Interview XLR8R April 2009 Link “I consider any musician a cheerleader for community,” says 23-year-old Randolph Chabot, conducting a phone interview in between bites of a chicken sandwich at a diner in Lansing, Michigan. “Music inspires people to live life to the fullest. A perfect example was a recent show in Milwaukee—I quieted everyone and […]
Interview Playboy.com May 2009 Link Brown sophomore Kevin Roose didn’t study abroad, but he definitely visited a foreign land during his semester off-campus at Virginia’s Liberty University, the school founded by preacher Jerry Falwell to train “champions for Christ.” Roose chronicles his stint as an evangelical embed in his new book, The Unlikely Disciple. Fair […]
Music Review Pitchfork April 2009 Link 8.0 Despite all the superlatives lobbed at the Numero Group’s catalog, the descriptions that really stick often come from the reissue label’s own liner notes. Along with the warm patina of age emanating from re-mastered recordings and the cracked, yellowing photographs, these narratives are prime examples of music anthropology, […]
Article Chicago Magazine April 2009 Link His Comcast uniform didn’t meet the usual sartorial standards of soul crooners. But a glance at that belt buckle—the name “Renaldo” in bold brushed metal—suggested there was plenty of funk left. It was rehearsal night for the Eccentric Soul Revue, an upcoming concert focused on an obscure chapter of […]
Interview A.V. Club Chicago April 2009 Link The raw, energetic beats of kuduro music were something of a fad in the mid- to late ’90s in Portugal, a fusion of club tracks and Angolan rhythms that produced a few one-hit wonders and then faded fast. But the members of Buraka Som Sistema—Lil Jon, Riot, Conductor, […]
Music Review Spin March 2009 3.5 out of 5 Link On the latest analog indie-pop gem from singer-guitarist Jason Quever, it’s as if the sun is always cutting through an early-morning mist. Or reflecting through stained glass, since Quever is so fixated on mortality and gazing skyward. Foregrounding vintage organ tones, You Can Have What […]
Book Review Playboy.com March 2009 Link Author: Michael Lewis Publisher: W.W. Norton & Co. Number of Pages: 352 Pages Cover Type: Hard Cover Populist anger may be boiling over against Wall Street and its recently chastised traders. But when they’re inflating our own nest eggs and driving up our own investment returns, we don’t mind […]
Interview XLR8R March 2009 Link New York has no shortage of concept restaurants, culinary experts, and celebrity chefs. But how many of those Michelin-star chasers will invite you into their house and cook you a healthy vegetarian meal? DJ and musician Sal Principato, percussionist and vocalist of the famed No Wave group Liquid Liquid, extends […]
Interview Time Out Chicago February 2009 Link “We face the same problems that the Latino community faces, like people being deported or mistreated,” says Kasia Tarczynska, 27, a full-time student at the University of Illinois at Chicago. “But nobody wants to talk about it.” One incident, the case of Polish-born immigrant Tony Wasilewski, inspired Tarczynska, […]
Interview A.V. Club Chicago February 2009 Link The career of Argentinean actress-turned-singer Juana Molina has followed an unusual trajectory. Star of the comedy series Juana Y Sus Hermanas (Juana And Her Sisters), a smash-hit in the Spanish-speaking world, Molina’s turn as a singer and producer of lush, looping electronic music was a bit of a […]