2007-06 Vital Source Mag – June 2007
What should have happened
What should have happened One of the perks of writing a column like SubVersions – aside from being able to indulge your love of pointless Saved By The Bell references – is that it constantly forces you out of the house and into the wide, wacky world of Milwaukee’s Kinda-Sorta-Thriving Night Life?. At least once a month, you’re compelled to throw yourself willy-nilly into the sinuous arms of the city – forgoing yet another night of watching Cheaters in your underwear – in search of beauty, cheap booze and an event deserving of 1,000 words. The downside, of course, is that these events usually turn out to be complete busts. For every life-affirming rock show and spontaneous dance party, there’s at least one tepid burlesque show and a good ol’ fashioned random mugging. Nevertheless, a breathtaking column is usually formulated beforehand, and an appropriately poignant conclusion is strived for (friends! city! redemption!). Of course, after about a half-dozen drinks and a knee to the groin, things usually tend to fall apart. What follows are two such events attended in hopes of some sort of bittersweet, revelatory moment that instead ended in crushing despair and ill-advised trips to gay bars. Each one will be divided into three parts: what happened (the mostly-true account of the event), what should have happened (the hoped-for outcome that inevitably never came to fruition) and a few sample lines from the breathtaking, yet ultimately abandoned column. Hallowang What happened Through a bizarre set of coincidences, I learn of a fabled “Hallowang” party being thrown somewhere on Water Street. The idea – a costume party exactly six months before and after Halloween – is a noble one, and along with that machine that can launch a Busch Light clear across your living room, certainly represents frat-boy ingenuity at its finest. I soon discover a group of attractive lady friends will also be attending said festivities. They’re going as Ghostbusters – complete with jumpsuits and inflatable proton-packs – prompting me to stick some batteries and stereo wire to a metal colander, put in on my head and go as Louis Tully, a.k.a Vince Clortho, Keymaster of Gozer. Arriving at the pre-determined Water Street bar (Mel’s? Art’s?), we find the number of costumed attendees lacking. Though we receive our fair share of confused looks – along with a large number of people who mistake me for Doc Brown from Back to the Future – the night nonetheless proceeds swimmingly. Things turn quickly tragic, however, after I accidentally thrust a lit cigarette into my friend Kelly’s open eye; following some worried fretting and a few more drinks, she’s fine, and the entire Hallowang contingent hops on a chartered school bus headed for our final destination, Cans. Once there, awards are given out for the best costumes, and we end up losing to two chumps dressed as Fred and Velma from Scooby-Doo. The night concludes at Foundation (more confused looks), where a drunken, nonsensical argument over a deflated proton-pack signals an […]
Jun 1st, 2007 by Matt Wild
The Sea and Cake
Since their debut in 1993, Chicago’s The Sea and Cake have quietly grown into hometown favorites alongside Tortoise, creating pop that’s one part ambient, one part jazz, one part rock and all parts pure. This unique sound, anchored by guitarist Sam Prekop’s trademark wispy-as-clouds vocals, has evolved from notional indie pop into this consistently eclectic mixture since their first electronic dabblings on the 1997 album, The Fawn. Flash forward to the new millennium. 2003’s One Bedroom, which perfected jazzy indie-tronica, was adored by fans who were left to hang thereafter with a band hiatus. Thus, their newest, Everybody, is not only welcomed personally by fans who have longed to hold another Sea and Cake concoction in their hands, but also in general, because the band is showing their ability to grow without completely abandoning their sound circa 1997-2003. With Everybody, the band builds on past musical success by boomeranging back to their roots and catching some of the fundamental aspects that first garnered it attention. Perhaps this was possible due to the help of producer Brian Paulson (Slint, Wilco) who took the reins so the band could concentrate fully in the studio (drummer John McEntire previously did all the band’s production work). Outlining the songs with the organic elements of a true rock outfit such as fuzzed-out guitars ( “Crossing Line” ), clean beat-keeping drums ( “Middlenight” ), filling in the lines with the pretty-as-bells guitars of Prekop and Archer Prewitt and then mixing it up with subtle syncopation and glossing it over with Prekop’s melody-challenged but soothing voice, The Sea and Cake take us back to their beginning. McEntire and Erik Claridge (bass) still manage to add the signature noodling ( “Exact to Me, “Left On” ) that makes this band sound so much like…well… themselves. Everybody hits that gratifying sweet spot. It’s got enough ‘oomph’ not to wimp out yet retains the subtle jazzy elements that will make this album one of the most delicious slices of pop baked goods to satisfy fans in years. VS
Jun 1st, 2007 by Erin Wolf
The road to hell by, by any other name
It’s time for me to admit it – I am one of those moms. By that, I mean I make mistakes with my kids. And the mistakes I make are classics – the ones we all swore we would never make. When you’re pregnant with your first baby, you make a list of things you know you will do for your child. And most of us make a list of things that will never happen. In light of a few particularly painful recent gaffes on my part, now may be a good time to remind us all that the road to hell is paved with good intentions. Last weekend we celebrated Emma’s 9th birthday. She had a fairy party with a few of her friends on Saturday. Sunday evening, we had a big family birthday dinner for her, complete with ice cream cake and presents. I felt like we had covered it all. I felt like a good mom. But then she came home from school with a giant “Happy Birthday” sticker on her shirt. Her brother said, “Whose birthday did you have at school today?” and I heard Emma answer, “It was supposed to be mine.” That’s when I realized I had forgotten birthday treats. Completely forgotten – didn’t even register on my radar. Of course, today I tried to make it up to her by supplying enough Pudding Pops to feed a small army. She seems to be okay with this, but I am traumatized. Earlier this month, my first grader Jeffrey had to make his “All About Me” book to present to his class. He needed a collection of pictures of himself, starting from when he was a newborn and spanning his short little life. I pulled out the box of family photos (all jumbled and unorganized – another confession for another time) and went through nearly a hundred packets of photos. To fill the page titled “When I was born,” I was able to produce a picture of Jeffrey taken when he was 9 minutes old, a studio photo of him when he was two months old and then some photos of his first birthday party. He had a good time looking at the thousands of pictures of his older sisters, but he did wonder out loud where all the pictures of him were – several times. I wondered, too, and told him that I was sure I had just packed them in a different box. The truth is I’m not sure there are any more pictures of his first year. But wait, there’s more! 1. I don’t always make the kids eat vegetables. Every night at dinner, they are offered fruit and veggies. They have to pick one and they have to eat what they pick. But it often happens that for several days in a row no one picks a vegetable. I don’t push it. I didn’t like vegetables as a kid and I do now. I’m hoping they grow into it. 2. I […]
Jun 1st, 2007 by Lucky Tomaszek
June 2007
June 5th The Aggrolites Reggae Hit L.A. Hellcat/Epitaph Belly The Revolution CP Marilyn Manson Eat Me, Drink Me Nothing/Interscope Paul McCartney Memory Almost Full Hear Music/Concord O.A.R. Life From Madison Square Garden Atlantic Rihanna Good Girl Gone Bad Def Jam Bruce Springsteen Bruce Springsteen With the Seeger Sessions Band Live in Dublin Columbia Swizz Beatz One Man Band Universal Motown Tiger Army Music From Regions Beyond Hellcat/Epitaph Various Artists We All Love Ella: Celebrating the First Lady Of Song Verve June 12th John Doe A Year in the Wilderness Yep Roc The Mission, U.K. God is a Bullet Cooking Vinyl Sinéad O’Connor Theology Koch Mark Olson The Salvation Blues HackTone Queens of the Stone Age Era Vulgaris Interscope Mark Ronson Version RCA June 19th The Chemical Brothers We Are the Night Astralwerks Maps We Can Create Mute The Mooney Suzuki Have Mercy Elixia The Polyphonic Spree The Fragile Army TVT Two Gallants The Scenery of Farewell Saddle Creek The Unseen Internal Salvation Hellcat/Epitpah Matt White Do You Believe Geffen The White Stripes Icky Thump Third Man/Warner June 26th Ryan Adams Easy Tiger Lost Highway The Automatic, Automatic Not Accepted Anywhere Columbia Bad Brains Build a Nation Megaforce Beastie Boys The Mix-Up Capitol Marc Broussard S.O.S.: Save Our Soul Vanguard The Click Five Modern Minds and Pastimes Lava/Atlantic Editors An End Has a Start Kitchenware Nick Lowe At My Age Yep Roc Meat Puppets Rise to Your Knees Anodyne M.I.A. Kala Interscope Mya Liberation Motown Steve Vai Sound Theories Vols. 1 & 2 Epic
Jun 1st, 2007 by Erin Wolf
Starting Here, Starting Now
By Tracy Doyle If you’re looking for some light, summertime musical fare, check out In Tandem Theatre’s production of Starting Here, Starting Now, which captures the many phases of romantic involvement, everything from waiting for the love of your life to come along to the wretched throes of the breakup. A musical revue written by long time collaborators Richard Maltby Jr. and David Shire, Starting Here, Starting Now is a collection of songs about love written by the duo and compiled in 1977. Maltby and Shire’s collected body of work include the Broadway musical Baby, the Fats Waller revue Ain’t Misbehavin’, and the score to cinematic success Saturday Night Fever. This is the first time this show has been staged in its entirety in Milwaukee, and director Jane Flieller did an amazing job rearranging the order of the songs to give it a semblance of a dramatic arc. The songs were grouped into categories such as dating, proposing, parting and starting, which let the audience identify with the storyline and take us on an emotional roller coaster of love. The night opened with surprising David Lynchian flair. The stage has been beautifully transformed by set designer/ stage manager Chris Flieller into a giant piano, with a trio of musicians set in the upper right corner. The lights were dim and the show hadn’t started yet but Mr. Flieller, probably after performing some of his stage managerial duties, sauntered across the room in his dashing tuxedo, snapping his fingers to the beat of the band and brought to life a two minute scene straight out of Twin Peaks. Mr. Flieller was a staple throughout the production, moving set pieces and also functioning as bartender, drunken confidant and purse snatching comic relief. An ensemble of only three singers, these performers filled the room with their light and cheery voices and smiles. Taking turns with the songs, Mary C. DeBattista, Marty McNamee and Kathleen A. Miller brought to life a wide variety of music with consistent performances. The section titled “Parting” was the most impassioned, with stellar performances of “Autumn” and “Crossword Puzzle.” A night sprinkled with polite applause from audience members after each rendition, I let out a grand “whoo-hoo!” after McNamee’s bitter, heartfelt “I Don’t Remember Christmas.” The ensemble harmonized well and the choreography was simple but appropriate for the space and breadth of songs. Overall the show was enjoyable although it ended with a whimper compared to the bang of the mid-section. For a night of good music and light-hearted fun, go check it out. And congrats to In Tandem’s recent acquisition of their own performance space, look for them next year at Tenth and Wisconsin. VS In Tandem Theatre’s production of Starting Here, Starting Now runs thru June 10 in Broadway Theatre Center’s intimate studio theatre. Tickets and information can be found at www.intandemtheatre.com or by calling 414-444-2316.
Jun 1st, 2007 by Vital Archives
Let us eat cake!
photos by Kevin C. Groen Cake Lady & Petite Pastries 3561 S. Kinnickinnic Ave. St. Francis 414-294-4220 cakeladydesigns.com Michelangelo fashioned the treasured Statue of David and the Pieta. Rodin gained prominence for his ponderous works, The Thinker and The Kiss. An anonymous artist chiseled out a place in art infamy with the Venus de Milo. None of these renowned sculptors, however, have anything on Sara Unkefer, owner of The Cake Lady and Petite Pastries. Her towering confections are not only artistically impressive, they’re edible! Wedding cakes festooned with elaborate piping, swags, grape clusters and dotted with frosting pearls are her forte. But one of Unkefer’s greatest gifts is her ability to realize her clients’ desires in cake. She has created a wild, teetering tower of silver and gold fondant-wrapped gifts; colorful fish cakes as big as a reeler’s imagined catch; football helmets and cartoon characters. From the kooky and kitschy to the elegant and fabulous, The Cake Lady does it all. The 32-year-old, her husband Briton (a corporate chef) and their toddler son Levi are Bay View residents and the pastry shop is just a couple of blocks away in St. Francis. With their combined experience and reputations, this couple could live and work anywhere, but chose Milwaukee for proximity to both their families. Sara Unkefer grew up in Appleton, one of six kids. Her mother had an artistic streak, expressed in home crafts like Mickey Mouse and Cookie Monster cakes for birthdays and painting ceramics. Unkefer helped paint the intricate Hummel characters and holiday decorations because she had a steady hand, a must in her profession. “I was an adventurous kid,” Unkefer says. “I was very decisive. I knew what I wanted and was willing to put up an argument to get it.” Her parents were a catalyst for her experimental zeal. She instilled the philosophy that nothing’s impossible. “Growing up in a family of six gave us a lot of strength. They taught us to embrace life and not to be sacred to do what we believe in.” Though her parents never traveled beyond Canada, their children all had the wanderlust. Unkefer worked long hours in Door County restaurants summers and falls to finance her exploits. There she met a young woman who brandished photos of herself with Taliban gunmen in Afghanistan. While most people would be terrified by this disclosure, for Unkefer it deepened the intrigue of travel. After a year at UWM studying anthropology, Unkefer set out to experience ethnic traditions in situ. Backpacking by herself, she toured Mexico, Central America, the Carribean, Holland, Spain and Belgium. Fellow travelers introduced Unkefer to diverse culinary traditions. One trekker carried three duffle bags of spices he had collected on his travels. His meals, prepared in a borrowed kitchen or in banana leaves over an open fire, were so amazing they prompted Unkefer to abandon her vegetarian lifestyle. In Guatemala she encountered a man who’d built a wood-fired oven for baking breads and pizza. It was an encounter that […]
Jun 1st, 2007 by Cate Miller
Various Artists
By Nikki Butgereit Anchored In Love: A Tribute to June Carter Cash is the musical counterpart to John Carter’s biography of his mother. Clearly, this album was a labor of love, not just for the grieving son, but for the artists and relatives who came together to celebrate Carter Cash’s musical legacy. The album opens with Sheryl Crow and Willie Nelson’s duet of “If I Were a Carpenter.” The song evokes June’s relationship with Johnny Cash, and the contrast between the older and younger artists throughout reinforces the tone of the album – today’s country music principals honoring the music of the past. To that end, Brad Paisley sheds all traces of modern country on his cover of “Keep On The Sunny Side.” The plucky banjo and lilting vocals of The Peasall Sisters and Billy Bob Thornton’s husky spoken word on “Road to Kaintuck” form just the right juxtaposition to elicit memories of an old-time radio show. But the album’s standout track is Elvis Costello’s slowed-down version of “Ring of Fire,” which removes all of the gritty urgency of Johnny Cash’s version and turns the song back into a true ballad. The inclusion of “Will the Circle Be Unbroken” reinforces the strong impact that June Carter Cash and her family had on folk and country music. The songs are classic, and the lyrics and melodies as quaint as they are strong, much like the woman herself. The Carter family’s footprint on the landscape of modern country is large and deep, and Anchored In Love is a fitting tribute to an influential voice. VS
Jun 1st, 2007 by Vital Archives
Waukesha’s new Majestic Cinema and Palladium dinner theater
Marcus Theaters took a calculated risk opening up the colossal Majestic Cinema (770 N. Springdale Road, Waukesha) over the May 4th weekend, not only as a move to bolster attendance in an era of home theaters with surround-sound and HD/Blue-Ray technology, but also in location and philosophy. Set not far off from the now-demolished Westown and now-defunct West Point theaters, the Majestic is seated on the farthest edge of an industrial complex off the back side of a Home Depot and Sam’s Club. But rather than stick with the familiar spartan, low-ceiling multiplexes that have become a recognizable mainstay for the Marcus corporation theaters in the past 25 years, this 16-screen affair – two of them ‘UltraScreens’ and another a dinner theater called the AT&T Palladium, which will be detailed further along – is a throwback to the art deco days of the cinema house. Starting from the outside, gone is the towering and lit signboard listing movies, in favor of reading the times off the internet, outside posters and electronic marquees over the ticket stations. Forgivably, because there was a rush to get it open for the premiere of Spider-Man 3, the Marcustheatres.com website did not have a working phone number until Friday. Even then, only one automated message worked. You also are not able to purchase show tickets online (as of this writing) as they work out the programming kinks. A giant neon-lined overhang (think: Vegas casino) guides those who want to keep their date dry while they park – or they can use the $3.00 valet service. For once, however, the parking area is well-conceived and the walk to the front door is not necessarily interminable. Once inside and past the long ticket lines, the main lobby opens up to a grand affair. Anyone who has ventured to the new Marcus Renaissance in Sturtevant will recognize the new standard architecture and interior design being adopted for the movie complexes. In the center of the room sits a baby grand piano surrounded by leather sofas and palm trees. The piano mysteriously waits for someone to play it, but it is unlikely the harried and tuxedo wearing employees have the time. On the left is a separate pizza bistro called Zaffiro’s and to the right a Stone Creek Coffee dominated by ice cream shop offerings. The concession stand runs almost the length of the room, illuminated from below by tanks of popcorn. Food offerings here run the gamut from traditional sweet and salty snacks to more complete fast-food offerings. While you wait in line, many flat-screen plasmas distract from the high food prices with previews of coming attractions. Got a kid in tow? The Majestic offers a party room for birthdays and, more importantly, a chamber off the lobby for babysitting services. However, on its first Saturday open the room was dark and empty save for a desk, a pair of handheld buzzers ready to call you back from the show if your kid has a tantrum and a […]
Jun 1st, 2007 by Brian Jacobson
Black Strobe
By Ally Berndt Norwegian death metal. Gothic French electro. ‘80s electronic body music. Something totally different. Any or all of the above can be ways used to describe Black Strobe. Burn Your Own Church – “Brenn Di Ega Kjerke” in Norwegian – is Black Strobe’s latest album, and while all 11 tracks reflect the group’s Depeche Mode and ‘80s rock influences, most also represent a darker, trance-like mood. The sound is good, but probably best appreciated if you’re hopped up at a Euro rave. “Blood Shot Eyes” is a quirky song that’s mixed well and puts the synthesizer to great use, yet sounds oddly reminiscent of the Super Mario Brothers theme if set against Norwegian metal. Included on the album is a cover of Bo Diddly’s “I’m a Man.” It’s bluesy but more hyped up – a little bit out there, but enjoyable nonetheless. And if Rammstein put together an ‘80s house mix, I’m pretty sure it would sound very much like “Not What I Need,” with its deep half-spoken lyrics in Euro-metal drag. The last two tracks – “Last Club on Earth” and “Crave for Speed” – are by far the best, featuring not only the strongest vocals, but also some great piano work. It’s a welcome switch from synth and showcases Black Strobe’s low-key side. Burn Your Own Church is a decent album with a lot of great production work; the mixes are actually the best part. There could’ve been a little more guitar and a little less of the often over-powering keyboards and synthesizers, but overall Black Strobe has put together a well-rounded record that pulls elements from many styles of music and then lays them over acid-infused beats. Americans should definitely check it out, if only for the fact that it’s just not your everyday electro mix. VS
Jun 1st, 2007 by Vital Archives
Milwaukee Short Film Festival reels up its 9th season
It’s with some irony that the decaying relationship between Time Warner Cable and the local public access outlet (MATA Community Media) helped foster the physical existence of the Milwaukee Short Film Festival, and even more ironic that the internet – well known for stealing eyes away from theaters and television – has helped the local showcase become more popular. Festival founder and director Ross Bigley first showcased local filmmakers’ short submissions – each narrative run between 2 to 18 minutes – for several years on public access in the mid-1990s. After a short break, the festival moved to area coffeehouses before finally landing at its present venue in the Times Cinema (5906 W. Vliet St., Wauwatosa) in 2004. The 2007 series now starts with an unusual feature attraction at the Astor Theater (1696 N. Astor St., Milwaukee) Saturday June 9 at 4 p.m. and continues Sunday June 10 at the Times with a 4 p.m. retrospective and main contest showings at 7 p.m. The rapid ascent of the internet as marketer and community tool actually helped spread the word about the festival. Now entries come all the way from Los Angeles, New York, Toronto and London. MSFF has received notices from magazines and websites and features a judging panel of several accomplished members of the entertainment industry. A $1000 juried grand prize was created by previous festival sponsors and has remained by popular demand along with a separate “audience award,” both to be determined at the event. The monetary prize comes directly from entry fees and sales – so the showcase is not technically a money-making venture. Bigley and friends do it for the love of film and storytelling. MSFF’s growth can be most easily attributed to the loyalty of supporters and now two other events: one is a Sunday afternoon exposition at the Times Cinema featuring “Best Of” entries from a 10-year span by such known artists as Dan Wilson (Leavings), Malona P. Voigt (Chicxulub) and Michael John Moynihan (Take a Chance and Happiness is a Long Shot). The other, and more experimental, event takes place the day prior, way over on the east side of town. The Astor Theater plays host to a special free premiere showing of Realization by Chicago’s Splitpillow. The five-year-old non-profit film company’s concept was to create a feature-length film broken down into seven chapters, with each segment written and directed by different crews all utilizing a continuing thread. Also, different actors play the same characters in each segment, creating a very heady concept film. According to Splitpillow, the plot revolves around “a lovesick physicist trying to complete his father’s unfinished work to impress the girl of his dreams.” Official entries in Sunday’s main event are as widely varied in length as they are tone or subject matter, yet most of them promise to not be the typical summer multiplex film. Some highlights should include: The Furry Revolt, by Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design graduate Jessica Bayliss, is a brief stop-motion animation piece […]
Jun 1st, 2007 by Brian Jacobson
