Changes afoot at KCUR. The 10 a.m. hour at KCUR 89.3 has been a bit wobbly over the past year, following the abrupt on-air resignation of Central Standard host Jabulani Leffall in January 2013. Since then, a variety of personalities have handled host duties, but there has been no permanent hire for the position. Today, the station announced its future…
The Bottleneck and Astrokitty invite you to unleash your inner Dungeons & Dragons and get nerdy Friday night. Really nerdy. So nerdy that you sing your own version of a “geek anthem” during Geekaraoke or you play SINemascope, a drinking game in which you take a swig every time you witness one of the seven deadly sins in one of…
Joc Max is one of Kansas City’s most prodigious, dedicated producers and DJs. The GoodButta podcast, helmed by local MC Reach, is back – at least for the moment – to pay tribute to Joc in two installments. The first one went live yesterday and features discussions about Joc’s career, various mixes and an interview with DJ Ice. You can…
The International Folk Alliance Conference & Winter Music Camp comes to KC February 19-23. To get you geared up for the folk blowout, every day we’re posting a song we like by one of the event’s showcase artists. The Black Lillies, from Knoxville, Tennessee, are an Americana band for the ages. On the band’s August-released full-length Runaway Freeway Blues, lead…
Intense indie rockers Manchester Orchestra will be making a stop in Lawrence in April. M.O. is slated to play the Granada on Thursday, April 24. Show time is 8 p.m. (Doors open at 7 p.m.) They’ll be joined by Balance and Composure and Kevin Devine and the Goddamn Band. Tickets go on sale Friday at 10.m. on Ticket Web. They…
Twista, the Abnorm Twista, the man who held the “Fastest Rapper in the World” Guinness World Record in 1992, speedily ricochets verses off the Riot Room’s walls Thursday. In November, the master MC turned 40. In hip-hop years, that would be regarded by many as retirement age. But Twista hasn’t slowed down during his two-decade career. The title of his…
Miles Neidinger’s “The Anatomy of the Palace of Wisdom” — the central object of his City Ice Arts exhibition and the piece that gives the show its title — exerts a powerful force that a photo can’t capture. The riot of lines, crafted from everyday items, towers to the light fixtures of City Ice Arts’ high ceiling, free to be…
Andrew Parkhurst and Michael Grayman first met — and became friends — 15-1/2 years ago on a European tour of West Side Story. Grayman lived in Los Angeles, Parkhurst in New York City, but they kept in touch. “The ‘crush’ was still there for both of us,” Parkhurst says, when they landed on the same national tour of Mamma Mia!…
At 10:52 p.m. December 11, the Missouri Department of Corrections executed Allen Nicklasson with a single, lethal drug dripped into the convicted murderer’s veins. Just before the dose was administered, Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster issued a statement to the media saying that “the highest court in the nation has removed the last restriction to carrying out the lawfully imposed…
Love Garden Sounds 822 Massachusetts, Lawrence, lovegardensounds.com Top Five Albums to Inspire Optimism in the Face of Yet Another Year — By Kelly Corcoran 1. The Beginning Stages of the Polyphonic Spree, by the Polyphonic Spree: “What’s more optimistic than a traveling, singing cult?” 2. Perseverance, by Hatebreed: “You have a New Year’s resolution to get fit? This band makes…
Jazz Winterlude, a festival put on by Johnson County Community College, broadens its reach this year by adding world music. The lineup is full of traditional jazz and plenty of spicier sounds, too. You can choose from the Ron Gutierrez Quartet, KC Sound (with Hermon Mehari and Steve Lambert), Juha’s World Beat, Chris Clarke Trio, Guitarras Ibericas (with Beau Bledsoe…
For a while, it seemed that enigmatic, bright-eyed Frankie Rose would donate her considerable singing and drumming talents to bands that were — whatever their sometimes convincing charms — beneath her. A founding member of garage-rock outfit Vivian Girls, Rose moved on to Crystal Stilts and then Dum Dum Girls before forming Frankie Rose and the Outs in 2010. In…
Kristoffer Dover and Ryan Wise speedily crush Miller Lite tallboys at the Jackpot Saloon in Lawrence. Side by side, they make an odd couple. Dover, with a Beatles-like moppy haircut, looks like he could be on his way to a frat party; Wise, a bespectacled, shaggy blond, seems vaguely bookish. Wise is content to let Dover lead the discussion about…
Chain restaurants don’t always deserve all the put-downs they get. Yes, the food is typically uninspired and leaves almost no room for personality. But corporate operations score points for consistency and value, and the most successful train their service staffs well. Yes, a lot of the newer restaurant chains shamelessly imitate their predecessors, but the best ideas are meant to…
Twista, the man who once held the title of “Fastest Rapper in the World” (according to the 1992 Guinness World Records) will be sending his speedy verses ricocheting off the walls of the Riot Room on Thursday. In November, the master MC turned 40; in hip-hop years, many would regard that as retirement age. But in his two-decade-spanning career, Twista…
Not long after a federal judge put Missouri on notice that he wasn’t pleased with how the state executed two prisoners toward the end of last year, a Missouri House Republican called for a hearing to examine how the state carries out its capital punishment. On January 13, Jefferson City’s Jay Barnes called for a hearing before the House Government…
