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TA M A RY N
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GOLD PANDA • JON LEMMON • GUARDS • TRUST THE FACES BEHIND TODAY’S MOST INFLUENTIAL MUSIC BLOGS
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AIMEE BRODEUR • STEVEN BRAHMS • IAN MARKELL MAGIC SWEATER • VENTRAL IS GOLDEN
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Featured...
Table Of Contents... 76
Tamaryn This SF duo create imageries of vast landscapes through sound.
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Gold Panda Records, tea, and some biscuits is really all he needs.
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Aimee Brodeur Beauty Never Has To Subside.
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Music...
Art... 10
Ventral Is Golden Joel Galvin has an emotional brain.
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Trust Toronto is getting a little darker.
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Magic Sweater Ugly, pimply faces with crayon tints and detailed linework.
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Guards Richie James Follin is sailing it fast.
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Jon Lemmon Lonely music for androids.
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The Faces Behind The Most Influential Blogs In Music • Visitation Rites • Salad Fork • Sean Carnage • Friendship Bracelet • Smoke Don’t Smoke • Kid City Blog • Rose Quartz • No Fear of Pop. • Stadiums and Shrines • Aurora Vibes • Chocolate Bobka
Photography... 32
Ian Markell Photographs from coast to coast.
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Steven Brahms Who knew summer camp could push you towards a career?
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Album Reviews
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Index
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HERETIC 2
IN COLLABORATION WITH AURORA VIBES R: GOLD PANDA • MUSEUM OF BELLAS ARTES • oOoOO • BEST HITS DEAD GAZE • ZEADRON DEL GOMEZ • SPECULATOR • SUNGLASSES • CRAFT SPELLS A: BODYBOAT • CURSED KIDS • DADA TRASH COLLAGE • GUARDS J.VIEWZ • OPTIMIST PARK • PHANTASMAGORIA • SMALL BLACK • TRIPTIDES
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Staff...
Creative Director Brian Vu Publication Director Damanjit Lamba
Writers
Noah Doles Evan Adams Stephen Barker Caroline Helmers Thom Lucero Brian Wilensky Caroline Honour Louis Rankin
Photographers Nate Miller David De Ridder Paul Rosales
Cover Images
1 – Tamaryn by Brian Vu 2 – Gold Panda by Brian Vu 3 – Aimee Brodeur
Inquiries
contact@wearerebels.com advertise@wearerebels.com submissions@wearerebels.com All Content 2010 Rebel No part of Rebel may be reproduced by any means without consent.
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Text : Stephen Barker
...Art
JOEL GALVIN
VENTRAL IS GOLDEN
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Ventral is Golden...
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Ventral Is Golden is the pseudonym of Joel Galvin, an artist working in Leeds who has been getting a lot of coverage in and out of the city, and rightly so. His art which infuses escapism burns in your mind, whether it is his puzzle-esque Jeff Bridges project or his visually game-changing Illustration series which displays colour at battle with black and white on ordinary photographs. His deliciously colourful palette has enough edge and delicacy to challenge David Lynch. Galvin is a man who speaks in metaphors, and his art does the same. He has many projects under his belt, some of which are still ongoing. In the following interview we get to hear about his childhood memories, his inspirations and influences, a full breakdown of what Ventral Is Golden really means, and a glance into Leeds’ art scene from a true insider. What’s the meaning behind Ventral is Golden? Ventral is Golden is mainly derived from my obsession with fantasy, reverie, science and stupidity. The term ‘ventral’ itself has quite a few meanings depending on its context. For example, it’s latin translation is simply ‘belly’, and this anatomical context stretches further into other body parts such as the brains’ limbic system, often referred to as the ‘emotional brain’, and its relation to the visual cortex, where the ventral stream not only provides a description of elements within the three dimensional world, but also judges their significance. Around the fifteenth century, as Rene Descartes was going mental practicing his live vivisection, he sought justification to his theory that the pineal gland (located in the centre of the brain) was the ‘seat of the soul’ and possessed mythical qualities that linked the mind to the body. Once extracted, he would eat the pineal gland like it was a delicious yoghurt coated peanut. Unbeknown to him at the time, the pineal gland produces regular amounts of the naturally occurring hallucinogen Dimethyltryptamine, which made Descartes trip his tits off. Dimethyltryptamine is produced when you’re born and when you die, and also every time you go to sleep in small doses. It stimulates the emission of theta waves that blur the distinction between wakefulness and the sleep state. After Descartes’ trip into the belly of a porcupine, he documented that he saw a young South American boy, whose “shape appeared to be infinite and resplendently golden.” The growth of the pineal gland is also stimulated by darkness. I find that a part of your brain that’s linked with philosophical enlightenment, that is stimulated to grow by the omission of light, is something that’s profoundly confusing. It holds a certain amount of irony that elevates it to mythical proportions. How’s Leeds nowadays? What is the current art scene there like? The art scene in Leeds is pretty good, although at present it often reminds me of a time in my youth when I was about seven or eight. My parents, my brother and I were driving to my cousins house and we were messing around in the back seats with our new travel sick wrist bands on, these things to prevent motion sickness by using some weird fucking magnet that stuck to your inner arm. But bearing in mind this was the mid nineties and everything that was shit looked even shitter, and these wrist-
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bands had the colour scheme of a hospital that was taken from a Rocko’s Modern Life sketch. As soon as we pulled up to my cousin’s house, I puked my guts up all over the pavement and the side of the car. Horrified by the sight of my recycled shepherd’s pie on the floor, my brother didn’t hesitate in hurling all across my back and onto my legs. This was a dreadful experience for about 20 minutes as I was paraded through my cousins’ living room like some weird stegosaurus made out of bits of undigested vegetables. I was taken up to my cousin’s room where I then had some of his clothes picked out for me to change into, I think they were an oversized roll neck jumper and a pair of stone washed jeans that I had to roll up about a million times so I didn’t trip over them. I absolutely hated this at the time, but after I’d had an ice pop I didn’t give a shit. The point I’m making is that sometimes within the art scene in Leeds, someone just throws up on you and things start looking the same, then you end up getting a bit of commercial work that somebody else perhaps didn’t want. After a while you learn not to let it get to you. I guess the more people you know, the more kick ass roll neck jumpers you’ll get. When and why did you decide to become an artist? Are you currently doing it full time? I think ‘becoming’ an artist is something that is entirely decided by the commercial aspect of things. I’m of the view point that most of the actual ‘becoming’ and producing work begins at a subconscious level. I remember being about six years old and from that age on, constantly wearing swimming goggles for every annual camping trip to France until I was about nine. I don’t know why I did it, but I felt that it must have been important. I get the same feeling now when making art. I don’t necessarily know why I’m doing it, I just know that it’s important. I think people often mistake meaning for significance, which is a bit of a shame because it gives art in general the elitist stigma. Obviously some artwork is just plain shit, but at least someone’s putting the time in to express themselves. Did you go to an art school? If so, tell us about it. I’ve just graduated from the University in Leeds doing graphic art and design, and now I’m continuing to do freelance work, exhibitions and publications whenever possible. I think art is a subject where you almost have to do it full time, I find it hard to switch off really. I’ve just been involved in an exhibition in Lewisham with The Clinic Presents with my collective White White Brown Twig, and that went down well. I even fed a pot noodle to a fox, and the next day had a well tasty omelette, so things are going great at the moment. Are there any artists in particular (from Leeds) that you’d like to mention? Yes, there’s a few good artist and artist events in Leeds at the moment. I’m a massive fan of Emma Parry’s photography (helloemmaparry.blogspot.com), naturally as she is the other half of White White Brown Twig, so most of my inspiration for our collective comes from her.
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Ventral is Golden...
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There’s obviously Nous Vous (http://nousvous.eu/) who do great work and tend to dominate the Leeds art scene, but they’re all really nice guys and they are good to work with. There are also a lot of independent art movements or collectives, whatever you want to call them, like Limn for example (http://limnlimnlimn.co.uk/) , who put on ace illustration nights around the city, who have introduced me to some good local illustrators such as Thomas Key (http://thomaskeyillustration.com/) and Bruce Usher (http://www. frombruce.co.uk/) New fledgling ‘collectives’ seem to be popping up all the time as the art scene is quite compact, so this is always a good thing and a potentially exciting prospect once people get the ball rolling with things.
If I made a list of things I don’t like, such as; why do people stand side by side down the street whilst waiting for a bus?, or people who organise their nights around watching Big Brother (and have never heard of George Orwell), or when a twenty year old wearing a wicker safari hat and winkle pickers, working for a wild life conservation charity, asks me “If I was an animal, what animal would I be?” and tries to reduce my answer of “Pterodactyl” to mere insignificance, and then proceeds to asks me for £20 a month to save a rhinoceros, then I’d say that I like the exact opposite of everything that I don’t like. So I feel that inspiration can come from the strangest of places. It’s much to do with the individual, as opposed to categorising what inspires you and what doesn’t.
What is your favorite medium to work with? My favourite medium is paper, I just love the smell of it! Anything that has a tangible quality gets a thumbs up from me. There is an entire world of printed ephemera waiting to be discovered. I strongly believe that subversive elements of Dadaism are resonating through certain parts of society at the moment, as a sort of ‘fuck you’ towards the novelties of our generation and the widespread apathy to ongoing wars. I think people aren’t entertained anymore, so the means of escapism are best achieved through a scalpel, so you’re either an Emo, or you’re generally making collages.
What bands / musicians are you currently listening to? Currently I’m listening to Kelis, Black Eyed Peas, The Pharcyde, Rihanna, Notorious B.I.G, and Tubelord, all at the same time, it’s really loud.
Where do you get the images for your collages? Well the nature of collages is that they are sort of done for you, you’ve just got to see them! I tend to get my images from wherever there are images. What reaction do you want people to take from your work? Above all, I want people to briefly escape their surroundings, and maybe rouse a dormant emotion within them, whether its disgust, joviality, or simply confusion. As I said before, it’s not always the aim of the artist to put across his or her desired intentions, sometimes it’s just best to let ambiguity take control, but there’s a fine line between ambiguity and complete meaninglessness. Sometimes it’s hard when there’s so much collage art work around these days, it’s hard to distinguish a style, but the amount of DIY publications and zines that are being produced now, mirrors the printed manifestos in the era of the ‘isms’. Dadaism and Surrealism especially. There is an uncensored quality that is associated with zines that I’m quite fond of. It’s a bit like eating twelve fairy cakes in a row. You know you want to do it, but you’ll feel like an absolute sausage afterwards. Because of this, there’s no means to filter out the not-so-good-work, but the probability states that you’ll achieve your sugar fix, and feel inspired again.
Have you collaborated with any artists yet? I’ve done a few collaborations. I did a stop motion music video for a band called The Lodgers which went really well, I got an email saying that it’s going to be shown on the new in store video reel in Topman and Topshops around the Uk, but I’m not sure when that’s happening. It’s about a guy who travels the city on a deck chair whilst holding an empty mug, looking for a girl with a teapot. A little bit of a cinderella theme but with tea. Sounds a bit cup-cakey and shit, but it’s not. Arrhh, what is it with the cake references? Clearly I’m hungry. I also collaborated with a Leeds based writer named Damien Knightley on a six month long prose poem titled “Funny World : The Interpretation of a Dog”. Some collages were inspired by the text, namely, “Nought point five, this horse is very tall” and “Little moon stares at my brain and teases my blood stream.” (The two black and white images selected). The book was written to give an impression of the colour blue. I don’t know if we succeeded or not, but it was emotional producing it. We will be looking to rewrite parts of it next year, and then look into getting it published. (You can read parts of the digital version via a link on the Ventral website entitled ‘Funny World’)
Perhaps this is the era of ‘zine-ism’. I quite like it, it feels nostalgic for some reason, and now I can’t stop thinking about fairy cakes.
I think collaboration is very important in some respects. It’s always a nice feeling to share ideas and discoveries with someone. I guess this is why we created WhiteWhiteBrownTwig, so during the creation of every piece, I’d be working with at least one other person. Hopefully within the future, WWBT will be looking to do more album artwork and music videos and animations, so more collaborations can happen. Exciting times!
What inspires your work? What doesn’t? Well, a similar answer to the ‘where do you find images’ question. I find it amusing that people sometimes see me as nihilistic by questioning the importance of certain things.
What’s the best and worst thing about doing what you love? The best thing is being able to do it all the time, and the worst thing is doing it all the time. Familiarity can breed contempt as Aldous Huxley put it.
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Text : Magic Sweater
MAGIC SWEATER Magic Sweater is an illustrator that likes drawing ugly, pimply faces with crayon tints and detailed linework. His artwork lately features animal characters that look like distorted versions of the Beagle Boys and other Disney-esque critters. Some of his pictures showcase bizarre scenarios and others have symmetric shapes and patterns. He can fill a page with overlapped characters that have very little space while other times he can fill a background with rainbow colours. Magic Sweater begins his process by drawing in sketchbooks and contemplating ideas. He lays out a rough composition when beginning a final drawing and then pencils in the details. He works with dip pens to outline his work and uses materials such as coloured pencils, crayons, textas and watercolours to brighten his visuals. While working, sounds in the background consist of Geneva Jacuzzi, Young Marble Giants, late 70’s era Beach Boys, France Gall, Ian Svenonius related bands, Broadcast, The Cars and others. Manga graphic novels have been the latest addition to his source of inspiration, which includes Dr. Slump by Akira Toriyama and Crayon Shin-chan by Yoshito Usui. He also admires the work of Jack Kirby, Anthony Browne, Fujiko Fujio, Al Jaffee, Rex Hackelberg and Apple fiction paperback covers.
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Magic Sweater...
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Magic Sweater...
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Magic Sweater...
The Baby-shitters Club Š Magic Sweater
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Text : Brian Vu
IAN MARKELL
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COAST TO COAST
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Ian Markell...
...Photography
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Ian Markell...
...Photography
What does Ian Markell do to start off the day? He makes sure to get himself a huge order of nachos. After that, he plays some Althea and Donna, David Bowie, The Monks, Wanda Jackson, The Slits, Brian Eno, or Nelly. Markell then plans on meeting up with a group of friends after his friend, the “menace” finishes dying her hair in his bathroom. Markell is currently living near the water in Brooklyn, where he just started his second year at Parsons. However, Markell isn’t originally from New York. The artist used to live across the country in Los Angeles, California. “It is super different, New York is just incomparable to LA. California is really important to me, it is so beautiful and things are way more mellow. I miss it a lot but the east coast is amazing also. The people here are so creative and down to have a fun time.” Markell has gotten used to the completely opposite NYC way of living rather quickly. “It is also really funny how when people move to New York, their lifestyle just become more grungier. I end up kicking around all the things on the street and brown bagging a fair amount; it’s fun. I think people just feel more liberated here which is definitely true for me. So when I go back to LA, I bring that with me. It has really helped me grow a lot.” When Markell was thirteen, his father gave him an old Pentax camera from when he was the boy’s age. “I feel like ever since then, I’ve compulsively needed to take photos I think. A lot of it came from people’s stories and personal histories, and I wanted to create my own and be able to share it.” Always having his camera handy, the photographer shoots constantly; making sure never to miss an opportunity. The photos that he shares are reflective of where we are currently as a generation. He characterizes his style as “some weird form of overly American documentary portraiture where portraits are sometimes not about a specific person.” The people in his photographs are usually close friends of his. “I am interested in the relationships that I share with all my friends. Those people who I feel a cosmic connection to need their photo taken. It is pretty unexplainable to me so I take photos to try and capture them.” Liquid Sky, traveling in groups, a mix of new and old put together, and peoples interactions with one another are just a few of the things that inspire Markell’s work. “So many things are inspiring to me personally and end up obviously inspiring my works. As for things that don’t inspire me, I could name a few such as: Closed minded boring people, people wearing sunglasses when they are in the subway station underground (I don’t get it), when things are too ordinary, techno music, [laughs] I don’t know, I feel like a lot of things are uninspiring but we should be positive here!”
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Ian Markell...
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Text : Damanjit Lamba
AIMEE BRODEUR
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SECURING ALL THAT IS TRANSIENT
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Aimee Brodeur...
Aimee Brodeur’s work brings to mind the term photogénie, first coined by French critic Louis Delluc. Photogénie refers to a short-lived intensity in film that only photography can zero in on. Brodeur’s commanding shots take hold of life’s complex movements and rhythms- feral hair flies in all directions, sunshine peers through trees to cascade faces in blocks of light, and shallow waves among a murky climate depict a crazed waste land. On top of her photography, Brodeur created a series of sitespecific installations with Michael Barker. Taking a page from British artist Andy Goldsworthy, Brodeur and Barker actively participated with their natural environments to create installations that are defined as much by their external space as they are by their design. You lived in San Clemente, California correct? How was growing up there? Yes I have! I actually lived in a
smaller town called Capistrano beach, but I went to school in San Clemente and, there really is not too much of a difference between the two. I enjoy being back home for small bits of time. I love the ocean, and I am so grateful to have grown up right next to it. There is something about people I can identify with that have grown up next to a large body of water, their whole upbringing and way of life seems to have been focused around that. I noticed that most of my friends that have moved to other areas still remain by some type of water. It’s like once you live with it, it’s really difficult to live without it. How long have you been living in San Francisco? I have been in San Francisco since August of 2009. I am almost at a year. A tough year actually, but as I am closing in on the year mark I find myself at peace with this city and mostly at peace with who I am in it.
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When and how did you initially get into photography? What interested you about it? I was a rebellious teenager and I really remember two things that just centered me during such a chaotic time. Music and photography were two things I depended on for a sense of identity and expressing myself. I think form of expression is so vital for young kids because we want to show our parents and our friends who we are and what we want. Sometimes we can communicate well and sometimes we cannot. I chose photography for that reason. I did start with film, and I remember always ditching classes just to be in the photo lab at school. I had such an amazing photo teacher, whom I will never forget and he always turned a blind eye on the kids who would just be in the dark room all day long instead of in other classes. Its what I excelled in, and its what gave me that first feeling of passion. It was important for meto nurture that. How was you education at Brooks Institute? What was your reason for leaving? When I decided to go to Brooks Institute I was set on the idea that I would want to photograph editorial work all day, everyday. I grew a lot at the school and even at that institute I pushed boundaries within my classes. It is a very commercial school, and as I was growing more as a person and growing more in my work I realized I was not always interested in selling what I shot. More often than not actually, so I think who I was becoming was not what that school had intended for me. Nearing the end of my second year there, I left for New York to work with a fashion photographer and during that small amount of time I realized I was done with Brooks. I had learned what I needed, and to this day I am still sure I made the right decision in leaving. What camera are you currently shooting with? Is there any equipment you are dying to have? I am shooting with a Mamiya 645 and a Canon AE1. Sometimes I shoot with a Yashica FX-3. I would love to have some Leica cameras so I can have the lenses. That and probably a nice Hasselblad. I am not so much into cameras as I am into the work I do. I try and find a medium that will capture what I like and I stick with it. Can you tell us a little bit about your collaborations with Michael Barker? How did you guys meet? I met Michael Barker when I was in school in 2006. He was skateboarding a ton for companies and there were some kids at my school who would travel down to Los Angeles to photograph him. When I met him we just clicked and we would shoot photographs together and go camping a lot. We had a ton of similar interests when it came to nature and travel. Putting those together over time just kind of sprang this idea of creating site-specific work in some of our favorite places of travel. We are really into Andy Goldsworthy and we loved his philosophy with his work. We were on this crazy summer high last year and just worked all day, everyday. I think we would love to try something along those lines again someday, but it just worked out where we had no obligations and no work other than the work we wanted to do.
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What was it like working for American Apparel? Right when I got back from New York I started working at American Apparel. I really knew nothing about the company, I mean, nothing. So I just knew what the photos looked like, and I knew it was a job. I had just left school so I was concerned with being able to pay back my loans on time, and this paid them. American Apparel has a really talented art department. I mean, some incredibly talented people have come through that door, and then back out that door. Working there was an experience I will say that much. I learned a lot about the responsibility of maintaining a photo studio, and how to work with multiple people and their needs in a fast paced environment. There were a lot of personalities at American Apparel, and juggling them and getting them what they needed photographically wise was my biggest job. I worked closely with the owner and with the art director and they were smart people to work closely with. For me, it was about what I learned and took away from those learning experiences that made working for them an asset. What’s the best and the worst thing about doing what you love? Recently, and for a lot of the past year, there have been times when I get so caught up in the things that I don’t love and in turn it has enveloped my life to where I can’t really see what I love doing. It is important for me to be able to have moments everyday that allow me to express and give time to the things I love. Not everyone has that luxury. I know what it is like to experience not being able to do what you love, I think every artist in one way or another has had a time where they know what they love but are unable to express it, or do it. Usually because other pressing issues outside of our control take center stag. It’s the times when we are working and devoted to our true passion that really make that time, the best time. What would you say inspires you the most? What doesn’t? My inspiration for life has recently been found in just being present every moment. Being alive and living mindfully each day. I have not been worried or concerned with the future, and I have found that I live life more effortlessly this way. It feels good, and peaceful and I have found much inspiration from this. Hm, when I think of things that don’t inspire me, I can’t really put my finger on it. I guess tasks that are repetitous and do not take personal thought or personal emotion bore me. Like standing in line. I don’t usually enjoy that. Lastly, what musicians have you been listening to recently? The musicians that I have been into lately are the same musicians I have been into ever since I was 16 years old. I have friends who are touring and making new work and I totally support that. But I have to say I don’t really go to shows for new bands as much as I did when I was a teenager. But I went to see Black Mountain, I think that was the last show I went to, that was rad. Oh and my friend played me some Growlers, they are from where I grew up, and I have been playing their stuff lately on my computer as well.
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Aimee Brodeur...
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Text : Caroline Helmers
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STEVEN BR AHMS
FREEZING ACTION
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Steven Brahms...
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Steven Brahms...
Photographer Steven Brahms has been creating a strong portfolio and gaining recognition in the underground art world for the past couple of years. Brahms, currently working in New York City, relies on his refreshing style of photography to gain viewers. Bizarre facial expressions and action filled shots color his collection of snapshots. Working feverishly to produce new pictures to show off, Brahms has been busy of late. He is currently working on Part I of his ongoing body of work entitled “The Survival Project.” The project involves photographing 35 different long-haired Asian guys running for their lives,” Brahms explains, “other than that I’m building model UFO’s, a new website, and working on some video projects.” Brahms keeps with his style throughout his photography projects, using a lot of action themes and chaotic scenes. His latest shot, for example, is of a guy with long hair “running for his life” through a cloud of dust on a baseball diamond. As for how he developed an interest in photography, Brahms credits his summer camp. Seeing a print for the first time in the darkroom mesmerized him right away. Brahms has impressed audiences with his snapshots due to his unique style and the changes that style has gone through over the years. Starting off with street pictures, the photographer focused on taking realistic shots of scenes he encountered on the streets. “I was really into all the magnum guys, Josef Koudelka, Carl DeKeyser, Luc Delehaye,” Brahms explains, “then one day I asked some guy to stand a certain way for a picture. It was like a whole new world of possibilities just opened up. When I moved to New York, I started assisting photographers and learned how to light and started using large format cameras. Now I’m not sure how I would describe my style. I guess cinematic.” Brahms uses his cameras according to the type of picture he is taking. At times shooting with a digital camera with a big sensor while also using a disposable for certain shots, Brahms says it depends on the look he wants. The diversity in his snapshots can be credited to this use of different types of cameras. While Brahms has a website for his main photographs, he also has Similar Projects to share his work. “Similar Pojects is a place where I can present work in progress. I wanted a space separate from my main personal site. You could say that www.stevenbrahms.com is the storefront and www.similarprojects.com is the workship in the back,” Brahms says, “I plan on using the space in a more collaborative way in the future.” The future looks busy for Brahms, and he wouldn’t have it any other way. As he puts it, part of the appeal of photography is that it never ends.
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Text : Brian Vu
TRUST
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CANDY WALLS Toronto’s Electronic goth-pop band TRUST can be described as abstruse and mysterious. Listen to their track ‘Candy Walls’ and you’ll get that feeling immediately. The two take a different route with writing music than we ordinarily see. Their songwriting is very private, sometimes even towards each other. “We both write songs separately, then we work on them together. Sometimes we write songs together. We then record the songs on Maya’s computer.” TRUST has a strong opinion on the music industry today. “There’s a lot of shitty people who work in this business who don’t give a fuck about music or creativity, it’s just a business to them.” Only having played six shows, the band is quite new at performing live. TRUST has played shows with Glass Candy, Hercules and Love Affair, Washed Out and Zola Jesus. With pounding drums, dark-wave synths, and acute vocals, the TRUST live show is full of energy and intensity. You can get a taste of it via their live video posted on their myspace. The band is currently working on releasing two 12” records this fall, playing shows outside of Canada, and planning an EP release early next year. Other than that, they really want you to check out their favorite band, Pony Da Look.
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Text : Noah Doles
GUARDS
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THE VULNERABLE Richie James Follin self-released a free eight track EP back in May, and the album features some big names, like Chairlift’s Caroline Polacheck, James Richardson of MGMT, Loren Shane Humphrey of Willowz and Forest Family’s very own, Cults. Ever since Cults made the tweet including a link to Guards self-titled EP, Richie has been establishing global recognition from just about every blogger out there. Since the interview, Guards has recently signed to 3 Syllables Records for a proper release of the self-titled EP. Richie will also be getting a 7” via YVYNYL and I Guess I’m Floating’s new label Small Plates. The 7” includes tracks “Resolution of One” on the a-side and the double b-side “Crystal Truth” and “Long Time.” It certainly didn’t take long for people to catch on to the mysterious project known as Guards. As a result, this amazingly talented musician is becoming less mysterious day by day, and I can guarantee you will be hearing much more about Guards!
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Guards...
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Where are you currently living? In the east village of Manhattan.
for Madeline to sing, and they only used one of the song ideas. I was bored one day so I decided to sing them.
What do you do on your spare time? Go to college? Have a special someone in your life? I have a girlfriend. I see every movie that comes out. I’m extremely into boxing. Last year I spent some time putting on a mini festival on the lower east side called “Hex Fest”. I record my friends records. I split my time between 3 bands (Willowz, Cults, Guards), so that keeps me pretty busy, but I still manage to play shows with other bands on the side. I have gotten into the habit of writing and recording records, then playing a few shows with them and moving on to something else. Last year I did a Willowz record, a solo record released under Richie James Follin, a Baby Fangs record (punk band no cymbals), a Barracks record (heavy psych punk). This year I joined Cults with my little sister and put out the Guards EP.
Since you have a track on the EP featuring Cults, what’s your relationship like with them? Where and how did you guys meet? Madeline from Cults is my little sister, and Ryan from Cults was on tour with Willowz helping out, he also played in Barracks, and that’s where Cults actually met. They are the best.
When did you start creating music? I got a guitar from my step dad when I was 13, and recorded my first song on a friends answering machine when I was 15, I think. It was a jokey pop punk number called “The Penis Song”, if I remember correctly. I got serious about music at around 18 or 19, when I started the Willowz up. Until that point I just played in bands to get drunk and hang out with my friends. Since you’ve started Guards do you still plan on making music as the Willowz or are you going to put all focus on Guards? I’m trying to finish the album now and have it out by March in time for SXSW. Willowz will definitely be putting out an album soon. How exactly did you come up with the name Guards? I was looking through a rimbaud book, saw it and it stuck. It made sense on all levels, as in the protectors, and then the vulnerable side of putting up the guard. Where do you do most of your recording? I do drums at Paul Kostabi’s Studio, Thunderdome Studios in upstate New York, and everything else I do at my studio in Manhattan. I call it St. Marks Studio. When did you decide you wanted to put out an EP? I didn’t really ever decide. I just put some songs up on bandcamp, and Madeline from Cults tweeted about it. The actual folder the music files are in on my computer is titled “ideas”. That’s all they initially were. I wrote them
You also have a track featuring Caroline Polachek from Chairlift. What’s your relationship like with her? I know her through mutual friends. She’s great and amazingly talented. She also makes good s’mores. How do you feel about touring? Have you played local shows or anything along those lines? I love touring. I have been doing it for almost ten years, and I still love it. Hopefully Guards will be going out soon. As of now we are playing CMJ October 22nd at Glassland in Brooklyn for the Yours Truly/Altered Zones party, and maybe Europe in February. Who are some artists in particular that have a major influence in your music? Ahhh that question. There are so many, but I normally stick to the Stones, Stooges, Beatles theme. Are there any other major influences on your music that’s not actually music related? Everything. Maybe more so than music. Everyday interactions, books, films, fighting, drugs, people. What albums have you been digging lately? Strange Boys, Buffalo Killers, Arcade Fire, Ariel Pink, Atlas Sound, Spoon, Tame Impala, Best Coast. I’ve realized you aren’t on twitter, myspace or any networking sites really for that matter, just a bandcamp page. Why are you keeping things so lo-key? Well for one, because I wasn’t planning on getting any attention. We just started a twitter a couple weeks ago. We have like three followers. I hate Myspace, it’s horrible for music, among other things. Have you been working on anything new as of lately? Maybe an LP in store for the near future? Yes, I’m actually almost done with the LP! Hopefully it will be out in March.
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Text : Damanjit Lamba
...Art
JON LEMMON
WHILE YOU WERE ASLEEP
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Jon Lemmon...
Jon Lemmon is a New Zealander, also lovingly termed a Kiwi, who concocts bedroom beats while concurrently trying not to disturb his housemates. He demystifies the musical process by stating that making music isn’t something he loves to do; it’s a part of life. Themes of isolation and technology come across through his hushed voice and it’s repetition as a backing synth. Lemmon is new to the music scene but his unprocessed take on electro bedroom pop and the striking similarity his name has to a certain bespectacled pop legend will surely help him make great strides. How are you Jon? What are you doing today? Pretty good. I slept over at my friend’s house and now we’re just hanging out. He’s an amazing musician and a great friend so it’s pretty much a guaranteed good time whenever we get together. I myself have not heard many artists from New Zealand. What’s the music scene like there? It’s great. The thing about New Zealand is that the population is so small that everyone knows everyone, and consequently everyone is playing in everyone else’s bands. It’s pretty cool. Also, there’s a festival here that happens every year called “Camp A Low Hum”, and it brings in lots of good underground acts from all around New Zealand and Australia. About 500 people attend each year (the guy who organizes it likes to keep it small), and everyone just sleeps in tents and has a great time, and all these amazing artists (both known and unknown) perform in intimate outdoor venues. The bands are really good, and it’s such a great and unique experience that there is no way I can put it into words. Look it up
online! Also, if you’re interested in modern Kiwi artists, you can start by checking out: The Ruby Suns, Lawrence Arabia, Bachelorette, So So Modern, Phoenix Foundation, Connan Mockasin, and Mount Pleasant. There’s lots more good ones too that I’m forgetting right now. Are you still in school? Do you have a daytime job? Not at the moment [laughs]! I decided to put off university for a few years after I graduated from high school. So I moved to New Zealand (I was living in the suburbs of LA at the time) and I ended up working on the film Avatar for a while doing computer animation. Then I tried to go back to studying, but I really didn’t like it. So now I’ve just disenrolled and I’m trying to figure out what to do next. That’s why I’ve had so much time to work on my music lately. I think I’ll probably do computer animation part time and then spend the rest of my time working on music. My friend and I are going to start up a small recording studio and teaching facility geared toward inspiring young people to create music, as well as producing local bands that we like. We’re super excited about it! How long have you been releasing music under your name? About a month [laughs]. I made music all through high school, but I was too self-concious to show it to the world. Now the time has come. I’ve started recording and releasing lots of singles online this past month, and it’s been a very fulfilling process. As far as the upcoming EP goes, I actually started work on it almost two years ago. It was originally going to be a full
...Music album, but I’ve since decided that I’d rather start with something small and concentrated, so I’ve refined things a bit and dropped five of the songs and turned it into an EP. Can you walk us through your music-making process? Yeah, although its not pretty [laughs]! Most of the time I’m just in my bedroom, hunched in front of my laptop with headphones on. I use Ableton Live to write/record all my songs. I love it because it’s so fast to get an idea down and do some basic sound design. First I usually get a drum beat going with some thin drum machine samples, then I record the bassline and synths, then comes the vocals. A lot of times I don’t have the patience to even plug in a MIDI keyboard to my computer, so I just end up using the actual typing keyboard to play the notes (it’s easy to do this in Ableton). For the vocals I just use the built-in microphone on my laptop. I like the challenge this presents. I have to be really close to the microphone (which is located next to the keyboard) for it to sound good, so I end up having this really weird posture when I sing. And I have to try hard not to blow into the microphone, otherwise it sounds awful. Also I have to be quiet when I sing because I live with other people and usually I’m recording at night and I don’t want to wake them up. So I really have to strain to get a good vocal take, and I think you can hear it in some of the songs... which I think is a good thing. At least for what I’m going for. Also, the music production is very much driven by the vocal tracks. For lots of my songs, all of the synths I use are actually just my voice that I’ve sampled and turned into an instrument. It’s really easy to do this in Ableton. I like using my voice as an instrument because I think it adds an organic aspect to an otherwise very sterile form of music. How would you describe your music to a stranger? I have a hard time with this. It depends who the person is, but usually I find I can best communicate what the music is like by describing what it is about. What would you say your songs are about? What themes do they cover? At the moment, isolation and technology are major themes in my music. Mostly viewed in a negative light, though I usually try and squeeze some hope in there somewhere. I was usually an outcast in school. I found it hard to relate, socialize, and make friends with other kids my age. So a lot of my songs hint at that past. And many of my songs are also influenced by the uncomfortable setting that I often find myself in. I’ve spent so much of my life crouched in front of a computer, doing god-knows-what. Usually alone, maybe checking Facebook or something. But the irony about Facebook (and digital technology in general) is that while it makes it easier for us to stay in touch with friends, it’s also getting in the way of our friendships. It’s getting harder to spend meaningful time with people. Think about how often you hang out with a friend oneon-one, and then one of you stops to have a look at their phone and respond to a message. Technology promises information and immediacy, but I think we risk a level of intimacy, thoughtfulness, and contemplation by adopting it. Our relationships, our art-forms, our sense of self... They’re all threatened by it. On the
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other hand, I would never be able to record my music without it. Why choose bandcamp to showcase your music? Do you think Myspace is dead? I think Myspace has been dead for years. It was so obvious from the beginning that it was never going to last long-term. And about bandcamp - originally I was going to host the songs on my own webpage because I had a lot of requirements which none of the other websites fulfilled. I wanted the music to be free, I wanted to have high quality streaming/downloading, and I wanted to having nothing on the page except for the track listing, the album art, and the music player. Then I found bandcamp, which fit all my requirements. So I was totally stoked when I found it. I just wish it had some sort of optional blog/news section for the artist as well. What are your influences musically and non-musically? Daft Punk. I saw their 2006 show at Coachella, which was by far the best live performance I have ever seen. They just did everything right. Which is surprising, because I think most electronic musicians do everything wrong when it comes to live performances. Non-musically... I’m currently reading Herman Hesse’s Steppenwolf, which I think has already started to affect me. It really hones in on the isolation theme I was talking about earlier. The Microphones’ The Glow Pt. 2 and Radiohead’s Kid A were two albums that had a major influence on me while I was making Kindling. I love how raw and organic The Glow Pt. 2 is. I feel I can melt into both of those albums when I listen to them... in fact I’ve fallen asleep to both of them several times. What’s the best and the worst thing about doing what you love? Hm, if you’re referring to making music, I’m not sure I can say that I love it. I think more than anything else I just accept it as an integral part of my life. I’ve spoken to a lot of artists about the artistic process and the associated pain that comes along with it. Well, some people don’t feel pain when they create. I certainly do though. It’s a battle for me. A battle against my perfectionism, against my ego, against self-hatred. Sometimes it can be painful and anxiety-inducing. Other times, though, I’m able to conquer those obstacles and get into a flow, and that’s where the payoff is. In these moments of clarity I often have little realizations about my personality and my struggles, realizations that transcend whatever I’m creating at the time. So, for me, making music is just as much about this struggle and what I learn from it as it is about the actual music that I create. And in the end... it’s all a good thing. It’s life. Do you have any upcoming physical releases? [laughs] Not at the moment. I make all my music on a computer and it costs me nothing. So it’s strange to think of putting it on a physical CD or a vinyl record for someone to physically put their hands on and purchase. I mean, open to the idea... but so far no record labels have approached me about it, and I’m not too fussed about it (I never buy any physical releases, myself). Probably someone will eventually convince me of the value of putting out physical releases, but until then I’m just gonna keep releasing online singles.
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Text and Photography : Brian Vu
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GOLD PANDA
A BIT OF LUCK
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Gold Panda...
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Wake up in the morning, surf the internet, hit up Denny’s to order a grand slam, then drive 90 miles north from Solana Beach to Pomona, California. I interviewed Derwin aka Gold Panda (a combination of his favorite color and animal) backstage after his set. At the time, he was chatting online with his girlfriend while enjoying a nice cold beer. The musician was on tour with LA’s Autolux for two weeks, playing dates in Texas, Kansas, Colorado, Utah, Arizona, and California. This was Gold Panda’s second time in California. The musician has been here last June doing a month long tour with Los Angeles beloved locals Health. During his set, Gold Panda performed songs from his debut full-length, Lucky Shiner. The album has just arrived physically on Ghostly International this month. He had always been a Ghostly fan, so when he was asked to do a release almost a year ago, GP quickly accepted. Derwin told me that he was never that comfortable with releasing his music. His close friend always told him to put it out, but he was very hesitant. Suddenly, when his friend passed away, it gave him the initiative to pursue this avenue. Lucky Shiner is named after his grandmother. “She’s from northeast India. She married my grandfather, David Shiner, so that’s her name. She’s someone who is really close to me and is still going really strong. After my friends death, I thought it’d be cool to dedicate something to someone who isn’t dead. Rather than someone dying and then doing it, it makes them realize how important they are. I really want people to attach their own sentiment to it. People can add their own feelings to it, sort of like a blank canvas.” The musician wanted to write songs with structure and substance. He wanted the sounds to be personal and intimate. He didn’t intend on just simply writing beats. The album took three weeks to write and record. It was written two weeks over Christmas while house sitting for his aunt and uncle. “My aunt hates the winter and the cold, she gets depressed because of the darkness. They took a trip to Thailand and I moved in. I just broke up with my girlfriend at the time, and decided to just move everything out since I was going on tour. There was nothing around really besides a few local pubs and markets. All I had was their dog. I’ve never really been cool with dogs, so it was kind of a building trust type of thing. There was a little romance going on there [laughs].” Gold Panda wrote about 40 songs in that time period, all while taking short breaks walking the dog in the snow. In April, he added three more tracks and took some others away. He then had it mixed by James Shaw (Simian Mobile Disco), who is known for his analog synths and building his own equipment. The two met through Wichita Recordings and played several shows together. Gold Panda is also releasing the album through his own label - Notown Records. Notown is a play on words with Motown. He has always been interested in knockoffs. “I’ve always liked fake stuff. All those tourist places that sell things such as Nuke instead of Nike or Wiid (image of Mario with a spliff) are really cool.” Gold Panda wants to eventually have more artists on Notown. With no intent on making huge sales, he wants to keep it weird and underground. Right now, Gold Panda is trying to improve his live show for his audience. “I’m not very comfortable with playing live. I actually find playing live pretty difficult. I really need to step it up, it’s a financial thing and a time thing. People want you to play live and they want you to be available. I have to make these tracks to play live, rather than just pushing play on a laptop. If that was the case, it’d be very boring for me and the crowd.” Gold Panda ends by telling me that the best part of doing what he loves is making the music he wants to make and being able to pay rent at the same time. All of this has happened so fast that he can’t believe it’s all real. “I never considered doing music professionally. It’s kind of weird. Everything feels like a dream, like I’m going to wake up stamping envelopes in an office somewhere.”
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Text and Photography : Brian Vu
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TAMARYN HAZE INTERIOR
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Tamaryn...
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Tamaryn...
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It’s no secret that the San Francisco scene is blowing up. Back in the day, musicians would either move to New York or Los Angeles to seek out that ideal music career. Nowadays, with the help of the Internet, blogs, and mp3s, bands are taking a different approach. Leaving her settled lifestyle and friends of nine years in New York, Tamaryn did the exact opposite. She moved to SF almost two years ago to work with close friend and producer Rex John Shelverton. Tamaryn and Rex had one mission: to release a cohesive debut full-length encased in shrink wrap. With the help of rising record label Mexican Summer and the support of other bands, the duo claimed success and plenty more. The result is The Waves - a dense and minimalist shoegaze record that would be best appreciated with a pair of headphones or in a large and crowded venue. Tamaryn’s vocals create stunning imageries of vast landscapes and scenery. Her lyrics are open to interpretation, leaving the listeners with their own connection to the words. In this interview, Tamaryn talks to us about the process of writing and recording The Waves, the album’s themes, and all of the ambitions and struggles that come with being an artist. Why did you originally leave New Zealand for the states? Tamaryn: Both of my parents are American. I was born in New Zealand because my mother was working there in Psychology. We left because things there didn’t really work out. People in New Zealand were very conservative at the time. The people who raised me were far out, somewhat bizarre people. Things didn’t really work out so we ended up having to leave and went to Washington state from there. So you two originally met in New York? T: I saw Rex’s band play in San Francisco in 2000, but we became friends in New York. Why did you choose to live in San Francisco? T: I wanted to make a record with Rex. So I moved to San Francisco about 18 months ago. We made an EP together before that. The EP was a collection of my favorite songs that we made long distance between New York and San Francisco for a few years. We decided to make a record. So the best way for me to make the best possible record that I could would be if I moved to San Francisco where I could work with him. It was hard for me because I really loved New York. I was really integrated in the world there. It was difficult but that sort of sacrifice ultimately added to how the record ended up sounding.
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Have you been to New York since your move? T: We played there a couple of times, and I’ve been there to visit for a weekend here or there. I have a dog so I don’t leave town quite often. You guys are going to New York again correct? Are you guys going to tour soon? T: We now have a record and a reason to play shows. We’ve been pretty selective up until this point. We haven’t really hopped onto any shows. We haven’t been the kind of band that jumps in the van and gets on the road. The record just came out, so we’re going to New York for CMJ for a few shows. After that, we’re going to Europe for a couple of weeks. Is Mexican Summer only putting out the record on vinyl? T: Vinyl, CD, and digital download. We love Mexican Summer so much. They’re really cool guys. They have really good taste. They’re more like curators than a traditional record label. How long did it take to write and record The Waves? What was the recording process like? Rex: It took a while. We kind of played around for a while since we had time. For The Waves, the beginning of it started a little slow. There were paths we took that we didn’t want to keep following. We experimented a lot. It took about 16 months to make the record. T: If you listen to our earlier music, you can hear that there is a varied amount of songs. Some of them are darker and more angular and some of them are a little bit more beautiful and bittersweet. We were going to make a full record that had a distinct sound; we were trying to figure out exactly what that sound was. We spent a lot of time getting the sounds right and elaborating on them. Even if we are relatively a new band, we have been working together for a long time. And before that, Rex has been in a lot of bands. R: It was important for us to have the record be cohesive and not just a mishmash of different songs. What would you say are the main themes of the album, musically and lyrically? R: Even though it’s lush, it’s very minimal. It’s expressive more through the melody rather than through embellishment. The arrangements are simple. I don’t think there’s really a lot of space within the song. It’s all pretty cloudy sounding.
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Tamaryn...
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T: The sound is incredibly dense. You can listen to it on headphones and get really into it or you can fill any room with it, but the actual instrumentation is very minimal. It’s only a few guitar tracks, a bass track, etc. R: The delivery of the instruments and vocals are really relaxed, dreamy, and deliberate. We don’t want to wake the listener up. I think it’s intimate but it’s murky. It’s easy to pick up on the emotional content. You’re not listening to it in individual pieces. T: Lyrically, it’s sort of like iconic symbolism. Something that might seem like a love song isn’t necessarily so. I think that the best artists in the world leave things open to interpretation to a certain degree and let you fill in the blanks, or let you attribute your own emotions or experiences to them. The best music may not literally interpret your life, but it can express the way you feel about your life. It’s also a response to the sounds we’ve made. A lot of the time it’s the kind of imagery and symbols created by the experience of being totally surrounded by the sound. Can you name some particular bands that have contributed to the growing music scene in SF? T: There’s always creative people in San Francisco. Girls are friends of ours, and we really respect what they do. There’s this band Weekend that opened up for us. Dominant legs is a band we really like. Wax Idols is also really cool. I don’t think all the bands in San Francisco are similar to each other in any way. There’s not that many bands, so we all know each other. Everyone is really nice and cool, and I try to support everybody. R: It’s a different time. A while ago, there were cool bands in San Francisco but they couldn’t stay. If they wanted to be serious, the resources weren’t really there. They all either moved to LA or New York. I think the Internet has helped a lot. Girls also brought a lot of attention to the city. Lastly, what’s the best and worst thing about doing what you love? R: There’s a lot of sacrifice. I have quite a few friends that are already on their second marriage. I think your relationships suffer a lot for art, and obviously financially. You’re not going to be able to do a lot of the responsible things. You have to sacrifice a lot of the responsibilities that you should pay attention to. With the positive, I’m not dealing with divorces or domestic problems. I also haven’t gained 40 pounds. Actually, maybe with all those vegan donuts, who knows? There have been
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times where people have told me that the music I’ve made really made a big difference in their life. I can relate to that, because so many bands have been such a big part of my life. That’s why I love records because there’s a permanent record of what happened, it’s not just a fleeting moment. T: For me, it’s so great to have an outlet to be creative. It’s really something that I’ve wanted to do my whole life. It took a long time to make the quality music I’ve wanted to make. I’ve kind of been holding out and have been trying to be delicate with it. Starting anything and finishing it, is an amazing feeling. Having a record with shrink wrap on it is really fulfilling. The hard part is performing in the age that we live in today. Playing the first show of the tour with all of the Internet coverage, and having youtube videos all over the net- I’ve been trying to get past that and move on and not have that on my mind. That’s very much the time we live in; everything is under a microscope. That’s why I’ve been specific about the interviews we’ve done so far. I want to try to keep it special and keep a mystery to it. We don’t want to break the spell and want people to feel that the record is real to them. I’m always conscious about what sort of things that will destroy that. R: I think the quest for exposure that so many artists have can really work against you. T: I’m more afraid of that than anything else. The positive end of that is giving people a chance to hear the record and have their own relationship with it. R: And for us to have more opportunities. The more people that like it means we can make a better record the next time. We hope that work won’t be such an issue. T: We want it to get to the point where we can make another record and have it be less stressful. We worked the whole time, and lived in cheap apartments. That’s a hard question (what do you love and hate about playing music). It’s like, well you got an hour? R: My parents, they have this instinctual thing where they’re like “don’t do art.” But like, what artists are really happy you know? T: Being in a band is such a weird thing because it constantly builds you up and pulls you down. You don’t want your artist to be happy, I certainly don’t want my artists to be happy!
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Tamaryn...
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Text: Brian Vu
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T H E FACE BEHIND MOST INF MUSIC
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S TODAY’S LUENTIAL BLOGS...
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The Faces Behind Today’s Most Influential Music Blogs...
VISITATION RITES
What was the last song that you heard? Emilie Friedlander: “Weight” by Thread Pulls, a mysterious post-punk duo from Dublin who send me into deep rhythmic hypnosis with some of the most skeletal instrumentation I have heard in years: just bass, drums, and occasional swatches of synth and trumpet. 20 Jazz Funk Greats featured the song on Altered Zones. How did Visitation Rites get started? Where did the name come from? I started Visitation Rites with a French philosophy student named Sophie Pécaud when I lived in Nantes, France for a few years after college. We met at a noise show in an old boat hanger headlined by Andy Moore from the Dutch punk band The Ex, and started talking heavy aesthetic theory. At the beginning, I think we wanted to create the online bilingual version of the Wire, with full-length reviews and in-depth art-
ist portraits and the like in French and English, but that’s hard to swing when you’re two people juggling classes and multiple jobs and have no budget for hiring outside writers. Ultimately, Sophie ended up enrolling in a PhD program, I ended up moving back to New York, and editorial duties became split between myself in Brooklyn and Samantha Cornwell, a video artist friend of mine, in LA. Don’t have much explanation for the name; it just came to me while I was sitting on the train. I guess I like to think of each piece of music I write about as a “visitation” from a world other than the social and political and material reality we live day to day -- a psychic reality that provides an escape from the quotidian, or that sheds light on it in some way. You guys have been around since 2008, How have things changed since then? Other than no longer being bi-
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lingual, I’d say that the most significant change has been adapting from a more long-form, journalistic style to a form better suited to the web and the ADHD culture that most millennial music lovers have so willingly embraced. That is, trying to write concisely and create small digestible doses of criticism that pack a strong philosophical/sociological punch, maybe make people think a bit. Just because music writing is shorter now doesn’t mean it has to be meaningless reshufflings of buzzwords and publicist dross. Oh, and we have also introduced Samantha’s video component, VR Vimeo. What time of day are you most productive and why? The Visitation Rites “office” is a café in Italian Williamsburg called Cho’s Variety, and I like to go there around noon every day. A lot of musicians, promoters, and music bloggers pass through there, and it’s a great place to write while allowing yourself to be occasionally sidetracked by the familiar faces that pop in. Blogging is a very solitary activity and it’s nice to be in the company of real human beings. Otherwise, I tend to blog late at night, when I get home from shows and am tired enough to shut out my internal censor. I am a painfully slow writer. Do you have any favorite record labels? If so, why? We are living such a fertile chapter in the history of independent music that amazing new labels seem to crop up every day. That being said, three labels that I look to as sort of the “golden standard” in the weird music of today are Siltbreeze, Not Not Fun, and Olde English Spelling Bee. The records they put out are works of art from the outside in. They can be pop records or take a few listens to get into, but you’re always getting music that is avant-garde in the true sense of the word, music that is engaged in its own historical moment and intelligent without ever sinking into academicism. Living in the Internet age makes it possible to be both extremely well versed in pop music and extremely well versed in the experimental canon, and to cull from both without setting up a hierarchical relationship between them. To borrow a phrase from Dan Lopatin (Oneohtrix Point Never, Games), these labels peddle in “noise without borders.” Are there any particular bands / musicians that you would love more people to know about? Every artist we cover on Visitation Rites is one that we would collectively love people to know more about, so checking the site itself will give you a better list than I possibly can here. Off the top of my head, I encourage you to all check out Tracey Trance, whose tapes sound listening to a Playmobil village through a stethoscope. Recently, I’ve also really been getting into the Ghost Notes EP by Brooklyn electronic duo The Gamut, who sound sort of how Excepter might sound if they funneled all of their song-writing talent into digestible, five-minute pop songs. What’s the most positive aspect of blogging? Most negative? I think blogging is kind of the epitome of DIY.
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You’ve got basically no overhead other than a computer, a solid internet collection, and a few bucks a month if you happen to pay for your own webspace. All you need is a love for music, the discipline to put hours and hours of your time into something that offers no immediate financial reward, and the burning desire to hone your craft -- be it as a writer, a curator, a videoartist, or someone who just really loves making crazy animated gifs. What’s amazing about it is that no matter where you live, or how well connected or experienced you are, people will always start listening to what you have to say if you work hard enough at it. Don’t believe the dazed and confused, slacker image that some music bloggers give off; if they’re successful at what they do, there’s a good reason for it. One of the pitfalls of the blog format its its tendency to foster the “firsties” mentality that Village Voice critic Christopher Weingarten has grandstanded about to no end. According to “firsties” theory, music bloggers are overly eager to post things quickly because they know that “being first” will drive traffic to their site. As a result, they rush to get new MP3s or music videos out into the world without taking the time to reflect critically about them, sometimes even without writing about them at all. The result, Weingarten argues, is the gradual decline -- if not death -- of intelligent music criticism/journalism. What do you think blogs need more or less of nowadays? To follow up on my last point, I think music bloggers need to recognize the “firsties” problem and see it as their personal responsibility to elevate blog writing to a craft on par with print journalism or magazine writing. Even if the format is shorter, even if we’re only writing for three or four other people when we just start out, that doesn’t mean that we have the right to disseminate other people’s creative work without putting in our own creative two cents. If the great majority of music journalism goes online, what will future generations do when they want to find out about the reality we’re living and breathing right now and all they can find are webpages full of mp3s and Vimeos that have probably already been taken down? I think our artists deserve better than that. Do you have any non-musical things that inspire what you do? Capitalism and the tragedy of the American dream. The struggle to survive in an era of recession and make the most of the resources at our disposal. What was the most memorable show that you’ve been to this year? Julian Lynch playing clarinet in a basement in Northampton, MA that smelled like cat pee. Some of the most fully incarnated, idiosyncratic clarinet playing I have ever heard. Lastly, name something you’ve been obsessed with. Trying to make my violin sound like either a saxophone or a chinese hulusi. I am a musician as well as a writer.
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The Faces Behind Today’s Most Influential Music Blogs...
SALAD
FORK
...Music
Is being vegan the reason why you named your blog Salad Fork? Louis Kishfy: Yes, it is one of the reasons. I also live in Rhode Island, the smallest state, and the salad fork is typically the smallest fork on the dinner table. It’s a play on Pitchfork too, something I always thought was funny. I noticed people like to type ‘Saladfork’ a lot, I think it has something to do with it being similar to ‘Pitchfork’. How long have you been blogging for? How often do you post? Not that long, maybe a bit over a year, and music blogging specifically? Maybe only about four or five months. I don’t really have a ‘posting schedule’, I only make a post when I hear something that I want everyone else to hear, my blog is essentially a log of my music taste so the rate at which I post at is immeasurable. When I find something cool, I post about it. Can you tell us about the Compilation for Haiti? Do you plan on releasing more music in the future? It was an idea I had when we were talking about how disorder relates to thermodynamics in Physics class. It had been soon after the earthquake in Haiti had occurred, and it just made me think what I could do to help with all of the ‘disorder’ occurring in Haiti. I figured, I love music, so why not do a compilation and sell it? It was a lot of work, but a very rewarding experience. I am dropping a 14 song exclusive compilation to combat world hunger tomorrow (August 23rd), actually. I handmade the packaging for 11 CDs which I will be selling to celebrate the art of the compilation and limited edition releases, all for a good cause. It’ll be free for all to download, and most of the money raised by selling the physical releases will go to Action Against Hunger, a very rad world hunger charity that works all around the globe helping people in need. What’s new in Rhode Island? What are some of your favorite hotspots? Nothing much is really new here [laughs]. Usually the shows kind of blow unless I book something or one of my friends do. Providence is a rough town to play, very unfriendly to musicians. If I had more time to book shows I would, we do have some really rad spaces here. My favorite hotspots? Mostly the diner at AS220, which has really cheap vegan food, and White Electric, my favorite coffee shop. They have the Tofutti cream cheese spread there for bagels, and bagels with Tofutti is one of my favorite things to eat. You can get it with avocado, too! Yummy. Their coffee tastes great also. I can’t leave out Nice Slice, they offer up some great new york style vegan pizza. I’ve been going there forever. You also do Perpendicular Universe. When did you launch that? I assume you love visual art. Do you have any favorite artists? Perpendicular Universe was created to log photos on tumblr to use later for posts on Salad Fork. I love photography, so incorporating it into Salad Fork just made sense. I typically try to find a photo that relates to the post, or at least the feeling/mood I get when I make a post about something. A lot of
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times it takes me longer to find the right photo than to type up the post! I can’t really remember when I launched it, I’ve always had that blog it has just been named different things from time to time, but Perpendicular Universe will stick for a while. I love the theme I created for it, ‘A perpendicular universe is half way between our universe and a parallel one; a purgatory for those lost in the pursuit of time travel.’ The concept of time and manipulative realities is something I ponder about quite frequently, and while time travel does seem like a far-fetched idea, I’ve always felt traveling to a parallel universe would be possible someday. I do have an appreciation for all art, as far as visual artists go I love Sally Mann, she is kind of a legend. I like Jonathan Leders’ photography a lot too, he does like this retro porn thing. It’s cool, tasteful stuff. Some of what he shoots shows a lot of emotion, too, which I like. There are so many great photos that come across on tumblr, you just realize how many good photographers there are out there. What’s the most positive aspect of blogging? Most negative? One of the most positive aspects is your artists getting record deals. Once I post about an artist, I’m typically with them until the end. I always stick by them. A couple of my artists have gotten some really good deals with great labels, I’m super stoked for them right now. Of course, I’d like to think that it has something to do with my continued support for them through me posting about them all the time. You get a lot of satisfaction from that. Another aspect I like about blogging is that you get to network and meet a lot of cool people. I love meeting new people, and the Internet is just this huge window that allows you to do that. I don’t think there are any negative aspects to blogging, it’s just a place I use to do all the things I love to do, network with people, write, talk about music, launch projects. If people read it, that’s cool. If not, no big deal. What do you think blogs need more or less of nowadays? Blogs need less ads, for sure. Blogging shouldn’t be something you use to get money from, unless you use it to run your label or something. I don’t think I’ve ever grasped the concept of putting tons of ads on your site, I travel less to blogs that do, just because it’s annoying. I want to read about music, not about the new American Apparel underwear. What was the most memorable show that you experienced this year? That’s easy! The Underwater Peoples Showcase for sure. It was a lot of fun, tons of great bands played, met a lot of people. What blogs do you read on a regular basis? I don’t really ever read blogs that much, actually. The ones that I read from time to time are probably Friendship Bracelet, No Modest Bear, and Delicious Scopitone. What’s the perfect vegan meal? Oh boy, that’s a tough one. So many choices! I think I’d have to say the vegan mac and cheese with broccoli at the AS220 diner. Never fails.
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The Faces Behind Today’s Most Influential Music Blogs...
SEAN CARNAGE
...Music
What’s new Sean, what are you up to? Sean Carnage: Hey, Brian. Just the usual stuff--booking, promoting and hosting my Monday night concerts. I just celebrated my five year anniversary--that’s over 250 consecutive weekly shows. Lately, I’ve been blogging about music a lot so that people can better understand the context that all this great L.A. stuff happens in. I’ve also been making short video documentaries (youtube.com/seancarnage). Other than that, my boyfriend and I are moving in together and that’s been going well. What is the typical day in the life of Sean Carnage? I wake myself and then my bf up just after 8am, then I pack him a lunch and get him out the door. I usually promote things on my blog that I wrote and scheduled the day previous. Then I start thinking about new things to write about. I read a lot. I then go to my office (it’s my old apartment that I converted) at 11am. Lately I have been working with another editor--Deseret Rodriguez--which is awesome. We discuss strategy and then write, write, write most afternoons until 6pm. Then I go home, have dinner, work on personal stuff or go to shows or events in the evening. Relaxation for me is biking so I try to squeeze that in when it’s not too hot outside. How long have you been living in Los Angeles for? What do you think of the music scene here? I’ve been in LA since October 26, 2002 (previously I lived in Cleveland, Ohio). The music scene here could be the best in the world. I know NYC and London media types sometimes see things differently (who doesn’t want to brag that their own city is the best?), but as a long time observer, I know how vast and cutting-edge and quality Los Angeles music is. I can’t think of a single city that compares. When did you start your blog? Your name is really awesome, it sort of has a catchiness to it. Like a Villain from a comic book. Was it a conscious decision to make the site under your name? I started blogging in 2005, but the site only became like it is now after the magazines I was working for got shut down in March 2010 and I was laid off. Previously, my blog was a photo dump with a few upcoming event listings scattered in. Now I’m back to what I did for almost the entire 1990s which is: being publisher/editor of a DIY underground-oriented media company. It’s all online--there’s no print component this time (maybe I’ll change my mind later). I feel like this is the right time and place to return to music writing and documentation. It’s my passion, and most of the big media players have vanished or been rendered inert since I left in 1998. More room for do-it-yourselfers now. By the way, my real name is Sean Carney... Carnage was an ironic nickname that I used to get teased with because my friends thought I was so mild-mannered...There’s some truth there though ‘cuz I always manage to get into some kind of gnarly trouble. Can you describe your blog in a few sentences? It’s the best of cutting-edge music, art, and performance. It is new every day. Name some of your favorite record stores in your area. Oh you got me with this one Brian. Should I fib and name friends’ stores like Vacation Vinyl? Places like that are so cool. Or should I tell the truth? Here’s my confession: I have not shopped in any brick and mortar record store (except quick visits to Amoeba to say hi to friends or see bands do in-stores) in over five years! I really think that the twentieth century messed up peoples’ perceptions vis-a-vis what music is truly about. I don’t think physical media--souvenir objects like records or discs--have much to do with music’s vitality as an artform. Tchotchkes like LPs and CDs are merely ways for musicians to make some money between shows. I am one hundred percent supportive of LIVE music (the realm in which musical things happened for most of history except for about sixty years in the last century). I go to a ton of shows and I pay for most of them, too. I buy a lot of music, too, but only online/iTunes or direct from bands. Okay, my record store-working friends are going to come slay me now!
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The Faces Behind Today’s Most Influential Music Blogs...
...Music
Now name some of your favorite venues. My favorite venues in L.A. are Pehrspace, Women house, The Smell, Showcave, Echo Curio, Synch Space, the Hollywood Bowl, Erik Anaya’s coffee shop on Vine, and...hm kinda stumped after that. I think there’s a big need for new venues in L.A. right now but that’s like a whole ‘nother interview in and of itself. Are there any particular bands / musicians that you would love more people to know about? I think Essay (Peter Moran & Renata Raksha) are so skilled at making *concise* dance music (most people try to make sprawling dance tracks...that’s too much music sometimes). I love their clever little packets of music. I adore Captain Ahab, too, and I really can’t believe after five years of doing shows (Captain Ahab’s Jonathan Snipes way pre-dates what I’m doing now) that I can still book him and that he’s not playing at Nokia Center or whatever. No complaints from me. Then there are newer and younger innovators like Real Noriegas (Liam and Brendan Morrison), Kid Infinity (Nathan Huber and Ryan Pardeiro), I.E. (Margot Padilla), Nicole Kidman (aka Jon Barba), and of course Kyle Mabson... L.A.’s kinda miraculous right now though--you know that, right? Almost all bands/performers that have come out these last five years and were judged by showgoers to be “really good” have in fact been really GREAT and fairly quickly skipped right up the ladder to national and international prominence. From Health, to Nosajthing, to Abe Vigoda, the ones that were pre-destined to do great things are doing them right now, and getting recognized, too. Props to them--let’s push this as far as we can in the media and then push it some more. The world is a better place thanks to this town’s creativity. Any bands that you recommend people seeing live? NASA Space Universe, Birth!, The Monolators, Moment Trigger, and Realicide are great bands to see live. What’s the most positive aspect of blogging? Most negative? I love communicating about music and bands I’m passionate about. Also, I have been around awhile and have worked in all different corners of the media. I think underground or DIY music creators and performers tend to get tunnelvision (I get it too) and it’s nice to broaden their minds a bit. My mind also gets expanded because I am always learning from the readers what’s new and happening.The only negatives are: getting fat and back problems from so much Internet usage. Boo. What do you think blogs need more or less of nowadays? I don’t know to be honest. Just having you tell me which other bloggers you were profiling was a huge education for me, and I’m really grateful for that, Brian. LOL. If there’s one thing I’ve learned over the years it’s that the audience for live music--which is my #1 domain--and the audience for published words may overlap, but are two different universes. For SEANCARNAGE.COM I’m excited to soon roll out longer, more insane and in-depth feature articles, and tons more videos. Do you have any non-musical things that inspire what you do? Of course. I’m a bit of a foodie. I also like beer, marijuana, observing L.A.’s legions of hustlers, criminals and street people (I’m a huge William S. Burroughs fan and Los Angeles right now is like Interzone aka an alien / junkie paradise), making videos, reading, biking, fashion, thrift store shopping...I’d probably make ebaying thrifted stuff my main career if I was more savvy at it. I’m getting there. Do you follow any blogs yourself? If so, which ones? I follow friends’ personal blogs like cLAy TV!, Garden Life & Times of Justin Husher, Celebrity Juggalos, Deep Pentagon, Egg City Radio, etc. My favorite “pro” blogs are without a doubt: Dangerous Minds (starting to become an obsession), Boing Boing, Reasons to Be Cheerful (my all-time fave...yay Barney Bubbles!), Ravenous Couple, and then some gay sex blogs which, meh, have suddenly seemed pretty f’ing boring since I got back into music full-time. I’m really glad to be back doing what I love.
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The Faces Behind Today’s Most Influential Music Blogs...
FRIENDSHIP BRACELET
...Music
When and why did you start Friendship Bracelet? Is this the only blog / website that you run? Ian Nelson: I started Friendship Bracelet in October 2008 as a way to keep track of things that weren’t appropriate for me to publish in the newspaper I wrote for at school (the Daily Collegian, at University of Massachusetts Amherst). I was also involved in an independent study with one of my favorite Journalism professors whose Pop Culture Writing class I couldn’t get into so I worked the blog into the course. I guess it was also because at the time I was just discovering blogs like Gorilla Vs. Bear and No Pain In Pop and thought “I could probably do that.” I also currently run a few tumblrs - suicidesquzz.tumblr.com, souuunds.tumblr.com, and foundthisbody.tumblr.com . The first is strictly baseball cards, the second is for my new label entity I have been working on called Triple You Tapes and the third I recently started to kind of compile a bunch of visual stuff I have been working on over the past year or so, including disposable camera photos, show flyers and found objects. In a few sentences, describe your blog. Friendship Bracelet is an MP3 blog mostly focusing on new music. It has also branched out to allow me to release compilations of material from artists I dig and to put on a few shows for bands I like. What’s new in Pittsfield, MA? Where are your favorite places to chill out? There’s always new stuff popping up in Pittsfield but it’s honestly very quiet here. There’s some new art spaces opening up. The Salvation Army is high quality.There’s some bars and places to go in the woods. The Dreamaway Lodge in Becket is nearby, I recommend going there if you’re ever around Berkshire County. Where does the name Friendship Bracelet come from? At the time I started the blog, I had a friendship bracelet on my wrist. I do not wear that bracelet anymore. Why are baseball cards so prominent in your aesthetic? Do you do all of the artwork yourself? I grew up in the middle of the downfall of baseball cards, the late ‘80s and early ‘90s, where baseball card production was at an alltime high. This meant cards were cheap and plenty and I loved baseball when I was a kid so my grandfather would buy me baseball cards all the time and I collected them. Shortly after I grew out of it, they all basically turned worthless, even the “good” ones, so for like ten years they just sat in boxes in my parents’ house. Eventually I went back and looked at them a bit and figured I might as well do SOMETHING with
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them, so I started turning them into little art objects, pieces of trash pretty much. I do all the art myself, unless its something I attribute to someone else, then it’s by them or it’s from where I say it’s from. Can you tell us about Friendship Bracelet Club? How often do you release music? Is it available in physical form? Friendship Bracelet Club is a quarterly series of compilations I started releasing last July. I kind of noticed I was starting to receive a lot of music from a lot of bands since people started hearing about the blog and enjoying it, and eventually that included a bulk of unreleased music I actually enjoyed. I wanted this music to be heard by more people other than just me, so I decided to “release” it myself, as a free digital compilation. Eventually with the second volume, I made some physical copies, same with the third and fourth. What albums are you currently addicted to? I’m addicted to streaming the samples from the DJ Nate full-length that comes out soon on Planet Mu and also listening to the whole songs of his that are up on Youtube. Are there any particular bands / musicians that you would love more people to know about? I want more people to know about pretty much everyone on my label, which is why I started it. I have been seriously into Chris Powers and all his projects over the past year or so, which include C Powers, Termeric and Mane Mane. What’s the most positive aspect of blogging? Most negative? Nothing good will ever come of blogging. What do you think blogs need more or less of nowadays? Less reblogs. There needs to be more original content, less words, and more pictures. What was the most memorable show that you experienced this year? The most memorable show I attended this year by far was Omar Souleyman at Issue Project Room earlier this summer. The show was absolutely euphoric, trance-inducing. What blogs do you read on a regular basis? Don’t Die Wondering, Rose Quartz, Fat Dudes, Astro Nautico, Raven Sings the Blues, Sandwich Hunter, Bill Simmons’ column on espn.com, and They Don’t Call Them Lovers In High School, Leeland.
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The Faces Behind Today’s Most Influential Music Blogs...
SMOKE DON’T SMOKE
When and why did you start Smoke Don’t Smoke? Tim Thompson: I started Smoke Don’t Smoke when I got a job in the mailroom, and had a ton of time to kill and a computer on my hands. It seems really unlikely for a mailroom job, but that’s just how it worked out. I really didn’t know what I was doing at all when I started it. Honestly, I kind of started it out of the whole vanity blog craze where everyone had blogs and just posted bullshit about their boring lives under some delusion that anyone cared. But I was lucky to start falling toward music, then stumbling across the amazing community on tumblr (and across the web) of music bloggers. In a few sentences, describe your blog. Smoke Don’t Smoke is a way for me to stay connected with the burgeoning musical community whose home is not always in grungy
basements or garages, but online, in Tumblr and Blogspot posts, in Twitter @ replies, and in email creation correspondence. And hopefully it’s a place for outsiders to find a way into that community themselves, even if just to partake in the listening and appreciating. Can you tell us about the aesthetic of your blog? Did you make everything? Aside from the barebones template of the blog I did design everything. It’s hard for me to pin down what my aesthetic is as I’m not overly design minded. I like design and feel like I really appreciate good design when I see it. But as for everything you see on my site, it’s my own experiment in design and web design in particular. I think the main goal of all my designing and layout was to keep it fairly simple and easy to navigate. That’s very important to me.
...Music
Where do you work and what’s in a normal day for you? I actually work at MySpace. It sounds pretty awesome, but there are plenty of shitty office jobs to be had even within the illustrious name of MySpace. I am an assistant, and only as of recently, as I said before I started in the mailroom. So on a typical day, since I always have a computer at my fingertips, I try to post when I can in between my job duties. I work nine to six so often what I’ll do is write at night and queue my posts for the following morning, that way if I don’t have time for anything in the morning I can still have some content. What LA bands are you currently into that you think more people should know about? Not surprisingly, I would have to say Baths is probably the forerunner in this category. I have yet to see a more dynamic, genuine, and talented performer that is still accessible not just in LA, but anywhere. It’s pretty amazing. Some other bands that I’ve been digging are KISSES, Pepper Rabbit, Ghost Animal, J Irvin Dally, Allister Izenberg, and so many more. Not to mention an exploding scene up in San Francisco. Name your favorite hotspots in LA? Do you have a favorite Record shop? LA is so vast, and there’s so many good spots. Probably the coolest bar I’ve ever been to is called White Horse. It’s owned by this old Hungarian woman and her son, and they serve free hot dogs, popcorn, and snacks! And they have a pretty decent jukebox. I dig Melrose a lot too, one of my favorite sushi places, Kevin’s I Love Sushi, is there. And of course I spend a lot of time at the most popular venues such as the Echo, Echoplex, and Spaceland as that’s where nearly all the bands I love play. Near there is a kick-ass record shop called Origami Vinyl. They have awesome inventory, and are always throwing rad parties and giving away stuff. They rule. Do you have a favorite album of 2010 so far? Man, that is such a hard question for me, maybe I can whittle it down to a few. As far as full albums that have gotten a lot of play time from me I would say Cerulean by Baths, Stoned Alone by Coma Cinema, and Causers of This by Toro Y Moi (now whipping the sweat away). What’s the most positive aspect of blogging? Most negative? I would say the most positive thing about blogging is that if you are doing it right, you’re doing it within a community of other bloggers and musicians. I feed off what my fellow bloggers post, and the passion they have for the artists and their music, and it’s need to be shared and appreciated. Blogging has connected me to a ton of awesome people, online and IRL (in real life).The most negative thing maybe goes hand in hand. It’s really frustrating maintaining some of these relationships with awesome people online. Sometimes I wish we could all just go hang out somewhere and geek out hard.
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What do you think blogs need more or less of nowadays? I think they need more collaboration, more sharing. The best content (not just in quality, but in popularity, i.e. hits, views, likes, reblogs, etc.) is almost always content that included a collaboration, whether between artists, artists and bloggers, or even bloggers with other bloggers. I think it makes everyone feel good when they see people working together and making something awesome for everyone to enjoy. I think blogs need less “firsties” mentality. Again reiterating that it’s about the quality of what your sharing, not how fast you can share it. However, I have to say some people just digest and produce stuff way faster than I can. It’s actually hard not to get something in your inbox and feel like posting it even before you’ve given it a fair listen. Fighting that to post something you actually have spent time listening to shouldn’t be happening. What was the most memorable show that you experienced this year? I have to say a very recent show. It was my first time seeing and meeting GOBBLE GOBBLE. They were coming through on their Infinitour and playing a couple of dates in LA. The first of which was at a house in the Hollywood Hills. It was such a crazy house party. Got pretty sketchy at times. Full of free PBR and shitty bands too high to be playing, or wearing animal suits and yelling. All the while I’m waiting for the three bands I came to see play. Kites Sail High, Teen Daze, and GOBBLE GOBBLE. It was a long night, but they finally played, and it was clear, the real music had started. Kites Sail High brought us in with their awesome live show, live drums and all. Teen Daze jammed out so hard and so loud the cops came and nearly shut us down. Then twenty minutes later we started back up with the end of Teen Daze’s set and onto GOBBLE GOBBLE. And I don’t know if you’ve heard anything about these guys’ live show, but imagine four men adorned with various tu-tus, masks, light fixtures, fairy wings, hocky helmets, knee pads, and enough pots and pans to stock a kitchen with, crammed into a tiny living room until our dancing fogs the glass door leading outside. It was one of the most exhausting, fun, and enjoyable shows I’ve ever experienced. Full of new friends, and music that fills the pages of my blog. Truly epic! What blogs do you read on a regular basis? This is where I would direct you to my blog roll, but here is everything a nut shell: Dead As Digital, Delicious Scopitone, Double Denim Records, Head Under Water, Life: Aquatic, The Road Goes Ever On, Stadiums & Shrines, Yvynyl, No Modest Bear, Get Off The Coast, Boy Attractions, among others...
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The Faces Behind Today’s Most Influential Music Blogs...
KID CITY BLOG
How did you two meet and what made you decide to start a blog? How long has the blog been around? Taylor: There’s actually a funny story behind us meeting, not sure if Michael wants to explain it or not, I’ll leave it up to him. If not, lets just say we were spiritually connected in another life through our passionate love for music... and each other. Michael: I got kicked out of my old high school where I had met Taylor around 2007. Before I left he lent me a crash/ride cymbal for my drum set that I wasn’t able to get back to him so he came and picked it up about a year later. When he arrived at my house I asked if he wanted to partake in some greenery before he left and he agreed, so I put on some old Alter Ego track during the session and he went nuts. We then realized how much we had in common musically and ended up joining forces. The blog took off in the summer of 2008. It was fate!
How has it changed since then? T: I think the question should be what hasn’t changed... Anyways, the new site is here to stay. I’m extremely happy with the direction we are headed in. M: It’s changed immensely. We were chodes and always posted unreleased tracks/tracks that had just been released to gain viewers. We then began to realize our wrong doings and in the process started to mature in our music tastes as well. We’ve kept it classy for the past year or so, and we’ve still been able to maintain a strong fan base which is great. Where does the name Kid City come from? T: Michael’s got this one. M: The name was actually taken from an Abe Vigoda album.
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I started Kid City in like 2006 or 2007 as a site to promote all ages events in the greater Socal area. It wasn’t really working out too well and the blog was left untouched for a solid year. Once Taylor and I decided to start up a blog, I still dug the name and Taylor thought it was cool too. “2 Kids, One Blog” was then our little slogan we had (inspired by cupchicks, but we replaced fecal matter with music).
What’s the most positive aspect of blogging? Most negative? T: Having the freedom to post the music you love, and of course the networks made from it. No way in hell would I have ever thought the blog was going to take off the way it has. All the people I’ve met have contributed to what will hopefully (soon) be some sort of full time job in the music/management business... now that would be nice!
You guys changed the aesthetics of your blog not too long ago. What’s the idea behind the new look? T: We wanted to go with a more “mature” look haha. I was tired of the old neon themed logo/page and just wanted something simpler. The new layout seemed to fit the styles of music we’ve been listening to.
M: Definitely the connections made. I’ve made some great connections through the blog but I’ve got to tip my hat off to Taylor for what he’s accomplished. He’s on a first name basis with some of the biggest names in the House music scene (at least the business part of it). Negative? Probably having to constantly be on your grind with recent tunes, but I leave that up to Taylor as I am a lazy bum.
M: Word. What is your favorite venue? T: Would have to narrow it down to The Avalon (Hollywood) or Low End Theory at the Airliner (Los Angeles). Two completely different genres, but I’d say they are among LA’s top venues. M: Hm, it’s a toss up between the Smell or the Airliner (both in Los Angeles). I’m probably going to have to go with the Airliner though, as I attend Low End Theory with Taylor every single Wednesday. They’ve got a dope sound system and the friendliest staff ever. What musicians are you dying to see that you haven’t already? T: Would enjoy seeing a set from Justin Martin (dirtybird). I recently finished up an interview with the San Francisco based Dj/Producer for the blog as well, really nice guy. Next up on that list would be Montreal duo, MadKids. Been a big supporter of their’s for some time now, still waiting for them to make their way to the states (which should hopefully be soon). M: Panda Bear! Can’t wait to see him in a few weeks. Mount Kimbie as well, I believe they are coming to Los Angeles in a few weeks too. I’d also love to see Hudson Mohawke and Pinch, but I don’t think either of them are going to be around here again anytime soon. Are there any particular musicians that you would love more people to know about? T: Chaos In The CBD! Love plugging these guys. I highly recommend you give them some much needed special attention. M: Chaos In The CBD is so underrated. They consistantly make such great tunes. There are so many musicians these days that are being slept on who deserve so much more recognition. This dude out of Chico, CA named MeZzo is absolutely amazing and I hope things start to take off a little bit more so for him in the future, he’s super talented. Some other names; yuk., Anenon, Devonwho, DTCPU, and Barefoot Shrubs.
What do you think blogs need more or less of nowadays? T: Less conformity, more individuality. Seems like everywhere I look ‘nowadays’ blogs are all about chain mail (although there are always exceptions) or mainly focused on the number page views. Look past the hype. I also have a little pet peeve with blogs that capitalize to much on their name (less custom coasters, more music). M: More better music; less shitty music. I say this in the least pretentious manner possible. Do you have any non-musical things that inspire what you do? T: This is going to sound a bit cliché, but I believe everything in my day to day life has some sort of impact on my musical taste. M: When I’m not doing something musically related I’m usually sleeping or playing NBA Jam on my Super Nintendo, so I’m not really sure. Are you guys going to be releasing music in the future? T: Michael seems to be a few steps ahead of me, but yes, I would love to make music for a living, I mean... who wouldn’t? M: Yes! I have some pending releases in the works. Just finished a four track EP very recently, and I hope to be playing Low End Theory again before the year ends. (www.soundcloud.com/ages) [laughs]. A little self-promotion can’t hurt :) What blogs do you read on a regular basis? T: I’m currently obsessed with Vegas On Acid, don’t understand much Danish, so I have no clue what they are saying, but the music selection is always on point. M: I usually check out XLR8R pretty often (who doesn’t?) but that’s just about it. I hear about most of the music I listen to through word of mouth.
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The Faces Behind Today’s Most Influential Music Blogs...
ROSE
QUARTZ
...Music
When and why did you guys start Rose Quartz? Richard MacFarlane: Actually, it was a pretty long time ago now; back in 2007 when I lived in Sydney (where I met other Rose Quartz bros Max and Gervin). I’m not sure how great our ideas were back then about finding new music or even the purpose of having a blog and for a while I think we all lost interest or got sidetracked by other life stuff but these days I think we have a much clearer vision. Shea’s youthful enthusiasm helped us with that when we got him on board last year. I can’t really remember why we started it actually, or what the state of “blogs” and music online was compared with how it is now, I guess just repping / sharing music we’re really into that responds interestingly to cultures of all sorts. In a few sentences, describe your blog. Just as “chillers,” ideally; “a chill blog that is real cool.” Do you four know each other personally or have you simply connected over the internet? Yeah, me and Shea are good pals from Christchurch, New Zealand. We met at the student/alternative radio station RDU and the now defunct Guitar Media show. Similarly, me and Max met at a student radio station in Sydney, Australia called 2Ser. Gervin did a hip-hop segment on his show too which is where I know him from too. So yeah, total chums! Even though we’re in different places now we still talk lots, mostly because we’re all pretty “into” the Internet. What can you tell us about the new design scheme you have planned? Our friend’s Greedy Hen designed out last banner but we’ve had it for a while and wanted to make the whole thing a bit bolder and more reflective of the sounds we post up. It’s always tricky to use Blogger or something and make it stand out from the rest and not have it look like a Blogger, especially when you have no money or design skills. The new design will just strengthen things and make it more full and “professional” hopefully. Are there any particular bands / musicians that you would love more people to know about? Autre NV are about to release something on Olde English Spelling Bee but I feel they’re quite a bit more “way out” than a lot of stuff on there, so even if they’re similar vibing to Oneohtrix Point Never people might be a bit freaked. People seem real conservative as far as music goes in England (especially a small town); wish people here got more into weirder sounds instead of the same old NME shit. I don’t
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mean to sound righteous or anything, it’s just way different from how people in New Zealand and Australia seem to excitedly approach new stuff. What albums are you currently addicted to? I’ve been thrashing the Grippers Nother Onesers “Live at Slimer Beach” record because I missed it when it first came out. The “808s and Dark Grapes” mix from Main Attrakionz and Squadda B has been on a lot too and I just got the new Intelligence album which is awesome gnarly garage. What’s the most positive aspect of blogging? Most negative? Doing Rose Quartz means that I find a crap ton of new music that I’d be less likely to investigate otherwise. Kind of hate how it oversaturates me sometimes though; it’s all real easy to forget what sounds good or bad after MySpace hopping over about 300 bands. It’s probably really bad actually, especially when it is coupled with my short attention span; it’s almost hard to remember the last time I listened to an album in its entirety! But it’s probably a good sacrifice for hearing so many different ideas and sounds from so many places. I do often feel some weird urge/competitiveness about posting stuff which is weird and bad. What blogs do you guys read on a regular basis? My favourites are Chocolate Bobka, Friendship Bracelet, Transparent, Gorilla vs Bear and Visitation Rites. I’m always guilty of getting “locked into” Internet routines and just check the ones in my bookmarks bar and forget that the Internet is actually really big, but these guys are constantly weird and awesome. I’m finding Altered Zones real useful (re: short attention span again) as a place that collates heaps of good shit. Other than that I just look at Scotty 2 Hotty all the time. Lastly, can you tell us about the most memorable show you’ve been to this year? I’m biased because I put on shows here myself (and it’s a small place - Newcastle upon Tyne, UK - and there aren’t that many shows) but I’d have to say that the best was the one we did for James Ferraro and Monopoly Child Star Searchers. It was at this super shitty pub with English flags up everywhere and we projected episode after episode of the “Dinosaurs” sitcom behind them. Heaps of people came down on a Sunday night and loved it which is inspiring for here. Otherwise, Real Estate’s set at Primavera Sound in Barcelona was the bomb, so were Pavement’s and Smith Westerns’.
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The Faces Behind Today’s Most Influential Music Blogs...
NO FEAR OF POP
...Music
When and why did you start your blog, No Fear Of Pop? I started NFOP earlier this year in late February. I didn’t have any serious ambitions at first and I didn’t really know what I actually wanted to do, but I like writing and I love music – friends kept telling me I should start to write about music, maybe because they were hoping that would prevent me from bothering them with music suggestions each and every day. So I kinda thought, why not try? Since September, NFOP consists of two people, me and Tonje Thilesen who lives in Oslo, Norway. Initially I had only asked her to maintain the blog while I was on vacation, but she really did an awesome job so I asked her if she wanted to write for it on a permanent basis. And it’s actually great to work as a team. How’s life currently in Berlin? What would you say the music scene is like there? Well except for the fact that the winters are too cold and the summers too sticky, that the city is too poor and dirty, I wouldn’t wanna live anywhere else right now. Berlin is not the mystical magic wonderland that especially Americans tend to see it as from the distance. In particular, it’s a great place for young folks. Compared to other metropolises, life is affordable, and you can actually hang out in cafés all day and call yourself an artist and still get by somehow. Regarding the local music scene, that’s actually a funny question because I’m kinda still looking for it. No doubt there’s a lot of amazing music in town, but I’m not sure if I’d call anything of that a “scene.” There’s one exception of course: If I had to name one thing for which I’d consider Berlin musically influential and relevant on a global level, for sure that would be electronic music, more precisely techno. And in fact, when I think of Berlin music and local musicians that I really admire, like Ellen Alien for instance, I think of techno artists. What exactly do you blog about? In general I try to keep my blog as open-minded as possible, but I’ve got a rather obvious preference for anything that’s dreamy, fuzzy, hazy, tropical, ethereal, psychedelic, experimental, drone, twee, or shoegaze, and of course this list covers a lot but by far not everything that comprises amazing contemporary music. But in any case, if I like a song I’ll post it no matter what kind of music. Most important is that the artist is rather new and/or unknown, NFOP is all about discovering amazing new stuff. Where does the name originate from? The name is half provocation and half irony I think. At least in Germany,
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the term “pop” is quite narrowly defined and has a very negative connotation, especially among the hipster crowd. Anything that’s pop equates to mainstream and is something you will not listen to if you wanna be considered cool. So be as “indie” and “alternative” as possible, or, even better, invent a fancy new genre name every other day. This is all so tedious and needless. After all, distinction in itself is no indication for originality, let alone quality. If it’s not classical or jazz, it’s pop, and there’s no need to be afraid of that concept. Period. What are some of your favorite albums of 2010 so far? There’s been a lot of wonderful stuff put out this year; it’s really prolific so far. But to name a few, apart from Beach House’s Teen Dream which I think is pretty close to perfection when it comes to pop music, I’m particularly stoked by the releases of Sun Araw’s On Patrol, Julian Lynch’s Mare, Woods’ At Echo Lake, and Coma Cinema’s Stoned Alone. Herzog’s Search was a huge and pleasant surprise, some of this year’s finest pop songs are on that record. And last, right now I just can’t stop listening to Tamaryn’s The Waves, this one will end up high in my list, too. Are there any particular bands that you would love more people to know about? All artists I write about deserve to have at least as many listeners as, say, Justin Bieber – but if I have to pick out anyone in particular: Elephant Paintings is a male/female duo from Albuquerque, New Mexico, and their self-titled cassette which was released by Featherspines is some kind of simple and staggeringly beautiful haunted folk and is something more people should be aware of. Also, Holy Strays; that’s one of the recording projects of the Parisian Sebastien Forrester, he makes some absolutely amazing tropical psychedelia under that moniker. He’s got one tape out on Not Not Fun, it’s called Hyperion. It’s sold out now I think, but there will be more stuff soon. Finally, in my opinion M. Pyres (along with the whole Fort Collins, Colorado scene gathered around his Patient Sounds Label) is one of the most talented artists around, and though he might actually be quite well known among bloggers, without doubt his tunes deserve way more attention. What’s the most positive aspect of blogging? Most negative? We’ve finally reached the point where even the last conservatives in the music business have realized that the door to the pre-Internet era closed a long time
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The Faces Behind Today’s Most Influential Music Blogs...
...Music
ago. Things have moved away from the old comfy cycle of management-driven promotion efforts, long-anticipated and controlled album releases and accompanying touring. And I think people are starting to see the opportunities in that. If everything’s going the way I hope, then artists are gonna regain control over their creative output again, and new ways of distribution like Bandcamp may lead to new ways of making a profit with music. Of course, the significance of blogs is increasing in this scenario, because in contrast to the big music publications (hard copy or not), bloggers have always been independent from the established cycle, it’s more or less what defines us. So we can help make the Internet a better and eventually more profitable place for artists – and to observe this massive shift and take part in it actually excites me every day. I know this is a very idealistic view and time might prove me wrong, but if nowhere else, I am an idealist when it comes to music. As for negative aspects, the only one I can see is that I spend too much time blogging in light of the fact that I don’t make any money with it, and I guess I should put more effort into the day job that pays me. What do you think blogs need more or less of nowadays? We’re all suckers for exclusives and premieres (me too), but I have the feeling that things are getting a bit out of hand as of late. I’m not sure who exactly the addressees of that race are. Of course there’s a rationale behind it, being the first or the only one (which is basically the same once you’ve posted something) generates relevance, which is common for all kinds of journalism – after all, that’s where the Pulitzers come from – and in that sense big blogs like Gorilla vs. Bear might be considered the New York Times among us (don’t dare to quote this out of context). Still, we exist for our readers and for the musicians we write about, not for our own exclusive circle of blog friends – I’m not even sure that the average reader is aware of this quiet competition at all. When she visits Hype Machine to look for interesting music and then sees the same song popping up 10 to 20 times, then I guess she’ll listen to it to find out why so many blogs were interested in it, and she won’t care who was first. So I think we all need to relax sometimes and focus on why we write about someone, and not make sure we were there before all others. It’s not about who’s the raddest among us, it’s about the music we think is good.
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Do you have any non-musical things that inspire what you do? That would definitely be photography. The combination of a beautiful picture with a song is something that is really inspiring to me. Sometimes I literally hear songs that would complete the visual experience while looking at photographs. There are other things I guess, but I have the feeling that they rather affect my subconscious and thus the way I look at music, like people I see in the street, conversations I overhear on the subway, or fashion and generally anything that is a means of creative expression. What was the most memorable show that you experienced this year? I think that was Beach House at Primavera in Barcelona in late May. I had already seen them in Berlin in February at a rather small venue and I was a bit skeptical about their music being performed on a large stage in front of a big festival’s random crowd. But somehow it worked. It was in the middle of the night and the amphitheatre was packed but Beach House managed to create an intimate experience. It was magic I guess. What blogs do you read on a regular basis? Again, there are too many out there to mention. I really try to keep track with a lot of blogs because there are so many people out there with amazing taste, and the sites that I’ve listed on my blogroll are the ones that mean a lot to me, it’s not mere namedropping. So you should definitely have a look over there. However, the two blogs I probably admire most and thus follow most thoroughly are No Modest Bear and Delicious Scopitone, they both keep on dropping gems like it’s no one’s business and they are usually well ahead of the game. Moreover, all the folks involved in these two are insanely nice too. The two sites that inspired me to start blogging in the first place are No Conclusion and Transparent; their taste is impeccable. And the fifth blog I’d like to point out is the wonderful Ashtapes because it’s really something special I think, visually and in terms of selection. What do you have planned for the rest of 2010? There’s going to be major changes pretty soon regarding both design and layout. I’ll try to make NFOP a little more local without changing the general direction and the music I cover. You’ll see. Oh, and upon insisting request there’s going to be tote bags, too. Step one to total sellout I guess.
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The Faces Behind Today’s Most Influential Music Blogs...
STADIUMS
AND SHRINES
...Music How long have you been writing about music? I’ve been writing about music in some form since 2005. I was in college at the time and starting blogging on myspace. I moved the hobby to its own page in late 2007 and gave it a name. What do you think sets your blog apart from what’s out there? There are so many amazing blogs out there. And this real collective spirit within our whole blogworld, I’m just happy to be a part of it. The site will always be rooted in my own taste. I suppose by staying true to that over time, it’s found an audience. Being a resource for new and progressive music is definitely part of the goal, but just as important is the voice and aesthetic used to deliver it. I strive to offer a place that stimulates, be it through words or visuals, and even encourage readers to think about music differently. Are you a full-time blogger? That would be fun. For the past three years I’ve worked at an advertising agency in Southern California. I left that office recently to pursue more freelance opportunities, and moved to Brooklyn. So I’ve had more time lately to consider involving Stadiums and Shrines career-wise, which is exciting. This is a passion project, so I’ll certainly be living off other jobs for a while. Is there a specific reason why you use both Blogspot and Tumblr? I’m actually in the process of redesigning and getting off Blogger. The 2.0 will be a custom Wordpress. Now Tumblr is rad. I started one out of curiosity. I really respect the community on there, and having this secondary page of sorts has been a bridge to their activity. The majority of content I have there is reblogged from others, just quick thoughts and props on existing posts. Where are you originally from? What’s the music in Brooklyn like? I’m originally from New Hampshire, lived around Boston during college and then California for about four years. Brooklyn’s music scene is thriving, as expected. I’m a kid in a candy store with all these local shows, still adjusting to the idea of options, daily. It’s kind of bizarre to wake up on a Sunday and decide if you’re feeling up for a free Delorean show at waterfront, like that’s normal. Eventually we want to help put on some showcases in the neighborhood. What are your favorite venues there and why? My girlfriend Victoria (S&S photographer) has lived here for years, her favorites, NYC included: Music Hall of Williamsburg, Knitting Factory, Bowery Ballroom, and The Bell House. We saw COOLRUNNINGS at Glasslands recently, fun setup with the foam backdrop, looked like they were under clouds of sherbet. Caught Baths at Mercury Lounge and went back later that week for Oberhofer/ Twin Sister/Memoryhouse. Intimate room, good sound. Are there any particular bands / musicians that you would love more people to know about? Future Islands. They’re further along than most bands I discuss, but their material and what they bring to a stage still seems underrated on
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the big scale. Previously mentioned Baths deserves all the love that’s coming to him. Two of my favorite releases this year are from Mat Cothran (aka Coma Cinema) and Warren Hildebrand (aka Foxes in Fiction). Both guys are brilliant and also help a number of talented artists on their respective mini-labels, Summer Time in Hell and Orchid Tapes. Watch for Ice Cream Shout, a young band from Japan, I can’t stop playing Tattooed Tears”. One more: visual artist, Jamie Harley - if I made a top ten music videos of 2010 list, at least seven would be his. What’s the most positive aspect of blogging? Most negative? The barriers for making and sharing music have never been lower and it’s wonderful that artists can reach a larger amount of ears, immediately, through blogs. I enjoy the role we can play in that, supporting young acts. And the network that grows from relationships between artists, bloggers, and fans, is very positive and good for the industry. Not a whole lot of negative comes from that overflow of creativity, but it can be overwhelming. There will always be a hype cycle, and I think as bloggers we have a responsibility to keep it in check, and write about what we dig, cycle aside. I also understand there are blogs that prefer to be critical/negative, and there’s room for that, it’s healthy to some extent. What do you think blogs need more or less of nowadays? Continuing with that hype point, there’s a pressure to uphold this “first-in” mentality. I get caught up in it sometimes, but try to remember that the race to discover and publish the fastest isn’t always genuine, and isn’t really worth it (unless speed/ quantity is your specialty). I’d like to see more posting from the heart and less racing for the hits. Do you have any non-musical things that inspire what you do? Sure, life! My posts reflect past experiences and current moods, maybe not directly like journal entries, but a general tone can be in there. They take shape from certain energies, surroundings, art, etc. Say something chaotic calls for an hour of zoning to some ambient album, a post might be born right there. Today I put a mix together loosely based on a trip to Peru. I’m also inspired by friends, family, readers, they all keep me going...and Victoria, thanks for believing in me and contributing your talents to the page. What blogs do you read on a regular basis? Music/information consumption is a big part of the process, and a lot of that starts with reading other blogs. I frequent the main players like anyone else who follows along. So I’ll use this answer to mention the extra special blog friends, ones I admire and do read regularly: 20funkjazzgreats, Delicious Scopitone, Dead As Digital, Freewilliamsburg, No Fear No Pop, No Modest Bear, Road Goes Ever On, Smoke Don’t Smoke, The Life Aquatic, WIDOWS/WATCH, to name a few. What do you have planned for the rest of 2010? Get to know the city, mentally accept winter again, and continue doing what I love.
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The Faces Behind Today’s Most Influential Music Blogs...
AURORA VIBES
...Music
Where does the name Aurora Vibes come from? There’s really no significance in the name Aurora Vibes to be quite honest. I just happened to find an image that I really liked of the aurora borealis. I find space to be very interesting. Since your blog is fairly new, how long did it take for you to get it launched? This is rather embarrassing for me because it took a pretty long time. I had no knowledge whatsoever of html coding (I still don’t have much), and it gave me some sort of problem almost every day I worked on it. I would say It probably took me about a month until I was completely satisfied and ready to launch it. Where do you find the music that you blog about? I’ve been finding the majority of my music through bandcamp lately, and I also find a lot through mutual friends of bands via myspace. Soundcloud is always good, and of course chatting with friends. I also get content from musicians emailing me. It’s always a good feeling waking up in the morning to new music in your inbox. What is the story behind your site’s design? I originally had everything planned out as far as the design goes for the blog. With my lack of coding skills I wasn’t able to do what I had originally planned. I found that image of the aurora borealis that I really liked, and just decided to base the rest of the design around it. So far, what do you think are the challenges of blogging? Time management. I haven’t been blogging nearly as much as I’d like to. I also hate turning bands down when they share music with me. Like every blogger though, I’ll only post content I really enjoy. What is your response to today’s music blogging culture? Where do you see it going in the future? I think today’s music blogging culture has changed drastically within the past year. You see new blogs popping up on a daily basis. They’re also posting some really great stuff. I think it’s a great thing for the music industry. Many bands that might have never been hyped before or may not have had the opportunity now have a better chance in a way that’s much more accessible. I see a lot more blogger labels popping up in the future, along with many more shows/festivals hosted by bloggers as well. What bands / musicians are you currently listening to that you think more people should know about? I would have to say Dada Trash Collage, Phan-
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tasmagoria, Triptides, Optimist Park, and The Bird Day. What blogs do you read on a regular basis? I read a bunch of blogs on a regular basis. I’ve probably been reading Unholy Rhythms the most lately. That girl can write! She also has a great ear for music. My friend Tyler has a blog titled Flashlight Tag. I’ve been finding some really great tunes from him! I love that kid. Salad Fork is always a good read, along with Smoke Don’t Smoke, No Fear of Pop, The Road Goes Ever On, Rose Quartz, Stadiums and Shrines, and last but not least YVYNYL. These are just a few of many that I read on a regular basis. So are you going through with your plan to move to California? What’s your reason for the move? It all depends on what happens within the next year or so. I have a financial goal set before I make the move. If I meet that goal and nothing drastic changes within the next year and a half I’m going through with the plan, I have other places in mind if California doesn’t work out. My main reason for making the move would be to hang with you kind folks, plus California is a gold mine for music. The scene is really bad in Indiana. It has slightly grown though, with My Old Kentucky Blog putting on shows in Indianapolis. Dodge has been getting some really great musicians to stop by! Bloomington is pretty decent as well. Can you tell us about the most memorable show you’ve been to this year? That’s really difficult, as I saw a lot of great ones. I’d have to go with Harlem though. I saw them in Newport, KY at a venue called Southgate House. The place was built in 1814 and has a bunch of history behind it. Basically right when you walk in the place, you know it’s ancient. It smelled musty, smoke filled the air and it was super dirty. Exactly the type of place you would want to see a band like Harlem perform. They played in the parlour, which is located on the 2nd floor. Everyone was dancing like crazy and it was packed so tight you could hardly breathe. The room was literally shaking and I had trouble hearing for three days straight. What are some of your favorite records that you own? I just found the Good Girl/Carrots 12” by Panda Bear on Discogs not too long and snagged it for $20. I was really stoked about that. I just picked up Burnt Ones debut LP Black Teeth & Golden Tongues not too long ago. That’s a great album, and more people need to know about those guys! I was also fortunate enough to get the Cults 7”, definitely a favorite of mine. I’m a really big fan of colored/transparent vinyl.
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The Faces Behind Today’s Most Influential Music Blogs...
CHOCOLATE BOBKA
...Music
Where does the name Chocolate Bobka come from? Does it have anything at all to do with babkas? The name Chocolate Bobka comes from a Seinfeld episode where Jerry & Elaine battle an elderly lady for the last Chocolate Bobka at a supreme jewish bakery in NYC. They lose out, and come up with the Cinnamon Bobka, the inferior bobka. Babka is actually how it’s spelled, which I didn’t know until five minutes after I registered the domain name, so we just decided to keep with the misspelling. In a few sentences, describe your blog. A very general description would be: Sound for Mind Expansion. Further, “an array of vaguely psychedelic music for inner/ outer explorations/adventures.” Basically, it’s life music. How often do you post on Chocolate Bobka?As often as I feel inspired to write about something. Sometimes only once or twice a week, sometimes five times. When and why did you start blogging under that name? In 2007 I started to blog while bored working at a temp job in Vermont. What are some non-musical things that influence what you do? Topographic maps, the sound of machines/technologies, aquatic life, birch trees, and sylvan creatures. What albums are you currently addicted to? Shangaan Electro: New Wave Dance Music from South Africa; Kendra Smith’s The Guild of Temporal Adventurers; Rodd Keith Ectsasy to Frenzy; Wiz Khalifa’s Kush & Orange Juice. Also, Free SpiritFree Spirits. Are there any particular bands / musicians that you would love more people to know about? Rodd Keith is one of the most important American producers/creators I can think of, and he’s never really received any recognition. Mostly because he worked in the frame of “Song Poems,” which, for the most part, are song lyrics that regular people send in to a company to turn into a “real song.” Keith did this for a few years in the ‘60s, creating some of the oddest, most subtle psychedelic flourishes ever put to tape. Somehow he did it all with a mellotron. It’s staggering, and completely bonkers. Fans of oddball, outsider pop will really have fun digging through his recorded collection, which is about three albums worth of really great stuff. You do some work for Pitchfork.tv’s “Tunnelvision”, how did this come about? In the summer of 2009 my roommate C. Axel Poekel III and I drove from Brooklyn to NJ to see some bands (Real Estate, Julian Lynch, Fluffy Lumbers) play in a backyard. Axel, who is a cinematographer by day, brought his camera along with him. A week later I was getting late night emails from Ryan Schreiber. A few days after that we spoke about forming a video collective while eating tacos at Papacitos. A week or so later, Tunnelvision was live. What do you think blogs need more or less of nowadays? More: thought. Less: thought. What blogs do you read on a regular basis? The blogs I read are Dr. Schlauss’s Garage of Psychedelic Obscurities, Visitation Rites, and Crystal Vibrations.
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ALBUM Abe Vigoda Crush Bella Union Text : Louis Rankin
If you’ve never listened to Abe Vigoda before, then Crush probably won’t come as too much of a surprise for you - musically, it’s nothing hugely unique. But for those of you who had, but somehow missed their Reviver EP last year (myself falling into this category), then it will probably come as quite a shock. It sounds like nothing they have done before, the emphasis being on nothing. Known previously for their tropical punk sound, Crush is definitely heading in a new direction. On first listen I wasn’t sure, it kind of reminded me of some of The Killers’ new material. Definitely not so good. It took me a few more listens to realize just how good Crush actually is. Michael Vidal’s lovely vocals blend perfectly with the synth heavy sounds and frenetic drumming of ‘Dream of My Love (Chasing After You),’ ‘Throwing Shade’ and ‘Pure Violence’ are also highlights, but Crush works best as a whole - an album listened to from start to finish. Annie Lynch & the Beekeepers Annie Lynch & the Beekeepers Unsigned Text : Caroline Honour
Annie Lynch & the Beekeepers are a rare find. Sounding like an almagamation of a folk-blues guitarist with a vocalist who *has* to have honed her trade in smoky New Orleans-esque country/ blues bars. This is their first full-length, self-titled album, and its way beyond its years, in the sense that it could have been released in the 1930s - without the general public batting an eyelid at its slighty futuristic approach. The lyrics give it away, but otherwise the album fits right in. Currently touring with Americana stalwarts The Low Anthem, and newcomers Smoke Fairies, Annie herself was pleased to inform me they’ve been in existence since 2006; but a quick Google search reveals that they’re horrifically under the radar. This is therefore my attempt to catapult them into the mainstream, something I’m sure they’re more than capable of managing themselves - supporting artists that are already critically acclaimed. Let’s hope the same can happen for Annie and her beekeepers.
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REVIEWS Magic Kids Memphis True Panther Text : Caroline Honour
Seamlessly weaving the pre-experimental days of the Beach Boys with the sumptuous musical arrangements of The Zombies, Magic Kids’ Memphis is a pure dolphin in a sea of weed. Evoking the best aspects of the Californian 1960s, with all its surfer glory, Memphis has a range of aural textures, from the bouncy atmosphere of ‘Superball,’ to the more grandiose and orchestral ‘Summer.’ I defy anyone not to smile at this band’s infectious spirit, which will resonate with the youngest child to the eldest pensioner. Aside from the music, their lyrics display an inherent awareness of what it is that makes words ‘good’ - they don’t takeover the music, but they aren’t throwaway either. Magic Kids themselves hail from Memphis, Tennessee, hence the album title, and are a seemingly amicable bunch of affable young adults. It is refreshing to see the younger generation revel in harking back to an age of more innocence - without feeling the need to spice up their records with ill-fitting rap sections, or nu-rave synthesisers. All instruments that are used, are used with a deft knowledge of how a record’s ‘palate’ should be. Similarly, the frequent addition of female voices, either alone or in chorus, makes for an album with true sonic depth. It will be interesting to see how future offerings from this exciting new band sound – will they stick with the tried and tested formula, or will their second album prove to be an experimental delight? Only time will tell. In the meantime, enjoy the last days of Summer with these boys...They made it for you.
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Crocodiles Sleep Forever Fat Possum Text : Louis Rankin
The follow up to this Cali buzz band’s 2009 debut, Summer of Hate is a far more polished and mature album, though it has some weak spots. Crocodiles, like many of their counterparts, are heavily influenced by ‘80s noise and shoegaze bands: The Jesus and Mary Chain, My Bloody Valentine and Echo and the Bunnymen (being the most obvious examples). Opener, ‘Mirrors’ has a cool Horrors vibe to it, with Brandon Welchez’s dreamy vocals fitting the song perfectly. ‘Stoned To Death’ is another outstanding track, with a slightly heavier sound to it. The next few tracks get lost in a wall of fuzz and noise, but lack the warmth and poppy undertones that made JAMC so great. ‘Billy Speed’ has a very Brian Jonestown Massacre sound to it and also helps to re-liven the album. ‘Hearts Of Love’ is one of the album’s highlights, with its cool vocals, catchy riff, and thumping drum beat, it has the potential to be a dance floor anthem. Sleep Forever finishes with the ironically beautiful ‘All My Hate and Hexes Are For You,’ a nice comedown. Tamaryn The Waves Mexican Summer Text : Caroline Honour
Imagine, if you will, a Mazzy Star, or Smoke Fairies (Jack White proteges), swathed in layers of feedback, reverb, and guitar-y noise, and you’ll have a good idea of what Tamaryn sounds like. The Waves demands to be heard however, as this album manages to avoid the common shoegaze cliches. The Waves sounds altogether darker, almost sludgy in tone; pulled back from the edges only by the plaintively beautiful fingertips of the singer. This is, I think, the key factor of this album. Whilst murky, it doesn’t suffer from the oft-poor production of the early ‘90s. Rather, songs such as ‘Love Fade’ are standout tracks, driven by pacing drums and a real sense of purpose. The true icing on the cake comes from the opening bars of ‘Cascades,’ a blisteringly powerful gem to rival classics such as ‘Just Like Honey.’ This merges effortlessly into the closing track ‘Mild Confusion,’ which brings the album to a fitting end. Tamaryn is certainly one to watch, in a genre that is frequently afflicted by poorly-executed pastiche. A joint effort by Tamaryn herself, who sings and writes the lyrics, alongside producer Rex Shelverton, The Waves will certainly benefit from your repeated listening. Interestingly, Rex Shelverton has history with such classic hardcore bands as Portraits of Past, but it would be hard to gather this from The Waves ethereal nature. I hope there is a comprehensive lyrics guide provided in the CD insert, as is often the case with dreampop and shoegaze bands - the lyrics take some deciphering!
...Reviews
The Walkmen Lisbon Fat Possum Text : Stephen Barker
The Walkmen are a very underrated band. A band I am attached to. A band I have unbounded respect for. A band I have seen twice and have been overwhelmed each time. They’ve released a new album every two years since 2002, all of which have been great, some I’d go as far as to call amazing, making them one of the most consistent bands in my book. Lisbon does not by any means ruin their reputation. I can’t think of one single negative aspect of this record. It’s just so flawless and charming. The band recorded close to 30 tracks for this album. Which just goes to prove how effortless song-writing is for theses kings. Haters will argue about quality coming before quantity, but you really only have to listen to Lisbon once to realize you don’t have an argument when the quality of those 30 songs are close to perfect, which this 11 track album has me believing. The endless praise begins… The Walkmen have been known to use brass instruments in the past. And they’ve always implemented New Orleans music, but never has it been laid on as thick as it is in Lisbon. It’s culturally homogeneous in terms of the organic New Orleans nature. For better or worse, it’s a very subjective matter, but it makes for The Walkmen’s most inviting album to date. The vintage sound that was created on the spectacular You & Me is still there, just not as heavy. I have always found the drums on Walkmen records to be one of the many seamless features. In reviews I rarely mention any member besides the lead, which I know is wrong. but they all just work so well together as a band and each feature seems to provoke the greatness of the others. Everything is emphasized. Although the upright piano we all loved on Everyone Who Pretended To Like Me Is Gone has yet to make a comeback. Hamilton has always been influenced by Bob Dylan, but that influence is most evident on this record. Hamilton’s piercingly majestic yelps are, as always, at the prime of the scene. He uses pronunciation to his advantage, bending syllables to fit a certain verse. But the Dylan influences don’t end with the singing style. Despite past works with straightforward lyrics of love and lust, like You & Me, Lisbon’s lyrics are open to interpretation. Much like their new tour pals, The National, their lyrics are very cryptic. Derive what you will from the lyrics, relate to them, that’s what makes Lisbon stand out from many albums this year. The Walkmen get compared a lot to fellow NY bands that sound nothing like them purely because they’re from the same city. The Walkmen in no way sound anything like Vampire Weekend, a band with critical and commercial praise flowing out of it’s arse, although Ezra Koenig of VW has cited Bows + Arrows to be a crucial album during a period of his life. I doubt The Walkmen will ever reach the degree of global recognition Vampire Weekend has garnered, despite their unique song structure and the fact that I can’t think of any other band that deserves it more. They came pretty close with their most well known song, ‘The Rat,’ but their refusal to make similar anthems earns them respect. Lisbon is one of The Walkmen’s most pivotal releases that defines and perfects the sound they’ve been developing for the past five years, like Sufjan Stevens’ Illinois or Ariel Pink‘s Before Today. An era defining album is what, for me, Lisbon is. I hope many more people will be able to apprehend that. I eagerly await 2012 for the next instalment of solid NY indie gold.
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El Guincho Pop Negro Young Turks Text : Damanjit Lamba
El Guincho (Spanish musician Pablo Diaz-Reixa) gained prominence in 2008 when he released his first full length LP, Alegranza! – beach friendly music that was at the forefront of the chillwave movement. Two years later, El Guincho has moved onto bigger things while creatively-challenged artists continue to rely on lo-fi fuzz for legitimacy. The biggest difference between El Guichno’s debut album and his sophomore effort, Pop Negro, is the quality of production. El Guincho dropped his bedroom recording contract for an actual studio. He helped fund the studio space by working as a windsurfing instructor in the Canary Islands. A high-quality aesthetic was the base around which Pop Negro was formulated. El Guincho was influenced by major radio hits from the golden era of recording (the late ‘70s, ‘80s, and early ‘90s) in North and South America, England, and Spain. Lead single “Bombay” borrows the rhythm-driving rimshot on Luther Vandros’ “Make Me a Believer” produced by Marcus Miller. “FM Tan Sexy” stands out as El Guincho’s stepping stone to stranger territory. Primarily influenced by Mecano, a Spanish pop group that emerged during a sociocultural movement in Madrid during the 1980s, “FM Tan Sexy” utilizes similar high-life synths and a female vocalist sighing heavily in the background. “Novias” is another gem overflowing with tropical smoothness and sparkle. The one hitch in Pop Negro is that El Guincho’s overall ambition is all-encompassing to a fault. He tries to stuff numerous conflicting arrangements into each song, lending to a lack of stylistic clarity and an uneven listening experience. “Muerte Midi” is a case in point- listening to the entire track without getting irritated over the horrible transitions is a great feat. This should serve as a warning for the next artist thinking of taking on three decades of pop music.
Gold Panda Lucky Shiner Ghostly International Text : Louis Rankin
Vibrant, organic, chilled, lush and captivating are all pretty accurate descriptions of Lucky Shiner. There isn’t a moment of filler between the first track, “You” and the last track, also “You” (fellow lastfm users, I feel your pain). Golda Panda aka Derwin has a good ear for sweet sounds, which he makes even sweeter by building them up to bliss filled climaxes. His use of Asian samples in “Same Dream China” and “India Lately” work perfectly, with the later being one of the best tracks on Lucky Shiner. Its fuzzy layers, pulsating beat and use of Indian samples make it sound like a mix between some kind of Indian Guru’s theme song and something from a hippie rave. Whilst sharing some similarities with the chillwave artists, Lucky Shiner is a world away. Derwin instead, seems far more influenced by minimalist house, turntablism and the orient. Lucky Shiner is one of the best albums of 2010 and well worth checking out: I guarantee it will result in hours of listening pleasure
...Reviews
No Age Everything In Between Sub Pop Text : Thom Lucero
A lot has happened to No Age in the two years since the release of Nouns in 2008. They’ve played MTV, Coachella, and the Hollywood Bowl. They’ve suffered dance-off injuries and beatings from Lisbon bouncers. They’ve made countless new friends, and lost touch with some old ones. They’ve even acquired a third member for live shows. Everything In Between, their new album out on Sub-Pop, is drenched in these changes. If you’ve kept up with them, picked up last year’s excellent 4-song EP Losing Feeling, caught them once or twice on their last couple tours, then the sound of the new album won’t come as a shock. The delicate balance of punk energy, ethereal atmospherics, and minimalist pop melodicism is still here; it’s just that the ratio is a little different. As songs like “Glitter,” “Valley Hump Crash,” and pseudo- ballad “Common Heat” display, melody is now at the forefront; No Age has made the subtle transformation from an experimental punk band writing pop songs, into an experimental pop band writing punk songs. The songwriting has really been knocked up a notch here; every abstract layer of sampled sound, every fuzz-drenched guitar line, every snippet of vocal melody feels like it’s there for a reason. The ethereal instrumentals are still present: “Katerpillar,” “Dusted,” and “Positive Amputation” all provide that No Age-patented breather in between bouts of melody and focused energy. Even these, however, are subtly different from older tracks like “Keechie,” “Impossible Bouquet, or “Sun Spots.” These newer songs feel more purposeful, more structured; they have a backbone in the form of layers of samples, or even a piano chord progression (in the case of “Positive Amputation”). Some may see this as an abandonment of the experimental process that resulted in those earlier instrumentals, but I see it as a natural progression, a fine-tuning of the process. I will continue to love the amorphous, cloud-like washes of guitar in “Impossible Bouquet” alongside “Dusted”’s more straightforward progression of overlapping electronic samples. The other main discernable difference is the mood of the album, most easily identified in the lyrics. Lines of passionate optimism (“looks like the cop was wrong I’m not the only one”) are replaced with lines of desperate yearning (“I want you bad underneath my skin;” “you only want me when I’m gone;” etc). A lot of personal shit has happened to these guys that we’ll never know about, but we can glean a lot of hints from this album. The lyrical themes carry over into the album’s general sound as well. While “dark” certainly isn’t the right adjective, there is a definite sense of foreboding in the opening electronic pulse of “Life Prowler.” The gobs of feedback hanging over “Depletion” and “Shed And Transcend” conjure up images of ominous storm clouds overhead, and the piano progression on “Positive Amputation” sounds like falling rain. There is a slight sadness in the sonic cracks and crevices of this album. Despite this feeling of melancholy, though, Dean and Randy have somehow managed to create a work of art just as life-affirming as their last full-length. This is still very much a No Age album, but whereas Nouns was the sound of undying optimism, of endless exuberance, of the excitement of looking forward to the rest of your life, Everything In Between exudes a feeling of looking back on life, a little wiser than before, a little more wary, but just as happy to be alive. To that end, “Chem Trails” is the perfect album closer. The most outwardly melodic song No Age has written yet, it carries itself on strummed acoustic guitars and an irresistibly catchy keyboard melody, capping off the album on a hopeful note. Some shit has happened, but life is still okay somehow. This idea of constant change ends up being the running theme of the album; it’s the sound of time passing. Two years is a long time, after all, especially when you’re in your twenties.
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Blonde Redhead Penny Sparkle 4AD Text : Damanjit Lamba
If you’ve been following Blonde Redhead since 1995, your interest may have already diminished with the release of 23. The days of distortion-drenched punk rock are gone and in their place are IDM beats that many fans don’t recognize. Penny Sparkle marks this trio’s eighth studio album and its release brings up the dilemma every band with a considerable discography faces: the contention between preserving one’s distinctive voice and the pressure to evolve and build on previous work. Lead singer Kazu Makino described the making of the album as follows: “I had a vision that I was traveling to far away places to complete it. Then I landed in snowy slippery Stockholm…and here I fell in love with the music like falling for someone you’ve known for a long time.” Going along with this metaphor, you could say Blonde Redhead is that friend you’ve known forever but never fell for until you saw them in a new light, that light being Penny Sparkle. Their output is dreamy and tempestuous at the same time, with minimalist sonic textures only an xx/Fever Ray hybrid could produce. “Here Sometimes” sets the tone of the album with its surprising accessibility. A systematic drum machine runs against swaying synths and Makino’s detached vocals. The bittersweet “My Plants Are Dead” concerns lovers put on hold: “I heard you on the radio/I said they are my friends/Do you want your keys?/Your plants are dead.” “Everything Is Wrong” is a beautiful oddity on the album as its thriving rhythms are evocative of 2007’s 23. Whether or not this New York outfit is genuinely committed to a musical direction that leaves instruments to the wayside will become apparent with time. Until then, let yourself go on a nostalgia-inducing trip that only Blonde Redhead’s brand of hypnotic electro can rouse.
...Reviews
Human Cloud Not A Thing To Believe In Self-Released Text : Stephen Barker
Out of the flame of Leather Jewels rose the band’s Panda Bear, Erik Hidde, the brain child of Not A Thing To Believe In. It’s music with a hybrid of synth pop and haunting Arthur Russell-esque vocals that seem as if they’re been echoed from a megaphone in pandemonium. And although it isn’t a unique music type that’s being done for the very first time, it manages this cross breed better than any modern bedroom musician. The cheesy synths remind me of Pete Townshend’s solo work that soundtrack every flashback montage in movies, something that any Human Cloud track is capable of doing. The reason they can do this is because unlike the countless lo-fi music out there, this has heart and personal attachment – like that of Casiotone For The Painfully Alone. There’s no novelty about these songs, and that’s what divides this from any current music trend. Although its flawless and smooth layering of synths go hand in hand with the equally masterful and passionate lyrics, we’ve already heard half of the album on the Don’t Kill Your Parents EP released not so long ago, which kind of makes this an extended EP (EEP?) But if you haven’t heard the EP (and you probably haven’t), dive straight in to the Human Cloud, which will most likely be the most overlooked album of the year. There’s a lot of ambience throughout. It’s hard to escape. But unlike the frequent Washed Out copycats, here there’s more than just a bass. Layers is a key term here without being too blatant. There’s a subtlety, a delicacy that you need to handle carefully. That’s exactly what this album is; Delicate. What shouldn’t go without a mention is the dark, rough side of the innocent Human Cloud; the most obvious being the stand-out track ‘In The Woods.’ Altering his voice and the whole mechanics of his songs that we think we’ve decrypted, Hidde goes off track with a creepy unsettling ghost story type technique. Human Cloud welcomes the mind of a ‘60s tie-dye headband wearing hippie without forcing you to believe it’s something it’s not. Its kaleidoscopic sound creates just as fantastical visuals. And aside from track lengths, five songs that are on a previous EP and at times a repetitive flow, Human Cloud is nothing less than an outstanding debut album much different to the thousands of emerging lo-fi artists at the moment. Human Cloud is an ode to friends and the little things in life that you take for granted, whether it’s grieving over a loved one or taking a sick day to watch cartoons.
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Nite Jewel Am I Real? Gloriette Text : Evan Adams
Ramona Gonzales (aka Nite Jewel), has been slowly building momentum with vintage electro-pop for a few years now. Underrated? Unmistakably. Bound to take over the indie music scene (Ariel Pink-style) any day now? You bet. I’m convinced even more of her inevitable takeover after her latest EP, Am I Real? It’s not a complete departure from 2009’s full length Good Evening – Gonzales’s bedroom-pop, retro-tinged nod to fuzzy disco – but it is a hint at what’s likely to come in the future. That is, she seems less concerned these days with lo-fi idiosyncrasies (perhaps she no longer feels the need for that kind of indie credibility?) and is embracing, impressively, a cleaner sound to showcase her pop sensibilities; I commend the effort because it pays off nicely. The synth line and primary beat in “White Lies” alone are so commanding, for instance, that they immediately undercut any assumptions that Gonzales is comfortable with re-hashing an old formula or resting on laurels from quickly fading music fads. Essentially, the songs are perfectly modeled after sultry pop songs from years past – similar aesthetics can be found with artists like Ariel Pink of Geneva Jacuzzi – but Gonzales has finally polished her sound so that it now also mirrors the accessible and striking flair of pop icons like Madonna or Roxy Music. It was a bold and possibly polarizing move on her part, but I think she’s doing the right thing. In fact, after hearing new songs like “Am I Real?”, it’s hard to believe that Nite Jewel songs were once criticized for lacking hooks or distinguishable and engaging melodies (this critic, however, never made that argument). As album opener “Another Horizon” starts, one can easily hear the crisp production and underlying drive to hook the listener and introduce an evolving Nite Jewel. And the rest of the EP plays out like I’d expect: it’s a collection of groovy, understated tunes appropriate for any situation, a reflection of Gonzales’s most endearing qualities. Certain aspects of the record echo some of Good Evening’s finest and haziest moments – like the hushed, atmospheric “Falling Far” – but this record is ultimately about change - a preview of Gonzales’s future efforts. I can’t wait to see what’s next.
...Reviews
The Black Angels Phosphene Dream Blue Horizon Text : Brian Wilensky
Syd Barrett is smiling in his grave. He’s smiling because of records like Phosphene Dream. The Black Angels have always excelled at the hazy psychedelic sound. But this one isn’t just hazy; it’s a whole night of London fog. There’s something very creepy about, “Bad Vibrations,” the album’s first song. The echoing crunchy keyboard just repeats to a point of unbearable tension. Where can the rest of this album possibly be going? Well, don’t worry about taking your hands out of your pockets; don’t even bother opening your eyes, just keep nodding your head because “Yellow Elevator #2” pushes the same way. It must be a recurring theme, but wait until the bridge. You’ll be swaying now but at half the tempo and feeling the colors all over your body. And now it’s “Sunday Afternoon,” you can relax like most Sunday afternoons. No, this one rocks in the most early ‘60s kind of way, dude, and just wait for that distorted guitar part. The thing that “River of Blood” is missing during the verses is Alex Maas, The Black Angels lead singer, saying, “Indians scattered on dawns highway bleeding...” you’d swear it was The Doors themselves. “Telephone,” Phosphene Dream’s first single will make you want to do the twist. If not twist, you’ll at least get out of your seat. That’s if you’re not too baked by the time the ninth track comes up. Phosphene Dream will accompany you in so many foggy nights in the corner of your mind that you won’t recognize that it’s not even nightfall yet. It seems to engross you and keep your attention because of the repeated feeling throughout the album. Phosphene Dream doesn’t really seem to have a beginning, middle, or end... it just is, man.
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Black Mountain Wilderness Heart Jagjaguwa Text : Brian Wilensky
Black Mountain is back from British Columbia with more riffs than that guy that seems to never leave every guitar shop in America. Wilderness Heart has the structure that most classic rock albums have: pure rock sound, cool guitar solos, spacey keyboard licks, and ballads. That said, Black Mountain brings a Zeppelin intensity on the opener, “The Hair Song,” to help them let their freak flag fly. You too will have no choice but to undo your ponytail after hearing, the organ lick right after Stephen McBean and Amber Webber sing, “Let the love in your heart take control.” Speaking of, one of the nicer parts of the whole album is hearing more of Ms. Webber than on prior Black Mountain albums. Her vibrato gives her one of the most unique voices among female rockers today. The harmonies created between her and McBean add a whole new level to their psychedelic rock sound. But things get a little muddy on “Roller Coaster” as the song feels a little uncharacteristic to most roller coasters- slow and heavy. “Let Spirits Ride,” keeps the guitar solo alive in 2010. Thankfully. It’ll also keep your motorcycle full of gas as long as it’s playing, which may be even better. The title track, “Wilderness Heart,” may be most reminiscent of “Stormy High,” opening song on Black Mountain’s 2008 album, In the Future. It probably has something to do with the way it seems to march over anything that can’t handle the chugging bass line, laser-like organ, and a chick accompanying McBean singing, “Run fast/This is now or never.” Wilderness Heart doesn’t have the same eeriness or feeling that something is lurking around the corner as In the Future. Its last couple songs, “The Space of Your Mind” and “Sadie,” are far more folk than their prior efforts. However, when it’s time to rock, Black Mountain reminded the rest of us how it’s done.
...Reviews
Jenny and Johnny Am I Real? Warner Bros Text : Evan Adams
People will likely approach the debut release from Jenny and Johnny with a number of pre-conceived notions. I can’t really blame them. For starters, each half of the duo comes with his/her own baggage (whether such baggage is “good” or “bad” depends entirely, of course, on the listener): Jenny Lewis has had a successful and prolific career with Rilo Kiley, her unpredictable solo outings, and various collaborations with everyone from Ben Gibbard to Elvis Costello, and while not as popular as his girlfriend and bandmate, Johnathan Rice is also associated with his previous work as a solo artist - a singer and multi-instrumentalist known for blending John Mayer-esque vocals with a hybrid of dark blues-folk. I’m Having Fun Now will also lead people to consider their thoughts on boy/girl duo dynamics in general. Some have been successful - She and Him, Charlotte Gainsbourg and Beck - but others suggest that the novelty has perhaps worn off (ala Pete Yorn and Scarlett Johansson). Despite any assumptions one might have regarding Jenny and Johnny, their first album is its own accomplishment - it should be received as a pop record that is wholly distinct from the artists’ previous efforts and other similar boy/girl acts who explore harmony-laden hooks and melodies. In other words, this isn’t a Rilo Kiley album; it’s not another one of Lewis’s forays into bluesy Americana; and it’s certainly not another Rice record underscored by slow-burning songs about love and pain. Stylistically, I’m Having Fun Now is a pop album - every track moves quickly, or at least feels that way, propelled by sharp hooks, tight harmonies, and engaging melodies. And it’s a quintessentially pop album in its stripped-down, honest approach. Neither half of the duo allow the songs to become cluttered or overly tedious but instead focus on simple guitar and percussion work. Many of the songs - like the gorgeous “Switchblade” or “Animal” - recall both the jangly, subdued pop aesthetic found in early R.E.M. and driving grooves of 60s surf rock, while the short but striking “Slavedriver” stands out as the album’s anomaly - a quirky, sexy song that is undeniably retro in the most ambiguous way. Both Lewis and Rice have experimented with pop before, but it’s clear that they both are, in fact, having fun making music that’s pretty damn catchy. It should be interesting to see what Lewis and Rice choose to do next with their careers. Should we expect another Rilo Kiley album in the near future? Will the couple continue to make music together - or was this a singular creative outlet? Only time will tell, but in the meantime I’m Having Fun Now is a surprisingly satisfying album that proves why boy/girl duos, when done well, can be so memorable. Their songs are cute but forward real and even dark themes; their unique approaches remain intact, but they contribute equally throughout (the consistent harmonies on “New Yorker Cartoon” or “Just like Zeus”, for instance, highlight their compatibility and mutual efforts); and they manage to craft interesting songs without taking themselves too seriously. I’m definitely having fun.
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Index...
Art‌ 20
10
Magic Sweater
Ventral Is Golden
magicsweater.com
ventralisgolden.com
Photography‌ 40
32
50
Aimee Brodeur
Ian Markell
Steven Brahms
aimeebrodeur.com
blowupla.com
stevenbrahms.com
129
Music… 70
62
66
Gold Panda
Guards
Jon Lemmon
76
60
Tamaryn
TRUST
112
114
98
Aurora Vibes
Chocolate Bobka
Friendship Bracelet
102
106
104
kidcityblog.com
No Fear Of Pop
Rose Quartz
92
94
100
Salad Fork
Sean Carnage
Smoke Don’t Smoke
110
90
Stadiums and Shrines
Visitation Rites
iamgoldpanda.com
myspace.com/imagesmusic
guards.bandcamp.com
jonlemmonmusic.bandcamp.com
myspace.com/trst
Blogs…
auroravibes.blogspot.com
Kid City Blog
saladfork.tumblr.com
stadiumsandshrines.com
chocolatebobka.blogspot.com/
nofearofpop.blogspot.com
seancarnage.com
visitation-rites.com
friendshipbracelet.us
rosequartz.blogspot.com
smokedontsmoke.com
www.wearerebels.com