[Koko Taylor – Up In Flames (Wild At Heart)] LOS ANGELES TIMES: Koko Taylor, a Chicago musical icon who became one of the most revered female blues vocalists of her time with signature hits such as “Wang Dang Doodle,” “I’m a Woman” and “Hey Bartender,” died Wednesday at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago of complications from gastrointestinal surgery. She was 80. Her death came less than four weeks after her last performance, at the Blues Music Awards in Memphis, where she collected her record 29th Blues Music Award. She had surgery May 19 and appeared to be recovering until taking […]
BOXED OFFERING: How To Grow Up To Be A Debaser
[Illustration by JAY BEVENOUR] Pixies career-encompassing box set called Minotaur will be available for purchase at ainr.com, home of contemporary art reinterpretation box sets for Beck, NIN and Sigur Ros. This stunning reappropriation/recreation of the Pixies catalog as art is “must have” for any fan of Vaughan Oliver or 4AD’s legendary catalog, one that any collector should be salivating to check out. Minotaur is out June 15 in a $175 Deluxe Edition and a $450 Limited Collector’s edition that also includes a 96-page hardcover book and vinyl versions of every Pixies release. The Deluxe Edition will include all five Pixies […]
NPR FOR THE DEF: Terry Gross Q&A
SEATTLE TIMES: To the extent that National Public Radio has its superstars, Terry Gross, host and co-executive producer of the interview program “Fresh Air,” is certainly one of them. Heard Monday through Friday on KPLU-FM — which is hosting Gross’ appearance tonight at the Paramount Theatre — “Fresh Air” is noteworthy for Gross’ thoughtful and penetrating questions of artists, politicians, journalists and activists. Q: One of the appealing things about “Fresh Air” is that you don’t just listen to your guests. You listen deeply. A: People think listening is easy. Listening is hard. It’s easy to be distracted by a […]
DEENEY: The First Time I Got High
BY JEFF DEENEY My first taste of narcotics was a sour one; it never made sense to me that I fell so in love with them later in life after such a traumatic introduction. I didn’t take the drugs on my own the first time. I was too young for that. They were administered to me in a hospital after I broke my arm. I was in a lot of pain and they had to keep me doped up to my eyeballs for hours while waiting through the night for the on-call doc to show up. If I was older […]
CONCERT REVIEW: The Pet Sounds Of Brooklyn
? [Photos by TIFFANY YOON] BY DIANCA POTTS AND KYLEE MESSNER Last night’s sold out performance by Brooklyn’s Grizzly Bear — the It Band of the moment — opened with a set full of ethereal indie rock compliments of opening act (and fellow New Yorkers) Here We Go Magic. Spearheaded by front man Luke Temple, Here We Go Magic’s performance flowed over the calm and composed crowd like a balm, sounding like a revamped resurrection of the Shins circa ’01 and a tamer Animal Collective with a side of forlorn folk. Describing their own sound as “a lovely ruckus,” Here […]
POTUS: Arabian Nights
ASSOCIATED PRESS: President Barack Obama is beginning his latest bid to open a dialogue with the Muslim world by paying a call on Saudi King Abdullah, guardian of Islam’s sacred sites in Mecca and Medina. The monarch of Saudi Arabia plans to greet Obama at Riyadh’s main airport with coffee and ceremony when he arrives Wednesday after an overnight flight from Washington. Saudi Arabia is a stopover en route to Cairo, where Obama is to set deliver a speech that he’s been promising since last year’s election campaign — aiming to set a new tone in America’s often-strained dealings with […]
THE BEATLES: Rock Band
MTV: Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr took the stage at the Microsoft press conference to talk briefly about the game, made by “Rock Band” creators at MTV-owned Harmonix Music, which is slated for release on September 9 for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and the Wii. It will be released alongside replica Beatles instruments that connect to the game — and the long-awaited remastered Beatles catalog will be released on the same day. MORE
NEWSPAPER DEATH WATCH: Philadelphia Bulletin, Self-Styled ‘Conservative Voice’, Ceases Publication
ASSOCIATED PRESS: A Philadelphia newspaper founded in 2004 with the goal of providing a conservative voice has suspended publication, the publisher said. The Bulletin couldn’t afford to operate any longer, Publisher Thomas Rice told employees. Rice wouldn’t go into detail Tuesday, but confirmed The Bulletin had “temporarily” suspended publication. Employees were called into a Monday afternoon meeting and told they were being laid off, said John Rossomando, managing editor. The group was told that even though advertising sales were showing some signs of recovery, the newspaper’s costs had proven insurmountable. Rice launched the newspaper with the historic Philadelphia name in […]
TONITE: Grizzly Bear Jamboree At The Troc
[Grizzly Bear – Two Weeks] UPDATE: THIS SHOW IS SOLD OUT NEW YORK TIMES: Music moves; it can’t do anything else. Grizzly Bear’s songs rev without going anywhere. With broad vocal harmonies and harmonic motion built from unusual guitar tunings, the band gives you beauty until you can’t stand it. I found myself lost in a few bright, bursting moments of its show at Town Hall on Thursday. They felt like static pleasures, though. The concert sits in my memory like a slide show. There is a nearly suffocating fussiness in this band. It can’t be altered: it’s the life […]
SOME LIKE IT HOT: Never Seen Marilyn Pix Surface
LIFE: August 1950: A 24-year-old Marilyn, wearing a simple button-down shirt monogrammed with her initials, leans against a tree in Los Angeles’ Griffith Park for LIFE photographer Ed Clark. The negatives for these photos were recently discovered during our ongoing effort to digitize LIFE’s immense and storied photo archive, including outtakes and entire shoots that never saw the light of day. Click through to see more stunning shots of Marilyn, plus the reason why they may never have been published. MORE
JUDAS PRIEST: Cardinal’s Altar Boy Files Abuse Suit
DAILY NEWS: A former altar boy for the late Cardinal John Krol filed a lawsuit yesterday alleging that he was sexually abused by two priests in the 1970s. The lawsuit makes no allegation of sexual misconduct by the Philadelphia archbishop, who died in 1996, but does contend that Krol blithely ignored the accusations. Lawyers for Steven B. Souder, 47, of Philadelphia, filed the suit in Asheville, N.C., against the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, the diocese of Charlotte, N.C., and a now-retired Philadelphia priest. According to the lawsuit, which seeks damages for emotional and physical abuse, Souder was a student at Roman […]
STYLE COUNCIL: Let’s Get LOST
133 N 3rd St Philadelphia, PA 19106 (215) 928-1311 BY LAURA YACOE As much as I love browsing in the boutiques of Second and Third Street, that $350 dress on sale for $250 won’t be owned by me anytime soon. The customary lap around the store before slipping out is second nature because, I know from experience, my minimal post-undergrad funds are in danger of extinction if I step into the dressing room. But at Lost + Found, my nest egg actually stand a chance and I don’t have to mentally slap my wrist with every item I pick up. […]
When Slim Shady’s Face Met Sacha Cohen’s Junk
ASSOCIATED PRESS: In character as flamboyant fashion reporter “Bruno,” Baron Cohen flew in above Sunday’s award show audience on a wire — and in a pair of feathery white wings and his rear end mostly exposed. But the comedian crashed into an overhead obstacle, and he was lowered into the audience — right into Eminem’s lap, his bare hindquarters in the rapper’s face. Eminem seemed visibly upset at the mishap. Or was it a joke he was in on? The rapper stormed out with his entourage in tow — and cameras rolling. MORE UPDATE: The head writer for the MTV […]