A.V. CLUB: Demonstrating that just because it was around in the ’90s doesn’t mean it doesn’t understand the internet, Wilco just became the latest band to release a free surprise album on its website. Called Star Wars and adorned with a painting of a cat—because, again, Wilco knows what the people like—the album consists of 11 original songs and is available as a free download on the Wilco website. Just enter your email, follow the link, download the .zip file, and boom. New Wilco album. MORE
TONIGHT: The Monsanto Years Of Our Lives
TOM MOON: A few songs into the latest set of ready-to-wear rants from Neil Young, there’s a moment when the rock star shares a bit of the advice he gets as he goes about his daily life — from fans, possibly, or a manager, or maybe the barista in his coffee shop. The song’s called “People Want To Hear About Love,” and in its verses, Young rattles off things people don’t necessarily like to confront when they kick back and listen to music. The list of must-avoid topics includes the “Chevron millions going to the pipeline politicians,” and “all […]
BOOKS: 9/11 And The Prophecy Of Dune
THE GUARDIAN: Every fantasy reflects the place and time that produced it. If The Lord of the Rings is about the rise of fascism and the trauma of the second world war, and Game of Thrones, with its cynical realpolitik and cast of precarious, entrepreneurial characters is a fairytale of neoliberalism, then Dune is the paradigmatic fantasy of the Age of Aquarius. Its concerns – environmental stress, human potential, altered states of consciousness and the developing countries’ revolution against imperialism – are blended together into an era-defining vision of personal and cosmic transformation. Books read differently as the world […]
CINEMA: Sonics Doc Makers Launch Indiegogo Fund
Yesterday award-winning director Jordan Albertsen (THE STANDARD) and producer Brian Scott Robinson launched their Indiegogo campaign for their feature documentary BOOM! A Film About The Sonics, which will chronicle this history of the Pacific Northwest proto-punk band’s rise, fall, and unlikely and triumphant return. At once both a completely unknown band and an enduring legendary influence, The Sonics are considered by many to be the Rosetta Stone of punk music. The Sonics were a clear influence on innumerable bands, including The Hives, Nirvana (“They’ve got the most amazing drum sound I’ve ever heard.” – Kurt Cobain), The Kinks (“A […]
WORTH REPEATING: The Chris Christie Conspiracy
THE INTERCEPT: The next morning, Chris Christie, then the U.S. attorney for New Jersey, appeared at a press conference flanked by law enforcement officials to announce the arrests. “The philosophy that supports and encourages jihad around the world against Americans came to live here in New Jersey and threatened the lives of our citizens through these defendants,” he said. Christie said that five men apprehended the previous night — the three Duka brothers along with two friends, Mohamad Shnewer and Serdar Tatar — had been planning to launch a terrorist attack against the nearby Fort Dix military base. “Fortunately, law […]
BEING THERE: The Foo Fighters In Camden
Photo by DYLAN LONG Dave Grohl and the Foo Fighters have had a hectic last couple of weeks, to say the very least. Dave experienced a tumble for the ages in Sweden resulting in a majorly broken leg, forcing the cancellation of many upcoming gigs, including two shows at the prestigious Wembley Stadium. In the hospital, Dave conceptualized an innovative and kickass throne prototype to support him on stage, which his crew wasted no time in bringing to life. The Foos were quickly back in action playing a grandiose 4th Of July throwdown at the RFK Stadium in DC celebrating […]
NPR 4 THE DEAF: We Hear It Even When U Can’t
FRESH AIR A year and a half ago, Dr. David Casarett did not take medical marijuana very seriously. “When I first started this project, I really thought of medical marijuana as a joke,” he tells Fresh Air’s Terry Gross. But then the palliative care specialist began to look seriously into the issue, and his mind began to change: “I’ve come to realize there really are medical benefits to medical marijuana. … For many of the patients I spoke with, medical marijuana is not a joke. It’s not funny. It’s a treatment that they’ve come to rely on.” While researching […]
KOCH SUCKER: Q&A With The Man Who Punked The Governor Of Wisconsin & The Koch Brothers
EDITOR’S NOTE: To mark the inauspicious occasion of Wisconsin governor/Koch Brothers puppet Scott Walker declaring his candidacy yesterday, we dipped into our archives to bring the encore edition of our 2011 interview with then-Buffalo Beast editor Ian Murphy, the man who successfully punk’d Walker by calling up his office and pretending to be Tea Party sugar daddy David Koch. The complete audio recording is posted below. This Q&A first posted on March 31st, 2011. BY JONATHAN VALANIA When Buffalo Beast editor Ian Murphy called up the governor of Wisconsin late last month pretending to be David Koch — AKA […]
BIOGRAPH: Meet Chet Delcampo
EDITOR’S NOTE: Chris Madl, who records under the name Chet Delcampo, asked me to write him a bio for the release of his new 7-inch (see cover, above). Turns out his story is so interesting I thought I’d share it with you good people. Plus, I really like the music and chances are you will, too. BY JONATHAN VALANIA First things first: Just like there’s no Santa Claus or Easter Bunny, Virginia, there is no Chet Delcampo. It’s the name of the band or, more accurately, the name under which Chris Madl writes, records, releases, and occasionally performs his […]
Win Tix To A Special VIP Screening Of Trainwreck
If, like Esquire, we had an annual WOMEN WE LOVE issue, Amy Schumer would be at the top, the bottom and everywhere in between. But we don’t. Instead, we just hire women we love — women who rock, women who rant, women who make us wonder, women who make us worry, women who make milk shoot out our nose on a good day — which, to our mind, is progress. Anyway, let us get down off my Alan Alda soapbox and tell you what I came here to tell you: That we have 20 pairs of tickets to a […]
NPR 4 THE DEAF: We Hear It Even When U Can’t
Illustration by M. MGALO FRESH AIR Growing up in West Baltimore, writer Ta-Nehisi Coates was no stranger to violence. “Everyone had lost a child, somehow, to the streets, to jail, to drugs, to guns,” he tells Fresh Air‘s Terry Gross. Coates’ new book, Between the World and Me, is an effort to protect his son from the same threats he experienced as a youth. Written in the form of a letter, Coates draws on history as well as personal experience to discuss the different forms of violence young African Americans face on the street, in school and from the police. […]
IT’S ALWAYS RUMMY IN DELAWARE COUNTY: Comedy Central Online Unveils Delco Proper
Three best friends from a sweat-stained blue-collar neighborhood in Delco struggle to avoid trouble, pay for anything or say something that is not completely stupid. Which is hard because they’re fucking idiots. And that’s always funny because it’s true. Now playing at Comedy Central online.
REWIND: John Oliver Watch
Good Ol’ Johnny Boy, without you I would have to suffer through the second season of True Detectives. I wouldn’t wish that on Justin Bieber, and there isn’t much I wouldn’t wish on Justin Bieber. For all of the common folk out there, yes you, the individual not suckling at the teet of HBO, I will breakdown the major issue John Oliver tackles, as he most commonly does, in his sprightly, rosey posey-cheeked, British manner. This week? Stadiums. Now before the masses of cheese steak-chomping, gold chain-slinging, beer-smuggling 700 Level fight clubbers that Philadelphia has (in)bred for going on countless […]