The Wandering gathers five traditionally-minded artists from Memphis and North Mississippi and features the string work of Luther Dickinson (North Mississippi Allstars, Black Crowes) and a quartet of distinctive female voices—Shannon McNally, Amy LaVere, Valerie June, and Sharde Thomas, erstwhile leader of the Rising Star Fife and Drum band. A more detailed CV of each member follows below. They perform tomorrow night at The World Cafe. We have a pair of tickets to give away to the first lucky Phawker reader that can tell us what Rolling Stones song Luther Dickinson’s dearly departed father, Jim Dickinson, played piano on. Email […]
BREAKING: New Animal Collective Album Sept. 4th
It’s called Centipede HZ. DEVELOPING… RELATED: At turns disturbing, confusing, disgusting, hilarious, mesmerizing and stone cold beatific, Oddsac is perhaps best explained by clarifying what it is not: it is neither a rock documentary nor a concert film, nor is it the kind of film you would see at the cineplex. There are no stars, no car chases, no dreamy romantic interests who meet cute and live happily ever after. In fact, there is no plot, no linear narrative arc. Instead, there is a series of hallucinatory vignettes: a girl attempting in vain to stanch the flow of black goo […]
NPR 4 THE DEAF: We Hear It Even When U Can’t
FRESH AIR Pulitzer Prize-winning photojournalist Horst Faas, who captured several iconic moments during the Vietnam War, died May 10. He was 79. Haas was the chief of The Associated Press’ Southeast Asia bureau from 1962 to 1974, where he covered the fighting and mentored dozens of young photographers who were sent out across Vietnam to capture images of the war’s terror and inhumanity. “There were no bad photographers around,” Faas told Fresh Air’s Terry Gross in 1997. “There was nobody who was [in a] second category. There’s no room for mediocre talent in situations like this.” Faas’ own images of […]
JUST ANNOUNCED: Jane’s Addiction @ The Mann
August 15th with Die Antwoord. Tickets go on sale Friday.
JAZZER: Congs For Brums
[Photo by PETER GANNUSHKIN] BY ZIVIT SHLANK Percussionist and Composer Ches Smith is a multi-faceted creature of unwavering ambition. Born and raised in Sacramento, Ches’ curiosity with drums began in his teens learning the basics by copying his older brother and neighborhood rockers. His fascination with improvised music, spurred by his exposure to the Sacramento punk scene, led him to the otherworldly innovations of John Coltrane and Albert Ayler. Further inspired by the avant-garde noise of Sonic Youth, Ches immersed himself in punk/improvised music, and absorbed all that he could. He relocated to the Bay area in the mid 90s, […]
We Know It’s Only Rock N’ Roll But We Like It
M. Ward, Union Transfer, Saturday night by PETE TROSHAK Mysterious troubadour M. Ward brought his dark and dreamy music to Union Transfer in Philadelphia on Saturday night, in support of his excellent new solo album A Wasteland Companion. In contrast to the sunny throwback Cali pop of his She & Him duo with Zooey Deschanel, Ward’s solo work is more rural, more dust and dirt, less sandcastles in the sky, more Leonard Cohen than Brian Wilson. Ward and his band, dressed like old school club musicians in suits and hats, effortlessly shifted through genres: spectral folk, rollicking country, otherworldly pop […]
Jay-Z To Headline/Curate 2-Day Music Festival Over Labor Day Weekend On The Parkway
[Illustration by JAMES GATES] UPDATE: H.O.V.A. says 70% of 28 other acts confirmed. NEW YORK TIMES: On Monday, it is expected to be announced that Jay-Z will be the curator of and headlining performer at the first Budweiser Made in America music festival, a two-day event that will bring as many as 28 musical acts to Fairmount Park in Philadelphia on Sept. 1 and Sept. 2. MORE BILLBOARD: Philly’s Ben Franklin Parkway in Fairmount Park has been named as the venue for “Budweiser Made In America,” which will be held Saturday, Sept. 1 and Sunday, Sept. 2. Nearly 30 acts […]
SIDEWALKING: Ship Happens
On the waterfront, 6:04 PM last night by JEFF FUSCO
TONITE: Remain In The Light
The Battle Of Carnival And Lent by JUDITH SCHAECHTER Eastern State Penitentiary Historic Site welcomes Guggenheim Fellow Judith Schaechter’s ambitious new work, The Battle of Carnival and Lent, to its 2012 artist installation program. These 17 stained glass windows are inspired by the prison’s dark history and will be installed in historic skylights throughout Cellblocks 8, 11, and 14 until November 30the. The Battle of Carnival and Lent responds to the penitentiary’s narrow skylights and arched windows. The imagery, which Ms. Schaechter describes as “addressing in a non-religious way the psychological border territory between ‘spiritual aspiration’ and human suffering,” is […]
EARLY WORD: The Devil & M. Ward
[Artwork by JEFF PASSETTI] We’ve all heard the mythic tale of Robert Johnson’s Faustian bargain with the Devil, struck at the crossroads under a Delta moon. Let’s imagine for a moment that it’s a different night at that Mississippi crossroads. On this night, the devil is busy with other things, perhaps plotting the eventual rise of Slayer or meeting with the Republicans. And Johnson, well, he’s long since given the Devil his due, probably having second thoughts as to whether unlimited pussy, corn liquor and a little plantation-rock stardom was worth the eternal damnation as he shovels another load of […]
CINEMA: Vampire Weekend
DARK SHADOWS (2012, directed by Tim Burton, 113 minutes, U.S.) BY DAN BUSKIRK FILM CRITIC Eyebrows were raised when it was announced that Johnny Depp would be fulfilling a life-long dream by portraying Barnabas Collins in a film version of the late 60’s soap opera Dark Shadows directed by his longtime collaborator Tim Burton. The hypnotically-turgid Gothic soap opera is loaded with nostalgic appeal to baby boomers, who were a little aghast when the trailer arrived and revealed that Burton and Depp had turned the drama into an Addams Family-style comedy. Resigned to the fact the source of my […]
SH*T MY UNCLE SAYS: The Invisible Wars
BY WILLIAM C. HENRY The recent White House Correspondents “Laugh-In” reminded me of one past when Obama quipped about how young men with designs on Sasha or Malia could be met with Predator drones, and another when “dubya” pretended to search under and around the dais for WMDs. To me it was almost surreal (and, yeah, I’ll be criticized for this) conjuring up a picture of Adolf purportedly dancing a jig upon learning that France had been brought to its knees. So cute, and oh so unfitting. All three acts were so dispassionate and detached from the reality of […]
CONCERT REVIEW: Santigold @ The Troc
[Photo by Pete Troshak] On Tuesday night at the Trocadero, Philly born singer Santigold proved that you can go home again, kicking off her tour with a triumphant show in front of a raucous hometown crowd. She might reside in New York now, but her heart and soul is pure Philadelphia.The tour is in support of her strong second album, Master of My Make-Believe, Santigold’s first album in four years. Her music is a stew of different elements; punk rock, reggae, dance, dub, pop and rap elements swirl through her work, sometimes all in one song. Santigold and her band […]