Cuddly Homewreckers
Also, dueling dance companies deliver If you’ve spent any quality time with Six Feet Under, the acclaimed HBO series, you’ve already deduced that playwright/screenwriter Craig Wright is virulently averse to stereotypes. His morticians are far from moribund, and old folks aren’t blandly retiring. Peep in at Duke Power Theater, where Wright’s Orange Flower Water plays…
Immigration Debate gets Ugly
Adriana Galvez Taylor, head of the Charlotte organization Communities for Comprehensive Immigration Reform (CCIR), forwarded me a disturbing e-mail last week from the Southern Poverty Law Center. “Neo-Nazis and anti-immigration extremists” responded to the avalanche of recent civil rights immigration protests across the country “with open calls for violence,” the Center reported. The SPLC’s Intelligence…
Sounds of the New South
For last year’s Southeastern Music Issue, we asked you to follow us on a musical travelogue across the region. This year’s special issue concerns an internal sonic journey — introspective travel through time and the doors of perception, if you will. As the New South continues to grow upward (see the rising skylines) and outward…
Everything is Art
A guy named Robert Delford Brown has been spreading the gospel of weirdness and collaboration for donkey’s years. What’s a post-revolutionary neo-transformational meta-religion? You decide. The First National Church of the Exquisite Panic www.funkup.com Cars in Barns www.carsinbarns.com The Bra Ball www.braball.com Manties www.manties.net Sphincterine www.mintyass.com
Breaking News
ICE AGE: THE MELTDOWN DESTROYS SHARON STONE’S BASIC INSTINCT SEQUEL Our favorite Internet quip: “One film is about a prehistoric creature’s struggle to survive … the other is the animated sequel to the movie Ice Age.” CRITICS CHARGE PRESIDENT’S AUTHORIZING OF THE DISCLOSURE OF CLASSIFIED INFO MIGHT BE TREASON If so, might we propose the…
La Rúa
Do a Google search for “Latin rock band” and you’ll get nearly 30,000 results. That doesn’t necessarily mean there are 30,000 different Latino rock bands in existence today, but you never know. After all, about as many people worldwide speak Spanish as English, and Spanish is the second most used language in international communication. More…
Film Clips
New Releases SLITHER At last, a refreshing break from the current trend of nihilistic horror flicks whose sole purpose is to devise groovy new ways for psychopaths to torture and murder innocent people. Make no mistake: Slither offers gore by the bucketful, but the movie’s in the spirit of those enjoyable, us-against-them monster yarns that…
Jim Black Must Resign From Office
Speed kills, they say. So does keeping North Carolina State House Speaker Jim Black in office. Combine Black in power with dangerous traffic conditions and you’ve got the potential for a real blood bath. Over the last few years, more than 20 people have been killed and dozens more hurt or seriously injured in accidents…
Anatomy of a Scene
Florida’s always had a knack for unleashing heavy music on the unsuspecting world: Marilyn Manson, Limp-freaking-Bizkit, death metal. Now the suburban and rural areas of Tampa Bay crank out metalcore, also called screamo, a youth-driven subgenre developed in the hardcore punk underground. In the late ’90s, budding musicians took notice of the more metal-influenced emo…
View From The Couch
BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN (2005). The secret behind this adaptation of Annie Proulx’s short story is that, behind its convenient (and infuriating) designation as “the gay cowboy movie,” this is as universal as any cinematic love story of recent times. Scripters Larry McMurtry and Diana Ossana and director Ang Lee have managed to make a movie that…
See & Do
Wednesday, April 12 Reverence and overweening love are accepted norms for American pet worship, but in Edwin Albee’s The Goat, or Who Is Sylvia? our tragic hero, Martin, has drifted beyond the pale. And into the barnyard. After creating a hullabaloo that revived memories of Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? Albee extended his world land…
Bankhead Body Rock
Until D4L’s ubiquitous No. 1 hit “Laffy Taffy” piped out of cell phones and pop radio stations last winter, most people, not even dedicated Atlanta hip-hop fans, had ever heard snap music. And what is snap music, anyway? Technically, the first snap record to have a national impact was Dem Franchize Boyz’s “White Tee” in…
Song and Dance
Preaching to the Choir is a small movie with big emotions. One of its earliest scenes introduces the church choir that will figure in the story’s action, and it’s imperative that audience members immediately feel the passion and commitment emanating from this outfit. Since the lead singer of this choral group is played by no…
Hat 2 da Front
In a marketing strategy to further link the urban lifestyle with ball caps, New Era Cap Company launches its “Fit for the Streets” Tour. Of course, there’s the obligatory history lesson on how the brand forged its way from fashion hats in the 1920s to its decades-long association with baseball to its takeover of current…
Don’t Call It A Comeback
In almost any U.S. city with a large black population (but especially in the South), you’ll hear Southern soul music blasting from stereos in barbershops, restaurants and lounges. It’s the sound that “grown folks” groove to at basement house parties, fish fries and family reunions. If you’re a thirtysomething African-American, it’s probably the music you…
Mail Bonding
CORKSCREW This quarterly column lets you say your piece. Your letters are fantastic, with insight, helpful tips and some ass-kicking. It’s okay — it doesn’t hurt — keep it coming. E-mail corkscrew@creativeloafing.com. Wallowing in Washington Tony in Jacksonville writes: Thank you [for the column on Washington wines, Feb. 15, 2006]. Finally someone has brought the…
The Blotter
METAPHYSICAL MALICE: Four suspects jumped out of a vehicle, converging on a 19-year-old man on his way to the bus stop. The hooligans “attempted to relieve him of his worldly possessions,” but the gang was unable to obtain any property from the tough teen despite punching him in the face. The hooligans may have gotten…
Allen Toussaint
That it took a hurricane and the devastation of New Orleans for the music world to rediscover Allen Toussaint is one of the few silver linings to emerge from that ongoing national tragedy. For the uninitiated, Toussaint is a veritable living document of New Orleans’ music tradition, and an influential player in both rock and…
Grape Expectations
Fifteen years ago or so, when the first wine bar opened in Charlotte with its state-of-the-art cruvinee, a wine bar opening was a big event. Nowadays, with so many wine bars around town, I’m surprised Park Lanes Bowling Ally doesn’t have one. (It doesn’t, does it?) Drinking wine has become synonymous with both good health…
Karma Cleanser
Dear Karma Cleanser: I have been dating five different men (from the same bar). Friday night it all came to a head. I met one there and three of the other four showed up. Needless to say, they all got to talking, and now they are all buddies and think I’m a big slut. Worse,…
Miami Herald
In Miami, a perfect storm’s been brewing for years, though it has nothing to do with the impending hurricane season. The town’s rich culture — a cosmopolitan mix of Caribbean, Latin American, European and American influences — is increasingly reflected in its diverse musical acts. “These are very exciting times to be in Miami,” muses…
Rites of Spring
April is arguably the most spectacular month in Charlotte. After a tedious winter — or waiting for a winter that never came — spring arrives, bringing with it brilliant colors and seasonal rites. Among the religious celebrations of spring are Easter and Passover. Easter Sunday, April 16, has become a brunch crunch. Passover is April…
Letters
Carter Haters Jimmy Carter’s parable ending with the advice, “You should be a Democrat,” has got to be the most disingenuous statement I have ever heard from a president’s mouth (Fishwrapper, April 5). And from the man who promised to be honest with the American people? He shines about as bright as a 5-watt bulb.…
Rising Star
Her name is Sharde Thomas and most of the time she’s a normal 16-year-old who attends high school in the tiny north Mississippi town of Coldwater. She does have, you might say, an unusual avocation. Thomas is the leader of the Rising Star Fife & Drum Band. She may also be the last living exponent…
Boots Made for Partying
Life’s full of little victories and thus excuses to celebrate: birthdays, achieved goals, new gigs, promotions, engagements and break-ups. Last week, I celebrated for the sake of celebrating, starting Thursday night at Grand Central. Grand Central claims to be a taste of Manhattan in Charlotte. I hate to break it to them, but it’s really…
Energy Attracts Energy
Here are two things I’m having trouble believing lately: One, I am, in two hours, actually leaving for Nicaragua and there’s no way I can get out of it, and two, I rented my duplex to a couple of cute art students yesterday. Of course, if you will remember, it is my very animated, very…
Swamp Thing
To get to music producer Nate Martin’s personal compound and recording studio in southwest Florida, you have to take I-75 to the last exit before the highway veers eastward, becoming Alligator Alley, as it cuts across the Everglades. It becomes immediately apparent why the tiny subgenre known as swamp-hop could only have been born in…
Quasi
As Quasi, Sam Coomes and Janet Weiss have spent a decade forging psychedelic-tinged indie-rock gems from their socio-political rage and the embers of their once-married/now-divorced relationship. The sixth full-length from the Portland, OR-based duo continues the dark narrative tradition, while harnessing the heat of their live gigs to the studio mix — ably handled by…
Stargazer
Aries The Ram (March 20 — April 19) Your focus shifts at this time to matters of home, property and family. Through the next seven weeks you may be handling heavy work around your home or car, and/or making repairs. You and other family members may be managing volatile issues or people. For All Signs…
Sacred Steel
If you really want to know about the gospel genre known as sacred steel, take out the phone book and find a House of God church. If you can track one down, chances are a steel guitar will be in its midst. Alvin Lee — one of the founding members of the Florida-based Lee Boys…
The hunt for perfection
“It’s time to throw this baby out in the water and see if it can swim,” said Van Hunt during a recent show at Atlanta’s 10 High Club. A six-piece band surrounded the singer, as did several dozen fans who, despite less than a week’s notice for the show, gathered in the darkly lit basement…
Bad Boys, Bad Boys
“So you want to be a policeman?” the young sergeant leading roll call asks me. “Sir, yes sir!” seems to be the appropriate answer, but with 15 sets of cop eyes glued to me (more than I would be facing if I had just been caught with a kilo and a hooker), all I can…
Fiddlin’ With Tradition
“I got the name of being a pretty good fiddle player,” says Joe Thompson. “I even been to Carnegie Hall playing fiddle.” The 87-year-old Mebane, N.C.-based farmer and fiddler doesn’t do anything new. It’s what he does with old stuff that’s earned him entrance to that hallowed Manhattan hall and a place in history as…
Burning Spear
From the beginning, you could tell Burning Spear was a prophet in waiting. The Saint Ann’s Bay, Jamaica native’s hypnotic, roots-rock-reggae message music was fully formed before Bob Marley’s version became popular. “The man who hails from roots,” Burning Spear’s early cover art proclaimed. Back in 1969, the former Winston Rodney was looking for a…
Don’t Put the “O” Back in Outlaw
Waylon Albright Jennings, born in 1979, was spared a heavy “Jr.” forever hung around his neck. His famous father slipped in a new middle name: Albright, named for Richie Albright, veteran road warrior and drummer of the elder Waylon’s band. It was a fitting tribute, because wee “Shooter,” as Daddy soon nicknamed him, spent much…
She Can Stand the Strain
“Ann Peebles has a voice like Billie Holiday’s, with the same kind of intimacy, the same kind of heartbreak, that unadorned quality that I find completely irresistible. When I hear ‘I Can’t Stand the Rain’ or ‘Wrong Way on a One Way Street,’ the presentation is so personal to me that I’m not hearing it…
Song Catchers
At SXSW 2005, musician Otis Taylor questioned his own marketing limitations during a race and music panel that Creative Loafing editor Mark Kemp and I sat on along with veteran rock critic Dave Marsh and others. Taylor wondered why such musicians as Bob Dylan are considered singer-songwriters and yet Taylor — as a Negro who…
Reasons to Believe
Every year, staffers from all four Creative Loafing and Weekly Planet papers dig through mountains of hype, buzz, website addresses and word-of-mouth recommendations to come up with 10 rising, overlooked or just plain amazing Southeastern acts for your perusal. Here’s this year’s yield: Mute Math. Of the nearly 50 nominees we gathered this year, only…
Hateful Bigotry
While local TV news outfits last week were showing how world-class they could be during Bush’s visit, fawning and gushing as if they’d never seen a war criminal before, the President’s party was busy mauling itself in a bitter battle over immigration. Congressional Republicans spent the week fighting each other while trying to work out…
The Bests of the Fests
ALABAMA CITY STAGES Birmingham’s big bash occurs June 16-18 this year and features the following: Marty Stuart, Hank Williams Jr., Yellowcard, John Hiatt and the Allman Brothers Band, plus about 120-something other acts. It’s quite worth the money, too ($28-$40), considering that most of these acts would charge you the same (if not more) individually.…
How is the Genocide in Sudan’s Darfur Region Effecting Neighboring Countries?
Since 2003, the black African farmers of western Sudan’s Darfur region have been victims of genocide. The genociders are Sudan’s Arab-dominated government and nomadic Arab militia groups known as the Janjaweed. With Sudan’s military providing assistance, Janjaweed have murdered approximately 400,000 of their fellow countrymen and have forced another 2 million to flee their homes…
The Pearls of Barbara Bush
Book Review
Activists Demonstrate Renewed Commitment
Amber Vollmer, Amber Stepp and Katie Cathey weren’t on Elizabeth Avenue last week to speak out against the war in Iraq or President Bush. Nor were they among the non-participating people who’d happened upon the protest. The three UNC-Charlotte students had shown up simply in search of a demonstration any demonstration. “We’ve been looking all…
