Letter from the Editor
Monday, June 16, 2008
This week we published issue No. 200 of our Deadwood Edition. In some ways, this rag has come a long way these last five years. In other ways, we’re doing the same thing we’ve always done—lovin’ on Lawrence, lovey-dovey-style and tough-love-style. We hope you feel pretty much the same way.
Editor's note
Monday, July 30, 2007
Lawrence. Kansas. Burroughs was frequently asked—as all Lawrencians inevitably are: Why Kansas? When you could live anywhere—in any of the world’s cultural capitals—why Lawrence, Kansas?
Bizarre events surrounding the disappearance of Randy Leach
Monday, Oct. 2, 2006
Many circumstances relating to the disappearance of Randy Leach in 1988 fueled rumors as to what may have happened to him.
Timeline of Randy Leach's disappearance
Monday, Oct. 2, 2006
Events leading up to and following the disappearance of Randy Leach.
Q&A with Digable Planets
Sunday, Oct. 30, 2005
Back together after a decade apart, Digable Planets may not have been the first to fuse the laid-back hipster elements of jazz with hip-hop, but they did it better than anyone before or since. Their debut album "Reachin'" rode the single "Rebirth of Slick (Cool Like Dat)," and eventually landed them a Grammy for Best New Group.
Res-erection
An interview with Victor Continental
Monday, Oct. 17, 2005
The Victor Continental Show is a singular, irreplaceable part of Lawrence culture. This weekend marks the Lawrence troupe's 12th show since starting in 1998. In some ways, it's typical sketch comedy - everything from ancient history to U.S. politics, from Hollywood to Lawrence is fair game for VC's racy humor and predilection for double entendre.
Q&A with David Rees
'Get Your War On' creator returns to Lawrence to spread the gospel of dissent
Monday, Sept. 26, 2005
David Rees clearly has a lot on his mind. The 30-something artist's comics are just a few frames, but they pack a manifesto's worth of punch in sarcastic criticism and biting wit ...
Ghosty in the machine
Lawrence band finds its own way in the music industry maze
Tuesday, April 26, 2005
If every band were given the chance to script their own big 'break,' many might well come up with what actually happened to Lawrence's Ghosty. In late 2003, they were at Trent Bell's studio recording, when none other than Flaming Lips' frontman Wayne Coyne showed up...
Hip or hype?
Lawrence's music scene just wants to be loved
Monday, April 11, 2005
If the opinions of two of the largest national music magazines mean anything at all, Lawrence’s music scene is not necessarily hip, nor does it warrant much hype. Blender magazine’s last list names renowned sonic centers like Austin and NYC’s Williamsburg as the “20 Most Rock & Roll Towns in America.” But our beloved little town of Lawrence didn’t even make the cut.
Review: Ani Difranco at Liberty Hall
with Andrew Bird opening
Thursday, Feb. 24, 2005
Ani Difranco is more than today's single biggest DIY singer-songwriter. 'Ani' is an icon. Her lyrics are often inspirational and empowering, words you can memorize and take home with you, pithy snippets of wisdom that you can apply to life. Her poetry have inspired women and yellow dogs for more than 15 years now...but not so much last night.
All about the people
Monday, Feb. 7, 2005
I can't imagine living anywhere other than in Lawrence, Kansas. Among the things that keep me here, two stand out: The intense creative drive that such a high percentage of people here share, and the down-to-earth ease that people tend to assume with others, even complete strangers.
Lawrence launches Hometown Fest
Friday, Jan. 2, 2004
At his first major film festival in Palm Beach, Jeremy Osbern got a pretty good idea of what he'll have to do to make it in the movie biz. "I learned that buzz is everything," said Osbern, a Kansas University senior in film studies, whose 16-minute short "The Passion" won immediate praise from reviewers at the Palm Beach International Film Festival in April.
"The Death of Joan Vollmer: What Really Happened?"
Tuesday, Dec. 9, 2003
Editor's note :: Whatever one might think of William S. Burroughs, he was one of the most widely known residents of Lawrence. Before his death in 1997, Burroughs -- whose work included 'Naked Lunch' and 'Junky' -- lived in a modest house on Learnard Street in east Lawrence. The well-traveled author lived more years in Lawrence, Kansas than in any other location in the United States or abroad.
Q&A with Saul Williams
Tuesday, Oct. 7, 2003
Saul Williams' poetry is proof that words can indeed dictate reality.
The Eudoras :: Drinkin' whiskey and surfin' Kansas-style
Tuesday, May 20, 2003
Just a few years into the Eudoras' prime -- back circa 1996, as guitarist Jon Harrison and drummer Bill Colburn recollect -- the Lawrence surf band's rough-and-tumble shows caught up with them.
Hip or just hype?
National magazines leave Lawrence off their top rock towns lists
Wednesday, April 23, 2003
If the opinions of two of the largest national music magazines mean anything at all, Lawrence's scene is somewhat less hip than it has been hyped. The May issue of Blender magazine, which hits newsstands this week, names its "20 Most Rock & Roll Towns in America," including such sonic centers as Austin, NYC's Williamsburg, and the more recently arisen scene in Omaha.
Jello shots :: Political punk Jello Biafra takes verbal aim
Thursday, April 17, 2003
Like his name, Jello Biafra is at once comical and very, very disturbing. Biafra (born Eric Boucher, renaming himself after a Nigerian civil war that claimed more than a million lives, mostly women and children) is a master of mixing humor with a portentous political commentary seldom found in mainstream media.
Q&A with The Billions
Friday, April 11, 2003
Different folks
Conner stoked to NOT sound like The Strokes
Thursday, March 6, 2003
This time last year, the Lawrence band Conner finished its first demo. James Duft, the trio's singer and guitarist, dropped the nine-track CD off up at KJHK 90.7 fm, without the slightest expectation for what was to come.
Tech N9ne battles industry
Friday, Jan. 24, 2003
As the war over Internet file sharing goes global with the music industry's suit against Kazaa -- the multinational successor to mp3 file-sharing giant Napster -- a Kansas City rapper is fostering a revolution that could undermine the industry's case. In taking down Napster, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) argued the availability of free mp3s online was responsible for record low album sales.
Replay Lounge has reasons to celebrate
Friday, Jan. 3, 2003
When Replay Lounge opened 10 years ago, it wasn't the indie rock icon it's since become. At first, the building at the corner of 10th and Mass. was opened as a pinball joint where you could get a beer, 75-cent burgers and milkshakes. The music would come the next year, and when it did it overshadowed everything else (except maybe the beer).
Tolle of The Belles crafts a mellower mood
Friday, Dec. 13, 2002
This may be the year of rock's revival in the national music media, but in Lawrence The Belles have jumped off that bandwagon. Despite the hype around the so-called "The" bands -- see The Hives, The Strokes, The White Stripes and The Vines, whom many music mags credit for reviving rock -- The Belles' new album "Omerta" is in a decidedly mellower mood.
Q&A with The Get Up Kids
Friday, Dec. 13, 2002
Regional band makes airwaves
Friday, Dec. 6, 2002
Unsigned local bands NEVER make it into the exclusive playlists of commercial radio. It just doesn't happen.
Kliph's notes
Lawrence drummer tours with Beck and Flaming Lips
Friday, Nov. 15, 2002
For hundreds of Flaming Lips shows that he's worked as a roadie, Kliph Scurlock hasn't had to set up a drum kit. He set up the mic-mounted micro-camera. He ran the video screen. He prepped all manner of other instruments on stage, but usually Scurlock's only duty drum-wise involved a backing tape of recorded percussion.
New York networking necessity
Local musicians head to Big Apple for a shot at the big time
Friday, Nov. 8, 2002
New York is no stranger to Lawrence music, whether by way of touring bands, emigrant artists or visiting devotees to the auditory arts. But last weekend was particularly thick with the town's sounds.
Approach records 'music for people'
Friday, Oct. 25, 2002
Approach's show tonight should be anything but just another CD release party. Not only is "UltraProteus" one of precious few hip-hop albums coming out of Lawrence, Approach will be one of even fewer emcees to take out a full band for his release performance.
Local pop-rockers Anything But Joey break into commercial radio with debut CD
Friday, Oct. 25, 2002
Unsigned local bands NEVER make it into the exclusive playlists of commercial radio. It just doesn't happen. Unless you're Anything But Joey.
NEON Dance Party :: DJs Konsept and Cruz mix retro and cutting edge beats (all while trying not to drink as many 75 cent draws as you will) as hosts of the consistently best dance party in Lawrence ... More info
