Sleigh Bells’ most recent album, Bitter Rivals, was released in September of last year. And after five months of promoting and touring for the record, guitarist Derek Miller sounds bored with it. “I’m kind of over it,” he said. “I mean, I finished recording it last June, so it’s kind of older for me now.” […]
much
Posted inArts & Culture
The Hunt
Ever since last month’s Golden Globes, when an absent Woody Allen was presented with the Cecil B. DeMille lifetime achievement award, much ink has been spilled amid renewed allegations of him molesting his adopted daughter, Dylan, when she was 7. Last week, on film journalist Jeffrey Wells’ Hollywood Elsewhere website, one commenter on the ongoing […]
Posted inMusic
Do you hear what we hear?
“Christmas (Baby Please Come Home),” Darlene Love (1963) OK, the Phil Spector-produced classic is hardly obscure, but a song so rich, soulful and downright stirring can’t be excluded. Plus, it features Oklahoma’s own Leon Russell on piano (back in his studio session days) with a performance that was good enough for Spector to toss him […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Much Ado About Nothing
The West Coast is audible in the characters’ accents, making the Bard’s vernacular sound 21st-century. Well-tailored suits and smartphones replace hosiery and swords, and the noble men returning from war are now WASPs, ostensibly government dignitaries. Following two couples’ parallel romantic ordeals, Whedon draws out the rom-com elements inherent in the original play, not straying […]
Posted inArts & Culture
To the Wonder
Terrence Malick either inspires or bores. There isn’t much middle ground when it comes to assessing the famously reclusive filmmaker who has made only six features since his 1973 debut, Badlands. His Tree of Life in 2011 earned praise and derision alike for its ambitions and meandering, largely plotless tale. It was my No. 1 […]
Posted inArts & Culture
This museum kills fascists
But when she began to explore boxes and boxes of materials from the family’s home in Coney Island, N.Y., — writings, drawings and song compositions — she got a whole new picture of her dad and his lasting legacy. “The boxes were all over our house on bookshelves and desks, kitchen drawers, just everywhere,” she […]
Posted inNews
What a boob
In the Feb. 9 news release heard ’round the world, the agency noted that the Insurance Commissioner’s Award would be “presented to the girl with the biggest tits.” Alas, no such award is awaiting top-heavy aspirants (unless ogling is its own reward). The Insurance Department issued an apology about an hour later, blaming the nip […]
Posted inNews
‘Unprecedented crisis’
Warmer air holds more water vapor than cold air. Periods of high temperatures will last longer. Heavy rains and floods will become more extreme. Consider the following: —The size and scope of the current heat wave is unprecedented in modern times. —The year 2011 has produced more tornadoes and extreme weather events than any year […]
Posted inMusic
Hangin’ out in the Alley
The artifact isn’t for sale, but pretty much everything else is on the block at 918½ W. Britton. That includes firstedition Elvis Presley 45s, rare pressings of Neil Young albums and much more vintage material. The recently opened store is run by Ronnie Jay Wheeler, who is also an Americana artist with two records to […]
Posted inNews
Punch drunk
Look, Chicken-Fried News realizes that bachelor parties can get pretty wild, but unless you’re starring in a sorta needless sequel, there’s no need for the night to end in jail. We’re guessing one 22-year-old guy might agree with us. So here’s what happened. A couple of weekends ago, a group was out for a bachelor […]