“Somehow the fake-brother-and-sister/ex-husband-and-wife duo of John Anthony Gillis and Megan Martha White, aka Jack and Meg White, has managed to transmute gimmick into mystique, to create a shimmering garage mirage out of little more than trashcan drums, greasy geetar and a natty tricolor fashion palette, and sell it to 4 million people. Having proven time and again that less is more, the White Stripes remain adamantly reductionist about everything, from their music to the truth about their lives. They are masters of illusion via subtraction. And the less they give us, the more we want.” — Jonathan Valania, A Long […]
BART WHITE: The Hardest Button To Button
In Jazzy and the Pussycats, Bart learns drums and in a parody of The White Stripes’ video of “The Hardest Button to Button”, every time Bart hits the bass drum, he “creates” a new identical drum kit next to the other drum kit, but leaves the old kit behind, therefore creating a trail of drumkits. Bart goes around Springfield, through the Springfield Elementary School with Principal Skinner chasing him in time with the music, and soon goes onto a footpath. MORE
BRIGHTBLACK MORNING LIGHT: Everybody Daylight
Yes, this is what you think it is.
King Britt, Need New Body Dude Score Pew Grants
Ki CUT CHEMIST: King Britt spins the crowd before Obama’s arrival at the Electric Factory, last month. Twelve fellows were awarded $50,000 each to spend any way they wish. The Pew program, in its 16th year, aims to identify Philadelphia-area artists at critical career junctures and give them the freedom to advance their artistic ambitions. “One of the things [recipients] say to us is that now when people ask them what they do, they say first and foremost, ‘I am an artist.’ There is something about the validation that these grants bring,” program director Melissa Franklin says. Validation, yes, and […]
LOCAL RAWK: NY Times Gives The Teeth Big Ups
“The Teeth’s first full-length album, ‘You’re My Lover Now’ (Park the Van), is a population explosion. Songs fling shards of narrative about dozens of characters: lovers, friends, schoolkids, parents, depressives, liars, strivers, even partygoers tootling kazoos. The bits of stories arrive in an even more manic outpouring of tunes: honky-tonk, garage-rock, music-hall Merseybeat, frantic new wave and a final tinkly philosophical ballad with an apt self-diagnosis: ‘You got too many ideas building up inside of you.’ It’s an overload, but an exhilarating one; these songs are worth decompressing.” — John Pareles NEW YORK TIMES: And That’s Just The First Song!
THE WINNER: “Now, let’s get that Brazilian started.”
Congratulations Mike Guggino You Are Going To See Lee Scratch Perry! Enjoy! The City of Philadelphia’s photo archive contains over 2 million images that date back as far as the late 1800s, i.e. the last time a Republican won in this town. In all seriousness, this is an INCREDIBLE visual record of the city’s evolution and a relatively new web site, PhillyHistory.org, is making it available for online consumption and purchase. To date, some 27,000 images have been digitally scanned, at a rate of roughly 2,000 images a month. So, if you’ve been wondering why the line at Kinko’s is […]
We Know It’s Only Rock N’ Roll But We Like It
OF YOUTH AND YOUNG MANHOOD: Kings Of Leon, Electric Factory, Last Night EVA SAYS: When the Brothers Followill arrived on stage wearing jeans so tight they made even the hormonal 16-year-olds blush, I was skeptical. Admittedly a little flushed as well, but skeptical nonetheless. (I mean, if I wanna watch bone smugglers in painted-on Wranglers, I’ll go to The Cave, right?) But as soon as the drummer kicked in with the throw-me-down-and-fuck-me beat to “Taper Jean Girl,” and Caleb opened his mouth and out came that sweet, snarling whine — well, I was bouncing right along with the all the […]
CALIFONE: Spider’s House
Tonight at Johnny Brendas, with Bitter Tears and Buried Beds.
All Of This Happened While You Were Sleeping
WHAT THE MEN DON’T KNOW THE LITTLE GIRLS UNDERSTAND: Kings Of Leon, Electric Factory, Last Night [Photo by JONATHAN VALANIA]
THE SEA AND CAKE: Sound And Vision
Tomorrow at the Fillmore with The Zincs.
We Know It’s Only Rock N’ Roll But We Like It
SET THE CONTROLS FOR THE HEART OF THE SUN: Roger Waters On The Dark Side, Wachovia Center, Friday Night [PHOTOBUCKET] BY JONATHAN VALANIA FOR THE INQUIRER It was pretty much 40 years ago today that Sgt. Pepper taught the other bands to play like they were Picassos with guitars, and after that songs were replaced by statements — grandiose, interconnected, deeply ruminative — and albums were no longer mere collections, but high concepts. Arguably, Pink Floyd’s Dark Side Of The Moon is the highwater mark of rock’s evolution from low pop to high art. Some 34 years after its immaculate […]