http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/dan_deluca RSS Feed for Inq Col Dan DeLuca en-us Fri, 25 May 2012 07:01:00 GMT http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/dan_deluca/20120525__In_the_Mix_.html Inquirer critic Dan DeLuca writes about pop music and culture at www.philly.com/philly/blogs/inthemix. http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/dan_deluca/20120522_Pearl_Jam__Skrillex__Santigold_to_headline_Jay-Z_rsquo_s_Made_in_America_fest_in_Philly.html Pearl Jam, the Seattle grunge survivors fronted by Eddie Vedder who closed down the Spectrum in South Philadelphia in 2009 with four sold-out shows, will headline the “Made in America” festival in Philadelphia on Sept. 1 and 2 along with Jay-Z. Other notable acts added to the lineup on Monday included Skrillex, the electronic producer and DJ (born Sonny Moore) who won three Grammy Awards this year and has become the face of dubstep, the throbbing, bass-heavy dance music; Maybach Music, the alliance of hip-hop heavyweight Rick Ross, Washington rapper Wale, and Philadelphia’s Meek Mill; the formerly reclusive, now resurgent soul man D’Angelo; Dutch DJ Afrojack; the acclaimed Brooklyn indie-rock band Dirty Projectors; genre-smashing avant-pop acts Janelle Monáe and Santigold (the Philadelphia-reared songwriter Santi White); controversial hip-hop collective Odd Future, and indie-electro band Passion Pit. http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/dan_deluca/20120520_The_Beach_Boys_at_50__Reaching_their_fans_through_QVC.html And on the 46th anniversary of the release of Pet Sounds, the Beach Boys played QVC. The reunited Beach Boys, that is, who are in the early stages of a 50th-anniversary reunion tour that was to have played a sold-out show at the Borgata on Saturday before returning to the Philadelphia area for a show at the Susquehanna Bank Center on June 16. They came to the sprawling 84-acre West Chester campus of the home shopping channel to hawk That’s Why God Made the Radio, their new album due to be released June 5. http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/dan_deluca/20120518__In_the_Mix_.html Inquirer critic Dan DeLuca writes about pop music and culture at www.philly.com/philly/blogs/inthemix. http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/dan_deluca/20120517_Who_is_Bob_Lefsetz__and_why_are_radio_insiders_eager_to_hear_him_speak_.html Look out Non-Comm, here comes Bob Lefsetz. Bob who? Non-what? http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/dan_deluca/20120513_Empowered_Santigold_touring_behind__lsquo_Master_of_My_Make-Believe_rsquo_.html On “Disparate Youth,” the single from Santigold’s new album, Master Of My Make-Believe, that she sang Tuesday at the Trocadero while flanked by a pair of dancers and wearing a floral-print romper, the avant-pop singer led the crowd in the mantra-like chorus: “We know now that we want more?/?Oh-ah, Oh-ah?/?A life worth fighting for.” And what, for Santi White — the Mount Airy-raised, Brooklyn-based, genre-mashing songwriter who began her U.S. tour for her keenly anticipated sophomore album with a sold-out show at the Chinatown club — what, exactly, constitutes “a life worth fighting for”? http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/dan_deluca/20120505_Adam_Yauch__47__of_the_Beastie_Boys.html Adam Yauch, 47, a founding member of the Beastie Boys, the pioneering New York hip-hop group whose 1980s breakthrough as impudent, white rap superstars was followed by a long career that combined popular success with musical innovation, died Friday in New York. http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/dan_deluca/20120429_Dan_DeLuca_reviews_the_latest_installment_of__Robert_Caro_rsquo_s_biography_of_Lyndon_B__Johnson.html The Passage Of Power The Years of Lyndon Johnson By Robert A. Caro Alfred A. Knopf, 712 pp. $35. Reviewed by Dan DeLuca http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/dan_deluca/20120424_Highlights_of_the_XPN_Music_Film_Festival.html Big Easy Express. Directed by Emmett Malloy (The White Stripes Under Great Northern Lights), Big Easy Express rides the rails across the western United States, chronicling a five-city tour with the simpatico folk bands Mumford & Sons, Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros, and Old Crow Medicine Show, playing and singing their own songs before climaxing with a cover of Woody Guthrie’s “This Train Is Bound for Glory.” Thursday at 8 p.m. at the Zellerbach Theatre, Annenberg Center. Charles Bradley: Soul of America. Poull Brien’s documentary focuses on Charles Bradley, who looks back on a life of poverty and struggle and, with the help of Daptones Records founder Gabriel Roth, transforms himself from a James Brown cover act to a soul singer with a singular sound who releases his debut album at age 62. Friday at 5 p.m. at the Prince Theatre, Annenberg Center. http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/dan_deluca/20120424_New_XPN_Music_Fest__from_Paul_Simon_to_hip-hop_to_Mahler.html Many a demographic is super-served throughout the year on the Philadelphia film festival calendar. Cineastes with particular interests are catered to by the Latin American, Jewish, Terror, Gay & Lesbian, Science, Asian American and Animation film festivals, among others, not to mention the overarching Philadelphia Film Festival, which will take place in October this year. Add another group of movie buffs to the list: music fans. Starting this week, the inaugural XPN Music Film Festival will take place in University City, with 20 movies screening, mostly at the Annenberg Center on the University of Pennsylvania campus.