BY JONATHAN VALANIA Joe Boyd is a most intriguing fellow to rock snobs or anyone with a working knowledge of the cultural history of the latter half of the 20th century. An American ex-pat (south Jersey represent!) living in Britain most of his life, Boyd not only had a front row seat for some of the most important albums, bands and events of the psychedelic 60s — events that would, in many ways, define rock history moving forward — he was often their chief enabler. Boyd produced “Arnold Layne,” Pink Floyd’s first single, along with albums by Nick Drake, Fairport […]
STYLE COUNCIL: Ballad Of A Thin Man
STEREOGUM: In a photo spread titled “Ballad Of A Thin Man” and subtitled “Godfathers Of Glam” and basically boiling down to “Someone Old, Something New,” this Sunday’s T Mag juxtaposed the exquisitely preserved mortal coils of a few elder rock gods with some very fancy, very NEW designer threads. There’s Lou Reed, Nick Cave, Dave Gahan, Michael Stipe, Ray Davies, David Johansen, and John Doe. MORE PREVIOUSLY: The Devil And Old Saint Nick
Anonymous Dumps Damning Bank Of America Emails
BUSINESS INSIDER: Hacker group Anonymous (aka OperationLeaks on Twitter) just released what they say is a trove of damning documents on Bank of America. You can find them here: bankofamericasuck.com Remember, at this point, we can’t verify whether they are legitimate or not, but Gawker’s Adrien Chen, who has sources within Anonymous, suggest there’s something real to the leaks. Anonymous says the emails deal with BofA’s mortgage practices, but the source is not an employee of Bank of America proper — the source is a former employee from Balboa Insurance, a firm which used to be owned by BofA. As […]
COMING ATTRACTION: Q&A With Robyn Hitchcock
In advance of his joint appearance with Joe Boyd, the Zelig of the psychedelic 60s, at World Cafe Live on Monday, we rang up Mr. Hitchcock and discussed acid, Eno, Hendrix, Syd Barrett and Dylan’s Basement Tapes among other things. Look for it tomorrow on a Phawker near you! RELATED: While hardly a household name, Joe Boyd made vital contributions that are noted in the fine print on many an important British rock, folk and world-music recording from the late ’60s forward. He was producer of Pink Floyd’s first single (“Arnold Layne”), as well as the early and best albums […]
CINEMA: When Worlds Collide
BY DAN BUSKIRK FILM CRITIC One of the most memorable moments in Super Bowl commercial history came in 1996, when we watched a spaceship blow up the White House in an ad for the forthcoming summer blockbuster, Independence Day. The commercial caused quite a stir; we had imagined an impregnable wall around the U.S. and it was deeply shocking to see that wall breached. That was 15 years ago, and although we are engaged in at least two wars, the only sustained attack on the U.S. we can imagine is the fantasy scenario that monsters could come from outer space […]
Massive Earthquake & Tsunami Rocks Japan
NEW YORK TIMES: The Japanese government declared an “atomic power emergency” and evacuated thousands of residents living close to a nuclear plant in northern Japan after a major earthquake. Japan relies heavily on nuclear power, and it generates just over a third of the country’s total electricity. The facilities are designed to withstand earthquakes, which are common in Japan, but experts have long expressed concerns about safety standards at the plants, particularly about the impact a major quake could have if it hit close to a reactor. At least two other Japanese nuclear plants also reported trouble, but there was […]
START THE PRESSES: New Philly Music Glossy Debuts
The debut issue of JUMP, the Philly-centric music quarterly helmed by Temple journo prof George Miller III, just hit the streets and the Internets. Details HERE. PREVIOUSLY: We are set to launch our print edition in March, and publish four times per year. Learn more about who we are and what we do by clicking on the image at right. If you want to get involved – as a writer, photographer, videographer, copy editor, fact-checker, whatever – drop us a line at jumpphilly@gmail.com. We are a total volunteer organization, just a group of folks who love Philly and appreciate the […]
Phawker Presents The Seventh Installment Of Blotto
BY LANCE DOILY It was Friday and the salesman decided to be a prankster and send 15 cases of some horseshit Raspberry Pomegranate fusion beer to Murph’s that would turn most of the regulars to stone upon eye contact, but I was heading over there regardless. You see, tonight Nazareth was playing at the Moose Lodge in Clifton and I had to swing by to pick my partner in crime Smitty up, but there was precious little time to guzzle em’ back today. As soon as I walked in the door they could see by the look in my eyes […]
PAPERBOY: Slow-Jamming The Alt-Weeklies
BY DAVE ALLEN Like time, news waits for no man. Keeping up with the funny papers has always been an all-day job, even in the pre-Internets era. These days, however, it’s a two-man job. That’s right, these days you need someone to do your reading for you, or risk falling hopelessly behind and, as a result, increasing your chances of dying lonely and somewhat bitter. That’s why every week PAPERBOY does your alt-weekly reading for you. We pore over those time-consuming cover stories and give you the takeaway, suss out the cover art, warn you off the ink-wasters and steer […]
SIDEWALKING: Goose Stepping
Martin Luther King Drive 10:32 AM by JEFF FUSCO
Reality Checking The Fables Of Budget Deconstruction
THIS IS OUR MONEY: LIE NO. 3: The prison budget increase is due to criminals, not poor policy. “In 1993, Pennsylvania had 24,000 men and women in its prisons. Today that number is over 50,000. This number speaks to a failure. Sometimes it’s a failure in our schools, or in our society, but ultimately in the personal character of the criminal.” – Tom Corbett Corbett’s budget includes a $186 million increase for the state Department of Corrections. That’s an 11 percent jump, part of a long trend of skyrocketing state prison costs. Corbett attributes this trend to the personal failings […]
REVIEW: Stalley Lincoln Way Nights
BY MATTHEW HENGEVELD Is it stupid to get critical over a free mixtape? My bet is “yes.” But how could I not? It’s almost mid-March and Stalley’s Lincoln Way Nights is the only hip-hop release of 2011 semi-worth copping (yet). Top 2011 contenders Talib Kweli and Saigon both dropped duds— though I’ve heard Esoteric has a true banger on his hands. And the Net’s been buzzing about Stalley for a long ass time. Ohio-native, thick-bearded, low-end audiophile, Stalley is a college listener’s wet dream. Why is that? Because the dude claims his music is “intelligent,” but spends 45 minutes talking […]
Wisconsin GOP Defies The Will Of The People, Passes Union Busting Bill With Parlimentary Manuever
WAUSAU DAILY HERALD: The Wisconsin Senate succeeded in voting Wednesday to strip nearly all collective bargaining rights from public workers, after Republicans discovered a way to bypass the chamber’s missing Democrats and approve an explosive proposal that has rocked the state and unions nationwide. “You are cowards!” spectators in the Senate gallery screamed as lawmakers voted. Within hours, a crowd of a few hundred protesters inside the Capitol had grown to several thousand, more than had been in the building at any point during weeks of protests. “The whole world is watching!” they shouted as they pressed up against the […]