Wes Anderson is the two-word answer to the increasingly asked question: What good is a liberal arts education? There are times in this country’s history when we’ve had to take stock and ask ourselves: Do we really want to live in a world without English majors? And this is one of them. Let us rejoice, then, bundled up in our Blonde On Blonde scarves and winter beards, in this the darkest hour in American life since the rockets red glare and the twilight’s last gleaming, and check-in to The Hotel Andersonia where we will shelter in high style for […]
WORTH REPEATING: The Crucifixion Of Meek Mill
Illustration: Sean McCabe for Rolling Stone; Photograph: Karl Ferguson Jr. ROLLING STONE: Judges in Pennsylvania have broad discretion over the length and terms of jail bids. “It’s not uncommon, with harsher judges, to see 10-year probations for lesser offenses,” say one veteran criminal lawyer who represents the poor in Philadelphia. “Brinkley’s the judge you’d least want to be supervised by. Any failure to live by her rules will be punished.” She isn’t the only judge to hang long leashes, but is, according to every lawyer I spoke to, the most needlessly severe. “She had a parolee before her who was […]
BEING THERE: Flaming Lips @ Parx Casino
ELECTRIC HORSEMAN: Wayne Coyne astride his mighty Unicorn last night PREVIOUSLY: For someone who’s been a fan and a follower of the Flaming Lips for going on 27 friggin’ years—who was there when the acid hit the punk rock, when Jesus still shot heroin and priests still drove ambulances, back before she started using Vaseline, before clouds started tasting metallic, back before we realized the sun don’t go down, it’s just an illusion caused by the world spinning ’round—going to Wayne Coyne’s house is, without exaggeration, like winning a golden ticket to visit Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory. I amble up […]
BEING THERE: Spoon @ The TLA
Spoon mainman Britt Daniel @TLAPhilly last night by JOSH PELTA-HELLER A looming nor’easter didn’t seem to dampen attendance or enthusiasm last night at the TLA where Spoon fans packed the room like sardines on a school night. When the house lights were cut, Alex Fischel took his place in the dark at his keyboards, and proceeded to stab at the first notes of his intro to “Do I Have To Talk You Into It” before Britt Daniel and co. emerged moments later to warm howls. This show sold out fast,” marveled Daniel, “in like a day?” He wasn’t quite telling […]
INCOMING: Ray Of Light
PREVIOUSLY: Phawker’s 2014 Album Of The Year: Supernova by Ray LaMontagne
DEJA VU: Jonathan Wilson’s Spirit In The Sky
EDITOR’S NOTE: This article appears in the February 2013 issue of MAGNET MAGAZINE. We are re-posting it today in advance of Jonathan Wilson’s performance at Boot & Saddle on March 9th in support of his new solo album, Rare Birds. BY JONATHAN VALANIA It is another peaceful, easy-feeling evening in Laurel Canyon. The day has finally surrendered to the onset of night, which signals the beginning of shooting the waltz scenes in the video for “Dear Friend,” the lead-off single from acclaimed producer/singer-songwriter Jonathan Wilson’s new album, Fanfare. The location of the shoot is patch of driveway at the end […]
FROM THE VAULT: It’s John DeBella’s Morning, Philadelphia Just Wakes Up In It Every Day
EDITOR’S NOTE: Wrote this 14 years ago (14? Good Lord!), reprinting this today in the wake of today’s news that DeBella is being sued for sexual harrassment by his long-time on-air sidekick. The title of the profile was JOHN DEBELLA IS NOT AN ASSHOLE. ANYMORE — in retrospect, that assessment was premature. BY JONATHAN VALANIA John DeBella has been a hippie and a punk. A winner and a loser. A hero and a villain. And now he just wants to be a nice guy. As if to prove it, he is going to start welling up in T-minus-three seconds. “I […]
BEING THERE: Bardo Pond @ Johnny Brenda’s
Photo by MARK LIKOSKY For a Boston indie kid from the ’90s like myself, Friday’s Bardo Pond/Major Stars show at Johnny Brenda’s was like a stroll down the proverbial memory lane. I used to walk into Twisted Village record store to check out the most obscure music I could find. Sometime around 1996 upon hearing that the owners of this eclectic record store in Harvard Sq were in a band called the Major Stars, I just had to go check them out. In the 20 years that have passed since seeing that show I can’t recall a more powerful live […]
BEING THERE: Porches @ Union Transfer
Photo by ALAINA CLUNE Emotionally hungover from a Valentine’s Day spent trying to walk he fine line between embarrassingly enthusiastic and an even more embarrassing aversion for the holiday, me and my friends walk what feels like too many blocks from the subway to Union Transfer. We chug cheap beer without the ease and enthusiasm with which we normally do. The rafters and the general admission area of Union Transfer are blessedly uncrowded. There’s a calm, coolness that marks both the sound of the music and this rainy Thursday night. Girl Ray, a refreshingly laid back North London girl group, […]
BEING THERE: Girlpool @ First Unitarian Church
Photo by BEN PELTA-HELLER My best friend sits on my couch and hunts fruitlessly through Facebook for a ticket. Girlpool’s Philadelphia show at First Unitarian sold out only hours before. This is evident the moment I arrive. The air is thick. There is barely room to comfortably take a sip of your somewhat stale, cheap beer. The folk punk band from Los Angeles opens with a fuller, harder sound than I expected for people adorned with glittery hair clips, and I sweat out the boxed wine I drank prior. On Powerpoint, the latest from singer/guitarist Cleo Tucker and singer/bassist Harmony […]
LISTEN LIKE THIEVES: New Dr. Dog
On April 27th, Dr. Dog will release ‘Critical Equation,’ a new album that shows the band pushing themselves into perhaps the most fertile creative period in their history. To record ‘Critical Equation,’ they holed up with producer Gus Seyffert (Beck, Bedouine) and a 16-track tape machine to produce an inspired, playful opus that’s among their most imaginative statements.