Category: Arts & Culture

Local music is often a treat to listen to because it can be so different from almost everything you hear on the radio. This week the Free Press reviews two short CDs by Maine bands: Portland-based Harpswell Sound and UMO-based Now Transmission.

Have you ever wanted an ex-girlfriend or boyfriend erased from your memory? That is exactly what happens to Joel (Jim Carrey) in the film “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.” This movie has a serious tone, but with just enough comic relief to classify it as a comedy.

Be prepared to make small talk when you walk into USM’s Russell Hall theater this week. Talk karate with Sarah; discuss eight-track tape decks with Susan. Ask Harry what it’s like being married.

The characters in USM’s production of “Company” burst straight out of 1975 to mingle with the audience during the five or ten minutes before their show begins.

Imagine what would happen if Courtney Love and the Beach Boys conceived a sassy, surf rock lovechild.

Former Portland resident (and current New Yorker) Marianne Pillsbury’s new album “The Wrong Marianne” is a no holds barred, raunchy lyric bitchfest, complete with alternative pop choruses, 50’s guitar rock solos and enough estrogen to make Ani DiFranco turn red in the face.

“When the funk is flowing through you, the rhythm’s gonna shake you from within,” sings Rafael Keilt-Freyre on the title track of Portland band Sly Chi’s new album, Wave Sound. That line could have been just another empty song lyric, but for Sly Chi, it is a promise that they strive to keep.

Austin Davis came up with a great title for his debut novel: “Shoveling Smoke.” And the basics of the story sound promising. Narrator Clay Parker, a burnt-out tax lawyer, flees Houston for a small town in East Texas hoping for peace, simplicity and an honest living.

I’m going to come right out and say it: “The Life and Times of the Magic Carpathians and Cerberus Shoal” is a very strange album. There were signs of its surrealism from the start, like the name that was unpronounceable, the meager four tracks, and the introduction that gave greetings to men, women, and all the “sticky threats between.

I don’t have RCA’s market research handy. But offhand, I’d say they’re hell-bent on targeting Kenny Chesney’s new album “When the Sun Goes Down” toward the young female demographic.

At a Portland Starbucks one windy February afternoon, USM student and musician Rachel Griffin talks about music, school, and saving the world. As she sips her heavily sugared coffee, she discusses her light, pop-jazz music style, conveying the inspiration that has made her one of the best singer/songwriters to hit Portland for quite some time.

I’ve never listened to Ani DiFranco before. Back in high school she was always a name I’d hear (usually while wandering by the art studios or the drama department), but nothing more. Her new album “Educated Guess” seemed like it might be a good introduction to her music, as it is completely written, performed, recorded, and produced by DiFranco herself.

The controversy and rumors that have surrounded the new movie “The Passion of the Christ” are ridiculous. Was James Caviezel struck by lightning while portraying Jesus being crucified? Did Mel Gibson’s father claim that the holocaust never happened? Will this movie spark a revival in Christianity? And finally, is this movie possibly sending out an anti-Semitic message?

People disagree about whether Eve Ensler’s play “The Vagina Monologues” is an enlightening work of brilliance or a vulgar harangue about the oppression of women. Some find its outspokenness brave and inspiring; others think it’s childish and amoral. But whatever you think about the play’s literary merits or its politically charged messages, it’s hard to argue with the enthusiasm and motivation of the ten student actresses who will perform in the USM Women’s Resource Center’s production of the show this week.

An army of crazed women will follow the Greek god of revelry and wine onto the stage of the Portland Performing Arts Studio Theater this Friday night, in the Mad Horse Theater Company’s production of the Greek tragedy “The Bacchae” by Euripides.

Henry Rollins carved out a place in American pop culture literally out of brute force. In his seminal role fronting the hard-touring and influential punk band Black Flag, he replaced two other singers and hung on, not because he was the best singer (he freely admits that he isn’t the best singer the band had), but because he was able to withstand the abusive and violent crowds of the early punk era.

Centro-Matic are a Texas band who play a combination of indie rock and power-pop, topped off with lead singer/songwriter/guitarist Will Johnson’s gritty, drawling vocals. The Free Press tracked Johnson down for a phone interview last week, as he was preparing to leave for a February East Coast/Midwest tour which will include a show at SPACE in Portland on Feb.

Kabir is a London-born, Boston-bred, self-proclaimed rapper and producer of “Hip hop music, real and raw, cause everything they say I heard it before.” His new album “Fuel for the Fire” is something you most likely haven’t heard before, and surprisingly enough, it’s pretty good.

“Set List” lacks luck of the Irish

By Jake Christie

Staff Writer

I’ll be the first to admit that this album is the first I’ve ever heard of the Frames, an Irish band that is so fervently loved in its homeland that it knocked Justin Timberlake and U2 off the top of the pop charts last summer.

If you’re thinking about looking for a job in the corporate world after graduation, you just might think twice after reading Michael Hogan’s first novel “Man Out Of Time.” Through the eyes of the book’s narrator, Hogan paints a frank and utterly convincing picture of a company culture where getting ahead has little to do with talent, intelligence, or even hard work, and everything to do with social connections and a sharp grasp of office politics.

Mike Errico – “Skimming” (Velour Recordings)

I have terrible news: Mike Errico has released his debut CD. But that’s not the worst of it–he’s also coming to Maine next week. The rock singer/songwriter, a native of New York City, seems determined to spread his music, apparently oblivious to its detrimental effect on listeners.

Universal’s new romantic comedy “Along Came Polly” starring Ben Stiller and Jennifer Aniston is not funny and hardly romantic. Its sub par acting and disappointing script make for a long ninety minutes.

In the movie, Rueben (Ben Stiller), a risk assessor for an insurance company, marries Lisa (Debra Messing), a real-estate saleswoman.

Once upon a time, music was original. Before the carbon-copy releases ushered in by MTV and radio conglomerates, there came the inspiration on which these popular sounds were based. With their new self-titled LP, Billy Talent harks back to those days by putting a new spin on punk rock music.

When choreographer and 2002 USM graduate Brigitte Blose-Paulus danced in “The Nutcracker” during her years in Bangor’s Robinson Ballet Company, she and her fellow dancers would often liven up rehearsals by doing parodies of their parts. “People take [The Nutcracker] so seriously, and it just begs to be made fun of,” she said, while acknowledging that the elaborate ballet is the bread and butter of many dance companies.

Director Ron Howard’s new film ‘The Missing” is a western/suspense thriller with well-defined themes of religious faith, the strength of family and a woman’s fight to overcome adversity. Co-stars Tommy Lee Jones and Cate Blanchett are a great team and also give powerful performances individually.

Sometimes you can have a total change of heart after experiencing a new type of music for the first time. When I first I played this CD I mistakenly blurted out, “Oh great, another slow, heart wrenching, artsy feminist album about something that I am just far too simple to understand!” But upon closer examination, I found that I had been wrong.