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THE S/T INTERVIEW: Hot Chip
Words by Aaron Richter The windfall of attention soon to hit Hot Chip is obvious. It has built steadily since the UK group’s debut, 2004’s Coming on Strong, and gained momentum with 2006’s The Warning, ignited by the top-of-its-game single “Over And Over.†This past year, Hot Chip set out to match the full-throttle intensity […]
CLASS ACT: Tunng Explains How There’s More to Folk Music Than Flowery Dresses and Facial Hair
What is folk music really? A simple explanation, by Sam Genders of the UK group Tunng. 1. On beards and jumpers. Several members of our band do in fact own one or more of each of these. It’s often said that the close proximity of the two items creates a harmonic resonance audible only to […]
1MM: Neurosis/Mastodon @ Brooklyn Masonic Temple
NEUROSIS: Still an enemy of the sun While we don’t subscribe to the theory that bands like Isis are simply ripping Neurosis off–well, some bands ‘borrow’ elements from both of them, but that’s besides the point–the Bay area vets certainly showed their followers how it’s done Thursday night at the Brooklyn Masonic Temple. Words honestly […]
1MM: Mahjongg @ Southpaw, Brooklyn
MAHJONGG: Yes, we Can Can Can Photos by Claire Thornton and Aaron Richter There once was a time when Mahjongg was one of the most exhilarating live acts around, spewing polyrhythmic experimentations atop rattling bass lines and catchy lyrical non sequiturs, all abstract as fuck but with a keen ear for pop structures. This was […]
For Pete’s Sake
OVERANALYZE THIS: Babyshambles Babyshambles Shotter’s Nation (Astralwerks) Where, oh, where have all the rock stars gone? Those blithering drug-addled fuckups–tall and charismatic with a Chelsea-boot swagger one minute; pressing a crack pipe into a pet cat’s mouth the next. If our mainstream rock stars are arriving in the form of, say…Pete Wentz, whose biggest blunder […]
DAFT OXFORD PUNKS: A Q&A Session With Vampire Weekend
By Arye Dworken Ask Vampire Weekend vocalist Ezra Koenig what he wants to do with his newfound life as New York’s Next Big Thing and he’ll simply say, “Write catchy songs.” Nothing more, nothing less. So, what’s all the fuss about Koenig’s band among blogs, message boards and, soon, magazine covers? Why is this seemingly […]
THE S/T INTERVIEW: Dax Riggs
Photo/Text by J. Bennett Before we met Dax Riggs, we’re pretty sure we’d never heard anybody mention Obituary and the Fairport Convention in the same sentence–much less as reference points for their own music. For shorthand purposes, we’d been referring to Riggs’ solo debut, We Sing Of Only Blood Or Love (Fat Possum) as the […]
Shaken, Not Stirred With … Sunset Rubdown
SUNSET RUBDOWN: Raise your hands if you’re sure [Photo by Yannick Grandmont] Before blessing us with her wonderful pecan pie recipe, Camilla Wynn Ing, multi-instrumentalist for Montreal’s Sunset Rubdown, offers this simple advice: “Don’t wear black jeans when you make pie dough.” Sure thing, Camilla! She adds, “It’s good with whipped cream or vanilla ice […]
Radiohead Confirms First Leg of North American Tour
RADIOHEAD: Straight outta Oxford Radiohead has finally announced some actual venues for its North American tour behind In Rainbows. They are as follows: 5/5 West Palm Beach, FL – Cruzan Amphitheatre 5/6 Tampa, FL – Ford Amphitheatre 5/8 Atlanta, GA – Lakewood Amphitheatre 5/9 Charlotte, NC – Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre 5/11 Bristow, VA – […]
I Was There: Swayzak
David “Brun” Brown of SWAYZAK @ Canal Room, 12/05 [Photo by Andrew Parks] In case you couldn’t already tell, what with the recent release of a Swayzak retrospective (You’ll Never Dance Alone Again) and a double-shot remix/rarities collection (Route de la Slack) , the London-based duo celebrated 10 years together last year. (Their first 12”, […]
QOTSA Sparks Make Out Sessions, Liam Gallagher Gets Married …
Josh Homme: Just likes to watch Liam Gallagher and Nicole Appleton have staged a wedding so secret Noel didn’t even know about it. Queens of the Stone Age are asking fans to make out for a special V-day contest. Massive Attack is curating this year’s Meltdown Festival. The White Stripes have signed an exclusive […]
Greg Dulli Gives Us a Gutter Twins Preview
THE GUTTER TWINS: Just take the fucking picture, will you? [Photo by Sam Holden] Saturnalia, the God-fearing debut of The Gutter Twins (a.k.a. Greg Dulli and his fearsome on-again/off-again Twilight Singers collaborator Mark Lanegan), is still a few weeks away from hitting record stores but the dream college rock pairing is previewing the LP tonight […]
I WAS THERE: The Gutter Twins @ Bowery Ballroom, 2.14.08
[L to R: Greg Dulli, Mark Lanegan] Words/Photos by Andrew Parks I once caught this film critic from Philly closing his eyes and singing along to every word at a Neko Case show. Normally, this wouldn’t be a big deal–or even remotely noticeable–but there were only about 50 people in attendance to catch Case and […]
Split Decision: OM vs. High On Fire
HIGH ON FIRE: Dude, where’s our bong? OM Pilgrimage (Southern Lord) VS. High on Fire Death Is This Communion (Relapse) By Robbie Mackey Sleep still casts a mighty shadow more than a decade after the doom-mongers’ immaculate stoner metal opus Dopesmoker–the hour-plus track that landed the group in the back alley behind London Records, sans […]
THE SELF-TITLED INTERVIEW: Destroyer
Words by Michael Tedder Perhaps the only thing more shocking than the quality of Dan Bejar’s melodically nimble songwriting is how many of his songs there are to be shocked by. Not only does his main project, Destroyer, dependably release an album every two years, but he also keeps himself busy with side projects including […]
BUY IT, BURN IT, SKIP IT: Atlas Sound, Flowers Forever, Grand Archives
BRADFORD COX: A material boy in a material world By Aaron Richter As you all certainly know by now, new releases hit record-store shelves and digital-download services each Tuesday. So every week self-titled presents a new release you’d be stupid not to own (Buy It), one worth checking out if you’re the curious type (Burn […]
1MM: Yelle @ Knitting Factory, 2.19.08
Words/Photos by Andrew Parks So Yelle‘s apparently a major pop star back home in Paris, a fact backed by the considerable Frenchie quotient at New York’s Knitting Factory Tuesday night. Billed as the singer’s U.S. debut, the show was exactly what one would expect given the feel-good electro vibe of Yelle’s import-only debut, Pop Up. […]
Cat Power, Radiohead Among Confirmed All Points West Acts
CAT POWER and DEVANDRA BANHART do the twist Tickets for the much-hyped All Points West Music & Arts Festival go on sale next Friday at noon EST through Ticketmaster. Surprisingly, given the relatively small lineup of around 40 acts over three days, single day passes are $89 and three-day tickets are $258. As rumored, the […]
RAY OF LIGHT: Bat For Lashes
Story by Rebecca Wiener Photos by Travis Huggett Everything about Natasha Khan, it seems, is a delicate balance of opposites. “My writing relies on equal parts civilization and wilderness,” says the 27-year-old musician as we sit in a slender triangle of green space at the center of a busy SoHo intersection in Manhattan. Casually gorgeous […]
Maxim Blasts the Black Crowes (On Principle)
THE BLACK CROWES: Scarier than ‘The Birds’ The Black Crowes have lashed out at Maxim for publishing a two-and-a-half star review of Warpaint, their first studio record in seven years. Not because they simply didn’t like it; because they only heard one song (“Goodbye Daughters of the Revolution”). According to a press release from the […]