WELCOME TO THE FIRST ANNUAL PHAWKER JAZZ AND POP POLL The critics have spoken, the ballots have been cast, all chads undangled, and fed into a mainframe computer the size of an Olympic swimming pool, to be crunched with the hard calculus of SUCKS/DOES NOT SUCK and arranged in impenetrably dense type on a spreadsheet that stretches from your house to mine. Hey, who we kiddin’? We don’t even have a mainframe the size of an Olympic swimming pool. Yet. And 30,000 CDs are released every year and fuck you if you think we’re gonna listen to all of them […]
We Know It’s Only Rock N’ Roll But We Like It
PAGING MOLLY RINGWALD: The Psychedelic Furs, Trocadero, December 29th 2006 BY SIMONE SECCI, FOREIGN CORRESPONDENT In this time of wild 80s revival, it’s nice to see the real thing. Well, kind of. Unfortunately the Psychedelic Furs that left a definitive trace through rock music was already dead in 1983. It’s no longer existing and never will. The Furs of today are a great pop band that does the job in the best way, but no longer as a new wave icon. All this, to be honest, didn’t prevent me from jumping on my chair and dancing with the entire theatre […]
DEATH OF A SALESPERSON: All Things Must Pass
BY SARA SHERR The Tower Records at Broad and Chestnut was scheduled to close on Friday, Dec. 22. Instead, the doors shut late Wednesday night after an independent Virginia record retailer bought up the last of the remaining stock, which really wasn’t much by then. Two similar mass purchases had occurred earlier in the week, one from a New Jersey record store owner who bought up a bunch of major label stuff (which means a lot of Daniel Powter and Ashley Parker Angel, and returns for credit! Smart cookie!) The other was an unknown company which volunteered to take the […]
OS MUTANTES Bread And Circuses
Os Mutantes now playing on Phawker Radio. From Perfect Sound Forever: Tropicalia Glossary – Who’s Who, What’s What. AI5 – Acto Instution #5. The 1968 military clampdown on Brazil. Temporarily ended free speech in Brazilian media. 5 days after the passing of AI5 two of the Tropicalistas, Gilberto Gil and Caetano Veloso, were arrested, shaved and exiled to freezing England. Tropicalia – The more Brazilian style of Psychedelia. Not only features pop music, but visual art, literature and performance type arts and artists. Arnaldo Baptista – Bass and keys. Took drugs. Went nuts after Rita dumped him. Recorded a half […]
COMMENT: Bloggerati Killed The Alt-Weekly Rock Stars
Our hugumbus YEAR IN MUSIC Omnibus is about to drop, but while we’re finishing up polishing this turd, chew on this from our pal JOE WARMINSKY in WASHINGTON CITY PAPER: Don?t get me wrong?I fully embrace what the blogosphere does provide. It’s essentially a broad, asymmetric rebellion against the SoundScan regime and the stodgy business plans of the major record labels. Blogs offer what good fanzines used to offer: stylistic detours, obsessive detail, contrarian viewpoints, and a secondary economy that allows overlooked musicians to flourish, at least on a small scale. There isn?t much money in it, and it’s mostly […]
NPR FOR THE DEAF: We Hear It Even When You Can’t
IGGY POP Live Manchester Apollo 1977. FRESH AIR: Moe Of The Stooges Still Worth A Million In Prizes, PLUS Andre 3000
NPR FOR THE DEAF: We Hear It Even When You Can’t
ON FRESH AIR TODAY: Thom Yorke is the lead singer and songwriter of the band Radiohead which has released six critically acclaimed records and explored the boundaries between rock and electronic music. Spin,magazine named Radiohead’s OK Computer the number one album of the past twenty years. Thom Yorke’s new solo CD The Eraser is his first release without the band. This interview originally aired on Jul. 12, 2006. ALSO: Singer and songwriter Stuart Murdoch is the front man of the indie pop band from Scotland, Belle & Sebastian. The seven-member band includes a guitarist, bassist, keyboardist, violinist, cellist, drummer and […]
THE WHO: ‘You Are All Forgiven’
For the last 20 25 years everything after Live At Leeds.
Ladies And Gentlemen, The Fabulous Shades OR THE GREATEST PHILLY NEW WAVE SINGLE YOU NEVER HEARD OF AND COULDN’T FIND IF YOU TRIED!
THE SHADES “Hello Mr. Johnson” (NOW PLAYING ON PHAWKER RADIO) Excerpted From THE BOB JR. Part Six BY DAVID SNYDER I’ve swore I’d get to this single before I put this miserable pamphlet in its grave. To set the context we’re going to revisit the bits and pieces of my life that on occasion have previously bubbled up here in the bastard offspring and, before that, in the old rag. I was born in Philly. But between fifth and sixth grade the family shipped out to New Jersey, some suburbs — from Northeast Philly, which was then a kind of […]
DEATH OF A SALESPERSON: 10 Things I Won’t Miss About Tower Customers
By SARA SHERR: 1.Mouth-breathers who hug the cart of refiles that I’m trying to put away. This is the same crap that’s been sitting in the racks for the last two months. If I put a bunch of Keak the Sneak CDs on a cart, does that make them suddenly more attractive and awesomely collectable? 2.People who ask stupid questions in order to make a conversation with me. Yes, we?re going out of business. Nope, there’s nothing left. Yep, that pesky downloading. 3.People who can’t read. I understand the Philadelphia public school system is in a shambles and it’s hard […]
CHEAP SUNGLASSES: Diddy Rip Off Local Electro Dude’s Rip-Off Of Kraftwerk? Or Diddy Not?
You be the judge. DIDDY.COM: Look How Rich I Am, Bitches! PREVIOUSLY: Kilroy Waz Herre KRAFTWERK: Take Off Those Aviators And Fight Like A Man!