Daily News, Dec. 22-29

Dec. 22: A Pick for Cuban-born and one-time Philadelphia resident Elio Villafranca's show at the Art Museum; and listings for MJ Project, Calvin Weston's Big Tree, Nial Djuliarso, Jump City Jazz Orchestra, and Ripplegroove.

Dec. 29: A feature on ex-Philly drummer Ari Hoenig, a Pick for the Sun Ra Arkestra's second annual NYE show at the Ethical Society, and listings for Gerald Veasley, Soulive, Sound of Market's Duke Ellingotn jazz workshop, Hoppin' John Orchestra's NYE show at Chris' and Bootsie Barnes & John Swana's at Ortlieb's, and Denis DiBlasio at Collingswood's First Thursday.

Citypaper, Dec. 21 & 28

To round out the year alt-weekly style:

Dec. 21: Reviews of Sly's nostalgia fest Rocky Balboa and Matthew McConaughey continuing to scrape the bottom of the acting barrel in the football schmaltz We Are Marshall; and my (admittedly fairly arbitrary) year-end Top 10 Jazz CDs list.

Dec. 28: Some last-minute year-end business: a quick write-up of Gnarls Barkley's "St. Elsewhere", no. 10 on CP's Top 21 Rock/Pop/Hip-Hop CDs list; and another quickie on Ashley Kahn's fine history of Impulse! Records, "The House That Trane Built", for the favorite Books of 2006 list.

Final Metros for '06

Metro still continues to be spotty about updating their website, but my last couple of pieces for the year were:

Dec. 21: My interview with 80s synth-pop icon and ringtone tycoon Thomas Dolby, prior to his World Cafe bill with BT (pg. 17).

Dec. 29: Not posted, and I haven't grabbed a copy, so just take my word for it that I worte pieces on the Kimmel's trio of silent film programs to be accompanied by Tom Trenney on their new organ; and Mike "Slo-Mo" Brenner, Philly's favorite hip-hop inflected slide guitarist, and his NYE party at World Cafe Live.

Daily News 12/8-15

Dec. 8: The weekend section had my interview with Philly violinist John Blake, Jr., a vet of both Grover Washington's and McCoy Tyner's bands. Also, a Pick for Spaceship on the Highway, the quartet featuring Fred Anderson, Henry Grimes, Marshall Allen, and Avreeayl Ra; and listings for Pat Martino, Freddy Cole, Vadim Neselovskyi, and the Drake Jazz project.

Dec. 11: A feature on "A Camden Christmas Carol", an intriguing new slant on the Dickens chestnut, updating the original's Victorian Camdentown to modern-day Camden, being produced at the Rutgers-Camden Center for the Arts.

Dec. 15: A story on Skirl Records, the new brooklyn-based label started by Chris Speed. Also, a Pick for Jamaaladeen Tacuma's show "Coltrane's Configurations" at Zanzibar Blue, and listings for Eddie Gomez & Mark Kramer and Bobby Zankel.

Citypaper, Dec. 7 & 14

Dec. 7: A review of Paul Feig's mini-Freaks and Geeks Xmas film Unaccompanied Minors; a Pick for the Tritone CD release show of local free jazz-meets-worldbeat band Sonic Liberation Front; and two Soundadvice bits, one for the meeting of Jack Wright and John Bennett as Rotty What, and one for modern marimbist Nathaniel Bartlett.

Dec. 14: Two film reviews: a feature on terry Gilliam's sorely disappointing (but see it anyway - you still owe him for Baron Munchausen) new film Tideland; and a short on the perfectly acceptable if unexciting new adaptation of Charlotte's Web.

December Metros

There's an excuse for the lack of updates lately: Metro's been really bad at keeping issues posted to their site, so I figured I'd wait it out and see if they ever posted any of the missing ones. They haven't, so I'll include links where I can and otherwise just mention what's been done.

On Dec. 4 (not posted), there was my interview with subversive punk-turned-Elvis impersonator-but-still-really-a-subversive punk El Vez, prior to his Mexican Merry Mex-mas show at World Cafe, which was a blast.

Dec. 6 (not posted) had a really fun interview with Nerdcore rapper and occasional cartoon character MC Chris, which I may post here in its entirety. Lots of entertaining bitching about his brief and miserable time living in South Philly.

Dec. 8 (yet again, not posted) had three pieces: an interview with Philly singer/songwriter Cynthia G. Mason; a piece on the new experimental music and dance troupe Perpetual Mvmt<>Snd and their revival of the Rashomon Effect, a round-robin improv score inspired by the Kurosawa film; and one on Lunacy, the latest Jan Svankmajer film, which played at International House.

Dec. 15 (hey, this one's actually online) had two local experimental shows: Friday's rendition of John Zorn's Cobra, led by trombonist Daniel Blacksberg (pg. 25); and Dark Forces Swing Blind Punches, a ten-band fest of brutal prog at the Avant gentleman's Lodge, which I'll also be reviewing for Signal To Noise (speaking of which, my review of local saxophonist Seth Meicht's two new releases is in this month's issue).

November Catch-up: Daily News

Nov. 17 saw me take over the DN's jazz beat, so each Friday will have a pick and listings for the week's shows.

Nov. 17: A short piece on Blue Note pianist Robert Glasper and his trio, along with a Pick (actually, a repurposed listing, since my Pick on Glasper went on too long) and listings for McCoy Tyner and Jimmy Bruno. The listings don't seem to be archived - at least, I can't find 'em.

Nov. 24: A Pick on the reunited Microscopic Septet and listings for Louis Hayes, Roy Ayers, Catherine Russell, and Dr. Guy's MusiQology.

Nov. 27: A feature on pianist Dave Burrell's new commission based on the Rosenbach Museum's exhibit "Look Again: African-American History IS American History." Wherein my name is spelled wrong. Ah well, the paper's on the verge of a strike - suppose they're a tad distracted.

Nov. 28: A feature on the Yule Ball, five Harry Potter-related bands celebrating Christmas and wizardry at the Starlight Ballroom.

Dec. 1: A story on Sonny Rollins prior to his stamina-testing show at the Kimmel, a Pick for Tin Hat clarinetist Ben Goldberg, and listings for Dave Burrell, Henry Butler & Corey Harris, Arpeggio Jazz Ensemble, Matt Wilson Quartet, Will Downing, and Butch Ballard.

November Catch-up: Citypaper

Three weeks of Citypapers:

Nov. 16: A Pick on vocalist songwriter Ann Hampton Callaway. There was also supposed to be a small Soundadvice on McCoy Tyner's History of Impulse! septet show at the Kimmel, but that seems to have disappeared into the ether. No big loss, really.

Nov. 23: A feature on pianist/Penn professor Guthrie Ramsey and his entrepeneurially-bent jazz band, Dr. Guy's MusiQology. Also, a Soundadvice mention of Louis hayes' Cannonball Legacy Band.

Nov. 30: A review of the Heath Ledger-starring Aussie drug movie Candy and a Pick for the first entry in the Bowerbird @ Landmarks series, where Dustin Hurt's experimental music promoting apparatus will be placed inside historic homes in Old City.

November Catch-up: Metro

Ok, so I'm really bad at keeping this updated. So here, in three updates, is the remainder of November. First up, the Metro:

Nov. 14: For some reason, this issue isn't online, but I had a fun little interview with prolific ex-Guided By Voices frontman Robert Pollard in it. You'll just have to trust me on that.

Nov. 15: This issue is online, but the piece on Centro-Matic that I wrote for it got cut. 0 for 2 so far.

Nov. 17: Two pieces in the weekend section: an interview with co-founding Beach Boy Al Jardine prior to his joining Brian Wilson to celebrate the 40th anniversary of Pet Sounds at the Keswick (pg. 17); and one with folk legend Doc Watson, also showing up at the Keswick the same weekend (pg. 18).

Nov. 20: A piece on the Jim Jarmusch retrospective being presented by the three Renew theaters - Bryn Mawr, Ambler, County (pg. 15).

Nov. 22: The Burn-Down All-Stars, a Philly-based live-instrument hip-hop group (pg. 18).


Nov. 27: International House's seven-film survey of films from the boot, New Authors of Italian Cinema (pg. 12).

Nov. 30: Pittsburgh-based prog duo Zombi, who play songs from and inspired by seventies Italian horror flicks - especially Goblin's music for Dario Argento and Dawn of the Dead (pg. 14).

Dec. 1: An overview of the area's (very few) holiday film offerings (pg. 18); and an interview with John Perry, who pays tribute to George Harrison with his show Dark Horse (pg. 19).

Daily News, 11/13/06

In today's Daily News: A feature on local performance artist Sebastienne Mundheim's "Currently Franklin: The Story of a Paper Boy", a wonderful multi-media all-ages show on the Founding Father that employs puppetry, dance and projection.

Metro, 11/9-13/06

In the last week or so of the Metro:

Nov. 6: The Easy Star All-Stars, reggae artists covering entire rock albums, first with Pink Floyd on "Dub Side of the Moon", now with Radiohead's "OK Computer" on "Radiodread" (Pg. 17).

Nov. 9: Mitch Easter, one-time REM producer and Let's Active frontman, touring in advance of his first recording in 18 years (Pg. 18).

Nov. 10: pieces on West Chester University's eleventh annual Harpfest (Pg. 13) and the trio-plus-one Medeski Martin Scofield and Wood (Pg. 14), plus a cut not-very-good interview with Arlo Guthrie's son-in-law Johnny Irion for the Guthrie Family Reunion Tour (remnants, Pg. 11).

Nov. 13: Philly-area film collector Lou DiCrescenzo descends on the County Theater in Doylestown with "Missile to the Moon", a less-than-classic 1958 sci-fi programmer, plus a selection of trailers and cartoons.

Citypaper, 11/9/06

In this week's Citypaper: a Naked City feature on the demise of the multiplex-turned-experimental art space The Cinema; and a review of the indie cliche patchwork The Unknown.

Metro, 11/3/06

Only one piece in today's Metro weekend section: an interview with wry singer/songwriter Amy Rigby, currently celebrating the tenth anniversary of her acclaimed debut solo CD, "Diary of a Mod Housewife," by performing the album in its entirety at World Cafe Live (Pg. 19).

Citypaper, 11/2/06

In this week's Citypaper: a Pick for legendary avant-jazz pianist Cecil Taylor, playing at International House on Saturday night, and two Soundadvice previews, on the Yellowjackets and Stephan Crump's Rosetta Trio. Also, four CP Choice Awards: three in A&E, for Dustin Hurt's Bowerbird series, Gene Coleman's Tabadol Project, and Byard Lancaster; and one in food, for Lafayette Hill Italian joint From the Boot.

Metro, 11/1/06

In today's Metro: an interview with local experimental filmmaker Peter Rose, who presented a career-spanning program of his short films at the Bryn Mawr Film Institute (Pg. 10).

Daily News, 10/30-31/06

A double shot of Yo! cover stories:

First, an interview with the Brothers Quay, the eccentric genius twin animators originally from Norristown, who will be in town this week for a retrospective of their work.

And a piece on "Agents and Assets," a play taken from transcripts of Congressional hearings on the CIA being involved in or at least turning a blind eye to drug smuggling that funded the Contras in Nicaragua, performed by actual recovering addicts from Project HOME and produced locally by Art Sanctuary.

Go Ask Alice, 10/20/06

Everybody has one: an artist they've been following since early in their musical development, sometimes against their better judgment, even when most of their tastes have changed. For me, that's Alice Cooper. I grew up listening to him, suffered through albums like "Trash" and "Hey Stoopid," and will defend much of his output to anyone who'll listen. Plus, he still puts on a hell of a show, which I just caught for the seventh time since 1990 on Saturday at the House of Blues in AC. Before that show, I got the chance to speak with the Coop for a Metro piece (see 10/27, below, for link). But here's the complete (more or less) transcript, with my questions roughed in from memory.

Over the years, I've heard you discuss how the Alice character has changed. Where do you see Alice in 2006?

AC: Well you know, I stay out of politics. I try to stay in the classic vein of what Alice does, which is really pretty much some kind of a cabaret vaudeville. Pure entertainment as far as I look at it. That’s why I don’t get into political issues and things like that. I always wanted Alice to be an escape from anything like that. Come to an Alice Cooper show and escape your daily reality. Because he’s gonna take you into this different reality. And I think that that’s the fun of the show, is that you come and there’s 28 songs, 26 of which are gonna be hard rock songs. And every single song is gonna have a theatrical bit to it. One just might be a sword with dollar bills on it, one might be something as elaborate as an entire guillotine scene, with the audience being the townspeople. But every single song has got a theatrical bit. I really challenge the audience’s imagination. I want them to get lost in the show. It bothers me if I look down and I see people talking. Because they’re not watching. So I kinda want an audience that’s totally wrapped up in the show. Even though the first, I’d say, first fifteen songs is almost just like a shotgun blast of hard rock. You know, we had fourteen top forty hits, so I try to hit ‘em with all that stuff right up front and then take them into the heavier theatrics at the middle to the end of the show.

How difficult is it to construct a set list given how many songs you have to play each time out?

AC: Oh, I know, you’re exactly right. It’s the same thing with the Who and the Stones and anybody like that. We’re doing shows with the Stones, you know, and I’ll sit down, I’m listening to the set, and I’m going, ok, ok, ok, ok, boy I wish they would do… and every once in a while they throw me a song that I’d never expect them to do. Something like “Fortune Teller,” you know, that was was like a B-side, 1964, you know. And for the real Rolling Stones fan, that’s a really big deal to hear a song like that and I take a cue from that, and I said ok, let’s do all these hits and then let’s do “Drive Me Nervous.” So the real fan will go, ah, I never thought I’d hear that song.

There's always one or two like that, whenever I've seen you.

AC: Yeah, see, that’s it. And I can tell who the real fans are when you start that song. And then there’s the other ones that they sing along to. It’s so funny to hear them singing along to “Welcome To My Nightmare,” like a sing-song. Or “Steven.” Here’s this song about this psychotic serial killer and everybody’s going with their lighters, you know. I want to stop and say, “You know, this is about a serial killer.”

You must be especially gratified at things like that around now, with Halloween so close.

AC: See to me, I think comedy and horror are so close. There’s just a very thin razor line there between Jack the Ripper and Clouseau. I mean, in my show, Alice might slit your throat, but three steps later he could very well slip on a banana peel. And so you’re horrified at one second, and then laughing your head off the next. You kind of feel embarrassed about laughing, because this poor girl just got her throat slit, but Alice just slipped on a banana peel.

Are people who only know you by reputation surprised by the goofy humor of your radio show?

AC: Well, I think so. Because Alice never talks to the audience. The character never says thank you, he never says here’s a song that we did in 197-, he never does that. Because he’s this arrogant, villainous bastard. He’s Captain Hook. You know, he’s the dominatrix, so he doesn’t feel he has to lower himself to say thank you. But that’s the character. And if he did let it go, if he went up there and started talking to the audience, they would go, ‘Aw. Well, there’s no mystery to that.’ That’s why I keep Alice, when I play him, I really make sure he’s this overbearing sort of villain that you don’t like but you really do like. But you’re right. When I – I just listened to Bob Dylan’s show. To his radio show for the first time. And I thought 'How weird is this, for him to be playing songs?' Because there’s so much mystery around Bob Dylan. And I’m listening, and he goes, [in nasal Dylan voice] ‘Well, right now, I would be remiss to not play this song for all the graduates out here. It’s a song by Vincent Damon Furnier, who slapped some make-up on and called himself Alice Cooper.’ And the song starts and he goes, ‘No more pencils. No more books. I can’t even think of a word that rhymes.’ And I went, that is the weirdest thing I ever heard. Because it’s Bob Dylan, that’s the poet laureate, the same guy that you sat around listening to his lyrics, going, ‘Wow. This guy’s out there.’ So when I do my radio show, I let them know right up front, I’m Alice, but this isn’t the Alice you see on stage. This is the matter-of-fact Alice, this is the Alice that’s gonna insult you. And insult himself. And the great thing about the show is since I know everybody, everybody I play, I know, so I have no problem saying that “Come Sail Away” is the gayest song ever written. And then Tommy Shaw will come on and say ‘What do you mean by that? "Only Women Bleed" is the gayest song!' And then we argue back and forth about it. But I’m allowed to say that either Sting or Bono is a candidate to be the anti-Christ. You know, because they’re trying to save the world, and that’s biblically what the anti-Christ is gonna do. But I hope they understand my sense of humor, because nobody’s complained yet. We figured it out anyway, that if Dr. Phil and Oprah have a baby, that’s the anti-Christ. That has to be it.

You tend to shift sounds every three or four albums. Is that a conscious decision made before you start writing?

AC: That starts at the very beginning of the whole process of the album. When I did “Last Temptation,” that was a great storyline. I said, 'I want to do an album that’s sort of a parallel to “Something Wicked This Way Comes.” Where the character is offering this 13-year-old kid everything, and in the end the kid doesn’t buy into it.' Just because it’s a great story, and I was trying to make the point of this: Hollywood tells every 13-year-old kid that if you’re not high or you haven’t gotten laid by the time you’re 13, there’s something wrong with you. I think that’s a bad message. So I wanted this kid, the geek that realizes he’s a virgin at 13, well, he should be at 13. That he’s not an outcast. Be your own self, don’t let any of these people tell you what you should be or what you shouldn’t be. That was the message to that whole thing. “Brutal Planet” and “Dragontown,” you know, were great stories about, here’s a society going towards a brick wall at a thousand miles an hour, and when it hits it, what’s going to happen? Well, “Dragontown”, here’s the finality of Hell. The most horrific thing in the world is the fact that Biblically, Hell is no way out. There’s no repentance. Once you’re there, you’re there. And I said, that’s a great horror story. So that’s why “Dragontown” and “Brutal Planet” were both industrial like that. I kinda wanted them to be good songs, but a little bit more brutal, a little bit more hardcore. When this came along, I said, we just did three conceptual albums. And then I heard the White Stripes. And I heard The Strokes and The Vines and The Hives and I said, listen to all these bands that are going back to the garage. And the reason I like them is that they remind me of “Killer” and “Love It To Death.” Let’s write that. Let’s go back and write that kind of song. And so, it was so much fun to go in and write a three-minute rock song. And let the band play it and no overdubs. Just say, I want the band to play this, I said 'I want you guys to be the best bar band in the world.' And we’re not gonna overdub. When we play a rock song, on some of the other stuff we’ll overdub, you know, the more intricate stuff, but when it comes to this hard stuff, I said we’re gonna just play it. If you miss a beat, if you drop a bass line, if you miss a guitar line, great. That’s what a band sounds like. Nobody’s perfect. I mean, I don’t want this Steely Dan album. I want this to be a good rock and roll Alice Cooper album. So that’s the approach we took. We did one album in fourteen days and we did the other one in fifteen. You know, “Love It To Death” took six months. But I learned all that stuff from Bob Ezrin, so I could transfer all that knowledge into doing the same kind of album in fifteen days. With Pro-Tools, that cuts everything in half. Unbelievable. Anybody can make an album in their house now.

It seems that in recent years, Alice has lashed out at pop culture, or celebrity culture.

AC: Well, you know what it is, is I think that Alice being the non-conformist, doesn’t like to be put into that 'Just because I’m an entertainer, I’m a liberal.' Alice doesn’t buy into that at all. Alice doesn’t mind a bit of violence, if it’s for God and country. And at the same time, I think that there’s a moral streak that runs through Alice, a strange, romantic moral streak. That he doesn’t buy into the fact that everyone should buy into Hollywood, what they say. I hate the idea that there’s fourteen-year-old girls on MTV half-naked. I sit there and I go, and Tom Petty said the same thing, 'Ten years ago, that would have been kiddie porn.' Now we’re sitting there going hey, isn’t that great? It’s entertainment. It’s ok. Not only MTV, but on any video show. It’s sort of like, if you’ve got a great song, the only way you’re allowed to sell it is by being half-naked. I kinda look at that and I have two daughters and I go, why is that right?

And you use one of your daughters onstage to demonstrate that.

AC: Oh, yeah. Well, Calico, she’s me times three. She could talk her way out of a sunburn.

Is it therapeutic for father & daughter to kill each other on stage every night?

AC: Oh, yeah. And it’s the funniest thing in the world because she’s really good. I mean, if I were going to cast somebody in this part, I would never have been able to find anybody with the comic timing that she has, or the one that can go from really vulnerable to totally vicious as quickly as her. But she’s got like four movies coming out, she’s a good actress. And she really knows how to play it, and she’s ballet trained, and she’s jazz trained, and she’s basically gymnastics, martial arts, everything. She can do everything.

What's your stage show like this tour?

AC: Well, I give the audience a pretty good blast of rock and roll - I would say the first half of the show, is hit after hit after hit after hit, and mostly hand props for Alice. And then the show starts turning. And all of a sudden you realize the show has changed into a much more theatrical venue now. And all of a sudden now, every song has got a lot of theatrics in it. And there’s three or four more people on stage, and pretty soon you’re really involved in this production of what this thing is. So I kind of do that morph into the big theatrics right in front of the audience. And my best reaction from the audience is sort of, remember the reaction of the audience in "Springtime For Hitler?" That kind of jaw-drop, eyes wide open, in disbelief? I get that a lot.


They must know what’s coming.

AC: Well, you know, we’ve played two or three cities we’ve never played before on this run, and I can always tell those cities because I look at the audience and it’s like, ‘What?’ Because you know, Philadelphia, New York, everybody’s seen the show and they know it’s going to be this and they know it’s going to be that, but when you play a city that’s never seen you before, we forget that they haven’t seen us. So we look at this audience and they are just dumbfounded.


Do you write songs with the show in mind?

AC: Not necessarily. At points we’re writing the song and all of a sudden, when we’re playing it, all of a sudden I’ll go, 'Uh-oh, this is a stage song.' And at points I’ll go, 'This is a great song but I don’t think this is gonna read on stage.' A song like “Jesse Jane,” as funny as that song is, I tried to picture it on stage and I went, it’s too broad humor. It’s too funny on that level where it’s not Alice enough. But with a song like “Woman of Mass Distraction,” or “Dirty Diamonds,” or “Steal That Car,” oh yeah, that’s a total stage song. And that’s the difference. You really can’t tell till you hear the band play it and you go, oh yeah, this is gonna be huge, this one is.

With all the recent reissues, like "Good To See You Again" on DVD, does seeing old stuff spark new ideas?

AC: Well, I forgot about that stage show. And I was watching Alice, which was a different Alice. That was more the alcoholic Alice, and I noticed his posture was different, the take on it was different. He was more the whipping boy for society. When I came out sober, I was suddenly this much more defined villain, who would stand up straight with his different posture, and he wasn’t going to take it anymore. So there were two Alices. There was that Alice and then there’s the new Alice. The new Alice is much more fun to play.


Can you see a portrait of yourself in the character over time?

AC: No, not really, because the character is a character that was built for rock and roll. He was rock and roll’s villain. I don’t really personalize Alice very much at all. I kind of look at him as being a character that I use. There’s not many of my psychosis things going on in Alice, I don’t think. There’s many more social things going on with Alice. He’s more of society’s dartboard. But I don’t really think that I confess too much up there.

Not-So-Massive Daily News Update, Sept/Oct '06

Ok, so I don't do quite as much work for the DN as I do for my other regular outlets. But here's the couple of items that ran recently:

Sept. 26: A piece on Tania Katan, who had breast cancer twice, and a double mastectomy, by the age of 31, and turned the experience into a very funny book and then into a (supposedly very funny, though I didn't see it) one-woman show.

Oct. 2: "The Funny Side of Poe," a feature on comedian Grover Silcox's one-man Poe show, running throughout October at the allegedly haunted Old Mill Inn in Hatboro.

Oct. 27: a story about Sierra Leone's Refugee All-Stars, a band of musicians formed in a refugee camp in Guinea and now touring the world.

Massive Citypaper Update Sept/Oct '06

Part two of the catch-up posts, seven weeks' worth of missed CPs.

Sept. 14: Lots of stuff in this issue - the Fall jazz calendar; a review of the recent eight-film Pedro Almodovar retrospective; a review of the animated baseball flick Everyone's Hero; a Cold Open for the pretty-boy warlocks film The Covenant; a preview for Slate.com writer Fred Kaplan's lecture "Are We in the Midst of WWIII?"; a feature on Philly organist Trudy Pitts' inaugural jazz run of the Kimmel Center's new organ; a Pick for a pair of shows by Lebanese saxophonist Christine Sehnaoui; and two Soundadvice previews, for Vijay Iyer's Fieldwork and for the Nels Cline/Glenn Kotche duo. Whew.

Sept. 21: A review of Jackass: Number Two; a preview of a retrospective of the work of self-mutilating performance artist Gunter Brus; a feature on trombonist and denture wearer Grachan Moncur III (ignore the misidentified pic of Khan Jamal, who played with Moncur that week); a Pick for the Tranestop Jazz Festival, which brought Archie Shepp to town; and two Soundadvice previews, for the Wally Shoup Trio and for saxophonist Don Braden.

Sept. 28: CP's glossy, full-color 25th anniversary edition included my review of Michel Gondry's The Science of Sleep; a review of the British black comedy (?) Keeping Mum; a preview of Winterthur's Fashion in Film exhibit; a Pick for the Print Center's Camera Obscura project; a Pick for a talk by Ashley Kahn, author of the recent histoy of Impulse! Records, The House That Trane Built; and a Soundadvice preview for Gene Coleman's Ensemble Noamnesia performing with visiting Chinese musicians.

Oct. 5: A review of Pedro Almodovar's Law of Desire, part of the retrospective I overviewed three weeks back; a feature on trombonist/electronics experimentalist George Lewis; a Pick for bassist Dave Holland; and two Soundadvice previews, for Ben Allison & Medicine Wheel and the duo of Han Bennink and Peter Brotzmann.

Oct. 12: The bi-annual Music Issue, for which I contributed a piece on Philly improviser Jack Wright and his house of musicians; and for the regular Music section, a feature on pianist Uri Caine (interviewed from the front porch of my friends' place in Glendale, CA on our last day of vacation); and a Pick for the duo of Evan Parker and Ned Rothenberg; and another Almodovar review, this one for Matador.

Oct. 19: A Pick for atmospheric Polish trumpeter Tomasz Stanko; and two Soundadvice previews, for Mat Maneri's Pentagon and Eyvind Kang's Dying Ground.

Oct. 26: A feature on Philly tenorman and Saxophone Choir leader Odean Pope; a Soundadvice preview of Slought Foundation's Philly Jazz Fest; and a review of Christopher Nolan's not-really-quicker-than-the-eye magic-off The Prestige.

Massive Metro Update Sept/Oct '06

Ok, so I haven't updated this site in damn near two months. (Well, really, did anyone notice? Did ya?) Things got really busy there for a bit, then a nice SoCal vacation, after which things got even busier catching up from the nice SoCal vacation, which brings us to today. This whole writing thing has become the full-time gig in the meantime, so there should theoretically be more blogging time, which may end up meaning original content rather than just pointers to stuff other people have paid for. We'll see. For now, a couple pointer posts to bring things up to date. First, Metros for the last two months, starting with:

Sept. 13: An incestuous little interview with fellow Metro-ite Bruce Walsh, promoting his Fringe Fest performance (Pg. 14).

Sept. 14: Cross Pollination, first in a planned series of shows by local jazz guys bringing in friends from outta town, featuring an interview with trumpeter Bart Miltenberger of the Chance Trio (Pg. 15).

Sept. 15: A brief interview with jazz singer Nancy Wilson (Pg. 16) and a piece on a wine and beer fest benefiting the Crohn's & colitis Foudation (Pg. 19).

Sept. 20: An interview with Dylan-esque singer/songwriter Dan Bern (Pg. 11).

Sept. 21: The mysterious-for-the-hell-of-it Virginville Film Festival (Pg. 18) and Philly Brazilians Alo Brasil (Pg. 21).

Sept. 25: Buckethead! (Pg.19). Oh, and a reading of banned books (Pg. 20).

Sept. 27: Tesoros, the Art Museum's wide-ranging survey of Latin American art (Pg. 15).

Sept. 29: The Franklin Institute's second Grossology exhibit, this one focusing on the stomach-churning animal kingdom (Pg. 17).

Oct. 4: Eight-string guitarist Charlie Hunter (Pr. 13).

Oct. 5: International House's new-documentaries program Views of a Changing World, featuring Michael Glawogger's stunning Workingman's Death (Pg. 19).

Oct. 6: Iron Maiden, baby. I interviewed drummer Nicko McBrain, thereby satisfying the 15-year-old, long-haired, backpatch wearing me that still dwells somewhere inside my head (Pg. 24). I haven't been keeping up with the Maiden in recent years (I jumped ship when Bruce Dickinson did and never got back on), but in prepping for this piece I picked up their latest, "A Matter of Life and Death," which is great. A real flashback for old Maiden fans.

Oct. 9: The multi-cultural Fes Festival of World Sacred Music, featuring an interview with percussionist Jamey Haddad (Pg. 17).

Oct. 11: A documentary on various Sesame Street versions around the world (Pg. 13) and an interview with frank and long-forgotten soul singer Bettye Lavette (Pg. 14).

Oct. 13: Katrina-displace Nawlins saxophonist Donald Harrison, Jr. (Pg. 22).

Oct. 17: Documentarian Tigre Hill on his film about the Katz/Street mayoral election, Shame of a City (Pg. 21).

Oct. 19: Style-mixing rock/rap/reggae showcase Gen(r)e Splicing (Pg. 19).

Oct. 20: Actor-turned-singer/songwriter Jeff Daniels (Pg. 22).

Oct. 25: "The Muse of Mexico," Tania Perez-Salas, whose dance company put on a strikingly visual and cinematic performance at the Annenberg Center (Pg. 12).

Oct. 27: Four pieces today, the most exciting (for me personally, but more on that in a separate post) being my interview with Alice Cooper (Pg. 19); Secret Cinema's second annual All-Night Fright Fest (Pg. 15); Joe Piscopo's Frank Sinatra tribute show (Pg. 17); and the Spanish Harlem Orchestra (Pg. 20).

Which brings us up to date. Now do you see why I haven't had time to post?

Metro, 9/8/06

In today's Metro weekend: The Valerie Project, Greg Weeks of Espers' newly-composed live score to the Czech surrealist fairy tale Valerie and Her Week of Wonders (page 18); my surrealist fairy tale of an interview with Kool Keith aka Dr. Octagon (page 22); a severely truncated version of my interview with Peter Tork - yes, I talked witha Monkee (page 22); and a profile of World Party's sardonic and now aneurysm-free Karl Wallinger (page 23). Interviews with MSTRKRFT and Joan of Arc (which would have run yesterday) and a profile of Bruce Walsh, Metro staffer and Fringe fest playwright, all got axed into the ether. I may post some portions of them and more of the Tork interview soon.

Citypaper, 9/7/06

A slew of film reviews in (and out) of this week's Citypaper: Paper Dolls, a rather aimless doc on Filipino transvestite caregivers in Israel; The Protector, an absurdly relentless distillation of Tony Jaa's Tom Yong Goong; and a Cold Open on Crank, another hilariously dopey, breathless actioner with a jolt of lunk-headed wit. And my review of Toby Keith in Broken Bridges didn't run thanks to its apparent lack of a run in the city, so here it is:

Broken Bridges
CMT Films' first production goes right ahead and reinforces plenty of
stereotypes, though nothing backwoods enough to provide much fodder
for the pansy tree-huggin' types in the liberal media. Toby Keith
stars as a country star fallen on hard times, fond of drink and
writing gloomy ballads rather than singing the "old hits" called for
by the owner of the nightclub where he's holed up. Keith is
surprisingly neutered – no "boot in yer ass" rants and only one brief
beatdown. This is a Hallmark Hall of Fame TV-movie for good ol' boys,
stocked with rednecks who jeer at hippies and Ram Dass but still
advise their beer-swilling buddies not to keep their sadness balled up
inside. Kelly Preston is the small-town girl turned big-city
journalist who heads back home when her soldier brother is killed in a
plane crash. In tow is her cynical teenage daughter, who learns how
much nicer schlocky new-country ballads are than angry punk rock. And
Preston, by virtue of renewing ties with her family and a pat on the
ass from Keith, dumps her career, puts on a cowboy hat, and reunites
with the baby's daddy who ditched her16 years and finally gets to
enjoy some family values.

Metro, 9/1/06

The sole story in this weekend's Metro (after a series of rejected or ignored interview requests and a close call with Shellac) profiles Philly classical/electronica/video arts hybrid org Arts In Motion, prior to a show at the Art Museum. (Page 19)

Daily News, 9/1/06

Today's Daily News ran my interview with Welsh chanteuse Judith Owen, who I discovered backing Richard Thompson on his fantastic "1,000 Years of Popular Music" tour. When I discovered she was also married to Harry Shearer, I figured the woman must have good taste and explored further.

Citypaper, 8/31/06

The lone piece in this week's Citypaper is a short feature story on Joel Harrison, a genre-blending jazz guitarist set to premiere his new hour-long suite, Vox Americana. Harrison mixes American roots music as well as traditional music of India and Africa into his takes on folk, blues, country, and on his last CD, the George Harrison songbook.

Metro, 8/25/06

In today's Metro weekend: More Invincible coverage, from my interview with Vince Papale (page 16); a piece on the latest offering from Exhumed Film, a double feature of Italian giallos featuring maestro Dario Argento's rarely-screened (and unavailable on video short of lousy-looking bootlegs) Four Flies on Grey Velvet (which I, sadly, had to miss - page 17); and a profile of local experimental prog-new music mindblowers Normal Love (page 19), prior to an incendiary show at LAVA.

Citypaper, 8/24/06

In today's Citypaper: No music again, but reviews of the Iggles-fest Invincible and the, well, beer-fest Beerfest.

Metro, 8/24/06

In today's Metro: an interview with Deep Purple lead vocalist Ian Gillan (page 15). Yup, I chatted with the metal forefather about all things "Smoke On the Water," not to mention Pavarotti and still-simmering tensions (12 years later) with Richie Blackmore, as he vacationed at his villa in Portugal. All this in advance of an endearingly ridiculous show at the World Cafe Live. Not only were there more amps and equipment crammed onto that little stage than are usually there in a month; not only was there a drum riser that seemed to dwarf the room - all the better for the "Smoke" lead-in drum solo; but there was a local model who shimmied across the stage from time to time with hand-lettered cards announcing song titles like the round cards at a Vegas boxing match. Gillan himself was in fine scream - odd hearing that enormous voice emanating from such a human-sized body.

Metro, 8/18/06

In today's Metro: coverage of the 45th (!) annual Philadelphia Folk Festival (page 22); Bubblyfish, aka Haeyoung Kim, an interesting experimental music composer who plays her work on the Gameboy (page 23); and the Festival of India, which celebrates India's Independence Day with song, dance, and plenty of food (page 27).

Citypaper, 8/17/06

No music this week (August is a dead month for jazz), but a good bit of film: the faux-Philly ganster derivative 10th & Wolf and the faux-Bill Murray nerd-revenge derivative Accepted. And I inaugurate a new column for CP called Cold Open, wherein we review films that weren't previewed for critics and the crowds they nonetheless attract. This week, sounding like a Tom and Jerry cartoon: Pulse and Zoom.

Metro, 8/16/06

In today's Metro: a preview of this weekend's show by the originators of "Wizard Rock," Harry and the Potters (I kid you not). Point your wand to page 13.

Metro, 8/11/06

In this weekend's Metro: an abbreviated preview of Secret Cinema's AIDS Law Project benefit screening of Elvis' Easy Come Easy Go (page 16); a piece on Puppet Uprising's Cooler Cabaret (page 18); and a swinging number on retro girl-group The Dansettes (page 19).

Citypaper, 8/10/06

Most importantly this week, a memorial to the late, great Philly jazz bagpiper Rufus Harley, who passed away last week at the age of 70. I'll also be writing an obit for the next issue of Downbeat.

Also this week: a preview of guitarist Pete McCann's show at Chris', a brief mention of a bizarre experimental trio, and reviews of the impotent OH in Ohio and the enthusiastically formulaic Step Up.

Metro, 8/10/06

Two pieces in today's Metro: one on International House's weekend of Swiss documentaries (page 13) and one on the ill-fated Pointless Fest (page 14), which was cut off early after some attendees got into a confrontation with the police, compounding the miseries that Tony Pointless mentions in my piece and most likely doing what he threatened to do - kill the Fest.

Grant-Lee Phillips interview, 8/1/06

The 8/9 metro was initially slated to include a Q&A with singer/songwriter Grant-Lee Phillips to preview his show that night at the Tin Angel, but it got bumped for an ad. (Which goes to show where my stuff falls in the line of Metro priorities.) So here is a transcript of the complete interview, which I thought was fairly interesting, covering his new album, "Nineteeneighties," comprised of covers of '80s alt-rock. My questions, which I usually don't transcribe when working on a piece, are roughed in. You'll get the drift.

SB: Here's the question you're probably already getting tired of: You're known primarily for your songwriting. Why tackle an album of covers?

GLP: Oh, goodness. I don’t know that that’s a question I’m getting tired of – [laughs] – I don’t know that it’s one I’ve been asked that much, to tell you the truth. It’s really a case of just sharing some of the music that I grew up with and some of the songs that vaguely influenced my writing, and sort of a snapshot of what it was like for me, coming up as a writer. Nothing more than that, really, you know? I suppose as a writer I’ve always found a lot of inspiration in taking songs apart, you know. Sort of how some people do with old radio sets and toads. I get a similar thrill out of performing an autopsy on an old song.

SB: How did you approach the song selection?

GLP: You know, there’s a fair amount of them that I played in the course of touring over the last couple of years. A lot of them were things that were just sort of being stored in my unconscious, sort of like the hard drive of my brain. Way back there among the fold there’s a New Order song and a Joy Division song, and a Nick Cave song and so in the case of this album I kind of dug my heels in and learned the chords and learned the rest of the words. They were the kind of songs that I did sing along to, and so I put the extra effort in so that I could make them my own. But, nah, you know, I think it’s probably just a natural fit. It’s more like my recollection of the song than a true representation. More than that it’s just kinda like, here’s my memory of the song around the campfire.

SB: Did you choose any songs that you couldn't make work?

GLP: Uh, not really. I sort of gravitated towards the things that felt most natural. I mean it’s very much that kind of record, it just kind of goes on feel alone. There might have been a few songs that didn’t necessarily fit into the sequence. Mostly, everything I recorded made the grade, but there were a couple that I wasn’t sure exactly how to go about it. I mean, there was a Siouxsie and the Banshees song I’d still like to record, and I’ll probably get around to it eventually, this song called “Spellbound.” But I think it’s probably more of a solo acoustic kind of thing. Which some of this material is, but I don’t know, for whatever reason, an album demands to be what it’s gonna be, and sometimes I have only so much say about that. It just sorta comes out in a certain fashion.

SB: Instead of doing older songs that influenced you growing up, you chose songs in the direct lineage of your own songwriting.

GLP: Well, you know, I’m aware of certain influences. For instance, in the case of Joy Division, the bass lines in particular were quite melodic, and sometimes it was like the hook of the song was being played on the bass, and that is sometimes indicative of certain approaches we took with Grant Lee Buffalo. Being a three piece you tend to exhaust all modes of experimentation quite quickly. You know, it’s like, guitar player becomes the string wash or whatever and the drummer is basically doing what the bass should be doing, and the bass is doing what the guitar should be doing, and you tend to slump around in that setting. I think some of that can be probably attributed to the influence of some of these earlier bands that were pretty experimental. I think the other thing that was sorta captivating about this grouping is that they, with the exception of Robyn Hitchcock, most of this original material was produced by groups. Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, that was still kind of a group endeavor, even though he wrote the song, “City of Refuge,” that I covered. So that sort of captivated me, tackling material that was put forth by a group and recorded by a group, and trying to get to the real seed of it. Assuming or fantasizing that it might’ve began with a voice and a guitar. That in and of itself kind of immediately shifts the material quite a bit.

SB: Despite your CD's title, these artists were not the public face of the '80s.

GLP: No, that’s really true. That’s true, and yet I think I was probably slow to recognize that. I’d been searching for a title, and everything was just too darn long that I was coming up with, and I settled on that. And then it kinda hit me that wow, this was in fact my 1980s, but it’s quite a bit different than the face of the 80s in terms of the mainstream. Today we’re hitting the 25th anniversary of MTV, and as I recall it was quite different. You know, Whitney Houston, and Billy Joel and all the rest of it, you know. But having said that, a few pioneers like Bowie were also part of that scene as well, and were really important in terms of shaping the fringe of that era. “Ashes To Ashes,” come to think of it, was one of those songs that I had hoped to put on this album that, for whatever reason, just didn’t take shape to my liking. I’ve since gone in and recorded it with a string quartet, and that’s something that’s gonna come out as a download. But funny enough, that had been one song I had been playing in my set for a while. A few years, actually, before I even had the notion to record this album.

SB: So are you now sitting on a backlog of your own songs?

GLP: Yeah, I mean, I’m involved with a whole new whole album of material at the moment. I’ve kinda been bringing it along little by little over the last year. And it’s likely that it could be something that I release early next year sometime. This album, 1980s, was kind of intended to be put out a good six months ago or more, and I wound up taking a little more time with it than I had initially imagined. But I don’t know, it’s the kind of thing that I had always hoped to do, make a number of albums in addition to my own original songs, to tackle projects like this. As a singer or an interpreter, and along with that, collaborative projects, songs in different genres, and all of that. I’m always intrigued by artists who cash in that coupon to experiment, like Bowie or Bjork or Elvis Costello for that matter.

SB: Were you worried about people's reaction to a covers album? It's often seen as a desperation move.

GLP: It wasn’t really anything that went through my head. I think it’s probably the kind of thing that would’ve went through my head ten years ago, something like that. But these days I’m kind of arriving at a place where I’m quicker to jump into the fire and less apt to overthink. These kind of things, I’m less apt to see it as a chess move. As a singer and as a songwriter – as a fan of music, it would make less sense to hold off. I don’t know how many of these we pressed up, I think it’s probably a small amount that Rounder/Zoe licensed. And really that’s sort of what it’s intended for, a very hardcore, die-hard fanbase. I don’t know. Whether it trickles out to a few more ears is something that I’ll wait and see, but nothing that I’ve been holding my breath for. It’s really kind of like a labor of love project.

SB: Are you planning to stick with solo shows, or would you like to tour with a band again?

GLP: Well, you know, I’ve gone out in all sorts of configurations. This particular tour is being done semi-acoustic, I guess. Maybe it’s entirely acoustic. It’s me on the guitar, but I’m being joined by Kevin Jarvis on drums and various percussion, and it too is pretty intimate, although we can go bombastic with the slightest coaxing. So it all depends. I’ve gone out with larger groups in the past, and I don’t know, I think I get a different payoff from either situation. It is nice to turn up and let the guitars feedback and all of that. It’s a different kind of thrill. But it’s probably true of a majority of my songs that they work most effectively in a one-on-one kind of way. Sometimes it’s a hard one for me to accept because I really do love turning up to eleven when I get the chance as well. Sort of dual motives at odds there.

SB: Have you had any reaction from the people you’ve covered?

GLP: Yeah, I actually was in the northwest recently, last week, performing in Seattle, and Portland, so Peter Buck, who’s based in that area came out and did some playing with me, and it was then that I realized, wow, I’m playing entirely different chords, aren’t I, on So Central Rain. And he was cool about it, he said that’s ok, that’s ok. It’s cool. It’s just totally different. And so now I have to relearn my new version, because I’ve soaked up Peter’s original version and now my head is at a crux. But yeah, I think generally it’s been a good reaction all around from various friends who I’ve covered on this album. Robyn Hitchcock is another one. He’s heard the track that I covered. Funny enough today, I walked into a Starbucks and saw an album of 80s songs, some of the very songs that I covered. Like Age of Consent, you know. So I think it must mean that these songs, although they were a bit more obscure, probably made a more lasting impact on a lot of us than we might be able to quantify. I don’t know, it’s a funny thing like that. Especially when you’re searching out your identity and carving out your place in the world, music means a whole lot in that way. And if you feel kind of like an outsider, then this is your music and there’s always gonna be another generation that has that, that’s going through that. I don’t know, I think it’s probably this music is just as valid for a younger generation as it was for my own.

SB: Through the influence on younger bands, this music has sort opf been retrofitted as the 80's identity.

GLP: Yeah. I like that. Retrofitted.

Metro, 8/4/06

In today's Metro weekend section: pieces on the reunited Germs and chamber-rockers Tarantula A.D., both on page 21, and a small Q&A with Ukrainian-Irish hybrid Celtic/bluegrass bar band Scythian on page 19.

Citypaper, 8/3/06

In this week's Citypaper: a review of Susan Seidelman's seniors-have-sex-too "comedy" Boynton Beach Club; and show previews for Zs and Seductive Sprigs guitarist Charlie Looker's solo project Extra Life and now Oakland-based brutal prog band The Flying Luttenbachers, featuring my fellow ex-Dr. Wax Records employee from Chicago, Weasel Walter.

Metro, 8/2/06

Piece in today's Metro (page 11) on jazz/jamband hybrid Ripplegroove, a decently fun/funky young band playing Chris' Jazz Cafe tomorrow night.

Metro, 7/28/06

Interview today (page 22) with Jesse Kudler and Tim Albro of local lowercase experimentalists HZL, who play a Bowerbird show tonight with Bonnie Jones and Andy Hayleck from Baltimore.

Citypaper, 7/27/06

Just when I thought I was through with obnoxious gay-themed comedies, TLA pulls me back in. The Gay & Lesbian Fest's opening night feature, the American Pie parody/rip-off Another Gay Movie, opens wide this week, and I have a review.

Trumpeter Baikida Carroll, a member of the St. Louis-based Black Artists Group in the late '60s which spawned Julius Hemphill and Oliver Lake, shows up with Tim Berne and a pair of his usual compatriots, Michael Formanek and Tom Rainey, in a quartet dubbed Faux Faux for an Ars Nova show on Sunday.

Also, a brief mention for the Mingus Big Band, Friday at the Art Museum, and a CD review for local drummer Tony Deangelis, who has a CD release party Saturday night at Chris'.

Metro, 7/27/06

Small piece about Grover Silcox, a local comedian/actor who will be performing a dramatic reading of Poe's "Tell-Tale Heart" this weekend at Eastern State Penitentiary. But can he match the Iggy Pop version?

Metro, 7/21/06

Two pieces in today's Metro weekend section, both of which were trimmed down a bit on the way to print.

The first is about Saturday's Exhumed Films double feature pairing Cannibal Holocaust and City of the Walking Dead. The second is about Fuzefest, a weird daylong event at World Cafe on Sunday with workshops on belly dancing and jamming, then a performance by world-fusion ensemble Animus.

Here's the whole issue in PDF; I'm on pages 21 and 24.

Citypaper, 7/20/06

I'm all over the paper this week.

The Israeli-Lebanese conflict unfortunately cancelled a planned weekend of shows featuring four Lebanese improvisers being brought to town by Soundfield's Gene Coleman. I had interviewed Gene and Dustin Hurt of Bowerbird, who was co-producing the Philly leg of the project, and the story was filed mere moments before I heard of the bombs falling. Of course, the event was postponed, and I quickly scrambled to write this updated piece.

And there's a preview of Sunday's Ars Nova show headlined by experimental noisefreaks Death Unit.

I also interviewed Matt Gaffney, author of a new book on crosswords and their creators.

You want movies? I've got five reviews for flicks screening in the second week of the Philadelphia International Gay & Lesbian Film Festival (ten for the first week are here), and one for the rollicking soccer doc Once In A Lifetime.

No wonder I haven't seen the light of day lately.

Starting off with a bang

Welcome! I've decided to occupy this dark, musty little corner of the web, largely in order to direct those few interested parties out there to my published ramblings, and post whatever else crosses my mind.

And what better way to start than with scandal and controversy? A little piece I wrote on jazz trumpeter Maynard Ferguson for last week's City Paper garnered a slew of letters to the editor and much vitriol on the offical Maynard fan forum. The CP's blog links to both the letters and the board.

I'll give Maynard credit for having fiercely loyal fans. Those folks have obviously found a depth and personal connection to Ferguson's music that I don't, at least not in his live performances of recent vintage. This piece being a concert preview, that's all I meant to address, and what I've seen consists of a lot of pyrotechnic virtuosity that impressed crowds with athleticism more than musicality. But that's just what I hear, and there are some heartfelt tributes posted on the board that make the opposite case eloquently. It's unfortunate that the few articulate, well-reasoned responses get lost amidst the personal insults, but that's internet discourse for ya. (Threatening a man's dog is beyond the pale. I'd be even more offended if I actually had one.)