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City Slang: New Black Dahlia Murder album lands at number 32 on Billboard charts
Everblack, the new album from local metal heads Black Dahlia Murder, released on Metal Blade Records, entered the Billboard top 200 at number 32. According to a statement, “The album also landed at #3 on the Billboard Current Hard Music Albums chart (behind Black Sabbath and Queens of the Stone Age). Additional chart debuts include #3 on the Billboard Hard Music Albums, #9 on the Billboard Independent Albums, and #30 on the Hits Albums Chart. Additionally, the album peaked at #15 on the iTunes album chart, and #2 on the iTunes Metal chart, second only to living legends Black Sabbath.” BDM’s Trevor Strnad reacts to the success of the album: “We are thrilled that “Everblack” is being so well received by the fans and we thank them truly from the heart for picking the album up. It’s been an amazing ride so far and the new album is our proudest moment yet. THANKS!!” Click here to join the City Slang Turntable community!!! Follow @City_Slang
Urinal Cake Records – “UrineFested” 6/21-6/22
Profile: Urinal Cake Records (on Metro Times Music Blahg – “Urinal Cake Records’ First Year + New Gardens (Grows)”) “Urinefested” Local Label Showcase -2 day Fest in Detroit June 21-22nd at P.J.’s Lager House (1254 Michigan Ave), Friday: The Clone Defects, Terrible Twos, Moonhairy, Obnox, Ritual Howls, Mountains and Rainbows – - Saturday: Johnny Ill Band, Protomartyr, Growwing Pains, Drugs Dragons, K9 Sniffles, Feelings, Guinea Worms, and the Keep On Trash DJs. — Visual artwork displays by Jeff Arcel, Thelonious Bone, Davin Brainard, Zak Bratto, Joe Casey, Luke Chapelle, Jimbo Easter, Andy Gabrysiak, Ben Lyon, Johnny Lzr, Kara Meister, Nai Sammon, Timmy Vulgar, and Matt 7 http://urinalcakerecords.com – pjslagerhouse.com ~ There seems to be a lot of local DIY record labels, lately. But Johnny Ill nonchalantly shrugs that into perspective: “Shit, there could be no one to put out your music. I’m not dong it, so I’m glad guys like Eric are doing it…” It’s still a rarity, says Ill (a.k.a. John Garcia of The Johnny Ill Band,) for someone (like Eric Love of Urinal Cake Records) willingly financing and spending time resources for local songwriters to produce, package and distribute their works. “The worst thing that could happen [...]
City Slang: Battlecross post-Orion news
Following their triumphant appearance at OrionFest, local metal heads Battlecross has announced that drummer Kevin Talley (formerly of Six Feet Under, Chimaira and Dying Fetus) will be staying on with the band for its forthcoming tour. See Battlecross performing Slayer’s “War Ensemble” at OrionFest here. The new album, War of Will, will be released via Metal Blade on July 9, and the first single will be “Force Fed Lies”. Battlecross will be on the Mayhem Festival with Rob Zombie throughout the summer. Follow @City_Slang
DIA ‘Courts’ New Diners
Who says the Detroit Institute of Arts is only for art admirers? The addition of a Friday night music schedule has found some new converts. And now food lovers can rejoice as the museum unveils a new go-to place for visitors to eat, drink, relax and socialize. It’s the newly revamped Kresge Court. Combining an elegant atmosphere with competitive prices, visitors can enjoy an array of gourmet snacks, sandwiches, salads and desserts that use regional ingredients. Befitting a hip hangout, the dishes skew creative. If you’re stopping by for a quick lunch, you’ve got to try the fine ficelle salad. The stars of this show are prosciutto, black mission fig jam, wild arugula and European-style thin sourdough baguette. The green goddess salad features local greens, carrot ribbons, marinated summer squash, sunflower seeds and currants. Other offerings include DIA deviled eggs and wasabi tobiko caviar; artichokes, radish, black olive aioli and flatbread; toasted farro salad with shaved fennel; surryano dry-cured ham with hot pepper pickles and more. Desserts include Italian pudding with bittersweet chocolate, seasonal fruit croustade, and an alcoholic spin on a Detroit classic, a Boston rum cooler with Vernor’s ginger ale, French vanilla ice cream, Captain Morgan spiced rum, [...]
The 1943 Detroit Race Riot, 70 years later
Mention “Detroit” and “riot” to most metro Detroiters today, and most people will think of the year 1967. Some will call it a “riot” and some will call it a “rebellion,” but chances are that nobody will talk about Detroit’s forgotten riot, the 1943 Detroit race riot. Most likely, that’s because the events of 1943 don’t neatly dovetail with our conventional narratives about the Greatest Generation, and they provide ugly examples of white racism that most area residents, if they remember them, would rather forget. And that’s a shame, because the 1943 riot offers a chance to look beyond simplistic sociological assumptions about ’60s civil disorder and the ensuing urban disintegration. This is especially interesting at a time when historians such as Thomas Sugrue are re-examining Detroit and the roles played by whites and their institutions, often uncovering sweeping antecedents that transcend a passive white exodus. And for those whites who think the ramifications of institutional racism are overstated, those old photographs of white mobs rampaging up and down Woodward Avenue, beating and stabbing black Detroiters, might change a mind or two. And 1943 is also worth another look because it helps define the early civil rights movement. It saw African-Americans effectively [...]
Oh Criminals, Where Art Thou?
I would be lying if I said I wasn’t a little disappointed with my Detroit experience so far. In the past 8 months, I have no gunshot wounds, stabbing scars, or even a stolen vehicle to show for it. I don’t even have a lower credit score! When I told everyone I was moving here, I got a wave of backlash and pleas to reconsider. It reminded me of the time I traveled to the Middle East and, as I was boarding my flight, received a hundred text messages and calls saying, “If you go, you are going to DIE!” Well, my time in the Middle East was just as disappointing and uneventful as my time here in Motown. Where have all the criminals gone? With a nice bout of insomnia, I used to walk to the YMCA at 5 a.m. to work out in total darkness. My Dad freaked out when I told him. What my father can’t understand is that, unless you live right downtown, and once the sun sets, the streets of Detroit are deserted. No cars. No homeless people. Even the pimps seem to take the night off. I could streak down Woodward (my apologies for the [...]

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The Books Issue 2012

Crank on local comics creators

Reviews for the unusually distracted

By Dan Merritt

Published: March 21, 2012

Don't Forget Free Comic Book Day is Saturday, May 5th 2012!

DAGON GN

3 Stars

Riffing: Nightmarish boat ride to the end of the world. Paranoia, claustrophobia and feelings of impending doom created by the experienced brushwork of a local metalhead.

Reference points: Imagine H.P. Lovecraft channeled by Mad magazine's Jack Davis. Mark Rudolph brings his craft to bear on the despairing planes of a pre-Cthulu horror classic.

If you like: Feelings of doom, despondency and the utter helplessness associated with the awareness that an ancient race of sea-dwelling pre-humans are waiting to pull all of humanity down into the cold, watery abyss.

Murder on Sesame Street

Brandon Watson

Sardonic Creations

3 Stars

Riffing: Drugs. Murder. Corruption. These are the lessons that are being learned in a neglected and decaying Sesame Street.

Reference points: Rampaging plush psychotic parody. Mr. Rogers as Dirty Harry, Grover as pimped-out enforcer for mafiosoed Elmo. All in bright primary colors and brought to by the letters R., I. and P.

If you like: Laughing at the misfortunes of disadvantaged puppets. Tasteless parodies of beloved childhood television icons. Cookies.

Miserable Americans Part 1

Evan Derian

Deadcity

4 Stars

Riffing: What if JFK and Abraham Lincoln both survived their assassination attempts, commandeered a convertible Cadillac, and shot back at a world they both helped to create?

Reference points: Evan Derian's scratchy linework intersects to create uncanny caricatures of two of the greatest presidents — and action heroes! Chase scenes through the modern dystopia of the modern industrial landscapes of Detroit help to frame a high-tech conspiracy of executive proportions.

If you like: Improbable buddy movies, Pride & Prejudice & Zombies, Grant Morrison's Invisibles or Gone With the Wind.

COSMICAT #1

Jesse Hughes

Plummy Press

3 Stars

Riffing: Great all-ages fun in this freshman release. A Tao of Pooh-style cast of archetypal characters in high adventure.

Reference points: What if Garfield and Heathcliff both went on a diet, after which one donned a pirate suit while the other one donned a cape and mask?

If you like: If you like: Good triumphing over evil, anthropomorphism and, of course, sharing your love of the comic art form with a younger generation.

Dan Merritt is co-owner of Green Brain Comics (13210 Michigan Ave., Dearborn; 313-582-9444; greenbrain.biz). He is also the director of the Headspace Gallery and the vice-chair of the East Dearborn Downtown Development Authority.

> Email Dan Merritt

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