Bravo. Sickest burn: “Saying you got it from Hillary would be like Bruce Springsteen saying he only wrote “Born To Run” because he heard Jon Bon Jovi say it once.”
THE HANDSOME FAMILY: So Much Wine
FRESH AIR: Married couple Rennie and Brett Sparks have been making songs together as The Handsome Family for 21 years. In 2014, they gained much wider fame when their haunting song, “Far From Any Road,” became the theme for the first season of HBO’s True Detective. The duo’s dark, surreal lyrics come from Rennie, and the music, which draws from country music and church hymns, is written by Brett. Their latest album, Unseen, is based on their experiences living in the Southwest. Rennie Sparks tells Fresh Air’s Terry Gross that she often has a different notion from her husband of […]
A Q&A With Terry Bozzio, Drummer’s Drummer
Terry Bozzio circa early ’80s BY JAMIE KNERR Terry Bozzio has seemingly done it all in the world of drums and percussion over the last 40-odd years, in the rarified air at the very highest peaks of rock, pop, jazz, fusion, world music and, well, you name it. Or so you might think. Fortunately for him, and for all of us, he hasn’t yet reached his pinnacle and is still climbing. Now more than ever he’s inspired to find new directions, other musical worlds to explore and map, in 2016 and beyond. Already held in the highest esteem by […]
Win Tix To See Peter, Bjorn & John @ The Troc
“Young Folks,” the whistle-rific hit from Swedish indie-popsters Peter, Bjorn & John, turned 10 last month. Where does the time go? In the decade since, they’ve released four more albums. Couldn’t tell you a thing about any of them. I’m sure they are all very Nordic and turtleneck-friendly. PB&J play the Troc on Friday September 23rd in support of their new album, Breakin’ Point, which came out in June. We have a pair of tix to give away to the 667th Phawker reader who sends us an email @ Phawker66@gmail.com with the correct answer to the following PBJ trivia […]
BEING THERE: Cat Stevens @ The Kimmel Center
PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER: At 68, Yusuf Islam, the artist formerly known as Cat Stevens (aka Steven Demetre Georgiou, son of a Greek), has entered the taking-stock/legacy curation chapter of his life, which explains why his current tour, nicknamed A Cat’s Attic, is sort of a live-action memoir with a classic, precision-rendered soundtrack. Thursday night at the Kimmel Center, the stage set was the bifurcated attic of Stevens’ home, set against the rooftops of London, beneath a gently smoking chimney, in the glow of a full moon, where Stevens sipped tea and poked through the dusty stacks of memory, providing running […]
CINEMA: The Man Who Knew Too Much
Artwork by MR DEKS NEW YORK TIMES: Like those young men in a hurry, Edward falls under the sway of two antithetical father figures, a silky apparatchik played by Rhys Ifans, and an unbuttoned renegade played by Nicolas Cage. Drawn to intelligence work out of a sincere desire to serve his country, Edward is not immune to other attractions of the job. He likes the intrigue, the money (especially after he becomes a private contractor) and the feeling of being part of a select group of insiders who know how things really work. But he is not a figure of […]
KIM GORDON: Murdered Out
Never been a fan of the caterwauling end of the Kim Gordon Singing Styles Spectrum — until now. Yoko Ono did not die in vain. In fact, she didn’t even die.
WORTH REPEATING: Do The Right Thing
THE AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION: The government has charged Snowden under the Espionage Act, a World War One-era law that doesn’t distinguish between selling secrets to foreign governments and giving them to journalists working in the public interest. If Snowden were to be tried under the charges he faces, any argument that his actions benefited the public would be inadmissible in court. The Pardon Snowden campaign will work through the end of Obama’s administration to make the case that Snowden’s act of whistleblowing benefited the United States and enriched democratic debate worldwide, and we’re asking citizens to write to […]
A Q&A With Judge John Hodgman, Actual Person
Illustration by DONKEY HOTEY EDITOR’S NOTE: To mark the triumphant return of Judge John Hodgman, who performs at The Trocadero on September 20th, we present this reprise edition of our 2014 interview with The Hodger, as we like to call him.* BY JONATHAN VALANIA John Hodgman is full of shit. Full to the brim and stuffed to the gills with the stuff. And that’s a wonderful thing for you and me — as representative members of the human race that enjoy a good chortle and maybe even a guffaw when circumstances merit — because John Hodgman’s wizardly ability to turn horseshit […]
NPR 4 THE DEAF: We Hear It Even When You Can’t
FRESH AIR: It’s 3 a.m. and Whiskers has decided it’s time for breakfast. He jumps up on your bed, gently paws at your eyelids and meows to be fed. Annoyed? Cat behavior specialist Sarah Ellis says you have only yourself to blame. Instead of indulging Whiskers’ request for an early morning snack, Ellis recommends adopting an “extinction schedule,” whereby you ignore the behavior entirely until it stops. If cat owners “can be really strong with that extinction schedule and just make sure at every occurrence of that behavior they do not reward it … it will stop,” Ellis says. […]
CINEMA: Sh*t Blowing Up All Over The Place
GIZMODO: What you’re about to watch is a compilation of footage that shows what director George Miller actually shot on the set of 2015’s masterpiece Mad Max: Fury Road. And you will be amazed at how much was actually done, practically, on set. You’ve heard stories about it but actually seeing it is simply incredible. MORE
INCOMING: Springsteen To Rock The Free Library
THE PHILADELPHIA FREE LIBRARY: Bruce Springsteen is the poet laureate of rock ‘n’ roll. For his body of work he has earned 20 Grammys, two Golden Globes, an Oscar, and induction into the Songwriters Hall of Fame and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. A seven-year labor of love, Born to Run is written with the same tender, raw, and wise intensity of Springsteen’s greatest songs. He will be promoting Born To Run with a meet-n-greet at The Free Library on Thursday September 29th, where he will pose for photos with ticket holders. Tickets go on sale Friday […]
THE WHITE STRIPES: City Lights
THIRD MAN RECORDS: Third Man Records is pleased to share the genius surprise gift they received from their friend MICHEL GONDRY. On his own and without anyone’s knowledge, the legendary filmmaker shot a video for “City Lights,” which he sent them the other night. The video is Gondry’s fifth visual collaboration with The White Stripes. “City Lights” was written for The White Stripes’ GET BEHIND ME SATAN but then forgotten until White revisited the 2005 album for Third Man’s Record Store Day 2015 vinyl reissue and finished the recording in 2016. The track is the first new, worldwide commercially released […]