Interview XLR8R November 2007 Link Fraternal twin brothers Aku and Akwetey Orraca-Tetteh are used to working on their own personal wavelength. “When we play, we find these special moments where everything comes together,” says Aku. “That’s our strength and our foundation. We’re pretty much in each other’s heads.” It’s some very coveted headspace, based on […]
Feature XLR8R August 2007 Link If you’re not prepared to pay heed to rapper Aesop Rock’s gravelly baritone, his complex lyrics can easily overwhelm. Reflexively branded one of hip-hop’s most abstract wordsmiths, the Definitive Jux mainstay appears to operate on a different wavelength, his dense rhyme schemes relying on seemingly inscrutable verbal algorithms. But a […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
Interview XLR8R October 2006 Link What’s in a name? Quite a bit if you’re 41-year-old Maximilian Lenz, better known as Westbam. The moniker–a combination of his home province Westphalia with that of his musical idol Afrika Bambaataa–dates him as a teenager of the ’80s, and suggests what he would eventually become famous for: being one […]