Article A.V. Club Chicago October 2009 Link The Chicago History Museum recently put out a call, via its blog, for memorabilia related to the Lounge Ax, the legendary Lincoln Park rock club that closed in 2000. Venues come and go, and few last long enough or make enough of an impact to warrant any kind […]
Article Men’s Book October 2009 The modern big-budget music tour balances outsize ambitions with the reality of hauling sets cross-country. When the artist on the marquee is Kanye West, however, restraint and compromise aren’t usually part of the equation. Factor in his Daft Punk fetish, retina-scarring detail on massive screens and a crew of gangly […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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, […]
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 […]