January 2007

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Introducing the City Pages Media Taster

Filed under: Music

Get free media from City Pages' favorite artists

We're happy to announce the release of our new Media Taster! The City Pages Media Taster lets you actually hear the great music you read about in City Pages—just launch, click, and listen. Simply download the Media Taster and you'll automatically receive a digital mixtape of music on a semi-regular basis (including free MP3s), legal and free of charge. If you discover artists you like, the player allows you to purchase their music directly, track their new content and even send an email to recommend them to your friends.

What your taster will look like...

Download the City Pages Media Taster to start hearing music from local artists (like Haley Bonar and Mark Mallman) and national acts (like the Flaming Lips and the Hives):

UPDATE: The InRadio servers are getting hit pretty hard, so you may find the download slower than usual.

Posted by Corey Anderson at January 31, 2007 12:14 AM | Comments (0)

 

3 Questions: Jus Rhyme

Filed under: 3 Questions

Jus Rhyme, 27, was the first contestant to mention "white supremacy" on Ego Trip's The (White) Rapper Show, a satirical reality program in which 10 aspiring (white) MCs from around the country compete for $100,000 while living together in the South Bronx. A native of Austin, Minnesota, the real-life Jeb Middlebrook has yet to embarrass himself too badly on national TV, though he maintains the onscreen persona of an earnest camp counselor amid "challenges" from hip-hop legends such as Prince Paul, Sadat X, and (white) host MC Serch. After a stint with AmeriCorps in San Diego, Jus spent a few years in the Twin Cities attending college and rapping under the name Privilege as part of the activist Hip-Hop Co-Op. He's now studying for his Ph.D. in L.A. and can be reached via www.myspace.com/ar15hiphop.

City Pages: Did Minneapolis hip hop teach you anything about race?

Jus Rhyme: Hip-hop shows were the one place where I saw people from different racial backgrounds coming together and having a good time. And because race is talked about, mostly with performers of color, it really prompted me to think about, okay, where am I in all this? Being willing to be wrong was a big thing for me. Saying things that weren't appropriate, just because I didn't know any better, and being checked.

CP: The show is about racism, yet you seem like the only guy bringing up the subject.

JR: White folks rarely talk about race in public places, but we're in the Bronx, we're rappers, we're living in a predominantly black community. To not talk about race, I felt, would be ridiculous.

CP: So is that John Brown guy for real?

JR: Yeah, I think so. What you see is what we got. From the moment that our eyes opened, there was a camera on us. One thing that didn't make the cut was me and John Brown would stay up late at night and have these long discussions about what it meant to be white in hip hop. The cameras were there, but I think people would be bored.

Ego Trip's The (White) Rapper Show airs Mondays at 9:00 p.m. on VH1.

Posted by Peter S. Scholtes at January 30, 2007 3:07 PM | Comments (0)

 

"The Ballad of Jill Hennessy" lives on

Remember when Law & Order was good? Remember when Minneapolis bands wrote great dream-pop hooks? The writing on the original TV series tanked not long after the show decided to kill off actress Jill Hennessy's character in a traffic accident in 1996. The local band Mollycuddle broke up four years later, but Hennessy loved the group's 1998 song "The Ballad of Jill Hennessy" enough that she's still talking about the band on national television years later. Hosts on The Today Show asked her about the tune last Friday, and the State subsequently reported that the song was played on the soundtrack of Hennessy's final episode (though this can't be right, can it? unless we're talking a re-edited version of the show--Hennessy didn't hear the song until 1999). Listen to the track here at www.guiltriddenpop.com.

Posted by Peter S. Scholtes at January 30, 2007 12:59 PM | Comments (0)

 

Free local music downloads!

Filed under: Local Music

That headline sounds a lot like a spam email subject line, but it's actually a pretty cool (if long time comin') feature at CP.com. Music to Go aggregates all the local music (plus a few non-local artists) that City Pages covers, with links to the articles and one free MP3 for your downloading pleasure. Free local music, and no RIAA goons knocking down your door? Gotta love that.

Posted by Chuck Terhark at January 30, 2007 11:29 AM | Comments (1)

 

Dear Prince From Minneapolis

Dear Prince from Minneapolis

Please represent

No moons over Miami

Or product-placed breasts

Just play your guitar

For your pests from the Midwest

Do it for Lovey and Dungy

And Obama and Oprah

The Rainbow Children

Of the now and

Not-distant future

We'll be rooting for the home team

The Purple and the Gold

T.C. and Jackie and Arnellia

Shout-outs to St. Paul

Northside and Southside

And everyone in between

Can't hardly wait to see you

Do your sex machine thing

Yes, my twin brother

We've all still got faith

That you'll get our tongues wagging

And send us to bed

Then at the water cooler on Monday

We'll talk about "Head"

Dear Prince from Minneapolis

Please represent

Please represent

Please represent

Posted by Jim Walsh at January 29, 2007 9:17 AM | Comments (0)

 

Lady Sovereign has Minneapolis girlfriend?

The Minnesota Daily gossip column Holla Backlash reports that "tiny 21-year-old Brit rapper Lady Sovereign, who put out a record on Jay-Z's Def Jam label last year, was spotted downtown at the Gay '90s on Sunday, Jan. 14." Without a concert to play, apparently: "The real reason Sov made the trip, according to several eyewitnesses who saw the pipsqueak out clubbin', was for a little face time with someone supposedly named Andrea--yes, as in a female, Andrea. And by face time, we mean more like sucking face (or snogging in Brit-speak)." Lady Sovereign's personal life is her own, and everybody hates a stalker; but we can't help wonder if she'd be interested in working with local hip-hop producers or rappers while she's in town. SOV, hit me up. (Hat tip Keri Carlson.)

Posted by Peter S. Scholtes at January 26, 2007 5:28 PM | Comments (42)

 

David Rathman at Weinstein Gallery

Filed under: Art/Museums

Just in time to relieve your pre-Super Bowl football withdrawal, local artist David Rathman's new show at the Weinstein Gallery carries on his usual work of sending up the mythology of American masculinity. Having already trained his reverant but blackly humorous sights on cowboys and boxers, he now (ahem) tackles football players, specifically the high school team of his small-town Montana alma mater. Images from the show, "Home and Away," after the jump; the artist's reception is tonight at 6:30 p.m. Weinstein Gallery, 908 W. 46th St, Mpls.

Home and Away, ink and watercolor on canvas, 30 x 38 inches, 2006

Untitled 12, ink and watercolor on canvas, 26 x 29 inches, 2006

Untitled 13, ink and watercolor on canvas, 26 x 29 inches, 2006

Untitled 14, ink and watercolor on canvas, 22 x 26 inches, 2007

Posted by Chuck Terhark at January 26, 2007 4:26 PM | Comments (0)

 

Tonight: The Return of Ice-Rod

Filed under: Local Music

This just in: Ice-Rod, the absurdist, rat-tailed battle MC famous for rapping paper airplane instructions, instigating food fights, brushing his teeth onstage (then chugging orange juice), and battling to a tie with odds-on favorite Sage Francis, will make a rare appearance tonight at the 331 Club in Northeast Minneapolis.

The man behind Ice-Rod's mustache, Michael Gaughan (a.k.a. Brother of Brother and Sister), is marginally famous for subverting the "serious" art of rock 'n' roll, rap, and even sculpture with witty charisma and balls-out goofiness. Ice-Rod is no exception, as evidenced by the legend his short career has become. Go here for a more complete history, then show up to the 331 and become a part of it.

Thursday, Jan. 25. 9:30 p.m. Free. 331 13th Ave. NE.

Posted by Chuck Terhark at January 25, 2007 10:38 AM | Comments (0)

 

Michael Yonkers cheats death--barely

On January 6, we received a disturbing email from Michael Yonkers (one of City Pages' artists of the year, and a double honoree, whose '60s music I wrote about here last week). Yonkers gave permission to reprint the message, and sent along a link about "Pantopaque- (Myodil-) induced adhesive arachnoiditis": "I cannot even tell you how much misery this [disease] has caused to me," he writes, "and many others around the world. The link is from Australia, where they are pissed as hell. Geraldo Rivera did a story on it years ago, but the makers of the chemical have spent huge sums of money in America for a dis-information campaign. Most people in America that are suffering with it do not even know what is causing their problems, as almost no doctors are qualified to diagnose it correctly. It is a huge hidden story that no one wants to touch." Here's his email, with more about the controversy below*:

michael yonkers here;

about a month ago something happened to me, that was so strange and bizarre, that i am getting many questions about it. i hope it is ok that, i just write about it in this e-mail...so i do not have to explain this over and over again.

as you probably know, i have suffered for over thirty years from a very rare form of multiple sclerosis (adhesive arachnoiditis). there is no cure, and even treatments that are used for MS do not work. it is a very painful and frustrating condition. a new, very powerful prescription drug came along, that had promise...so, i decided to try it.

unfortunately, i had a spectacular allergic reaction to it. so terrible was this reaction, that my doctor (by law) was required to report it to the FDA. my doctor has been practicing for over 40 years, and has only seen this serious type of reaction one other time. here is how it went down.

1- i went into anaphylactic shock (anaphylaxis). this is very life-threatening...and truly terrifying. somehow i made it through this.

2- then, i had a severe chemical-sensitivity reaction (drug-induced rhabdomyolysis). this changes the chemistry in the body...and, the body starts digesting its own muscles. (mere human words are not adequate to describe the feeling of, the body eating its muscle cells. the full, head to toe pain was absolutely excruciating. this went on for more than 2 days...and, i truly wanted to die). i had no idea what was happening.

3- i knew there was big trouble, when my urine turned brown. i found out later that... as the muscle cell walls are dissolved, the liquid contents are then dumped into the lymphatic fluids, and carried into the blood. this causes a very toxic blood poisoning.

4- the kidneys then went into overload, trying to process the poisons. this is the point where many people die from kidney failure.
fortunately, i had struggled to my computer, and googled -'brown urine'... and learned that, i had to immediately start drinking large quantities of fluids. i did this, and saved myself.

5- the next thing was, the poisons attacked the joints in my fingers, wrists, shoulders and neck...giving the symptoms (pain) of rheumatoid arthritis...which i still have.

my arms got the worst of the muscle damage (i don't even want to look at them, as they are so skinny). it has been almost a month, and there is still much pain throughout the entire body. my doctor is now most concerned about kidney function, as they still hurt a lot. my doctor says that, it can take many months to fully heal from all this (by the way...please do not send names of lawyers. i do NOT blame the drug. i had researched the drug before taking it. it has a good record for low numbers of serious reactions. i knew that, there is always a risk with these powerful drugs. i would never blame a drug company for this kind of situation).

thank you for reading this. i do not mind talking about it... i just feel that, it is much easier to explain something this weird in writing.

no reply necessary.

thanks again,
mry

_______________

*A Nexis search turns up only 35 hits for the word "Pantopaque," the original American brand name for Myodil. Pantopaque/Myodil was a spinal X-ray dye sold around the world between 1946 and 1987, though I'm still rounding up exact dates and places from representatives of UK-based pharmaceudical giant GlaxoSmithKline (or Glaxo Smith Kline). Pantopaque was created in the '40s at Rochester University with research funding from Kodak, and manufactured by the Texas-based Lafayette Phannacal Company (later Alcon and Lafayette Pharmaceutical) until 1986, using materials provided by the Eastman Kodak Company. Glaxo Wellcome, which merged with SmithKline Beecham in 2000 to become GlaxoSmithKline, made and distributed the Pantopaque copy Myodil during these same years.

The dye has been linked to the disease called adhesive arachnoiditis, but all companies involved deny the link. In 1995, Glaxo settled out of court over Myodil with 425 patients in the UK, and with 130 Australians in 1999. I'm still researching the results of similar lawsuits over Pantopaque against Eastman Kodak and other companies in the U.S., but the debate over these products continues in any case.

Here's an excerpt from the Daily Telegraph (Sydney, Australia), August 23, 2002:

Thousands of victims of an X-ray dye that is linked to chronic back pain are entitled to an independent inquiry, Parliament has been told... The Daily Telegraph reported last month that thousands of Australians suffered chronic back pain, seizures and incontinence after myelograms. The dyes were injected into the spine during the procedure. Radiologists concede they did not routinely warn patients even though they were aware of the problems. And the Therapeutic Goods Administration never tested the dyes.

Hundreds of people who have been living in pain, some bedridden, since their myelograms have contacted The Daily Telegraph. They claim doctors have been unable to explain the pain. The dyes were used between 1945 and 1987 and were the only way radiologists could get a clear X-ray of the spinal cord. But studies published in medical journals as far back as 1945 warned the dyes were linked to a condition known as adhesive arachnoiditis... Other studies showed the dyes melted polystyrene cups and corroded floor tiles.

In 1994, Rep. James Traficant, Jr. (D-Ohio) testified before the House subcommittee on health and the environment (per the Federal News Service):

According to The Power of Pain by Shirly Kraus, 100 million Americans are either permanently disabled or are less productive due to back pain. And, those who work lose about five work days per year, a productivity loss of $55 billion.

Evidence now suggests that a significant number of these "failed backs" are cases of adhesive arachnoiditis resulting from a myelogram, a diagnostic procedure that precedes surgery. In a myelogram, a radiopaque dye is injected into the spinal subarachnoid space. After the x-ray, as much of the oil as possible is withdrawn. However, the amount left behind often causes irritation and leads to arachnoiditis, an inflammation of the subarachnoid...

Harry Feffer, a professor of orthopedic surgery and George Washington University states that patients who have had two or more myelograms stand a 50 percent chance of developing arachnoiditis. Furthermore, animal studies confirm the devastating effect of Pantopaque, an oil-based contrast medium, on the myelin sheath and nerve cells.

For several years, Members of Congress have repeatedly asked the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to recall the use of Pantopaque. In 1987, Alcon, a subsidiary of Eastman Kodak, voluntarily stopped producing the drug due to public pressure. Pantopaque has a 5-year shelf date. The last batch of the drug was due to expire April 1, 1992. However, use of Pantopaque has continued, with reported usage as recent as September 1993. This evidence leads me to believe that Kodak is once again manufacturing Pantopaque. One final point I would like members of the Committee to know is that Pantopaque is still commonly used in veterans and military hospitals across the nation.

His bill to recall the use of Pantopaque evidently never passed, as he introduced the same legislation in 1997 (per Congressional Press Releases):

In the past few years, arachnolditis sufferers and Members of Congress alike have repeatedly asked the Food and Drug Administration to recall the use of Pantopaque. "The FDA has clearly not reviewed the safety of oil-based Pantopaque as well as water-based dyes, in spite of medical evidence," noted Traficant. "That's why I've introduced this legislation.'

Traficant's bill is not a new idea. Since 1990, Britain and Sweden have banned the use of Pantopaque in myelograms. A class action suit is still pending in Britain involving 25,000 people, 1,500 of which are nurses. In 1986, Kodak, the company that makes Pantopaque, voluntarily stopped distributing the drug in the U.S., due to public pressure. Pantopaque has a five-year shelf life. The last batch was due to expire April 1, 1991. However, the use of Pantopaque has continued, with the Arachnoiditis Information and Support Network having documented a case in September 1993 and hospitals stocking the dye as recently as April 1994. Undocumented cases of use continue.

Posted by Peter S. Scholtes at January 18, 2007 6:31 PM | Comments (7)

 

3 Questions: Post Secret's Frank Warren

Filed under: Blogs/Web

Post Secret, a website that encourages people to send their anonymous secret admissions via postcard, originally started as a community art project and gallery show. In the years that followed, it has rapidly spawned one of the most-read blogs on the internet, as well as two books. Frank Warren, the man behind the project, receives between 100 to 200 confessions a day. Recent cards included: "My Husband can't find his car keys because I hide them," "Sometimes I go shopping at Wal*Mart just so I'm not alone," and "My nightmares involve exploding showers and toilets."

City Pages: What was your inspiration for starting Post Secret?

Frank Warren: I have always felt that people have these rich interior lives and that if given the chance they could share another side of their humanity. So I tried to create a nonjudgmental, anonymous place where people could remove their social masks and reveal the hidden parts of themselves.

City Pages: What do you hope people get out of the Post Secret experience?

FW: I hope that people who visit the website or read the book learn the same thing that I have—everyone has at least one secret that would break your heart if you knew it, and if we could just remember that there might be more compassion and understanding in the world.

City Pages: What is it that drives you to continue the project after so many confessions? Are their any secrets posted that you still think about today?

FW: I think many of us have a desire to read these soulful, funny, and poetic admissions. They can help us learn more about others and maybe something new about ourselves. One of my favorite secrets arrived in my mailbox written on part of a Starbucks cup. The handwritten message on the stamped and addressed cup read, "I give decaf to customers who are rude to me." The secret that still haunts me: "Everyone who knew me before 9/11 believes I am dead."

Frank Warren discusses Secret Lives of Men and Women tonight at Barnes & Noble. Free. 7:30 p.m. 3225 W. 69th St., in the Galleria, Edina, 952.920.0633. Also 7:00 p.m. Friday January 19 at Birchbark Books, 2115 W. 21st St., Minneapolis, 612.374.4023.

Posted by Jessica Armbruster at January 18, 2007 11:05 AM | Comments (0)

 

3 questions: Afrika Bambaataa

Filed under: 3 Questions

The Godfather of Hip Hop, the Master of Records, Afrika Bambaataa gave hip hop its name, reframing graffiti, DJing, breakdancing, and rapping as "four elements" of a single culture. (The "fifth element": knowledge.) A former member of the Black Spades, Bam founded the Universal Zulu Nation in the 1970s, using his influence among black and Latino youth gangs to integrate a South Bronx scene as it was taking shape. He later brought hip hop downtown, to Europe, and beyond, collaborating wildly as an MC (with James Brown, John Lydon, Uberzone--visit www.zulunation.com for the full list). His DJ sets are legendary for their eclecticism, mixing Latin rock with electro--a genre he helped create, with 1982's Kraftwerk-sampling "Planet Rock." Bam recently answered questions over the phone in anticipation of his first Minneapolis appearance in years.

City Pages: Name your first show in Lower Manhattan.

Afrika Bambaataa: I'd been playing parties down there, but the first show playing a concert was with Bow Wow Wow at the Ritz. I got to give the punk rockers a lot of credit. They were the first whites that really embraced hip hop. They embraced it so hard, they even started coming to parties Uptown, where people thought there would be racial incidents and all that. When that music hit, you didn't see nothing but get-down and get-your-groove-on.

CP: You've been crossing barriers your whole life, right?

AB: I've even sat among people who are strict racists and stuff, can't stand to see black and white together. Had conversations when I was writing little stories in high school about certain things. We'd sit down and start talking, and they'd start spacing out when I know certain music that they know, or certain artists. The whole conversation start changing.

We had a lot of problems in New York. I played in this place where a black guy got killed in Brooklyn, and I had to go play in a skating rink. I got on the Italians' asses. I said, "Listen, you can't tell me nothing about Italy, 'cause I been to Italy. You forgot that you all mixed with the black Moors, so let's stop the foolishness."

CP: Where do you see hip hop going in the future?

AB: I see it going through another change as it starts traveling from different planets. When we meet extraterrestrial beings, things will start happening. We are not alone.

Africa Bambaata performs Saturday at Foundation. 21+. $10. 10:00 p.m. 10 S. Fifth St., Minneapolis; 612.332.3931.

Posted by Peter S. Scholtes at January 17, 2007 7:15 PM | Comments (0)

 

Garrison Keillor vs. MySpace.com

Extra! Extra! Read all about it! "Prairie Home" kingpin takes cheap shot at MySpace nation! "Why don't you try the search engine?," suggests one MySpacer to the former editor of The Ivory Tower, the long-gone arts and literature section of the Minnesota Daily. Read more here.

Posted by Jim Walsh at January 17, 2007 3:06 PM | Comments (0)

 

Bill Batson Turns 50 Years Young Saturday

It's true. There's a bash for the head Hypstr and Mofo at the Turf on Saturday night, and everybody's invited. See ya there, and share your Billy stories here.

Posted by Jim Walsh at January 15, 2007 11:20 PM | Comments (7)

 

Are Hans and Molly the new Steve and Sharon?

Filed under: Blogs/Web

Former Rake and Spin editor Hans Eisenbeis is being joined at the Current Music Blog by former City Pages staffer and continuing contributor Molly Priesmeyer. Eisenbeis restarted the Minnesota Public Radio blog back in August of 2006 after it whithered on the ethereal vine last spring. The two former Request magazine co-workers have also conspired to create Pinch, a blog and daily e-mail blast with tidbits on local art, culture, fashion, sales, and music. The blog is currently in a beta version, with a slick new site on the horizon. Can a morning zoo show or an afternoon chat program on Fox 9 be far behind?

Posted by Corey Anderson at January 10, 2007 4:33 PM | Comments (3)

 

Minnesota native on 'Ego Trip's (White) Rapper Show'

Premiering tonight on VH1 at 9:30 p.m. Central Time, Ego Trip's The (White) Rapper Show is the kind of reality program that would sound terrible if it weren't created by Ego Trip, the defunct and genius hip-hop mag whose editors are responsible for two classic books and a couple previous VH1-aired bursts of radicalism and satire: TV's Illest Minority Moments (re-airing Wednesday) and Race-o-Rama. Upping the suspense, a native Minnesotan is in the mix: L.A.'s Jus Rhyme from Austin. Hosted by MC Serch of 3rd Bass, the series is described as follows by VH1: "Ten eager (white) rappers from across the country arrive in the South Bronx with nothing except their skills, heart, and dreams of winning $100,000. As they meet their new neighbors, will they be accused of infiltrating a 'hood that has been doing just fine without them? Meanwhile, back at Tha White House, the show's funky headquarters, John Brown finds himself in a heated encounter with Sullee, Persia... and Persia's dildo. After the dust settles (and, trust us, it's dusty in that crazy-ass crib), Serch enlightens one rapper by teaching a very heavy lesson." (Hat tip to Afroteck at DUNation.) Update: Here's an interview with Jus Rhyme in yesterday's Pi Press (thanks Amy!).

Posted by Peter S. Scholtes at January 8, 2007 1:10 PM | Comments (0)

 

Grandmaster Flash cracks Rock Hall of Fame

For the first time, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame has announced that it will induct a hip-hop artist: Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five. Here's a complete list of the 2007 inductees announced today:

Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five (Kid Creole, Cowboy, Grandmaster Flash, Melle Mel, Mr. Ness, Raheim)
R.E.M. (Bill Berry, Peter Buck, Mike Mills, Michael Stipe)
The Ronettes (Estelle Bennett, Ronnie Spector, Nedra Talley)
Patti Smith
Van Halen (Michael Anthony, Sammy Hagar, Alex Van Halen, Eddie Van Halen, David Lee Roth)

Highlights from the press release: "The five inductees will be honored at a ceremony on March 12, 2007 at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York City. Presenters and performers at the induction will be announced in February, 2007... Artists are eligible for inclusion in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame 25 years after their first recording is released... In addition to being honored at the ceremony on March 12, 2007, each artist who is inducted is commemorated within the I.M. Pei-designed museum in Cleveland, Ohio. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame displays the signature of each inductee inscribed in glass. In addition, there is an exhibit of artifacts from this year's inductees, and a multi-media film presentation with highlights from each artist's career. The exhibit on this year's inductees will open in March, 2007 and will run for one year."

A list of previous inductees at Wikipedia

Posted by Peter S. Scholtes at January 8, 2007 10:59 AM | Comments (0)

 

Paul Nelson in the year-end Rolling Stone

Anyone interested in rock criticism should pick up the 2006 year-in-review Rolling Stone and read its heartbreaking investigation into the life and tragic death of Minnesota native Paul Nelson, probably the first real popular music critic, whom City Pages paid tribute to here in July (more here and here). "The Man Who Disappeared" by Neil Strauss is a portrait of the isolation nobody should face as they get old, and the solitude that creative types invite when they care more about culture than people.

Posted by Peter S. Scholtes at January 8, 2007 9:56 AM | Comments (0)

 

Neil Young's coke rock nose: Two nights only!

Filed under: 3 Questions

On Thanksgiving night, 1976, the Band gathered all their famous friends together for one last hurrah before calling it quits. The show was billed as the end of the Woodstock era, but 30 years later the reverberations of that star-studded jam still haven't faded away. The concert, dubbed "The Last Waltz," became legend; then it became a Martin Scorsese documentary (re-released on super hi-def Blu-ray earlier this year—all the better to see that coke rock in Neil Young's nose during "Helpless"); then it became fodder for tribute shows all over the country. Reenactment fever hit the Twin Cities last year, when more than a dozen local roots-rockers entreated a sea of Caboozers to dry their eyes, take a load off Fanny, and otherwise remain forever young. This year the party spills over to Saturday and features Dan Israel as Bob Dylan, Paul Metsa as Eric Clapton, Tim Mahoney as Van Morrison, plus many others. City Pages caught up with Rob Hilstrom, normally of the Melissa Moser Band and LRO but tonight playing the role of the Band's keyboardist Richard Manuel, for his thoughts on the festivities.

City Pages: What is it about The Last Waltz that gets folks in such a tizzy?

Rob Hilstrom: It encompasses the end of an era and the beginnings of Americana music. These are our heroes in their glory. We wanted to do something that the older and younger generations could enjoy.

CP: How did you go about casting the show? Did anyone fight over who gets to be Neil Diamond?

RH: We tried not to leave anybody out. There's so much talent in this town. More people want to be Dylan or Neil Young, of course.

CP: What's your favorite moment from The Last Waltz?

RH: When Clapton's guitar comes off and Robbie [Robertson] takes over with a better solo. And of course Neil Young and his nose—which we will try to reenact in full!

A Tribute to the Last Waltz
8:00 p.m. Friday, January 5 and Saturday, January 6
Cabooze
917 Cedar Ave S, Mpls.; 612.338.6425
21+. $12.

Posted by Chuck Terhark at January 5, 2007 3:14 PM | Comments (2)

 

Alec Soth should have been a writer

Filed under: Blogs/Web

Actually, he is.

The Walker Art Center blog, one of the better arts blogs in town, recently opened a lot of eyes ('round here, anyhow) to an even better one: Alec Soth. The local fine art photographer is already a superstar in New York and beyond for his beautiful, sad, and often quirky large-format work, but just four months into his new online writing venture, Soth is already being hailed as one of the best arts bloggers on the Internet.

Whether he's describing his own artistic process, posting the occassional poem, keeping us up on his career moves, or (most often) showing off the work of other photographers he admires, Soth's writing is witty, analytical, thoughtful, and clear enough to delight even those readers who aren't interested in fine art photography--or rather, don't yet know they are. In this age of DIY user-creationism, you hear a lot about the difference between "thinking visually" and "thinking verbally," and Soth's blog--with its poetic images and descriptive prose--proves how bullshit that line of thought is. Words and images aren't polar opposites; they aren't even two poles on the same spectrum. The relationship is deeper than that. They're signifiers of the same thing. Which is to say--and arts grant proofreaders may disagree here--visual artists are often better writers than they let on.

As Soth himself says in this post about book jacket art, specifically portraits of authors: "How do these portraits alter the way we read the author? I'm not sure. All I know is that pictures change words as much as words change pictures."

Quit that master's class and go read Soth's archive.

Posted by Chuck Terhark at January 3, 2007 3:59 PM | Comments (2)

 

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