In a perfect world, the Waxwings would be known solely for their music. Repurposing 60s rock is a familiar enough tactic these days, but the Detroit quartet’s genuine enthusiasm sets them apart from other similarly inclined groups: the sound of their first two albums–Low to the Ground (2000) and Shadows of the Waxwings (2002)–is the […]
Tag: Vol. 33 No. 47
Issue of Aug. 19 – 25, 2004
Posted inNews & Politics
The Bad Earth
Those garden-grown veggies may look wholesome, but a Northwestern study says they might be loaded with lead.
Posted inArts & Culture
The Sunshine Boys
THE SUNSHINE BOYS, Drury Lane Oakbrook. In his ungainly 1972 Broadway hit, Neil Simon seemed to be making the point that good comedy transcends the ages–though time has arguably drained his script of its social currency. The Sunshine Boys, which follows two cranky coots trying to preserve their legacy as America’s top vaudeville team, might […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Open-Air Screenings
All screenings are free and, unless otherwise noted, will be shown by video projection as part of the Chicago Park District’s “Movies in the Park” series. See listings for capsule reviews. Films marked with an asterisk (*) are highly recommended. Forrest Gump Loyola Park, 1230 W. Greenleaf, Friday, August 20, 8:00, 312-742-7857 * Guys and […]
Posted inFilm
When an Alien Jumps a Shark, Who Wins?
There’s a scene in Predator 2 (1990) in which the police detective played by Danny Glover rummages through the trophies of the man-killing, invisibility-cloaked hunter from space and pauses over the elongated skull of one of the beasties from the Alien franchise. I remember this only because it’s pretty much the high point of that […]
Posted inNews & Politics
We Want Antenna Info
Your cover story [“Antenna Invasion,” July 23] will make people look up to see the growing number of cell antennas and towers around us. Regarding “there isn’t much you can do,” there is much you can do in the city of Chicago. You can pressure your alderman and Mayor Daley to give us the following […]
Posted inNews & Politics
Punk Is Dead! Long Live Punk!
A report on the state of teen spirit from the mobile shopping mall that is the Vans Warped Tour.
Posted inColumns & Opinion
Savage Love
I am a 26-year-old gay guy with a strange fetish. Mine feels like it’s the strangest one out there, because I’ve never read anything about it anywhere. Consequently, I’ve always felt embarrassed and ashamed about it. Even before I was consciously aware of my attractions to guys, I was aroused by bread. My sexual attraction […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Darol Anger’s American Fiddle Ensemble
Darol Anger launched his fiddling career in the mid-70s playing jazzy bluegrass with the much respected David Grisman Quintet before heading off to a place where respect would be hard to come by: Windham Hill Records. The label’s initial premise–merging ECM jazz and John Fahey’s primitivist folk–usually sounded better in theory than in practice, but […]
Posted inNews & Politics
Beware the Evil Penguin
According to your article [“The Man Who Ruined Running,” August 6], I either am or aspire to be a running snob (having run 3:01 in the 2003 LaSalle Bank Chicago Marathon). So be it. I object to the Penguin and his methods. The Penguin seems to be the hero of the slow runner, but that […]
Posted inArts & Culture
YACHT
I’ve noticed something about artists born in the 80s. It’s as if the Internet has ruined their lives–with all the ugliness of the world at their fingertips, they seem to want to retreat into childhood, and much of their work is suffused with the cheery colors of Saturday-morning cartoons and the naive simplicity of eight-bit […]
Posted inMusic
Spot Check
PAUL THORN 8/20, SCHUBAS On his fourth studio album, the brand-new Are You With Me? (Back Porch), this Mississippi singer-songwriter plays laid-back, down-home pop blues, a little like a grittier Jimmy Buffett. But despite the lack of urgency, the music’s neither hokey nor lazy–Thorn’s meditations on love and loss are worldly and wry. I particularly […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Papa’s Got a Brand New Baghdad
PAPA’S GOT A BRAND NEW BAGHDAD, Second City Outreach, at Donny’s Skybox Studio. Flimsy characterizations are often to blame when improv doesn’t work. But that’s not the problem with Second City Outreach’s mediocre new offering. Pasha Stanford has the kind of Silly Putty malleability that sells her big reactions, particularly playing a naive neighbor opposite […]
Posted inNews & Politics
Dept. of Misunderstood Filmmakers
To the editor, It’s always bad form to respond to a review of your film–especially when, in the case of Weapons of Mass Deception at the Chicago Underground Film Festival, it was so positive [Section Two, August 13]. But the film is about issues and arguments–and the two that your reviewer picked on actually obscured […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Bebel Gilberto
Tanto tempo, the million-selling debut of Brazilian singer Bebel Gilberto, wasn’t just a fine record: it brought bossa nova, the form pioneered by her dad, Joao, to a whole new audience. The polished electronic production of Suba and guest knob twirlers like Mario Caldato Jr., Amon Tobin, and Thievery Corporation helped recast a vintage Latin […]