Detroit entrepreneurs Sam Munaco and Chris Ciaramitaro have launched a new free music streaming site called Ourtunez. While it seems that the internet is already full of streaming apps and the like, these guys swear that Ourtunez is different. “Traditional radio has lost listeners by playing the same old thing to the same demos, and streaming options have typically been one music format or another,” said Munaco. “We want to knock down barriers and expand horizons, playing outstanding, unknown music alongside mainstream songs to feed new music discovery.” The iOS app is soon to be released on Android blends independent and mainstream music (it’s dubbed “where indie meets pop”). Ourtunez streams at 192 kilobits per second to produce a higher sound quality for listeners. Go to Ourtunez.com to see what it’s all about>. There are various stations (“Indie Rap,” “80’s Hits,” etc), plus the option to create playlists. “Some of the greatest bands out there may never have the opportunity to reach the masses without the marketing and promotion of a major label,” added Ciaramitaro. “Talented musicians need a new voice and listeners need an avenue to hear and discover them. Ourtunez provides that world stage.” “Some services focus on […]

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There wasn’t any real surprises when this year’s batch of bowl matchups were announced this past Sunday. The Michigan State Spartans will be playing in the Rose Bowl on Jan.1 — as we all knew following their impressive victory over Ohio State in the Big Ten title game. And the Michigan Wolverines were selected for the Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl on Dec. 28 in Tempe, Ariz. against Kansas State. While both teams will be taking a long westerly journey for their respective games, and both games are Bowl games, that’s about the only thing the two have in common. A major story line here is that this will be Michigan State’s first Rose Bowl appearance since 1988 — enough said. They’ll be under a spotlight in Pasadena that is normally reserved for their basketball team. And their game against Stanford is bound to be a good one, as both teams rep very solid defenses. Further down the west coast, Michigan is playing with a little bit less at stake. While the Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl is definitely above, say…the Little Ceasars Pizza Bowl at Ford Field, it’s definitely a few tiers below the BCS Bowls. Even so, Michigan will definitely […]

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If a recent Coachella Festival appearance is anything go by, everybody loves the Nick Jr. TV show Yo Gabba Gabba! It doesn’t matter how old you are, the mere sight of exuberant host Lance Robertson in his furry orange hat getting silly with a tin robot, a furry green thing, a spiky red Cyclops, a blue cat and a pink girl with a Hershey’s Kiss for a head is enough to turn the most drained of parents into dancing loons, while hipster kids are getting attached too. Ahhh, post-modern irony – you love your games. It’s the Teletubbies with an anime twist, and Biz Markie doing beat-box. So we were offered the opportunity to present some questions to creator Christian Jacobs via email, and we promptly sent a bunch of questions over, in September. We received answers back a couple of months later, but they were to different questions. We don’t know if they muddled our questions with those from another publication, of if they just decided to interview themselves. It’s a bit bonkers, but then so is Yo Gabba Gabba!. Here it is anyway… Do you ever plan on introducing any new characters? Ha! Yes! Sure! We always have […]

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Yet another act of arson occurred at the Heidelberg Project in Detroit, destroying a fifth house, known as the “Clock House,” Click on Detroit reports. Since May, five of the seven installations have been completely destroyed by eight different fires. The project, which was started in 1986 by Detroiter Tyree Guyton and has transformed abandoned homes into giant works of art, has been both a destination for tourists from around the world as well as the target of city officials who deem it an eyesore. “It is difficult for us not to believe the arson fires are connected,” Heidelberg Project Marketing and Communications Coordinator Katie Hearn says to Metro Times via email. “The choice of targets seems very strategic, the timing of the attacks calculated.” The first in the string of fires occurred on May 3rd at the “Obstruction of Justice House,” also known as the “OJ House.” The house was again targeted on Oct. 5th, when it was completely destroyed. Two more fires followed days later, which caused minor damage to the “Penny House” and the “Number House.” The “House of Soul,” was the next victim, burning down on Nov. 12th, followed by another attack on the “Penny House”, which […]

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Guitar rock duo The Kills will make  a stop at the Majestic Theater on Tuesday as part of a very short string of 3 dates surrounding a pair of high-profile gigs opening for Queens of The Stone Age in New York and Boston. The band tacked on dates in Chicago and Toronto in addition to Detroit. The band, which splits its time between Nashville and London, have a notable Michigan connection: they’ve recorded their past three records in Benton Harbor’s Club Recording Company, and plan to finish recording their forthcoming album there as well. “It feels like home,” singer Alison Mosshart told the Detroit News, and also said she likes killing time at Benton Harbor’s Meijer at night between recording sessions. In 2014 Mosshart will also record with her band The Dead Weather, which features Jack White and Queens of the Stone Age’s Dean Fertita, both of Michigan.

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As described in a groundbreaking Metro Times story earlier this year, “A Highway Runs Through It,” a plan is moving ahead to spend $3.8 billion expanding sections of I-75 and I-94 in metro Detroit. Of particular interest to Detroiters is the part of the plan that calls for expanding a 6.7-mile stretch of I-94 between I-96 and Conner Avenue — at a cost of $1.8 billion. The plan would enlarge the gulfs separating Midtown — now experiencing a full-on resurgence — from the neighborhoods around it. In fact, the plan calls for removing several pedestrian and vehicular bridges connecting Midtown to Woodbridge and New Center. The staggering amount of money to be spent, the loss of the bridges, and the emphasis on speeding commuters through the city at its expense has new urbanists pissed. And the fact that the plan encroaches on the eclectic Fourth Street neighborhood, as well as threatening historic United Sound Studios, has preservationists questioning if this is really necessary. Then there is metro Detroit’s newfound interest in what rapid transit, specifically BRT and light rail, can do to revamp our fair city, all of which will likely cost a fraction of this multibillion-dollar roadbuilding spree. Add to this the fact […]

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