http://www.newwest.net/index.php/city/main/C123/L/ New West Network: The Voice of the Rocky Mountains en info@newwest.net Copyright 2009 Sun, 22 Nov 2009 18:32:01 MST Sun, 22 Nov 2009 18:32:01 MST http://www.newwest.net/city/article/free_film_events_in_slc/C123/C123/ Wed, 10 Jan 2007 15:39:00 MST In keeping with an extremely short-lived tradition, I'll only be writing about FREE film events happening around Salt Lake City this week. Why? Because I just love FREE, that's why. The Lost Media Archive and the Free Form Film Festival are combining efforts again, this time in SLC, to screen numerous works on 8mm film, 16mm film, video and frame-by-frame filmstrip as part of their http://www.newwest.net/city/article/special_event_film_screenings_in_salt_lake_city/C123/C123/ Mon, 04 Dec 2006 14:35:00 MST What's that? You don't have any extra cash on hand now that you've bought every single person you know and love the newly released DVD set of Star Trek: The Animated Series for Christmas? Well, don't even worry your little head about it because there are actually a few artsy film showings going on throughout the month of December that won't require you to shell out $8 to see Tim Allen as Santa Claus yet again. What? Free films? Where? On December 10th, International Human Rights Day, The Salt Lake City Public Library downtown branch will be screening a documentary about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict titled The Iron Wall. The film was directed by Mohammed Alatar and is 60 minutes long. Following the screening, Anna Baltzer, author of Witness in Palestine: Journal of a Jewish-American Woman in the Occupied Territories will be available for a Q&A and book signing session. The event starts at 1:30 pm in the main auditorium. And you know what? It's totally FREE (the screening, not the book). A more locally-themed film event includes an open mic/open screen night on Wednesday, December 13th at 9pm at the Tower Theatre. Local filmmakers are encouraged to bring their own work and submit it before the show starts at 9pm. The film submission fee is $5, but the fee to attend the event as an audience member rather than a filmmaker is a big nuthin'. For more information about both events and more special film screenings in Salt Lake City during December, contact The Salt Lake Film Society and The Salt Lake City Film Center. http://www.newwest.net/city/article/wanna_write_for_new_west_slc/C123/C123/ Mon, 27 Nov 2006 12:16:00 MST Wanna write for New West? We're looking for writers to help flesh out the Salt Lake City node. If you're a resident of Salt Lake (or Park City, Ogden, Provo, St. George, or Tooele) and want to contribute stories on current events, politics, arts and entertainment, or simply mouth off about what is going on around you, hey--do it for us. http://www.newwest.net/city/article/salt_lake_city_upcoming_concerts_blue_man_group_ziggy_marley_english_beat/C123/C123/ Thu, 26 Oct 2006 11:08:00 MST Ozma is one of those odd musical mutations that comes up every once in a while, a really heavy kind of pop music in some ways similar to Weezer, for whom they have opened. But then hailing from Pasadena, they have that California eccentricity going for them, and particularly in that part of the state, the echoes of the Beach Boys that still seem to reverberate somehow. Also this week: Guster, Cut Chemist/Lyrics Born, Ziggy Marley, John Popper Project, Blue Man Group, Eagles of Death Metal, the English Beat http://www.newwest.net/city/article/salt_lake_city_upcoming_concerts_method_man_rancid_we_are_scientists/C123/C123/ Wed, 04 Oct 2006 11:54:00 MST The ‘California’ in the title of my Pick of the Week is ironic, since the members of the the California Guitar Trio reside in Tokyo, Belgium and Salt Lake City, in the case of Paul Richards. This makes the commute to rehearsals a real son of a bitch. But then they met at a workshop by British fretboard master eccentric Robert Fripp, and toured for a while in his League of Crafty Guitarists, so in the process some of his craftiness rubbed off on them by aural osmosis, and they are crafty enough to pull it off. Also this week? Method Man, Bastard Sons of Johnny Cash, Rancid, NoMeansNo, We Are Scientists, Ladytron http://www.newwest.net/city/article/salt_lake_city_upcoming_concerts_big_ass_show_cyndi_lauper_james_mcmurtry/C123/C123/ Wed, 20 Sep 2006 11:12:00 MST Take two parts early Billy Joel in his streetwise character sketch phase, one part Elliott Smith for his emotional veracity, and a smidgeon of the over-the top vocal persona of Morrissey, and you are maybe a little bit close to describing the pianistic performing protégé of my pick of the week Mark Mallman. Like many Minneapolitans, as a musician he is utterly original, yet rooted in the great American Midwest enough for the ‘everyman’ to relate to. Arriving by way of Milwaukee, he began with a stint in glam band the Odd in the late nineties, and his solo work has some of the dramatic flair of glam to it, without the over-the-top fashion wardrobe. He doesn’t need the stylish clothing to wear his heart on his sleeve. After a handful of releases on various labels, he has settled down to his last two on Badman Records, which is a nice choice as they are home to the solo work of Red House Painters’ Mark Kozelek, another great emotive songwriter. Also this week: Soulfly, Side One Dummy College Tour, Starsailorr, Faun Fables, X96 Big Ass Show, Cyndi Lauper, James McMurtry, Damien Jurado http://www.newwest.net/city/article/upcoming_salt_lake_concerts_legendary_shack_shakers_shooter_jennings_jurass/C123/C123/ Wed, 06 Sep 2006 00:35:00 MST Mae, The New, The New Amsterdams, Vedera September 6, Avalon Theatre Mae stands for Multisensory Aesthetic Experience, but it’s not as you might suspect some kind of hallucinatory psychedelic musical journey. Rather, the Norfolk, VA band has done their darnedest to conjure up every dimension of the roller-coaster ride that emo music can be, at its best and worst. They mostly evoke the former, and their second release, last year’s The Everflow, (Tooth & Nail), dispels any worries of sophomore slump by topping their opener in scope, ambition and sheer talent. It’s a brave rock band who risks opening an album with the hushed tones of piano ballad “We’re So Far Away,” but those who aren’t scared away by that quietude will be rewarded with nerve-wrenching pop rockers like “Someone Else’s Arms” and “This Is the Countdown.” http://www.newwest.net/city/article/upcoming_concerts_august_24_27/C123/C123/ Thu, 24 Aug 2006 12:02:00 MST The Gallivan Center concert series has been one of the most successful and best-received efforts to revitalize the downtown Salt Lake City area, since it actually gives laborers of collar both white and blue an actual reason to stay downtown after the workday is done. Unlike the relative paucity of libation establishments in the jurisdiction. The fairly middle-of-the-road selection of artists can’t be blamed on city fathers, since they are undoubtedly just trying to appeal to the widest possible audience. David Lowery (no relation to Newwest.net’s Courtney, and if there is I’m sure she will correct me) and his two groups that in their own inscrutable way epitomized indie music in two different decades are a bit of an exception to the rule. Camper Van Beethoven was one of the bands in the 80’s indie (then called ‘alternative’ before that term got co-opted by mainstream radio marketers) music scene to reach to the 60’s for inspiration. http://www.newwest.net/city/article/eugene_mirman_at_burts_tiki_lounge/C123/C123/ Tue, 18 Jul 2006 09:40:00 MST “There’s a reason there’s a stereotype of hacky stand-up,” says Eugene Mirman. “It’s because it was real.” The comic speaks of the 1980s and early 90s, when the demand for stand-up comedy was massive. Eddie Murphy and Sam Kinison had become superstars and a whole lot of people decided they were just as funny. Comedy clubs went up like Starbucks; pizza joints and Chinese restaurants staged comedy nights. The saturation, Mirman says, led to an inevitable end. “If the demand [for comedy] is huge, then it all becomes kind of similar.” Oh, how we know. The onslaught of Def Jam comics and their honky jokes, redneck comics and their redneck jokes, neurotic undersexed female comics and their jokes about being neurotic and undersexed—it was incessant and maddening. But things are looking up. http://www.newwest.net/city/article/upcoming_concerts_jolie_holland_kenny_chesney_sound_team_yonder_mountain_st/C123/C123/ Tue, 20 Jun 2006 10:55:01 MST Yonder Mountain String Band Though in their first decade, Yonder Mountain String Band harks back to classic folk/bluegrass sounds, and when I say ‘classic,’ I mean the early sixties folk revival, since those well-worn genres could both technically be traced back to the 1800’s. Both in their wistful melodicism and faux naïve cover art, they are really reminiscent of early sixties folk groups, yet also sharing an indie pop sensibility not unlike, say, the Shins. This is what makes them more than just another retro combo, talented musicians though they may be. It’s the conflict between the experienced voice of the typical pop song protagonist of a song like “Sidewalk Stars,” the opener of their new self-titled release and the innocence portrayed in the eyes of an angst-ridden innocent in “I Ain’t Been Myself In Years.” Perhaps tellingly, the former is in more typical pop instrumentation of guitar, drum and bass, while the latter is firmly anchored in sad yet somehow joyous banjo picking. Then at times the two combine on “How Bout You,” that could have come from a Golden Smog session outtake, with banjo picking and electric guitar solo simultaneously. And their ragged harmonies could be the Band itself. Oh yes, cause to rejoice. June 21, Port O' Call