Rotation
Radiohead OK Computer Capitol Radiohead’s OK Computer isn’t easy to cozy up to. It’s a marathon listen, a muddled, self-fulfilling mess of a concept album. But it’s also great — not great in an obvious sense, and definitely not by any known commercial standards. Rather, Radiohead’s third full-length release is…
Static
Young in vibes… Coming up on his 70th birthday, jazz vibraphonist Harry Sheppard says he’s never felt better. “I have more energy now than I had in my forties,” he beams. That’s hard to argue. The tight spools of gray hair atop his head and leathery, wrinkled features notwithstanding, Sheppard,…
Can’t Touch This
Scarface — a.k.a. Brad Jordan — strikes a defiant victory pose in the face of gangsta rap’s recent carnage on his fourth solo release, The Untouchable. And in his case, that bigger-than-life image gamble appears to have paid off. A decade after he leapt headlong into the budding gangsta rap…
Simple Delight
Before there was a 610 loop, the Triple A Restaurant anchored a corner of the near north side. From its inception, the Triple A has stayed the course of culinary purity; “trend” and “theme” are two words alien to its owners, Sonny and Lucille Schmidt. Opened downtown in 1938 by…
Chan Do
It’s no secret that the “new” Jackie Chan releases in the U.S. aren’t really new at all. In fact, they’re not even showing up in chronological order: While New Line is issuing Jackie’s more current stuff in order, Miramax is putting out the star’s relatively recent back catalog out of…
Royal Pain
Mrs. Brown (a Cannes hit and Miramax release) is dignified to the dead max — brownish-gray in mood and look and spirit. It’s based on the true story of the platonic but controversial bond between Queen Victoria (Judi Dench) and a Highlander named John Brown (Billy Connolly), who had been…
Going Down
Not satisfied with the president you have? Here’s Harrison Ford’s James Marshall in Air Force One — Vietnam war hero, straight as a ramrod, devoted husband and father. We first see him delivering a speech before a roomful of Russian dignitaries. Departing from the prepared, wishy-washy text, Mr. President fire-breathes…
A Neighborhood Divided
In the artificial darkness of the living room, Cynthia Walters sits in a well-worn chair and talks about her husband, Tim, as if he weren’t there. In a lot of ways, he isn’t. Right now he is watching cartoons on Nickelodeon. Cynthia, frustrated, says that he used to listen to…
Death of an Informant
It wasn’t surprising that Donald Wayne Chaline turned up dead. The 50-year-old hustler had relished living large and flashing cash when he had it. He spent most of his life on the outside edges of the law, by turns a high-stakes gambler and a cocaine user, dealer and smuggler. When…
The Insider
All in the Family Over the past 15 years, the contentious, opinionated Hotze clan of West Houston has carved out a high political profile on conservative issues, with various members championing anti-abortion efforts, campaigning against gay rights and pushing an unsuccessful initiative to force city council to seek voter approval…
Toxic Leak?
None of the lawyers gathered in Judge Sharolyn Wood’s courtroom after lunch on July 14 looked especially happy as they crowded around the bench. “You are satisfied you have all the documents back?” Wood half-asked, half-told attorney Elizabeth Burkhardt. “The next inquiry is to find out who released the sealed…
Letters
Pro Ezra: The Great Debate Rages Sheri Beeson’s letter [Letters, “No Mercy for Poor Ezra,” July 10] fails to mention whether she has ever actually seen Ezra Charles perform. My guess would be no. Her letter reads as if her knowledge of Ezra, as a person or performer, comes merely…
Press Picks
thursday july 24 Fly by Night Here’s a test. What do Bizet’s Carmen, Buckwheat Zydeco’s “Sitting in My Ya Ya” and Bobby McFerrin’s “Spain” have in common? Absolutely nothing — except that they all accompany new dances created by the Duplex’s resident dance company, Fly. The dancers are all male…
Fresh Focus
Wakeland makes pop music for wimps — love songs, if you will, for those of us lacking a spine. With a near-childlike take on the world around them, the Norman, Oklahoma, quartet has never been afraid to play faint-hearted victim in a song. “Maybe I’m invisible, just too hard to…
Beyond the Stars
Rock history generally suggests that talented lesser-knowns can benefit from the coddling of a proven commodity, if only for the most obvious reasons — i.e., name recognition, industry clout, what have you. For Brad, a project featuring Pearl Jam guitarist Stone Gossard, and Verbow, whose latest work bears the stamp…