Claim: Accused Pittsburgh cop-killer “loved Glenn Beck”
Here’s a claim that maybe isn’t all that surprising and which I missed when it first came out, but seems timely: Richard Poplawski, the man accused of gunning down three Pittsburgh police officiers, was a big fan of FOX News host/right-wing cult leader Glenn Beck. Will Bunch, a contributor to Media Matters and author of…
MP3 Monday: Satin Gum
Hey! Welcome to the week! I’ve got this thing for you: It’s a song by local band Satin Gum. They’re faves of mine, playing fuzzy poppy indie rock with lots of time changes and sweetly wavery vocals. In conversation, they’re often mentioned as one of the city’s most underrated bands — so let’s work on…
Other Notable Open Stages
The Pittsburgh area offers 40 or more open mics, ranging from bluegrass to hip hop, coffee houses to smoky bars. Where to begin? The Shadow Lounge’s Release open stage is among Pittsburgh’s most dynamic and diverse, featuring singer-songwriters, emcees, poets, even electronic musicians. For the last five years, it’s been hosted by house band Hambone…
Pittsburgh Unplugged
AcoustiCafe is part musicians’ collective, part anything-goes open stage
Short List: Week of September 30 – October 7
It’s not the sound of Jem Finer’s Longplayer that makes it notable, really: A series of tones created by a computer replicating the sounds of Tibetan singing bowls, it suggests a piece of Cagean indeterminacy, or change ringing. It’s the idea that’s somewhat overwhelming. London-based Finer concocted a way to create a composition that, while…
Let Me In
Matt Reeves’ remake of the Swedish kiddie-vampire flick Let the Right One In is faithful enough that those who scoped the 2008 original can save their pennies. Reeves re-sets the story in 1983 New Mexico, where 12-year-old Owen (Kodi Smit-McPhee, of The Road) lives a miserable life, shuttling between school bullies and his depressed single…
The Legends of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga’hool
This may have been one of the more bizarre films I’ve seen this year. In Zack Snyder’s digitally animated family film, adapted from Kathryn Lasky’s books, talking owls engage in a colossal owl-on-owl battle for the very future of owldom. Leading the “good” owls is a young owlet named Sorin, who is captured by “bad”…
Cairo Time
If, like me, you love actress Patricia Clarkson, and have ever said, “I could just watch her walk around Cairo in pretty sundresses,” you’re in luck. On its surface this gentle romance from writer-director Ruba Nadda isn’t much more than that. Juliet (Clarkson) arrives in Cairo to visit her husband, who ends up being detained…
Animal Kingdom
David Michôd’s film is a sort of gritty Australian small-time Godfather or GoodFellas, the story of a crime family and the syndicate of rival criminals who surround it. It’s smartly done and very lugubrious, with riveting moments of intimate-cum-explosive drama that keep us guessing about what will happen to its troubled protagonist, 17-year-old Josh (James…
Spoon
Its sensitivity to taste, texture and inventive combinations makes Spoon worth digging.
Choreographer Pascal Rioult raises expectations with works inspired by Stravinsky, Ravel and Bach.
Throughout the 16-minute tour de force, Rioult — a former track star — says he works the eight dancers onstage like runners in a race, pushing them to exhaustion.
The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee
When Buccilli, Alyssa Bruno and Josh List join together on “The I Love You Song,” the effect is quite moving.
Rabbit Hole
Director Kevin Saunders delivers a powerful production that hits the heart as well as the head.
A venerable Nintendo franchise surprises — with a flop.
The addition of a wonky control scheme and some ham-fisted storytelling hardly qualifies as change for the better.
Hot Button
A look at this week’s most intriguing issues — and why you should care
This Just In: September 30 – October 7
Highlights from the local TV news: Die, Stink Bug, Die!
People on the Bus
Rider says long commute better than no commute
Cut to the Core
Some communities face complete loss of bus service
It’s an apple, not a motorcycle club, and Black Amish is getting a boost in Pittsburgh.
As with heirloom tomatoes, heritage apples have a cult following.
Meet the Brillobox’s sound tech, Justin Andrew
Slight, soft-spoken and congenial, Andrew doesn’t fit the stereotype of the rude, cantankerous sound guy.
MC Frontalot takes “nerdcore” rap in a new sonic direction
His work is emblematic of the genre’s geeky, cheeky, white middle-class, pop-culture biting style.
Glasgow pop classicists Teenage Fanclub visit Mr. Small’s Theatre
Bandwagonesque, their third release, famously topped Spin‘s year-end list ahead of Nirvana’s Nevermind, My Bloody Valentine’s Loveless and Pearl Jam’s Ten.
Local Artist’s Skywriting Venture
Wherever you are Friday night and Saturday afternoon and evening, look into the sky over central Pittsburgh and you’ll be gazing at one of the largest canvasses any artist has ever had. There, a skywriting outfit will replicate seemingly mundane but secretly poetic messages swiped from signs and billboards around Pittsburgh. Imagine SPACE AVAILABLE in…
Lohio burns the midnight oil to create its best music yet
“It’s about embracing the chapters of life that are fading and the new ones starting up.”
VIA Audio/Visual Festival highlights Pittsburgh’s music, art and technology
VIA isn’t so much about a pop-art collision of high and low art, as it is about the intersection of entertainment and art.
Cashing In
Democrats, and democracy, in peril
Savage Love
I’m a straight college guy, age 21, and I share a house with some buddies and a couple. This couple has been together for four years. They’re both quite sexual, but she’s got more libido than he does. I’ve got a big sex drive, too. Both of them have stated an openness to polyamorous situations.…
Old photos, an old dance and ancient artifacts are repurposed in Reanimation.
Koester has a history of disinterring obscure cultural phenomena, familiarizing the seemingly alien to get viewers in synch with the abnormal.
