ZOOEY STARDUST: She & Him, Trocadero, Last Night [Photos by JONATHAN VALANIA] BY JONATHAN VALANIA 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 crossroads. On this night, the Devil is busy with other things, perhaps plotting the eventual rise of Slayer. 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 […]
THE EARLY WORD: F*ck And Run
SHE & HIM: Why Do You Let Me Stay Here Tonite at the Troc with Freakwater!
GAYDAR: My Life With The Thrill Kill Cult
BY AARON STELLA This week, Imma gonna tell ya a little somethin’ about me, a.k.a I’m going to start prattling on like a drunk blonde at a frat party, with a whole bunch of “No one understands me!” and “Oh my God, I love this song!” OK, not really, but what I’m about to tell you about my life usually redirects whatever the present conversation is to a relentless onslaught of who, what, where, when, why, and “what the fuck?” If you missed last week’s edition, check it out and get yourself up to speed. Alright, let’s get this […]
NEWS CLUES: Like A Brick Upside The Head Of Truth
KILLADELPHIA: Tipsters Help Cops Nab Brick Slayer INQUIRER: Police yesterday arrested the man they said beat to death a 38-year-old landscaper with seven children last week in West Philadelphia and then made off with the victim’s wallet. The suspect is the man seen — with two small boys in tow — on a widely circulated surveillance video buying three fitted baseball caps during a shopping spree about an hour after Corey Moody was bashed on the head with a brick, police said. Billy Langley, 19, who police said has a record of violent crime, was arrested without incident about 5 […]
All Of This Happened While You Were Sleeping
ABSOLUTELY FAB: The Ting Tings, JBs, Last Night [Photos by JONATHAN VALANIA] BY JONATHAN VALANIA FOR THE INQUIRER There was a time when radio, MTV, Rolling Stone and Beavis and Butthead were the kingmakers of tomorrow’s hitmakers. These days, of course, it is the blogs, MySpace buzz and the ubiquitous iPod TV ad that are the new deciders. Case in point: The Ting Tings, a stylish duo from the UK, and their sassy, big-bottomed punk-funk hit “Shut Up And Let Me Go,” currently wiggling in throbbing primary color perpetuity on a cable station near you. Even before the iPod ad put […]
GUNCRAZY: Hello, My Name Is Killadelphia
Starting today, Jeff Deeney has a two-parter in the Metro about the alarming number of Philly MySpace pages — set to PUBLIC, mind you — with young men pointing guns at the camera. Some look scary, some look scared. Let the record show that we have pointed this out on numerous occasions. Metro policy forbids the paper from running photos of people pointing guns at the reader. We have no such policy. We believe it’s what you don’t know that can hurt you. UPDATE: Part 2
NPR FOR THE DEAF: We Hear It Even When You Can’t
FRESH AIR The team behind Step Brothers has an enviable life. Director Adam McKay and actors Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly get to hang out together, make jokes and get paid for it. The three first worked together on the film Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby, and they enjoyed collaborating on the film so much that they thought another film was in order. Leaving behind the world of car-racing, Step Brothers centers around two grown men who never managed to leave their respective parents’ houses. Drama ensues when their single parents marry and the two adults become […]
SIGN OF THE TIMES: Is That A Stolen Manhole Cover In Your Pocket Or Are You Just Glad To See Me?
NEW YORK TIMES: PHILADELPHIA — Francis McConnell is a field supervisor for the Philadelphia Water Department, but lately he is acting more like an undercover police officer. Several hours a day, five days a week, he stakes out junkyards. Pretending to read a newspaper, Mr. McConnell sits near the entrances and writes down descriptions of passing pickup trucks and shirtless men pushing shopping carts. His mission is to figure out who is stealing the city’s manhole covers and its storm drain and street grates, increasingly valuable commodities on the scrap market. More than 2,500 covers and grates have disappeared in […]
ACCIDENTAL TOURISM: Bring Us Your Fannypacked, Your White-Socked And Your Birkenstocked
USA TODAY: Tourism officials say Philadelphia was visited by more than 550,000 international visitors in 2007. That’s a 27% increase from the year before — and an all-time record for the city. A report released Tuesday by the Philadelphia Convention and Visitors Bureau attributes the rise in part to the declining dollar, which makes the U.S. a bargain for European travelers. The nonprofit corporation says the momentum is continuing this year. There are efforts to attract more international visitors and to encourage local companies to hold conventions close to home. MORE KILLADELPHIA: Two More Dead Since You Went To Bed […]
DEVENDRA BANHART: Carmensita
A kicky slice of Tropicalia + a lo-fi Bollywood burlesque featuring Devendra’s new gal pal, Natalie Portman, and an octopus! * Queer as Folk How Philadelphia got its freak on. by Jonathan Valania It all started, for me anyway, at Brooke Sietinsons‘ walk-up loft/hobbit hole on Second Street, somewhere in that OK Corral-esque strip between the Standard Tap and the 700 Club. Even though she no longer lives there, the exact location will have to remain a secret because, technically speaking, L&I could still fine her for dispensing the Morning Glory seeds of Philly freak-folkdom without a permit. But the […]
BREAKING: Dylan To Go Play Electric Factory Aug. 8th
Tickets on sale RIGHT NOW! WORTH REPEATING: Bob Dylan Love and Theft There are three absolute certainties in this world: death, taxes and the fact that on any given night of the year, Bob Dylan is playing somewhere on Earth. Nobody is quite sure when this never-ending tour started, but for as long as anyone can remember it’s been going on like death and taxes. And while endless roadwork usually brings younger musicians to their knees–leaving bands shipwrecked on a deserted island of rehab and recrimination–it seems to have rejuvenated the 60-year-old Dylan, shaking him out of his ’80s stupor […]