NEW YORK TIMES: Louis Armstrong’s celebrity cannot be separated from his artistry; it is central to his place in the history of jazz, which is harder to explain than is commonly understood. He did not invent jazz, nor was he its first important figure, and it is not even quite right to call him the first great jazz soloist (Sidney Bechet preceded him, and Bix Beiderbecke emerged as a major soloist at the same time as Armstrong, almost to the month). Instead, he became the first great influence in jazz — the player other players copied — and one […]
SIDEWALKING: The Monkey That Went To IKEA
IKEA, suburban Toronto, Sunday by DZD_LISA THE GUARDIAN: In an incident which would defy belief had it not been well witnessed and, more importantly, captured on Instagram, shoppers at an Ikeastore in suburban Toronto were greeted on Sunday by the sight of a tiny, confused and seemingly lost pet monkey running round the entrance lobby. If this was not enough, said monkey was clad in a close-fitting, button-up sheepskin jacket and wearing a nappy. Toronto police believe the animal was inside a cage in a car parked at the store in North York but somehow managed to free itself. “It […]
TONIGHT: Hopelandic Springs Eternal
PhilaMOCA presents a two hour presentation of short films from around the world created to coincide with the Sigur Rós album VALTARI. Upon the release of their album VALTARI, Sigur Rós gave a dozen filmmakers the same modest budget and asked them to create whatever comes into their head when they listen to songs from the album. The idea was to bypass the usual artistic approval process and allow people utmost creative freedom. Among the filmmakers are Alma Har’el (BOMBAY BEACH), Andrea Arnold (FISH TANK), John Cameron Mitchell (HEDWIG AND THE ANGRY INCH), Ramin Bahrani (CHOP SHOP), and Floria […]
TONIGHT: Nels In Cline-ed
Wilco guitarist Nels Cline performs with Unfold Ordinary Mind tonight at Johnny Brenda’s, presented by Ars Nova Workshop. RELATED: Nels Cline Is An Alien Flowerpot
SIDEWALKING: The X-Man
John Doe, TLA, Friday 5:09 PM, by JEFF FUSCO PREVIOUSLY: THE X-MAN COMETH — A Q&A With John Doe
DOPE: Obama Needs To Clean House At The DEA And Get Rid Of Drug War Dead Enders From The Bush Admin.
ROLLING STONE: The war over pot may be far from over. Legalization has set Colorado and Washington on a collision course with the Obama administration, which has shown no sign of backing down on its full-scale assault on pot growers and distributors. Although the president pledged to go easy on medical marijuana – now legal in 18 states – he has actually launched more raids on state-sanctioned pot dispensaries than George W. Bush, and has threatened to prosecute state officials who oversee medical marijuana as if they were drug lords. And while the administration has yet to issue a […]
THE REVEREND HORTON HEAT: Bales Of Cocaine
Last night at the TLA, where he opened for X, the good Reverend announced that he would be performing tonight at the North Star!
CONCERT REVIEW: The Faint @ The Troc
Photo by PETE TROSHAK The Faint rolled onto stage last night at the Trocadero on a wave of swirling fog and strobe lights. The band started off slow, playing at first in darkness and milking the tension for a few songs before unleashing the main event of the night – an airing of their classic album Danse Macabre. The album is an eminently danceable 35-minute hell-ride through the paranoia, claustrophobia and decay of life as a drone in the big city. As scenes of skyscrapers and animated pixels rolled by on screens behind them, the band brought the album to […]
RIP: Dave Brubeck, Jazz Giant, Dead @ 91
Jazz and American music in general lost a giant yesterday. Seldom has America produced a more lofty or truer original than David Warren Brubeck. Pianist, composer, trend setter, group and orchestra leader, ambassador, gentleman. He was all of those and more. I find it difficult to put into words my feelings for the man and the musician. I literally grew up on his music. I developed a love and admiration of jazz because of giants like Brubeck and Davis. It’s a sad time but god how much more rewarding has my life and that of millions of others been because […]
TONIGHT: Heyward Bound
If there was a more beautiful, idiosyncratic and intelligently-designed debut released this year than Heyward Howkins‘ The Hale & Hearty, then I didn’t hear it. Imagine, if you will, M. Ward and Antony naked and slathered in milk and honey, sealed in a giant clamshell to baste for a thousand years. A millennium from now, long after the oceans have evaporated and the insects once again rule the earth, when the shell opens music-box style, there will be this magnificent pearl sitting there on the half shell, and when you rub it, much like when you wet your finger […]
CONTEST: Win Tix To See X Tonight!
Literary, transgressive, noir-ish in their buzzsawing, X is arguably the greatest West Coast punk band in the last 35 years. If everything I just said was like a dog watching a card trick, watch The Unheard Music and join us at the next sentence. After a series of hiatuses and reunions, they’ve re-activated in recent years as an ongoing touring concern. Tonight they play the TLA with the mighty Reverend Horton Heat and we have three pairs of tickets to give away. To qualify to win all you have to do is sign up for our mailing list (to the […]
THE FUNNY PAPERS: Jack White Goes ALL CAPS On The NME’s Ass For Misquoting Him About Lady Gaga
Jack White has issued the following statement to correct an excerpt from his upcoming cover story in British Esquire that was taken completely out of context–and actually edited to change its original meaning–in an NME.com news post. The original quote referred to the state of image-based celebrity in general was twisted by the NME who changed the original quote, tacking the words “Lady Gaga’s music” on to the original quote–words Jack never actually said. White commented in full: I’d like to address the recent tabloidesque drama baiting by the press in regards to Lady Gaga. I never said anything about her […]
WORTH REPEATING: How Soon Is Now?
It takes a particular confidence for one unknown musician to pronounce to another that their first meeting has the hallmarks of legend. But then Johnny Marr, eighteen years old when he arrived uninvited at the Stretford home of Steven Patrick Morrissey one afternoon in May of 1982, had such confidence in abundance; what he did not have, and it was the reason he had come knocking on the door of the nondescript semidetached council house at 384 Kings Road that day, was a partner for his singular talent on the guitar. Steven Morrissey, a writer of speculative merit and […]