Arts & Entertainment
No Shame In These Shondes
Indie-rock band with a Yiddish moniker performs in Ann Arbor.
Suzanne Chessler
Special to the Jewish News
Ann Arbor
M
embers of the Shondes call
their current string of book-
ings the Heartbreak Tour, but
the four indie-rock performers really are
quite happy about it.
The heartbreak has to do with the theme
of the quartet's second CD, My Dear One
(Fanatic Records), filled with original songs
about breaking up. The happiness has to do
with performing across the country with
songs that will be center stage Sunday eve-
ning, May 30, at the B-Side in Ann Arbor.
"Our Michigan audience will find a real-
ly energetic performance by a group that
connects with one another," says drum-
mer Temim Fruchter, who works with
Louisa Solomon (bass, lead vocals), Elijah
Oberman (violin) and Fureigh (guitar).
"We're mostly doing stuff from the new
CD, but we're definitely doing a few songs
from The Red Sea, our first album. Most of
the songs from My Dear One were primarily
written lyrically by Louisa, who [is reacting
to] a breakup experience that she had."
"Make It Beautiful;' the first single from
the recording, is about calling on friends
for support and writing music to help make
it through rough times. "Lines and Hooks"
has to do with anger and rage. "Miami"
describes how a place can be forever linked
with sad times experienced there.
"Louisa brings lyrics, ideas and the
seeds of melody for most songs, and the
band writes the music together: Fruchter,
31, explains. "It's a collaborative process as
we work on the instrumentals and backup
harmonies. We jam with different ideas."
The Shondes, based in Brooklyn, started
with Solomon and Oberman, who had
worked together in a disbanded group.
The two were friends with Fruchter
through political activism and encouraged
her to develop drumming skills. The gui-
tarist had been known to all three.
The band name was chosen because of
heritage, not style.
"We all have strong connections to
Yiddish so we were interested in finding
a Yiddish word for the group name says
Fruchter, who has studied piano, guitar
and mandolin.
"Shondes (which means disgrace) felt
right and heartwarming because ifs what
111111. I Nate Bloom
Or
Special to the Jewish News
Bruckheimer's Baby
0)
Alt
Mega-producer and former Detroiter
Jerry Bruckheimer had mega hits
with his Pirates of the Caribbean
films, which were
inspired by a
Disneyland ride; and
now he's back with
a film, Prince of
-
Persia: The Sands of
Time, loosely based
on a classic video
Jerry
game, opening
Bruckheimer
Friday, May 28.
Released in 1989,
with groundbreaking fluid animation
and an exciting storyline, the video
game The Prince of Persia became a
bestseller and was followed by many
sequels. It was created by Jordan
Mechner, now 44, who created his
first video game in 1984 while still
a Yale undergraduate. Mechner also
writes and directs documentary films
on serious subjects.
-
52
May 27 • 2010
iN
His father, Francis Mechner, 79,
is a quite famous educational/busi-
ness psychologist, who was born
in Austria. Francis fled to France in
1938, then to Cuba in 1941 and finally
to the United States in 1944. Trained
also as a painter and concert pianist,
he wrote the scores for his son's first
videos.
The film adapta-
tion, based on a
story by Jordan
Mechner and Boaz
Yakin, is set in
Persia in the sixth
century, just before
the Islamic conquest.
Jake
Jake Gyllenhaal,
29, stars as a rogue
prince who joins
forces with a mysterious princess
(Gemma Arterton). Together they
battle dark forces to safeguard an
ancient dagger that can release the
"sands of time" and allow its pos-
sessor to reverse time and rule the
world. Sir Ben Kingsley and Alfred
Molina co-star.
Gyllenhaal
a grandma might say if a family
member did something embar-
rassing.
"While some of us may have
done something that warranted
the term, we're also proud of
what we are and what we do. We
ti
t L
know that sometimes a person
The Shondes: Temim Fruchter, Lisa Solomon, Fureigh
who speaks out or [acts] a little
and Elijah Oberman
unorthodox can be called a shonde
for doing that, and so we thought there was
As the group tours the country, they feel
something nice in reclaiming the name."
enhanced energy. They have performed in
Although the band, as a group, does
both Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti.
not identify with platforms or issues,
"We've started to write new material:
members have linked themselves with
says Fruchter, who studied poetry at the
causes important on a personal basis.
University of Maryland and is a contribu-
Most prominent have been rights for
tor to the just-released book Keep Your
Palestinians and the gay community.
Wives Away From Them (North Atlantic
"Religion enters into our music: says
Books; $16.95), which explores gender
Fruchter, whose father plays in a simchah
identity issues among Jewish women.
band and whose brother plays in a Jewish
"We're hoping to record again fairly
experimental band. "My background is
soon:, ❑
Modern Orthodox, and I have brought
liturgical material into our songwriting.
The Shondes appear 7 p.m. Sunday,
"Our song Watched the Temple Fall'
May 30, at the B-Side, 310 E.
has the melody from Lamentations and
Washington, in Ann Arbor. $5 stu-
has moments of religious musical influ-
dents; $7 non-students. (734) 214-
ence, but these kinds of influences don't
9995; www.neutral-zone.com .
come into the music that often."
Sequel Time
Sex and the City
2 opens Thursday,
May 27. Based on
the film's trailers, it
looks like a TV sea-
son's worth of plot
twists have been
Sarah Jessica
encapsulated into a
Parker
90-minute flick.
This is what we know: Carrie (Sarah
Jessica Parker, 45) and Mr. Big
(Chris Noth) are having some prob-
lems with their two-year-old mar-
riage. Carrie realizes some sparkle
has been lost when she catches Big
flirting with a sultry Spanish woman
(Penelope Cruz). Then, in Abu Dubai,
Carrie runs into old flame Aldan
(John Corbett), and maybe sparks fly.
Meanwhile, Miranda (Cynthia Nixon)
seems to be doing well, but Charlotte
(Kristen Davis) admits mothering two
young kids is tough. Finally, there's
Samantha (Kim Catrall), who is back
to her bed-hopping ways.
The supporting cast includes Evan
Handler as Harry, the Jewish lawyer
husband of Jew-by-
choice Charlotte,
and Willie Garson,
a straight Jewish
actor who plays
Stanford Blatch,
Carrie's gay confi-
dant.
Evan Handler
Parker, the mother
of three young children, recently told
Heat magazine: "I don't feel like [the
glamorous and childless] Carrie — my
life is so different, my choices are
different. But I love
her. I love playing
her and everything
about her — the
good, the flawed, the
mistakes, the bad
choices."
The magazine also
asked Parker about
Willie Garson
her beauty regimen,
and she said: "I don't have one. I feel
old and tired! I have children I run
around after. I try to walk as much as
possible, and other than that I buy
every cream possible."
❑