Photo and Story by J Bennett

Has it really been a year? That’s what the self-titled staff said this morning, as we scoured the day’s sites and realized that Jay Reatard left us on January 13, 2010. In tribute to one of the most compelling real deal rock stars we’ve ever had the pleasure to meet—and in the case of his you-should-have-been-there Glasslands show, host—we’ve decided to share some of our favorite stories, songs, etc. from the Reatard camp throughout the day, starting with the best cover story we’ve ever run…

[Photo by Shawn Brackbill]

For more links to stories in self-titled’s second issue—including our “did that really just happen?” visit with Jay Reatard in Memphis—check out this breakdown. Our third digital mag goes live in a couple weeks.

While we’ve always dug the shimmering dronescapes of Growing, self-titled has a hard time telling their records apart sometimes. Maybe it’s because the duo’s stuck to an instrumental template for nearly a decade; either that, or it’s because bassist Kevin Doria and guitarist Joe Denardo have whittled their sprawling shards of riffs & EFX down to a distinct ‘Growing sound’ over the course of countless LPs, EPs, splits, cassettes, and limited live albums. Whatever the case is, we asked Doria to give us a guide to most of his back catalogue, including the recently-released All the Way album.

[CLICK FOR THE FULL STORY]

As you may or may not have heard, Lindstrøm was in town last night, taking us all on a tour of the space disco station in his mind. And what a utopian place it was, reminding us of the Oslo guide Mr. Feedelity contributed to our current issue. Click the photo after the jump for the full story and watch out for our third issue in a couple weeks …

[Photo by Steve Gullick]

self-titled has avoided boring the shit out of artists since the second we started this daily site/digital magazine. Like the plague, really. One of the earliest ‘brilliant ideas’ we stumbled upon in our search for non-profile pieces was a simple but scintillating return to the Mad Libs pads of our stunted adolescence.

Meant as a way to not worry about anything but mindless queries like “lucky number” or an “adjective starting with C,” self-titled’s recurring Mad Libs page first ensnared No Age at this year’s South by Southwest festival. Our current issue caught two major artists in the act of filling out our “Chris Martin Licks the Wrapper” manifesto: Wayne Coyne of the Flaming Lips, who’s in our actual issue, and Bloc Party, who offer an alternate take in the sheet below …

[CLICK TO EXPAND]

[Photo by Shawn Brackbill]

Wondering where the hell we’ve been for the past week? Well, we weren’t exactly planning our Halloween costumes (s/t’s editor actually threw this getup together—ouch!—on Saturday afternoon) or recovering from a rather boring CMJ. We’ve been busy finishing self-titled’s second interactive, digital-only issue, which is now online and tempting your cursor with the following:

• J. Bennett, Jay Reatard, dead raccoons and three sleepless nights in Memphis
• Around the country in 10 meals with The Melvins
• A plug-and-play session with some of Kevin Shields‘ guitar pedals (with feedback-tastic audio clips!)
• Wayne Coyne of The Flaming Lips fills in our monthly Mad Libs sheet
• Marnie Stern’s sci-fi film guide
• Fall recipes from The Spinto Band
• A couple of exclusive early-day mixtapes from Michna
• Growing explains how to tell drone records apart
• Lindstrøm shares a Norwegian travel guide
• The Faint breaks down Aphex Twin’s entire discography (again with the audio!)
• Harvey Milk’s invites us over to Egg, one of Brooklyn’s most popular restaurants
• Two of our writers go in search of The Real Tricky
• Kevin Barnes somehow makes his cryptic Of Montreal lyrics even more confusing
• Other nonsense involving Poni Hoax, Mogwai, High Places, Ra Ra Riot, Parts & Labor …
• Not to mention All the Saints, Duchess Says, The Sight Below and eight other From the Stacks selections

PRESS THE COVER TO START READING
(Full Screen Mode Recommended; It’s Right Next to the Subscribe Button!)