[Photo by GOOB712] BY ARTHUR SHKOLNIK Tucked away on a tranquil farm amidst fields of sweet corn in quaint, semi-rural Schwenksville, PA is the cultural tradition and phenomenon known as the Philadelphia Folk Festival, which began in 1962, and celebrated its 49th year this weekend. Campers came out in droves and quickly filled the reserved 40 acres of space for the three day festival, forcing shuttle buses to make constant trips to and from a field sanctioned for overflow parking. Early intermittent rain and dampened grounds did little to muddy the spirits of performers and festival goers, who managed to […]
RAWK TAWK: Q&A With Richard Thompson
BY ARTHUR SHKOLNIK Quintessential Englishman Richard Thompson has been pushing the boundaries of finger-style guitar since the mid-sixties, when he founded Fairport Convention as a teenager. Five decades and over 40 albums later, Thompson has proven himself a force not to be folked and he is consistently ranked as one of the top five living guitarists and one of the greatest songwriters in recent memory. His newest album, Dream Attic, is a collection of 13 new tracks recorded in real time during a series of West Coast shows. The music continues to emulate life through introspective lyrics and incandescent guitar […]
VALLEY OF THE SHADOW OF DEATH: Exhuming The Old-Timey Mass Murder Mystery At Duffy’s Cut
[Illustration by TIM DURNING] “The past is never dead. It isn’t even past.” —William Faulkner BY JONATHAN VALANIA FOR THE PHILADELPHIA WEEKLY There is an old saying: Under every mile of railroad track is a dead Irishman. Locally speaking, this is almost literally true. Back in the 19th century, the Main Line, not to mention large stretches of the railroads in this part of the country, were built on the blood, sweat and tears of Irish Catholic immigrants, who back then commanded about as much respect as Mexican immigrant workers command today. Out near Malvern, under mile 59 of what […]
CONTEST: Win Tix To See Jeff Tweedy
We have a pair of tickets to give away for Saturday at Philadelphia Folk Festival featuring a solo acoustic set by Jeff Tweedy. We just saw him solo at the Solid Sound Festival and boy are you in for a treat! These days we are digging Tweedy solo/acoustic even more than Wilco proper. Because we like you, we are gonna make this ridiculously easy. First reader to email us at FEED@PHAWKER.COM with the correct answer to the following question wins: What gospel legend just released a solo record produced by Mr. Tweedy? Include a cell phone number for confirmation. Good […]
ALBUM REVIEW: Slum Village’s Villa Manifesto
BY MATTHEW HENGEVELD Any hip-hop head will tell you: Slum Village ain’t no joke. The group launched the solo career of J Dilla, one of the greatest hip-hop producers of all time. It also spurned the growth of Elzhi, one of Detroit’s finest emcees. But if Slum Village isn’t a joke, why are people laughing at Villa Manifesto, the group’s latest effort? Well, let’s just say that Slum Village is cursed. Here’s a recap: When J Dilla left Slum Village after Fan-Tas-Tic Vol. 2, the group seemed destined to fail without its producer. However, the addition of Elzhi revamped the […]
CONTEST: Win Tix To See MGMT At The Mann
Hey kids, we have a pair of tickets to give away for MGMT at the Mann on Sunday! First reader to correctly answer the following question wins: MGMT sued the president of what country for misusing their song “Kids”? Email your answer to feed@phawker.com and include a telephone number for confirmation. Good luck and godspeed! UPDATE: We have a winner. Phawker reader Gabe Moldonado was the first to respond with the correct answer: France. Thanks to all for playing, and stay tuned for more concert tix giveaways.
R. CRUMB: ‘Minds Are Made To Be Blown’
ROBERT CRUMB: So, it’s early in the year 1966. I’m 22 years old and I have no idea what I’m doing. I’ve just broken up with my wife Dana. She went back to Cleveland and I stayed in New York. My big career as a commercial artist was just one more cardboard cut-out dream forgotten in the dust after many heavenly trips taken on LSD. I feel like I’m back in kindergarten, it’s all new to me… I’ve been stumbling around in a delirium since I took some weird psychedelic drug… the stuff came on like normal acid… the usual […]
COMING ATTRACTION: Win Tix To MGMT
Look for it tomorrow on a Phawker near you!
SCRAPPLE TV: Getting Lit With AP Ticker
New feature: AP Ticker does dramatic readings of song lyrics. We start off with Public Enemy’s “The Enemy Battle Hymn Of The Public.”
CONTEST: Win Tix For Arcade Fire At The Mann
We have two tickets to giveaway for the Arcade Fire/Spoon show at the Mann Music Center on Monday! First person to email us at FEED@PHAWKER.COM with the answer to the following question wins: What charity did Arcade Fire donate its licensing fees from the NFL for use of the song “Wake Up” during the 2010 Super Bowl? Please include a contact phone number. Good luck! RELATED: Despite its size, the Quebec concert was just part of a warm-up tour for “The Suburbs,” which is scheduled to be released on Tuesday. On Wednesday and Thursday the band is due in New […]
TONITE: I Can’t Believe It’s Non-Classical!
BY DAVE ALLEN Let’s get this out of the way: Gabriel Prokofiev is the grandson of the great Russian composer. It was all that the articles about him could talk about after he launched Non-Classical, a London-based label and monthly club night, in 2004. Quite apart from his lineage, though, the DJ, composer and expert in African music is worthy of attention. Both his label and club night pair classical music—well, not Mozart and Beethoven, but they’d recognize the instruments—with DJ’d sets of dance music and remixes of the classical-styled source material. Prokofiev writes in traditional genres – the string […]
EXIT INTERVIEW: The Photon Band’s Art DiFuria
[Photo by JONATHAN VALANIA] As you may have heard, Philly music legend/art professor Art DiFuria, Ph.D., is leaving town for greener pastures — specifically a professorship at Savannah School Of Art And Design. In advance of his farewell show with the Photon Band at Johnny Brendas on Saturday, Phawker conducted an exit interview with Dr. DiFuria. For newbies to the glories of the Photon Band, check out the exhaustive bio down below. PHAWKER: Our first question is fill in the blank: I first came to Philadelphia because ______ but wound up staying because _____. ART DIFURIA: I first came to […]
GRUMPY OLD MEN: Q&A With A Man Called Francis
EDITOR’S NOTE: This interview first ran on October 18th, 2006. BY JONATHAN VALANIA Welcome to the second installment of our Grumpy Old Men series, wherein we learn from our elders and soak up their salty yarns like Bounty Quicker Picker-Upper. Yesterday we had Robert Christgau, today Francis Davis. Tomorrow? The Pope. What’s that you say? You never heard of Francis Davis. Oh buddy, it’s good thing you found us! Check out his CV: He has written about music, film, and other aspects of popular culture for The Atlantic since 1984 and was appointed lead jazz critic for the Voice in […]