Some free music has the impact of a knockout punch: it swells and explodes with ballistic intensity. Joel Futterman approaches the piano with precisely this pugilistic power, but he does so with real dexterity, like a giant gently cradling a baby. You can hear this gentle thunder on his recent solo outing, Silhouettes (Progressive), where […]
Tag: Vol. 24 No. 40
Issue of Jul. 13 – 19, 1995
Posted inArts & Culture
Is this man Jewish? Are you sure?
Marc Alan Jacobs is constantly playing Spot the Jew. “Sometimes I’ll go in real close and see if they are wearing a chi or a Star of David. There are certain facial features or hairstyles people associate with Jews, but it’s a look that actually may or may not exist.” Jacobs, a recent graduate of […]
Posted inArts & Culture
We Have a Problem
Jeff Wall at the Museum of Contemporary Art, through August 20 Creating paradoxes around the issue of representation is a familiar modernist ploy. Jeff Wall’s photos–18 of which are now on view at the Museum of Contemporary Art–do more, because of his provocative subject matter; carefully constructed compositions, some of which are computer composites; and […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Massive Attack
Progenitors of England’s rap scene as part of the Wild Bunch back in the mid-80s and more recently movers in the trip-hop movement, Massive Attack are a musical collective bursting with ideas. More than just another batch of tunes, their second album, Protection (Virgin), masterfully dissects pop music. The group’s core members–3-D, Mushroom, and Daddy […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Mississippi Heat
Over the past several years Mississippi Heat has evolved from an earnest but enjoyable revival outfit into a full-fledged contemporary Chicago blues aggregation. Their Delta-to-Chicago sound combines elements of tradition with up-to-date aggression, and they’re savvy enough to feature soloists whose love of that tradition never hinders their enthusiasm for house-rocking boogie. Guitarist James Wheeler […]
Posted inNews & Politics
A Pox on Rosenbaum
Once again your movie critic makes some terrible errors. In his review of Pocahontas [June 30], he talks about the “genocide” of Native Americans by Europeans and cites the massive decline in population between 1500 and 1550 among indigenous peoples as evidence. What he didn’t mention was that the big killer was disease–smallpox, in particular. […]
Posted inNews & Politics
A Paraplegic in Space and Other Lost Causes
The path along Lake Michigan was where I pushed my wheelchair to the limit. The path spanned the Chicago waterfront from south to north, nearly 20 miles in all. Just before 33rd Street there was a hill where I would push as fast as I could until I felt a tingling in my scalp. I […]
Posted inNews & Politics
Reader to Reader
At a cookout in early July a couple of guys waited in line around the grill, talking about a deli they used to frequent. “You been up there lately?” said the first guy. “Naw, not lately,” said the second. He asked, “Food still good there?” “He makes the burgers different now,” the first guy replied. […]
Posted inNews & Politics
Saving His Life
Nick’s vivid history–a weird collage of exotic adventures, mysterious cities, inexplicable storms and invasions–and the struggle to preserve it before dementia erased his memory. (Part I)/ Adrift in America, Nick struggled to make sense of his strange n
Posted inNews & Politics
Windy City Smear
Dear Reader Editor, The castration of Windy City Times publisher Jeff McCourt by Michael Miner (issue 5/26/95) is one of the most unbelievable pieces of journalism I have recently read (only to be followed by the continually factless and bitchy pages of Babble). Mr. McCourt has many friends, of which I am one. Mr. McCourt […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Bailter Space
By increasingly segregating itself into distinct genres (punk, industrial, pop, avant rock, etc), indie rock has become a realm of specialists, much like the white-collar world it seems to loathe. However, New Zealand’s Bailter Space take a refreshingly interdisciplinary approach to alternative rock. Their records boast rapturously tuneful pop songs, jarring full-throttle punk workouts, and […]
Posted inMusic
Spot Check
MARTY STUART 7/14, STAR PLAZA As the recent compilation The Marty Stuart Hit Pack (MCA) proves, beyond Stuart’s absurdly flamboyant style is one of those rare Nashville stars that doesn’t suck. He imbues his music with a rock ‘n’ roll swagger, manages to give it a nice lilt as well, and can write, play, and […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Words First
As I Lay Dying Steppenwolf Theatre Company I learned that words are no good; that words dont ever fit even what they are trying to say at. . . . Love, he called it. But I had been used to words for a long time. I knew that that word was like the others: just […]
Posted inNews & Politics
Wyman Is an Idiot
While I enjoyed a loyal reader’s letter (June 16, 1995), it is obvious that he/she did not get the point. Jae-Ha Kim never accused Bill Wyman of being racist or sexist. What she said was that he “must not realize that he comes across [emphasis added] not only as petty, but as sexist and racist […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Belle de jour
Though it may not reach the level of sublimity of his three last features, Luis Bunuel’s long unavailable 1967 masterpiece, rereleased with the help of Martin Scorsese, remains a seminal work and incidentally serves to clarify the great director’s relationship with Hitchcock. Like Hitchcock, Bunuel was a prude with a strong religious background and a […]