1MM: Bora Yoon & Ben Frost @ Church of the Ascension, 11.20.08
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 […]
AU CONTRAIRE: Guns N’ Roses, “Chinese Democracy” (Geffen)
Because self-titled‘s staff doesn’t always agree about what’s amazing or godawful What we said then: “Say what you will about the state of Guns N’ Roses (and more specifically Axl Rose’s sanity), but every song on Chinese Democracy contains at least 15 to 30 seconds of undeniable brilliance–an admirable feat that would be difficult for any […]
INSIDE ST002: Bloc Party, Wayne Coyne Indulge Our ‘Lib Service’ Fantasies
[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 […]
PEEP SHOW: “True Norweigan Black Metal (Full Length Version)”
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 […]
THE S/T SCOOP: The Prodigy Finally Finish ‘Invaders Must Die,’ Premiere New Single, Video
[Photo by Paul Dugdale] Okay, so Liam Howlett didn’t quite live up to his latest promise of delivering a new Prodigy disc by the end of the year. We’re okay with that, simply because we’re willing to wait for a record that’ll blow the Ed Banger generation away, restoring some order to the easy-to-answer question […]
WHAT’S IN A MUSLIM?: 15 Band Names That Are Better Than The Soft Pack
By Arye Dworken You gotta admire the balls of a buzz band with a name like “The Muslims,” especially when not one member is Islamic. Ah, but what if said buzz band backpedaled and decided that, no, we are not in fact “The Muslims.” We’re “The Soft Pack.” As in the shit your roommate tap, […]
LONG PLAYERS OF THE YEAR: [30] The Walkmen, “You & Me” (Gigantic Music)
We hate half-baked countdowns just as much as the next cynic. That said, self-titled couldn’t help but stare in horror as good but not great (Fleet Foxes at No. 1 and 2? Really?) albums top the lists of other publications. Here’s one of 30 selections from our rundown of wholly recommended 2008 records …
LONG PLAYERS OF THE YEAR: [29] Robyn, “Robyn” (Cherrytree)
We hate half-baked countdowns just as much as the next cynic. That said, self-titled couldn’t help but stare in horror as good but not great (Fleet Foxes at No. 1 and 2? Really?) albums top the lists of other publications. Here’s one of 30 selections from our rundown of wholly recommended 2008 records …
SCREENING ROOM: The Story Behind LCD Soundsystem’s “New York I Love You” Video
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 […]