Squeeze the Day for 11/22
Music Tonight: Music legend Paul Simon brings his tour behind the recent full-length, So Beautiful or So What, to The Bank of Kentucky Center on Northern Kentucky University's campus in Highland Heights for a 7:30 p.m. concert. The tour also happens to coincide with the even-more-recently-released retrospective compilation, Songwriter, a nice reminder of just how…
Music, Movies and the Not So Mundane
A Peruvian anthropologist by the name of Renato Davila Riquelme has stumbled upon the remains of an unidentified creature with a “triangle-shaped” skull that is nearly as large as the rest of its 20-inch-tall body. Spanish and Russian scientists claim that the remains are that of an extraterrestrial. Akron City Prosecutor Doug Powley says he…
My Week with Marilyn
Michelle Williams delivers an Oscar-worthy performance playing screen siren Marilyn Monroe. The vehicle is director Simon Curtis' thoughtful adaptation of Colin Clark's diaries. At the age of 23 Clark worked as third assistant director to Laurence Olivier for his 1956 romantic comedy The Prince and the Showgirl. For Monroe, the film came between Bus Stop…
Holiday Event Listings
EVENTS Nov. 25-27: Winterfair is a juried fair of fine art and craft featuring more than 200 artists from across the country. Shop ceramics, glass, wearable art, jewelry, sculpture, painting and photography. Northern Kentucky Convention Center, One West Rivercenter Blvd., Covington, www.winterfair.org Through Dec. 31: Enjoy an incredible mile-long holiday spectacle from the comfort of your…
Local Love
W ith th e official kickoff to the holiday season just days away, some are preparing to don their riot gear and hit the malls, while others plan to remain in their comfy pajamas and point and click their way through their shopping list. Either way, local merchants are encouraging Cincinnati residents to “shop local”…
A Very Larry Christmas
I have long, skinny fingers except when I go Christmas shopping. Once I’m in a store listening to Christmas music and hearing all that holiday cheer, my fingers swell up. This has been happening since the 1980’s. My fingers are no longer fingers. They’re long, fat sausages that are tired of picking up stuff and…
2011 Holiday Issue
D epending on what day you’re reading this issue of CityBeat, Thanksgiving could already have come and gone. Crazy, right? It seems like every year we get all geared up for Halloween and then — poof! — it’s January and we’re cold and in mass debt. But that’s no reason to get down about the…
Watching (TV) In a Winter Wonderland
S ome of my favorite holiday memories involve being with family and friends, munching on seasonal goodies as we’re gathered around a warm, glowing … television. Sure, it might sound boring and vaguely pathetic — how very “American” of me — but holidays just wouldn’t be the same without football on Thanksgiving, the Christmas Eve…
Last Night a DJ Saved My Christmas
O ne of the more intimidating responsibilities that many deal with as they get older is the prospect of one day having to host a family gathering in your home. Worse still is if you’re chosen to host your family’s annual holiday get-together. It’s up there with “paying off student loans” and “finding hair growing…
Holidays In the Dark
THE ADVENTURES OF TINTIN: SECRET OF THE UNICORN Director: Steven Spielberg Cast: Jamie Bell, Andy Serkis, Daniel Craig, Simon Pegg, Nick Frost Lowdown: The first of two December offerings (War Horse being the other) from The Most Successful Director That Has Ever Lived is a motion-capture-rendered animated adventure that follows a young journalist (Bell) immersed…
Morning News and Stuff
The Hamilton County Commissioners' stadium funding failures have caused County Auditor Dusty Rhodes to describe a “dream world” where politicians think their inaction doesn't affect anybody. Today's news that the stadium fund will be bankrupt by March without additional funding has not deterred Republican Chris Monzel and Democrat Todd Portune from giving property owners the…
Tis the Season
W hat do you think of when you consider the holiday season? Family members gathered around the dining room table enjoying a delicious home-cooked meal? Presents under the tree, sharing moments of joy and delight as the holiday spirit embraces you? That isn’t the case with everyone. Many are unemployed, looking for jobs that won’t…
Rumors, Lies and General Misunderstandings
Among the numerous music shows being held Thanksgiving Eve is a record release party for the debut of newcomers Green Light Morning. While the band itself is new, you might recognize a member or two — the trio features Aaron Patrick (guitar/vocals), who spent many years with the very popular (locally and regionally) Cincinnati Pop/Rock…
The Descendants
Matt King (George Clooney) comes from a distinct lineage. In terms of his own narrative, that of the new Alexander Payne film The Descendants, he is a modern-day land baron, the trustee of a family that owns the last and largest untapped acreage in Hawaii. But King is a simple man with a wife (Patricia…
Long-Lost Art
“ I f you don’t know meat, know your butcher” is advice I read on a butcher shop window a long time ago. It came back to me recently when I read an article in The New York Times titled “The Lost Art of Buying From a Butcher.” The bottom line: An experienced butcher will…
Black Friday, Occupy and 50/50
[HOT] Record Store Day Goes Black This Friday is the inexplicable phenomenon known as “Black Friday,” that post-Thanksgiving shopping frenzy that sends millions of consumers out at a variety of crazy hours so they can save a few bucks on Christmas presents. This year, the folks behind Record Store Day — an annual effort to…
Some Great Awards
The 15th annual Cincinnati Entertainment Awards Nov. 20 at Covington’s Madison Theater once again brought together people from all facets of the Greater Cincinnati music scene and gave them one hell of a party. Along with offering one of the best people-watching experiences of the year, the packed crowd in attendance was treated to great…
The Muppets
H ard as it is to pick one scene that captures everything that is so delightful about the endlessly entertaining The Muppets, let me go with this one: During the climactic live Muppet Show revival at the end, Camilla — beloved chicken of Gonzo the Great — and several poultry friends perform a version of…
Mad for Mike’s
When the word gets out about Mad Mike’s Burgers & Fries (6420 Dixie Hwy., Florence, 859-647-6444), you’re not going to be able to push your way through the crowds to get in. Put the paper down now and go, and you can finish reading this when you get back. There! Was I right, or was…
A Dummy’s Guide to Mormonism
L ast month evangelical leaders gathered in Washington, D.C., for the Values Voter Summit, where disciples of the Pissed-Off Jesus harrumphed about how much America sucked. That’s when the bomb ignited. As you may recall, preacher Robert Jeffress was on hand to introduce Rick Perry. He warned that Mormon “cult” members were not only despoiling…
Talkin’ Turkey
Ten years I’ve been writing a column and the only time I’ve ever mentioned eating, I wasn’t talking about food. I point this out not to congratulate my restraint so much as offer proof that I generally shy away from shoving my beliefs down another’s throat. Yet one I’ve held my entire adult life at…
Nov. 16-21: Worst Week Ever!
WEDNESDAY NOV. 16 Postal workers protested today at the Dalton Avenue post hub because they don’t want to not have jobs like everyone else. The United States Postal Service is likely to close about 250 facilities across the country in order to save $3 billion. Closing the Dalton facility would result in 1,200 jobs being…
Bronte Bistro (Review)
I ’m not sure when it happened, but somewhere along the way I think that it became a rule that bookstores must provide food and beverage, in addition to literature. Almost all modern bookstores have cafés offering coffee, sweets and sandwiches. However, Joseph-Beth Booksellers at Rookwood Pavilion really goes the extra mile. Not only do…
Mobile Food Vendors and Metro (All Winners Edition)
[WINNER] MOBILE FOOD VENDORS: Led by City Councilwoman Laure Quinlivan, Cincinnati officials recently expanded the mobile food vending program by creating new zones near Fountain Square. Prompted by a request from 3CDC, officials late last summer eliminated food vendors that used tents and wagons from the square itself, stating they blocked the view of the…
Cutting Tax Rollback Is Best Fix for Stadium Deficit
This isn’t something I say or write often, so please pay attention: Hamilton County Commissioner Greg Hartmann is right. Hartmann, a Republican who currently is president of the county commission, wants to temporarily keep the existing reduction in the amount of a property tax rollback to avoid deficits in the county’s stadium account . The…
A Local’s View of the Arab Spring Aftermath
In Egypt today the downside of revolution is beginning to be felt. During two weeks recently spent there on a tour to see the ancient sights, and then on my own for several days in Cairo, most people I talked to were ready for order to happen, although glad to have moved ahead. The uneasy…
Theaters Have Homes
Cincinnati is blessed with a strong community theater scene. Several of these volunteer organizations have been around longer than any of our professional companies. We all appreciated the wonderful 50th anniversary season of the Cincinnati Playhouse in 2009-2010, but this year marks the 75th year that Mariemont Players has been in business, generally offering five…
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
In an interview included among this new three-disc set’s bonus material, novelist John le Carre calls Alec Guinness’ portrayal in Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy of retired British spy George Smiley as “mystical.” And that’s the perfect word for it in this masterful BBC television mini-series from 1979, based on le Carre’s novel and adapted by…
Mixed Results
A n almost funereal atmosphere envelops the narrow length of the Cincinnati Art Museum’s new, permanent installation in Schmidlapp Gallery — the long hallway connecting the main entrance from Great Hall. This space, which until recently contained objects from the museum’s antiquities collection, now is set off by undulating, floor-to-ceiling fringes of slim black strips…
Abe, Ebenezer, Crumpet and More
I t’s just about time for that magical season of holiday shows in Cincinnati — some tried and true, and some for the Grinches who don’t resonate with the good cheer that permeates the world through most of December. Let’s take a little sleigh ride around Cincinnati’s theaters to see what’s happening. Our first stop…
Art: Who Are Three Men Who Have Never Been in My Kitchen?
Until the end of December, Aisle Gallery in the West End is presenting Who Are Three Men Who Have Never Been in My Kitchen?, featuring work by Ryan Fabel, Jake Cruzen and John Early. The title is a reference to a Cheers episode in which Cliff, a Jeopardy contestant, struggles with forming a Final Jeopardy question to…
Music: iwrestledabearonce
Unlike many of their Metal peer group, whose overly serious heads are wedged tightly up their overly serious asses, iwrestledabearonce possesses a finely tuned sense of humor. Take the band’s name, for instance, taken directly from a typically cryptic non sequitur delivered by the one and only Gary Busey. Then there’s the band’s declaration earlier…
Music: Papadosio
Over the past five years, Papadosio has created a hybrid blend of Pop, Jam, Psychedelia, Fusion and Electronica that synthesizes the interesting elements of each without homogenizing them into an indistinguishable mass. The pinnacle of Papadosio’s musical chemistry process was evidenced by the quintet’s last album, 2009’s Observations, where Synth Pop burbled and blipped in…
Music: Reverend Peyton’s Big Damn Band
What do you get when you put a washboard, a resonator guitar and a drum kit that includes a five-gallon bucket on stage together? The answer is Reverend Peyton’s Big Damn Band. However, you could have answered with, “an almighty ruckus,” “one helluva unique sound” or “I don’t know and I’m afraid to find out.”…
Music, Movies and the Not So Mundane
Yo! MTV Raps is coming back for one night only on Dec. 4. The show, called Yo! MTV Raps Classic Cuts, will be a retrospective broadcast on MTV2 and will feature guest appearances by the show’s original hosts, Fab 5 Freddy, Ed Lover and Dr. Dre. Busta Rhymes, Q-Tip, ?uestlove, Wiz Khalifa, Common and DJ…
Events: The Spirit of Christmas Tour
Bundle up and become rosy cheeked on American Legacy's newest tour, The Spirit of Christmas. Amidst the bustle of everyday life it is difficult to find time to pause, look at and appreciate our surroundings. Rushing from here to there, one often passes by the little details that make a place so special, the small…
Events: Winterfair
Attention all art lovers, come out and mingle with artists and their creations Friday through Sunday at the Northern Kentucky Convention Center in Covington. Winterfair is a juried fair of fine art and fine crafts with over 200 artists participating. A wide variety of artwork will be showcased including ceramics, glass, wearable art, jewelry, sculpture,…
Events: Light Up the Square
Black Friday is known for frenzied shopping, leftover turkey sandwiches and the beginning of everyone’s new workout plan to undo all of the poor health choices they made while giving thanks. But in Cincinnati, it marks the beginning of a month-long celebration of the holiday season, as Fountain Square hosts its annual tree-lighting ceremony. Last…
Freestore Begins Holiday Distribution
The Freestore Foodbank today began its annual distribution of Thanksgiving meals to needy families. The delivery of meals will continue through Wednesday afternoon. Workers at the Freestore will deliver boxes to about 23,000 families throughout the Tristate region.—- Each household will receive a box of food, a bag of produce, and either a chicken or…
Reverend Peyton’s Big Damn Band
What do you get when you put a washboard, a resonator guitar and a drum kit that includes a five-gallon bucket on stage together? The answer is Reverend Peyton’s Big Damn Band. However, you could have answered with, “an almighty ruckus,” “one helluva unique sound” or “I don’t know and I’m afraid to find out.”…
iwrestledabearonce
Unlike many of their Metal peer group, whose overly serious heads are wedged tightly up their overly serious asses, iwrestledabearonce possesses a finely tuned sense of humor. Take the band’s name, for instance, taken directly from a typically cryptic non sequitur delivered by the one and only Gary Busey. Then there’s the band’s declaration earlier…
Papadosio
Over the past five years, Papadosio has created a hybrid blend of Pop, Jam, Psychedelia, Fusion and Electronica that synthesizes the interesting elements of each without homogenizing them into an indistinguishable mass. The pinnacle of Papadosio’s musical chemistry process was evidenced by the quintet’s last album, 2009’s Observations, where Synth Pop burbled and blipped in…
Events: VeganEarth’s Turkey-Free Thanksgiving
If dark meat or white meat or any meat for that matter isn’t your thing, take part in VeganEarth’s turkey-free Thanksgiving celebration. VeganEarth is a local all-volunteer nonprofit that teaches and supports ways to eat and live that are healthful, sustainable and compassionate towards animals, people and the Earth. This is a potluck event; so…
Onstage: Always…Patsy Cline
There’s a lot to like about the Cincinnati Playhouse’s non-holiday show for the holiday season, Ted Swindley’s Always … Patsy Cline. It’s a revue that includes two dozen of Cline’s best-known songs, and actress Carter Calvert perfectly captures the iconic Country singer’s delivery and manner. Cline established a model that many Country singers still follow,…
Comedy: Gary Owen
It’s a Thanksgiving tradition. “It is, man,” says comedian Gary Owen of his annual Thanksgiving week run at The Funny Bone on the Levee. “It’s what I hoped it would be when I came up with the idea six or seven years ago.” Owen moved back to Cincinnati from Los Angeles because he and his…
Music: Josh Eagle and The Harvest City
If you’re into going out to bars and drinking, Thanksgiving Eve is probably one of your favorite holidays. This year, as usual, there are also a ton of high-quality options if you want a little live music as a chaser. Downtown’s Mainstay Rock Bar (301 West Fifth St.) is celebrating the “Busiest Bar Day of…
Morning News and Stuff
It's deadline day for the Congressional super-committee charged with reducing the federal budget by $1.2 trillion, and talks are not going so well. The defense and national security budgets are going to face the majority of automatic spending cuts if the two sides can't make a deal. Disagreements have centered on whether tax increases should…
2011 Cincinnati Entertainment Awards: The Winners
Last night at Covington's Madison Theater, the 15th annual Cincinnati Entertainment Awards ceremony once again brought together people from all facets of the Greater Cincinnati music scene and gave them one hell of a party. Along with offering one of the best people-watching experiences of the year, the packed crowd in attendance was treated to…
Cincinnati-Trained Singer Is Making a Name
For several years Joshua Jeremian seemed to be onstage everywhere in Cincinnati. He was a regular in opera productions at UC’s College-Conservatory of Music, where he was pursuing a master’s degree and then an artist’s diploma (additional graduate-level training) as an opera singer. But he was glad to find performing opportunities with many Cincinnati perfroming…
Dean Family Farm Needs Support
Dean Family Farms is seeking financing to keep growing their business. If you've been to locavore events like the Farm Fair in Covington, you've met Beth and Bill Dean. If not, there's a great story here. The Deans' heritage Red Wattle Pigs, beloved by chefs like Todd Kelly of the Palm Court and Julie Francis…
Review: City & Colour at Bogart’s
Bogart’s was filled with love Saturday night. It ran up the wood paneled walls and across the ceiling before raining back down onto the crowd, again. It was a mutual adoration, too. Seeing City and Colour live is far better than listening to them in the privacy of your own home. They put on an…
Friday Movie Roundup: ‘Twilight’ Mayhem Continues
Movies must be able to stand on their own two feet; they can't rely on their source material for viewers to understand what's happening onscreen, which is a sin the Twilight series continues to make over and over again. Of course, when millions of females — the overwhelming majority of whom make up its rabid fan…
Music, Movies and the Not So Mundane
Director Aaron Schneider (Get Low) is set to direct The Conscientious Objector, which tells the Hollywood version true story of Desmond Doss, the first conscientious objector in American history to win the Congressional Medal of Honor. It’s not exactly penned to be an action movie. Director Tarsem Sing (Immortals) has been slated to direct Willy…
Squeeze the Day for 11/18
Music Tonight: A week from tomorrow, the folks behind the national "Record Store Day" celebration of independent brick-n-mortar music stores are presenting an offshoot "holiday," encouraging people to shop local indie record retailers on Black Friday (the day the tryptophan in turkey from the day before turns millions of consumers into money-bleeding zombies). Record Store…
Heartless Bastards Have a New Record Deal
Cincinnati-spawned rockers Heartless Bastards relocated to Austin, Texas, a few years back, but in our minds they'll always be Cincinnati's. The band seemed to share that view. After the group performed on David Letterman's show after the move, singer/songwriter/guitarist/fearless leader Erika Wennerstrom corrected the talk-show host when he referred to band as being from Austin.…
The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn — Part 1
The decision to break the final installment in the bestselling Stephanie Meyer abstinence-minded teen love-fest featuring sparkling vampires, shirtless werewolves and dangerously clumsy but oh-so-hip human girls came on the heels of the Harry Potter two-part bonanza, but there was narrative cause to rebel here as well. Breaking Dawn: Part 1, directed by Bill Condon…
Happy Feet Two
Late in the new animated sequel Happy Feet Two, a penguin chick named Erik (Ava Acres) — previously a timid and quiet little thing — bursts into operatic voice at a moment when hope seems dim. “Nothing makes sense in this world,” belts out young Erik, “it’s all a big pile of crazy.” And that,…
Oklahoma!: A Classic in Every Way
If you've ever wondered why musical theater fans think of Oklahoma! as the show that launched the "Golden Age" of musical theater, you need to get a ticket for this weekend's CCM performance of the 1943 classic by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II. I attended the opening last night, and it's a stunning production…
Squeeze the Day for 11/17
Music Tonight: Smooth, soulful Cincinnati-based vocalist Dion performs at The Greenwich in Walnut Hills. Dion got off to a fast start in his career; after graduating college, he went to a talent showcase hosted by renowned DJ Hi-Tek (another a hometown hero). Dion won the contest/audition and Hi-Tek began to use him on some of…
Music, Movies and the Not So Mundane
Justin Bieber wants an apology after the paternity suit filed by Mariah Yeater was dropped. But he’s still going to take a paternity test. And David Beckham thinks Biebs would be a great father. PETA’s new Thanksgiving advertisement asks, “If You Wouldn’t Eat Your Dog, Why Eat a Turkey?” The simple answer is, if my…
Morning News and Stuff
Guess there's a reason why Congress doesn't care much for the 99-percent movement: Eleven percent of Congress is part of the 1 percent. Fifty-eight members of Congress have $9 million or more in net worth, including Kentucky's own Mitch McConnell and John Yarmuth. Congress also includes 250 millionaires, so maybe they'll listen. Occupy Wall Street…
Who Are They?: A tale of the Who concert, Dec. 3 1979
When I was working on my master's degree in English, I wanted to round out my studies with a final project on Cincinnati music, something I've invested in as a musician and journalist. Easily, I could have written a journalistic treatise on the city's sonic tapestry, but I wanted a challenge that would force me…
Last Chance for ‘Margin Call’
The economic meltdown of 2008 has now yielded a decent amount of feature-length films on the topic — from mediocre fictional dramas (Oliver Stone's Wall Street 2 and John Wells' The Company Men) to an effective, semi-tangential documentary (Alex Gibney's Client 9: The Rise and Fall of Eliot Spitzer) to a solid docudrama (Curtis Hanson's HBO-backed…
Music: The Cincinnati Entertainment Awards
T he votes are in and the trophies have been constructed — now it’s time to party. Fifteen years ago, the first Cincinnati Entertainment Awards ceremony was held at the long-defunct Over-the-Rhine nightclub Sycamore Gardens. The mission of the CEAs was intact from the start — spotlight Greater Cincinnati’s original music scene, engage our readers…
Music: The Tillers
S o much has happened in The Tillers’ universe that it’s overwhelming for the band to consider events that have transpired between their 2009 sophomore release, By the Signs, and their new album, Wild Hog in the Woods. “We got haircuts,” guitarist Sean Geil deadpans, alluding to his closely cropped hair and vocalist/banjoist Mike Oberst’s…
Onstage: Koresh Dance Company
A t heart, dance is all about expression, and Ronen “Roni” Koresh gets it. Over two decades, his jazz-infused yet modern Koresh Dance Company has earned a reputation for delivering powerhouse performances to sold-out venues nationally and abroad. For the first time in three years, the Philadelphia-based ensemble returns to the Aronoff Center’s Jarson-Kaplan Theater…
Art: Is This Thing On?
M y dream is to see some new museums — maybe even one right here in Cincinnati — devoted just to video art. I’ve mentioned this before to arts professionals, including curators, and have heard the reasons against: video art is an integral part of the contemporary-art world and shouldn’t be separated; it’s an offshoot…
New Local Releases Unveiled This Week
• Friday, increasingly popular, nine-member, horn-heavy crew The Cincy Brass will release its debut album, Ain’t Nuttin Louder, which features 11 funky original tracks (and two covers). The album includes guest appearances by the legendary Bootsy Collins; the new conductor of the Cincinnati Pops, John Morris Russell; and a pair of local rappers that represent…
The Smiths, Jay-Z, Billy Corgan
[HOT] Some Integrities Are Bigger Than Others Smiths fans probably don’t need more sadness in their lives but they are finally getting to experience the disillusionment fans of The Beatles, The Who and, well, practically any legendary artist who has sold their songs to corporations to sell product. A holiday commercial (or “advert,” as they…
Music, Movies and the Not So Mundane
Turns out Biebs did not have sex with Mariah Yeater. Or at the very least didn’t impregnate her with a Bieber baby. The paternity suit filed against the pop star was dropped after Bieber’s lawyers threatened legal action against Yeater and her lawyers. Bieber was prepared to take paternity test to prove he was not…
Brunch with a View
There is nothing better than waking up on a leisurely Sunday wrapped in warm blankets with brunch plans on the horizon. View Cucina (2200 Victory Pkwy., 513-751-8439), housed on the fifth floor of Edgecliff Residences on Victory Parkway, has the feel of a hotel restaurant with the blend of elegance and comfort that the Stephens’…
Occupy Protesters and Phil Burress
[WINNER] OCCUPY PROTESTERS: As it turns out, the Occupy Cincinnati protesters who were arrested for camping overnight in downtown’s Piatt Park for nearly two weeks might not have violated any law. That’s the opinion of Municipal Court Judge David Stockdale, who sent a letter last week to city prosecutors and his fellow judges. Stockdale says…
Eating For One
Like most traumatic experiences in my life, the following took place at a lower-end grocery store — you know, one that has a distinct smell, offers minimal fresh produce and lacks a cute organic aisle. I went to pick up ingredients for a nice dinner while my boyfriend cleaned and did the dishes at home.…
Nov. 9-15: Worst Week Ever!
WEDNESDAY NOV. 9 Cincinnatians on Tuesday voted for a new collection of City Councilpersons, and today locals woke up to good news and bad news. (You want the good first, right?) The city elected a majority of Democrats, an African-American majority and its first-ever openly gay candidate. The bad? Most of the names on East…
Losing 10,000 Voters Is Nothing to Shrug Off
Election Nights always are a bit problematic for CityBeat. That’s because elections are held on Tuesdays, the same day that the newspaper is published. As a result, around the same time that final results usually are being tallied by the county’s Board of Elections, issues of the newspaper are rolling off the printing press, are…
Banking on a Big Change
At a time where there is no shortage of problems with the national and local economy and, by extension, no shortage of ideas on how to fix them, it comes as no surprise that not everyone with a remedy is heard. Of course, there is the boisterous voice of the mass hodgepodge that is the…
Squeeze the Day for 11/16
Music Tonight: Japanese Rock legends Shonen Knife comes to Mayday in Northside for a show with locals Weakness. The trio is celebrating its 30th anniversary on its current tour, as well as its most recent release, Osaka Ramones, a (duh) Ramones tribute album inspired by the members' tribute-band side-project of the same name. A former…
Old Times Are the Best Times
S o much has happened in The Tillers’ universe that it’s overwhelming for the band to consider events that have transpired between their 2009 sophomore release, By the Signs, and their new album, Wild Hog in the Woods. “We got haircuts,” guitarist Sean Geil deadpans, alluding to his closely cropped hair and vocalist/banjoist Mike Oberst’s…
Making a Nuisance of Themselves
E ven as a lawsuit against the city over its “chronic nuisance” ordinance meanders through the federal court system, City Council voted last month to expand the ordinance’s fines, opening a new chapter in the rancorous history of City Hall’s crackdown on troubled housing units and so-called absentee landlords. The ordinance, first adopted in 2007,…
World’s End Girlfriend – Seven Idiots
Fronted by the almost schizophrenically talented Katsuhiko Maeda, World’s End Girlfriend defies easy categorization. On WEG’s 10th studio album, Maeda creates a soundtrack that suggests Trans Siberian Orchestra on steroids and champagne, a Prog/Classical/Pop mash-up that is muscular, giddy, frenetic and undeniably fun. Maeda pinballs between genres and sounds with attention-deficit speed, but the shifts…
Garland Jeffreys – The King of In Between
From the beginning of his career four decades ago, Garland Jeffreys’ work has been laced with the realities of his New York upbringing, his African-American/Puerto Rican heritage and his subsequent unique perspective. Jeffreys assiduously avoided pigeonholing — and airplay — by cooking up a sonic stew that mirrored his melting pot environment, randomly flavoring his…
Feist – Metals
Former Broken Social Scene vocalist Leslie Feist was one of the highest profile beneficiaries of the TV-is-the-new-radio paradigm when her insanely catchy single “1234,” from her third album The Reminder, struck gold for Apple’s iPod. With the release of Metals, Feist finally breaks her long studio silence, and it shows that she followed the first…
Messerly & Ewing – Every Bitter Thing
Cincinnati’s Messerly & Ewing is the 17-year-old songwriting partnership of musicians Mark Messerly and Brian Ewing, whose catalog has been remarkably consistent from the start. But that doesn’t mean that the duo hasn’t progressed and evolved over the years. Every Bitter Thing finds the twosome in peak form, featuring some of the best songwriting in…
Zab Thai (Review)
I ’m not a fan of strip-mall restaurants. They always seem a little sad and rarely have charm. Zab Thai has made me reevaluate my opinion, however. Once you walk in the front door and are saturated in amazing aromas, you forget that on one side of the restaurant is a Pilates studio, and on…
Speaking His Language
A t heart, dance is all about expression, and Ronen “Roni” Koresh gets it. Over two decades, his jazz-infused yet modern Koresh Dance Company has earned a reputation for delivering powerhouse performances to sold-out venues nationally and abroad. For the first time in three years, the Philadelphia-based ensemble returns to the Aronoff Center’s Jarson-Kaplan Theater…
Tabloid
Errol Morris makes a welcome return to the kind of quirky subject matter that marked his early documentaries. Closer in tone to his lighthearted 1997 film Fast, Cheap and Out of Control than his recent politically driven films (The Fog of War and Standard Operating Procedure), Tabloid explores the life trajectory of former Miss Wyoming…
Morning News and Stuff
The Rev. Jesse Jackson addressed Occupy Cincinnati yesterday at Piatt Park. Later in the day 15 individuals were arrested for staying in the park past its 10 p.m. closing time, the first arrests in weeks, as protesters have challenged the legality of the park closing at all. Jackson was reportedly scheduled to return to the…
Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow
T he votes are in and the trophies have been constructed — now it’s time to party. Fifteen years ago, the first Cincinnati Entertainment Awards ceremony was held at the long-defunct Over-the-Rhine nightclub Sycamore Gardens. The mission of the CEAs was intact from the start — spotlight Greater Cincinnati’s original music scene, engage our readers…
CAC Hires Performance Curator
There are two big reasons to be excited about Vermont-born, singer-songwriter Sam Amidon’s show at 9 p.m. tomorrow night in downtown’s Contemporary Arts Center (CAC). First is Amidon himself, whose records combine beautifully rendered, hauntingly sung, traditionalist-minded Folk songs with unusual arrangements. In performance his show can take on a vividly theatrical bent, what with…
Crafty Visions
M y dream is to see some new museums — maybe even one right here in Cincinnati — devoted just to video art. I’ve mentioned this before to arts professionals, including curators, and have heard the reasons against: video art is an integral part of the contemporary-art world and shouldn’t be separated; it’s an offshoot…
Pulphead: Essay
It’s always a treat when a book comes along that lives up to the hype. That is the case with John Jeremiah Sullivan’s Pulphead, a collection of 14 brilliant experiential essays in which the writer places himself at the center of the story. The 37-year-old Southern-born Sullivan is now being compared with first-person journalists like…
Like Crazy
Writer-director Drake Doremus graduates from the micro-niche ranks into indie world with Like Crazy, the Grand Jury Prize winner at this year’s Sundance Film Festival. With works like Moonpie (2006), Spooner (2009) and Douchebag (2010), which screened in dramatic competition at Sundance, in the rearview, it would seem that Doremus would be poised for a…
