First Impression: Amilinda
For every thousand or so of the soulless calorie dispensaries that make up the corporeal restaurant world, there’s at least one Amilinda (315 E Wisconsin Ave., 414-369-3683): an ephemeral kitchen presence, lurk...
“Tied House” laws, explained by a brewer they affected
On Wednesday, pretty much everybody in the city reported that Like Minds, an upstart Milwaukee brewery (which, to this point, has been brewed and bottled at Hinterland Brewery in Green Bay), decided to relocate...
Waukesha man took some stuff (LSD), drove a truck (into two police cars), and was buck (naked)
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...
Luke Chappelle has been hiding paintings all over Bay View
They say art can be found almost anywhere if one looks hard enough. Of course, “they” are probably saying this while tripping balls on mushrooms or while pontificating to classmates in a freshman-level sculptur...
Mystery One Bookstore is closing
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...
Under The Sun Tour brings ’90s nostalgia to State Fair
In Sugar Ray’s last known hit, 2001’s “When It’s Over,” singer Mark McGrath asks, “When it’s over is it really over?” For the SoCal pop-rock band, yes, it pretty much was, despite the two albums that followed b...
Help Milwaukee natives fund new comedy series, Shangri-L.A., featuring Mark Borchardt
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
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...
On The Record Episode 31: Alia Janine talks life after porn (with Jaqi Furback)
Milwaukee native Alia Janine (pictured, right) spent the first 30 years of her life in Wisconsin. Not long after her departure, she started her career in the adult film industry. Four years and approximately 16...
Sammy Arechar gives Milwaukee one last laugh
Milwaukee's ongoing comic exodus is no joke. Within the last two months, veteran road comic Johnny Beehner and the Late Show With David Letterman appearance credit he acquired in January moved to Los Angeles. H...
The demented Kickstarter trailer for horror film Needlepoint is worth a donation alone
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...
Exclusive: Stream a re-recorded version of Direct Hit! rarity “Say Whatever”
Since 2010, Milwaukee’s premier pop-punk project Direct Hit! has routinely released material that ranged in scope from short-run splits and EPs to its well-received apocalyptic 2013 concept record, Brainless Go...
Milwaukee Film announces Sound Vision program, return of Stop Making Sense
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...
Latino Arts announces fall/winter schedule
Since 1985, Latino Arts Inc. has been an invaluable means of showcasing Hispanic artists, musicians, dancers, and other beacons of cultural expression. Last fall, Latino Arts brought a reigning Grammy Award win...
Tracklist: 17 Milwaukee band names inspired by famous, real-life people
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Band names tend to come in two flavors: evocative and meaningful, and just plain random. For every 10 Metallicas, Guided By Voices, and Run The Jewels there are just as many Limp Bizkits, Toad The Wet Sp...
Brian Posehn ends Milwaukee Comedy Fesitival strong at Turner Hall
The 10th annual Milwaukee Comedy Festival was far and away the event’s biggest and best year yet. The festival’s first three days found comedy fans filling Next Act Theatre while taking in a diverse and altoget...
Phylums’ debut LP, Phylum Phyloid, is a giddy slab of thoughtful three-chord rock and roll
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
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...
Primus and Dinosaur Jr. bring double dose of ’90s alt-rock to The Rave
Primus frontman Les Claypool isn’t the type of guy who caters to his fans. He does whatever the hell he wants, and his core cult of diehards doggedly follows, because he is probably the greatest living bass gui...
Exclusive: Listen to two songs from The Scarring Party’s final album, End Times
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...