February 2007

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Clear the runway: I want to be a fabulous fashion model!

Filed under: Fashion

City Pages intern and budding model Mary O'Regan leads us through the Marlboro smoke and empty Diet Coke cans with a photo diary chronicling her experiences modeling for the upcoming Voltage Fashion Amplified rock and fashion show on April 11 at First Avenue. Check out the first installment here, where Mary gets measured, checks in with Voltage producer Anna Lee, and struts her stuff (looking "fierce") before the icy stares of the judges who will decide if she stays or if she goes.

Posted by Corey Anderson at February 26, 2007 1:52 PM | Comments (0)

 

Army Defense: Greatest Band of All Time*

Filed under: Music

The Beatles—what a bunch of slackers. In eight years, the Fab Four released just 10 hours of recorded studio music. The Clash released only seven hours in six years. Now a local indie-pop band has put those layabouts to shame. Since January of 2004, Army Defense has released 25 hours of original music. To be fair, the late, great schizophrenic Chicago rock singer Wesley Willis might well have recorded twice that amount during his ten-year career—but his songs were more or less musically interchangeable. The five members of Army Defense, by contrast, write melodies unique to each tune, and at least one out of every couple hundred is pretty good. The quintet's latest and 20th album, 77 World Tour, contains 10 CDs and 191 songs, each titled after a different country—though the lyrical connections can seem tenuous (visit www.armydefense.com to listen to the band's music). "We sent the idea of the album to Guinness [World Records Limited], and they sent back a form letter saying they reject our attempt to break a record," says Dave Lehnen, who records the band in his Golden Valley home. "From their point of view, I guess anyone could record 10 hours of silence and call that an album. But every one of these was a pop song." Local rocker Mark Mallman was similarly rebuffed by Guinness for attempting to claim that his 52.4-hour song "Marathon 2" (complete with lyrics book) was the longest song ever performed.

AD's next project is an album containing a track for every work of Shakespeare, tentatively titled Stratocaster Upon Avon (it's about a quarter finished). Previous themes have included U.S. presidents, movies, "our previous jobs," video games, "places we've lived," etc. The band has never performed live together, but hasn't ruled out the possibility. "We've toyed with the idea of acoustic shows once in a while," says Lehnen. "We could play the World album over ten weeks, in ten shows." Or they could get Mallman to perform their entire catalogue thus far live in one sitting.

*when measured in hours of studio music released to the public

Posted by Peter S. Scholtes at February 26, 2007 12:06 PM | Comments (0)

 

Live blogging the Oscars: Nikki Finke in Hollywood, Nathan Lee in New York

Filed under: Film

Village Voice Media coastal cousins, Nathan Lee of Runnin' Scared and Nikki Finke of Deadline Hollywood Daily, will both be live-blogging the Oscar telecast this Sunday night, February 25th. Nikki's already been leaking like the bloated corpse of a drugged-up Hollywood starlet: Will Steven Spielberg, Francis Ford Coppola, and George Lucas present the Best Director award together? Will host Ellen DeGeneres be dancing with the Happy Feet penguins? Check out more of Nikki's Oscar spoilers here. And log on Sunday night to read Nathan and Nikki's live updates.

Posted by Corey Anderson at February 23, 2007 5:59 PM | Comments (0)

 

18th Annual Ruth Adams "Not Such As A Surprise" Birthday Party March 3rd

Filed under: Local Nightlife

A fixture at Nye's Bar & Polonaise Room since accordionists first walked upright, Ruth Adams, leader of the World's Most Dangerous Polka Band, will be feted Saturday, March 3, 8:30 to close. Ruth is a bit under the weather, so the party has been postponed from tomorrow night. Put on your favorite Hawaiian shirt and join in toasting and singing "Happy Birthday" to the one and only Ruth Adams next weekend at Esquire's Best Bar in America.

Posted by Corey Anderson at February 23, 2007 9:23 AM | Comments (0)

 

Kirk Rundstrom R.I.P.

Filed under: Obituary

Kirk Rundstrom, guitarist/singer for the Wichita, Kansas bluegrass band Split Lip Rayfield, passed away today following a yearlong battle with esophageal cancer. He was 38.

From the Split Lip Rayfield website:

"With great sadness we must announce that our bandmate, friend and brother Kirk Rundstrom has lost his battle. Anybody who knew Kirk knew that he had more zest than all of us. He truly had an ethereal spirit. We have been proud and impressed with the way he went out on his own terms. It wasn't easy, it wasn't fair, and it sure as hell isn't right, but he was an inspiration. We love him and will miss him."

Split Lip Rayfield formed in 1995 and quickly became one of the most beloved bluegrass bands in the country. They are best known as creators of "the Stitchgiver," a one-string upright bass built from a Ford gas tank, but are equally admired for their lightning-fast bluegrass style and relentless live shows. They toured exhaustively and came through Minneapolis many times, usually to Lee's Liquor Lounge, where they developed a sizeable following. Full history and audio samples are available at their website.

Rundstrom learned of his illness in early 2006 while on tour in Colorado, after seeking medical attention for a pain in his throat. In April, a handful of local Twin Cities bands that share Split Lip's taste for punk-country threw a benefit concert at Lee's to help with Rundstrom's medical bills. That summer, the band agreed to call it quits to give their guitarist the time and rest he needed to recover. Rundstrom soon realized that the only thing that made him feel better was playing music, however, and by August the band was back on the road. At the time, Rundstrom was so weak from chemotherapy that he had to re-learn how to play the guitar.

The band played their final Minneapolis show on Thursday, November 2, 2006. The crowd was large and enthusiastic, with shouts of "We love you Kirk!" ringing out between every song.

The band continued to tour despite concerns for Rundstrom's health, until a severe downturn forced them to cancel all dates last week.

Rundstrom played with several groups in addition to Split Lip Rayfield, including Scroat Belly, the Kirk Rundstrom Band, and Grain & Demise. Memories of Kirk and his music can be posted in the comments.

UPDATE: A nice tribute to Kirk from Lawrence.com

Posted by Chuck Terhark at February 22, 2007 2:17 PM | Comments (3)

 

The Spark Festival is underway

Filed under: Media

The Spark Festival, the U of M's celebration and exploration of the history, future, and current culture of electronic art, plays host to electronic composer and synthesizer designer Morton Subotnick tonight at the Whole Music Club. He will be joined by local musician J.G. Everest for another installment of Everest's regular "Making Music" interview series. Subotnick is famous for co-inventing the Buchla Synthesizer, pre-dating the more-famous Moog by a year. He later used the Buchla to compose one of the world's first commissioned electronic compositions, The Silver Apples of the Moon, in 1968 (the same year as Wendy Carlos's seminal Switched-On Bach).

The festival continues through the weekend, with tons of lectures, concerts, and art installations scattered throughout the city. Featured events also include a performance by Warp Records artist Richard Devine (remixer of Aphex Twin and Mike Patton), a "Headphone Festival," circuit-bending workshops by locals Beatrix*Jar, and several other appearances and performances by Subotnick. Check out the Spark website for full details.

Posted by Chuck Terhark at February 21, 2007 8:17 PM | Comments (0)

 

Billy Bob Thornton intends to film Peace Like a River adaptation in MN

Filed under: Film

The Associated Press is reporting actor/writer/director Billy Bob Thornton, while in Edina to promote his latest movie, The Astronaut Farmer, has stated he wishes to film the movie adaptation of Leif Enger's novel, Peace Like a River, in Minnesota. "I hope we can shoot it there," Thornton said. "I love to shoot movies where they take place, but the studios will have you do it in different places because of the money." Thornton shot another film adapted from a novel, A Simple Plan (1998), directed by Sam Raimi, in Minnesota. "I love that movie, I love it," he said. "That's one of those characters I didn't want to have to stop playing." Peace Like a River, published in 2001 by Atlantic Monthly Press, recounts the struggles of a 1960s rural Minnesota family through the eyes of 11-year-old asthmatic Reuben Land. The author, Leif Enger, was born in Osakis and was a long-time reporter and producer for Minnesota Public Radio.

Posted by Corey Anderson at February 21, 2007 10:05 AM | Comments (0)

 

3Qs: Chuck Klosterman

Filed under: 3 Questions

Rural North Dakota is a long way from New York City, much further than any map will tell you. But Chuck Klosterman made the trip in record time: After several years spent working as a reporter and critic at small Midwestern newspapers, the Wyndmere native penned a memoir with a hair-band soundtrack (2001's Fargo Rock City: A Heavy Metal Odyssey in Rural North Dakota) and never looked back. His fourth book, last year's Chuck Klosterman IV, is a career-spanning collection of smart and funny essays and profiles, from his early days at the Fargo Forum through recent gigs at New York's glossiest mags. City Pages caught up with Klosterman via email a week before this installment of the Current's "Fakebook" series, which pairs him with local hit-makers Tapes 'N Tapes.

 

City Pages: You're often billed as a "pop culture critic." Is there any worry that, as your celebrity continues to rise, you'll eventually be indistinguishable from popular culture itself?

Chuck Klosterman: You know, the only people who view me as a celebrity are other journalists. Are you implying that I might eventually become no different than Kelly Clarkson? Because, if so, that would be pretty awesome.

CP: Releasing a career retrospective as your fourth book is a pretty bold move. How accustomed are you to being called "bold"?

CK: It's particularly weird that you would ask this question. I've been having a 10-year debate with two of my friends over what constitutes the definition of "bold." The crux of the argument is whether Mother Teresa was bold or merely humane. Personally, I do not view releasing an anthology of journalism as a particularly bold endeavor. It's not like I punched a grizzly bear or blew up the moon.

CP: Has North Dakota Gov. John Hoeven ever thanked you personally for reminding the rest of the country of his state's continued existence?

CK: He has not. However, it remains my singular dream to win the North Dakota Roughrider Award. I am completely serious about this. That is the only professional award I remotely care about.

Chuck Klosterman appears Friday, February 23 at the Fitzgerald Theater with Tapes 'N Tapes. $15. 8:00 p.m.10 E. Exchange St., St. Paul; 651.290.1221.

Posted by Chuck Terhark at February 20, 2007 2:42 PM | Comments (0)

 

MCAD hosts free I Self Devine concert Friday night

Filed under: Local Music

The Minneapolis College of Art and Design wraps up their Black History Month programming with a concert this Friday, February 23 by I Self Devine (with DJ Stage One & Budah Tye) with opening acts Muja Messiah, Mazta I, Isis, and Steven Glaze. The free concert is being held on the 2nd Floor College Center at 2501 Stevens Avenue. Peter S. Scholtes on I Self Devine from an August 2005 profile: "For 15 years, I Self Devine has been like the Chuck D of Minneapolis hip hop without a Flavor Flav to balance him—an utterly serious figure who is taken utterly seriously." (I Self Devine photo by Daniel Corrigan)

Posted by Corey Anderson at February 19, 2007 4:56 PM | Comments (1)

 

The 10 Hottest Hairless Celebs in History

Filed under: Pop Culture

Where does Britney stack up?

By Kenny Herzog

It seemed like just last month that Britney Spears' only shaved head was between her legs. The upside about her rehab-induced mental tailspin? We got a five minute respite from the Anna Nicole baby's daddy saga. The bad news? Britney Spears finally ruined her last redeeming aspect: her locks. Strangely though, she doesn't look all that bad as a baldie. She's still more attractive than, say, Larry David. And plenty of people would still pay to see her in Playboy. But where does Spears' Kojak turn rank her in the pantheon of women gone bald?

 

1. Natalie Portman There seemingly isn't a celebrity list that Ms. Portman doesn't belong on. But when Gen Y's Long Island Lolita started rampaging runways with her V For Vendetta Bic vixen makeover, she somehow was hotter without hair.

 

 

2. Alek Wek She never quite made it to the cover of SI's swimsuit issue, but she's arguably the most recognizable, post-Roshumba black woman on the world's runways. And bald as shit.

 

 

 

3. Demi Moore Ms. Kutcher became a butch icon to all 50 people who paid to see G.I. Jane. The shower scene left men wondering whether to be turned on or question their sexuality. Her "Suck my dick!" quote after breaking Viggo Mortenson's nose didn't help.

 

 

4. Sinead O'Connor Amazing to think that in the early '90s, Sinead's then-rebellious follicle fashions inspired mass cultural inference of everything from lesbianism to bratty antagonism. Ultimately, it was just ironic that she had a fairly similar hairstyle to the Pope.

 

 

5. Persis Khambatta The who the what now, you might ask? Oh, the super hot bald chick from Star Trek: The Motion Picture. Right. Well, if you're going to cast someone to play a hairless alien, she might as well be a former Revlon girl and Miss India.

 

 

6. Melissa Etheridge As if it weren't enough that she was an outed lesbian who carried David Crosby's seed, Etheridge had to make us all feel utterly uncourageous by storming the 2005 Grammy stage with her shorn scalp, the result of a recent battle with breast cancer. She looked sexy. Take that, Ellen and Portia.

 

 

7. Sigourney Weaver Ripley went skull-commando for the third installment in the Alien franchise. Apparently the alien itself was no longer scary enough. But, heh, she was still Sigourney Weaver.

 

 

 

8. Kim Cattrall Would a 20-something male model still bang a middle-aged bald women in real life without being scared off by such a visceral reminder of her relative mortality? Probably not. But that's why Sex and the City jumped the shark way too soon. Still, Cattrall's real life battle with cancer coupled with her character's made her outshine the other three.

 

9. Jane Curtin Sort of weird that Curtin's Mrs. Conehead character was actually embodied by a male phallus. Or does that just make me weird for putting her on this list?

 

 

 

10. Samantha Morton Similar to mentally retarded characters having inexplicably messy hairstyles (e.g. Leo in What's Eating Gilbert Grape), cryptic telepathic communicators must be bald and constantly shivering. Observant Morton followers saw this one coming with her neatly manicured turn in In America.

 

 

Bonus: Joan Elizabeth (Denise, from Seinfeld episode "The Beard") In one of the show's more absurd-yet-brilliant plotlines, George, now donning a toupee, was mortified when Denise removed her hat to reveal a perfectly chromed cranium (and in perfect Seinfeld un-PC-ness, the motivation for her baldness was never explained). But as we know, no one made the cast's girlfriend counters unless they were disproportionately attractive to their male counterparts.

Posted by Corey Anderson at February 19, 2007 2:11 PM | Comments (4)

 

Neil Gaiman: Break-in at DreamHaven Books

Filed under: Books

Neil Gaiman recently passed along (via his blog) the following bad news from Dreamhaven Books owner Greg Ketter:

We had a break-in on Saturday night. They got a bit of cash but wreaked terrible havoc on the store and my office. Damages will be costly but insurance should cover a lot of it. But after the lull in current business, this really will hurt. I don't like charity but if you could encourage people to maybe buy an extra book off us soon, it may help. Three bookstores have closed in the Twin Cities in the past two months and I don't want to make it four.

For those who value DreamHaven for its longtime devotion to kinky and/or radical books, zines, and comix, it's one of those Minneapolis cultural institutions that's easy to take for granted, and has probably suffered as a result--I patronized both its now-closed Dinkytown and Calhoun Square outlets for years. As Gaiman describes the store: "Good people, good bookshop (and comics shop, and toys, oddments and even, in the backroom, eye-watering reading matter for adults only shop). (I don't know of any other shop that has 'Vintage Sleaze' as a category for used books.) ...Go buy books from them. And tell other people. This is me being selfish. I want to buy books at DreamHaven for a long time to come. Good things die when people forget."

So make this "buy something at DreamHaven" week: Dreamhaven Books is open Monday through Friday, 11:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m., Saturday 11:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., Sunday noon to 6:00 p.m. at 912 West Lake Street, Minneapolis, MN 55408-2857. 612.823.6161. dream at dreamhavenbooks dot com

Posted by Peter S. Scholtes at February 16, 2007 6:49 PM | Comments (0)

 

How do lovebirds John Mayer and Jessica Simpson prepare for Valentine's Day?

Filed under: Gossip

They hang out at Bunker's. Duh.

Posted by Chuck Terhark at February 14, 2007 1:20 PM | Comments (2)

 

3 Questions: MC/VL

Filed under: Local Music

By Sarah Askari

Hip hop clowns with grad-school cred, MCs Mighty Clyde and Vicious Lee relive the party-rocking fun of rap in the waning days of the Cold War. Questions like "Isn't this a bit derivative?" become lost in the din of ghetto-blasting grooves, buoyant beats, and the more important query, "Did I just hear them name-check Michel Foucault?" Visit their MySpace page for a sampl, and check out this CP article from December. We caught up with the emcees via email prior to the release of their debut record, Stance.

City Pages: How do we, as a society, combat the problem of wack MCs?

Mighty Clyde: This is a difficult question. It seems that the current socio-economic structure of the United States is a breeding ground for "wack." We have set out in a grassroots endeavor to quell said problem.

Vicious Lee: Simple. Install a DEF-friendly regime and snuff out the resulting insurgency with a unilateral, multi-year, unpopular campaign of small-unit, house-to-house, in-rhyme dissing.

CP: If Stance blows up, is your sophomore album going to be A: a meditation on the isolation fame brings; or B: a scorn-filled retort to hype-creating and hate-mongering music journalists?

MC: "If Stance blows up" is not even a question. Furthermore, there will be no sophomore release, but rather a tournament-style fighting videogame based upon the group.

VL: Gwen Stefani has already deftly addressed both problems with her last two releases. We'll have no choice but to preen our own plumage with a self-referential concept album.

CP: I think a member of your entourage got me pregnant. Will MC/VL pay for my baby's education?

MC: Get in line, City Pages.
VL: This is why we have stage names.

MC/VL celebrate the release of Stance this Friday at the Triple Rock Social Club with Thunder in the Valley, His Mischief, and Pretty Boy Thorson & the Falling Angels. 21+. $6. 9:00 p.m. 629 Cedar Ave. S. Minneapolis; 612.333.7399.

Posted by Chuck Terhark at February 14, 2007 11:47 AM | Comments (0)

 

It's official: Dan Wilson is completely sonic

Filed under: Local Music

The Semisonic frontman reached what he describes as the height of professional songwriting Sunday night, when he became the latest Minnesotan to tack "Grammy winner" in front of his name.

The award in question was for "Song of the Year," and it went to the Dixie Chicks' "Not Ready to Make Nice." Wilson penned the tune earlier this year following the media maelstrom and conservative country music backlash that resulted from the Chicks' public disavowal of their most famous state-mate, George W. Mainstream radio disregarded it (for obvious reasons), but will almost certainly have to suck it up and eat some crow now that it's been deemed the year's best tune (you can hear Wilson relishing that thought during this MPR interview, broadcast yesterday).

Meanwhile, Idolator took the opportunity to highlight a few gems from Semisonic's unsung ouevre (which, I believe, consists of every song they wrote that isn't called "Closing Time"). And here's a quick interview Jim Walsh did with Wilson back in March, when "Not Ready to Make Nice" first started getting the cold shoulder from the Toby Keith Urban crowd.

Grammy-winner Dan Wilson will appear at the Cedar Cultural Center tomorrow for a special Valentine's Day solo concert. For a preview, check out a few unreleased tracks from his upcoming, long-delayed, Rick Rubin-produced solo album at his MySpace page.

Posted by Chuck Terhark at February 13, 2007 12:51 PM | Comments (1)

 

Anna Nicole Smith goes to heaven

Filed under: Pop Culture

As Anna Nicole Smith's disembodied soul headed for a touching reunion with J. Howard Marshall II in whatever passes for a heaven for oil tycoons and pneumatic bimbos, the Broward-Palm Beach New Times crack team of investigative reporters headed for Hollywood's Memorial Regional Hospital and the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino on Thursday to soak up the scene. Read Hollywood (Florida) Confidential to get the inside scoop on the media frenzy surrounding the tabloid event of the season.

Posted by Corey Anderson at February 12, 2007 9:13 AM | Comments (0)

 

Zero-gravity sex: Pigs in space?

Filed under: Blogs/Web

Slate's explainer about whether anyone has ever joined the "62-mile high club" got me wondering: Am I the only person who has pretty much fantasized about this scenario since he was 8? (To my eternal mortification, my preference became known to my mom one day when she went through the wrong drawer and came across numerous homemade comics illustrations.) Judging by a Google search, zero-grav getting-it-on has a long life in literature (yes, there really is a Wikipedia entry for everything). In movies, Barbarella winked at it; Moonraker nudged. That last link contains my answer: In last December's Outside Magazine, Michael Behar describes convincing his wife to fly in a modified Boeing 727 operated by the Zero Gravity Corporation, who, for a mere $3,750 per person, plunge the craft in a series of 10,000-foot free falls to simulate weightlessness for up to 30 seconds...

In this condition, sex would probably be mind-blowing--that is, if I could get within groping distance of my wife. G-Force One rises into another parabola, but before I can get to Ashley, a chubby Mensa dude with a knotty beard rams into my knees and sends me barreling like a bowling ball into a cluster of other passengers. I score a strike. Globs of water and M&Ms are dancing through the cabin. G-Force One climbs again, and this time Ashley throws her legs around my waist, clasping them tightly behind my back. Firmly entwined, I pull her head toward me, ramming my lips into hers like an overeager teenager. Technically, we kiss. But it's not pretty.

Posted by Peter S. Scholtes at February 8, 2007 3:00 PM | Comments (2)

 

3 Questions: Artist David Rathman

Filed under: 3 Questions

By Rod Smith

Currently showing at Weinstein Gallery, David Rathman's football paintings are everything you don't expect art about contact sports to be: gentle, mysterious, and profoundly surreal. The nationally lauded, Montana-born-and-raised, Minneapolis-based artist explains how they came about.

City Pages: Are dust and distance metaphors for the passage of time in your paintings? Or is it more of an aesthetic thing?

David Rathman: More of the latter. Last night, a guy at the gallery commented that they kind of reminded him of what's going on in Iraq, that there's something soldier-like about them. I liked that. But I'm most interested in the flatness of the planes, the lighting, things like that. Same as with my cowboy paintings. Then I try to make it all click with the subject matter.

CP: Do you work mostly from memory?

DR: This time I went back to Montana and shot a lot of photographs. But there's a lot of memory there as well, mostly from watching high school football games from the sidelines. Memory of the landscape also plays a big role. I'm interested in what happens just before and after the definitive moment.

CP: How would you feel if you went to somebody's house and saw a Rathman hanging next to a Neiman?

DR: That would be interesting. He actually might be an interesting person to talk to. When I was at MCAD, I wanted to be an illustrator. I've done illustration. I have nothing against LeRoy Neiman. But his work is mostly about surface and the big moment. I can see why people like it. But when you're an artist, you go, "Nahhh, I don't want to do that. That's not a good step."

"David Rathman: Home and Away" is at Weinstein Gallery through March 10. Free. Noon to 5:00 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday. 908 W. 46th St., Minneapolis; 612.822.1722.

Posted by Corey Anderson at February 8, 2007 2:14 PM | Comments (0)

 

Streisand gives St. Paul school sweet inspiration

Filed under: Music

The St. Paul Conservatory for Performing Artists has received a $10,000 donation from singer Barbra Streisand, whose foundation supports arts organizations in cities where she tours. Her record label plans to contribute an additional $10,000 worth of audio-visual gear to the public charter school. Terry Tofte, the executive director, told the Associated Press the school will create a recording studio with the donated equipment, and the money will go toward staff and curriculum development for its new music program. According to their mission statement, the Saint Paul Conservatory for Performing Artists "provides a world-class professionally guided academic and artistic environment to train aspiring pre-professional performing artists in the areas of instrumental and vocal music, theater, dance, and film and television production."

Posted by Corey Anderson at February 5, 2007 9:51 AM | Comments (0)

 

Slug on MTV tonight

Word has it he'll be interviewed on the new MTV reality show I'm From Rolling Stone, 9:00 p.m. Central Time.

Posted by Peter S. Scholtes at February 4, 2007 5:40 PM | Comments (1)

 

3Q: Bobby Previte

By Britt Robson

Drummer/composer Bobby Previte smudges genres with gleeful impunity. His latest CD, Coalition of the Willing, variously sounds like Sonny Sharrock, Sly Stone, and the Strawberry Alarm Clock, and yet is most appropriately filed under jazz. The Walker Art Center recently commissioned Previte, in collaboration with theater artist Andrea Kleine, to compose The Separation, a "choral mass in nine movements" featuring Previte's jazz trio and the choral group the Rose Ensemble. We talked to Previte by phone from his home in New York two weeks before The Separation's world premiere at the Walker this Friday and Saturday.

City Pages: How did this come together?

Bobby Previte: I was originally interested in the music of [15th-Century composer Guillaume] Dufay in college, and I somehow bumped into it again while reading the Federalist Papers. I wasn't writing to do Dufay, I wanted a hybrid, this kind of metal thing, because what is heavy metal but the other side of sacred music? It is very gothic and huge and gestural. I wouldn't call The Separation metal; it has a metal tinge and then with the choir and everything converging. There's not much new under the sun, you just take a fresh look at things and put them together in novel ways.

CP: How, specifically, did Kleine change things?

BP: She felt my [non-musical] ideas were good on paper but would be pretty boring. There wasn't enough drama there, and telling a story is something she is particularly good at. Almost all the story and staging is hers. It is a true collaboration; this is not a theater piece with music behind it. The music is integral. It is a concert, wall-to-wall music, and what Andrea has done quite brilliantly is retain the music as paramount but also tell a story that has the music as one huge character in the story.

CP: Does the story still deal with the separation, or lack of separation, between church and state?

BP: In a way. But in a much more elegant and powerful fashion than I would have made it. I wrote this really huge, wide, gothic, incredible music score and the easy thing for Andrea would be to do the same thing. But instead, she wrote this beautiful, seemingly intimate story. At the end of the day it goes beyond the music, without shouting. It is so much more than "church and state" or any pedantic notion I had. It goes into issues about what constitutes belief. What is considered crazy to believe and what does our society say is okay? Which myths are considered objective and which are considered insane?

Bobby Previte and Andrea Kleine present The Separation at the Walker Art Center. $20-$25, 8:00 p.m. Previte will also host a free lecture and demonstration on Saturday at 2:00 p.m.; reservation required. 1750 Hennepin Ave., Minneapolis; 612.375.7600. Also Saturday

Posted by Chuck Terhark at February 1, 2007 3:04 PM | Comments (0)

 

Molly Ivins R.I.P.

Filed under: Obituary

Among other things, liberal syndicated columnist Molly Ivins (remembered in the Progressive, the Star Tribune, and the Nation) was the first female police-beat reporter in the Twin Cities when she went to work for the Minneapolis Tribune in the late '60s (the Minneapolis police force named its mascot pig after her, which Ivins counted as one of her greatest honors). She went on to write a column for the Tribune called Movements for Social Change (why don't they bring that back?). Here's her final column, and a 2003 video of Ivins on a panel with Al Franken and Bill O'Reilly in 2003--not quite lively until the end (anyone have better stuff to post?). Random favorite Ivins quote: "I am not anti-gun, I'm pro-knife."

Posted by Peter S. Scholtes at February 1, 2007 10:40 AM | Comments (1)

 

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