Arts, Missoula News

Family reunion

Kate Whittle — Thu, 23 May 2013 04:00:00 -0600

Catching up with the "Arrested Development" cast by Kate Whittle "Arrested Development" fans everywhere rejoiced when it was announced that the entire cast returned to shoot a fourth season. The 15 episodes will all be available at once on Netflix starting May 26.…

Losing it

Dan Brooks — Thu, 23 May 2013 04:00:00 -0600

Daft Punk forgets what made it good by Dan Brooks On LCD Soundsystem's "Losing My Edge," James Murphy shouts out the band that traded its computer for an arpeggiator "because you want to make something real. You want to make a Yaz record."…

Out of context

Erika Fredrickson — Thu, 23 May 2013 04:00:00 -0600

How artist Wesley Delano changed the trajectory of his life by Erika Fredrickson Wesley Delano has always pushed boundaries. Fifteen years ago that meant being 300 pounds and drinking whiskey after whiskey at Al's and Vic's, making smartass remarks to patrons.…

Aran Buzzas

Nate Hegyi — Thu, 23 May 2013 04:00:00 -0600

3-7-77 by Nate Hegyi There was an article recently in Rolling Stone about a group of über-talented studio musicians nicknamed "the Mellow Mafia" whose laid-back playing style pretty much defined soft rock. During the musicians' 1970s heyday everyone from James Taylor to Carly Simon to Jackson Browne featured them on their records and took them on the road as a backing band when they toured.…

Missoula bound

Dameon Matule — Thu, 23 May 2013 04:00:00 -0600

Five Sasquatch bands you don't have to miss by Dameon Matule Follow the Clark Fork west into Washington state's Columbia River and you'll come to the one of the most stunning amphitheaters in North America: The Gorge. Behind the main stage the Columbia gorge canyon and the rolling Cascade Range stretch for miles.…

Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti

Brooks Johnson — Thu, 23 May 2013 04:00:00 -0600

Mature Themes by Brooks Johnson It was such a relief to learn that Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti had shed Animal Collective's Paw Tracks record label. I abhor Animal Collective, and don't need any more records that sound anything like them.…

Darkness falls

Molly Laich — Thu, 23 May 2013 04:00:00 -0600

Star Trek needs even more of an update by Molly Laich When JJ Abrams' spirited reimagining of Star Trek came out in 2009 to much fanfare and acclaim, I was a real stick in the mud about it. What is with all this action and edge?…

Surfer Blood

Brooks Johnson — Thu, 23 May 2013 04:00:00 -0600

by Brooks Johnson Surfer Blood really is a band for Missoula 20-somethings like myself—and not just because I happened to be re-watching "Twin Peaks" when their breakthrough first album, Astro Coast, came out in 2010 with a great track called "Twin Peaks." Rather, the band is a good fit because it represents the line between restless youth and getting up early every morning to make coffee for the suits.…

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.…