Arts, Missoula News

Sera Cahoone

Brooks Johnson — Thu, 16 May 2013 04:00:00 -0600

Deer Creek Canyon by Brooks Johnson Sera Cahoone is stationed in Seattle, but her basic Americana sounds more like a drive around the Olympic Peninsula in autumn. The extended guitar picking, the ease with which she turns from poetry to guitar slide to near-bluegrass—it all sounds familiar but sprawling.…

Cure-all

Skylar Browning — Thu, 16 May 2013 04:00:00 -0600

Hangin' with Helm in Ain't in It for My Health by Skylar Browning By the end of Ain't in It for My Health, director Jacob Hatley's endearing and laidback look at music legend Levon Helm, I found myself making a list of reminders. The film's casual structure and pace—not to mention the rich material throughout—allow for such mental wanderings.…

Uncluded

Dan Brooks — Thu, 16 May 2013 04:00:00 -0600

Hokey Fright by Dan Brooks Aesop Rock's opening verse on "Delicate Cycle," the third single from Uncluded's Hokey Fright, is a thicket of rhymed spondees that is maybe about having parts of your body amputated. Then Kimya Dawson, the former member of The Moldy Peaches who is the other half of Uncluded, chimes in with a verse about working in her parents' laundromat, and the whole thing snaps into focus.…

Fall Out Boy

Brooks Johnson — Thu, 16 May 2013 04:00:00 -0600

Save Rock and Roll by Brooks Johnson Considering the context of this album—the resurrection of a pop-punk-turned-pop-star band three years into a hiatus—it's not half bad. Fall Out Boy has always done well to capitalize on the sounds of the time.…

Remnants and residents

Kate Whittle — Thu, 16 May 2013 04:00:00 -0600

Photographer Richard S. Buswell captures unusual beauty by Kate Whittle Not every kid would be enthralled if his family took him walking around deserted historic areas. But for Richard S. Buswell, who grew up on a cattle ranch outside Helena, it was a defining part of his childhood, one that he came back to after moving around the country for medical school.…

Unhiply square

Dan Brooks — Thu, 16 May 2013 04:00:00 -0600

Huey Lewis, Sports and hitting it big by Dan Brooks Last month, Huey Lewis recreated the iconic scene from American Psycho in which Wall Street sociopath Patrick Bateman, played by Christian Bale, speaks rapturously about the musical genius of Huey Lewis. In a parody video for Funny Or Die, Lewis mimics Bale's original facial expressions with uncanny accuracy, praising the consummate professionalism of Sports before he hits Weird Al Yankovic with an ax.…

Rough-hewn

Kate Whittle — Thu, 16 May 2013 04:00:00 -0600

The Grizzled Mighty doesn't play nice by Kate Whittle Seattle duo The Grizzled Mighty is sometimes billed as "blues rock," but the description doesn't quite hit the mark. My mother likes blues rock, and my mother would not care for The Grizzled Mighty.…

Mesmerized

Molly Laich — Thu, 16 May 2013 04:00:00 -0600

Going under a sexy spell with Trance by Molly Laich The crooks in director Danny Boyle's latest film, Trance, sure have found a trippy way to make a little money. From the very beginning, Boyle (Trainspotting, 28 Days Later) gets you in a state of bewildered suspense.…

Up and down

Kate Whittle — Thu, 09 May 2013 04:00:00 -0600

Author Zan Bockes talks mental illness, creativity by Kate Whittle When Missoula author Zan Bockes was 22 years old and living in Nebraska, she stole the Omaha fire chief's squad car. While wandering around on foot, she walked into the fire station undetected, where she found the chief's squad car with the keys in it (and, she'd find out later, $10,000 worth of fire detection equipment in the back).…

Mike Bader Bearjam

Jed Nussbaum — Thu, 09 May 2013 04:00:00 -0600

Worldwide Blues by Jed Nussbaum For many, the blues is the music of suffering and lament, heartless women and midnight handshakes with Beelzebub. Judging by the syrupy notes that drip from Mike Bader's guitar and the positivity in his gravel moan, the Montana bluesman's tunes have more to do with the power of music and backyard barbecues.…

Literary criticism

Scott Renshaw — Thu, 09 May 2013 04:00:00 -0600

Luhrmann lacks proper respect for Gatsby by Scott Renshaw What if Baz Luhrmann's The Great Gatsby didn't have to carry the burden of The Great Gatsby? That's not just some Zen koan-like riddle intended to inspire deep meditation.…

Thao and the Get Down Stay Down

Kate Whittle — Thu, 09 May 2013 04:00:00 -0600

We the Common by Kate Whittle It's a tough feat to collage multiple layers of instrumentation into something cohesive, let alone enjoyable, but Thao and the Get Down Stay Down manage it nicely on their new album, We the Common. It's quirky pop, like their previous three releases, but the San Francisco-based band seems to get more adventurous with every step.…

Beach party

Josh Wagner — Thu, 09 May 2013 04:00:00 -0600

Comedy of Errors packs psychedelic punch by Josh Wagner A few years ago, I took a trip to Memphis to visit Beale Street and see the birthplace of the blues. I found a Beale that's depressingly kitschy and sterile and commercialized, all shine and no soul.…

Great expectations

Jason McMackin — Thu, 09 May 2013 04:00:00 -0600

King Elephant: two songs, one big deal by Jason McMackin King Elephant is kind of a big deal. At shows, I've watched as young folks file forward to get close to the band—close enough to be spat upon by guitarist/vocalist Joey Running Crane, who spasms and convulses in a vain effort to make the microphone stand join him for a dance.…

Dry toast

Erika Fredrickson — Thu, 09 May 2013 04:00:00 -0600

Eugene Mirman hits the road with a quirky brand of comedy by Erika Fredrickson Stand-up comic Eugene Mirman does the voice of Gene on Fox's animated series "Bob's Burgers." He played Eugene the landlord on "Flight of the Conchords."…

Frodie

Erika Fredrickson — Thu, 09 May 2013 04:00:00 -0600

Petals of a Rose by Erika Fredrickson On his new album, Petals of a Rose, Frodie finds a million different adages and metaphors—including the rose—to tell us life's too short. Here's the thing: The rose as a metaphor has withered.…

All the right moves

Kate Whittle — Thu, 02 May 2013 04:00:00 -0600

Burlesque Assassins and the fun of camp by Kate Whittle In the beginning of Burlesque Assassins, a tattooed dancer wearing gold pasties and a lit candelabra on her head undulates in a theater, practicing her act. But backstage is where the real action is: A man gets killed via knife through the eyeball, and a Russian woman is in the middle of interrogating a Nazi (while having sex with him on a chair) when he is shot in the head.…

Iron Lung

Kate Whittle — Thu, 02 May 2013 04:00:00 -0600

White Glove Test by Kate Whittle If anyone has ever taken a sledgehammer to the idea that minimalist music needs to all be Phillip Glass-style violins and high art, it is the beautifully brutal Iron Lung. On its latest album, White Glove Test, the Seattle duo unleashes fury that is as stimulating as it is strangely soothing, like taking a shot of whiskey.…

Prairie dreams

Erika Fredrickson — Thu, 02 May 2013 04:00:00 -0600

Blackfeet artist paints contemporary visions by Erika Fredrickson Driving north to Browning, the mountains of East Glacier are a startling sight. Even if you've taken the road dozens of times, even if you've lived in Montana your whole life, you can still be shocked by them when they come into sudden view.…

Strange trip

Skylar Browning — Thu, 02 May 2013 04:00:00 -0600

Dude, it's all connected in "Waterworlds" by Skylar Browning At some point in most of our lives, we either personally engage in or are unwittingly subjected to a "deep" conversation about the interconnectivity of the universe. Usually, this conversation begins with someone ingesting a handful of mushrooms slathered in Cheez Whiz or involves the band Phish.…

Jackalope rock

Brooks Johnson — Thu, 02 May 2013 04:00:00 -0600

Wyoming's Redbush keeps it simple, stupid by Brooks Johnson Sitting in the sunshine and piling up beer cans on a creaky porch—does it get any better than that? No matter what's on the radio or still sitting on the record player, the vibe is lazy, lucky and free.…

Paint by numbers

Molly Laich — Thu, 02 May 2013 04:00:00 -0600

Stars can't carry The Company You Keep by Molly Laich There's nothing too terribly thrilling going on in Robert Redford's latest political thriller, The Company You Keep, but at least it has a lot of good actors in it. The film is about what idealism and radical extremism look like with age, and it asks questions about retribution and responsibility.…

Charles Bradley

Kate Whittle — Thu, 02 May 2013 04:00:00 -0600

Victim of Love by Kate Whittle I forget how I ended up watching Charles Bradley's set at Sasquatch last year. What I do remember is, after a day of watching pretty musicians strumming for seas of mostly white hipster kids drinking $14 beers, I was thrilled to see someone stride out on the stage with some real soul.…

The Vignettes

Brooks Johnson — Thu, 02 May 2013 04:00:00 -0600

by Brooks Johnson The Vignettes' "This is a Song About Rock and Roll" is pretty meta. Coming in at under two minutes, the recording is a mash-up of all of rock's greatest assets: a loud guitar, a nonstop drumset and winding, indiscernible lyrics about the genre itself.…

Bleached

Kate Whittle — Thu, 25 Apr 2013 04:00:00 -0600

Ride Your Heart by Kate Whittle If you're looking for a dose of summery fun, Los Angeles duo Bleached's beachy, pop-rock melodies could be just the thing. Bleached is sisters Jennifer and Jessica Clavin.…