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

[Photos by JEFF FUSCO COPYRIGHT 2010] BY JONATHAN VALANIA FOR ROLLING STONE Like France, the picnic remains proof positive that, despite wild-eyed Tea Party protests to the contrary, socialism actually can work. Everyone brings something, we all share, and everyone live relatively happily ever after — sometimes anyway. Such was the case at Saturday’s third annual Roots Picnic at the Festival Pier in Philadelphia. Senegal’s horn-y, percussion-heavy Baja and the Dry Eye Crew brought the world beats. Face-painted, ukulele-strumming one-gal-band TuneYards brought the weirdness. New Orleans rapper Jay Electronica brought the conspiracy theories (specifically the damning federal indictment of “Candyman”).  […]

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THE CONTRARIAN: Less Would’ve Been More

BY ED KING ROCK EXPERT They had to go and make it longer, didn’t they? The Rolling Stones couldn’t leave the legacy of the sprawling Exile on Main Street alone. In this newly remastered, expanded edition rock’s most notorious tax exiles add 10 previously unreleased/unfinished tracks. Shotgun-worthy Don Was helped shepherd these outtakes into the 21st century, with Mick Jagger writing new lyrics and adding new vocal parts, in some cases. Considering that the Stones have been reviving leftover jams as new material for more than half their career (e.g., “Start Me Up” had been sitting around for 6 years before being […]

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PHILADELPHIA WEEKLY: The Khyber Past

[Illustration by ALEX FINE] BY JONATHAN VALANIA FOR THE PHILADELPHIA WEEKLY On the afternoon of Nov. 26, 2008, death came ashore at the Indian coastal city of Mumbai in the form of 10 Pakistani assassins aboard a rubber dinghy. Young and cocky, the killers were dressed in bluejeans and cargo pants, pumped up on steroids and ripped from months of rigorous physical training. They brandished AK-47s and carried backpacks loaded with grenades and ammo. When fisherman asked them what was going on, the gunmen told them in fluent Marathi to, in effect, go fuck themselves. The fishermen reported the incident […]

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TONITE: ‘Don’t Say That You Love Me’

The Lindsey Buckingham Appreciation Society perform Fleetwood Mac’s Tusk in its entirety   Mon., May 17, 8 p.m., $8, with Jennifer O’Connor, Johnny Brenda’s, 1201 N. Frankford Ave., 877-435-9849, johnnybrendas.com. CITY PAPER: In 1979, Fleetwood Mac followed up their gazillion-selling Rumours (1977) with the double-album Tusk. While maybe not as avant-garde as its reputation suggests, Tusk still afforded the band’s resident frizzy-haired control freak, guitarist Lindsey Buckingham, ample room to let his freak flag fly. The disjointed, off-kilter arrangements of the title track, “The Ledge” and others helped ensure the album’s overriding cult status. MORE PHILADELPHIA WEEKLY: After years and […]

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RAWK TAWK: Q&A With Toby Leaman of Dr. Dog

BY JONATHAN VALANIA  There are few greater pleasures in this American life than watching a young, gifted rock band in the prime of its youth burn through its set before an adoring hometown crowd with the confidence of five young men who’ve come to realize that — after all the blood, the sweat and the tears that got them to this point — they are making their mark on the world.  It’s even better when the young, gifted band is local, as will be the case when Dr. Dog takes the stage at the Electric Factory tonite in support of […]

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NPR FOR THE DEAF: We Hear It Even When You Can’t

FRESH AIR Philadelphia Daily News reporters Barbara Laker and Wendy Ruderman received the 2010 Pulitzer Prize for investigative reporting for the 10-month series “Tainted Justice,” an expose of alleged corruption among members of an elite narcotics squad on the Philadelphia police force. During their reporting, Laker and Ruderman uncovered allegations against officers that included committing sexual assaults, disabling surveillance cameras during drug raids to hide their misdeeds, and filing fraudulent warrants. During several raids, the police allegedly stole thousands of dollars in merchandise and money from small retailers. As a result of Laker and Ruderman’s investigation, hundreds of drug cases […]

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BREAKING: Jeff Tweedy, Bonnie “Prince” Billy, Taj Mahal, Richard Thompson To Headline Philly Folk Fest

The organizers of the PHILADELPHIA FOLK FESTIVAL unveiled the impressive line-up for their momentous 49th edition unfolding August 20-22 at the Old Pool Farm in Upper Salford Township, near Schwenksville, PA.  This year’s event brings together the traditional festival fare as well as in-demand contemporary artists who will join together for this three-day extravaganza of traditional and contemporary music, dance, crafts, camping, and children’s activities.  Among the top attractions at the 49th annual PHILADELPHIA FOLK FESTIVAL are Susan Werner (joined by Natalia Zukerman and Trina Hamlin), vocal group Sonos, Vienna Teng, Gandalph Murphy & The Slambovian Circus of Dreams, A.A. […]

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RAWK TAWK: Q&A With Glenn Mercer Of The Feelies

BY JONATHAN VALANIA The Feelies are one of those inscrutable but beloved band’s bands whose influence far exceeds their royalty statements and, as a consequence, the period on the last sentence in their bio keeps turning into a comma. Borne of the suburban garages of North Haledon, New Jersey, they released Crazy Rhythms in 1980 to massive acclaim and minimal sales and then promptly split off into a myriad of minor side projects, only to resurface again in 1986 with the altogether wonderful The Good Earth, produced by Peter Buck, guitarist for REM, whose early sound is deeply indebted to […]

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