www. insiteatlanta .com
jeff corwin
best movies of the year
VOL. 20, NO. 6 FREE
mighty mighty bosstones
new start
galapagos islands top 10 athletes
coby bell
winter education guide
dream theater
get in shape
JANUARY 2012
THE NEW YEAR best albums ISSUE pariah
2012 chelsea handler
REAL HUMAN BODIES BodiesAtlanta.com
BacK to schooL saVings
piedmont peachtree crossing 3330 piedmont road suite 18
404.237.6331 mon-Fri 9-8 sat 10-7 sUn 11-6 TICKETS AVAILABLE ONLINE AT TICKETMASTER.COM, AT ALL TICKETMASTER OUTLETS INCLUDING: PUBLIX, AND SIMON LENOX SQUARE. TO CHARGE TICKETS BY PHONE, CALL (800) 745-3000. PG 2 • January 2012 • insiteatlanta.com
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CONTENTS • JANUARY 2012 • VOLUME 20.6 Atlanta’s
Entertainment Monthly
INTERVIEWS 06 10 10 15 18 22 23 27 28 28 29
Pariah Film Cast of Blast! Malcolm Jamal Warner Coby Bell Chelsea Handler Ocote Soul Sounds Dream Theater Jeff Corwin Tony Sly Mighty Mighty Bosstones GSU’s Ron Hunter
FEATURES 08 11 15 21 24 29 30
15
Year In Movies Education Guide High Museum Night Year In Television Year In Music NBA Preview Top 10 Athletes
COLUMNS 04 05 05 07 13 14 16 19 19 20 22
10
Around Town On Tap On A Dime Events Under The Lights Movie Reviews Vidiots Concert Calendar Road Warriors We Got Next Album Reviews Favorite Things
18
Where will you take you? Start here.
TAKE A 28
www.insiteatlanta.com STAFF LISTING Publisher Stephen Miller steve@insiteatlanta.com Managing Editor Bret Love bret@insiteatlanta.com Art Director / Web Design Nick Tipton graphics@insiteatlanta.com Sports Editor DeMarco Williams demarco@insiteatlanta.com Local Events Editor Marci Miller marci@insiteatlanta.com Music Editor John Moore john@insiteatlanta.com
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insiteatlanta.com • January 2012 • PG 3
Around Town
“Born to Be Wild” will screen all month at the Fernbank Museum IMAX theater. The film offers another view into wildlife rescue efforts as audiences are introduced to the extraordinary people who rescue orphaned orangutans and elephants - saving endangered species one life at a time in the lush rainforests of Borneo. Tickets and visitor information are available online at fernbankmuseum.org.
ALL JAN
The Center for Puppetry Arts will present “The New Adventures of the Gingerbread Man” by All Hands Productions. The show will retell classic stories like “Hansel & Gretel,” “Androcles & the Lion” and “The Three Wishes.” Performances run Jan. 5-8 and Jan. 10-22. Visit puppet.org for more information.
ALL JAN
Pike Nurseries is helping bring warmth into the home with tips and tricks to beat the winter blues. On Jan. 7, the store will help homeowners get growing with a free customer class at 10am. Experts will answer questions, outline orchid characteristics, explain the benefits of houseplants and showcase tools for success. Please visit www.pikenursery.com for local store information.
JAN 07
Georgia Tech is getting an update to Alexander Memorial Coliseum, so here’s your chance to see the Yellow Jackets on an NBA stage. Tech hosts national powerhouse Duke on Jan. 7 at noon. For tickets head to ramblinwreck.com.
JAN 07
Remember Chapelle Show? It’s okay to take a moment to shed a tear. Catch one of the series regulars in Donnell Rawlings at the Laughing Skull Lounge Jan. 12-15. Tickets are just $20-$30. Visit vortexcomedy.com.
JAN 12
Theatre/Film/Performance
Horizon Theatre brings an extended run of “Avenue Q” back to Atlanta on Jan. 13. Tickets for the award winning play start at $30. Call 404-584-7450 or go online at www. horizontheatre.com for tickets.
JAN 13
Yacht Rock Revue will play a special concert at Variety Playhouse on Jan. 14. The band will cover Dark Side of the Moon and Led Zeppelin. Sorry, no Hall & Oats this particular night. Go to variety-playhouse.com for more info.
JAN 14
Don’t miss “Elvis Lives” at the Cobb Energy Centre on Jan. 15 at 7:30pm for a musical journey across Elvis’ life featuring four finalists from Elvis Presley Enterprises’ annual worldwide Ultimate Elvis Tribute Artist Contest. The cast members include Bill Cherry, Ben Klein, Kevin Mills and Victor Trevino, Jr., each representing Elvis during different stages in his career. For tickets, go online to elvislivestour.com.
JAN 15
Music/Comedy/Sports
The Atlanta Hawks host the Cleveland Cavs on Jan. 21 at 7pm for their final home game of the month. Josh Smith, Joe Johnson and Al Horford continue their quest to be one of the elite teams in the Eastern Conference. Don’t miss your final chance to see them in January. Go to nba.com/hawks for schedule and ticket info.
JAN 21
The Southern Museum will hold a family-friendly event called “Trains, Trains, Trains” on Jan. 21 from 10am-4pm. Whether you like to ride trains, watch them or build them, you won’t want to miss this event. Participants will be creating a special train craft, operating model trains and teaching you how to build your own model train layout. There will also be interactive activities including a train-themed story time, a “Thomas & Friends” activity center and railroad music throughout the day. Visit southernmuseum.org.
JAN 21
Other Stuff
What’s cuter than baby Tigers? Nothing actually. Head to Zoo Atlanta on Jan. 21 to meet Sohni and Sanjiv. Enjoy an exclusive visit with some of the zoo’s newest and cutest residents. Participants must be at least 12 years old to feed tigers; participants will handle meat. Book a program today on zooatlanta.org.
JAN 21
The Alliance Theatre will hold its 4th Annual A Tony Evening Gala supporting the Alliance’s education program on April 14, but a patron party will be held on Jan. 27 in preparation for the event. For more information, go to alliancetheatre.org/season.
JAN 27
Jennifer Hudson is coming to a local Weight Watchers Center on Jan. 18 to sign copies of her newly released book “I Got This: How I Changed My Ways and Lost What Weighed Me Down.” The event will take place at Weight Watchers Center (840 Barrett Parkway, Unit 530, Kennesaw, GA) at 2pm.
JAN 18
The High Museum of Art will host Friday Jazz on Jan. 20 from 5-10pm. This month’s performance will be jazz trumpeter, Melvin Jones. The Firday Jazz series is a unique opportunity to see all of the wonderful pieces at the museum while enjoying and audio experience as well. Don’t miss it. Visit high.org for more details and tickets.
JAN 20
CardiovasCular disease researCh Emory University, Department of Psychiatry is currently conducting a research study on Cardiovascular Disease and Depression. 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 to participate in this study, you must have a current diagnosis of cardiovascular 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 conducted at Emory University. Volunteers will receive compensation for their time. PG 4 • January 2012 • insiteatlanta.com
Museums/Exhibits/Arts
DO Are YOUyouNaEED HELP ? Veteran returning
from the war and experiencing some of these symptoms? If you are a woman with a history of childhood sexual abuse, you may suffer from a number of symptoms. If these symptoms are left untreated, it can impair your ability to deal with everyday events, work or even function in healthy relationships.
Nightmares, trouble sleeping · easily agitated or startled · low people who have experienced a traumatic energy,Many changes in appetite · memory problems, difficulty focusing · event likeavoiding you have, may suffer from one places, activities or peopleor all
of these symptoms. You may have nightmares, trouble sleeping, memory problems, trouble Individuals who have experienced a traumatic event suffer from these symptoms, focusing, avoid social situations, or become which are signs ofagitated posttraumatic stress disorder or PTSD. If the symptoms are left easily or startled.
untreated, it can impair the ability to work, socialize and function in a healthy Emory University is looking for participants for a relationship. research study on the effects of an FDA approved
medication for the symptoms of PTSD, memory Emory University is investigating the effects of early intervention in preventing and learning in women between the ages of 25 is a doublechronic PTSD using an FDA approved medication (paroxetine). This and 55 who have experienced childhood sexual blind study sponsored by the VA. If you are a Veteran, recently back from the war abuse. You do not need a diagnosis of PTSD and havetoany of these symptoms, please call to obtain more information and to see participate. if you qualify for the study. Compensation will be provided for participation.
Study screening, health/trauma questionnaires, memory tests, lab tests, medication and MRI/PET scans will beare conducted at Emory University and Emorymore Briarcliff campus. If you interested in learning about this research opportunity Compensation will 404-712-9536 be provided for participation. please call or Please call email Stacy Laddclecour@ at 404-712-2014 or email mdent@emory.edu emory.edu.
Advancing Possibilities ADVANCING THE PThe OSSIBILITIES
LOCAL
LOCAL EVENTS
On Tap this Month EMAIL EVENTS TO ONTAP@INSITEATLANTA.COM January 7: Philips Arena
ATLANTA HAWKS VS. CHICAGO BULLS
Thanks to the short preseason, the Hawks have proved to be one of the league’s most consistent teams. Credit a core group that has been together several seasons. Will it lead to a more sustained NBA playoff run? You’ll find out depending on how Atlanta performs against teams like the Chicago Bulls. Derrick Rose & Company come to town as one of the league’s best. Go to nba.com/hawks for ticket information.
January 12: Atlanta Symphony Hall
A KING CELEBRATION CONCERT
Cellist Yo-Yo Ma graces the landmark 20th-anniversary of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra’s musical tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Performed annually at Dr. King’s alma mater (Morehouse College), this momentous event takes place for the first time ever at Atlanta Symphony Hall at 8pm with Robert Spano conducting. Go online to www.atlantasymphony.org for tickets and details about this special event.
January 12-15: Georgia World Congress Center
ATLANTA BOAT SHOW
The Progressive Insurance Atlanta Boat Show cruises into the Georgia World Congress Center, celebrating the boating lifestyle and 50 years of summer fun. Visitors to the 2012 show have the unique chance to view, board and shop hundreds of boats of all shapes and sizes from the region’s top dealers and take advantage of show specials on the latest marine accessories and electronics. Go to atlantaboatshow.com for more.
January 14-22: Fox Theatre
ANNIE
The classic musical “Annie” comes to the Fabulous Fox Theatre this month. The popular story of little orphan Annie has a Broadway staple since 1977 and delighting audiences since. Come hear the famous songs “Tomorrow” and “It’s the Hard-Knock Life.” Catch one of the 11 shows this month. For a complete listing of show times and ticket information, go online to www. foxtheatre.org.
January 28: High Museum
COLLEGE NIGHT
Come get to know Picasso to Warhol at the High Museum of Art. Strike a pose in a Factory photo booth, drip paint like Jackson Pollock, curate a show in our readymade gallery, and make Calder-inspired jewelry. Plus, check out indie cool kids the Carnivores, neo-soul tastemakers Sweet Release, and join Dance Truck’s dance party with DJ Santiago Páramo at the High’s College Night. Go to high.org for more details.
January 30: Gwinnett Arena
RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS
It’s amazing that RHCP is still relevant after all these years and still making some of their best music. Flea and crew come back to Georgia at Gwinnett Arena in a show not to be missed. The tour is Red Hot Chili Pepper’s first in the states since 2007. They’ll be pushing their new album “I’m With You” along with special guest Santigold. Tickets start at $42.50 and $62.50. Visit ticketmaster.com for details.
EVENTS HAPPENING FOR SMALL CHANGE IN ATLANTA
Know of a low cost event of happening? Event@AtlantaOnADime.com HALF-PRICED THURSDAY NIGHTS SIPS IN THE CITY CALLAWAY GARDENS PHOENIX FLIES
AT THE Feb. HIGH MUSEUM August, Check forLANDMARKS” Deals Through 28, FREE Website “CITYWIDE CELEBRATION OF LIVING Thursdays, 4:00pm – 8:00pm Various Downtown Restaurants Callaway Gardens March 5-20, Free High Museum of 27 Art Around the City www.atlantadowntown.com 17800 US Hwy Various Landmarks www.high.org Pine Mountain, Georgia phoenixflies.org This summer promotion encourages callawaygardens.com
The Museum offers Aextended hoursofAtlanta atLiving half patrons to experience Downtown The Phoenix Flies: Celebration
price Thursday from 4 p.m. to Atlanta 8 p.m. on ice!every Throughout the heated months of Admission tocreated Callaway Gardens is Landmarks was in 2003 by The This is a great way to see the museum’s special July and August, featured restaurants in the complimentary through the end of this Preservation Center as a way to celebrate the exhibitions and collection while Downtown Dining District willrescue be offering month (Price ispermanent $15 for adults, 25th anniversary ofnormally the dramatic of the avoiding the weekend crowds. A guided tour refreshing signature cocktails, hip happy $6.50 per child) providing guests with Fox Theatre, an event that changed Atlanta’s of Permanent Collection highlights istooffered hours and deals that you won’t want miss. the opportunity to forever. enjoy time with their preservation outlook This year, the list at 6:30 p.m. Participating restaurants include Atlanta family and friends reconnecting in nature. includes free guided tours of The Fox Theatre, Grill, AzioPark, Downtown, BLTtheSteak, Max Free admission includes Virginia Piedmont Historic Oakland Cemetery, GIRL’S NIGHT OUT MOVIE SERIES: Lager’s, No Mas! Cantina and The Sundial Hand Callaway Discovery Center, Day Civil War Atlanta Walking Tour, Tullie Smith BRIDESMAIDS Restaurant. Visit the website for a complete Butterfly Center, Sibley Horticultural Farm House, Margaret Mitchell House, the Wednesday, January 11, $1.00 Garden, list deals. Center, Mr. Cason’s Vegetable newofBeltline Park and7:30pm, much more. Studio MovieBrothers Grill Callaway Azalea Bowl, Overlook www.studiomoviegrill.com Garden, Bicycle Trail, Pioneer AMERICANDiscovery CRAFT COUNCIL SHOW IN ATLANTA Log Cabin, Ida Cason Callaway Memorial March 10-13, Regular admission: $13 Make a date withtrails your and BFF’sdaily for aprograms. Girl’s Night Chapel, nature Children under 12: free Out. This new, monthly series at Studio Movie Cobb Galleria Center Grill shows your favorite chick flicks on the big THE UNIVERSOUL CIRCUS Two Galleria Parkway, Atlanta screen every second Wednesday at 7:30pm Feb. 10 - 27, Tickets range from $15 - $35 for craftcouncil.org/Atlanta only $1. The series kicks off with Bridesmaids Turner Field Green Lot and Capitol upcoming titlesAtlanta include 521 Avenue, This 3-day event isPrada, the largest juried fineLove, craft The Devil Wears Crazy Stupid universoulcircus.com Show in the southeast. The show has been
By Marci Miller HONDA BATTLE OF THE5KBANDS 2011 SOUTHEASTERN FLOWER SHOW HUNGER WALK/RUN INVITATIONAL SHOWCASE Feb. 25 - 27, Adults $18 in advance) March 13, Noon-4pm, $25($15 for runners 8th ANNUAL GERMAN BIERFEST
Saturday, January 28,27, 3pm, & 5$12 Youth/Student $7, Kids aretickets Free available Free for walkers Saturday, August 2 under –$10 7pm Georgia Dome Cobb Galleria Centre Parking is free $30 Online, $35 At the Door www.hondabattleofthebands.com Two Galleria Parkway, Turner Field Green LotAtlanta Woodruff Park, Downtown Atlanta sehort.org 755 Hank Aaron Drive, Atlanta www.germanbierfest.com During the fall season, the Honda Battle of hungerwalkrun.org the spotlights the Presented by celebrates thetour Southeastern This Bands summerCelebration event the greatness excellence of 45 Historically Black College and Horticultural Society, this annual premier Join thousands of runners and walkers at of German beer in a family-friendly University Marching Bands. The excitement gardening event promotes preservation this annual event that benefits the Atlanta environment. Complete with authentic culminates atFood the Dome in the January the and awareness of flowers plants Community Bank and fiveand otherfor local German food, activities for kids, music Invitational Showcase, when 65,000 fans through education and artistic expression. nonprofits. Participants can register as a team and fun, the German Bierfest is not only will be on authentic theironline feet, or dancing inBierfest thejuried aisles Show activities include speakers, or register the day of theindividually only German in and cheering for the top HBCU Bands. competition, kids’ activities, Landscape & the event. There will be activities for all ages Atlanta, but the only family-friendly beer Participating schools include State, Discovery Gardens and more. including livethe entertainment & more. festival asgames, well. For price ofAlbany admittance,
Bethune-Cookman, Jackson State, Gates opencan at noon, & walk begin attendees drinkthe all5Ktherunbeer theySouth can Carolina State, Tennessee State, Virginia State at 2 p.m. safely ANNUAL consume.OAKHURST DesignatedWINE drivers are 10th CRAWL and Winston-Salem State, Prairie ViewNo A&M. encouraged attend for free. one Saturday, Feb.and 26, can 4 pm-7 pm under the 21 will be permitted to $25 in advance for of Tasting Glass A-TOWN DAYage GROUNDHOG DAY JUGGLERS FESTIVALdriver consume alcohol. $30 day26,ofNoon-8pm, event March $5A designated February 3 – 5, Friday: 5 10 PM service will also be on site for those who Oakhurst Business District Lakewood Saturday: 10 AM - Ave 10 PM, 11 AM - 5 PM to find themselves in Sunday: an unsafe condition oakhurstga.org 2002 Lakewood SE, Atlanta $20 for festival participants, FREE for general public, drive home. atownday.com Late Night Cabaret $5 Participants in this year’s event will get Yaarab Shrine Center to sample wines from around theconcert, world A-TOWN DAY is a health festival, PIGS & PEACHES BBQcare FESTIVAL www.atlantajugglers.org while allof the businesses in the and a exploring major Awareness August 26 & 27,day Friday 5pm - 11pm celebrating Oakhurst neighborhood. willbenefits be 20 all things10am Atlanta. A-TOWN DAY Saturday – 10pm, FreeThere You’ll find jugglers, unicyclists, yoyo pros, participating establishments and the event the Diabetes Association of Atlanta and The Ben Robertson Community Center, Kennesaw live music and family fun for all ages at the expects sell out quickly. Thewill Fur Bus B-Aware to Foundation. This event feature www.facebook.com/PigsAndPeaches annual Groundhog Day Jugglers Festival. The will be on poetry, hand to live music, cartransport show and participants lots of family main juggling competition happens Saturday from bar to bar. Ticketsacan be purchased friendly events. The event features non-sanctioned at 2 PM. Rules for the juggling competition from Steinbeck’s Ale House, Backyard BBQ, Anything Butt andUjoint, Peach are simple, each competitor has 4 minutes, and Karvana Coffee Shop, all located in Dessert Contest, as well as a Kansas City INMAN PARK RESTAURANT WEEK anything goes. The sanctioned Seed and Feed Marching Oakhurst village. Barbeque Society Professional March 28-April 3, $15 Abominable band opens the ascompetition Contest, is recognized $25 & $35which for three-course meal a Georgia which is a free show and lasts about anCookoff. hour or State Championship Barbeque IHOP NATIONAL PANCAKE DAY CELEBRATION inmanparkrestaurantweek.com so. The judges confer after all the competitors Over $14,000 cash and prizes will be Tuesday, March 1,in7 am-10 pm, Free Pancakes finish andto trophies willPancakes then be awarded. The awarded contest winners. Besides food International House of Savor historic Inman Park with three-course festival also includes free juggling lessons, for sale, from and free music from of Locations throughout Metro Atlantaa number dinners 11Late local restaurants. Proceeds unicycle polo, Night Cabaret, Light local and national acts, festival goers will IHOPPancakeday.com will benefit Project Open Hand, which helps Extravaganza much more! be treated toand a large Kid Zone (withchronic many people prevent or better manage attractions FREE to families), unique vendor On this day, customers will receive one disease through comprehensive nutrition care. THE GREAT AMERICAN MOTORCYCLE SHOW booths and sponsor exhibits. The Silver free short stack (three) of IHOP’s famous $1 raffle27tickets will be3pm sold– and will go towards January – 29, Friday 8pm Wings paratrooper aerial exhibition buttermilk pancakes. All they askwill is team that the charity. The winner of the raffle win Saturday 9am – 8pm, Sunday 10am –jump 5pm into returns to the event, and will the patrons consider making a donation to a$12hosted hor d’ouerves, beer and wine party adults,on $7 kids, kids under 5 free, 27. Freethrough Parking festival Saturday, August Crowds support local children’s hospitals at Park’s Edge for thirty of their North Atlanta TradeRestaurant Center will be treated to Network aPark wonderful display of Children’s Miracle or other friends. Each Inman restaurant will local bring www.northatlantatradecenter.com aerobatics and patriotic performances in charities. Since beginning its National tastes from their restaurants for the winner. the sky. There will be ainhuge, fireworks Pancake Day 2006, IHOP The winner willcelebration be also announced atplace the end of Since 1992, this show has been the to buy grand finale. has raised more than $5.35 millionfortoa the restaurant week. Check the website a new motorcycle and the accessories riders support charities in the communities in complete of participating restaurants. need and list is full of 2010 motorcycles brought
Dirty Dancing, Sex and the City and much the for regional fine more!premiere marketplace UniverSoul craft lovers and The collectors, and offersCircus guests continues itsworksurge the chance to meet and purchase from 17th ANNUAL HANDS ON ATLANTA YELLOW JACKET to around the toptheofcountry. the live esteemed artists from To MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. DAY OF SERVICE entertainment ranks FAN DAY reach first-time collectors and established craft Monday, January 16,6,FREE with interactive funky Saturday, August –its6pm, Free collectors alike, the3pm newest show category for Various venues throughout the city rendition of a traditional Bobby Dodd Stadium at Grant Field participating artists is Handmade Under $100. www.handsonatlanta.org UniverSoul has www.ramblinwreck.com Artists who sell workcircus. for under $100 will have captivated audiences their booths specially marked the for power patrons This day of begin service celebrate of from around the world Festivities atwill 3ap.m. on Callaway Plaza interested in starting collection. individuals engaged in a worldwide struggle with its unique brand with music, prizes, inflatables and games for for peace, reconciliation, justice and social and that blends circus arts, the kids. From 4-6 p.m. the gates will open ATLANTA MOTOR SPEEDWAY FREEand HOUSE economic equity. byOPEN On theater music. and fans can enter Organized the stadium toHands meet the March 12, 11am-3pm, Free Atlanta in partnership with The King Center Founded in players Atlantawill over 2011 Yellow Football be Atlanta Motor Jackets. Speedway for Nonviolent day of 17Social yearsChange, ago, thethis audience seated with their position groups at various 1500 Tara Place,will Hampton service tribute honor Dr.Head and Mrs. willthewatch infield. amazement asKing’s stilt points on playing coach Paul atlantamotorspeedway.com lives, and will offer people of all backgrounds walkerswill make way across a tight Johnson sign their autographs from 4-5 p.m. an opportunity to gain afor deeper understanding rope, horse riders perform death-defying and will be available photographs from Visit the track’s Open House for free. Activities of their role in social change. This year will stunts, and contortionists bend into 5-6 p.m. Please limit autographs to ONE include championship legends racing on the be especially noteworthy in that the event incredible and beautiful shapes. item per player or coach. This willdrawings be will the quarter-mile “Thunder Ring. ”, free mark the inauguration of Hands On Atlanta’s first toyour getown thecar 2011 football for bigopportunity prizes, drive on the track Civic Leadership Program, a grant competition poster as well as schedule cards, ticket CHEERSPORT 2011 withequip the civic purchase of NATIONAL Labor DayandNASCAR to leaders to create execute information andselect other items throughout the CHEERLEADING & DANCE tickets, fans can their for the Labor innovative, ongoing and seats volunteer-driven afternoon. Most campus parking lots will Day Race Weekend, Speedway’s race CHAMPIONSHIP initiatives to alleviatetour localthe poverty. be available. it operates. FESTIVAL LATINO control Feb. 18 –tower 20 and suites, take photos with which by Georgia’sPEACHTREE leading dealers. See foreign and Sunday, August 28, 11am – Freecustom the Atlanta $30 for 2-dayMotor pass Speedway pace car and a domestic motorcycles, one7:30pm, of a kind SIMON GAMEPLAY TOUR Piedmont Park NASCAR Sprint $20 for 1-day passCup Series winner’s trophy, bikes, cruisers, sport bikes, choppers, and Saturday, 20gift @ shop 10am,and Free www.festivalpeachtreelatino.com discounts at5 AMS much more. Kids UnderAugust are Free touring bikes. Get great deals on motorcycles, Discover Mills Mall, Lawrenceville Georgia World Congress Center trailers, leathers, ATVs, scooters, LED lights, THE AMERICAN www.simon.com Festival Peachtree Latino beenRiding the 285 Andrew GREAT Young International Blvd., Atlanta detail products, patches and has sewers. largest family & multicultural event in the MOTORCYCLE SHOW cheersport.net glasses, helmets, resorts, seat cushions, and The Simon GamePlay tour will connect fans southeast since 2000. featured other accessories will getThey bikershave on the open of all ages to the hottest video games before hundreds of exhibitions, family activities, Bring it on…this electrifying cheerleading road in style. they dance are launched and available in stores. and competition features teams sporting events, parades, arts & crafts, ethnic The recently launched Nintendo 3DS foods and outdoor musical performances competing from across America. This gaming system will take center stage with year, it expects to grow larger than ever featuring renowned international musicians a “Nintendo Lounge, ” with couches, with over 9003DS teams participating, from on two stages. The best part about it is that snacks and games. Nintendo will also offer the event is absolutely FREE!! This year, ages three through college. Cheersport “Street Pass, ” tournament-style play using was founded by all-star coaches who loved Festival Peachtree Latino has more to offer, Nintendo 3DScheerleading devices. GamePlay will with new attractions and a larger schedule competitive and dance. feature 10 gaming pods, including 2 mature Check the website for the full competition of musical performances. zones, with products from instrusty leaders schedule. like SEGA, Capcom, 2K and Atari.
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FILM
I’M OUT AND I’M PROUD
The time is long overdue for the African-American community to openly discuss homosexuality. Creative minds behind the eye-opening new drama Pariah get the dialogue started. BY DEMARCO WILLIAMS
A
FTER SEEING PARIAH, A 2007 short film turned full-length Sundance Film Festival selection about a black teenager coming to grips with her lesbianism, a host of emotions run over you. One undoubted sentiment will be about the movie’s authenticity. The acting, dialogue and camera work just feel right. That sort of thing can’t be achieved with eight-figure budgets and six-month shooting schedules. That has to come from within. With this winning indie, it comes straight from director Dee Rees, producer Nekisa Cooper and stars Adepero Oduye and Kim Wayans. INsite recently sat down with the four ladies to get some context behind the powerful picture. When you all saw the finished product, was it everything that you initially envisioned? Was it the final product that you wanted? Dee Rees: Yeah, it was even better. The actresses really just brought the characters off the page and brought it to life and out of their own life. You prepare for a long time with creating a look-book and shot list, so when we got in the editing room for the first day and saw the dailies, we were really happy. Adepero: I just believed in Dee’s vision and believed the story, believed that we needed to do our part to sort of change the face of independent film and film in general. These are just images that we don’t see on the screen and so that alone kept us moving, kept us dreaming to make it happen. Now when you say six years, a lot of times folks would have been turned off or been discouraged with something from start to finish taking that kind of time. What kept you guys motivated to get it out there? Adepero: I just believed in Dee’s vision and believed the story, believed that we needed to do our part to sort of change the face of independent film and film in general. These are just images that we don’t see on the screen and so that alone kept us moving, kept us dreaming to make it happen. It’s interesting she said “images that we see on the big screen.” When you go to IMDB and look at the weekly movie releases, you rarely see any color, you know? What are your thoughts on that? Kim Wayans: Well, it’s disheartening. When I go to the movies or when I turn on the television set, I’d like to see somebody who reflects me and a scenario that reflects the world that we live in and the country that we live in and I rarely see that on television, especially these days. You don’t get it in the movie theaters either. So, you can allow yourself to be depressed by it or you can just take a different approach, which is, I’m just going to keep working on my art. Is that a similar approach to what you’re taking? PG 6 • January 2012 • insiteatlanta.com
Nekisa Cooper: I think now we’re seeing more and more stories being told from many different points of view and that’s exciting and I feel like there is going to be more and more of that happening. I think people in this country and all over the world, no matter whether you’re black or whether you’re white, they’re willing and they want to see different kinds of stories and I think what we’re seeing with Pariah is kind of the beginning of that. It is so universal, so I’m very, very much optimistic and the future looks really, really, really bright and cool and diverse.
Now, with this diverse, colorful picture specifically, you guys’ portrayals are awesome. I left the movie thinking that you were the hard mom and you were the young lady seeking out the identity. What were some of the biggest hurdles to these realistic portrayals? Adepero: The biggest hurdle for me was going from the short to the feature. Doing the short, the short was just fresh and it was brand new to me and so I kinda just jumped into that. With the feature, there were a lot of expectations with the short and so I felt like I had all of these expectations that I put on myself that I had to recreate. Dee, why did you have so much faith in her? Dee: Because she had it. It is so hard to be in front of the camera and it is so hard to fully immerse yourself and Adepero did that from Day One. Through the exercises we’d done, I knew that she understood the character. She’s in the character’s skin and, as a director, there was no need to over talk it or overwork it and I didn’t want to shake her confidence in the role, so I just knew that Adepero is so unselfconscious and pays such attention to craft and body language and she’s doing all kinds of things to get into the role. I just knew it was there. Kim, why is the message important in this film? Kim: Lately you keep hearing stories about young gay children who are hurting themselves, committing suicide and all kinds of things because of rejection, because of not having a safe space where they can go and be themselves because of people teasing them and taunting them. A film like this is really important because it can hold up a mirror to the bullies and the people who are stuck in a space close to the space that my character is stuck in of not accepting people unconditionally and just loving people for who they are, not trying to impose who you believe they should be on them, is a very important message that the film offers. How are we going to get that message into our communities a little bit better? There are still so many stigmas and walls, even in 2012. What should we be doing? Dee: We should be talking. We should be conversing. We should be dialoging
YOU HAVE TO LOVE AND ACCEPT YOURSELF AND IF EVERYBODY LOVED AND ACCEPTED THEMSELVES FOR WHO THEY ARE WE’D BE BETTER OFF. about this. We should not be pretending that this is happening in somebody else’s community or to somebody else’s child or whatever, and open up our eyes and see the reality of what is going on in our own homes and understand that it’s just about love. If you truly say that you’re a loving person, if you’re truly trying to emulate Christ or whoever that it is you’re trying to emulate, he preached love. Love your fellow man like you’d love yourself. Judge not or let ye be judged, or however the language goes. Do you know what I mean? Stop talking the talk and walk the walk. Spirituality, religion, being a good person, all of that is about action. It is not about reading something and thinking, “Oh, that sounds nice and this is who I am.” Well, if this is who you are, let me see that in your actions. Let me see that in how you treat your fellow human beings. Do you treat your fellow human beings with love and with acceptance and without judgment? That says more to me than anything else. I love that moment when your little sister says, “It doesn’t matter what you are.” I wish more folks kind of lived by that. Nekisa: I think the most important thing is you getting to a place where we all can start. You have to love and accept yourself and if everybody loved and accepted themselves for who they are we’d be better off. On the flip side of the love discussion is the hate. There are a number of people who, when they see the trailer, they automatically clump it in the “Only black movies we get are dark, depressing movies.” How do you guys counter that argument? Dee: Pariah is not dark or depressing at all and if you look at the style of it, is very colorful actually. So, if people react to the contrast in it, I think they’re going to see images that are more beautiful than they’ve seen before and see it
as depth. Pariah is by no means dark or depressing. It is very hopeful and there is laughter and light throughout. I think people’s knee-jerk reaction may just be [to clump it with other movies], but if they see the film, they’ll see it is not at all what they think it is. Nekisa: The lack of this type of imagery and these stories in the market creates that environment of “Oh, I know what that is. We only get one of these a year, it is just like that one last year.” And we just need to force people or push people a little bit to just kind of look a little bit deeper, don’t judge a book by its cover. This movie is incredible. You saw it. It has the laughter throughout. It shows a family in a way that we haven’t seen. It shows black people in a way that we haven’t seen. It shows that we’re not this monolithic group of people [judged by] how we speak, what type of music we listen to. Kim, I know you’ve answered this a million times, but are you connected to the In Living Color reunion that’s coming? Kim: Only by blood. [My brother] Keenan’s in charge of it all, but he’s going to get a fresh new cast. If he asked me to do a guest episode or something one time or something like that, I’d sure love to blow the dust off my [Benita Butrell] curler and dress. But he’s going to reboot it with a fresh, young new cast. Nekisa: I love supporting artists. I’m a producer, so I’m producing Dee’s next Focus picture, Bolo, and then I have a new independent film called Five Nights in Maine that’s coming out next fall. What’s that about? Nekisa: It’s about a black man’s journey toward healing. He loses his wife. He’s in an interracial relationship and he loses his wife unexpectedly. So, he winds up getting a call and going to visit his mother-in-law in Maine. He’s never met her and the two of them together work towards healing.
Under The Lights New Theatrical Performances GOD OF CARNAGE
AVENUE Q
Jan 11- 29 Alliance Theatre Box Office (404) 733.5000
January 13 - February 26 Horizon Theatre Company Box Office (404) 584.7450
www.alliancetheatre.org
The Alliance Theatre brings GOD OF CARNAGE, one of the most lauded plays of the decade to it’s Atlanta stage. The show won the 2009 Tony Awards for Best Play, Best Direction, Best Actress in a Play (Marcia Gay Harden) and the Laurence Olivier Award for Best New Comedy. The story follows two pairs of parents as they come together after a violent playground episode between their sons. They meet to discuss the situation in a civilized manner, but as the evening progresses, things become not so civilized. From the playwright that brought Atlanta the unforgettable play Art comes a no-holds-barred new play with a worldwide pedigree. God of Carnage stars Jasmine Guy and is directed by Kent Gash.
www.horizontheatre.com
BLAST!
MEMPHIS
www.cobbenergycentre.com
www.broadwayacrossamerica.com
Women’s · Men’s · Accessories
Born on athletic fields across the nation, BLAST! is a novel art form evolved from the showmanship of outdoor pageantry. This is a unique experience of music in motion. Blast! evolved from the drum corps Star of Indiana. In its initial year, Star of Indiana became the first corps ever to place among the top ten corps at the prestigious Drum Corps International World Championships. Star of Indiana improved each year until it became the World Champion in 1991. Star's performances revolutionized the world of drum corps, bringing an ever more sophisticated sense of musicianship, exciting showmanship, and dynamic choreography to this wonderful genre. Blast! was the winner of the 2001 Tony Award for "Best Special Theatrical Event," and the 2001 Emmy Award for "Best Choreography”.
2010 TONY AWARD ®
BEST MUSICAL
Horizon Theatre’s award-winning production of AVENUE Q returns this month after a sold-out run this summer. The neighbors are nice on Avenue Q, the only address you can afford when you’re fresh out of college, out of a job, or just trying to find your way in life. Princeton, Gary Coleman, Christmas Eve and their newfound friends (played by talented actors and puppets) valiantly seek jobs, dates and their ever-elusive purpose in life. The show takes on new life in Horizon Theatre’s intimate setting.
Jan 31 - Feb 5 Fox Theatre Ticketmaster (800) 982.2787
January 19 - 22 Cobb Energy Box Office (770) 916.2855
WINNER!
MEMPHIS takes place in the smoky halls and underground clubs of the segregated 50's, where a young white DJ named Huey Calhoun fell in love with everything he shouldn't: rock and roll and an electrifying black singer. Memphis is an original story about the cultural revolution that erupted when his vision met her voice, and the music changed forever. Come along on their incredible journey to the ends of the airwaves filled with laughter, soaring emotion and roof-raising rock 'n' roll. The show features a brand new Tony winning score with music by Bon Jovi's founding member and keyboardist David Bryan and lyrics by Bryan and Joe DiPietro (I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change). Memphis won four 2010 Tony Awards including Best Musical and Best Original Score. Memphis is based on a concept by the late George W. George with direction by Tony nominee Christopher Ashley.
TICKETS ON SALE NOW!
Jan 31ON - FebSALE 5 • TheNOW! Fox Theatre BroadwayInAtlanta.com • 800.982.2787 January 31 - February 5 • The Fox Theatre GROUPS 10+ Call 404.881.2000 800-982-2787 • BroadwayInAtlanta.com Fox Theatre Box Office
“WHAT A CAST, WHAT A ‘BLAST’ An exhilArAting evening.” -THE NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
WINNER! 2001 TONY®AWARD
“BEST SPECIAL THEATRICAL EVENT”
Now Open Now Buying for Winter. Bring us Your Sweaters.
ON SALE NOW! JANUARY 19-22 Call 800-745-3000 • Ticketmaster.com or visit the Centre’s box office. Groups of 15+ call 770-916-2855.
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insiteatlanta.com • January 2012 • PG 7
FILM
2011: THE YEAR IN MOVIES BY ALEX S. MORRISON
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ETWEEN FESTIVALS AND theatrical releases, I saw over 100 new films this year. Some were awful, some were good, and some were mediocre. And then there were the movies that stayed with me, and more importantly, held up on repeat viewings. This year, I got to attend major festivals and received “For Your Consideration” screeners, which made it easier to double-check movies I enjoyed. The movies on my Top Ten list became better on repeat viewings, and I look forward to watching them again and again.
10. HOBO WITH A SHOTGUN
Hobo with a Shotgun felt like it was made to appeal directly to my sick sense of humor. The movie is nothing but sheer, unadulterated madness, but director Jason Eisener brings a method to it. There’s a surprising level of creativity in how tasteless it can be, and there’s an art to making a good bad movie. Eisener also had the sense to provide some semblance of sanity to the picture by casting Rutger Hauer as the hobo. Hauer brought a melancholy, angry justice to the story, and while it didn’t make Hobo a serious drama, it kept the balance required to make the movie a delightfully twisted and unhinged schlockfest.
9. HORRIBLE BOSSES
This year saw more than its fair share of R-rated comedies, but Horrible Bosses was the champion. The movie held-up on repeat viewings because it has the off-handed one-liners that sneak through on the first go-round. Jason Bateman, Charlie Day, and Jason Sudeikis had tremendous chemistry and watching them bounce lines off each other as their characters argued added so much to the movie. The flick also gave Colin Farrell and Jennifer Aniston a chance to play against type and both delivered in spades. A great comedy.
8. ATTACK THE BLOCK
2011 also saw far too many alieninvasion flicks. The best one didn’t have the big-name stars, a bloated special effects budget, or a fetish about hiding the design of its alien. Instead, Attack the Block gave a bunch of teenage hoodlums
PG 8 • January 2012 • insiteatlanta.com
a chance not to save the world, but to save their apartment building and do so with whatever non-agerestricted weapons they had in their closets. While other alien invasion flicks built up to a whole lot of nothing with their alien designs, director Joe Cornish came up with a simple, iconic monster that audiences won’t soon forget. Throw in a killer score, thrilling action and a willingness to off major characters, and Attack the Block is one of the best sci-fi action flicks in years.
7. HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS – PART 2
Harry Potter really is one major story with one central hero destined to battle with a single archnemesis. The question with Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 was whether or not director David Yates would stick the landing, and the answer turned out to be, “Hell, yes!” The movie is action-packed, but it still finds time for the beautiful character moments that have put the series far above all imitators. The final installment didn’t coast on what had come before. Deathly Hallows – Part 2 expertly delivered excitement, joy, and heartbreak. It’s a grand finale that’s truly grand.
6. HANNA
At first glance, Hanna seemed like it was a bit outside the wheelhouse of director Joe Wright, whose previous efforts were the Oscarbaiting dramas Pride & Prejudice, Atonement and The Soloist. But Wright proved his brilliant and inventive direction could just as easily turn out a kick-ass action flick. He used his long-take technique and created a brilliant set piece of Eric Bana taking down CIA agents. His energetic editing and use of
sound were right at home when applied to pulse-pounding fights scenes. But the masterstroke was casting the story as a dystopian fairy tale, which turned Hanna into a strange, offbeat, and unforgettable flick that’s so much more than a simple action movie.
5. BEGINNERS
I didn’t much care for acclaimed relationship dramas like Bellflower and Like Crazy. Beginners blew these films away by drawing distinct characters going through complex emotions that translate into something every audience member can appreciate. It earns the emotional payoff rather than stealing it from the viewer. You don’t have to be a 75-year-old man who has just come out of the closet to relate to the character. We can relate not only because of Christopher Plummer‘s tremendous performance, but because writerdirector Mike Mills understood that love isn’t contained simply to resentment or longing. Beginners goes far beyond by jumping around time, memories, tangents, relationships and the result is a movie that understands and appreciates love for the beautiful mess it is.
4. RAMPART
Writer-director Oren Moverman proves that he’s not only an amazing visual storyteller, but his stories shatter our expectations. Just as The Messenger wasn’t the same tired “PTSD Soldier” story, Rampart turns the corrupt cop film inside out. Officer Dave “Date Rape” Brown is a dirty cop, but he knows it and he believes his place in the universe is to soak up mankind’s sins and deal out the retribution we secretly want. Rampart holds a deeply cynical social critique and wraps it in a fascinating character study. Woody Harrelson’s captivating
performance works hand-in-glove with Moverman’s thoughtful direction, and then the glove balls up into a fist and punches you in the solar plexus.
3. PROJECT NIM
Chimpanzee Nim Chimpsky was taught sign language so he could “speak” with humans. James Marsh‘s documentary about Nim speaks to our humanity. It shows our selfishness and selflessness, our ignorance and intelligence, our indifference and compassion. Nim was taught how to sign so we could get inside his head and gain a greater understanding of language. Project Nim ingeniously bounces the experiment back onto Nim’s caretakers, and sends the audience on an emotional roller coaster. The film knows when to add stylistic flourishes, when to use a dramatization and most importantly, when the file footage or interview doesn’t need any embellishment. Nim’s story could have made for an interesting magazine feature, but Marsh transformed it into an emotionally devastating and thoughtprovoking powerhouse.
2. MARTHA MARCY MAY MARLENE
In his remarkable debut feature, writer-director Sean Durkin doesn’t miss a beat in trapping his audience in a razorblade cage that cuts beneath the skin with every creepy, horrifying, and all-too-real moment. Martha Marcy May Marlene convincingly terrifies us by showing the fragility of our sanity and how our minds can become warped not through brute force, but by pulling at the threads of our identity. Elizabeth Olsen fearlessly shows us a psyche that has been ripped to shreds, John Hawkes quietly shows us the disturbing power to destroy that psyche, and both actors do it with unwavering honesty. I saw Martha Marcy May Marlene back in January. It’s still under my skin.
1. DRIVE
Drive is a movie you could analyze frame-by-frame and find something new every time, but you can still enjoy gliding across the slick, cool surface. Every single moment holds our full attention. Director Nicolas Winding Refn provides a master class in how to say everything with an actor’s glance, a well-placed shot, an inspired music cue, and a perfectly-timed
cut. There’s not a wasted frame, and not once does it feel like Refn is showing off. Rather than celebrate his own cleverness, Refn allows the audience to revel in a taut car chase, the coolness of the ‘80s vibe, the shockingly gruesome violence, but none of it is shallow or overblown. Drive reminds us that it’s not enough to simply be cool or detached or heroic. There’s a price. There’s a sacrifice. There is no bonus, no pat on the head, no riding off into the sunset with the girl. The best film noir present a character with a simple choice that will test their souls, and through his or her actions we question our own limits when faced against people with less virtue and more power. It’s the choice between what is easy and what is right. Drive is film noir at its best, and it’s the best film of 2011.
THE YEAR IN MOVIES: A SECOND OPINION
BY STEVE WARREN
B
LAME IT on the economy, but Death is a common thread in my top ten favorite films of 2011. Oh, some are genre films, and you expect a body count in westerns (Rango) and crime movies (Drive, The Guard); but terminal illnesses drive the plots of The Descendants and 50/50, an accidental death sets Cedar Rapids in motion, and Poetry and Into the Abyss explore the justice (or lack of it) meted out to young men who caused deaths. The hero of Midnight in Paris travels back in time and sees people who are now dead, and The Artist is about the death of silent films and one actor’s career. Happy New Year! Note however that at least half those films are comedies, however dark. 2011 will be remembered for the emergence of Jessica Chastain, who came out of nowhere to appear in five major films, often in leading roles. Her five performances are no match, however, for this year’s three by Ryan Gosling, whose body of work, to paraphrase one of his films, looks like it’s been Photoshopped. The award for the worst way to follow an Oscar win goes to Natalie Portman, whose career took a Black Swan dive within weeks of the ceremony with Thor, Your Highness and No Strings Attached. It’s too soon to call it a trend (twice is a coincidence, three times a trend) but I wonder if we’ll see more masturbatus interruptus scenes of family members walking in on bathroom monkeyspanking like in Shame and We Need to Talk about Kevin. Missing from my list are arty films like
The Tree of Life and Melancholia that critics are supposed to pretend to like, while praying no one asks them to explain them; and Martin Scorsese’s overblown, underconnected Hugo. If that doesn’t cement my lowbrow status, I consider 2011 notable for the low-budget sci-fi/ horror films it gave us. Attack the Block, Tucker and Dale vs. Evil and TrollHunter brought back memories of Roger Corman’s heyday, while Another Earth is a classier marvel (though not as classy as Melancholia, with which it shares a key visual effect). I can’t say I was sorry to see the Harry Potter series end, but I’ll be happier next year to get Twilight over with. After a promising beginning, it’s gone steadily and rapidly downhill. It was a year for May-December casting. By the time Glenn Close got to do her dream project, Albert Nobbs, she was half again the age of the character she was playing, which makes it creepy when “he” woos a woman half his age – or one third Close’s age. Michelle Pfeiffer only had to knock off five years to tell Zac Efron, “I’m twice your age!” when he kissed her in New Year’s Eve. And Johnny Depp is twice as old as the representation of Hunter S. Thompson he plays in The Rum Diary. Although I consider it a weaselly copout when someone else does it, I’m alphabetizing my Top Ten this year.
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There just isn’t one that stands out for me as the year’s best picture...
TOP TEN (alphabetical)
• THE ARTIST • CEDAR RAPIDS • THE DESCENDANTS • DRIVE • 50/50 • THE GUARD • INTO THE ABYSS: A TALE OF DEATH, •A TALE OF LIFE •MIDNIGHT IN PARIS •POETRY •RANGO
HONORABLE MENTION
(alphabetical) Another Earth Attack the Block Crazy, Stupid, Love. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo Hanna Horrible Bosses Rise of the Planet of the Apes Super 8 A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas War Horse
BEST PIZZA!
& Multiple Atlanta Locations: www.JohnnysPizza.com insiteatlanta.com • January 2012 • PG 9
LOCAL
FEEL THE BEAT!
Blast! Is One Big Musical Party! BY MARCI MILLER
A
STOUNDING AUDIENCES AROUND THE globe repeatedly since the Emmy® winning PBS performance and the Tony® winning Broadway performances, BLAST! is back January 19 - 22 at the Cobb Energy Centre. BLAST! evolved from the drum corps Star of Indiana, which was founded in 1984 in Bloomington, Indiana. Star’s performances revolutionized the world of drum corps, bringing an ever more sophisticated sense of musicianship, exciting showmanship, and dynamic choreography to this wonderful genre. In 1993, artistic director, James Mason began shaping the evolution of Star of Indiana from a competitive drum corps into a theatrical show which brings the power, passion and precision of outdoor pageantry to the stage in a musical performance now known as BLAST! BLAST! on tour consists of 35 members, two from the Atlanta area and graduates of the University of Georgia. There are over 40 world titles held by BLAST! cast members who comprise three performing sections – the brass, percussion and visual ensembles. We recently spoke to Lance Kindl, who has been a member of BLAST! since 2005 as a snare soloist or percussion swing. Lance grew up in Snellville and received his Masters degree in percussion performance and Bachelors degree in music education from the University of Georgia. What can audiences expect to see when they attend BLAST! It’s in the same genre as Blue Man Group and STOMP, the similarity to that is that there is no dialogue and there is not really a plot. But its all music paired with a visual package as well. Usually there is a pit orchestra for a show, but the performers on stage are the pit orchestra. Our brass band and percussionists move around on stage. It’s very similar to drum
corp or marching band, without the goofy uniforms and hats. There is definitely a lot of acting and choreography as well. What instrument do you play? I am one of the percussion soloists. I have a five minute drum solo, but mostly its just me and one marching snare drum so its not like I’m sitting behind a drum set and jamming for five minutes, it’s a lot of tricks and visual expressions. Tell us about growing up in the Atlanta area. My parents live in Snellville. I started taking drum lessons when I was ten years old and when I got to high school, went into the marching band program. I ended up marching drum corp and went to college, did college marching band at UGA. Since music has been so important to you from childhood, how do you feel about all the cutbacks in music programs in the schools? I think its nuts. When I’m not on the tour I teach drumline in the Atlanta area and I believe in the activity. It teaches kids how to work hard over a long time, not just to get immediate gratification. I don’t think kids are quite getting that these days. Were you part of the Broadway cast of BLAST! I was not on Broadway, I started in 2005 and this is my seventh tour. So I’ve been to Japan three times, and we’re going again this summer. We’ve been around the world a lot and that’s one of the greatest things about the job. You get to travel, have your passion and get paid for it. You get to play music. How is the audience reaction? Well, we end the show in the lobby. We do a little parade
at the end and you get to see everyone leave and people are blown away. They’re smiling, they’re laughing. The elderly people come and say they feel like they are 20 years old again. Then we see kids come by with drumsticks from the souvenir booths and they are drumming on everything and asking for autographs. It’s crazy, it’s a big party. Has the shown been in Atlanta before? The last time it was here was in 2002. I had a bunch of my friends in the show when I was a freshman in college. Several of the seniors had gone into the show so when I got to see them on stage I was blown away. In the back of my mind I was like, I’ve got to do that. Performances of BLAST! at the Cobb Energy Centre will be held Thursday, January 19 thru Sunday, January 22, 2012. Tickets are affordably priced from $25.00 - $60.00 plus service charges and are available at the Centre’s Bank of North Georgia Box Office, all Ticketmaster outlet locations, Ticketmaster. com or via phone at 800-745-3000.
TV
THEY GROW UP SO FAST
Former Cosby Show star Malcolm-Jamal Warner talks about his famous TV dad, his new BET family and his unceasing love of music BY DEMARCO WILLIAMS
O
F NIELSEN’S TOP 10 SCRIPTED shows from the last week of December, three had African-American actors in lead roles: NCIS: Los Angeles (LL Cool J), Person of Interest (Taraji P. Henson) and CSI: NY (Hill Harper). While far from overwhelming, that fact is somewhat refreshing. The Cosby Show, NBC’s iconic take on the upper middle class from a black lens, laid much of the groundwork for the change we’re starting to see on the tube. Malcolm-Jamal Warner, Theo from Cosby, is still getting his hands dirty as he works for change on the channels. Reed Between the Lines, the BET sitcom where Warner plays a dedicated doctor/husband/father in a busy house of five, just completed its first season. Some critics say the show isn’t funny enough. Supporters argue that it sacrifices cheap laughs to hit on pertinent urban issues Mike & Molly simply wouldn’t understand. Warner leaves the debating to others and focusing on the show being renewed for a second season. Why do you think it has taken so long to see a program where you have a stable AfricanAmerican household, the man isn’t cheating, two hard-working folks, good kids. Why has that taken so long to come on TV? When you’re doing a situation comedy that has to be funny week-in and week-out, there are a well of resources that you know always work for a sitcom and, oftentimes, writers have to dip into PG 10 • January 2012 • insiteatlanta.com
that well to make sure that their comedy works. When it comes to a black situation comedy, that well of resources is even more shallow and people are so conditioned to seeing black people be funny in one way that the challenge becomes how do we make these people funny without making them stereotypically funny.
Right. Even working on Cosby and looking at how much work Mr. Cosby put into making sure that the show was not stereotypically funny. I watched him for eight years and it is a challenging road to take to do a comedy where the humor is neither based on being black, nor based on typical black sitcom humor. I watched an episode where your step-daughter permed her hair for a young man’s attention and just looking at episodes like that and it kind of struck me like, “I’ve never seen this kind of subject matter on TV.” It is great that we have the opportunity to do stories that other shows have not done yet. We have a great episode that aired, a sex episode about this girl wanting to have sex with Keenan, our son. It was a really wonderfully handled episode and it was a storyline, like the hair episode, we have never seen on TV before. So that’s the exciting and gratifying part. We’re looking to fill a particular gap. I like Reed Between the Lines, but I also watch shows like Community and 30 Rock. Commu-
nity is one of my favorite programs and I loved it when you guest starred. Tell me some of the major differences between working with both BET and NBC. BET is a smaller agency and a little more hands on, you really have direct access because oftentimes a network and producers can not necessarily be on the same page. With the hierarchal process, it is sometimes really hard to get to the people at the network you need to get to figure out how to solve certain issues. Being at BET, it makes it a little bit easier to have access to the powers that be to solve certain stumbles. Would a show like Reed Between the Lines ever be considered for NBC today? I don’t know. It is a challenging show to do and I think you have to have people who are solidly invested in the integrity of how you treat a show that is perceived as a “black show.” Mr. Cosby had the clout to make sure that everyone at NBC had a certain sensitivity to the images of people of color they were putting on the airwaves with that show. So, I think, without a Mr. Cosby or someone with that kind of clout, either in front of the camera or behind the camera, properly handling the images of people of color, I think it is really difficult to get that on one of the major networks and have it maintain the integrity. I know the season finale is coming up, what are the prospects for Season 2? We finished at the end of the season and, just like every show when they come to the end of
I WATCHED HIM (COSBY) FOR EIGHT YEARS AND IT IS A CHALLENGING ROAD TO TAKE TO DO A COMEDY WHERE THE HUMOR IS NEITHER BASED ON BEING BLACK, NOR BASED ON TYPICAL BLACK SITCOM HUMOR.
the season, we’re in limbo waiting to hear word on the second season. Even when we were on Cosby, there was always that limbo period. You never want to assume or take for granted that you’re coming back for a second season. Malcolm, why don’t we see you much on the big screen? I’m trying, brother. I’ve done some stuff but I haven’t really broken into that field the way I would love to. I haven’t really cracked the feature film arena yet not because I don’t want to, it just hasn’t happened yet. But I’m still working on it.
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Janke Studios Hand Blown Glass Founded in 1996
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FILM
Movie Reviews THE ADVENTURES OF TINTIN (PG)
While Steven Spielberg stays in close touch with his inner child, I’ll admit to being too old for The Adventures of Tintin. I would have loved it back when I was devouring the Hardy Boys books and can recommend it for preadolescent boys today, but there’s not much for most grown-ups here. Tintin looks about 15 but functions as an adult, supposedly working as a reporter although that’s just an excuse to get him into adventures. Based on Belgian comic books by Hergé that are hugely popular in Europe, the movie sends Tintin (Jamie Bell), his dog Snowy and Capt. Haddock (Andy Serkis) in search of “one of the greatest sunken treasures in all history,” which went down with the Unicorn, commanded by Haddock’s ancestor, centuries ago. Also on the trail is the villainous Sakharine (Daniel Craig), whose motives also involve family history. Nick Frost and Simon Pegg provide comic relief (a little more would be welcome) as the police detective duo Thomson and Thompson. Unfortunately, considering the target audience, Haddock’s alcoholism is also sometimes played for laughs. They might have called the movie International Treasure for American audiences, because it has the same kind of silly plot and non-stop action (but a little more intelligence) as the National Treasure series. I’m not a fan of motion capture animation, which seems neither fish nor fowl. One day a great film will convert me, but this isn’t it. –Steve Warren
THE ARTIST (PG-13)
Being done in the style of a black-and-white silent film from the 1920s makes The Artist not old school but pre-school. Imperfect but perfectly delightful, it has received attention for its novelty value, but it can be enjoyed by a much wider spectrum than just those who are willing to take a chance on something different. The plot, about a starlet (Bérénice Bejo as Peppy Miller) whose career soars as an older actor’s (Jean Dujardin as George Valentin) crashes and burns, is straight out of A Star Is Born; but Clint Eastwood’s supposed to be remaking that, possibly with Beyoncé, so there’s life left in it. The other major reference is “Singin’ in the Rain,” which likewise dealt with the birth of talkies signaling the death of silent films, and there’s a nod to Citizen Kane’s breakfast montage. On the plus side, The Artist has Uggie, a Jack Russell terrier that may be the best movie dog ever. On the minus side, too much of the film’s midsection deals with George’s decline and gets downright depressing; and the musical score by Ludovic Bource is charmingly retro until, for the climactic sequence, he draws from Bernard Herrmann’s Vertigo score instead of composing something original. Hopefully the success of The Artist will lead Americans to discover writer-director Michel Hazanavicius’ earlier films, the two hysterically funny OSS-117 spy spoofs, also starring Dujardin. –Steve Warren
THE DARKEST HOUR (PG-13)
Don’t you hate it when your vacation is interrupted by an alien attack? For many Americans the worst thing about traveling abroad is having to deal with foreigners, so imagine how bummed Sean (Emile Hirsch) and Ben (Max Minghella) are on their first night in Moscow, when they’ve just met Natalie (Olivia Thirlby) and her English friend Anne (Rachael Taylor), and these wispy puffs of light start floating down from the sky, vaporizing everyone in
sight. (Nothing is left of the first victim but his shoes, but no one else even leaves shoes behind.) Fortunately our four friends get out of sight in time, along with Swedish a-hole Skyler (Joel Kinnaman), who just stole Sean and Ben’s software idea for a worldwide party app. From then on it’s the usual fight to survive and hook up with the few other remaining survivors on Earth. Electricity has everything to do with how the aliens function and nothing to do with the movie’s impact on its audience. There are some good visual effects and a few suspenseful scenes, but that’s just director Chris Gorak’s way of polishing a turd of a script. –Steve Warren
THE DESCENDANTS (R)
“Nothing just happens,” Matt King (George Clooney) says to Brian Speer (Matthew Lillard), who was the lover of Matt’s dying wife. “Everything just happens,” Brian responds. They’re both right about the brilliant screenplay director Alexander Payne and two others adapted from a novel. It’s so carefully plotted and tightly written that nothing just happens without being part of a plan, yet it never becomes melodramatic because everything just happens organically and believably. Once upon a time in Hawai’i a party girl met and married a man who’s all business, yet in a laidback way. Now she’s in a coma from a boating accident and he has to take care of everything, including their daughters, 10 and 17, after years of being “the back-up parent, the understudy.” At the same time Matt, a distant descendant of King Kamehameha, and his cousins are being forced to dispose of 25,000 acres of unspoiled ancestral land on Kaua’i, knowing developers will destroy it. This is when older daughter Alexandra (Shailene Woodley) drops the bomb about her mother’s affair, of which Matt was typically unaware. There’s a surprising amount of humor, considering The Descendants is basically a “death watch” movie. Clooney slips into his role like an old suit, inhabiting the character so naturally he doesn’t appear to be acting. Matt’s like an ineffectual sitcom dad who can’t seem to do anything right, yet does everything right in the end. Director Payne does everything right all the way through. –Steve Warren
THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO (R)
Remade for subtitle-phobic Americans, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo was pretty near perfect in its original Swedish incarnation. Does making it bigger, louder and longer make it better? No, but it makes it bigger, louder and longer, and thus certain to sell more tickets. It’s surprising that director David Fincher has left the story set in Sweden, forcing his mostly American and British actors to learn accents (which they’ve done well) and lessening the rationalization for a remake. Daniel Craig plays Mikael Blomkvist, the disgraced journalist hired by industrialist Henrik Vanger (Christopher Plummer) to investigate the 1966 disappearance of his 16-year-old niece, who he believes was murdered. Vanger has Blomkvist vetted by computer hacker Lisbeth Salander (Rooney Mara), who later becomes his assistant and more. The family members on Vanger’s private island, “the most detestable people you will ever meet,” are all suspects, whether they’re helpful or hostile to the investigation, which leads to a serial “killer of women.” Mara earns Salander’s title billing, being consistently more interesting than Craig, whose character is less colorful. What’s amazing is that Fincher’s remake is as good as the original, which means there’s a good
THE ARTIST chance the American sequels will be better than the Swedish ones, especially if he directs them. –Steve Warren
LE HAVRE (N/R)
A police inspector and a pineapple walk into a bar... The humor in some of Finnish filmmaker Aki Kaurismäki’s work is so droll it may fly completely under your radar, but you’ll still have a satisfying experience. Such is the case with Le Havre, which can restore your faith in humanity. It’s the most compassionate film about immigration since A Better Life but because of its mix of cultures it has more in common with The Visitor. In the eponymous French port, Marcel Marx (André Wilms) is a poor shoeshine man who owes money to everyone yet is still charitable when he encounters Idrissa (Blondin Miguel), an African boy who landed there accidentally while being smuggled to London. Marcel’s wife Arletty (Kati Outinen) goes to the hospital but shields her husband from the seriousness of her condition. Inspector Monet (Jean-Pierre Darroussin) leads the hunt for Idrissa and somehow intuits that Marcel is hiding him. Kaurismäki calls the film a fairy tale so he doesn’t have to explain anything, including the tacit understanding that informs the instant rapport between the man and the boy. Just for fun there’s a charity concert by septuagenarian rockabilly artist Little Bob to raise cash to send Idrissa on his way. Sadly, this is Kaurismäki’s first film in nearly a decade to get much of an American release. Could we trade Michael Bay for him, please? –Steve Warren
MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE GHOST PROTOCOL (PG-13)
When you leave the cinema after seeing Ghost Protocol, you won’t have to ask your companions if they liked it. Tom Cruise, over-the-top set pieces, a whip-smart
director (The Incredibles’ Brad Bird, in his first live-action project) and wicked gadgets—c’mon, of course, they liked it. The question you’ll end up asking is what part left you salivating most. Excluding the moment where new team member, Jane (played by the stunning Paula Patton), prances around in a peekaboo dress, three thrilling scenes stand out: Cruise’s Spiderman audition on the Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest manmade structure; an incredible foot and car chase through an unrelenting Dubai dust storm; a which-way-do-I-look fight to the death in a parking deck. Either instance would have been the highlight of a typical summer movie, but for them to come packaged in one pulsepounding, easy-to-follow holiday actioner speaks volumes about Bird, Cruise, the super supporting cast (who knew Simon Pegg could pull off the geeky hero?) and the prospect of future Missions. –DeMarco Williams
NEW YEAR’S EVE (PG-13)
MGM used to boast of having “more stars than there are in heaven” under contract, but the New Year’s Eve cast puts them to shame – in quantity if not quality. The script seems to be trying to set a Guinness record for the number of plots, which fortunately write themselves because there isn’t time for anyone else to. Hilary Swank is in charge of the Times Square ball drop. Katherine Heigl’s planning a charity event, with Sofia Vergara as her sous chef. Jon Bon Jovi is singing at both, backed up by Lea Michelle, if she can get out of the elevator she’s stuck in with Ashton Kutcher. Abigail Breslin wants to go to Times Square but her mother (Sarah Jessica Parker) is overprotective. Michelle Pfeiffer hires Zac Efron to help her start a new life. Robert De Niro is dying in the hospital, attended by Halle Berry, while babies are being born to Jessica Biel and Sarah Paulson, whose husbands (Seth Meyers, Til Schweiger) are competing for the $25,000 prize for the year’s first baby. Then in the second reel... This could easily have been a six-hour miniseries insiteatlanta.com • January 2012 • PG 13
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VIDIOTS UPCOMING DVD RELEASES AND REVIEWS
BY B. LOVE & JOHN B. MOORE
BIG LOVE: THE COMPLETE FIFTH SEASON
Responsibility for the problems the Henrickson family is facing fall on the clan’s patriarch, Bill (Bill Pullman), who seems to constantly question why God is testing them. Job was tested, but Bill has simply been idiotic in the decisions he’s made. Season 5 is the most satisfying since the series began, with Bill and family dealing with the fallout of his decision to come out of the polygamist closet after being elected to the Utah Senate. Sadly, it’s also the last in the series.
THE BORGIAS: THE FIRST SEASON
Showtime’s still playing catch-up to HBO in terms of creative original content, but with shows such as The Borgias and Homeland, it’s definitely within striking distance of the cable king crown. This show does for Renaissance-era Italy what The Sopranos did for the mob, with Jeremy Irons in fine form as the cunning and manipulative Pope Alexander VI, working with his two power-hungry sons and gorgeous daughter to establish dominance over the political and military landscape. All in all, it’s perfect for fans of The Tudors.
FUTURAMA: VOLUME 6
If you’re a fan of comics, animation and all things geeky, Matt Groening has to be like
PG 14 • January 2012 • insiteatlanta.com
surgi-Center license 044-287
some sort of superhero. He started with an indie comic strip (Life In Hell), took a kooky cartoon from filler on a sketch comedy show to becoming the longest-running sitcom in TV history (The Simpsons), and now he’s brought his second show back from cancellation to give it a second life. Futurama’s never been as good as The Simpsons, but it’s still pretty damn funny, with the same rapid-fire cultural satire that made Homer & Co. a hit. The 6th season isn’t its best, but it’s still better than 90% of comedies on TV today.
ROBOT CHICKEN: SEASON FIVE
This pop culture-obsessed stop-motion animated skit show spoofs some their old reliable targets, like He-Man & the Masters of the Universe crew and Batman, but there’s also a particularly filthy and hilarious origin story of the Cabbage Patch Kids. Guest stars lending their voices this season include Christian Slater, Macaulay Culkin, Mila Kunis, Gary Coleman, Kevin Bacon and over a dozen more big names. So why aren’t you watching this?
WARRIOR
It’s a cliché to reference Rocky when talking about a movie that centers around fighting. But you’d have to go back to that 1976 film to find a fight film that has such solid storytelling, brilliant acting and emotional impact. It follows estranged brothers Tommy (Tom Hardy), an ex-Marine hiding something about his time in Iraq, and Brendan (Joel Edgerton), a former MMA fighter scraping by as a high school physics teacher. Nick Nolte has a small but stellar turn as their alcoholic father. The movie is powerful from start to finish, and deserves a much larger audience than it got in theaters.
so we should be grateful to director Garry Marshall for getting it over quickly, if not painlessly. –Steve Warren
PARIAH (R)
Pariah began as a seven-minute short back in 2007. But director Dee Rees’ semiautobiographical work about Alike, a sharp young lady coming to peace with her lesbianism, was too much for a short. It deserved the full-length treatment. So, Rees stretched out the script, reconnected with the award-winning short’s lead, Adepero Oduye, and surrounded her with costars (led by Kim Wayans as the insensitive mother) who channeled the original’s tone and authenticity. And if there’s one thing that sparkles here –well, beyond Oduye’s effortless likeability and vulnerabilityit’s the movie’s feel. Everything from the wardrobe to the dialogue (“I’ll pray for you,” the mom says during one of her colder moments with Alike) bites with realism. Some have wrongly pegged this as another depress-fest ala Precious. That couldn’t be further from the truth. Pariah pops with color, occasional laughs and Oduye’s smile. Don’t get us wrong. Your heart will ache as Alike’s family and so-called friends pull her in different directions. But when it ends, you too will smile and thank Ms. Rees for sharing her story for longer than seven minutes. –DeMarco Williams
SHERLOCK HOLMES: A GAME OF SHADOWS (PG-13)
Dr. Watson (Jude Law) has a wedding day fast approaching. Sherlock Holmes (Robert Downey Jr.), Watson’s longtime caper companion, is certainly smart enough to know the big event would come, but when Watson brings it up, Holmes acts as if he’s forgotten. As a wedding gift, the great detective presents Watson with one last murder mystery. The good doctor accepts. Terrible idea. The bachelor party is a fisticuffs-filled mess. The honeymoon train ride is even more of a disaster. Still, Watson shows unwavering patience for Sherlock’s shenanigans. This is much more than I can say for you. As a moviegoer, you’re frustrated that Sherlock’s cool, stopmotion action sequences and breathtaking cinematography get lost in a story that’s convoluted. Too many times you’re left wondering what the crime stoppers are doing or where they’re going. The first Holmes was fun, smart and slightly suspenseful. This one is bigger, broader and, honestly, a little too bulky. But hey, guess that’s what happens when you decide to slow down and get married. –DeMarco Williams
TINKER TAILOR SOLDIER SPY (R)
John le Carre wrote some of the best spy novels of the 20 th century, but it’s time to come in from the Cold War. TTSS became an acclaimed miniseries in 1979, starring Sir Alec Guinness. Gary Oldman channels him in this bigscreen version, and while it may get Oldman his first Oscar nomination, it’s no match for his work in Sid and Nancy or a number of other films. Unlike Mission: Impossible, which has kept up with the times and combines crowd-pleasing action with serviceable plots, TTSS is stubbornly cerebral yet tells its story confusingly – four characters who turn out to be important are given no distinguishing characteristics and flashes of flashbacks are more disorienting than enlightening. As le Carre’s frequent protagonist George Smiley, Oldman is forced into retirement from MI6 with his boss (John Hurt) when a 1973 mission in Hungary goes awry, but is secretly brought back (Ghost Protocol?) a year later to try to determine the identity of a mole in the upper echelon. Though impeccably filmed and acted, this story of British Intelligence is a challenge for those of ordinary American intelligence, and
Smiley’s game of whack-a-mole isn’t worth the effort it takes to follow it. –Steve Warren
WAR HORSE (PG-13)
It’s still the same old story: Boy meets horse. Boy loves horse. Boy loses horse. Boy gets horse in the end. The twist is that it’s World War One that separates Albert (Jeremy Irvine) the biped from Joey the quadruped. The horse is my favorite animal so I’m predisposed to like anything that centers on one, unless it’s on the Food Channel. I’m also a sucker for Steven Spielberg’s brand of sentimentality, and War Horse is E.T. with an older Elliott, a horse in place of an alien and German soldiers instead of the feds. Finally, as an old peacenik, I loved the scene where a British soldier and a German soldier work together to free Joey when he’s trapped in No Man’s Land. If you like war, prefer dogs or cats to horses and think Spielberg’s corny, this isn’t the movie for you. Even I got tired of the goose used for comic relief and thought they could have done a better job with the hairpiece representing Joey’s markings on the 14 horses that play him, but if you’ve ever complained that they don’t make movies like they used to, this story of a brown beauty proves that someone still does. –Steve Warren
WE BOUGHT A ZOO (PG)
This movie is going to make one helluva film school project one day. Zoo is a perfect example of how everything can line up wonderfully in pre-production- great star (Matt Damon), good director (Cameron Crowe) and gorgeous supporter (Scarlett Johansson)- but crumble the moment Action! is yelled. Classes will break the movie down every scene, trying to explain why people didn’t flock to the theater for the real-life story of the Mees, a family that starts life over after the mother dies by restoring a house with a small zoo in the backyard. A student will ask, “But was it even a family movie?” The professor will be dumbfounded, as the film’s pacing does prove too slow for kids. And even with tigers and cute peacocks abound, there’s nary a funny, memorable line. Another student will say, “Was it a romantic romp?” Damon and Johansson touch just a handful of times so that can’t be it either. Finally, someone will yell, “Maybe it doesn’t even know what it is.” The teacher will smile, raise the room lights and give that young scholar an A. –DeMarco Williams
YOUNG ADULT (R)
Charlize Theron is so much better than Diablo Cody’s screenplay deserves, I kept thinking as I watched how terrible Young Adult would have been if they’d cast, say, Jennifer Aniston or Katherine Heigl in it. Theron plays Mavis, a ghost writer of young adult novels who’s on an emotional par with her readers. She returns to her Minnesota hometown with the goal of reclaiming her old boyfriend, Buddy (Patrick Wilson), even though he has a wife (Elizabeth Reaser) and new baby. For some reason Matt (Patton Oswalt), who was invisible to Mavis in high school, becomes her best friend and confidant. He remains crippled from an attack 20 years before by some guys who thought he was gay (he wasn’t), so Mavis remembers him as “The Hate Crime Guy.” Most actresses would try to make you feel some sympathy for Mavis but Theron is happy to let you agree with the person who calls her a “psychotic prom queen bitch.” She’s clearly delusional for thinking she can walk back into Buddy’s life and walk out with him, but you believe her, even if you don’t want her to succeed. The character she most resembles is Billy Bob Thornton’s Bad Santa, but this movie isn’t as good. –Steve Warren
EVENTS
TV
PLAYING THE GAME
Burn Notice and The Game Actor Coby Bell On Atlanta’s Acting Scene know you here, you know what I mean? I BY JUSTIN PATTERSON
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OBY BELL, A MAN SOMETIMES referred to as “the hardest-working dad in showbiz,” has been acting in television and film for fourteen years. He drew attention for the drama Third Watch and is currently best known for the USA drama Burn Notice and the comedy The Game on BET. INsite spoke with him during a recent, much-needed breather in Atlanta.
guess it’s the Southern hospitality thing and I really dig that.
How do you manage having two sets of twins, acting, and doing the Big Brothers program? The Big Brothers thing, I’ve been involved with mine since he was eight years old and he’s twenty-one now. This is the first time that I’ve had two jobs in two cities that are far away from my family. I won’t work more than five days out of town. I want to give everybody hugs and give them baths and get some “Dadding” in The Game on BET – How did that there. At the end of December I’ll be done come about? It was technically a spinoff of Girlfriends with The Game and I’ll be home for about two and a half months. I’ll get but it was always supposed to be its own series. They used IT SEEMS TO ME to be a full time dad, and that be great. I don’t get how an episode of Girlfriends to THAT ATLANTA HAS will you can have a kid and not launch it and it was off to the AS MUCH GOING have that child be the center races from there. The show ON AS LA DOES of your whole world. got canceled. The audience NOW. THERE’S went crazy, went on this How did you get into acting? JUST SO MUCH online campaign and BET My dad was a singer but it picked it up. They marketed HAPPENING HERE. was always just a job. I was it brilliantly and so. . . here AS FAR AS THE always around the entertainwe are. This is our second OTHER SECONDARY ment business so it never season in Atlanta, and it’s MARKETS, ATLANTA seemed like it was something the fifth season of the show. IS UP THERE. that was unattainable. I startWe’re all over the place, ed out being into behind-thelocation-wise. We shoot camera kind of stuff, but I at the Screen Gems lot in kept being pushed in front of the camera. Lakewood, we were at the Georgia Dome. I had done plays and stuff in school, and it We’re all over Atlanta. I’d been here for layovers, of course, but my first time really was something that I liked doing. When I coming here was when we started shooting booked Third Watch I was just a youth out of college. As a young actor, to be able to last year’s season and I love Atlanta! I rewatch and learn from people of that caliber ally, really dig it here. Atlanta has a totally was a great experience. different feel to it. Do you have local favorites that you’re going to miss when you leave? There’s this place on Peachtree, this funky kind of hippie cafe but it’s really healthy. Two Urban Licks is another. It’s really, really good. I haven’t had a chance to really go out, since when I’m here I’m always working and I fly home every week. Plus, it’s just the overall vibe, you know? The way people speak to you like they
PICASSO, MATISSE AND WARHOL ARE HERE AND THEY WANT TO MEET YOU!
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TTEND COLLEGE NIGHT AT the High Museum of Art on Saturday, January 28, from 7 p.m. to 12 midnight, and get to know all 14 of our modern masters. Join us for a night of live music and dancing, gallery viewing and do-it-yourself workshops inspired by the Museum’s special exhibition “Picasso to Warhol: Fourteen Modern Masters,” which features more than 100 world-famous works assembled exclusively for the High from the collection of The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Students and visitors will have the chance to strike a pose in a Warhol Factory photo booth, drip paint like Jackson Pollock, curate a show in a readymade gallery and make Calderinspired jewelry. But don’t stop there! Enjoy live performances by local bands Sweet Relief and the Carnivores. Neo-soul tastemakers Sweet Relief, a group comprising students from GSU, Clark Atlanta and Morehouse, will take the stage at 7:30 p.m. Beginning at 9 p.m., Atlanta-based indie cool kids the Carnivores will keep the crowd energized with their unparalleled garage rock sounds. Not enough? Refuel with a snack at Max’s Kansas City, where Pop art meets Pop life, and dance the night away with an exclusive Dance Truck dance party fueled by the eccentric beats of DJ Santiago Páramo. From 9 to 10 p.m. students can ask Museum staff questions about the “Picasso to Warhol” exhibition via ArtClix, our new smartphone app that incorporates photo-recognition and social media to give
audiences a complete interactive experience. Download ArtClix for free from the AppStore and the Android Marketplace and join the ArtClix community. Students can also view “Trading Places, Part 1: Selected Works from the Collection of MOCA GA.” Highlighting selected paintings and drawings from the permanent collection of the Museum of Contemporary Art of Georgia (MOCA GA), this exhibition comprises approximately 40 paintings and drawing by Georgia artists, including Larry Jens Anderson, Don Cooper, Herbert Creecy, Kojo Griffin, Medford Johnston, Katherine Mitchell, Larry Walker and Rocío Rodríguez. Student admission will be $7 with a valid student I.D. and groups of 10 or more can receive $5 by contacting Group Sales at 404-733-4550 or groupsales@woodruffcenter.org. Students with High Museum Student memberships get in FREE. Food and non-alcoholic beverages will be available for purchase. Tickets and membership information are available online at www.high.org.
What are your thoughts on working in the Atlanta market? It seems to me that Atlanta has as much going on as LA does now. There’s just so much happening here. As far as the other secondary markets, Atlanta is Up There. I think when someone says, “I’m going to be an actor,” they move to New York or LA since they have the largest pools there. I haven’t ever been involved on a casting level like that, but Atlanta’s got everything.
January 28, 2012 7 p.m. to 12 midnight
DANCE TRUCK DANCE PARTY with DJ Santiago Páramo CARNIVORES SWEET RELIEF Warhol Factory Photobooth Calder Jewelry Making Pollock Drip Painting Duchamp Readymade Gallery
$7, $5 for groups of 10 or more FREE for members and students of Brenau University, Georgia College, and Southern Polytechnic State University
High.org This College Night is made possible by Presenting Sponsor
insiteatlanta.com • January 2012 • PG 15
CONCERT C LENDER FRIDAY JANUARY 6 529 Good Foot Anniversary BLIND WILLIE’S Sandra Hall EARL The Polar Dunes EDDIE’S ATTIC Grayson Capps FAT MATT’S The Bluesbenders FIVE SPOT Blue Hotel MASQUERADE Groovestain NORTHSIDE TAVERN Zydefunk PEACHTREE TAVERN Greedy White Citizens SMITH’S Nate Currin STAR BAR Holiday Hangover VINYL The Electronic Sons WILD BILL’S Johnny Arsin SATURDAY JANUARY 7 529 Entertainment, B-R-A-N-E-S BLIND WILLIE’S Houserocker Johnson EARL The Olivia Tremor Control EDDIE’S ATTIC Callaghan FAT MATT’S The Stooge Brothers FIVE SPOT Joe McGuinness MASQUERADE Needeep NORTHSIDE TAVERN Lola’s Elvis Tribute PEACHTREE TAVERN The Dreaded Marco SMITH’S The Kicks STAR BAR Judi Chicago VARIETY Elvis Royale VINYL Legend Has It WILD BILL’S Brat Pak SUNDAY JANUARY 8 EARL Alex Commins & Todd Prusin FAT MATT’S Fat Back Deluxe MONDAY JANUARY 9 529 Swank Sinatra BLIND WILLIE’S Bill Sheffield EDDIE’S ATTIC Open Mic FAT MATT’S Uncle Sugar FIVE SPOT The Jacob Deaton Quartet PEACHTREE TAVERN Tim Tyler TUESDAY JANUARY 10 529 Doldrums BLIND WILLIE’S Boo Hoo Ramblers EDDIE’S ATTIC Sarah Jarosz FAT MATT’S J.T. Speed FIVE SPOT Kevin Scott MASQUERADE Ballyhoo! & Aer VARIETY Sarah Jarosz WEDNESDAY JANUARY 11 529 Featureless Ghost BLIND WILLIE’S The Electromatics EARL We All EDDIE’S ATTIC An Interpretation of Neil Young’s After the Gold Rush FAT MATT’S The Hollidays PEACHTREE TAVERN Southside of the Tracks SMITH’S Drake White STAR BAR Blue Mountain WILD BILL’S Brothers Belvedere THURSDAY JANUARY 12 529 The White Pages BLIND WILLIE’S Heather Luttrell EARL The Long Shadows EDDIE’S ATTIC David Berkeley FAT MATT’S Chickenshack FIVE SPOT Christobel MASQUERADE Platinum Championship Wrestling PEACHTREE TAVERN Bumpin Uglies SMITH’S JW Jones STAR BAR Lightnin’ Ray & The Mystics FRIDAY JANUARY 13 529 Scaffolds BLIND WILLIE’S Houserocker Johnson EARL Sealions EDDIE’S ATTIC Abigail Washburn FAT MATT’S Willy Jackson PG 16 • January 2012 • insiteatlanta.com
FIVE SPOT The Ragbirds MASQUERADE Skullpaca NORTHSIDE TAVERN The Hollidays PEACHTREE TAVERN Eric Dodd Band SMITH’S Hydralites STAR BAR Board of Whores VARIETY Big Head Todd & The Monsters VINYL Ill Communication WILD BILL’S Kurt Thomas Band SATURDAY JANUARY 14 529 Stay Productive 8 BLIND WILLIE’S Big Bill Morganfield EARL Modern Skirts EDDIE’S ATTIC Delta Moon FAT MATT’S Brett Warren FIVE SPOT Wick It The Instigator MASQUERADE The Silent Disco NORTHSIDE TAVERN Ike Stubblefield PEACHTREE TAVERN Stevie Monce SMITH’S Corey Crowder STAR BAR Penny Arcade TABERNACLE Evanescence VARIETY Yacht Rock Revue VINYL Ocha La Rocha WILD BILL’S Slippery When Wet SUNDAY JANUARY 15 BLIND WILLIE’S Tanglewood Tonic EARL Interstate FAT MATT’S Fat Back Deluxe MASQUERADE Battle of the Bands SMITH’S Tab Benoit MONDAY JANUARY 16 529 Gruus BLIND WILLIE’S Midnight Revival EARL He’s My Brother, She’s My Sister EDDIE’S ATTIC Open Mic FAT MATT’S Uncle Sugar PEACHTREE TAVERN Tim Tyler SMITH’S Tab Benoit TUESDAY JANUARY 17 BLIND WILLIE’S The Stooge Brothers FAT MATT’S J.T. Speed FIVE SPOT Kevin Scott SMITH’S The Goddamn Gallows WEDNESDAY JANUARY 18 BLIND WILLIE’S Burnt Bacon CENTER STAGE In Flames EDDIE’S ATTIC Bernadette Seacrest FAT MATT’S The Hollidays MASQUERADE Earthgang PEACHTREE TAVERN Lynam SMITH’S Drake White VINYL Chiddy Bang THURSDAY JANUARY 19 529 Rock Most BLIND WILLIE’S Beverly Watkins EARL Cass McCombs Band FAT MATT’S Chickenshack MASQUERADE August Burns Red SMITH’S AJMF Open Mic STAR BAR Cousin Dan FRIDAY JANUARY 20 529 Rizzudo BLIND WILLIE’S Sandra Hall EARL Carnivores FAT MATT’S Sana Blues MASQUERADE Anberlin NORTHSIDE TAVERN Stoney Brooks SMITH’S Adron STAR BAR Smokey’s Farmland Band VARIETY G. Love & The Special Sauce VINYL Toy Devils
GWINNETT ARENA presents Red Hot Chili Peppers (Jan. 30)
SATURDAY JANUARY 21 529 I Want Whiskey BLIND WILLIE’S Chick Willis EARL Annuals FAT MATT’S Rough Draft MASQUERADE The Bright Light Social NORTHSIDE TAVERN Little G Weevil PEACHTREE TAVERN Black Oak Arkansas SMITH’S New Orleans Suspects VARIETY The Grapes VINYL Echo Romeo SUNDAY JANUARY 22 EDDIE’S ATTIC Jack Williams FAT MATT’S Fat Back Deluxe MASQUERADE Sent By Ravens SMITH’S Jaimoe’s Jassaz Band MONDAY JANUARY 23 529 Featuresless Ghost BLIND WILLIE’S Joe McGuinness EARL Hail! Hornet EDDIE’S ATTIC Open Mic FAT MATT’S Uncle Sugar PEACHTREE TAVERN Tim Tyler SMITH’S David Mead & Harper Blynn TUESDAY JANUARY 24 BLIND WILLIE’S Atlanta Boogie EDDIE’S ATTIC Painted Desert FAT MATT’S J.T. Speed MASQUERADE Led Zeppelin II WEDNESDAY JANUARY 25 529 The Left Field Experience BLIND WILLIE’S Scott Glazer’s Mojo Dojo EARL Twin Sister FAT MATT’S The Hollidays THE LOFT Anthony Green SMITH’S Drake White STAR BAR Little Horn THURSDAY JANUARY 26 529 Gotta Be Karim BLIND WILLIE’S Sweet Betty EARL The Back Pockets EDDIE’S ATTIC Bishop Davidson FAT MATT’S Chickenshack MASQUERADE To Speak Of Wolves SMITH’S Frank Smith STAR BAR Vonnegut VARIETY Gaelic Storm VINYL Gabe Dixon
FRIDAY JANUARY 27 529 Kid Stuff BLIND WILLIE’S James Armstrong CENTER STAGE Marc Broussard EARL Connor Christian FAT MATT’S Dry White Toast FIVE SPOT The Jeff Sipe Group MASQUERADE Mon Cherie’s NORTHSIDE TAVERN Mudcat SMITH’S The Dirty Guv’nahs TABERNACLE Widespread Panic VARIETY Mason Jennings VINYL Elevation WILD BILL’S Fight Night SATURDAY JANUARY 28 529 The Ruination BLIND WILLIE’S Houserocker Johnson CENTER STAGE Mat Kearney EARL The Mountain Goats EDDIE’S ATTIC Gustafer Yellowgold FAT MATT’S Seven Day Fool FIVE SPOT Archnemesis THE LOFT D.R.U.G.S. MASQUERADE Atlanta Winter Beer Fest NORTHSIDE TAVERN Mudcat PHILIPS Jeff Dunham SMITH’S Radiolucent TABERNACLE Widespread Panic VARIETY Zoso VINYL Joel Kosche SUNDAY JANUARY 29 529 Demonnaut EARL Tag Team EDDIE’S ATTIC The Farewell Drifters FAT MATT’S Fat Back Deluxe MASQUERADE Ace Enders TABERNACLE Widespread Panic MONDAY JANUARY 30 EARL Scott H. Biram EDDIE’S ATTIC Open Mic GWINNETT ARENA Red Hot Chili Peppers TUESDAY JANUARY 31 BLIND WILLIE’S Electro Duo FAT MATT’S J.T. Speed FIVE SPOT Kevin Scott MASQUERADE Wolves At The Gate VARIETY Kathleen Edwards
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FILM
THE QUEEN OF ALL MEDIA
With Her New NBC Sitcom, Are You There, Chelsea?, Chelsea Handler Proves Herself One of Hollywood’s Hottest Properties BY ALEX S. MORRISON
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HE’S NEVER STARRED IN A hit movie or on a network TV show. Yet somehow, slowly but surely over the past 15 years, Chelsea Handler has established herself as one of the hottest comedians in show business. Like many of the greatest comedians, Handler’s past was shadowed in darkness. Raised in the suburbs of New Jersey by a Mormon mother and a Jewish father, she lost her brother at the age of 9, had an abortion at age 16, and decided to become a standup comic after cracking up her fellow students in a DUI class at the age of 21. Her rise to fame was hardly what you’d call meteoric. She schlepped around the country on the standup comedy circuit for years, ultimately getting small roles on forgettable shows such as Girls Behaving Badly, Weekends at the D.L. and My Wife & Kids. She hosted the reality TV show On The Lot, but quit during the first season when she saw that ship was sinking. It was actually her hilariously confessional, self-deprecating debut novel, My Horizontal Life: A Collection of One-Night Stands, which ultimately earned Handler her first measure of national acclaim in 2005. In the years since, she’s written three more NY Times bestsellers, turned her latenight talk show Chelsea Lately into one of cable’s biggest cult hits and, now, secured a deal to turn her books into an NBC sitcom based on her life. The twist with Are You There, Chelsea? is that Laura Prepon (of That ‘70s Show fame) plays Chelsea, while Handler surprisingly takes on the role of an uptight, conservative, born-again Christian mother. Borrowing its title from her book Are You There Vodka? It Me, Chelsea, the ensemble show fits well alongside NBC shows such as Whitney, offering Handler her biggest audience platform to date. The 36-year-old comedian recently spoke with reporters to promote the show, discussing everything from what it was like having another actress play her to why she signed a contract to keep doing Chelsea Lately until the year 2014. Why did you choose to play Sloane? She’s a conservative, born-again Christian mother, which is a total 180 from who you are. I wanted to do something that was a little bit more challenging. I’ve been playing myself for 35 years now, so I’m not really getting as much out of it as I would playing something that’s completely against type. It’s been much more fun to put on a wig and play someone who’s very uptight, but still very sarcastic. How did the show come together? Did NBC just reach out to you, or is there more of a story there? No, I met with [executive producer] Tom Werner and his business partner, and they actually came to us. We talked PG 18 • January 2012 • insiteatlanta.com
about the books and how we would create the characters, and then they brought us some writers that we met with. We hit it off and I thought they would have a really good take on the show, formatting it to a multi-camera comedy. We’re all heavily involved, but we let them come up with the stories for each episode and mine whatever they want to from the books, and then we tweak it however we see fit. How will this be different from your cable shows? The process is very different. We tape Chelsea Lately in 22 minutes. After Lately is a different process, but it’s also single camera, so it’s very different than Are You There, Chelsea?, which takes four hours to tape one show. Then you get notes from the network and you get notes from the studio, so it’s much bigger and much more of a collaboration than anything I’m used to doing. Between this, your cable shows, touring and writing books, you must be busy. When do you find time to sleep? Well, I’m in bed right now having a cappuccino, if that answers your question. I could’ve done this call from my office, but I opted to do it from my bedroom! What is it like to have someone else play you, and what was the casting process like? It’s a dream come true! I’m so sick of playing myself, I can’t even tell you… NBC had narrowed the casting choices down pretty well, and as soon as we saw Laura we thought she was perfect. She’s very salty, very down to earth and very direct, which are three things that I identify with. It’s very nice to have somebody that’s just a normal girl– cool and laid back. There’s not a lot of drama. The thing about my books and my life is that drama’s always around me. So it gives me an excuse to look like the sanest person in the bunch, even though some of my actions are ridiculous. She kind of encapsulated that from the minute we saw her, so there was really no question. How much of your relationship with your father will be explored on the show? It’s a pretty sizeable component of the show. We cast Lenny Clarke, who is really hilarious. He doesn’t really look anything like my father, which is probably a favor to America, and it’s not a pure depiction. Every character isn’t a pure depiction of what you read in the book– we couldn’t have somebody actually going to the bathroom in public places without using toilets– but the essence is there. In one of the interviews I read with you, you talked about being an outsider. Now that you’re a major success in various fields, does the outsider thing still eat away at you? I’ve accomplished and experienced a
I’VE ACCOMPLISHED AND EXPERIENCED A LOT IN THIS INDUSTRY. I’VE HAD AMAZING HIGHS AND I’VE DEFINITELY HAD BIG LOWS. lot in this industry. I’ve had amazing highs and I’ve definitely had big lows. I don’t feel like an outsider, but that voice is always there, and there are times where you think, “Do I really belong here?” But they’re very few and far between compared to ten years ago, or my childhood. I’m pretty good about not letting that ever get the best of me, and letting fleeting thoughts fleet.
and use that as a jumping off point rather than starting fresh with another network. With this sitcom, I have three shows going on now, and that’s as much as I can do. With all these things happening, I’d like to get them off the ground before I start making different changes in my career. I’m happy at E!, and they’ve been really good to me, so it just made sense to stay.
Is there anything that you would tell your 20-year-old or 25-something self, knowing what you know now? Yes: Do it all over and do it the same way, because a lot of good things come from it!
On Chelsea Lately you bring in comics that normally don’t get a shot on TV. Are we going to have that same kind of awesome casting with this show? Yes. I think the first thing you’ll notice is that a lot of these actors are unknown, and most of them come from a comedic background. We have a little person on the show; we have a comedian named Ali Wong who’s really funny on the show and plays Chelsea’s best friend; and then we also have Natasha Leggero, who’s been on a bunch of Chelsea Lately episodes, who joins the cast for about seven episodes. They’re all strong actors and strong characters unto themselves, which I think is really reflective of the books. When I watch TV, I like to see real people that all have something unique, and I think we’ve accomplished that.
You recently signed on to do a couple more seasons of your E! show, which is great. But prior to that, you mentioned in the press that you wanted to do something serious. What made you decide to stay on? I realized I was in a position at E! to make the show into whatever I wanted to make it into. If I want to get more serious about topics or talk more about politics or sports or whatever it may be, I have the audience already in place. So I figured I would rather just stay here, where I’ve built the loyal fan base,
Road Warriors
This Month’s Hottest Shows BY SACHA DZUBA JAN. 14 - EVANESCENCE Tabernacle Evanescence return to the music scene is strong one, with their latest album debuting at #1 on six differenet Billboard charts. When they initially stepped into the limelight, I was one of the many to derisively sneer “Lacuna Coil and the Gathering did it first”, though I suppose imitation is the greatest form of flattery. Fallen made many fans and had many radio hits, and ultimately I had to admit that Amy Lee and company really did have some great songs. Her powerful voice is one again at the forefront of their new music, Evanescence (s/t), being their first new album in five years. You can expect to hear plenty of fan-favorites off of Fallen along with a healthy dose of newer offerings. Ms. Lee has a beautifully polished voice and the band is great about giving high energy performances. The intimate moments of Amy performing at the piano are some of the most magical, and effervescent Evanescence performance. JAN. 16 - HE’S MY BROTHER, SHE’S MY SISTER The Earl He’s My Brother She’s My Sister are an eccentric blend of musical styles, swaggering and flamboyant with a vaudevillian flair. Brother Robert and Sister Rachel harmonize their vocals along with playing guitar and tambourine, respectively. Stand up bass, lap slide guitar, and cello round out the rest of the band; along with the glorious Lauren Brown, who adds full-body percussion and energetic tap dancing as their rhythmn section. “Flamboyant Folk”, “Psych-Acoustic”, with their unique instrumentation and a bent to the theatrical, these performers have a sound that is joyous and infectious.
Their audiences tend to erupt in a flurry of dancing, embracing the unusual melding of the modern, the antique, and the bizarre. Another great band to be seen in the intimate setting of the Earl. JAN. 18 - IN FLAMES Center Stage In Flames produces some of the finest melodic death metal from Gothenburg, Sweden. They are one of the founders of this particular style of music. Their intentions were to fuse the melodic guitar style of Iron Maiden with the brutality of death metal. Along with Dark Tranquility and At the Gates, In Flames was one of the first bands to pioneer this style of metal and have inspired and influenced Trivium, Darkest Hour, and As I Lay Dying, among others. Harmonized lead guitar melodies are punctuated by scream-style singing, death metal growls, and clean vocals, creating the signature sound of In Flames. Touring in support of their latest album, Sounds of a Playground Fading, fans are sure to hear classic favorites alongside new cuts. Metal horns required. JAN. 20 - ANBERLIN The Masquerade Anberlin presents an alternative pop/rock sound that brings to mind an Emo version of Third Eye Blind. Their 2010 album, Dark is the Way, Light is a Place, gets its’ title from a line in a Dylan Thomas poem. Darker and less pop-oriented than their previous offerings, it debuted at #9 on the Billboard 200. Anberlin will be going into the studio and releasing an album of new material later this year. Radio friendly alternative rock in line with bands such as Fall Out Boy and 30 Seconds from Mars. Their high energy performances are punctuated by the stage antics and polished vocals from Stephen Christian.
Emo girls and boys, get your punk duds and rim your eyes with some kohl, time to hit the dancefloor. JAN. 26 - GAELIC STORM Variety Playhouse Initially known as the irish band from the belowdecks steerage party scene in the film Titanic, Gaelic Storm brings all the rowdy fun of traditional Celtic jigs, Irish drinking songs and the beauty of Gaelic ballads to the intimate setting of the Variety Playhouse. While their film cameo may be what first captured people’s attention, Gaelic Storm has maintianed that interest and steadily grown their fan base throughout the world. They tour heavily, performing over 125 shows a year. Their latest album “Cabbage” reached #1 on the Billboard World Music Chart. Make sure to grab a beer and swing your fists in time to the music, a perfect way to celebrate the start of the new year. The Variety Playhouse bar serves Guiness Stout, right? JAN. 27-29 - WIDESPREAD PANIC Tabernacle Local Athens boys, Widespread Panic, rock the Tabernacle for three performances. Now considered one of the foremost American jam bands, they are frequently compared to Grateful Dead and Phish for their sublime live performances. Influenced by southern rock, blues, progressive, hard rock, and funk, they currently hold the record for most sold out performances at Red Rocks. Their most recent studio release was Dirty Side Down from a few years ago, but they’re consistently releasing live recordings from their past shows. The most recent live recording released is from the Fox Theatre in Atlanta, GA 1997. The band recently celebrated their 25th anniversary last year and are moving towards a hiatus for most of 2012, so this is your last opportunity to see these talented noodlers for some time. This is an interesting and rare way to see the band, billed as the “Wood Tour”, this short tour (including these dates) will be Widespread Panic’s first-ever fully acoustic tour. See them while you still can! JAN. 29 - RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS / SANTIGOLD The Arena Gwinnett Center
WE GOT NEXT THE AMERICAN SCENE
FEB. 2 - TESTAMENT, ANTHRAX, DEATH ANGEL Tabernacle What’s old is new again, such a true statement when considering that all three of these bands have been around for the past 30 years. This is a show that most rabid thrash metal fans would be thrilled to attend even 20 years ago, and yet this isn’t a reunion show. All three bands are still active and releasing new material. Anthrax is on the heels of a very sucessful tour with their peers Metallica, Megadeth, and Slayer in the form of the Big Four concert tour. Anthrax’s latest offering is Worship Music and Testament have their album The Dark Roots of Earth ready to drop later this year. Death Angel reformed in 2001, after a ten-year hiatus, and have been going strong ever since. Chuck Billy, vocalist for Testament, has battled and survived cancer. These guys are war horses still battling in the trenches of metal; far more powerful than some of the latest offerings of metal, with no signs of slowing down. Not content with even considering a more pastoral lifestyle, these guys are ready for war!
Artists on the verge of making it big
Latest Project: By Way Of Introduction (Pure Noise) For Fans of: Troubled Coast, Daybreaker, Stickup Kid Why You Should Care: Because the Cali-based band may have turned in the best break-up record of the year
BY JOHN B. MOORE
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The Red Hot Chili Peppers have been around since the mid-80’s but their sound hasn’t remained the same. Initially influenced by funk, hard rock, alternative, and punk, punctuated with rap style lyrics, their sound has evolved since then to encompass more focused clean singing along with their funky style. Blood, Sugar, Sex, Magick was my first real introduction to the band and I remember loving “Under the Bridge”. The triumphant return of original guitarist John Frusciante created the magic of Californication and the grammy award winning Stadium Arcadium. Their latest album, I’m With You, is their first album with new guitarist, Josh Klinghoffer. Regarding the album and the new addition of Josh as their guitarist, vocalist Anthony Kiedis noted, “there is no question – this is a beginning,” with drummer Chad Smith stating, “this is a new band. Same name, but it’s a new band.” Check out the new lineup and their new sound, but have no doubts that there will be plenty of hits to spice up the offerings of the Chili Peppers live show.
HE AMERICAN SCENE’S NEW EP, BY Way of Introduction (out now on Pure Noise) is a perfect introduction for the California-based band. With a split seven inch up next, the band is also about to get to work on their next record. Oh, and they’ll be touring the U.S. when not clocking time in the studio. Matthew Vincent took time recently to talk about the EP and why it may not exactly be a break up record. So when did the band first get together? The band was started in 2009 by Charles (Vincent, drums), Chris (Purtill, guitar), Dave (Taylor, guitar/vocals) and myself. Mostly out of boredom and a desire to play shows for fun. I don’t think any of us expected it to become a full time thing, but the bay area has such a strong music scene right now that it was almost hard not to start taking the band seriously as time went by.
(even if the band doesn’t exactly see it as a break-up record).
Is this the first band for all of you? All of us had been in various other bands in the past, both touring and non-touring. Dave, Charles, Zac (Craft, bass) and I had actually been in bands together going back to high school. With the EP, By Way of Introduction, did you set out to write a break up record or did it just evolve into one over time? I wouldn’t say that I really set out to write any certain type of record lyrically. Actually I’m not sure I consider that EP a “break up record” at all, although I could see how an outsider might think that. There are definitely a few songs that deal with a relationship I had previously been in, but there are just as many, if not more songs, centering around other topics. More so I would say By Way Of Introduction is a record about entering adulthood and all of the letdown and emotional struggle that process can involve. Tell me a little bit about the inspirations behind the songs on the record. I look at the songs on that record as almost journal entries to some extent. The album was written over the course of about a year and lyrically influenced and inspired by things that were happening to me and the people around me during that time period. There’s not a lot of retrospective material on the record, it’s very much of the moment. Re-listening to those songs is almost like opening a time capsule with all of
these emotions from a year of my life in there. I think that lyrical mode is a unique tradition in our genre, not many other styles of music pull it off the same way.
to a lot of singer songwriter type stuff and post rock. My fall playlist is going to consist of a lot of Owen, David Bazan, Feist, This Will Destroy You, and The Appleseed Cast.
What was the recording experience like? The recording experience for the EP was a very relaxed one. We self-produced the record and it was engineered by our good friend Aaron Pauley who sings for a band called Jamie’s Elsewhere. We recorded the nine tracks in just over a week at his home studio. He and I have been writing music together since we were 14 so we have a very natural relationship when it comes to music. I think he did a great job.
How do you handle song/music writing duties? In the past it has been primarily me writing complete songs at home on the acoustic guitar and then bringing them to the band, but we’ve been talking about moving towards a more organic songwriting method where we’re all in the same room writing together. We are actually about to start writing material for a new record within the next month and I’m excited to see how things go.
You also have a new split coming out don’t you? We do. It’s a split seven inch with our friends and label mates Daybreaker, a really awesome rock and roll band from Boston. Our side is two songs, one written and sung by myself, one written and sung by our now ex-guitar player Dave. We recorded the tracks at The Panda Studio in Fremont California with our good friend Sam Pura. It was probably the most successful recording session that I’ve been a part of and I’m really proud of how the songs turned out. I consider it our best material to date.
Have you had a chance to tour much since the EP came out? We’ve done several west coast tours this year as well as one full U.S. tour with bands like Handguns, The Story So Far, Troubled Coast, and Stickup Kid. We’re preparing right now for a short west coast tour in December with Troubled Coast in support of the new split.
Do you all share similar musical influences? For the most part yes but we all bring our individual tastes to the table when writing. I listen
What plans do you have for the rest of the year? Right now we are all home working and preparing for this next short tour. We will begin the writing process for the full length soon and hopefully tour more in support of By Way Of Introduction and the Daybreaker split throughout the winter and spring. insiteatlanta.com • January 2012 • PG 19
MUSIC
MUSIC
Album Reviews Reviews by B. Love, John B. Moore and Lee Valentine Smith
ATLAS SOUND – Parallax (4AD) Deerhunter frontman’s “side-project” comes into its own
BL: As frontman for Atlanta indie-rock band Deerhunter and the mad musical scientist behind Atlas Sound, Bradford Cox has long since proven himself one of the city’s most prolific artists. But as he matures and becomes less well known for his various eccentricities (see: wearing Victorian frocks and acting like a Stooges-era Iggy Pop onstage), it has become easier to focus on the gorgeously haunting experimentalism and genuine emotional depth behind his music. Parallax picks up where 2009’s Logos left off, veering from sample-laden folk and psychedelic ‘60s rock to indie-pop or even bossa nova seemingly on a whim. But this time around Cox’s sound seems more focused and accessible, wrapping listeners in a wispy hallucinogenic haze that often recalls classic 4AD bands such as the Cocteau Twins. In short, it’s his most accomplished album to date. Leading off with the “The Shakes,” whose droning guitar feedback evolves into a hypnotic folk-rock mantra, the album unfolds like a wispy fever dream of desire, longing, aching melancholy and passion. The style still varies from song to song, but the ethereal album is arguably Cox’s most cohesive, coherent creative effort to date, flowing seamlessly from the piano-driven frivolity of “Te Amo” (which reminds me of a collaboration between Bjork and Sigur Ros with its soaring melody and playful instrumentation) to the almost Beck-ian title track. The unifying element is a distinctive production aesthetic that’s heavy on echoing vocals, ambient electronic sounds and trippy effects. Like Deerhunter’s excellent Halcyon Digest, Parallax proves that Bradford Cox has become one of indie-rock’s most mesmerizing auteurs. More importantly, it suggests that Atlas Sound has grown into much more than a mere side-project, and may in fact be the vehicle through which he unveils his purest artistic self. NEIL DIAMOND – The Very Best (Columbia/Legacy) The Jewish Elvis remains relevant, 40 years on
JM: By some fluke, Neil Diamond – the once cheesetastic singer that pretty much defined the 70’s, sequenced shirt and all – has managed to not only remain relevant more than four decades after his first record, but has gotten everyone from housewives to hipsters to look beyond the sideburns and Vegas-ready stage show and see him for what he really is: a damn great songwriter. As The Very Best of Neil Diamond (the 2011 version, not to be confused by the 1997 and 2002 versions that go by the same name) proves, the Jewish Elvis had plenty of arenaready sing-alongs to back up the swagger. “Forever in Blue Jeans,” “Cherry, Cherry” and “Sweet Caroline,” (his best out of a career of bests) still hold up remarkable well and can get the drunk and sober alike bonding PG 20 • January 2012 • insiteatlanta.com
The Dean’s List
The brainchild of Longwave’s Steve Schiltz, Hurricane Bells is pretty much nothing like his louder day job. Tides and Tales is a continuation of the low key, enjoyable tunes that appeared on his debut in 2010. The songs are pleasant enough fitting in nicely alongside other indie darlings like Death Cab for Cutie (also fellow Twilight soundtracks contributors) and Badly Drawn Boy. Songs like “Hours Like Days,” the poppier “House on Fire” and the more expansive “Let’s Go” are a nice subtle evolution for the band. If Hurricane Bells continues with this trajectory, they will likely be yet another example of a side project eclipsing the original band. GRADE: B-
The latest hipsters to emerge from this scene were previously best known as Gentleman Jesse’s backing band, but Nocturnal Missions proves The Barreracudas have both the cojones and the chops to stand out on their own. Their sound isn’t exactly what you’d call unique– this is straight-up garage-glam from the New York Dolls/ Johnny Thunders/ Slade school. But the band has charisma and charm to spare, and it’s not difficult to imagine the visceral thrill of chugging down a few PBRs, crowding into a tightly packed club and pogo-ing your butt off along to their infectious anthems with a few hundred sweaty strangers. In short, they’re a perfect fit for Douchemaster Records. GRADE: B
(Self-released) Back, and even better
THE BRAINS – Drunk Not Dead (Stomp) Canadian punks staking their claim psychobilly
in sing-alongs every single time (it’s been proven by teams of scientists and backed up by years of research. Look it up). There have been a slew of Diamond greatest hits packages over the years, but the 23 track Very Best Of is the most up to date, including the solid “Hell Yeah” off his 1995 record produced by Rick Rubin. Somewhere Gordon Lightfoot is trying to figure out exactly where he went wrong. UNCLE GREEN / 3 LB. THRILL – Rycopa MAGNETS & GHOSTS – Mass (MAG Records) Brother’s trying to work it out
BL: You don’t have to be a Collective Soul fan in order to appreciate this new venture from co-founding member Dean Roland, the guitar-wielding brother of CS frontman Ed Roland. In fact, in might be better if you’re not, given the artful sounds of Magnets & Ghosts, which is more influenced by experimental Brit-rock bands such as Radiohead, Doves and Elbow. With Collective Soul on indefinite hiatus, Roland found a kindred musical spirit in producer/musician Ryan Potesta, who initially met Ed Roland at Boston’s Berkelee College of Music and worked with the band on their 2007 album Afterwords. The duo bonded over their mutual appreciation for bands that took creative chances, with a non-traditional approach to songwriting, and Roland has clearly embraced the creative liberation that comes from a complete lack of artistic expectations. The duo’s recently released debut is a huge change of pace from what you might expect given Roland’s involvement. While songs such as “Like A Sunday” come close to the mainstream accessibility of Collective Soul, the vast majority of the songs find Roland and Potesta challenging themselves as songwriters, stretching their sound so much that you might not recognize that the rocking “I Want You” and the piano-driven “Hold On” were actually written by the same band. The album’s centerpiece is the title track, a haunting tune that uses a spacey guitar loop, echoing piano and multi-tracked vocals to create an almost otherworldly sound that could not be further from Collective Soul’s arena-ready anthems. Roland seems to have his attention fully focused on Magnets & Ghosts: He and Potenta recently launched their own label and production company. For those who found Collective Soul’s over-the-top anthems a bit overbearing, it’s definitely a welcome creative step forward.
Rest of the Class HURRICANE BELLS – Tides and Tales (Invisible Brigades) Longwave side project takes on life of its own
JM: If ever there were a band fit to be added to the Twilight movie soundtracks it was the moody, atmospheric Hurricane Bells. And being included on the platinumselling soundtrack to the movie about sparkly vampires took Hurricane Bells from obscurity to indie rock buzz band in no time.
LVS: In the late ‘80s, one of the best Atlanta bands on the pre-Alternative scene was the quirky, decidedly Beatlesque pop quartet Uncle Green. Originally from New Jersey, guitarists Matt Brown and Jeff Jensen, bassist Bill Decker and drummer Peter McDade lived and created in a swingin’ pad in Stone Mountain, crafting a slew of irresistible indie-pop records. As the ‘90s arrived, the successful live act signed to Atlantic and released the sadly underappreciated Book Of Bad Thoughts in ‘92. Then, operating as 3 Lb. Thrill, the group released the grungy Vulture on Sony’s 57 label. That’s where Rycopa comes in. Fourteen years ago, 3 Lb. Thrill turned in the tapes that comprise this album to the powersthat-be at Sony. The label wasn’t exactly what you’d call thrilled, and the massive 32-song collection was never issued. Last summer, funded by a Kickstarter campaign, the album was refinanced and re-mastered. Though tastes and trends have changed since it was originally recorded, the expansive 2-CD set remains a timeless delight from start to finish. Granted, the sheer number of songs can be a weighty listen (especially in an age of instant iTunes shuffle gratification), with almost four LPs’ worth of great music. As usual, principle songwriters Jensen and Brown take turns on the leads, blending harmoniously in Lennon-McCartney unity, offering a set of tunes that meld jangly Uncle Green-type songs (“Not In Range,” “Geronimo“) with at least a full album’s worth that would have worked as a heavier 3 Lb. Thrill follow-up. With obvious nods to The Beatles, Byrds and Dylan, and the occasional psychedelic swirl, introspective acoustic ruminations and even some tongue-incheek funk, Rycopa grooves at the smart pop crossroads where Richard Brautigan meets TMZ: twisted takes on life and relationships take pop-culture-injected inspirations from television, books, movies and even strip malls. GRADE: B+ THE BARRERACUDAS – Nocturnal Missions (Douchemaster) Another effort from the ATL’s garage-rock haven
BL: I’m not exactly sure when Atlanta replaced Detroit as America’s hottest garagerock haven. But, with the Black Lips, Gringo Star, Coathangers, King Khan & the Shrines and numerous other bands making noise on a national level, the city’s status as prime breeding ground for the genre is undeniable.
to
JM: My, my what The Cramps have started. In the 30-plus years since Lux Interior and his crew combined horrorshow themes, punk rock and rockabilliy there have been a shocking number of groups that have used the same formula – enough to establish a pretty sizable subgenre. There are some dreadful examples, but Canada’s The Brains, thankfully, are one of the best. On Drunk Not Dead, their third and latest release, the band has turned in their most consistent collection of songs yet. An appropriate 13 tracks, filled with ditties themed around the macabre, fast cars and resilience. The album also includes their infectious new anthem “We Are the Brains,” likely to be a show staple from here on. Rene de La Muerte croons like Torme and his double speed guitar fits in nicely backed by the hyper speed drumming of Pat Kadavar and smooth stand up bass of Colin the Dead, one of the best rhythm sections in punk rock. There are a few missteps, like the muddled “Oh Murder,” but far more shining moments on Drunk Not Dead to make up for it. Long live the undead. GRADE: B THE BEACH BOYS – Smile Sessions (Capitol) The best unfinished rock albumin history gets deluxe treatment
JM: For decades, the follow up to The Beach Boys’ brilliant Pet Sounds was one of rock and roll’s best urban legends. Sure they eventually threw up their hands and released the so-so album Smiley Smile in 1967, but there was always talk of what was almost released. A sonically-layered masterpiece, bootlegs dripped out in the years that followed and in 1993, Brian Wilson finally released, a newly recorded version of the Smile as it was originally intended (but it still wasn’t the original record was the classic Beach Boys line up). Now Capitol Records is finally offering fans the Holly Grail: the original Smile Sessions. Recorded between 1966 and ’67, this version of is culled from the original master tapes (not re-recordings like the ’93 version). Spread over two CDs, it includes a collection of core session tracks (40 in all) and plenty of demos and alternate takes. There is also a massive box set available that includes five CDs, two LPs and two 7” singles. The between takes banter offers curious insight into the making of a classic album. It took more than 40 years, but the longfabled record is finally here and it was worth the wait.
FILM
2011: TV YEAR IN REVIEW
Our Picks For The Top 10 Shows of The Year * BY BRET LOVE
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ET’S START OFF BY TALKING about that pesky asterisk, shall we? The downside of being a fulltime freelance writer, entrepreneur (I own GreenGlobalTravel.com), world traveler, improv comedy performer and father is that I do not have nearly as much time to watch TV as I did in my 20s. Until this year, I actually watched so little TV that I cancelled my cable subscription, preferring to watch my favorite shows on DVD in one marathon stretch. But in the last few years, a funny thing happened: TV got good. Like, REALLY good. And so I’ve debated whether to bite the bullet and cough up the $50 a month to get HBO, Showtime, etc. As a result, I have not yet seen critically acclaimed favorites such as Game Of Thrones, Homeland or Boardwalk Empire. Therefore, the 10th slot on this left will be left open to accommodate those shows, which I am quite certain I will love… someday.
BREAKING BAD
Season 4 of AMC’s hit show about a high school science teacher who turns to making methamphetamines after being diagnosed with terminal cancer was arguably its most dramatic and visceral to date. The writers amped up the chess match of escalating tension between Walt (the always excellent Bryan Cranston) and Gus (Giancarlo Esposito) over the course of 13 gripping episodes, gradually building to a dynamic crescendo. And the supporting players– Aaron Paul as Jesse, Anna Gunn as Skyler, Dean Norris as Hank and Bob Oedenkirk as Saul– have never been better, each playing their part in ratcheting up the edge-of-your-seat tension. The only question about creator Vince Gilligan’s masterpiece now is, how the hell is gonna top himself in Season 5?
FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS
I rarely mourn the passing of a TV show, especially a drama. It’s become a cliché to say that Friday Night Lights is a football show that’s not really about football, but the truth is executive producer Peter Berg’s creative vision rarely made a misstep, creating one of the most realistic portrayals of teenage life in the history of television. At the center of it all was Kyle Chandler’s Coach Eric Taylor and Connie Britton as his feisty-but-supportive wife Tami: Their words and relationships– with each other, with daughter Julie (Aimee Teegarden), with their friends and with the kids on the team– never felt anything less than completely genuine. Coach’s motto, “Clear eyes, full hearts, can’t lose,” will resonate with me for the rest of my life, but there were no clear eyes in our house on the night of the emotional finale.
COMMUNITY
If you’re one of those people who wonders “What’s wrong with America?” you can look to the fact that the brilliant Community teeters on the brink of cancellation (NBC is officially listing it as “on hiatus”) while shows like Real Housewives continue to draw huge numbers for supporting evidence that our nation is dumber than a box of rocks. This is NOT lowest-common-denominator comedy: From episodes built around 7 alternative timelines to pointed Glee-style musical parodies, from spaghetti western paeans to flashbacks to episodes that never happened, creator Dan
Harmon takes more chances than any other show on network TV. Sure, the jokes don’t always work, but he sticks the landing more often than not and, when he does, it’s the most LOL-able pop culture-skewering comedy on television.
humor from scenes without ever going over the top. But this show is the definition of ensemble, and every single character– from macho man Ron to “awesome” Chris, from slick huckster Tom to dumb-as-bricks Andy, from sardonic April to low-key Ben– plays an integral role in this show’s hilariously expansive universe.
THE AMAZING RACE
LOUIE
Where the aforementioned comedy specializes in surrealist absurdity, Louie C.K.’s increasingly compelling semi-autobiographical show gets laughs simply by keeping it real, allowing the veteran standup comedian to follow his moody muse wherever she may lead him. The show is often intensely personal to the point of discomfort, but it never comes across as shtick. Instead, it feels as if the show’s namesake is slicing open his mind, body and soul, pouring the contents out onto the screen as he ruminates on subjects that run the gamut from love, sex and divorce to parenting, war and death. Part comedy, part drama, but all Louie (he writes, directs and stars, the show is like nothing else on television, using standup routines, vignettes and anecdotal aside to create an intense viewing experience that all but dares views to feel something.
SONS OF ANARCHY
If I have one guilty TV pleasure, it’s Kurt Sutter’s rough ‘n’ tumble drama about outlaw bikers and the tramp stamped women who love them. Sutter & Co. ramped up the dramatic tension on SAMCRO big-time in Season 4, when it seemed like Jax Teller (Charlie Hunnam) and his ol’ lady Tara (Maggie Siff) couldn’t catch a break, whether from the Mayans, the Niners, the IRA, the Feds, new sheriff in town Eli Roosevelt (Rockman Dunbar), rival drug cartels, his ex-wife, stepdad Clay (Ron Perlman), or his mom (the excellent Katey Sagal). It’s been obvious that SAMCRO’s free ride was going to come to an end– the only question was when and how. It was a blast watching the tension mount before everything fell apart. Now that Jax has taken the club gavel by force, it should prove equally fascinating to watch them rebuild in Season 5.
PARKS & RECREATION
There are other TV sitcoms that are more incisive, more original, and perhaps even funnier. But I don’t recall many that were more optimistic and endlessly upbeat than this quirky comedy about the employees of a Parks & Recreation Department in the tiny town of Pawnee, IN. Amy Poehler, who we’ve loved since her days on Upright Citizens Brigade, continuously proves herself one of the most gifted comedic actresses in the business, using her improv background to mine every drop of
I largely kicked my reality TV addiction years ago. But The Amazing Race continues to elevate the genre by focusing less on gimmicks (see: emotionally manipulative editing) and more on creative challenges that cause genuine distress for the contestants. We never, ever forget that “We’re racing for a MILLION dollars!” even as the teams’ troubles are overshadowed by gorgeous scenery from some of the world’s most intriguing travel destinations. The casting remains genius, from cute elderly couples who go surprisingly deep into the game to bromantic Christian snowboarders who just want to enjoy the ride. A decade ago, I dreamed of going on Survivor. Now, I imagine the day when host Phil Keoghan says, “You’re Team #1!”
ARCHER
I would love this show even if I weren’t friends with two of its stars (Amber Nash and Lucky Yates, my former castmates at Dad’s Garage Theatre). In its second season, creator Adam Reed’s sexy, silly animated spy comedy cemented its status as a bona-fide cult hit, thanks in no small part to the rapidfire delivery of its voice talent. From H. Jon Benjamin’s super-spy Sterling Archer to Aisha Tyler’s sizzling sexpot Lana Kane, from Jessica Walter’s delightfully self-possessed Mallory Archer to Nash’s fan favorite, HR Director Pam Poovey, the show is stocked to the gills with crazy characters that constantly find themselves in even crazier situations. The timeless look, bawdy tone and inventively edgy dialogue make Archer one of the most brilliantly one-of-a-kind animated shows ever made.
THE WALKING DEAD
This post-apocalyptic horror show lumbered onto this list by the skin of its zombified knuckles. But, after a killer first season, a promising start to the second season and an awesome mid-season cliffhanger (it returns in February), we’re willing to give it the benefit of the doubt. The show follows a group of survivors who band together after a zombie outbreak renders the world a complete disaster. But this year there was just as much drama off-screen, as show-runner Frank Darabont left (reportedly fired due to unwillingness to slash his budget) and executive producer Glen Mazzara stepped in. A few transitional episodes were a little slow for some fans’ tastes, with more focus on interpersonal relationships than zombiekilling. But, with Mazzara’s background on The Shield, we’re willing to give him the benefit of the doubt.
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WWW.CDWAREHOUSEATL.COM insiteatlanta.com • January 2012 • PG 21
MUSIC
OCOTE SOUL SOUNDS
Members of Antibalas and Grupo Fantasma Collaborate, Produce One of 2011’s Best Albums BY B. LOVE
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HANCES ARE GOOD THAT you haven’t heard of Ocote Soul Sounds just yet. But if you’re a fan of African rhythms, old school funk and soul music, and/or Latin rock, the group should definitely be on your radar, as their latest LP Taurus was easily among 2011’s best albums. Formed by Martín Perna (founder of Brooklyn’s Antibalas, a.k.a. the backing band for the Broadway hit Fela!) and Adrian Quesada (founder of Austin’s popular Latin rock outfit Grupo Fantasma), the group is hardly what you’d call a mainstream phenomenon: They’re more likely to be heard on some amazing Quentin Tarantino soundtrack than on the radio. But their unique stylistic fusion deserves more attention, with an infectious AfroLatin groove unlike anything else in the indie world today. We recently spoke with Perna to find out how the group came together, the challenges of keeping such an expansive ensemble on the road, and his hopes for the band’s future. I know Antibalas is based in Brooklyn and Grupo Fantasma is based in Austin. Where and how did you guys originally meet up and form a friendship? We met through Adrian’s wife around 2002 or 2003. We had known about each other’s bands and did a quick recording session in Brooklyn while Adrian was passing through NYC with Grupo Fantasma for some hip-hop instrumentals he was working on with Brainchild, a.k.a. James Pants. Your bands were each successful in their own right. Why did you decide to form Ocote Soul Sounds? I had started Ocote Soul Sounds in NYC in 2001 before I met Adrian as an outlet for other moods and sounds that weren’t appropriate for the bombastic orchestral format of Antibalas. After Adrian and I made our first record under the name Ocote Soul Sounds and Adrian Quesada, we realized we had a lot in common musically and eventually merged our work into Ocote Soul Sounds. Can you talk a bit about the historical connection between Grupo’s Latin and Antibalas’ African influences?
The African influences in Latin America and North America are have long been taken for granted or whitewashed out— they are everywhere from folk music to jazz to rock-and-roll. With Antibalas we are more explicit in being influenced by certain contemporary African forms like Afrobeat and Highlife from Nigeria and Benin via the music of Fela Kuti, Tony Allen, El Rego, and Poly-Rhythmo as well as Ethiopian jazz and funk from the 1970s from Mulatu, Mahmoud Ahmed and others. Grupo Fantasma is similar to Antibalas in that in that their music is anchored in musical integrity of the classic sounds of 70s salsa powerhouses like the Fania All Stars, and Colombian cumbia orchestras from the 50s and 60s.
You’ve each gotten some pretty amazing opportunities in recent years. How did Antibalas originally get involved in the Broadway production of FELA, and what did that experience mean on a personal level? I am the founder of Antibalas, the band which provided musical direction for the show, but I have no other connection to the production besides performing in a few non-Broadway concerts. In 2007, the band was approached by members of Fela’s estate and choreographer Bill T Jones to provide music for a series of workshops to help develop the concept. They ended up asking for the band to be the orchestra. The musical director is Aaron Johnson, the trombonist for Antibalas, and the assistant musical director is Jordan McLean, trumpeter for Antibalas. In the off-Broadway and Broadway shows, the Fela band had a majority of everyday members of Antibalas. But, as time went on, we recruited members of our extended musical family to fill the roles in the show and went back to our other musical pursuits. I’m happy that the show is up and still running. It paints a picture of Fela– a very complex and often contradictory genius– that a wide swath of the public can engage with. In the sense that it opens doors for people to learn about and appreciate Fela, I think that’s a good thing. It’s great that the show has provided so much steady work for great singers, actors, dancers and musicians and has, in many ways, changed what is possible for Broadway shows. Outside of the show, there has been a lot
of new collaboration that has happened between Antibalas members and other cast members from the show. We’ve had FELA lead Sahr Ngaujah as a guest singer with Antibalas, and last week had singers from the show perform background vocals on the new Antibalas record, which is coming on Daptone Records in June 2012. Taurus is your fourth LP as Ocote Soul Sounds. How do you feel the band’s songwriting and sound have evolved in that time? We definitely have a lot more confidence in writing songs for the project and have linked up with a lot of great musicians, from inside and outside of our other bands that have helped us realize our artistic vision. We are getting better at writing lyrics, so you’ll notice a transition from mostly instrumental songs on our first albums to about half vocal / half instrumental tunes on our latest record. Sonically, we’re getting better with production and I think Taurus is our best sounding record yet.
and third, Coconut Rock, we produced in Austin together after I moved down there in late 2005. It was an experiment to work with Eric Hilton. We’ve been on his label ESL Music now for 5 years and, after Ocote toured with Thievery in 2009 and 2010, we began conversations about working together on the next album. We had all the songs written and started down in Austin, then came up to Washington DC to finish the album. Eric helped get the best performances out of us, and he has a great ear for drums and bass in particular.
This was your first time working with an outside producer. What did Eric Hilton of Thievery Corporation bring to the table? The first three albums were produced by Adrian and I. The first one was done longdistance between New York and Austin. The second, The Alchemist Manifesto,
You guys always seem to have many projects going at once. Where do you hope to see Ocote Soul Sounds heading in the future? We are just going to keep doing what we’re doing. We have high hopes for this tour of the West Coast and are thrilled that through the Kickstarter campaign we’ve raised enough to bring our best musicians so fans coming to the shows can see what the band is really about. We hope to establish ourselves on the West Coast and build up momentum to do some touring in the Midwest, East Coast, Canada, and beyond. Outside of touring, we would love to do more music for film. Separately, we’ve had our hands in a few different projects and it would be very cool to have the entire band work on something together for film.
they now have an online store as well. And with Valentine’s Day coming up, it’s never too early to subscribe the carnivore in your life to their “Meat Of The Month Club”! For those with more delicate palates, there’s Atlanta’s new SOREN TEA ( www.sorentea.com), a company devoted to crafting the finest luxury loose-leaf teas money can buy. Founded by sisters Sonnia Shields and
Rena Williams, the gourmet line was inspired by their European travels, and uses whole tea leaves, rough-cut herbs and flowers to create flavorful blends such as Cashmere Crème (white peony tea with the creamy essence of island coconut) and Coco Chic (South African rooibos with hints of banana, apple and cacao). At around $17-$19 per tin, they aren’t cheap, but they are definitely delicious.
COLUMN
OUR FAVORITE THINGS BY B. LOVE
I
T WAS THROUGH happenstance that I was introduced to the TIMBER CANDLE COMPANY (by the secretary at my daughter’s school), but I immediately fell for the chic rustic look of John Woods’ work. His gorgeous, inexpensive candles are made from small sections of wood, which are turned, lacquered and hollowed out before candle wax is poured in. Woods gets the raw materials by putting the Reduce/Reuse/Recycle motto into action, using pieces of wood other people don’t want. He’s hoping
PG 22 • January 2012 • insiteatlanta.com
to get a website up and running soon, but in the meantime you can email Woods at TimberCandles @gmail.com. Giving meats as holiday gifts is an age-old tradition. But Hillshire Farms can’t hold a candle (see what I did there?) to Atlanta’s PINE STREET MARKET (www.pinestreetmarket. com), which specializes in the most delectable handmade artisan meats you’ve ever tasted. The foodie-friendly company started out selling their locally sourced Applewood Smoked Bacon, cured meats, sausages and salamis at various local farmers markets, but
MUSIC
LIFE IS BUT A DREAM
Legendary Prog-Rockers Dream Theatre On History, Yo Yo Ma & Talking Philosophy With The Pope BY ALEX S. MORRISON
T
HERE WAS A TIME WHEN “prog” was considered something of a dirty word among music’s cognoscenti– blanket criticism meant to make fun of artists prone to selfindulgent noodling and overly dramatic wankery. Then metal acts like Tool and Mastodon came along and made prog cool again. Dream Theatre, one of prog-rock’s most venerable acts, never changed course, and as a result they attracted the same sort of devout fan base that has allowed Rush to fill arenas for decades. The band—vocalist James LaBrie, bassist John Myung, guitarist/vocalist John Petrucci, keyboardist Jordan Rudess and new member Mike Mangini on drums— recently received their firstever Grammy nomination for “On The Backs Of Angels,” the first single from their 11th studio album, A Dramatic Turn of Events. Three of the band’s members recently sat down for a heady interview that covered everything from their favorite historical events and dream duets to their epic compositions and their worst night on tour. You new album is called A Dramatic Turn Of Events. What dramatic historical event would you like to have witnessed? John Petrucci: Many of the events occurring recently that are shaping the world we live in have to do with uprising and breaking free from oppressive rule. Our own American Revolution must have been an incredible moment to have lived through. Jordan Rudess: Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony was premiered on May 7, 1824 in the Kärntnertortheater in Vienna, along with the Consecration of the House Overture and the first three parts of the Missa Solemnis. This was the composer’s first on-stage appearance in twelve years; the hall was packed. I would certainly have wanted to witness that!! Mike Mangini: One dramatic historical event that I would have liked to witness was Jesus walking on water to the boat full of apostles. That ranks high on my list of “jaw dropping” events. Can you talk about a song or musical moment on the new album that you feel brings you as a musician and/or the band to a new level? JP: For me, including the song “Beneath The Surface” on the new album was something unique and special. It is a song that exposes a very personal subject matter in a song structure that is a bit different from what DT is known for. Taking those types of risks makes for a more interesting and compelling album. JR: I feel that the song “Outcry” really brings our band to the next level. Although it is surrounded by some very majestic thematic sections, the whole center section of the song is the wildest prog we have ever written. When we play it live, it is like this amazing ride that you strap yourself into and make a commitment to and when you finally reach the end, you feel like “wow” that was cool!
BY BREAKING THE BOUNDARIES OF TRADITIONAL SONG ARRANGEMENTS AND TIME CONSTRAINTS, WE ARE ABLE TO DEVELOP IDEAS MORE FULLY. THE MUSIC IS ALLOWED TO TAKE SOME TWISTS AND TURNS, AND TAKE THE LISTENER ON A MORE ADVENTUROUS TYPE OF SONIC JOURNEY. MM: One musical moment on the new album I feel brings the band and me to a new level is the first “riff ” section in “On the Backs of Angels.” I had practiced hard to play this, so I got better from it. This section features a level of coordination that allows me to orchestrate the simultaneously (but different) parts played by the guys. The ‘Johns’ [Petrucci,guitar; Myung, bass] are playing in unison and Jordan is playing a different part. I feel that by coloring it in rather than layering on another complex part, or too simple a drumbeat, is very different for DT. If you were to record a duet with an artist outside the genre of music for which you’re known, who would that be and what song would you cover? JP: I would love to record a version of “In Your Eyes” with Peter Gabriel. JR: It would be cool to do a duet with Yo Yo Ma. Maybe an arrangement of “Ruby Tuesday” by the Rolling Stones-that would be beautiful. MM: If I recorded a duet with an artist outside of the progressive rock genre, I would record a drum track with Violinist Itzhak Perlman. In this duet, I would orchestrate his violin part on the drums like it was a drum solo with associated musical notes. Three of the new album’s 9 songs clock in at over 10 minutes. What do you feel these expansive song lengths enable the band to achieve musically? JP: By breaking the boundaries of traditional song arrangements and time constraints, we are able to develop ideas more fully. The music is allowed to take some twists and turns, and take the listener on a more adventurous type of sonic journey. It also enables us to
stretch out on record as soloists and to develop our lyrical concepts and musical themes more thoroughly. JR: As someone who grew up studying classical music, the idea of longer forms feels very natural. It takes a while to fully develop and explore musical themes and emotions. We love the idea of taking the listener on a journey or “experience” and the longer form definitely allows that! All told though, we have nothing against a good standard song format and enjoy working in that form as well! MM: The expansive song lengths we use in Dream Theater allow us to achieve a level of artistic completion with an idea. By being able to add sections in a song, or expand on them, we’re able to explore music like it is a journey rather than to play a recurring theme over and over. If you could have a conversation with any historical figure, living or dead, who would it be and why? JP: Well, he may not be an historical figure exactly but it would be amazing to sit down and talk with Walt Disney. JR: I’d like to hang with Jimi Hendrix because to me he was the epitome of cool. He had a flow and trippiness to his music that influenced me so much. It would have been cool to feel the energy of the human being in person! MM: I would have a conversation with Pope John Paul 2nd out of any historical figure. I would ask him how to interpret the philosophies of Aquinas, Augustine and Marcus Aurelius, as well as his own with regard to the use of musical talent as it affects the human soul. As musicians who tour regularly, we’re sure you have had that classic night where it all goes wrong a la Spinal Tap.
So can you describe your worst night ever on tour? JP: Although there are many embarrassing moments that I would rather choose to forget, there probably isn’t anything much worse than falling off the stage. It was a long time ago and very early on in our career. I literally walked right off the front of the stage and fell into the audience. You heard a loud “clunk” and it stung a bit, but I got up and continued the song! I promise you’ll never see me do that again! JR: The final night of our last tour we were in Mexico City, Mexico. It was a huge show! The total Spinal Tap moment was when 20 minutes into the show, my hydraulic keyboard stand got stuck in the down angle position! I played the rest of the show (one hour and forty minutes) on this very unusual angle, hoping that as each section went by I would be able to keep it all together. The whole band was looking at me and knew that I was in trouble! Some were taking pictures and others just looked at me sadly. It was amazing but true that I managed to play all the keyboard parts fairly well, even in this predicament! MM: My worst night on tour can appear more than once in that it has to do with not enough warm-up time. This shows itself in the form of a song mess-up because I’m thinking about how to loosen up as quickly as possible. The level of mental and physical pressure I put on myself to play what it is my mind is greater than my body can accommodate if I am not warmed up enough. It is a rare night that I can just walk to the stage with no warm up and play, but it isn’t a random thing. I have to be feeling just the right combination of mental calm and physical looseness in order to do that. insiteatlanta.com • January 2012 • PG 23
MUSIC
BRET LOVE’S TOP 10 ALBUMS BY GEORGIA ARTISTS 1. ATLAS SOUND Parallax (4AD)
Veering from sample-laden folk and psychedelic ‘60s rock to indie-pop or even bossa nova seemingly on a whim, Bradford Cox’s latest solo album wraps listeners in a wispy hallucinogenic haze that often recalls classic 4AD bands such as the Cocteau Twins. More importantly, it suggests that Atlas Sound has grown into much more than a mere Deerhunter side-project, and may in fact be the vehicle through which he unveils his purest artistic self.
2. BLAIR CRIMMINS & THE HOOKERS
The Musical Stylings Of…
(New Rag) Crimmins’ debut blends ragtime, Dixieland and Gypsy jazz to create an imaginary soundtrack to some speakeasy from the Prohibiton era. He’s not the first Atlanta act to traffic in this anachronistic sound. But where other bands take a seductive route, Crimmins’ concoctions careen with a reckless sense of abandon that sounds like the bastard son of Tom Waits and Gogol Bordello playing piano in a salacious saloon.
3. BLACK LIPS Arabia Mountain (Vice)
Under the guidance of producer Mark Ronson, this quartet has tightened up their sound while expanding beyond their garage-rock limitations. The fuzzy DIY haze has been replaced by a more polished sheen, with added layers of musical depth. Their attitude doesn’t seem remotely tamed, but their songwriting is more focused and inspired, honed to an edge that’s more sharp than serrated. Six albums into their careers, the Black Lips have boldly reinvented themselves simply by growing up.
4. MANCHESTER ORCHESTRA
Simple Math (Columbia/Favorite Gentlemen)
I’ve been extolling the virtues of Andy Hull’s passionate vocals, dynamic arrangements and emotive songwriting since 2008, and my affinity grows stronger with time. This concept album veers from the grungy stomp of “Mighty” to the alt-pop of “Pensacola,” from the blues-rock propulsion of “April Fool” to the haunting “Virgin.” Strings, synths and bold arrangements abound, showcasing a songwriter confronting personal demons head-on, occasionally losing control, but finding his creative voice in the process.
5. CUNNINLYNGUISTS
Oneirology (QN5 Music)
Oneirology (a.k.a the study of dreams) is this indie hip-hop duo’s best work to date. Mesmerizing tracks like “Darkness (Dream On),” “Shattered Dreams” and “So As Not To Wake You” reinforce the central theme, incorporating a variety of trippy sounds and effects to create a surreal, otherworldly vibe. But the album is hardly what you’d call sopoforic: Songs like “Hard As They Come” and “Stars Shines Brightest In the Darkest of Night” are infectious and accessible, extending an olive branch to mainstream hip-hop fans. PG 24 • January 2012 • insiteatlanta.com
2011:
Music Year In Review
6. DAVID BERKELEY
Some Kind Of Cure (Straw Man)
One of the undiscovered gems of the modern folk music scene, Berkeley’s music and lyrics boast the mature, worldly sound of a person who has actually lived, with the great stories to prove it. To pay for his fourth studio album (produced by Tucker-based Will Robertson), Berkeley enlisted financial funding from his fans. Songs like the opening “George Square,” “Steel Mill” and the title track are some of his richest, most lushly arranged compositions to date, and the result is his most satisfying CD yet.
7. O’BROTHER
Garden Window
(Triple Crown) Produced by Andy Hull and Robert McDowell of Manchester Orchestra, this ATL quartet’s debut album is artful and ambitious, with dynamic, almost orchestral opuses that evoke comparisons to everyone from Tool and Godspeed You Black Emperor to Sigur Ros. You may find yourself wishing the band reigned in their sprawling compositional approach (5 of the 11 tracks run five minutes or more), but overall O’Brother shows enough originality and promise to leave prog-metal fans eager to see what they’ll come up with next.
8. GRINGO STAR
Count Yer Lucky Stars (Gigantic Music)
Working with producer Ben Allen, Gringo Star turned in an accomplished, accessible LP that further refines the raw promise of their debut. “Shadow” falls between early ‘60s garage-rock and the indie eclecticism of Vampire Weekend; “You Want It” and “Got It” benefit from perfectly harmonized vocals and infectious hooks; and guests Anna Kramer and Julia Furginele provide backup on the mesmerizing “Esmarelda.” But Gringo Star’s retro-inspired sound remains cohesive throughout, and eminently cool.
9. ELIOT BRONSON
Blackbirds (Self-Released)
Formerly one-half of beloved folk duo the Brilliant Inventions, Bronson’s solo debut proved he was ready to step out on his own, with an earnest sincerity a la Joshua Radin and Iron & Wine. With the simple-boy-with-simple-needs ballad “Old Car,” the infectious country-rock anthem “If You Need To Be Free,” the pastoral loveliness of “This Song” and the hauntingly orchestrated “Christmas Song,” Blackbirds proves Bronson a formidable songwriting talent in his own right, ready for the big time all by his damn self.
10. R.E.M.
Collapse Into Now (Warner Bros.)
R.E.M.’s latest (last?) album plays out like a guided tour through the Athens legends’ musical past. Having rediscovered their rock ‘n’ roll roots on 2008’s Accelerate, the trio feels more comfortable incorporating their folksy acoustic influences, resulting in a more expansive sound. From any other band, Collapse Into Now would be praised as a solid R.E.M. tribute. But from a group that
Our Critics Rank the Best Albums
has remained largely intact for over 30 years, it deserves recognition as a return to form that sent their influential careers out on a high note.
Yeah, we know. This album sits atop nearly every year-end top 10. But what can I say? Sometimes you gotta call a duck a duck. Adele’s 21 is packed with emotion but never feels sappy. “He Won’t Go” and “Someone Like You” will be on melancholy mixes for years. “Rollin’ in the Deep” will leave fingers snapping even longer.
Carolina rap group, Little Brother, dropped a hot record in ’11 too. Phonte’s gets the slight nod though because its Motown-inspired tracks stay with you longer. Oh, and then there’s “The Life of Kings,” one of the dopest posse cuts of the year. 9. BON IVER Self-Titled (Jagjaguwar) Ethereal. Earthy. Enya-esque. Listen, there are a number of adjectives that come to mind when taking a hike on this indie folk outfit’s second album. But there’s one word that stands out most after hearing Justin Vernon’s achy voice on “Perth” and “Calgary”: exhilaration, with a touch of oak.
Fear of God (mixtape)
How Do You Do (Universal Republic)
DEMARCO WILLIAMS’ TOP 10 1.ADELE 21 (Columbia)
2. PUSHA T
Pusha’s fans love his dexterity. On one track, take Fear’s “My God,” he’s so damn grimy you’ll want to wash your hands. The next (“Alone in Vegas”) will be on some serious introspection. But even with two different feels, God knocks without pause, thanks to The Neptunes and Nottz’s gruff beats. 3. ROOTS Undun (Def Jam) How in the world the hardest working hip hop band found the time to put together this sonic masterpiece is beyond comprehension. Black Thought tells stories (“On Time”) without sounding preachy. Production is cinematic (“Lighthouse”) without being geeky. In other words, it’s the group’s best album in nearly 15 years. 4. GAME The R.E.D. Album (DGC/Interscope) In interviews, the Compton MC explained that “R.E.D.” means a “Re-Dedication” to the music. In the speakers, he proved just that by being vigilant with the verbs (“Ricky”) and impeccable with his taste in pissed-off percussions (Primo-produced “Born in the Trap”).
5. COMMON
The Dreamer/The Believer (Warner Bros.)
Truthfully, Rashid Lynn had nothing to prove to us. Yet, the man came out with a ninth studio record and showed everyone he still had flow (“Ghetto Dreams” with Nas), finesse (“The Believer”) and even a lil’ fight for youngsters too full of themselves (“Sweet”).
6. GOAPELE
Break of Dawn
(Skyblaze/Decon) Beyonce may have sold the records. Marsha Ambrosious might have wowed soul critics. But if you were an R&B fan who didn’t hear “Undertow,” “Right Here” or the other tender tracks on the trippy Oakland siren’s third album, shame on you.
7. DANNY BROWN XXX (Fool’s Gold)
This Detroit slick talker won’t be everybody’s cup of Old E. Brown’s voice is almost cartoonish. And heaven knows every other song on this 19-track indie is some indirect ode to babes or barbiturates. But man, oh man, can the kid rhyme his ass off. 8. PHONTE Charity Starts at Home (HBD) Big Pooh, the other half of the underdog North
10. MAYER HAWTHORNE
There’s lots to dig about White Chocolate– his Temptations-like cooing (“Long Time”) and playful nature (“You Called Me”)- but what truly makes Hawthorne’s second toe-tapper special is his on-point writing from the heart (“The Walk”).
JOHN B. MOORE’S TOP 10 1. FLOGGING MOLLY
Speed of Darkness (Borstal Beat)
On their fifth full length, and first for their own label, the Celtic punks en camped in Detroit to draw inspiration about a down on the ropes America thanks to shitty political and economic policies. Equal parts righteous anger and optimism, Speed of Darkness is a perfect album for 2011. A nice “fuck you” to the 1%, penned just months before that moniker became a common term.
2. FOO FIGHTERS
Wasting Light (RCA)
I can’t fathom the backlash this band receives. They play brilliant hard rock and Dave Grohl has never tried to milk his rep in Nirvana – playing a completely different brand of music. Wasting Light is one of their best – a rock record for every Generation X kid now settled into life as a mature adult burdened with a mortgage, kids and the mind-numbingly mundane job they swore they’d never have. Though the band has made some solid albums in the past, Wasting Light is nearly spot on from the opening track to the very end.
3. CHUCK RAGAN
Covering Ground (SideOne Dummy) There was handwringing in the punk community when Hot Water Music decided to break up to focus on their own projects. Frontman Ragan decided to pick up the acoustic guitar, pair off with a fiddle player and a stand up bassist and play working class folk rock/bluegrass. Covering Ground– his third solo album– proves all the worrying was for naught as Ragan is quickly earning a stellar reputation as a fantastic singer/songwriter reminiscent of everyone from the Guthries to Springsteen.
4. HAUNTED CONTINENTS The Loudest Year Ever
(Forest Park Recordings) This one technically came out at the tail end of 2010, but didn’t really start to garner attention until 2011 (so I’m counting it). The 10 track album has been accurately described by frontman/gui-
tarist James (just James) as “Old Weezer meets Buddy Holly and The Crickets,” but the fuzzed out pop songs also draw from old school R&B and soul. Can’t wait to see the follow up.
5. AMERICAN WEREWOLF ACADEMY Everything Is Alright So Far
(Damnably Records) A baker’s dozen of new tunes and songs from earlier releases, all brimming with attitude and steeped in 60’s garage, punk-rock and Cheap Trick/Milk N’ Cookies-era power pop, one incredible song after the next. “Rock Show Tonight” (which tips its grease-smudged hat appropriately enough to The Replacements “Talent Show”) and the bratty album closer “Welcome to the Academy” (the best song The Ramones never wrote), are both worthy of any critic’s “song of the year” list… and inclusion on my top albums list.
6. TODD SNIDER Live: The Storyteller (Thirty Tigers/Aimless Records) On his latest album, folk’s reigning king of cool proves his studio work is still no match for his live shows. The songs themselves, while certainly impressive, like the stomper “Don’t It make You Want to Dance” and the why-thehell-is this-song –not-aclassic-yet? “Conservative Christian, Right-Wing Republican, Straight, White, American Males”, take a back seat to Snider’s between song banter.
7. THE DROWNING MEN
Beheading the Songbird (Borstal Beat)
It helps to have fans in high places. Southern Cali’s The Drowning Men found kindred spirits in Flogging Molly, who have been touring the country with the five-piece for the better part of 2011. Flogging Molly’s frontman Dave King has been talking about these guys to anyone who will listen, so it was little surprise that he signed the band on his own new label. Beheading the Songbird is a wholly original collection of songs combining the attitude of punk with folk, indie and straight up classic rock.
8. FRANK TURNER
England Keep My Bones (Epitaph)
It’s been six years since Frank Tuner walked away from life in a hardcore band and swapped out the distorted guitars for an acoustic one. In that time he’s turned in an impressive collection of albums and defined the punk singer/songwriter genre. His latest album is just one more example (as if one were needed) of how confident Turner has become as a lyricists. A stellar collection about questioning and ultimately the choice to stay optimistic, the record may just be Turner’s best to date.
9. CHRIS TRAPPER
The Few and the Far Between (Starlit)
One-time Push Stars frontman Chris Trapper has been on his own for about a decade now, and you can’t help but feel frustrated at how undeservedly underrated he remains. His eighth album (counting EPs and a holiday release) is a nice combination of intimate folk tunes and great singer-songwriter pop songs with solid hooks. Why is this guy not huge?
10. COBRA SKULLS
Agitations (Fat Wreck Chords)
On Agitations, their third full length, Cobra Skulls have turned in their finest record so far. Not to say the early works were bad, just not as consistently great as this one. The record catches on the second track – the bouncy, Ramones-ish “Iron Lung” - and carries on strong to the end. With most songs clocking in at just around the two-minute mark the band gets in, tears it up and is gone before you realize just how much damage has been done. And isn’t that the way punk rock should be?
JON LATHAM’S TOP 10
1. WILCO The Whole Love (dBpm)
The Whole Love takes all the great elements of modern rock music and blends them to perfection, yielding a tight, beautiful song cycle that jumps from style to style with ease. From the industrial groove of “Art of Almost” to the swell of “Born Alone,” from the catchy hook of “Dawned On Me” to the haunting slow burn of “One Sunday Morning,” Wilco proves themselves one of the greatest rock bands in the world. And they do so by delivering their music as if they had absolutely nothing to prove.
2. BON IVER Self-Titled (Jagjaguwar)
Many a night has reached its end for me with this album playing in the background. To call this folk-rock is an injustice. Even if the rest of the album were nothing but Justin Vernon with an acoustic guitar, “Beth/ Rest” sounds like the triumphant closing credits of an ‘80s movie, like a Bruce Hornsby song with a video produced by Jerry Bruckheimer. I’ll bet you Paste never described Bon Iver like THAT!
3. THE DECEMBERISTS
The King Is Dead (Rough
Trade/EMI) The new archetype of folk-infused rock. The Decemberists dropped the Rush-idolizing wet dreams that nearly wrecked The Hazards of Love and rebounded with a concise, twangy follow-up that is part-R.E.M. and part Music from Big Pink. The homegrown record is held together with Colin Meloy’s signature wordplay, which will leave many an English major quite… uh, “blithesome.” Guest spots from Gillian Welch and Peter Buck tow the line between College Rock and Appalachia.
4. HAYES CARLL KMAG YOYO (& Other American Stories) (Lost Highway)
With a tongue that can both deliver stinging political jabs while still planted firmly in his cheek, Carll has crafted a poignant portrait of the new America in what stands as the best country album of the year. “Hard Out Here” and “The Lovin’ Cup” are delivered in the genuine beer-soaked drawl of Carll’s voice. The title track is a talkin’ blues a la Dylan set within the morphine-induced dreams of a wounded soldier. Look for appearances from fellow outlaws Todd Snider and Corb Lund.
5. JASON ISBELL & THE 400 UNIT Here We Rest (Lightning Rod)
Here We Rest stands as the new benchmark for everything that follows it– truly a new high point for for the former Drive-By Trucker, both as a songwriter and performer. The beauty of “Alabama Pines” and “Codeine” show that Isbell’s old soul still shines, even with the amps turned down. His take on “Heart On a String” keeps the tones of home nearby, a terrific nod to the heritage of Muscle Shoals’ R&B legacy.
6. R.E.M. Collapse Into Now (Warner)
This album is all the more wonderful in hindsight, knowing R.E.M. wrapped up their career with it. They managed to top the intensity of the fast-paced Accelerate while bringing back the classic jangly sounds of their early years. Look no further than “Mine Smell Like Honey” to find your taste of classic R.E.M., but never once does it seem formulaic or dialed in. Any band would love to see their legacy reach its conclusion with such a strong final chapter.
7. ADELE 21 (Columbia) With less extraneous fanfare via tabloid press and a relieving lack of habitual missteps, Adele is the soulful new diva Amy Winehouse was destined to be. I’m already prepared to see this record and
its artist mop up at the Grammys, considering that 21 might be the one album that NOBODY minded paying good money for. Is it possible that the savior of the record industry could actually have talent? Let’s hope so.
8. MY MORNING JACKET Circuital (ATO)
Circuital is bombastic, announcing itself with a literal trumpet fanfare. The title track swells to Who-volume arena rock proportions. The freakish refrain of “Holdin’ On To Black Metal” is a hell of a absurd rock hook. All in all, Circuital turns up the amps and shakes loose of the Prince jams that spiced up the last record. Certainly an album that sounds best when cranked.
9. FOO FIGHTERS Wasting Light (RCA)
Twenty years from now, kids will be discovering Wasting Light the way others are just discovering Nirvana now. Pat Smear’s signature guitar attack definitely makes a difference in the fierce edge of this record, and it’s terrific to hear him playing with Grohl again. With Nevermind producer Butch Vig at the helm and a cameo rom Krist Novoselic on bass, Grohl builds a testament to his unforgettable past while paving a new level in the legacy he has built with his own outfit.
10. COLDPLAY Mylo Xyloto (Capitol)
Haters will hate, but this concept album’s capacity to tread the line between mainstream acceptance and indie innovation by blending alt-rock and glossy pop is impressive, “Paradise” and “Every Teardrop Is a Waterfall” are automatic fan favorites; no doubt they will be integrated gloriously into the live show. Chris Martin seems to not ever be willing to settle, yet every Coldplay record sounds familiar enough to make even the strictest pop fan comfortable.
LEE VALENTINE SMITH’S TOP 10
1. AMANDA PALMER Amanda Palmer Goes Down
Under” (Liberation)
While critics laud the admittedly great PJ Harvey epic “Let England Shake,” let’s not forget Palmer’s equally great, albeit low-key and restless little Aussie concept album. The Dresden Dolls co-founder continues her solo explorations and experiments with a very mixed bag of her unsettlingly carnal, cabaret-style tunes, each cryptically inspired by Australia and New Zealand.
2. THE BANGLES
Sweetheart Of The Sun (Model Music)
From a year that offered unnecessary collections of new material from Blondie, Duran Duran and even The Human League, The Bangles’ return is a welcome ray of sunny pop. With Matthew Sweet’s smart production, the set evokes the best of the band’s early ’80s harmonies and psychedelic leanings. Worth the price of admission for their swirling cover of Todd Rundgren’s late ‘60s nugget “Open My Eyes,” but the originals from Susannah Hoffs, Vicki and Debbi Peterson are also finely-crafted jangle hymns.
3. INDIGO GIRLS Beauty Queen Sister
(Vanguard / IG Recordings) Amy Ray and Emily Saliers’ 14th studio LP finds the duo just as vital as in their early acoustic duo shows, continuing to blend uncompromising lyrics, gorgeous harmonies and memorable melodies. Reunited with producer Peter Collins, who worked with the band on ‘94s Swamp Ophelia, the new release continues their fairly-shared writing and lead duties, while deftly spanning genre, politics, and personal relationships. 4. NICK LOWE The Old Magic (Yep Roc) British New Wave pioneer Lowe continues his deliberately paced ruminations on aging and decorum with another hushed collection of warm
ballads. Fans of his rough and rockin’ work be damned, he’s settled into his distinguished elder statesman role with ease. Here, he offers another collection of genteel gems, politely presented with soft-spoken grace and gentle wit. 5. WILCO The Whole Love (dBpm) Finally on their own label, Jeff Tweedy and the band offer yet another smorgasbord of sounds on The Whole Love. The whole album mirrors Wilco’s usual all-over-the place sensibilities, quickly shifting from rousing rockers to noisy confusion to quiet contemplation, while never leaving the listener behind -- or bored with the process.
6. TONY BENNETT Duets II & BARBRA STREISAND What Matters Most: Barbra Streisand Sings The Lyrics Of Alan and Marilyn Bergman
(Sony) Bennett garnered the most attention with his successful Duets follow-up, due in part to appearances by Amy Winehouse and Lady Gaga. But both of these albums affirm the longevity of a timeless standard. Bennett’s been singing these songs for years, and the distractions of his guest stars only reinforce the subdued power of his delivery. Streisand had never recorded these Bergman songs before, but reminds us that, in the age of temporary superstars, these impeccable vocalists never disappoint.
7. PAUL SIMON
So Beautiful Or So What (Hear Music)
In a year when old-time icon Lou Reed became a punch line for his over the top collaboration with Metallica on the laborious Lulu, singer-songwriter Simon didn’t embarrass himself by continuing to embrace change and tricky soundscapes. In fact, it often works beautifully, with tinges of the standard acoustic numbers tempered with the pulse of polyrhythms and amped-up gospel and soul. 8. THE B-52’S- With The Wild Crowd: Live In Athens, GA (Eagle) Last February the B-52’s performed a typically energetic set at the venerable Classic Center, not far from the modest house where they debuted at a party on Valentines Day 35 or so years ago. The set was typical of their current tour, with a set list including most of their catalog faves. The usual suspects are here, including “Love Shack,” “Rock Lobster,” and the live debut of fan favorite “Wig” from their often-overlooked ’86 release, Bouncing Off The Satellites.
9. THE DECEMBERISTS
The King Is Dead (Rough
Trade/EMI) The best new R.E.M. record in 20 years. The literate and engaging album features guitarist Peter Buck on several songs and his trademark sound is an undeniable thread that helps mark this release as the band‘s best (and most accessible) collection so far. The irresistible “Down By The Water” might as well be “The One I Love,” stripped of the yearning southern gothic art leanings. Fans of Robyn Hitchcock, Guadalcanal Diary and even Poi Dog Pondering will find plenty of references and listening pleasure.
10. UNCLE GREEN/3 LB. THRILL Rycopa (Self-released)
The new album from quirky Beatle-esque quartet Uncle Green, later known as 3 Lb. Thrill, was actually recorded a decade and a half ago. Fanfunded and finally released, the massive 32-song collection was recorded in a house in Little Five Points in Atlanta, conjuring a sort of freewheeling “Music From Big Pink” feel. Instead of a rustic approach, principle songwriters Jeff Jensen and Matt Brown offer a hearty banquet of catchy Uncle Green-type songs, alternating with the heavier psych of 3 Lb. Thrill. insiteatlanta.com • January 2012 • PG 25
TRAVEL
WILDLIFE OF THE GALAPAGOS
Four Amazing Species You Won’t Find Anywhere Else BILTMORE
BY BRET LOVE
W
E WERE RECENTLY fortunate to be invited on a 7-day trip to the Galapagos Islands with Ecoventura, a small ship eco-cruise company. We spent a wonderful week cruising from island to island, hiking and snorkeling several times a day, and learning all about the land that informed Darwin’s Theory Of Evolution. There are myriad intriguing Galapagos wildlife species, but here are four rare ones that captured our hearts:
GALAPAGOS TORTOISES
The Galapagos Islands don’t have an official mascot, but if they did it would be the Galapagos Tortoise. These prehistoric-looking creatures can live over 150 years, and have played an integral role in Galapagos history. The islands’ natural resources have been exploited since they were discovered, from the pirates of the 17th18th centuries to 19th century whalers. The tortoises were nearly hunted to extinction for their meat and ability to live for up to a year without food or water, with numbers dwindling to around 3,000 in the 1970s. But they were also a key influence on Charles Darwin’s Theory of Evolution, as tortoises from different islands clearly differed in size and appearance, suggesting they genetically adapted to their respective environments. Fortunately, conservation efforts have proven effective, and by the year 2000 the tortoise population had risen to over 19,000. We learned more about those efforts at the Charles Darwin Research Station on the island of Santa Cruz, where guide Ceci Guerrero told us how scientists used incubators to control the sex of each egg, turning it warmer to make “hot babes” and colder to create “cool dudes.” Once hatched, the babies are numbered, which made them look like a reptilian NASCAR race waiting to happen. The Station is also home to the most famous celebrity in the Galapagos, Lonesome George, the last of his Pinta Island subspecies. George, who’s been called the rarest creature in the world, appears on hats, T-shirts and books, but unfortunately doesn’t appear interested in mating with any of the “hot babes” in his enclosure. In fact, on the day we visited, the only thing George appeared interested in was sleep. He should take some tips from Diego, who was returned from the San Diego Zoo in the ‘70s. At the time, there were 2 PG 26 • January 2012 • insiteatlanta.com
males and 12 females of Diego’s Española subspecies at the station, but they weren’t breeding. Like the Marvin Gaye of the Tortoise world, Diego taught the others how to get it on and ultimately produced 1700 offspring, earning him the nickname “The Professor.” As a result of these efforts, today 10 subspecies of Galapagos Tortoises survive in the wild, with thousands of captive-bred juveniles released onto their native islands and strict laws in place to ensure their protection. We also paid a visit to Rancho Primicias, where many tortoises live in the wild. It’s difficult to describe the feeling of being within a few feet of a creature four times your age and at least twice your size, but the experience was both humbling and heartwarming. Here, mankind and animals are learning how to co-exist peacefully and sustainably, and the Tortoise stands tall as a symbol, not just of the Galapagos Islands, but of wildlife conservation efforts all around the world.
MARINE IGUANAS
There’s no denying the fact that marine iguanas are SERIOUSLY freaky. They look like little miniature Godzillas, hissing and sneezing (in order to expel excess salt from their nasal glands) and tending to clutter en masse like kittens. Charles Darwin was notoriously revolted by their appearance, writing in his Beagle diary, “The black Lava rocks on the beach are frequented by large, disgusting clumsy Lizards. They are as black as the porous rocks over which they crawl and seek their prey from the Sea. I call them ‘imps of darkness’.” Marine Iguanas can be found pretty much everywhere in the Galapagos, but they seem to love congregating on the islands’ lava-strewn shores, where they can rapidly absorb heat from the sun to warm their bodies after a swim. They vary greatly from island to island in terms of size and color, from the teal green-tinged adult males on Española to the brick red colors of the subspecies on Fernandina, where there were so many marine iguanas that you had to watch where you walked for fear of stepping on one. On land they appear graceless and clumsy, but their flattened tails and spiky dorsal fins make them a wonder to behold in the water. It’s extremely bizarre to be snorkeling and see a 3- to 5-foot long lizard feeding on algae 25 feet below you, then shimmying their prehistoric-looking bodies like snakes
to swim to the surface for air. But, after a few encounters with this rare and remarkable species, we grew to love them, treasuring their crusty cuteness and their puppy-like penchant for being contantly underfoot.
FLIGHTLESS CORMORANTS
The Flightless Cormorant is among the most rare bird species in the world, with Birdlife.org estimating around 900 individuals living on the Galapagos Islands in 2009. They were nearly wiped out by El Nino, but thanks to conservation efforts their numbers have more than doubled since 1983. The Flightless Cormorant is definitely an odd bird, with black and brown feathers, brilliant turquoise eyes, low growling voices, and wings about 1/3 the size that would be required in order for the bird to fly. Their feathers aren’t waterproof, so they spend a lot of time drying their short, stubby appendages in the sunlight. But while they may not be able to fly, in the water they’re like feathered rockets, using their webbed feet and powerful legs to dive down to the bottom of the ocean in search of fish, eels and other small prey. You know you’re witnessing something rare when your guide gets pumped up. So when veteran naturalist Yvonne Mortola shouted out that she’d spotted a Flightless Cormorant mating dance on the shore of Fernandina Island, we ran to watch the show. Their graceful moves reminded us of the scene where Cinderella and Prince Charming danced together at the Ball as her wicked stepsisters looked on in envy. The male and female cormorant courted one another in an elegant aquatic waltz, shaking their heads dramatically while circling one another. The other two females looked extremely eager to cut in on the action, but our avian Cinderella wasn’t having it, chasing them off fiercely every time they got too close. It was an extraordinary scene, with sea turtles popping their heads up out of the water like chaperones at the prom, and a marine iguana swimming through the scene like some sort of party-crashing streaker. Eventually our two lovebirds made their way back onto the beach, where they continued their courtship dance, rubbing their heads together and tightening up their circle of love. Soon they’ll build a seaweed nest above the high-tide mark, with the male bringing his lady friend gifts of flotsam from
the ocean. She’ll lay 3 eggs, with just one likely to survive, and they’ll share parenting responsibilities until the chick is old enough to be independent. Then they’ll go their separate ways, and the Flightless Cormorants’ season of love will start anew...
GALAPAGOS SEA LIONS
Sea Lions may be on the endangered species list, but in the Galapagos Islands they’re so ubiquitous that they run the risk of being taken for granted. Here, you can find this unofficial welcoming committee almost everywhere: In public parks, on the San Cristobal docks, and on every beach of every island. Distinguishable from fur seals by their earflaps, sea lions seem awkward and clumsy on land, with a lurching sideto-side gait, loud barks and an array of bodily noises that can make them sound like a crew of flatulent sailors. But once they reach the water, they transform into something magical, like elegant ballet dancers of the oceanic world. They also prove eminently playful and curious, and the rule of keeping six feet of distance from all Galapagos wildlife gets tossed out the window once you realize they can swim much faster than you can. With their huge eyes, cute faces and funny flippers, the sea lions’ charms proved impossible to resist. Our most memorable encounter came during a snorkel off the island of Santiago. We’d just gotten into our wetsuits when our friends shouted that they’d spotted a sea lion. I swam along beside him as he floated lazily. But as I twisted and turned to get the best shot, it was like he thought I was trying to play. He began swimming faster and faster, coming closer with each subsequent pass, until I could’ve easily reached out and touched him. The more I contorted my body to keep him in frame, the more playful he got, zooming beneath me like a torpedo, blowing bubbles and flipping out of the water. I dove down and tried to mimic him, only to realize he was mimicking me. It was exhausting, and also one of the most exhilarating experiences of my life. On our last night in the Galapagos, we made our way to beautiful Gardner Bay on the island of Española. Here, on a white sandy beach, hundreds of sea lions live in large colonies. Pups nurse from their mothers, juveniles frolic in the cerulean blue surf, and male bulls battle for dominance over their harems. It was an amazing way to wind down our oncein-a-lifetime Galapagos experience.
FILM
OCEAN SIZE
Jeff Corwin On Political Challenges Facing Wildlife Conservation & His New TV Show, Ocean Mysteries BY BRET LOVE
I
’VE BEEN INTERESTED IN wildlife ever since I was a kid, reading my grandmother’s old issues of National Geographic and watching Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom. But my initial interest in environmental conservation can be directly credited to two men: Steve “The Crocodile Hunter” Irwin and Jeff Corwin. Like Irwin, Corwin rose to fame in the late ‘90s, first on Disney Channel’s Going Wild With Jeff Corwin and later on Animal Planet’s Jeff Corwin Experience and Corwin’s Quest. But Irwin walks the walk of protecting wildlife off the screen as well, with a Masters degree in Wildlife & Fisheries Conservation, an honorary doctorate in public education, and a history of working with the United Nations Environmental Program that dates back to his teens, with a focus on conserving tropical rainforests. Now, Corwin has partnered with our friends at the Georgia Aquarium to create a new show, Ocean Mysteries, which airs on Saturday mornings on the ABC network. Continuing his career emphasis on environmental sustainability and human coexistence with wildlife, the show is Corwin’s first to focus on aquatic adventures, focusing on the undersea world and its species most urgently in need of protection. We recently spoke with Corwin for this Q&A that included everything from his early interest in bats and snakes to the current political challenges to the environmental movement. How did you originally get into animals and nature? I’ve always been a nature buff, as early as I remember. I saw my first snake at 6 years old and when I was 9 I made a makeshift nature museum in our apartment in the city. As soon as I could get out into wilderness, that inspired my love for nature and wildlife. Growing up and seeing the poor relationship people had with the wildlife around them inspired my interest in conservation. When you went to the University of Massachusetts you focused on bats and snakes. What was attractive to you about those species? The snake was the first wild creature I ever saw, and I knew I’d be studying snakes for the rest of my life. When I was in high school, I probably knew as much about snakes as you could. By the time I worked my way through college I’d become very strong with field experience and an education in biological sciences, along with my own personal exploration of herpetology. I further developed that in graduate school, where I worked with bats. I felt that these creatures were misunderstood, but so important. It all came to a head when I went to graduate school. It seems like over the past 25 years there’s been increasing awareness that these “scary” creatures are actually beneficial to the environment. Good people make bad decisions because they lack good information. My interest was to inspire them to under-
stand this world. When I started with my first series 16 or 17 years ago at Disney, it was a big leap for them. You’ve got a guy who likes snakes, and they were willing see if we could make a TV show out of that. To have it go from there to where things are now is amazing. There are people who have watched my shows as kids and are now adults. It’s interesting, because I still like that 27-year-old kid in the jungle. You’re reminded of how old you are when you see someone in their 20s who just got their Vet degree, and they’re telling you that they became a vet partially because of the experiences they had with you growing up. Yes, I think people are much more aware of these things and care about them than they did historically. Tell me about the first time you went to the rainforest. How did that experience fire your passion for conservation? This was an adventure I’d been waiting for my whole life. I saved every nickel I had and, at the age of 16, I went down to do a study on snakes in this remote rainforest in Belize. That for me was really the seed being germinated. I loved the rainforest, and I loved learning about them. My brain was a sponge. It was almost a savant-like thing, and I came back and created an NGO focused on conservation. We created one of the first preserves in Paraguay and southern South America in my second year of college. I ended up living down there and became concerned about issues facing the cultures that depend on these ecosystems. Why is it so important that we protect the rainforest? Most of what we have in our planet that is alive is in a rainforest. Rainforests take up 5% of the surface of our earth, yet in that surface is as much as 60% of all life. Whether it’s aesthetic value, the global eco-chemistry role that they play in carbon exchange and oxygen, medicinal value or biodiversity, rainforests are incredibly important. So many things in our lives come from rainforests, from potatoes and tomatoes to medicines that fight everything from AIDS to cancer. We lose rainforests at a rate of a few thousand acres every hour, which is a mass of trees and animals as big as Connecticut. We see all this negative eco news on a regular basis. How do you stay positive in your quest? I’m very positive. I have this new series on ABC, Ocean Mysteries, that’s broadcast to a mainstream national audience. The show is doing really well, meaning that people care and want to learn. All of that I find inspiring.
Traveling around the world covering the great efforts that communities and some governments do to protect and conserve natural resources for future generations is positive for me.
sustainably. I believe in using the earth cautiously and carefully. But with what I’m seeing in the current political environment, I’m really scared about the future of life on earth.
What do you see as the environmental movement’s biggest challenges? We’re dealing with so many political and economic challenges in the world, it has created a general malaise over environmental issues. I’m very concerned about what I’m seeing politically. It’s very likely we may end up with a president that is not only nonchalant about environmental issues, but may be actively anti-environmental. There are very few candidates that care about the warming of our planet and the loss of species. There’s a strong possibility we could get a candidate who doesn’t believe in conservation because they don’t believe in science. Conservation is based on science, and it’s through science that you recover and save species. This administration has fallen short on conservation, but the devil you know is better than the devil you don’t. I am not anti-resource use at all: I believe in sustainability. It’s about conserving resources for every generation, whether it is to cherish or to use
How did you get hooked up with the Georgia Aquarium for Ocean Mysteries? The Georgia Aquarium was inspired to create a series that illustrated their conservation work and explored where we are with our marine species. I’ve never had a chance to do a marinebased series, so I was very excited. I look at it as a tremendously exciting and somewhat scary challenge because underwater stuff is hard to do. It has turned out to be really a great experience that I am thoroughly enjoying, but it’s a lot of work. Everything when you film underwater is at a premium– sound, air, pressure, safety… When human beings go into water and don’t know what they’re doing, they drown or freeze. So how do we take a world that we know is undervalued and a lot of trouble, but really exciting, and crystallize it in a way that engages the audience without killing us in the process? It’s been an incredible journey. The Georgia Aquarium is one of the greatest aquariums in the world, and they have incredible resources. They are incredibly active in pioneering conservation efforts that are saving species, and I want to be a part of that. For average citizens who want to make a difference in wildlife conservation, how can they help? The most important step is to realize you can make a difference. When you recognize your power as a consumer and your power civically within your community, there are tremendous opportunities. It truly begins in your backyard– a local river, a local ecosystem, a regional species that’s in trouble. Not being a good steward for the environment just punishes you and the next generation of your family. When people fail to look at their role as eco stewards, then there is negligence. We lose a species of life every 20 minutes on our planet. Ultimately, the world we use today, we’re not inheriting it from our ancestors. We are borrowing it from our children.
insiteatlanta.com • January 2012 • PG 27
MUSIC
NEW USE FOR A NAME
Punk-Pop Legend Tony Sly Goes Solo… And Acoustic! BY JOHN B. MOORE
F
OR MORE THAN 20 YEARS now, Tony Sly has been fronting the highly influential, infectiously fun pop punk band No Use For a Name. But as consistently solid as the band’s output has remained year after year, you can’t blame the guy for wanting try something a little differ-
ent every now and then. And Sad Bear is a little different. Accompanied by his acoustic guitar and a handful of guest musicians, like his previous solo effort, Sad Bear is a beautiful, stark collection of highly personal songs, showcasing some of his best writing to date. Currently on tour in Europe with his day time gig (a band that has gone through some recent lineup changes), Sly wants to start work on a new NUFAN record at some point next year and squeeze in some solo shows here and there, as well. But he took some time recently to answer some questions over e-mail about Sad Bear, questioning deities and the future of NUFAN. This is your second stripped down/acoustic record. I assume you enjoyed the experience last year. Were you nervous at all putting out 12 Songs knowing it was just you out there? No. It’s actually easier doing things yourself. I’m in Berlin right now and writing songs for No Use. You just have to go for it and put your neck out there.
I’M NOT OUT TO IMPRESS ANYONE. JUST TO APPEASE MYSELF AND ALLEVIATE SOME STRESS IN MY LIFE.
What can you tell me about the songs that make up Sad Bear? They are very personal. And I don’t care who gets it and who doesn’t. I’m not out to impress anyone. Just to appease myself and
alleviate some stress in my life. It works too. It’s like having a therapist all the time. If something is getting to me I can always pick up my guitar and play. So what’s behind the album name? Sergie Loobkoff made a painting with that title. I used both the painting and title. I love it! People started giving me teddy bears on tour. I really liked the song “Hey God” off the new album. Was there a particular incident that inspired it? Thanks. Yeah just questioning what is real and what is false. We have to think freely in this day and age and question our beliefs instead of letting them control us. No incident. I just think life, kids, marriage, depression, and those kinds of things. The good and the bad. I love the music of No Use For a Name, but these songs just seem much more personal than those you do with the band. Is that fair to say? Yes very. It was a personal whirlwind at the time. I just didn’t know where I was in life. I didn’t know what my future was or who held the keys. I wasn’t in charge. You brought in a lot of guests for this record. Who joined you in the studio?
They are all listed on the record. I wanted to broaden my solo sound from where 12 Songs left off. I just wanted that experience and I loved it. My next solo album may just be me and my guitar. That being said, do you have plans for another NUFAN record any time soon? I’m excited to do it. We’ve had two member changes since then so it will be interesting to work with two fresh minds. Both members were in RKL and the Other at one time so we should rip. Do you plan to tour much behind this record? Yes. Whatever comes my way. Right now it’s a little hard to think of that because I am in the middle of two long European tours with Scorpios and No Use starting soon. I’m sort of waiting to see what unfolds for 2012. I want to write a new No Use record for sure though. That I do know. What’s next for you? Writing, writing and writing. But a lot of touring first over here in Europe. Those are all the questions I had. Anything else you want to cover? I think that sums it up pretty well. Thanks for the interview.
BACK TO BOSSTONES
The Mighty Mighty Bosstones Return After a 7-Year Absence
w
BY JOHN B. MOORE
HEN THE MIGHTY MIGHTY BOSSTONES– legends in the U.S. ska movement– announced they were taking a break in 2004 after two decades together, many fans weren’t sure if they would ever hear any new material from the bands again. Hell, the band didn’t even know if they would ever play any new songs together as a group. To hear frontman Dickie Barrett tell it seven years later, it would have been a brilliant strategy if they were purposely putting the brakes on the band so many years ago just to create pent-up demand for the group later on. Turns out the time off did the group well. Barrett found success as the announcer for Jimmy Kimmel Live and flirted briefly with his own radio show; bassist Joe Gittleman continue to record with his side project Avoid One Thing; Trombonist Chris Rhodes played with The Toasters, NOFX and a number of other punk and ska groups; drummer Joe Sirois sat on the stool for Frank Black and The Street Dogs; saxophonist Tim Burton wrote some scripts in LA; and guitarist Lawrence Katz formed a new band of his own and contributed to several soundtracks. The band found time to put out 2009’s Pinpoint’s and Gin Joints and have managed to find a solid enough groove, thanks in part to cutting down on the touring quite a bit, to record their latest, the brilliant full length The Magic of Youth, play at a handful of European Festivals this year and even bring back the wildly popular Hometown Throwdown in Boston. In the midst of rehearsing about 60 songs for the Boston shows, Barrett spoke recently about the hiatus, the new record and finally giving a voice and anthem to the tragically overlooked sport of candlepin bowling. You have been getting a lot of praise for your lyrics this time around. Is it just that you have more experience as a writer now or was it a matter of just having a lot of things you wanted to say this time out and hit a nice patch of inspiration? It’s probably a combination of both. I think you can also fold technology into that, making it a lot easier. In the old days when I used to write with a feather and ink well you had to break out the feather. I think with writing on an iPhone, it’s not as romantic, but if you’re instantly inspired you have something there. Even something as simple as the spell correct, if I was writing in notebooks and had a misspelled word I’d have to go back and rewrite the whole thing. PG 28 • January 2012 • insiteatlanta.com
So you used an iPhone to write some of the lyrics on this album? I’ve been using the iPhone and computers for a while now and the phone is pretty much a computer in your pocket. I’m not the first one to do this, but in the course of writing songs, in the past I tried to carry around a little tape recorder with me and I always had notebooks with me and stuff… So when did you start working on this record? I think we’re always working. You never know when music might come in from me or Joe or someone else, and we fire up the recorder, bring out the acoustic guitar. Also too, I think you made an excellent point: we’ve had a lot more life experiences. I’ve got a good bird’s eye view, I’ve got decent perspective at this point of what we’re been through, the things I want to say whether they’re political or just commenting on life as it is in the year 2011. When you guys announced you were taking time off after Jackknife to a Swan, did you know that the band would always come back and write more albums? With all the Bosstones news coming in right now - with the new record, playing in Europe and at the festivals this year, reports of selling out the Throwdown in record time - looking back it almost seems like it was all planned, like we thought if we would have kept going after Jackknife we would probably peter out after three years, but if we took some time off we would build up (anticipation). Looking at it know it seems more like strategy, but it really wasn’t. I wish I could say it was, but I was approaching 40 and had been a hard touring
Bosstone for 20 years and just wanted to catch my breath, look around and see if there’s anything else I could do. Jimmy Kimmel is great and doing his show is really creative and fun, so that worked out well for me and once that was in place we realized we missed each other. We had always been close friends; we lived on a bus for 20 years and became brothers, so you start to miss those guys. Obviously you and Joe and everyone else in the band have a whole other life outside of the Bosstones. Does that make it tougher to find time to work on an album together? It’s not tougher because there’s only so much time and what we’re doing now versus what we were doing is a little different. We’re not going to be the touring warhorse that it once was and the days of the touring warhorse have probably gone the way of the dodo bird. Do you think you have another album in you after The Magic of Youth? I feel like there is another record because I’ve already been writing and working on some things and I feel like this is a trilogy: Pinpoints and The Magic of Youth and I feel like there’s a third one. I don’t know why, maybe it’s a part of my bizarre OCD and there needs to be three. I feel like the first one felt like it was supposed to be long and ska-driven and the second one is supposed to be more punk rock-driven and shorter. I don’t know if I’m right about either one of these, but I think that’s what we were trying to create. I felt like the first one was a stroke from a paint brush and the second one was a punch in the stomach and the third one, I’ll have to figure out some kind of analogy for that one. Maybe I’m trying to make up for lost time.
SPORTS
SPORTS
GSU PANTHER BASKETBALL
AN ABRIDGED
BY DAVE COHEN
BY DEMARCO WILLIAMS
Off and Running with New Head Coach
T
I
F THERE’S ONE GOOD THING to come from the first month or so of NBA action being axed, it’s that schedulers had to frantically piece the rest of the year together. In that haste, they’ve given fans a present they’ll be able to unwrap nearly every night from now until late April. And while back-tobacks with the likes of the Miami Heat and Los Angeles Clippers are reasons for much of the commotion, they aren’t the only two exciting squads. Everywhere you look, in fact, there seems to be a contender, or a team one player away from serious contention. Consider this early guide to the NBA Playoffs as your way of deciphering which teams are which.
HE GEORGIA STATE PANTHER basketball team is off to one of its best starts in school history and they’re doing it under first year head coach Ron Hunter. Hunter, who spent the previous seventeen seasons leading the program at IUPUI in Indianapolis, came to Atlanta during the off-season to take over a struggling program that had lost eighty games over the last four seasons under coach Rod Barnes. While inheriting a talented squad, his first task was to begin changing the culture surrounding the basketball program to one that bought in to his belief of “Why Not Now?” From all indications it appears that his Panthers have bought in. As of this writing they had won a school record nine consecutive games heading into conference play in the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA). Georgia State radio voice Dave Cohen talked with Hunter about the team’s progress through the first third of the season.
EASTERN CONFERENCE 1. MIAMI HEAT
Believe everything you’ve heard. This really is the scariest Dwyane Wade and LeBron James have ever looked together. They’re playing for four quarters. They’re winning close games too. If the bench holds up, the Heat will have a stranglehold on the No. 1 seed by early March.
Going back to the off-season, what was it about the Georgia State job that peaked your interest? Well, the one thing that excited me was the fact that I’d been at urban institutions before. I mean, this was right up my alley. Some guys take jobs that are not a fit for them but they take them for obvious reasons. This was a perfect fit for me. It was a program that needed some enthusiasm, needed a boost of confidence, and that’s kind of what I am so this was just an unbelievable situation for me so that’s why I thought right now was the time. Coming in you weren’t sure what you had personnel-wise but it looks like the roster just needed a little fine tuning and an infusion of a winning attitude. I knew we had talent here. I just thought we had to change the culture. It doesn’t matter so much about talent; it’s that culture of losing. That was one of the things that was driving me crazy. How do you change that? There are a lot of different things to try and change the culture of basketball around here but after watching them workout a couple of times I didn’t think, “Wow, I don’t have any talent.” We don’t shoot it as well as I would like to but they’re athletic and tough-minded kids. Again, I was concerned about the culture and we’ve been able to change that so far. In taking over a program that has struggled in recent years, Panther fans have embraced your motto of “Why Not Now?”, meaning why do we have to wait to be competitive as a program overall and be a contender in the CAA? I always find it interesting when new programs get started there’s that feeling that you have to wait to win. Well, what are you waiting for? You know, these are kids that have been playing basketball their whole lives so I had to make some adjustments. I think it’s important that we put our system in but I had to make some adjustments to this team, just like I will make some adjustments to the team we’ll have next year, but I wanted these kids (seniors) to know, you know, I don’t want to use your last year, and waste it, so it’s kind of “Why not now?” The kids have taken that motto and run with it. Again, it’s about changing that culture. Why do we have to wait to win? Why do we have
2012 NBA Season Outlook
2. CHICAGO BULLS
If you have a team with former No. 1 scoring options like Carlos Boozer and Richard Hamilton, there’s no reason for MVP Derrick Rose to go for 30 every night. But the fact that he can whenever he wants to sure is comforting.
3. NEW YORK KNICKS
Though Gotham is slightly panicked over the team’s so-so start, we aren’t. Carmelo Anthony and Amar’e Stoudemire will be fine. Tyson Chandler will be the interior force he was advertised tobe. They just have to play it cool ‘til guards Baron Davis and Iman Shumpert return from injuries. I KNEW WE HAD TALENT HERE. I JUST THOUGHT WE HAD TO CHANGE THE CULTURE. IT DOESN’T MATTER SO MUCH ABOUT TALENT; IT’S THAT CULTURE OF LOSING. THAT WAS ONE OF THE THINGS THAT WAS DRIVING ME CRAZY.
to wait to get to the NCAA tournament? Is there someone telling us we can’t go? If we can win and go then let’s give it a shot at it. At IUPUI you battled every year in the Summit League. Now you get ready for your first run through the CAA, a league that’s had two Final Four teams in the last six seasons. I’ve heard a lot about it and, of course, with the national part of it with VCU’s run last year and George Mason before that, but I am still more excited about my team. I don’t like looking ahead. I love just the next game. I think more people (opposing teams) are going to be more interested about playing us than we are interested in playing them because we’ve made the change. It used to be that teams would come to Atlanta and you know, you get a win and get out of here. Those days are over. I think it is going to be more of an adjustment for opposing teams and them being more worried about what we do than I am when we begin CAA play. I like where my teams. I love the fact that they are playing mentally tough basketball and, with that, I think that we’re always going to have a chance to win games. We may not win them all but I think we are going to have a chance to win every game that we play.
WESTERN CONFERENCE 1. OKLAHOMA CITY THUNDER
If your team had a fourth-quarter assassin (Kevin Durant), a hot-headed sharpshooter (Russell Westbrook) and a defensive goon (Kendrick Perkins), they still wouldn’t be as scary as this spunky group.
2. LA CLIPPERS
It took about three games for the first alley-oop to happen in “Lob City.” After Chris Paul and Blake Griffin have been around each other a few months, we’re certain the ratio of dropped jaws per square mile will increase. Wins as well.
3. DALLAS MAVERICKS
The defending world champs have to find their motivation. Dirk Nowitzki’s gotta find his three-point range (14% over the first week). New face Lamar Odom has gotta find any kind of shot (four for 30 in his first four games).
4. ATLANTA HAWKS
4. LA LAKERS
5. BOSTON CELTICS
5. DENVER NUGGETS
Other teams may have flashier names off the bench, but the Hawks’ second unit (Vladimir Radmanovic, Tracy McGrady) is doing enough to keep Atlanta starters fresh. Come the fourth, Josh Smith and the Hawks’ starters still have bounce. Scary thought, huh? We’re not buying this whole Boston Geriatrics thing. Yes, Ray Allen (36 years old), Kevin Garnett (35) and Paul Pierce are older (34). But just from sprinting around with the brilliant Rajon Rondo (25), they’ll give the appearance of youth…for at least one more run.
6. INDIANA PACERS
Years of strategizing by Larry Bird, Indiana’s President of Basketball Operations, has finally shown on the court. By mixing veteran scorers (Danny Granger, David West), backcourt youth (Darren Collison) and scary presences up the middle (Roy Hibbert), the Pacers have few problems.
7. ORLANDO MAGIC
Oh, the irony of life. With so much uncertainty in the Magic locker room these days (Dwight Howard to the Nets? The Lakers? The Hawks?), we can almost see the team vanishing from relevancy right before our very eyes.
8. MILWAUKEE BUCKS
If there weren’t so many Ifs on this lineup –If Andrew Bogut stays healthy; If Stephen Jackson keeps his mouth shut; If Brandon Jennings realizes he’s usually the best player on the court- these Bucks could be brilliant. Better Luck Next Year: Philadelphia, Detroit
We were bitten in the tushy last year, thinking that Black Mamba’s sheer intensity would will the Lakers deep in the postseason. We’re giving it one more shot in ’12. Early on, Kobe Bryant’s been dangerous (nearly 28 points a night), but we’re just not sure Pau Gasol has much bite left. Like a b-ball version of Avatar, these Nuggets are making headlines with no stars. For fans not to turn blue later in the season though, Ty Lawson needs to keep up all his scoring. Just not sure that’s in the script.
6. SAN ANTONIO SPURS
Though DeJuan Blair’s snatched Tim Duncan’s role in the middle, these Spurs still play the same game they’ve always played: good defense, great shooting and a generous dose of Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili.
7. HOUSTON ROCKETS
With the balance this team demonstrates –four guys average over 10 points a contest- you’d understand if players wanted to try out to be circus acrobats. We’re just trying to figure out who’s the ringleader in the Rockets locker.
8. PORTLAND TRAIL BLAZERS
Brandon Roy’s early retirement for incessant knee pains is a story that deserved more ink. Maybe LaMarcus Aldridge and Co. will get their coverage after an inspired run through the West this spring. Better Luck Next Year: Minnesota Timberwolves, Golden State Warriors
NBA FINALS: MIAMI OVER OKLAHOMA CITY, 4-2 insiteatlanta.com • January 2012 • PG 29
Novak Djokovic
SPORTS
DID SANTA FORGET AN ITEM ON YOUR LIST? BEST ADULT TOY SELECTION
FANATIC ATHLETES OF 2011 A Monthly Sports Wrap-up SPORTS
BY DEMARCO WILLIAMS BYANTHONY DEMARCO ROBLES WILLIAMS 1.
Going andBOWL winning 2011 NCAA Now that36-0 SUPER XLV the is over, football fans wrestling may Will havethere earned Robles anIf can get to thetitle real issue: be a 2011 season? honorable mention here. to accomyou let NFL commissioner RogerBut Goodell tell it, a new plish allbargaining of that agreement with a physical disability collective is imminent. But listen to (Anthony born with one leg) truly others close towas the situation and they’ll say it’sisnot such a incredible. sure thing. While officials work out the numbers, Fanatic knows three things that’ll happen, lockout or no lockout: 1)
2. AARON RODGERS An SEC defender (Auburn’s Nick Fairley or LSU’s Patrick
What will folks forget about Packers’ Peterson) be the No. 1 pick in thethe Draft; 2) An 18-game 2011 Bowl run wasBowl thatXLVI theywillwere a season Super will be approved; 3) Super kick-off as planned on Feb. 2012 ingame. Indianapolis. road team for 5,every What A-Rod’s stats from the just-completed regular “I feel like(4,643 a betteryards, player now I was three years ago, season 45 than TDs) won’t let us because Iisthink thatthe physically I’m stronger, forget that 28-year-old is faster, onlymentally getI’m more motivated on the court. I know how to react in ting better.
certain moments, and I know how to play on a big stage.
I have been more focused and dedicated to the sport than 3. JUSTIN VERLANDER
I have ever of beenthe before. ” -2011 MEN’S AUSTRALIAN In one most remarkable individuOPEN WINNER NOVAK DJOKOVICthe Detroit al seasons of this generation, Tigers ace won the triple crown (24 wins, “When I signed my mainand goal was to earn 2.40 ERA and my 250contract, strikeouts) easily it. Once I started to realize I wasn’t earning my money, took home the AL Cy Young. Voters did I felt bad. I was making of moneythe for not the wise thing anda crazy madeamount Verlander even pitching. Honestly, I didn’t feel like I deserved it. I first pitcher in 25 years to be MVP too. didn’t want to have those feelings again.” –GIL MECHE, 32, who retired instead of taking a guaranteed $12 million 4. NOVAK DJOKOVIC to pitch for Kansas City this season
With Rafael Nadal a bit unsure and Roger Federer a bit aged, thepoint. February, of course, marks the 2011 NBA’Swas halfway perfect time for Djokovic to get serious. With that landmark also comes Fanatic’s midseason After dominating season where he went awards: aMVP (Derrick Rose, Chicago); Defensive Player 70-6, won three Grand Slams and of the Year (Dwight Howard, Orlando); Rookieearned of the Year a record $12.6 million, it’s no wonder Novak’s the only man on tour smiling these days.
6. HOMARE SAWA
(Blake Griffin, L.A.States, Clippers);Abby CoachWambach of the Year (Gregg Here in the was Popovich, Most Improved the storySanofAntonio); last summer’s WorldPlayer Cup.(Kevin But Love, Minnesota); Sixth this Man ofslick the Year (Jamal Crawford, across the globe, Japanese scorer Atlanta); Most Surprising Team (New (Sawa won Golden Boot and Orleans GoldenHornets); Ball Biggest Disappointment (Phoenix honors in Germany) was Suns). the major news. s a beast. MESSI What can you say? Some of the shots he 7.“He’ LIONEL made, was like, Did heseems just makecareless that in myto face?’ At Ijust 24, ‘Wow. it almost Amention player likethis that, you have to live and die defending Argentine assassin’s namehim one on one. If he makes to go to the in the same breathbig as shots, Pele’syouorhave Ronaldo’s. other poised. Mexico Just end lookandatstay what the” –New young manguard did Dairese in La Gary, JIMMER FREDETTE, starsee and he’s college’s Liga on last year though andBYU you’ll leading scorer
no ordinary 24 year old.
Louis was fourth in baseball last year in attendance, 8.“St.DIRK NOWITZKI but only 13th in payroll. In other words the Cardinals After 13 how many have money toyears burn,and and heaven it’s time toknows light the match. So fadeaway 15-footers, the basketball gods fihere’s what you do if you’re St. Louis: Whatever [Albert] nally smiled on Dirk with NBA Pujols wants, within reason, youangive it totitle. him. NowWhat’s itzki’s unbelievable postseason performance within reason? No idea. The closest baseball has had to a (27 agent points, boards per game) cemented free like eight this was Alex Rodriguez in 2001, when he him in $252 “Topmillion 10 Active received for 10 Player” years. Thatconversations was $25.2 million and halland of that fame annually, wasdiscussions. a decade ago. And Pujols is better.” –CBS SPORTS’ GREGG DOYEL
9. MAYA MOORE
During And finally…Maya’s unprecedented run with UConn, the team to went 150-4. If youPro think Hawaii pays $4 million host the NFL’s annual Bowl that’s you are hear aboutSuper at Alohaamazing, Stadium… Ifwait early ‘til estimates accurate, Bowl should be Stub Hub’s top-selling event ever… At howXLV smart (first player to win consecutive press time, theAll-American Cleveland Cavs were the midst a 1-29 Academic ofinthe Year ofhonstretch, the NBA’(No. s worst1since 1996… If there’s anDraft, NFL work ors), gifted pick in WNBA stoppage season, it’s reported that Las Vegas(first casinos Rookienext of the Year) and marketable would takesigned an $850tomillion hit on unplacedshe betting… female Jordan Brand) is. A record 56 underclassmen declared for the NFL Draft.
Must-See TV
10. JON JONES
1. NBA All-Star Game
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2. Miami at Boston
3. Ohio State at Wisconsin, Pittsburgh at Villanova (Feb. 12, 2PM, 9PM, ESPN) The top two teams in the nation go on the road to very, very hostile environments.
4. Daytona 500 (Feb. 20, 12PM, Fox) Gentlemen, start your quest to stop Jimmie Johnson from winning an unprecedented sixth straight Sprint Cup championship.
5. This UNC at Duke (Feb. 9, 9PM, ESPN) big meeting (and another on March 5) goes a long way in deciding North Carolina bragging rights and the ACC crown.
Top 5 Games This Month
Though MMA is still finding its footing in the sports mainstream, it probably found its next star in this 24-year-old. 5. CAM NEWTON Good looking and well spoken, Jones will We’re still trying to figure out if we’re be8PM, a UFC headliner for years. It only helps more impressed with the charismatic QB’s (Feb. 20, TNT) he’s undefeated the octagon, going national title-winning with Au- onthat We don’t know if therejaunt will be morethe celebrities the hardwood playing orincelebrating a ridiculous 4-0 last year. burncourtside Tigers orat L.A. his ’record-smashing NFL s Staples Center. rookie campaign (422 yards passing in Just Missed List: YANI TSENG (golf ), debut game; 4,051 yards for season) with (Feb. 13, 1PM, ABC) GRIFFIN III (football), TIM ROBERT the Carolina Panthers. As much as Chicago and Orlando fans hate acknowledging fact, this isUSAIN probablyBOLT your (track) THOMASthe(hockey), Eastern Conference Finals preview. and KEMBA WALKER (basketball)
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