Music

Featuring nothing but the gyrations of a particularly impressive female behind, the video for "Backyard Betty," Spank Rock's debut single, has a clear purpose: to get them asses shakin'. But the music is far from standard club hip-hop fare; in fact, the MC at the helm, 24-year-old Naeem Juwan, would rather avoid classification altogether. YoYoYoYoYo, Spank Rock's first full-length album, is a detailed collaborative effort: Naeem raps over beats ranging from Baltimore house to Hendrix, artfully layered by his childhood friend and producer, Alex "Armani XXXChange" Epton. Naeem attributes the eclecticism of the music to his move from Baltimore to Philly to become a Drexel student (and one-time Penn partygoer). "We come from Baltimore," he says, "and the cultures don't really mix up too much." Though early exposure to traditional hip-hop and the ecstatic phenomenon of 'B-more' club house continue to be profoundly influential on the pair, it primed Naeem for a musical awakening. "I really didn't know much about rock or punk or '80s, so when I went to Philly, things were a lot more diverse.
October 12, 2006 at 12:00 am

It's a brave new world for Decemberists fans. The release of their new album, The Crane Wife, marks the group's shift to Capitol Records from indie Kill Rock Stars.
October 5, 2006 at 12:00 am

Political activism and artistic integrity go hand in hand," said a calm and composed Salim Washington over the phone from his New York office.
October 5, 2006 at 12:00 am

By all accounts, life on the road is nasty, brutish and long. And on the eve of a North American tour, Islands' Nick Diamonds is sick in a Toronto hotel room, speaking in low tones to protect his voice.
October 5, 2006 at 12:00 am

Beck is a man known for wearing many hats at once. He has built his career upon shapeshifting, evading classification, seamlessly blending the unlikely with the illogical.
October 5, 2006 at 12:00 am

Some good CDs make you smile, some make you dance, and some make you cry. Emily Haines's Knives Don't Have Your Back belongs in the last category: bittersweet, but infectious all the same.
September 28, 2006 at 12:00 am

At a time when pop culture phenomena like Paris Hilton and Hulk Hogan's daughter are relentlessly promoting their debut albums, the idea of the remake doesn't sound all that bad. Take Johnny Cash's cover of Nine Inch Nails' "Hurt," for instance.
September 28, 2006 at 12:00 am

The outer room of WQHS is the most organized it's been in a long time. Rows and rows of CDs and LPs stand ordered alphabetically and by genre.
September 28, 2006 at 12:00 am

Smile... It Confuses People is the kind of record that really makes you wonder. Whatever happened to the idyllic, innocent rebellion of our parents' generation?
September 28, 2006 at 12:00 am

Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. It's a motto that most aptly describes Sparklehorse's latest, a merely competent album that explores little new ground.
September 28, 2006 at 12:00 am

If you thought that the twang of country couldn't be combined with tedious sound effects and mild musical enthusiasm, then the monotonous sounds of Mad Tea Party's latest, Big Top Soda Pop, will quickly prove you wrong.
September 28, 2006 at 12:00 am

The Slats Boom Patrol 4.5 Stars If you're on the prowl for something epic, progressive, and tasteful, don't look to the Slats.
September 21, 2006 at 12:00 am

After three years of collaborative projects and live albums, Will Oldham returns with his first proper solo album since 2003's Master and Everyone.
September 21, 2006 at 12:00 am

The second coming of 2005's indie darlings Clap Your Hands Say Yeah is upon us. And while the alt-rock prophets will wait with baited blogs until the January 30 release date, don't expect lead singer and Philadelphia native Alec Ounsworth to indulge their rapture.
September 21, 2006 at 12:00 am

Scott Ansill remembers selling 120 copies of Radiohead's Kid A at midnight the night it was released.
September 14, 2006 at 12:00 am

A scene in the endearingly obnoxious 2002 movie, The Rules of Attraction, shows a small college's "End of the World" party, and the background tunage is the Rapture's "Out of the Races and onto the Tracks." Shindigs that feature burning wicker men as their main attraction are usually fodder for that Wicca guy you met once (and never again). But with that kind of booty-shakin' song playing in the background, you'd be a fool not to go.
September 14, 2006 at 12:00 am

From the time I left campus last spring until June 14, I had Radiohead on my mind. Mine was an obsession that verged on downright mania, transforming my usually tepid opinions into axioms and outright platitudes.
September 14, 2006 at 12:00 am

Teenagers filled the Electric Factory on Sunday, April 23 to see a band that hipsters would say is so out they might even be considered pastiche.
May 3, 2006 at 12:00 am

In 2001, Louis Posen thought up the Take Action! Tour, rounded up some punk rock bands, and sent them across the country to promote suicide prevention.
May 3, 2006 at 12:00 am

After opening for indie rock sensations the Arcade Fire and Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, it was only a matter of time before the Atlanta-via-Athens, Georgia group Snowden got picked up by a prominent independent label.
April 20, 2006 at 12:00 am