EDITOR’S NOTE: This rollicking interview was originally published on June 12th, 2012. We are reprising it here in advance of Kinky Friedman and Dale Watson performing at the Locks At Sona on Monday March 18th. Enjoy! BY JONATHAN VALANIA Kinky Friedman has worn a lot of hats over the years, both literally and figuratively: Satirical cowboy singer-songwriter (“They Ain’t Making Jews Like Jesus Anymore” and “Get Your Biscuits In The Oven And Your Buns In The Bed”); serial detective fiction novelist; friend to animals; scourge of the phony, the corrupt and the ignorant; purveyor of fine tequila/salsa/cigars, and failed […]
ARCADE FIRE: Baby Mine
From Tim Burton’s forthcoming Dumbo. Easily the best thing they’ve done since The Suburbs.
BEING THERE: Bob Weir & Wolf Bros @ The Met
Bob Weir & Wolf Bros @ Met Philly Friday night. Photo by JOSH PELTA-HELLER Though lift off initially felt a little wobbly, when Bob Weir and Wolf Bros finally noodled their way out of a nebulous aural haze and into a discernible set opener Friday night at Philly’s Met, the Grateful Dead founder, fronting a stripped down trio of legendary producer Don Was on upright bass and Primus alumnus Jay Lane on drums, still managed to elevate the sold-out crowd to stratospheric highs with new interpretations of some old tunes and debuting some unexpected new ones. The opener, Weir’s 80s-era […]
CINEMA: Bikini Kill Kill
CAPTAIN MARVEL (Dir. by Anna Boden & Ryan Fleck, 124 min., USA, 2019) BY DAN TABOR FILM CRITIC Captain Marvel arrives at an interesting inflection point in the Marvel Comics Universe, preceding the apocalyptic events of Infinity War by decades, while introducing what could possibly be their most powerful superhero yet. The film is directed by the husband/wife team of Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck, who have a demonstrable knack for complex character building, which is surely why they were chosen to bring Marvel’s first female led superhero film to theaters. Brie Larson was recruited for the title role […]
MUST READ: One Nation, Under Fox, Divisible
THE NEW YORKER: In January, during the longest government shutdown in America’s history, President Donald Trump rode in a motorcade through Hidalgo County, Texas, eventually stopping on a grassy bluff overlooking the Rio Grande. The White House wanted to dramatize what Trump was portraying as a national emergency: the need to build a wall along the Mexican border. The presence of armored vehicles, bales of confiscated marijuana, and federal agents in flak jackets underscored the message. But the photo op dramatized something else about the Administration. After members of the press pool got out of vans and headed over […]
Guided By Voices Announce Next Month’s Release Of War And Woof LP, The Follow-Up To Last Month’s Zeppelin Over China Double LP
Following GBV’s sprawling double-album Zeppelin Over China, Robert Pollard has written and recorded another full-length in record-breaking time. It’s Warp and Woof (April 26, 2019), exuberantly barreling through 24 songs in just 37 minutes with a brevity similar to mid-90s GBV albums Alien Lanes and Vampire On Titus. GBV kicked this one out in a flash, recorded in studios, club soundchecks, hotel rooms and even in the tour van. After completing Zeppelin, Pollard felt the itch to record a few EPs. Just as GBV had done back in 1994, he would use them to channel his everflowing ideas to […]
THE BLACK KEYS: Lo/Hi
First Black Keys’ music since 2014, released today without explanation. PREVIOUSLY: Given the expansive economies of the ’90s, it was no wonder that stripped-down, gutbucket guitar-and-drum duos like Flat Duo Jets and Doo Rag couldn’t get arrested, their minimalist roots-rock exiled to the sub basements of the indie concert circuit and the privileged ghetto of college radio. But in this age of austerity, when everyone is doing more with less, it is stripped-down, gutbucket guitar-and-drum duos like The White Stripes and, more recently, The Black Keys, that have made some of the most seminal and commercially-viable music. Upon the release […]
BEING THERE: Positively 4th Street
800 block of North 4th St. Philadelphia. Photo by JONATHAN VALANIA “May 10th. Thank God for the rain which has helped wash away the garbage and trash off the sidewalks. I’m workin’ long hours now, six in the afternoon to six in the morning. Sometimes even eight in the morning, six days a week. Sometimes seven days a week. It’s a long hustle but it keeps me real busy. I can take in three, three fifty a week. Sometimes even more when I do it off the meter. All the animals come out at night – whores, skunk pussies, buggers, […]
‘If the Grateful Dead came to town, I’d beat my way in with a fucking tire iron if necessary.’ — Hunter S. Thompson
Bob Weir is one of the founding members of the legendary Grateful Dead. They were an American band. Since establishing the Dead in 1965, Weir has become one of rock’s finest and most distinctive rhythm guitarists. He is currently a member of Dead & Company which features Grateful Dead members Mickey Hart and Bill Kreutzmann along with GRAMMY-winner John Mayer, Oteil Burbridge and Jeff Chimenti. Weir is embarking on a Fall 2018 North American tour with Bob Weir and The Wolf Bros, a new trio featuring Weir, Don Was (on upright bass!) and Jay Lane performing songs of Grateful […]
SH*T MY UNCLE SAYS: Who Killed Otto Warmbier?
You know, ever since I read Doug Bock Clark’s GQ article about Otto Warmbier there’s been something bothering me, but I couldn’t quite bring it to mind. Now I can. It was the part about supposed “in the know” individuals (yes, those are my words but they quite accurately express the gist) feeling that a suicide attempt could plausibly explain Otto’s physical and mental condition upon his return. What was NOT offered, however, was ANY kind of explanation/supposition as to what he might conceivably have used to commit such an act, or how he might conceivably have gone about […]
BEING THERE: Deerhunter @ Union Transfer
Photo by JOSH PELTA-HELLER Over the course of eight studio albums since their inception in 2001, Deerhunter have grown to be a canonical act in the realm of psychedelic indie-rock. Fronted by multi-instrumentalist and founder Bradford Cox, the band have undergone a series of lineup changes marked by tragedy: two bassists, Justin Bosworth and Josh Fauver died while they were in Deerhunter, the former from a skateboarding head-injury and the latter from unannounced causes. Deerhunter’s self-described “ambient punk” has steadily morphed from wild, psychedelic garage-punk to poppy indie-rock. The band are on the road once again following the release of […]
CINEMA: Q&A With Acclaimed Director Neil Jordan
BY DAN TABOR FILM CRITIC Neil Jordan has been creating thought provoking cinema for decades and last week I got a few moments to chat with the director of such films as Interview With The Vampire, The Crying Game and The Company Of Wolves. His latest film, Greta, which opens today, is a captivating thriller about Frances, a young woman (Chloë Grace Moretz) in New York who befriends an older woman Greta (Isabelle Huppert) when she finds her purse on the subway. As Frances gets to know Greta, we soon find she is not exactly the harmless, little old […]
THE BUGLER: Q&A W/ Brit Satirist Andy Zaltzman
Andy Zaltzman is a stand-up comedian, broadcaster and author, who has firmly established himself in the vanguard of British comedy with his unique brand of political satire. He is the writer and presenter of the satirical podcast The Bugle, one of iTunes’s biggest ever comedy podcasts. Since The Bugle’s inception in 2007 it has gained a worldwide fan-base – including a prominent US audience. It has aired almost 400 episodes and each episode averages one million downloads. Initially co-written and presented with John Oliver (host of HBO’s Last Week Tonight), the podcast has now been relaunched as part of […]