Sparks continue their renaissance with the soundtrack for AnnetteSteve Krakowon August 9, 2021 at 5:00 pm

This is the first time I’ve reviewed a soundtrack without seeing the movie, but a good soundtrack should stand on its own. And in the case of Annette (which comes out August 6), the soundtrack was created by Sparks–a band I’ve loved since I was a young lad–so I was more than up for the challenge. Formed as Halfnelson in 1968 by California brothers Ron and Russell Mael and renamed in 1972, Sparks have served as a constant source of inspiration. They’ve stuck to their unique, off-kilter brand of witty, literate, avant-garde glam pop while constantly reinventing themselves. The sheer impossibility of pigeonholing them is just one reason they’re so beloved. The Mael brothers are currently having a rennaisance, evidenced in part by the documentary The Sparks Brothers, released in June. I more or less wept throughout the movie, but I also learned that they’d always been obsessed with art films and nearly worked with the legendary Jacques Tati on a motion picture project. So when the Mael brothers slipped an in-progress concept album to French director Leos Carax (a major Sparks fan), they were delighted that he responded by asking to work with them to turn it into a film musical. The stars of Annette include Marion Cotillard, Adam Driver, and Simon Helberg, who each lend their vocals to songs about the lives of their characters.

“So, what about the tunes?” you ask. I’m happy to report that Sparks are still way on top of their game. The opening track and single, “So May We Start,” is a classic Sparks-style banger with staccato piano, minimal percussion, and a gloriously liquid melody that morphs into a full-blown new-wave symphony. The Mael brothers’ trademark cleverness (which somehow isn’t annoying) manifests itself in lines that seem to frame the song as the intro to a movie: “Please shut up and sit” and “The exits are clearly marked.” “True Love Always Finds a Way” is gorgeous, spectral chamber folk, and “She’s Out of This World” is a dense, synth-laden anthem that seems to aspire to be the new number one song in heaven (yes, this is an unapologetic reference to Sparks’ 1979 hit single). “Six Women Have Come Forward” would surely also top the charts in a parallel world where baroque aesthetics and quirky pop falsettos live side by side. I have to admit, though, I don’t love the songs where Russell Mael doesn’t sing. Cottilard’s chirpy Doris Day warble on “Girl From the Middle of Nowhere” is nice, but I’m not sure Driver’s burly voice goes well with some of his tunes–though he snarls the punky “You Used to Laugh” effectively, his pedestrian pipes on “Sympathy for the Abyss” made me wish Russell had sung it instead. I’m sure these choices make a bit more sense in the context of the film, so I’ll suspend further judgement until I see it. In the meantime, I’ll keep enjoying all the new Sparks classics on the soundtrack. v

Sparks continue their renaissance with the soundtrack for AnnetteSteve Krakowon August 9, 2021 at 5:00 pm Read More »

Jury selection starts in R. Kelly sex trafficking caseAssociated Presson August 9, 2021 at 5:16 pm

NEW YORK — After several delays, the first phase of the sex trafficking trial of R&B hitmaker R. Kelly started Monday with jury selection in New York City.

U.S. District Judge Ann Donnelly began questioning potential jurors about whether they can keep an open mind about Kelly two years after he was charged with abusing women and girls for nearly two decades. She reminded them the defendant was presumed innocent and that they should not be influenced by anything they’ve previously heard about the case.

The proceeding was being conducted amid coronavirus pandemic precautions restricting the press and the public to overflow courtrooms with video feeds.

Kelly, 54, has been locked up since he was indicted, mostly housed in a federal jail in Chicago. He was moved last month to the federal Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn to face trial in a case that’s further diminished his superstar status.

Last week, defense attorney Deveraux Cannick told a judge that Kelly needs to be measured for new clothing because he’s gained so much weight in jail. And he asked that court transcripts be provided at no cost because Kelly has been unable to work for two years, saying: “His funds are depleted.”

The Grammy-winning, multiplatinum-selling singer has denied any wrongdoing and pleaded not guilty to charges accusing him of leading an enterprise of managers, bodyguards and other employees who helped him recruit women and girls for sex. Federal prosecutors say the group selected victims at concerts and other venues and arranged for them to travel to see Kelly.

Defense lawyers have said Kelly’s alleged victims were groupies who turned up at his shows and made it known they “were dying to be with him.” They only started accusing him of abuse years later when public sentiment shifted in the #MeToo era, they said.

The trial had been expected to start earlier in the year. But opening statements were moved to Aug. 18 after Kelly fired his original defense team.

Jurors are expected to hear testimony from several of his accusers. A judge has ruled that the women will only be referred to by their first names.

Prosecutors also are expected to offer evidence that Kelly schemed with others to pay for a fake ID for Aaliyah, a singer on the rise at 15 years old, in a secret ceremony in 1994.

Aaliyah is identified as “Jane Doe #1” in court papers because she was still a minor when Kelly began a sexual relationship with her and believed she had become pregnant, the papers say.

“As a result, in an effort to shield himself from criminal charges related to his illegal sexual relationship with Jane Doe #1, Kelly arranged to secretly marry her to prevent her from being compelled to testify against him in the future,” the papers say.

Aaliyah, whose full name was Aaliyah Dana Haughton, worked with Kelly, who wrote and produced her 1994 debut album, “Age Ain’t Nothing But A Number.” She died in a plane crash in 2001 at age 22.

The case is only part of the legal peril facing the singer, born Robert Sylvester Kelly. He also has pleaded not guilty to sex-related charges in Illinois and Minnesota.

Kelly won multiple Grammys for “I Believe I Can Fly,” a 1996 song that became an inspirational anthem played at school graduations, weddings, advertisements and elsewhere.

Nearly a decade later, he began releasing what eventually became 22 musical chapters of “Trapped in the Closet,” a drama that spins a tale of sexual deceit and became a cult classic.

But Kelly has been trailed for decades by complaints and allegations about his sexual behavior, including a 2002 child pornography case in Chicago. He was acquitted in that case in 2008.

Scrutiny intensified again amid the #MeToo movement in recent years, with multiple women going public with accusations against the singer. The pressure intensified with the release of the Lifetime documentary “Surviving R. Kelly” in 2019.

Criminal charges soon followed.

Jury selection starts in R. Kelly sex trafficking caseAssociated Presson August 9, 2021 at 5:16 pm Read More »

Chicago Shakespeare Theater is back in person with a full season of productions and special eventson August 9, 2021 at 5:23 pm

Show Me Chicago

Chicago Shakespeare Theater is back in person with a full season of productions and special events

Chicago Shakespeare Theater is back in person with a full season of productions and special eventson August 9, 2021 at 5:23 pm Read More »

Father of critically wounded officer struggling to get through ‘our darkest hour’Fran Spielmanon August 9, 2021 at 4:09 pm

The father of the Chicago Police officer fighting for his life after being shot during a West Englewood traffic stop that killed the wounded officer’s partner described the incident as “our darkest moment.”

“We’re trying to get through it,” the father, a retired police officer himself, told the Sun-Times Monday.

The father refused to discuss his son’s injuries for fear that his comments might be “misinterpreted.”

The Sun-Times is not identifying him or his son because his son is the victim of a violent crime. His son’s name also has not been released by the Chicago Police Department.

“He’s still fighting for this life and we’re hoping — not only that he survives but that he recovers,” the father said. “It is our darkest moment.

His son, he said, is a “great husband, father, son and brother.”

Asked how he is finding the strength to get through his “darkest hour,” the father said: “I think of my grandson, my son and all my kids and my wife and family that need support right now.”

Ald. Ray Lopez (15th), who represents the Southwest Side ward where the shooting occurred, said the wounded officer is “trending upward.”

“I heard [Sunday] that he was actually asking about his partner,” Lopez said. “I’ll take that as a good sign.”

The traffic stop that left the officer fighting for his life and his partner dead occurred shortly after 9 p.m. Saturday at 63rd Street and Bell Avenue in West Englewood.

For reasons that have not yet been explained, a three-officer car assigned to the Community Safety Team stopped a vehicle at that location. Three people were in the car.

During the stop, a passenger in the back seat opened fire, killing 29-year-old Chicago Police Officer Ella French and critically wounding her partner.

All three suspects are now in custody.

Lopez said local residents deserve an assist for at least one of the three arrests.

“Everyone bailed on the car and then started turning and shooting at the officers as they were running. And then, the two that were fleeing on foot — one ran into a family party where the residents actually held the person until the police got there,” the alderman said.

“Very thankful that people had the wherewithal to do that.”

CPD Supt. David Brown said Sunday that none of the suspects appear to have “extensive” criminal backgrounds. But Brown said the alleged shooter had been arrested for robbery in 2019 and that the case had been been adjudicated and resulted in some form of probation.

Father of critically wounded officer struggling to get through ‘our darkest hour’Fran Spielmanon August 9, 2021 at 4:09 pm Read More »

Man charged with attempted murder in West Garfield Park shootingSun-Times Wireon August 9, 2021 at 3:57 pm

A man is accused of walking into a store and shooting another man over the weekend in West Garfield Park.

Hassan Brewer, 31, is charged with felony counts of attempted murder and aggravated battery with a firearm, Chicago police said.

The charges stem from an incident which unfolded about 8:05 p.m. Aug. 7 in the 500 block of South Kostner Avenue, when Brewer allegedly got into a fight with a 27-year-old man inside a store, police said.

Brewer left the store, came back with a gun and allegedly fired shots at the man, striking him in the leg and abdomen, police said. He was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital in serious condition.

Brewer was arrested less than an hour later in the 1900 block of West Ogden Avenue, police said.

He was expected to appear in court Monday.

Man charged with attempted murder in West Garfield Park shootingSun-Times Wireon August 9, 2021 at 3:57 pm Read More »

Jury selection starts in R. Kelly sex trafficking caseAssociated Presson August 9, 2021 at 4:49 pm