Bootleg

BOOTLEG

MUSIC, RIO BEACHES & RANDOM STUFF

#22 an interview with

LEIF PODHASKY also meet

COLETIVO GRÁFICO the group of independent street artists that is changing Rio’s landscape

and more

GIGS: THE XX, DEVENDRA, TAME IMPALA, BEACH HOUSE STANDOFF: FRANZ VS ARCTIC 25 BEST ALBUM COVERS

the czech-aussie designer behind the melting cosmic landscapes album covers of Tame Impala, Foals and more.

Who’s who in the boulevard collaborators of this issue.

THIAGO DIAS, 24 Photo Editor Rio de Janeiro

NICKOLAS BORBA, 20 Chief Editor Rio de Janeiro

MICHA LIONARONS, 24 Correspondent Reporter Amsterdam

ARTHUR BITTAR, 22 Creative Director Rio de Janeiro

That lazy bastard who takes the whole semester complaing and ends up doing nothing.

Trying (not so hard) to graduate in design @Esdi

A.K.A. “DJ Nicko”, the criminal mastermind who assembles of the coolest playlists ever played in our college parties.

Graduating in design @Esdi

The “gringo” dutch exchange student who’s still learning that Brazil isn’t only about caipirinhas and samba, or maybe it is. Currently designing @Esdi.

Although some people say he looks like a german redneck, he’s actually our very own Chuck Norris, which is pretty cool. As others, graduating in design @Esdi

STAFF EDITOR-IN-CHIEF_ Nickolas Borba EDITORIAL CONSULTANT_ Thiago Dias SPECIAL EDITOR_ Kanye West EDITORS_ Eric Cartman, Kyle Broflovski, Kenny McCormick, Stan Marsh, Leopold “Butters” Stotch REPORTERS_ Micha Solomon, Arthur Bittar, Nickolas Borba GRAPHIC PROJECT_ Steve Jobs SECRETARY_ Anna Rosemblum COVER_ photography by Thiago Dias

BOOTLEG is a fictional magazine publication designed as an assignment oriented by Washington Dias Lessa for Projeto de Programação Visual II at Esdi - Escola Superior de Desenho Industrial, during the last semester of 2013.

CALL CENTER_SIGN UPS, SUGESTIONS AND COMPLAINTS_ RIO DE JANEIRO: (21) 4063.7865 ELSEWHERE: 0800 7070.2623 VISIT OUR WEBSITE_ WWW.BOOTLEG.COM/SIGNUP

Y.O.L.O. a friendly note of the crew The tingling sensation in the brain caused by music still leaves scientists grasping in the dark. But for us at bootleg it is just a matter of perspective. I always tell what a wise man once told me: “ Ears are like the dick of your face, and music can make you cum hours in a row.”

Here at bootleg we do not see ourselves as a dirty magazine, but as the gentlemen’s club in it’s monthly discussion about what we see as the highest form of art, music. Narrating our experiences of some of the most amazing concerts of the world. Such as the XX or Devendra Banhart.

Since we all know what we call a musician that just broke up with his girlfriend (=homeless). In this issue we will present the particular unfortunates of this month a new city. Rio de Janeiro!

Taking you from place to place in, following the same footsteps as the most famous samba artists but also just checking out some famous Brazilian ass on the beach.

The enjoyment of making this magazine, is something we love to do, and to love doing so for the next years to come! This would never be possible without you, so thank yourself, sit back, relax and enjoy.

“Take a music bath once or twice a week for a few seasons. You will find it is to the soul what a water bath is to the body.”

-Oliver Wendell Holmes

_summary NOVEMBER _2013

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MIXTAPE You should prepare your ears for some well-spend-time playlist, arranged by DJ Nicko.

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QUOTES Sometimes you actually have to listen to believe it.

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WALK A foreign eye finding nice stuff arrond. Just to sum things up: welcome to Rio!

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FRESH This issue featuring albums from Blood Orange, M.I.A., Chvrches, and The Internet.

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STANDOFF You better be ready for rumble, ‘cause things are about to become nasty, amigo.

GIGS Our crew went to the bohemian Lapa, to check out Tame Impala, Devendra, Beach House and The XX.

BOOTLEG #23 BEST ALBUM COVERS /////////////////////////////////////////// 38 in a year when amazing covers it’s safe to say that covers are evolving along with every other way we enjoy our music.

written by NICKOLAS BORBA

LEIF PODHAJSKY /////////////////////////////////////////////////// 48 the czech-aussie designer behind the melting cosmic landscapes cover albums of Tame Impala, the Foals and others. written by ARTHUR BITTAR

COLETIVO GRÁFICO /////////////////////////////////////////// 54 the group of independent street artists that is changing Rio’s urban landscape. written by ARTHUR BITTAR

//mixtape

hashtags are bad

You can just read the magazine, of course.

But if you want to have an amazing experience, we have the perfect mix for your ears, In this issue, we prepared a mix with soulful and chill songs, so just relax (at home or at the beach in Rio) and enjoy the music!

The XX - Intro Danny Brown - Wonderbread Blood Orange - Uncle Ace Hiatus Kaiyote - Malika Ratatat - Wildcat The Internet - Dontcha Haim - The Wire Solange - Losing You Classixx - Dominoes Toro Y Moi - Say That CHVRCHES - Gun Vampire Weekend - Everlasting Arms Devendra Banhart - Mi Negrita

LISTEN HERE!

Music lovers partner up to listen the mixtape of this issue

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//quotes “

“that’s what they said“

I STAND BY EVERYTHING I'VE EVER SAID,APOLOGIES INCLUDED.

fiona apple

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“

AT FIRST, I WAS LIKE, ‘OK COOL, SOMEONE MADE A VIDEO TO MY SONG.’ BUT IT DIDN’T SEEM THAT FUNNY.

harlem shake producer baauer

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aziz ansari

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I LOVE GOING ON EBAY AND TYPING IN RANDOM STUFF AND SORTING BY 'MOST EXPENSIVE' AND SEEING THE WEIRDEST SHIT. I TYPED IN MRS. DOUBTFIRE AND THERE WAS A HEAD MOLD FROM THE MOVIE AND A SIGNED PICTURE OF ROBIN WILLIAMS. IT WAS AT LIKE $20,000.

”

”

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earl sweatshirt

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I'M A WEIRDO, BUT I HAVE A VERY STRONG MORAL CODE: DON'T BE A FUCKING DICK.

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IT’S REALLY HARD TO EVEN TALK ABOUT THE INTERNET WITHOUT SEEMING INSTANTLY CORNY.

danny brown

ezra koenig

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“

I DON'T CARE ABOUT SEX ANYMORE. IT’S A HEADACHE. IT’S HARD TO TRUST PEOPLE. YOU TALK TO A GIRL, AND THEN SHE SCREENSHOTS A TEXT MESSAGE.

thomas mars

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“

I WATCHED 'TRAPPED IN THE CLOSET' WITH MY FATHER-IN-LAW (FRANCIS FORD COPPOLA) ONCE AND I REMEMBER HIM SITTING THERE IN SILENCE FOR 10 MINUTES AND THEN SAYING, 'THIS IS INCREDIBLE.

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//walk

join us on a stroll

welcome to

T

Rio

he bustling city of Rio de Janeiro has been one of Brazil’s most popular and frequented tourist destinations for decades. Its vibrant city centre is bursting with culture and pulsating with a deep sense of history and heritage.

Rio, as it is commonly known, is the second largest city in Brazil and the third largest metropolis in the whole of South America.

It is the most visited city in the Southern Hemisphere, which is no mean feat. This makes for an impressive, memorable attraction for visitors from all over the world.

by Micha Lionarons

WALK

The beach plays a big part in the minds of the people native to Rio de Janeiro.

It’s not merely a place to go and absorb sun rays. It’s a social circus, a major venue for sports and even business dealings.

It’s a people-watcher’s dreamy paradise.

Showcasing that six pack and striking a pose

Beach Culture Key to the 'Carioca' lifestyle

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t’s not easy for a casual visitor to understand the complex beach culture in Rio, but with a keen eye it is possible to pick out the different cliques and crowds that inhabit the acres of sand, that change according to the time of day or the day of the week.

Gone surfin'

Every beach in Rio is a scene for fashion and trends. Also people from the “favelas” reach the beach with their surfboard.

Surfing is a very popular sport for “cariocas”, although they don’t have the best waves for it. The whole concept of catching waves and hanging out on the beach is a perfect fit with their mentality, based on the art of flirting and the joy of

living. Rio de Janeiro locals are more likely to say “tenha uma boa praia” (“have a good beach”) than “have a good day”.

They wake up wondering whether rain or clouds will ruin their time in the sun, and rather than ask what you do for a living, fun-loving Cariocas (locals) will want to know which part of the beach you are going to.

Frescobol, a traditional sport created on Copacabana Beach during the 50s, became another leisure activity for cariocas on sunny days, both in the summer and winter. Frescobol, a traditional sport created on Copacabana Beach during the 50s, became another leisure activity for cariocas on sunny days,

RIO

The famous and romantic 'Arpoador' sunset

both in the summer and winter.

Copacabana streets are excellent for a night bike ride and also at sunset along the carioca beaches, perfect for a volleyball or footvolley match.

Footvolley has some football characteristics – the player can touch the ball with any part of the body except for the arms, forearms and hands—and volleyball—the match is divided into sets, and each team can only touch the ball three times.

There are activities which are even more original, such as the practice of slack line, in which players walk over nylon webbing attached to two anchor points.

On Rio beaches, it is common to see people practicing slack.

Gone surfin'

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WALK

Pedra do Sal A historical mark

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his historic ‘venue’ is in fact an integral part of the story of samba. On the site of a former slave market, the area around the huge rock (pedra) in question is also widely believed to be the birthplace of the early carnival parades, at a time when the port-side location made the area a bleak focal point for the local black community.

Pedra do Sal is a place with special significance for Cariocas of African descent and fans of samba and choro music.

It is considered the center of the area known locally as “Little Africa”, which was full of collective houses of escaped and freed slaves.

Meeting friends and drinking is just as important as music

IF YOU ASK ANYBODY ON THE STREETS FOR A GOOD SAMBA PLACE, IT IS VERY LIKELY CASA ROSA AND PEDRA DO SAL ARE GOING TO POP UP.

Adress__ Largo João da Baiana, Rua argemiro Bulcão, Centro Website__ rodadesambadapedradosal.blogspot.com.br Capacity__ Limitless

The crowd forms a circle around the band

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Hours and ticket prices__ Only every monday and friday from 7.30 until around midnight, but it is FREE

RIO

Traditional feijoada to start off the party

Casa Rosa The 'Pink House'

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uilt in the early 20th century, Casa Rosa, in Laranjeiras, was for many decades Rio de Janeiro's and Brazil’s most famous brothel.

Since losing its original function in the 1980s, the pink house in Rio de Janeiro has become a cultural center and one of the best places to go dancing in town outside the Lapa area.

Famous samba and choro artists perform with passion

Adress__ Rua Alice 550,Laranjeiras Website__ www.casarosa.com.br Capacity__ 800 Hours and ticket prices__ Fri (11 p.m.) women $11, men $17 Sat (11 p.m.) women $9, men $12 Sun (5 p.m.) $17 with feijoada $9 without feijoada

During the weekend, Casa Rosa hosts an array of workshops in dance, capoeira, drama, guitar, mandolin, jiu-jitsu, graffiti and other fields. On the weekends, the house gets hopping with shows, parties and rodas de samba (informal samba gettogethers) with feijoada.

//fresh

Blood Orange ‘Cupid Deluxe’ Starring the kind of battered-but-resilient souls who stroll through New York in the dead of night, the impressionistic song has Hynes switching between a low and high singing voice, subtly accentuating the androgynous characters within. It’s mysterious, desperate, empathetic.

“Not like the other girls,” he offers, possibly taking the purview of a woman who feels like a man, or vice versa. Hynes shines a careful light onto his vulnerable subjects, inhabiting their travails with grace, all while a disco pulse and smoky saxophones harken back to his beloved 80s, when Times Square was a misfit’s home away from home. The outcasts that live inside of “Uncle Ace” are Hynes’

new artists, new albums, new music

people. As the London-raised, New York-based 27-year-old has hopped from project to project and style to style over the last 10 years, he’s maintained the air of an outsider. With Cupid Deluxe, he channels those vagabond emotions into something universal and inviting—an album that tenderly details various heartaches through the language of longing.

Growing up, Hynes was bullied and beaten up enough to end up in the hospital on more than one occasion. He first directed his angst into Test Icicles’ spazzed punk as a teen before moving onto Morrissey-style tragic confessionals with Lightspeed Champion. His first album as Blood Orange, 2011’s Coastal Grooves, traded in Lightspeed’s orchestral folk-pop for slick new wave and funk, streamlining his once-unwieldy songwriting in the process. But it wasn’t until he co-wrote and produced two songs from last year—Solange’s “Losing You” and Sky Ferreira’s “Everything Is Embarrassing”—that he found the most suitable vessel for his melancholic odes to expired love. Both tracks are propelled by springing 80s beats that are tugged down by minor chords and wounded lyrics; the upbeat drums suggest good times past, making the reality-check vocals hit that much harder.

Cupid Deluxe largely (and winningly) follows the formula set forth by those modest hits, while bringing them forth on a full-length scale. Across the album, Hynes sings, writes, produces, and plays guitar, bass, keyboards, drums, synths. But this is hardly a solo act.

In fact, one of the record’s greatest strengths lies in its pitch-perfect deployment of guests. Not only does each member of the Cupid Deluxe team seem to fully understand the overarching wistfulness of the whole, but many of them show off heretofore unheard facets of their talent. While Hynes’ girlfriend and Friends frontwoman Samantha Urbani and Kindness leader Adam Bainbridge exhibited tentative skills with their respective groups’ debut albums last year, they make the most of their spotlights here; Urbani often sounds like she’s mimicking the sultry chirpiness of an absent Solange, but her clear chemistry with Hynes makes the substitution seem more than adequate.

MEANWHILE, DIRTY PROJECTORS AND CHAIRLIFT HAVE NEVER SOUNDED MORE SOULFUL.

Meanwhile, Dirty Projectors’ David Longstreth and Chairlift’s Caroline Polachek have never sounded more soulful.

Typically ominous rap producer Clams Casino contributes light, skittering drums to the Longstreth showcase “No Right Thing”, which could fit snugly into any Vampire Weekend setlist. Even the set’s two rap cameos, from Queens’ Despot and London’s Skepta, are anything but your usual in-and-out 16-bar guest shots—both MCs are given plenty of space to weave tales that are tactile and intimate, while Hynes’ vocals take on a more ghostly role on the tracks’ edges. And while the inclusion of a bubblefunk remake of Britpop curio Mansun’s pompously overwrought 2000 single “I Can Only Disappoint U” sounds almost comically random on paper, Hynes’ Fat Boys scratches and Urbani’s featherlight vocals make it fit into the album’s loose afterhours milieu. Such awareness and selflessness consistently pays off, making all involved sound that much better.

by Ryan Dombal

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FRESH

“I don’t pay attention to what’s happening now,” M.I.A. said in an interview a few weeks before the release of her notoriouslylong-delayed fourth album, Matangi, “My references are beyond the [music] industry.

I’m talking about the goddess Matangi, who invented music 5,000 years ago.” That line is quintessential M.I.A.: artfully provocative, magnificently over-it (“If you don’t give a fuck,” she declared in a pixelated deadpan on her last mixtape, “Then I don’t give a damn”), and difficult to square with a fact-checker.

The Sri-Lankan-born, Londonbred artist has hyped Matangi as her “spiritual album,” and, sure, there are plenty of references to the titular Hindu goddess and other Easternspiritual phenomena throughout its 15 tracks. But contrary to her claims, there are also hints that she’s still paying (somewhat selective) attention to the kind of American music she so brilliantly re-appropriated on her pair of mid-aughts

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M.I.A.

‘Matangi’

I’M TALKING “ ABOUT THE GODDESS MATANGI, WHO INVENTED MUSIC 5000 YEARS AGO.

“

M.I.A.

masterpieces, Arular and Kala: There’s a Weeknd sample, at least two different Drake disses, and a handful of tracks produced by Hit-Boy. Let’s also not forget when she took to Twitter all of 14 months ago to clear up rumors about the already-delayed album, claiming that the finished product would sound like “Paul Simon on acid.”

Contradictory? Sure—but who cares. The people who treat M.I.A.’s controversial career like a never-ending game of gotcha miss the point; from day one, her contradictions have enlivened her music and saved it

FRESH

from heavy-handed moralizing.

A decade after her first mixtape, it now feels safe to call M.I.A. one of the most forward-thinking pop artists of the last decade: She aestheticized deadpan cross-cultural juxtaposition before Tumblr was even a thing, she predicted the controversy surrounding the N.S.A.’s surveillance program, and professed that a pop star might be more like a fashion designer than a musician back when

Kanye West was still wearing a bear suit. Matangi, then, is a disappointing record not for any reasons having to do with its (or its maker’s) lack of a coherent moral imperative. (“Ain’t no Dalai Lama,” she shrugs unapologetically on the skronky intro track, “Karmageddon”.) No, Matangi is a disappointing record because of how listlessly over and “beyond” everything it is, to the point that it feels uncharacteristically weary and out of touch.

Matangi is not as abrasive or hook-averse as its predecessor, but it seems to have suffered because of her combative relationship with her label, Interscope. Initially slated for release in December of last year, M.I.A. and the label butted heads (they allegedly thought the material was “too positive”); it seems they only agreed on a release date when she threatened to leak the album on Twitter. In the meantime, much of this material seems to have sat on the shelf, growing staler by the month.

This is most glaring on “YALA” (“you always live again”), an ode to reincarnation (and also: pole-dancing) that flies in the face of the youth-cult of YOLO. “If you only live once,” she muses in a stoner-voiced spoken word towards the end of the song, “Why do we keep doing the same shit? Back home, where I come from, we keep being born again and again.” Fair enough, but “YALA” barks harder than

it actually bites. The fact that its chorus is peppered with chants of “YOLO” makes it feel like it’s trying to have it both ways—an anti-YOLO song that can also slyly ride the phrase’s cultural coattails.

(And maybe it would have, had that train not left the station at least a year ago now.) Much of Matangi’s sensibility feels similarly dated, limp, or just plain perplexing: There’s a decade-too-late Lara Croft line, another Drake diss on the riotous title track feels too vague (“Started from the bottom/ But Drake gets all the credit”) to warrant a response, and then a moment when she calls out—and here the beat drops out like she’s about to say something seriously scathing.

Matangi is not without charms, but unlike her most potent releases it sounds less interested in pushing and prodding the culture forward and more content to soar safely above it. “There is nothing that can touch me now,” she sings on the nursery-rhyme earworm “Come Walk With Me”. It’s one of the only moments she feels like she’s actually channeling Matangi—she sounds blissfully free, superhumanly defiant, and 5,000 feet above it all. Is it selfish to say it’s a shame? We could use her down here.

by Lindsay Zoladz

FRESH

CHVRCHES ‘The Bones of What you Believe’

For two decades, Glasgow’s indie-pop and dance music scenes have run in parallel, with only a few notable intersections; Chvrches are the latest meeting point. The Scottish trio’s debut LP, The Bones of What You Believe, is a seamless fusion of emotive theatrics, hook-loaded songwriting, and some of the more forward-thinking sonics in electronic music right now.

It’s a style that feels very of-the-moment: Chvrches embody what a generation raised on electronic music is looking for in a rock band, taking the danceable textures favored by the Electric Daisy set and applying them to the sweeping songcraft of both M83 and Passion Pit.

FRESH

Unlike those bands, Chvrches avoid guitars almost entirely, but the hooks on The Bones of What You Believe are indelible regardless of instrumentation, and the sound is immaculate.

After Chvrches self-produced the album in band member Iain Cook’s own Glasgow studio, big-deal boards guy Rich Costey (Nine Inch Nails, Rage Against the Machine) handled the mixing; his touch gives these tunes the bright clarity they deserve, with plenty of space for funhouse sonic triggers-processed effects, pitched-down vocal samples, frizzy synthpad textures. Every note sounds clean and sharp, a necessary corrective to the chemicaldipped wooziness that has dominated electronic indie pop in the last few years.

That sense of precision is unusual for a band this new, but Cook and Martin Doherty, who handle the majority of the instrumentation live and on record, are vets of the Glasgow’s perpetually fertile indie scene. Cook handled guitars and programming as a member of defunct alt-leaning post-rockers Aereogramme, while Doherty was once a live member of throat-shredding shoegazers the Twilight Sad (who launched into their own synth excursions around the time that Chvrches became a full-time concern).

Together they manage to make music that complements distinctive vocalists without overshadowing them.

Heard in the context of Glasgow’s still-strong cottage industry of distinctly masculine anguish-rock bands, the emotional palette of Chvrches’ lead singer Lauren Mayberry is a welcome change of pace. A localband lifer who once pursued a career in music journalism, Mayberry’s voice is a multifaceted instrument, the emotional kernel in Chvrches’ molecular makeup. She can sound cutting, aching, triumphant, fragile, and weightless, sometimes all at once; on “Lies”, she soars above

TOGETHER THEY MAKE MUSIC THAT COMPLEMENTS DISTINCTIVE VOCALISTS WITHOUT OVERSHADOWING THEM. the chorus’ mountainous build, and her vocal surge rescues the murky techno of “Science/ Visions”, the closest thing to a miss on this otherwise rock-solid album.

Even when Mayberry’s at her most powerful, her voice possesses a specific, relatable humanity, which brightens the adolescent glow of her lyrics. (Occasional lead singer Doherty, previously the band’s weak link, makes good enough on his two featured songs, the rippling “Under the Tide” and the prom-dance lushness of “You Caught the Light”). Her words might look

overwrought on paper, but when set to the emotive sounds that Chvrches trade in, they sound towering, impassioned, and life-affirming. Depeche Mode, a spiritual antecedent, have a classic song with the refrain “All I ever wanted/ All I ever needed/ Is here, in my arms”; that kind of emotional directness and simplicity is a hallmark of the songwriting here.

The Bones of What You Believe also shares some of Depeche Mode’s large-scale ambition: the arpeggiated-synth burst that closes “Tether” sounds like it was orchestrated for the optimal turn-all-the-lasers-on-at-once trigger at a live performance, and it’s all the better for it. Throughout, Chvrches’ effortless populism finds them in a long tradition of bands who take a highly personal sense of turmoil and blow it up onto an arena-sized screen.

Granted, recent live performances have suggested that they have a ways to go before their concert-conquering potential catches up with the ability they display on record, such but growing pains are normal for a band this new. For now, on record, Chvrches know how go big on an intimate scale, to remind us of the stuff that keeps us living.

by Larry Fitzmaurice

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FRESH

The Internet ‘Feel Good’ “They don’t know the struggles that she was raised with... so shut the fuck up,” Syd tha Kyd sang last year on “She DGAF” with the sort of middle-finger-up irreverence often found in the music of her crew Odd Future. It was one of the few moments on the Internet’s Purple Naked Ladies where you could draw a direct line from the bubbling neo-soul of Syd and Matt Martians to the rest of Odd Future.

Outside of a few appearances from Left Brain and Mike G-- the latter of which Syd has produced for in the past-- Purple Naked Ladies felt largely disconnected from the entire OFWGKTA oeuvre, the controversial collective mentioned more out of obligation than because of any musical or ideological kinship.

On their sophomore album, Feel Good, the Internet continue along this path, sharpening their songwriting and progressively reigning in their propensity to wander.

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The biggest leap forward is made

by Syd herself-- where in the past she would sometimes disappear into her surroundings she now takes center stage with confidence, her down pillow-soft vocals claiming the spotlight with an easy swagger. Her voice is still a delicate thing that sounds like it could blow away given the right gust, but it’s able to pull off things it wasn’t capable of before: the sensual come-ons of “Don’tcha” require a self-assurance Syd hadn’t quite developed yet on Purple Naked Ladies, and she wholefully injects “Shadow Dance” with a been-here-before poise of someone at least a decade her senior.

HER VOICE IS STILL A DELICATE THING THAT SOUNDS LIKE IT COULD BLOW AWAY GIVEN THE RIGHT GUST.

She’s writing hookier songs, too. “Sunset” unfurls with precision, moments of interest arriving at a steady and consistent clip, whether it’s a switch-up in the track’s loping groove or a colorful melodic run from Syd. Elsewhere, “Runnin’” finds its sweet spot early on and then spends the rest of its duration playing around with the angle and strength of the light being shone at it. And although the Internet are still interested primarily in fusing the proggier elements of experi-

mental jazz with the patient warmth of neo-soul, there are fewer moments here that’ll have you glancing at your watch, an occurrence that happened a little too often on their debut.

But while Feel Good finds the Internet latching onto hooks with greater frequency, they haven’t completely excised their tendency to meander into jam session territory where the music loses most of the direction. The album is never aimless—they always succeed in setting a pleasant, vibe-heavy atmosphere where detours are allowed and exploration is encourage—but at times it does feel like the Internet still haven’t figured out how to identify what to keep and what to leave out.

She's still got room to improve where lyrics are concerned, with generic clunkers such as “I’m a fiend for your attention” and “You’re beautiful, you brighten up my day” exposing her as the fresh-faced 21-year-old she is. But there’s a proficiency at work on Feel Good that’s undeniably impressive. It’s an album full of musicians who can play and they approach this stuff with an endearing alacrity and a willingness to let Syd do more this time around that will pay dividends on future records.

by Renato Pagnani

FEEL GOOD, MORE IS THAN ISN`T

MORE IS THAN ISN`T RJD2

A little more than a decade after Deadringer came out, there’s enough music—and enough attempts at reconfiguring his style—to help you construct a picture of how all over the map RJD2’s career has been. Whether it’s a clear picture is another thing entirely; his shift from underground rap production next big thing to muddled indie-pop singer-songwriter to studiobound funkateer has done a lot to confuse any set-in-stone ideas of what the RJD2 sound was or is supposed to be. His partnership with Aaron Livingston as Icebird seemed like a good first step towards a reconciliation of everything RJ had built up in his portfolio over the previous ten years or so. But it also opened the door for a big “now what?” and the hesitant anticipation of future work that could build on the idea of an all-encompassing, canonical RJD2 musical identity.

And now, for what feels like the

first time in his career, RJ has released an album that comes across as a successful culmination of all his previous ideas and experiments rather than simply a new shift in style. The title of More Is Than Isn’t says as much; these are established trademarks and tics—bombastic drum breaks, sunshine-gleam brass, an armada of mothership synthesizers—that definitely sound like they came from the same hands that Deadringer, Since We Last Spoke and The Colossus did. But it’s that first album’s boom-bap crate-digging, its follow-up’s prog-funk ambition, and his most recent album’s cartoon neo-soul all streamlined into an overarching sound, with all the Pavlov triggers and odd quirks and over-the-top crests that combination implies.

With this album uniting everything that made RJ D2 over the years, it establishes a definitive place for him after all this time: that of the hip-hop-inflected neo-soul fusionist producer who is just as comfortable working in moods as genres.

With his instrumentals, it’s as though he’s working more in potential-soundtrack mode than anything; it’s easier to describe his beats nowadays for what montages or scenes they could evoke rather than where their component parts could place them demographically.

While the vocal tracks are well-realized, this is the first album RJ’s made in a long time

that actually feels like it’s satisfied to say most of what it has to say in instrumental form. His style-weaving, retro-contemporary instrumentation dislodges sounds from their own times and finds new modes for them. So when he rolls out burbling synthesizers that recall the early ‘90s heyday of ambient techno and 70s prog and glazes them over a class-of-’88 no-bullshit boom-bap break (“A Lot of Night Ahead of You”), or constructs a noir-jazz ballad that snaps from early Tom Waits tipsiness to uptempo Mayfield-style funk (“Got There, Sugar?”), all the parts fit together to turn a pastiche into something a bit less beholden to the sum of its parts. It’s less about where the pieces come from than what they’re evoking.

And even if it’s made clear by the conceptual thread that ties the album together—a three-part suite that leads off the album, appears at the halfway mark, and concludes it with three emotively varying takes on the same melodic theme—the fact that the whole of More Is Than Isn’t evokes so many different well-built moods is testament to how much he’s been able to elaborate on what he’s capable of.

//standoff

so hot i’m not even touching it

Arctic X O

n its fifth album, this quintessentially British band moved to L.A., took inspiration from old Aaliyah hits and glam Bowie, and made a spiky, slinky beast of a record, perfect for that moment in the evening when you just realized that maybe that seventh drunk text you sent to your ex-girlfriend wasn't such a hot idea.

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The album was reportedly inspired by Alex Turner's breakup with model and TV host Alexa Chung, and songs like "Why'd You Only Call Me When You're High" and the achingly slow "Do I Wanna Know" are full of slow-simmering heartache.

The careening "chip-shop rock & roll" (as Turner called it) of previous records was replaced by a creeping desertrock paranoia. And the frayed party's-over lullaby "Mad Sounds" might've been the sweetest Velvet Underground echo of Lou Reed's final year.

X Franz I

t’s been a long day off for Franz Ferdinand, these Scottish boys banged out three of the past decade’s most dazzling rock albums in one five-year rush, so no wonder they needed a minute to catch their breath. Right Action is their first in four years. But they return sounding hungry for blood, with all their twin-guitar glam-punk strut.

How ever they spent their downtime, it wasn’t mellowing out.

Franz’s songwriting explores sex and romance with subtly delicate craft; even in “Bullet,” a deliriously fastpaced ode to erotic obsessions.

“Treason! Animals.” barrels down the highway like vintage Deep Purple jamming with LCD Soundsystem, as Kapranos chants, “I’m in love with a narcissist.”

And the slutty-boy manifesto “Love Illumination” splices disco and prog flourishes into something seductively bizarre – just the kind of brilliant pop gem that only Franz Ferdinand could write. Welcome back, lads.

MEXICAN STANDOFF

Goin’ up?

Darwin right again a detailed review by Ryan Dombal—september 11th, 2013

Their first record was called Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not-- a Nevermind the Bollocks-type sendup of the generation-defining Self-Titled Debut Album as well as a bratty act of defiance from four Yorkshire youths drunk on their own twitchy cleverness.

Their fifth album is called AM, and those mountainous initials stood sky-high behind the band as they preened and stomped like proper rock stars through a headlining Glastonbury set earlier this year. Their face-shrouding hair and brown hoodies are out; greaser streaks and bespoke suits are in.

And the same band that once aimed its sights at windbag poseurs on "Fake Tales of San Francisco" is now based in Los Angeles. These changes have caused some to question Arctic Monkeys' commitment to their initial no-bullshit ideals.

But the quartet isn't giving into the mindless grandeur of rock'n'roll as much as they're working within its confines to mine new territory;

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over the last eight years, as they've gone from spastic punk, to doomed stoner rock, to sparkling guitar pop, to this new album's skinny-jeaned funk, Arctic Monkeys have stayed close to the spirit of their debut's title while minimizing its excess at the same time.

Meanwhile, singer and lyricist Alex Turner has moved from syllable-stuffing chronicles of indie nightlife culture to songs that are sleeker, more blue-black, more self-lacerating. Thematically, AM centerpiece "No. 1 Party Anthem" comes off like a seedier take on Arctic Monkeys' breakout track "I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor" as it tells of a collar-popped lothario on the prowl in a dank club made up of "lights on the floors and sweat on the walls, cages and poles."

But instead of blaring, this anthem is wistful, its piano, acoustic strums, and croons

suggesting days gone by (along with 70s Elton John and Rod Stewart). Its swirling bridge sums up the scene in just a few choice phrases-- "The look of love/ The rush of blood/ The 'she’s with me'/ The Gallic shrug"-- and sounds like a definitive endnote to Turner's most notable songwriting style.

So AM goes beyond the sweaty clubs and furtive flirts into the hotel rooms, after parties, and bad decisions that can follow. The crux of the record is neatly summed up by the hook to the blistering "R U Mine?": "R U mine tomorrow, or just mine tonight?"-an entire world of sex and love

AM VERSUS FF

and desire distilled to quickhit text-speak that Drake could appreciate. Turner isn't sure of the answer to that question, and the resulting limbo does his head in all over the LP. He's an avowed romantic living in an unromantic world, grasping for meaning in a city-to-city road-dog lifestyle hellbent on repelling it. In some ways, Turner's struggle and his band's recent gleaming transformation into something like rock gods is reminiscent of U2's turnaround circa Achtung Baby, when that quartet traded in deep virtuousness for sin, rhythm, and leather jackets.

Reaching a new tier For Arctic Monkeys, loosening the tether to credulity can be freeing, allowing the band to live out their classic-rock dreams: T. Rex bop, Bee Gees backup vocals, Rolling Stones R&B, and Black Sabbath monster riffage are all rendered modern throughout AM with the help of longtime producer James Ford. And for Turner in particular, the switch has him connecting strings of desperate 3 a.m. thoughts: some horny, some bleary, some a bit frightening.

Two of the album's slinkiest and best tracks have Turner sounding slyly wolfish, like a perplexed predator confusing lust and longing. "I dreamt about you nearly every night this week," he purrs on opener “Do I Wanna Know?”, which slowly rolls forward thanks to guitarist Jamie Cook’s lizard-brain riff and drummer Matt Helders’ Queen-sized beat; “Knee Socks”, meanwhile, tells of a wintertime tryst that climaxes with an operatic guest vocal from Queens of the Stone Age’s Josh Homme, who could’ve used some of AM’s

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MEXICAN STANDOFF

“No. 1 Party Anthem,” the bar looks like a crime scene (“Lights in the floor and sweat on the walls ... call off the search for your soul”).

groove on this year’s lumbering ... Like Clockwork. Whereas 2009’s Homme-produced Humbug had the Arctic Monkeys trying on QOTSA’s heaviness with varied success, AM integrates its influences more fully-- and, at times, even beats Homme at his own snake-rock game.

Singer-guitarist Alex Turner does a delicate Velvet Underground lullaby (“Mad Sounds”) and straight love-soldier crooning (“I Wanna Be Yours,” where he promises devotion “at least as deep as the Pacific Ocean”).

And he remains an awesomely caustic chronicler of booze-gorged late-night affliction; on the hard-boiled glam processional

“Do I Wanna Know?” EP Artwork

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The only solace found on this paranoid and haunted album is within its eclectic music, as well as the idea of music itself. “Mad Sounds” is AM’s most hopeful song, an achingly sincere ballad that employs melody, swing, and “oh la la las” to attest to the power of melody, swing, and “oh la la las.” It teases out the purest interpretation of the Rorschach-like sine waves that adorn AM’s cover, which-depending on your vantage, or mood-- could also read as leering sunglasses or maybe a bikini top. Creeping closer “I Wanna Be Yours” combines all three meanings while seemingly answering the question posed by opener “Do I Wanna Know?”

That is: When faced with the choice between easy pleasures and lasting devotion, Turner is picking the latter.

Sweet, right? But upon further inspection, it’s not so simple.

“I Wanna Be Yours” features lyrics by UK punk poet John Cooper Clarke from his 1982 track of the same name, which uses the language of commercialism to express the deepest love.

“I wanna be your vacuum cleaner, breathing in your dust,” sings Turner as a lonely drum machine highlights the sentiment’s emptiness.

Still, the song doesn’t sound cynical. It’s genuinely affecting. The ultimate message-will future generations have the capacity to love people as much as their cars, their coffee pots, their phones?-- rings terrifyingly true in our time of personal branding. Arctic Monkeys let these thoughts languish. “Maybe I just wanna be yours,” Turner sings.

Maybe not.

Arctic Monkey’s “AM” album cover

MEXICAN STANDOFF

The forget-me-nots Scots back in the game, in good shape a full scale review by Ian Cohen—august 26th, 2013

Contrary to popular belief, a near perfect debut is nowhere near as hard to follow as a scattered and sluggish third album. Especially if the “more of the same + calculated risks” sophomore bow comes in between.

Though Franz Ferdinand’s Tonight was a fine record, it was a largely hitless one, rounding off a common career arc from which few, if any, bands make a meaningful artistic recovery.

Just ask yourself whether Interpol, the Strokes, Bloc Party,

Maximo Park, or the Killers made the best fourth album. The festival circuit still beckons, so you either blow things up or just keep trudging forward, but on Right Thoughts, Right Words, Right Action, Franz Ferdinand do a little bit of both and not enough of either.

After a four year hiatus, the mere act of sounding like Franz Ferdinand can feel like a

AM VERSUS FF

“comeback” in both a literal and figurative sense. Perhaps for that very reason, the first half wisely tries to provide a contact buzz by establishing a subtle, but unmistakable proximity to Franz Ferdinand’s better-known material.

The opening title track repeats its name enough times where it becomes a hook in spite of its clunky rhythm and dull, anhedonic sentiment; better is the one-bar drum fill bearing the same EQ'ing as the 16th-note snare rip from “Take Me Out.” It's damn near a sampled breakbeat. The chorus of “Evil Eye” slinks and skulks enough to recall a time when Franz Ferdinand sounded sleazier and more dancefloor-oriented than your average rock band, but it has to fight through a verse filled with bothersome vocal filters (an indulgent byproduct of their self-production) to do so. There is something pleasant and quaint about hearing Franz Ferdi-

nand reestablish themselves as a workmanlike, crowd-pleasing dance-rock band by going heavy on the midtempo disco thump; mind you, they arose at a time when “dance-rock” still meant guitar bands and went heavier on the right side of the hyphenate. And bringing in Bjorn Yttling and Todd Terje to help out on production and slightly nudge them out of that stasis has to constitute right thoughts and right actions, right? Yet, the biggest letdown here is how often Kapranos fails to find the right words.

Finding the niche Franz Ferdinand initially stood out amongst the glut of post-Strokes pretty boys for their wit and playful sexuality, qualities which aren’t tied to a particular sound and tend to age well. Similar to Arctic Monkeys’ Alex Turner, you’d figure Kapranos would make for a good balladeer-- as far back as Franz Ferdinand, he

already sounded like an older man playing a young man’s game, wearied and louche. But Franz Ferdinand have yet to prove a knack for balladry.

The baroque pop flourishes of “Fresh Strawberries” and “The Universe Expands”’s bleeping electro show how crucial momentum and groove are to Franz Ferdinand’s musicianship by their lack thereof; though four minutes apiece, they feel twice as long. The prevalence of insistence over finesse is confirmed by lead single “Love Illumination”, which doesn’t grow on you as much as twist your arm into submission; a Los Angeles nightmare of overeagerto-please Fitz & the Tantrums soul-pop and Edward Sharpe's clap-trap uplift (“sweet love illumination/ sweet, sweet love

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MEXICAN STANDOFF

elevation”), I doubt it would be improved in the slightest if Franz Ferdinand were being sarcastic about the whole affair.

They’re probably not— if you’re trying to draw blood, sarcasm’s a pretty dull blade and FF aren't in attack mode neither musically or thematically.

Still, just about anything's sharper than the diffident lyrics that Kapranos brings to Right Thoughts. If you’re still holding him to the standards set by the clever repartee in “Dark of the Matinee” and “Michael”, you’ll drive yourself mad trying to force additional layers of meaning into the central metaphor of “Fresh Strawberries”-“We will soon be rotten/ We will all be forgotten.” Same goes for “Bullet”, which sanitizes and lobotomizes the sex-as-target practice construct of “Take Me Out” (“Never get your bullet out of my head/ Never get your bullet out of my mind”) and “Treason! Animals”, that exists for the sole purpose of its titular pun, which really isn’t worth living for.

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But I suppose half-assed is preferable to when Kapranos puts his whole backside and thensome into “Goodbye Lovers and Friends”. Already saddled with the stale meta-textual effect of using a presumptive breakup song as an album closer, an additional coat of unfortunate irony is laid on by the self-reference that suggests it’s Franz Ferdinand’s breakup song. “You know I hate pop music,” Kapranos sings and like a lot of Right

Right Thought’s LP Vinyl back cover

Thoughts, he sorta kinda means it, but not really. On the other hand, the last words on Right Thoughts are "When they lie and say this is not the end/ You can laugh as if we’re still together/ But this really is the end" and their sincerity is a moot point. You're just meant to applaud an obvious punchline.

Still, while Right Words achieves a baseline level of quality or at least competency with the exception of “Goodbye Friends and Lovers” and "Love Illumination", they lack the conviction to take most of their lesser ideas to the realm of being unpleasant rather than kinda boring.

Maybe that's a positive; if anything on Right Words came up on satellite radio, you probably wouldn’t turn it off. But by the same token, you also wouldn’t hesitate to use them as a bathroom break in a live setting, lest you miss “Take Me Out” or "Do You Want To?" At the very least, while the letdown of Right Thoughts, Right Words, Right Action isn’t all that surprising, the reasons for it are. It’s got nothing to do with the currency of a template the band all but perfected over a decade ago-- if anything, Franz Ferdinand sounds even fresher in 2013, since it's not like they have to duke it out with the Rakes, the Fratellis, and the Kaiser Chiefs or their modern day equivalents. Yet you can’t help but feel like the title isn’t a tribute to resolve or a refreshed sense of purpose, but rather a more erudite way of telling us they’re going through the motions.

Franz Ferdinand’s Right Thoughts album cover

the

25

BEST ALBUM COVERS of

2013

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E

ven though most people's music is technically "covered" by hardshell cases nowadays, there's still a desire for visual counterparts—images that hint at the music itself, sink into the tension, set the tone, complement the direction. And in a year when amazing covers were made for albums that don't even exist, animation was added to the classics, children interpreted their favorites, and designers offered remakes using clip art, cats, and tacos, it's safe to say that covers are evolving along with every other way we enjoy our music.

by Nickolas Borba

SPECIAL FEATURE

HOAX

Forest Swords

No Age

___Hoax

___Engravings

___An Object

The image is obviously amazing, but the inclusion of six double-sided poster-sized inserts with illustrations from multiple artists makes for a glorious object of pure filth.

Matt Barnes designed his own artwork to complement the album’s chilling ambience. The LP was released with a limited-edition 20-page booklet printed on a risograph and also art directed by Barnes.

For An Object, No Age were involved of every step of the packaging process—assembling, printing, boxing, stamping, and shipping it themselves. If the cover itself (designed by longtime collaborator Brian Roettinger) is less striking than some of the others on this list, its message and intention makes up for it. Nobody revered the existence of music as physical object more this year.

White Lies ___Big Tv For Big TV, New York based painter Michael Kagan provided imagery that was framed with minimal black and white treatments, which made for a very elegant and colorful package.

ALBUM COVERS

The Horrors ___Higher Artist and designer Leif Podhajsky has put together what is arguably the most unforgettable album cover portfolio of the last few years, visualizing the music of artists such as Tame Impala, Lykke Li, Young Magic, Mount Kimbie, Foals, and more.

The limited-edition box set for Higher beautifully constructs a system of marbled psychedelia through each piece.

Oneohtrix Point Never

James Holden

Janelle Monae

___R Plus Seven

___The Inheritors

___The Electric Lady

The still from the Georges Shwizgebel animation “Le ravissement de Frank N. Stein”, effectively visualizes the chance encounters, metamorphic potential, and exploration of forms within the album. The back cover is Beatty’s geometric and abstract interpretation of the cover.

Jack Featherstone designed and art directed the CD and triple-gatefold vinyl design for The Inheritors.

Sam Spratt designed and illustrated Janelle Monaé’s latest.

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SPECIAL FEATURE

David Bowie ___The Next Day People who miss the point on this cover by designer Jonathan Barnbrook are likely reading into it too much. If slapping a boring square on the iconic Heroes cover seems lazy, think about our age of appropriation on Tumblr as well as where every image came from first. Then think about how many cultural icons are left that have been able to make meaningful art in both of those eras.

Savages

Matt Duncan

Fuck Buttons

___Silence Yourself

___Soft Times

___Slow Focus

This cover's typography may be naive, but the composition and tension in this photograph is undeniable.

Artist and musician Robert Beatty seems to find inspiration fluidly through various disciplines, and in one of his more straightforward muses, effectively nails the vibe of fellow Lexingtonian Matt Duncan’s melancholy and touching album.

Fuck Buttons' latest was dressed up with this distinguished piece of Victorian-style jewelry discovered by band member Benjamin John Power at Spitalfields Market.

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ALBUM COVERS

Baths

Fort Romeau

A$AP Rocky

___Obsidian

___Stay / True

___Long Live Asap

Will Wiesenfeld turned a dark corner with Obsidian, which was reflected by this brooding image, art directed by Young Replicant filmmaker Alex Takacs.

Michael Cina has done countless pieces of art for Ghostly International, but this abstract cover (which likely comes from his extensive collection of similar expressions and experiments) was only the tip of the iceberg—he also designed the custom display typeface that accompanies it.

The progression from Rocky’s first mixtape to his first studio album was dexterously articulated on the cover, which was produced by DONDA.

Disclosure ___Settle The photo that brothers Guy and Howard Lawrence chose for their cover is innocuous enough, if not a bit 90s/Columbia House (especially paired with that typeface). But the illustrations that overlay the faces have become so completely iconic (even spawning a Facebook app that lets you make your own), making this cover one that will be difficult to forget.

SPECIAL FEATURE

Pharmakon

Tim Hecker

Kurt Ville

____Abandon

___Virgins

___Waking On A Pretty Daze

Every first impression of this cover I’ve witnessed has been, “Hey, that's really pretty,” immediately followed by, “wait are those...” then, “oh shit, maggots—I might throw up.” Which is why it fucking rules.

Virgins is an album that utilizes darkness and the space in which it was recorded as if it were another instrument. The room on the cover frames the Abu Ghraib-like centerpiece in an impossibly solid representation of the music inside.

In the end, the photo and composition of this cover could have been executed a little more thoughtfully. But Stephen Powers (aka ESPO) shares an effortlessly funny and charming aloofness aesthetic with Vile, and he was able to illustrate that vibe while connecting it to their shared hometown of Philadelphia.

Tyler, The Creator ___Wolf The don’t-give-a-fuck nature of this cover perfectly matches Tyler's idiosyncratically random worldview.

ALBUM COVERS

Iceage

Parquet Courts

Kanye West

___You`Re Nothing

___Light Up Gold

___Yeezus

Iceage already owns one of the most badass looking logos in music. Overlay that onto some falconry and it’s pretty difficult to hate this one.

The ramshackle cover of Light Up Gold comes from the moleskin sketches of co-front man Andrew Savage.

The stark minimalism of Kanye's Yeezus extended all the way to its barely-there, instantly-iconic cover.

Nuclear Spring

Deafheaven

___Nuclear Spring Ep

___Sunbather

Brooklyn’s Nuclear Spring could not have found a more perfect photo to carry their early-80s anarcho punk-inspired assault.

Designed by Nick Steinhardt from Touché Amoré, the cover's color scheme is based on the view behind your eyelids when you stare at the sun, which also seems to be melting away at the stems and crossbars of the Didone-style typeface.

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a sitdown with

Leif Podhasky

Fibonacci Vortex, by Leif Podhasky

L

eif Podhajsky is fast becoming one of the most active and prolific graphic designers in the industry.

His artwork is recognizeable on a number of Pitchfork-approved album covers, including both LPs by Tame Impala, as well as releases from Grimes, Shabazz Palaces, Lykke Li and Foals.

Known for his modern take on psychedelic art, employing repetitive geometric imagery and swirled-out nature tropes, Podhajsky’s website rightfully boasts that he “explores themes of connectedness, the relevance of nature and the psychedelic or altered experience”.

Podhajsky recently did the artwork for the upcoming album by Mount Kimbie, and even directed the glitchy music video for Kimbie’s addicting single “Made To Stray”. We caught up with the Londonvia-Melbourne based artist to learn a bit about reconciling being addicted to both work and nature, as well as some of those bands he’d like to collaborate with in the future.

by Arthur Bittar

GRIMES’ “The Mythical Gymnastics” tour artwork

Artworks for the singles of Tame Impala’s second album, Lonerism

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FEATURE INTERVIEW

Snatch, pull and reel Podhasky reveals his influences and how he joined the trade an exclusive interview by Arthur Bittar—may 11th, 2013

What was the first work that you got paid for?

How do you actually feel about that piece now?

The first piece I got paid for in graphic design was probably re-doing a medical form [laughs]. It was completely boring and it was just layout and I think I got paid one-hundred dollars. I was pretty happy. I think I kept the check.

Young Magic, Melt album artwork

I JUST STARTED PUTTING “ STUFF UP ONLINE AND MODULAR CONTACTED ME OUT OF THE BLUE TO DO A PITCH FOR THEIR ALBUM COVER.

What was the first band album comission you got?

I think it was actually Tame Impala. I didn’t actually plan on doing album artwork. I just started putting stuff up online that I was doing at the time and Modular contacted me out of the blue to do a pitch for their album cover. That was a lucky break.

Did you study art at university or did you draw a lot as a kid? What led you to this career?

I was always drawing, but I studied graphic design in college and I studied at a studio in Melbourne for a few years doing traditional graphic design, then I started doing the art-based design stuff.

“

Do you need a certain atmosphere to work in—a home office, say—or can you do your work anywhere from a laptop?

I have a home office at the moment but I’m just about to move into a studio. It doesn’t really matter that much. I’m simple and I’ve done a lot of traveling so I’ve always had a laptop. I used to take pictures of desks I was working on because it would be in Berlin or in Mexico or in New York or London or back in Australia so it was a good way to track my work. It’s good to be a little bit settled. I think it’s easier to get your head around things.

St. Lucia, When the Night album artwork

Do you often spend time in nature to help focus your art and creativity?

I wish I spent more time. I’m actually stuck behind the computer way too much now. I try to make time to go out. It’s my little escape.

LEIF PODHASKY

Logo for band SPLASHH Do you have an all-time favorite outdoor space?

I know you’ve been all over the world, but do you have one spot that’s your ideal outdoor muse?

I would have to say where I grew up in Byron Bay. It’s the fucking rainforest in the back of Byron.

A few of my friends have got really nice houses out there so I like going and staying out there— waterfalls, rainforests, the works. It’s probably the most beautiful place I’ve been and I grew up there so it’s special.

I’ve also read multiple times that you’ve said love influences your work. Do you mean literal love, like someone in particular? Or just the general concept of romanticism and affection?

I think generally! Love in general, man. Love towards other people is important. We all appreciate it and we all need it so it’s a core factor of how we communicate and express ourselves creatively. I try to put a lot of good feelings into my work and I think that comes across in the composition and the color.

So how does your work turn out if you’re in a negative mental state, does it show oy do you avoid working in that mindset?

I think I try to avoid that. I leave those awful states by working because they get me in a better headspace. [Work] is my little sanctuary. [...]

Visuals + Design for FIREWORKS! FESTIVAL in Paris, France

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FEATURE INTERVIEW

[...]It keeps me in a good mood. I won’t start any jobs or artworks if I’m in a bad mood. I don’t want to translate that negative energy across into the work. Some pieces are quite dark and there are dark themes but that’s showing the opposite side of love which I always want to explore.

What other media inspires you? Is there any literature or photography that you’re into? Sometimes your work reminds me of the film The Holy Mountain.

Yeah. A lot has influenced me. Where do we even start? I run a blog called Visual Melt so a lot of my influences are on there. Literature-wise, I really like Murakami.

I always looked up towards him. I also really like Killian Eng, too. All of these people I feature on Visual Melt.

I could see you working with Flying Lotus or anyone on Brainfeeder or We Did It! Yeah, Flying Lotus or anyone from Brainfeeder would be amazing. I just did some pitching for Black Sabbath. I would have loved to have done a Pink Floyd or Hendrix cover. Maybe a Can cover.

I think I’ve gotten pretty lucky with who I’ve worked with so far, we’ve come towards each other.

What abou working in a creative agency or gallery?

I had an exhibition in London and it was kind of my first step into that.

What gallery?

Pertwee Anderson and Gold. It was a group exhibition with another guy. It was interesting to showcase the art side of everything. I’d definitely like to start doing that a lot more.

What computer programs Would you try other do you use when creating types of visual art? your designs?

I’d love to move into For my album artwork other types like sculpI usually use Phototure. I’d love to start shop but I try to use showing my stuff on it in strange ways to big-scale platforms and try and break things in more galleries. The almost. I try to come mesh between digital up with outcomes that and physical could be you usually wouldn’t really interesting.

White Arrows’ Dry Land is not a Myth album cover get out of Photoshop.

For the Mount Kimbie video I used Adobe Premiere I have to ask: Do you ever work in altered states? and my friend Colby helped me do the data mashing Do you take drugs before starting a project? stuff. I’m not sure what program he used but you Never. Never worked that way, really. If I’ve ever can get data-mashing kits and basically overlap had any experience or trip like that it’s always two videos and remove certain frames and it causes just taking something back from that and putting that glitch. I worked with him on that and we it into something while I’m working. I’m never added that in Premiere. really high while working.

Was it a tedious process?

It was quite tedious. Getting all the effects layered takes a long time. I’m used to Photoshop where it’s just a flow of go, go, go. But this was quite different from my other stuff.

Are there any artists you have your eyes on?

There’s a young band called The Holydrug Couple.

They’re really small and I reckon I’d like to do something for them.

52

Brian Lewis Saunders has that series where he does self-portraits under different substances.

I’ve seen people’s drawings from when they’re on acid or coke or whatever and it’s interesting to see the difference in what comes out. I once drew some pitches—ages ago—while on an acid trip.

How’d they turn out?

Little scribbles and words. I rarely work like that though. I hate looking at a computer when on drugs.

LEIF PODHASKY

Artwork for Cloud Control’s album, Dream Cave

“Follow”, a collage used as one of Tame Impala’s T-Shirt Prints

Coletivo Grรกfico handmade.

54

T

he group of independent street artists that is taking roots and changing Rio’s urban landscape.

Originally formed by students of the UFRJ’s EBA subdivision, the Fine Arts School of Rio de Janeiro’s Federal University, the group still maintains many of its members, many of which are now graduated professionals, but grew into outer circles of friends and other urban-engaged artists.

At first, having mosty worked in smaller, more private instances, the group quickly developed themselves strong relationships—with public institutions and a broader audience—and managed to gain visibility and represent a younger generation’s gushing artistic vein. Bootleg managed to gather up some of the material they worked with and their most recent activity to the latest day.

Check it out.

by Arthur Bittar

CREATIVE

AN URBAN INTERVENTION GROUP THAT WORKS WITH GRAPHICAL IMPRESSIONS AND WHEAT PASTING. That is how the Coletivo Grรกfico describes itself on their page.

One of the many collectives found in Rio's present scene, the Coletivo Grรกfico has been growing to become a reference in the city's latest cultural and artistic manifestation.

Mainly making use of stickers, wheat pasting and other adhesive materials and techniques, the group posts their drawings around town, spreading their interventions throughout the streets, many times getting comissioned by establishments to intervein on their facades, such as the Sergio Porto cultural center (a regular client), the Audio Rebel Studio, the HomeGrown and the Addict stores, and many others, with a style that usually dialogues with fanzine art and graffiti.

The group is known for illustrating and working on the Sergio Porto wall, in the neighborhood of Humaitรก. Located on a high traffic area, the long and tall Sergio Porto facade can be compared to a great attention-drawing street-leveled canvas, having been interveined by the Coletivo Grรกfico over a dozen times. Some of their works are featured in the web, along with the preparation process and some backstage footage as well, currently being found on their site at coletivografico.com.

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COLETIVO GRﾃ：ICO

Drawn paper gets cut into tiles

Paper is positioned on the wall

Process is repeated until completion

Paper dries out and drinks and chitter-chatter take over

Wheatpaste is applied

CREATIVE

Smart and affordable Keeping bills due Aside organizing meet-ups, workshops and such, the group also attends a number of events.

One of these was the Hype Fair, where they had their own salesplace reserved. You could find t-shirts, paintings, customized mugs and stickers, fanzines, stamps, paper cut-outs and many other trinkets in their shop.

With very accessible prices, most of the items are very attractive not only for being affordable, but for displaying a different aesthetic, that can be appreciated by both adults and kids. The biggest appeal of their inventory is probably that most stuff is handmade, bringing uniqueness and singularity to each and every piece.

Kids having fun in the meantime

Parent browsing CG’s sales stand

Aware of this fact, the group intendendly decorated the surroundings of their stand, so that a bigger public would be brought in. They also lent some markers so that children could draw on their wall stickers. Doing so, the attention of many kids was drawn, along with their parents, who stopped by at the shop while their kids were creatively engaged.

COLETIVO GRÁFICO

Sharing experience Despite all being seldomly found in the same room at the same time, the art collective members are very close to each other.

They’re usually accompanied by friends, beer and loud music.

In their last gathering they organized a xylography—also commonly known as woodcutting— workshop.

It was part of an open event for the public, called “design at the square”. This event, in it’s turn, was one of the many in the first Rio Design Week, that took place from October 23rd to 27th in the carioca city.It happened on a sunny Wednesday in the quiet neighborhood of Urca, at the ‘Cacilda Becker’ public square.

Coletivo Gráfico’s workshop was one of the many attractions available to the audience that day.

The lesson covered the basics: how to handle woodcarving tools,

how to plan your cutting lines ahead, the limitations of the material, the different styles that other artists used, and the difference that picking an appropriate material for the idea in mind makes in the end result.

Towards the late evening, many participants had already cut over 40 different drawings in wooden templates. These wooden cutouts all had the same size so that a small foldable fanzine could be quickly printed out, by using eight woodcarved pieces.In order to print these out considerably faster, the CG bought a printing press especially for this purpose. It was an old model, very heavy, made mostly out of metal and wood.

It inked the matrix and then pressed it onto the paper in one lever-pull.

Printing press used on CG’s latest woodcutting workshop

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//gigs

reviews of the best international concerts

The xx Ice cold smoothness "Chained", one of the best from their most recent released album, and "Infinity", with a modified ending, making it more energic and appropriate for closure, while big lasers were projecting a very large "X" all over the stage.

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n their Vivo Rio performance, The xx's minimalist tone set the pace to the crowd. The show began around 11pm, with "Try", from the band's second album "Coexist".

The song is memorable by Oliver Sims's and Romy Croft's vocal shifts, complementing one another. Last but not least, the trio is complete with Jamie Smith's beat, that dictates the setting of the song.

Returning from their minutelong break, the group started-ff with "Intro", one of the most applauded songs of the evening, and "Angels", which is truly a declaration of romantic intent in Croft's mellow voice.

The choice of beginning the presentation with a slow-paced song, considering the trio's standards, came as a warning to the audience to chill out and sync their inner clocks with the band. The next two songs were from the band's self-titled debut album— "Heart Skipped a Beat" and "Crystalized"—to which the crowd sang along.

In an hour-long feature, The xx has shown it is one of the most original groups at the moment and that, in most of their songs, manages to translate their unique sound to a live gig. They also prove that, sometimes, less is more.In a short show, about an hour, The xx showed that it is one of the most original groups of current and, in most of the songs , can translate their unique sound to the live presentation .

Furthermore , they prove that sometimes,less is more .

From that moment on they started interloping between songs of their first and second album, keeping the slow and easy pace meant from the start. The first half of the show ended with the songs "Islands", the group's most enthusiastic song,

by Jamie Oliver

XX live on Vivo Rio, oct 24th 2013

Beach House

Beach House live on Circo Voador, oct 17th 2013

The mesmerizing duo

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he band was still positioning themselves at stage when the first chords of Wild began. Reflectors and smoke did sign what was coming: an intense show set up on friday, 30th August, at Circo Voador, in the neighbohood Lapa, at the city of Rio de Janeiro.

The duo from Baltimore presented a show of colors and music which transcended the old style of Dream pop. With a honest setlist and also the stage performance and powerful voice of Victoria Legrand, the band took over skeptical hearts and minds and prooved itself more matute. With four album released, Beach House

came with the tour from the well reviwed Bloom, from 2012, in their first time in Brazil, and anywhere in South America.

The light effects in this gig showed that there was a lot of concern and care in this production. They were different in every single music, with perfect static positions and constant voice frames. In Zebra, the audience seemed to be mesmerized with all that was happening.

A true vibrante mantra.

The crowd was in syntony too, and it was noticeable. Singing along, interacting with the singer and hypnotized by the shifting effects between a music and another, always expecting a new scenography. Wishes

has become a new indie anthem, everybody singing together.

Myth revealed a mature band which was already consolidated.

The encore was Real love and the beautiful Irene, which closed the show as good as it closed the studio album, with a surreal, warm embracing aura. Victoria Legrand abused her talent and her performance, prooving that she deserves a place in the hall of indie divas.

by Ringo Starr

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GIGS

Tame Impala Aussies on a roll

Tame Impala live on Imperator, sep 19th 2013

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he psycodelic rock of aussie band Tame Impala caught the public of Rio the Janeiro on thursday, in a presentation set in the bohemian neighbohood of Lapa, downtown.

The music made by those hippie surfers from Perth, west Australia, showed its international appeal, reuniting more than two thousand people in Circo Voador, Rio’s emblematic gig tent.

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GIGS

An ice cold night that came upon the city after a rainy day which kept cariocas away from the beaches was the context for a spectacle of rock and psychodelia, in a style that pleases the ears from both rockers and hipsters.

In the entrance line was possible to spot many por beards and bold mustaches. Definitly no one inside wasn’t alternetive. They all had a modern look, including the band, which seemed to have just been rescued from a castway in australian shores.

On the other hand, those hipsters and rockers that filled up the house to enjoy a show from

a band which already managed to make a world tour after just five years of history and only two studio albume released, Innerspeaker (2010) and Lonerism (2012), considered one of the best releases of last year. The success achieved was as fast as the african atilope that gives name to the band.

Dirty and psychodelic, the sound and powerful pop melodies lead them to where they are today, with the musician Kevin Parker leading the band, that represent well how the whole band should look: long haired and barefeet.

With impressive images on the big screen back in the stage, the show began with Endors Toi, and since that no one was able to stand still at Circo Voador.

In the sequence came "Solitude

is bliss", "Alter ego", "It’s not meant to be". The hit "Half full glass of wine" thrilled the crowd, which demonstrated to know well the song, singing along with the band as they screamed “Tame Impala, Tame Impala!”.

In the end, when they came back to the encore, the goodbyes were said with Nothing that hás happened so far hás been anything we could control, finishing the night with the best of alt and psy rock.

by Antoine Dodson

GIGS

Devendra Banhart live at the Flying Circus, oct 17th 2013

Devendra Banhart Selling a fresh image

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n the begining of the year, there were some rummors of Devendra Banhart comming to Brazil, after six years absent.

Now, with a new album and a revamped music style, he stood up for the promisse and booked four shows through the country.

After São Paulo’s gig, last wenesday, the most tropical of all american artists arrived in Rio with the ‘Mala’ tour, released in mid 2013. The show was set in Circo Voador, on thursday, 14th, bringing together excited cariocas.

Rodrigo Amarante and Caetano Veloso were there to check out the carisma of this musician from Texas.

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On the stage, right on the clock at 23h, Devendra talked to the crowd in a little bit confusing portuguese, mixed with spanish words just as he trilled more and more the ladies in the audience. “Boa noite senhoras e senhores! É um prazer estar no Brasil. Falei certo?”, he took the risk, with the light spirit tipical of any cute boy, who wore a black with white dots shirt and dark throuses.

With Rodrigo Amarante, former Los Hermanos member, shifting between eletric guitar and keyboards, the artist showed a repertoir that was a watershed in his career. Despite earlier

he was known as an odd figure and labeled as “freak folk”, now, at 31, the artist seems to have found himself in a more matute genre, with a certain dose of melancholia in his lyrics, proper of a growed man. In the setlist, carioca fans could enjoy success as Golden girls, Cristobal risques, Never seen such good things, A gain resides others. Without doubt, it was Carmensita, from the before last album, that made the crowd sing along, thrilled by the dancing rythms of the song.

by Matt Rolland