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Friday, May 17: And And And

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Friday, May 17: And And And

With their song, "Theme From Cheers," Titus Andronicus took a desire for alcohol as an escape from the pain of everyday living and turned it into one of the great anthemic rallying cries of 2010. Patrick Stickle's impassioned plea to "give me a Guinness, give me a Keystone Light, give

Finding solace in blackouts

Music Features & Columns

Finding solace in blackouts

With their song, "Theme From Cheers," Titus Andronicus took a desire for alcohol as an escape from the pain of everyday living and turned it into one of the great anthemic rallying cries of 2010. Patrick Stickle's impassioned plea to "give me a Guinness, give me a Keystone Light, give

Saturday, May 18: mARMITs

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Saturday, May 18: mARMITs

A few years ago, I wrote about a band called Mr. Frederick - a band that I called "indescribable." It was a project from a guy called Justin Stimson and it blended seemingly incompatible elements like rap-rock, folk, prog and chamber pop. It was a complex soup, and it inexplicably

Tuesday, May 21: Week of Wonders

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Tuesday, May 21: Week of Wonders

Week of Wonders describe their music as "tropical punk," which I suppose is as good a place to start as anywhere. What do they mean when they say this? Upon first listening, the lo-fi guitars and reverb-laden vocals call to mind any of many psychedelic pop revivalists, but then that

Friday, May 10: The Super 8

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Friday, May 10: The Super 8

There's a kind of gauzy, depressive Americana that began spreading around in the '90s, spearheaded by the likes of Bill Callahan and Lambchop - these masters and practitioners of the slow-burning, baritone-voiced folk music that reveled in cynical humor as much as poignantly expressive dirges. The Super 8 are instantly

Thursday, May 16: Rose Windows

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Thursday, May 16: Rose Windows

As I've said before, the hunt for nostalgia in contemporary music has been both a blessing and a curse, as bands have found and emulated long-forgotten artists and influences to varying degrees of success. At its worst, this kind of emulation comes across as the pandering output of those who

Friday, May 3: The West

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Friday, May 3: The West

From the first, striding chords and skittering drums on album opener, "It Was Disco and It's Over," the West succeed in evoking a dozen beloved influences - from newly deified type like LCD Soundsystem to time-tested gods like New Order. Clearly, the members of the West have an ear for

Friday, May 3: RowHouse

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Friday, May 3: RowHouse

It's been a pleasure over the past while to watch as RowHouse grew and changed and inevitably found its feet. Fronted by Alex Tapia - previously of Bayonet - RowHouse has finally settled itself into a comfortable groove as a two-piece. Manning the drums are Gary Kawamura, of the jazz

Wednesday, April 24: Sabrina Chap

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Wednesday, April 24: Sabrina Chap

When you build your act and your music around theatricality, you quickly realize after making a few recordings that there is eventually no place to go but bigger and bigger. More hooks, more color, more eccentricity. Sabrina Chap has backed herself against this wall, but she continues to imbue her

Friday, April 19: Hands In

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Friday, April 19: Hands In

The first time I saw Hands In, it was in a basement in South Tacoma. All I knew about what I was going to see was that it was a one-man band from Portland. In practice, Hands Is made up of one guy, a series of pre-programmed beats and melodies,

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Recent Blog Posts

Walkie Talkie Blog

Plan Ahead: Garage rock + German expressionist film + disco = freakout

OLSEN BROTHERS > OLSEN TWINS >>> For weeks, I've been trying to shake the images of Ich Hunger from my brain. Made by local filmmaker Isaac Olsen, Ich Hunger is a German expressionist freakout concerning a "creature boy" who lives in the forests of Germany and eats people. Saturday, as

Walkie Talkie Blog

JUDGING BY THE TRAILERS: 'The Raven'

WEAK AND WEARY >>> Great news, guys! It turns out that 2012 is the year of historical fan fiction! Later on in the year, we'll get to experience the origin story of Scientology in The Master, as well as the re-imagination of Abraham Lincoln as a vampire hunter (in Abraham Lincoln:

Walkie Talkie Blog

JUDGING BY THE TRAILERS: 'Think Like A Man'

LOL >>> The film is called Think Like A Man, and the trailer opens with renowned woman-hospitalizer Chris Brown gleefully skipping out on a girl post-coitus. Ha ha ha ha barf. Thanks, movie, but if that's thinking like a man, er, uh, I'd rather not. Are you ready for some Adaptation-style mind-freaking?

Walkie Talkie Blog

JUDGING BY THE TRAILERS: ‘The Three Stooges'

JUST POKE ME IN THE EYE NOW >>> To watch the original Three Stooges shorts these days can be a little disheartening. Somehow, it's not as funny to me anymore to watch aging vaudevillians hit each other with hammers. I distinctly remember being a kid and getting kinda disturbed by a

Walkie Talkie Blog

JUDGING BY THE TRAILERS: 'Titanic 3D'

ROSE KILLED JACK >>> Something happened, recently, that never needed to happen. I re-watched Titanic at three in the morning, on HBO. Another thing that never needed to happen? Titanic getting re-released in gloriously miserable 3D. I hope all of you are looking forward to seeing that CGI iceberg (which, by

Walkie Talkie Blog

JUDGING BY THE TRAILERS: ‘Wrath of the Titans'

A BATHROOM BREAK ISN'T OUT OF THE QUESTION >>> Note: It is time, once again, to provide a definitely biased and possibly unfair review of a trailer for an upcoming film. Here is something that the lunatics that actually liked the Clash of the Titans remake will be interested to hear: this

Walkie Talkie Blog

Two nights of Trasholes in Tacoma

FUTURE THINGS ARE COMING >>> I've tried to make it a point, when writing about local music, to avoid talking about the ages of the members of the bands I highlight. But I must impress upon you how young the members that make up Gig Harbor garage two-piece

Walkie Talkie Blog

Book Clubs: Bound together

READ ALL ABOUT IT >>> Book clubs are one of the last vestiges we have of formally engaging conversations for groups of strangers. You can discover a lot about a person by learning their opinions on any piece of art, but books prove to be especially revealing. Take, for instance, King's Books'

Walkie Talkie Blog

Rite of passage

EXPERIENCING THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW >>>   I remember taking a friend to the Blue Mouse Theatre to see The Rocky Horror Picture Show. He was a "virgin," as they are so called. Additionally, he admitted to me as we were finding seats that he had never even seen the actual

Walkie Talkie Blog

Can you "hook up" at The Grand Cinema?

THE ART OF VOLUNTEERING >>> It's been part of the dating dogma for many a year that the perfect place to meet someone is in a non-threatening, low-pressure environment. The usual examples are grocery stores (weird) and museums (weirder). Why not get to know new people in a place that's both fun

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Recently Reviewed Movies

"Kick-Ass"

Kick-Ass Review: Two out of four stars Starring: Aaron Johnson, Nicolas Cage, Chloe Grace Moretz Director: Matthew Vaughn Rated: R for strong, brutal violence throughout, pervasive language, sexual content, nudity and drug use - occasionally involving children   It's unclear exactly how bad of an idea Kick-Ass thinks vigilante justice is. The first 20 minutes feature

72 Hour Film Festival recap

Last year's 72-Hour Film Festival was, I think, one of the best years so far. This year, I unfortunately cannot say the same. I don't believe that this change was affected by a drop in quality - there is always a healthy batch of misguided films. You've got your overly

Bridesmaids

Annie (Kristen Wiig), is a maid of honor whose life unravels as she leads her best friend, Lillian (Maya Rudolph), and a group of colorful bridesmaids (Rose Byrne, Melissa McCarthy, Wendi McLendon-Covey and Ellie Kemper) on a wild ride down the road to ma

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Crazy, Stupid, Love

Cal (Steve Carell) and Emily (Julianne Moore) have the perfect life together living the American dream... until Emily asks for a divorce. Now Cal, Mr Husband, has to navigate the single scene with a little help from his professional bachelor friend Jacob

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Cropsey

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Despicable Me

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Due Date

A fateful meeting on an airplane results in Peter and Ethan (Galifianakis) being ejected from the plane and placed on the "No Fly" list. Lacking his wallet, and needing to get back to Los Angeles in time to see the birth of his child, Peter is forced to t

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Fast Five

Former cop Brian O'Conner partners with ex-con Dom Toretto on the opposite side of the law. Since Brian and Mia Toretto broke Dom out of custody, they've blown across many borders to elude authorities. Now backed into a corner in Rio de Janeiro,

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Recently Reviewed Restaurants
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MSM Deli

2220 6th Avenue
Tacoma, WA 98403
(253) 272-4814

Cuisine: Subs/Sandwiches

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