It has often been said that the best art tends to be borne of frustrating or generally inclement conditions. The nature of creation—whether forced or not—can often be mentally taxing (just ask Van Gogh or Hemmingway) and it isn’t uncommon for an...
Whether you know it or not, Montreal’s A-Trak is a part of your life. Not because he won the DMCs World DJ Championship in 1997 at the age of 15. Not because was the first DJ to win all three major DJ competition titles—DMC, ITF and Vestax. Not because he...
Bowie in Berlin is an in-depth examination of the making of David Bowie's Low and Heroes albums. It contains a wealth of detail about the recording sessions, which will make it a treasure for any serious Bowie fan. But it goes far beyond who played what to explore...
Just as so many bands have come out of the woodwork recently to sing the praises of working apart from the mainstream music making machine – working independently as it were – it should come as no surprise that some rock writers (some might even call...
Children of Earth, I have another video for you. Yes, it’s true that I try my damnedest to make sure I get you a relatively new video, and something so off the wall you crap your pants. Today will be no exception. I bring you Saul Williams and (what appears to...
On Friday night when the stage lights went up in San Francisco’s Grand Ballroom, a sold-out house whooped and cheered for a rag tag bunch of faux axe swingers in outlandish getups. The performers had come from across the country (some as far as New York and...
Holy hell it’s been a long time since I posted one of these. I can’t exactly tell you why, but at least I have been collecting mp3s during my absence. And I’ve actually found some pretty nice gems mixed in with the songs that have been clogging the...
As I walked into a packed Fillmore and took one look at the condition of the crowd, I could see that this was indeed was going to be "The Most Extreme Tour of the Year." The kids looked like they had already been through hell and back. They were hot, smelly,...
Holy hell it’s been a long time since I posted one of these. I can’t exactly tell you why, but at least I have been collecting mp3s during my absence. And I’ve actually found some pretty nice gems mixed in with the songs that have been clogging the...
Better late than never, right? I’d explain all that’s happened in the last two weeks that has prevented me from reporting this in a timely fashion, but this isn’t a pity fest. Let’s just say it involved a forgotten notebook, 48+ hours in an...