Let's make some noise. Vote for the best thing you've heard this year, be it a tune or a life lesson.
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Janelle Monáe Metropolis
With tinges of Prince, OutKast, and intergalactic funk, Purple Ribbon songstress Janelle Monáe introduced the first of four sets from her debut album, Metropolis. Read More
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Originally published on August 24, 2007
Out of This World
“Metropolis,” Janelle Monáe’s Debut Album
Rumor has it (and by rumor, we mean a friend of a friend of a dude at WRAS told us) that the lone lady on Big Boi’s Purple Ribbon label was about to release some genre-bending tunes of her own.
Thank the message boards, because Metropolis, Janelle Monáe’s debut album, drops today.
Like its kinda-leaked single, “Violet Stars Happy Hunting” (possibly overheard during a sweaty dance session at MJQ’s), its lasting impression is equal parts underground and cool.
Monáe introduces an addictive album concept: Instead of releasing an entire CD, she’s spacing out four or five synthesized, jazzy, funk-rock releases in the coming months.
Suites play novella style, with Monáe singing as alter ego cyborg/songstress Cindi Mayweather, who has just fallen in love for the first time. (Nothing new for anyone who’s ever heard of, say, OutKast.)
Catchy? Yuh-huh. Trippy? For sure. Poised to keep Atlanta on the global music scene?
Pshaw. That may be the understatement of the galaxy.
Available online at janellemonáe.com. Album release party Saturday night, 8 p.m., at Sugarhill Lounge, 50 Upper Alabama Street, Downtown (404-658-0068 or sugarhillatl.com). -
Debbie Showalter and Stephanie Frost-Rocha Starlight Flicks
Debbie Showalter and Stephanie Frost-Rocha bring the movies to you via an inflatable twelve-foot screen and booming sound system, whether you're nostalgic for a drive-in or want to host an open-air flick party. Read More
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Originally published on September 11, 2007
Seeing Stars
Starlight Flicks Movie Parties
Star light, star bright …
If Debbie Showalter and Stephanie Frost-Rocha have their way, the first star you’ll see tonight will be right in your own backyard — at a Starlight Flicks movie party.
You provide the movie and the friends; they bring the setup (inflatable twelve-foot screen, banging sound system, DVD player). The en plein air possibilities are as endless as your cinematic IQ (or Netflix queue).
Suburban malaise meets backyard BBQ when American Beauty plays on your green. Get plastered with sake bombs, spicy tuna rolls, and sing along to Lost in Translation. Dreading taffeta and tantrums? Send a not-so-subtle warning to your BFF bride-to-be with a garden party-slash-Bridezilla marathon. Or take the party indoors for a Seventh Seal basement showing you’ll never forget.
Just keep the reenactments (particularly those inspired by cornrowed ’70s starlets) behind a well-grown privacy fence.
Even if you are a perfect ten.
Starlight Flicks (678-231-8181 or starlightflicks.com). -
Christine Zaarour Belly Dancing Classes
Christine Zaarour mixes international dance expertise and Middle Eastern rhythms in her belly dancing classes on the lounge side of Al Dar Lebanese bistro. Read More
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Originally published on June 8, 2007
Good Gyrations
Belly Dancing Classes at Mezza
Some people aren’t down with public displays (particularly those involving G-strings and dance-offs). But some repressed types are dying for an excuse to try just about anything.
Wait, that’s you? Then you’ll want to sign up for Wednesday night belly dancing classes at Mezza. You’ll get to indulge your fantasy — without getting your undies in an unseemly twist.
Instructor Christine Zaarour brings a rich dance background (a mix of flamenco, jazz, and classical Lebanese training) into lessons in the covered-up craft of hip wiggling, hand circling, and neck arching.
In each one-hour class, you’ll stretch different body parts, master techniques, and concentrate on single movements — then blend it all together in a dance routine. Try one lesson or commit to a package of six. Classes are small to ensure adequate room to move, and coin belts are optional.
Though shaking your moneymaker won’t be.
Mezza, 2751 Lavista Road, Decatur (404-633-8833). For lessons, e-mail christzaarour@gmail.com.