Photo by MATT SHAVER Despite the frigid wind and snow of a polar vortex—whatever that is—Union Transfer was packed with beanie-wearing, beer-guzzling indie kids last night. At first, the crowd was largely friends and family of opener Arthur, the experimental pop project of Arthur Shea. Shea also plays in Philly band Joy Again, who I’ve been following on the DIY scene for several years, watching them grow from playing in dingy basements to touring with Rostam (Vampire Weekend). Arthur’s music is surreal and alien, full of bizarre sound effects and skittering pop keyboards. The overall impression is frenzied, like an […]
BEING THERE: Neko Case @ The Keswick
Photo by MATT SHAVER The first time I heard Neko Case sing was at a live show and she was singing just to me. The year was 2004 and I was at the Tower Theater, er, sorry, Tower Records, in Fairfax Virginia. The listening stations were a favorite spot of mine after classes. I’d post up on those shiny red stools and bury myself in whatever the staff was recommending at the moment, and in this moment it was The Tigers Have Spoken. I was hooked from song one and have been enthralled ever since. Neko has THE voice – […]
Win Tix To See Neko Case @ The Keswick Friday!
A tomboyish siren with a thick red mane and lungs of fine Corinthian leather, Neko Case is equal parts gender warrior and indie aesthete, a potent hybrid aptly evoked by the Joan-of-Arc-on-a-muscle-car tableau on the cover of 2009’s Middle Cyclone. Case is also in possession of what is arguably the greatest voice of her generation — clarion in tone; trans-national in its reach; and bottomless in its capacity to transmute wryly-observed public fictions into inescapable private truths that all more or less boil down to: I am woman, hear me ruminate. She performs at the Keswick Theater tomorrow night […]
AMEN DUNES: Miki Dori
Amen Dunes plays Union Transfer on Wednesday January 30th.
BEING THERE: Mineral @ Theater Of Living Arts
Photo by MATT SHAVER Mineral was one of those bands that got me through high school. Cliché as it may be, those angst-filled, sometimes brittle, but always powerful vocals, and the noisy, feedback-laden guitar riffs spoke volumes to me – speak volumes to me. Formed in Houston in ’94, Mineral became one of the most important bands in emo, and their first full-length album, The Power of Failing (1997), has become a staple of the genre. Their songwriting was unapologetically honest, and the highly emotional lyrics were carried by epic vocal harmonies through song structures that usually took the listener […]
Win Tix To See Brendan Dassey’s Lawyers Discuss Making A Murderer 2 @ The Keswick Theater
Calling all Making A Murderer binge-watchers and true crime obsessives, we have a couple tickets to give away to see defense super-lawyers Laura Nirider and Steven Drizin at the Keswick Theater on Friday where they will discuss coerced and false confessions, unscrupulous interrogation tactics, and the wrongful conviction of Brendan Dassey whose case and post conviction process has captivated the world in the Netflix phenomenon Making A Murderer. Laura Nirider is a Clinical Assistant Professor of Law and Co-Director of the Center on Wrongful Convictions of Youth (CWCY) at Northwestern Pritzker School of Law in Chicago. Nirider represents individuals […]
BEING THERE: A$AP Rocky @ Liacouras Center
Photo by ALEX PATERSON-JONES A$AP ROCKY’s latest LP,Testing, released last May, rocks a combination of eclectic, experimental head bangers and high-octane mosh pit fuel, perfectly-suited for live workouts on his current “Injured Generation” tour, which stopped at the Liacouras Center last night, with opening acts Smooky Margiela and Comethazine in tow. Just 16 years old, Smooky took the stage first and owned it with a charisma much larger than his body size. Throwing down his now-blowing-up hits “Stay 100” and “Vlone Flex,” Smooky made it clear why A$AP has chosen him to join his creative collective, the A$AP Mob. Next […]
SET THE WAYBACK MACHINE TO NEVER: A Q&A With Jon Spencer, Legendary Blooze Traveler, Elvis From Hell, Noise-Rock Deviant & A Really Nice Guy
BY JONATHAN VALANIA With all due apologies to The Gun Club, Jon Spencer looks just like an Elvis from Hell. Where I come from that’s the highest praise you can confer on someone. And after 34 years of rocking righteously and outrageously, not to mention prodigiously — more than 40 albums and EPs, and countless singles and comp appearances spread across five different bands — he’s earned it. Back in 1985, his band Pussy Galore crawled out of the noise rock sewer of the Lower East Side and proceeded to define deviance downwards. They sounded like Einsturzende Neubauten raised on […]
Win Tix To See David Sedaris @ The Keswick
Illustration by RANDY GLASS This is neither the time nor the place for johnny-come-lately arrivistes to learn about the 11 acclaimed and beloved books of caustic elegance David Sedaris has published since failing upwards from his job as a Christmas elf at Macy’s in 1992. Today we are not serving your kind, so try Wikipedia. Sorry to be harsh, but the Keswick show is way sold out, so this one goes out to the lifers, the true believers, or perhaps more aptly, the true non-believers. You and me, pal, we’re the loonies. Did you know that? I bet you didn’t […]
NPR 4 THE DEAF: We Hear It Even When You Can’t
FRESH AIR: For about 48 hours in December, Kevin Hart was slated to host the 2019 Academy Awards. Then Hart was called out for homophobic jokes and tweets he made in 2010, and the Academy asked him to apologize. Hart insisted that he already had apologized. Finally, after some back and forth, Hart stepped down from hosting, saying he didn’t want to be a distraction. Now, barely a month later, Hart says he’s “over” the Oscars controversy. Nevertheless, he sat down for a long conversation with Fresh Air in which he reflected on the whirlwind of the past few weeks […]
JAZZIN’ FOR BLUE JEAN: Q&A W/ Donny McCaslin
BY STEVE VOLK One spring night in 2014, an aging British gentleman walked into Bar 55, a tiny Greenwich Village jazz club, where he listened to a band that honked and squalled in the most beautiful array of colors. The old man was so good at maintaining a low profile that he blended right into the tables and the crowd, and it was only later that people both inside and outside the bar were made aware of this show. David Bowie’s Blackstar, his final album, released just two days before he died in January 2016 was born, many years earlier, […]
BEING THERE: Kurt Vile @ The Met Philadelphia
Photo by MATT SHAVER My friend Virginia insists that the only downside of marijuana is that it makes Kurt Vile songs go on too long. That’s simply not true. It also makes you cough and it’s very expensive. Now don’t get me wrong, I like Kurt Vile as much as the next stoner beardo of a certain age. And there’s a lot to like about him: wizardly finger picker, gorgeous Jag tone, droll Kensington hillbilly drawl, Joey Ramones’ legs, and, as of this writing, best hair in rock n’ roll. He has proven adept at mounting Burrito Brother jingle and […]
BEING THERE: Margo Price @ World Cafe Live
Photo by JUSTIN PATRICK OAKES It must suck being a roadie for Margo Price. I mean, isn’t it humiliating enough to hump one drum set? But there they were: two full kits upon the World Cafe Live stage at Margo Price’s sold-out show on Friday night. What could this be? Were Mickey and Bill in the house? (Price has shared a stage with Phil Lesh in the past). Allman Bros. boogie-woogie to come? But I’ll be damned if little ole Margo — resplendent in full length dress, shit kickers, and one on the way — didn’t hop behind the second […]