Photo by SAMANTHA FRANKLIN BY JONATHAN VALANIA FOR THE INQUIRER I have seen the future of the past, and his name is J.D. McPherson, a thirtysomething cuffed-denim Okie with lacquered hair, iron lungs and, goodness gracious, great balls of fire. McPherson and his gifted retro-rock posse recently released Signs & Signifiers, a bracing collection of tailfin rockabilly, rawboned R&B and sultry moonstruck balladeering. It is hands-down the feel-good record of the year. McPherson’s star has been rising steadily ever since. NPR and WXPN have taken up his cause, he’ll be on Letterman December 4th, and he sold out Johnny Brendas […]
OHIO STATE OF MIND: “I’d Never Vote For A Nigga”
EDITOR’S NOTE: Matt Goldfine has been working in Philadelphia and Harrisburg politics for the last five years. Tired of fretting over the polls from afar, he drove out to Ohio last Sunday to volunteer for the Obama campaign’s get-out-the-vote drive. He will be filing regular dispatches from Ohio from now to election night. BY MATT GOLDFINE BUCKEYE CORRESPONDENT A chihuahua on a pink leash is yapping away at me and I don’t know what to do. I’ve been knocking on doors for the president in Tremont, a diverse lower income community on Cleveland’s East Side, for a few hours […]
SIDEWALKING: Guns Don’t Kill, Morton Salt Girls Do
Third & Green, 1:40 pm by JONATHAN VALANIA
OHIO STATE OF MIND: In The Trenches Of Cleveland
EDITOR’S NOTE: Matt Goldfine has been working in Philadelphia and Harrisburg politics for the last five years. Tired of fretting over the polls from afar, he drove out to Ohio on Sunday to volunteer for the Obama campaign’s get-out-the-vote drive. He will be filing regular dispatches from Ohio from now to election night. BY MATT GOLDFINE BUCKEYE STATE CORRESPONDENT Overall things are looking good here in Ohio. The latest polling in the state show Obama’s narrow lead holding — a sure sign that it’s reliably true, Romney’s pollster called the poll “a piece of crap.” Now, I am the […]
Top Ten Big Fat Lies of the Romney/Ryan Campaign
Artwork via SMEAR CAMPAIGN BY MIKE WALSH Romney and Ryan have lied their way through this campaign season so brazenly, effortlessly, and unabashedly, it’s tough to identify their top 10 lies, but let’s give it a shot: 10. Romney bragged during the debates that he worked in a bi-partisan manner with the Democrats who controlled the Massachusetts state house while he was governor of that state. Oh really!? It has since come to light that Romney defines bipartisanship as 800 vetoes by Romney, 750 of which were overridden by the state legislature. That’s not bipartisanship, that’s partisan warfare. 9. That […]
MUST SEE TV: Mitt Romney Vs. Hurricane Sandy
Because reality has a liberal bias.
SIDEWALKING: Dia De Los Muertos
Self portrait, Halloween, by HEATHER BRANN
VOLK: I’m Not Crazy, I’m Just A Father Of Newborn Twins
STEVE VOLK: At the stage we’re in, after 13 weeks, the babies are still too weak to breastfeed in tandem. Their behavior and sleep patterns are so unpredictable there is no trading off childcare. Instead of going for a run, doing a little shopping or even walking around the block, we engage in crying jags, recriminations, groans of despair, and an occasional hour spent madly scrambling to cook, wash dishes, shop (online), do the laundry and did I mention cry, while the babies hold us hostage to their unending needs and perversely cute faces. The conclusion, from my admittedly […]
THE HORROR: Help! My Sister’s Voting For Romney!
BY JONATHAN VALANIA FOR PHILLY POST So, my sister’s gone rogue. Back in 2008, I successfully managed to woo her away from the sway of her Republican-voting husband with the sweet birdsong of hope and change. Actually, looking back, Oprah probably deserves more credit than I do. Back then she seemed to read, watch, listen and do whatever Oprah said she should. Not this time. I don’t know why I was surprised when I emailed her a link to the New Yorker‘s Obama endorsement and she responded ‘Why should I? I’m done with Obama.” There had been early warnings. […]
WAKE UP: What Part Of This Don’t You Understand?
BUSINESSWEEK: Yes, yes, it’s unsophisticated to blame any given storm on climate change. Men and women in white lab coats tell us—and they’re right—that many factors contribute to each severe weather episode. Climate deniers exploit scientific complexity to avoid any discussion at all. Clarity, however, is not beyond reach. Hurricane Sandy demands it: At least 40 U.S. deaths. Economic losses expected to climb as high as $50 billion. Eight million homes without power. Hundreds of thousands of people evacuated. More than 15,000 flights grounded. Factories, stores, and hospitals shut. Lower Manhattan dark, silent, and underwater.[…] Eric Pooley, senior vice president […]
CONTEST: Win Tix To See JD McPherson & Sean Rowe!
With a dulcet baritone perched somewhere between the subwoofer-shaking pipes of Mark Lanegan and Leonard Cohen, Sean Rowe commands the kind of gravitas usually associated with fiery-eyed Old Testament prophets or mud-caked Delta bluesmen whenever he opens his mouth. An avowed naturalist who has done months-long survivalist stints in the wilderness living off nothing but his wits and fortitude and the fat of the land, Rowe also vibes a certain Thoreau-ian mien that only serves to reinforce his cred as a rough-hewn, antiquarian folkie that can reduce noisy bars to pin-drop silence with nothing more than an acoustic guitar […]
HAPPY HALLOWEEN: AP Ticker Recites Nick Cave’s Song Of Joy
Sleep tight everyone! Don’t let the zombies bite. PREVIOUSLY: In the beginning, there was the Birthday Party. And it was good. Rock ‘n’ roll as sonic aneurysm: screeching, cataclysmic and cruel. The Birthday Party was scary. Not in the silly Count Chocula way of the Goths who would follow in its steps, but, like, Exorcist scary. Danger was the Birthday Party’s business, and in the early ‘80s, business was good. Nick Cave was the human cannonball at the microphone, and the band would light the fuse and run for cover. When the audience demanded blood, Cave could open up and […]
LAETITIA SADIER: Lightning Thunderbolt
Single from the Stereolab (SEE BELOW) lead singer’s solo album Silencio, out now on Drag City. ROCK SNOB ENCYCLOPEDIA: Stereolab: It may be hard to remember now, but there was a time when “synthesizer” was a very bad word. Over the course of 14 albums and countless EPs and hard-to-find singles, Stereolab has caused a total re-think of what could be done with electronic music. The British band’s fascination with the retro moderne–’50s lounge records, swinging ’60s easy listening, Moog demonstration records–has spurred an entire subculture built around these musty thrift store finds. Not content to merely dust off these […]