Cover Stories
Jerry Abramson: The LEO Interview
(Go all the way to the bottom to listen to audio excerpts from the interview.) Mayor Jerry Abramson had just learned he’d been invited to appear with President-elect Barack Obama for the unveiling of his major public works initiative last week. He was sitting at his desk, trying to pull himself away from the chair…
Jerry Abramson: The LEO Interview
(Go all the way to the bottom to listen to audio excerpts from the interview.) Mayor Jerry Abramson had just learned he’d been invited to appear with President-elect Barack Obama for the unveiling of his major public works initiative last week. He was sitting at his desk, trying to pull himself away from the chair…
The Airing of Grievances
From the moment that “Fear and Loathing in Mahwah, NJ” mutates from lo-fi murk to a pounding, wall-of-noise sea chantey, Titus Andronicus make their intentions clear. Their debut The Airing of Grievances is an incorrigible mess of contradictions, in which Colin Meloy-styled English-major references clash violently with an atmosphere of sweat-drenched clubs and red-cup revelry.…
Video TapeWorm
THIS WEEK’S TWIN PEEKS: MAX PAYNE 2008; $29.95-$34.95, PG-13 While vidgames-turned-into-movies are a mixed bag (usually quick and shallow) this gamer/graphic novel is definitely an example of profound artistic vision. Mark Wahlberg stars as the titular DEA agent, devastated by the assassination of his family. The rest of the cast — including Mila Kunis, Beau…
Merriweather Post Pavilion
Undoubtedly, Animal Collective boasts a vast, eclectic and (sometimes) challenging repertoire. However, Merriweather Post Pavilion, the group’s ninth and most accessible offering, may be the most polarizing amongst fans. Gone are the drone examinations, freak folk structures and Avey Tare’s shamanistic yelps, replaced with dub-informed booty bass, concise verse-chorus anthems, dance rhythms and polyphonic vocal…
BOOK: YA author takes off with ‘Handcuffs’
Book signing by Bethany GriffinSunday, Jan. 18Carmichael’s Bookstore2720 Frankfort Ave.Free; 4 p.m. Bethany Griffin has taught English at Bullitt East High for years, during which time she has raised two children. Over that time, spending all her energy on her own kids or her school kids, she gained an understanding of youth that many…
No place like home
There’s nothing like a recording studio: Magic is caught; records are born; amorphous concepts come to life. But for some independent recording engineers, there’s no place like home, either, and they’ve turned their homes into temples of sound. Here’s a snapshot: JORDAN FORSTThe guitarist/bassist for Adventure has a studio in his home off Preston Street,…
Noble Beast
We should all just be glad there’s a musician like Andrew Bird out there. The Suzuki-trained violinist and master whistler has, for the past decade, put out some of the most heady, alluring records in independent music. Noble Beast is no exception. Coming on the heels of Armchair Apocrypha, which showcased Bird’s refined existential angst,…
The Bar Belle
Do you have friends who offer advice through passive-aggressive methods? They can’t come out and tell you you’re getting fat or you drink too much. No, they just forward you a link to a website that will tell you you’re fat and you drink too much. It’s a British site, so I’m going to cut…
You’re my best friend
I recently joined one of those Internet social networking sites. Why not? If I am going to spend my life sitting at home alone in front of my computer, I might as well do it with the illusion that everyone I have ever had a pleasant conversation with is right there in front of me.…
Inbox — Jan. 14, 2009
Vile Judgment I am astounded that you have chosen to allow such a vile, ignorant letter to be published as the one in the Dec. 31 issue from a man on the west side (“Fag Rag” by William Moore). Never mind that we as Americans have matured enough to elect a bi-racial president, yet these…
WEB EXCLUSIVE: Intellectual isolation at the C-J
Do more bricks and mortar, regardless of site and design, always add up to progress? This would seem to be the prevailing attitude of our local daily newspaper over the past couple of years. From their view, the more space you fill in with concrete and steel, the better it is for the community. Never…
ART: Greenhouse Arts Project reemerges as a force
Reopening of the Greenhouse Arts Project Jan. 15-17 1124 Bardstown Road 650-7803 or 468-0528 www.greenhousearts.biz Because closed businesses dot the cityscape, it’s nice to see one that has returned. The Greenhouse Arts Project is back, and like the phoenix, it has risen from the ashes of the old. The Clifton-area GHAP existed from…
Juvenile injustice?
On a spring evening in 1994, Michael Jennings confronted the man he believed killed his cousin with a shotgun blast to the chest just a week earlier. Still reeling from discovering his cousin’s bloodied body lying in the street, 14-year-old Jennings encountered the suspected killer outside the Sheppard Square housing complex and a verbal altercation…
WEB EXCLUSIVE: Gaza rally gets heated
About 100 pro-Palestinian demonstrators gathered Monday at the University of Louisville to protest Israel’s invasion of Gaza, and the rally turned ugly when students with opposing views showed up, resulting in a heated altercation. Organized by the Louisville Committee for Peace in the Middle East and the U of L Muslim Student Association, the demonstration…
B-Sides
Halfway to ForecastleJ.K. McKnight’s constantly evolving Forecastle Festival spawned a preview last year with a benefit for Jimmy Levan at Headliners. This year’s locale is The Green Building, an architectural feat complete with solar panels, insulation from recycled denim and one of the few “living walls” in the world. The lineup:DJ 2nd NatureThe ProtomenJansport “Battle…
Hemispheres
Jim Hall, a grand master of mainstream jazz guitar who has always maintained a sense of adventure, and Bill Frisell, who integrates digital loops with rustic Americana, have joined forces for a superb two-CD set. Hall has worked with such masters as Sonny Rollins and Oscar Peterson, in addition to a hefty solo career. He…
Glasvegas
Scottish ambassadors break into America with longing narratives of infidelity, gangs and murder, and drench it all in swarms of fuzz, keys and throbbing, steady beats. The good news is James Allan does the homeland proud: be the singer who happens to be Scottish rather than Scottish singer. By the end of “It’s My Own…
Staffpicks
Ongoing ArtsRush To save you from donating plasma or pawning your prized Gibson, some of Louisville’s arts representatives came together last Tuesday to announce a new ArtsRush day-of-show ticket program they’re enacting through the remainder of the 2009 season. Included in the mix are Actors Theatre of Louisville, Stage One, Louisville Ballet, The Louisville Orchestra,…
Saints marching: For Atlanta trio, it’s Go time
Jim Crook would prefer an end to the My Bloody Valentine references. “We never set out to do that kind of thing,” says the drummer for Atlanta’s All The Saints. “Once we let the record out, people started throwing those references there. We’re just surprised ourselves.” If you’re gonna compare, though — “Shit,” he adds.…
Answers To The 2008 Not-Good-For-Nothing Quiz
1. D 2. F 3. A 4. B 5. C 6. E 7. D 8. C 9. C 10. C 11. B 12. D 13. D 14. D 15. A 16. A 17. A 18. A 19. A and C 20. B and C 21. E 22. C 23. C 24. E 25. E 26.…
Splatters
The Kentucky Museum of Art and Craft is hosting a workshop for mid-career artists, “Art: Make It Your Business,” on Jan. 17 from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Cost is $50 members, $75 non-members. Register at www.kentuckyarts.org. Farmington Historic Plantation is holding “Junk or Jouett?,” an appraisal event, on Jan. 17 at 10 a.m. Cost is $15.…
Zebra Gazebo
If there’s one thing I can say about The Phat Mavericks, it’s that they’re proficient. They do what it is they do very well. What it is they do, though … hell if I know. It’s like a mash-up between big ’60s groups like Cream and Deep Purple (maybe even a little Jethro Tull) with…
Time for a tighter belt
“Times are tough. People need to make sacrifices. I just don’t want to be one of them.” And so goes the familiar refrain whenever the subjects of cutbacks, furloughs and salary reductions arise. State coffers are in serious financial jeopardy. Louisville Metro’s budget is bleeding red ink. Almost everyone agrees corners need to be deeply…
Recession-busting dining, cheap but fine
OK, everybody listen up. I’ve told you this before, and chances are you’re going to hear it again: There’s a recession on. Yes, a recession, and a lot of us are hurting. We’re cutting back on luxuries and hoping we won’t have to cut back on necessities. For those of us who love food and…
Chatham County Line
This reissue of Raleigh, N.C.’s Chatham County Line’s first album contains all the hallmarks of what you’ve come to expect from bluegrass: plenty of space, light-speed runs and faithful covers. Among them: Ned DuRant’s “The Legend of Old 99” and Bob Dylan’s “I Shall Be Released,” plus a cameo by Tift Merritt. Born out of…
A fistful of hollers
Cary Stemle, my friend and former editor, posted something intriguing on his Facebook page last week: a brief, glowing endorsement of the new Clint Eastwood tough-guy flick, “Gran Torino.” My impression of Eastwood’s acting is not subtle: Dude needs to hang it up, posthaste. He’s aged out of the silver screen, has no range beyond…
Money on the mind
The Louisville Metro Council began the year with a surprising show of bipartisanship by unanimously electing Democrat David Tandy as their new president. Hoping to capitalize on that unity, the new leader now is ready to tackle the city’s budget crisis. But exactly how the Metro Council plans to address the city’s projected $20 million…
Aftertastes
De la Torre’s, 1606 Bardstown Rd., 456-4955, www.delatorres.com. Recently the restaurant responded to customer demand (with one eye on the sinking economy) and shifted the menu over to an all-tapas list. The new menu offers more than three dozen small plates to choose from. (Reviewed 10/22/08; Rating: 94) Sage Indian Restaurant & Bar, 4123…
Backdrafting
The firefighters manning the Engine 7 station on its last night of operation are sifting through kitchen appliances, personal lockers and food pantries, trying to decide how to dispense the items they’ve accumulated over the years. “I know Jack would want some oatmeal,” fire Sgt. David Richard says, emptying the wooden cabinets that store massive…
A&E Listings
Please e-mail your submissions to listings@leoweekly.com. Deadline is WEDNESDAY at 4 p.m. Include a daytime phone number. Events published on a space-available basis. Special Events Carnevale fundraiser — benefit orchestrated by Kentucky Opera, features wine tastings, dinner, live and silent auctions, musical entertainment and dancing, 6 p.m., Jan. 17, $225, The Seelbach Hilton, 500…
