Bleak-lit author Brad Land moves from memoir to fiction.
Listening Party: Ironhead, All Good Things and Albatross Party
Each week, we pick three local musical acts, link to a site where you can listen to their songs for free, then ask you to spend a few moments of your time to tell us what you think about them. Some may be great, others may be middling or awful — that’s for you to decide — all we ask is that you listen with an open mind.
Horror comes to the Asheville Film Festival
For those who still like horror movies even after Halloween’s gone by, next weekend will bring several horror flicks at the 5th annual Asheville Film Festival. Catch trailers for two of them – Blood Car and Murder Party, here.
Wheels of fury: Blue Ridge Rollergirls
In case you weren’t there on Friday, the Blue Ridge Rollergirls wrapped up their home season with an intra-league bout between the Candy Apple Razorblades and the Wham-Bam Thank You Ma’ams.
Train in vain
Pat Monahan, lead singer of the band Train, is a seasoned professional, both as a vocalist and as a public figure. Which is why, on the phone with Xpress, he’s able to answer questions despite the fact his tone suggests he’d rather gouge his own eye out with a spoon than do yet another interview. […]
Rock for art’s sake
Generally speaking, it’s a bad idea to judge a book by its cover. But Menomena has no problem with potential fans judging the band’s music by the cover of its CD. Based in Portland, Ore., the trio considered upwards of 30 ideas for how to package their full-length debut, I Am The Fun Blame Monster! […]
Back to basics
If you want things done right, sometimes it’s easier to do them yourself. For David Bazan, that meant dropping the Pedro the Lion moniker—under which he and a rotating cast of players had made music for more than a decade—and becoming a virtual one-man band: writing, recording and playing every instrument on his 10-song EP, […]
The devil dances
Sexuality, manipulation, passion and torture are explored in The Convent of the Devil, a production by the White Dog ProjectX, an international dance company based in Asheville. Cloistered lust: In The Convent of the Devil, the repressed sexual fantasies of a vengeful group of nuns take on a life of their own. Based on the […]
“Make it scary”
Widespread Panic is something of an anomaly in the music world. Since forming in Athens, Ga., in 1985, the group has performed more than 2,000 concerts, released nine studio albums (with a 10th slated for release in early 2008) and has consistently ranked as one of the top-grossing concert acts in the country. Yet the […]
Top drawer: fashion news and views
Prettier than a They Might Be Giants lyric “With all this extra savoir-faire / What is left for me to prove, dear,” asked the absurdist alt-rock duo They Might Be Giants on their 1994 album John Henry. But Asheville’s Extra Savoir Faire fashion show, held at the Garage at Biltmore (101 Fairview Rd., Asheville, 545-4841) […]
Artist profile: Julie Armbruster
Artist Julie Armbruster dresses down society with vivid colors atop her unique brand of gesso. While training in Italy, she realized it wasn’t necessary to kill animals in order to use them as muses.
Asheville in Paste
Local bands chalk up the mentions in a national music magazine.
Edgy Mama: The summer-camp scramble
“I’m scared I might be the Bill Buckner of parental organization. I’ve watched a few critical balls roll right between my legs, just like the ill-fated Boston Red Sox first baseman did in 1986. But I haven’t totally blown the World Series of parenting. At least not yet.” Xpress parenting columnist Anne Fitten Glenn takes on the big leagues of parental planning.
El Dia de los Muertos in West Asheville
West Asheville’s Rainbow Mountain Children’s School will celebrate the Day of the Dead, or El Dia de los Muertos, on Friday, Nov. 2.
What are you afraid of?
Let’s make a list.
Book Report: Roy Kesey at Malaprop’s
Short story author’s book tour brings him from China to Asheville.
Book Report: Local voices, local themes
Want history? Mystery? Intrigue? Romance? Activism? Local authors are bringing it when it comes to genre fiction.
A horrifyingly good time
Xpress film critics Ken Hanke and Justin Souther present their 13 favorite horror flicks, just in time for Halloween weekend.
Impromptu eve with Bread and Puppet Theater
Wednesday night, in a performance space a few blocks off State Street in West Asheville, renowned political puppetry troupe Bread and Puppet Theater treated a couple of hundred spectators to its unique form of vaudevillian moral commentary.
Critter Love: Don’t try this at home
Some procedures are best left to veterinarians.
Slammin’ it: The spoken word returns
Asheville once hosted one of the most vibrant poetry slam scenes in the country. Those were the days; and those days are back.