Todd Butler’s Act Two
“Nimble-fingered maniac” Todd Butler makes the leap from concert stage to the theatrical kind ~~
By Jan Beecher ~~
On a gentle west coast evening, Todd Butler is opening the Islands Folk Festival at Providence Farm near Duncan, BC. I have just arrived along with a thousand or so other people for a weekend of music and [...]
Todd Butler’s Act Two – page 2
Continued from page 1
On his latest, Hamburger Soup, Butler has tried to further squelch his laughabilly half by making the album strictly instrumental, but again — consider the title. He’s still fighting off the ha-ha’s. Looking at the track list on the album still wasn’t enough to convince me this wasn’t just another collection of [...]
Stradivari’s Secret
What makes the violins of Antonio Stradivari stand out in quality beyond those of any maker since? What is his secret? Perhaps there is none, and this idea that no maker can equal or surpass the Cremonese master is nonsense, hype, a myth. Perhaps Stradivari was simply a master craftsman who produced violins at the [...]
Y’all come out west, Billy Bob
By Frank Moher
You have to give Jian Ghomeshi credit for the way he handled Billy Boob Thornton’s meltdown on his radio program “Q” on Wednesday morning.
Respeck, too, to his long-suffering bandmates, who have obviously become practised in the fine art of prima-donna handling. At least they understood they were there to try and get an [...]
Joaquin a fine line
Remember when Joaquin Phoenix played Emperor Commodus and made being power-mad kind of sexy? Remember when Joaquin Phoenix played Johnny Cash and made being tormented and hopeless kind of sexy? Remember when Joaquin Phoenix stopped showering and made unwashed vagrancy the world’s most uninteresting controversy?
Since his shock-seeking announcement last October that Phoenix is [...]
It’s Rihanna’s business
Super-ultra-pop-star Rihanna is a lot of things: model, former beauty queen, Barbadian youth cultural ambassador (!), frequent Billboard presence, wackadoo fashion icon, and a scant “score-and-one” years old. After an alleged argument that ended in alleged violence with boyfriend-singer Chris Brown a few weeks ago, however, it seems the media would like to cram [...]
Sandeep Chauhan’s Winter Playlist
With the whole country facing winter chills, I thought I’d focus this playlist on some jawns to keep you warm: love songs.
Been a minute since last we heard from Q-Tip but damn if the wait wasn’t worth it. The Renaissance is a throwback to old ATCQ without being maudlin. With most of the production by [...]
Disney’s tragic kingdom
The Disney corporation is a piss-poor parent. While it may be responsible for some of the finest keep-your-kids-busy-for-an-hour films ever made, it has done a reprehensible job of raising up its own young stars. If any real-life parents had Disney’s track record, social services would be on their asses before you could holler [...]
Britney one more time
Can we give credit where credit is, if not due, then at least feasible? Britney Spears’ recent single, “Womanizer,” has jumped from #96 to #1 on the Billboard Hot 100. Given that a few months ago we might have given her back-pats just for putting on pants, and since no other song has [...]