WIKIPEDIA: Djivan Gasparyan is an Armenian musician and composer. He plays the duduk, an Armenian double reed woodwind instrument related to the orchestral oboe. Djivan Gasparyan is widely known as the “Master” of Duduk. MORE CNN: Armenian President Robert Kocharian declared a state of emergency Saturday night after a day of clashes between police and protesters, a spokeswoman for the Armenian Foreign Ministry said. The protesters claim last month’s presidential election was rigged. The clashes began when authorities used force to clear Freedom Square of thousands of demonstrators who had camped there for the past 10 days, according to a […]
BEACH HOUSE: Heart Of Chambers
From Baltimore, yo. Comin’ to the Barbary April 3rd. Nice.
Top 5 Reasons Why St. Vincent Was Hotter Than Whatever Indie-Chick Show U Went 2 Last Night
SAINTS BE PRAISED: St. Vincent, First Unitarian, Last Night [CLICK TO ENLARGE] 1. St. Vincent sounds even better live than on record. Highlights of the evening were the opener, “Now, Now,” and “Marry Me,” the latter leaping to the top of the list of most heart-wrenching songs I’ve ever seen live on stage. 2. St. Vincent was very happy to finally be in Philadelphia for the tail end of her two-week tour, telling the crowd that she had drove through “the mountains, the desert, the ocean, the Siberia, and Seattle” to make it. Personally, I am of the opinion that […]
KING CRIMSON: Moonchild
Tap-dancing by Christina Ricci, circa Buffalo 66. [Hat tip to EVA LIAO]
HEAR YE: Shocking Pinks
PITCHFORK: Beyond its high standard of quality, Shocking Pinks‘ first DFA release might seem a less obvious fit for the label. And not just because Harte’s project shares its name with Neil Young’s 1980s rockabilly sidemen. A 17-track, 45-minute compilation cherrypicked from Shocking Pinks’ two 2005 albums for New Zealand’s legendary Flying Nun imprint (Mathematical Warfare and Infinity Land), Shocking Pinks veers even further from early-2000s Brooklyn for an emotionally vulnerable highlight reel of scruffy Jesus and Mary Chain dream-pop, ecstatic My Bloody Valentine haze, droning C-86 confessionals, and bedroom New Order bass lines. Oh yeah, and cowbell. Nick Harte […]
We Know It’s Only Rock N’ Roll But We Like It
A GHOST IS BORN: Jeff Tweedy & Wilco, Tower Theater, Saturday Night BY JONATHAN VALANIA FOR THE INQUIRER Saturday night at the Tower theater, Wilco was merely great. The qualifying “merely” is hard to explain, because on the face of it Saturday night had all the makings of a bragging rights concert experience. Totally jazzed, way sold out crowd? Check. Storied, acoustically-friendly venue? Check. Legendary opening act, one John Doe, tragically ignored by most in favor of the beer line? Check. Must-see headliners with a live rep for fireworks ready to throw down? Check. Perhaps the only thing missing was […]
BEING THERE: A Star-Studded Interview With I Am Trying To Break Your Heart Director Sam Jones
BY JONATHAN VALANIA In honor of you-know-who playing the Tower tonight (look for pix tomorrow, and an Inquirer review up Monday) and the Oscars on Sunday, I give you this Q&A with Sam Jones, the director of I Am Trying To Break Your Heart and photographer to the stars. Sam recently called out of the blue to tell me how excited he was about this band he was working with from Chambersburg, PA, called The Shackeltons. I told him I would check out these Shackeltons if he would sit for an interview, because that’s the way show biz works, Sammy. […]
Q&A: Dancing With The Devil & Daniel Johnston
WIKIPEDIA: Daniel Dale Johnston (b. January 22, 1961) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and artist. Johnston was the subject of the 2005 documentary The Devil and Daniel Johnston. He currently lives in a house adjacent to his parents’ home in Waller, Texas. Johnston has been diagnosed with bipolar disorder and is autistic.[1] His songs are often called “painfully direct,” and tend to display a blend of childlike naïveté with darker, “spooky” themes. MORE Phawker: Hi. How are you? Daniel Johnston: Good. I just woke up. And I just found a bunch of comic books I haven’t even looked at […]
NEWS CLUES: It’s Like Adderall For Your Eyeballs
THIS JUST IN: Milton Street Convicted Of Tax Evasion, But Beats Fraud Rap INQUIRER: The jury in the federal trial of T. Milton Street Sr. rendered its verdict today, convicting him of three counts of tax evasion for failing to file returns in 2002, 2003 and 2004; acquitting him on four counts of mail and wire fraud; and deadlocking on two charges that he filed false returns in 2000 and 2001. Codefendant John H. Velardi Sr. was acquitted on three counts of wire and mail fraud. The jury, which was drawn from nine counties, as far west as Lancaster and […]