Interview XLR8R March 2006 Link In battle footage from his new DVD, Sunglasses is a Must (Audio Research, $17.98), 15-year-old turntable prodigy A-Trak ends a routine by lip-synching the cocky line “What do you have that could possibly beat me?” It was as legitimate a challenge then–when he was winning the 1997 DMC Championships–as it […]
Interview XLR8R December 2005 Link In 2002, Swedish musicians and longtime friends Malin Dahlström, Lisen Rylander and Lisa Nordström began formulating the idea for Midaircondo, a potent blend of electronic and acoustic improvisation. The scene could have been straight from a holiday greeting card. “We met at my house in the middle of winter,” says […]
Interview XLR8R October 2005 Link A dimly lit bar tucked into a Chicago side street, Danny’s Tavern normally draws a laid-back bohemian crowd. But on the first Wednesday of each month, Dante Carfagna and the Sheer Magic crew dust off some old vinyl and create a bass-heavy, funk-fueled ruckus. “I’ve never considered myself a DJ,” […]
Feature XLR8R October 2005 Link Click on the link to check out XLR8R’s awesome Chicago City issue, which includes a guide to the city I wrote. Note: Portillo’s is not included.
Interview XLR8R October 2005 Link Located on walls around São Paulo, the fantastically bright paintings of Os Gemeos (“The Twins”) grab the attention of passersby like a float from Carnival. Full of fluid lines, eye-popping colors (often yellow and red), and surreal characters, their work would be at home in a children’s book, but the […]
Review Playboy.com May 2005 Rating: Three of Four Bunnyheads It’s a bad sign for a politician when animated monkeys dis your war record. That’s the state Dubya finds himself in with the release of Demon Days, the latest album from the virtual hip-hop collective Gorillaz. On the smoldering track “Dirty Harry” — which starts out […]
Feature URB May 2005 Sonic Youth guitarist Thurston Moore remembers endlessly listening to a homemade tape filled with his favorite hardcore songs. He recalls touring the country during the ’80s in a van with a monstrous, sticker-stained boom box blasting tunes. And he still treasures the mix tapes bestowed by older and wiser friends and […]
Music Review Playboy.com January 2005 In any class covering hip-hop history, the prof will undoubtedly devote much of the semester to Bronx B-boys and L.A. gang members. But Run the Road, a British rap compilation hitting U.S. shores this month, may be the most cogent argument yet that overseas artists aren’t merely copying U.S. styles […]
Concert Review Chicago Tribune November 2004 Though many rappers rely on flashy diamonds and street credibility to get attention, underground rap kingpin Daniel Dumile needed just a mike and a metal mask to rock the Abbey Pub Monday night. Performing as the mysterious MF Doom, a character named after a Marvel comic book antagonist, Dumile […]
CD Review Playboy.com October 2004 Rating: 3 of 4 Bunnyheads A Tom Waits album is like a rowdy juke joint take on Dante’s Inferno, brimming with more sinners than a tent revival preacher’s sermon. On Real Gone, Waits once again mines that dark territory most of us would rather forget, painting portraits of the weird […]