From the new and excellent Manipulator (Drag City). No Philly date on the horizon. [makes Sad Keanu face]
BEING THERE: Bass Drum Of Death @ The Barbary
Photo by DAN LONG I was stoked to see Bass Drum of Death at the Barbary last night based on their rad videos and generally loud, cool “I don’t give a shit” aesthetic, but I left the show somewhat disappointed, truth be told. To be clear, this was not Bass Drum of Death’s fault, they performed well and sounded great, but the crowd on the other hand totally ruined what could have been a killer vibe. For starters the online ticket portal said the show was sold out, but in fact the venue was far from packed. Even before […]
WRECKLESS ERIC: Q&A With Eric Wareheim, Philly Homeboy & Exactly One Half Of Tim & Eric
BY JONATHAN VALANIA In advance of the Tim And Eric & Dr. Steve Brule (aka John C. Reilly) 2014 Tour stopping in Philly on Friday for two sold out shows at The Keswick, we got Temple alum Eric Wareham on the horn. DISCUSSED: Their new show Tim & Eric’s Bedtime Stories, Twilight Zone, and the horror of the every day, Bob Odenkirk, Emmet Walsh, John C. Reilly, Jason Schwartzman, Zach Galifanakis, Three Stooges, Dr. Steve Brule, Darkside, Fishtown, White Rainbow, and Philly soul. PHAWKER: The two episodes of Bedtime Stories, your new show on Adult Swim, that I watched […]
CINEMA: Elephant’s Memory
Tonight at the PHS Pop Up Garden, the Philadelphia Film Festival, in conjunction with the Pennsylvania Academy Of The Fine Arts, will present a free screening of The Elephant Man, directed by David Lynch and starring Anthony Hopkins and John Hurt. The film begins at sundown.
WAR FOOTING: Q&A w/ Warpaint’s Stella Mozgawa
WARPAINT L-R: Jenny Lee Lindberg, Stella Mozgawa,Emily Kokal, Theresa Wayman by ROBIN LAANANEN BY CLAYTON RUSSELL Warpaint is four L.A. ladies from the canyons of their own self-discovery, constantly morphing and re-inventing themselves, veering between straight up rock, atmospheric art rock and hypnotic dance music. For the past year they have been criss-crossing the globe in support of their acclaimed four-years-in-the-making self-titled sophomore LP, which was produced by Flood (PJ Harvey, Nick Cave, NIN) and mixed by Nigel Godrich, aka Radiohead’s George Martin. In advance of their Union Transfer show tonight with Guy Blakeslee of The Entrance Band opening, we […]
NPR 4 THE DEAF: We Hear It Even When U Can’t
FRESH AIR In the 1950s, four people — the founder of the birth control movement, a controversial scientist, a Catholic obstetrician and a wealthy feminist — got together to create a revolutionary little pill the world had never seen before. They were sneaky about what they were doing — skirting the law, lying to women about the tests they performed and fibbing to the public about their motivations. “They absolutely could’ve been imprisoned for some of the work they were doing,” journalist Jonathan Eig tells Fresh Air‘s Terry Gross. “These guys are like guerrilla warriors — they’re always having […]
Watching Ben Affleck Shout Down Sam Harris Is Like Watching Kanye West Debate w/ Taylor Swift
EDITOR’S NOTE: As you have no doubt heard by now Ben Affleck and Sam Harris/Bill Maher got into a shout-y, headline-making debate about Islam on the latest installment of Real Time With Bill Maher. You can watch the exchange below, then read Sam Harris’ parsing of what went down. SAM HARRIS: After the show, a few things became clear about Affleck’s and Kristof’s views. Rather than trust poll results and the testimony of jihadists and Islamists, they trust the feeling that they get from the dozens of Muslims they have known personally. As a method of gauging Muslim opinion […]
It Only Took 238 Years For The Nation To Make Good On The Words Of Its Birthright, That All Men Are Created Equal, Even Men That Love Other Men
NEW YORK TIMES: There are countless churches but not much openly gay life in this city by the banks of the Tennessee River. So when Benjamin Newbern, a onetime field organizer for the American Civil Liberties Union, convened gay residents and those he calls “straight allies” for dinner one recent evening, it was a radical act. Over pizza in the back room of a local restaurant, a college student, Jacob Ezell, said his mother worried “it would destroy our family” if his father found out that he is gay. A nurse who gave her name only as Cassandra said she […]
CRASH: High Wall
Crash, aka Christopher Richard, may be named like a demolition derby king, but he sings like an angel. His day job is celestial back-up singer/percussionist for Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeroes but his nights belong to Crash. Earlier this summer he released Hardly Criminal, his debut solo album, on Community Records. You don’t need to read his bio (SEE BELOW) to grok the sad-eyed beauty of this song, but it sure explains a lot, not the least of which is this: A NOLA native having fled Katrina, Crash was literally living in a cave in Laurel Canyon when he […]
BEING THERE: ICP @ The Electric Factory
Photo by MARY LYNN DOMINGUEZ Upon hearing my first genuine ‘woop woop’ last night at the Electric Factory, it dawned upon me that everything about the Insane Clown Posse following is completely genuine. Each juggalo and juggalette was clownified with black and white facepaint and it was clear there were certainly no restrictions on age, race, or gender. In fact, some of the youngest decked-out ICP fans stood front and center, barely able to peek over the barrier, but sure to have the most interesting story to share at show-and-tell in the morning. Disregarding the prevailing sewer smell, gobs of […]
‘That Gum You Like Is Coming Back In Style’
The groundbreaking television phenomenon, Golden Globe® and Peabody Award-winner TWIN PEAKS will return as a new limited series on SHOWTIME in 2016. Series creators and executive producers David Lynch and Mark Frost will write and produce all nine episodes of the limited series, and Lynch will direct every episode. Set in the present day, TWIN PEAKS will continue the lore of the original series, providing long-awaited answers and a satisfying conclusion for the series’ passionate fan base. RELATED: David Lynch Explains The Unified Field On September 10th, 2014, David Lynch gave a press conference at the Pennsylvania Academy of the […]
I SEE A DARKNESS: Twin Peaks 24 Years After
EDITOR’S NOTE: This originally posted on September 23rd, 2011. BY MIKE WALSH Like millions of Americans, I was fanatical about Twin Peaks when the show originally aired on ABC in 1990. I rearranged my schedule, so I could be home to watch it. I recorded it on VHS tape when I couldn’t. I debated the identity of Laura Palmer’s murderer with friends and strangers. I had dreams about Bob, the malevolent demon that haunts the show. So when Netflix made Twin Peaks available for streaming recently, I immediately added it to my queue. I started watching in August and every […]