Cover Story
Pay to play
In June, the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers filed 21 lawsuits against restaurants, bars and nightclubs that haven’t paid for the music played in their establishments. ASCAP is the country’s oldest performing rights organization, boasting 380,000 member songwriters, musicians and performers. Underlying these complaints are years’ worth of phone calls, in-person visits and…
EP
Ian Astbury’s idea of a chorus was always different from everybody else’s. His blues-backed yowl was the cherry on every hit from his most famous undertaking, The Cult, and later, when he replaced Jim Morrison for The Doors reunion. Other than Howlin’ Wolf, who else could sing the phrase “smokestack lightning” as menacing? Here, he’s…
Disko
Swedish ingénue Kim Hiorthoy loves her some loops almost to a fault on this album, an outgrowth of a series of solo recordings. She preserves a non-confrontational, around-the-campfire aspect to Disko. “Som en laderlapp” and “Lat det va” have that room recording vibe, with classy spare noises, pillow-soft keyboards, cello pluck and drum machine punctuation.…
Peacocks/Pink Monsters
Classical musicians bring extra dimensions to metal. Cellos and violins can’t help but add a little something wicked. Yet, as good as Apocalyptica’s rendition of “Master of Puppets” is, no matter how different, it’s still an example of ventriloquism. Judgment Day’s second album is original juice. It began as an attempt to write avant-garde string…
Binary Stars
What appears to be a simple record is full of intricate, delicate technique. Aby•Laby•Land is back with their second record, Binary Stars, produced by Grammy nominee Fred Bogert, and is a rare gem so multifaceted it deceives as much as it rewards. The acoustic band shares its influences via folk, new grass, prog, even chamber…
The Grape Escape: Geek my wine
When I drink a wine from a place I’ve visited, vivid memories of place, sight, sound and scent play harmony to my sensory perception of what’s in the glass. OK, the computer can’t measure up to a vacation in Europe, but still, the growing availability of online mapping can make the Internet the next best…
Oh, Mandy
After calling President Barack Obama “a young half-breed man” during an on-air discussion, 84 WHAS radio personality Mandy Connell began to stammer. Ironically, the conservative talk show host who proudly grew up a self-described “suburban redneck child,” according to an online bio, was jabbering about the country’s racial progress when she spat out the pejorative.…
Say hello to the new Equus, sort of like the old Equus
Sunrise, sunset Sunrise, sunset Swiftly fly the years … Yeah, right. Now that I’ve successfully planted that earworm, let me say I can’t believe it’s been so long since I first reviewed Equus, a then-new restaurant in St. Matthews that was buzzing under a new owner and chef, Dean Corbett, for the old Louisville Times…
Video TapeWorm
THIS WEEK’S TWIN PEEKS: GEORGE ROMERO’S SURVIVAL OF THE DEAD 2009; $26.95, R/UR The Ultimate Undead Blu-Ray Edition of writer-director George Romero’s latest gorefest shows why George’s zombies are more entertaining than all his imitators’ zombies. Beginning shortly after “Diary of the Dead,” Alan Van Sprang leads his mercenaries to a remote Irish island where…
Alive As You Are
Do you know what happens when you loiter in the middle of “Abbey Road”? A car hits you. During the session, the producer (an electronica cat, by the way) should’ve kept calling out Beatles albums after every take. “How was that?” “White Album.” “OK, that?” “Revolver.” “Thoughts?” “Rubber Soul.” Have The Beatles never been reissued?…
Film: ‘Eat Pray Snooze’
Eat Pray Love Starring Julia Roberts, James Franco, Richard Jenkins, Viola Davis and Billy Crudup. Directed by Ryan Murphy. Rated PG-13; 2:13. LEO Report Card: C- Sitting through “Eat Pray Love” is kinda like visiting a friend after she gets back from a trip and having to endure three hours of vacation videos. Even if…
Plugged In
Readers are strongly encouraged to call ahead to verify these listings. To get your club, comedian, musical act or karaoke listed, please send e-mail to mherron@leoweekly.com with PLUGGED IN in the subject line. The deadline is NOON THURSDAY the week before the show happens. We do not accept listings via social networking sites. Wed. Aug.…
Book: Clear as mud
Clear as Mud: Early 20th Century Kentucky Art Pottery Edited by Warren Payne. Cane Ridge Publishing House; 120 pgs., $35. I blame Rookwood and Van Briggle — they’re the ones who got me hooked. The ceramics of early 20th century American art pottery, a subcategory of the Arts and Craft movement, are popular collectibles. Many states…
Now that I’ve lost you
It’s time for another round of everybody’s favorite game: “Stump the Geek.” This is where I answer your brain-busting trivia questions. It is so much fun, because I am super smart and have never been stumped. Let’s get started with your first question. “Dear Geek, I saw this really great movie a while back, but…
Jerry’s kids
In a decision that backhands Metro government, the state’s division of unemployment insurance ruled the suspension of Public Works employee Eric Garrett — who filed a “whistleblower” lawsuit against the city earlier this year — was not backed up by sufficient evidence. The city suspended Garrett without pay three months ago for supposedly threatening a…
Inbox — Aug. 18, 2010
Hard Times Thank you, thank you, thank you for your in-depth reporting in the article “Recession proof” (LEO Weekly, Aug. 11). Every scenario you depict in your story we are seeing here at St. Vincent de Paul. Requests from families, in particular, are way up. But across the board, formerly middle-class people are in dire…
Surf’s up for ‘Point Break Live!’
Point Break Live! Produced by the Alley Theater. Directed by Eve Hars. Continues through Sept. 10 at the Art Sanctuary space in The Pointe, 1205 E. Washington St. For tickets, call 713-6178 or go to www.thealleytheater.org. With its production of “Point Break Live!,” which opened last weekend in the Art Sanctuary space at The Pointe,…
Lawn time gone
She was a green, urban hippie in love with an exurban man. “I don’t know what I’m doing with him,” she said as we rode our bikes to the groovy grocery for some macrobiotic quinoa. “He has a lawn?” I asked in horror. “I’m so sorry.” “An acre and a half,” she sighed. “It’s true.…
Lolla redux
Things learned over two days at Lollapalooza 2010: The British indie pop act XX is too low-key for a festival setting. I revise my previous opinion of Phoenix as glorified kiddie rock: Saturday’s headlining set killed. Lady Gaga talks too much between songs and should downsize her stage show, which travels in 43 semis. At…
What changes if Republicans win?
White House press secretary Robert Gibbs’ recent skewering of the left was the latest episode of the Obama administration’s strange tendency to abandon its base (Hispanics, blacks, the poor, gays and now progressives). Gibbs pulled no punches. Of progressives who complain that Obama consistently caves on issues ranging from health care reform to Guantánamo Bay…
Staffpicks
Thursday, Aug. 19 Ron Whitehead The Green Building 732 E. Market St. • 561-1162 Free; 6 p.m. Ron Whitehead, that local polyhyphenate of art and culture, has good reason to celebrate his newest project. “The Storm Generation Manifesto and On Parting, the Wilderness Poems” is his 20th printed title. On Thursday evening, Whitehead will hold…
Theater: ‘Ka-Blam!’ takes off for Le Petomane … again
Ka-Blam! Produced by Le Petomane Theatre Ensemble. Continues through Aug. 22 at the Rudyard Kipling, 422 W. Oak St. For tickets and more information, call 609-2520 or go to www.lepetomane.org. Le Petomane Theatre Ensemble has distinguished themselves from many of the companies in town because of their distinct style and commitment to comedy — physical…
The power of Wand
Only a fraction of the 72 songs James Jackson Toth brought to his recording session made it onto his forthcoming record, and producer Michael Gira made Toth justify every one of them. Shooting pool with his soon-to-be in-laws in Key West, Fla., Toth, who performs under the name Wooden Wand and now Wand, admits he…
Comedy: Carlos Mencia takes the stage for a one-night-only show
Carlos Mencia has a well-honed reputation for being one of the most controversial comedians of the past decade. His refusal to yield to political correctness led to the hit Comedy Central show “Mind of Mencia,” which ran for three seasons. He has toured all over the country, has been on every major network countless times, and…
Bar Belle: Drag Queens vs. Strippers
I never got to go to camp when I was a kid, and I always envied the kids who did. Not because of the cool things they’d get to do — the knots they’d learn to tie, the scary stories they’d tell around the fire, unlimited access to S’mores — but because they were away…
Animal Shapes
Michael Deni didn’t have much reason to party when, in 2005, he left his native New Jersey for San Francisco: A series of deaths in the family prompted a change of scenery. This is critical to understanding the throb that opens “Original Sin,” the lead-off track to Geographer’s new sixer. It’s an example, in note-form,…
