RELATED: Tinariwen was founded by Ibrahim Ag Alhabib, who at age four witnessed the execution of his father (a Tuareg rebel) during a 1963 uprising in Mali. As a child he saw a western film in which a cowboy played a guitar. Ag Alhabib built his own guitar out of a tin can, a stick and bicycle brake wire. He started to play old Tuareg and modern Arabic pop tunes.[citation needed] Ag Alhabib first lived in refugee camps and later resided with other Tuareg exiles in Libya and Algeria. In the late 1970s Ag Alhabib joined with other musicians in […]
NPR FOR THE DEAF: We Hear It Even When U Can’t
FRESH AIR “Almost without exception, every proposal put forth by GOP lawmakers and presidential candidates is intended to preserve or expand tax privileges for the wealthiest Americans,” writes Rolling Stone political correspondent Tim Dickinson. “Most of their plans, which are presented as commonsense measures that will aid all Americans, would actually result in higher taxes for middle-class taxpayers and the poor.” On Wednesday’s Fresh Air, Dickinson explains how the tax policies pursued by the Republican Party have changed in the past 14 years — and says those changes have led to greater economic inequality in our country. He explains that […]
MEDIA: Life After Death Magnetic
INQUIRER: “The music industry was in the toilet, and we were able to weather that,” says Magnet editor Eric T. Miller, who in 1993 cofounded the magazine. (John Cusack was reading it in publicity shots for the 2000 movie adaptation of Nick Hornby’s High Fidelity. “And then the magazine industry was in the toilet, and we were able to weather that — for a while.” And then, in 2008, the economy crashed. “You’re able to weather 90 things going wrong, but 100 things . . . .” In a shrinking market where online music sites and blogs such as Pitchfork […]
EARLY WORD: Village Green Preservation Society
[illustration by ALEX FINE] Do us all a favor: Cue up “Waterloo Sunset” by the Kinks. Ah. Don’t you feel better already? Music in the left speaker, vocals in the right-totally old-school. That twinkling strum of brotherly guitar and gently piddling snare, those drowsy sha-la-las drifting upward while the bassline tumbles downward, and the comforting sentiment that even the shittiest day on earth ends with a glimpse-of-paradise sunset. That, my friend, is the sound of your father’s Britpop. They don’t make singles like that anymore — Damon Albarn has long since stopped even trying. Sadly, the Gallagher brothers haven’t. As […]
DROOLING BANJOS: Q&A With Bela Fleck
BY MEREDITH KLEIBER Anyone who views the banjo as strictly a bluegrass instrument clearly hasn’t been introduced to the music of Béla Fleck — or his new banjo concerto (you never expected to see those two words together, did you?). Since cutting his teeth in the music industry in 1979 with the release of his first solo album, the 12-time Grammy winner has re-proven his ingenuity time and again. He continues to surprise audiences with complex compositions and innovative approaches to the banjo, and Rocket Science, his new release with the Flecktones, is no exception. The new album features the […]
Seattle Cops Pepper Spray 84-Year-Old Occupier
Seattle activist Dorli Rainey, 84, reacts after being hit with pepper spray during an Occupy Seattle protest on Tuesday, Nov. 15, 2011 at Westlake Park in Seattle. Protesters gathered in the intersection of 5th Avenue and Pine Street after marching from their camp at Seattle Central Community College in support of Occupy Wall Street. Many refused to move from the intersection after being ordered by police. Police then began spraying pepper spray into the gathered crowd hitting dozens of people. Photo: Seattlepi.com, Joshua Trujillo / AP MORE
Sandusky Lawyer Impregnated Underage Girl Then Married Her According To Her Mother
THE DAILY: The lawyer for accused child molester Jerry Sandusky apparently likes his women young. Defense attorney Joe Amendola, 63, representing Sandusky in the sexual molestation case roiling Penn State and Joe Paterno’s legendary football program, impregnated a teenager and later married her, The Daily has learned. According to documents filed with Centre County Courthouse, Amendola served as the attorney for Mary Iavasile’s emancipation petition on Sept. 3, 1996, just weeks before her 17th birthday. The emancipation request said Mary graduated from high school in two years with a 3.69 grade point average and maintained a full-time job — but […]
CONTEST: Win A Copy Of Adam Gopnik’s The Table Comes First: Family, France & The Meaning Of Food
Longtime New Yorker staff writer and Philly Homeboy Adam Gopnik will be at the Free Library on Thursday to promote his new book The Table Comes First: Family, France & The Meaning Of Food. We’ll just wrapped a lengthy Q&A with Gopnik wherein we discussed writing, food, crime and punishment, the necessity of factory farming, the slow dissolve of print into the digital ether, the uncertain future of the New Yorker, the secret world of children’s literature, the enduring power of Tolkien, seeing Hendrix and the Incredible String Band at the Electric Factory, avant garde theater on South Street in […]
NPR FOR THE DEAF: We Hear It Even When U Can’t
FRESH AIR ED WARD: We know now that, starting with Western swing in the 1920s, country-music reflections of popular black music has a long history, so claiming that Elvis Presley was the first successful fusion of the two is just silly. The hillbilly boogie fad, however, has been largely overlooked in that history, although there were hundreds of records made in that style. It started with a guy named Arthur Smith in 1945. “Guitar Boogie” is by Arthur Smith’s Hot Quintet, which recorded it as a goof when there was some time remaining in a recording session. A straight-ahead boogie-woogie […]
SIDEWALKING: The Faces Of #OccupyWallStreet
Zucotti Park, NYC, Monday afternoon by MATTHEW SEPTIMUS
HOT DOC: Sandusky/Costas Interview Transcript
Costas: “Mr. Sandusky, there’s a 40-count indictment. The Grand Jury report contains specific detail. There are multiple accusers, multiple eyewitnesses to various aspects of the abuse. A reasonable person says, ‘Where there’s this much smoke, there must be plenty of fire.’ What do you say?” Sandusky: “I say that I am innocent of those charges.” Costas: “Innocent? Completely innocent and falsely accused in every aspect?” Sandusky: “Well I could say that, you know, I have done some of those things. I have horsed around with kids. I have showered after workouts. I have hugged them and I have touched their […]
CRACKDOWN: People’s Park Returned To The 1%
NEW YORK TIMES: Hundreds of New York City police officers began clearing Zuccotti Park of the Occupy Wall Street protesters early Tuesday, telling the people there that the nearly two-month-old camp would be “cleared and restored” before the morning and that any demonstrator who did not leave would be arrested. The protesters, about 200 of whom have been staying in the park overnight, resisted with chants of “Whose park? Our park!” as officers began moving in and tearing down tents. The protesters rallied around an area known as the kitchen, near the middle of the park and began building barricades […]
WOW: Jeff Mangum Tix Sold Out In 35 Seconds!
R5: We sold out in 35 seconds. No not because of scalpers or some weird hack or secondary market seller. It’s because lots of people wanted to goto the show (obviously). There was no crash or error. Literally thousands of people attempted to purchase tickets right at 12pm. We apologize to those who didnt get tickets and congratulate those who did. No promises but we are working on a potential second show and will keep everyone updated. We’ll try our best ! RELATED: I felt fortunate to be one of the 100-or-so people to see Jeff Mangum play his intimate set […]