FRESH AIR Danny Boyle, the director of the Oscar-nominated Slumdog Millionaire, says that filming in India presented a variety of difficulties, from language barriers to a limited crew size, but the on-location work allowed him to represent India’s “incredibly rich and complex society.” Slumdog Millionaire tells the story of an orphan boy who gets a shot at glory on the Indian version of Who Wants to be a Millionaire?. The film has garnered 10 Oscar nominations, including nods for best picture and director. Boyle’s other films include Trainspotting, 28 Days Later, Sunshine and Shallow Grave. RADIO TIMES Hour 1 During […]
AT LAST: Rev. Al Green And Fat Possum Get Together
THIS JUST IN: Oxford, Mississippi based Fat Possum Records (Andrew Bird, Heartless Bastards, Wavves) has confirmed an exclusive license on the Hi Records catalogue. The first three releases under the Hi/Fat Possum deal, remastered versions of Al Green’s timeless Greatest Hits, I’m Still In Love With You and Let’s Stay Together, will be in stores March 31. Al Green has long been hailed as the first great soul singer of the 1970s. Green’s Hi Records output in the early ’70s melded his singing, often considered the last great Southern soul voice, with immaculate productions crafted by Green and producer Willie […]
CUTE BAND ALERT: The Feng Shui Of Fol Chen
[Photo by Juliana Paciulli] ASTHMATIC KITTY: Traffic was thick, thick, thick and Samuel Bing was unwell, strung out on the latest psychotropic fads: sleeplessness and feeling crummy. The Northern State was crawling like a funeral procession for Robert Moses. Above the overpasses, the clouds were lined with gristle. Even the horizon seemed to be sinking. So, it came just in time when Donna Donna transmitted her message over the open radio waves – a phantom broadcast from a station whose signal had long since dissolved into static. You could barely hear her voice between the Crazy Eddie ads, but Samuel […]
THE POLITICS OF DANCING: When One Man’s Terrorist Is Another Man’s Freedom Fighter
NEW YORK TIMES: To many Americans, Maya Arulpragasam, known as M.I.A., is the very pregnant rapper who gyrated across the stage at Sunday’s Grammy Awards. Yet in Sri Lanka, where she spent her childhood years, M.I.A. remains virtually unknown. And some who do know her work say she is an apologist for the separatist Tamil Tiger rebels fighting in the country’s long-running civil war. M.I.A. — who has been nominated for an Oscar for the song she co-wrote for the hit film “Slumdog Millionaire” — has branded herself through music videos and interviews as the voice of the country’s Tamil […]
EARLY WORD: Kilroy Waz Herre
BY ED KING This Saturday — AKA Valentine’s Day, for all you lovers out there — Shawn Kilroy & The Dream Queens (Mike “Slo-Mo” Brenner, Jamie Mahon, Jenny Prescott, and Mark Landlord) debut Hessian Love Songs, the final installment of a trilogy of albums that started with 2004’s Neon Gate followed by Thai Stick Dragon, at Tritone. As might be expected of Kilroy – whose bio counts him as a “lover” along with the usually lonely combo of musician, singer, artist, film-maker, and thinker – ladies will not be charged admission. Lover that he is, Kilroy’s never shied away from […]
PHYSICIAN HEAL THYSELF: The Straight Dope On Kelloggs, Masturbation, Enemas And Circumcision
BREAKING: Eight people connected to a South Carolina party where Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps was allegedly photographed smoking pot from a bong have been arrested, WIS-TV reported. Officers from the Richland County Sheriff’s Department arrested seven of the suspects for possession of marijuana and the eighth for dealing, according to the station. One arrest included the suspected owner of the bong — who wasn’t even at the party, but was allegedly trying to sell the pipe on eBay for $100,000, WIS reported. The record-breaking Olympic gold medalist has not been charged in the case. But he has lost an endorsement […]
LISTEN LIKE THIEVES: Songs The Cramps Taught Us
WFMU BLOG: Ok, I got kind of sick of repeating this story 1000 times. So figured I’d include this in the latest volume. I’m the guy who compiles the Lux and Ivy’s Favorites Compilations. It started as a way to keep track of some of the songs Lux, and or Ivy, mentioned in THE INCREDIBLY STRANGE MUSIC BOOK. It was never really intended as anything but a way for a friend of mine and me to have 2 really kick ass compilations. So we went about the arduous process of finding all the songs mentioned in that interview. It took […]
LOCAL BOY MAKES GOOD: Jazz Critic (And Hubbo Of Fresh Air‘s Terry Gross) Francis Davis Wins Grammy
CREATIVE LOAFING: The tunes essentially start with short, riffy (and catchy) melodies that give way to a round of extended solos by Miles, Cannonball, Trane and Evans (or Kelly); the band then restates the theme and the song ends. That’s pretty much a pro forma jazz approach. Each of those soloists, though, makes a profound impression in each and every song. Jazz critic Francis Davis, one of the annotators on the new box, makes an intriguing point that I had never considered. Because improvising over scales, or modes, was effectively new to these players, and because they entered the studio […]
WORKING ON A SCHEME: Lawmakers Ask Fed Trade Commission To Probe Alleged Springsteen Ticket Scam
ASSOCIATED PRESS: Two New York-area lawmakers called Sunday for a federal investigation into Ticketmaster for sending fans who wanted Bruce Springsteen tickets to its own ticket reselling Web site where the tickets cost much more. “It was a classic bait-and-switch,” said Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y. “We don’t have the tickets at $75, but maybe this site has them at $200.” Tickets for Springsteen’s upcoming tour went on sale at 10 a.m. last Monday, and many fans who went online to buy tickets were immediately directed to Ticketmaster’s reselling site, TicketsNow. Rep. Bill Pascrell, D-N.J., said TicketsNow was selling the tickets […]
OLD SCHOOL: The Internet Circa 1901
[click map to enlarge] Eastern Telegraph’s undersea cable network circa 1901. RADIOHEAD (Feat. USC Marching Band): 15 Steps From last night’s Grammys broadcast.
ROBERT PLANT/ALISON KRAUSS: Killin’ The Blues
PREVIOUSLY ON PHAWKER: Officially OUR FAVORITE SONG OF 2007. Written by Rowland Salley, this version from Raising Sand just fucking slays us every time. And speaking as former teenage Zepheads, it does our heart good to hear Robert Plant doing something we can both be proud of at our advanced age. Seriously, this is as timelessly classic as anything Led Zeppelin ever did. And Alison Krauss is a force of nature. Mark Ribot’s guitar sounds like underwater moonlight piercing the spectral murk of T-Bone Burnett’s elegantly antiqued production. Like butter, it is. Because there was no official video for this […]
200 YEARS AFTER THE BIRTH OF DARWIN: You Still Gotta Fight To Live On The Planet Of The Apes
DAILY MAIL: On the 150th anniversary of Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution, professors at Southern Oregon University will devote the week to emphasizing that evolution is more than a theory — it’s hard science.”It’s theory and it’s fact. You can say it’s ‘just a theory’ like the theory that the earth goes around the sun,” says biology professor Charles Weldon, lead speaker of Darwin Week. “In science, a theory is not speculation. It’s supported by mountains of evidence. It’s one of the best supported theories in science.” A century and a half after publication of Darwin’s “On the Origin of […]
WEEKEND UPDATE: The Good News Flower Hour
The Good News Flower Hour #8 Just do it, people.