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Features

FEATURES

'Automatic City' complex, monotonous

Erik Adams
June 16, 2006

Given its bustling and complex arrangements, the title of the new album by Controlling the Famous is appropriately metropolitan. Like rush hour on a Los Angeles freeway, there's little room to move on "Automatic City," with tracks packed end to end and knotty guitar lines, interwoven vocal melodies and surging bass and drumming that would make an octopus' arms tired. Unfortunately, the album has another thing in common with the grind of urban traffic — monotony.

FEATURES

'Now You Are One Of Us' engages listeners with eerie originality

Ryan Mccormick
June 15, 2006

If you're looking to make a zombie flick, then you may want to talk to The Paper Chase about the soundtrack. The tunes on "Now You Are One Of Us" sound like an evil man with long fingernails trying to break into an eerie, abandoned Victorian house on the wrong side of town. Screaming guitar blasts, creepy samples, cryptic lyrics and incessant drumming define the band's overall sound.

FEATURES

Russian singer proves depth, emotion on 'Begin to Hope'

Erik Adams
June 14, 2006

I come to my best realizations and creative breakthroughs in the shower. Leads, story ideas, new directions for scholastic papers — all are better revealed when the air is thick with steam and the scent of shampoo. It was in the shower that I first heard singer/songwriter Regina Spektor's "Fidelity" on the radio.

FEATURES

WEB EXTRA: 'Cars' dazzles with visual effects

Justin Kroll
June 12, 2006

I strongly believe Pixar Animation Studios is one of the greatest gifts cinema has ever given us. Since 1995 when the studio, along with Disney, released its first feature film "Toy Story," it has revolutionized the animated movie and made the animation genre no longer just for little children. Disney-Pixar's new feature, "Cars," has reached the same level of greatness when it comes to storytelling and multi-dimensional characters that wowed audiences in "The Incredibles" and "Monsters, Inc." The company has even surpassed their past capabilities when it comes to the visuals in this film. As far as visuals go, this film does the same thing for the open road along Route 66 as "Finding Nemo" did for the ocean. The story is as entertaining and appealing as past Disney-Pixar films.

FEATURES

Happenings

FRIDAY Picasso: Original Graphics and Ceramics Saper Galleries. 433 Albert Ave.; (517) 351-0815.

FEATURES

Musical acts lined up for (SCENE) Metrospace exhibit

Ryan Mccormick
June 9, 2006

On June 17, (SCENE) Metrospace, 303 Abbott Road, is welcoming a wide variety of musical talents to perform in conjunction with the current exhibit, "The Urban Show." The three bands scheduled to perform are post-hardcore band Mouth Sounds, Detroit-based indie band Kissy Face Fashion Faux-Pas and Lake Orion-based indie rock band Rescue Squad.

FEATURES

Buffali to play at Magdalena's

Erik Adams
June 8, 2006

If you think The Buffali is a ridiculous band name, just be glad members Clare Fehsenfeld and Andrew Yonda did not go with Fehsenfeld's original name. "Originally, I thought it would be funny to name the band 'Standy Handby and the Boring Buffali,' and then Andrew said that that was really stupid," Fehsenfeld said in a phone interview Tuesday. Fehsenfeld and Yonda will be bringing their self-described "bombastic acoustic indie pop" to town on Friday at Magdalena's Tea House, 2006 E.

FEATURES

'Omen' remake fails to terrify

Ryan Mccormick
June 8, 2006

All hype and no horror. During the late show at Lansing's Celebration Cinema, 200 E. Edgewood Blvd., on 6-6-06 — ah, scary — audience members openly laughed at the spooky and serious bits during "The Omen." Hollywood's interest in remakes boggles the mind.

FEATURES

DVD captures feel of Detroit rock scene

Ryan Mccormick
June 8, 2006

"Rock 'n' roll ain't noise pollution/Rock 'n' roll it will survive/ Yes it will, ha ha ha ha." Or least that's how AC/DC feels about rock 'n' roll, and after watching The Muggs' new live DVD, it's obvious the trio from Detroit agrees. The rock team moves through nine electric bluesy tracks like an ambulance driver.

FEATURES

Graduate makes musical debut

Mara Deutch
June 7, 2006

As a child, Sharriese Hamilton played a lost boy in her seventh-grade production of "Peter Pan." She didn't stop there, instead, having made her way through MSU's theater program playing lead roles.

FEATURES

Rocking for the love of hip-hop

When you look at Lansing, you probably aren't thinking "hip-hop." Let's be honest, not only does it look like a city where hip-hop would have a hard time existing, but it doesn't really even feel like the town has the capacity to incubate such an art form.