INsite Atlanta January 2011 Issue

january 2011

www. insiteatlanta .com

Vol. 19, no. 6 FrEE

Best in Movies, Music & Sports

2011!

Ricky Grevais Tom Brokaw • VV Brown • Alan Alda Runner, Runner • Against Me!

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“For about an hour, visitors navigate different environments in complete darkness, relying on all senses except sight, and ask questions of their visually impaired guide, whose faces they don’t see until leaving. Stumbling in darkness makes the Dialog visitor appreciate how visually oriented the world is - how would you go grocery shopping? How would you cross the street? - as well as the reliance on other senses such as sound and touch to navigate the world.”

- Elizabeth Landou, CNN

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PG 2 • insiteatlanta.com • January 2011

peterpantheshow

PREMIER EXHIBITION CENTER

PREMIER EXHIBITIONS (NASDAQ:PRXI)

CONTENTS • JANUARY 2011 • VOLUME 19.6 Atlanta’s

Entertainment Monthly

INTERVIEWS 06 10 12 15 17 18 22 23 27 27 28 30

RICKY GERVAIS VV BROWN TOM BROKAW THE FIGHTER FRANZ NICOLAY RUNNER, RUNNER DIRECTOR JOSH FOX ANDY HULL AGAINST ME! TOMAS DHAL ALAN ALDA RAY ALLEN

08 09 11 21 24 26 31

YEAR IN MOVIES NOODLE BOWLS ON A DIME - HEALTH EDUCATION GUIDE YEAR IN MUSIC TRAVEL TO MEXICO YEAR IN SPORTS

FEATURES

COLUMNS 04 05 05 07 13 14 16 19 19 20 29 29

AROUND TOWN ON TAP ON A DIME EVENTS UNDER THE LIGHTS MOVIE REVIEWS VIDIOTS CONCERT CALENDAR ROAD WARRIORS WE GOT NEXT ALBUMS FAVORITE THINGS VIDEO GAMES

06

10

12

LIVE ON STAGE @

FOX THEATRE 17

www.insiteatlanta.com STAFF LISTING Publisher Stephen Miller steve@insiteatlanta.com Managing Editor Bret Love bret@insiteatlanta.com Art Director / Web Design Michael Thompson graphics@insiteatlanta.com Sports Editor DeMarco Williams demarco@insiteatlanta.com Local Events Editor Marci Miller marci@insiteatlanta.com Music Editor Sacha Dzuba sacha@insiteatlanta.com

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Check out our Best of Atlanta guide on page 8.

PG 3 • insiteatlanta.com • January 2011

Around Town The High Museum of Art will host Iranian Film Today from Jan. 7 through Jan. 22. This series begins with “Payback” and ends with “Women Without Men.” For a complete list of films, visit high.org.

JAN 07

The Marcus Jewish Community Center of Atlanta will present “The Last Album: Cherished Photographs From the Past” through March 13. The exhibition features 72 images from Eastern Europe brought as keepsakes by Jewish deportees of AuschwitzBirkenau. The MJCCA is located at 5342 Tilly Mill Road in Dunwoody.

ALL JAN

The Center for Puppetry Arts will offer a free Saturday for Fulton Country resides on Jan. 8. The next offer will be on Feb. 5 and March 5. Workshops at the Center will available at a 25 percent discount. Go to puppet.org for details.

JAN 08

John Heffron will perform at Punchline on Jan. 9 The winner of the second season of Last Comic Standing will go on at 9pm. Winning a reality TV show has to count for something, right? Tickets are only $20. Visit punchline.com for a schedule.

JAN 09

Zoo Atlanta will host a special Mommy & Me on Jan. 13 with Georgia Reptiles. Toddlers and their adult caregivers can learn about reptiles that inhabit their own backyard.

Think of this as the best way to get your kids over the fear of scales at an early age. Book a program today at zooatlanta.org.

JAN 13

Theatre/Film

Dad’s Garage welcomes a new show on Jan. 13. Don’t miss “The Best Love Story Ever Told” on stage through March 25, Thursday and Friday nights at 10:30pm. This will be the sweetest love story you’ll ever hear, just narrated by rock stars. Go to dadsgarage.com for a show schedule.

JAN 13

Dollywood is coming to Atlanta in search of talent. The Dolly Parton themed theme park will hold open auditions on Jan. 15 at the 14th Street Playhouse from 11am-2pm. Registration opens at 10am. For more info, call 865-428-9553 or visit dollywood.com.

JAN 15

Music/Comedy/Sports

The Earl brings Nappy Roots to its stage on Jan. 22 at 9pm. The longtime hiphop group will play with The Wheeler Boys, Sonen and Jack of Hearts. Tickets are only $10. Go to badearl.com for more info.

JAN 22

The Actor’s Express presents legendary author and critic Rex Reed on Jan. 23. Tickets are only $30 and available by calling 404-607-SHOW or by visiting actors-express.com.

The show begins at 7:30pm.

JAN 23

Other Stuff

The Atlanta Hawks welcome the new-look New York Knicks to Philips Arena on Jan. 28 at 7:30pm.

The Knicks are suddenly one of the best teams in the Eastern Conference with the addition of Amare Stoudemire. Don’t miss a great game. Go to atlantahawks.com.

JAN 28

The High Museum of Art will host its second annual Collectors’ Evening on Jan 28. The event is meant to allow guests to take an active role in choosing the news work to join the High’s collection. Visit high.org/ collectorsevening for more details.

JAN 28

The Georgia Tech men’s basketball team gets the heart of its ACC schedule rolling with a visit from North Carolina on Jan. 16. Tipoff at Alexander Memorial Coliseum is 7:45pm.

JAN 16

The always-funny Jim Florentine stops by Laughing Skull Lounge from Jan. 20-23. The first show starts at 8pm. Tickets are $17$22. Laughing Skull is located at Vortex, 878 Peachtree Street.

JAN 20-23

Variety Playhouse will welcome members of Yacht Rock Revue and PleaseRock Me to perform the Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band and Pinky Floyd’s The Dark Side of the Moon on Jan. 21. You’ll know Yacht Rock from their nightst at 10 High. You probably don’t want to miss their take on this material.

Tickets run $10-$12. Showtime starts at 8:30pm.

Visit variety-playhouse.com for extra details.

JAN 21

CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASE RESEARCH Emory University, Department of Psychiatry is currently conducting a research study on Cardiovascular Disease and Depression.

Cardiovascular disease or heart disease is an abnormal function of the heart or blood vessels and is one of the leading causes of death in the U.S. For those who suffer from cardiovascular disease and depression, the risk of death is even higher.

Dr. J. Douglas Bremner, Psychiatrist, is investigating the brain mechanisms through which depression increases the risk of death in patients with cardiovascular disease. If you would like to participate in this study, you must be diagnosed by a physician to have cardiovascular disease (coronary artery disease, heart attack, congestive heart failure, valvular heart disease…) either with or without depression. If you think you may have signs of depression, but have never been assessed, we can provide an assessment for you.

To learn more about this study, call Emory’s Clinical Neuroscience Research Unit at 404-712-2059 or kelly.tracey@emory.edu.

Procedures involve health and mental health assessments, MRI, PET and SPECT scans. All procedures will be performed at Emory University.

Volunteers will receive compensation for their time.

PG 4 • insiteatlanta.com • January 2011

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LOCAL

LOCAL EVENTS

On Tap this Month EMAIL EVENTS TO ONTAP@INSITEATLANTA.COM

Jan. 13-16: Georgia World Congress Center ATLANTA BOAT SHOW

If you truly want to get your first taste of summer, come down to the Georgia World Congress Center for the Atlanta Boat Show. The 49th annual event will feature bargains and displays from a variety of boat companies. There will be an affordability pavilion for those interested in low-income vessels. There will be a fishing seminar to combine what’s new in the world of fishing with the latest boats to get you there. For more info, visit atlantaboatshow.com

January 15: Georgia Dome NFC DIVISIONAL PLAYOFFS

Atlanta finished the season with a win over the Carolina, locking up homefield advantage throughout the playoffs and the NFC South title. That means playoff football in the Dome. The Falcons do not yet know their opponent, but rest assured, it will be a fantastic game. Either the Seahawks, Packers or Saints will be traveling to Atlanta for the NFC Divisional Playoffs. Tickets will be tough, but don’t miss this once-a-lifetime event. Go to atlantafalcons.com.

January 21: Threesixty Theater PETER PAN

“Peter Pan” gets a retelling on a ultra-modern stage.

The threesixty Theatre in Pemberton Place will host the timeless children’s tale on the world’s first 360-degree CGI theater set. Both cast and audience will be immersed in more than 15,000 square feet of hi-resolution video. We’re not entirely sure what that means, just that it sounds pretty awesome and creative. So don’t miss a chance to see “Pan” in a unique way. Go to peterpantheshow.com.

January 29: Georgia Dome BATTLE OF THE BANDS

At some schools, the halftime entertainment is more fun to watch than the game. Honda’s Battle of the Bands highlight the best bands from across the nation that fit that profile.

Tickets are only $10 for upper bowl and $12 for lower bowl seats. The event will feature 45 bands at 6pm, rocking the roof of the Georgia Dome. There really is no better place to get this kind of entertainment. Visit ticketmaster.com for more info or call 800-745-3000.

January 29: Philips Arena JEFF FOXWORTHY & FRIENDS

Georgia’s own millionaire comedian will reunite with some of the very people he made famous. The Alpharetta native will welcome Larry the Cable Guy and Bill Engvall to Philips Arena this month. Tickets start at $59.50. Our only disappointment is that Ron White will not be available for the show. Still, a night of comedy with Foxworthy, Engvall and the Cable Guy is worth seeing. Go to philipsarena.com for more information.

February 12: Georgia Dome MONSTER JAM

Don’t be confused. This event of never-ending awesomeness was originally scheduled for Jan. 15. It’s been moved, so don’t forget and miss the car-crunching, truck-smashing, engine-roaring, noun-modifying event of a lifetime. The concept really sells itself. Promoters fill the Georgia Dome with monster trucks and allow them to smash themselves and other cars. What more do you need? Get tickets online at monsterjam.com.

PG 5 • insiteatlanta.com • January 2011

FILM

GOOD AS GOLD Ricky Gervais On His Career, The Office & Hosting The Golden Globes Again

BY JUSTIN PATTERSON

O

N JANUARY 16TH, THE 68TH ANNUAL Golden Globe Awards will be hosted by Mr. Ricky Gervais. The celebrated writer/actor/producer/director is best known as creator of The Office and Extras, two (some would say three) niche-busting television shows that have spawned massive followings.

Known for his unconventional style, quick wit and understanding of human nature, Mr. Gervais has risen in ten years from relative obscurity to international renown.

The winner of three Golden Globes himself (one for Extras, two for The Office) returns to host the ceremony for the second year in a row.

We were fortunate to be able to take part in an interview with Mr. Gervais in which he discussed his work, style, motivation and work ethic. Here is what the gentleman – and he IS a gentleman, believe it or not – had to say.

Well, the truth is I’m not a host. I don’t think I should be doing it at all. I do these things for fun. I don’t even count these things as part of my career really. Well there’s loads of things I do that I don’t count as part of my career, you know. I’d have had to invented the concept of award ceremonies to be as excited about them as I am about doing The Office or Extras or, you know, whatever.

But I suppose I want this to be great and go out on a high. I think you’ve always got to think that you’re going to do a good job and it’s going to be fun and - because you’re in control. And if you’re in control and it turns out exactly as you wanted it to, then you’ve got no one else to please really and I always try and - I want to do things that I’m pleased with. And so if I’m bad, I shouldn’t do it again; and if I’m good, I shouldn’t do it again. So that’s the thinking really.

The Office has a lot of changes coming up this season as Steve Carell exits the show. I was hoping you could comment about what viewers might expect as the season wraps up.

Well, I won’t give anything away about the show, but I think viewers can expect if The Office carries on that it could be as good. There’s a lot of talk about who’s going to replace Steve Carell, but you should never think like that. Steve Carell is an actor. You should think about who’s replacing Michael Scott. You know, you’ve got to suspend your disbelief. It’s meant to be a fake documentary and it’s all about the story. We talk about what’s going on behind the scenes and we know Steve Carell is an actor and he’s not really working as a paper merchant in Scranton, but it’s what’s good for the show that counts.

And so the replacement should be a credible replacement within the story, and not about, “Is he going to be a big star?”

How did you feel that things went last year hosting the Globes? Were there things you learned from that that you’ll apply this year?

That’s why I’m doing it again. I had such a great time but like anything you do for the first time you go, “Oh, let me do it again. I can do it better. I can do it better.” Do you know what I mean? It’s like the first time I had a go at golf I wanted to go around again because I said, “No, I can do it now. I can do it now.” So, yes, I want to give it one more go. I think it went well. I really enjoyed myself.

I think I pitched it about right but as I said I think I can go a little bit further. I don’t know I just think I can really go out and really throw away the shackles of worry.

I mean I don’t mean I’m going to go out and again get drunk and, you know, have absolutely no planning or input. But I think I can certainly have more fun with it and I think I can have more fun with the room as well.

I’m hoping you can tell us more about the second season So I’m going to have even more fun with it, probably go a of Ricky Gervais Show. bit further, push the boundaries a little bit more. I think Oh, yes, with my pleasure. It is I think you always should. And I, you know, the most fun thing I do, and I remember what’s the worst that could happen? I YOU SHOULDN’T HAVE back when I just did it for a laugh to sit didn’t expect to be invited back a second in a room with Karl Pilkington and try JUST ONE DEFINING time and I certainly - and I won’t do it and expose his beautiful mind to the MOMENT. BUT I’D a third. So I’ve got nothing to lose. I’ve world. It’s better than the first. I mean, HAVE TO SAY MEETING the first got better and better, I think. got nothing to lose. So, yes, I’m going to go for it.

STEPHEN MERCHANT. IF But we’ve really hit the ground running THIS WERE A BIOPIC, IT and we’ve taken a lot more liberties with Do you anticipate that the audience is direction of the piece. It really adds WOULD BE LIKE, “HEY the going to have a mixed reaction to it, to the audio now. In the first one we and how do you feel when they do?

SON, WHAT’S YOUR were quite cautious that we didn’t want Yes. Because I think comedy and NAME?” “MY NAME’S to take away from the audio, but now drama are different branches of the we know what adds and subtracts and CLAY: CASSIUS CLAY, same tree. You know, it doesn’t matter everything we’ve done really adds to it. whether you’re watching a horror film or SIR.” YOU KNOW WHAT hearing a joke, it’s the surprise that’s the I MEAN? THAT WAS THE One of the shows getting a lot of awards good bit. And as I said, I don’t consider attention is the latest take on The MOMENT FOR ME. myself just a comedian. People watch Office-style show, Modern Family. things I do and they go, “That wasn’t What do you think of shows that have very funny.” And I want to go, “No, it wasn’t meant to be!” adopted that style of mockumentary aproach?

You know, I stood on the shoulders of giants. The OfHow surprised were you and how quickly afterwards did fice wasn’t the first fake documentary. It wasn’t the first they (Golden Globe Awards) invite you back? sitcom without a laughter track. It wasn’t the first sitcom The strange thing was that they said during the show, to cast unknowns. It wasn’t the first sitcom to have “Great. We’d love you to do it again!” And I went, “Well flawed characters. It wasn’t the first sitcom to look at the let’s see. It’s not over yet!” They invited me back on the minutiae of life. But it was probably the first to have all of way they thought it went and my performance, which them in one sitcom. In a weird way, we sort of stole from is nice and very flattering and the way it should be. But American movies like This Is Spinal Tap and sold it back then I saw the ratings went up about 18% or something, to you, because British sitcoms didn’t really have anyso I thought it was on the cards. I wasn’t going to do it thing other than a central character that bumbled around again, but then I thought, “Oh no, I could improve.” And and was a fool and ended up back at square one. there’s something in me that really finds that exciting. I like the jeopardy. It’s live, and there’s a quarter of a bilLooking back on everything you’ve done from the Britlion people watching me in a room full of the most powish Office to the new animated series to Extras, can you erful people in the world. I like that jeopardy. I love it! So pinpoint one moment where you would say, “This is the that’s my extreme sport. That’s what gives me an adrenadefining moment.” line rush, thinking it could be the end of my career…

You shouldn’t have just one defining moment. But I’d have to say meeting Stephen Merchant. If this were a You mentioned earlier that you wouldn’t do the host- biopic, it would be like, “Hey son, what’s your name?” ing for a third time and I just wanted to ask you why “My name’s Clay: Cassius Clay, sir.” You know what I that was. mean? That was the moment for me.

PG 6 • insiteatlanta.com • January 2011

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Under The Lights January Theatrical Performances

ON SA L E NOW

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WEST SIDE STORY

BEAUTY AND THE BEAST

www.BroadwayAcrossAmerica.com

www.TheaterOfTheStars.com

Jan 25 - 31 Fox Theatre Ticketmaster 800.982.2787

Jan 12 - 16 Fox Theatre Ticketmaster 800.982.2787

Photo by Joan Marcus

The tour of the current smash hit Broadway production of WEST SIDE STORY is coming to Atlanta this month. The piece has often been credited with changing the entire course of the American musical theatre. The new Broadway cast album of West Side Story won the 2010 Grammy Award for Best Musical Show Album on January 31, 2010. The Bernstein and Sondheim score is considered to be one of Broadway’s finest and features such classics of the American musical theatre as “Something’s Coming,” “Tonight,” “America,” “I Feel Pretty” and “Somewhere.”Applauding the creators' innovation in dance and musical style, TIME Magazine exclaimed "Robbins' energetic choreography and Bernstein's grand score accentuate the satiric, hard-edged lyrics of Sondheim and Laurents' capture of the angry voice of urban youth."

BLUE MAN GROUP

Jan 18 - 23 Fox Theatre Ticketmaster 800.982.2787 www.TheaterOfTheStars.com

Photo by Joan Marcus

Disney’s BEAUTY AND THE BEAST is the classic story of Belle, a young woman in a provincial town, and the Beast, who is really a young prince trapped in a spell placed by an enchantress. If the Beast can learn to love and be loved, the curse will end and he will be transformed to his former self. But time is running out. If the Beast does not learn his lesson soon, he and his household will be doomed for all eternity. The original creators of the Broadway production are together again for this new touring production. The play is directed by Rob Roth and choreographed by Matt West, with Costume Design

by Ann Hould-Ward a Tony Award winner for her work on Disney’s Beauty and the Beast. “It has been wonderful to bring the entire original design team back together to work on this new production of Beauty and the Beast,” says director Rob Roth.

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Tickets start at just $18! � Ticketmaster.com 800.982.2787 � Ticketmaster outlets Groups 15+, call 404.881.2000

BRING IT ON

Jan 15 - Feb 20 Alliance Stage Box Office 404.733.5000 The critically acclaimed Blue Man Group

creates experiences that defy categorization. Blue Man Group is best known for multi-media performances that feature three bald and blue characters who take the audience on a journey that is funny, intelligent and visually stunning. A live band, whose haunting tribal rhythms help drive the show to its climax, accompanies the Blue Men. Blue Man Group on tour also features a new physical design centering around a prosceniumsized LED curtain and high-resolution screen creating an�������������� entirely new visual experience for Broadway houses across the nation.

Although������������ Blue Man Group has toured previously with its Megastar arena rock show, this marks the very first theatrical production to tour North America.

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The high-stakes world of competitive cheerleading meets the cutthroat rivalries of high school politics in the new musical comedy BRING IT ON. The team behind the world premiere of Bring It ���� On: The Musical is an extraordinarily rare union of some of Broadway's most acclaimed, award-winning, young creators. "From my first eye-opening moment stepping into the ��������������� cheerleading world, I was instantly struck by ����������� the passion and raw emotion filling every athlete stepping out onto������������ the competition mat.

That live or die commitment was truly inspiring," said Tony Award winning director and choreographer Andy Blankenbuehler.

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PG 7 • insiteatlanta.com • January 2011

FEATURE

Top 10

BY MATT GOLDBERG

I

WON’T DENY THE VANITY OF YEAR end lists. Most professional critics will sit through over 100 new films per year and the year-end list is a badge of honor that says, “These are the films I appreciated the most. Behold.” Despite the vanity, I continue to think that the year-end Top 10 provides a valuable service to the average moviegoer.

Most folks don’t have the time, cash, or inclination to see every movie released in a given year and a Top 10 list says, “Here are the must-see films from the past 365 days. Netflix them or something.” I didn’t get to see every film that could have potentially made this list, but I feel confident in my choices.

So forgive my indulgence and hit the jump for my Top 10 films of 2010.

10. INSIDE JOB

Knowledge is power and financial institutions have retained their power in part because it’s difficult to understand how they brought the American economy to its knees. Controversial issues like the gay marriage or abortion are fairly simply to grasp, but most folks don’t know the difference between a credit-default swap and a collateralized debt obligation. Inside Job provides not only the best way to understand what happened to our financial system, but the problems that continue to plague it. The documentary is so smart and well-constructed that you’ll forget to be consumed by white-hot rage and unbearable sadness until after you leave the theater.

9. THE FIGHTER

There’s nothing quite like a strong ensemble piece. While the story of real-life boxer “Irish” Mickey Ward could have easily devolved into maudlin sentiment, writer-director David O. Russell keeps the film gritty, heartfelt, and surprisingly funny. Christian Bale gives a phenomenal performance as Dicky Eklund, Mickey’s brother, trainer, and perpetual fuck-up. Melissa Leo and Amy Adams also turn in strong supporting work and credit is due to Mark Wahlberg for understanding that even though he’s the lead character, he’s part of an ensemble and doesn’t need to over-act or match the intensity of his co-stars. The Fighter not only provides an honest, unsentimental take on the strengths and weaknesses of families, but also made me want my own Greek chorus of big-haired harpy sisters.

8. THE KING’S SPEECH PG 8 • insiteatlanta.com • January 2011

In terms of Best Cinematic Moments of 2010 (don’t worry, I’m not making another list this year), not much comes close to the finale of The King’s Speech. Hearing King Edward VI (Colin Firth) triumphantly deliver a rousing speech to his nation in the face of imminent war is the culmination of a film that is humorous, warm, and uplifting. After giving a tremendous performance last year in A Single Man, Firth shows once again that he’s a force to be reckoned with as he not only perfects a convincing stammer, but never makes Edward VI a pitiable figure. “Bertie” is at times unlikable, prickly, and arrogant, but it all comes from a real, relatable place that keeps you on the character’s side.

Bolstered by a strong script and a wonderful supporting performance from Geoffrey Rush, director Tom Hooper delivers a feel-great film that never felt sappy.

7. THE SOCIAL NETWORK

“Do I have your attention?” And thus began one of the greatest monologues/exchanges of the past decade, let alone 2010. Those who went in to The Social Network looking for a treatise on the nature of the Internet and social networking in the 21st century were most likely sorely disappointed (they should have gone to see Catfish instead).

Instead, director David Fincher and screenwriter Aaron Sorkin used the tale of Facebook’s creation to explore themes of success, betrayal, ownership, friendship, and loss. While we can debate to death if Jesse Eisenberg’s portrayal of Mark Zuckerberg is factually accurate, it’s undeniable that the performance itself was witty, nefarious, pathetic, angry, and utterly captivating. The Social Network doesn’t just grasp the Zeitgeist while simultaneously exploring universal themes in a thought-provoking manner. It also shows Fincher and Sorkin operating at the top of their game as Eisenberg proves he’s one of the best young actors working today.

“Do I have your attention?” Absolutely.

6. SCOTT PILGRIM VS. THE WORLD

I’m still amazed that this film managed to meet my unfairly high level of expectations. It was one of my favorite directors helming an adaptation of one of my favorite comics. And yet somehow Edgar Wright managed to not only blow my mind with Scott Pilgrim vs. The World, he made a film that gets better every time I see it. It takes a certain kind of mad genius to create a hilarious movie that brilliantly

Films of 2010

weaves in video game tropes while maturely handling the emotional baggage that break-ups leave in their wake. It’s an honest film that challenges the cinematic language and visual effects we’ve come to expect from Hollywood films. It deserves millions of points and coins and will find an extra life on home video.

5. INCEPTION

Christopher Nolan’s Inception is blockbuster moviemaking at its finest and I’m so happy that people actually went to see it. Studios aren’t going to stop with big-budget fare based on established properties any time soon, so it’s good to know that at least Warner Bros. had the courage to give a trusted filmmaker a ridiculous amount of money so that he could deliver a movie that doesn’t lend itself easily to a one-line synopsis. When the film was first announced, I derisively laughed at the cryptic logline about “being set in the architecture of the mind,” but that actually turned out to be a fair description.

Whether you were marveling at the zero-gravity fight scene, arguing how much of the film was actually a dream, or just waiting for that damn top to fall over, Inception burrowed into your mind and refused to leave.

4. HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON

How to Train Your Dragon had me soaring from start to finish. The film is painfully funny, the voice acting is charming, and the relationship between Hiccup and his dragon Toothless warmed my cold, dead critic heart.

And while everyone was ooh-ing and aah-ing over Avatar’s 3D, How to Train Your Dragon easily bested James Cameron’s film when it came to taking flight. While I’m not the biggest fan of 3D, watching Hiccup and Tootheless take flight was one of the best moments I had in a theater this year.

The ending is particularly bold for a family film, but it works because How to Train Your Dragon never hits a false note.

3. BLACK SWAN

Darren Aronofsky continues to be one of the best filmmakers working today with his haunting meditation on the sacrifice of health, identity, and sanity for the sake of art. The film manages to feel both like a classic 70s psychological horror film and a fresh take on the genre by brilliantly utilizing a handheld camera that dips, dives, and dances with the actors. Natalie Portman’s transformation is stunning as we see the fragile, delicate Nina mentally fall apart. Her performance and the film that are tragic, beautiful, and compelling.

2. TRUE GRIT

I had such high hopes for a straight-up Western from the Coen Brothers and they didn’t disappoint in the slightest. True Grit is wickedly funny and dialogue that felt muddled in the original John Wayne adaptation became snappy, acerbic, and memorable in the Coens’ capable hands. They have once again shown their mastery of tone as they effortlessly move from deadpan humor, cold retribution, buffoonery, pulse-pounding action, and everything in between. The film kicks off with a biblical proverb, ends with the sad line, “Time just gets away from us,” and yet absolutely kills with Jeff Bridges aptly noting of his bungled plan, “That did not pan out.” The Coen Brothers have come out with four films in the last four years and each one has landed on my Top 10. Their greatness isn’t surprising, but it’s always appreciated.

1. EXIT THROUGH THE GIFT SHOP

What is art? Who should be allowed to create it? Who owns it?

What is the purpose of art? Banksy’s magnificent documentary Exit Through the Gift Shop asks these questions but never in a pretentious or dull manner. The mysterious street artist found not only a way to tell the story of his world and the other street artists who inhabit it, but found a fascinating star in Thierry Guetta, a bizarre Frenchman who started out as the documenter and ended being the subject. The film is a slip-and-slide of a Möbius strip as it turns the camera on Guetta and we gain a better appreciation of good street art when compared with Guetta’s derivative, brain-dead product that still ends up making Guetta (who takes the name “Mr. Brainwash”) a fortune.

But does good art matter if you have collectors leaving it in their closets or the unwashed masses shelling out hundreds of dollars for just another variation on celebrity + Marilyn Monroe design? Banksy asks all of these questions but does so in a fun, light-hearted matter that not only keeps his mystique alive, but enhances it without being self-congratulatory.

Exit Through the Gift Shop is one of the best works of art about art ever made and it’s my choice for the best film of 2010.

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MUSIC

MAKING IT IN AMERICA British Sensation V.V. Brown Tries To Carve Her Niche In The USA

BY DAVE WEINTHAL

B

RIT SENSATION V.V. BROWN IS A bit of an enigma, but a good enigma. In a music world full of one-dimensional artists, Brown stands out from the rest. Not only can the Northhampton, England lass sing, she also writes her own material as well as material for other artists, has written and published a graphic novel, and has found time to model as well.

With a unique style reminiscent of soul and jazz singers of the past mixed with an almost punk and alternative rock sound, she is quite the aural experience.

People in Europe have already picked up on her and have been flocking to her first album, Traveling Like the Light. Here in the States, many are just starting to put a face to the song “Shark In the Water,” which began charting as she started her first American tour this past summer in support of Maroon 5 and American Idol winner Kris Allen.

We recently spoke with Brown about her career to date and trying to break through in America.

We’re living in an American Idol era, where everyone thinks that singing is easy– just get on a stage and sing your

favorite song. I know there’s a God-given amount of talent, but it’s not just simply stepping up to the microphone is it?

I think it involves a lot of stuff behind the scenes, like the music. I produce my own albums. I take it seriously in a sense that it’s more than a voice. It’s who you are. I want to make sure it comes across well. I’m into fashion. To me, it’s a whole package – everything that I am.

You’re a writer and also a singer. Did one lead into another, or how did it all come about?

I think I started writing before I realized I could sing. I used to make song compositions on the piano when I was about seven. Nothing complicated. Then I think growing up in the church I discovered my voice. I was maybe around 10.

Then I started to make up more songs for my voice. And I think the relationship between writing and singing has evolved together as I’ve gotten older. I’ve gotten better songwriting and knowing what I am writing about.

Not only do you write your own material, but you write for others as well. When you’re in the songwriting process, do you write all songs with yourself in mind or do you have other artists in mind?

. . .

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When I’m writing songs for myself it’s like internal and it’s about the things that I’m feeling and thoughts that I’m thinking.

When I’m writing for the road it’s much more external where I’m thinking about what they want to say. It’s a different type of psychology when you’re writing for people. It’s like being dressed up. You get to be somebody else. When you’re writing for your own album you tend to get selfish.

Again, at the same time I have matured, especially as I started to write my second album, I think I have become more aware of the things around me and I’ve got more questions about life. I think the second album will be less about me but more about the world and the things in it.

You’ve written a graphic novel as well.

When you’re writing something that’s not musically based, is it easier for you to write since you only have to worry about the narrative?

Yeah, I get bored quite easily. I’ve been singing the same 12 songs these last few years over and over. I think that was the kind of creative project that has kept me sane. I love to create all the time. I never got into this business for money or fame, it’s just because I love music. And I think if I was in any industry I would be great..

I would get more out there. When you’re working with a major label. The concept is my way to stay sane.

When I listened to your album, vocally it reminded me of a smooth jazz kind of feel, like Lena Horne and maybe Shirley Bassey. Am I far off with those comparisons? It’s a lot more sophisticated than what you usually find on Top 40 radio.

I definitely think it’s alternative and takes reference from the past. At the time music from the ‘50s and ‘60s was inspiring me. I think there’s a contemporary twist to it, which gives it this kind of alternative nature, which not makes it straight up ‘60s or ‘50s. In a way it’s really good and interesting and in a way really hard because it’s not going to get played as much because I’m not doing the absolute pop that’s on

the radio. I’m in this for the long run and I make music and sing about what I like, not to follow the crowd.

You just completed your first major North American tour. How has your perception of America been since you landed her compared to what you’ve read or had people tell you?

I love the experience. I definitely realize touring America is very, very difficult from Europe. It’s a lot of hard work and every state is very, very different. It’s a really different culture. The reception is brilliant. I think American people love music.

There is a strong, strong history that music is a part of their culture. I think people appreciate what they hear. If the people like what they hear they react to it in a very obvious way. Our shows have been that way. That helps me because of the energy.

You just finished touring with Maroon 5 and Kris Allen. Was it a bit intimidating taking into consideration that these guys have a built in fan base and you were introducing yourself to a new audience?

How were you able to win the crowd over in your favor?

To be honest we were quite shocked at how many people actually came to hear “Shark In the Water”. That song sold half a million singles in America. I thought when I was going to go on tour here, no one would know who I was and would have to work extremely hard. But there’s been a good 20 percentage of the crowd singing along with “Shark In the Water” or people who turn their heads and don’t connect the dots that I am the girl that sings the song.

They’ve heard on the radio but they didn’t know it was V.V. Brown that was singing it.

So they get shocked. There was probably 80 percent of the crowd that didn’t know who I was. You know, you just have to let the music speak for itself. I think if you try to be yourself people that like it will like it and those that don’t, don’t. Pushing any harder isn’t going to change much I don’t think.

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FILM

CAN’T WE ALL JUST GET ALONG?

News icon Tom Brokaw is doing everything in his power to ensure the answer is ‘Yes’ DEMARCO WILLIAMS

T

HE USA NETWORK’S RUNNING A powerful ad campaign for the fight against intolerance called Characters Unite. During one of the spots, someone says, “Own who we are and respect who we’re not.” For the past 40-plus years as a professional journalist, that’s pretty much served as Tom Brokaw’s personal edict. While you and your parents know Brokaw’s distinctive voice from NBC Nightly News, the 70-year-old South Dakota native deserves equal respect for his efforts in making the world more neighborly. Never are his works more apparent than on his latest documentary, Bridging the Divide. Go to www. charactersunite.com for the actual footage. Keep reading for the TV legend’s take on the President, gay rights and America’s tolerant spirit.

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ON RACE RELATIONS SINCE PRESIDENT OBAMA TOOK OFFICE

I think you have to be careful about overstating all the divisions that were perceived to be healed. He was the first African-American president that was elected, but you have to remember that Senator John McCain got a lot of votes as well, and it did break down a lot along racial lines. He had an overwhelming majority of AfricanAmerican votes (I can’t remember what the exact number was, but I think it was in the 90th percentile) and a very, very substantial proportion of the fastest growing voter block in America, which is the Latino vote, or the Hispanic vote. So there were racial factors even then, and that has grown. What is striking to me in looking at this is that if you go into the internals, as they say, the exacerbation of discrimination as a result of the economy, you see that as much more of a concern among the white respondents than it is among Hispanic and black respondents.

My guess is… they are feeling more threatened about losing their jobs. Among blacks and Latino respondents, it’s kind of a question of “Been down so long, it seems like up to me.” They are not seeing it in the same cataclysmic terms as some white respondents are. So, it is a very complex issue and I don’t think you can assign it to just the President of the United States or one figure. This is a landscape we have not been through in my lifetime in terms of the economy, in terms of the depth of it, and the anxiety about not just what is going on in the shortterm, but where we go from here. As everybody in most parts of America knows, we are now competing not just against region to region in this country, but against India and Vietnam and China and the expanding global economy.

ON GAY RIGHTS BEING THE NEW CIVIL RIGHTS

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I think that’s pretty sweeping in terms of society treating gay people now as African-American people were treated in the 40s and 50s. I don’t think that is a fair comparison when you look at how African-American people were treated. You know, they couldn’t go to the same schools; they couldn’t drink out of water fountains; they were not given opportunities in higher education or the corporate workplace. I lived in Omaha in the early 1960s. I don’t remember a black retail clerk downtown, for example.

Or if you went into a bank, there wasn’t a teller who was black. I worked in a television station, in which we had one black employee and he was a janitor. There were no other people who were African-Americans there. We don’t have that kind of discrimination going on in this country when it comes to gays and their opportunity in the workplace. They are still subjected to too much discrimination, but it is not really at a par level with what

was going on against African-Americans. I think the fact is we are now dealing with people who have come out of the closet in a much more open or honest fashion than certainly we can remember even 20 years ago. It really began in the late 1960s, early 1970s, this movement began to lift off, and with every passing year, people have had a more enlightened attitude about it. So, we have made considerable gains, but there is still a long way to go obviously.

ON HIS OPTIMISM FOR THE FUTURE

In fact, I am. But what I am not surprised about in the poll [for the documentary] is that people say all this has been exacerbated by the recession. I think what happened is people have enormous anxieties about their personal economic security and they tend to kind of retreat behind, if you will, their own ethnicity or their class or whatever, and don’t have as much tolerance as they do during good times. But, as someone that has been at this a long time, the fact is this country has made enormous strides in almost all of these areas.

We have, as I say, a long way to go. But if you look generationally at the young people who are in schools now, they are far more color blind and far more tolerant because they are going to integrated schools, they are seeing integrated television commercials and integrated television programs, and they are seeing artists in a much different way in our cultural media, so a lot of this can break down along generational lines. It is a slowly rising tide. It’s just the tide is rising far too slowly for a lot of people, and that becomes frustrating. But a credit to this country is that it is engaged on a regular basis, and that’s how we’ll make progress.

ON WHY AMERICA IS SPECIAL

There is nothing like us. We are an immigrant nation.

No other nation has the kind of multicultural population that the United States does and in the dimensions that we do. People come from all over the world here, and bring with them their faith and their skin color and their cultures, and we find a way somehow to work together, very often imperfectly, but we do that. If you go into Western Europe, for example, there are huge problems with the Muslim population coming into Germany or into France. I was in Berlin last year, and a young, obviously Turkish kid went into the coffee shop, and was treated distinctly. I was stunned by how the German clerk behind the counter was so dismissive of this person, and not at all to me.

ON THE PROSPECT OF DOING MORE DOCUMENTARIES

Well, I did them when I was doing the Nightly News.

This has always been an issue of enormous importance to me. I won a Peabody Award when I was doing the Nightly News, or maybe I was doing The Today Show then, but I think I was doing the Nightly News [with the segment] “To Be an American.” We took on the immigrant question. We were dealing primarily at that time with Asian-Americans. I did a documentary a couple of years ago going out to western Colorado to take the temperature of the people out there with Hispanic immigration. I cannot tell you how many documentaries and extended special reports I have done on race in America.

It has always been of central interest in my journalistic career. I will continue to do long-form reporting for NBC. That was one of the reasons I wanted to leave the daily grind of nightly news. It gives me a lot more flexibility to go out and work at length on something. You know at my core, I have always just been a journalist, and this is just the kind of work that I love doing.

FILM FILM

TRUMP Movie Reviews CARD HOW DO YOU KNOW? (PG-13) ★★★★✩ Now Showing

Director James Brooks is known for writing and directing films that are touching and have brilliant dialogue. In How Do You Know?, he shows us again why people remember his films. It’s the story of an athlete (Reese Witherspoon) whose dreams are finally ended. Faced with the prospect of no longer being a professional athlete, she begins to wonder what else life is supposed to hold for her.

She has a (primarily physical) relationship with bigleague pitcher Owen Wilson, who is completely and charmingly honest about his own shallow nature. She accidentally encounters Paul Rudd, an BY B. LOVE executive who is dumped by his girlfriend and is being investigated byAMERICA’S the SEC. Finding things that S ONE OF MOST she needssuccessful in both men, hasprofile to ask herself what andshe high businessshe wants, rather than just what she needs.

This men, Donald Trump was well known film was surprisingly refreshing.

It takes the time long before Survivor producer Mark Burnett to showhim us completed rather than tapped to star in characters, The Apprentice.

But just the flaws the quirks. is believable there’s no or denying thatWitherspoon the reality show as a young woman having to weigh options for the turned Trump from a cartoonish curiosity first time in her life.

Wilson is immensely likable into a bona fide phenomenon, with his signain acatchphrase– needs-a-beating“You’re kind ofFired!”– way. Hisinextricacharacter’s ture unapologetic nature brash honesty fit well bly entering the pop and culture lexicon. with his natural charm.

Also, Paul Ruddfloundid a great Although The Apprentice initially job of portraying a man juggling career and desire, dered a bit in the ratings, Burnett and Trump personal worth and perceived shortcomings.

He stumbled upon a winning formula by recruithad real depth, rather than being the sad and funny ing second- and third-tier actors, athletes, character seen himfor play before. Is itedition possible models andwe’ve musicians a celebrity to say the story was passable, but that the writing of the show. Now in its third incarnation, was magnificent? Brooks’s films tend to have The Celebrity Apprentice tosses disparate memorable lines, but the conversations between stars such as rocker Bret Michaels, wrestler characters in this movie truly impressed me with Goldberg, baseball legend Darryl Strawberry, their wit, depth and believability. Each character is former governor Ron Blagojevich and Sharon fleshed out enough for us to care about them – a Osbourne together for a variety of teamrare feat. Though not a must for the big screen, this building exercises is a perfect rental forand datechallenges night. designed to test their business mettle.

–Justin Patterson “The Donald,” as the crazy-coiffed real estate magnate if often known, recently held court reporters (R) to discuss the show’s THEwith FIGHTER current season. ★★★★✩ Now showing There’s likebit a strong piece.

Can younothing tell usquite a little aboutensemble the selecWhile the story of real-life boxer “Irish” Mickey tion process?

Ward could have easilybecause devolved into maudlin It’s very interesting, so many sentiment, want writer-director David O. Russell keeps celebrities to be on the show after the the filmofgritty, heartfelt,two andseasons. surprisingly success the previous We funny.

Christian Baleathletes, gives a phenomenal wanted some some actors,performance some as Dicky Mickey’sso brother, trainer, models and Eklund, some wrestlers, I would say and perpetual fuck-up.

Melissa Leo and probably six or seven people per spot we Amy Adams also turn in The strong supporting were turning down. hardest thing work is that(as Mickey’s tough-as-nails we really have some goodmother peopleand thatgirlfriend, want credit to Mark torespectively), go on very and badly.

ButisI due guess maybeWahlberg we’ll for understanding that even though the save them for the next show, because ithe’s looks leadthat’s character, he’shappen. part of an ensemble and like going to doesn’t need to over-act or match the intensity of hisis co-stars.

The going Fightertonot provides an How this season be only different than honest, unsentimental take on the strengths and past seasons? weaknesses families, also made want my Well, whenofyou havebut a success likemewe’ve own Greek chorus of big-haired harpy sisters. had, you don’t like to do too many changes.

–Matt Goldberg What we do have is a different tone.

The cast has been very interesting: They’ve been very tough and very nasty, but there’s also a lot of GASLAND (N/R) fun and humor with respect to what happens, ★★★★★ Release Date: Jan.last 17 one. which I don’t think we had in the With Joanlight [Rivers] and with Piers [Morgan], Can you your water on fire?

It may sound like itanwas really nasty people really hating each insane question, but thousands of unfortunate other.

Thesecan, people hateinfuriating each other, but it’s Americans and the documentary also funny.(which I thinkwon thatthe might be the GasLand Special Jurybiggest Prize for differentiation in terms of the casts. Film Best Documentary at the 2010three Sundance Festival) began with one man’s simple quest to Can tell right off Josh the bat find you out usually why. Writer/director Foxwho livesisin going do well andwhere who isn’t? rural toPennsylvania, he received a letter That’sa always interesting quesfrom natural the gasmost company in 2008, offering tion me because I’drights like totothink of myself himto$100,000 for the drill on his land. more with information the process asSeeking being okay people. about But often I’ll say, of natural gasisdrilling in be theaMarcellus “This one going to star,” andShale then(which he coversoutparts New York, Ohio turns to beofa Pennsylvania, dud. You never really know. andfeel West he visited thecelebrities nearby town You likeVirginia), you’ve known these

of Dimock, PA, where he learned local residents were having serious water contamination issues due to the process called hydraulic fracturing, which uses water pressure and a mixture of nearly 600 different chemicals to drill thousands of feet below the Earth’s surface. As a result, locals were having major health issues, and some could even light their tap water on fire. GasLand is environmental documentary filmmaking at its finest, urging viewers to take action as it exposes how the Bush Administration’s 2005 Energy Policy Act allowed companies like Halliburton to become exempt from the Safe Drinking Water Act. Fox travels to states such as Colorado, Texas, Utah and Wyoming to talk with locals through aboutchronic them forhealth so many who havereading experienced problems years, but a lot of times somebody that you after their water supplies became contaminated, don’t think of scientists, so highly turns out to be interviewing politicians anda star.

EPA You just along don’t the know what willhis happen with officials way.

When journey takes pressure of battle. him to theand hallsthe of heat Congress, where two members re trying to get the natural gas industry’s What does from a celebrity have to doDrinking to reallyAct exemption the Safe Water set themselves apart and show that clear: they’re repealed, the film’s message becomes The in it to win it? only way the American government is going to put I can tell you from Seasons 2 and of the interests of its citizens above1 and the interests from the regular people make reallyour corporate lobbyistsApprentice, is if we, the People, want win. Every in a while voicestoheard.

In the once end, GasLand is ayou’ll powerful, have a quitter, butneeds it doesn’t happen often. gripping film that to be seen by everyone.

I think the reason they do it is the level of –Bret Love intensity they feel for their charity. Unlike the regular Apprentice, where somebody GULLIVER’S works for me for aTRAVELS pretty good (PG) salary for a year, with this one the money goes to char★★✩✩✩ Now Showing ity. Last year we raised millions of dollars.

When it comes light-hearted fantasy like Everybody has atocharity that they love;fare some Journey to the Center of the Earth or Land of are foundations they’ve set up themselves the Lost or this of silly prettythey sure years in even advance thevoyage, show. we’re So I think the folks behind them meant well.

Tragically really fight more intense because it’s a charthough, we for. witness the final product, ity they’rewhen fighting there’s an obvious void between a producer giving are the budget and a director properly using it.

What your favorite challenges to watch What other explanation is there for why big-time the celebrities tackle? actors (in this case, Jack Black as pseudo travel Well, we do have a lot of different challengwriter Lemuel Gulliver) and big-time spending es, whether we go back to the selling of the ($112 million) don’t result into big-time fun at lemonade or doing something else very basic the theatre? Bringing Jonathan Swift’s literary without having to deal with Proctor & Gamtreasure about a guy whose boat somehow strays ble Sometimes [sponsor-based intoora Kodak, world ofetc. little people should have been a challenges] are sort of interesting, but they’re Christmas treat. Instead, a lifeless screenplay and expensive for us to do.

The ratings some dated jokes about Titanic keepsuggest Gulliver’s that the fans’ partanywhere. of the show trip from ever favorite really going JasonbySegel far the boardroom, and the boardroom is ais dud.

Somehow Emily Blunt is forgettable. has because of Andgotten Black longer finds aover waythe to years be more annoying that.

The challenges still have plenty of time than usual. Alas, maybe we’re just bitter because and we’re get focused both aspects, but we Or we didn’t all weon wanted for the holidays. have been trying lengthen the boardroom maybe we’re just to tired of Hollywood throwing because of strong viewer requests. good money after bad fantasy flicks.

–DeMarco Williams You’re like a prosecuting attorney in the

The Donald Waxes Rhapsodic On The Celebrity Apprentice, “You’re Fired!” & Fixing NBC

A

boardroom. Do you meter your approach to different personalities?

THE KING’S SPEECH (R) Yes, I think you with different people ★★★★★ Nowdeal Showing differently. I deal with Goldberg differently In terms BestGovernor CinematicBlagojevich.

Moments ofI 2010, than I dealofwith not much comes Rodman close to and the Joan finaleRivers of The dealt with Dennis King’s Speech.

Hearing King Edward VI (Colin differently than some of the other contesFirth) triumphantly deliver a rousing speech tants. You have to have that ability. to his nation in the face of imminent war is the culmination of a film is boardhumorous, How do you feel going backthat in the warm, and uplifting.

After giving a tremendous room after a little hiatus? performance last year Man, like Firth I just get a great kick in outAofSingle it. I really a force to another be reckoned itshows a lot.once Theyagain wantthat to he’s renew it for withorasthree he seasons, not onlyand perfects a convincing two we’re thinking stammer, but never makes Edward about that. I like having a little bitVI of aapitiable break figure.

“Bertie” is at times unlikable, prickly, and between shows, where it goes on once a year. arrogant, but it all comes from a real, relatable place you about on thefiring character’s side.

Do youthat everkeeps feel bad someone, Bolstered by a strong script and a wonderful or is it just part of the job? supporting performance fromalways.

Geoffrey Rush, I always feel bad… No, not Somedirector Tom Hooper delivers a feel-great film times I don’t like people. The hard ones are that never felt sappy. when you really like and respect somebody Goldberg and they make a mistake. Like, as–Matt an ex-

What’s more badass than The Dude? The Dude as a gunslinger. Check out Jeff Bridges (left) in “True Grit.”

LITTLE FOCKERS (PG-13)

TANGLED (PG)

★★★★✩ Now Showing

★★★★✩ Now Showing

Because you can’t let a good thing die, the When I hear the words “Disney Animated Byrnes-Focker family reunites again to invite us Motion Picture”, a few choice images always in for a look into their eclectic and dysfunctional pop into view: long-haired heroines with lives several years after we first met the Fockers. voices that sound angelic, funny and quirky Pam and Greg have twins now, are renovating a animal side-kicks that provides the leading new home, and Greg is contemplating a tie to ED songstress with good advice, comic relief, and drugs to stay financially stable. Meanwhile, an may or may not have their own set of lungs, aging Jack questions Greg’s ability to be the next and a dashing, heroic, and ruggedly handsome head of the family, a.k.a., the “Godfocker,” and prince who always saves the day at the critical Bernie is off discovering himself in a masculine moment. Disney’s latest installment, Tangled, phase of menopause. It’s the usual formula for has all of the classic elements. There’s a longlaughter, based heavily in awkward confrontation long-looooong haired beauty named Rapunzel between in-laws and ex-lovers, but there’s fresh (Mandy Moore) and a strikingly handsome and material amongst questionable genealogy and unlikely prince-type character named Flynn curious offspring newly added into the mix. Paul Rider (Zachary Levi) and a couple of funny Weitz is the new director, delivering a noticeable and quirky animal friends. However, leave it to difference, but with the help of a reprisal of directors Nathan Greno and Byron Howard to characters making it a familiar and acceptable shake up the system. Not only is Rapunzel very stint following the two-time family favorites. pretty and can sing, she certainly knows her Don’t expect it to live up to the originals, but if way around a frying pan and does all of her own you’re IT looking for a laughOUT and you’ve hair stunts.

Flynn Rider comeAfrom TURNED TOloved BE them A GOOD PHRASE, BUTdoes IT not WAS in the past, it’s an entertaining and hilarious nobility at all and is actually a petty thief who THE WAS A LITTLE FLUKE. DURING hour and a half. And you wouldn’t wantVERY to miss FIRST happenedSHOW to hit a Iseries of unfortunate events ONE OF THE WITH it, EXASPERATED because as you know, Jack will be watching after CONTESTANTS pulling off the job of aAND lifetime.I USED Luckily you. And this LINE, time, Greg“YOU’RE will be watching him, forWHEN him, those unfortunate events, including FIRED!” [PRODUCER] MARK THE watching you. being blackmailed by a surprisingly crafty and BURNETT AND I AGREED TO DO THE SHOW WE DIDN’T HAVE –Jenni Williams persuasive Rapunzel to help her leave the tower, SAY,them “GET HELL OUT THAT. WE THOUGHT WE’D start both onTHE a journey to find out if her HERE” OR SOMETHING. OF dreams can become reality.

Oh yes!

There’s MADE IN DAGENHAM (R) also the classic Disney villain, Mother Gothel from the last season. (Donna ample, fact that you raised self-sufficient Scott Hamilton, ★★★✩✩ Now Showing Murphy), who such will stop at nothing to I had to let Scott go. I’m a great fan of Scott: manipulate children? and deceive Rapunzel to stifle her In 1968, 187 female British sewing machinists He won Olympic gold medals and he’s a great dreams getting lot ofand credit on the Well, ofI’mseeing theaworld finding outchilthe staged a strike and demanded that Ford provide champion.

But he understood that he made dren.

Everybody’s been asking about Ivanka truth that would change all three of their lives. them with the same level of pay as their male acounterparts. mistake on the It’s showanandimportant I really hadmoment andfarthe yes, she’ll be back no As as answer Disney ismovies go, this story on is athe win show.

But they’re very good kids.

They choice.

I felt very badly about that, because Plus, in Western history and stands as a tribute for animated feature fanatics of any age. went Itoconsidered to very schools, and they were great him toand be athe great person, but I the horsegood is hilarious! both feminism labor movement. students.

I have to do what’s right.

It’s never fun, but it’s couldn’t wait to get them on the Unfortunately, Made in Dagenham, which is –Kalena Smith easier when I show.

I don’t like somebody or when had no idea the show would be into based on the events and people involved with they’re really sells bad. the event short with itsninth and tenth season, which is pretty the workreally, stoppage, amazingFURNITURE in the world of television. under-developed characters and an over- TINY That line, fired,” Sally became a pop culreliance on“You’re melodrama.

Hawkins plays ★★★★✩ Now Showing ture There’s been lots of news surrounding NBC Can youoftalk the Rita phenomenon.

O’Grady, a member the about machinist’s First things feature from and first: your This showdebut does well forfilm them. origin of it? union who goes from being patronized by her lately, 24-year-old writer-director-star What you think NBC needs to Lena do toDunham get back It turned outschoolteacher to be a good phrase, but it son’s smarmy to the confident oneratings of the game? funniest bad sex scenes ever. in the was a fluke. the very first show I wasa has leader of theDuring movement without missing The scene alone is worth you of payNBC to Well, I abeat. littleHow exasperated with one of the conknow Jeff Gaspinwhatever (Chairman did she get to be so good at public watch the movie, which had a limited release in testants and I Universal Television used the line, “You’re fired!”

Entertainment) and, as speaking and organizing? Her opponent at andhe’s is still available somehe’s cable When Mark(Richard you know, new to the through role. I think BurnettSchiff and I),agreed Ford is [producer] Robert Toomey whose theaters on demand The movie aboutThey Aura, to do the show we didn’t havethe that.authenticity We going to dostations. a spectacular job atisNBC. cartoonish villainy cheapens an aimless girl who graduates from college in thought we’d say, “Get the hell out of here” or need more shows like The Apprentice.

Not and struggle of the labor strike. The film is and moves in with her quirkybut family something.

And all of a or sudden America necessarily fromback a reality standpoint, filled with either saints sinners and no went one Ohio New York.

It is that a pretty funnythe effort.

It’s got crazy over the show. need shows capture imaginahappens be a great inthey exists in between.

The Itfilm makes to a weak-willed clever dialogue, interesting characters and its tion. catchphrase.

TV Guide or one of the major attempt to humanize its characters by showing own weird charm.

As for choosing a subject Frankly, entertainment magazines did a poll and, after certain shows that are on should the domestic friction created by the strike, but close to her ownwhile heart,they Dunham cast her “Here’s Johnny!” one otherand great, it was be changed because, get some their problems feeland predictable small.

Rita matter own sister and artist mother as her character’s #3 thehusband Top 100 (Daniel pretty good reviews, they don’t get people phrases Mays) in television hisandonher are arguing mother andboth. filmed muchhad of the watching.

It’sand tory!

So she’s that was pretty big It’s been artist nicesister to get We’ve because out astriking and honor. not performing her mom’s loft. an and anWell, amazing that movie Emmyinnominations andAsa prospective lot of good suitors, acheramazing domesticthing duties? then phrase he’s either very passed good David Call and and that’s Alex Karpovsky just to work.

It really colades our way, always on, and goingseems to learn a valuable lessoncaught or they’re going the appear as Aura’s mostly unsuitable suitors, one people it’s been up. an amazing to watch.wore on, I nice. But ultimately you have to have to break As Madething in Dagenham ofwatch. whomNBC is a freeloading homeless man Iwho is is going to really do well. know didn’t really care which. “a big star on YouTube. ” As for Dunham’s own –MattaccomGoldberg their leadership and I think they’re winners, What do you think is your biggest performance, it hitsturn all the necessary notes plishment, your business success or the so I think they’ll it around.

PG 13 • insiteatlanta.com • January 2011

and gets you invested in a pretty unremarkable character. The movie was a pleasant surprise.

–Benjamin Carr

THE TOURIST (PG-13) ★★★★✩ Now Showing

When mediocre films are being presented in 3D and special effects are all that matters, it is a relief to see a well-made film that simply tells a story. The Tourist is a story told well. Angelina Jolie has been summoned to join her sometime lover, and Italian police hope that she will lead them to this lover who has stolen billions. To distract them, she finds someone who looks like her lover and acts as if he is the man she has come to meet. To say more is to give away too much. Jolie and Depp have chemistry. She is perfectly elegant, while he does a masterful job portraying the Wisconsin schoolteacher who is confused and in over his head. Shot in Venice, it is beautiful and is the perfect setting for a thriller: canals, narrow alleys, buildings ranging from decrepit to opulent. The film’s style is a throwback to thrillers of the early sixties, from the dress to the music to the attention placed on dialogue. It is also relatively clean: no sex, little violence, and only a smattering of bad language.

If you like well-written, well-directed and wellperformed thrillers, this is a great choice.

–Justin Patterson

TRUE GRIT (PG-13)

★★★★★ Now Showing

STARTS FRIDAY JANUARY 7TH AT THEATRES EVERYWHERE NO PASSES ACCEPTED

While other filmmakers might be cowed by the 1969 original (which won John Wayne his only Oscar), the Coen Brothers have crafted a giant of the Western genre that crackles with electric dialogue, magnificent performances, Roger Deakins’ stunning cinematography, Carter Burwell’s haunting score, and other quality trademarks the Coens are known for. The film opens on a man lying dead on the

VIDIOTS

UPCOMING DVD RELEASES AND REVIEWS

BY B. LOVE & JOHN B. MOORE AMERICA’S MUSIC LEGACY – This DVD series recently unveiled four new editions, covering Blues, Dixieland Jazz, Folk and Soul, and providing a nostalgic look back at some of the best music of the 20th century.

From James Brown (Soul) and the New Christy Minstrels (Folk) to BB King (Blues) and Della Reese (Jazz), the set features dozens of music legends doing their thing.

The overall production quality isn’t quite up to the standard of, say, a PBS music special, but then again at least you won’t have to deal with annoying pledge drives to watch them.

COLUMBIA PICTURES PRESENTS AN ORIGINAL FILM PRODUCTION A FILM BY MICHEL GONDRY “THE GREEN HORNET” EDWARD JAMES OLMOS MUSIC EXECUTIVE DAVID HARBOUR AND TOM WILKINSON

BY JAMES NEWTON HOWARD PRODUCERS SETH ROGEN EVAN GOLDBERG MICHAEL GRILLO ORI MARMUR GEORGE W. TRENDLE, JR. BASED UPON “THE GREEN HORNET” WRITTEN PRODUCED DIRECTED RADIO SERIES CREATED BY GEORGE W. TRENDLE

BY SETH ROGEN & EVAN GOLDBERG

BY NEAL H. MORITZ

BY MICHEL GONDRY

STARTS FRIDAY, JANUARY14 IN THEATERS IN AND

CHECK LOCAL LISTINGS FOR THEATERS AND SHOWTIMES

PG 14 • insiteatlanta.com • January 2011

.

BEING MICHAEL MADSEN – Cinematic badass Michael Madsen has nearly 30 movies on the horizon, but tracking down this little-seen indie is a must. This mockumentary about Madsen hiring a film crew to turn the tables on a sleazy tabloid reporter is one of the most entertaining films he’s attached his name to in years.

Crammed with cameos (Darryl Hannah, Harry Dean Stanton, sister Virginia Madsen), the film is wildly imaginative and entertaining. It may have taken three years, but it was well worth the wait.

BIG LOVE: THE COMPLETE FOURTH SEASON – Bill Henrickson (Bill Paxton) has been dreaming of a life without corrupt Juniper Creek prophet Roman Grant for years. In season four of HBO’s controversial drama he finally got his wish, but that didn’t mean his life got any easier. Running for office, planning to out his polygamous family, coping with multiple sets of in-laws and juggling wives is enough to drive a religious zealot even crazier… just as season four’s

ground and another man racing away on a horse. The dead man is the father of 14-year-old Mattie Ross (Hailee Steinfeld), a determined, tenacious girl who seeks to bring her father’s killer, the cowardly Tom Cheney (Josh Brolin), to justice. Blesssed with the power to never take “No” for an answer, Mattie seeks out the help of drunken, ornery U.S. marshal Rooster Cogburn (Jeff Bridges). Cogburn would like Mattie to go back to her family and let him take care of the matter, but she won’t rest until she sees Cheney hanged for murdering her father. That last part becomes a problem, since Cheney is also being tracked by La Beouf (Matt Damon), an inept Texas Ranger intending to hang Cheney in the Lone Star state for the murder of a senator. These three set out in an uneasy alliance that shifts and develops in unexpected but honest ways. Unfortunately, my brief synopsis does not do justice to how the Coens unveil every character that populates the film. While some of the dialogue is lifted straight from the Charles Portis novel, the Coens have a certain pace to their writing that, when performed correctly, absolutely sings. Despite her youth, Steinfeld plays the role as if she’d been starring in Coen films for years. The other standout here is Bridges: No one wants to stand in the shadow of John Wayne, but I actually prefer Bridges’ take on Cogburn. The drunkenness is sloppier, the delivery is more guttural, and it’s an overall more layered performance. And, like the rest of True Grit, it’s also damn funny.

The entire film is a remarkable balancing act.

While the Coens have danced with tropes of the Western in their previous films (the Stranger in The Big Lebowski; the desert vistas of No Country for Old Men), with True Grit they have wholeheartedly embraced the genre with a film that’s both accessible and undeniably their own.

It’s a picture that works on every single level, and then makes up a couple of new levels to work on as well.

–Matt Goldberg

often unbelievable storylines drove some of the show’s fans crazy.

A COMPLETE HISTORY OF MY SEXUAL FAILURES – The premise behind Chris Waitt’s pseudo-documentary is not original– contacting ex-girlfriends to figure out why your relationships fail– but that doesn’t make the film less interesting. Despite his eerie Kurt Cobain resemblance, Waitt is actually just a goofy, toy obsessed, half-assed musician and filmmaker. The movie is pretty predictable: slammed doors, restraining orders from ex’s and the eventual discovery of true love.

No new ground is covered in the movie, but it’s still a fun way to spend 90 minutes.

CRONOS (THE CRITERION COLLECTION) – Long before Guillermo del Toro made it to Hollywood’s A-list, this spellbinding debut served as a calling card for his distinctive directing style. The story, which follows an antiques dealer (Federico Luppi) who finds an ancient golden scarab that turns him into an immortal blood-sucker, is the same sort of haunting fantasy that made Pan’s Labyrinth such a huge hit. It’s a horror flick with heart, featuring a great turn by Ron Perlman (Hellboy) and the usual excellent bonus features for which Criterion is known.

HOARDERS: SEASON TWO, PART ONE – Hoarders has become the most squirm-inducing show on TV. Each episode profiles two different people with a condition that forces them to hoard everything from spoiled food to molding stuffed animals, while professionals are brought in to clean up the house and help them.

Season two is even harder to watch, with one episode showing a family with small children living in a tent in their backyard because their junk-filled house has been overrun by bedbugs. Even more disgusting than a lot of these homes are the hoarders who scream at family members that are simply trying to help them.

FILM

LET’S SPAR A Story of Brotherly Love and Crow-Hop Style

that it could have happened without the one or the other. This movie wouldn’t exist without that beautiful relationship between the two brothers.”

“Mark and I knew that Micky was someone you loved because he’s taking all the heat for And so it did. In the film, Mickey’s inspiraAll the players agree the real inspiration the whole movie that’s swirling around him,” tion comes from more than sparring moticame from the chance to play these real Russell says. “That’s the heart of the story – vation from his brother and the will to do people. Whether it made them nervous or why Mickey wanted these powers that forced what people thought he couldn’t. There’s also honored, or both, they went for the characters him into the championship. That’s the cruwith complete gusto, bringing down the house cible that put him there – Charlene and the a leading lady’s shoes to fill. Amy Adams, on some stringent personalities in an equally known for her endearing role in Enchanted, family and his brother. He got the discipline intense story. or her vibrant portrayal of the homely blogfrom the cop in his corner and he got the “I didn’t know what to expect when I first ger in Julie & Julia, makes a big step with a inspiration from an older brother who could saw the family,” Russell says. “I thought they vengeance towards a career in just about any give him the mantle. You can’t get better inmovie she wants with her role as Charlene. might be some very harsh people that I spiration than that from an older brother who She is the girl in the corner with the boys, wouldn’t want to spend 10 minutes with. I redidn’t want to give it to him for a long time.” member hearing about Micky Ward and then strong enough to stand up, outnumbered, “I had already promised Micky, Dickie, Alice, against a strong-willed Charlene and everybody else IT SEEMED AT FIRST GLANCE LIKE IT WAS A NO BRAINER – involved that we were going to family, and strong enough to speak the truth, no matI MEAN, AMAZING PARTS, WHAT A WONDERFUL STORY, A get this movie made,” Wahlberg ter how much it hurts the “And it seemed at first REALLY NEW AND INTERESTING WORLD THAT YOU’RE NOT says. people who matter. glance like it was a no brainer THAT FAMILIAR WITH, AND IT JUST WASN’T MEANT TO BE. – I mean, amazing parts, what “When I got the role,” Adams says, “David inSO, WE JUST HAD TO GRAB A HOLD OF IT AND FORCE IT TO a wonderful story, a really new formed me that I looked interesting world that you’re HAPPEN THROUGH SHEER WILL AND DETERMINATION BUT and like a girl who couldn’t not that familiar with, and it VERY MUCH LIKE MICKY’S JOURNEY TO WINNING THE TITLE. just wasn’t meant to be. So, we punch which made me want to punch him.” just had to grab a hold of it and YOU JUST HAD TO GO AND MAKE IT HAPPEN. “I’d been speaking to Amy force it to happen through sheer about wanting to work together,” Russell said, when I saw him and I heard him talk, I was will and determination but very much like Micky’s like, ‘Oh my God, he sounds much rougher “and I knew that she was eager to break type journey to winning the title. You just had to go and for herself in the sense that she had played than I expected.’ I expected some sweet talkmake it happen. mostly very sunny women. I knew she was ing Oscar De La Hoya type. And the fact is, And happen it did. Already nominated for going to kill it. Amy has that fierceness in her the people are so unbelievably lovable. I still Golden Globes in all the major categories, hang out with them.” but also brings a great deal of emotion in her including Best Picture, The Fighter is a story Russell claims that the trick for the actors eyes. I knew that she was really ready to step well worth seeing. As Dickie constantly up and there’s nothing better a director can was getting them to the point where they reminds his kid brother, “head, body, head, have than somebody who’s very eager like all could play these people in such a way that you body,” the lines as well go well beyond the these people were.” would still love them, despite their mistakes. ropes. The Ward story is one to contemplate Melissa Leo plays Alice Eklund, Micky’s Everyone had to relay the endearment that in your head, but you’ll feel it deep within mother, delivering another Oscar-worthy came from their own personal experiences your body, in your heart and in your spirit. with the family. Luckily, his talented bill performance. She undergoes a truly unbeYou’ll laugh and cry, love, hate and desperlievable transformation, resurfacing as the latched onto the same mindset, gripping the ately cheer for the characters, struggling harsh-tongued, bleached blonde, spotlight emotions of their characters, really diving into between who means well and who carloving Alice. Running a household of nine kids their perspective. ries ill intentions. Mostly, it will challenge Bale says, “I think that [Dickie] was an abso- your ability to draw a black and white line and managing one boxer’s struggling career lute source of inspiration initially and then I and the other’s impossible comeback, she’s between emotions and morale, teaching you got a full plate that she won’t for a second let think he probably became an absolute confuhave to handle family, fame and your future you see. Leo is literally unrecognizable, given sion for his younger brother because it’s an on a case by case basis, making and breakimmensely loyal family and they’re immensely ing deals until you know you’re doing what’s herself completely over to Alice. loyal brothers, but as you see in the movie, “I’ll never forget because [meeting Alice] right for you. My bottom line? Russell says of it took Charlene to convince Micky that it was the only time I really met Christian. We Ward, “He’ll take five punches to give one,” wasn’t him abandoning his family.” flew to Lowell from L.A. together. I watched and I have to agree that the patience pays “To be able to remove himself for a little him meet Dick and begin to take that on. It off big time for The Fighter. It makes me was an extraordinary thing to watch and I got while in order to change the dynamics and anxious to see more of Marky Mark’s passion to meet Alice Ward. Upon meeting her, I saw then once that had been recognized, [he projects and it completely satisfied me as knew] it was no longer his time, its Mickey’s immediately my mother’s mother, my materthe best Hollywood movie to see over the time now,” he continues. “After that, Dickie nal grandmother in Alice, and knew then that holidays. Sure to slip onto the Oscar ballot, I have her in here somewhere,” Leo says. was no end of help for Micky. I don’t think don’t miss this round.

Competition Worked out in the Ring of Life

BY JENNI WILLIAMS

I

T’S ALWAYS A PLEASURE TO watch Mark Wahlberg take on a new character, especially when that character allows him to delve deep into his Massachusetts roots and pull out a down and out personality with an (uncharacteristically tolerable) accent again. He’s certainly found his niche, and unlike much talent, his type-cast continues to please, impress and grow.

It’s also a rare day that mysterious and meticulous Christian Bale disappoints us. Known for intensely transforming into his roles, Bale offers a ridiculously genuine insight into a story of turmoil, disrupted mentality and deep, deep set emotion.

It’s no different kind of dessert to watch the two pair up and recount the true story of boxing brothers Micky Ward and Dickie Eklund in The Fighter. A story of love and loyalty up against the potential for success and well being, Micky, the younger brother by seven years is training to jumpstart his career towards a welterweight championship, while his older brother fights a battle for his life against cocaine and crime. His mother as his manager, Dickie as his trainer, and a family blinded by the spotlight, but bound by love—prepare to watch a group fight against themselves to make a star out of someone. Painful to watch at times, Micky has to learn to make tough decisions to protect his own future, breaking hearts (and faces) along the way.

We sat down with the men and women behind the movie to find out just what inspired the emotion behind this story… A story that has been in the works for over 5 years, turned down by top Hollywood players (ahem, Scorsese), but kept alive by Wahlberg and Director David Russell (I Heart Huckabees, Three Kings, Flirting with Disaster). Their band of players and supportive real-life characters helped the movie finally come to fruition in a fabulous film proving heart wins out in sports even when the end of the round has you out of breath and ready to tap out.

“Well, the movie was a go and then it fell apart,” Wahlberg says. “But, I just continued to train. Had somebody said ‘Hey, you’ve got to train four and a half years to make this movie,’ I would have said, ‘Absolutely not,’ but I figured if I stopped, then I would be giving up on the movie and I never wanted to do that so, for me, it was well worth putting in the work. It just …you know, there were times obviously when it was harder and more difficult to get out of bed, especially while making another film and training for a film that may or may not happen.”

After three and a half years, Wahlberg admits he developed the confidence to be believable as a boxer who could possibly win the welterweight title. And with Russell on board, there is an obvious level of candor and heart that comes alive through this story.

With the movie finally on, the search began for the rest of the family. It started with Dickie.

Wahlberg says, “What I said was like, ‘There is the guy who’s not scared to play [Dickie].’

Everybody loves the idea of it but nobody really wants to commit and go there and I’d seen The Machinist. I’d seen Rescue Dawn and I was like, if he responds to the material, this is again a chance for us to make the best possible version of the movie. That was really what got the momentum going and everything else started to fall into place after that.”

PG 15 • insiteatlanta.com • January 2011

PG 16 • insiteatlanta.com • January 2011

MUSIC

HOLD STEADY

Franz Nicolay Left One Of The World’s Most Critically Acclaimed Bands, But He Still Keeps Moving

BY JOHN B. MOORE

F

RANZ NICOLAY QUITE POSSIBLY the busiest musician working today– is no stranger to genre hopping. Since he left The Hold Steady early this year, he’s put out a 7” with World/Inferno Friendship Society, a second solo record (Luck and Courage), produced an album for the Debutante Hour and joined Against Me! as a touring musician. Oh, and with the remaining few days left in the year when he’s not on stage or in a recording studio, he’s started working as an extra for TV shows. Nicolay recently found the time to field some questions about Luck and Courage.

Can you tell me about the characters and the story of Luck and Courage?

It’s loosely based on these two characters, Felix and Adelita. Felix, in Latin, means luck; and Adelita is an iconic woman warrior in Mexican folklore, an embodiment of courage. The characters are two - not exactly drifters, but people who have chosen their freedom over the difficult joys of love; and what happens when their feelings force them to reconsider the possibility that they could have something they’d long since written off for themselves. Overlaid on that, in Mother Night, Kurt Vonnegut coined the term “a nation of two” to describe that stage of love in which a couple seems to be creating their own self-contained world, with its own language and culture. So there’s a parallel narrative of a Cormac McCarthy-esque borderland country, the country of Felix and Adelita’s tenuous relationship, that’s plague-ridden and falling apart at the seams. Basically it’s a record about the tensions between domesticity and the urge to keep moving.

In your bio, you mentioned that you looked to Lyle Lovett’s I Love Everybody as a template of sorts.

Where else did you look for inspiration?

I really loved Nico Muhly and Shahzad Ismaily’s orchestrations and arrangements on the recent Sam Amidon record, so I was thinking about that a lot on, for example, “James Ensor Redeemed.” There’s also some 16 Horsepower, Nabokov, and a 19thcentury preacher by the name of Spurgeon. I don’t want to give it all away.

Did you use the same musicians you used on the last solo record?

Mostly. Brian Viglione of the Dresden Dolls and Yula Be’eri from World/Inferno were the rhythm section on both records. There’s less of guitarist Jared Scott, but he’s on two tracks. Maria Sonevytsky plays almost all the piano on it.

You have got to be one of the busiest musicians working today. Aside from your solo work, what other bands are you still involved with?

Well, I played with World/Inferno Friendship

A GENRE IS AN ARTIFICIAL AND RELATIVELY ARBITRARY DEMARCATION THAT IS MORE USEFUL TO MUSIC FANS THAN MUSICIANS, AND FRANKLY SHOULDN’T BE THAT USEFUL TO ANYONE EXCEPT MAYBE AS A SHORTHAND FOR WHAT YOU LIKE “BEST.”

Society for the first time in four years recently on a bill with Mischief Brew and Hard Skin. Fat Bob from Hard Skin said, “Sorry we had to go on between the Pogues and Dexys Midnight Runners.

Didn’t realize Americans had run out of their own ideas.” Guignol is always a bit of a project band, so we play when everyone’s free or when we get a good offer. Aside from solo stuff, right now I’ve been doing a lot of work for Anti-Social Music. We have our tenth anniversary season coming up and a new record, Anti-Social Music Is The Future Of Everything, coming out. The group is on tour in Ukraine right now, actually.

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Do you find it difficult to be involved in some many different genres at one time?

No, a genre is an artificial and relatively arbitrary demarcation that is more useful to music fans than musicians, and frankly shouldn’t be that useful to anyone except maybe as a shorthand for what you like “best.” It’s all the same 11+ notes, just a matter of how you use them. And if one manner of using them bleeds into another, it makes both more interesting.

You’ve been a hired gun for a number of bands when they tour. Is it weird at all constantly being the “new guy” in these bands?

That’s not really true - I’ve only been a hired gun for Against Me this summer. I do studio sessions or one-off guest appearances sometimes, but that’s a different beast. Last time I was the “new guy” was when I joined The Hold Steady six years ago, and it was a little like being the anthropologist parachuted onto the South Sea island - you have to learn the language and the customs.

So what’s next for you?

I’m producing the sophomore full-length for a New York band called Pearl & The Beard in December, then going to the UK on a package tour with myself, Jack Terricloth (World/Inferno) and Dave Hause (The Loved Ones). Then I have two big semitheatrical projects I have to hunker down and write, both based on graphic sources which will be an interesting challenge. One is a song-cycle based on the “Peops” series by the illustrator Fly; and the next is an adaptation of “Flood” by Eric Drooker, who did the animations for the recent Howl movie.

Those are all the questions I have. Do you have anything you want to add?

This is just a sort of curiosity, but I’ve been working as a TV extra when I’m home for spare cash, so if you see me in the background of “Nurse Jackie” next season making fake conversation with a desk nurse, you’re not imagining it! And I play a villainous ringmaster (typecasting alert) in the video trailer for the new Salman Rushdie book. So that’s a new wrinkle.

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MUSIC

RUNNING JUST AS FAST AS THEY CAN Backstage With Runner Runner, One of David Letterman’s Favorite Bands

BY DAVE WEINTHAL

I

S RUNNER RUNNER READY TO save radio listeners from soundalike, look-alike artists that are really just glorified karaoke singers?

Unlike most artists on the Top 40, this band writes, sings and plays their own music. Hailing from Huntington Beach, CA, Runner Runner originated as an emo-pop side project for the members of the skate-punk band Over It, allowing for more exploration of the group’s pop and electro influences. We recently got to hang out with band members Ryan Ogren (vocals, guitar), Peter Munters (vocals, guitar), Jon Berry (vocals, bass), Nick Bailey (vocals, guitar), and James Ulrich (drums) backstage.

You guys are out of Huntington Beach, migrating that way from the East Coast.

How did you end up switching coasts?

Nick: We all grew up in different places and we all played in different bands that toured around together around the country. Ryan was in a band in New Jersey, Peter and myself and our drummer James were in a band in Virginia. And John was in a band from California. And over the years the three of our bands all toured with each other and worked with each other. As we gravitated as songwriters and musicians ew started a new group of friends. That’s how Runner Runner was born. The band ended up in California because that’s where we were all living and we love it out there, so we kind of kept it going.

Ryan: From the ashes of these other bands Runner Runner was born. Like a Phoenix rising – a musical Phoenix.

I’ve liked the stuff I’ve listened to so far.

It’s anti of what I’m hearing on Top 40 radio right now. Are you guys going to be the savior of popular radio?

Nick: Actually we love the radio. We grew up listening to the radio. We’re huge fans of bands like Cheap Trick, The Cars, Elvis Costello, bands that were on the radio and we’re fans of bands on the radio now like The Killers and Goo Goo Dolls. We’re hoping for Runner Runner to put a good blend of our ‘80s influences and modern radio bands of today. So we’re hoping that the radio world finds a place for us. It would be a dream come true for us.

Ryan: We’re getting some feedback from some stations that it’s a refreshing change of pace, but our song also fits with what is out there. We hope radio embraces us because we have embraced the radio.

We’re really passionate about songwriting and if we get the opportunity it would be really exciting to do. One step at a time, though.

I hear a mix of influences when I hear your songs. They’re labeling you as a punk/pop band. I can hear the punk influence in the aggressive drumming and the energy in the actual music where the lyrics are more pop oriented. A lot of traditional punk is more political in nature where you guys avoid taking a political stand.

Ryan: All the lyrics are more relatable to the public. I’ve never been a big songwriter as far as politics and stuff. I leave that to the other type of bands.

Nick: Light-hearted but everything has a meaning as it deals with personal experiences and relationships in which we’ve been in. I think normal everyday stuff.

But we all had punk rock influences growing up. All our previous bands were raised on NOFX, Bad Religion, Pennywise, The Clash. But as far as the lyrics we write and the melodies, they’re way more pop-influenced.

times you’ve got to put it down or you’re going to miss something that’s really cool and funny.

I hear a lot of influences, from early Kinks…

Nick: I love the Kinks!

Your record label is a subsidiary of Worldwide Pants that is owned by David Letterman. What are your thoughts of having a

…to the Knack. They have that powerpop sound.

Nick: We love all of that, too. We actually did a cover of “Good Girls Don’t”.

My dad raised me on British Invasion stuff. I love the Kinks, the Yardbirds - all that British Invasion stuff. I was a huge fan of it.

Ryan: I grew up on the classic stuff too, like [Led] Zeppelin was one of the first big groups I listened to. Good stuff.

PG 18 • insiteatlanta.com • January 2011

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You guys have been around for two years. Things have gone pretty quickly for you. How have you been able to handle the sudden rush you’re experiencing?

Ryan: We’ve been playing with these guns in other bands for a few years before Runner Runner started. We’re really excited that our music is getting out to a broader audience. We’re taking things as they come. The fact that we’re reaching a large audience and getting connected is amazing.

Nick: We’re hoping to use our previous experience in other bands as a catalyst for Runner Runner. There’s not enough we can do in a day. We just want to keep working and get better. Every day we try to continuously better ourselves, make better music and improve our fan base and just really put ourselves out there.

I hope so too because radio – you guys and VIP and areamost withofa premium selection of top rated and hard write your2pm own material I enjoyed your music video for “So ObviVIPThere seating restroom area asguys wellare as embracing unlimited the artiststo onfind Top beers, 40 don’t. are and ous”.

I’m glad you a couple of songwriters responsible for the lost art of the music video. While most of the songs on the charts. It kind still big in Europe it’s overlooked by a of reminds me of the disco era when lot of bands here. You were also able to you had all these “artists” that sounded add a little social commentary with the alike and were packaged alike. girlfriend texting in every scene ignoring is a lot of talent out there areyou Ryan: There for theand most part. *Commemorative glasses limited are available first come that can’t actually write songs, but have Ryan: We thought it was a cool concept. a great voice. They are wise to make it Obviously it’s very tough to get away as far as they do. We would like to write from technology. Like look here – I’ve songs for other people as well some day. got the laptop, the cell phone. Some-

late night pop culture icon as your boss?

To be affiliated with a guy like Letterman, he’s a classy guy. He’s very big on music. He has music on the show. We’re big into the comedy as well. He’s a really funny guy. We’re really excited to be part of this venture.

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Road Warriors

This Month’s Hottest Shows

BY SACHA DZUBA

JANUARY 13 – HEATHER LUTTRELL BAND

Smith’s Olde Bar Heather Luttrell has been surrounded by music for as long as she can remember. Having grown up in the company of her father and his band, she would take her naps amidst a pile of instrument cases at numerous live shows throughout her childhood.

JANUARY 14 - MS. LAURYN HILL

Center Stage Lauryn Hill is well known as a member of the Fugees as well as for her groundbreaking solo album The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill.

Performing in a series of intimate concerts at smaller venues is a true gift to her fans. Famed for shying away from the media spotlight and for few sporadic performances within the last five years, it is a rare treat to see her live. Ms. Hill will be performing reworked classics. These reworkings remain faithful to the powerful, soulful originals from her solo album, as well as other songs from her repertoire of hits. Come see a genre defying and exquisitely talented musician.

JANUARY 14 – CURTIS PEOPLES Peachtree Tavern

The songs on Curtis Peoples self-titled album sound more world weary than you would expect of such a young acoustic musician. Many male singer-songwriters with an acoustic are going to be compared to John Mayer, but Peoples is far more rock in the vein of Tom Petty. Though he has a little of the tender and sensitive songwriter inside, he says he only has “so much”. Come out to hear his own brand of pop with big choruses as he turns the mush down to bring you “Coffee Shop Arena Rock”. A grind that’s sure to please.

JANUARY 14 – SOVUS RADIO

The Earl Sovus, or Sleep, Radio are bringing their brilliant chaos to Atlanta’s Earl.

Soundscapes crumble away to powerful rock moments, taking the listener on a trip ranging emotions and areas untraveled since Syd Barrett was tripping through Pink Floyd’s early days/daze. This is a psycho-sedelic blend of the Who, Flaming Lips, the Beatles, and Barrettera Floyd. Multi-track vocal lines and shimmering instruments will lull you before flaming guitar lines and yowling vocals, driving rhythms and psychotic carnival keyboards jar you back into the realization that anything can happen! Join the chaotic genius that is Sovus Radio.

JANUARY 21 - GIRL TALK

The Tabernacle “The New York Times Magazine” The New York Times Magazine has called his music “a lawsuit waiting to happen,” a criticism that Greg Gillis dismisses, citing “Fair use” fair use as a legal backbone for his sampling practices.

Who is Greg Gillis? He is better known through his pseudonym Girl Talk. He creates mashups of sample-based dance tracks that gained him the honor of number four on “Time (magazine)” Time’s Top 10 Albums of 2008, with his album Feed the Animals.

Curious about his music? It’s completely free online! Go listen to his latest album All Day and then watch his manic live performance, likely punctuated by dancing in circles, shirtless, around his laptop and DJ setup.

JANUARY 23 – LINKIN PARK

Philips Arena Linkin Park has sold over 50 million albums worldwide and has won two Grammy Awards.

They will hit Phillips Arean on January 23 in support of their new studio album A Thousand Suns.

The band recently collaborated with Jay-Z and appeared on the MTV Music Video Awards.

JANUARY 25TH – TOKYO POLICE CLUB

The Masquerade The quirky, indie rockers known as Tokyo Police come to Atlanta. So what exactly is Tokyo Police

WE GOT NEXT KNOW YOUR SAINTS

Club? EYE Weekly summed it up when they wrote “Tokyo Police Club are undeniably catchy and raw, marrying danceable hooks with talk of robot masters and global emergencies, providing an upbeat soundtrack to our troubled times.” Come out prepared for the Indie Apocalypse as told by these wacky Canadians.

JANUARY 27 - GAELIC STORM

Variety Playhouse Perhaps best known as that Irish/Celtic band from the below decks scene in the film Titanic. Gaelic Storm brings all the rowdy fun of traditional Irish and Scottish songs, as well as drinking songs and the beauty of Gaelic ballads, to the intimate setting of the Variety Playhouse. Their most recent self-released album, “Cabbage”, reached #7 on the Billboard World Chart. Make sure you get a beer and swing your fists and pump your arms in time to the music. Variety serves Guinness, right?!

JANUARY 29 - TRAVIS TRITT

Buckhead Theatre Travis Tritt grew up just outside of Atlanta, in Marietta. His more recent album, The Storm, showcases and focuses on the more soulful side of his singing. The soulful element of Tritt’s singing is often overlooked, but it is borne of his love of Gospel singers. Returning to perform at home, this platinum country singer is sure to please audiences with hits ranging his career. Come see Travis Tritt in the more intimate settings of the Buckhead Theatre.

Artists on the verge of making it big

Latest Project: Escape Artist (Solidarity Recordings) For Fans of: Hot Water Music, The Clash, The Thermals.

Why You Should Care: With just four songs on their debut EP, this Oakland (by way of Seattle) punk band created one of the best albums of 2010.

BY JOHN B. MOORE

W

HAT STARTED AS SIMPLY A 2 A.M. CONVERSATION between two buddies about music has quickly morphed into one of the most exciting DIY punk bands to come out of the Northwest in years. The result of that early morning talk is Know Your Saints, a straight forward punk rock band stripped of all pretention and pose.

Comprised of Lucas Andrews (vocals and guitar), Connor Koreski (drums) and James Martin (bass), the band plays punk rock with no agenda of fitting into a specific camp, drawing just as much from The Clash as they do from a band like The Thermals. The trio, with the just-released EP Escape Artist already on their merch table, has plans for a full length sometime in 2011.

The band took time recently to talk about how they started, finding time to tour and keeping in touch with friends.

So how did the band first get together and when?

Andrews: Know Your Saints was actually conceptualized in Sept 2009 around 2:00 a.m. one night as a project/different musical outlet by Connor and myself. We were just hanging out late after a show and were talking about wanting to be busier playing music and starting something new in addition to what we were doing at the time (Anchor Down, The Damage Done). It wasn’t until later that January/February that we actually followed

through with actually writing songs, practicing, and being a band. We originally started the band with our buddy Chase from SLC playing bass on our first EP... It was crazy because it instantly was a “real” band and not just a project or idea anymore. Things have been going great and we just keep staying busy and inspired.

What was behind the decision to move the band to Oakland from Seattle recently?

Andrews: Well, my father has a terminal illness and it has been weighing very heavy on me mentally not being near the family to be of assistance and to spend some quality time with him more often. That is the main motivating factor in me moving back to Oakland. Also, a great job opportunity came up that helped move this decision along. That’s not to say there aren’t other reasons that factor into this decision to move such as better weather, old friends, old haunts, and a larger musical community all of which have been things I always enjoyed about living in the Bay Area and Oakland specifically.

I am now living back in Oakland and Connor and his girlfriend are planning on moving here in the next few months... Seattle was really great and we love our friends and community there but situations being what they are have forced a change of location for me. Fortunately Connor and his girlfriend feel the urge to relocate as well so now the plus side is we will continue the band in the bay. Seattle was a great place to be but Oakland is my home.

Has the move affected the full length at all or are you continuing to write?

Andrews: The move sets things back a bit timeline wise for recording but...work on the full length, The Grey Estate is going really awesome!

I am so excited about this record and am really excited to share it with everyone who is expressing interest. It is epic gloomrock!! There are so many ideas floating in and out of the songs and really cool things we are working into this record. Having a new player involved is also helping bring some really cool parts and songs. We are about 1/3 through the songwriting of the record and are planning to record it early 2011 for a spring release and East Coast/Mid West tour.

Koreski: As I’m unable to make the move to the Bay immediately, things are slightly slowed down...but we are still making headway. Lucas and James are working on writing the new material and I’ll play catch up when I arrive in a couple of months. We have a pretty solid musical chemistry so we’re all very confident in our ability to make this record happen in early 2011.

Martin: I could talk about ideas for this record all night long. We already have some good pieces coming together that I’m super stoked on.

Any plans to record/release it yet? What’s the band have planned for 2011?

Andrews: Well, we want to make sure its solid and refined so we haven’t set a recording date as of yet. What we do know so far is we will be recording it with Jackson Long, releasing the record via Solidarity Recordings/ Machines With Problems most likely in Spring/Early Summer. There has even been chatter about recording the record in a abandoned desert hotel or factory... we will see! As for 2011 plans...Record, Release our debut full length, some 7 inch records, tour, etc.

Because you all have day jobs, is it difficult to find time to take off to tour?

Koreski: It can be rather difficult to get time off to tour but I haven’t hit any major obstacles just yet. As the restaurant has a fairly small staff there is only so much room for people to cover my shifts without it putting strain on their lives. As I said before, management is supportive and willing to make tour a possibility & for that reason I am a loyal employee!

What’s the toughest thing about being a DIY punk band?

Koreski: …the finances being the most difficult part of making DIY punk rock. There is so much to putting music out there in a way that will accurately paint a picture of your band and that you’re proud of and money doesn’t always allow you to create a final product that stands up to your own standards. Despite this obstacle I feel like I have been lucky enough to be able to put art on this earth that people appreciate and I’m very thankful for the ongoing support of my friends, family and community.

PG 19 • insiteatlanta.com • January 2011

MUSIC

MUSIC

Album Reviews

By B. Love, John B. Moore,Michael Mahon & Ryan Tallman

VARIOUS ARTISTS – BABY, HOW CAN IT BE? (Songs of Love, Lust & Contempt From the 1920s & 1930s) REV. JOHNNY L. JONES – THE HURRICANE THAT HIT ATLANTA (Dust-To-Digital) The gift of great music BL: It may not have the mass market appeal of, say, Rudolph The RedNosed Reindeer, but for me, DustTo-Digital’s annual unveiling of its latest releases has become as beloved a holiday tradition as the lighting of Macy’s Great Tree and riding the Pink Pig. In late 2007, the local label (launched by former Album 88 DJ Lance Ledbetter) released the 4-CD set Art Of Field Recording: Volume I, which compiled 50 years of traditional American music recorded by UGA art professor Art Rosenbaum. A year later they released the sequel, which garnered similar universal critical acclaim. Now Dust-toDigital has unveiled two excellent releases sure to delight fans of traditional Southern culture.

The prize gem of the bunch is Baby, How Can It Be?, a 3-CD compilation of tunes originally recorded in the 1920s and 1930s and assembled from the 78 RPM record collection of East River String Band frontman John Heneghan. Loosely divided thematically into songs of love, lust and contempt, the CDs otherwise comprise a crazyquilt stylistic map, veering from jazz and blues to traditional folk and other genres you won’t even know how to describe. There are a few familiar names sprinkled here and there, including Fletcher Henderson & His Orchestra’s “Then I’ll Be Happy,” Uncle Dave Macon’s “The Gal That Got Stuck On Everything She Seen,” Cab Calloway’s “Some Of These Days” and Mississippi John Hurt’s “Big Leg Blues.” But, for the most part, the 66 tracks collected here are some seriously obscure, somewhat bizarre, but ultimately delicious stuff that should appeal to any fan of old-time music.

Equally intriguing is the Rev. Johnny L. Jones’ The Hurricane That Hit Atlanta, a 2-CD set of archival recordings culled from more than 1,000 live congregational recordings going back five decades. Since 1957, Jones has been delivering fiery musical sermons from the pulpit at Atlanta’s Second Mount Olive Church, broadcasting the best ones on local radio stations (initially on WAOK, and more recently on WYZE 1480AM, where he can be heard the first and third Saturday of the month at 11AM). This impressive collection represents the pick of the litter, including 24 soulstirring songs, short sermons, guest soloists and some crazy radio commercials. All of it is delivered straight from Jones’ passionate heart, with him and his congregation urging each other on to greater heights of worshipful ecstasy.

If you’re looking for something to do with that extra Christmas cash your Grandma gave you, you could do a whole lot worse.

A DAY TO REMEMBER – WHAT SEPARATES ME FROM YOU (Victory) Unique blend of metal-core infused with pop-punk energy RT: When Ocala’s A Day to Remember hit the scene back in 2003 I was immediately attracted to their sound. In the midst of the monotonous monstrosity of numetal madness clogging the airwaves at the time, ADTR came out of the gates like an angry tiger with a unquenchable PG 20 • insiteatlanta.com • January 2011

The Dean’s List

bloodlust for success.

After the success of their 2008 album, Homesick, I was excited to get my hands on their fourth LP, What Separates Me From You. Like the old saying goes, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,” and ADTR doesn’t stray far from the safe path they’ve forged this time around. First single “All I Want” features frontman Jeremy McKinnon’s spot-on mixture of dirty and clean vocals, which complement the driving guitar lines and anthemic chorus swimmingly. Their second single, “2nd Sucks,” is ridiculously huge: McKinnon’s feral cries, heavy guitar runs and a swelling chorus combine to launch listeners into a state of hardcore ecstasy.

You’ll find yourself wanting to slam dance right where you stand.

I will admit, as I’ve grown older I find myself enjoying ADTR’s more pop-punk qualities less and less. But regardless, this brilliantly brutal yet ridiculously catchy bedlam of an album has rocketed itself very quickly to the top of my daily playlist.

THE SLEEPING – BIG DEEP (Victory) Long Island punks discover other genres JM: At the beginning of this decade, The Sleeping rode the wave of Long Island melodic punk rock/ hardcore alongside scenemates like Brand New, Bayside, Glassjaw and From Autumn to Ashes.

Seven years and four albums later, the band has stayed true to their original, dramatic sound for the most part. Synthesizers creep into Big Deep, their latest full length, but do little to blunt the ferociousness of their sound.

The record is solid enough to impress the band’s followers, but likely not unique enough to grab any new fans that may have been sitting on the sidelines. The one exception, however, is “The Phantom of Darker Clouds,” a downtempo track that flirts with jazz and rock influences– an impressive departure from the band’s traditional sound. All in all, it’s yet another solid offering from the band. GRADE: BARCADE FIRE – THE SUBURBS (Merge) Orchestral indie-pop

DIDDY DIRTY MONEY– LAST TRAIN TO PARIS (Bad Boy/ RT: Canadian indie-rockers Arcade Fire” are Interscope) far from strangers to the music scene. This Somehow, Diddy does it orchestral rock project has been contributing to MM: When the soundtrack of study sessions nationwide for Diddy announced quite some time now. Their most recent effort, The that he would Suburbs, is chock full of everything you’ve come to be partaking in expect from this group and more, shopwing why another “solo” Arcade Fire stands tall as one of the giants of the project, people genre.

Despite my roots in metal and post-core, I laughed.

But caught myself bouncing my head to the music in for all the jokes about how bad no time. The band has a knack for writing catchy, of a rapper he is, finger-snapping songs, but after 16 tracks they Diddy always seems to deliver surprisingly good begin to bleed into one another and you start to albums. Then he screwed things up by revealing lose yourself in their sound. This makes it difficult that this would be an experimental concept album to pinpoint which songs distinguish themselves chock full of an auto-tuned Diddy crying about the most, but a couple of standout tracks include the girl who got away and ripped his heart out in “Sprawl II,” “We Used To Wait,” “Ready to Start” the process. Then the album pushbacks started, and “Deep Blue.”

If you’re fan of Arcade Fire or indie-rock in and seemed like they would never stop. general, odds are good that you already know Luckily, the public mockery eventually waned and Last Train To Paris was finally this album and own it. But if you enjoy orchestral released, surprising quite a few people with the alt-rock and have yet to spend any time with this risks it takes. Once you get over the shock and artful band, The Suburbs is a good place to start. amusement that you’re listening to a concept The album represents their trademark sound well, album from Diddy and two relatively unknown and there’s plenty of music on this record to keep backup singers about a failed relationship, you you dancing for hours. GRADE: B realize that you’re listening to a pretty darn good ZAC BROWN BAND – YOU GET WHAT YOU GIVE (Southern album.

LTTP is an album that thrives on the idea Ground/Atlantic) of risk and reward. It’s unlike anything that’s Smoothing down the rough edges currently out there in hip-hop, but that seems to be one of the reasons why it’s being received BL: It’s been interesting to watch Zac Brown’s 8-year so well. It has an upbeat European dance feel evolution from playing in crappy dive bars to being paired with heartfelt raps, and it seems to be a one of country-rock’s most beloved crossover acts. perfect odd couple. Showing that he’s still one On the one hand, Brown’s slow, steady climb to the of the biggest names in the industry, Diddy gets top has made him a perfect role model for budding features from artists including Grace Jones, bands seeking a map for taking the grass-roots Justin Timberlake, Usher, Chris Brown and Swizz road to stardom. On the other hand, the pursuit of Beatz (who contributes to the production side as perfection has gradually whittled away the band’s well). From the onset you can tell this will be a more raw, rough-hewn Southern edges, making new listening experience. Some of the best tracks them slightly less distinctive in the process.

You Get What You Give is not my favorite Zac on the album include “Yeah Yeah You Would” ft Grace Jones, “I Hate That You Love Me,” “Hello Brown Band record, but it is an accomplished Good Morning” (with a rapid-fire verse from effort that represents the logical next step in T.I.), and the Skylar Grey-assisted “Coming the group’s transformation from promising bar Home,” featuring a surprisingly vulnerable Diddy. band to mainstream music juggernaut, offering However, the best track on the album might be something for virtually everyone. For Parrotheads the single, “Loving You No More,” featuring one there’s “Knee Deep,” an innocuous jam with Jimmy Buffett that sounds like a watered-down beach of Drake’s best verses of the year.

The other members of the group, Dawn and bum twist on “Toes”; for lighter-waving balladKalenna, sing well and their voices complement lovers there’s “Cold Hearted,” an emotional lament all of the songs they’re featured on. But it becomes about a heartbreaking ex; for diehard country fans very clear early on that they aren’t significant to there’s “I Play The Road,” Brown’s testament to the the music, and really aren’t necessary. LTTP is lifestyle he’s chosen for himself; and for the Dave Diddy’s project and he shines on it, expanding his Matthews crowd there’s the 10-minute “Who comfort zone and gaining respect as a full-fledged Knows,” which incorporates rock, reggae and honky tonk into a 10-minute epic jam that works artist with a wonderfully put together album.

way better than you’d imagine.

It’s all very professional, polished and perfectly suited for fitting in on today’s mainstream country radio. Musically, the band sounds better than ever, but from a songwriting standpoint I’d love to see Brown and Co. take more creative chances next time around. Luckily, with their continued success, they will definitely get the opportunity to keep evolving. GRADE: BT.I. – NO MERCY (Grand Hustle/Atlantic) The King of the South returns MM: Throughout all the legal and personal drama over the past year and a half, T.I. managed to do something that quite a few people doubted he could still do under the circumstances– make a very solid album. While it took numerous delays, some misses on potential lead singles, more legal problems, and an eventual name change, No Mercy finally dropped and proved that Tip still has it… even if he couldn’t be here to celebrate his success.

While No Mercy isn’t as glitzy and glamorous as some past releases or as raw as his early work, it seems to have taken T.I. to that perfect medium between hood and classy that he’s been trying to finely tread for years. With everything that has been going on in his life, this album rightly shows a man speaking on coming to terms with his celebrity and explaining what it’s really like being the King of the South.

The album is a star-studded event featuring almost everyone who’s hot in the game, including Kanye West, Kid Cudi, Chris Brown, Trey Songz, Eminem, Scarface, Drake, Christinia Aguilera and production credits from Yeezy, Jake One, Toomp and The Neptunes. The dark, bass-heavy, Kanyehelmed “Welcome to the World” opens the album with an unapologetic behind the scenes look into the life of a rap star, accompanied perfectly by Kid Cudi’s unique voice singing the hook. What follows is arguably one of the best tracks on the album, “How Things Changed” ft. Scarface and Mitchelle’L, and has the two southern rap veterans trading verses about the life differences after making it. Other standouts include the Chris Brown-assisted ballad about second chances, “Get Back Up,” the street single “I Can’t Help It” ft. Rocko, “That’s All She Wrote” featuring a topof-the-line guest appearance by the resurgent Eminem, and the closing track, “Castle Walls.”

It took forever for fans to finally get a listen to this album, but No Mercy proved to be worth it. While it does tend to be feature heavy and includes a few out of place tracks like “Amazing”, which is lackluster and doesn’t fit the vibe of the rest of album, all together TI released a good effort that showcases his attributes and still leaves fans wanting more. GRADE: B THE BROTHER KITE – ISOLATION (Claire) Remember The Postal Service? These guys sure do JM: While the music-buying (and stealing) public patiently waits for a new Postal Service album (seven years and counting), their heir apparent just might be an indie band from Rhode Island.

With their third effort, Isolation, Providencebased Brother Kite manages to marry ambient sounds without sounding too sterile. The record relies heavily on synthesizers and drum machines, but it’s the vocals and just enough strong guitars that keep Isolation anchored and safely out of noodling prog-rock or numbing electronica territory.

A stronger offering than their last effort, Waiting (which tended to take repeated listening before finally catching on,) Isolation takes little getting used to and grabs attention early on. We may never get that oft-rumored Postal Service follow-up, but releases like Isolation help make the waiting that much more bearable. GRADE: B+

EDUCATION

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FILM

WHAT THE FRACK?!

GasLand Director Josh Fox On The Dangers of Natural Gas Drilling In America

BY BRET LOVE

I

F YOU LIVE IN AN AREA ANYWHERE near a natural gas drilling site (and, if you live in the U.S., chances are you do), GasLand is a movie you simply cannot afford to miss. In it, Pennsylvania-based filmmaker Josh Fox travels the country researching fracking (a.k.a. hydraulic fracturing), uncovering exploding water wells, flammable tap water and pets whose fur falls out in clumps along the way. We recently spoke with the Sundance Film Festival Special Jury Prize-winning director about what fracking is, why it’s dangerous and what we as citizens can do about it.

Can we start with an explanation of what fracking is?

Fracking is this technique of drilling for natural gas invented in the late 1990s by Halliburton when Dick Cheney was their CEO. It involves pumping millions of gallons of toxic chemicals at enormously high pressures into the earth to break apart rock formations, freeing up gas trapped inside of rocks. The problem with the technique is that these chemicals are turning up in people’s water supplies. That’s a very dangerous situation. A lot of those chemicals are carcinogenic, they’re neurotoxins, and they’re very harmful. It’s a double whammy, because it’s really bad stuff that ends up in people’s water supply, and it’s virtually impossible to clean it up.

as I heard that people could light their water on fire, I needed to see that. The story began adding up in such a way that it had to become a priority.

So this film was truly the result of thinking globally, but acting locally.

Yeah! But it was also a response to all the misinformation. When you realize that these huge multinational corporations are coming in with a transformative power and lying through their teeth, there’s something you have to do about it.

When you got the letter from the natural gas company offering you $100,000 for the right to drill on your land, did you know about hydraulic fracturing?

No, I knew nothing about it. It’s not a traditional oil and gas producing area. When Was there a “eureka” moment for you, when I looked at my initial research I was quite you realized the global impact of this issue? concerned, and that’s what sent me down the When I went out West, I’d arrive in a town path to making the film. There were these where I originally had one interview schedcompeting narratives. There was the gas uled, and by the end of the day I’d have 10industry saying, “This is 20 booked for the rest of no problem: You’re gonna the week because people WE CANNOT DESTROY make a lot of money and crying out to have THE WATER. WHERE WE were you’ll never know we’re their story told. I realized here.” But all of a sudden HAVE CLEAN WATER, WE how prevalent it was as I you see these pictures from kept traveling. The other HAVE TO PROTECT IT. out West of this massive moment was when I went WHERE WE HAVE WATER to the EPA and talked industrialization process.

So I figured someone had THAT IS BORDERLINE, WE with Weston Wilson, the to be lying.

HAVE TO DO BETTER TO whistle blower. I got a of this Orwellian TREAT AND PROTECT IT. sense At what point did you nightmare– all of the realize you needed to WE CANNOT CONTINUE environmental laws had document every step of the TO PUMP TOXINS INTO been cleared away and process you went through? there were no obstacles THE GROUND AND At first I was making a for these companies to short film for my neighEXPECT THAT THERE come in and completely bors, just to show what I’d take over huge areas of BE MAJOR WON’T seen. Once I went to Dithe United States! It was CONSEQUENCES FOR mock and saw the craziness happening without much that was happening in that FUTURE GENERATIONS. media attention, but when small town in Pennsylvania, I was at that office it was I realized I had so many questions. Then I almost like we were having a secret sit-down. found out about all the exemptions to the ma- It was unreal. jor environmental laws. It looked like something nobody knew about, but was potentially The most visually stunning footage you very, very harmful. Friends of mine looked at got was of people who could light their this work that I’d done and said, “You’ve got water on fire as it’s flowing from the tap. the next Inconvenient Truth here!” Once I saw What was going through your mind as you the threat, I felt like my back was up against a filmed that? wall. Luckily I’m a theatre director, so I make I think there’s a sense of giddiness when my own schedule. I run my own company, so people see it in theaters because they’re I was able to steal a month here and a month freaking out. You feel like you just got there to organize my schedule around this sucker-punched– it’s like your world turns big trip. It was a gradual thing, but as soon PG 22 • insiteatlanta.com • January 2011

upside down for a moment. As a filmmaker, I’m so happy we have that on tape, but on the other hand you think, “This is most bizarre situation!” Of course, the gas industry completely denies that this is their fault at all. I can’t believe that they can go out there with a straight face and say the kind of things they have… “Oh, those people could light their water on fire before we got there!”

It’s just absurd.

that that study stays honest. The last one was thoroughly discredited.

The film makes the EPA sound complicit under the Bush Administration.

Here’s the thing: When the President says to his bureaucracy, “Don’t investigate, just expedite things for industry,” they do their jobs. The Bush Administration deliberately installed people whose jobs were to destroy the mission of the EPA, which I’ll remind everybody was created during the Nixon Administration. So it’s not exactly a liberal democratic administration. What was crazy was realizing that no one was minding the store. I think that’s changed now, but they’re still 6 or 7 years behind.

How can these companies allow their practices to have this impact on these communities and still be able to sleep at night?

I think there is genuine evil there, but I also think there’s a lot of misinformation within the companies themselves. A lot of the middle management people don’t know these chemicals are being used. The natural gas industry has put out this idea of, “We’re the clean-burning alternative to coal and oil,” but it’s a dirty fossil fuel just like everything else. Yet their spin is so powerful– they have the advertising dollars, lobbyists and lawyers to convince the people who work at the gas companies and the people who have invested in gas thinking it’s a good thing. But natural gas is the primary competition for real renewable energy, and that is the idea we have to foster. We have to develop real green energy so that we don’t continue to have these kinds of problems with fossil fuels. Money is a big factor in this, but I don’t think it’s just about money. I think there’s a genuine concern on behalf of the fossil fuel industry that their industry is dying. They’re trying to grasp the last straws, and in the process they’re doing things that are much more dangerous than they’ve done in the past.

Do you see new legislation being introduced to change these exemptions to the Clean Water Act? The legislation follows the activism. In New York, we just got a 7-month moratorium on fracking, which was the result of enormous grass roots action. You’ve got to sign up. You’ve got to call and write your representatives. You’ve got to make sure they’re on this, because the world needs to change. We need to move away from fossil fuels quickly. Right now, there are pieces of local and state legislation we advocate on our website, Gaslandthemovie.com. All you have to do is click on your state and you can find a list of organizations. This is happening in 34 states now, and a lot of other places are dependent on the water from those states. It’s a real national crisis. Getting involved in this grass roots movement is one of the best things I’ve done in my life.

You just screened the film for the EPA. How has the EPA response evolved since you first started talking to them?

We’ve screened the film at a lot of the EPA’s regional offices and at the Federal EPA, and their response has been shock and alarm. But they have to make sure that the higher ups in Washington know about this, and we want to get that out there. I think Obama’s EPA is night and day from the Bush Administration, and I think that’s a great thing. They are now investigating hydraulic fracturing in a 2-year study, and we hope

The movement definitely needs to happen, because water is going to be as valuable as gold in the 21st century.

Right. We cannot destroy the water. Where we have clean water, we have to protect it.

Where we have water that is borderline, we have to do better to treat and protect it. We cannot continue to pump toxins into the ground and expect that there won’t be MAJOR consequences for future generations.

We will be able to find alternative energy sources– they exist right now. But we will not be able to find an alternative to water.

MUSIC

MANCHESTER, UNITED

Andy Hull On Maturity, Musical Progression & Why Simple Math Will Be Manchester Orchestra’s Greatest Album Ever

BY B. LOVE

F

ROM THE BLACK LIPS AND Deerhunter to The Coathangers and Dead Confederate, Atlanta has had its fair share of bands bubbling up on the national indie-rock scene in recent years. But few have shown more promise to develop into mainstream music icons than Manchester Orchestra, whose 2009 sophomore release made it crystal clear that they weren’t satisfied with merely being the ATL’s best indie band.

Produced by Joe Chiccarelli (My Morning Jacket, The Shins), the bombastic Mean Everything To Nothing was designed to fill arenas, with hook-heavy songs that evoked comparisons to rock legends like Black Sabbath, Jane’s Addiction and Nirvana without losing Manchester Orchestra’s distinctive identity.

The album elevated their national profile, earning accolades from tastemakers such as Paste and Alternative Press and hitting the Billboard Alternative charts with singles “I’ve Got Friends” and “Shake It Out.” But if you ask frontman Andy Hull– who’s currently coming off tour with Bad Books, the band’s side-project with singer-songwriter Kevin Devine– Mean Everything To Nothing was just a warm-up for Manchester Orchestra’s forthcoming third LP, Simple Math. Though typically modest and emotionally reserved, Hull seemed downright giddy while talking about the new concept album, often jumping in to answer before our questions had even been finished. By the end of our conversation, Hull’s enthusiasm for the new material had proven just as infectious as memorable hooks…

I know your father and grandfather were both preachers: How did they feel about you dropping out of Providence Christian Academy to pursue music full-time?

I was brought up with really good morals, but my father and grandfather have always been incredibly supportive. There was never any pressure for me to follow in their footsteps, so I was home schooled for a few years while I was making our first record.

You’ve always seemed very mature for your age, especially in terms of the lyrical themes you tend to tackle. Where does that come from?

My mom always said that when I was a 4 I was acting like a 6-year old. Now I’m in a position where I can’t really afford to screw up. I never went to college, so I was never raging or partying all the time.

We had no time to be foolish because we were so busy touring, trying to get our jobs done.

Mean Everything To Nothing marked a huge progression in your sound. You went from a cool little local indie-rock band to these arena-ready rock stars seemingly overnight. Was that a conscious decision on the band’s part?

Yeah, we really wanted that record to be bigger, and I think that was the hardest part for [producer] Joe Chiccarelli. There was a point in time where he was like, “Guys, you can’t turn everything up all the way and have it sound clear!” He showed us how to arrange our music without having to crank everything to 11 all the time.

It seemed like Mean Everything to Nothing had a major impact on your career momentum. How did you feel about the way things changed in the wake of the album’s success?

I’m in Nashville right now mixing the new album, and [Mean Everything] definitely gave us more of a challenge to do something even better for this one.

I think that’s the goal of where we are– to be excited and progressing further than people would expect you to progress. I like surprising people.

How would you say this new one is a step up?

It’s a lot bigger. It’s pretty epic and heartbreaking.

It’s a conceptual record about me, my wife, God, and the last three years of my life. It kind of touches on everything I’ve been dealing with. Lyrically, I’m just really focused. The melodies I’m singing are really intense and spread out. It’s definitely more musical than anything we’ve done. I’m really excited about it.

How did your experience of working with Joe on the last album affect the way you’re approaching this one?

He taught me how to build a song with channels, thinking about how to record before you actually start recording. We had Dan Hannon– who coproduced the last one with Joe– and Robert and I, and it was just incredibly fun and easy. It was a lot of work, but we all felt like we were a part of something that was better than anything we’ve done before. We have a lot of instruments on the album we’ve never used before, and a full orchestra on half the record.

It’s very grand.

Tell me about working with Kevin Devine on Bad Books. When you guys first met, what was it about him that allowed you guys to connect on such a deep level?

The two of us come from very different places as people in terms of where we grew up and how we grew up. We share a lot of the same beliefs, but we also have a lot of things that, when we met, we couldn’t have been farther apart from each other on. But we really loved each other once we met, like, “That’s a best friend!” He was at my wedding. Beyond our music compatibility, I would just say that he’s one of my favorite people of all time. Then, when you add in the fact that he is an incredible songwriter…

We’ve probably played 200 shows together over the past few years. [Working together] was just so simple to do and it just felt like it was the right move. Everything came together very naturally.

You said that you share some of the same beliefs: is that ideological, political, religious or what?

I think every one of them. Kevin and I can talk for three hours about everything, literally. He’s eight or nine years older than me, and he’s been through a lot of stuff that I haven’t experienced yet. He’s just a really wise guy. We both respect each other’s opinions and, as we’ve gotten to know each other, I think we’ve really helped each other in certain areas. He has definitely helped me with my stress management over the last five years.

You’ve got a very strong songwriting identity on your own. What’s the collaborative process like as far as songwriting goes?

I wrote everything I wrote for the Bad Books album during [the recording process], but Kevin brought a few things down with him. He’d play through it, we’d add and change stuff, and we did the same thing with my songs. I would record a scratch track and then we would just go to work, basically with each of us serving as the producer on the other one’s songs.

How does he make your music better and vice versa?

He makes me think more about lyrics and phrases, because he thinks about them a lot, whereas I tend to just say them as I think them. He really admires my free will of just being confident in an idea because it feels right, and he is someone I definitely admire for being so meticulous, with the careful wording of everything for a purpose.

So would you say you’re more of a big picture type and he’s more about the intricate details?

Yeah. I mean, in general, who the hell knows what I’m writing about? I think [being less specific in my lyrics] allows people to create their own story. But this new Manchester Orchestra record was definitely

different, because I was very, very careful about everything I said on it. No words are said just for the sake of saying them. I think there were parts on Everything Means Nothing where it wasn’t about the lyric so much as it was about the riff and the feeling.

On this new one, the lyrics and melodies are really important. Definitely thought out, but not overly thought out. All the songs are shorter, compared to the last record, and there’s a lot more really cool guitar stuff, almost like classic Neil Young guitar at times… Chiccarelli was saying, “ I don’t know how the hell you did it, but you made a record that’s better than you, but still sounds like you.” (Laughs) Do you have a release date for the new album yet?

It will be probably come out in April, but we’re sending it out to the press right before or right after the holidays.

What would you say differentiates the Bad Books sound from Manchester Orchestra?

I think it’s probably easier to digest for someone who has never heard either band before. At face value it’s a really comfortable listen. I think the sequencing is really well thought-out, and I think you’re going to just want to sit back and enjoy it.

People tend to overanalyze most of Manchester Orchestra’s work, which I appreciate and I really have a respect for. Our fans start to dig in right when they hear the first note, which I think is awesome.

Sometime we are deliberately tough to analyze at face value, because there is a lot of stuff in the back of our songs and the repetition.

How has the response to Bad Books been so far?

It’s awesome! The songs have been doing well, and the album’s climbing all these charts. We were really amazed at how well it did. The shows have been incredible. It’s a breath of fresh air, and it’s a nice piece of work to hold fans over as Kevin is writing and we’re putting the finishing touches on our record.

You and Kevin are doing an acoustic tour in December.

Yeah, we like playing together and it’s fun to play

acoustic shows. I don’t get that opportunity that often. Those shows kind of make you a man, or woman, or grown-up. You just don’t have any distortion or anything to rely on. You just have to go for it.

What was the decision as far as not having the band go out on the road with the two of you?

Basically, we had just done a tour a few months ago, and if Kevin doesn’t have Manchester Orchestra in the background… We’re used to splitting up money in Bad Books among six members, so it helps Kevin a whole lot to have the extra cash. But Robert from Manchester is also playing the shows with us. We just didn’t want to have to suit up for a full band tour again after the crazy schedules we’ve had. Plus, it just felt like something nice to do around the holidays, right after all the turkey and stuffing, ya know?

What are your primary goals for Manchester Orchestra with this next album?

I think that’s all about the music. We’re going to do everything we can with this record to make the music the most important part, and to just let it speak for itself. I’m telling you– I’m not lying– it’s REALLY good, and I’m a pretty insecure guy in general. All the people I’ve played it for, they’ve all said, “I thought it was going to be great, but I didn’t know it was going to be THAT great,” which is just the coolest thing you can hear. I’m really going off other’s people’s word here: You play it for ten people whose opinions you really respect and they all love it... I think that’s a good sign. I’m at a place in my life where people would tell me if they didn’t love it. I like that.

You guys have made a lot of progress in the five years since you formed the band. How do you feel about where Manchester Orchestra stands at this stage in your career?

We’ve all known each other for like 10 years now, and we’re all big on accountability: They call me out on my crap and I call them out. We know we’re very lucky to have come this far in such a short time, and we’re very aware of how quickly we can fall.

I’ve never had a backup career plan… I just hope it doesn’t go away.

PG 23 • insiteatlanta.com • January 2011

FEATURE

A

S MUCH AS DECADES CAN BE defined by a dominating genre – grunge from the 1990s, synthesizer pop from the 1980s – the first year of each decade gives little indication of what’s to come. There are glimmers of giants in the making (Prince’s Dirty Mind, 1980; The Stooges’ Fun House, 1970), but generally the albums fall into two categories: Venerable works from established veterans or odd newbies who found a new avenue to exploit.

So goes 2010.

The year saw old timers like Robert Plant, John Mellencamp and Tom Petty release worthy albums alongside charging powerhouses Arcade Fire and Kanye West. Will 2010 be a year marking the start of a musical breakthrough? Maybe not, but it had its moments… –Ed Morales

B. LOVE’S TOP 10 ALBUMS MUMFORD & SONS

Sigh No More (Glass Note) Back in the ‘70s, it took British bands like Cream and Led Zeppelin to remind Americans how badass the blues were. Now, it’s taken four fellas from West London to do the same for bluegrass. Coming across like the Avett Bros with bigger balls, Mumford & Sons is a grass-roots phenomenon whose momentum keeps building, and I can’t wait to see what these foot-stompin’, banjo-strummin’ Brits will dream up next.

KANYE WEST

My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy (Roc-A-Fella) Say what you will about Kanye: He’s boastful, obnoxious, self-obsessed and (if you follow his Tweets) perhaps even borderline sociopathic. But he’s also the most intriguing personality hip-hop has had in years, and his latest album rivals The College Dropout as his best. Matching devastatingly effective lyrics with potent production, it’s the latest in a string of bold, fearless recordings that stands unrivaled by his peers.

JÓNSI

Go (XL Recordings) With his angelic falsetto, otherworldly guitar and made-up “Hopelandic” language, Jón Pór “Jónsi” Birgisson gives Sigur Rós a distinctive feel combining post-rock, ambient and neo-classical elements.

Jónsi’s solo debut is arguably his most accessible work yet and, from the transcendent music box balladry of “BoyLilikoi” to the epic dynamic tension of “Sinking Friendships,” it’s brilliant.

SHARON JONES & THE DAP-KINGS

I Learned The Hard Way (Daptone) The Augusta-born Jones’ latest album is an instant classic that could pass for some long-lost ‘60s soul gem from the Stax/Volt or Motown vaults. Every song is so exquisitely executed, every note so heartfelt, every lyric so soulful, it’s almost impossible to believe the album was made in 2010. The fact that it was should make true music lovers very thankful, and make Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings into stars.

CEE LO

The Lady Killer (Elektra) The former Gnarls Barkley frontman’s expletivePG 24 • insiteatlanta.com • January 2011

2010: laced kiss-off to an ex became a viral smash with over 20 million YouTube hits a few months ago, but his first solo CD in six years is a decidedly sweeter affair.

Like, love, lust and lament all have a place in Cee Lo’s sonic stew, which beautifully blends funk, R&B and pop to create one of the year’s most soulful sonic statements.

JANELLE MONAE

The ArchAndroid (Atlantic) There’s nobody like Janelle Monae, and there’s no denying the conceptual creativity of her ambitious “Metropolis Suite” saga. The complex sci-fi story is classic hero mythology, incorporating musical genres from funk and jazz to classic pop and Broadway. It’s a ballsy, 70-minute sonic epic, proving Monae one of the most compelling singer-songwriters on the urban scene today.

BIG BOI

Sir Lucious Left Foot… The Son Of Chico Dusty (Def Jam) Despite a litany of guests that include ATL homies B.o.B., Janelle Monae and T.I., this is Outkast icon Big Boi’s show, and he runs it with assured authority.

Nearly every track hits the right notes, from the slinky blaxploitation funk of “Feel Me” to the stutterstep electro of the closing “Back Up Plan.” Throughout, Big Boi sounds cool and confident, dropping tonguetwisting lines that will leave you pressing rewind.

LUÍSA MAITA

Lero-Lero (Cumbancha) Maita boasts the assured artistry of a veteran, incorporating jazz, R&B and electronica into her traditional Brazilian musical roots.

Her soulful vocals sizzle, then seduce with a sultry air of tropical sensuality, playfully beckoning listeners with jubilant melodies and syncopated rhythms.

This diverse, polished set establishes Maita alongside artists such as Astrud Gilberto at the forefront of the modern Brazilian sound.

JOHN MELLENCAMP

No Better Than This (Rounder) Nearly 35 years into his career, Mellencamp pulled off an amazing stunt, reinventing himself by stripping away all the glitz and glam. Reuniting with T-Bone Burnett, assembling his band in one room and recording everything in mono with a single microphone, Mellencamp had a newfound sense of passion and purpose, establishing himself as a fine singer-songwriter who only seems to be getting better with age.

B.O.B.

The Adventures Of Bobby Ray (Rebel Rock/Grand Hustle/Atlantic) This hip-pop wunderkind is just 21 years old and can already rap circles around most MCs, sing his butt off, play multiple instruments, write infectious earworms like “Nothin’ On You” and “Airplanes,” and produce his own tracks with the assured hand of a seasoned studio vet. Seriously, is there anything the

The Year in Music

kid can’t do? One of Atlanta’s brightest talents, and the kid is just getting started!

DEMARCO WILLIAMS’ TOP 10 ALBUMS

KANYE WEST

My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy Remember the chick from college who thought she was God’s gift… and, well, she actually was?

That’s Mr. West. As much as his self-important antics drive you nuts, the guy’s actions in the recording booth can’t be denied.

His latest fantasy is potent (“Power”), poignant (“Blame Game”) and just plain scary good (“Monster”).

THE ROOTS

How I Got Over The Philly crew works nights with Jimmy Fallon and weekends on the road. Every other minute of the past year had to have been spent in the studio, perfecting this brilliant piece of brain food (“Dear God 2.0”) and head-bobbing goodness (“The Fire”). We haven’t heard a Roots record like this in a looong time.

SADE

Soldier of Love One would think that a decade away from the lights and magazine spreads would have ill effects on Sade’s sound. Nope. Out came this long-anticipated CD’s first single (“Solider of Love”) and the next (“Babyfather”) and then an album full of loving verse and breezy instrumentation—just like 10 years ago.

ROC MARCIANO

Marcberg Saying this young NY MC sounds like a 2K mix of Nas and Raekwon comes off like hyperbole. But one listen to the raw brilliance of “It’s a Crime” or “Don Shit” and you’re dared not to cosign.

The dude can spit. And seeing how he did his own nodto-the-90s beats, he proves a pro on production too.

RICK ROSS

Teflon Don It wasn’t enough for Ross to have arguably the biggest street anthem of the year (“BMF”). The Miami homie also needed to drop one of the top singles for the ladies (“Aston Martin Music”). By filling out the CD with equal parts pimp and Prada, Rozey officially became the Biggie of Dixie.

CORINNE BAILEY RAE

The Sea The British beauty’s first album was soft and sweet, like a first crush. This second one feels like a mixture of heartache (“Are You Here”) and a renewed sense of self (“Paris Nights/New York Mornings”) put to moody strings and snares. Yet it still feels ladylike.

KINGS OF LEON

Come Around Sundown

Not sure what to love about the Followill Boys most, their straight-no-chase lyrics (I’m still chuckling at the stuff said on “Birthday” and “Pickup Truck”) or their straight-no-chase selections at the bar. Either way, the smooth country rockers are winners.

FAT JOE

The Darkside, Vol 1 I can’t be mad at you for not giving this album, Joey Crack’s 10th, much of a shot. Dude’s been a certified dud for, at least, the past three discs. But on this one, Joe takes it back to his Boogie Down roots (shouts out to DJ Premier, Just Blaze and others for the production heat) and gives long-standing fans a gift for sticking around.

DRAKE

Thank Me Later Some said the young man from Toronto didn’t live up the tremendous hype on this official debut. Sure, after “Karaoke,” the singing does weigh things down some. But with so many winning punchlines (“Light Up,” “Miss Me”) everywhere else, you don’t even notice the crooning after a while.

BUN B

Trill O.G. Keeping with this list’s unofficial theme of old farts dropping hot albums, Bun’s third solo joint is his best. The likes of Jeezy and Drake do stop by for support, but with the Texan’s backlog of gangsta tales (“Trillionaire”) and gritty soundscapes (“Snow Money”), he could have easily handled this one by his lonesome.

JOHN MOORE’S TOP 10 ALBUMS

THE RIOT BEFORE

Rebellion (Paper + Plastick) Just three records into it, Virginia’s The Riot Before have almost washed away that emo taste that has stigmatized punk rock for the past decade. With strong guitars and powerful lyrics, Rebellion shows the already-impressive band getting better with every song it releases. On just the first listen, the record sounds immediately like a classic, for any genre. I can’t imagine how the band will top this one.

J. RODDY WALSTON AND THE BUSINESS

J. Roddy Walston and the Business (Vagrant) J. Roddy and his crew clearly stopped listening to music sometime around the late 70’s and that’s a beautiful thing. The Baltimore – by way of Tennessee – group mixes Jerry Lee Lewis Boogie Woogie piano, with Beach Boy harmonies and lead vocals that owe just as much to cigarettes and whiskey as they do to Classic Rock.

MONEYBROTHER

Real Control (Bladen County) If Joe Strummer was raised on nothing but old Stax records and Soul Train episodes, he’d like come out sounding like Anders Wendin (aka Moneybrother).

Wendin, once known for fronting the Swedish punk band Monster, decided seven years ago to set aside the distortion pedal in favor of more dance-friendly guitars and introduced the world to his Money-

brother. “Real Control” is by far his best effort to date without a single throw away track. Simply put, “Real Control” is one of those records you can’t help but share with anyone who will listen.

KNOW YOUR SAINTS

Escape Artists EP (Solidarity Recordings) With just four songs, Seattle’s Know Your Saints have just cemented themselves as one of the most promising new punk groups out there. The Escape Artists EP is 15 minutes of passionate lyrics propped up by a burst of furious drumming and searing guitars. The band is clearly influenced by a slew of group, of all genres, mixing the ferocity of a band like Hot Water Music with the lyrical knack of The Clash.

Know Your Saints indeed.

STREET DOGS

Street Dog (Hellcat Records) Five records into it, Boston blue collar punks Street Dogs have finally decided to title an album after themselves - usually a debut album move, but well worth the wait in this case considering this is by far their strongest offering yet. Even coming in at 18 tracks, there is very little fat to trim on Street Dogs, with the average song clocking in at a Ramones-worthy 2 minutes and 30 seconds. Hit ‘em hard, hit ‘em fast and get outta there.

THE BLACK PACIFIC

The Black Pacific (SideOneDummy) There was plenty of handwringing within the punk rock community last year when longtime Pennywise vocalist Jim Lindberg bolted from the band he helped found. No worries - The Black Pacific, his latest endeavor is wholly steeped in classic 80’s/90’s skater punk. Pennywise had build a strong reputation for delivering solid melodic hardcore punk wrapped around political lyrics and The Black Pacific is… well not that much different. It’s almost like it took leaving Pennywise for Lindberg to deliver the best Pennywise album, just under a different moniker.

THE POSIES

Blood/Candy (Ryko) Sure they’ve churned out some of the best alt rock of The 90’s (“Dream All Day,” “Flavor of the Month”), helped Alex Chilton revive the highly influential Big Star and remain today some of the best songwriters of their generation. In return, audiences have been put through emotional gymnastics, waiting years between albums and having to wonder if the band members are even talking to each other that week (if you’re thinking about 1998, they probably weren’t).

All bad blood was forgotten this year when the band turned in their latest, the nearly flawless Blood/ Candy. One of their best in over a decade

THE SUCCESSFUL FAILURES

Three Nights (FDR) With every new album this New Jersey rock band turns out it becomes more and more astonishing that this band is not huge. With Three Nights, their fourth release in four years, the band sounds like they were raised on a steady diet of Cheap Trick and The Replacements since birth and their latest is no different. Straight forward American rock with clear vocals, witty lyrics and driving guitars, Three Nights includes some of the band’s best songs to date, specifically “Houston We Have a Drinking Problem” (which stealthily borrows a line some Cheap Trick’s “Surrender”) and “College Scholarship Blues”.

MUMFORD & SONS

Sigh No More (Glassnote) Leave it to a British band to play Americana better than, well, most Americans. On their debut, Sign No More, this London quartet turns in an almost flawless album, with a timeless sound that draws influences that range from Crosby, Stills & Nash to Grant Lee Buffalo.

MOTION CITY SOUNDTRACK

My Dinosaur Life (Columbia) It’s amusing that once Motion City Soundtrack left

the punk rock indie label Epitaph they made their most punk sounding record. My Dinosaur Life, the band’s fourth full length finds the band still revealing in pop culture references (“I fell asleep watching Veronica Mars”), but the songs are more introspective than any previous releases, dealing a lot with sobering up and growing up. The music is also just as catchy as before – a fantastic mix of power pop and Descents-era pop punk.

MATT CONNER’S TOP 10 ALBUMS

THE NATIONAL

High Violet (4AD) It’s when The National broke through that tells you everything you need to know about the Brooklyn five-piece. Boxer became a critical and commercial success in 2007, the same year as other names like Radiohead’s In Rainbows and Arcade Fire’s Neon Bible, pushing them aside to allow the brooding indie anthems to stand on their own.

Topping such a modern classic seems unrealistic, but that’s exactly what High Violet did, placing The National on a short list of digital-era defining bands. Few artists inhabit the creative space Matt Berninger & Co. live inside.

BEACH HOUSE

notes of “Repo Man” allowed every Ray LaMontagne fan to exhale, knowing the bearded bard would bring another stellar round of soulful campfire tales. The energy on “Repo Man” launches the album well, but it’s the pensive second half that wears best with the beautiful ballad “For the Summer” anchoring a strong second side.

OWEN PALLETT

Heartland (Domino) Formerly known as Final Fantasy, Heartland is the first work under his own name (after being sued

by Nintendo concerning the popular role-playing game). The classically trained violinist unleashed one of this year’s most stunning collections – a dark, expansive concept album concerning theology and the human existence. Never has wrestling with the larger questions of life sounded so good.

SUFJAN STEVENS

The Age of Adz (Asthmatic Kitty) It’s the year that Sufjan Stevens moved from quirky to polarizing and The Age of Adz will suffer for it in terms of response. The sheer execution of the schizoid electropop inside warrants mentioning here, especially tracks like “Too Much” and “I Walked.”

Sufjan could care less if you’re interested or not, so long as he stays tuned in to his own creativity. It’s an artistry that’s as important as it is inspiring and few are willing to obey their creative impulses as fully as Sufjan.

THE RADIO DEPT.

Teen Dream (Sub Pop) Teen Dream is the much realized third album for Beach House, proving the cliché holds true for bands able to stay in the industry long enough. The Baltimore duo’s dreamy pop structures mesmerized on their self-titled (2006) and Devotion (2008), but it’s Teen Dream that finds them comfortable enough in their own skin to explore further and dig deeper.

Check Victoria LeGrand’s presence on “10 Mile Stereo” and the textures of “Walk in the Park.”

Clinging to a Scheme (Labrador) It’s been four years since The Radio Dept. released Pet Grief, but the ethereal Swedish pop trio still captivates on its latest, Clinging to a Scheme. The inventiveness of “David” shows how far they’re willing to go, but they basically cling to the same dreamy soundscapes they created last time around. For longtime fans, that’s good news.

STARS

High Violet Forget the dependable voice and sober lyrics of singer Matt Berninger or the powerful guitars and distinct drumming, High Violet is the year’s best album because it never panders. Each song is a force in a constant onslaught – the crafted ballad Sorrow, the dreamlike Conversation 16, and the sturdy Bloodbuzz Ohio, which would be the song of the year if it weren’t for Mr. Cee Lo Green – there is not a fissure in the bunch. For years The National has produced strong albums and taken them to the masses, picking up a little more support each time. But no more, The National is big time, and High Violet is its crowning achievement.

The Five Ghosts (Vagrant) The creative well runs deep in Toronto, given the brilliant releases year after year from those loosely orbiting around Broken Social Scene. This year’s strongest release of the collective featured the muchcelebrated Stars latest, The Five Ghosts. The vocal interplay and dance/pop melodies of Torquil Campbell and Amy Millan have never sounded better.

DAN MANGAN

Nice, Nice, Very Nice (ABC/Warner) The Polaris Music Prize nomination speaks volumes for a songwriter like Dan Mangan. After all, how many acoustic-slinging guys are out there in bars every weekend across the continent?

Countless. But Mangan’s folk/rock outshines them all on Nice, Nice, Very Nice. Mangan knows the rules well enough to break them and the expansive scope of the album demands your attention from beginning to end. “Road Regrets” is also one of the year’s greatest songs.

KANYE WEST

My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy (Roc-A-Fella) Hands down the year’s best hip-hop release. What else can be said about Kanye’s latest tour de force that hasn’t already been stated? Say what you will about Kanye’s public persona, but there’s no denying the audacity of “Power,” the swagger of “Monster” and the beauty of “Blame Game.” A powerhouse album that can’t be celebrated enough.

MAVIS STAPLES

You Are Not Alone (Anti-) Consider this the marriage of the year. Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy pens beautifully appropriate songs (“You Are Not Alone”) for the gospel legend to not only elevate her importance but provide relevant anthems for modern times. As for Staples, her presence and power on “Creep Along Moses” and “Last Train” arrest your attention for the duration.

RAY LAMONTAGNE & THE PARIAH DOGS

God Willin’ & The Creek Don’t Rise (RCA) The opening acoustic strums and upright bass

ED MORALES’ TOP 10 ALBUMS

THE NATIONAL

Surf music is supposed to be breezy, and Best Coast understands this better than most. In 13 songs in less than 40 minutes, Best Coast fills tracks with driving guitars and fuzzy beats while lead singer Bethany Cosentino laments over boyfriends and missed phone calls. Before you know it, the album is over with Cosentino singing “When I’m with you I have fun.” Yeah, that’s about right.

HARLEM

Hippies The album races out of the speakers, as opening tracks Someday Soon, Friendly Ghost, Spray Paint, Number One and Be Your Baby are relentless, yet all offer a different feel – Spray Paint is as funky as the BoDeans’ influenced Be Your Baby is as countryfied. The band alternates singers between Michael Coomer and Curtis O’Mara (another BoDeans comparison), and the sing sharing makes for a nice change of pace.

BLACK ANGELS

Phosphene Dream What the Black Angels achieved here is a mastery of present and past that brings the ’60s back to the teens with flourish and style. The opening “Bad Vibrations” rules with overt psychedelia, “Sunday Afternoon” is an homage to the British Invasion, while “Telephone” is as perky as any early Beatles tune. The ‘60s never sounded so good.

CEE LO GREEN

The Lady Killer “Fuck You” is the best song of the year and perhaps the best song in many, many years. This album could be in the Top 10 with that song alone. But Cee Lo, who excels by surrounding his gospel-tinged singing with a variety of genres, has stepped up with a mixed-up menagerie of wonderful sounds. There’s “Love Gun,” which is part surf, part James Bond soundtrack; “Bright Lights Bigger City,” with its tales of a torrid night out; and “No One’s Gonna Love You,” a cover of the Band of Horses’ tune so different from the original, it makes the original sound unoriginal.

SUPERCHUNK

Majesty Spreading This is an example of what pop-punk should be (which Superchunk should know since they sort of invented it), with its glorious hooks and boundless energy. “Crossed Wires” is an instant classic, feeling at home in 2010 as any songs made by bands 20 years their junior. “Rope Light” shares this feel, while the album-ending “Everything At Once” is a perfect hair-in-air car song on a trip you never want to end. Let’s hope it doesn’t for the revitalized Superchunk.

TWIN TIGERS

The Suburbs It’s an epic recording, as lead singer Win Butler aches about the ordinariness of strip malls and manicured lawns while surrounded by a cavalcade of sound which comes across as simple but isn’t. Ready to Start and We Used to Wait are excellent Arcade Fire fare, while Month of May and Empty Room show a band flexing its muscles.

Gray Waves Shoegaze is an easy word to throw at any band with fuzzy guitars and a sound loosely shared with Jesus and Mary Chain. But it takes Athens’ Twin Tigers just 16 seconds to take the term and throw it right back, as the opening track “Passive Idol” replaces fuzz with a stunning guitar burst. The album is a constant surprise. Singer Matthew Rain meanders through each song with care, punctuating the churning guitars and drums with a rough edge that stirs the musical storm.

SLEIGH BELLS

JONSI

ARCADE FIRE

Treats I shouldn’t like this album, because it’s derivative and cracks of bubblegum. But then the snappy flow of “Rill Rill” plays and, as Alexis Krauss sings, “Have a heart,” it’s over… you’re caught in Sleigh Bells’ trap. It’s relentless: whether it’s the blasting chorus of “Crown on the Ground” or the beat-box yelp of “Infinity Guitars,” Sleigh Bells takes you on an unexpected ride. This is a lasting piece of work I never saw coming, but will stay with me.

BEST COAST

Crazy for You

Go You never know what to expect when a guy who sings in a made-up language for a post-rock Icelandic band decides to take his act solo. For Jónsi Birgisson, the lead singer of Sigur Ros, the result is a mix of parts playful (“Boy Lillikoi”), morose (“Grow Till Tall”) and just plain weird (“Go Do” could be on the Bambi soundtrack, but I mean this in the best of ways). The lilting voice and operatic strings are there throughout, but this is not an extension of Sigur Ros. Birgisson, with his subtle layers and unusual arrangements, has created a remarkable recording with the musical tics you’d expect from a guy who sings in Hopelandic.

PG 25 • insiteatlanta.com • January 2011

TRAVEL

MAYAN MEMORIES

Adventures in the Past, Present & Future of Mexico’s Mayan Culture

BY BRET LOVE, PHOTOS BY BRET LOVE & MARY GABBETT, COURTESY GREENGLOBALTRAVEL.COM

T

HE MONKEYS ARE NOT cooperating. Neither, for that matter, is Mother Nature.

It is our second full day in the RIVIERA MAYA, exploring the relatively unspoiled Caribbean coastline of Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula. We begin our morning bright and early with a trip to PUNTA LAGUNA, a small Mayan village that has been owned by the same family for 3 generations. The village is part of a government-protected nature reserve called MA’AX YETEL KOOH, which is Mayan for “House of the spider monkey and the jaguar.” Originally bought by the grandfather of our guide for the day, Vicente, Punta Laguna’s jungle is home to dozens of monkeys as well as raccoon, coatimundi, deer, wild boar, jaguars and (in the lagoon for which the property is named) crocodiles. But today the monkeys appear to be a bit camera shy, and the foreboding skies above warn of an impending torrential downpour.

Timing is everything in the jungle, and today fortune does not appear to be on our side. Last night Hurricane Paula flirted with making an appearance at PIEDRA ESCONDIDA, the delightfully peaceful little beachside haven where we’d spent our first two nights, ultimately coming close enough that we were moved into a different room to avoid her wrath leaking through the thatch-style roof. The eye of the storm thankfully passed us by, but her aftermath seems intent on pissing on our monkey parade. Even Vicente seems concerned, walking quickly and purposefully as he issues dozens of decidedly spider monkeylike calls. None answer.

Just as Vicente wonders aloud where the monkeys could be, I catch sight of a slight motion in the canopy in my peripheral vision. I look up, and there sits a family of nearly a dozen moneys feeding on fruits in the treetops. As we struggle to get a better angle for photos and video footage in a dense forest increasingly darkened by gathering storm clouds, they mostly go about their monkey business, with several of the females carrying adorable babies in tow. But soon our guide urges us to move on, insisting that the rains are coming in a tone that suggests we might not want to be caught in the open when they do. As the skies open up to produce the sort of hellish deluge only a tropical jungle can attract, we find shelter under a palapa (a hut topped with a dried palm roof ), where Vicente tells us about how his family is working with local conservationists to protect and study the monkeys, whom he had named and could recognize on sight.

Eventually the rains ease up a bit and we make our way to the nearby town of Cobá, which is home to a sacred Mayan site estimated to be over 2,000 years old, and believed to have once been home to at least 50,000 inhabitants. Although the site has been known for centuries, it wasn’t examined by scholars until the 1920s, and didn’t become a major tourist attraction until the 1980s. Larger and more expansive than the more popular ruins at Tulúm (which PG 26 • insiteatlanta.com • January 2011

we visited on our first day in Mexico), Cobá becomes even more impressive when our guide explains how much of this vast archaeological treasure remains waiting to be fully excavated from the dense jungle by which it is currently surrounded.

We walk around the LA IGLESIA pyramid, where the ancient Mayans made their sacrifices to the gods, which took archeologists over 10 years to fully uncover and restore. We stroll the court of the Mayan ball game known as POK TA POK, in which teams used only their hips, knees and elbows to knock a rubber ball through a vertical hoop situated at the top of 45º-angled wall (and in which the winners were ultimately given the dubious honor of being sacrificed to the gods). And finally, we ride rickety bicycles over ancient paths through the jungle to climb the main attraction, the NOHOCH MUL pyramid, which at 138 feet is one of the tallest Mayan structures in all of Mexico.

Climbing the massive stone steps to the top is one helluva workout– even those who use the handy ropes to help pull themselves up the steep incline arrive winded from the exertion– but provides exceptional panoramic views of one of the ancient Mayans’ most remarkable achievements.

After a quick (but delicious) dinner of Mayan-style BBQ pork with habañero sauce and horchata while watching the sun setting over a picturesque lagoon, we make our way to the Mayan village just down the street from Cobá. Here, a young Argentinean potter AGUSTIN VILLALBA has opened an amazing little school called ANCIENT ROOTS, where he teaches local children the artistic ways of their ancestors. His workshop is bustling with activity as Mayan kids and tourists alike sit and learn about Mayan pottery techniques, then try their own hands at working the clay themselves.

“I’m just here refreshing their memory and encouraging them to keep learning,” he insists modestly. “In the beginning it was very hard because they didn’t know the art or me, so I took a year to start working close to them. Little by little they are learning more, and they’re becoming more interested in their own culture. They see that people care about them, and that is great.”

But Villalba’s work goes far beyond mere artistic or cultural ambitions: By selling the crafts the children make (which are of impressive quality and designed to replicate ancient Mayan imagery), the school provides desperately-needed income to local families who would otherwise need to move to bigger cities in order to survive.

“They make their living through their effort, learning and practicing.

We work with 17 villages– students of all ages– and their income depends a lot on tourism. I don’t have specific figures here, but the families here need very little money each monthly for living expenses.

We do our best: Last year we had around 150 students, and a lot of them were about to leave their families and move to Cancun or another city in search of jobs before they came here. We’d like to open more schools so that more villages can have access to the classes. Some help from the government or an NGO (non-governmental organization) would help us get there faster,

but we do what we can with what we have, day by day.”

By now the clouds have receded and night is settling in, so we make our way to our last stop for the day. We descend the steps of what used to be a Mayan temple into a cavern where red lights illuminate a large stage with a traditional pok ta pok court as the backdrop. Mayan musicians dressed from head to toe in traditional regalia emerge with drums, shakers and flutes to play a rousing opening number, then Agustin introduces a play based on early

chapters of the Popul-Vuh, a.k.a. the Mayan bible. The story follows twin brothers Hunahpú and Xbalanqué, who are challenged by the lords of Xibalbá to a game of pok ta pok in order to save their village from destruction, ultimately outwitting them and ascending to the night sky as constellations.

It’s a gripping portrayal, accompanied by thunderous tribal drums, shrieking whistles and colorful costumes, providing an excellent end to our day-long immersion in the rich past, thriving present and hopeful future of the rich Mayan culture.

MUSIC

CH-CH-CH-CHANGES

Against Me! Returns To The Indie World With A Vengeance

BY JOHN B. MOORE

T

with the president of the company, Tom Whalley leaving. Over the past couple months they’ve been laying off a lot of employees and letting go of a lot of bands. Unfortunately a lot of the people they’ve been letting go were people that were on our team, per say. It kind of felt like if we had stayed we would have been lost in the shuffle there, if we weren’t already.

HE PAST FIVE YEARS HAVE BEEN an interesting experience for Florida punk rockers Against Me! The band made the leap from Fat Wreck Chords to Warner Bros-owned label Sire (not without some criticism), released two critically-praised albums and toured the world, reaching a slew of new fans while still maintaining their connection with the diehards who stretch back to the late ‘90s.

The band recently went online to announce that they are no longer with Sire Records and pulled out of a tour to regroup and consider their next move. Two months later the band is back, announcing a major tour with the Dropkick Murphys for 2011 and also revealing that Jay Weinberg will be taking over drums for the recently departed Warren Oakes.

Frontman Tom Gabel spoke to us recently about the recent changes that band has been through and what’s next.

Was the parting of the ways amicable?

Definitely, I feel really proud of the work we did while with the label and I’m thankful for all the hard work everyone there put into our band but I really felt like it was time to move on. We’ve never made more than two full length albums with a label.

What were the main reasons behind the band’s decision to leave Sire Records?

Well, our contract was up and Sire chose not to renew. Warner, which owns Sire is also undergoing a pretty massive restructuring right now that started

Have you thought about how you are going to release future Against Me albums, whether starting your own label or going back to Fat Wreck Chords?

We’re not really sure what we’re doing right now,

I interviewed you shortly after you first signed to the label, and you said one of the reasons for joining Warner Bros was to get exposure your music to more people. Do you think that goal was accomplished?

Definitely, without a doubt.

just starting to figure it all out. This is all really fresh.

When do you plan to start working on the next album?

I’ve already started writing and we’ve started putting a couple of songs together as a full band. I’m in no rush, but at the same time I feel really excited about creating new material and letting people hear it.

What can you tell me about the band’s forthcoming tour with the Dropkick Murphys?

Well, it starts Feb 23rd in Niagara Falls, New York and ends March 20th in Boston. All the dates can be found on our website and the Dropkick Murphys’ website. We did a 2-week long tour of Europe with those guys a couple years ago that was a lot of fun, I’m looking forward to this run.

I read that Jay Weinberg will be playing drums on this tour. How did you initially meet him?

Jay’s been coming out to our shows for years, we became friends. Whenever he would come out he would usually jump up on stage and play the last song of our set “We Laugh At Danger...” with us.

So is George Rebelo no longer part of Against Me?

NORWAY’S FINEST

I wouldn’t ever rule out playing with George in the future, [because] he’s an incredible drummer and a friend. At the moment he’s over in Australia with Hot Water Music and I’m pretty sure they’re going to be working on a new album this year, so he’ll be pretty busy with that.

What else will Against Me be doing in 2011?

A lot of touring, and then working on new material.

Anything else you want to add?

Thanks for talking with me, and take care.

With Turbonegro On Hold, Tomas Dahl Goes Solo In Caddy

BY JOHN B. MOORE

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T’S A PRETTY BIG LEAP TO GO FROM THE HOMOEROTIC punk rock of Turbonegro to Brain Wilson-worthy melodies and jangly power pop guitars, but somehow Tomas Dahl managed to make the jump flawlessly. Dahl may be known best as the drummer for the leather-encased Norwegian punks Turbonegro, but he actually did time in the more pop-friendly band The Yum Yums before putting on his spiked wristbands.

His first solo project (and I do mean solo, having played every single instruments and laid down all the vocals) is Electric Hero, under the moniker Caddy. The album contains more than a dozen beautifully crafted, deeply infectious power pop nuggets that stay with you for days. Dahl spoke to us recently about the album, which was four years in the making.

I really like the CD and must admit it was not what I was expecting.

How long have you been a fan of Power Pop music?

Thanks for digging the album! I guess I`ve always been into pop music.

My dad was a guitarist and a singer in a band in the 60s and he was really into The Shadows and Beach Boys. So I was raised with really melodic music, whether it was instrumental music or music with lyrics. As a kid in the early 80s I was like most kids, really into Kiss. Unmasked was the first Kiss record I heard and it has a more poppy sound to it than the earlier albums. But I guess what really got me into the world of power pop was the song “Missing You” by John Waite in 1984. I remember being totally blown away by the song! It´s a really simple song but great songwriting and I loved how that record sounded. And from there it was easy to find related bands like Cheap Trick, The Records, Rick Springfield etc. For me, power pop from the 80s is the definition of power pop. It was still just pop music but it was more up tempo, guitar-based, melodic songs than the rest of the music in the eighties. It´s timeless music.

Obviously many know you as the drummer for Turbonegro. Do you ever feel like you exist in two separate worlds, punk rock and power pop?

No, not really. I discovered punk rock around the same time as power pop. I come from a really small place in the countryside, one hour outside of Oslo, and the music scene there was just amazing. There were a lot of talented people from this small place, playing in bands, hanging out and discovering new music together. Since we lived nearby Oslo, it was easy to go into the city and discover new music. When I was 15 I joined a band called The Abusers, playing punk rock, writing our own songs and doing cover songs from bands like Circle Jerks, Black Flag, The Queers, G.G. Allin, etc. And we started doing shows in Oslo together with bands like Turbonegro. This was around 93-94. Actually, the first drummer in The Abusers was Knut, who later joined Turbonegro and became Euroboy in 96. The punk scene in Oslo was really great at that time - lots of cool bands, great venues and record shops. It´s not a big city so everybody in the scene knew each other and usually met in the record shops. A friend of mine had this amazing record shop called Wild Mind in the 90s who brought in all the good music. He had everything on garage, punk rock, power pop and alternative music. So there was always a mix of power pop and punk rock people hanging out there. Usually there was a mix between power pop bands and punk rock bands at the shows too, so it was really easy to get into both things. That`s how I ended up in The Yum Yums and got to know the guys in Turbonegro.

How long have you wanted to put out a record like Electric Hero?

I wanted to make a record on my own since I was around 16-17 years old. That`s when I picked up a guitar and learned to play it. I got sick of playing drums. I´d done that since I was 5 years old! So changing to guitar really helped a lot in the songwriting process. I had all these ideas and songs in my head, but I couldn´t play guitar. So when I had a new song I had to sing the guitar melody and they had to try and find out where the chords were. It was really frustrating (laughs), but after a lot of years working in the studio and learning how things work, I knew I could do an album on my own.

Did you play all the instruments on this record?

Yeah, I do all the stuff on it. I wanted to mix the album myself, but I soon found out that I wasn´t that good behind the mixer (laughs). I get a big ego in the studio and think if I do everything on my own, it will sound amazing. Luckily, a good friend of mine who owns the studio I used convinced me I needed help with mixing. The only guest on the album is my girlfriend, helping out with some handclaps, so I didn´t have to do 100 handclaps takes!

Was it hard to find the time to work on this one?

Oh yeah, it´s been a long one! I started with the first songs in 2006, I

think. Some of the ideas was already written in 2005, so it`s been a lot of waiting. It wasn´t a problem once I got in the studio and worked day and night on it. As I mentioned, the studio was run by a good friend of mine and it is a really popular studio for metal bands. And since they obviously had a bigger budget than I had, I got last in line. I could be in the studio a couple of days and then it would take 2-3 months before the next session.

But in between the corpse paint, spike wristbands and German metal, there was time to lay down some cool pop songs. But all in all I used about three years on it… but I`m really happy about it.

How did you connect with the Diner Junkie label (small label in Buford, GA)?

I found Mike (Cammarata, owner of Diner Junkie Records) on MySpace actually… it still works! He liked my songs so we started to mail back and forth and found out that we should put out the album on his label. He has a good taste in music and he knows what to look for in this kind of music, so I thought it was a good match.

Do you expect to write/release more albums as Caddy?

Yeah, I would like to record another album but I`m not sure when. It´s kinda difficult to get a release for a project like this, since I don`t tour and it`s a one man band. But I`m so busy right now working with other bands and working as a studio musician so there´s nothing planned but maybe some time in the future. Right now I`m writing an album together with a band from Australia.

Is Turbonegro still together as a band?

At the moment there is nothing happening with Turbonegro.

There´s a lot of rumors going on that we´ve broken up and things like that. But to be honest I don´t really know. Everyone is really busy doing other things. Hank (von Helvete) has done a Jesus Christ Superstar musical and has just starred in a Swedish movie. HappyTom is busy with his things on radio and TV and the other guys have their hands on many other things. Besides that, most of the guys in the band have families now and are not able to travel a lot and be away from home. But I don’t know if we`re ever doing another album or tour. I would love to do a last album if that is how it´s gonna be or at least a last farewell tour. The three years I´ve been in Turbonegro has been amazing and not everyone gets a chance to be in a band like that. Crazy? Sure but fun as hell! I stepped in on a five days notice, on a four week tour across the U.S in 2007 and was just supposed to do that tour. But I also did a 4 week tour with Turbo together with Marilyn Manson, doing huge arenas all across Europe. And then I got to be a full on member in 2008. It´s been a blast and last year was probably the best shape the band has ever been in. So it’s kinda sad if this is it. But then again, you never know with a band like Turbonegro.

PG 27 • insiteatlanta.com • January 2011

FILM

A PIECE OF THE (30) ROCK Alan Alda On Playing Alec Baldwin’s Dad & The Impact of M*A*S*H On TV Comedy

BY BRAD BINKLEY

T

THEY CALLED ME UP AND THEY ASKED ME IF I WANTED TO BE ALEC BALDWIN’S FATHER. AND I WAS DELIGHTED. YOU KNOW, IT’S VERY FUNNY TO - IT’S A FUNNY FEELING TO WORK WITH PEOPLE WHO YOU CONSIDER YOUR COLLEAGUES AND TO REALIZE THAT THEY ACTUALLY ARE YOUNG ENOUGH TO BE YOUR CHILDREN.

HE LEGENDARY ALAN ALDA’S career has spanned over half a century. The actor, writer, director is best known for his role of Hawkeye Pierce on the classic Television show M*A*S*H, but the multi-talented Alda has found success across the board. Back in 2005 he was nominated for an Oscar, a Tony, an Emmy, and published a bestselling book... not bad for a year’s work. Today, Alda is staying busy with television appearances, films and science. In a recent conference call, the iconic actor discussed his appearance as Jack Donaghy’s dad Milton on NBC’s 30 Rock, his career, and the lasting impact of M*A*S*H on the face of TV comedy.

M*A*S*H was a phenomenal success. How do you compare that with being on 30 Rock?

You know, it’s very interesting. When I first went on 30 Rock -- and this is now the third time I’ve been on the show -- I had the same feeling about the group there that I had when we were doing M*A*S*H. It’s a very collaborative company. Everybody knows where they’re going and what they’re doing. And they all are supportive of one another. They all recognize one another’s unique personalities. And they work with them. They play with them. They work around them. They’re very tuned into one another. Just the same way we were. And it’s very nice to see that’s. It’s a pleasure to see that. Plus they’re working in a way similar to what we did in a very different kind of comedy. It’s similar to us in that they’re taking chances and we took chances. We were officially a comedy but we worked in drama and satire and all kinds of different forms. And on this program I think they’re expanding to another kind of comedy and that’s risky. But the people who love it I think recognize how interesting and funny in a new way it is and I’m one of those people who love it. I think it’s just great.

Given who you were before you started in the industry and all the great roles you’ve had since, what have you learned about yourself that you may not have if you weren’t an actor?

I think it’s very possible that I wouldn’t have learned - well probably a number of things but one of the things I probably wouldn’t have learned was to get in touch with my emotions the way I have to because it’s my professional obligation to. And there are an awful lot of people who don’t have to and don’t get in touch with their emotions.

And I guess those are the ones with children who grow up saying their father was cold and that kind of thing. So that’s one thing.

Another thing is I don’t think I wouldn’t have gotten up so early every morning because for some reason they start - when you’re in front of a camera they start the acting day at 8:00 in the morning. If I just stayed on the stage I could’ve gotten up at noon because, you know, you start a lot later. But there’s also this thing of acting out on the sidewalk in the bitter cold. And the only other time I had to do that when I was a doorman before I could get very far in acting. So it’s not that different. You have some of the same benefits you have as being a doorman.

PG 28 • insiteatlanta.com • January 2011

What advice would you give to actors maybe just starting out?

Make sure it’s the only thing in your life that you can do. Make sure you have plenty of other interests so that when you’re waiting to get work your life will be satisfying. And if you never get work you’ll have something else to go to that you have a passion for. Make sure you have a spouse or a partner who shares your values because that may be the only person you’ll ever meet who shares your values. And I would say study improvising because that gets to the heart of acting which is connecting with the other people.

How did you first get involved with 30 Rock?

They called me up and they asked me if I wanted to be Alec Baldwin’s father. And I was delighted. You know, it’s very funny to it’s a funny feeling to work with people who you consider your colleagues and to realize that they actually are young enough to be your children. You know, Alec and Tina and pretty much everybody on the set could be, you know, is young enough to be a child of mine. And yet there’s no sense on my part that I’m any older than them. I mean, I look at Alec and I think in some way well we’re sort of the same age. We have a wealth of experience that we share. And then I think wait a minute. I have daughters the same age. You know, so it’s kind of - it’s funny when I step back and reflect on it.

Which character currently on TV today do you actually enjoy watching the most?

I love Larry David on Curb Your Enthusiasm. I think he’s really created a moldier character that’s so risky. I mean, it’s amazing that you can enjoy watching that schmuck week in and week out. He’s so offbeat and off base that it’s delicious to see the mistakes he makes. It’s a little bit like Archie Bunker was where, you know, he gave voice to attitudes and a temperament that you never saw before on television and said many regrettable things. But it’s even a slyer version of that I think. I’ve never been on that set, but as

I understand it he writes an outline and they improv most of it. I started out as an improviser, and I was always suggesting on the M*A*S*H set that we do a little bit of improvising. We never did. I see movies now where improvisation is used much more than it ever has been before, and those movies tend to be really interesting in terms of the performances because they’re much more spontaneous.

What’s your secret to having such creative bursts of energy and being able to multi-task?

You know, the only way I could do it and I actually - while I was doing M*A*S*H I did two or three pilots plus We’ll Get By. And then right after M*A*S*H I did a short series based on the Four Seasons. And I was doing a lot of this stuff at the same time. In fact while I was doing the series for Four Seasons both my parents were dying. And I was - I would be writing the show while I was being driven in cars back and forth to hospitals. And that was an example of pressure you can’t - you really don’t know you’re going to get. This pressure just comes at you sometimes and you can’t prepare against it. But the only way I could deal with it was to do what I was doing when I was doing it and not think about the other deadlines that were still hanging over my head from all the other things I was doing.

So if I was going to spend 15 minutes on one of those tasks whether it was being at my mother’s bedside or acting a scene when I knew I had to come up with a written scene two hours after that I wouldn’t think about anything but what I was doing at the time. And that’s kind of a good - it’s kind of good training for the rest of your life even if you’re not having to multi-task because whatever you’re doing deserves the attention you have. That’s

why it drives me nuts when I’m with somebody who -- usually it’s a very young person -- who’s supposed to be having a conversation but is texting while they’re talking.

You really can’t - multi-task I don’t think is possible. You can’t really do two things at once. You have to do one thing at a time and really do it. Otherwise you don’t even know you’re living. You don’t even know you’re alive. At least that’s the way I look at it.

Do you have an idea of the impact you’ve had on pop culture? M*A*S*H has become such a hit that will be remembered for hundreds of years.

Never think about it. I’m sort of aware of it but not the way you’re describing it. And I have to tell you when we were in the midst of doing it, we really had no idea of the impact we were having. We were just working as hard as we could to do good shows. Or as Jack Benny once said, “I try never to do a lousy show.” And that’s actually a pretty good standard. But people - in the beginning we were shocked that people would come up to us in airports and whisper, “keep up the good work,” like we were part of some kind of an underground movement.

And the night that the show ended and we drove through the streets and saw that the streets were empty because everybody was home - about half the country, half the population of the country was watching the show at the same time. And it was a shock to us. We really didn’t understand until that moment what kind of an impact the program had. Which is good because otherwise you’d get a little stiff, you know. You’d get a little self-important.

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Of course, if a fella’s gonna get a swanky watch, his gal should have something equally flashy with which to adorn herself. Mine loves the VAN GALZ HARDWEAR COLLECTION, the latest line of jewelry designed by Miamibased husband and wife team Sam & Fara Sax. The line combines Swarovski crystals, semi-precious stones, leather and other elements to create a look that is equal parts trendy and classic, with a touch of the vintage look my lady really loves. In all the couple has created over 250 distinctive pieces, including necklaces, bracelets, earrings and belts, with retail prices ranging from $30-$300.

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101-IN-1 SPORTS PARTY MEGAMIX (Atlus)

System: Wii Party games do not tend to go over well in my household, in part because we have very few parties and in part because my primary play partner is my 9-year-old daughter. That being said, this title (which lists for under $20) seems like a good value for gamers who enjoy spirited competition, vying to kick butt in events such as archery, basketball, football and soccer. But if you’ve already got Nintendo’s far-superior Wii Sports titles, this one probably won’t add any additional depth to your game library.

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(Activision) Systems: DS, Wii The beloved GameCube classic is back, but with a whole different look. The updated single player storyline features Daniel Craig as Agent 007, with a script from original screenwriter Bruce Feirstein.

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musical fixation to train-wreck fascination, but through her eyes I remember what it was like to see the “Thriller” video for the first time. This fun game challenges you to mimic Michael’s classic dance moves step by step, mining his catalogue of classic hits ranging from “Beat It” and “Billie Jean” to “Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’.” Up to four can play at once and, as much as I hate to admit it, The Experience is one of the most infectious dance games I’ve played.

SPLATTERHOUSE (Namco) Systems: PS3, X360 The holidays are usually the time when all the developers usher out their best family games for stocking stuffers and such. So it’s almost a relief to see a title so unapologetically transfixed by guts, gore and other forms of grotesque.

A reinvention of the first video game title EVER to get a parental advisory, Splatterhouse is a testosterone-fueled ball of blood, brutality and heavy metal mayhem. Horrific monsters await our “hero” at every turn, with adrenaline-charged action and limbs that can seemingly be severed and regenerated at will. In short, it’s a mother’s worst nightmare and a teenage boy’s dream come true.

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HAVE A BABE CELTIC PRIDE Ray Allen On Playing In Boston, Beating SPORTS

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LeBron & His Team’s Primary Goal for 2011

BY ALEX S. MORRISON

N

INETIME NBA ALLSTAR RAY Allen may not have started his basketball career in Boston (he spent seven years with the Milwaukee Bucks and four with the Seattle SuperSonics). But in his four seasons with the team he’s proven one of its most valuable players, working alongside Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce to create the strongest Celtics team since the Larry Bird era.

Like Garnett, Allen was brought to Boston in 2007 in a series of trades engineered by Celtics GM Danny Ainge to return the franchise to its former glory. The off-season moves paid off: The team’s league-leading 66-16 record marked the biggest single-season turnaround in NBA history (they won only 24 games the previous season), and Allen played a major role in their victory over the LA Lakers in the Finals, shooting a record-breaking 22 3-pointers to give the Celtics their first NBA Championship in 22 years.

Now, after signing a two-year deal last summer worth $20 million, Allen is looking forward to another shot at making the NBA Finals this year.

You’ve played for quite a few different teams over the course of your career. Are the Boston fans any different from the teams you’ve played for before?

The fans are by leaps and bounds better than any other fans I’ve been around. I’ve had great fans in my career, people who have supported me and been there for me, but here there is a consensus of fans in this city that if you live here-- Patriots fan, Red Sox fan, Brewers fan, or Celtics fan-- you get what you get. It’s like when you get an apartment downtown, you get an automatic fan pass to one of those four teams. You’re automatic.

They know their teams and they know their players. I’ve been to cities where people won’t mention the team that’s playing in this football or baseball season, but in Boston everyone at some point is going to go to a Red Sox game or Celtics game.

Everybody talks about it.

If I’m on a golf course and the Patriots or Red Sox are playing, people have to get off the course to go watch them play.

What’s it like to play on a team that’s got the talent to make it to the playoffs every year? Is that invigorating for you as a veteran player to know that you guys are probably going to be there at the end every season?

The stress levels go a lot higher because you focus more and you pay attention to the small things.

I always said it was easier on bad teams because you’re done in April and you can go on vacation or do whatever you want. It’s a lot more stressful when you’re on a team that you know you have the ability to go deep into the playoffs. For all our legacies in our career, it’s definitely much more warranted to be in that situation.

What are some of your favorite things to do in Boston?

One of my favorite things to do in Boston is walking down Newberry Street. Especially when the weather’s nice, there’s a lot of good shopping up and down the street. There’s a lot to do – sit there and people watch. They have all these restaurants that you can sit outside and eat at. It’s not like most places because it’s outdoors and it’s in the city. It’s this 20-block radius where you going to catch every

store from side to side. It’s a great time for people watching. My favorite restaurant is Blue River BBQ. It’s not on that street, but it’s a good one though.

That’s where I like to eat most of the time, when I’m grabbing something to eat. I eat mostly at home but I’d have to say that Blue River BBQ is my favorite.

You can get everything, beef ribs, pork ribs, chicken.

It’s not all fatty foods. You can get healthy salads with chicken on it and they change their menu around so they have a lot of specialties. From one day to the next, the menu might be something different you should try because it might be something good.

What about tourist attractions? Are there any that you and your family have tried that would recommend?

The kids always like going to the aquarium. The kids like the penguins. The Children’s Museum is interesting. I think the best thing for people to do in Boston is the Ride the Duck Tour. It’s a big amphibious machine that goes in land and water. They drive through the city and talk about the history of the city. Boston is one of the oldest cities in America, so there’s a lot of history there.

You’ve got the rivalry with the Lakers and the Heat coming on. What are you guys focusing on this new season?

We’re focusing on ourselves: focusing on trying to be a great execution team. Defensively, working together and understanding the solid five man unit is what’s going to be our strength. There’s a lot of teams out there that are good, but we’re focusing on ourselves.

When something like the Lebron James trade happens, do you re-examine your strategy as a team?

Our rules don’t change.

Our rules on how we play defense. We have maybe 3 ways to adjust to play defense and we adjust to the team we play. There will be rules that we use when we play them and we will apply them to other situations or other teams we play. We won’t have any special set of rules.

As you hit your mid-30s, most NBA players start thinking about retirement. How much time do you think you have left in the league?

I don’t know. I try to improve my health by eating better and getting in as much rest as I can everyday. I think I’ll determine that based on how I feel. I don’t want my body to be pushing me. I want to be able to say ok. I’ve had enough and I’m ready to let it go.

Do you have any personal goals in mind in your career before you do end up walking away?

I think it’s just for me to stay healthy. All the other things take care of themselves. The longer you play, the more points you score, the more your numbers rack up, so being healthy and able to get on the court is personally my biggest goal.

And what about your goals for the team?

I think winning the championship is it. It’s a long process. You don’t want to get too far ahead of yourself. Just use each moment to get better and when adversity strikes you just learn from it to get better.

SPORTS

THE 10 Biggest Sports Headlines of 2010

BY DEMARCO WILLIAMS 1. LEBRON JAMES’ DECISION

A grown man who’s honored his contract can do whatever he sees fit for the betterment of himself and his family. No one can deny that as fact. The manner in which he does it, however, is what separates class from being a big, fat ass.

2. TIGER AND BRETT’S SEX SCANDALS

Though Woods’ shenanigans first surfaced in ’09, the repercussions were felt this year. Tiger was scrutinized and brutalized, and all the wear showed on his winless PGA card. Mr. Favre got into his own scandal (allegedly sexting some lady not his wife) and was equally dreadful on the field of play.

3. MICHAEL VICK’S RESURRECTION

PETA and canine lovers may still detest the guy with a passion, but not even your cocker spaniel can deny what the Philly QB’s done in an Eagles uniform this year. With 28 total TDs and just five INTs at press time, the magical Vick would be the unquestioned League MVP if not for Tom Brady.

brilliance) or the offseason (Cliff Lee), it revolved around the pitcher’s mound.

7. MANNY PACQUIAO MANIA

In late December it was announced that Pacman’s next fight would be against Shane Mosley on May 7 in Vegas. Why the 39-year-old Mosley would want to tango with the super-popular, ridiculously-gifted Pac after seeing him demolish Antonio Margarito and make Floyd Mayweather’s corner cower is beyond us.

8. THE WINTER GAMES

Going into Vancouver, the main story was Lindsey Vonn’s quest for five skiing golds. By the time ceremonies closed, new triumphs (Canada’s memorable hockey win) and tragedies (luger Nodar Kumaritashvili’s death) nearly had us forget about Vonn’s two medals.

Tiger Woods

4. SUMMER OF SPAIN

You know about the Spaniards conquering vuvuzelas and everything else at the World Cup. You recall the mighty country discovering America (native Pau Gasol led the Lakers to an NBA title; Rafael Nadal won the US Open), France (Nadal won the French Open) and England (Nadal also took Wimbledon) too. But don’t forget that Madrid-born Alberto Contador also won the Tour de France.

5. NEW ORLEANS SAINTS

Though it had been four and a half years since the levees broke, the area still desperately needed something to smile about. Drew Brees’ crew gave them plenty. The Indianapolis Colts would put up a fight, but in the end, Who Dat Nation (Super Bowl XLIV was the most-watched game ever) was simply too overpowering.

6. THE YEAR OF THE PITCHER- It didn’t

matter if the story was about the season’s first game (Mark Buehrle’s between-the-legs putout), middle of the year (three no-hitters, two perfect games and one should-have-been-a-perfect-game), the postseason (Roy Halladay and Tim Lincecum’s

9. HEISMAN SCANDALS

Though there has been controversy surrounding college football’s most prized individual trophy before, we’ve never seen anything close to the hubbub centered around Reggie Bush and Cam Newton. In Bush’s case, the former USC Trojan voluntarily returned his ’05 statue after his name was muddied in a playeragent scandal. Auburn’s Newton didn’t face the same humiliation, as the NCAA found his father’s actions to be wrong, not the star son’s.

10. UCONN LADY HUSKIES

At press time, the No. 1 Lady Huskies basketball team was at an unfathomable 89 consecutive wins, an NCAA record. You can best believe we’ll have our eyes glued to the television when Maya Moore and Co. go for their 100th straight victory on Jan. 31 vs. No. 3 Duke.

HONORABLE MENTION:

Jimmie Johnson’s fifth straight Sprint Cup title; the Isner-Mahut marathon match at Wimbledon, Butler’s miracle run through the NCAA Tournament.

R.I.P.

Ernie Harwell, George Steinbrenner, Juan Antonio Samaranch, Bobby Thomson, Robin Roberts, Erica Blasberg, John Wooden, Manute Bol, Bob Sheppard, Jack Tatum, Lorenzen Wright, Antonio Pettigrew, Kenny McKinley, George Blanda, Andy Irons, Sparky Anderson, Pat Burns, Don Meredith and Bob Feller

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