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Local rock-grass band Alder Street is hosting their CD release party Friday, June 6, for the new album Americannibal (read story on Alder Street here). Take a look at the album art when you get a chance because the front jacket of the CD was created by well known French illustrator Olivier Bonhomme. Bonhomme often illustrates political cartoons for Le Monde, perhaps the mostly widely read newspaper in France. Continue reading
Days of Future Past opens in a dark future, a world devastated by war. A ragtag band of mutants, led by Professor X (Patrick Stewart) and Magneto (Ian McKellan), puts up a decent fight against the Sentinels, but they have zero hope of victory against the shape-shifting, mutant-hunting robots. In a last-ditch effort, Kitty Pryde (Ellen Page) sends the consciousness of Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) back into his ’70s self. Continue reading
Catch the blues-rockers of Blue Lotus 7:30 pm Saturday, May 31, at WOW Hall before they head out on tours spanning Oregon, Washington, California and next year Arizona, Colorado, Montana and Idaho with their 2013 album A Thousand Other Things. Continue reading
We welcome you all, to a world where no paper currency exists, no dreams of the afterlife are sought after and everyone is together, striving to form a unified consciousness. Continue reading
When hard-pressed to describe Pigeon John’s sound, I choose “soul-rap” — living somewhere between early Jackson 5 and Stevie Wonder (hard to listen to and not smile) and uplifting indie West Coast hip hop. When I say uplifting, I don’t mean that John Dunkin (his given name) is an average “conscious” rapper spewing bumper-sticker aphorisms; Pigeon John is far from milquetoast. Following the long tradition of blues, soul and R&B singers before him, Dunkin’s gritty rhymes help you dance your troubles away. Continue reading
It’s tough to convey unbridled enthusiasm via email, but Trevor Straub of Pookie and The Poodlez (of Oakland, Calif.) comes close: “Yeah, I can do that!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!,” Straub responds to my email interview request. “I’m Pookie and my band’s The Poodlez,” Straub continues. “The Poodlez are always changing, anyone can be a Poodle!” What’s behind the band’s distinctive name? Continue reading
According to the National Survey of High School Biology Teachers, 13 percent of American high school bio teachers explicitly teach creationism in the classroom. Sixty percent give evolution very little class time and 17 percent don’t even touch the subject at all, wanting to avoid the whole controversy. These statistics speak to the state of radical religious interference with education, which gives a ’50s play new relevance in the 21st century. Continue reading
There are certain artists whose work is like a fingerprint, a signature; their art — in style, technique and content — is unmistakably theirs. Locally, we are lucky to have lots of these artists: Shanna Trumbly, Amy Crehore, Jud Turner, John Jay Cruson, Analee Fuentes and too many others to list here. Continue reading
By some fateful collision of time, situation and personality, certain individuals come to represent the places where they live, in such a way that the association becomes nearly mythological: Lou Reed symbolizes the junky glam of the East Village, Harvey Milk is forever Mayor of the Castro District, Saul Bellow haunts Chicago’s Humboldt Park. Continue reading