We Know It’s Only Rock N’ Roll But We Like It

SWEATLOAF: Plastic Little/Sweatheart, ICA, Last Night FROM: Eva Liao TO: Me RE: “sex = babies = poverty” says Sweatheart 11:24 pm (23 minutes ago) yo boss. pictures are up! the show was dry as a desert. had there been booze involved a show at the ICA would have been off the hook (i know… i say that about everything). but after a while the crowd filtered out, along with their attention spans. Either way, P. Little was more boring than meh… but SWEAT HEART is where its it’s at! They’re the shirtless, striped tights, wig wearing, prom dress group shown […]

REVIEW: The Good, The Bad & The Queen

BY SARA SHERR For a critic, the hardest thing to review is something that’s just sort of “eh,” instead of moving you towards joy or repulsion. I didn’t think I’d have a blah attack from The Good, The Bad & The Queen, the latest project for Blur/Gorillaz man Damon Albarn. It certainly sounds good on paper, a gaggle of (mostly) white punks on dope: Clash bassist Paul Simonon, Verve guitarist Simon Tong, and Africa ’70s drummer/musical director Tony Allen, who’s the real star here. Albarn uses reggae rhythms and thick dub soundscapes to explore life during wartime in London when […]

We Know It’s Only Rock N’ Roll But We Like It

I AND I: The Skatalites, Trocadero, February 22nd, 2007 EVA SAYS: I wasn’t at all surprised to find a lot of empty space between patrons at the Skatalites show. On a night like this, all the hip, trendy kids were probably well on their way to catch the new electro-ipod/turntable-avant-garde-sample whatever somewhere along the borders of NoLibs. Their loss. Though a little aged and worn around the edges, the Skatalites still delivered one of the most fun shows of the past year. And sure, the musical aspect was important. There was no forgetting that I was in the presence of […]

NOW PLAYING: The Good, The Bad & The Queen

[NOW PLAYING ON PHAWKER RADIO] In 1993, it was with little left to lose that Blur’s Damon Albarn and Graham Coxon — bottom of the bill at an Xfm fundraiser in Finsbury Park — gave the premiere of a new song to a small, indifferent crowd. Entitled For Tomorrow, it was a sad little love song to the city on which Albarn so desperately wanted to make his mark. If there was a hitherto untapped passion in the way Albarn sang the line about “hanging on for dear life,” it was hardly surprising. That was him there, forlornly throwing out […]

We Know It’s Only Rock N’ Roll But We Like It

OUR MOTHER THE MOUNTAIN: Son Volt, WORLD CAFE LIVE, Noon BY AMY Z. QUINN It’s difficult to know sometimes whether Jay Farrar is actually enjoying himself up there. The never-excitable singer/songsmith at the front of Son Volt rarely cracks a smile, doesn’t dance and, as per usual, is a man of few-to-no words. But those are the wrong places to look for vital signs with this guy. With Farrar it’s when his left leg starts going, a steady stomp that never gets faster, only pounds harder against the stage while he works out his quiet rage. And what beautiful rage […]