Category: Features

PRIMER: Pete Tong On … Ibiza-Approved Summer Anthems

September 2nd, 2010 | File Under: Primer | Leave A Comment

We’ve never been to Ibiza before. And you know what? We’re not ashamed to admit that part of us really wants to go to there; to turn off our laptops, toss our iPhones in the ocean, and get loaded on liquid GHB as someone—probably Steve Aoki—plays “We…are…your friends!” one last time.

So with that in mind, we asked one of the world’s foremost experts on dance music (Pete Tong, the host of Ibiza’s International Music Summit and one of the most respected DJs on BBC Radio One) to share five of this summer’s proven dancing-under-the-stars-with-your-shirt-off anthems.

If you like what you hear, Tong can be found at this weekend’s Electric Zoo Festival. He’ll be spinning at the Hilltop Arena stage at 4:30 on Saturday. Other artists of note at the glowstick-optional event include Erol Alkan, Martyn, the Chemical Brothers, Richie Hawtin, and our current cover star Flying Lotus.

And now, for some fist-pumping action…

Posted in: Primer

THE SELF-TITLED INTERVIEW: Geoff Barrow of Portishead & BEAK>

September 1st, 2010 | File Under: The S/T Interview | Leave A Comment

BEAK> (L to R: Matt Williams, Billy Fuller, Geoff Barrow)

As if being friends with Banksky, running an underground record label (Invada), and producing/playing in Portishead isn’t exciting enough, Geoff Barrow has also spent the past year sharpening the sonic teeth of his new band BEAK>. Rounding out by Robert Plant’s recent bassist (Billy Fuller, also of Invada’s first-ever signing, Fuzz Against Junk) and Matt Williams (Team Brick), the power trio formed in early 2009 and tracked their self-titled debut at their first rehearsals. Slapdash start aside, the songs are the sound of three Bristol vets who are on some sort of spiritual plane together—right alongside everything from the classic Kraut-rock of Can to stoner-metal standards like Sunn O))) and Sleep.

It’s music you lose your mind to, in other words—an even weirder version of Barrow’s creative vision than the last Portishead record, if you can believe that. In the following interview, Barrow discusses everything from his favorite Madlib record to why the Horrors didn’t really need his help after all. BEAK> will be making a couple rare East Coast appearances this weekend, including a stop at Bowery Ballroom on Friday and a set at the upstate edition of All Tomorrow’s Parties on Saturday.

Posted in: The S/T Interview

RECORDING UNDER THE INFLUENCE: !!! (Chk Chk Chk)

August 17th, 2010 | File Under: Recording Under the Influence | Leave A Comment

Photo by Andrew Parks

Recording Under the Influence is a recurring self-titled feature where we ask artists to ignore their musical inspirations for a minute and share what really went into the making of a particular record. In this installment, singer Nic Offer decodes the disco-punk of !!!, who release a new record (Strange Weather, Isn’t It?) through Warp next Tuesday.

Posted in: Recording Under the Influence

RECORDING UNDER THE INFLUENCE: The Books

August 11th, 2010 | File Under: Recording Under the Influence | Leave A Comment

(L to R: Paul de Jong, Nick Zammuto)

Photo by Travis Huggett

Recording Under the Influence is a recurring self-titled feature where we ask artists to ignore their musical inspirations for a minute and share what really went into the making of a particular record. It’s been a while since we last heard from The Books—about five years, actually—so we were psyched to strip away the stories behind the samplescapes on their Temporary Residence debut, The Way Out. True to their name, this one’s for all the intellectuals in the crowd…

Posted in: Recording Under the Influence

PRIMER: Danny Perez On … Mind-F#cking Movies

August 10th, 2010 | File Under: Primer | Leave A Comment

So you’ve probably already heard about ODDSAC, Animal Collective’s first feature film—a “visual album” that makes about as much sense as, well, any of the other visual art pieces they’ve completed with longtime collaborator Danny Perez. That includes everything from the blood-soaked “Who Could Win a Rabbit” video to the pair’s patience-testing “performance” at the Guggenheim last March.

With that in mind, we asked Perez to share five of his favorite “mind-fucking movies.” He fired back four, with a bonus commentary on an Adult Swim show that’d offend your mom way quicker than an old episode of Metalocalypse or Tim and Eric.

As for what Perez has on tap next, he’s finally in the midst of finishing his first feature film, a “cross between Bully, Altered States, and Evil Dead.” Now get your LSD-laced popcorn ready…

Posted in: Primer

LINER NOTES: Boris’ Drummer Explains Their Art Direction

August 5th, 2010 | File Under: ST001, The S/T Archives | Leave A Comment

“Japan as a country isn’t interested in the arts, per se,” explains Boris drummer Atsuo Mizuno, who designs most of the band’s albums under the more-metal-than-thou alias Fangs Anal Satan. “When you go down the path of art school, you’re already viewed as getting off the rails of mainstream society, as being unable to work or contribute to society.”

To complicate matters even further, Boris’ sales back home are one-tenth of what they are in the U.S. And the gap hasn’t stopped growing since the sudden crossover success of the band’s 2005 LP Pink, a nearly drone-free collection of shoegazer soundscapes and raucous, balls-to-the-wall ROCK.

Since Boris are known as much for their meticulous packaging as their music (according to Mizuno, “it’s often as much about the artwork as the music”), self-titled sat down with Mizuno during a New York press trip for Smile (out now on Southern Lord) to talk about the thought process behind some of his strongest record sleeve designs starting with …

Posted in: ST001, The S/T Archives

PRIMER: Fol Chen On … Prince

August 5th, 2010 | File Under: Featured, Primer | One comment

By Samuel Bing of Fol Chen

Note: This list assumes that the reader already owns the following Prince albums: Purple Rain, 1999, and Dirty Mind…

Posted in: Featured, Primer

POSSIBLE PULL QUOTES: Beck

August 3rd, 2010 | File Under: Possible Pull Quotes | Leave A Comment

Here’s a gentle reminder that we’re not getting any younger: Beck just turned 40. And yet, the former clown prince of slacker rock is as productive as ever, churning out collaborations with Charlotte Gainsbourg, Stephen Malkmus, his revolving door of Record Club members, and the producers of several film soundtracks (Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, Twilight: Eclipse). With that in mind, Beck recently talked to Pitchfork about what comes next.

Presenting the best parts of that interview…

Posted in: Possible Pull Quotes

PRIMER: Clubfeet On … James (A.K.A. “That ‘Laid’ Band”)

August 2nd, 2010 | File Under: Primer | Leave A Comment

By Sebastian Cohen of Clubfeet

James is the type of band that already exists in your consciousness. They’re there right now, you just don’t know it. People don’t really remember who, how, or when…but play a song for a friend and their eyes glaze over, they start tapping their feet, and talking about a European Contiki tour in 1996 where “Laid” was on constant loop on the bus’ speaker system.

James are perennial underachievers. Testament to this is the list of bands that have supported them through their three decades of touring and making records. Names such as (clearing throat) Stone Roses and Happy Mondays in the ’80s, and then later, Nirvana, Radiohead, Coldplay. Holy shit!

There’s a story of how the Pixies realized that their 15 minutes was drawing to a close when a then-relatively unknown Nirvana supported them on a tour and blew them off the stage. Ironically Kurt Cobain said the Pixies was one of his major influences. Thankfully, for us, even though James went from headlining the Happy Mondays to supporting them within two years, they’ve always taken these inversions of fortune in stride.

Posted in: Primer

FROM THE STACKS: K-X-P

July 30th, 2010 | File Under: From The Stacks | Leave A Comment

[Photo by Noora Isoeskeli]

We get a lot of crap CDs at the self-titled offices. But once in a while, a pleasant surprise slips into our promo stack. Here’s a recent delivery that knocked the s/t staff on its collective ass.

Posted in: From The Stacks

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