Birmingham

HEAVENLY GLOW

The White Light Festival celebrates Stockhausen

GROOVE TO IT

Function explores 'Deep Space'

Amanda Palmer Dramatically Answers Questions About Her Connection to Scientology

A few weeks ago, we noted that Amanda Palmer -- the musician who performs as a solo act and as one half of the Dresden Dolls and Evelyn Evelyn -- made a rather dramatic appearance at Kate Bornstein's book party, held at Dixon Place. Right about that same time, Palmer was also making news for taking ... More >>

Short and… Sweet, Sincere, Cloying, Beautiful: Oscar Nominees, in Brief

Scientology Sunday Funnies: The Denver Miracle!

Scientologists don't really have a Sunday service. They like to say that they do, because they crave mainstream acceptance. But unless Xenu rested after six days and L. Ron Hubbard just forgot to mention it, there's no reason for Scientologists to treat Sunday any differently than every other day of ... More >>

Scientology on the High Seas: Squirrel Cookery!

​In November we started a new feature here on Fridays: the Voice has obtained hundreds of copies of L. Ron Hubbard's previously unpublished "Orders of the Day," which he gave to crew members as he sailed the Mediterranean. Our documents cover the period from late 1968 through 1971, and this ti ... More >>

Ruben Studdard

The Top 20 12-Inches Of 2011

The debate between digital digging and its analog analogue is the same useless arguing as the one pitting digital playback against the analog kind. In 2011, if it sounded good, it was worth listening to. The resulting stew was a mix of past and present where classic house met nu-disco and created a ... More >>

Scientology Video of the Year: The Vote Is In!

We're going to start off our end-of-year celebrations this week by revealing which video you selected as the best of 2011. My thanks to our readers who participated in the poll. We had many interesting videos to choose from this year; some were new, others were rediscovered, and every one made an i ... More >>

Scientology Story of the Year: Cast Your Vote Now!

​This has been some year of Scientology reporting and commenting here at the Village Voice, and with the calendar about to flip, we wanted to hand out some awards. But first, we need your help. We're asking our many loyal readers to help us choose three major year-end awards for Best Sciento ... More >>

'Mr. Saturday Night' w/ Mark E

Scientology Symposium: Commenters of the Week!

It was an unusual week here for us at our Scientology watching operation. We left the underground bunker for a trip to Southern California, but still managed to put together a few stories while on the road. And our commenters did not let us down, with some of them carrying over debates they were hav ... More >>

Scientology Internal E-Mails: Even More Depressing Than You Might Assume

For a few weeks now, we've been watching with some incredulity the material coming out of a particular Scientology "org," which is located in Birmingham, England. A Scientology-watcher who calls himself "CarltonBANKS" has been posting pretty amazing material from the Birmingham org's net servers wh ... More >>

Scientology Overseas: More Bad News in Australia, Israel, and the UK

Chris Guider, the latest Scientology executive to leave and say that David Miscavige gets slappy​Reporter Steve Cannane e-mailed this morning to alert us to a story on Lateline, a program on Australia's ABC network. The piece describes the defection of yet another Scientology executive who say ... More >>

Birmingham in the House! Another Jaw-Dropping Scientology Video

Anonymous has found another nugget of pure gold. Yesterday, a remarkable song and set of photos were leaked to the Anonymous website WhyWeProtest.net that were apparently from the Scientology organization in Birmingham, England. Now, Anonymous has put together the photos and the song in this quit ... More >>

Scientology Sees Fundraising Gold in the UK Riots: "We Have a Strategy"

​Two different friends of Runnin' Scared in the UK sent us the same thing this morning -- a remarkable call to action by the Birmingham branch of the Church of Scientology in reaction to the country's widespread rioting. As we noted on Wednesday, Scientology has a history of pouncing on human dis ... More >>

Juilliard Revives Nijinska’s Les Noces; the Irish Modern Dance Theatre Brings Fall and Recover to La MaMa

Two groups build communities with their bodies

The Most Overlooked Tracks of 2010: Discodeine Featuring Jarvis Cocker, Mark E., Scissor Sisters

​Our look back at all things 2010 continues this week as we highlight some of the year's most overlooked tracks. In this edition: club anthems.

Oneida's Kid Millions Looks Back On Five Years Worth of Brahloween Parties

​What more can be said about the indefatigable Kid Millions and the mighty Oneida? Hell, it's not even news that they throw a killer and sloppy Halloween party, Brahloween, since the band's annual throwdown is now in its sixth year and has become an end of October staple. So instead, on the ev ... More >>

(ENGLISH) BEAT IT

Ska is never dead, OK?

Editors

Go To Prison, Get A Nightline Puff Piece? Does Ted Koppel Know About This?

​Here's a challenge: try to imagine a major network television news program -- one with a long, storied reputation for hard-hitting journalism -- assigning a reporter to follow around OJ Simpson's current love interest (whoever that might be), in order to drum up sympathy for how difficult lif ... More >>

US Airways Cuts 1,000 Jobs, Ground Crew Base at LaGuardia

​US Airways always comes up when we're looking for cheap flights, and there's a reason for that: like many airlines these days, it's not doing so hot. Today the troubled carrier announces it's going to cut 1,000 jobs and some flights to Europe, and close its ground crew base at LaGuardia and ... More >>

'The Bunker'

Sriracha, Spotted Everywhere

While eating with my in-laws at a stodgy fish restaurant in suburban Massachusetts, I asked the waiter for Sriracha, almost just to see what he would say. But he nodded knowingly, and brought out a dish of the red, garlicky hot sauce. That's when you know that Sriracha has hit the mainstream. That, ... More >>

Napalm Death

Streets Is Watching (PBS)

Mike Skinner gets happy, and deep, and existential

POP Montreal Day 4: The D'Urbervilles, Adam & His Amethysts, PUCE Pop

Dare Not Walk Alone

The NYC Chapter of the Complaints Choir is Here

Catherine O'Flynn's What Was Lost

A young British detective becomes the mystery herself

That's Miss Shakespeare to You

A new play wants to convince you that the Bard was black, Jewish, and female

Full Blast But Falling Short

Splashy paint, chocolate, and the Birmingham race riots

Letters

Wild East

Messy Japanese rockers make annoyances work for them

Subdued New York Outcry for a Censored British Artist

Chemistry Class

Exploring the sounds of science experiments, on slabs suitable for turntables or framing

The Tender Touch

Four companies celebrate in our city the 100th birthday of an English master choreographer

Darn That Dream

Major tie-up on the one-way street from jazz to jam

Western Swing and Swirl

From the Colorado Rockies and the San Francisco Bay, Modern and Ballet Companies

Chemical Brothers

••• Jenny Uglow Shines a Light on the Lunar Men

Five Voyages

Commercial Evolution on Perry Street

Film

Do as We Say, Not as We Do

Gimme Three Stepsisters

Raw Material

Music

Ceeeeeeel-e-bra-tion Time, Come On!

There's a Party Going On Right Here

RICO Swallows the First Amendment

NOW Has Put All Political Protests in Serious Danger