Blog Grid

Inspired by the magazine layout, Grid makes neat and clean appearance. It is always a good layout to start with.

NOW PLAYING: Charlotte Gainsbourg, ‘IRM’

The Details: Charlotte Gainsbourg, IRM (Because Music, 2009) A Quick Review: For some reason, we assumed this album would sound like a bunch of breathing exercises–a lot of cooing and come-ons, caught in a narcotic haze like Gainsbourg’s last LP, 5:55. Instead, Beck gives songs like “Trick Pony,” “Greenwich Mean Time” and “Heaven Can Wait” […]

Klimek Reveals His Favorite SST Records Alongside An Exclusive Punk Mix That’ll Make You Want to Cockpunch a Co-Worker

If you checked out last week’s Long Player of the Day post about Sebastian Meissner’s Klimek project, then you know the guy’s a master of ambient music. What you might not realize, however, is the extent of his punk/metal/extreme music collection. The producer will close the gap between these two very different worlds next Thursday […]

NEEDLE EXCHANGE 002: An Exclusive Mix By … Cubic Zirconia

[Photo by Beth Dixson] You may remember Cubic Zirconia from their support slot set at our OSCILLATIONS party last spring, the one with the Glimmers and the dude who helped craft the greatest dance single of our time. In the months since, they’ve been slaving away at a string of proper releases. First up: a […]

FROM THE STACKS: Moon Duo

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.

Sasu Ripatti Breaks Down His Entire Catalog, From Vladislav Delay to Luomo

[Photo by Ari-Pekka Auvinen] Every time self-titled stares down a deadline, we ban our managing editor’s extensive power ballad collection and play nothing but drone tones and subterranean techno. Not because we’re trying to be contrarian or ‘cool’; because everything else is just noise, a distraction from what needs to be done. One office regular […]

Will the Real SALEM Please Stand Up?

So we just got a press release about the seventh studio album of SALEM, an Israeli band that’s been delivering politically-charged death metal since 1985. Which brings us to a simple question: is the lower case version of Salem aware that they’re two decades late in discovering that name? And if so, aren’t they a […]