BY M. EMANUEL True or false: You can still be one of the biggest pop stars on the planet even if you (allegedly) urinated on and then fornicated with an underage girl, videotaped it, and then that tape was leaked to the world and the authorities brought 21 counts of child pornography charges against you. As much as we would all like to think the answer is false, we all know that’s not true. However, knowing and caring are two different things and while we know the charges are still hanging out there, a better question is do we even […]
Wilco Has Dr. Dog’s Baby In The New York Times
JEFF TWEEDY, 39, is the lyricist, lead singer and guitarist of the Chicago rock band Wilco. In the last decade, as it has shifted from alt-country to rock, Wilco has built a devoted fan base. This spring its sixth studio album, “Sky Blue Sky” (Nonesuch), had a strong debut, ranking No. 4 on the Billboard charts the week of its release. Mr. Tweedy recently took a brief break from touring Europe, the West Coast and the Midwest to talk to Winter Miller. “I’m probably the only person that wanted to be a rock critic and failed at it and started […]
NOW PLAYING: Elliott Smith New Moon
[Illustration by KATIE SKELLY] BY JONATHAN VALANIA Near the end of The Royal Tenenbaums, Wes Anderson’s storybook cinematic fable of wasted potential, the character of Richie, a disgraced world-class tennis player with a dark secret, looks soulfully into the bathroom mirror. It’s impossible to say what he’s thinking–he looks scared, confused, angry, on the verge. A tensely strummed acoustic guitar spirals in the background, accompanying a hushed, faintly ominous vocal. It’s Elliott Smith’s “Needle in the Hay.” Richie picks up a scissors and methodically, if crudely, crops his shoulder-length tresses down to the scalp. He lathers up his lumberjack beard […]
We Know It’s Only Rock N’ Roll But We Like It
THINK LOCALLY, FUCK GLOBALLY: Gogol Bordello, Trocadero, Last Night BY JONATHAN VALANIA FOR THE INQUIRER Despite all the negative chatter the issue of immigration generates, the fact is Americas love the trial-and-error tragicomic saga of fresh-off-the-boat immigrants trying to fit their square peg into America’s round hole — the latest proof of such is the runaway success of the movie Borat. Before there was Borat, there was Taxi‘s Latka Gravas, Andy Kaufman’s lovable mechanic of mysterious Eastern European descent. And in between there was, and for that matter is, Gogol Bordello, led by human cannonball frontman Eugene Hutz, perhaps best […]
REVIEW: Young Jeezy, Nas & Ghostface Killah
Note: The following video is not recommended to be played at work, in an airport, in church, in the presence of children, and possibly in the privacy of your own home. It is presented here to allow you to hear the music of Young Jeezy, one of three hip-hop artists KingEd has become acquainted with over the past months. BY ED KING UNAPOLOGETIC ROCKIST A couple of months ago The Editor dropped three then-recent hip-hop releases on me: Young Jeezy‘s The Inspiration, Nas‘ Hip Hop Is Dead, and Ghostface Killah‘s More Fish. “I’d like to get your take on […]
EARLY WORD: Play That Funky Music White Boys
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NEWS CLUES: It’s Like Adderall For ADD Newshounds
WORST HARVEY WALLBANGER EVER The trial of a 57-year-old Burlington County, NJ woman charged with murdering her brother-in-law by serving him a concoction of fruit juice laced with antifreeze is underway in Mt. Holly. The Shamong Township woman is charged with preparing a fatal cocktail of fruit juice and antifreeze that resulted in the death, three years ago this week, of 58-year-old Jonathan Neabor of Old Bridge, NJ. During one of two of her taped confessions, she told a state trooper that she wanted only to sicken Jonathan so he would come and live with the family to provide financial […]
INSTA-REVIEW: Interpol’s Our Love To Admire
NOW PLAYING ON PHAWKER RADIO BY ED KING ROCK SNOB I must apologize for buying into the whole Joy Division comparison thing with this band. There were a dozen lesser gloom bands around the time of Joy Division who hit on similar notes. Interpol has more in common with those bands; they’re a pop band dressed in black, not some awkward punk beast like early Joy Division, which was perversely tamed by gifted producer Martin Hannett before their untimely end. That’s OK, and seeing Interpol in this light makes them “Pretty good for this kind of music” rather than a […]
LOVIN’ SPOONFUL: Summer In The City
For those keeping score: Hollywood Palace, September 24th, 1966. A very good year.