FRESH AIR: On March 15, a 28-year-old Australian man opened fire in two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, killing 50 people and injuring dozens more. The shooter had previously declared allegiance to “white identity” — a fact that came as no surprise to J.M. Berger, an author who studies extremist movements. “We’re seeing a resurgence in various countries,” he says of white nationalism. “It’s a worldwide phenomenon.” Berger, who studies the online activity of extremists, notes that the New Zealand shooter praised President Trump as “as a symbol of renewed white identity” in a 74-page document he published before […]
BEING THERE: Lucy Dacus @ Union Transfer
Photo by JOSH PELTA-HELLER “I should start by saying that I’ve opened for a lot of bands on this stage before, so to be the main act here tonight is just – it’s really wild,” were the first words out of Lucy Dacus’s mouth last night at Union Transfer. Taking shelter from the pouring rain, a near sold-out crowd of hipsters just old enough to understand some of the darkness embedded in Dacus’ lyrics gathered to witness her energy firsthand in what was the penultimate stop of her recent tour. Though her latest record Historian came out a little over […]
STRAND OF OAKS: Keys
Strand of Oaks (Timothy Showalter) returns with his 6th album, Eraserland, released today via label Dead Oceans. On Eraserland, Showalter is backed by My Morning Jacket members Carl Broemel, Bo Koster, Patrick Hallahan and Tom Blankenship, who played a crucial role in the making of the album. The album also features Jason Isbell. It was produced by Kevin Ratterman and recorded at La La Land Studios in Louisville, KY. Showalter and the MMJ guys are in the midst of a North American tour that stops at Union Transfer on Friday May 10th. “I’ve tried ever since Strand of Oaks started […]
CINEMA: This Is America
US (Directed by Jordan Peele, 116 minutes, USA, 2019) BY DAN TABOR FILM CRITIC Us, Jordan Peele’s white-hotly anticipated follow up to to his 2017 breakout hit Get Out, is a stylish, cerebral and visually stunning creepshow that rings loud and true and in the process solidifies his status as our next great American auteur. Peele dodges the sophomore slump serving up another suitably jaundiced meditation on American dysphoria that smartly delivers the requisite scares and yucks. Starring Black Panther break out Winston Duke and Lupita Nyong’o, its a film that’s bigger in scope than than his previous outing and […]
DAMIEN JURADO: Lincoln
Damien Jurado is sharing the opening track from his new album — In the Shape of a Storm, coming out on Mama Bird Recording Co. April 12th — an unearthed two decade-old track, “Lincoln”, which had been slated for his third record but lost in a freak chance technical glitch, only to be re-discovered and re-recorded for the new album. Jurado is about to embark on his album release tour which brings him to Johnny Brenda’s on May 17th (complete list of tour dates after the jump). For more than two decades, Jurado has sung folk songs brimming with […]
CINEMA: Teaser For Tarantino’s New Manson Flick
THE WRAP: On Aug. 9, 1969, [actress] Tate and [hairdresser-to-the-stars] Sebring died at the hands of the Manson Family at her and Polanski’s home on Cielo Drive. So did Tate’s unborn baby, aspiring screenwriter Wojciech Frykowski, and Abigail Folger, heiress to the Folgers coffee fortune, and 18-year-old visitor Steven Parent. In a bizarre turn of events, before the true killings were known, Polanski briefly suspected [martial arts legend] Bruce Lee of the murders. The killer or killers and left a pair of glasses at the home on Cielo Drive, and one morning after the murders, Lee casually mentioned to Polanski, […]
Q&A w/ Daily Show Correspondent Roy Wood Jr.
BY SEAN HECK Well-rounded comedic powerhouse Roy Wood Jr. has garnered laughs throughout his career, initially gaining traction in radio as the head writer and producer for the Buckwilde Morning Show based in his home town of Birmingham, Alabama and Jamie Foxx’s The Foxxhole show on Sirius XM Radio. He was a top three finalist on NBC’s Last Comic Standing, which garnered mainstream attention and established the by-then well-known comic as a household name. He made his scripted television debut on TBS’s Sullivan and Sons. He joined The Best Fucking News Team in 2015 as a correspondent on Comedy Central’s […]
LORD OF THE STRINGS: Q&A With Dick Dale
EDITOR’S NOTE: This interview originally posted on July 16th, 2012. To mark the sad passing of Dick Dale at the age of 81, we are re-posting it. BY JONATHAN VALANIA Surf music? Dick Dale invented the stuff. Pure mainlined adrenaline, it is. Like a pocketful of white lightning. Nitroglycerin on hot wax. Surely you’ve seen the opening moments of Pulp Fiction. Easily the most thrilling marriage of profanity, felony and surf music in the history of American cinema. Rock guitar? He re-invented it. He is more or less the bridge between Chuck Berry and Bo Diddley and Jimi Hendrix and […]
BEING THERE: Meek Mill @ The Met Philly
Photo by DYLAN LONG Meek Mill is for the people. This should come as no surprise if you’re even vaguely familiar with the rapper-turned philanthropist and criminal justice reform leader. His ethos is speaking truth to power – on and offstage, in and out of the studio. Hell, City Council just named this weekend “Meek Mill Weekend” to honor his dedicated efforts to use his platform to incite positive change within his community and beyond. This formal recognition of Meek as the king of Philly coincided with his two-night stand at The Met Philly. And what a homecoming it was. […]
NEW DAY RISING: Q&A W/ Former Husker Du/Current Porcupine Bassmaster Greg Norton
BY JONATHAN VALANIA Five years ago, I went to Portland to profile Bob Mould for a MAGNET cover story. In the course of many hours of interviews, I asked Mould the question he’s been asked 457,876,621 times on the off-chance that the 457,876,622nd time he’s asked if Husker Du will ever regroup the answer would be different. No such luck. “There’s no need, there’s no need,” he says.”That band did everything it had to do the first time around. To try to put the lightning back in that bottle ain’t going to happen. You know, I’ll be really simple about […]
INCOMING: The Horror, The Horror
Cinepunx, the Philadelphia cinema podcast collective, whose love of film is rivaled only by their love of hardcore music, will be screening Starfish March 18th at 7:30pm at The Rotunda. The feature-length debut by director Al White, who is probably best known for being the front man for the UK band Ghostlight, will also be in town for a post screening Q&A. Starfish world premiered at Fantastic Fest, where I caught it back in September and genuinely dug it. The film is a thought provoking look at grief and loss as a young woman, Aubrey (Virginia Gardner), loses her […]