New Record Label Gives It All Away
When folksy Indie duo The Sheds (currently inactive) released its You’ve Got A Light album a few years ago, fans and even the most passive curiosity seekers were able to wrap their ears around the record (one of the best locally-spawned efforts of the ’00s) without even having to reach for their credit card. (Streaming…
New Tunes (and Movies) Tuesday
Tuesday has long been one of my favorite days of the week. Why? That’s when new music and movies traditionally hit stores for purchase and/or rental. Remember John M. James’ column/list of new albums that used to appear in CityBeat? I admit that was the first thing I turned to as a music-mad pre-CityBeat-staff college…
Harris Takes Detroit Schools Job
Former Cincinnati City Councilman Greg Harris has accepted a major, high-profile job in Detroit, where he will live during the week. Harris, 39, was hired Monday as the first executive director for Excellent Schools Detroit. The new organization is comprised of various education, government, community and philanthropic leaders who have developed a 10-year, citywide education…
Onstage: Dialogues in Dance
Ever been to a performance and wondered what it was really about? Or felt the urge to share your opinions with other folks in attendance? Here’s your chance. Local modern dance luminaries MamLuft&Co. Dance and Demetrius Klein Dance Company have curated Dialogues in Dance, a fresh, eclectic show where your feedback is encouraged to shape…
Walk the Moon (Profile)
Until recently, Walk the Moon’s membership had more turnovers than the Bengals in the fourth quarter. The band’s lineup has fluctuated since vocalist/keyboardist Nicholas Petricca officially put WTM together three years ago, but that situation changed in 2010. Since recording their debut full length I Want! I Want! in late 2009, the band underwent yet…
Comedy: Lisa Landry
Comedian Lisa Landry became a mom a few years back, but you won’t hear her talk about her son much on stage. “My kid is part of it,” she says, “but I don’t want to talk too much about him, because it’s not his fault he was born to a comedian. The kid’s already going…
Music: College Hill Coffee Co. Fifth Anniversary Weekend
Like a corner barbershop or bar, locally owned and operated coffeehouses often serve as a central “water cooler” hangout in a neighborhood, where people congregate and share stories and information (sort of like a real-life social network Web site). College Hill Coffee Co. has been just that for College Hill and this week the coffeehouse/restaurant…
Keeping Your New Year’s Resolutions
Get five family-friendly tips for keeping New Year's resolutions from Psychologist Robin Gurwitch PhD, Professor in the Division of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics at Cincinnati Children's Hospital.
Dean Regas and the Freedom Center
[WINNER] DEAN REGAS: The death of Jack Horkheimer in August left the hosting duties open for Star Gazer, the five-minute TV show on astronomy seen on many PBS stations late at night. Horkheimer appeared on the mini-show, based in Miami, Fla., for a whopping 34 years. Now producers are trying out potential replacements on a…
Music: Wiz Khalifa
Since we have enough axes to grind with Pittsburgh already (What? The Steelers … again?), here’s some Steel City biz we can actually embrace. Rapper Wiz Khalifa may be a mere 23 years old, but he’s already been a major Hip Hop player for close to six years. Born Cameron Khalil Thomaz, the former military…
Onstage: Constella Trio
Bonia Shur is a rarity among composers of sacred music. For starters, more than 300 of his compositions are standards in Reform Jewish synagogues. In addition to his liturgical output, Shur has written scores for film, theater and television. Shur’s 88th birthday will be celebrated as Hebrew Union College inaugurates the Classical Concerts on Clifton…
Art: George Schmidt at PAC Gallery
George Schmidt’s solo exhibition Recent Paintings and Drawings at PAC Gallery (2540 Woodburn Ave., East Walnut Hills) closes this Friday with a reception from 5-8 p.m. In many of the works, porches, patios and other buildings are suggested with casual elegance in sunny, inviting hues. Backgrounds stretch off into hazy views of bays and coastlines,…
Life Isn’t a Sitcom
I was doing some Internet surfing the other day and came across a Web-based talk show called Wake Up and Get Real. It features Kelly Cutrone, a fashion publicist, and actress Justine Bateman. The show is kind of like The View with the lid off. I don’t know much about Cutrone. Apparently she’s also on…
Onstage: King John
You have a rare chance to see one of Shakespeare’s less frequently produced plays this month as Cincinnati Shakespeare offers the poetic, powerful and poisonous story of a monarch who had no qualms about taking whatever measures he deemed necessary to solidify his seat on the throne. The plot is political and the characters are…
Cincinnati Museums Offer High-Profile Shows in 2011
The first part of this year is going to be a dynamic one for museum exhibits — so dynamic that you have to wonder if there will be enough patrons for all the high-profile shows. The biggest show (probably) is primarily a history exhibit, but one with incredibly good timing. Cleopatra: The Search for the…
Comedy: The Trailer Park Boys
With the “Drunk, High and Unemployed Tour” coming to the Madison Theater (730 Madison Ave., Covington), only two options are possible: either Coolio is coming to town or Canada’s own Trailer Park Boys are hitting the road. And since Coolio is now a Juggalo (really, look it up … I’ll wait) it’s safe to bet…
Art: Maurice Mattei at Iris BookCafe
Maurice Mattei's timeless photographs of a country where memories run deep are bringing people back to Iris BookCafe to look at Pictures from Italy again. The Cincinnati photographer, musician and general all-round artist was born in Tuscany and, although he's lived almost all his life in the U.S., he has frequently returned there. This unpretentious…
Music: Grace Potter and The Nocturnals
Last year might have been a crap-on-burnt-toast one for most of us, but it couldn’t have gone better for Grace Potter & the Nocturnals. The buzz on Potter’s Black Crowes-backing-Bonnie Raitt mash-up of Classic Rock, Soul and Blues has been building since the release of Potter and the Nocturnals’ 2007 sophomore breakthrough, This is Somewhere…
Music: Walk the Moon
Until recently, Walk the Moon’s membership had more turnovers than the Bengals in the fourth quarter. The band’s lineup has fluctuated since vocalist/keyboardist Nicholas Petricca officially put WTM together three years ago, but that situation changed in 2010. Since recording their debut full length I Want! I Want! in late 2009, the band underwent yet…
Events: CincyVeg Launch Party
Have you considered becoming a vegetarian but are not sure where to begin? CincyVeg has just the solution for you; it is a one-stop green-shop for all things veggie in the Tri-State. This new online resource is hosting a launch party 6-9 p.m. Friday at Park and Vine (1202 Main St., Over-the-Rhine). You will be…
Music: Slothpop
Around the summer of 2009, Kristin Newborn launched Slothpop as a planned “side project” in which she was joined by Dan Zender and Lauren Eison. The band's name was a nod to “Sloth,” a nickname Newborn earned for her admitted predilection for doing things at a laid-back pace. Slothpop would not stay an occasional distraction…
Music: Bear (the Ghost)
The Mad Hatter transforms into an electronic haven Monday as a lineup of local and national Indie groups wire in and arm up with some seriously groovy weapons. Hailing originally from St. Louis, Bear (the Ghost) features alternating members centered around Robby Ritter, who produces a crafty blend of synthesizers, guitars and quirkily angelic vocals…
Music: Jesse Malin and The St. Marks Social
Love It To Life, last April's debut from Jesse Malin and The St. Marks Social, is a record steeped in tribute. A major source of inspiration for Malin, a singer/guitarist best known for stints in now-defunct Punk bands D Generation and Heart Attack, was his rekindled love for J.D. Salinger and, by proxy, The Catcher…
Worst Day Ever!
• Did you drive all the way to work today, sit down at your desk, hop onto the Internet (gmail; Facebook; sneezing baby panda video; work e-mail; news site) and then realize: “Holy shit! It's snowing!” The Enquirer's weather blog asks if you made it to work. (Nope, just sitting at home on a snowday…
Showtime’s Winter Offerings Worth Watching
'Tis the season of waiting for premium cable lovers. Most of the truly addictive programs shown on HBO and Showtime (and on many basic cable channels, for that matter) wrapped up in late fall and now all the Dexperts, Trubies and Maddicts are starting to get the shakes because it'll be swimsuit weather before their…
Violence and False Equivalencies
After the tragic shootings Saturday in Arizona involving a U.S. congresswoman and a federal judge, some progressive commentators were quick to note the heated rhetoric and provocative imagery used by Sarah Palin's political action committee (PAC), with many blaming it for helping incite violence.—- After the health-care reform vote last March, SarahPAC used its Facebook…
Tracy Walker and Chris Collier
Like a corner barbershop or bar, locally owned and operated coffeehouses often serve as a central “water cooler” hangout in a neighborhood, where people congregate and share stories and information (sort of like a real-life social network Web site). College Hill Coffee Co. has been just that for College Hill and this week the coffeehouse/restaurant…
Chris Bronger [Hathaway’s Diner]
We all know Hathaway’s ( 306 Vine St., Downtown; 513-621-1332) as the charming diner in the Carew Tower, a mainstay that’s been serving up breakfast and lunch comfort food for over half a century. But what do we know about the newest owner? Chris Bronger, a Northern Kentuckian by way of Louisville, had never stepped…
Jesse Malin and The St. Marks Social with Alone at 3am and The Whorenettes
Love It To Life, last April's debut from Jesse Malin & The St. Marks Social, is a record steeped in tribute. A major source of inspiration for Malin, a singer/guitarist best known for stints in now-defunct Punk bands D Generation and Heart Attack, was his rekindled love for J.D. Salinger and, by proxy, The Catcher…
In the Know at Know Theatre
Every year it feels as if things get off to a slow start at Know Theatre of Cincinnati. The company, based in a two-story facility on Jackson Street in Over-the-Rhine, is a venue for September’s Midpoint Music Festival, so its fall season begins a month later than other local theaters. (This year it kicked off…
Grace Potter & The Nocturnals with Chamberlin
Last year might have been a crap-on-burnt-toast one for most of us, but it couldn’t have gone better for Grace Potter & the Nocturnals. The buzz on Potter’s Black Crowes-backing-Bonnie Raitt mash-up of Classic Rock, Soul and Blues has been building since the release of Potter and the Nocturnals’ 2007 sophomore breakthrough, This is Somewhere…
Bear (The Ghost)
The Mad Hatter transforms into an electronic haven Monday as a lineup of local and national Indie groups wire in and arm up with some seriously groovy weapons. Hailing originally from St. Louis, Bear (the Ghost) features alternating members centered around Robby Ritter, who produces a crafty blend of synthesizers, guitars and quirkily angelic vocals…
Wiz Khalifa with Joell Ortiz
Since we have enough axes to grind with Pittsburgh already (What? The Steelers … again?), here’s some Steel City biz we can actually embrace. Rapper Wiz Khalifa may be a mere 23 years old, but he’s already been a major Hip Hop player for close to six years. Born Cameron Jibril Thomaz, the former military…
John Morris Russell Wants the Cincinnati Pops to Pop
Last month, the Cincinnati Pops announced the appointment of John Morris Russell as its conductor, succeeding the legendary Erich Kunzel, who died in September 2009. The usual flurry of laudatory press coverage followed the announcement, but there wasn’t much focus on a significant part of Russell’s career that will be crucial for the Pops future…
Summit Restaurant (Review)
My favorite dining experiences tend to happen when I least except them. Fancy restaurants with fancy reputations are great, but when you’re not really excited about a restaurant and it turns out better than you expected — that’s delightful. I wasn’t quite sure what to expect when I set out to review The Summit. It’s…
Slothpop
At its most basic, Slothpop's sound is restrained Indie Pop. The arrangements are tempered and utilitarian in design, the melodies are sweetly sonorous but not overbearing and instruments move in and out with clockwork care. Nothing sounds like it was spawned on the fly. The overarching minimalism also means that you have to dig around…
Slothpop Isn’t Slouching
Around the summer of 2009, Kristin Newborn launched Slothpop as a planned “side project” in which she was joined by Dan Zender and Lauren Eison. The band's name was a nod to “Sloth,” a nickname Newborn earned for her admitted predilection for doing things at a laid-back pace. Slothpop would not stay an occasional distraction…
Washington Platform (Brunch Review)
Sunday is usually a day that you have to pry me off the couch, especially during football season. However, I had heard about the once-a-month New Orleans Jazz and Food lunch at Washington Platform (1000 Elm St., Downtown; 513-421-0110), and since whatever the Bengals did wouldn’t matter, I asked my friend Barbara to check it…
Another Mis-en-scene (Review)
Critic's Pick Country Club’s Oakley gallery space has been given over through Feb. 5 to a playful exhibition that forgoes traditional presentation methods, instead re-creating a living space filled with conceptual art that often elicits a double-take. Another Mis-en-scene is an exhibition curated by local art collector Michael Lowe and is comprised almost entirely of…
Frank Zappa, Duran Duran, Eric Johnson and The Volebeats
Captain Beefheart is dead. What a suckass Christmas present. Born Donald Glen Vliet, later morphed to Don Van Vliet, but forever known by the nickname bestowed upon him by Frank Zappa when they were teenage music-makers in Lancaster, Calif., the Captain changed the course of Rock with his Howlin’ Wolf-as-painted-by Salvador-Dali vision of the Blues.…
Worst Day Ever!
• Sarah Palin has removed her “target list” of political opponents now that one has been shot in the head. A Palin aide says there was nothing wrong with it though. The accused shooter isn't speaking to investigators.—- • Enquirer TV writer John Kiesewetter describes TLC's new TV show, Police Women of Cincinnati, as “attractive,…
Goodbye, Duppy a Jamba and Hello, Secret Six
Popular Northern Kentucky Ska/Reggae/Rock crew Duppy a Jamba is no more. But fans shouldn’t be too disappointed. The band announced, due to a creative shift in new material, though membership is essentially the same, it has changed its name to The Secret Six.—- Nominated for multiple Cincinnati Entertainment Awards, Duppy a Jamba amassed a strong…
Cage The Elephant Discusses New Album
Cage The Elephant is a young five-piece from Bowling Green, KY, Matt Shultz (vocals), Brad Shultz (guitar), Daniel Tichenor (bass), Lincoln Parish (guitar) and Jared Champion (drums). They accumulated 80 songs worth of ideas during a 2-year period touring around the globe and living abroad in England supporting their eponymous debut album. As they began…
Friday Movie Roundup: Land of Misfit Movies
Another calendar year has turned, and you know what that means — a smattering of awards season fare that already opened in larger markets in order to qualify for Oscar consideration (Derek Cianfrance's Blue Valentine, Sofia Coppola's Somewhere and John Cameron Mitchell's Rabbit Hole, all of which open here this month) mixed in with stuff…
F-35 On Probation, Coffee to Blame?
It appears as though U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates is shutting down the Marine Corp's F-35 Joint Strike Fighter jet in part to cut back on military spending. (See what you did Tea Party? Scared Obama into making our country less safe.) The decision could affect GE Aviation to the tune of $80 million in…
Country Strong (Review)
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Writer-director Shana Feste (The Greatest) has the misfortune of shepherding a Country music project a year after Jeff Bridges earned his first Academy Award in Scott Cooper’s Crazy Heart. The authenticity of the hard-knock life as a singer-songwriter bent every note in Cooper’s film, which kept it perfectly in tune.…
A 15-Step Program to Save the Media from Themselves
Dump consultants. Cancel audience-counting contracts. Fire click whores. Ice eyeballs. Adopt my cost-free 12-step program to save surviving news media … from ourselves. Readers, viewers and listeners know we fill space and time with meaningless words. It goes beyond verbosity. It’s insulting. Start the new year by embracing virtue: Step 1: Ban the word “challenge”…
Season of the Witch (Review)
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Obviously, Dominic Sena (Gone in Sixty Seconds) has a degree of comfort working with Nicolas Cage, but there’s no way anyone will buy the off-kilter performer and Ron Perlman as his crusading sidekick in the 14th century when they sound like they wondered off a mid-1980s buddy picture set. Season…
Gulliver’s Travels (Review)
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Audiences should be forgiven for thinking that Lemuel Gulliver (Jack Black) and his adventure on the island of Liliput has anything to do with Jonathan Swift’s classic, because all Black has done is somehow convince director Rob Letterman (Monsters vs. Aliens) to shoot Travels as if it were a craptastic…
Keller’s IGA Shuts Down
Keller's IGA, located at 319 Ludlow Ave. in Clifton, shut down Thursday citing tax issues. While the doors are still locked, it has been announced that the store's liquor license is no longer suspended. Cliftonites have been shopping at IGA's Ludlow location since 1939. Nestled near Arlin's Bar and Esquire Theater, Keller's was one of…
Goodbye, Summertime Fun
With all the last-minute deal-making and back and forth among Cincinnati officials, some residents remain confused about details of the city's operating budget for this year. At least, that's the impression CityBeat gets based on its feedback. Among the most asked-about items is exactly which city-owned swimming pools are affected by budget cuts to help…
How IsWhat?! Spent Its 2010
If you’ve looked back on your 2010 and decided you are satisfied with the year you had, a rundown of the accomplishments of locally-based Jazz/Hip Hop group IsWhat?! might have you reexamining your reexamination. What, you say? You haven’t heard a peep from the group in ages? That’s probably because IsWhat?! has been so busy…
Worst Day Ever!
• Gov.-elect John Kasich has made his spending slash a little more difficult with the decision to pay his top aides a lot more than Ted Strickland paid his. Kasich, whose chief of staff's $170,000 salary is approximately what Barack Obama's main man makes, said he has to raise the salaries or his buddies will…
A Bad Omen for News
It's well-known that The Enquirer has been timid about calling out local corporations on possible misconduct or shady dealings ever since the newspaper paid $14 million to Chiquita in the late 1990s when the produce giant threatened to sue following the publication of a damning special section on its alleged practices in Central and South…
Worst Day Ever!
Good morning sports fans! Whoot! Whoot! Whoot! The Crosstown Shootout is 7 p.m. tonight, which leaves only about 8 hours for you to secure tickets and get your face painted all red and black. (Just kidding – you can paint it blue if ya want.)—- Did you know that John Boehner is “the son of…
The Mixed Messages of ‘No Strings Attached’
I try to stay away from movie trailers as much as possible — either because they rarely give you an accurate idea of what a movie is truly about or because they reveal the entire thing in two minutes. (On the other hand, I suppose I'd rather spend a few minutes with something like Tron:…
Local Band Reunion Mania Saturday
I heard someone recently bemoaning how we’ve just entered the decade where every day, month and year the media will be celebrating the 50th anniversary of everything that happened in the ’60s. There could be daily Beatles celebrations. The anniversaries of their Sullivan show appearance, first No. 1, Sgt. Pepper, beards — the 50-year mark…
The Movie Club Is Back (Now Let Me In)
I try not to make it a habit of steering you, dear readers, to other Web sites, but The Movie Club is back! Essentially an insider-y movie-critic wank-fest, the Slate-curated endeavor features five writers who go back and forth debating the year in movies via 600-word-or-so online missives — a wet dream for those of…
Girl Talk Is a Mash Monster
Gregg Gillis has made music with the industry’s biggest names, including Black Eyed Peas, Radiohead, Jay-Z, Beyonce, Black Sabbath and The Doors. And he’s never met any of them. Neither hot producer nor veteran session musician, Gillis — recording as Girl Talk — is a brilliant sonic collagist with a gift for combining shards of…
Community Supported Agriculture
The Earth Shares CSA (Community Supported Agriculture program) at Grailville in Loveland is a simple idea that makes a big impact. Participants, or shareholders, buy and work for a share of a farm and then take home part of the vegetables yielded by that farm every week during the growing season. Membership Coordinator Jennifer Russell…
Going Green to Save Green
It’s the week after New Year’s Eve and chances are good that even modest Cincinnatians have at least a few empty champagne bottles or beer cans to toss in their recycling bin — unless a new recycling “smart cart” has already replaced it. As part of the multiphase recycling rewards program initiated by the city…
Resolution Resources
Community for healthier lifestyles Cincinnati LocavoreThe Locavore blog helps you eat locally grown food year-round. Frequently updated, you’ll find posts on community supported agriculture, foraged foods, family farms and a comprehensive list of links to local food outlets. They operate a Yahoo group for dialogue with interested folks, too. cincinnatilocavore.blogspot.com. CincyVeg.comConnect with other vegetarians at…
Orchestral Maneuvers in the Dark
One of the nation’s hottest, hippest and most respected symphony orchestras is coming to Cincinnati — setting up a sort of residence, actually — beginning Jan. 9. It’s the Los Angeles Philharmonic with conductor/musical director Gustavo Dudamel, the 29-year-old Venezuela-born wunderkind whose 2009 appointment to the L.A. position has made him a superstar on par…
Wine Guy Bistro (Review)
The winter months make me a bit reflective, and a nice glass or four of wine is perfect for those moments. Who better to spend an evening reminiscing with friends than the Wine Guy? The Wine Guy Wine Shop, Wine Bar and Bistro occupies the space formerly known as the Smith & Hawken garden store…
You Go, Yoga!
The experience of getting fit is too often an anonymous one, Rachel Roberts says. She owns and operates one of Cincinnati’s newest places to sweat, The Yoga Bar, and runs it on the principle that fitness should be a collective endeavor. Roberts, who traveled the world for two years to learn about the various disciplines…
Hard Miles
Exiled from Main Street XXXV: for J.B. I’m up shit creek with a full complement of paddles, but only one arm with which to row: two days before deadline, three days removed from shoulder surgery, lost in a haze of Oxycodone while wearing a space-age sling and stockings sans garters for anti-embolism purposes. Said surgery…
Vegging Out
Being a vegetarian in Porkopolis can be a real challenge. It’s a meat eater’s world. But there’s a new resource that can help: CincyVeg.com is a collaborative labor of love assembled by area vegetarians to be a hub for local vegetarian, animal welfare and green living communities. “We all wanted a place where everybody could…
Dec. 29-Jan.4: Worst Week Ever!
WEDNESDAY DEC. 29 There are many reasons why a person might choose to abort an accidental pregnancy — maybe you don't have the resources necessary to adequately care for a child or you don't feel like moving to Wisconsin for nine months until your rich parents can give it away. The Enquirer today reported a…
Clendon Springer [Final Cut Steakhouse at the Hollywood Casino]
Chef Clendon Springer has created a dining menu at Final Cut Steakhouse at the Hollywood Casino (777 Hollywood Blvd., Lawrenceburg, 888-274-6797) that’s pretty much a sure bet, with Midwestern-aged, corn-fed beef; free-range Amish chicken from Ohio; bourbon creamed corn; and Indiana goat cheese croquettes as examples of what he wants to achieve with local products…
It’s a Pho Lang Thang
When the weather gets brisker come winter, traffic at Findlay Market starts to dwindle. But a new eatery in the former Paula’s location is still bustling. It’s Pho Lang Thang (112 W. Elder St., Over the Rhine, 513-376-9177), a small and hip Vietnamese Bistro opened by brothers Duy and Bao Nguyen with friend David Le.…
The Reanimated (Profile)
People say Punk Rock is dead. Some say it died with Sid Vicious, others say Joey Ramone. But no matter which trailblazer took Punk Rock to his grave, the in-your-face, D.I.Y., fuck-the-world attitude is, indeed, dead. But it isn’t exactly resting in peace. It’s been clawing its way out of the grave, breaking the pine…
Training Personally
Personal trainer Charlie Levine says his classes are all about moving objects (like dumb bells) through space or moving yourself through space. Many times fitness programs are too targeted, working only abdominals for example, and yield disappointing results. “I teach people how to move and, through that, to get results,” Levine says. Levine’s classes include…
Worst Day Ever!
Have you ever had one of those mornings where waking up is really scary? As if your bed is surrounded by alien lights, but you haven't opened your eyes yet because the aliens probably won't kill you while you're sleeping. Then you finally open your eyes, look around, wonder why you're sleeping with your head…
Human Race Theatre Co. Director Dies
Marsha Hanna, artistic director of Dayton's Human Race Theatre Company, died on Monday. I was saddened to learn of her passing — especially at age 59 — because she was a passionate advocate for theater, not just in Dayton but throughout the region. —-The last time I recall crossing paths with her was at the…
More Furloughs at The Enquirer
The new year already is looking a lot like the old one for employees at The Enquirer. Workers at Cincinnati's only remaining daily newspaper got some bad news Wednesday: They can expect to take another five-day furlough during the first quarter of 2011. Robert J. Dickey, who is U.S. newspaper division president at The Gannett Co., The…
January Music Fests Booked
Details for the first two big local music festivals of 2011 have been announced. The One More Girl on a Stage fest returns Jan. 21 and 22 to Newport’s York Street Café for the Rivertown Music Club’s last ever event, while the Cincy Blues Society’s annual Winter Blues Fest takes over the Southgate House Jan.…
