Cover Story
Loserville 2013
As Kentucky Proud product Abe Lincoln once said, “He has a right to criticize, who has a heart to help.” Our annual December remembrance of the hacks, hypocrites and hams who have befouled our fair city and state is often misinterpreted as an act of malice toward our home, but that couldn’t be further from…
Over the Rhine and through the woods
Based around the married couple of Karin Bergquist and Linford Detweiler, the folk-pop band Over the Rhine has been together long enough to build a fan base strong enough to support their own label, Great Speckled Dog, enabling them to survive and thrive outside of the system. While they have released two Christmas albums, the…
B-sides
Business, school, cool Craig Tweddell plays a mean jazz trumpet, leads a band, teaches music, composes, has organized weekly jam sessions … and is a talented and hardworking photographer. Hailing from Ashland, Ky., Tweddell graduated from the University of Louisville School of Music. His first album, Away With Words, is getting good national press. His…
Plugged In
Readers are strongly encouraged to call ahead to verify these listings. To get your musical act listed, send email to pberkowitz@leoweekly.com with PLUGGED IN in the subject line. The deadline is FRIDAY at NOON the week before the show happens. We do not accept listings via social networking sites. Wed DEC 11 Air Devils Inn:…
Video TapeWorm
THIS WEEK’S TWIN PEEKS: ELYSIUM 2013; $24.98; R The guys behind “District 9” return with this dystopian sci-fi actioner focusing on the disparity between healthy rich snobs living sumptuous lives in their idyllic space platform high above the Earth, while down below everyone is a poor, sick, wretched slave. And while Matt Damon and Jodie…
Resonant presents
Most gifts we send and receive are appreciated for a while but, with precious few exceptions, forgotten over time. One standout was confirmed in a letter I’ll forever remember as Christmas in July. It came from Carolyn, a St. Louis native who engaged my love at first sight — with a food fight in a…
Dating Chronicles pt. 1.: The Awkward Date
There are times in a woman’s life when she makes a cardinal decision to open herself up to the possibilities around her. For me, this time happened during my late 20s. I mentioned in my last piece going on a date with “nasal spray,” so I thought I’d elaborate a bit on that story. It…
More Is Than Isn’t
There’s a reason this critic listens to albums in as many different locations on as many different machines as possible before processing those sounds into words: What works in one situation does not reproduce in others. I hate RJD2’s latest album in my car. From the poor mix of Phonte’s otherwise solid feature on “Temperamental”…
On Oni Pond
Man Man shouldn’t still be alive. This batshit crazy circus began making Swordfishtrombones for Generation Y almost a decade ago. The rickety fun of their albums and shows seemed like a band member would very likely end up dead, and/or Man Man would simply implode from the intensity of it all. So, against all odds,…
Liquid Spirit
If you’re a jazz fan and haven’t heard of Gregory Porter, then do yourself a favor and check him out. Actually, you don’t need to be a jazz aficionado; Porter’s influences also include R&B and intelligent pop. This singer is getting lots of press, but it’s because he’s for real, not the latest product of…
Beautiful Rewind
Beautiful Rewind sees Keiran Hebden’s Four Tet branch out from the fractured pop of his previous efforts. Here, Hebden focuses less on the heavily edited vocal and radio samples that seemed to dominate his prior work, instead privileging staccato, house-style beats with minimal, almost granular melodic work interwoven into an otherwise drum-driven affair. A lot…
Staffpicks
Thursday, Dec. 12 The Incredible Inman Ramsi’s Café on the World 1293 Bardstown Road incredibleinman.com Free; 5:30 p.m. In the early 1980s, there was no World Wide Web, no Google, and The Courier-Journal was known as a quality newspaper that consistently produced great, award-winning journalism. While David Inman’s “Incredible Inman” column never received the Pulitzer…
Theater: Bunbury shines a spotlight on the homeless
‘A Homeless Holiday’ A Bunbury Theatre production. Directed by Juergen K. Tossman. Continues through Dec. 22 at the Henry Clay Theatre, 604 S. Third St. For tickets or info, go to bunburytheatre.org or call 585-5306. Early on in Juergen K. Tossman’s new play, “A Homeless Holiday,” one of the characters (aptly named church volunteer Melba…
Inbox — Dec. 11, 2013
Kudos to U of LGBT Thanks for the great cover story on U of L’s LGBT community (LEO Weekly, Dec. 4). The university has a long history of support for the LGBT community going back to 1970, one year after the Stonewall riots. That year, President Woodrow Strickler stood up to state legislators who objected…
Advice: Savage Love
Q: I’m a straight woman who loves my boyfriend, but sex isn’t a priority for me. His sex drive, on the other hand, is ridiculous. He gets very upset when I don’t have sex with him and accuses me of not being interested in him anymore, which isn’t the case. Most people would probably say…
Black tar in the bluegrass
Heroin use is typically associated with big-city (as in, bigger than any city in Kentucky) subcultures. But in recent months, communities large and small throughout the commonwealth have been forced to deal with this major threat to public health. LEO recently caught up with Detective Robert Puckett, a special drug enforcement investigator for the Kentucky…
Taste Bud: The return of a fiery friend
Flamin’ Hot Cheetos have been in the news in recent years thanks to their apparent addictive quality — many schools have banned them due to kids’ obsession with them. They’re good, but I have an obsession of my own: Lay’s Flamin’ Hot potato chips. When I discovered these crispy wonders in the mid-1990s, I became…
Cheddar Box? Cheddar Box, Too
My friend Tom has been in Louisville for a few months now, and he knows his way around pretty well. But he got a little confused when we got together for lunch the other day at Cheddar Box Too. Tom said his GPS wasn’t offering much help, but when he wheeled into the Chenoweth Square…
Hope for No Man’s Land
Every spring, a lonely little parade traverses down Third and Fourth streets in the downtown Louisville neighborhood just south of Broadway. Unlike more high-profile shindigs like the Pegasus or St. Patrick’s Day parades, the streets aren’t lined with eager kids and patient parents waiting for floats. In fact, usually, the foot traffic is identical to…
Book: Disrespect my authority
‘Fish Bites Cop! Stories To Bash Authorities’ By David James Keaton. Comet Press; 280 pgs., $14.95. Reading David James Keaton’s stories and saying you hear a Quentin Tarantino-style motormouth is like saying Jim James’ singing reminds you of Neil Young. It’s tempting to use as a potential first crack at a reference point, but any…
Art: Familiar spots make up Mrs. Rogers’ neighborhood
I’ve been told the favorite question Louisvillians ask fellow locals is, “Where did you go to high school?” Not me. After the cursory questions about job and family, I get down to the important stuff: “What neighborhood do you live in?” It doesn’t take too long before the conversation branches out to current favorite spots…
