A teenage girl chafes at the seriously uncool old-world restraints her India-born parents impose on her, in a story that’s kind of like Bend It Like Beckham without the soccer ball. This girl, Sujata Bhatt, is hooked instead on television. She uses it to blot out her parents, their juicy family secrets (surely those are … Read more
Just forty-five years ago, six-year-old Ruby Bridges became the first African-American child allowed to attend an all-white elementary school. That’s within the lifetimes of half the people in this country. In other words, Ruby Bridges is no forgotten piece of history; she’s alive and well and still working to eliminate racism on behalf of children. … Read more
We hereby vote David Haynes the local writer with the best sense of humor, the guy most likely to laugh in the face of sub-zeros. And while he’s written terrific books for young people, we’re glad he’s turned his attention to adults. His latest, The Full Matilda, is a wickedly funny tale about a family … Read more
When everyone discovered CDs in the early nineties, Richard Shelton was conspicuously absent from the bandwagon. Instead, he was busy adding to his LP collection, which he had started when he was ten years old. Today he’s got more than eighteen thousand platters, spanning the past half-century of popular music. But it’s not all about … Read more
When the Smiths stepped down from their precious perch in 1987, the Wedding Present was conveniently poised to fill the cultural void. After all, with one fewer mopey, jangly British band out there, there were legions of goofy, sensitive fellows in black T-shirts looking for someone new to emulate. Dave Gedge, along with a cast … Read more
Over the course of five albums, the Donnas have traversed the hazy netherland between punk and metal without ever really falling in with either camp. They seem more interested in simply rocking out than hanging a label on their riff-heavy music. It’s got the bubblegumminess of the Ramones, the street snarl of the Runaways, and … Read more
Violinist and composer O’Connor made two fine classical-Americana albums with cellist Yo-Yo Ma and bassist Edgar Meyer, but the trio’s concert performances were limited because, let’s face it, Mr. Ma has a few other gigs going. O’Connor does, too, but he’s assembled a new trio with Natalie Haas on cello and Carol Cook on viola … Read more
A decade ago, Lovett got all sorts of attention for being a new (read: progressive) kind of country artist, but his inner good ol’ boy has gradually emerged. A couple of years back, he nearly got stomped to death by a bull, and we’re not sure if this is somehow related, but last month he … Read more
What is it about Modest Mouse that has everyone’s palms sweating with glee? There are a few important elements: a reverence for Built to Spill that verges on the spiritual; the buoyantly hardcore shout/singing, and most of all, an uncanny way of using the most oblique approach possible to convey the most direct of feelings. … Read more
These ladies won’t go down without a fight. Among those local theater companies who remain dedicated to content that’s challenging, political, and thought provoking and yes, still great fun Frank Theatre is at the top of our list. In its past two seasons, this freewheeling company has mounted two of the best Minnesotan productions in … Read more