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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 [...]
City Slang: Weekly music review roundup
Send CDs, vinyl, cassettes, demos and 8-tracks to Brett Callwood, Metro Times, 733 St. Antoine, Detroit, MI 46226. Email MP3s and streaming links to bcallwood@metrotimes.com. We had previously received a sampler CD from Funky D Records signees The Royal Blackbirds, and the full album Shot Down landed on our laps this week. Thanks to the presence of singer Rebecca Saad, there’s a cool, kinda Amy Gore-esque feel to the bluesy garage rock, perfectly highlighted by covers like “I Can Only Give You Everything” and the title track. The originals are cool too, and Tino Gross has dragged out the dust and grit from these youngsters. Great piece of work, all told. This week’s City Slang stars the Horse Cave Trio sent in the 2010 single “I Am the Sheik” (Funky D), and it’s worth another mention because it’s so damned gnarly, nasty and heavy. These guys are known for their rockabilly swagger, but they can let out an unholy roar when they want to. Detroit Frank DuMont loves his hometown so much, he put it in his name. His band is called the Drivin’ Wheels, and the logo was designed by Gary Grimshaw. Mind you, his new Let Me Be [...]
She Takes the Cake
Like many great business ideas, Cake Ambition started as a hobby. Owner and cake maker Jessica Bouren started out making baked goods for her friends, co-workers and family. Word spread, and requests came pouring in for her increasingly creative cakes. Bouren decided to leave her design job at a major firm in Louisville, Ky., and come back home to Michigan to pursue her cake-making career. When designing cakes, Bouren uses the skills acquired from her bachelors degree in fine art and design, and her experience as an interior designer, actually making sculptures in the medium of cake, which she learned all on her own with the aid of books and YouTube videos. Without any work lined up when she first came back to Michigan, Bouren started hustling cakes to make a living. One such hustled cake was for a wedding at the Whitney in 2012. A staff member sampled the cake and liked it enough to call her in for an interview. Jessica was hired as the assistant pastry chef, a position she held for 30 days before being promoted to executive pastry chef. She worked that position for a year before deciding to focus on Cake Ambition. Cake Ambition is currently renting space [...]

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Letters to the Editor

Readers on the falling Wurlitzer, the fallen Michael Davis, and more

By Metro Times readers

Published: March 28, 2012

Courting controversy

Regarding your recent coverage of the Wurlitzer Building ("Falling down," March 7), why did Judge Robert Colombo Jr. not find Paul D. Curtis in contempt of court for failing to repair the building as ordered by the court, specifically ordered by Judge Colombo?

What is preventing the city of Detroit from having ownership revert to the city and selling the building to anyone who will pay back taxes and secure and stabilize the building from further deterioration? There seem to be options open to the city of Detroit, though none are being seriously pursued.

In the meantime, another gem of architecture is being allowed to decay and become a hazard to the safety and welfare of the citizens of Detroit and those who chose to visit the city.

What can be done? —Alexander Gomah, Lathrup Village

Passed without notice

Please disregard this letter if I have missed something (it certainly wouldn't be the first time), a fantastic cover story, a spectacular eight-page article with eloquent tributes from contemporaries ... but it has now been a month since the passing of Michael Davis, and I have not seen one word in your (insert expletive here) rag — er, publication — to mark his passing or pay respects to this legendary musician and stellar human being. Michael Davis' musical contribution spanned the globe, and he was one of the people who made us proud of our musical heritage. You need to rectify this pronto. (Although, frankly, to wait a month without even a mention is already terrible. What were you thinking?) —Cristina Marth, Royal Oak

Editor's note: Brett Callwood's obituary of Michael Davis appeared online, on our Music Blahg, on March 8, with eulogies from Davis' friends and fellow musicians, including Wayne Kramer, Ted Nugent, Scott Morgan, Niagara, Dick Wagner, Johnny "Bee" Badanjek and more.

POST MORTEM

Re: Larry Gabriel's "Drug War's dangerous side effects" (March 20), DJS posted:

If the cops are intentionally "spinning" the people they stop, using scare tactics to convince them, all while knowing they are unable to effectively protect them, then they should be prosecuted for criminal endangerment! It's their fault these people were injured or murdered, and they need to be held accountable, period!

And MaineGeezer posted:

And the police wonder why people don't respect them anymore. Do you think it's maybe because their actions make them worthier of contempt than respect? In some ways, it's not even the fault of the police. They have to enforce the drug laws, no matter how counterproductive they may privately believe the laws to be. One would think, however, that they could do so without deliberately putting people at risk. It doesn't make any difference in the nation's drug problem, anyway, except to increase the body count.

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