Monday Morning Art: Vortex Ritter

We kick this week of PopCult off with an abstract digital painting that has a funny name. It's an exercise in combining organic and mechanical techniques into the creation of something new and artificial. Sort of like the Chicken McNugget, only better tasting and better for you. As always, click the image to see it larger.

Sunday Evening Video: Rubber Soul

Last year, Charleston's own Beatles Tribute Band, Rubber Soul, performed The Beatles (White Album) in its entirety at The Alban Theater in St. Albans.  This year they're back to bring the classic album, "Abbey Road" to the live stage.

Friady and Saturday, February 3 and 4, at 8 PM, Rubber Sould will once again grace the stage of The Alban Theater,  65 Old Main Plaza, St. Albans, with all of Abbey Road, from start to finish!

Tickets are $10, and the show is a benefit for The American Heart Association. Sponsored by Brooks Run Mining Company.

An added treat on Friday night is The Tom McGees, a hot Ska outfit, who will be performing sort of across the street after Abbey Road wraps up. For a mere five bucks, you can help David Scarpelli (his dad, Mark, is the man behind Rubber Soul) celebrate his birthday with a mad Ska meltdown at The VIP Lounge, 54 Olde Main Plaza, St. Albans, WV.

To remind you how much fun Rubber Soul is, tonight we're bringing back episode 117 of Radio Free Charleston, which previewed last year's White Album show. Enjoy, and come out to see the show.

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Back In The Random Saddle

The PopCulteer
January 27, 2012

Brain Stew

Last week your PopCulteer was missing in action for the first time in nearly three years. Circumstances beyond our control, including a computer virus and a real-world illness, conspired to knock yours truly out of commission. We are feeling better this week, and the PC problems are just about resolved, so we're going to tenatively climb back on the blogging pony and bring you a column of random images, news items and odd bits of information..

Popeye Returns

In April IDW Publishing launches a new comic book based on Popeye The Sailor, one of my personal favorites, and not just because of the spinach.

Monday Morning Art: Back To The Peoples

This week your Pop.Culteer is rebuilding his computer after a particularly nasty virus. Today's art is the first thing pooted out while trying the reinstalled graphics program. It's a digital painting of The Peoples Building on Summers Street. Click to see the image larger, and expect PopCult to be back to normal this week.

Monday Morning Art: Substitute Art

Your PopCulteer is a bit under the weather this week. That's why there was no Sunday Evening Video last night, and why today's art is NOT from last Friday's Twin Peaks edition of Dr. Sketchy's.  Between a nasty computer virus and a real-world head-exploding sinus infection, I was in no shape to go out anywhere this weekend.

So in place of a Dr. Sketchy's piece, I am bringing you a digitally-assaulted vintage pin-up photo, glommed from somewhere's on the internet. As always, click the image to see it bigger.  The computer problem and swelling, itching brain are probably going to combine to delay Radio Free Charleston's 150th episode until February.  It's going to be a tribute to LiveMix Studio, and will be the first of at least five retrospective shows planned for 2012. I gotta go pill up now.

How TV Warps Reality

The PopCulteer
January 13, 2012

"But If It's On TV It Must Be Real!"

Reality is being warped. Television is to blame. I'm not talking about the kind of skewed reality you find on FOX News, where the bizarre notion that Republicans can be trusted to govern is pounded into viewer's heads 24 hours a day. I'm talking about the unreal world of Reality TV.

I'm not a big fan of reality television. In fact, you could probably safely accuse me of being rather snobbish about it. I think it's lowest-common-denominator programming that carries with it the bottom-line-enhancing quality of being dirt cheap to produce, mostly by non-union crews.

But it is booming. Reality shows have spread like a fast-growing cancer, mutating several formerly sophisticated cable channels into slack-jawed, drooling shadows of their former selves.

Monday Morning Art: More Dangerous Curves

This week we once again go back to Friday, December 29, when the Burlesque troupe, Dangerous Curves Ahead, came to town and participated in a special session of Dr. Sketchy's. Above you see Clams Casion. After the jump you can see more digitally-assaulted photos of Darlinda, Just Darlinda, Minnie Tonka and Anita Cookie. The next edition of Dr. Sketchy's is a tribute to Twin Peaks, Friday, January 13.

Click to see 'em bigger, and follow the jump for three more!

PopCult Instant Video: Captain Crash & The Beauty Queen

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Our video this week is a recording made last Friday at Taylor Books. Captain Crash and the Beauty Queen returned to action with a fun, confident set. Jonathan Slack and Laura Summerhill have been appearing on Radio Free Charleston since 2007, and it's always a treat to catch up with them. In this video, shaky at times, you'll hear the duo performing The Beatles' song ,"Across The Universe," and their original tune, "Getaway Lane." Meanwhile, your loyal PopCult blogger is still hard at work assembling RFC 150.

Also, yesterday was Jonathan's birthday, so happy birthday, and thanks for the music!

15 Random Bits Of Coolness To Ring In The New Year

The PopCulteer
January 6, 2012

We start a new year of The PopCulteer on an upbeat note as we look at 15 cool things that we're looking forward to early in 2012.

These are some of the cool items to spice up our lives as we face a year of dirty politics, extreme weather, fracking-induced Earthquakes, people insulting our state and, if the Mayans are right, the end of the world. So...at least there's this...

Absolutely Fabulous Returns

Absolutely Fabulous, which has to be ranked among the elite British comedy shows, is returning with two new episodes, the first in six years, this month. BBC America will debut a new episode, "Identity," Sunday night at 10 PM, with a second episode, "Job," to follow in a week. Of note: Jennifer Saunders, the show's writer/creator and co-star, has not missed a beat. Despite the six years since the last series, the show is as sharp and timely as ever. A new title sequence returns to the original recording of "This Wheel's On Fire," sung by Julie Driscoll and Saunders' husband (and RFC supporter) Ade Edmondson, of "The Young Ones" fame. And the shows already appeared on The BBC on Christmas and New Year's Day, so the torrent-minded among you can probably already find them now.

Monday Morning Art: Dangerous Curves Ahead

[caption id="attachment_7289" align="aligncenter" width="500" caption="Minnie Tonka"][/caption]

Last Friday Burlesque came to Charleston at Kanawha Players Theater as Dangerous Curves Ahead, a troupe from Brooklyn, made their way to the Mountain State. Before the show, a special session of Dr. Sketchy's took place, and us artisitc types where given the chance to photograph and draw Anita Cookie, Clams Casino, Darlinda Just Darlinda,  and Minnie Tonka.

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Today we're bringing you digital paintings of the ladiesm as always, click the images to see them larger.

[caption id="attachment_7291" align="aligncenter" width="500" caption="Darlinda, Just Darlinda"][/caption]

PopCult Instant Video: Ryan Sings Bowie

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[caption id="attachment_7282" align="alignright" width="225" caption="Ryan Hardiman and Maddie Gourevich"][/caption]

Tonight we bring you a special treat. This is a very raw video of Ryan Hardiman's God Night performance of "Moonage Daydream: The Bowie Songbook."  Ryan, with some help from guest vocalist Maddie Gourevich, pianist Mark Scarpelli and a string quartet featuring Molly Lynn Page and Kristi Holstein (violin), Alasha Al-Qudwah (viola) and Shawn Simms (cello), performed some of the greatest hits of The Thin White Duke, David Bowie.

This was the 7 and 9 PM Goodnight 2011 show at Trinity Lutheran, presented by Charleston Community Music Association. It was a wonderful night of more challenging music than we usually hear during Goodnight, and it was very well received.

2012: A Look Back

The PopCulteer
December 30, 2011

It's time for our annual look back at the year to come. Remember all the really weird stuff that happened in 2012? Here's PopCult's month-by-month rundown of all the things that led up to the end of the world:

January:

In early January the political world was stunned when the Iowa caucus, held to chose the Republican candidate for president, was won by a previously-unknown candidate. The day after the caucus, it was revealed that the mystery man was, in fact, a ceramic statue of Ronald McDonald, re-painted to look sort of like the late Dennis Hopper.

Following this revelation, the statue placed no higher than third in any of the remaining primaries or caucuses before dropping out of the race for the Republican nomination for president in mid-March.

Monday Morning Art: Shapes

We end our year of Monday Morning Art with a digital abstract called "Shapes." As usual, click it to see a bigger version. Monday Morning Art will contnue into the new year, hopefully with stuff that wasn't cranked out in half an hour right before bedtime on Christmas night.

Merry Christmas From PopCult And RFC

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As we do every Christmas since we made this clip, we bring you Radio Free Charleston Big Shot and Resident Diva, Melanie Larch, performing "Ave Maria," live from the fifth floor fire escape outside LiveMix Studio. We send glad tidings and our sincere wish that our readers have a happy, joyful and peaceful holiday.

Our non-readers can fend for themselves.

Merry Christmas!

Christmas Time Is Here

Once more, with feeling, it's this year's PopCult/Radio Free Charleston Christmas Treat...

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Living On Borrowed Timeline

The PopCulteer
December 23, 2011

Beating Facebook's Timeline

Well, here we are, December 23, and what is everybody talking about? The new Facebook Timeline, of course. Facebook, in their never-ending quest to extract more marketable personal data from their users is finally foisting upon the public their latest "upgrade", the Timeline.

If you haven't seen it yet, the Timeline allows people to personalize their profile page with a big cover photo which can be quite nice and is a very attractive feature. In exchange for this very attractive feature, Facebook has removed previously simple options for privacy, thrusting some of your information into the public domain and making other information, which you could previously restrict with a single click, so complicated that a prolific Facebook user could be faced with weeks of clicking three to seven times to remove each individual item that they do not want on their "Timeline."

PopCult Gift Guide Day 10: The Salvage Yard

Today we wrap up the PopCult Gift Guide with a visit to Charleston's Mecca of Action Fashion and  Kar Kulture, The Salvage Yard, located on the second floor of Charleston Town Center.You may know The Salvage Yard as the official haberdashers of Radio Free Charleston.

In addition to carrying a really cool line of Kulture apparel by Fatal, King Kerosin, and W.A.R. (We All Ride) clothing, The Salvage Yard also gets new designs each week from Sullen Clothing.

You'll also find some cool videos, automotive jewelry, headwear and accessories, as well as an elite collection of fine rockabilly music. You'll also find some really cool jewelry and art produced by local designers.

In fact, the store sports a spiffy new logo created by none other than Mark Wolfe Design.

In case you have a Hot Rodder on your Christmas list, you can't go wrong with The Salvage Yard and if you don't know exactly what to get, I'm assured that gift certificates are available. The Salvage Yard is open Monday through Saturday from 10 AM to 9 PM and Sunday from 12:30 PM to 6 PM. Check out their website or call them at (304) 419-9273 for more details.

This concludes the 2011 PopCult Gift Guide. Check back tomorrow for The PopCulteer.

PopCult Gift Guide Day 9: PIZZA!

Today the PopCult Gift Guide recommends one of the most loverly and sublime gifts that you can give. We are recommending that you give the gift of pizza. There are several fine local establishments that offer their own unique takes on pizza, God's anointed food.

If your tastes lean toward the gourmet, you can try Lola's in South Hills or Pies and Pints on Capitol Street.

For a traditional New York style pizzeria experience, there's Graziano's on Capitol Street (with other locations in Dunbar and South Charleston).

Just north of Charleston off the Mink Shoals exit (across Route 119 from Harding's Family Restaurant), you will find Barone Brothers Pizza, with a different take on the New York style and their own delicious recipe for sauce and dough.

Late night pizza fanatics can head to downtown Charleston, where the Slyce Pizza Company is open well into the wee hours. They have yet another distinctive and wonderful recipe and offer a wide array of fresh toppings. Spinach on a pizza with tomato sauce is a PopCult favorite.

The wonderful thing about giving pizza as a gift is that you can either round up your friend and take them out for a wonderful social dining experience or, with most of the pizzerias listed, you can treat them to a gift certificate so that they might be able to descend at will and nom to their heart's desire.

You can never go wrong with pizza.

PopCult Gift Guide Day 8: Kenneth Brian Band "Welcome To Alabama"

Today's gift guide pick is "Welcome To Alabama," the debut album from frequent guests of The Empty Glass and The Boulevard Tavern, The Kenneth Brian Band.

This album, available anywhere CDs are sold, features Charleston's Travis Stephens, Brian's bandmate, on harmony vocals and rhythm guitar is a primer on the New South, with a modern fusion of blues, outlaw county, and just enough roots-rock energy to warm the hearts of any Southern Man. Produced by the legendary Johnny Sandlin (Allman Bros. Band), the album features an impressive line-up of Southern music-makers including David Hood, Randall Bramblett, Bonnie Bramlett, Jason Isbell, and more.

Standout tracks include the slow groove, "Last Call,"which features guest vocals by Lillie Mae Rische, the crunchy rock tune, "Tonight We Ride," the tender "Cry To The Dark," and the catchy title track.

The playing and vocals are near perfect throughout, and the production well serves Brian's skillful songwriting. Also of note are the guest vocals by Bonnie Bramlett on the album's sole cover tune, Dicky Bett's "Nothing You Can Do."

This CD is the perfect gift for any country music fan, alt-country afficianado or roots-rock enthusiast on your Christmas list. "Welcome To Alabama" is pure Americana gold.

PopCult Gift Guide Day 7: Books from Woodland Press

In today's PopCult Gift Guide, we recommend four books published by the West Virginia publishing powerhouse, Woodland Press. You can find Woodland Press books at both local locations of Drug Emporium, both Charleston locations of Books-A-Million, and Taylor Books. If you know of any other locations selling them, feel free to mention them in our comments.

Woodland Press is a West Virginia based company publishing books by local talents and covering themes close to the heart of the Mountain State. But don't think that this is some sort of vanity press. These are world class literary works.

Their latest books are "Shadows and Mountains" by Jessie Grayson and Ellen Thompson McCloud

Glimpse beyond the stunning beauty of Appalachia into what hides beneath. Allow these stories to guide you down spooky hollow roads and deep into the mysterious mountains within its dark heart, where monsters, mayhem and madness abound and things are never exactly as they seem.