“Death Rides a Horse” by Russian Circles, from Enter (Flameshovel Records): It’s no small feat that this instrumental trio from Chicago works the spaces between indie rock and metal with enough individuality so that both sound fresh. Russian Circles describes its sound as “epic” yet its music is remarkably unpretentious. Midway between busy freakouts that recall Tera Melos and brooding,…
Given rapt attention and care in the framing, there is no more engrossing subject than man at work. The proof, yet again, is in director Ben Niles’ chronicle of the production of a single Steinway concert grand piano — a 9-foot-long beast that requires a plank the length of an anaconda, a year of assembly and a small army of…
By all means, gather up the little ones and take them to this perfectly pleasant, very good-looking, modestly funny, dispiritingly unoriginal variant on the nerd-with-a-dream recipe that’s been clobbered to death in animated films for at least a decade now. Hectic as ever, Jack Black voices Po, a pot-bellied panda who lives and breathes kung fu trivia and longs to…
Behold Adam Sandler, in a passable Israeli accent and outsized codpiece, as a super-heavy named Zohan the Mossad. He catches barbecued fish in his butt crack on a Tel Aviv beach, repels bullets with his nostril, sculpts hand grenades into toy poodles for delighted Palestinian children while he makes mincemeat of an Arab terrorist played with gusto by John Turturro….
Iceland’s Sigur Rós announced its fifth LP last week. Out June 24 on XL Recordings, Með Suð Í Eyrum Við Spilum Endalaust, which translates as With a Buzz in Our Ears We Play Endlessly, will be mostly sung in the band’s native tongue (with one in English), as opposed to the “Hopelandic” jibber-jabber to which fans have become accustomed. Surrender…
John Edwards might see two Americas, but this simpleminded little game enthusiast is more preoccupied with America’s two Wii owners. One is the Nintendo fan: the cat who bought a GameCube, Nintendo 64, every incarnation of the Game Boy — and anything Nintendo releases with a “Mario” or “Zelda” in the title. The other Wii owner is the non-gaming fad-chaser:…
“Hearts on the Line” by Winston Apple, from Hearts on the Line (Speakeasy Productions): The words true, love and heart appear in virtually all of the 15 tracks on Winston Apple’s new album, Hearts on the Line, and not one of them is about his current wife. “I also have three divorces to pull from,” says the 59-year-old singer-songwriter, whose…
Kansas City artist Gary Sutton’s refined exhibition of digital photographs at Jan Weiner both pleases and frustrates. Ultimately, it results in a visual and conceptual irresolution. Sutton is an excellent photographer whose body of work is a broad and respected one. He’s been a faculty member at the Kansas City Art Institute since 1975 and has participated in many group…
Rain or shine, pot or ‘shrooms, whiskey or Dasani, this year’s Wakarusa Music and Camping Festival is upon us. Now in its fifth year, the Wak continues to sizzle, growing in size and diversity of acts, becoming something that may someday grab headlines alongside fellow jam-turned-mainstream fest Bonnaroo. Emmylou Harris, Built to Spill, Bettye LaVette and Old 97’s are a…
I used to call Shifra Stein my “foul-weather friend.” Unlike the fair-weather type, who never seem to be around or helpful when times are tough, Shifra was the perfect person to call when I was depressed or having a personal crisis. She would patiently listen to me whine or cry or gnash my teeth and then offer, in her brutally…
Eleven years ago, a Zagat Survey of Kansas City restaurants was quite generous: It listed mini-reviews of 419 local dining establishments. The 2000 version was much fussier, listing only 115 venues described as “our most important restaurants, from the haute to the humble.” Interestingly, V’s Italiano Ristorante in Independence made the 1997 survey but was dropped from the “most important”…
Categories: News Tags: Charlotte Street Foundation, Editorial Feature, Kansas City, kansas city, Kansas City Art Institute, Mark Dodd
Last Saturday morning, a few hours before I caught Perfect Wedding, the no-sex sex farce knocking them dead at the American Heartland Theatre, I suffered through 27 Dresses. On an airplane. Napping through much of it, wearing neither headphones nor my glasses, I still managed to keep track of time by noting the arrival of the junky plot points. They…
Dear Mexican: First it was the Native Americans, then it was the blacks, then the Japanese. For a while, Muslims. Now I fear that American prejudice will soon overwhelm Mexicans. It’s one thing to get called a dirty Jap or border-hopper, but tell me: Is it possible that America will cause another ethnic group to suffer in a way similar…
Feature, “Are You Ready for some Women’s Football?” May 22 Storm Warning The KC Storm, the area’s longest-running women’s football team, is in its fourth season. Due to several improvements in the program in the off-season, the Storm players have enjoyed upgraded practice facilities, a better training program, reduced cost and reduced travel in 2008. Organizational changes have fueled sponsorships…
The Pitch Golf Tournament 08
