BY MATTHEW HENGEVELD What hip-hop needs are newcomers like Philly’s Kuf Knotz. The man knows his shit, plus he’s got a debut album that absolutely knocks. Boombox Logic is soulful, uplifting and easily the most pleasingly Philly-centric album I’ve heard since the Roots’ 2006 masterpiece Game Theory. Kuf’s not afraid to talk about being a sneaker pimp or have a good time on tracks. His manifesto might as well be “chill, I got this” because he displays a proficiency on the mic that some veterans have yet to achieve. In advance of his appearance tomorrow at the WHYY Connections Festival, […]
WIKLEAKS: U.S. Soldiers Executed Iraqi Children
MCCLATCHY NEWSPAPERS: This cell phone photo was shot by a resident of Ishaqi on March 15, 2006, of bodies Iraqi police said were of children executed by U.S. troops after a night raid there. Here, the bodies of the five children are wrapped in blankets and laid in a pickup bed to be taken for burial. A State Department cable obtained by WikiLeaks quotes the U.N. investigator of extrajudicial killings as saying an autopsy showed the residents of the house had been handcuffed and shot in the head, including children under the age of 5. McClatchy obtained the photo from […]
EARLY WORD: The Wichita Lineman’s Long Goodbye
Surfdog Records has announced the upcoming release of Ghost On The Canvas, the remarkable new album from the legendary Glen Campbell. The album – which marks the iconic singer/guitarist/songwriter’s final studio recording – arrives everywhere on August 30th. Sadly, Campbell was recently diagnosed with early stages of Alzheimer’s Disease. Ghost On The Canvas sees Campbell capping his brilliant career with one of his most moving and energized works to date, a powerfully emotional song cycle that sees him accompanied by a truly dazzling line-up of songwriters and musicians. Among the tunesmiths contributing original songs to the collection are such modern […]
SH*T MY UNCLE SAYS: No Accountability, No Peace
BY WILLIAM C. HENRY I just finished reading an excellent New York Times article by the Democrat governor of Montana, Brian Schweitzer. In it he pretty much tells it like it is regarding how and why his state has managed to weather the biggest, most heinous financial fraud ever perpetrated on the American people better than most. I confess I haven’t researched all his assertions, but I damn well salute his attitude and incisiveness. It got me thinking about our federal junkyard dog, the GAO (Government Accountability Office), and to what extent it was performing its mandate. At first glance it would appear that […]
EXCERPT: Jagger: Rebel, Rock Star, Rambler, Rogue
[Photo by IAN WRIGHT] BY MARC SPITZ The T.A.M.I. Show was all about showcasing the new. James Brown arrived at the Civic Center and was promptly informed of what the Stones already knew. “I remember James coming up and saying ‘Of course I’m the last act on the bill, right?’ ” says Steve Binder, director of the T. A. M. I. Show. “I told him, ‘No, actually you’re going to be followed by the Rolling Stones.’ James looked at me and smiled and said, ‘Nobody follows James Brown.’ ” […] “After James there was just enough time for the technical […]
Q&A With Philly Homeboy Schoolly D, The Original OG
[Photo by Jonene Taddei] BY JONATHAN VALANIA Deep inside Norwegian mass murderer Anders Breivik’s 1,400 page ‘manifesto’, “2083: A European Declaration of Independence,” in between all the raging Islamophobia, pathological nativism, and bomb-making instructions, the man who killed 77 innocent, unarmed people in cold blood, warns readers of the negative effect that gangsta rap lyrics have on society. In section 2.67 of the PDF version, Breivik includes a slightly bastardized version of John P McWhorter’s 2003 anti-rap diatribe How Hip-Hop Holds Blacks Back, which singles out a few of the most sensational lines from West Philly native Schooly D’s proto-gangsta […]
STRANGER THAN FICTION: The Omega Man Of Japan
ASSOCIATED PRESS: Vines creep across Tomioka’s empty streets, its prim gardens overgrown with waist-high weeds and meadow flowers. Dead cows rot where they were left to starve in their pens. Chicken coops writhe with maggots, a sickening stench hanging in the air. This once-thriving community of 16,000 people now has a population of one. In this nuclear no-man’s land poisoned by radiation from a disaster-battered power plant, rice farmer Naoto Matsumura refuses to leave despite government orders. He says he has thought about the possibility of getting cancer but prefers to stay – with a skinny dog named Aki his […]
CONTEST: Win Tix To See TVOTR At The Mann
[Illustration by ALEX FINE] Raise your hand if you want to go see TV On The Radio and Broken Social Scene at The Mann next Friday? OK, put ’em down, we can’t see you, that’s not how this blog thingee works — not yet anyway. Presumaby there were millions of you raising your hands a moment ago, and now feeling a little stupid for doing so, as you should, but cheer up because we can help at least four of you. That’s right we have two pairs of tickets for TVOTR at The Mann Music Center on Friday September 9th […]
WTF: Jack White + Insane Clown Posse = For Real?
This just came in over the transom from Nasty Little Man, Jack White’s publicity firm, so presumably it’s true in a truth is stranger than fiction kind of way, but…well, you decide: In the grand tradition of peanut butter meeting Iggy’s chest or Bing Crosby getting down with David Bowie, Third Man Records is ecstatic to present the latest in a long-line of unexpected musical pairings…Insane Clown Posse and Mozart. Back in ’82, ahem, 1782, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart wrote a piece that’s been left out of the spotlight ever since. The title of the piece is “Leck Mich Im Arsch” […]
MUST SEE: Incredible Photos From Battle Of Tripoly
TIME: In Libya, the fall of a dictator came faster than anyone expected. After six months of fighting along what were often stagnated front lines, the rebels succeeded last week in overwhelming the forces of Col. Muammar Gaddafi to take control of the Libyan capital. The sudden assault sent the enigmatic 69-year-old Libyan leader and his family into hiding; his forces scattering. And throughout Tripoli, TIME contract photographer Yuri Kozyrev and I have watched over the past week as a population celebrates its victory over a tyrant. As security improves with each night, more and more families flock into the city’s iconic Green Square—now renamed Martyrs’ Square—where Gaddafi once […]
The History Of Global Economics In 4 Minutes
Via The Daily Beast.
Q&A With Rolling Stone Photographer Baron Wolman
BY ALEX POTTER Baron Wolman was the chief photographer for Rolling Stone magazine for the first three years of its existence. He just published a book of his iconic work for the magazine called Every Picture Tells a Story…The Rolling Stone Years. Equipped with nothing more than a Nikon and a warm demeanor that made his subjects feel unusually comfortable, Wolman got up close and personal with just about every 60’s rock god you can think of, and then some. In the words of former Rolling Stone Art Director Tony Lane, Wolman’s oeuvre “is heroic; it is a Greek God […]
WILLIE NELSON: The Scientist
YUMSUGAR: Chipotle’s furthering its quest to create a more sustainable fast food system. Today the quickservice chain unveiled its new nonprofit organization, the Chipotle Cultivate Foundation, to help support sustainable food practices. It’s also debuted a short animated film, which will air prior to feature films in theaters nationwide. The spot, titled “Back to the Start,” is about a fictional farmer’s venture into industrial farming practices and his eventual return to a more sustainable way of life. For the short, Chipotle commissioned Willie Nelson to sing Coldplay’s “The Scientist.” The cover song is available for download on iTunes, with proceeds […]