BURN AFTER READING (2008, directed by Joel & Ethan Coen, 96 minutes, U.S.) BY DAN BUSKIRK FILM CRITIC In the opening shot of the Coen Brother’s cynical-hearted new comedy the camera descends from the Heavens, zeroing in on the surface of the Earth until it swoops into the hallways of C.I.A. headquarters in Langley, Virginia. There a medium-grade analyst named Osgood Cox (John Malkovich) is getting demoted, which will set into motion a ripple of high crimes and misdemeanors that reverberate violently through a group of loosely-connected malcontents in the D.C. suburbs. The Coen’s have been down this road before, […]
LOSING MY RELIGION: The Vandals Stole The Jangle
PETER BUCK’S SIGNATURE RICKENBACKER GUITAR STOLEN AFTER R.E.M. SHOW IN HELSINKI, FINLAND BAND OFFERS REWARD FOR INFORMATION LEADING TO ITS RECOVERY Burbank, CA — R.E.M. has announced that Peter Buck’s signature Rickenbacker guitar was stolen from the stage immediately following the band’s performance last night at Finnair Stadium in Helsinki, Finland. The instrument is Buck’s iconic signature Rick, which has been the staple of the guitarist’s arsenal both live and in the studio since the band released its first EP Chronictown in 1982. The guitar means a great deal to Buck and to R.E.M. It is R.E.M.’s sincere hope that […]
Q&A: David Berman of The Silver Jews
BY ED KING Since founding Silver Jews with with college friends Stephen Malkmus and Bob Nastanovich, songwriter/poet/cartoonist David Berman has rolled stoned, gathered a little moss along with a rotating cast of indie-rock contributors, hit rock bottom, toured the Promised Land, saw the light, and built an accomplished body of earthy, intelligent work. Over the years, as the band’s recordings moved from lo-fi to a matte finish country rock, Berman’s deep, wry, downbeat delivery remained a constant. In 2006, after years of not touring and surviving the lowest point in his personal life, Berman took Silver Jews, including his wife […]
NPR FOR THE DEAF: We Hear It Even When You Can’t
FRESH AIR Thomas Friedman is a man bent on revolution. In his new book, Hot Flat and Crowded, the three-time Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist writes about the need for a green revolution — and calls upon Americans to lead the charge. Friedman argues that the U.S. can help revive itself at home and abroad by finding solutions to global warming. Friedman is a foreign affairs columnist for The New York Times. His other books include From Beirut to Jerusalem and The World is Flat. SOUND OPINIONS Show #145: 09.05.08 Based in Chicago, Sound Opinions is hosted by Jim DeRogatis and Greg […]
CONCERT REVIEW: Titanic Love Affair
BY JONATHAN VALANIA FOR THE INQUIRER Every now and then a voice comes along so strong, so clear, so seemingly inexhaustible that it is heard all the way around world by the Great Middle — the middle-aged, the middle class, and, by and large, those midway between mom jeans and menopause. This voice contains multitudes: the stormy weather of Hallmarkian heartache; the soaring melodrama of airport romance novellas; the soft soothing ‘happy places’ of aromatherapy; and the soap operatic narrative arc of not just one, but two Hollywood blockbusters. That voice belongs to Celine Dion, of course, but just about […]
We Know It’s Only Rock N’ Roll But We Like It
POST-MILLENNIAL TENSION: Tricky, Trocadero, Last Night BY DAVE ALLEN Last night at the Troc, British artist Tricky forever banished the notion of trip-hop – the influential jazz-meets-electronic genre he helped forge in the mid ’90s – as a precious, made-for-headphones-listening style. His backing band turned the bristling, haunted soundscapes found on his albums into booming, kaleidoscopic arena-rock, while the Bristol-born MC showed, through his tightly-coiled swagger and distinctively gruff vocals, that American hip-hop acts like Lil Wayne and Young Jeezy owe him a thing or two. His band took the stage to the sounds of Phil Collins’ “In the Air […]
INSTA-REVIEW: Tricky Knowle West Boy
Now playing on Phawker Radio! Tricky plays the Trocadero tonite. BY ED KING ROCK EXPERT Had my music-listening and drug-taking behaviors not been well established before the advent of Massive Attack and the subsequent solo career of Tricky, my initial thoughts on listening to Tricky’s new album, Knowle West Boy, might run deeper than recalling episodes of cheesy cable spy and con game shows, like USA’s ’90s knockoff, La Femme Nikita, and the more recent AMC series Hustle. Of course the use of trip-hop soundtracks on such shows is an outgrowth of the music’s use in stylish, gritty action films, like Face/Off […]
TONIGHT: Jesus Is Magic
Feat. ex-Flaming Groovies. Tonite at Johnny Brendas with Beretta 76 & The Donuts.
THE EARLY WORD: Tuff Enuff?
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NPR FOR THE DEAF: We Hear It Even When You Can’t
FRESH AIR Conventional wisdom has it you can tell a lot about a person by the company he or she keeps. But, what if posterity makes a big mistake in judging a famous somebody’s friends; wouldn’t that blunder then trigger a huge misreading of the chief person of interest? There you have the reasoning underlying Brenda Wineapple‘s fascinating new book, White Heat, that explores the relationship between Emily Dickinson and one of her closest confidants, Thomas Wentworth Higginson. For decades, Higginson has been derided by Dickinson scholars and fans as a kindly oaf; a Victorian man of minor letters damned […]
We Know It’s Only Rock N’ Roll But We Like It
IS THERE ANYBODY OUT THERE: War On Drugs, Johnny Brendas, Last Night BY TIFFANY YOON Last night’s show was surprisingly light on paying customers, considering Windsor For the Derby just returned from a massive European tour and War on Drugs is set to leave for their own with the Brooklyn based Hold Steady. War on Drugs and WFTD were backed by two drummers, serving as a driving force for each set. It was only the second time they’ve tried incorporating two drummers and I’d say it was a complete success. These bands are all tightly knit, sharing Charlie Hall, Adam […]
JERRY REED: Wabash Cannonball
ASSOCIATED PRESS: NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Jerry Reed, a singer who became a good ol’ boy actor in car chase movies like “Smokey and the Bandit,” has died of complications from emphysema at 71. Sony BMG Nashville Chairman Joe Galante called Reed a larger-than-life personality. “Everything about Jerry was distinctive: his guitar playing, writing, voice and especially his sense of humor,” Galante said. “I was honored to have worked with him.” Reed’s catalog of country chart hits, from 1967 through 1983, were released under the label group’s RCA imprint. As a singer in the 1970s and early 1980s, Reed had a […]