars, it stretched 78 miles and touched four counties. Today, of course, Amtrak is the only passenger rail option in these parts. But a century ago, five independently…
Don’t miss it. Five of the best DJs in the city. Facing off. At NV (220 Admiral Blvd.) Tonight. Holy shit, it’ll be good. So good, you’ll jump like Tactic. The contest begins with the first beat dropping at 8:30. The Mighty Five will play one 30-minute set each. There’s no cover to get in before 9 p.m. Afterwards, it’s…
