Author Matt Wild

Exclusive: Listen to Testa Rosa’s shapeshifting third album, III

August 25, 2015

The word “pretty” gets tossed around a lot when talking about Testa Rosa. It’s easy to see why: Over the course of two full-length albums—2007’s I and 2011’s II—the veteran Milwaukee band has trafficked in lovi...

UW-Oshkosh professor and Big Lebowski superfan Paul Niesen talks Lebowski Fest, “The Dude,” cats

Matt Wild

August 21, 2015

To say the Coen brothers' shaggy dog story The Big Lebowski has gained a cult following since its release in 1998 would be a bowling alley-sized understatement. The twisting tale of Jeffrey “The Dude” Lebowski ...

35mm screenings of Jaws, The Shining highlight MFF2015’s Cinema Hooligante program

Matt Wild

August 20, 2015

The 2015 Milwaukee Film Festival is one month and four days away. That’s one month and four days to prepare for an onslaught of films ranging from the highbrow and challenging to the rowdy and crowd pleasing. A...

For this year’s entering college class, the Beloit College Mindset List is hilariously bad

Matt Wild

August 19, 2015

Since 1998, Beloit College’s annual Mindset List has given college professors and administrators a peek inside the minds of incoming college freshmen by rounding up a series of “fun facts” about the world they’...

The story behind Fink’s “Couples Are Boring” sign (and how you can change it)

Matt Wild

August 18, 2015

If you’ve walked, biked, driven, or stumbled past the corner of N. Humboldt Ave. and N. Water St. / E. Kane Pl. this summer, you’ve undoubtedly seen a striking addition to one of the intersection’s main draws, ...

Tommy Wiseau and The Room will return to Oriental Theatre in September

Matt Wild

August 18, 2015

In a world of cynical imitators and cheesy-on-purpose clones (we’re looking at you, Sharknado), The Room remains the gold standard for completely sincere, completely stupefying so-bad-it’s-good cinema. The empt...

Tracklist: The Milwaukee Lion, and 16 other local social media accounts dedicated to animals

Matt Wild

August 17, 2015

//Remember back in July, when Milwaukee was captivated by the rumor/maybe-not-a-rumor of a wild lion roaming the streets? Of course you do. The initial sighting of a “lion-ish” creature milling about the 2...

Who Said It Best (And Worst): August 10-14

Matt Wild

August 14, 2015

Who Said It Best (And Worst) rounds up the week’s best and worst quotes from notable Milwaukee figures and folks-about-town.SAID IT BEST Edge Advisors principal Mike Bark, on the endless obsession with “at...

Waukesha man took some stuff (LSD), drove a truck (into two police cars), and was buck (naked)

Matt Wild

August 14, 2015

Every Friday, Off The Record looks to other Milwaukee publications (and beyond) for bits of news we missed throughout the week.• If you follow the news these days, it’s easy to dwell on the things that divi...

Mystery One Bookstore is closing

Matt Wild

August 14, 2015

Sad news for crime and/or awesome bookstore fans: Mystery One Bookstore (2109 N. Prospect Ave., 414-347-4077), the long-running hole-in-the-wall serving up crime and mystery fiction on Milwaukee‘s East Side, wi...

Help Milwaukee natives fund new comedy series, Shangri-L.A., featuring Mark Borchardt

Matt Wild

August 13, 2015

It’s a tale as old as time: aspiring filmmakers move to Los Angeles in hopes of fulfilling their starry-eyed Hollywood dreams; aspiring filmmakers watch as their starry-eyed Hollywood dreams get kicked, punched...

Reports of Bryant’s Cocktail Lounge’s death have been greatly exaggerated

Matt Wild

August 13, 2015

Back in April, we broke the news that popular cocktail lounge At Random was for sale. That for-sale status quickly changed, but the thought of losing the beloved business clearly worried many Milwaukeeans. Anot...

The demented Kickstarter trailer for horror film Needlepoint is worth a donation alone

Matt Wild

August 12, 2015

If there’s one thing more ubiquitous than lame Kickstarter campaigns, it’s lame trailers for lame Kickstarter campaigns. Seriously, would it kill folks who are asking the Internet for money to jazz up their pit...

Milwaukee Film announces Sound Vision program, return of Stop Making Sense

Matt Wild

August 11, 2015

If our calculations are correct, the 2015 Milwaukee Film Festival is approximately one month and 13 days away. What does that mean? Ignoring for a moment the painful reminder that summer is on its way out, it m...

Watch the gorgeous, cinematic video for WebsterX’s “Lately”

Matt Wild

August 10, 2015

There are few Milwaukee musicians working today with as much tenacity, confidence, and forward momentum as WebsterX. Ever since the release of Desperate Youth in 2013, the tireless rapper—a.k.a. Sam Ahmed—has b...

Phylums’ debut LP, Phylum Phyloid, is a giddy slab of thoughtful three-chord rock and roll

Matt Wild

August 10, 2015

Much like film noir, “gonzo” journalism, and CSI shows, three-chord rock and roll is easy to replicate but hard to perfect. Any band can slap together some ’60-inspired surf guitars and a handful of bubblegum m...

Ian’s Pizza on North Ave. is temporarily closing, expanding, adding wine and beer

Matt Wild

August 7, 2015

Great news for East Side pizza lovers: The North Ave. location of Ian’s Pizza is expanding and adding wine and craft beer to its menu. The only hitch? It’ll be closed for a while.In a somewhat deceptively t...

Exclusive: Listen to two songs from The Scarring Party’s final album, End Times

Matt Wild

August 6, 2015

It’s perhaps surprising that a band specializing in defiantly out-of-time music should make it to its 10th anniversary. But for The Scarring Party, standing apart from musical trends both locally and nationally...

Celebrate the first day of the 2015 Wisconsin State Fair with 10 years of pig racing videos

Matt Wild

August 6, 2015

Today marks the glorious first day of the 2015 Wisconsin State Fair. From August 6-16, thousands upon thousands of proud Wisconsinites will flock to the State Fair Grounds in West Allis to take in the sights, t...

Exclusive: Listen to the title track from Marielle Allschwang’s solo debut, Dead Not Done

Matt Wild

August 4, 2015

If Marielle Allschwang’s voice seems familiar, there’s a reason for that. For the past five years the Milwaukee musician has provided vocals—along with violin, guitar, and percussion—for some of the city’s best...