Music Review XLR8R June 2009 Link 7.0 Retrofitting the results of jam sessions and distilling them into bracing minimal beats, Marco Freivogel and Ingo Gansera create lively, long-form riffs on techno. In Cars We Rust doesn’t meddle with jazz or big beat, instead trafficking in cold, metallic shades of sound and crisp percussion. “It’s Happening […]
Music Review XLR8R May 2009 Link 9.0 The term of the moment is “wonky,” but when it comes to Alexander Nut’s superb blend of urban beats, it’s all about soul, swing, and a distinctly contemporary kind of swagger. The mix starts off in the sunshine poolside, glowing under the warm rays exuded by tracks like […]
Music Review XLR8R July 2009 Link 7.5 Stephen Wilkinson’s latest Bibio disc blends together many of the disparate strands that now comprise Warp Records, so it’s fitting that he’d drop it on the label’s 20th anniversary. It’s even more impressive that his production sounds fresh despite fitting squarely within a style—dope beats, funky samples, warm […]
Music Review Pitchfork September 2009 Link 5.6 Getting called a virtuoso or mad scientist comes with some heavy baggage for a musician, so it says a lot about Tom Jenkinson, who records as Squarepusher, that he’s been repeatedly labeled as both. Getting tagged with these contradictory stereotypes– a classically trained workhorse mastering the canon versus […]
Music Review Pitchfork August 2009 Link 5.0 Modern life can be rubbish. Or so says Esser, an English electro-pop troubadour who sports a flattop that’s vintage mod (or exaggerated Jordan Knight). Despite a nonchalant delivery and mostly sunny melodies, he seems down. On opener “Leaving Town”, he says, “It feels like I’m drowning, so I […]
Interview Chicago Magazine August 2009 Link He hasn’t swung a hammer since last summer, but Joe Pug, a carpenter turned folk rocker, still gets philosophical about construction. “There are traditional ways, and there are shortcuts,” says Pug. “But the good guys learn a new way with every job. You have to do the same thing […]
Article Chicago Magazine July 2009 Link In summer, festival season reaches a fever pitch. To help us navigate the scene, we drafted four insiders—working musicians who see more than their fair share of shows—and asked them to handicap the summer music calendar. Here, their recommendations [ * RECOMMENDS ** PICK OF THE SEASON ] MIKE […]
Music Review Pitchfork June 2009 Link 6.4 Franz Ferdinand singer Alex Kapranos’ vocals are often wry snapshots of hedonistic nights spent with mysterious, mercurial women. It’s an example, perhaps, of a globetrotting pop star singing about what he knows (his food writing doesn’t translate into three-minute singles quite as well). But the band isn’t nearly […]
Music Review Pitchfork May 2009 Link 6.1 “I’ve played every kind of gig there is to play now,” intones Sixto Rodriguez on the track “A Most Disgusting Song”. “I’ve played faggot bars, hooker bars, motorcycle funerals… in opera houses, concert halls, halfway houses.” Not sure where opening up for Animal Collective in Chicago this past […]
Interview Pitchfork May 2009 Link When the Canadian electronic duo Junior Boys began work on the music that would become Begone Dull Care, vocalist and co-producer Jeremy Greenspan analyzed his artistic process. While scrutinizing the methodology behind the intricately crafted and occasionally icy pop music he makes with Matt Didemus, he came upon an unlikely […]