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 artist to begin questioning the validity of a project if there are enough obstacles between the point they’re at and where he or she envisions the terminus of the endeavor to be. In singer/guitarist Nick Thorburn’s case, that...
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 was part of the DJ crew Invisibl Skratch Piklz. Well, maybe those things helped put him on the radar, but what made this guy a global juggernaut was the fact...
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 the psychological and philosophical basis for the music. In the end, it is a perceptive study of how an artist's life influences their art. By the middle of 1976, Bowie was at...
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 themselves journalists) remember their early days working with small, independent magazines fondly. Unless your last name is Cobain, it’s unusual for any writer to start working at the top of the music magazine food...
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 be) his newest video: “Convict Colony.” If you don’t know Saul, you should know that he wins the loony prize for all of the artists we’ve covered so far...
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 Maine) to show they were the best guitarists in the world—and they didn’t need instruments to prove it. While 24 regional air guitar champs each took their turns strutting their stuff for 60...
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 blogs as of late. Songs like Kristoffer Ranstam’s “Swing That Tambourine” and my personal favorite discovery of the past month or so: “Nowheres High” by Parts and Labor. Who the hell are...
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, sweaty and drunk, and it was only 6pm. And although three bands had already played, there were still six bands to hit the stage, and it was painfully obvious...
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 blogs as of late. Songs like Kristoffer Ranstam’s “Swing That Tambourine” and my personal favorite discovery of the past month or so: “Nowheres High” by Parts and Labor. Who the hell are...
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 airport and a Thai wedding dress on this very white girl. So I’m late, and I’m sorry (especially to Raymond, who is perhaps the most hardcore of us GC writers/photographers), but don’t think that means I...