LISTEN: Zebra Katz Covers Tiffany, Recruits Busta Rhymes on New ‘DRKLNG’ Mixtape

CELLULOI: Zola Jesus On … The Art of Being Tilda Swinton

NEEDLE EXCHANGE 121: An Exclusive Mix By … !!! (Chk Chk Chk)

FROM THE STACKS: The Child of Lov

Read Our New Issue, F/ METZ, Pissed Jeans, Grouper, John Cale + More

NEEDLE EXCHANGE 018: An Exclusive Mix By … Devlin & Darko

May 7th, 2010 | File Under: Needle Exchange | 6 comments

Words and Mix by Chris Devlin

So I ran into a guy I know from Baltimore while on tour in Amsterdam. Matt Walter is his name, and he was there vacationing with his wife. We both really like music and have shared some tunes in the past, so we got to talking about music pretty quickly, and before we knew it, we were drunk and high in some bar and decided that we would make some crazy ass mixtape called 24…and pretty soon we decided it would have Jack Bauer on the cover…and that it would be the soundtrack to TERROR, or something…

Anyway, the mix didn’t really go down that way, but what did happen was that Matt sent me a bunch of really great songs and I mixed and edited them with some of my own.

The result is this Needle Exchange mix (an actual exchange). It’s pretty heavy on the ’80s but nothing too mainstream (check the liner notes below). I also put in a few newish tracks and a couple of my recent vinyl purchases. I sent a few sections through my dual cassette deck and did some fairly fruitless, but really labor intensive, recording and re-recording and editing. It sure was fun though, and i think I ended up with some good punky/hippie disco snippets after all.

It’s nice sometimes to take a minute and realize that all this weird shit happens, and that mixes and music end up getting made, pretty much due to fun had while traveling for ‘work’.

Posted in: Needle Exchange

COFFEE TALK: The Latest Posts, Profiles & Think Pieces On Jeff Mangum, Pan Sonic, Ducktails, Optimo, Neu!, and More

May 7th, 2010 | File Under: Coffee Talk | Leave A Comment

Michael Rother of Neu!

We sift the ‘net for today’s top stories so you don’t have to…

Posted in: Coffee Talk

NOW PLAYING: Blank Dogs, ‘Phrases’ (Captured Tracks, 2010)

May 7th, 2010 | File Under: Now Playing | Leave A Comment

The Details: Blank Dogs, Phrases EP (Captured Tracks, 2010)

A Quick Review: Hey, where did all the feedback & fuzz go? And what’s up with Mike Sniper’s vocals? They’re so…clean. Come to think of it, “Racing Backwards” is basically a circuit-bending ballad, and “Blurred Tonight” might as well be tucked between the Cure and some old Slumberland band on a mixtape entitled C87.

These are all good things, signs that Sniper’s relative silence in the past six months—compared to his steady stream of 2008/2009 releases—may be leading to his most fully-realized record yet. While we’ve been told to expect an album in late summer, this’ll do for now, and if you just can’t get enough, Blank Dogs also has a new cassingle available digitally here.

Posted in: Now Playing

THE SELF-TITLED INTERVIEW: Converge

May 6th, 2010 | File Under: The S/T Interview | Leave A Comment

Converge fans, meet Kurt Ballou's guitar

Words and Photos by Andrew Parks

Whether you’re into metal or not, you need to see Converge at least once. Aside from being one of America’s last remaining hardcore bands, they are easily one of the most intense live experiences you’ll ever endure—a blinding battering ram of a rock show that’ll probably result in a bruise or two. But hey, you’ll feel like a better person in the end. And if you’re like us, you’ll have the pictures to prove it.

The following is an interview I conducted with Converge’s guitarist/widely respected producer (Kurt Ballou) last fall. We saved it for their next headlining tour, which happens to touch down at New York’s Santos Party House tonight. That show is sold out, but you can find other dates on the group’s month-long North American trek here.

As for what’s discussed herein, expect: Ballou’s new Black Flag-meets-Birthday Party project, the band’s guest-dotted Axe To Fall album (current and former members of Neurosis, Disfear, Cave-In, Hatebreed, Genghis Tron, Undertow…), why he doesn’t listen to too much metal anymore, and much, much more.

Posted in: The S/T Interview

DOWNLOAD THIS NOW: Check Out Six New Tracks From Weird Wives, The New Noise-Rock Side Project of Surfer Blood

May 5th, 2010 | File Under: Download This Now | Leave A Comment

The two guys in the middle do not approve this message

Photo by Jen Maler

Oh Twitter, we love thee. Why, you ask? Because without you we wouldn’t know such important things as Zomby’s Soundcloud sketches and the following blast of Big Blackness from Weird Wives, a new noise-rock project from 3/5 of Surfer Blood (guitarist Thomas Fekete, bassist Brian Black and touring percussionist/keyboardist Marcos Marchesani) and some verse-chewing singer named Nick Klein.

As leaked on the band’s own Twitter account last night, here is one two-track single and a complete EP with such tellingly-named cuts as “Snake Boy” and the nine ear-ringing, pedal-pushing minutes of “Bulldozer Puppet Fucker.” Sounds like someone’s been listening to a lot of Lightning Bolt, Unsane and Jesus Lizard. A proper 7-inch of even more Weird Wives wackiness is on the way soon…

Posted in: Download This Now

I WAS THERE: And the Hottest Ticket of the Year Is … Ariel Pink?

May 5th, 2010 | File Under: I Was There | Leave A Comment

An old shot of Ariel Pink trying to be Iggy Pop

[Photo by JΔMESON]

Words by Andrew Parks

The Artist & Their Latest Release: Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti, Round and Round 7-inch (4AD, 2010)

The Show: Mercury Lounge, 5.4.10

The Set In a Few Sentences:

Posted in: I Was There

MEAL TICKET: White Hinterland’s Recipe For Kumquat Marmalade

May 4th, 2010 | File Under: Features | One comment

We’ve already told you why White Hinterland‘s Kairos LP is one of the year’s finest makeovers—an abrupt but seamless shift from smoky, jazzy folk tunes to beat-heavy pop and R&B. As if that wasn’t impressive enough, singer/multi-instrumentalist Casey Dienel is also one hell of a cook. So now that spring has officially sprung at White Hinterland’s Portland headquarters (see the photo below), we asked Dienel to share one of her favorite seasonal recipes: kumquat marmalade.

Posted in: Features

BUY IT, BURN IT, SKIP IT: Flying Lotus, The New Pornographers, The Hold Steady

May 4th, 2010 | File Under: Buy It, Burn It, Skip It | Leave A Comment

[Photo by Timothy Saccenti]

As we all know by now, new releases hit record store shelves and digital download services each Tuesday. That’s why self-titled presents the following every week: a new release you’d be stupid not to own (Buy It), one worth checking out if you’re curious (Burn It) and something you should avoid at all costs (Skip It). Simple, ain’t it?

Posted in: Buy It, Burn It, Skip It

PEEP SHOW: Watch Daedelus’ New “Stampede Me” Video, Starring the Most Depressing 3-D Ninja Ever

May 4th, 2010 | File Under: Peep Show | Leave A Comment

[Photo by Robert Lopez]

We’ve always considered Daedelus the clown prince of L.A.’s beat conductor scene, a modern day dandy who sees nothing run with dropping a dusty old 78 right in the middle of one of his genre-less records. With that in mind, the following head trip—directed by relative newcomer Chris Shen—is a bit of a downer, albeit a downer that’s best viewed with 3-D glasses.

“Stampede Me” is one of eight new tracks on Righteous Fists of Harmony, Daedelus’ first record for Flying Lotus’ Brainfeeder imprint. It’s available now.

Posted in: Peep Show