From Letterman the other night. Possibly the coolest/weirdest iteration of live rock music on network television since, well, ever. Let the buyer be weird.
Win Tix To See The Black Angels @ UT
Dag, this is da bomb-diggity! (Not even sure what that means, but I’ve been assured it’s a compliment and all the kids talk that way these days.) These Texas psychonauts play Union Transfer Sunday in support of the just-released brain-melting-ly wonderful Indigo Meadow. Now just have to figure out how to clone myself so I can violate the laws of space and time see them without missing Redd Kross (at Kung Fu Necktie Sunday night). But the good news for you, dear reader, is that we have a pair of tickets to give away. To qualify all you have […]
Huey Lewis Gleefully Axe Murders Weird Al Yankovic In This Brilliant American Psycho Parody
American Psycho with Huey Lewis and Weird Al from Huey Lewis RELATED: Huey Lewis and the News joined that rarefied strata 30 years ago with SPORTS, the group’s third album — a 10-times-platinum, chart-topping smash that spawned five Top 20 singles, four of which (“Heart and Soul,” “I Want a New Drug,” “The Heart of Rock & Roll,” “If This Is It”) went Top 10 on the Billboard Hot 100. The slyly humorous SPORTS videos were MTV staples. It was a phenomenon that took the San Francisco Bay Area group, which just the year before was defiantly “Workin’ For a […]
Win Tix 2C Thurston Moore’s Chelsea Light Moving!
Time waits for no man, not even Thurston Moore, the Dorian Gray of indie-rock. After 32 years, Sonic Youth is over. So, too, is his marriage to SY bassist/alt-rock gadlfy Kim Gordon. Daughter Cocoa is coming up on 19. What to do? Start a new band, of course. What to call it? Something very New York-y and stoner-friendly. How about Chelsea Light Moving? Done. What’s it gonnna sound like? A less noisy, more rockist SY, minus Kim Gordon’s kitten-in-a-dryer caterwauling? Pretty much. Chelsea Light Moving’s self-titled debut dropped early last month. What now? Tour, of course. All of which is […]
THE MINUS 5: Michael Nesmith
An epic ode to the Monkee Most Likely To Wear A Ski Cap. From the new forthcoming Minus 5 album, possibly called Forthcoming. Michael Nesmith plays World Cafe Live on April 15th. PREVIOUSLY: MONKEE BIZNESS: Q&A w/ Peter Tork BY JONATHAN VALANIA There are two kinds of people in this world: people who love The Monkees and sanctimonious assholes who fancy themselves the arbiters of authenticity. Whatever that is. Never trust anyone who tells you they don’t like the Monkees has always been my motto and it’s served me well. As just about everyone of a certain age knows, from […]
CONTEST: Win Tix To See The Feelies At UT
Seminal avant-pop savants The Feelies play Union Transfer tomorrow night in support of Here Before, their first album in 18 years. We have two pairs of tickets to give away to lucky Phawker readers. To qualify, just sign up for our mailing list [SEE RIGHT, below the masthead] then email us at FEED@PHAWKER.COM with the correct answer to the following Feelies trivia question: What is the name of the 1986 Jonathan Demme film the Feelies appear in? While we are all waiting to see how this turns out, enjoy this interview with Feelies mainman Glenn Mercer that originally ran on […]
BEING THERE: Nick Cave @ The Keswick
Photo by ERIC ASHLEIGH If you heard a distant rumble or saw a flash of light on the Northwest horizon last night around 9 p.m., that was Nick Cave, like a bat out of hell, smiting Glenside to a crisp as per his satanic majesty’s request. And it was good. Very good. How could it not be? Everyone knows Heaven has better weather but Hell has all the best bands. Cave looked and sounded in peak form (good hair, great suit, whipped himself about the stage like an electrocuted Elvis), and his voice contained multitudes. Deep, dulcet, and strong like […]
HOW SOON IS WOW: The Pablo Cuckoo Tape
SLICING UP EYEBBALLS: A newly revealed cassette recording of The Smiths rehearsing in a Manchester warehouse in May 1983 — prior to signing their first record deal — has surfaced online, collecting performances of nine songs with early arrangements and lyrics in what the band’s drummer today called “an early recording you’ve probably never heard before.” Dubbed “The Pablo Cuckoo Tape” after the pseudonym given the “source close to the band who made the recording,” the 40-minute performance initially was shared via smithstorrents.co.uk and now has been uploaded to YouTube, and can be streamed via the player embedded below. The […]
BEING THERE: Low @ Main Street Music
Photo by PETE TROSHAK Slowcore avatars Low arrived in Philly on Monday night to play an hour long free show to a packed store at Main Street Music in Manayunk. The event was a celebration of the eve of the release of their The Invisible Way album, produced by Wilco mastermind Jeff Tweedy. Tweedy let the band do what they do best while infusing their spare, dreamy sound with a dash of country influence resulting in one of their best albums yet. The band played almost all new songs but dipped into their back catalog to play “Dinosaur Act” at […]
WORTH REPEATING: The Devil And Old Saint Nick
Illustration by JAY BEVENOUR EDITOR’S NOTE: Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds play the sold out Keswick Theater tonight. Let There Be Light By Jonathan Valania [via MAGNET, circa September 2001] He was born like this, he had no choice. Nick Cave was born with the gift of a golden voice. He asked Leonard Cohen, “How lonely does it get?” Leonard Cohen hasn’t answered yet. But Nick Cave hears him coughing all night long, a couple floors above him in the Tower Of Song. In the beginning, there was the Birthday Party. And it was good. Rock ‘n’ roll as […]
EARL SWEATSHIRT: WHOA
The prodigal son of the Odd Future clan, back from mom-enforced exile and better than ever. The best rap video since Tyler The Creator’s “Yonkers.” Very NSFW. That’s how you know it’s good. PREVIOUSLY: Where’s Earl?
CONTEST: Win Tix To See Devotchka @ The Troc
DeVotchKa is a four-piece multi-instrumental and vocal ensemble that specializes in widescreen sepia-toned orchestral maneuvers in the dark. They take their name from the Russian word devochka (???????), meaning “girl”. Based in Denver, Colorado, the quartet is made up of Nick Urata, who sings and plays theremin, guitar, bouzouki, piano, and trumpet; Tom Hagerman, who plays violin, accordion, and piano; Jeanie Schroder, who sings and plays sousaphone, double bass, and flute; and Shawn King, who plays percussion and trumpet. Originally a backing band for burlesque shows, in their early years DeVotchKa also toured with burlesque performer and model Dita […]
BEING THERE: The Eels @ World Cafe Live
Photo by PETE TROSHAK The Eels have a history of odd opening acts. That streak continued on Saturday night, with opener Puddles Pity Party. Puddles [pictured, above] is a six foot five clown clad in a white outfit who arrived on the World Café Live stage after shambling through the crowd with a lantern and suitcase in hand. He stood at the mic silently and stared into space for what felt like a nine months before opening his mouth. When he did finally sing he stunned the crowd with a short set of heartbreak ballads served up lounge style with […]