RADIO TIMES Joel Rose fills in for Marty and interviews ART SPIEGELMAN, famous for his comic, Maus. Spiegelman is re-introducing his 1978 book, “Breakdowns: Portrait of the Artist as a Young %@&*!,” his transformational memoir. We’re also joined by Comix writer, DAVID HEATLEY, who is continuing in the comic narrative form with his new book, “My Brain is Hanging Upside Down.” Listen to this show via Real Audio | mp3 FRESH AIR The legendary Chicago broadcaster Studs Terkel dedicated his life to capturing the stories of ordinary Americans through oral histories. He won a Pulitzer Prize in 1985 for his […]
NPR FOR THE DEAF: We Hear It Even When You Can’t
FRESH AIR Journalist and economist Robert Kuttner has reported on elections for over three decades. His latest book, Obama’s Challenge, looks at the many Herculean obstacles the president-elect faces — and what it will take to tackle them. “If he is able to rise to the moment,” Kuttner writes, “he could join the ranks of a small handful of previous presidents who have been truly transformative, succeeding in fundamentally changing our economy, society, and democracy for the better.” Kuttner’s previous works include The Squandering of America: How the Failure of Our Politics Undermines Our Prosperity, Making Work Pay: America after […]
LIKE A FOX: Internal External
Like A Fox celebrates the release of Where Is My Golden Arm? (Transit Of Venus) Saturday at Johnny Brenda’s.
We Know It’s Only Rock N’ Roll But We Like It
BOW WOW WOW: Deerhunter, First Unitarian, Last Night [photo by TIFFANY YOON] BY TIFFANY YOON Bradford Cox and his gang put on a killer show, with the setlist drawn largely from their new album Microcastle, easily in my Top Five of the year. Cox seems to love Philadelphia, which he will forever associate with scrapple and pneumonia. I think he tells these stories every time he plays a show in Philly, but let’s start with the scrapple. Apparently, Cox didn’t know what scrapple was until he went to the Melrose Diner the last time through town. Curious, he orders some […]
We Know It’s Only Rock N’ Roll But We Like It
I AM SUPERMAN: Of Montreal, Electric Factory, Friday Night BY JONATHAN VALANIA FOR THE INQUIRER The only constant with the Athens, Ga., indie-pop band Of Montreal — over the course 11 years, nine albums, five EPs and innumerable personnel shifts — is change. In its decade-long evolution from twee psych-pop for second-wave Elephant 6ers recording collective to its current status as the definitive, post-everything party band for barely 20-somethings, Of Montreal’s mantra has remained the same: Change or die. Likewise, the band’s live show is a study in perpetual flux. During the course of the band’s two-hour tour de farce […]
NP: Lou Reed Berlin: Live at St. Ann’s Warehouse
Now playing on Phawker Radio! BY ED KING ROCK EXPERT Each new release by Lou Reed promises a mix of beauty, truth, horror, and mostly unintended humor. That’s a big part of why I’ve hung in with the guy through so many stilted, hectoring albums, such as the spiritually rock-bottom Rock ‘n Roll Heart, the squirm-inducing Mistrial, and the prematurely acclaimed New York, an album that within a few years of its release played like a grainy rebroadcast of an outdated CNN current events show. Reed never ceases growing up in public, and when we catch him at a relatively fruitful stage […]
LINDA PERHACS: Parallelograms
BEN RATLIFF: In the late ’60s, the singer-songwriter Linda Perhacs had a clear, Karen Carpenter-ish voice, an interest not just in composition but also in sound, and a deep mystical streak. She made one album, “Parallelograms,” released in 1970, and has made none since. I first heard of her by reading an interview a few years ago with Mikael Akerfeldt, the leader of the Swedish metal band Opeth; he described “Parallelograms” as “absolutely amazing,” “psychedelic,” “almost evil-sounding,” “beautiful” and “kind of ghostlike.” Other musicians were talking about her, too, including Devendra Banhart and Kim Gordon, and in 2006 the band […]
All Of This Happened While You Were Sleeping
THE HEADMASTER RITUAL: Of Montreal, Electric Factory, Last Night [Photo by JONATHAN VALANIA]
HEAR YE: The Pixies Doolittle Remastered
Now playing on Phawker Radio! ROCK SNOB ENCYCLOPEDIA: The Pixies — Formed in Boston in 1986 under the credo “Husker Dü meets Peter, Paul and Mary,” the Pixies would, in a very real sense, end music as we then knew it. Principal songwriter Black Francis’ lulling verses/volcanic choruses formula would become the overworked template for ’90s alternative rock songwriting (see Nirvana). But dynamics was only part of the Pixies’ charm. Pet themes about God, death, sex, violence and flying saucers were bathed in eerie guitar sonics, shrieking vocals and inexplicable forays into the Spanish language, then driven home with a […]
HOT DOCUMENT: Print Is Undead?
PHILADELPHIA, October 30, 2008 – In response to the Phillies World Series win last night, Philadelphia Media Holdings Chief Executive Officer Brian Tierney announced this morning that last night’s over-run of almost 350,000 copies of The Inquirer and Daily News are completely sold out. And, in an unprecedented move, the printing presses are running again this morning so that an additional 350,000 copies can be printed and available by early afternoon today. “People are buying these souvenir editions of The Inquirer and Daily News in massive quantities and we are responding by firing up our printing presses for another run […]
THE PHOTON BAND: Ka-Blammo
[Dir. by SCOTT COLAN]
HEAR YE: Pixies Surfer Rosa Remastered
Still playing on Phawker Radio! All Good Monkeys Go To Heaven BY JONATHAN VALANIA A word of warning: This is gonna be one of those columns where I go on and on about my little monkey shines with famous alt-rock personalities. Millions of people love it when I do that, but others seem to get very, very angry about it, stomp their feet and write mean letters that hurt my feelings. If that sounds like you, stop reading right now. I’m serious. I don’t want to even see you in the second paragraph.
NPR 4 THE DEF: Giving Public Radio Edge Since 2006
“By the end of the week, he’ll be accusing me of being a secret communist because I shared my toys in Kindergarten.” — Senator Barack Obama, North Carolina, Today FRESH AIR The McCain campaign’s charge that Barack Obama has socialist leanings has put the spotlight on a word relatively uncommon to modern American elections. Linguist Geoff Nunberg explains how the “S” word was used in the past — and why it’s come up now. ALSO, Saturday Night Live‘s Seth Meyers is making waves with a broader TV audience this election season as the show expands its political parodies to Thursday […]