After Neil Hamburger’s horrendous reception at the Reading Festival last week – tossed bottles, vicious chants, etc. – he probably wants someone to warm him up with a bowl of soup. Here’s a suggested comfort-food recipe for the perpetually embattled comedian. Continue reading
For the first installment in a new Bad Penny feature, “Great Debate,” Israel’s TV Buddhas conduct an intra-band, intra-family discussion about the merits of eating at the local supermarket – or taking the more extravagant route: eating at an actual restaurant.
Which place causes one Buddha to feel like he’s a balloon? Who loathes pizza? And what do at least two of them agree truly is yummy? Read on and find out in this endearing contribution straight from the band. Continue reading
In the latest installment of “Cover Me,” power-pop prince Mark Bacino re-envisions his latest album, Queens English (DreamCrush/ Redeye), which dropped earlier this summer on Amazon and iTunes. In addition to granting the Bad Penny a downloadable MP3 (scroll to the bottom of the post), he wonders what the songs would sound like if they were performed by Steve Earle, Jeff Tweedy, even Archie & Edith Bunker – and seals it all with a Kiss. Continue reading
Cassorla – an indie-rock band with jazz and soul tendencies – should probably be named “Cassor-pa-ny-la”: They call Los Angeles home these days but were born in North Philadelphia, and dwelled for a spell in Bed-Stuy and Brooklyn in between. Continue reading
When’s the last time you heard an indie-rock band – or any rock band … or, hell, any band at all – pine for the day when D’Angelo would cover one of its songs? Leave it to Los Angeles’ unpredictable and imaginative troupe Cassorla to make such a wish. Continue reading
“I still get the feeling that everyone’s pissed off and frustrated with us because we don’t sound like we did in 1993,” Weezer frontman Rivers Cuomo told me on April 13, 2002. Going through one of the most tumultuous periods of its career, the bandmembers – who had recently fired their manager, and were bucking their PR and A&R reps at Geffen – had just “reclaimed control of ours lives,” in the words of Cuomo. Continue reading
In light of Weezer’s new album, Hurley, plopping earlier this week, here’s a look back at a Maladroit-era interview with guitarist Brian Bell and bassist Scott Shriner. Previously unavailable online, it was conducted in February 2002. Continue reading
Keeping the Superchunk momentum going after yesterday’s release of Majesty Shredding, here’s another vintage interview previously unavailable online. This one was conducted about nine years ago and primarily revolves around their penultimate record, Here’s to Shutting Up. Continue reading
With the music-business climate perhaps more rotten than ever, there’s a growing tendency to romanticize the past. But it’s easy to forget the challenges faced by indie-rock bands and labels prior to the dawn of the Internet. Or, in the case of Merge Records, prior to the dawn of the Arcade Fire. Continue reading
With the first day of autumn only 10 days away, here’s a new batch of chestnuts for yer ears. Continue reading
The Bad Penny (beta) 