Local

by Brian Moen

by Matthew A. Everett

This week’s picks

Thursday, January 8
“If you ain’t seen Cadillac Records yet,” writes Dwight Hobbes, “I don’t know what you waitin’ on.” It’s still playing at the Regal Cinemas in Brooklyn Center; catch the 7:05 screening and you can still make the Radio On show at the Turf Club.

Friday, January 9
Friday night’s all right for fighting! First, Skirmish at The Loft as Dobby Gibson releases his new book of poetry. Then, after you’ve had enough of that prissy literary shit, it’s time for some cage fighting in Maplewood! (Yes, there are still some ten-person balcony couches available—$600. Ringside chairs are $50, BYO plastic tarp.) MORE »

Way to bounce back! The Twin Cities seem to have easily shaken off their holiday lethargy just in time for a pretty rockin’ weekend. Art exhibits, which have been on holiday hiatus as of late, are back in full effect; while rock shows and dance parties continue to ignite flames all over town. Our suggestion? Go out on the prowl! Meet some new people, see some new sights, and experience some fresh excitement. It is 2009 after all (an excuse we’ll be using throughout January, if not February). MORE »

Caravaggio is British director Derek Jarman’s 1986 foray into the violent and tumultuous life of Michelangelo di Caravaggio, the celebrated Renaissance painter and convicted criminal. Because Jarman’s tale of love, sex, and manipulation relies less on dialogue than on dramatic gestures, some viewers may find the movie hard to follow. However, once I accepted that Jarman was trying to challenge my hidebound concept of storytelling, I appreciated the film’s intense emotion. MORE »

Once again it has come time for music critics to look back on the past year and create endless lists of who did what in 2008, from “Top Indie Christmas Records” to “Best Songs by Bands Named after Animals.” In that spirit, every year Minneapolis’s First Avenue nightclub and the University of Minnesota’s Radio K partner to survey local media, bands, and venues to determine the best new local bands of the previous annum. In a tradition that is now in its 20th year, First Avenue then hosts a showcase of the chosen bands, giving them extra exposure as well as a much-deserved celebration for their accomplishments. While the lineup changes every year, it is a testament to the depth of the local music scene that the level of talent has always remained consistently high. MORE »

Ever since I first heard John McLaughlin—back when Lassie was a pup—fusion has mystified me. It takes incredible discipline to learn to play that well, yet cats who can do it sound like they wouldn’t know discipline if they fell over it. The purest of artists understand the rules so well, they’re able to break them over one knee. That’s the caliber we’re talking about when you bring up Samosa—who are so monstrous, their press release quite plausibly boasts, “Because of our unique sound, we have been virtually indescribable by even connoisseurs of fusion music.” No brag, just fact. These guys can blow. MORE »

by Matthew A. Everett • So the process I’m in the middle of right now, is putting my two previous versions of the Medea play together, and trimming the fat out of it, to get the purest form of the story I can manage.

Still a work in progress at the moment.

At first as I was working on it, I was thinking of creating it all again from scratch, and just referencing the two existing scripts as I worked my way through it.