LCD Soundsystem @ Coachella 2007

While we get the appeal of skateboarding dogs and Mentos, the exploding freshmaker—if you’re easily amused, that is—self-titled thinks the following video is actually worth a million views. The product of a long-shelved idea by British director Simon Owens, LCD Soundsystem’s unofficial “New York I Love You” video fuses two of our favorite things: hand puppets and hating on New York’s glossy post-Giuliani-isms. We caught up with Owens via E-mail to talk about the making of “The Muppets Take Manhattan, Part Deux.”

One note: be sure to watch the entire clip, as it features a mind-fuck ending that’d make M. Night Shyamalan proud.

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GUESS WHO’S COMING TO DINNER?: Gaahl portrait by Peter Beste

If you have even the slightest passing interest in photography and black-metal, Peter Beste’s True Norweigan Black Metal is a must-buy that captures more than bullet belts and buckets of corpse paint. Beste’s compelling viewfinder chips away at the kvlter-than-thou posturing that’s made this subgenre/scene such a deadly serious proposition, revealing some of the humanity behind convicted criminals and convuluted madmen.

The video presented after the jump pastes together the five parts of VBS‘ acclaimed black-metal doc for the first time. Enjoy it with your loved ones on this special day …

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Photos by Andrew Parks

When we heard that Ben Frost—easily one of our favorite ‘experimental’ acts at the moment, since he knows how to push things forward without losing the listener in a masturbatory haze—and Bora Yoon were presenting a special Church of the Ascension performance this week, self-titled sprinted to see the pair pull a Sunn O))) and “evoke site specific spirits.” And by that we mean the freaked-out feeling we had after a hymnal book from 1982 fell on our lap midway through their hour-long ( (( Phonation )) ) set. Apparently someone up there was a little miffed about tonight’s secular soundtrack of ghastly loops, clinical, chest-thumping beats and speakers pushed to the point of purified distortion. Us, well we dug everything but one ill-advised turn into singer/songwriter territory. Yoon’s voice is so gorgeous in the abstract that we prefer her wailing like a tormented soprano over standard verse/chorus/verse/chorus narratives.

Lots of photos after the jump. If you like what you see, be sure to see Yoon’s Frost-free gig at the Stone on December 5. (It will have “special visitors,” though.)

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[Color photos by Andrew Parks; Black & white shots by Aaron Richter]

Melodramatic much? That’s one way of putting M83’s rather epic set at Webster Hall on Friday night. Setting things off with a carpe diem rendition of “Run Into Flowers,” Anthony Gonzalez led his airtight backing band through nearly two hours of sci-fi noir scores and widescreen pop that covered most of Saturdays=Youth and just about every back catalogue cut that matters. As sufficiently over-the-top as the whole thing sounded, the band’s impeccable mix could have been cranked up a bit. As self-titled’s associate editor, Aaron Richter, said, “Black Rebel Motorcycle Club’s acoustic show at Webster Hall was louder than this.”  Because of this, the edge was taken off such gorgeous and grand cuts as “Teen Angst,” “Moonchild,” and “Kim & Jessie,” keeping M83 from reaching truly transcedent heights.

In other words, we left feeling uplifted instead of what we were really looking for: an experience that bowls us over and sweeps us straight off the ground.

As for M83’s openers, we dig School of Seven Bells‘ Ghostly debut so much that we got to Webster at the crack of 8 to catch their entire set. “Half Asleep” quickly reminded us why it’s one of our favorite singles of the year, but the trio’s set suffered from headphone listen syndrome. Sorry guys, but Webster Hall is and always will be too cavernous to capture an album as intricate and rich as Alpinisms. That said, SVIIB is a must-see as soon as they start headlining mid-sized clubs. Lots of photos after the jump …

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Photo by Ryan Russell

While we hear that Pelican plans on hibernating this winter and emerging with a new album sometime next year, the band’s still plugging away with the promotion of their current long player, City of Echoes. That includes their headlining spot on this month’s Hydra Head’s “Champions of Sound” tour, as well as the Headbanger’s Ball premiere of the band’s “Lost in the Headlights” video.

Check it after the jump and be sure to look out for the cameo from a certain Juan Perez. (self-titled staff writer, J. Bennett, also contributed to the shoot. Check out his Jay Reatard cover story here.)
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HEALTH pleads its case for its band name to appear in all caps.

By Aaron Richter

My favorite thing about HEALTH is that they’re not ugly. My second favorite thing about HEALTH is that nothing really seems to fit as you might expect it. First you’ve got a burly metalhead drummer brutalizing the demonic rhythmic core for three skinny boys, who flail about with jerky fey poses and unleash industrial guitar that grinds like it might as well be a painfully squealing execution scene itself in the next Saw film. Then dude starts singing (an element executed much better, and with more forceful emotion, live than on the group’s muddled self-titled debut) and it’s as if he’s completely blocked out his bandmates and decided to dump a bucket of steaming angst over everything, nearly bawling his eyes out like a possessed emo frontman who just chomped a few doom pills and is convinced he’s the antichrist (or at least one of his servants). Oh, and there are rimshots.

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Jay Reatard drops his Flying V, recreates the cover of ‘Superfuzz Bigmuff’

Photos by Andrew Parks

All right, we gotta be honest here: Brooklyn, you nearly brought self-titled to tears on Saturday. While the weather outside looked like monsoon season as Glasslands opened its doors, you guys packed the place within a few hours. As a thank you, we encourage anyone who had a hell of a time with us to e-mail events@self-titledmag.com about who you’d like to see at s/t’s next party, as we plan on booking more cheap, intimate, no-bullshit shows in the coming months. More details to come soon. For now, the evidence …

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self-titled Managing Editor Arye Dworken is a damn handsome man. Last night he had his small-screen debut on MTV2’s Subterranean with an interview of Brooklyn duo Matt & Kim. Arye asked the tough questions and looked like a regular John Norris. (Too bad they spelled his name wrong…oopies!) However, we only have one question for you, Arye: Where did you get your shirt? 

As you might have noticed in recent months, self-titled struck a loose partnership with MTV2’s Subterranean show earlier this year, one where the folks over there shared their favorite clips with us while we schooled them on some of our favorite acts. Tonight at 1 a.m. EST, our managing editor, Arye Dworken, takes things to another level as Subterranean’s Matt & Kim-interviewing host.

We hear the program’s looking to finally fill its vacant talking-head position, so if you like what you see—despite Arye’s young Woody Allen demeanor—be sure to shoot us some feedback and we’ll pass it on to the proper authorities.

Mazel tov, Arye!

Peek-a-boo, we see Yelle

Photos by Andrew Parks

While this post marks the end of our photo set overview of the Airwaves festival, we still have a number of stories to share, including last week’s Top 5 performances and a thorough Icelandic music package that’ll run in the third digital issue of self-titled later this year. For now, here are some of the last sets we’ll remember from one of the most rewarding fests self-titled’s ever witnessed.

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