We Love You...Digitally

We Love You...Digitally
HELLO AND WELCOME to the interactive version of Filter Mini 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? [Mini 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 Mini 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
H-O-T-T 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.
-Chris Martins, Editor-in-Chief
Letters, inquiries, randomness: mini@filter-mag.com
Advertising and suchlike: advertising@filter-mag.com
CONTENTS
PUBLISHERS:
Alan Miller & Alan Sartirana
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF:
SPOTLIGHT
4
5
CARINA ROUND, GREG LASWELL
MR. LIF, MURDER BY DEATH, ELECTRIC SOFT PARADE
Chris Martins
MANAGING EDITOR:
Pat McGuire
ART DIRECTOR:
SCENE
6
8
Eric Almendral
THE COUP’s Guide to Oakland
On the Road with the BUZZCOCKS
FLASH
10
FILTER PICKS
FEATURES
12
16
20
Soulful and Cynical: THE ZUTONS Move On
The World in Their Eyes:
MUSE’s Book of Revelations
Intellectual Property:
The Terra Firma of SUFJAN STEVENS
SCRIBES:
Catherine Adcock, Ewan Anderson,
Tungi Balogan, Lesley Bargar,Todd
Berger, Bryan Chenault, Benjy Eisen,
Kendah El-Ali, Colin Fleming,
Dan Frazier, Kevin Friedman,
David Iskra, Patrick James,
Cord Jefferson, Jolie Lash,
Nevin Martell, Scooter “Ax” McDougan,
Sam Roudman, Marc Soussant,
Colin Stutz, Michael Suter, Louis Vlach
EDITORIAL INTERN:
Colin Stutz
DESIGN INTERN:
REVIEWS
Sal Gabriel
ONE-LINERS
CD REVIEWS
MARKETING:
FR0M US TO YOU
And thus the prophet declared: “When Issue 12 is
to hit the shelf, humankind will rejoice and love
itself.” So it was said and so it has been written.
Alas, forget ye not the courageous crusade of the
Yeah Yeah Yeahs and their valiant battle to reclaim
the magic of the New York rock scene. Or was it
the marvelous mysteries of Phoenix and Massive
Attack that elated us so—betwixt our hearts,
minds and souls? Surely ’tis a quandary for the
great warlock, nay? (Settle it yeself by visiting filtermini.com.) Hither, we
come bearing gifts of Muse, the Zutons and Sufjan; will thoust partake in
the royal celebration? Good music shan’t prevail without thee.
ON STANDS NOW – FILTER ISSUE 20
Say, “Hello, hello,” to TV on the Radio.
As the boho Brooklyn boys transmit
their opus of originality and honesty to
the world, questions arise: How do we
face society’s evils? Can we defeat this
homogenized version of our so-called
lives? But our journey for truth doesn’t
stop there.We explore the howls and
daydreams of the Walkmen; drop in on
comedian Zach Galifianakis; and take a
walk on the wild side with Eagles of
Death Metal. Plus, more from Yeah Yeah
Yeahs, Zero 7, Be Your Own Pet, Placebo, the elusive Scott Walker, Roger
Daltrey and Lisztomania, Leonard Cohen in film, and introductions to
Pretty Girls Make Graves, Hot Chip, Band of Horses, and Jolie Holland.
SEND ALL LETTERS TO:
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Danielle Allaire, Ewan Anderson,
Samantha Barnes, Mike Bell,
Bryan Chenault, Penny Hewson,
Eric “Vizion” Jones, Gur Rashal,
Jenna Starr, Eli Thomas
THANK YOU:
Heather Bleemers, John Brown, Rene Carranza,
Adam Drucker, Charles Fleming, Eric Frederic,
Kushal Hall, Mom and Dad, Martins and Vlacks,
Marc McAlpin and family, Marcel Merriwether, the
Oakland Bay Area, Baillie Parker, McGuire family,
Monkey, Bagavagabonds, Jim Baltutis, Stevie Nicks’
Wireless Internet, Samantha Feld,Andrea LaBarge,
Daniel Cabrera, Erik Bedard, Jamaal Layne, Adrian
Martinez, Wendy Kayland-Sartirana, Momma
Sartirana, the Ragsdales, SC/PR Sartiranas, the
Masons, Pete-O, Rey, the Paikos family, Chelsea &
the Rifkins, Shalyce & Donna @ Goldenvoice,
Shaynee, Wig/Tamo and the SF crew, Shappsy,
Phamster, Pipe, Dana Dynamite, Christian P, Mike
Williams, Lisa O’Hara, Jennie Boddy, Pam
Ribbeck, Sioux Z, Jesse Jensen, Rachel Weissman,
Jill Capone, Brill Bundy.
FOOTWEAR | OPTICS | APPERAL
MACBETH artist collaboration series
featuring Angels & Airwaves
The Bonham shoe
In select retailers July 2006
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EDITORIAL INQUIRIES:
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Los Angeles, CA 90038
mini@filter-mag.com
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West Coast Sales: 323.464.4718
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Filter Mini Magazine is published by Filter
Magazine LLC, 5908 Barton Ave., Los Angeles
CA 90038.Vol. 1, No. 12, July/August 2006.
Filter Mini Magazine 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.
© 2006 BY FILTER MAGAZINE LLC.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
FILTER IS PRINTED IN THE USA
FILTERMINI.COM
FILTER-MAG.COM
COVER PHOTO: PIPER FERGUSON
22
23
ALBUM : “WE DONT NEED TO WHISPER”
IN STORES NOW
SPOTLIGHT
Mr. Lif
By Cord Jefferson
We already had an inkling that amazing, politicized hiphop was dead, but seeing Flav shuckin’ and jivin’ across
the grave on VH1 was salt in the wound. One listen to
Mr. Lif, though, and it seemed we’d summoned the
bugler to call “Taps” too soon. How were we to know to
look to Boston? If we had, we could have found Lif
dropping out of Colgate U to drop smart attacks on
media, money and misogyny on his debut LP, I Phantom.
Soon came the obvious classification of Lif as a firebrand. “I made my own bed on that one,” he acknowledges. But in 2005 he teamed with Akrobatik and DJ
Fakts One (as the Perceptionists) to create the more
danceable Black Dialogue. “I do have various angles,” Lif
stresses. His latest, Mo’ Mega, promises to be as heavy as
the name implies.
Carina Round
By Patrick James
“It’s like this,” quips a drowsy Carina Round at sunset
in Birmingham, England, “You go to Mars, which is
L.A., and you record a record with this Martian, who
is Glenn [Ballard, Grammy-winning producer]…and it
ends up being the closest I’ve gotten to pop, but still
quite intimate.”Which is, in effect, the line Miss Round
set out to walk via her stateside debut, 2004’s The
Disconnection. Carina’s third full-length (her first was a
U.K. exclusive), Slow Motion Addict, is as much Patti
Smith as it is Björk—just when you think you have her
pinned as punk, she entrances you in flighty reverie.
Not one to get stuck in the rut of genre, locale or even
schedule, she spent May playing select shows in New
York before flying back to Mars…err…L.A. to shoot
a video for every song on the album in one week.
mini
CARINA ROUND: DEAN CHALKLEY; GREG LASWELL: AUTUMN DEWILDE
By Catherine Adcock
Back when he wrote Through Toledo, chronicling the unendurable days of his recent
breakup, this pop singer-songwriter assumed
it would only be heard by his long-time San
Diego friends. “I had intentions of only releasing 2,000 records on my own and just selling
them in town,” Greg Laswell says. But when a
record label came calling, his album found its
way across the United States, and the note he
wrote for his best friend about that girl who
broke his heart was suddenly getting read
aloud by the teacher for everyone to hear. On
Through Toledo, he hits the requisite Beatles
and Beach Boy notes, but ventures far enough
off course with his most-interesting numbers
to garner Beck and Radiohead comparisons.
Like his hometown, the record never gets too
gloomy, but Laswell’s songs are best suited to
a rainy day spent indoors, enjoying the company of your own mind.
MR. LIF: JASON MESSER; MURDER BY DEATH: SELENA SALFEN; ELECTRIC SOFT PARADE: BETTER LOOKING RECORDS
Murder By
Death
Greg Laswell
4 FILTER
SPOTLIGHT
By Dan Frazier
Indiana’s Murder By Death is turning over a new (yet
still decaying) leaf. Originally cutting their teeth in
front of emo crowds, the band sheds any reference to
their post-punk past with In Bocca Al Lupo (Italian for “In
the mouth of the wolf ”). Perhaps born a century too
late, the band is underlined by their archaic, aphotic
ambience (cello, keys, acoustics, Johnny Cash-ish
vocals, group chants). This development in sound was
undoubtedly unveiled with help from the album’s cult
hero of a producer, J. Robbins (ex-member of Jawbox,
Burning Airlines). But what secures Murder By Death’s
eerie demeanor is their lyrical narratives of whiskey, sin,
loneliness, death and forgiveness sung in Adam Turla’s
various vocal character sketches. Somewhere, Edgar
Allan Poe’s ghost is listening.
Electric Soft
Parade
By Benjy Eisen
Dylan plugs in. Hendrix drops Electric Ladyland. Amps are going
up to 11 these days. Isn’t rock music supposed to be both loud and
electric? But Electric Soft Parade is every bit as paradoxical as the
name implies. The band clearly lives a dual existence: ESP is
brothers Tom and Alex White, who are also full-time members of
British buzz band Brakes. Both White bands are off to a running
start, but Tom insists that ESP is their first priority (preempting
any Ben Gibbard complex). Tom also says ESP is a pop band, not
an indie act, thank you very much. Semantics aside, the new The
Human Body EP, their first official release in the U.S. (following two previous U.K. full-lengths), is full of enough
jangly keys and gentle melodies to stress that “bringing the noise” doesn’t always mean it’s got to be ear-splitting.
FILTER mini 4
SCENE
annie stela
there is a story here
The Coup’s
Guide to
Oakland, CA
By Chris Martins
Welcome to the Oakland Bay Area. Yeah, I
said it: Oakland. San Francisco’s got beautiful
scenery and a healthy liberal bent, but the
East Bay has soul. It’s a roiling melting pot of
funk and activism, historical reverence and revolutionary progressivism, sliding socio-economic scales, local pride,
national distrust, and raw, grit-bearing, populist art.To put it another way, Beat poetry is to bebop what S.F. is to
Oaktown. And that’s not to say one’s better than the other (or that it’s a black and white thing, necessarily), but
that where these two cities are concerned culturally, that old “can’t have one without the other” equation is a oneway street that runs due West.
Since age 15, the Coup’s Raymond “Boots” Riley has been making the most of his days here, splitting his time
between groove-heavy agitprop hip-hop and grassroots political movement (which also means a fair share of partying,
conversing and...partaking). He and DJ/producer Pam the Funkstress are going on 14 years and five albums together
as the Coup, and their latest, Pick a Bigger Weapon, is their best. It’s their most musically realized, stylistically diverse,
and personal record to date, and hence it’s the most pointed weapon in Oakland hip-hop’s booming arsenal.All things
considered, Filter Mini couldn’t pick a better host than Boots for a brief (and long overdue) visit to the Yay.
The Funkiest…
…venue to see live music?
Q’s Lounge, Friday nights. It’s in back of Everett & Jones
Barbecue. A lot of funky musicians play there. Some of
the bands are unknown funk groups like the Oakland
Africans. Some are known R&B artists—like Keisha
Cole,Tony! Toni! Toné!, and Latoya London—but when
they play there, they have to play way funkier than on
their records; I think it’s in the contract Q’s makes them
sign or something. Oakland has an up-and-coming new
live black music scene like nowhere else in the world.
…place to write a manifesto?
Jahva House, owned by Dwayne Wiggins [of Tony! Toni!
Toné!]. It’s always got some good music playing and the
décor is very hip. I’ve sat there and tried to write many a
political treatise or just a tight verse, but I always end up
running into about 10 people I know and getting into some
very important debate that stops me from getting my work
done.The chai is good and the couches are comfortable.
…bookstore for leftist ideas?
Revolution Books. This is over in Berkeley, but if you
can’t find it, they probably have it. I always end up running into somebody I know and getting into some very
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important debate that stops me from finding the book I
was looking for.
…spot where the people bring the funk?
Sideshows.When hundreds of mainly young black folks
in cars gather in a parking lot or intersection, play their
car stereos loud, and do different tricks with their
cars—like “doughnuts,” “dipping” and “ghostriding”—
it’s called a sideshow.The police have been trying to stop
us from doing this since the mid-’80s, but since they
shut down all our parties and clubs, this is where people
say, “Fuck the police!” and keep doin’ their thing despite
threats from the pigs. Naturally, I always end up running
into someone I know and getting some very important
debate that keeps me from the party.
…revolutionaries in Oakland history?
The Black Panthers. Free breakfast, free clothes, free
bus rides to see your family in prison. Following the
brutal, racist Oakland police with shotguns to make
sure they don’t “Amadou Diallo” us. A newspaper to
spread the truth. A revolutionary platform. They were
much more than the black leather jackets, although I
think I would look hella raw in one. F
debut ep available now
C www.anniestela.com
www.myspace.com/anniestela
SCENE
zero 7
the garden
On the
Road with
the Buzzcocks
By Ewan Anderson
Punk tours in the 1970s sure were a lot different from punk tours today; all the spit, vomit and safety pins seem to
have been replaced with eyeliner, hair product and ill-advised New Found Glory tattoos. Straddling the two extremes
are the Buzzcocks, part of the original punk rock royalty and one of a slew of bands that formed immediately after
seeing the Sex Pistols perform.The ’Cocks are, and were, the first to meld the frenetic pace and grinding guitars of
the punk movement with lyrics all about teenage heart-break; meaning, technically, that the Buzzcocks were the
world’s first emo band. Doesn’t it make perfect sense then for the band to come full-circle and play the Vans Warped
Tour? Filter caught up with frontman Pete Shelley to hear all about it. If their tourmates have got any sense, they’ll be
anxiously taking notes from side-stage as they wipe sweaty mascara from their sun-beaten brows.
Will you play them as fast as possible to fit more
in?
For the past two years we haven’t drawn breath between
songs.We just go one after the other, so it’s almost like
listening to the record. In fact, on this tour the first six
songs are the first six on Flat Pack Philosophy, so we do
them one after the other. The audience doesn’t get a
chance to draw breath either—sometimes they are still
dancing to a song that they don’t know because they
remembered the one before.
Steve Diggle [Buzzcocks’ original bassist]
famously snubbed Green Day when he claimed
that they weren’t real punks. Are there any
bands playing the Warped Tour that you feel do
have that punk-rock authenticity?
I haven’t checked to see who’s on, actually. So I think I’ll
reserve judgment until I get a chance to see.
We’ll need to check in with you afterwards.The
new album has an anti-consumerist culture
slant to it…
We didn’t set out to make an album like that, but it’s part
of our everyday lives, isn’t it? Sometimes the consumerist
society gets a bit much.
But most tours these days are sponsored by
Napster…or a certain sneaker company. Does
this affect your tours?
I remember when Napster was the label’s enemy; they
were the rebels. But I suppose it’s a necessity these days
because it costs a lot of money to tour. Unfortunately, we
don’t have a sponsor. I suppose it’s because we keep railing
against corporate culture.They want nothing to do with us.
What do you do to keep yourselves entertained
on the tour bus in between countries?
We bring a good selection of porn. Actually, we don’t
really do all that much because we travel during the
night, so usually when we get on the bus we’ve just
been decanted from a bar, maybe have another drink,
then it’s off to bed. Then we wake up in the next city,
which is always a great thing.
How does your tour bus now compare to your
method of travel in the early days?
Back then it was a van with the gear flat on the back and a
mattress on top, so it’s a little bit better. But those days gave
me a great trick in that I can fall asleep anywhere. I’ve even
been known to fall asleep on the back of a motorcycle.
Don’t try that at home.
Do you have any touring wisdom for new bands?
Don’t pack too much stuff in your bag, because you’ll
never get a chance to wear it all and you’ll just be carting it
around.And always remember that they have shops where
you are going.And drink plenty of water! F
in stores june 6th
PHOTO: PAUL MADDEN
You’re about to start the Warped Tour. Are you
looking forward to it?
It should be really fun.They only give us 30 minutes to play,
so I think that we can get about a dozen songs in. We’re
hoping to cram a lot into it.
the breathtaking new album featuring josé gonzález & sia
includes "throw it all away" "you 're my flame" & "futures "
on tour this fall
a t l a n t i c r e c o r d s .com
www.zz e r o 7 . c o .uk www.a
c 2006 Atlantic Recording Corporation for the United States & WEA International Inc. for the world outside the United States.
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FLASH
Filter Picks
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AMERICAN RAG
Cap-sleeve Hooded Top
Available at Macy’s
STRANGERS
WITH CANDY
The Complete Series
DVD, $55
shop.comedycentral.com
VANS
Descendents
sneaker, $50
vans.com
QUIKSILVER
Quik Jean Signature Denim Collection
Arto Saari, $75; Natas Kaupas, $100; Reese Forbes, $75
quiksilver.com
7 FILTER
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FILTER mini 7
Soulful and Cynical
The Zutons Move On
So selling 600,000 records in your home country
and no one writing about the band…that’s got
to mess with your head.
I like it, in a way. It shows that it’s proper honest. It’s an
honest reality that the Zutons live in. It’s not a fucking
overnight sensation. I don’t think I’m an overnight sensation kind of person. I don’t think that would have
agreed with me. I know people like the band for the
right reasons.
You’ve said “Valerie” and “Oh Stacey” are about
people you met in America on your last tour. Has
America had a big influence on Tired?
I don’t think it has. Some songs, definitely, but I think it’s
more different people from different parts of the world.
It’s not strictly an American thing. You spend so much
time touring there, it’s bound to leak through into some
of your songs just ’cos that’s
what you do in your life: you
go out and you meet people,
you write songs about it and
you come back. I never
thought I was gonna write an
American album. That’s a horrible thing to do.
Neil Young occasionally
likes to.
NeilYoung’s from Canada so he
can write songs about being
from Canada. I like to write
songs about where I am at the
time. I spent a lot of time
there. Everywhere’s got good
places and bad places. It’s just
wherever you are at the time
that’s where you write music
or certain lyrics.
By Jolie Lash
DAVID MCCABE IS HIDING OUT on a tour bus in Scotland. Don’t get the wrong impression; this isn’t a normal activity for the kinky-haired, blue-eyed frontman of Liverpool’s masters of musical amalgam, the Zutons. But
for McCabe and his band, the last few months have been pretty unusual.
Though the five piece—McCabe, saxophone vixen Abi Harding, guitarist Boyan Chowdhury, bassist Russell
Pritchard and drummer Sean Payne—would manage to shift a whopping 600,000 copies of their 2004 debut
Who Killed...... The Zutons in the U.K., the British music press ignored them every step of the way. The the
Liverpudlians slowly grew on the nation’s consciousness via word of mouth and dogged touring.Which is part
of the reasons they netted a Mercury Music Prize nomination, and why when it came time to record their latest effort Tired of Hanging Around, due in the U.S. on August 22, they had their choice of super producers.
After hooking up with famed Blur knob-twiddler Stephen Street in London late last year, the band laid down
Tired’s 11 cuts of soulful pop. From the first single “Why Won’t You Give Me Your Love,” a song made frantic by
sexual deprivation, to the swinging “Oh Stacey (Look What You’ve Done),” it’s a record that’s already proving hard
to overlook (the album reached Number Two on U.K. charts). Now, the papers that ignored them are calling and
McCabe’s face is plastered everywhere.Which is why he’s stuck on the bus, perplexedly peering at a gaggle of fans
patiently waiting for the emergence of a bona fide Zuton.
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For this one you roped in
a very British producer,
Stephen Street.
Yeah. I think it was good for him though, ’cos he must be
sick of the porkpie hats and all that. It’s fucking doing my
head in. I don’t not like British music, but I’m not into that
whole London thing. They all walk around being ironic
and all that. Considering a few of the bands that he’s produced [Blur, Kaiser Chiefs] it’s probably good for him to
do a band like the Zutons ’cos we’re not really like anything else in Britain.
What was it like making it?
It was kind of a quick record when we made it. When
you’re in the studio, it can fuck with your head. Every
time you put an album out you’re giving someone a
chance to have a fucking go at ya. And people do
because they’re bored.
I heard Queens of the Stone Age’s Josh Homme
complimented you recently.
Oh, er, he said he liked our gig at Coachella. I met him for
about two seconds.
Didn’t that mean something?
Yeah of course, but I’m a cynical bastard. Eddie Vedder was
the same. He said,“I love your band,” and all that, but Eddie
Vedder…Josh Homme…whatever! Bryan Ferry wanted
our Abi to play saxophone for a couple of things.You take
these things with a pinch of salt. If you go, “Oh, look what
happened to me,” you sound like a fucking twat. Certain
persons might enjoy that kind of thing, but I just get nervous around people I admire.
Like who?
I met David Byrne. I was very nervous around him. I was
stupidly nervous.
Do you think your attitude
keeps you from enjoying
things?
No, I think it just keeps you
human and keeps you safe and
keeps you—wait there a minute,
I’ve just got to do an autograph.
[To guy standing outside the bus]
Alright!
Scottish Guy: Alright mate
Dave: Speak to her. Say hello.
Scottish Guy: Hello there. How’s
tricks? Hope you’re having a wonderful time.
I am.
Scottish Guy: He’s in a brilliant
band called the Zutons.
I know.
Scottish Guy: They’re brilliant. I
recognized the lead singer there
so I thought I’d ask for his autograph.
Do you know what his name is?
Scottish Guy: Um... [takes his autograph, nervously waves
and walks away]
Well that was interesting. So you don’t take compliments to heart.When do you actually indulge
yourself Dave?
When we’re playing gigs I get to indulge myself. That’s
when it should be done.You look at all these fucking…I
don’t want to say it. I don’t want to slag anyone off. I don’t
want to be like that. But I don’t think I’m bad to myself; I
have a laugh. It’s like a self-persecution thing. It keeps you
on your toes. F
FILTER mini 8
BY NEVIN MARTELL
PHOTOS BY PIPER FERGUSON
GROOMING BY MOSHA KATANA/MK ARTISTS
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FILTER mini 10
tion, we’re not afraid to explore some of the outer
fringes of musical atmospheres. Because we’ve been
together since we were about 16 years old [they’re
going on 12 years as a band], we still have that element
of fearlessness that we had when we were very young.
And we’ve managed to keep that with us now, so we
still don’t really feel like we have to do something that
is expected of us.
You’re definitely trying some new things. The
single, “Supermassive Black Hole,” has a
huge—dare I say it—dance element to it.
A lot of U.K. bands seem to be doing a good job of
stealing back the dancefloor from the R&B world,
which seems to have owned it for 10 years. It’s nice
to see guitar bands and rock music having another
shot at it.
Were you listening to any particular bands or
going out to any clubs that inspired you to pursue this dancier vibe?
“Supermassive Black Hole”—and songs like “Starlight”
and “Map of the Problematique”—came very late in the
album-making process. We started off making the
record in the South of France; we went there to separate ourselves from all of our usual influences and to
get away from our normal lives, in an attempt to reinvent ourselves and find some new ideas.We were actually in the studio where Pink Floyd made The Wall. Had
we been there for much longer, we might have made an
album like The Wall too; something really progressive
and ’70s sounding.We started going a bit mental down
there. So, after two months of not going out or
relaxing, we decided to go to New York.
Over the last two records there has been a more
cinematic and theatrical quality to the music. You
seem to be experimenting with bigger and bigger
sounds. How does Black Holes and Revelations
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fit into the band’s creative arc?
We’ve never been afraid to explore new ideas. And
we’ve always been very interested in the unknown sides
of ourselves, the world and music. In terms of imagina-
The last record had a lot of political undertones and it doesn’t seem like you’ve backed
down at all.
A song like “Soldier’s Song” is me putting myself into
the perspective of a soldier who feels a little bit disillusioned or is not sure of the reasons why he’s fighting.
That song is an obvious reference to current events.
“Take a Bow” is about a person who is realizing he is
being manipulated by a global agenda. If there was a
theme on the album, it would be that the human spirit
is waking up to the manipulation that is all around us all
and feeling like it is time to break out of that. As I grow
older, I’m definitely more conscious of what is going on
around us. It does seem like there are agendas and
things that are being organized for us. And it’s not necessarily our choice. It’s about people becoming disillusioned with the powers they used to trust.
Does this mean that Muse is going to become a
more politically active band?
At the moment I’m trying to push it all into the lyrics.
I have yet to be impressed when I see musicians trying
to make statements about anything, outside of their
music. It often comes across as hypocritical, maybe
because a lot of the problems in the world are due to
the fact that individuals can acquire enormous amounts
of wealth.And oftentimes it’s your rock stars and actors
who have accumulated that wealth who then seem to
stand up and make big statements about poverty.
I wouldn’t want to name names, of course. F
PARANOID ANGLOID
GROOMING BY MOSHA KATANA/MK ARTISTS
IT’S CLOSE TO BEDTIME IN ITALY, where Muse lead singer/guitarist/resident conspiracy theorist Matt
Bellamy is hanging out at his girlfriend’s hideaway in the mountains, enjoying one of his last free days before
touring becomes his stile di vita. Despite the late hour, he’s full of energy, answering questions with quick torrents
of words, his passion for his band’s latest album, Black Holes and Revelations, apparent at every turn.We’ll forgive
him the schoolboy eagerness, because the trio’s latest songs are some of the most ambitious of their four-album
career. If 2003’s breakout Absolution was their space rock opera, then this is their sweeping Earthly epic about a
world wracked with paranoia, self-destruction and impending doom. Bellamy, bassist Chris Wolstenhome and
drummer Dominic Howard have captured post-millennium tension with a painfully acute accuracy, melding this
disturbing imagery to juggernaut rhythms, soaring riffs, melodramatic tweakery and more groove than you might
have come to expect from the English threesome. Not to worry, though. Muse still know how to rock like the
world’s coming down around them, playing that final gig before the mushroom cloud swallows us all up in one
breath of apocalyptic fury. Onward into the fire, then…
How long were you there?
We spent three or four weeks working in New York,
and during that time our perspective changed. Certain
songs that weren’t really at the top of the list when we
were working in France started coming into the foreground, since they were in the atmosphere of the city.
We started to care more about the groove element of
the album and the rhythm section in general.
Was there a specific moment that served as the
catalyst for the change?
A friend in New York took me to a club called the Dark
Room on the Lower East Side. It has a dingy little vibe,
but it’s cool in there and anyone can have a go at pretending to be a DJ. I gave it a shot, and though I wasn’t
very good, I still managed to do a pretty good mix of
Depeche Mode’s “World in My Eyes” and the Eurythmics’
“Sweet Dreams,” which went down pretty well. I think in
the process of seeing a few nice looking ladies dancing
along to that, I thought to myself, “We should definitely
get some more groovy elements going on the album.”
Matt Bellamy runs down his favorite conspiracy theories.
HAARP (High Frequency Active
Auroral Research Program): They’re
these radio-transmitter things that can
shoot electromagnetic energy into the ionosphere; some people think they’re actually controlling the weather.
Exopolitics: Governments of the world
are going to orchestrate an alien invasion in
the next decade for the purposes of
increasing their military budgets in space.
The existence of aliens: Aliens contacted the U.S. government in the
’40s because they wanted to abduct
humans without getting interrupted and in exchange they gave
us advanced technologies.
Music is an abstraction; it’s just melody and sounds.
Then through workmanship and performance and
practice, you begin to create meaning out of it.
The Terra
You used the word ‘revelation.’ Would you
describe writing music as a spiritual or religious experience?
I’m not so comfortable with the word religious, but
it’s definitely spiritual; there’s definitely a divine
encounter, and I’m not sure where that comes from.
In the Christian tradition things are created by
speaking: so God said, “Let there be light,” and then
there was light. There was a sound heard to create an
object, and then we’re created out of the earth and
out of the dust. The sounds of the natural world are
overwhelming. We come from that, and that’s really
important. There’s some revelation of sound and of
meaning in the way that we produce our art, and
we’re mimicking that.
Firma of
Sufjan
Stevens
STATELY
WISDOM
Sufjan takes a (Barnes &) Noble stand
for the cream of U.S. regional fiction.
Winesburg, Ohio
BY SHERWOOD ANDERSON
A collection of related stories
about the odd, idiosyncratic,
and lonely dimensions of a
small midwestern town based
on Anderson’s hometown of
Clyde, Ohio.
The Adventures of Augie
March
BY SAUL BELLOW
By Sam Roudman
A FABLED TROPE IN INDIE ROCK mythology is the figure of the slacker: the ramshackle and hirsute outcast with the scratched guitar slung over his shoulder. Talented? Yes. Motivated? Nuh-uh. But alas, our
failure-fated hero trudges on through the hallowed halls of underdog fame, moping and nudging at the zeitgeist while cursing its existence.
In his six years as a solo artist, Sufjan has delivered five albums of disarming and intricately arranged melodies.
In 2003 he began a project to catalog all 50 states in album form, beginning with a sedate and personal accounting
of his home state of Michigan. But the full promise of the project was realized last year, when Illinois entered the
fray with all the jaw-dropping bombastic splendor of a child’s first fireworks show. Stevens’ money was where his
mouth was, and ever since, the caretakers of the Great Tome of Indie Rock Mythology have been scrambling to
write the story of a new hero. First name: Sufjan. Middle name: Ambition.
Mini sat down with Mr. Stevens on the eve of the release of The Avalanche, a set of outtakes and alternate versions from Illinois. Clocking in at 75 minutes, this collection is hefty, not just in length, but in depth and consideration: a peek at the working processes of one of the most talented (and prolific) musicians around.
The Avalanche’s cover declares it’s “shamelessly
compiled by Sufjan Stevens.” Should this be
considered a complete album?
I feel like it’s a complete album based on two variables:
it’s long enough to be an album and I feel there’s enough
new, interesting material to warrant a second listening.
It should be listened to as an appendix to Illinois. We
were going to call it “Illinois Part Two,” but that seemed
12 FILTER
mini
unfair. There’s
a real divergence in themes and territoN
ries written about on these outtakes.
Much of your work is connected to a sense of
place. How do you achieve this?
The music always comes first.The music has priority,
the music has the upper hand, and I think it generates
a particular meaning. It is my work as a musician to
comprehend that meaning, so I’ll write a lot of songs
without really knowing what they’re about.
I find—for some reason; I don’t know why—that
geography and place are very important to me, and I
begin to project that onto the song.Then there is this
mergence of ideas between the song and myself, and
that’s when it starts to clarify, and starts to sort of
cultivate and germinate into a full-fledged song. I
don’t know what it is—perhaps it’s a revelation.
PHOTO BY DENNY RENSHAWZ
What
is the origin of The Avalanche?
I
These are songs I had written for the Illinois record and
didn’t use. Some of them were in finished form, maybe
five or six of them were completely done, and the rest
were either demos or sketches that I had left on my
computer or my 8-track. At the end of last year I
returned to the old material and was really just
archiving it, but I started to spend some time with it.
Have you thought about how the music will
change as you approach different places?
It’ll change dramatically. On Illinois there is a pageantry
that reminds me of John Philip Sousa, and marching
bands, and patriotic parades—that was the sensibility I
was trying to evoke. But, that changes when you go further west. In plains states like Arizona or New Mexico
there are vast amounts of land, very little vegetation, and
it’s very dry and hot. That kind of ecology and meteorology and landscape affects everything, from the kind of
people who live and settle there, to the civilizations that
develop, to the kinds of food they eat and the music they
produce. It’s just natural to reckon with that as you write
about different places.
Bellow’s greatest literary
exploit, a monumental
Bildungsroman entrenched in
the depression-era collage of
Chicago.
Have you found people clamoring for you to
write about their state?
It happens all the time. What I find most interesting is
that my proposition has inspired all kinds of civic pride
all over the U.S. People start telling me anecdotes
about
their small town or their university, their
T
regional flower festival, or their beauty pageant. There
is this sense of pride and ownership; feelings of a
stronger identity of where they come from. I think
that’s interesting, because I never intended this to be
about civic pride, but it’s inspired a little bit of that all
over the country.
Light in August
Do you have a plan as to where you want to go
next with the state project?
I finally do, yes. But I probably shouldn’t say.
Well, you probably shouldn’t, but if you wanted
to, this would be a great time to do it.
I’m not confident enough to make any public statements.
Pilgrim at Tinker Creek
BY ANNIE DILLARD
A wise and philosophical meditation on the natural world,
based on observations in and
around the Blue Ridge
Mountains of Virginia.
BY WILLIAM FAULKNER
E
Many of Faulkner’s novels take
place in the imaginary
Yoknapatawpha County,
Mississippi, widely considered
one of the most vast and encyclopedic fictional creations ever.
The Collected Stories
BY GRACE PALEY
Grace Paley summons all the
hot humid hubris of New York
City summers in concise stories settled by activist women,
Jewish grandmothers,
unfaithful husbands and mouthy
children. Her titles are unbeatable: “Enormous
Changes at the Last Minute,” “In Time Which
Made a Monkey of Us All,” to name two.
Fair enough. F
FILTER mini 12
REVIEWS
One-Liners:
A miniature take on selected Filter Magazine reviews
...........................................................................................................................
(Go to Filter-Mag.com or pick up Filter Magazine’s Spring Issue for full reviews of the albums covered here.)
95%
Vol. 1-12
Tommy Boy
A 12-volume history lesson with virtually
every important emcee and producer from rap’s first
dozen years.
Cocteau Twins
91%
Lullabies to Violaine
4AD
The perfect soundtrack to a day in
Labyrinth with David Bowie: the enchanted glory of 59
non-album tracks.
Massive Attack
91%
Collected
Virgin
Add one part best of, one part rarities,
one part head-spinning vids; let it sink in and lose yourself; repeat as necessary.
Jolie Holland
89%
Springtime Can Kill You
AntiJolie trades in the “Morphine” and hillbilly
chic for a sound that’s a hint more melodic and a touch
less disturbed.
The Lovely Feathers
89%
Hind Hind Legs
Equator
Mark another point for Canada; if you’re
not there already, it might be time to move.
Ellen Allien + Apparat
87%
Orchestra of Bubbles
BPitch Control
Leave it to two Berliners to prove the
musical integrity of electronic artists everywhere.
Islands
87%
Return to the Sea
Equator
Long-lost Unicorns members deliver ambitious, whimsical, spiraling, anthemic, pitch-perfect pop.
The Charlatans UK
87%
Simpatico
Sanctuary
’90s retro-mod greats revive five billion
13 FILTER
mini
Hot Chip
tons of sonic mercury straight from the sun.
The Twilight Singers
87%
Powder Burns
One Little Indian
Late-night lust and morning-after
regret with a touch of the kind of compassion that
only comes from sweet oblivion.
Roots Manuva
86%
Alternatively Deep
Big Dada
Thriving in a fresher, more broken
down atmosphere than most, these British Roots
exemplify sophistication not seen since Tricky.
Wolfmother
86%
Wolfmother
Interscope
Join the future by exalting in the past!
Unicorns, witchcraft, gnomes? Bring ’em on!
The Stills
85%
Without Feathers
Vice
Urban alt-country sophomore release
with a little less emo (good), but a little less feeling
(bad).
Gomez
80%
How We Operate
ATO
Let’s hear it for throwing just about
every genre into a blender and daring your friends to
drink whatever comes out.
Various Artists
75%
Exit Music: Songs for…
Rapster
Stylized remixes and broken beats meet
for a too-busy mash-up of those shimmering
Radiohead classics.
FILTER
ALBUM
RATINGS
Tommy Boy…
91-100%
81-90%
71-80%
61-70%
Below 60%
¬
¬
¬
¬
¬
CD
Reviews
...........................................................................................................................
a great album
above par, below genius
respectable, but flawed
not in my CD player
please God, tell us why
88%
The Warning
Astralwerks
The last time I saw Hot Chip, he was
strutting out the door after our intensely hot, out-ofnowhere stranger screw. Now, less than a year later, I
bump into him looking fitter, happier, and sexy as ever.
With The Warning, Hot Chip is a bit cleaner, a lot
louder, with an obviously fatter wad in his pocket (or
he’s happy to see me): familiar lo-fi sound with hi-fi
quality; intelligent beats that pound as hard and deep as
house; ticklish melodies filled out by a new, multitiered lushness that’s always subverted by that damn
sense of humor—which is why I invited him up in the
first place. LESLEY BARGAR
Art Brut
92%
Bang Bang Rock & Roll
Downtown
When’s the last time an art rock record
had you rolling with laughter? Never? Thought so. Enter
Art Brut. With his heart on his sleeve but tongue
planted in cheek, court jester/drunk uncle Eddie Argos
spins simple and simply hilarious stories that range
from earnest (remembering a long-lost first love,
wanting to share Hennessey with Morrissey) to overexuberant (rocking out to modern art, looking for a
fight) to embarrassing (suffering a case of liquor dick).
Fuck art, let’s laugh. BRYAN CHENAULT
Psapp
87%
The Only Thing I Ever Wanted
Domino
Clearly, this London duo has read their
Books on organic experimentation and spent enough
time in the Stereolab to know a thing or two about
whimsy. Unfortunately, sometimes these “found sounds”
sound lost, and the exquisitely edited splishy-splashes
might mimic someone unintentionally psapping their
pants. Still, this album works, thanks to the moments
when the sunshine dreams pop(!) and singer Galia
Durant’s croons float the listener down to Earth like a
lullaby parachute. A summertime fling for sure. A lifelong romance? We shall see. SAM ROUDMAN
Head Automatica
65%
Popaganda
Warner
Few among us lament the loss of Glassjaw.
But at the very least, Glassjaw never released Popaganda, a
sparkly, vacuous sing-a-long with a terribly un-ironic title.
Perhaps the only thing worth mentioning is that the
record might be the first (and only) example of
Gleemo—that’s glee plus emo (also emo minus despair).
While that’s fine for confused mall-core fops, you’d
expect the offspring of Dan the Automator and Daryl
Palumbo to be something more. PATRICK JAMES
Oakley Hall
85%
Gypsum Strings
Brah
Oakley Hall the novelist crafts grainy literary portraits of the West. Oakley Hall the band paints
sonic landscapes from amber waves of fuzz, all while
hanging their hats in…Brooklyn? Their third album
smelts Young’s slouch with Cale’s searing cityscapes,
misshaping ancient Scottish folk and pleasing harmonies
into a complexity that doesn’t fit into the predictably
square alt-country spittoon. With their second fulllength in 2006 (already), Oakley Hall has transitioned
from a carefully crafted Oneida spin-off to a legitimate
creative force capable of genre bending without losing
grace or authenticity. MARC SAUSSANT
The Futureheads
84%
News and Tributes
Star Time
Two years ago, the future was bright.
With an excellently angular rock album produced by
Gang of Four’s Andy Gill, a tour supporting Franz
Ferdinand, and a killer Kate Bush cover, life was good.
But you know what? Change is good too. Though sacrificing some of the fun, ferocity and frantic pace of
their first high-Wire act, the Futureheads rally with
fully formed songs and their trademark harmonies
used to masterful effect (less gratuitous, more gratifying) over new ground covering both Beach Boys and
Pixies. BRYAN CHENAULT
KRS-ONE
77%
Life
Image
“What’s the relation between hip-hop
and politics?” spits KRS-ONE admirably on the second
track on this long player. Unfortunately, as far as hiphop is concerned nowadays, there isn’t much of one.
Someone tell the wise-ONE that rhyming over beats is
not going to change entrenched societal inequality
(sorry), just like Woodstock didn’t bring about an
acid-orgy utopia.The flow here is admirable, the beats
FILTER mini 13
are mediocre, but the anti-mainstream talking points
are all recycled. K.noweldge R.eigns S.upreme, but
idealism doesn’t. SAM ROUDMAN
Be Your Own Pet
90%
Be Your Own Pet
Ecstatic Peace/Universal
The Nashville teenagers known as Be
Your Own Pet were labeled the potential saviors of
(authentic) punk before they’d even had an album,
much less a driver’s license. On their highly anticipated
self-titled debut, they meet the hype with 15 short and
snotty songs. Highlighting the tracks are frontgirl
Jemina Pearl’s X-rated middle school poetry lyrics:
“I’m an independent mutha-fucker/And I’m here to
take your money/I’m wicked rad and I’m here to steal
away your virginity.” Anarchy in the (Music City,)
U.S.A.! DAN FRAZIER
Mia Doi Todd
78%
La Ninja:Amor and Other
Dreams of Manzanita
Plug Research
When you go to a desert spa resort for the weekend,
they pump soothing new age music in the background
of your morning mud bath and afternoon massage. La
Ninja must be what they put on at night, when it’s time
to let loose and have an herbal ginseng martini or two.
This remix collection combines Todd’s haunting voice
and simple acoustic melodies with electronic beats and
ambient sounds, all of which result in an awkward chillout album for those who need to get in touch with their
inner chi. TODD BERGER
Brightblack Morning Light
92%
Persephone’s Bees
86%
89%
Mo’ Mega
Def Jux
Def Jukie Mr. Lif’s last album, 2002’s
impressive I Phantom, was a well-received underground
gem ending with the Boston emcee’s own version of the
world’s dismal demise. Follow-up Mo’ Mega’s dark,
murky beats sound like the day after tomorrow–a postapocalyptic, politically corrupt world with Lif cast as
truth-seeking visionary. Though this is far from EL-P’s
finest batch of instrumentals, Lif’s nasal delivery and
smart lyrics shine over hard hitting drums and ’88 style
breakbeats, with Murs and Edan helping out on the
standout, “Murs Iz My Manager.” TUNGI BALOGAN
Mission of Burma
90%
The Obliterati
Matador
This album makes me angry. How the hell
do these 40-something Massholes rock with the
urgency of Fugazi and the intelligence of Gang of Four
(not just the basslines)? And where do these guys get off
taking a 19-year hiatus (until OnOffOn) only to return
like Lazarus with a volume fetish? Should I just sit here
while they assault me with the molten lead density of
their riffage and their mastery of studio subtlety? Wasn’t
rock supposed to be shallow and referential? On second
thought, this album makes me livid. SAM ROUDMAN
81%
The Clever North Wind
Up
Labels like “space rock,” “psychedelia,”
and—heavens—“prog” will be passed around, but The
Clever North Wind is as sky-blue, everyday Planet Earth
as its eponymous title character. A sort of fallout band
from the remains of Duster, Helvetia work songs of the
loosest constructions, with sound designs trumping
formal compositions enough to make you woozy on
“Dusty Rue” and “Dead Hands.” It’s a strange exercise,
listening to music that makes you feel like you’re
drowning in cotton. COLIN FLEMING
Lou Rawls
Notes from the Underworld
Columbia
Silly Adonis, opting to cavort with
Aphrodite over Persephone.What a dolt. Perseph’s stingy
minions are creating plenty of buzz around the underworld, attracting the attention of male DJ’s right and left
with an album that begs to be remixed. Still, Notes just
might be a sweet (and strange) enough libation to be
served without a mixer. Russian singer Angelina Moysov’s
mini
Mr.Lif
Helvetia
Brightblack Morning Light
Matador
If a tree falls in the forest and two hippies
from Alabama hollow it out to make a studio where they
live amongst nature and make beautiful space-folk freejazz dub-jams, does that mean they’re unsound? Well,
duh, but when the music is this good, who cares? This is
what it sounds like when a dream leaves your head and
gets stuck in the leathered and feathered handiwork
hanging over your bed: visceral, trippy and gorgeous.
Shaman-tastic! PAT MCGUIRE
14 FILTER
supernatural vocals pop literate thoughts as playful rock
drops over dreamy doldrums. As for Adonis…Aphrodite
can keep the prick. PATRICK JAMES
79%
The Best of Lou Rawls:
You’ll Never Find Another
Capitol/EMI
More Barry White than James Brown, Rawls emerged
in the ’60s as a gospel-influenced soul singer and
evolved into a silky-smooth crooner. Early tracks provide excellent examples of “raps,” in which he shoots
forth vintage jive at a machine-gun pace, and the David
Axelrod-produced work—expansive arrangements
with dirty guitars and florid drumming—stands as
Rawls’ best. Unfortunately, the later material comes off
as cornball A.M. radio fodder better suited for the Love
Boat than Soul Train. KEVIN FRIEDMAN
Dabrye
90%
Two/ Three
Ghostly International
Good luck getting your skull around
Dabrye’s beats. Tadd Mullinix (aka Dabrye) masterfully
deconstructs hip-hop on Two/Three, leaving you reeling
in a raw, retro-futuristic vision of all that’s soulful
Detroit.Add beautiful instrumental tracks to those beats
and emcees with names like Beans (Warp, Antipop
Consortium),Vast Aire (Cannibal Ox) and Jay Dee (rest
in peace), and what you get is a dark and emotional,
post-industrial rendering of what you thought hip-hop
was, but instead should be. KENDAH EL-ALI
The Year Of
87%
Slow Days
Morr Music
Electronics mastermind B. Fleischmann and
his Austrian countrymen have arrived to softly storm
eardrums with their experimental conceptual arrangements. Complete with electronics, pianos, drums, vocals,
saxophones, clarinets, guitars, organs, vibraphones, bass—
pause for breath—strings, omnichord and even a choir, the
Year Of come to the table with tricks-aplenty up their virtuoso sleeves.Yet it is the profound sense of minimalism
Fleischmann is known for that makes an impact, as the
eclectic quartet picks and drops instruments, constantly
rejecting formulaic restrictions imposed by the pop music
Gestapo. COLIN STUTZ
Daniel Johnston
87%
Welcome to My World
High Wire
Even the great state of Texas might not be
big enough for two schizophrenic singer-songwriters, and
with Daniel Johnston cornering the art/music market,
Roky Erickson needs to watch himself. After a year of
highs (the Whitney Museum exhibiting his artwork) and
lows (suffering from lithium poisoning), Johnston is now
cared for by his family, who put out this tour of Daniel’s
work, drawing from the Beatles, Elvis Costello, and the
Beach Boys, and all amateurishly recorded in his wispy,
childlike voice. CATHERINE ADCOCK
Fatboy Slim
The Greatest Hits:
Why Try Harder?
Astralwerks
Could it be? Are we finally ready for late ’90s nostalgia?
The good old days when Spice Girls captured our hearts
and rave kids wore ridiculously large pants? Sure, one
could argue that Fatboy Slim’s songs are more remem-
84%
bered for the commercials they were in rather than the
albums they were on, but something about this solid
collection of bubblegum beats and inventive samples
makes you want to close your eyes and long for simpler
times when nobody had heard of Al-Qaeda and techno
still had a fighting chance. TODD BERGER
Micah P.Hinson
77%
The Baby & The Satellite
Jade Tree
Those who use the term “prodigy”
loosely should track down their fourth grade talent
show champ for some perspective. While virtuosity is
wasted on the young, Micah Hinson proves that raw
expression ages like good wine. Recorded at age 19,
this prequel EP offers naked sketches of heartbreak that
peel the veneer from youthful love with a minimalism
empty enough for Hinson’s frighteningly wide voice.
Fans may appreciate the deconstructed acoustics but
let’s not dwell on the past. To see what Micah is, try
…The Gospel of Progress.To see what he will be, wait for
new material this fall. MARC SAUSSANT
Deux Process
82%
In Deux Time
Avatar
Jurassic 5’s gone the way of the dino. Black
Eyed Peas sold their beans for a handful of humps. And
as Dilated Peoples rub their foggy third eye for a better
glimpse at the demise of culturally aware happy-hop,
they might catch a glimpse of this D.P., poised to pick up
the slack. The “moderation + persistence” preaching
paints this Colorado threesome as a tad square, but it’s
balanced out by ambitious politics, stylish cadence and
funk-flavored beats. Deux Process know that In Deux
Time, all things come back around. LOUIS VLACH
Ramblin’Jack Elliot
84%
I Stand Alone
Anti
Ramblin’ Jack has been immortalized as a
folk and blues institution, and rightly so. How many
troubadours, other than his protégé Bob Dylan, could
count Woody Guthrie and the Velvet Underground as
friends? In contrast to other aging-hipster releases, I
Stand Alone, with it’s old-codger-sings-the-blues feel,
doesn’t possess the same modern relevance. Yet tracks
like “Engine 143” and “Woody’s Last Ride” are delivered
in a voice carrying the weight of fatigue from hard times
coupled with an appreciation for life in an elegantly
endearing fashion. KEVIN FRIEDMAN
Ladyhawk
87%
Ladyhawk
Jagjaguwar
The Vancouver-based foursome of childhood friends called Ladyhawk harbor a heavy blues-
based rock which underlines the Pacific Northwest (i.e.
Pearl Jam, Mudhoney). Recorded in the back of a factory furniture store, this album repetitively drives
soulful yet haunting vocals over sludgy riffs while occasionally taking it down nice and slow. This must be the
result of deciding to do drugs and live among the lumberjacks for awhile with only an amp and an axe. So
that’s where the flannel came from! DAN FRAZIER
Gram Parsons
93%
The Complete Reprise Sessions
Rhino/Reprise
Here at last is Gram Parson’s shimmering
last will and testament.After recording Exile on Main St.
with the Stones in the South of France, GP returned to
his Chateau Marmont bungalow, reassembled Elvis’s
Vegas band, and united with his musical soul-mate
Emmylou Harris. (How did you spend your summer
vacation?) Previously only available mashed-together on
one disc, his only two solo records GP and Grievous Angel
are now fully Q-Tipped, plus bonus tracks and a brilliant additional disc of alternate, stripped-down versions of his late-career highlights.The sound that Gram
and Emmylou created together is the full realization of
Gram’s “cosmic American music” dream, and an
unquestionable tent-pole of modern pop music, let
alone country. MICHAEL SUTER
Cut Chemist
89%
The Audience’s Listening
Warner
College kids always get pissed off when
the one cool professor goes on sabbatical for the
semester. We all may have been upset about Cut
Chemist’s recent absence as DJ for Jurassic 5 and
Ozomatli, but in his time off, the master turntablist has
created his first solo album. Mirthfully blending hiphop beats, Brazilian grooves, samples of how-to
instructions, and so much more, Professor Cut
reminds us why he is the teacher and we are merely
students. TODD BERGER
Joan Jett & the Blackhearts
41%
Sinner
Blackheart
Dude, I looooove rock and roll as much as
the next Guitar Center tech, but I’ll be damned if I’m
going to sit here and listen to some young punk-pop
lovin’, Hot Topic-shoppin’, goth-on-the-schoolyard/
mommy’s-dumpling-at-the-dinner-table wench destroy
the good glam name AC/DC, Gary Glitter and Joan Jett
carved out of the big wheel of cheese that was early ’80s
radio rock. I’d sooner trade in my Steve Vai-autographed
Flying V than—wait…this is Joan Jett? Laaaaaaame.
SCOOTER “AX” MCDOUGAN
AMERICAN V: A HUNDRED HIGHWAYS
“These songs are
Johnny’s final
statement. They are
the truest reflection of
the music that was
central to his life at the
time. This is the music
that Johnny wanted us
to hear.”
– RICK RUBIN
IN STORES ON THE 4TH OF JULY
PRODUCED BY RICK RUBIN
AVAILABLE NOW FROM AMERICAN RECORDINGS:
I: American Recordings
II: Unchained
III: Solitary Man
IV: The Man Comes Around
Unearthed Box Set
My Mother’s Hymn Book
www.johnnycash.com
www.americanrecordings.com
www.losthighwayrecords.com
www.islandrecords.com
on sale now
at Tower Records,
Virgin Megastores,
Urban Outfitters, Borders,
Barnes and Noble,
and select newsstands.
Purchase online at filter-store.com
© 2006 The Island Def Jam Music Group