- FILTER Magazine

KLAXONS
*
STEPHEN
TOBOLOWSKY
*
SÉBASTIEN
TELLIER
*
DETHKILLS
*
826LA
*
WHITE
LIES
We Love You...Digitally
Hello and welcome to the interactive version of Filter Good Music Guide. We’re best
viewed in full-screen mode, so if you can still see the top of the window, please click on the Window
menu and select Full Screen View (or press Ctrl+L). There you go—that’s much better isn’t it?
[Guide stretches, yawns, scratches something.] Right. If you know the drill, go ahead and left-click
to go forward a page; if you forget, you can always right-click to go back one. And if all else fails,
intrepid traveler, press the Esc key to exit full-screen and return to a life more humble.
Keep an eye on your cursor. While reading the Guide online, you will notice that there are links
on every page that allow you to discover more about the artists we write about. Scroll over each page
to find the hotlinks, click ’em, and find yourself at the websites of the artists we cover, the sponsors
who help make this happen, and all of the fine places to go to purchase the records you read about
here. Thank you for your support of this thing we call Filter. Good music, as they say, will prevail.
— Pat McGuire, Editor-in-Chief
culture collide
#33 october-november ‘10
Welcome to FILTER Magazine’s Culture Collide Festival, hitting Los Angeles’ streets October 7-10.
We’re excited to be bringing bands from all over the world to our hometown—one of the planet’s most vibrant music
scenes—for a multicultural weekend-long melting pot of musical excellence. Check out culturecollide.com for more
info, and if you’re not going to be in L.A. for the fest, make sure to join us next year!
We’re excited to offer up to you a taste of some of the great music featured at
FILTER Magazine’s Culture Collide Festival. Download at: FILTERmagazine.com/2010Sampler
Casiokids (Norway) • KAMP! (Poland) • City Riots (Australia)
The Boxer Rebellion (UK) • Land of Talk (Canada) • Gold Lake (Spain)
Battle Circus (New Zealand) • K-X-P (Finland) • Hello Saferide (Sweden)
The Black Atlantic (Netherlands) • Nive Nielsen & The Deer Children (Greenland)
Martin Clancy & The Witness Protection Programme (Ireland) • and more...
friends with benefits
Culture Collide community partners
Present your Culture Collide wristband for these perks
Happy Tom's – Restaurant
Delilah Bakery– Restaurant
1807 W Sunset Blvd.
Wristband holders receive a 10% discount
1665 Echo Park Ave.
www.delilahbakery.com
Rodeo Mexican Grill – Restaurant
Mention the Culture Collide Special and receive a Free Cupcake
with a purchase of $10 or more
1721 W Sunset Blvd.
Wristband holders receive a 10% discount
Vacation Vinyl– Vinyl Record Store
The Downbeat Cafe – Coffee House/Café
3815 W Sunset Blvd.
www.vacationvinyl.com
1202 N Alvarado St.
www.thedownbeatcafe.com
Wristband holders receive 10% off all vinyl
Wristband holders receive a Free Latte with Sandwich purchase
Blue Collar, For Working Dogs– Pet Store
Chango Coffee – Coffee House/Café
1533 Echo Park Ave.
www.bluecollarworkingdog.com
1559 Echo Park Ave.
www.myspace.com/changocoffeehouse
Wristband holders receive 1 free small drip coffee to enjoy in
house or to go
The Fretted Frog – Music Shop
1200 N Alvarado St.
www.thefrettedfrog.com
Wristband holders receive 10% off strings and accessories
Echo Curio – Art Gallery
1519 Sunset Blvd.
www.echocurio.com
Wristband holders receive free entry to the following events at Echo Curio
October 7th - 10th: ARTWORK by JUSTIN GABRIEL McINTEER
October 7th - Performance by SLUMBERBEAST + HALLOWEEN SWIM TEAM
+ SOCIAL STUDIES (SF)+ MOTHER OF GUT
October 8th - KILLSONIC ENSEMBLE curates a night of gypsy jazz
October 9th - MOSES CAMPBELL + guests
October 10th - GREEN MACHINE STUDIOS curates a night of out-there experimentation
Origami – Vinyl Record Store
1816 W Sunset Blvd.
www.origamiorigami.com
Wristband holders receive 10% off all records
Wristband holders and dog lovers receive 15% off everything
(with the exception of canned food)
Bobbie Boutique – Clothing Store
2213 W Sunset Blvd.
www.bobbieboutique.com
Wristband holders receive 10% off all purchases
Masa Of Echo Park – Restaurant
1800 W Sunset Blvd.
www.masaofechopark.com
Wristband holders who dine at Masa will receive 10% off their
meal (excluding beer + wine)
City Sip La – Wine + Beer Bar
2150 W Sunset Blvd.
www.citysipla.com
Wristband holders who dine at City Sip will receive 10% off (dining only)
Rock Paper Salon – Hair Salon
1515 W Sunset Blvd.
www.rockpapersalon.com
10% Off All Services and Products
Fall Cocktails FREE with purchase
$40.00 Blow-outs $20.00 Styling for events $10.00 scalp massage for men
OCTOBER 7
OCTOBER 8
THURSDAY
ECHOPLEX
ECHO
SPACELAND
STANDARD
826
FRIDAY
ECHOPLEX
TAIX
11:30
K-X-P
(Finland)
Casiokids
(Norway)
10:30
City Riots
(AUS)
Kordan
(USA)
Superhumanoids
(USA)
9:30
KAMP!
(Poland)
Harrys Gym
(Norway)
Zebra and Snake
(Finland)
8:30
LexiconDon
(USA)
Slang Chickens
(USA)
RISERS
(USA)
SPACELAND
TAIX
El Guincho
(Spain)
City Riots
(AUS)
Gold Lake
(Spain)
L. Stadt
(Poland)
CLUB
UNDERGROUND
Steven Tobolowsky
Hosts:
Black Lips
(USA)
ECHO
Sébastian Tellier
(DJ)
(France)
Voxhaul
Broadcast
(USA)
The Witness
Protection
Programme
(DJ)
Klaxons
(UK)
The Boxer
Rebellion
(UK)
10:00
Gamble House
(USA)
Gold Lake
(Spain)
Land of Talk
(Canada)
Annie Stela
(USA)
Nive Nielsen &
The Deer Children
(Greenland)
The Besnard
Lakes
(Canada)
White Lies
(DJ Set)
(UK)
9:30
(Ireland)
El Guincho
(DJ)
(Spain)
10:30
The Black
Atlantic
(Netherlands)
Hello Saferide
(Sweden)
Suuns
(Canada)
Laleh
(Sweden)
Amusement
Parks on Fire
(UK)
The Witness
Protection
Programme
(DJ)
(Ireland)
The Outline
(USA)
Battle Circus
(New Zealand)
Capsula
(Spain)
Harrys Gym
(Norway)
7:00
*Guitar Center
Sessions
(Black Lips)
TAIX
HAPPY
HOUR
Australia & New Zealand 6-8pm
Germany 4-6pm
7pm - 9pm 826 LA
Presented by Australian Trade Commission and New
Zealand Music Commission
Presented by Reeperbahn Festival and
the city of Hamburg
Guitar Center Sessions at Culture Collide
*presents
Acoustic performances by: City Riots (Australia) and
Battle Circus (New Zealand)
Special guest performance TBA
Black Lips
Free beer and exclusive promotional
items from Hamburg and Reeperbahn
Festival
An intimate evening of conversation and an exclusive
acoustic performance. Hosted by : Pat McGuire
(Editor-in-Chief of FILTER Magazine)
Free Steinlager beer and music samplers from
Australia and New Zealand
Two Sheds
(USA)
Baby Monster
(USA)
Tristen
(USA)
TAIX
HAPPY
HOUR
Canada 2-4pm
Sweden 4-6pm
Spain 6-8pm
Presented by CIMA
Presented by Export Music Sweden
Acoustic performance by: Tokyo
Police Club (Canada) and Suuns
(Canada)
Acoustic performances by: Hello Saferide (Sweden)
and Laleh (Sweden)
Presented by Sociedad General de Autores y
Editores
Free beer and promotional giveaways.
Free Carlsberg beer and Culture Collide ‘exclusive’
Swedish USB music samplers to the first 100 people.
Acoustic performances by: Gold Lake (Spain) and
Capsula (Spain)
Free Spanish wine tasting and goodie bags from
Spain to the first 100 people.
main Stage
OCTOBER 9
8:00
Tokyo Police
Club
(Canada)
SATURDAY
ECHOPLEX
White Lies
(UK)
SPACELAND
826LA
TAIX
BLOCK PARTY
7:00
Phantogram
(USA)
Monotonix
(Israel)
6:00
Voxhaul
Broadcast
(USA)
Mariachi El Bronx
(USA)
Cass McCombs
(USA)
Bambi Kino
(Germany)
Battle Circus
(New Zealand)
Pink Noise
(Israel)
Laleh
(Sweden)
Capsula
(Spain)
L. Stadt
(Poland)
The Franks
(USA)
The Black Atlantic
(Netherlands)
Two Sheds
(USA)
Zebra and Snake
(Finland)
Jacuzzi Hi-Dive
(USA)
Nive Nielsen &
The Deer Children
(Greenland)
Hello Saferide
(Sweden)
White Lies
(UK)
5:00
Monotonix
(Israel)
4:00
Special Guest
stage 2
1045
7:30
The Boxer
Rebellion
(UK)
Israel 2-4pm
UK 4-6pm
Poland 6-8pm
Presented by Israel Ministry of Cultural
Affairs
Presented by UK Trade & Investment
Commission
Presented by Instytut Adama Mickiewicza and Polish
American Film Society
Special guest performance TBA
Acoustic performance by: Amusement Parks
on Fire (UK)
Film screening of: Beats of Freedom
Free Tetley’s English Ale and promotional
giveaways.
Free Okocim beer and snacks provided. Polish
“crazy rabbits” will be given away to the first 50 attendees.
Free beer and promotional giveaways.
Acoustic performance by: L.Stadt (Poland)
Sea Wolf
(acoustic)
(USA)
9:45
6:30
Cass McCombs
(USA)
5:30
Fran Healy
(acoustic)
(UK)
8:50
Amusement
Parks on Fire
(UK)
AM
(USA)
7:40
4:30
Josiah Wolf
(USA)
3:30
The Tender Box
(USA)
TAIX
HAPPY
HOUR
church
2:30
Glaciers
(USA)
Sara Lov
(USA)
OCTOBER 10
SUNDAY
IR
BLOCK PARTY
STAGE 2
6T H
r la
ke
BL
PA OC
RT K
Y
FLOWER
ke
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rl
a
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W. s
i lv e
UN
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i lv
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downtown la
EF FI E
M
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IN
G
LE
PA
O
YN
E
ND
A
LE
S
E
N
T TR
O
EC E AN
H CH CE
O
PL O
EX AN
D
LE
PA R K
W
PI R IS
C
T
KU B
P AN
D
ENTRANCE TO
BLOCK PARTY
bl
v
RV
O
Figu eroa
BEER
GARDEN
E
G
S MA
T I
A N
G
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c
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s ur
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a c
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RE
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silverla ke
874.DICKIES.COM
MEN BEHIND
THE MUSIC
menbehindthemusic.com
P R E S E N T E D BY
JAKE
MUSIC PURIST
TOUR MANAGER
DELTA SPIRIT, AA BONDY, ELVIS PERKINS, YEASAYER
Advertorial
“It’s the anxiety & the buzz, and when the show
goes off without a hitch, that’s why you do it”
MEN BEHIND
THE MUSIC
menbehindthemusic.com
P R E S E N T E D BY
DYLAN
LEGAL NAME : DYLAN ROADIE
ROADIE FOR LIFE
MURDER CITY DEVILS, THE DONNAS,
PEACHES, BROTHER CLYDE
Advertorial
“Working with my hands is
my favorite thing to do in life”
PR E SE N T E D BY
CRAIG
PUNK ROCK LIFER
TOUR MANAGER
SOCIAL DISTORTION
Advertorial
“I grew up loving punk rock, it shaped
my work ethic. It’s in my blood. “
THE FILTER MAILBAG
unclassified. Send us something strange and you might see it here. Ah, music festival season
Editor-in-Chief
Pat McGuire
in the great outdoors. Smell that air, dance that dance, raise that tent…and lose those keys, kill
that battery, have no fun. Not anymore! Our friends at Stanley have hipped us to these two
Layout Designer
Melissa Simonian
amazing lifesavers to pack with you when heading out into God’s country: the Rhino Power
Editorial Interns
Greg Christian, Daniel Kohn, Clare R. Lopez
Professional Power Station and Compact HID spotlight. Generate power on the go to give life
to iPods, stoves, disco balls and smoke machines and be the life of the campground, and use
Scribes
the High Intensity Discharge spotlight’s 3,000 lumens to pick up the pieces when the cops shut you down. Party on, Stanley!
You can download the FILTER Good Music Guide at FILTERmagazine.com. When you’re there, be
sure to check out our back issues, the latest of which features The National, The Small Stakes, Autolux,
Devo, Blonde Redhead and David Bazan. And if you’re heading to L.A. for FILTER’s Culture Collide
Festival or to New Orleans’ Voodoo Experience, keep your eye out for us. We’ll most certainly be there.
ON THE WEB
Visit FILTERmagazine.com for music news, MP3s, magazine features, extended interviews, contests,
staff picks, album and concert reviews, the world famous FILTER blog, and our newest addition,
FILTER UNBOUND. To stay abreast of news and events in your town, sign up for the FILTER Newsletter,
A.D. Amorosi, Lauren Barbato, Jeffrey Brown, Adam Conner-Simons,
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Clare R. Lopez, Kyle MacKinnel, Nevin Martell, Kenny S. McGuane,
Marissa Moss, Breanna Murphy, Kurt Orzeck, Adam Pollock,
Jon Pruett, Zach Rosenberg, Ken Scrudato, Zack Sniderman,
Laura Studarus, Stephen Tobolowsky
Marketing
Ewan Anderson, Samantha Barnes, Mike Bell, Beth Carmellini,
Tim Dove, Paul Familetti, Samantha Feld, Holly Gray,
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delivered weekly to your email inbox. Cities served: Los Angeles, New York, Seattle, Philadelphia, Dallas,
Chicago, Miami, San Francisco, Denver, Boston, Portland, Austin, Washington D.C., London and more.
AT THE STANDS
Out now: FILTER Issue 41 “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia: DIY or Die”
In this issue, FILTER explores the do-it-yourself ethos behind It’s Always Sunny in
Thank You
Patrick Strange, McGuire family, Bagavagabonds, Brittany Boyd, Wendy & Sebastian
Sartirana, Momma Sartirana, the Ragsdales, SC/PR Sartiranas, the Masons, Pete-O,
Shappsy, Pipe, Dana Dynamite, Lisa O’Hara, Susana Loy Rodriguez, Shari Doherty,
Robb Nansel, Pam Ribbeck, Asher Miller, Rachel Weissman, Stephen Tobolowsky
Advertising Inquiries
advertising@filter-mag.com
Philadelphia and how it has propelled The Gang from wiseguys throwing around crazy ideas
West Coast Sales: 323.464.4718
as struggling writers and actors to beloved hitmakers behind one of America’s coolest shows.
East Coast Sales: 646.202.1683
Heading into their sixth season, they’re breaking all the comedy rules and raising all the bars
(bars, get it?). Also: Punk purveyor Mike Watt talks shop with No Age; Deerhunter’s Bradford
Cox lets us inside his band’s latest brilliant effort; director Mark Romanek explains why he stopped making music videos in favor
of haunting feature films; Brett Gurewitz and Greg Graffin reflect on the past and present of Bad Religion; and photographer
Edward Colver talks about capturing the Los Angeles punk scene through his camera. Plus: Kid Cudi, Cotton Jones, Wavves, El
Guincho, Glasser, Les Savy Fav, and an EndNote by Bob Saget about “the facts of life”—and no, not the sitcom.
Filter Good Music Guide is published by Filter Magazine LLC, 5908 Barton Ave., Los Angeles
CA 90038. Vol. 1, No. 33, October-November 2010. Filter Good Music Guide is not responsible
for anything, including the return or loss of submissions, or for any damage or other injury to
unsolicited manuscripts or artwork. Any submission of a manuscript or artwork should include a selfaddressed envelope or package of appropriate size, bearing adequate return postage.
© 2010 by Filter Magazine LLC.
all rights reserved
filter is printed in the usa
FILTERmagazine.com
good music guide filter 16
Dickies’ iconic Original 874 Work Pant is taking on its
toughtest challenge yet - unemployment - in one of the
most economically impacted cities in the U.S. - Detroit.
Rey, the Paikos family, Chelsea & the Rifkins, Shaynee, Wig/Tamo and the SF crew,
cover ILLUSTRATION by DETHKILLS
IN THE GUIDE
874 VS
UNEMPLOYMENT
Publishers
Alan Miller & Alan Sartirana
We get a lot of mail here at the FILTER offices—some good, some bad, some…well, completely
Dickies has developed a special edition of the Original
874 Work Pant. Made in the U.S.A. at Dickies’
manufacturing facility in Uvalde, Texas, the Detroit
874 will be available for $50 at www.dickies.com. For
each pair of Detroit 874s sold, Dickies will donate a
pair of Original 874 Work Pants to the Salvation
Army of Metro Detroit to assist workers in need.
dickies.com
COMING TO AMERICA
For this special Culture Collide issue of the Guide we asked some of the
artists playing our festival to share with us some of their American tales.
CITY RIOTS
Adelaide, Australia
What was your first experience onstage in front of an American
audience like?
It was at a BBQ place in Richmond, Virginia, in September 2007. It
was also the first time Dan and Matthew had ever been to the U.S.
so we were all excited, but that wasn’t enough to drown the yells of
“Table 42, your pizza’s ready” from the bar.
What are some things you bought in America on tour here?
-We have a picture of us in front of Elvis’ house on a fridge magnet.
There are only three of us in the photo, though. Matthew refused
to pay the entry fee into Graceland, so he waited in the car for five
hours. His loss.
-5 Gum. Man, the first time we had that chewing gum, we went crazy
for it. Cool packaging and comes in cinnamon flavor. I brought back
16 packets in my luggage after the first trip.
-Jalapeño flavored crisps. We often find ourselves using the phrase
“only in America”; the day we discovered crisps in jalapeño flavor was
one of those days.
-Triple smoked jerky. As if just the single smoked jerky wasn’t smoked
enough. Makes an Aussie kid’s skin smell like fresh Virginia ham.
-Cheese in a compressed can. Now, I’m pretty sure that’s not even legal here in Australia.
When you were in America, did you find anything that you were not expecting?
Everyone in America actually knows who Steve Irwin was. He even had his own TV
show in the States! Are you kidding me?
18 filter good music guide
SÉBASTIEN TELLIER
Paris, France
What was your first experience onstage in
front of an American audience like?
It was in Dallas, opening for Air. It was one of my
first shows, too. It was terrible because my guitar
amplifier burned during the first song! I like to
play in front of American audiences because they
are very excited and very polite in the same time.
What are some things you bought in America
on tour here?
I bought some American guitars which are very
hard to find in Europe. It’s also my favorite place
to buy records—like every French visitor, I love to
go to Amoeba in L.A.
What “American” stereotypes did you find to
be true or false?
Americans are very bad shoe designers...and the
coffees are too big and too bad. And contrary to
what is said in the rest of the world, I find that
American people are very respectful to one
another.
What bands from America do you most like?
A lot of my favorite bands are American, like Aerosmith, Guns N’ Roses, Stevie Wonder,
The Beach Boys, Michael Jackson... My favorite memory is seeing The Strokes at the
Greek Theatre in L.A.
What are you most looking forward to about Culture Collide?
Champagne full of bubbles, having fun with people I’ve never met...
©2010 Wm. Wrigley Jr. Company. All Rights Reserved. 5, Prism, Stimulate Your Senses
and all affiliated designs are registered trademarks of the Wm. Wrigley Jr. Company.
GOLD LAKE
K-X-P
What was your first experience onstage in front of an American audience
like? Was it different from playing at home?
Our first U.S. concert was an acoustic show at Death By Audio in Brooklyn. The guys
who were organizing the show gave us a few tips on where to have dinner (DuMont
Burger on Bedford) and we walked around the ’hood for a while. We fell in love with
the place, so much so that we moved to Brooklyn in the summer of 2009 and started
our new band, Gold Lake! The people who watch shows in the States react very differently from people
in Spain. Although people in Spain do tend to be much louder and jump up and
down a little more—which has to do with our culture—Americans have something
almost no place in the world has, and that’s an absolute love and respect of music.
It is bliss to play to people who appreciate where you are coming from, musically
speaking, and the 100 percent concentration you get from audiences here is pretty
different. But the best thing without a shadow of doubt is that kind of “howl”
people yell out over here when they like your song. It’s mighty sexy, indeed! What was your first experience onstage in front of an American audience
like? Was it comparable to playing at home?
Tuomo: In many ways, playing gigs is pretty similar everywhere. But, I suppose
American audiences are a bit more open to new things than, say, British ones.
Timo: Gigs are pretty much the same outside Helsinki. Helsinki can be tricky for
a band that’s based there—suddenly, you have audience that contains 100 percent
people you know. Horrific!
Madrid,Spain/Brooklyn, NY
What are you most looking forward to about Culture Collide?
Los Angeles! We are dying to drive down Santa Monica Boulevard again! We want
to watch a ton of the bands that will be playing there this year, like the Black Lips,
whom we’ve never seen. When we came over to L.A. three years ago, we were told
about an excellent quesadilla street cart in West Hollywood. We’re not sure if it’s still
there, but it will most definitely be a place we’ll be hunting for when we get there. Helsinki, Finland
When you were in America, did
you find anything that surprised
you pleasantly?
Tuomo: A very pleasant surprise
was the overall friendly vibe of New
York. If you come from a place
like Helsinki, Finland, it’s easy to
appreciate that.
Timo: The day seems really bright
there. Maybe it’s some climate thing
or something, but it’s really bright
when it’s bright. In San Francisco it’s
even brighter.
What “American” stereotypes
did you find to be true or false?
Timo:
People
are
different
in different countries, but it’s
dangerous to get stuck with some stereotypes. Finns are said to be drunk all the time
and silent. I’m never drunk and never silent.
What bands from America do you most like?
Tuomo: Almost all of my musical influences have been American. When I was
14, I read a Patti Smith interview in which she described her music as “punk
jazz.” That sounded like a goal worth pursuing, and that’s what I’ve been trying to
achieve ever since.
What are you most looking forward to about Culture Collide?
Timo: People in L.A. coming to see us play. Really, K-X-P is amazing live. I wanna get
good contacts and come back soon on a tour.
20 filter good music guide
© 2009 VTech Communications, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
COMING TO AMERICA
Exile; Legendary Producer, DJ and Master of the MPC.
His unique approach, innovative style and dedication to his craft sets him apart. For years VTech has been lucky
enough to partner with many talented artists that all share one very important quality: They’re Authentic.
We spent a day with Exile in his studio and he schooled us on how
he uses our new IS9181 Wi-Fi Internet Radio to make beats on the
fly. Check out http://music.vtechphones.com/category/exile to
see the exclusive video and download the track he made during
our session. How will you use yours?
HEAR THE WORLD
The new VTech IS9181 Wi-Fi Internet Radio lets you stream over
11,000 Internet radio stations from the around the globe at the push
of a button. No fees. No subscriptions. No strings attached. Listen
to music, sports, talk, news and more. Hook up your MP3 player
or stream music from your computer to the radio anywhere in the
house. As Exile said in the video, “By the people for the people.”
Check it out today at www.vtechphones.com/IS9181
Exile gives you RADIO.
A conceptualized album in
which all of the samples were
taken off of the AM/FM radio.
Stay tuned with Exile.
Photography by B+
COMING TO AMERICA
WHITE LIES
BATTLE CIRCUS
What are some things you bought in America while on tour here?
We always hit Amoeba Music in L.A. or San Francisco. So I would say if we
are doing this by weight, CD’s are what we have bought most of. In the “To
Lose My Life” music video, I was wearing a nice coat with a Grim Reaper
hood that I found at Opening Ceremony in Los Angeles. That is the most
money I have ever spent on a piece of clothing and for a while was definitely
part of my everyday life.
What was your first experience onstage in front of an American audience like?
It was a CMJ ’08 showcase at Crash Mansion in New York. I had pulled my amp out of its
enclosure back home and carried it through four different countries wrapped in bubble
wrap (that was my budget at the time), getting asked by flight attendants if that would
happen to be a bomb I was carrying. Our showcase was about mid-day and mostly attended
by other bands waiting for their set or packing down their gear. Which was actually very
fortunate, considering we managed to blow a cheap power supply halfway through the
set—totally stopping our part of the show. So we were able to nut out some bugs before our
next showcase at the Knitting Factory, which was fantastic because the audience was great
and stayed very close to the stage (which is a welcome change from New Zealand, where
a lot of people like to find walls and stick to them). That made it a very warm and intimate
show and we are looking forward to that kind of engagement again through this visit.
West London, England
When you are in America, do you find anything that surprises you
pleasantly?
Friends. I have made more friends in America than I have in any other
country while on tour. The majority of the Americans I come into contact
with day-to-day are warm-hearted, trustworthy and would watch your back
in a fight. Perfect allies.
What “American” stereotypes have you found to be true or false?
Once in Chicago’s O’Hare airport, we were waiting for a flight in a Burger
King. We saw a very large female order her meal with a super-size Coke. She
then took three steps to her right and emptied two entire packets of sugar
into that liter of drink. It was a low moment.
What bands from America do you most like?
We love hundreds of American bands. In fact, we don’t like many bands
from the U.K. too often. I am personally in love once again with Blonde
Redhead and listening to their latest record a lot. Then there are my all time
favorites: Smashing Pumpkins, Tom Waits, Scott Walker. And this summer,
we went to check out Deftones at a festival in Germany, and I have to say
they have still got it.
What are you most
looking forward to
about Culture Collide?
Stephen Tobolowsky.
Auckland, New Zealand
Did you buy anything here that you can’t buy at home that has become part of
your onstage routine?
I bought a voltage adapter after that first show, but mostly during our time in New York
we bought pizza. We love New York pizza. And also bagels. But mostly pizza. As far as our
onstage routine goes, we were probably slightly more bloated on stage in New York than
we were anywhere else
on that tour.
What are you most
looking forward to
about Culture Collide?
Seeing L.A., meeting the
other bands on this year’s
Culture Collide lineup,
and learning about the
local industry. That’s
a big one for us since
we are an independent
band and knowledge of
a new territory is very
important. JOIN
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COMING TO AMERICA
THE BOXER REBELLION
CASIOKIDS
What was your first experience onstage in front of an American audience
like? Was it comparable to playing at home?
Nathan Nicholson: I’m the lone American in our band, so I was very excited to finally
play in the U.S.—to measure it up against all the other places we have played. Our
first experience was at the Troubadour in L.A. last April. I suppose we had the fear
of no one showing up, so we were pleasantly surprised when the show sold out. What
struck me about playing the U.S. for the first time was the enthusiasm of the crowd.
We received a very warm and genuine reaction which always helps no matter how big
an audience is.
LIST OF THINGS TO PACK BEFORE GOING TO THE U.S. WITH CASIOKIDS:
12 x pairs of jeans
18 x shirts (16 checkered)
29 x single socks
32 x briefs
2 x baseball caps
5 x toothbrush (1 electric)
1 x family pack toothpaste
6 x bath towels
1 x monkey head
1 x monkey body
2 x shorts
5 x passports
4 x cymbals
1 x guitar
1 x bass guitar
10 x jack cables
4 x Casios
1 x ’80s cassette player
1 x can of tinned herring (North Sea
autumn spawned)
London, England
What “American” stereotypes did you find to be true or false?
Piers Hewitt: The massive temptation to eat large amounts of generally bad food
initially made me feel right at home. Not being a 28” waist myself, and coming from
a country that likes to eat a whole host of foods encased in batter, it certainly helped
me get used to my surroundings. And the cars... Massive cars. They make some cars in
Britain look like children’s toys.
What are you sure to pack when you travel to the States?
Nicholson: Convertors are the obvious choice, but we always try to take as much
of our band gear as possible. It’s always nice to use what we own and what we are
comfortable with. This inevitably means cutting down on vanity items, but I always
make room for my hair wax.
What are you most looking
forward to about Culture
Collide?
Adam Harrison: I’m really
looking forward to experiencing
a festival setting in the States.
It’ll be our first gig of this sort in
the U.S., and after doing these
types of shows in many other
countries we know that they can
be great fun. It’s also in L.A. and
we have a bunch of friends there
since making the film [Going the
Distance]. So I think it’ll be a
pretty big party!
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Bergen, Norway
I love going to the U.S., and when we travel over there for Culture Collide it will
be our eighth visit in two years. Every time we are there we meet so many amazing
people, always so much positivity! I like roaming around Manhattan, vinyl shopping
in Williamsburg, eating Tex-Mex in Austin, sitting on the sunny beaches of L.A.,
exploring the aquarium in Seattle, going vintage shopping in Chicago and eating big
breakfasts.
The last tour we did in the U.S., driving through the Wild West I saw tumbleweed
for the first time. For some reason I never thought tumbleweed was an actual thing,
the same way that the houses in Western films were just made of cardboard. I thought
that it was a bundle of straws and grass, or perhaps hair from cows and sheep wool
miraculously stuck together by the wind. We took some pictures with the tumbleweed,
held it up, smelled it. Yes, it was an actual thing! It was alive. Now we know.
COMING TO AMERICA
THE BLACK ATLANTIC
AMUSEMENT PARKS ON FIRE
What was your first experience onstage in front of an American audience
like? Was it comparable to playing at home?
My first show was in a small bar in New York. I believe I was playing in a basement for
the sound guy and the ticket girl! Later on, you find out what venues are good to play
and which ones are better to avoid. In the States, it’s just a little tougher to get people
out to your shows and to get a fee, meal and accommodations. Often I find bands have
a better attitude in the U.S., they’re more hardworking. In Europe, venues and the
arts in general get a lot of funding; I understand this is a luxury that most U.S. venues
and bands don’t have. I have a lot of respect for U.S. artists and I love touring there.
What was your first experience onstage in front of an
American audience like?
Our first ever show in the States was at the Bowery Ballroom
in New York in 2005 and it was one of the most memorable
ever. I was only 20 back then and we hadn’t been playing as a
band for that long; just random shows in London and whatnot,
and it totally blew my mind. The reaction in the States has
always been great, I feel really lucky to have been able to
get over so much. Especially when you get out of New York
and L.A., audiences and people in general are so positive; it
makes the whole thing so much fun. Unfortunately, the same
can’t be said for the U.K. all the time! I hope no one back
home reads this!
Have you ever bought anything in America that you can’t buy at home that
has become part of your onstage routine?
We’re trying to get a backline in the States so every time we’re here we buy some
hardware and stands, that kind of thing. I actually bought a shirt at Wal-Mart for 10
bucks two years ago that I wear all the time. When you were in America, did you find anything that surprised you
pleasantly?
The drives can be very beautiful. We’ve also been pleasantly surprised again and again
by really great bands and other people that are really supportive and generous to us. Were you able to see many American bands while you were here?
Yeah, that’s one of the great things about playing festivals like Culture Collide. For me
it’s like Disneyland, so many great bands to watch.
Nottingham, England
Have you been able to see many American bands while in the States?
There are too many to mention! We’re lucky to have great friends in great bands.
Silversun Pickups are real good buddies, and I’m so happy soaking in the L.A. scene,
which was kinda surprising at first—there are so many gems to discover. I got taken to
ace shows by The Happy Hollows, The Morlocks, Twilight Sleep, Nightmare Air...all
of whom are amazing and great people.
What are you most looking forward to about Culture Collide?
Just getting back to L.A.—especially Silver Lake and Echo Park—and catching up
with friends. It sounds like it’s gonna be a blast. I can’t wait to see Land of Talk,
I’m a big fan. And a slice at Two Boots
and taco trucks! And beers at El Prado!
And shots at the Gold Room, where
it’s cheaper to buy a beer and a tequila
than it is to buy a beer or a tequila! And
seeing my buddy’s dog, Stella... So good
to be back over here! I love the U.S.!
“MY WORK SPEAKS
FOR ITSELF.”
-NORMAN “SAILOR JERRY” COLLINS 1911-1973
The father of old-school tattooing, Norman “Sailor Jerry” Collins
was a master craftsman whose artistry and integrity remain as
timeless as the rum that bears his signature.
SAILORJERRYRUM.COM
RESPECT HIS LEGACY. DRINK SAILOR JERRY RESPONSIBLY.
©2010 Sailor Jerry Rum, 46% Alc./Vol. William Grant & Sons, Inc. New York, NY.
Groningen, Netherlands
Dethkills
To Live, Die and Paint in L.A.
By Jessica Jardine
Photos by Jamey Hoag
Tucked away on a sunny, tree-lined side street just off L.A.’s Miracle Mile is a single-story house that looks right at home
next to its pastel-colored neighbors. The sound of children playing down the block and an ice cream truck jingle warbles
through the air, giving no hint that one of the city’s most known (and menacing sounding) art collectives, Dethkills, lives and
works inside.
Menacing is hardly the most appropriate word to describe Dethkills, though. On this toasty, late summer day, the
two leaders of the collective, Bobby Alderman and Chris Wolford, are seated on folding beach chairs inside the shady
garage that serves as their studio, just a few feet from citrus trees that dangle over a grassy backyard. With a couple of
frosty Coors Lights in hand and the beginnings of a friendly cookout taking shape, it appears the absolute embodiment
of a typical Southern California day.
Alderman and Wolford have the jokey shorthand of lifelong friends and, sure enough, met growing up in the San
Fernando Valley through a shared love of skating, punk rock and DIY projects like homemade Operation Ivy T-shirts. In
the years since, they’ve fed that passion for hands-on creation with Dethkills, a group that’s grown to include about 10 local
artists known for filling in dramatic, mostly black-and-white paintings with the collective’s name, intricately lettered over and
over into the image so that it becomes a kind of punk rock Magic Eye poster.
What originally began as a homegrown T-shirt company in 2005 has since spun into a bona fide artistic niche that
includes screen printing, zine production, painting and live installations. At the group’s live performances, blank canvases
are turned into elaborate finished products over the course of a single night, while the team energetically rotates between
the multiple pieces and music blasts.
“The live events are such a great way to showcase what we actually do,” Wolford, 28, says. “Someone can look at one of
our pieces and say, ‘Hey, that’s cool,’ but when you see it actually happening, you realize how much layering has gone on and
how much time and attention to detail actually goes into it.”
Add to this that Dethkills encourages attendees to approach the artists and talk about the works-in-progress and you’ve
got a recipe for a kind of connective art that shakes up most people’s concept of where gallery work comes from. Alderman,
29, smiles from under his black baseball cap and long, dark hair to add, “I have so much social anxiety when I talk to a
stranger on the street but when I’m talking to someone who approaches me at a show while I’m working, I can talk for hours.
Their expressions and their responses can be just as rewarding as actually doing it.”
»
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good music guide filter 29
An event last winter where Dethkills shared the stage with dub-step DJ
The Gaslamp Killer was a particularly electric combination for the collective.
“I didn’t even realize how huge that guy was before the show and so we’re up
there, sharing the stage with him, and I look over and he is just rocking out,”
Wolford says. “I’ve been to a ton of metal and punk and hardcore shows and
that guy is bringing it full force; giving it his all. And that hyped us up. The
crowd is feeling it and we’re right there. It’s awesome.”
Scattered around the modest-sized garage on this day are piles of
X-Acto knives, sliced-up paper, paint buckets, assorted brushes and a mix
of completed and half-completed pieces mounted on the walls. The group
is hard at work on its first solo exhibit, which hits the POV Gallery in Los
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Angeles’ Chinatown in November. Given the collective’s name, they’ve
chosen an apt theme for the project: The 27 Club, aka the lengthy list of
artists and musicians who’ve died at the age of 27 that includes Kurt Cobain,
Brian Jones and Jimi Hendrix.
Naturally, music and skate culture still plays a massive part in what
inspires Alderman and Wolford, who both hold down full-time design
jobs when they’re not cranking out Dethkills projects. “Punk rock and
skateboarding definitely molded us,” Wolford says. “It’s pretty much why we
started hanging out and definitely part of the glue of us staying friends for so
many years.”
Just as their own tastes have evolved since meeting as young teens, so
has the scope of Dethkills. In the past year, the collective has taken on
several charity performances, including one for Invisible Children, which
aids in ending the use of Ugandan children in that nation’s civil war. For the
event, Dethkills collaborated with the charity on a new slant, where people
were encouraged to Tweet or write Facebook messages to be added onto
the live painting. The end result was one that both Alderman and Wolford
simultaneously describe as a “big success,” with wide, proud grins.
That willingness to pull aside the curtain on the creative process
encapsulates Dethkills in a very tidy nutshell, whether it’s inviting other
artists to their studio for a screen printing workshop or hopping onstage to
paint live for a friend’s band’s CD release party.
Sometimes the free-flowing booze and relaxed atmosphere that
often accompanies Dethkills live events can lead to open channels of
communication capable of overwhelming both parties. Today, as the grill
warms up and packs of beers carried by friends begin filling up the backyard,
Alderman remembers a particularly excited fan.
“Man, drunk people that come up are the best,” he says. “At this one
event, this guy was wasted and was like, ‘I need you guys to come to my
house next week! I’m moving in and I have a 15 foot wall and I need you
guys to paint it by next Friday. How much is it going to cost?’ And we kept
saying, ‘Dude, we can’t do it. Sorry.’ And then he’d leave and come back 15
minutes later: ‘Seriously! Next Friday, guys! We’re on!’ He was hilarious.” F
good music guide filter 31
826LA Is Saving the
Future by Promoting It
By Breanna Murphy
Photos by Meiko Takechi Arquillos
On a nondescript block of Sunset Boulevard in the Echo Park area of Los
Angeles, among the neighborhood’s colorful houses, dives, cafes and record
stores, sits a peculiar building called the Echo Park Time Travel Mart. It’s
a retro-styled storefront boasting the mantra “Whenever You Are, We’re
Already Then,” where patrons are welcomed in by a co-existing robot and
caveman in the window. Far from just another eclectically strange addition
to the East Side, the quirky store serves as an intriguing cover (and support
system) for the significant operation behind: the Echo Park branch of 826LA.
The organization started as 826 Valencia, the street address in San
Francisco where its co-founders—author Dave Eggers and educator Nínive
Calegari—began the project in 2002. The goal was simple, brilliant, and
important: to bring the community together as an outreach center where
students could gain valuable tutoring and insight from local volunteers. The
success of 826 Valencia allowed 826 to go nationwide, and chapters expanded
across the country to New York City, Chicago, Seattle, Michigan, Boston,
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D.C. and two Los Angeles locations, Venice and Echo Park.
More than just after-school tutoring, 826 has also orchestrated
multifaceted undertakings and events for its students, volunteers and
communities, such as books and albums featuring the kids’ writing, art
exhibits, readings and seminars—not to mention those wacky storefronts at
each 826 chapter—all for the support of the non-profit organization.
“826’s first priority is to make sure the students are prepared for school
every day,” says Eggers. “After that, we run field trips, workshops and
publishing projects—all designed to foster a love of writing, and to empower
students through the written word.”
To learn more, the Guide found itself ushered through the backdoors
of the Time Travel Mart and into the behind-the-scenes learning center to
meet with Joel Arquillos, the executive director of 826LA, who shared the
integral ingredients of who and what makes the organization work and how a
Los Angeles community comes together at 826.
Who are the kids that come into 826LA?
The kids here in Echo Park live all over the neighborhood.
They walk here. In many cases, their families are
immigrants to the country. The language spoken at
home is primarily Spanish, so when they go home, they
can’t always get the kind of help they need to do their
homework.
The kids who come have never even considered
writing as a possibility in their lives. They think writing
is just something you do in school. Some students are
more motivated than others, some will tell you straight
up that they hate writing—and that’s OK. You never
know, sometimes it’s the stubborn ones who end up really
owning it later on.
How do you get the kids excited about writing?
They come through a time travel store, so they don’t really
know what they’re getting themselves into. [Laughs]
Students come in to work on homework, but we’re also
getting them to write about the word of the day on the
board. We’re teaching them to work on their writing and
then, when it’s at a place that’s ready, we’re putting it into a
book, putting their name on it, celebrating it with a reading
and inviting the community, and putting that book in our
store—and they’re authors. We’re honoring their writing.
We’re creating a generation of kids who are being published
and are learning what that is and means. They take away
confidence; the ability to finish a writing project and to learn
how to communicate more effectively in the end.
Who volunteers?
People from the community who are typically anywhere
from the ages of 18 to 75. Many are writers, but not all.
Some are retired, or lawyers, or college students—it’s a
wide array of people. The reason 826 works is that it has a
strong volunteer core that’s going to stay around.
What role has music played at the organization?
We’ve done music since the start. Recently, we did the
826LA
Revenge
of the
Book Lovers
First of all, what’s up with the Time Travel Mart?
Joel Arquillos: Dave [Eggers] had the idea of starting a
place where he and his friends could give back and help
kids who live in San Francisco’s Mission District. They got
a space, but it was zoned for retail. Somebody mentioned
that it looked like the inside of a pirate ship, so they
opened a pirate store. The stores are basically a way to
fundraise. We’re entirely non-profit.
Chickens in Love album. The Submarines came in and
taught the kids basic songwriting. Then the kids created
a song and put it on video. It really blew their minds, I
think. We sent the videos and the lyrics to musicians like
Fiona Apple, Cold War Kids, She & Him and others, and
we asked them to cover the song. We pulled off a CD
and vinyl, and it’s available on iTunes as well. In general,
artists have been one of the reasons we exist, and this is
another example of how they put their time and energy
into helping us out.
At its heart, what is 826?
It’s a community center. Here, people from all walks of
life are working, learning from each other, and building a
community together. F
Chickens in Love:
A Songwriting Project
“The Chickens in Love project
really helped to show the kids that
they could use their writing skills
and apply them in a different
way. I love the lyrics; they had
an amazing combination of being
both profound and playful in a way no grown person I
know could pull off.”—Zooey Deschanel, She & Him
“When you’re young, it’s easy to be discouraged to try
things like songwriting because you don’t feel like you are
‘professional’ enough to do it right. And yet pretty much
all of the kids’ songs are more lyrically complicated than a
Ramones song!”—Nathan Willett, Cold War Kids
good music guide filter 33
Finland Stories
By Stephen Tobolowsky
I was amazed and thrilled when I read the August 15, 2010 Newsweek magazine
article that named Finland as the best country in the world. I was thrilled
because I love Finland. And amazed because obviously the writer had never
actually been there.
I think it is important as a sort of introduction to hit the high points and share
my impressions from the summer when Annie and I visited. In the interest of full
disclosure, it was a long time ago. It was 1988, shortly after the earth had cooled
and the great lizards no longer walked the planet. We went to see the Scandinavian
Theater Festival in Helsinki, an incredibly beautiful city. We also took some trips
into the countryside. I took notes and I want to share some of the high points. The
Newsweek article seemed to dwell on health care and cross-country skiing, but didn’t
give a real picture of the place. I just want to fill in some of the gaps.
To understand Finland you have to understand how far north the country is.
It’s way up there. The Arctic Circle runs through it. Whenever the Arctic Circle runs
through a country, it means you have to not just love snow, but you have to love eternal
night. Finland has three seasons: summer, mosquito season, and night. Summer is
when I was there. It is gorgeous and the quality of sunlight is something that is hard
to describe. It was translucent, coming through the leaves on the Esplanade—which
is the main walkway, or park, or whatever. The light is shimmering and so golden you
feel you can hold it in your hand. The air is cool and clean and it chills, while the sun
seems to burn. It is magical.
The downside of summer is the workmen. In Finland, construction people have a
hard time doing anything during the long, dark, frozen winter so they have to make hay
while the sun is shining—literally. They do construction in the summer when the sun
is out—which is always. So you have jackhammers and cement trucks going twentyfour seven. On the fun side, you also have people water skiing at two in the morning.
Finland was one of the first countries to pass a law that drivers always have to
have their headlights on in the summer, to remind people that it may actually be
night and not be deceived and fall asleep while they’re driving.
Here’s an item not mentioned in the Newsweek article: Finland seemed to have
the drunkest people I have ever seen anywhere. I didn’t know if it was the angle of
the sun, the type of liquor, or just sheer will—but I saw teens, adults, lovers on dates,
entire families staggering down the streets of Helsinki. There was something odd and
heartwarming about seeing a couple passed out against a building, holding hands.
It is hard to rate any country objectively when you see a lot of people passed
out in broad daylight on the city streets. New York can hide them in Central Park.
Los Angeles has an entirely deserted downtown to camouflage them. Again, it is the
midnight sun effect. Nighttime always seems to romanticize alcoholism and is better
for hiding the vomit, but to be honest—it was good to see it coming. In Helsinki in
the summer, you always have enough light to step over anything in the streets you
need to step over.
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Tobolowsky in front of the Federal Theater in Helsinki, 1988
Finland took drinking to a new level. They capitalized on the national pastime
in a very inventive way. Back then, they actually had drinking tours. Since the price
of vodka was so high in Finland and was so cheap in Russia—which is just a stone’s
throw away—people would sign up for a drinking trip where they’d get on a bus and
go over the border to Russia on Friday. The bus would stop at a bar, you’d drink
until you passed out, sleep it off upstairs at a hotel, and then come back on Sunday
evening. It was like going to see the Grand Canyon.
The upside to the drinking is that Finland serves the biggest beers I have
ever seen. I needed two hands to raise the glass. I felt like Jack and the Beanstalk
sitting at the Giant’s table. And to go along with those big beers, the bars also
have the biggest urinals I have ever seen. They are wonderful, amazing. No
matter how shaky you are—you can’t miss. The urinals are huge, circular vessels
that seem to go straight to the center of the earth. You can call into them and
hear an echo. I know. I tried. This was a detail that was also overlooked in the
Newsweek article.
American urinals by comparison are insulting; they either look like a cattle
trough or an afterthought. We stick this little white thing on the wall with this leaky,
awful flusher. Is it any surprise that American men always seem to pee on the floor?
Awful. No way that can happen in Finland.
Another fact not mentioned in the Newsweek article is that you can’t find a king
size bed in Finland. Can’t be done. It’s all long, single beds. Very long. I mean you
could almost sleep end to end—but no doubles. My wife-to-be and I stayed at the
Hotel Helsinki and we had two long single beds. I asked the manager (or concierge,
or whomever they have in the lobby that spoke English) if we could move to a room
with a double bed. He said there were “no double beds. Finland never had double
beds. People who want them, import them. Why you need a double bed?”
I said, “Sex?”
He thought about it and shook his head. “Single bed should do.”
Another big check in the plus column were the huge bathtubs in Finland that
were also set up to be steam rooms. Awesome. You could bathe, get some steam, and
do your laundry in the tub at the same time.
Amazing event in Helsinki: Ann and I were thrown out of a restaurant on the
Esplanade because we were told that Ronald Reagan was dining there that night.
That was interesting, but what made it amazing was that a year later we went to
Washington, D.C., for the premiere of a movie I was in. Annie and I went out to eat
at the famous Old Ebbitt Grill and we were thrown out again because we were told
Ronald Reagan was dining there that night. It seems like more than a coincidence,
and it also was not in the Newsweek article.
At any rate, if I could toast all of my friends in Helsinki and Oulu and all points
in between, I would say cheers to your beautiful country, may you always have hot
music, cold beer, and that golden, golden sun light. F
good music guide filter 35
Rave On
By Kenny S. McGuane
Congrats on the new album. It’s pretty bad-ass.
Jamie Reynolds: Yeah! Thank you very much. We feel good
that it’s finally happened.
Right, that was some mess with you having presented a
new album to Polydor and then having them ask you to
re-do it. What’s going to become of that other session?
Not exactly sure what we’re gonna do with it. We’d like
to release the tracks we were happy with as an EP maybe
next year, before we start working on another album. I
played it back-to-back the other night with our first record
and it’s nothing like our other material, but I still love it
nonetheless.
There really isn’t an American equivalent to the Mercury
Prize. What was winning it like?
I didn’t even consider when we started the band that we’d
be nominated, let alone win. I’ve always admired how that
prize seemed to choose music that was pushing boundaries
or that represents a specific year, and so when it was given to
us it felt like we’d made a cultural impact. It was incredible
to have been recognized for that.
In other interviews you’ve described that first session as
“prog.” Would you still describe it that way?
Well, I mean, it’s very grand and it’s very slow. It’s not proggy in
terms of lots of notes, like typical prog fashion. It’s just sort of slow.
Is there anything you learned after your first tour of the
States that you’re applying to your second U.S. tour?
I think it’s more of a question of what happened to the band
in the meantime. I remember reading reviews of us when we
first toured the U.S.—we really weren’t very good at playing
our instruments, we were drunk every night, we were pretty
awful and the reviews pretty much said that. Our live shows
now are 10 times better. This time around we’re really focused
on bringing a more powerful musical unit to America.
So it wasn’t “prog” in a Yes sort of way?
No, no. The problem with comparing us to Yes is that they’re
very good musicians. [Laughs] They’re very technically brilliant.
Let’s talk about nu-rave. With your first releases,
Klaxons sort of invented the genre. Then there seemed
to be a deliberate attempt to distance yourselves from it.
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I don’t think that I did. James [Righton], our keyboard
player, certainly did try to distance himself from nu-rave.
But I’m really proud of what that stands for, sort of creating
a completely different genre. It’s a term now that’s traveled
all the way around the world and I couldn’t be happier
about that.
On Surfing the Void, was there a deliberate attempt to
do things differently than the debut?
We didn’t reference anything other than ourselves. We
figured out what our strong points were and we played
those to our advantage. We had written the songs, but in
terms of the album ending up the way that it is, we were
making ourselves into better musicians. I was listening to
the first record again yesterday and I think our first album
was really pushy and sort of naïve. This new one is slightly
more considered.
Surfing the Void sort of speaks for itself, then.
Absolutely, it doesn’t demand to be heard like our first record
did. It doesn’t have that sort of teenage, bratty, pay-attentionto-me feel. F
Harley Weir
Klaxons
For American music consumers, British rock has always held a certain exoticism.
Ever since the Brits first started to absorb and interpret (and, depending who you ask, to master) one of the United States’ only true indigenous
art forms, there has been a certain mystery about the delivery and technique of our brothers across the pond. Despite the abundance of
cultural similarities—not to mention a shared language—some of the music from the United Kingdom can naturally still sound quite foreign
to American ears. And while sometimes this exoticism can result in the U.S. music press lauding a British band with far more credit than
they deserve (perhaps taking cues from the British hype machine rags), it can also result in a glorious change of pace from the American rock
status quo—and, hell, sometimes even the worst British bands are doing far more interesting things than whatever is happening on our own
domestic airwaves.
Sometimes, though, the praise is spot-on, as in the case of Klaxons. The young, energized, forward-thinking and Mercury Prize-winning
London band are certainly worth getting to know. As they prepare to unleash their excellent, self-assured sophomore album, Surfing the Void,
Klaxons are set to embark on their second tour of the States, starting with a gig at FILTER’s Culture Collide Festival in Los Angeles. The
Guide chatted with frontman Jamie Reynolds from his family’s home in England, where he spoke about British label battles, how the label
“nu-rave” doesn’t bother him when applied to his band and how Klaxons have bettered themselves for their second stint in America.
good music guide filter 37
One-Liners:
a miniature take on selected Filter Magazine reviews
.............................................................................................................................
(Go to FILTERmagazine.com or pick up Filter Magazine’s Fall Issue for full reviews of these albums)
James
85%
The Morning the Night Before
MERCURY/UMe
With our collective interest in the ’80s
Manchester sound renewed, this big and
inspired James effort feels appropriately
modern.
Philip Selway
77%
Familial
NONESUCH
While the Radiohead drummer succeeds in
establishing his own identity, his acoustic solo debut
plays it safe and traditional—and who wants that?
Deerhunter
90%
Halcyon Digest XL
Another brilliant chapter in Bradford Cox’s
already impressive sonic career. Read this
Digest and weep.
Of Montreal
84%
False Priest
POLYVINYL
For Kevin Barnes, making music equates
to making love—unbridled, kinky and
gratuitous—and here he sows his oats from a
variety of angles and with multiple partners.
Jimmy Eat World
76%
Reinvented
INTERSCOPE
Content with being labeled pop rock’s orgasmic ear
candy, Jimmy Eat World phones in another lovelorn
coo-fest. Jimmy need get out more.
David Bowie
88%
Station to Station [reissue]
EMI
This mixture of arena-rock power, polished
session hands and grade-A strangeness sees
Bowie get dark and funky on his way to the
apocalypse.
Bryan Ferry
82%
Olympia
ASTRALWERKS
Suave meets strange on Bryan Ferry’s most
experimental, deliriously Roxy-ish recordings in
decades.
The Vaselines
74%
Sex with an X
SUB POP
With so much of today’s music echoing the past, it’s
difficult to tell if The Vaselines are timeless or just
outdated.
Black Mountain
86%
Wilderness Heart
JAGJAGUWAR
Though the tone may be different, the hard riffs,
driving bass and haunting space synths make this
an undoubtedly Black Mountain album.
Grinderman
80%
Grinderman 2
ANTIA great album by most standards, Grinderman
2 just doesn’t live up to what Nick Cave and
half of the Bad Seeds usually promise.
Brandon Flowers
67%
Flamingo
ISLAND
A pseudo-score to a Broadway production about
Las Vegas with more airheaded, tired gambling
clichés than Vegas has airheaded, tired gamblers.
Somebody hit me.
FILTER
ALBUM
RATINGS
No Age
91%
Everything In Between
SUB POP
This super-hero duo continues to build a
bulletproof reputation for thunderous virtuosity.
Give these guys the keys to the city; they’re noise
pop’s saving graces.
38 filter good music guide
91-100% 8
81-90% 8
71-80% 8
61-70% 8
below 60% 8
a great album
above par, below genius
respectable, but flawed
not in my CD player
please God, tell us why
SHADES
OF GREY
NEW WORKS BY DETHKILLS
REMEMBER THE PAST. LOVE THE PRESENT. EMBRACE THE FUTURE.
dethkills.com
POV EVOLVING GALLERY
OPENiNg RECEPTiON 7PM NOVEMBER 13, 2010
povevolving.com
Music,
etc.
.......................................................................................................................................................................................
SUFJAN STEVENS
88%
The Age of Adz
ASTHMATIC KITTY
Sufjan Stevens isn’t “fucking around.” He belts
the phrase like a punk maxim on The Age of Adz’s
cataclysmic electro track, “I Want To Be Well.” It’s strange, but true:
he recently said goodbye to his indie-folk pageantry on this fall’s All
Delighted People EP. Stevens’ civic-minded releases (Michigan,
Illinois) received many plaudits, but pop’s time-tested theme of love
takes over here. Despite the shift, cosmic matters (aliens, deities,
apocalyptic mythology, Royal Robertson’s schizophrenic art) aren’t
avoided, and his warps to electro hinterlands revisit A Sun Came’s
medieval flutes and genetic material from Enjoy Your Rabbit. The
highlight is the 25-minute electro-pop behemoth, “Impossible
Soul”; its mesmeric narrative coagulates passages of Auto-Tune,
folk and horn fanfare. Adz’s weighty orchestration is a mind-fuck
and Stevens takes some true risks, though through it all remains a
beating heart at the center of the journey. KYLE LEMMON
THE ORB FEATURING DAVID GILMOUR
80%
Metallic Spheres
COLUMBIA
Get out your rolling papers, vaporizers and
one-hitters because the ultimate stoner collabo
is here. Tripped out electronica gurus The Orb have teamed
up with Pink Floyd’s David Gilmour (no spacey adjective
required) to craft two epic soundscapes that are the psychedelic
love children of Brian Eno, Electric Skychurch and The KLF
(circa Chill Out). This ambitious LP is an acid-tinged, ambient
headfuck that’s guaranteed to blow your brains out all over the
couch you’ve sunk into. NEVIN MARTELL
WARPAINT
86%
The Fool
ROUGH TRADE
With a hypnotic sound, magical mood and some
Cat Power-inspired fairy-like vocals, L.A. based
40 filter good music guide
Warpaint has created a debut album to fall in love with—and
to. It’s uncomplicated, psychedelic indie-girl rock with plenty
of hazy guitar and a swooning, restrained sadness. Compared to
Exquisite Corpse, the band’s first EP, The Fool has a somewhat
lamentable polished and predictable quality to it; but let’s face it,
that’s exactly why it’s bound to be played in every hip boutique in
the world. LAURA JESPERSON
THE CONCRETES
87%
WYWH
FRIENDLY FIRE
The Concretes have always been masters of
pop and with WYWH the band pushes beyond
the current obsession for Euro-beat synth disco pervading
everything. Instead, using those same sounds, the band makes
music that is actually dark, sultry, sexy, genuinely disco—and
about half the speed of everything else. It’s bookended by
classics; “Good Evening” and “WYWH” are sex with a drumbeat
and strobe light, as Lisa Milberg’s voice finds the perfect place
between haunting and seductive. This is The Concretes back and
better than ever. JONATHAN FALCONE
dvd
Metalocalypse: Season 3
78%
ADULT SWIM
In the third season of this heavy metal cartoon
mockumentary, we find our heroes Dethklok
up to their usual antics. Whether the band is
left thinking their manager is dead, Skwissgaar
leaves to find his father, or Dethklok starts their own tribute
band, the laughs keep coming in new and more outrageous
ways. With guest appearances by Slash, Dave Grohl and
Ace Frehley, and featuring longer and uncensored episodes,
Season 3 is a reminder that the genre of rock and roll spoof
isn’t quite Tap-ped out. DANIEL KOHN
PEPPER RABBIT
89%
Beauregard KANINE
Pepper Rabbit makes swinging pop that sounds like
the result of a raid on Sufjan Steven’s instrument
stash. While its debut full-length Beauregard is comprised of two
previously released EPs, that doesn’t make it any less required
listening. The L.A. duo effortlessly sidesteps common pitfalls that
often plague chamber-influenced genres; compositions are given
breathing room, crescendos are milked for maximum emotion and
tongues are kept in cheek. One listen to the cabaret-influenced
track “Harvest Moon” makes it clear that Pepper Rabbit is more
than ready to take its show on the road. LAURA STUDARUS
ELIZABETH & THE CATAPULT 78%
The Other Side of Zero
VERVE FORECAST There’s no denying Elizabeth Ziman’s croon is
familiar. It’s warm and knowing, calling to mind
Fiona Apple in resonance and Feist in cadence. But truth be
told, Ziman doesn’t sound exactly like anyone—except for
herself. The same could be said for The Other Side of Zero.
While the piano/acoustic guitar/percussion combo often
associated with female songwriters is prevalent, the tracks
manage to establish their own identities and not run together.
Yet it’s ultimately difficult to shake the feeling that you’ve heard
this all before. CLARE R. LOPEZ
POMEGRANATES
85%
One of Us
AFTERNOON
“Beauty without grace is the hook without the
bait,” Emerson once wrote. This scintillating
band, at the wee age of four years old, has already achieved
both. The third, decidedly un-trendy album by these four
Cincinnati rockers is an exercise in fluidity and finds them
swimming through a warm sea of contemplative heartache.
Like Christopher Nolan, POMEGRANATES performs with a
masterful ease, smoothly maneuvering from oversize spectacle
to small-scale minimalism. It’ll reel you in with authority—and
you’ll beg, “Please don’t let me go.” KURT ORZECK
book
GREG GRAFFIN & STEVE OLSON
Anarchy Evolution: Faith, Science and Bad
82%
Religion in a World Without God
!T BOOKS
For most of his life, Bad Religion singer
Greg Graffin has had trouble respecting
authority. But after he received a
doctorate from Cornell, Graffin became the authority
himself. In between gigs, he teaches evolution at UCLA
and this book is the result of his life’s experiences
in both punk and academic circles. Anarchy is a
surprisingly refreshing memoir that isn’t a self-serving
cliché and has some serious depth, demonstrating that
Graffin’s strong and unmistakable writing talents extend
beyond music. DANIEL KOHN
GANGRENE
79%
Gutter Water DECON
Gutter Water is a skillful back-to-basics DJrap album from The Alchemist. Sure, he
gets some help from co-credited Oh No (together they
are Gangrene), but The Alchemist’s characteristic whitenoise crackle and stabbing, retro-funk riffs hold court.
Gutter Water, like his other albums, is a hard-rap take on
DJ progenitors like DJ Shadow. It’s peppered with esoteric
radio clips, heavy drums and repetitive, sometimes-grating
song samples. The tracks aren’t perfect, but Gutter Water
delivers a solid punch of old school DJ culture couched in
top-notch rapping. ZACHARY SNIDERMAN
BRIAN ENO
87%
Small Craft on a Milk Sea
WARP
Another resplendent nonpareil from Eno (and a
collaborative improvisation with Leo Abraham
and Jon Hopkins), this is veritably a spontaneous soundtrack to an
inferential film, one that is essentially revealed in the imagination
of the listener. And, oh, the things you just may imagine. The
opening trio of eerie but fragile compositions might vaguely
evoke someone waking dazed and alone on a desolate beach;
they’re followed by another trois conveying all the dystopian
frenzy of a car chase across a bleak Ballardian cityscape. And, as
one might expect from the maestro, it all closes with a piece titled
“Late Anthropocene,” which suggests both hope for—and yet a
smoldering anxiety with—these, our unsettling modern times.
Because tidy endings, after all, are for suckers. KEN SCRUDATO
JIM SULLIVAN
86%
U.F.O. [reissue]
LIGHT IN THE ATTIC
The narrative behind Jim Sullivan’s lost debut
album is so mystifying that it sounds made
up: In 1969, the Southern California guitarist recorded a
psychedelic-folk masterpiece called U.F.O. that barely made
a splash; Sullivan then headed to Nashville to pursue session
work and on his way he disappeared forever in the New Mexico
desert. U.F.O. nearly disappeared with Sullivan, but after 40
years it’s finally being reissued. This excellent digital transfer
has preserved one piece of the Jim Sullivan puzzle. Hopefully
he’s somewhere he can hear it. KENNY S. McGUANE
AVEY TARE
85%
Down There
PAW TRACKS
Ever so discreetly, an Avey Tare (aka Dave
Portner) solo record has bubbled to the foggy
surface. Inspired by crocodiles, recorded by Deakin, and
sloshing amok through rhythmic swamplands, Down There
is the inkiest output from Portner since Here Comes the
Indian. “Laughing Hieroglyphic” churns in the bog, “Ghost of
Books” chatters at the wind, and all nine jams attain cohesion
by pulling up beats from below. Portner has long oozed an
anarchic and, at times, gloomy essence as Animal Collective’s
alpha songwriter, and Down There feels quite content
wallowing in this murky bath. KYLE Mac KINNEL
dvd
Back to the Future
93%
[25th Anniversary boxed set] UNIVERSAL
It’s hard to believe that it has been 25 years
since we were introduced to Marty McFly,
Doc Brown and flying DeLoreans. From Biff
to Griff to Mad Dog Tannen, this restored edition goes the
full 88 miles per hour with its bonus footage. A six-part
retrospective documentary, featuring interviews with cast
members, Robert Zemeckis and Steven Spielberg, plus a
storyboard revealing an alternate ending to the original
film make this boxed set a must-have for fans of the trilogy.
It may be too early to party like it’s 2015, but that doesn’t
change the fact that this is one of the most extensive and
cool reissues in recent years. DANIEL KOHN
THE AUTUMN DEFENSE
Once Around
68%
YEP ROC
As The Autumn Defense, Wilco co-founder
John Stirratt and current member Pat Sansone
prove a far cry from the avant-garde alt-country of Yankee Hotel
Foxtrot. On album four, the duo concocts more pleasantly
sleepy acoustic pop, anchored by Stirratt’s syrupy soft-rock
tenor. While there’s energy to the jaunty “Back of My Mind”
41 filter good music guide
and the shimmering strum of “The Swallows of London Town,”
Once Around is mostly a frustratingly tame collection of ‘70s
AM gold. Paging Dr. Tweedy... ADAM CONNER-SIMONS
NEIL YOUNG
88%
Le Noise
REPRISE
Not a man to mince words or make nice with
brand-name producers, eloquent crank Neil
Young kept to the former and jettisoned the latter ideal by
teaming with Daniel Lanois on this mostly solo album. Young’s
sandblasting electric guitar sits handsomely alone before
eerie rumbling atmospheres. Discord rules, even as a delicate
acoustic guitar tips “Peaceful Valley Boulevard” into the
pastoral red. Would you expect anything but sour soliloquies
from America’s ombudsman? By the time the cruel “Angry
World” ends, he’s become William S. Burroughs. “No doubt
everything will go as planned,” Young sings in a cackling hack.
Bravo. A.D. AMOROSI
K.C. ACCIDENTAL Anthems for the Could’ve Bin Pills/Captured
Anthems for an Empty Bathtub [reissue] 81%
ARTS + CRAFTS
As a precursor to Broken Social Scene, K.C.
Accidental is most interesting in precisely that context—a
way to trace the evolution of a band that would increasingly
challenge itself and expand its sound in the future. There’s
some less than necessary sound experimentation as well
as a lot of repetitive meandering, the aimlessness of which
is reinforced by a lack of vocals. On the other hand, there
is foreshadowed brilliance on tracks like “Them (Pop Song
#3333)” and accomplished nods to influences on “Something
For Chicago,” which makes this release indispensable for the
serious BSS fan. JEFFREY BROWN
42 filter good music guide
LIZ PHAIR
73%
Funstyle/Girlysound
ROCKET SCIENCE VENTURES
Advice for listening to Liz Phair’s double CD
Funstyle/Girlysound is similar to what you’d hear
pre-tattoo: It’s gonna be painful, but worth it in the end. That’s
because Funstyle’s what would happen if M.I.A. joined a musical
sequence on Saved by the Bell—Phair’s bhangra rap isn’t as bad
as her Beck-era funk or phrases like “penis colada,” though tracks
like “Satisfied” are pleasant but gritless. The payoff? Girlysound,
a compilation of raw early rarities like “Valentine,” sounds so good
that even limp dick rhymes are redeemed. MARISSA MOSS
video game
Fable III 80%
MICROSOFT
360, PC
The epic adventure of Fable carries on as
you continue to make moral decisions that
affect your gameplay and the world around
you. A new “touch” system lets you woo
citizens in physical and slightly creepy ways, hopefully
gaining you allies in revolution. But this is also RPG-lite; no
deep menu system or heavy weapon stats weigh you down.
Choose your weapon and use it to level it up. The focus is
on your decisions. ZACH ROSENBERG
PIGEON JOHN
81%
Dragon Slayer
QUANNUM
On his sixth solo album, Los Angeles-based
rapper Pigeon John brings more of his familiar
brand of scatterbrained, old school hip-hop. Dragon Slayer is
even more energetic than his previous albums and his witty
lyrics are at their most introspective. Most notably, Dragon
finds PJ trading in his MPC for live instruments, adding an
unexpected warmth not without its risks. The results aren’t a
knockout, but by taking chances and fearlessly discussing and
accepting change, Pigeon John proves that growing up isn’t as
hard as it’s made out to be. DANIEL KOHN
SUUNS
83%
Zeroes QC
SECRETLY CANADIAN
From pop to rock to experimental to just
plain bizarre, Canadian outfit Suuns’ debut
full-length is quite the experience to say the least. The
album’s 10 tracks are all over the place but are strung
together with threads of dark, mysterious synth-driven rock
throughout. “Arena” is a fun, club-friendly dance track that
feels quite upbeat—until the vocals begin. Then it’s back to
the experimental distortions and wailings that dominate the
album. A solid jumping-off point, it’ll be interesting to see
what’s next for the band. SPENCER FLANAGAN
SMALL BLACK
71%
New Chain JAGJAGUWAR
As both Washed Out’s support and backing
band this past spring, Small Black proved
a pleasant experience, laying down enough solid beats and
synth-drone from its excellent debut EP to awaken even
the terminally zoned-out. And, yes, this restless long-player
fidgets with essentially the same swoon-worthy ingredients,
but it’s largely an overly complicated and wearisome listen that
finds too comfortable a spot to settle itself in...and stays there
(“Photojournalist”). Where’s the NoDoz? Chillwave may have
officially become too chill, bros. BREANNA MURPHY
STEREOLAB
85%
Not Music
DRAG CITY After a career that made sugar-coated, Neu!inspired nihilism and electronic pop music the
norm, Stereolab’s decision to go on hiatus after 2008’s Chemical
Chords is basically a total bummer. Not Music is made up of,
well, music indeed from that 2008 session and shows the band
in rainbow funk form—fusing together strains of bossa nova,
psychedelia and library soundtracks into one bubbling whole. It’s
heady stuff with plenty of detours and time changes, with final
track “Pop Molecules” almost creating a full circle back to Peng!’s
droning aggression. JON PRUETT
JULIETTE COMMAGERE
78%
The Procession
MANIMAL
Hello Stranger, indeed. With her second solo venture
outside the shadow of that indie band, oogling keytar
worshippers have something as easy on their ears as their eyes
from a mellowed Juliette Commagere. From the album’s opening
arpeggiated melodies and backing horn section of “Eats from the
Inside” to the layered synth-pop of closer “Animal,” The Procession
showcases talents beyond that of a Xanax-induced Imogen Heap—all
the way down to the headdresses. Album covers aside, Commagere is
still certain to draw the comparisons. MATT ELDER
FREE MORAL AGENTS
83%
Control This
CHOCOLATE INDUSTRIES
The first thing you need to do when listening to
Long Beach-based collective Free Moral Agents
is to forget that keyboardist/producer Isaiah “Ikey” Owens has
any relation to The Mars Volta. On Control This, Owens and his
musicians explore their softer sides as they flow through everything
from shimmering dreamscapes to electronic battlefields. “Six
Degrees” and “Dragon Pow” showcase Mendee Ichikawa’s smoky
vocals, but it’s the collective’s sultry psych rock take on Sonic
Youth’s “Little Trouble Girl” that proves that sometimes a few
great musical minds are better than one. LAUREN BARBATO
video game
Rock Band 3 75%
MTV GAMES
360, PS3, WII
Add 83 new hits to the 1,500 songs you’ve
been rocking out to for the last few years.
And with the new keyboard controller, you
can be the best new wave band on the block. Rock Band is a
juggernaut series, but there’s not much here that’s going to
change anyone’s mind about the franchise, good or bad. Points
off for being a DLC-driven money machine. I guess since it’s
MTV, we’re lucky there’s still music. ZACH ROSENBERG
GOLD PANDA
86%
Lucky Shiner
GHOSTLY INTERNATIONAL
Listening to Lucky Shiner for the first time is
like peeling back the face of a well-made pocket
watch and being able to witness every intricate detail that goes
into the ticks and tocks. The simple brilliance that Gold Panda
is capable of delivering with this crisp and intricate album
stands in sharp but good contrast to the previously released
Quitters Raga. These tracks include a perfect blend of hip-hop
and dance beats while maintaining a playful magnetism. Wind
it back, again and again. MARY KOSEARAS
dvd
THE NIGHT OF THE HUNTER
93%
CRITERION
Although this masterpiece of American film—
and master thespian Charles Laughton’s lone
directed feature—was poorly received when
it arrived in 1955, it has ridden Robert
Mitchum’s tattooed knuckles all the way to
Tinseltown heaven. The terrifying tale of a treasure-seeking,
serial killing “preacher” posing as a suitor and family man to
a widow and her children has been placed in the Library of
Congress’ “historical significance” bin and, more important
for living film fans like you, has now received this mega
Criterion release. Featuring an extra disc of interviews,
documentaries, archived TV programming and more, you’ll
be sure to “LOVE” it—just like Mitchum’s right hand says
you should. SHANE LEDFORD
DOUG PAISLEY
84%
Constant Companion NO QUARTER
Canadian singer/songwriter Doug Paisley
makes music for an intermittently rainy
summer’s day, circa 1975. Comparisons to crooners from that
golden decade (James Taylor, Jim Croce) are so immediate
that even 20-somethings will be left with a sense of mysterious
nostalgia. That The Band’s Garth Hudson plays keyboards here
only adds to the analog feel of the album, and Feist fans will see
the mellowest side of Ms. Leslie to date from her contribution
on Paisley’s “Don’t Make Me Wait.” Constant Companion
is a soothing dose of mellow pop that hides its excellence in
supremely crafted and executed three-minute songs. In the old
days you’d wear out the groves playing it over and over; now
you can just hit repeat. ADAM POLLOCK
good music guide filter 43
DICKIES
Detroit 874 Work Pant
$50
dickies.com
PLAYSTATION MOVE
Motion Controller
$49.99
us.playstation.com
AMERICAN RAG
Beanies
macys.com
Casiokids. Photo: Ketilxxx
NORWAY ROcks
Harrys Gym
Norway is more than stunning fjords and mountains
SAMSUNG GALAXY TAB FROM T-MOBILE
$TBA
Available in time for the holidays
No other country in the world hosts more independent festivals and concerts featuring both up-andcoming and established artists from Norway and abroad.
Now playing at Filter Magazine’s Culture Collide Festival, Norwegian pop group Harrys Gym and electroCONVERSE
Chuck Taylor
Culture Collide Special Edition
culturecollide.com
44 filter good music guide
pop ensemble Casiokids appear at Norway’s most popular and long-standing music festivals such as:
by: Larm, Øyafestivalen, and Hovefestivalen.
Visit Norway. Experience magnificent nature and festival life.
NORWAY
POWERED BY NATURE
www.visitnorway.us