Sleep tight everyone! Don’t let the zombies bite. PREVIOUSLY: In the beginning, there was the Birthday Party. And it was good. Rock ‘n’ roll as sonic aneurysm: screeching, cataclysmic and cruel. The Birthday Party was scary. Not in the silly Count Chocula way of the Goths who would follow in its steps, but, like, Exorcist scary. Danger was the Birthday Party’s business, and in the early ‘80s, business was good. Nick Cave was the human cannonball at the microphone, and the band would light the fuse and run for cover. When the audience demanded blood, Cave could open up and […]
LAETITIA SADIER: Lightning Thunderbolt
Single from the Stereolab (SEE BELOW) lead singer’s solo album Silencio, out now on Drag City. ROCK SNOB ENCYCLOPEDIA: Stereolab: It may be hard to remember now, but there was a time when “synthesizer” was a very bad word. Over the course of 14 albums and countless EPs and hard-to-find singles, Stereolab has caused a total re-think of what could be done with electronic music. The British band’s fascination with the retro moderne–’50s lounge records, swinging ’60s easy listening, Moog demonstration records–has spurred an entire subculture built around these musty thrift store finds. Not content to merely dust off these […]
HECKUVA JOB, ROMNEY: Mitt Vowed To Dismantle FEMA, Called Federal Disaster Relief ‘Simply Immoral’
NEW YORKER: At a CNN debate in June, 2011, the moderator John King engaged the candidates in a discussion about the role of government. When he got to Romney, the exchange went like this: KING: What else, Governor Romney? You’ve been a chief executive of a state. I was just in Joplin, Missouri. I’ve been in Mississippi and Louisiana and Tennessee and other communities dealing with whether it’s the tornadoes, the flooding, and worse. FEMAis about to run out of money, and there are some people who say do it on a case-by-case basis and some people who say, you […]
OHIO STATE OF MIND: Bowzer & Me Save Democracy
EDITOR’S NOTE: Matt Goldfine has been working in Philadelphia and Harrisburg politics for the last five years. Tired of fretting over the polls from afar, he drove out to Ohio on Sunday to volunteer for the Obama campaign’s get-out-the-vote drive. He will be filing regular dispatches from Ohio up to election night BY MATT GOLDFINE As I drove through downtown Cleveland this morning, an eerie fog clouded the tops of skyscrapers off in the distance. All the streetlights were all out and the ordinarily bustling sidewalks were empty. I got a text message that the Cuyahoga County Democratic Party HQ, […]
SIDEWALKING: Skyfall
Either Milford, Connecticut or Bohemia, Long Island, yesterday by photographer unknown.
Social Media’s Power To Deceive Us In Our Darkest Hour
BUZZFEED: The twitter user @comfortablysmug is one of a handful of pseudonymous Manhattan professionals who keep their widely-followed Twitter voices separate from their careers. His bio describes him as “My Interests: Finance, Gin, Politics, Books, Food, Fine Clothing, Meeting Strangers #Mitt2012” and links to a Romney campaign donation page of the sort that credits bundlers for the cash they’ve brought in. His 6,000 followers include political and business reporters, and he’ll occasionally tweet of getting a drink with Business Insider’s Joe Wiesenthal; once with BuzzFeed editor Ben Smith. And in the chaos around Hurricane Sandy, he veered into new […]
SIDEWALKING: Here She Comes Now
Ben Franklin Bridge 2:09 PM by JONATHAN VALANIA INQUIRER: Atlantic City has already been hammered hours before Sandy is set to strike, with chunks of the boardwalk ripped away by the surge and many streets underwater. Some residents who had not evacuated or sought out a shelter were beginning to panic. Flooding was also widespread in Ocean City and Wildwood. Early on today, a section of the famed Atlantic City Boardwalk that was already in disrepair gave way. But other solid sections followed. An 80 foot piece of the Boardwalk at Atlantic Avenue and New Hampshire Avenue in Atlantic […]
BRILLIANT: Josh Whedon Endorses Romney
Because the Zombie Apocalypse ain’t gonna get here by itself!
BIRDLAND: Dead Men Walking
BY JOE PAONE IGGLES CORRESPONDENT Both the weather and your Philadelphia Eagles are deteriorating rapidly. And for once, I hope the football team’s deterioration proves far more severe. Very little pre-game excitement was evident in the parking lots and inside the stadium yesterday. The faces in my section were almost entirely unfamiliar ones, as many regulars apparently unloaded their tickets. That’s telling, because these are people who’d ordinarily drive through a blizzard or sit through a monsoon to see their Birds. But despite yesterday’s relatively decent weather conditions, many of the hardcore faithful decided it just wasn’t worth it […]
WORTH REPEATING: FrankenStorm Warning From The Philadelphia Office Of Emergency Management
The City of Philadelphia is preparing, and asking residents to prepare for major flooding and power outages in anticipation of Hurricane Sandy. A Flood Watch, Coastal Flood Watch and High Wind Watch is currently in effect beginning Sunday evening into Tuesday afternoon for the City of Philadelphia. Heavy rain will begin Sunday and continue through Tuesday. Between 4 -8 of rain is forecasted for Philadelphia. Significant localized and coastal flooding is anticipated for the city. Residents and businesses in low lying areas with a history of flooding during storms should prepare immediately. Those areas include: sections of Manayunk, along […]
CONCERT REVIEW: Aimee Mann @ Union Transfer
Photo by MEREDITH KLEIBER After opening with a breezy “Disappeared,” Aimee Mann bantered easily with the adoring audience before launching into a 90-minute set that mixed choice tracks from her charming new album, Charmer — most notably “Gumby,” “Labrador” and the title track — with deep cuts and crowd favorites from her back catalog. After front loading her set with uptempo numbers backed by her crack four-piece band, including a moving duet of “Living a Lie” sung with bassist and producer Paul Bryan, she slowed down the mood with solo acoustic versions of her classic “Save Me” and the hauntingly enchanting Harry […]
OHIO STATE OF MIND: Live & Direct From The Front
Art by TONY FITZPATRICK BY MATT GOLDFINE GRASSROOTS CORRESPONDENT That’s it. No more non-stop worrying. No more checking Politico and Huff Po last thing before I go to bed and first thing when I wake up. No more frantically checking FiveThirtyEight on my iPhone for signs of improvement in the polls every few hours. Nope, I’m trading worry for action: this Philly boy is heading off to grind it out in Ohio till end of the campaign. Five and a half years ago I somehow stumbled into politics out of a desire to better the city. Lost my first […]
EARLY WORD: You’re Living All Over Me
ALL MUSIC GUIDE: Dinosaur Jr. were largely responsible for returning lead guitar to indie rock and, along with their peers the Pixies, they injected late-’80s alternative rock with monumental levels of pure guitar noise. As the group’s career progressed, it turned into a vehicle for J Mascis’ songwriting and playing, which had the ultimate result of turning Dinosaur’s albums into largely similar affairs. Over time, Mascis shed his hardcore punk roots and revealed himself to be a disciple of Neil Young, crafting simple songs that were delivered at a crushing volume and spiked with shards of feedback. Consequently, Dinosaur Jr.’s […]