A long time ago in a public radio galaxy far, far away called 1995, the median listener age was 87, nobody ever said um or like on the air, all stories ran just one way — front to back — and were narrated with the plummy-voiced elocution of the Founding Fathers, and semiotics was just one more thing Medicare refused to cover. Nineteen years, five Peabody Awards and 500-plus episodes of This American Life later, all that has changed, thanks to the post-post-modern vision, wry melancholia and casually precise broadcasting style of the show’s host/founder, who, back when he […]
THE NUMBER OF THE BEAST: Talking Dope, Arson And Iron Maiden With JJL’s Jay Joseph Laughlin
L-R: Derek Ziglenski, Jay Laughlin, Pete Girgenti/Photo by CHUCKLES BY JONATHAN VALANIA Jay Laughlin has been a fixture of the Greater Philadelphia music scene since the late ’80s, beginning with the posthumously beloved straight edge hardcore band Turning Point, which morphed into beloved pedal-hopping dream-pop merchants Lenola, which eventually morphed into the electro-psych-pop of Like A Fox. Laughlin’s new band, JJL, marks a return to the devil-horned heaviosity of his gloriously misspent south Jersey youth. JJL will celebrate the release of The Tiger, their debut EP, with a record release show at Johnny Brenda’s tomorrow night. Recently, we sat down […]
Q&A: Ira Glass, Host Of This American Life
Photo by STUART MULLENBERG BY JONATHAN VALANIA A long time ago in a public radio galaxy far, far away called 1995, the median listener age was 87, nobody ever said um or like on the air, all stories ran just one way — front to back — and were narrated with the plummy-voiced elocution of the Founding Fathers, and semiotics was just one more thing Medicare refused to cover. Nineteen years, five Peabody Awards and 500-plus episodes of This American Life later, all that has changed, thanks to the post-post-modern vision, wry melancholia and casually precise broadcasting style of the […]
BEING THERE: Deerhoof @ Union Transfer
Photo by MARY LYNN DOMINGUEZ At first blush, nothing about Deerhoof’s set at Union Transfer last night screamed ‘critically acclaimed band in their 20th year of music making.’ The awkwardness was tangible, from Satomi Matsuzaki’s adult-sized denim jumper and blue-dyed side ponytail, to drummer Greg Saunier’s haywire mop top and lanky boyishness. Opening with “Mirror Monster,” one of their more comparatively reserved tracks from the new La Isla Bonita, Deerhoof appeared to be holding back for bigger and better things, which soon proved true. The ensuing 16-song set was infectious and kinetic, drawing deep cuts from the full range of […]
BEING THERE: FKA Twigs @ Union Transfer
Photo by MARY LYNN DOMINGUEZ Last night, FKA Twigs — aka The Next Big Thing out of England, and GF of Twilight star Robert Pattinson — arrived on stage for her sold out performance at Union Transfer to strains of “Preface,” the lead-off tracking from her debut, LP1. Slowly emerging from the sultry darkness of the stage, Twigs was draped in a silky white translucent robe and a matching flowing skirt, with a black caged bodysuit underneath and painfully high needle-thin stiletto pumps. Her hair, usually pulled back in her trademark space-bun style, was free flowing and used as […]
BEING THERE: Mark Lanegan @ Underground Arts
Photo by DAN LONG More than a few of my most trusted musical advisors told me “You have to go to Lanegan.” So when I heard he was playing Underground Arts I didn’t hesitate to follow suit, and I’m glad I did. For those of you who stayed home, you missed a beautiful performance that recreated choice cuts from the newly released Phantom Radio, as well as older stock like Blues Funeral and Bubblegum, to name but a few. From the gorgeous lullaby-like “Resurrection Song” to the synth heavy “Harborview Hospital” and the newly released “Floor of the Ocean,” Lanegan […]
Win Tix To See Suicide Girls BlackHeart Burlesque
After 13 years and at least as many piercings, Suicide Girls need no introduction, by now you know the drill: sultry tattooed hipster temptress pin-up parade coming to a horny town near you. Ah, the pageantry! The tube socks! The Stormtrooper helmets! These are the droids you have been looking for. God bless their blackened hearts. (Also, belated jeers to the History Channel who decided back in 2012 that having a real live SG on a show called Pawn Stars would somehow sully the high-falutin’ rep of the channel that brought you God, Guns & Automobiles and Biker Battleground […]
Win Tix To See Tig Notaro @ The Troc Friday!
If Tig Notaro never existed we would have never thought to invent her, which not only points out the shortcomings of our imagination but also the depths of her originality. A tall drink of water in low-slung jeans with Billie Jean King hair, she speaks in a laconic drawl that is either medicated or chill to the point of Zen. She doesn’t so much tell jokes as construct these elaborate verbal Rube Goldberg Devices Of Funny and at the end, when you finally stop laughing, you’re like ‘I can’t believe that worked.’ If you’ve never heard her Taylor Dane […]
THE NAKED TRUTH: Sexytime Q&A With Stripped Stories Hostesses Margot Leitman & Giula Rozzi
Photo by ANYA GARRETT Stripped Stories Margot Leitman (as seen on Late Night with Conan O’Brien, Comedy Central) and Giulia Rozzi (as seen on MTV, VH1, Chelsea Lately) come billed as storytelling’s sexiest duo, baring full-frontal id, ego and libido for howling horndog audiences from coast to coast. Stripped Stories has earned kudos from Time Out NY, Time Out LA, The Village Voice, and Playgirl lauds their “juiciest, jaw-dropping tales.” They come to Underground Arts on Saturday as part of the First Person Arts Festival. So we got Giula and Margot on the horn for a game of truth or […]
Win Tix To See The Dismemberment Plan On Friday
WHO: The Dismemberment Plan is a Washington D.C. based indie rock band formed on January 1, 1993. Also known as D-Plan or The Plan, the name comes from a stray phrase uttered by insurance salesman Ned Ryerson in the popular comedy Groundhog Day. While drawing heavily from previous Washington-based art-punk acts such as Fugazi and Jawbox, the Dismemberment Plan were significant for incorporating R&B (in stage banter, Morrison often talked of his obsession with Gladys Knight) and hip-hop influences to their sound. Influential indie rock criticism website Pitchfork Media has called them the fathers of the late-1990s/early-2000s dance-punk movement, […]
Win Tix To First Person Arts’ Grand Story Slam!
First Person Arts is a Philadelphia nonprofit organization that celebrates the power of the personal. Their storytelling, social impact, and festival programs reinforce their mission: everyone has a story to tell, and sharing these stories connects us with each other and the world. For 13 years they have been hosting StorySlams around the city, wherein local storytellers got head to head in front of a live audience and a panel of celebrity judges (full disclosure, we judged one of these suckers) for a chance to proceed to the next round. On Thursday at the Prince Music theater Winners of […]
BEING THERE: Glitch Mob @ The Electric Factory
Photo by CLAYTON RUSSELL It was a creepy, bone-chilling Halloween at the Electric Factory and just about everyone came dressed for the occasion — a cross-generational array of costumes that spanned The Fonz from Happy Days to Finn from Adventure Time. With high fives and good vibes being thrown all around the venue you could tell that everyone was ready for there to party and party hard. So hard an ambulance was on standby outside of the Electric Factory for when it gets crazy. With most EDM shows you go to there’s a person or two behind a DJ booth […]
BEING THERE: The Damned @ TLA
Photo by DAN LONG Halloween came to Philly a day early with last night’s lineup of punk legends at the TLA. The night started early with a solid set of moody garage-rock from local faves A Brood Of Vipers. I always like to see a local band on the bill with a touring band, and Vipers were an excellent match for this stop on the Hallow-East tour. The crowd and the energy grew and as Seattle’s The Briefs took the stage, blasting out a solid set of buzzsaw anthems. Let the pogo-ing and raucous Buzzcocky New Wave Punk commence! You […]