BBC: French composer Maurice Jarre, best known for his music for Hollywood films, has died in Los Angeles at 84, after suffering from cancer. Jarre, father of the composer Jean-Michel Jarre, rose to prominence relatively late in life. His breakthrough came in 1962 when he wrote the score for Lawrence of Arabia, for which he was awarded an Oscar. He won two further Oscars for Doctor Zhivago and A Passage to India, and composed music for more than 150 films. MORE
CONCERT REVIEW: Top Five Things You Should Know About Asobi Seksu At Johnny Brendas Last Night
LOOMER: Asobi Seksu, Johnny Brendas, Last Night 1. Studio magic be damned. Let it be known now that Asobi Seksu know how to create that beautiful wall of noisy fuzz live, and do we ever love them for it. You can tell we love them for it when the crowd will wait around for an encore even when James Hanna puts a guitar face down on an amp before leaving and let the fans cheer at the face-melting feedback solo. 2. I was wondering about this for quite some time, and yes, Asobi Seksu does have a rhythm section. 3. […]
HEAR YE: Giant Sand Chore Of Enchantment
Now playing on PHAWKER RADIO! Because it’s the best album you never heard. BY JONATHAN VALANIA Giant Sand mainman Howe Gelb has always been one of indie rock’s most beautiful losers. Twenty-some albums into a career that’s brought him all the riches and fame of a Wal-Mart stock boy, Gelb just doesn’t know when to quit. And thank God for it, because Chore of Enchantment (originally released in 2000) remains Giant Sand’s finest hour. Gelb’s music — as intimate as a campfire and as expansive as the desert panoramas it evokes — has always clung to the slippery pole of […]
NPR FOR THE DEAF: We Hear It Even When You Can’t
FRESH AIR Alejandro Junco de la Vega runs daily newspapers in three of Mexico’s largest cities: Reforma in Mexico City, Mural in Guadalajara and El Norte in Monterrey. Junco was born in Monterrey and earned his journalism degree from the University of Texas. He returned to Mexico to become the publisher of El Norte in 1973. Even at the beginning of his newspaper empire-building, Junco fought for freedom of the press — he hired a UT journalism professor to teach journalistic ethics and techniques to the reporters of El Norte. After El Norte became successful, Junco founded Reforma and Mural. […]
CONCERT REVIEW: Morrissey, 49, Clumsy And Shy
MAN IN BLACK: Morrissey, Academy of Music, last night [Photo: MICHAEL T. REGAN] BY DIANCA POTTS AND KYLEE MESSNER Spanning the yawning chasm between the teenage wasteland and the retirement home, Morrissey fans from all walks of life filled the lobby of the Academy of Music. From Moz look-a-likes to Rosie O’Donnell’s doppelganger, show-goers of all shapes and sizes mobbed the merch tables, salivating at the sight of overpriced t-shirts and silver key chains. Interrupted by the dimming of ornate, gold-leafed lights, ticket holders quickly found their seats. The opening act, Manchester-bred The Courteeners rocked out like The Killers aspire […]
COMING ATTRACTION: Exactly How Soon Is Now?
Morrissey, Academy of Music, last night [Photo: MICHAEL T. REGAN] Standby for our flood-the-zone coverage of Morrissey at The Academy of Music last night. We’ll have a must-see slideshow from ex-CP staff photog Michael T. Regan, who did a bang-up job on Tom Waits for us over the summer. And Kylee Messner and Dianca Potts — two twentysomething Smiths acolytes/embittered Temple J-schoolers — will give the play-by-play of their first audience with the man called Mozzer. Look for it later today.
WEEK IN REVIEW: The Good News Flower Hour!
The Good News Flower Hour #14 The week that was in just five minutes, told by guest anchor/adorable-voiced rosebud Daisy Powers! Funny. Sad. Good for you. Just do it.
BEING THERE: The Good News Flower Hour!
The week that was in just five minutes, read by a stoned daisy that sounds just like me. Look for it every Friday. PREVIOUSLY: The Good News Flower Hour #13
NPR 4 THE DEF: Giving Public Radio Edge Since 2006
FRESH AIR Acrassicauda is an Iraqi heavy-metal band — though its members live in a one-bedroom apartment in Elizabeth, N.J. Despite their humble quarters, the band is happy to be together: When they were still based in Iraq, their practice space was bombed and they received death threats. The band first gained widespread notice in a 2007 documentary, Suroosh Alvi’s Heavy Metal in Baghdad, which followed the band in the days after the fall of Saddam Hussein. Initially hopeful, the band members watched their country crumble around them. Two years of exile in Syria and Turkey followed before the men […]
THIS JUST IN: It’s Peanut Butter Jelly Time!
THE ROOTS LAUNCH SECOND ANNUAL ROOTS PICNIC! Starring THE ROOTS TV ON THE RADIO, THE BLACK KEYS SANTIGOLD, ASHER ROTH & MORE And a special performance: PUBLIC ENEMY performs IT TAKES A NATION OF MILLIONS TO HOLD US BACK backed by ANTIBALAS and THE ROOTS PHILADELPHIA’S FESTIVAL PIER AT PENN’S LANDING Saturday, June 6 @ 2pm Tickets Go On Sale This Friday, March 20 @ 10am Get tickets at LiveNation.com, 877-598-8696, EFC Box Office (111 Presidential Blvd, Bala Cynwyd, PA / cash purchase is service-charge free on-sale only) and Festival Pier (Columbus Blvd & Spring Garden St, Phila, Pa / […]
USELESS INFORMATION: Miley Cyrus Vs. Radiohead
US MAGAZINE: A war of words has erupted between Miley Cyrus [above, right] and her former rock Gods Radiohead [not pictured, above]. The argument started when Miley tried to use her clout to meet her heroes backstage at the Grammys. The notoriously shy band refused. Miley then blasted the group on a syndicated radio show as “Stinkin’ Radiohead!” and said, “I’m gonna ruin them, I’m gonna tell everyone.” But the band aren’t taking the insult lying down. A spokesperson for the band responds on their behalf, “When Miley grows up, she’ll learn not to have a sense of entitlement.” MORE […]
HEAR YE: The Feelies The Good Earth
Now playing on PHAWKER RADIO! Because it’s the best record you never heard. VILLAGE VOICE: Though we may be the lone strangers on this one, companion-less contrarians careless of the compulsory crit-pick of Crazy Rhythms, likely the only thing writer Rick Moody and I have in common is our commitment of needle to the Feelies’ Good Earth vinyl over a thousand times apiece. Easy. This, the band’s second album — released in 1986, a good half-dozen years after their debut, Crazy Rhythms — served as the soundtrack to Moody’s own novelistic debut, 1992’s Garden State. (No, not that Garden State. […]