Cover Story
25 Years of This Modern World: An Interview with Tom Tomorrow
Dan Perkins, probably best known for his pseudonym Tom Tomorrow, has been drawing the political satire cartoon This Modern World (a LEO Weekly staple) for a quarter of a century, and he had a fairly simple goal — to collect his cartooning and other visual work in a retrospective anthology. Having written more than 1,500…
A Q&A with Jason Mewes (aka Jay from Jay and Silent Bob) about 20 years of “Mallrats” and its upcoming sequel
Jason Mewes has been playing Jay, the long-haired, rail-thin vulgar mouthpiece for his weed-slingin’ buddy Silent Bob for over 20 years now. The unlikely comedy duo, who have appeared in well over half a dozen movies, are the Gen-X slacker version of Laurel & Hardy. As the mid-’90s comedy classic “Mallrats” turns 20 years old…
LEO Playlist 8/3: Skyscraper Stereo, Failure and more
1) “Young Assumption” by T. Hardy Morris, who will be at Zanzabar on Saturday, August 8. 2) “Saturday Saviour” by Failure, who will be at Mercury Ballroom on Friday, August 7. 3) “Neoplastic” by Immortal Bird, who will be at Diamond Pub Concert Hall for the Louisville Death Fest on Saturday, August 8. 4) “American…
Visually Speaking: This week’s art news and events (8/3/15)
[The above image is a fiber student in the Studio 2000 program.] Art news The Kentucky Foundation for Women is accepting nominations for their new Young Emerging Artist Award. They want to honor a young person (under 30) who shows meaningful promise in developing as a feminist social change artist, whose work has the potential to…
Concert Review: Raekwon & Ghostface (Mercury Ballroom, 7/30/15)
[Above photo by Nik Vechery] In an interview that I caught on MTVU a few years ago, an aspiring, college-aged journalist asked Ghostface Killah what it was like post-show. The kid asking the question obviously expected some remarkable tale of debauchery, but Ghost just answered that he went to bed, or rather, “I’m looking for…
5 Things To Do In Louisville This Weekend
FRIDAY Varanese Brings Bourbon to the Beach Varanese, 2106 Frankfort Ave. Free; 6 p.m. A beach-themed drinking party complete with an outdoor tiki tent, beach decorations and tropical drink specials like the Pineapple Basil Smash with honey roasted pineapple, basil, tea, agave nectar and Maker’s Mark for $8. There will also be some free trolley…
The Six Best Local Songs of the Month
TinyForest — “Luck//Dynasty” Producer TinyForest has such a remarkable track record that it’s surprising that his solo work has yet to appear on this list. With “Luck/Dynasty (feat. Brandx),” TinyForest takes a slightly different approach to his production that privileges simplistic sine tones with an almost intangible beat. The melody work here is more than…
A Q&A with Carol Gundersen, executive director of the Food Literacy Project
The Food Literacy Project works with schools and community agencies to educate Louisville’s youth about the story of their food. Located on Field Day Family Farm — an eight-acre vegetable farm in Oxmoor — they use field work experience to put kids in touch with the story of how their food is grown and teach…
Déjà vu — JCPS employees rallying (again) ?for Board to abide by contract
Before the July 27 school board meeting, JCPS employees — who are members of the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees Local 4011 (AFSCME) — rallied outside the Vanhoose Building to protest what union leaders say is a continued unwillingness on the part of management to negotiate wages as is required by the…
Experimental waves: A conversation with Buke and Gase
It’s rare to encounter a band that sounds both strikingly familiar and wholly unique at the same time, but that’s how it is with Buke and Gase, the duo Arone Dyer and Aron Sanchez. The pair builds on the merits of unconventional instrumentation — the titular buke, a baritone ukulele, and the gase, a guitar/bass…
b-sides
Three additional shows to see this week This week is packed with big names — Alabama Shakes, Rakim, Waterfront Wednesday, Raekwon & Ghostface Killah — but there are also a few smaller shows and another free outdoor series across the river that you should consider putting on your radar. Little Tybee Part freak folk, part…
Plugged In (Jul 29 – Aug 4)
WED July 29th 8Up: DJ Matt Anthony; 7:30 p.m. Baxter 942: Full Contact Karaoke; 10 p.m. Bearno’s (Bardstown): Petar Mandic; 7 p.m. Brownies The Shed: Karaoke; 10 p.m. Diamond Pub (St. Matthews): Devereaux Duo; 10 p.m. El Nopal (Crestwood): Nick Nichols with Ms. Tara Wisdom; 7 p.m. Gerstle’s Place: Kimmet & Doug Goodwood Brewing: Open…
Beacons – Black Boxes
(self-released) Few bands have incorporated electro into their music as prominently as Beacons. On their newest, the duo explores a sound that is both imminently danceable and slickly produced. The beat takes precedence as the lead instrument, accompanied by what sounds to be primarily synthetic, with the occasional horn or other acoustic instrument. Gone are…
Old Baby – New Music
(self-released) The aptly named “New Music” by Old Baby saunters and slinks into your brain, all slow grooves and seething melancholia simmering just below the surface. You can practically feel the dust rising off the album, if only for the sublimely western qualities of the band, which combines a wide array of sounds ranging from…
Tropical Trash – UFO Rot
(Load/Riot Season) Tropical Trash are the Garbage Pail Kids of noisy punk. While intentionally crafted, there is a blithe irreverence intrinsic to the music that sneers at pretense in the best possible way. Their newest, “UFO Rot,” is opened by the blistering “New Flesh,” which ably sets the tone for the next six songs, all…
Kaleidico – Zoetic
(self- released) It’s rare to be broadsided so thoroughly by a record, but with the release of “Zoetic,” Kaleidico does just that, with an album predicated on restraint and brevity. The songs aren’t overly long and the compositions are often sparse with instrumentation coming in only as needed, with all components of the final piece…
‘Other Desert Cities’ at The Bard’s Town and more Shakespeare in the Park
“All happy families are alike,” wrote Tolstoy. And “each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.” The Wyeths, the family at the center of Jon Robin Baitz’s 2011 play “Other Desert Cities,” inhabit their own peculiar patch of hell. The parents, Lyman (Phil Lynch) and Polly (Carol Dines) are a quintessential conservative power couple.…
Dwayne Perkins at The Laughing Derby
Dwayne Perkins defies convention and stereotype. With caustic wit, he makes indirect social and pop-culture commentary with such fluid nuance, you hardly even know it’s happening. To say he’s clever would undermine the intelligence he weaves into his material, which has gotten the notice of industry giants like Marc Maron. Perkins co-hosts a movie-themed podcast…
Maurice Sherrod: Portrait of the comedian as a young man
You’ve probably never heard of Maurice Sherrod — a 29-year-old up-and-comer on the burgeoning local comedy scene — but if he has anything to say about it, you will. Sherrod is a freshman in the comedy scene and has struggled to find his footing. While Louisville is not necessarily known as a comedy town, there…
Nicole Cushing’s voice of transgression
‘Mr. Suicide’ Word Horde; 218 pgs., $14.99 There are many auguries that point to this moment as a time to appreciate the developing voice of Louisville writer Nicole Cushing. First of all, there’s the unfortunate coincidence that Cushing’s upcoming appearance at Carmichael’s occurs so soon after the loss of E.L. Doctorow — a major figure…
Video Tapeworm
THIS WEEK’S TWIN PEEKS A LITTLE CHAOS 2014; $19.98; R “Corset” Kate Winslet (“Titanic”) plays another strong, independent woman in this period piece inspired by real events. She’s the willful and talented landscape designer hired to poesy-up King Louis XIV’s (Alan Rickman, who directs) shiny new palace at Versailles in an era when woman had…
Kentucky restricts low-risk cottage food sales
Despite the strength of our local food movement, Kentucky joins Delaware and Rhode Island as the three most restrictive states in the country for cottage food sales. Cottage foods include known safe items made in average kitchens, including jams and jellies, cakes and breads, doughnuts and candies. Outside of commercial kitchens and food businesses, in…
What Happens When a Restaurant Closes?
We all know what happens when a restaurant is getting ready to open. Projected opening dates get pushed back due to construction or licensing/permit delays. There’s a predictable shuffle of executive chefs, sous chefs, line cooks, general managers, bartenders and servers culled from other establishments in town. There are lots of bills for interior decorating…
The rise of the brewski cocktail
It seems as though that glorious amber nectar of life we call bourbon has eclipsed the modern cocktail and mixology troop here in Derby City. So, who in Louisville is behind the bar doing the next big thing? Is the new novel idea simply a modern spin on a classic cocktail, or is there a…
When $6.9 million a year isn’t enough
Every Sunday, on 1450 AM “The Weekend Sports Buzz,” there is segment entitled “Ashley’s Loco Cinco.” During this segment, I present five of the craziest sports stories occurring in the past week. This segment has gained increasing popularity mostly because it is comical, but often, it sparks very interesting, socially conscious conversations. This week thetop…
Really, Huckabee? Really?
One of the unspoken, often misperceived, principles of American democracy is that we create our own criteria for voting. If a woman wants to vote for another woman because they are of the same sex, that’s her right. If an African American wants to vote for a candidate because he or she is black, by…
Your Voice
Facebook In response to‘Craft beer before Craft Beer was Cool’ Nothing like drinking a great craft beer, makes me want to brew an Irish Red!!! — Cecelia Briggs July 22 TWITTER Tap that craft at goodWood brewing Now that’s some good wood. @leoweekly —Bobby Nichols @nicholsrobert INSTAGRAM LEO’s July 26 tap that craft event Drinking…
