Cover Story
Turning the tables
DJ Lady J takes center stage at her own dance party, kicking up her high heels and shaking what her mama gave her. Pumping her fist to the beat, her curly red hair bouncing along in rhythm, she seems to be setting some kind of new standard for what a “good time” really means. The…
Bitter apple
Until he assaulted a LEO Weekly reporter at the Jefferson County Republican Party’s Lincoln Day Dinner on Saturday, I had never heard of J.D. Sparks. The round-faced ex-Marine and vice president of strategic development for CinTel, an international tech company based in Louisville, grabbed the wrists and arms of reporter Jonathan Meador so hard he…
Grand old pummeling
“Wherever you are, be a good one.” —Abraham Lincoln It sounded harmless enough: For $200 a plate, 400 of Kentucky’s Republican intelligentsia were to congregate in the Galt House’s Grand Ballroom for the GOP Lincoln Day Dinner, wherein all manner of backslapping, guffawing and four-star dining would occur in the name of their most venerable…
Black Monk Time
The Monks’ Black Monk Time bursts from the speakers as a bacchanalian humdrum of Cold War paranoia and exuberance. It’s rabid, berserker, frothing-at-the-mouth garage rock with a discipline that would get dap from St. Aquinas. Undoubtedly one of the greatest albums of the ’60s, Black Monk Time is the work of five GIs stationed in…
Mug Shots
“One of the truest tests of integrity is its blunt refusal to be compromised.” This quote by the Nigerian writer Chinua Achebe appears at the end of “I Am a Craft Brewer,” a four-minute video created by Greg “Arrogant Bastard” Koch. It was screened during Koch’s keynote speech in Boston, during the recently concluded annual…
And then there were three
Looking for a new direction? Add the producer. That’s what happened to Big Business, the twin attack dogs of drummer Coady Willis and bassist-singer Jared Warren. Their newest, Mind The Drift, could be a metaphor for the addition of guitarist Toshi Kasai, or a natural progression for musos looking to expand sound. Kasai, an old…
Prowls and pyrotechnics
Robin Thicke does not come from a strong soul-music lineage. The son of actors Alan Thicke and Gloria Loring was never top-of-mind in the biz. Yet, with his third release, Something Else, the artist formerly known as “Thicke” has established himself as one of the few Americans left who truly understands the soul classics of…
Set ’Em Wild, Set ’Em Free
Akron/Family has intelligently crafted an eclectic, malleable record that is not afraid to experiment — almost to an alarming level for a fairly accessible group. Their toggling between disparate genres makes Sun City Girls look like child’s play, dropping the freak from their folk flag, and in its place, introducing 11 remarkable tracks that explore…
Segu Blue
Given the recent collaboration between Bela Fleck and Malian kora player Toumani Diabate, it’s possible that there’s been no greater spotlight on the West African nation at any other time than right now. Fortunately, all the attention on Mali is casting some light on other worthwhile players as well. Countryman Bassekou Kouyate plays the ngoni,…
The green piles
Patrick Carrico’s frustration was a weekly ritual: Every Saturday, a delivery carrier for The Courier-Journal would toss a green plastic bag filled with advertisements onto his driveway. Despite making several requests to halt the unwelcome deliveries — and the fact that he doesn’t even subscribe to the actual newspaper — the marketing blitz continued in…
Viral media
Whoop! Whoop! Call off the freak-out. Put away your haz-mat Snuggie. You’re going to live. The H1N1 virus, formerly known as “The Other White Meat Flu,” is running scared. Officials have reduced the threat level from “We’re all going to die right now” to “We’re not going to die until next winter.” The blasphemous reason…
Hiding from Hitler
Fred Gross was only 3 years old when his family began running from the Nazis. The journey started at dawn on May 10, 1940, when a series of thunderous booms jarred the Gross family awake inside their apartment in Antwerp, Belgium. High above clouds of black smoke, German fighter planes circled, unleashing an arsenal on…
Review: Let’s get Social at 732
As soon as I read about 732 Social coming to East Market Street, I knew I was going to love it. It would be as urban as urban could get, chic and trendy yet “green” as grass, and it would spit in the face of the recession, boldly stepping out where a string of lovable…
Inbox — May 13, 2009
Correction Due to an incorrect press release, we mistakenly listed Nada Loutfi as artist-in-residence at WUOL. LEO regrets the error. Louisville Crybaby In regards to the May 6 letter entitled “Dormant Posers” by Ryzek Mal: I’m dying to know what “real musicians” he knew and what qualifies one as “real” or not. I’m curious to…
Foul logic
I’m so over straight people. Rather, I’m so sick of the straights who take their privilege beyond unacceptable, those who confidently make odious claims concerning the experience of being gay. The ones who think they have a place in the debate concerning the genesis of being gay; those who declare with stolen, and empty, authority…
Theater: Louisville Repertory Company’s ‘The Coarse Acting Show’
(The Louisville Repertory Company presents “The Coarse Acting Show” through May 17. Written by Michael Green. Directed by Amy Lewis. Call 584-7777 or visit www.lourep.org for more information.) “The Coarse Acting Show” begins with an overture-cum-offertory that includes Ben Folds Five, Journey, Maroon 5 and Eminem. This is funny to church-going audience members who also…
Culture: Cheating Jim Crow
For antique dealer Joe Ley, the fond recollection of Fontaine Ferry Park has been almost an obsession. The memories are so rich that he refuses to sell any of the various amusement park memorabilia he’s collected over the years. “Being an orphan, I used to walk 40 blocks down there. I didn’t have the dime…
Video TapeWorm
THIS WEEK’S TWIN PEEKS: MY BLOODY VALENTINE 3-D 2009; $39.95, R 3-D remake of the 1981 slasher classic about the seeming resurrection of an insane miner who murders people with a pickax. Jensen Ackles of “Supernatural” stars as the prodigal son who returns to town just in time to be blamed for the murders, with…
Wayne’s world
A phrase frequently echoed throughout Wayne Hancock’s career is “the real deal.” Hank III, Joe Ely and Bobby Koeffer of the Texas Playboys have all said it, referring to Hancock’s signature blend of western swing, honky-tonk, blues and big band — a thing he calls “juke joint swing.” Since his rambunctious 1995 debut Thunderstorms and…
Book: No Regrets serves up 101 things to do before you get too cynical
No Regrets: 101 Fabulous Things to Do Before You’re Too Old, Married, or Pregnant By Sarah Ivens. Broadway Books; 268 pgs., $14. *Sarah Ivens Book Signing/Reading* Thursday, May 14 Carmichael’s Bookstore 2720 Frankfort Ave. 896-6950 Free; 7 p.m. When I was 25, my best friend and I made a list of 10 things we…
B-Sides: Music & Other Ephemera
It doesn’t get much more Louisiana than Tab Benoit, who returns to Stevie Ray’s Blues Bar (230 E. Main St.; 582-9945) May 17. Read more on this Baton Rouge journeyman at www.tabbenoit.com. Sweet Leaf Although City Block has announced it’s closing, shows that have been booked are still, er, on the books. Flyleaf visits Sunday.…
