Story XLR8R September 2006 Link Twenty-four-year-old Matt Kimmel gets a rush from discovering obscure bands. But he’s noticed that even in a hyperlinked world, deserving artists go unappreciated–hence the inspiration to start Melted Mailbox, a new psychedelic singles club. “It’s a low-tech solution to the modern problem of finding out about new bands,” says Kimmel. […]
Interview XLR8R September 2006 Link “You’ll never be more than that girl who raps good for a girl/But really those titties is giving wood to the world.” As this line from “Rapper Girls” demonstrates, Chicago MC Psalm One (born Cristalle Bowen) is familiar with the disses thrown at female rappers. She’s heard the looks-but-no-talent teases, […]
Story XLR8R August 2006 Link Every year, American music fans are hoodwinked into listening to the newest crop of over-hyped UK bands, slavishly championed by NME and rarely worth the time. Looking for some more deserving audio imports? Follow Diplo’s lead to Brazil, where a rich heritage of tropicália, samba, and funk has mutated into […]
Story XLR8R August 2006 Link “When I got involved doing this stuff I never imagined that, 25 years later, we’d still be doing this,” says Corey Rusk, owner of influential Chicago imprint Touch and Go. The label, which celebrates its 25th anniversary in September, was started in late 1980; named after a Michigan music fanzine, […]
Review XLR8R July 2006 Link Vancouver’s Douglas Coupland defined youth in the early ’90s with works like Generation X and Shampoo Planet, coaxing deeper meanings from a tech-obsessed generation’s collective neuroses. Nearly 15 years later, Coupland faces the question: Will he become obsolete, or merely retro, like some adored but aging game console from childhood? […]
Interview XLR8R July 2006 Link Emil Nikolaisen–the guitarist, lead singer, and songwriter of Norwegian rock band Serena Maneesh–talks about writing songs like the late Hunter S. Thompson talked about lost weekends in Vegas. This isn’t a pharmacological comparison by any means. It’s just that Nikolaisen channels pure passion when music is the subject at hand; […]
Interview XLR8R April 2006 Link In 1968, Hugh Masekela experienced what some would consider a career apex. The South African trumpet and flugelhorn player came to the US in 1961 to study at the Manhattan School of Music. Seven years later, his single “Grazing in the Grass,” which eventually sold four million copies, hit number […]
Article XLR8R April 2006 Link Anybody with a healthy nightlife has endured serious (and unnecessary) scrutiny while entering a club, whether it’s undergoing a popularity contest to pass through the velvet ropes or the rough security checks at crowded concerts. But a new security system being introduced this year adds a computerized–some would say creepy–edge […]
Interview XLR8R March 2006 Link The premise behind The Brave and the Bold–putting post-rock innovators Tortoise in a studio with country-tinged singer Will Oldham (Bonnie “Prince” Billy, Palace Music)–sounds like an episode of an indie rock reality show. But after the assembled musicians finished the two-week-long recording sessions that produced the album, the combination turned […]
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 […]