Category: ST015

Optimo Take Us on a Tour of Their Record Collection

September 7th, 2012 | File Under: Soundtrack of Our Lives, ST015 | 6 comments

Photos by Shawn Brackbill
Words by Andrew Parks

The visionary avant-pop vibes of Arthur Russell. The synthesized psych transmissions of Silver Apples. Pockets of post-punk, cold-pressed industrial and extraterrestrial dub techno. Nurse…With…Wound.

They all have a place in the mix with Optimo, Glasgow’s reigning underground selectors thanks to sprawling live sets and carefully curated compilations (Psyche Out, Sleepwalk, Walkabout) that are stripped of irony or name-that-tune nods. Like Soulwax’s genre-jumping 2 Many DJs guise, only subtle; as if your favorite friendly neighborhood record snob decided to share their secret stash, white labels and all.

Optimo’s skills don’t begin and end in the DJ booth, either. Now that they’re nearly two years removed from the final installment of their beloved Sub Club party back home—a party that saw nothing wrong with booking TV on the Radio one week and Whitehouse the next—Keith McIvor (aka JD Twitch) and Jonnie Wilkes are busy balancing a tireless tour schedule with side projects, production gigs, remixes and their very own Optimo Music imprint. Here’s a short list of what we can expect from those fronts in the coming months: Wilkes’ first proper Naum Gabo LP (“an album of instrumental synth tracks, some as long as 15 minutes”), a dancehall single and secret collaborative album from McIvor, a Peter Zummo reissue, an EP from a Factory Floor side project, and “an irregular Friday night residency later in the year so we can reconnect with the city that made us who we are.”

In the meantime, self-titled thought we’d ask the only DJs we’d trust with a wedding a warehouse rave to share the records that have shaped their lives…

Posted in: Soundtrack of Our Lives, ST015

INTERVIEW: Spiritualized’s J. Spaceman Shares His Life Story

May 16th, 2012 | File Under: Interviews, ST015 | One comment

Photo by Aaron Richter
Interview by Robert Ham

I didn’t really have any records when I was a kid. I think we had three records in the house. Stuff like the Australian Army Band album. I remember hearing stuff on Radio 2 that my mom really liked—middle-of-the-road music.

My lucky break came when I bought Raw Power. I have no idea why I bought it. I have a feeling it was on sale, which probably influenced my decision. When I heard it, I felt like I had a gem and I didn’t want anyone else to know it.

My mum bought me a guitar. We didn’t have any money so she bought it secondhand. An acoustic. he showed it to me ahead of time to see if it was something I’d like. Once I hit a few chords on that, I was hooked.

If you wanted to be a musician, you went to art college. It wasn’t always for people who wanted to do art. It was for people who couldn’t do anything else.

Posted in: Interviews, ST015

PRIMER: Bear In Heaven’s Favorite Neil Young Records

May 8th, 2012 | File Under: Primer, ST015 | One comment

With Bear In Heaven set to play hometown shows at Bowery Ballroom and the Music Hall of Williamsburg tonight and tomorrow, we thought we’d share a special feature from our current issue where the band breaks down their favorite Neil Young albums. Have a look below, and feel free to weigh in with your own go-to records in the comments section…

Posted in: Primer, ST015

FEATURE: Julia Holter Explains Her Love of Illuminated Manuscripts

May 4th, 2012 | File Under: Features, ST015 | One comment

Photo by Jake Michaels

When most people see illuminated manuscripts, they think of field trips, art-history classes or church. Julia Holter hears voices. Not literal chorus lines; more like muddled memories…and monks.

“I’m intrigued by the fact that monks read out loud when they worked,” says Holter. In the past year, Holter’s released two carefully cultivated LPs: the wild, wide-open spaces of Tragedy and the skewered pop songs of the recent Ekstasis, records influenced by doowop bass lines, ’80s beats, film characters, passing cars and even a manuscript or two—like the pieces on the following excerpt from our latest issue, alongside Holter’s reactions…

Posted in: Features, ST015

FEATURE: Frankie Rose Shares Her Grandmother’s Pozole Recipe

April 23rd, 2012 | File Under: ST015 | 3 comments

Photo by Caroline Mort
Words by Cassandra Marketos

Frankie Rose didn’t learn how to cook as a kid. In fact, it wasn’t until a recent trip home to Seal Beach, California—and a meal at her aunt’s kitchen table—that the singer/multi-instrumentalist even realized what she’s been missing.

“I wanted that food!” she says. “I wanted my mother’s enchiladas, my grandmother’s pozole. So I had to learn how to make them.”

Five months later and she’s reciting family recipes from memory in her own kitchen while sharing stories about growing up down the street from her grandmother, where a pot of pozole, the traditional Mexican stew, was always simmering.

“Can you smell it now? It’s really getting there!” says Rose, thrilled to be cooking for company. “I don’t care about what I eat alone”—her knife chops functioning as audible periods—“I like to cook for my friends. There’s too much food otherwise.”

Rose’s sentiment fits right alongside the meal’s history as an oral tradition; until now, the recipe for her grandmother’s pozole had never actually been written down. It’s simply been passed from kitchen to kitchen in the Rose family.

“As I get older, these recipes have become more important to me,” she explains. “They connect me to my childhood, and I can’t find these dishes, made like this, anywhere.”

Frankie Rose’s Interstellar album is available through Slumberland now. Check out Frankie’s family recipe—taken from our current issue—below…

Posted in: ST015

NOW AVAILABLE: Self-Titled’s 15th Issue

March 20th, 2012 | File Under: ST015 | Leave A Comment

Grimes - Photo by Alan Chan

Photo by Alan Chan

As you may have noticed, we quietly released self-titled‘s fifteenth issue yesterday, including the stripped-down Web version and our enhanced iPad edition, which features streaming music on nearly every page. Here’s what you can expect inside:

Posted in: ST015

Category: ST015

Optimo Take Us on a Tour of Their Record Collection

INTERVIEW: Spiritualized’s J. Spaceman Shares His Life Story

PRIMER: Bear In Heaven’s Favorite Neil Young Records

FEATURE: Julia Holter Explains Her Love of Illuminated Manuscripts

FEATURE: Frankie Rose Shares Her Grandmother’s Pozole Recipe

NOW AVAILABLE: Self-Titled’s 15th Issue

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