Author: rakemag

We’re not sure why PBS has let Mystery! go to hell, and if their idea of customer service is another Hetty Wainthrop sequel, we’d rather have another hole in our head. Time was, they ran the good stuff, like Morse—a virtual institution on the other side of the Atlantic. Granted, the series has been uneven over the years—as is readily evident on cable’s BBC America. In fact, most of these particular episodes are in saturation rotation on the American Beeb. But they’re the good ones, and a worthy keepsake by which to remember John Thaw—whose death last year brought Morse to an irredeemable and permanent end. (Hetty: The bell tolls for thee, too!)

These days, girls kick ass all the time. Buffy, Michelle Yeoh, the Power Puffs—it’s not even remarkable anymore. Which makes it hard to believe that’s it’s been a mere 12 years since Thelma & Louise, Ridley Scott’s feminist buddy movie. But in those ancient days of 1991, the damsel in distress wasn’t expected to stand up and fight back. Geena Davis and Susan Sarandon give terrific performances as the two friends who unintentionally kill a would-be rapist and flee the law across the Southwest. But it’s really screenwriter Callie Khouri that makes the engine go here. Her classy, feminist revamp of the outlaw road movie is too deft and nuanced for the inevitable charges of man-bashing to stick. It helps a great deal that it’s also funny, and infused with a sense of liberation, in all senses of that word.

It’s unfortunate that sonic groundbreakers like the Cocteau Twins sometimes sound so unremarkable in retrospect—in part because they spawned dozens of soundalikes, some of whom went on to greater glory and radioplay, such as Fascination Street-era Cure. We have fond memories of the Twins’ earliest records from the 80s, like Garlands. These were brooding, proto-gothic dirges with operatic vocals that sounded as if they ‘d been recorded in an empty squash court. But we’ve changed: Today, we actually find ourselves listening to the later, poppier stuff like Victorialand, and discovering the tunefulness with which they invested their brighter maturity. This is the more hummable, less pretentious stuff, and you can play it in the car without scaring the kids.

When Johnny Marr unplugged his guitar and walked out of the Smiths in 1987, his time as the king of jangly guitar was effectively over, as much by his own choice as anything else. Beyond a lackluster teaming with New Order’s Bernard Sumner in Electronic, Marr was inconspicuous through the 1990s, interspersing sideman stints with Oasis, The The and Kirsty MacColl with long sabbaticals in the desert. In 2000, he finally took his place as bandleader again, forming the Healers with drummer Zak “Son of Ringo” Starkey and ex-Kula Shaker bassist Alonza Bevan. His new group throws down a heavy rock sound flavored with a bit of dance and world rhythm, reminiscent more of My Bloody Valentine and post-Achtung Baby U2 than the Smiths. Still, comparisons with the old band are inevitable, and in that respect Marr’s choice to write and sing his own lyrics is regrettable. He’s flat, generic and humorless—everything that Morrissey wasn’t. But his propensity for layered, propulsive rock is undiminished, and the reported difficulty in finding a label willing to release Boomslang is hard to understand. Marr’s spirit is best expressed by his six-string, and it’s back at the forefront of the music where it belongs.

There’s just no way around it, so we’ll take it head-on: Jane Monheit is similar to Diana Krall—but, we hasten to add, in all the right ways. She’s a brilliant retro-jazz interpreter, an incredible vocal stylist, and a very young woman with a very bright future. At the tender age of 26, she’s worked wonders with an unlikely old chestnut: Her recently released version of “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” is already a celebrated signature tune that people are raving about. Jazzbos say it’ll be considered the best interpretation of the song ever, which is saying something. Like Krall, detractors worry that Monheit is just too pretty to be taken seriously. If only we had those kinds of detractors! Pantages Theater, 710 Hennepin Ave., (612) 339-7007, www.hennepintheatredistrict.com

Neil Finn has been making the musical progression from reckless youth (he joined his brother’s band, Split Enz, at age 18) to pop craftsman (Crowded House) to, on his last couple of solo discs, melancholy crooner. Finn’s rich, textured vocals and whimsical and songwriting make him one of the most underrated performers of the last two decades. Count yourself lucky to be able to see him in such an intimate setting as the Fine Line, with his teenage son, who is also an adept guitarist in his own right. Finn’s recent sets mostly include later stuff, but you’re bound to get a golden oldie or two from his Split Enz and Crowded House days. Fine Line, 318 1st Ave. N, (612) 338-8100, www.finelinemusic.com

After three solid albums diffidently supported by three labels, English pop-folkster David Gray got the break he deserved when frat-friendly superstar Dave Matthews chose White Ladder as the first release on Matthews’ own label. True to its title, Ladder kept climbing, reaching multiple platinum on the strengths of its effervescent electronic beats and Gray’s sophisticated, warbling tenor, netting memorable singles in “Please Forgive Me” and “Babylon.” That’s a tough act to follow commercially, and on A New Day At Midnight, released in November, it’s clear Gray’s not letting the pressure screw up his songwriting. This time the digital effects are mostly gone in favor of a mellower, more somber mood, less Wallflowers and more Van Morrison. While it may lack the immediately appealing quality of his breakthrough, it passes the test of repeated listens with flying colors. Northrop, 84 Church St. S.E., (612) 624-2345, www.northrop.umn.edu

Originally a recording produced in 1999, Caravan is one of the Kronos Quartet’s recent world explorations, this time through the imagery of the Gypsy Diaspora. Pannonia, a name once given to the stretch of eastern Europe where the Mediterranean and European worlds cross paths with the Orient, is the setting and inspiration for an evening that promises a myriad of flavors and spices. Kronos has a knack for creating soundscapes that are as cohesive as its influences are disparate. Caravan is an exceptional example, blending compositions from India, Lebanon, Hungary, Mexico and a half dozen other exotic wellsprings, including Dick Dale, King of the Surf Guitar. Many of the works have been arranged for Kronos by the deft Argentinean composer Osvaldo Golijov, who the New York Times calls a “musical alchemist.” Kronos enthusiasts will remember several collaborations with Golijov in recent years. They share the same bright-eyed curiosity and enthusiasm for contemporary music. Now in its 30th year, the Kronos Quartet has achieved institutional status. Pop stars, so to speak. Yet their virtuosity has never allowed the quartet’s trademark quirkiness to become a cliché. Walker, (612) 375-7622, www.walkerart.org

Though Disney might sue us for using their copyrighted phrase, it’s a small world, after all. And getting smaller. This three-month, cross-disciplinary exhibit directs your attention to the growing effect of globalization on art, bringing together 27 visual, new media, film, and performance artists from China, Brazil, South Africa, India and that foreign land called New York. There’s a school of thought that all great innovation in art comes from the collision of cultural modes—the way early jazz mixed Western orchestral music with African styles. Culture shock as a mode of progress has been around since the dawn of civilization, but our modern age has pumped it up in both scope and speed. With so many cultures meeting each other head-on and intermingling ideas, does the word “culture” have the same meaning anymore? Should a nondominant culture try to block outside influence for fear of losing that which makes it unique? And what new genres will eventually be spawned from this brave new world? Latitudes surely won’t have all the answers, but it will certainly help formulate the right questions.
Walker, (612) 375-7622, latitudes.walkerart.org

This year’s Northern Clay exhibit and forum with an acknowledged master of ceramic art is a twofer, as both the 2002 and 2003 invitees will be here simultaneously, dropping science and throwing pots like there’s no tomorrow. Now in her 80s, Gütte Eriksen has earned her place as one of Denmark’s most important potters, combining ancient European traditions with Japanese forms. Her innovative approach garnered high praise from no less than Sir David Attenborough, who applauded “the delectable way her subtly varied glazes poured and dripped over their bulges and gathered in creamy pools in their gutters.” (Recently we praised the guy at the donut shop the same way for his innovative glazes, and he called us names and told me us to get the hell out of his store.) Australia’s Janet Mansfield is known for her editorship of two international magazines on the art and science of ceramics, and also works to strengthen ties among the world’s pottery community, exactly what the Regis Masters series aims to do as well. NCC, 2424 E. Franklin Ave., (612) 339-8007, www.northernclaycenter.org