NPR FOR THE DEAF: We Hear It Even When You Can’t

ALL SONGS CONSIDERED This week, All Songs Considered hands the reins to acclaimed experimental musician Noah Lennox, a.k.a. Panda Bear. Lennox made the trip down to NPR’s Washington, D.C. headquarters while on a visit to his hometown of Baltimore. He sat down with host Bob Boilen to talk about his upcoming album Tomboy (out April 12). Lennox began by naming some of the albums that grabbed his attention in his youth, Nirvana‘s Nevermind being a particular touchstone. But he quickly moved on to contemporary picks by musicians from his extended artistic circle, including Mississippi songwriter Dent May, reclusive electronic maestro […]

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ARTSY: Our First Friday Picks

BY CAROLINE SCHMIDT Friday April first we can celebrate the birthday of Milan Kundera, Otto von Bismarck, Method Man and Edgar Wallace. We can shed a tear for Marvin Gaye, who died, a day before his birthday. Here are our top five places to do this, in no particular order. If you’ve ever wondered what it would be like to be romantically involved with Charles M. Shulz (okay, I hadn’t, until I heard about this show) look no farther. Space 1026‘s April event This is a Love Letter is a collection of nearly one hundred letters written by Shulz over […]

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Study Finds Pennsylvania Has The Highest Percentage Of Structurally Deficient Bridges In The Nation

A just-released study by Transportation for America says 26.5% percent of Pennsylvania’s bridges – or roughly 6,000 – have critical structural problems, earning the Keystone State the distinction of being The Most Dangerous State In The Union To Drive Across A Bridge. Don’t expect that to change any time soon. “Are we trying to … find the funds for it? Yes. But I will go back, and you’ve heard me say it repeatedly: we inherited a $4.3 billion deficit that we have to resolve,” Governor Tom Corbett told Newswork’s Scott Detrow. In the meantime, we might want to start equipping […]

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TONITE: The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down

Impersonating The Band hasn’t been a decently-paying gig since Scorsese filmed The Last Waltz in 1976, but judging by the full-up crowd at the Trocadero last time they came through town back in 2009 The Felice Brothers seem to be on their way. Actually, ‘impersonating’ sounds a little too dismissive and I like these guys, so let’s go with ‘evoking’ or ‘carrying on the old, weird Americana tradition’ of the Band instead. Besides, they have the pedigree (hail from upstate New York, sons of a carpenter) they’ve paid their dues (busked in the subways of New York; went acoustic at […]

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MEGADITTOES: Enough With The Panthers Already!

DAVE DAVIES: I wish I knew how many hundreds of thousands of federal tax dollars have been spent investigating the New Black Panther Philadelphia voter intimidation case. We can add a few more, now that the Justice Department’s Office of Professional Responsibility has completed its review of the department’s handling of the matter. On election day in 2008, a pair of African-American guys wearing berets stationed themselves in front of a North Philadelphia polling place, calling themselves “security.” One of them had a nightstick. Though the beret boys didn’t interfere with ingress or egress from the polling place and not […]

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ABOMINATION: Two More Priests Put On Shit List

INQUIRER: The Archdiocese of Philadelphia announced today that two retired priests have been placed on administrative leave while it reviews allegations that they have engaged in inappropriate behavior with minors. The two men join 24 other priests suspended by Cardinal Justin Rigali since the Februrary 10 release of a grand jury report on predatory priests in the archdiocese. MORE RELATED: A Philadelphia grand jury report released in February alleges that the man, identified as “Ben,” had approached church investigators in 2007 with claims of repeated fondling and abuse by a priest at St. Mark during the 1970s. “Ben” had been […]

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FLEET FOXES: Grown Ocean

From Helplessness Blues, out May 3rd. ROBIN PECKNOID, SINGER-SONGWRITER, FLEET FOXES: Hey, my name’s Robin and I’m a singer in and songwriter for Fleet Foxes, here to write the promotional biography meant to accompany and explain Helplessness Blues. I’m just going to write down some thoughts I have about the album and give you some context. Let’s do this. So, for a bit of background: we’re from Seattle, and the members of the band are me, Skye Skjelset, Josh Tillman, Casey Wescott, Christian Wargo, and now our buddy Morgan Henderson, who helped out on the album and will join the […]

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COMING ATTRACTION: Q&A With The Man Who Punked The Governor Of Wisconsin & The Koch Bros.

Please standby for a Q&A with Ian Murphy, editor of Buffalo’s The Beast, AKA the man who called Wisconsin governor Scott Walker pretending to be David Koch, one half of the infamous Koch Brothers.  Coming soon to a Phawker near you! PREVIOUSLY: KOCH SUCKER: Wisconsin Governor Punked By Alt-Weekly Editor Pretending To Be Koch Brother RELATED: The newly elected governor of Maine, Paul LePage, is outspoken. He said that after his election readers could expect to see in their newspapers, “LePage tells Obama to go to hell.” When he refused to attend a Martin Luther King Day event, he said […]

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NPR FOR THE DEAF: We Hear It Even When You Can’t

FRESH AIR In 1992, a cargo ship container tumbled into the North Pacific, dumping 28,000 rubber ducks and other bath toys that were headed from China to the U.S. Currents took them, and news reports said some may have eventually reached Maine and other shores on the Atlantic. Thirteen years later, journalist Donovan Hohn undertook a mission: He wanted to track the movements of the wayward ducks, from the comfort of his own living room. “I figured I’d interview a few oceanographers, talk to a few beachcombers, read up on ocean currents and Arctic geography and then write an account […]

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