Jul 21-27, 2016

Jul 21-27, 2016 / Vol. 30 / No. 22

Video Premiere: Brio – Trip

At 7:04 tonight, local rapper Brio, who was featured alongside fellow rapper/producer James Malik in last week’s Creative Loafing Music Issue, premiered his new video for the song “Trip.” The video was shot in Atlanta by Myles Harris just before Brio moved back to Charlotte in September 2015. It’s our first look at Lite Bleu,…

Ryan Pitkin

Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie: Ab Fab or Prefab?

ABSOLUTELY FABULOUS: THE MOVIE **1/2 (out of four) DIRECTED BY Mandie Fletcher STARS Jennifer Saunders, Joanna Lumley “I wouldn’t recommend getting in the Jacuzzi. It’s a smoothie of old-man semen.” While it’s tempting to believe this eyebrow-raising snatch of dialogue came from Finding Dory or The BFG, it’s actually one of the many naughty bits…

Matt Brunson

Hunt for the Wilderpeople worth seeking out

HUNT FOR THE WILDERPEOPLE *** (out of four) DIRECTED BY Taika Waititi STARS Sam Neill, Julian Dennison A grouchy old man and a roly-poly boy; the devastating loss of a significant other; a faithful canine companion (two, actually); the sighting of a rare kind of bird. Sure, it might sound like Hunt for the Wilderpeople…

Matt Brunson

Finding random, new adventures

On Monday morning, as I laid in bed glancing at the many unanswered texts from the weekend and reviewing social media, I lost my breath for a second. I thought I’d forgotten to wish one of my closest friends ‘happy birthday.’ Nope, I hadn’t. I had simply forgotten the fact that I had drunk called…

Aerin Spruill

Sarah Jarosz rides the Undercurrent

No one was more surprised than Sarah Jarosz when she received her first Grammy nomination in 2010. The 25-year-old Americana singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist was then a freshman at the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston, where she was studying contemporary improvisation. “My roommate and I were both sitting at our desks and I got…

Pat Moran

A Milestone in history

As reported by Creative Loafing in May, The Milestone Club in west Charlotte is facing an uncertain future. The club, which opened in 1969 and has since propped up countless local acts in Charlotte while also playing host to iconic bands and singers ranging from Bo Diddley to Nirvana, needs renovations in order for investors…

Ryan Pitkin

About that arsenic in your water…

Lake Norman, Mountain Island Lake, Lake Wylie (a.k.a. the Catawba River) — all of that water belongs to you. And by “you,” I mean “We The People.” That water is the same water flowing through pipes into your homes and businesses and into your bodies. Your government is supposed to be protecting it. So, why…

Rhiannon Fionn

Missed connections

So, it’s been exactly one month and nine days since I started dating this random guy I met on Twitter. By social media standards, we’ve “known” each other for the better part of a few months; digitally exchanging ideas on the state of the world and finding mutuality among our streams of consciousness, bands of…

Sherrell Dorsey

Detecting Donnie’s The Colored Section

It’s been more than a decade since Atlanta-based musician Donnie Johnson, better known on a first name basis by most, released his debut album, The Colored Section. But that album is just as relevant now as it was back in 2002. Sadly, racism and police brutalities are in the headlines, which is why Donnie is…

Anita Overcash

Overflowing Garbage

There’s no room for complaining when you’ve been fed a compliment from Shirley Manson. At the end of my interview with the frontwoman of Garbage, she describes my accent as being “mental and twisted,” followed up by “it’s gorgeous.” And I’m less confused and more on cloud nine, a strange little bird that’s flying high…

Anita Overcash

The Music Issue

For this week’s music issue, we’ve incorporated stories on national, regional and local bands and musicians. While Gwen Stefani graces the cover, other songstresses like Sarah Jarosz and Shirley Manson of Garbage are just a click away. That’s not to forget, Atlanta-based singer/songwriter Donnie, who is making a comeback with his The Colored Section album…

Anita Overcash, Ryan Pitkin, Pat Moran, Jeff Hahne

Reviews of Sister Act and Killing Women

Maybe Ophelia should have followed Hamlet’s advice. Julie Andrews — or was that Carrie Underwood? — checked into a nunnery in The Sound of Music and, in spite of some serious compatibility issues, wound up with a husband and a singing group. The same thing happened to Whoopi Goldberg in Sister Act when she hid…

Perry Tannenbaum

Crêpes for days

It’s a quarter to noon on a Friday, and the Uptown lunch crowd that’s lined up in front of Hazelnuts Crêperie is already starting to overflow into the lobby of its 200 South Tryon St. location. For owner Asi Agajan, seeing the crowd of crêpe-seekers fill the lobby is a welcome sight. He can still…

Madeline Lemieux

James Malik and Brio practice patience

James Malik and Brio, both producers and rappers, are a yin and yang of music and spirituality. Their two personalities betray their musical styles. While Malik is laid back and soft-spoken in person, his beats carry a certain momentum; percussion-heavy and hyper, ready for a dance party. Brio sings a smoother song on his tracks,…

Ryan Pitkin

Bizarre crime from Charlotte police files (July 21)

Pop Off One might think that the days following Halloween are tough on school bus drivers, who have to deal with kids hopped up on sugar bouncing off the walls of their bus. Those drivers don’t know the struggle of the drivers who transport summer school students. In the days following July 4, one driver…

Ryan Pitkin

Gwen Stefani returns to the road as a solo artist

At times, it might seem like Gwen Stefani has multiple personalities. There’s the singer of No Doubt, the judge on The Voice, the tabloid fodder and the solo artist. When you focus on her music, it’s clear that regardless of the vehicle she uses to deliver her songs — with a band or not —…

Jeff Hahne

Weekly horoscope (July 21-27)

For All Signs: Contrary to popular parlance, the sun sign is not necessarily who you are, but who you are becoming as you grow and gain maturity. This developing identity may have more or less support from other parts of oneself, as symbolized by the location of the moon and the planets of the solar…

Vivian Carol

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