FFWD Weekly
Copyright © 1998 All Rights Reserved.
| SPLICE Web watch Looking for information about an artist? Album? Song? Label? The All-Music Guide has all the answers. The site features artist bios, discographies, influences, links, etc., as well as maps tracing the roots of music (rock, folk, jazz, world, rap, gospel, etc.), 1,400 music styles, statistics, articles and essays, and more. Check out what the guide has to say about some of the artists featured in our 1998 Spring New Music Issue: · Massive Attack: the guide calls the band one of the pioneers of the British dance genre "trip hop" and gives five stars to their first album, 1991's Blue Lines, saying it set the pace for the decade. · Eric Clapton: roots and influences for Clapton's 32 albums include Robert Johnson, The Band, Chuck Berry, J.J. Cale, Bob Dylan, Elmore James, B.B. King, Alberta King, Freddie King, Big Bill Broonzy and Muddy Waters. · Sonic Youth: naming them one of the most unlikely success stories of underground American rock in the '80s, AMG says this band, which debuted at the "Noise Festival" in the summer of 1981, redefined what noise meant within rock and roll. · Monster Magnet: details on this classic rock/heavy metal group are sketchy - if you know this artist well, the site requests help with some questions to help improve the database. · Hanson: comparing them to teen groups of the early '70s, such as the Jackson 5 and the mythical Partridge Family, AMG says Mercury put the publicity machine in full gear for the spring release of these three young brothers' debut album, Middle of Nowhere, and it worked - "MMMBop" debuted at 13 on US charts. · Natalie Merchant: formerly of 10,000 Maniacs, this folk/pop artist's 1995 solo debut Tigerlily came out just shy of the Top Ten, scoring a hit with the single "Carnival," and is another AMG pick at four-and-a-half stars - Merchant is also known as a social activist, involved in issues such as animal rights, domestic violence and homelessness. · Lenny Kravitz: according to AMG, Kravitz is unquestionably gifted, but his music is hard to peg - "...every song on each of his albums sounds like it was recorded by a different artist" - with similar artists listed as Vanessa Paradis, Ben Harper, Madonna and Terence Trent D'Arby. · Soul Asylum: it took 10 years to go from teenage garage band to multiplatinum-selling rock stars - Dave Pirner was originally the drummer, but switched to rhythm guitar and vocals for 1984's Say What You Will, an album which AMG says was overshadowed by a release by fellow Minneapolis band The Replacements. Will the Real John Callahan Please Stand Up In these times of ever-fragile egos and all-too-sensitive special interest groups (I'm reminded of Dennis Miller's quote about Faberge eggs), it's re-assuring to note the existence of humorist John Callahan. The quadriplegic Irishman whose crudely drawn and conceived cartoons have appeared in such periodicals as Harper's, Penthouse, Seattle Times, New York Newsday and Vancouver's The Georgia Straight is always ready, willing and (dis)abled to offend any and everyone - including himself. Subtitled A Quasi Memoir, his latest book, Will the Real John Callahan Please Stand Up? (William Morrow and Company, Inc.), features not only some of Callahan's most wickedly tasteless cartoons, but also the colorful and hilarious reactions they generated (hate mail, rejections, threats, lawsuits) from the pious, precious or utterly humorless. Also included are stories from Callahan's life, such as the time he met his hero Bob Dylan, his belief that "quads will one day rise up with one collective spasm, and the world will cringe at our foot pedals," and an illustrated account of how he was paralyzed in a drunk driving accident at the age of 21(which falls under the heading "The Lighter Side of Being Paralyzed For Life"). With a forward by his pal Robin Williams, Will the Real John Callahan Please Stand Up? is a valuable reminder that the only thing that shouldn't be laughed at is someone who thinks there is. Free stuff! Note: Due to the holiday on Friday, all free stuff can be picked up on Thursday. Office hours are 9 a.m. to noon and 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. It's movie week for Fast Forward readers.... Fast Forward has double passes to the advance screening of The Object of My Affection on Wednesday, April 15 at 7 p.m. at Eau Claire Cinemas. The film stars Jennifer Anniston as Nina Borowski, a woman who finds out she's pregnant and wants to raise the child with her gay roommate instead of her boyfriend. See the ad in this issue for details on how to win. Neil Young and Crazy Horse fans won't want to miss Year of the Horse, filmed by Jim Jarmusch. Fast Forward has a limited number of passes for the run of engagement at the Globe Cinema. See the ad in this issue for details You could also win a Neil Young prize package including a T-shirt, poster and movie passes. Be the first person to call our office after 9 a.m. on Monday, April 13 (you must reach a person - don't bother leaving voice mail) and answer the following question: Name three bands Neil Young has played with. We also have double passes to the advance screening of Suicide Kings, showing Thursday, April 16 at Canyon Meadows. The film, starring Christopher Walken and Denis Leary, is a comedy about a Mafia don and a band of post-pubescent prep school buddies who decide to kidnap him. See the ad in this issue for details. The talented and sexy Ewan McGregor teams up with Nick Nolte and Patricia Arquette in the suspense thriller Night Watch. Fans have a chance to win double passes to the advance screening on Wednesday, April 15 at the Showcase Grand. See the ad in this issue for details. We start giving away free stuff on Fridays unless otherwise noted. Only people who have not won free stuff (other than movie passes) within the last four issues of Fast Forward are eligible to win. Office hours are 9 a.m. to noon and 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. Monday to Friday. |