AltWeeklies Wire
Did You Say Willie Nelson and Wynton Marsalis?new
Sometimes weird combos can work. Like pineapple pizza. R.
Philadelphia Weekly |
Caralyn Green |
07-14-2008 |
Reviews
Polvo Taps the Nostalgia on Reunion Tournew
I saw them perform their first show back at Washington, D.C.'s venerable Black Cat in mid-May. The band took the stage to hoots and hollers from a packed house of exactly what you'd expect -- aging white guys whose glory days had long passed.
Philadelphia Weekly |
Brian McManus |
07-07-2008 |
Concerts
Rick Rubin Makes Over Jakob Dylannew
Seeing Things, Jakob's first solo affair, sounds characteristically Rubinesque in its quiet ruminations on all things sad (war, mostly, on "Valley of the Low Sun" and "War Is Kind"), and its back-to-basics instrumentation.
Philadelphia Weekly |
Caralyn Green |
06-30-2008 |
Reviews
Your R. Kelly's-been-acquitted Mixtapenew
It's become reasonable to suspect that if you're rich enough or famous enough, there's little you can be put in prison for. Combine the two, and you couldn't be convicted if you wanted to -- even if you committed your crime on videotape.
Philadelphia Weekly |
Brian McManus |
06-23-2008 |
Music
Stop Trying to Make Alanis Morissette's Latest 'Jagged Little Pill, Part 2'new
The thing is, Flavors of Entanglement is a breakup album, but it's not, y'know, raw like Pill. Its anger is contained, matured. Ripe and self-possessed.
Philadelphia Weekly |
Caralyn Green |
06-23-2008 |
Reviews
Add Lemons are Louder Than Rocks to the Silly Band Names Foldernew
'Gallop' & Other Distorted Loves Songs makes for a jaunty trip, recalling the quirky likes of Starlight Mints and early Dr. Dog along the way.
Philadelphia Weekly |
Doug Wallen |
06-16-2008 |
Profiles & Interviews
Al Green's New Album Will Make You Wish You Were a Better Mannew
If there's one male vocalist who can make the most secure of men feel inadequate about the way he's been living his life, it's Rev. Al. Even after all these years Green still performs with all the authority of a man who has lived, who has accomplishments he's proud of and mistakes he's tried to rectify.
Philadelphia Weekly |
Craig D. Lindsey |
06-03-2008 |
Reviews
Tags: Al Green, Lay It Down
Utah Phillips, 1935-2008new
The singer, songwriter, activist, historian, storyteller and railroad tramp died last month at his home in Nevada City, Calif. Though he spent a lifetime imparting stories, songs and poems to the multitudes that came to hear him play, he took with him all the bits that never got written down -- what he referred to as "the long memory."
Philadelphia Weekly |
Jeffrey Barg |
06-03-2008 |
Music
Sure, Mocking ScarJo is Trendy Right Nownew
By now we all know Maxim hottie Scarlett Johansson has released an album of Tom Waits covers. But, y'know, Anywhere I Lay My Head is actually not so bad.
Philadelphia Weekly |
Caralyn Green |
05-27-2008 |
Reviews
The Breaks Combine Blues, Edgy Pop and Tight Arrangementsnew
Tale of Two Cities doesn't fit easily into one style, with the blues moments alternating with more edgy pop, flowing into more singer-songwriterly areas as well.
Philadelphia Weekly |
Mike Shanley |
05-19-2008 |
Reviews
The Weird Luck and Southern Gothic Styles of Jim Whitenew
When White was picked up by David Byrne's Luaka Bop label, White estimates, only about 30 people had ever heard his music.
Philadelphia Weekly |
Margaret Welsh |
05-19-2008 |
Profiles & Interviews
Jean Grae Says Peace Outnew
One of hip-hop's brightest MCs calls it quits. She says she means it.
Philadelphia Weekly |
Craig D. Lindsey |
05-19-2008 |
Music
Lach on Antifolknew
"Antifolk is to folk what punk was to rock 'n' roll," he says. "Both genres had gotten stale and commercialized and overblown, and the subgenres came in to say the emperor's new clothes didn't exist."
Philadelphia Weekly |
Jennifer Kelly |
05-19-2008 |
Profiles & Interviews
Kurt Vile's Music is Wise Beyond Its Yearsnew
Vile's recorded countless CD-R demos over the years, becoming a home-recording guru in the process, but Hitmaker is his first proper solo release on a label, and it's impressive.
Philadelphia Weekly |
Brian McManus |
05-12-2008 |
Profiles & Interviews
The Country-Country of Lady Antebellumnew
The trio (two coiffed dudes and one done-up blondie in heels), offers just what you’d expect from their self-titled, debut album—soaring, Nashville-style power ballads engineered with a cunning pop/rock patina, all the better for wooing markets of all geographies. And woo they do.
Philadelphia Weekly |
Caralyn Green |
05-12-2008 |
Profiles & Interviews
