Say what you want about her authenticity (whatever that means), her name, her lips, or how, by her own admission, her “pussy tastes like Pepsi,” this is a soulful and suitably respectful bow before the altar of one of the greatest songwriters of the 20th Century. For the record, that was Janis Joplin “giving [him] head in an unmade bed while the limousines wait in the street.”

  WEEKLY PRESS: “I said it was going to be a disaster when I ran four years ago,” [City Controller Alan] Butkovitz explained, adding that it’s a disaster today. “Sixty percent of property owners will see tax increases. One reason for this is there will be a shift from taxes on large commercial properties to taxes on residential properties and small businesses on commercial strips. There will also be a shift away from the Business Privilege Tax. We’ve have foreseen these problems for the last eight years. My opponent, Brett Mandell has obsessively pushed for AVI over the last decade. […]

  Wildwood, 4:02 pm yesterday by JEFF FUSCO

This awesome-looking Flaming Lips concert film — along with Wayne Coyne’s iPhone film — is screening April 13th at World Cafe Live as past of XPN’s 2nd Annual Music/Film Festival, but you would never know it from the promotional materials sent out to the press. Apparently the film has been deemed too weird or strange or shocking for the easily-offended shrinking-violets that show up at rock n’ roll film screenings. Instead they are pushing a documentary about the Beatles secretary. What? The movie about Led Zeppelin’s accountant was unavailable?

BUZZ BISSINGER: “Was I homosexual because so much of what I wore is associated with gays? I did experiment. And while I don’t think it is my sexual being, I can tell you that gay men as a group are nicer, smarter, have a shitload more fun than straight whites. Was I veering toward becoming a dominant leather master in the S&M scene, the leather fetish an obvious influence in most of the clothing I purchased and in much of high fashion itself? I did experiment. Was I a closeted or maybe not so closeted transvestite? Tom Ford makeup is […]

Calexico have had a long career, and for Record Store Day 2013 they have a special release that spans it. On SPIRITOSO, they’ve taken songs from the length of that career, recorded them WITH A FULL SYMPHONY and packaged them in a special limited edition vinyl package, and included a full CD as well. SPIRITOSO, recorded in June 2012 in Germany with Radio Symphonie Orchestra Wein, is only available at record stores starting on Record Store Day 2013, April 20. Check out this video of the recording of one of the tracks, “Para”, and come back to www.recordstoreday.com April 20 […]

BY MIKE WALSH Early last year, Slim Dunlap, the Replacements second lead guitar player and a mainstay of the Minneapolis music scene for many years, suffered a massive stroke. It left him paralyzed and in need of constant medical attention, which his health insurance does not cover. So Peter Jesperson, who managed and promoted the Replacements (aka the Mats) in the early 80s, has organized a series of recordings of Slim’s songs by musicians like Steve Earle, Lucinda Williams, Craig Finn of The Hold Steady, John Doe, the Jayhawks, and others. These are being released as split 7” singles, with […]

Wildwood, 1:01 pm yesterday by JEFF FUSCO

Photo by PETE TROSHAK It’s been eight years since Garbage played a show in Philadelphia, but judging by their stellar performance at the Electric Factory last night, you’d think it’s been eight seconds. Scottish vixen Shirley Manson prowled the stage like an angry jungle cat telling tales of stupid girls and bad boyfriends in a powerful voice that shifted from cool purr to fiery growl in seconds. Behind her on drums, legendary producer Butch Vig (Nirvana’s Nevermind) thumped and thundered. Vig was stationed behind a Plexiglas wall meant to protect his band-mates and the crowd from the loudness of his […]

  NEW YORK TIMES: For marijuana smokers in the right neighborhoods, there is no need to go out for supplies. A dealer-businessman will come right to the door, sit at the dining room table and open a box that looks as if it could be used to display herbal tea choices in restaurants. This particular case, however, is used to show varieties of cannabis — weed — and the businessman will annotate the flavor and potency of his offerings. Bought and smoked behind closed doors, the pot in such transactions has almost no risk of attracting attention from law enforcement. […]