Interview XLR8R August 2007 Link Tortoise’s polyglot approach to music is grounded in the work of three percussionists–John McEntire, John Herndon, and Dan Bitney (a.k.a. Bumps)–who integrate elements of dub, funk, jazz, and numerous genres into the band’s instrumental compositions. But despite the wealth of side projects they’re involved in, they’ve never made a percussion […]
Review Playboy.com July 2007 Link The Pitchfork Music Festival embraced its music snob roots by booking iconoclast Yoko Ono. But the three-day celebration of sonic diversity — which spread 39 acts over three stages in Chicago’s Union Park — was more populist than its reputation suggests. Nothing made that more clear than Saturday night’s closing […]
Review Playboy.com July 2007 Oxnard, California producer Oh No is no stranger to the offbeat concept album. His previous, well-conceived full-length was made entirely of samples taken from the music of Hair composer Galt McDermot. The instrumental Dr. No’s Oxperiment was constructed from a similarly limited, unlikely and exotic source. All the samples originated from […]
Interview XLR8R July 2007 Link You might call the lush, liberal landscape that stretches from Portland through Seattle and British Columbia the “Pacific Northwest.” But to some it’s Cascadia–a name that is both a reference to the region and a part of a shorthand, half-joking slogan (Free Cascadia!) for a particular state of mind, if […]
Interview XLR8R April 2007 Link In their prime, Bad Brains was transcendent. In 1979, these four African-American punk pioneers from D.C. stormed the music world. They were Rastas capable of rattling your skull with intense rock, then seamlessly shifting gears into loping reggae rhythms and positive vibrations. The recently released concert DVD, Bad Brains: Live […]
Review XLR8R March 2007 Link The history of the Black Panther Party is filled with the bold-faced names of key leaders, martyrs, and political prisoners. But as Black Panther: The Revolutionary Art of Emory Douglas (hardcover; Rizzoli, $35) demonstrates, those images of raising fists and black berets wouldn’t have become such iconic images of black […]
Interview XLR8R March 2007 Link Expanding upon the themes of the primarily instrumental Since We Last Spoke (Definitive Jux), The Third Hand finds former sampling maestro RJD2 doing his own drum programming, instrumentation, and vocals. “It got to the point, with sampling on the MPC, where it just got stupid,” RJ says of his new […]
Article XLR8R January, 2007 Link Neither Arctic chill nor a buttoned-down reputation has kept a healthy homegrown hip-hop scene from taking root in Stockholm. The capital city teems with record stores, where you can pick up the latest from local labels like JuJu Records, DvsG (David vs. Goliath), and Raw Fusion, which has successfully exported […]
Cover Story URB March 2007 Link When Lily Allen steps onstage at Chicago’s Double Door, one of the year’s most talked about new singers suddenly becomes an enigma. Her face, framed in strands of jet-black hair and a jade headband, is greeted with applause as she strolls past a trio of horn players limply bobbing […]
Interview XLR8R December 2006 Link House music has eccentric artists aplenty, but few can consistently turn out tracks with the twisted humor of Greenskeepers and keep a straight face. A live house outfit from Chicago, started by former golf caddies Nick Maurer and James Curd, the group delivers serious, floor-burning funk amped up with silly […]