words by Cal Roach

We figure you probably wouldn’t have stumbled across this little blog if you weren’t also a WMSE listener–and for that, you should be proud–so you’ve probably already heard, but JUST IN CASE: Tonight (Friday) is the 11^th Annual WMSE Food Slam!  From 6-9 p.m. the Grohmann Museum is the place to be if you have any interest in sampling tasty vittles from 30 different Milwaukee restaurants, participating in a silent auction featuring wares from tons of local artists and businesses, and listening to great music as spun by WMSE DJs.  Best of all, you’ll be helping to keep your favorite radio station alive and kicking.  So chow down tonight, and read on for a delicious sample platter of other events going on in Milwaukee over the next few days.

After you gorge yourself on the best food the city has to offer, you’ll feel like keeping the party going and expending some energy.  As luck would have it, there’s another party going on tonight: the Latest Flame 10^th Anniversary Party.  The Chicago/Milwaukee-based record label will set up camp at Cactus Club this weekend for a balls-out celebration of noisy rock and roll.  Tonight’s headliner is IfIHadAHifi, one of our city’s most electrifying live acts, sure to help you dance off that Purple Door Ice Cream you slurped down at the Food Slam.  You’ll also get to see Portland’s System And Station, a group that started out in Madison back in the late 90s and is still going strong with the mathy emotional indie rock thang.  Also playing: Victory And Associates, Heavy Hand.

There’s an equally noisy show going on at Riverwest Public House tonight as well, but more on the shoegaze tip: it’s Austin, TX’s Ringo Deathstarr.  You’ll instantly recognize My Bloody Valentine as the group’s main influence, but overall this band’s sound is cleaner, a little more upbeat and less reliant on pure guitar wallop, peppered with weirdo electronic beats and other seasonings.  But rest assured, lots and lots of distorted guitar, too.  You’re already thinking, “I know the PERFECT local band to play this show!”  You must be psychic; Brief Candles are indeed on the bill as well, a band that keeps making amazing records (like last year’s excellent Fractured Days) and playing amazing shows as if they don’t know how to do anything else.  Plus, WMSE’s own Erik Void will be DJing, sort of a “duh” proposition as well.  Also playing: Cousins.

Otherwise, for something much less noisy but probably just as awesome, head to Frank’s Power Plant to catch singer/songwriter Christopher Paul Stelling.  The man’s a deft acoustic guitar picker and he writes old-timey folky songs and sings them in a high register like Dave Matthews crossed with Xavier Rudd.  You’ll have to hope that the crowd isn’t too chatty for this mellow show, although things might be a bit more boisterous early on; if there’s one local singer that can get an audience to shut up and pay attention, it’s Mark Waldoch.  The Celebrated Workingman troubadour will open the show with a solo set, and then it’ll be one of the city’s most promising new bands, Hello Death.  Formed by a handful of Altos, the captivating combination of upright bass, guitar, violin and keys and haunting vocals that span pretty much the full range of human pitch is certain to impress.

Your day starts early Saturday if you want to pack in all the excitement possible.  It may be a bit nippy outside, but the East Side Green Market is still open for business, so bundle up and support some local food-growers and stuff-makers; your opportunities to stock up on fresh garden veggies are dwindling, people!  While you’re there in the Beans & Barley parking lot, why not pop in there for one of their delicious egg burritos and a cup of coffee, and then take in some tunes by local band Shoot Down The Moon?  They’ll be set up outside, playing echoey, guitar-driven dreampop perfect for a chilly late-morning meal.  This band may be under the radar at the moment, but check out the above-linked Bandcamp page for some seriously excellent tunes.

If you pay attention to the business of music at all, you know that it’s been a rough millennium so far for the institution known as the record store; some of us are still smarting from the loss of our beloved Atomic Records back in 2009.  Despite that tragedy, we are really spoiled here in Milwaukee, with places like RushMor and Bullseye still going strong, and now, the unheard-of: a new record store opening up right in our town!  Yep, it’s called Acme Records & Music Emporium, and as a music-lover, if that doesn’t get your blood pumping, we don’t know what will.  Full disclosure: The proprietor of said shop is none other than WMSE’s own Shopkeeper Ken, which should tell you right there that awesomeness will ensue here.  The event promises refreshments as well as live music courtesy of local guitar wizard Jim Warchol and also Red Stuff, who are taking this opportunity to have a release party for their new record.  So head to 2431 S. Kinnickinnic between noon and 7 and celebrate the fact that record stores are not, in fact, dead.

Get ready for a night of psychedelic experimentation on Sunday at Frank’s Power Plant with a killer eclectic lineup of local and nonlocal talent.  In the local department: Moss Folk, a band that’s been exceedingly busy playing out this year despite having hardly any recorded music to be found anywhere.  So, your only option really is to get out and experience the trippy, droney band live, which is highly recommended.  Also, local experimental electronic artist Stacian (aka WMSE DJ Stacian) will be performing a DJ set in advance of the upcoming release of her new album, Songs For Cadets (due out later this month).  Then there’s regional noisemakers Technicolor Teeth, who have a great album called Teenage Pagans that seems to have disappeared from Bandcamp for some reason.  In the nonlocal category: Angel Eyes, Australian psych/trance outfit that should fit right in with this odd but surely intriguing lineup.

Monday night is yet another release party for an acclaimed local act, this one taking place at Stonefly Brewery.  Atmospheric folk duo Blessed Feathers will be playing in celebration of their new album, Peaceful Beasts In An Ocean Of Weeds.  This is another occasion where you have to hope the often noisy Riverwesterners keep the chatter to a minimum, as this is probably one of the quietest bands around, although they sometimes get into tribal whooping and yelping and there’s sure to be minimal percussion to go along with the banjo and guitar-based acoustic tunes.  Also playing: Columbus, Ohio’s Way Yes.

Swing Bridge, Milwaukee River, by David Schalliol

Here are my top picks for this unique event:

Stop #1: Working Legacies: The Death and (After) Life of Post-Industrial Milwaukee at the (MSOE)  Grohmann Museum (1000 N. Broadway)

Not sure if you noticed, but the industries that kept our town on the map have been changing up quite a bit. When did urban farms and retail space take over manufacturing facilities? Working Legacies explores this evolution through photos and histories  compiled by professors David Schalliol and Michael Carriere. These photographs from former and current industrial facilities like the Falk Foundry, Pfister and Vogel Tannery and Pabst Brewery explore their present use  and implication on our economy.

Stop #2: Watercolors by Willie G. at the  Harley-Davidson Museum (400 W. Canal St.)

For the very first time, grandson of the founder and H-D Chief Styling Officer Willie G. Davidson is showing his collection of watercolor paintings to the public.  He’s 78-years-old, still works full-time, rides a motorcycle and finds time to paint. That’s impressive!  Depicting scenes of from his countless journeys across the U.S. on his motorcycle, Watercolors by Willie G. will run through April 15. For more information on the event, exhibit and ticket prices, click here

Stop #3: Vintage Posters at the Katie Gingrass Gallery (241 N. Broadway)

I don’t actually know anything about this exhibit, but I love vintage posters, so I am going to check it out. I do know there will be a variety of American and European advertising posters from the 1880s through the 1980s. Exhibition runs  through March 31.

There is also a shuttle for gallery night if you aren’t keen on driving in the snow. It loops from the Third Ward to East Town and back. There is also a second route to the Harley-Davidson museum if you are going to see the Willie G. exhibit. Board the shuttle at 225 E. Chicago St. anytime between 5-9 p.m. on Friday (stops every 15 minutes). Click here for more information.

1. There might be one or two tickets left. Sales stop tonight at six, so get down to the station before then if you want to get your taste buds rocked tomorrow night.
2. Don’t forget that when you bring two or more nonperishable items to donate to the Hunger Task Force, you get a ticket for the free beverage of your choice.
3. The Food Slam ain’t just about tasty vittles—it’s also a bidding slam for getting awesome deals on sweet stuff like such as the following for instance:

• Starting at just fifty smackers is a makeup party for four, a unique experience that includes a one-on-one makeup application and lesson with Blush’s premier artists! Bring out the feather pillows, the Cyndi Lauper records, and the margarita mix, ladies, cuz the girls are gonna have some fun!

• Two pairs of tickets to any of the Brew City Bruisers’ exciting home-season bouts! Get out the Band-Aids, the crutches, and the steaks for them black eyes! Wait . . . you’re just a spectator—no first aid kit necessary. Just bring the good times! OK—the Bruisers supply those too . . . and lots of ‘em. How ‘bout just bring your splendid self and your vigorous vocal chords for cheerin’?!!

• You must be a luckystar cuz you shine on the opportunity to bid on this fabulous special-edition three-piece from Luckystar Studio’s Chimp Series. There’s a dude with a yellow background who’s gettin’ pretty chesty with the Superman thing, and then he’s over there regarding that banana peel, and I don’t know what he’s doing in that suit, but it’s definitely cool. Yeah, that chimp stuff’s definitely gots it goin’ on!

• Holy supercool handcrafted handiwork, Batman—get down to the Slam and check out the wrought-iron “Squiggle” candle holder hand-forged by Bay View’s own Milwaukee Blacksmith. Ain’t nothin’ as cool as something that took fire and muscle and iron to make—this thing’s gonna floor ya.

• Whoa, daddy, a two-hour experience aboard the Milwaukee Pedal Tavern! A 16-person bicycle-powered party on wheels! Whether you’ve got a pub crawl, a bachelor party, or a company event coming up, this is the travelling apparatus and terrific adventure for you. Bid starts at sixty bucks. SIXTY BUCKS? Pretty sweet for a super-fun segue to good times. Forget rotting away in dark bars—get some air with your booze, Milwaukee!

• Itchin’ for some ink? Put the pedal to the metal and the needle to the skin and bid on a $250 gift certificate for a custom tattoo from Spencer at Zoe’s Vicious Circle in Bay View! When the bidding starts at $55 for Spencer’s spectacular work, we’re talkin’ pirate’s booty here, ladies and gents. You’re liftin’ the loot, pilferin’ the plenty, and you ain’t even gonna walk the plank for it.

• And superartist extraordinaire dwellephant’s shootin’ ya some painted records. Painted records? Painted perfection! Check out the great Joey Ramone gracin’ the wax! And dang, dwellie whips it good! The dude from Devo’s painted on another record—mix it, spin it, turn it, loop it, whirl it, twirl it, swirl it, whip it, frame it, hang it, show it, love it, dig it, rock it . . . and, of course, crack that whip!

And that ain’t even the half of it. There’s that, and more, and a ton of stuff galore. So sweet! Get stoked! And we’ll see ya at the Slam!

–Erin Harris

Riverwest’s smackdown, dynamite Centro Cafe is bringing its A game to the WMSE Food Slam this Friday at the Grohmann Museum on the campus of MSOE. For all you vegetarians who’ve had enough talk about salami and reubens and tuna and reubens and meat and meat and meat, chow down on Centro’s luscious lasagna layered with leeks, roasted butternut squash, garlic, and rosemary. It’s got this cream sauce, see, that makes you swoon, and the leeks are heaven, and the squash melts in your mouth, and it all comes together like the way a good band comes together, when everyone’s firing on all cylinders and you can believe in harmony and unity and perfection. And then there’s Centro’s vegan Caesar salad, which is cunningly creamy (how do they do it? Tahini and silken tofu, I think), fantastically fresh, and succulently snappy. These dishes are gonna shine as stars of the show come Friday night. You won’t be able to get enough.

And, while I was at Centro, I also tried their gluten-free pasta with marinara sauce, since I usually (except in anticipation of the Slam, when I get to write this blog) roll gluten free, and had shamefully not previously made it to Centro, though I had heard great things about their GF options. The pasta is good, you know, as good as gluten-free pasta can be, but what makes that dish is the well-balanced marinara sauce–bright, fresh, garlicky, rich, and neither too sweet nor too astringent. It hit the spot, I’m tellin’ ya–it was on the mark. I felt like Goldilocks, Slammers–the porridge was just right. Fo shizzle.

And regarding tickets, I really don’t know what to tell you. No, I’m kidding . . . I think there are a few left–maybe two–so if you ain’t got yours, hit up the station down at 820 N. Milwaukee Street during business hours (9 a.m. till 6 p.m.) through Thursday for a fix.

–Erin Harris

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The sun’ll be shining at 6 pm on October 7, Milwaukee, but only at the Grohmann, where the Slam’ll be rockin’ till 10 pm. So get two tickets to paradise right here.

And instead of posting that Eddie Money song, I’ll share with you my favorite feel-good song ’bout booze ‘n sunshine–His Name Is Alive’s “Lemon Ocean.” It ain’t local, but it sure is lovely.

–Erin Harris

Yokel Local Outlaw Big Sam Spurhog Saddlin' Up to the Grohmann for the Food Slam

Yee haw, Milwaukee! Food Slam tickets are SOLD OUT! and WMSE is thrilled that the ninth annual Slam is going to be the biggest, funnest, and successfulest Slam to date. I caught up with Yokel Local outlaw Big Sam Spurhog and asked him to nail down the answers to a few FAQs about the food event that’s gonna rock your taste buds this very night. As always, Big Sam was initially terse, surly, and reluctant as hell, but he started talkin’ freely once I lubed him up with some fat cigars and a couple bottles of whiskey.

EH: You excited for the Food Slam tonight, Big Sam?

BSS: [Lighting a cigar and throwing back a shot] I reckon it’ll be ’bout as good a time as when I met up with them Carson twins out on the ole Carson ranch. Old man Carson was gone a-speculatin’ ‘n I struck a little gold myself.

EH: That’s great, Big Sam. Hey, the Slam’s at the Grohmann Museum, right? What do you know about parking around there?

BSS: ‘Round those parts you pony up real quiet so no one hears you comin’. You keep your horse from brayin’ ‘n you take ‘em by surprise ‘n show ‘em who’s boss.

EH: That’s not the way I heard it. I heard there’s gonna be free parking in the MSOE lots located between Broadway and Milwaukee just north and east of the Grohmann.

BSS: [Pickin' his teeth] Could be.

EH: What do you know about free drinks at the Slam?

BSS: That ‘un’s easy. Just smash your last bottle an’ start punchin’.

EH: That doesn’t sound right. What if you bring two or more nonperishable food items and donate ‘em to the Hunger Task Force? I heard the fine folks at WMSE’ll give you a free beverage ticket.

BSS: That’ll work too, I reckon.

EH: You gonna do any bidding, Big Sam?

BSS: I got my eye on a couple ‘a things. I got my eye on that Annie down at The Establishment. I’m gonna win myself a good groomin’ with her.

EH: I think Annie’s service is a Brazilian wax, Big Sam. I’m not sure that’s what you had in mind. I bet Martita’s prize pack is more your speed. It’s two bottles of Martita’s Guiltless Margarita Mix, a bottle of tequila, and four margarita glasses.

BSS: Hoo-doggie! Now that’s what I’m talkin’ about!

EH: So you ready to do this thing, Big Sam? This Food Slam thing?

BSS: I’m riled up like a groom on his weddin’ night! I’m a-rearin’ to go!

EH: All right, Big Sam. Kick them spurs. I’ll see you at the Slam!

–Erin Harris

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–Erin Harris

Fresh Oysters on the Half Shell

Hey, Casanova, strut into the Food Slam at MSOE’s Grohmann Museum on Friday, October 1 and set your senses ablaze with Molly Cool’s fresh oysters on the half shell. The Old World Third Street tavern’ll be settin’ Slammers up with two varieties of luscious oysters from Maryland and Dabob Bay. Drenched with fresh lemon, the magnificent mollusks ooze a briny sensuality that’ll light your fire as surely as a couple glasses of Trapiche’s wines’ll give you fever all through the night. Not only are the cats at Molly Cool’s gonna shuck oysters on site, they’re also dishin’ out their signature hot crab and spinach dip, which ain’t no slouch itself. Rich, creamy, salty, and succulent, it’s a pretty perfect pairing to the classic aphrodisiac known as the oyster.

Word on the street is that Food Slam tickets are just about half sold out, so if you’re not yet a proud ticket holder, you’re gonna wanna shoot over here and grab a pass to the food event that’s gonna rock your taste buds and maybe your whole night. Yeah, you can indulge in Molly Cool’s delights any night of the week–and hells yeah you should!–but if you bring two nonperishable food items to the Slam to support the Hunger Task Force, you can start the night off right with a free drink!

–Erin Harris

Heavenly Hot Crab and Spinach Dip

In the meantime, fasten your seat belt and hold onto your hat as local writer Erin Harris whisks you off on a lightning-quick, Indy-500-style whirlwind preview of the awesome vittles and delectable libations to be had at this year’s Slam. Keep your eyes peeled to this here blog to check out reviews and photos of all the chocolates, cakes, puerco en adobo, soup, tamales, and brisket that’ve got your name on ‘em.

And until that delicious evening two weeks from now, sate your hunger with the burger that that cat down there under this text is advertising for. If that badass dude sittin’ on top of the pig down there looks to you like his wallet is the one that says bad motherfu**er on it, that’s because it is. Dude is stacked with a ridiculous amount of deliciousness from BBQ pork to beef to bacon to sausage to a fried egg. And if he looks like he’s gonna take a sledgehammer to your heart, don’t worry. He’s a real health nut. He’s got some lettuce there in between those two chunks of tasty meat.

–Erin Harris

Nazi associations of collection “not relevant” says founder of new museum

The art on show includes works by artists collected by Hitler and displayed in exhibitions sponsored by the Third Reich

In praise of workers: the Grohmann Museum with its nine-foot sculptures of labourers on the roof and the “Kaiserdom” inspired by Sir Norman Foster’s addition to the Reichstag in Berlin

NEW YORK. The new Grohmann Museum, which is dedicated to art showing “the evolution of human work”, has been called to account for failing to display any information about the art’s association with the Nazi regime. The institution opened in October at the Milwaukee School of Engineering (MSOE).

While the school celebrated the opening of its first cultural asset, the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel asked why works of

art produced under the Third Reich are displayed without texts explaining their historical background.

The museum houses more than 700 paintings and sculptures, most by little known 20th-century German and Northern European artists, but includes works attributed to Pieter Brueghel the Younger, Jan van Goyen, Max Liebermann and Frederic Remington. Subjects include farming, mining, glassblowing, construction, iron and steel production and heavy industry.

[ SS-Wache (SS Guards) - Ferdinand Staeger. Oil painting. Year unknown

The museum’s founding benefactor is MSOE regent and Milwaukee industrialist Eckhart G. Grohmann, 71, who was born in Silesia, Germany (today part of Poland) and emigrated to the US in 1962 where he bought a small foundry that he built into Aluminum Casting & Engineering Co.

He joined the board of MSOE in 1974 and donated his “Men at Work” collection in 2001, stipulating that none of the works ever be exchanged or sold. He also provided funds to purchase and renovate the museum that bears his name, and acquired an adjacent building providing rental income that will support the museum. Mr Grohmann named John Kopmeier, an engineer whom he knew socially, to serve as director.

The three-storey brick building, originally an automobile dealership, has a new glass turret inspired by architect Sir Norman Foster’s addition to the Reichstag in Berlin. Mr Groh­mann says this “Kaiserdom” was his idea, as was the rooftop phalanx of a dozen nine-foot bronzes that he commissioned based on statues of muscular workers in the collection, and the ceiling paintings of inventors and a stained-glass window depicting workers commissioned for the atrium. The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel’s verdict is that: “the effect is rather like Old World Berlin as reinterpreted by Walt Disney”.

Mr Grohmann amassed his collection over four decades, buying from auction houses in Germany and Switzerland, as well as various other sources. “I have very little competition because [the paintings] are not the sort of things you hang over your sofa,” he says.

The most heavily represented artist, with 81 works, is Erich Mercker (1891-1973) whose images of German industry were endorsed by the Third Reich and exhibited in the annual Nazi-sanctioned “Great German Art Exhibition” in 1937. The museum labels cite only his name, dates and titles and the museum website does not refer to his Nazi ties either. Other artists in the Grohmann collection known to have worked with the Nazis are Ferdinand Staeger—whose work was collected by Hitler—Ria Picco-Rückert, and Otto Hamel. All of them participated in the annual Nazi exhibitions. The collection also includes work by Magnus Zeller, a German who opposed the Nazis.

The art on display includes a Mercker painting of a U-boat building facility (left) and a 1942 Picco-Rückert picture of Nazi steel manufacturing, but Mr Grohmann denies that any of his paintings glorify the Third Reich. “Propaganda pictures would show flags and swastikas,” he contends, apparently ignoring scholarship that suggests otherwise. Art historian Mark Antliff, for example, has written that “the Nazis propagated a ‘myth-image’ [through] imagery devoted to ‘the sanctification of creative work’,” and cites Staeger and Picco-Rückert as portraying workers engaged in their “‘sacred’ effort to create ‘the eternal Germany.’” Others have noted that labourers depicted in Nazi paintings are likely conscripts from concentration camps.

Mr Grohmann and Mr Kopmeier say that historical context is irrelevant to the museum. “The mission is to educate MSOE students primarily about art, what industry was like years ago, why we are where we are right now,” says Mr Kopmeier, adding that Mr Grohmann is responsible for the institution’s content. “He’s the one that collects the art, and what goes on the wall is a decision he would make,” he told The Art Newspaper. “We don’t know that any was actually commissioned by the Third Reich,” says Mr Grohmann, “and to be honest I wouldn’t care. It is a totally subject-oriented collection for the purpose of teaching at the technical university. I don’t politicise pictures.”

US Jewish organisations have not voiced strong objections to the museum, but some have asked for disclosure of provenance and historical context. University president Hermann Viets says he is not concerned with the allegations of whitewashing the artists’ Nazi pasts. “We are perfectly open about it,” he says, citing a catalogue that includes more information than appears on the museum walls. Asked if he personally condemns the Nazi regime, Mr Grohmann replied: “I do not make any political statements. I just don’t do it.”