here - FILTER Magazine

THE
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
Letters, inquiries, randomness: [email protected]
Advertising and such: [email protected]
FALL MUSIC/VOODOO EXPERIENCE
#'.©D8ID7:G"CDK:B7:G¿%.
WˆŒ‰DW‹h{Œ…ˆiƒ…„{©d{‚\„„
Kings of Convenience
"!"! "!"$"$ !# !" !""" """ !"# "!#
" #&# #! !"# !" ## "!!!&" " $ %" '# $ " $
"!!!(!"!""!
" !$"
"!"
"""!
>CI=:<J>9:
You can download the Filter Good Music Guide at
goodmusicwillprevail.com. While there, be sure to
browse through our back issues, the latest of which
features The Dead Weather, The Stone Roses, Mew
and actor-writer-musician Adam Goldberg. And
if you’re venturing to New Orleans for the Voodoo
Experience, keep an eye and ear out for us. We’ll
most certainly be there.
DCI=:L:7
Visit FILTERmagazine.com for music news, MP3s,
magazine features, extended interviews, contests, staff
picks, album and concert reviews and the world-famous
Filter Blog (insider information, offhand opinions, album
previews, etc.). To stay abreast of news and events in your
town, sign up for the Filter Newsletter, 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. and London.
6II=:HI6C9H
Out Now: Filter Issue 37
“Karen O and Spike Jonze Discover Where
the Wild Things Are”
When visionary indie filmmaker Spike
Jonze assumed the task of adapting Maurice
Sendak’s landmark children’s book, Where
the Wild Things Are, little did Jonze and his
cast and crew know that the film would take
them on a journey of self-discovery of their
very own. Filter caught up with Jonze, Yeah
Yeah Yeahs frontwoman Karen O., actress
Catherine Keener and star Max Records, among others, to discuss
how visits to Sendak’s New England home and endless days spent on
set helped them find their inner Wild Things. Also: The Jesus Lizard
discusses its first reunion in more than 10 years, Band of Horses’ Ben
Bridwell talks fame and fortune—or lack thereof—with Oklahoma songwriter JJ Cale, and comic artist Berkeley Breathed explains the process
behind his beloved strip Bloom County and his latest children’s book.
Plus: The Swell Season; Yo La Tengo; Kitty, Daisy and Lewis; AM; Fool’s
Gold; Port O’Brien; actor-musician Jason Schwartzman; the album art of
Vaughn Oliver for the Pixies; and an EndNote by Dave Eggers.
8DCI68IJH
[email protected] or 5908 Barton Ave., Los Angeles, CA, 90038
Publishers
Alan Miller & Alan Sartirana
Editor-in-Chief
Pat McGuire
Managing Editor
Patrick Strange
Layout Designer
Melissa Simonian
Editorial Interns
Lauren Barbato, Jessica Ford,
Lynn Lieu, Valerie Servin
FRI
OCT
30
Scribes
Seb Allen, A.D. Amorosi, Michael
D. Ayers, Kendah El-Ali, Stephen
Humphries, Jack Jameson, Cord
Jefferson, Torrie Jones, Shane
Ledford, Kyle Lemmon, Nevin
Martell, Breanna Murphy, Erik
Nowlan, Loren Poin, Max Read,
Bernardo Rondeau, Zach
Rosenberg, Ken Scrudato
SAT
OCT
31
Marketing
Ewan Anderson,
Samantha Barnes, Mike Bell,
Beth Carmellini, Samantha Feld,
Mikela Floyd,
Tristen Joy Gacoscos, Holly Gray,
Megan Healy,
Max Hellman, Wes Martin,
William Overby, Kyle Rogers,
Ryan Rosales, Eli Thomas,
Connie Tsang, Jose Vargas
Thank You
McGuire family, Bagavagabonds, Wendy
& Sebastian Sartirana, Momma Sartirana,
the Ragsdales, SC/PR Sartiranas, the
Masons, Pete-O, Rey, the Paikos family,
Chelsea & the Rifkins, Shaynee, Wig/
Tamo and the SF crew, Shappsy, Pipe,
Dana Dynamite, Lisa O’Hara, Susana
Loy Rodriguez, Shari Doherty, Robb
Nansel, Pam Ribbeck, Asher Miller,
Rachel Weissman
SUN
NOV
01
EMINEM + D12/ JUSTICE
SILVERSUN PICKUPS / THE BLACK KEYS
/ WEEN
FISCHERSPOONER / JANELLE MONAE / THE COOL KIDS / THE KNUX
ALEJANDRO ESCOVEDO / LEDISI / D12 / NEW ORLEANS BINGO! SHOW / PRESERVATION HALL-STARS WITH SPECIAL
GUESTS / BENJY DAVIS PROJECT / PAPA GROWS FUNK / LITTLE FREDDIE KING / THE HAPPY TALK BAND / LIL BRIAN & THE
ZYDECO TRAVELERS / ERICK BAKER / TAO RODRIGUEZ-SEEGER / DJ SOUL SISTER / LOOSE MARBLES / LUKE WINSLOW-WKING / GLASGOW / MYNAMEISJOHNMICHAEL / GENERATIONALS / WHY ARE WE BUILDING SUCH A BIG SHIP? /
NOISICIAN COALITION / MARCH FOURTH MARCHING BAND / ROOTS OF MUSIC / TBC BRASS BAND / RATTY SCURVICS /
LUCY'S WALK / BONES / THE VETTES / AND MORE
KISS / JANE'S ADDICTION
GOGOL BORDELLO / WOLFMOTHER / BLACK LIPS
MUTEMATH / GEORGE CLINTON AND PARLIAMENT FUNKADELIC / K”NAAN
JELLO BIAFRA AND THE GUANTANAMO SCHOOL OF MEDICINE / DRIVE-BY TRUCKERS / MORNING 40 FEDERATION
REUNION / DOWN / MATES OF STATE / AMERICAN BANG / NEW ORLEANS BINGO! SHOW / BIG SAM'S FUNKY NATION
/ ROTARY DOWNS / WALTER "WOLFMAN" WASHINGTON AND THE ROADMASTER WITH DIRTY HORNS / NEW ORLEANS
KLEZMER ALL-STARS /SARAH QUINTANA / DAN DYER / SAM & RUBY / LEROY JONES / DJ SOUL SISTER / ANDREW DUHON
AND THE LONESOME CROWS / NOISICIAN COALITION / MARCH FOURTH MARCHING BAND / ROOTS OF MUSIC / MAS
MAMONES / ZYDEPUNKS / AS TALL AS LIONS / NICHOLAS MEGALIS / THE WHITE BITCH / BROTHER TAISUKE MASS CHOIR
/ DAVIS ROGAN / FROM LEGENDS TO NANCY / AND MORE
LENNY KRAVITZ / WIDESPREAD PANIC
THE FLAMING LIPS / MEAT PUPPETS / BRAND NEW
ROBERT RANDOLPH & THE FAMILY BAND / THE POGUES / ALL TIME LOW
SQUIRREL NUT ZIPPERS / JJ GREY & MOFRO / SHOOTER JENNINGS / REBIRTH BRASS BAND / TROMBONE SHORTY AND
ORLEANS AVE / ERIC CHURCH / EARL GREYHOUND / NEW ORLEANS BINGO! SHOW / DJ SOUL SISTER / CYRIL NEVILLE'S
BLUES REVUE WITH TAB BENOIT, BIG CHIEF MONK BOUDREAUX & JOHNNY SANSONE / JOHN MOONEY AND BLUESIANA
/ QUINTRON AND MISS PUSSYCAT / FLEUR DE TEASE / NOISICIAN COALITION / MARCH FOURTH MARCHING BAND /
ROOTS OF MUSIC / JUSTIN JONES AND THE DRIVING RAIN / NICHOLAS MEGALIS / BEAUSOLEIL / LEO JACKSON AND THE
MELODY CLOUDS / SUPLECS / AMANDA SHAW / MC TRACHIOTOMY / R. SCULLY ROUGH 7 / KATEY RED & DJ PAPA, BIG
FREDDIA, SISSY NOBBY / AND MORE
Advertising Inquiries
[email protected]
West Coast Sales: 323.464.4718
East Coast Sales: 646.202.1683
Filter Good Music Guide is published by Filter
Magazine LLC, 5908 Barton Ave., Los Angeles
CA 90038. Vol. 1, No. 29, October-November
2009. 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 self-addressed envelope or package of appropriate size, bearing adequate return postage.
© 2009 by Filter Magazine LLC.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
FILTER IS PRINTED IN THE USA
FILTERmagazine.com
HALLOWEEN WEEKEND / CITY PARK / NEW ORLEANS
ON SALE NOW: www.thevoodooexperience.com / FOLLOW US AT: twitter.com/voodooexp2009
A REHAGE ENTERTAINMENT EVEN
T
We get a lot of mail here at the Filter offices—some good, some bad,
some…well, completely unclassifiable. Send us something strange and
you might see it here. Summer has
come and gone, but the need for
proper hydration in the workplace
never vanquishes. And since whisky
“before noon” is “frowned upon”
by “society,” our friends at Stanley
hooked us up with some of these
sweet “nineteen13” edition thermoses
(thermii?) so that we can talk in style
about last night’s episode of Lost around the ol’ “water” cooler. And hey,
some of them are opaque, so “society” can’t possibly tell what’s inside. “I’m
picking out a thermos for youuu…” Thanks, Steve!
COVER PHOTO BY PIPER FERGUSON
I=:;>AI:GB6>A76<
Ncif<i]XYhc>bbcjUh]cbg]b:bhYfhU]baYbh
Mikey Mics It!
It’s time for you to meet Mikey. He’s one-of-a-kind: You
can take him anywhere, he bends 180 degrees and he fits
in your pocket. What more could you want from a…um,
microphone? Mikey is the latest plug-in microphone for your
iPhone. Made by Blue, a company known for its high-quality
studio microphones, Mikey creates quality sound recordings
wherever you may be—work, class or even a concert.
Just plug the microphone into your iPhone (also compatible
with iPod touch 2G; iPod nano 2G, 3G and 4G; iPod classic;
iPod 5G), adjust its position, select a gain setting depending
on your distance from the sound source, and you’re off to
recording heaven. So as the saying goes, “Don’t just record
something—Mikey it!” JESSICA FORD
Don’t Worry, Just Kick It
Never miss a live show again…ever. If MySpace Music, Last.fm, Pandora, iLike and Rhapsody haven’t
fulfilled your musical appetite, Livekick.com offers the complete meal. As a starter, the site combines
all your favorite artists’ lists from music websites and your hard drive to create one super list that will
track all upcoming shows in your specified area. For the main course, Livekick serves you updates
on multiple platforms: email, Twitter, RSS feeds and straight to your iPhone. Once you’ve found the
concert you’d like to attend, Livekick sweetens the deal by hunting for the best and cheapest tickets
available on the Internet—a low-fat dessert has never tasted so good. LYNN LIEU
4 FILTER GOOD MUSIC GUIDE
Ncif<i]XYhc>bbcjUh]cbg]b:bhYfhU]baYbh
Mobile Disco
Turn a backyard barbecue into a gangsta party with Logitech’s S315i
Rechargeable Speaker. For $129, you can play music off your iPod
using the universal dock connector or auxiliary input for all other
players. The rechargeable battery pack (included) can last up to
20 hours after a single charge; so, there’s no need to go home
after the third noise complaint—you can take the party anywhere
you want. If your pocket is shallow, get the $69 S125i Portable
Speaker, which weighs less than a pound and comes
with an extra bass feature that makes it a baby
ghetto blaster. Throw in four AA batteries
(never included) and hoist it proudly on
your shoulder without ever worrying about
potential back pain. VALERIE SERVIN
Lala Land
On June 27,
six-year-old Pablo Castelaz
lost his battle with cancer.
This October, his dad Jeff
will keep his fight alive.
Armed with Pablo’s light,
he’s cycling across America.
Join the fight against children’s cancer.
Before FBI agents began breathing down the necks of penniless
audiophiles, spending hours downloading illegally was the hip way of
discovering music. While many continue to fight the law, Lala.com has
uncovered a way to legally deliver tunes to the masses with its 7-million
track catalog and iTunes-compatible MP3 downloads. Once signed up for
a (free) account, members can listen to songs in full before shelling out 10
cents to add it to their playlists. Lala also enables users to upload entire
music libraries, making these tracks accessible from anywhere on the web.
By cultivating an ad-free streaming relationship with Billboard.com and
having Filter as one of the site’s top “influencers,” Lala is ensuring that good
music will indeed prevail. LAUREN BARBATO
6 FILTER GOOD MUSIC GUIDE
Support Jeff’s ride at pablove.org.
Sex, Love and Suffering
BY CORD JEFFERSON
If such a genre of music exists called “Gauzy, Electronic, Rock-inflected Europop” (and why shouldn’t there,
really?), French group Air has been its undisputed king for over a decade. Lighter than fellow Francophones
Daft Punk and more meticulous than Charlotte Gainsbourg, the now 14-year-old duo of Nicolas Godin and JeanBenoît Dunckel has created everything from simple love songs (“All I Need”) to film scores (The Virgin Suicides),
leaving in its delicate wake a collection of music as gentle and soothing as a glass of Bordeaux. And now, Air has
released Love 2, its ninth album.
First in line for that latest effort very well may have been Annie Hart, Heather D’Angelo and Erika Forster,
the three women behind Brooklyn keyboard outfit Au Revoir Simone. Though they’ve never formally detailed the
depth to which Air has influenced their musical stylings, one need only listen briefly to the ladies’ three dreamy
LPs to hear the Airiness floating within the airiness.
The influences obvious, it made total sense when the French band with the English name and the American
band with the French name toured together in 2007, quickly becoming cheek-kissing comrades rather than
a clichéd pairing of jaded mentors and wide-eyed students. Two years later, les amis let the Guide sit in on a
Manhattan rooftop chat, where it turns out the topics of conversation would be decidedly French: love, politics
and suffering. But of course.
8 FILTER GOOD MUSIC GUIDE
Heather D’Angelo: “Love” is a very catchy tune. Did
you want that to be Love 2’s first single?
Nicolas Godin: No, but we like that song very much.
At the beginning, we liked the music of it, but not
the lyrics we were picking. We decided that we really
liked the word “love.” From then on, it was just,
“love, love, love, love.”
D’Angelo: I was wondering if there was something
a little bit sinister in the way you repeat it so many
times. The backing music is really upbeat, but the
voice saying “love” almost sounds sarcastic.
Annie Hart: Was that on purpose?
Godin: No, but it’s true. I have some theories about
love: The first is the more you grow and the more
experience you get with different love stories, the
more you realize if someone breaks your heart it’s
not the end of the world. It’s something you need
experience to understand: Everything can start again,
so losing love is not a big deal. My second theory is
that love is a tool for shy people to have sex.
Hart: Whoa!
Godin: In Paris, there’s lots of people who go out
at night and say, “I want to have sex.” They find a
person, they go home, they have sex and the next day
they forget it. They never discuss love. But for me,
I’m a very shy person and I couldn’t do that. And I
think in shy people, our body and our subconscious
creates a chemical reaction to create love so we’ll
9 FILTER GOOD MUSIC GUIDE
have the guts to cross that line, talk to someone and have
sex. Does that make sense?
D’Angelo: Yeah, humans are only animals, after all.
Hart: Do you think the people having sex without love
are happy?
Godin: Maybe. I think that as long as you do what’s true
to your nature, you’ll be happy. I know many people
in Paris who don’t need love. If you want to have sex
a lot— if that’s in your nature and you do that— you’ll
probably be happy. But if it’s in your nature to fall in
love, changing partners a lot won’t make you happy. Both
ways are fine. There’s no really good way of finding love.
D’Angelo: I think people can go through phases,
too—depending on where you are in your life, you can
be more into love or not.
Godin: Oh, definitely. If you can’t change, you should
die right away. It’s not worth living a whole life if you
can’t change with your experience.
Jean-Benoît Dunckel: I read an article about Bush
recently and the writer said the great presidents are
the ones who, at the end of their presidency, are much
different than they were at the beginning. That’s why,
10 FILTER GOOD MUSIC GUIDE
under that measure, Bush couldn’t be considered a great
president, because at the end he was exactly the same as
when he started.
Hart: Bush played golf a little less at the end of his term.
[Laughter]
Dunckel: But President Carter, he was one who changed
and evolved throughout his career. I think life is an
extension of that idea. Year after year you should change
your visions; otherwise, you’re missing out on what it’s
all about.
D’Angelo: How do you think Air has changed since
you’ve been together?
Dunckel: I think that we’ve changed a lot, actually.
When we first started, we were so apprehensive and
scared. But as soon as you see that people like what
you’re doing, you want to get better—not for yourself,
but for them. You get filled with this desire to work even
harder. After those emotions subside and you’re doing it
for awhile, you begin to start trusting yourself and each
other more.
D’Angelo: I think that’s one of the hardest things about
music—trusting yourself—especially when you have
bandmates who could very well laugh at your ideas.
Dunckel: Do you think that each of you has grown
because of what you’ve learned from each other?
D’Angelo: Definitely. I think we’ve all sort of evolved
together. In the beginning, we each had our own
separate ideas about what we wanted to become. But on
this last album, I feel like we were all finally expressing
who we were while still being part of a group.
Hart: I think we all sort of absorbed each other.
Dunckel: Do you sometimes feel like you’re all part of
one spirit?
D’Angelo: Yeah, especially when we’re playing.
Hart: I think that music in general has the ability to
unite people like that. But when you’re playing it with
other people and it’s all working out the way you want it
to, you get that feeling of oneness on a different level. It
just feels so pure.
Godin: Do you guys like touring?
D’Angelo: I don’t like that we have to tour. The tour
we did with you guys was the best tour we’ve ever done
and I don’t regret doing it. But I hate the feeling that we
have to tour and go to all these places and be away from
our loved ones and exist with no sleep. We have to do it
to survive—you can’t be a small band and not tour—but
it makes it all feel like a job.
Dunckel: How was it different with us?
D’Angelo: You guys were very civilized about the whole
thing. We weren’t insanely rushed and trying to hit 10
cities in five days or something crazy. There was time
to eat, there was time to sleep, and when we got to
the venues, we were refreshed and excited to play the
show…which is how it should be.
Dunckel: Sometimes I feel like when you’re tired and
hot, stressed out, hungry, trying to sing and it won’t
come out—that’s when you’re at your most artistic.
Because it’s those times—when you’re suffering—that
you really have this desire to be better and try harder.
You say, “I want to sing and do this right,” and you push
yourself to try harder.
D’Angelo: I’ve never thought about it that way. Maybe
I’m a baby, because I don’t like suffering.
Godin: I’m with you. I hate to suffer.
F
11 FILTER GOOD MUSIC GUIDE
THE
BY LIZ COUNTRYMAN
PHOTOS BY PIPER FERGUSON
12 FILTER GOOD MUSIC GUIDE
GOOD MUSIC GUIDE FILTER 13
“IF YOU FLIRT WITH FAME, don’t be surprised
when it offers you sex,” Markéta Irglová once told
her bandmate Glen Hansard. Nobody could have
predicted that the unlikely pair who comprises The
Swell Season—classically trained Czech pianist
Irglová and The Frames frontman Hansard—would
be transformed into international celebrities after
winning an Academy Award for Best Song for “Falling
Slowly,” the slow, lovelorn ballad that wooed audiences of the low-budget film Once. But these days, it’s
far too late to go back, and Hansard and Irglová are
keeping themselves grounded even as they’re obliged
to balance between candidness and self-protection.
Popularity might be overwhelming (just imagine the
entire English-speaking world feeling entitled to the
details of your love life), but listening to The Swell
Season is still an intimate affair.
The duo’s new album, Strict Joy, like the Once
soundtrack, concerns itself with the difficulties that
arise within relationships when the ideal is limited by
the contingencies of real life. “OK, we’re not what I
promised you we would become,” sings Hansard in
“The Rain,” the building, thickening energy of the
music behind him signifying a refusal to give up hope
in a hopeless situation. In “Fantasy Man,” Irglová’s
description of a doomed relationship is set against a
childlike and haunting waltz: “If everything is measured by the hole it leaves behind/then this mountain
has been leveled/and there’s no more diamonds in
the mine.”
The Swell Season thrives on the curious balance
between its two members, even as they downplay
14 FILTER GOOD MUSIC GUIDE
what sets them apart. Their differing cultural backgrounds and temperaments as well as the 18 years
between them all add to their charm, but upon closer
inspection, many of these distinctions collapse. Asked
about their age difference, Hansard simply replies,
“Mar’s an old soul.” Certainly, listening to Irglová’s
intricate imagery, it’s hard to believe not just that
she’s young, but that English isn’t her native tongue.
Born and raised in the Czech Republic and classically
trained in music, Irglová still got plenty of exposure
to English-speaking musicians like Bob Dylan, Kate
Bush, and Joni Mitchell via her father. (“I’ve never
written a song in Czech,” she admits.) Although
Irglová’s understated vocal and instrumental style
seems diametrically opposed to Hansard’s violent
strumming and impassioned cries, both value the
unprocessed sound of their instruments. When asked
why she prefers the cumbersome piano to a keyboard,
Irglová replies, “A piano resonates and vibrates; it’s a
physical thing. You don’t have to plug it in. I never saw
the keyboard as the same instrument.”
Although neither Hansard nor Irglová is eager
to characterize the new album (“I just look at it as a
collection of songs,” says Hansard), both acknowledge
that the writing process on Strict Joy, though “still
collaborative,” was a different experience than on
the Once soundtrack. “Once was the two of us,” says
Hansard, “with this album, we haven’t had as much
time in each other’s company.” No longer a romantic
couple but remaining close friends, Hansard and
Irglová live in the Irish cities of Dublin and Wexford,
respectively. After finishing work on Strict Joy in
April, both enjoyed a “grounding” summer—Hansard
doing some carpentry, planting potatoes, and traveling
to New York; Irglová dividing her time between the
Czech Republic and her Wexford home, where she
says, “I walk the dog, make a pot of tea, light a fire,
paint—I’m just enjoying keeping my own company.”
A little respite was definitely in order for this duo,
whose sudden fame in the aftermath of Once and
the Oscars resulted not only in multiple television
interviews (and a guest spot on The Simpsons) but
also in thousands of strangers assuming that the story
depicted in the movie was real. “We were elevated
into an area of celebrity that I wasn’t comfortable
with,” says Hansard. “So much of what my currency is
based on is observing, and self-awareness makes this
more difficult.”
To see Hansard and Irglová perform and speak at
the Oscars was to understand that this duo belongs
to both everyone and no one—at once welcoming
new fame yet reluctant, perhaps even unable, to
assume the reality of stardom. Just as “Falling Slowly”
seemed all the more guileless and three-dimensional
in comparison with the three songs from the movie
Enchanted it was up against, Hansard and Irglová
themselves appeared startlingly, well, real among all
that vapid glamour. “It’s a different world we don’t
really belong to,” says Irglová, who was just 18 years
old when the film was released, “but it was great to be
part of it for one night.”
The universal message of hope delivered in Once
gave the film and its soundtrack a mass appeal, but the
independent streak inside both Irglová and Hansard
ensures that no matter how large their audience, they
will reach it through music and not through celebrity.
“It’s easy to become addicted to applause and suck
on the limelight,” says Hansard, “but when the light
shines on you, deflect it.”
Hansard’s openness, born out of gratitude for
his own talent, distinguishes him from many of his
contemporaries; whether playing the festival circuit
or a small venue, he makes it his mission to collapse
the distance between himself and his audience. “The
duty of any real artist is to destroy the stage as much as
you can,” he says. Still friends with Dublin’s buskers,
Hansard last played Grafton Street just weeks before
this interview, and he still strums the guitar he bought
with the money he earned appearing in 1991’s The
Commitments. “If you don’t know where you’re from,
you don’t know where you’re going,” he says.
Once is the story of two strangers recognizing each
other, and Hansard’s and Irglová’s music similarly
focuses not on strangeness but on recognition—rather
than distorting life, they distill it and render it accessible. “We all go through similar experiences,” says
Irglová, “and when you put those discoveries into a
song; it lets people know they’re not alone.” Seems
like a simple strategy, but it’s a surprisingly rare one
these days; in a landscape crowded with musicians
eager to reproduce alienation and urban insularity,
The Swell Season has maintained the courage to keep
its sights set on loyalty and mutual respect. F
GOOD MUSIC GUIDE FILTER 15
COSMIC
COLLISION
The Conflagration of Neil Finn
BY STEPHEN HUMPHRIES
On an August mid-morning in Los Angeles’ Village Studios, Neil Finn looks more sleep-deprived than Jack Bauer.
The Crowded House frontman’s curtain of ramshackle hair can’t quite hide his weary eyes while he tunes his guitar
for a live radio session. “We did a gig last night,” says Finn of his recent Neil Finn & Friends performance, perking up. “A
Finn is surprisingly chipper considering he’s
crossed more time zones in the past week than the
International Space Station. A few days ago, the New
Zealander had flown to London for a one-rehearsal
show with members of Radiohead and Wilco. Soon
after, he joined an altogether different band in Los
Angeles for yet another crash-course gig; this one
featuring his hilarious technique of blowing across a
beer-bottle spout as if it were a pan pipe.
Finn has enthusiastically undertaken the hectic
itinerary to promote The Sun Came Out, the first
album by 7 Worlds Collide, a musical collective
consisting of an array of the musicians he’s performed
with in the past. The Crowded House singer convened
the group in New Zealand last December after putting
out a call to luminaries such as Ed O’Brien and Phil
Selway of Radiohead, Johnny Marr of The Smiths, Jeff
Tweedy of Wilco, Lisa Germano and KT Tunstall. In
all, Finn summoned 17 musicians to his studios (talk
about a crowded house) to write and record an album
to benefit Oxfam—all in just three weeks.
“Often, the music is a little bit secondary to the fact
that it’s a charity record, but I really wanted the album
to be a great record,” says Finn, during a studio break.
“To make it worthy, it had to tick all the boxes in terms
of artistic intensity.”
With their families and children nearby, the
musicians split into different ad hoc sub groups each
day. For instance, Marr returned from a jog on the
beach with an idea for a tune called “Too Blue,” and
shared his inspiration with the nucleus of Wilco:
Tweedy, Pat Sansone, John Stirratt and Glenn Kotche.
16 FILTER GOOD MUSIC GUIDE
(“I just had a feeling or an instinct that they would
really flourish in that environment,” Finn says of
Wilco.) Tunstall, who was honeymooning in New
Zealand, hooked up with local songwriter Bic Runga
for murder ballad “Black Silk Ribbon.” And Finn
collaborated with his eldest son, Liam, on Marr and
O’Brien’s “Learn to Crawl.”
“The part that I came up with for the verse seemed
to work really well,” he says, “and the part that Liam
came up with for the chorus seemed to work as if it
was one…like he knew what I’d done and I knew what
he’d done, but in fact, we didn’t. That was a lovely bit
of genetic synchronicity.”
7 Worlds Collide is a reunion of sorts. Seven years
ago, Finn invited a similar lineup (minus Wilco and
Tunstall) to the Southern Hemisphere for a busker’s
holiday.
“It rose out of a conversation I had with Ed
O’Brien over a glass of wine at the beach,” says the
former Split Enz songwriter. “We just talked about
how we live in such an insular world in a band and
you never really step out of it, but you meet these
musicians that you’d love to have an experience with
and just say, ‘Let’s play together someday.’ And it never
happens.” Indeed, Finn’s most exotic collaboration
at that point had been a music video with the star of
Xena: Warrior Princess.
Wish lists were compiled. Invitations were
dispatched. The resulting shows, consisting of covers
ranging from The Smiths to Split Enz (commemorated
DARRYL WARD
whole set of new material—and a beer-bottle solo.”
on CD and DVD), left the participants wanting more.
The recent reunion, which included several live
shows, encouraged the veterans to branch out. Phil
Selway, the quiet drummer in Radiohead, revealed
hidden songwriting talents. “Selway’s track, ‘The Ties
That Bind Us,’ he wrote that on the stairs while kids
were running up and down,” says Finn. “People just
stopped by and did the harmonies. Who knew that he
could sing like that and play guitar and write such
beautiful tunes?”
Marr, meanwhile, contributed “Run in Dust,”
featuring guitars that sound as if they’ve emerged from
the same spooky sonic dimension as those on The
Smiths’ “How Soon is Now?”
“Johnny is in an amazingly productive period of
his life,” marvels Finn, whose instrumental skills and
vocals feature on 15 tracks. “The first time he came
out, he was great, but in that environment he was
more tentative. This time, he hit the ground running
and he was contributing to everything.”
Come 3 p.m., Finn has finished radio sessions
with the L.A. contingent of 7 Worlds Collide: Runga,
Germano and Finn’s youngest son, Elroy. Later in the
week, Finn is scheduled to finish a Crowded House
record that, he says, boasts “some exotic elements.”
Right now, his sole focus is his next destination: a hotel
bed. Until, that is, a sudden realization. “We have a
show tonight, don’t we?” Finn says. “It’s the nature of
the project. It’s kind of what we love about it. It makes
you feel like you’re alive.” F
GOOD MUSIC GUIDE FILTER 17
Kings of Convenience’s
Guide to Norway
BY KENDAH EL-ALI
NORWAY’S…
BEST LOCAL BAND
Erlend Øye: The New Wine: a
danceable Toto, if you will. A lot of
it is 4/4 dance music, but it’s fun. [At
their shows] you focus on dancing
and the people around you.
Eirik Bøe: Kakkamaddafakka: They
sound like Snoop Dogg meets Creed.
They’re always happy and they play
their instruments incredibly well.
One of the members once said that
the inspiration behind the band was
when he listened to shoegaze music
and thought it was the stupidest
thing he had ever heard. So, in a
way these guys are the opposite of
shoegaze.
BEST FJORD FOR SKINNY
DIPPING
ÅSE HOLTE
“What means this noise?” asked Erlend Øye in broken English to a yelping Bowery Ballroom crowd in New York as
he took off his shirt. “In Norway, when it’s hot inside we take off all our clothes.”
Of course, the world’s hottest nerd musician was telling a bad joke. The crowd was making even less tasteful
nods to Nelly while Øye and his Kings of Convenience duo-mate, Eirik Glambek Bøe, took off their button-downs.
After a four-year hiatus, the Kings’ newest album, Declaration of Dependence, is another volume of their signature
simplicity. Ever breezy, beautiful and lyrically twisted, as Øye puts it, they “set out with the same goal every time,
with slight variations on luck from album to album.” In this case, the level of success is remarkable, never once
relying on drums for the songs’ surprisingly jammy rhythms.
So, if Norwegians don’t usually strip on stage, what do they get into? The Guide asked Bergen’s Øye and Bøe to
speak of Norway’s staples, including fjords, jail sentences, black metal and music festivals, along with the shockingly
un-sordid truth of what really goes on during their country’s long, cold winters. Norway’s Simon and Garfunkel?
Possibly. 24-hour party people? Not so much.
18 FILTER GOOD MUSIC GUIDE
Øye: I have never skinny-dipped in
a fjord. That’s completely ridiculous.
They’re always too cold! I swim in
Bergen sometimes.
Bøe: What? That’s ridiculous.
Erlend’s family comes from a hamlet
called Øye, hence his name. They
have many beautiful fjords there.
My most fantastic swim ever was
two years ago, in Nordfjord. It was
in early June, but the water was
about 21 degrees Celsius [70 degrees
Farenheit]. There was still snow on
the mountains all around us and it
was so beautiful. How many times in
your life do you get to swim in warm
water while looking at snow?
MORE RIVALROUS CITY: OSLO OR
BERGEN
Bøe: There are mountains that surround Bergen, cutting it off from most of the country and in effect, they
create a cultural wall. There is no highway between
the two cities. Bergen feels cut off from the privileges
of the capital and takes pride in turning its back,
instead choosing to face the North Sea.
Øye: It’s like comparing Vancouver to Toronto—sure,
they’re in the same country, but they’re not at all the
same place.
BEST BLACK METAL BAND/MOST LENIENT
PUNISHMENT FOR A CAPITAL OFFENSE
Øye: I never listen to it. I don’t even watch [gory]
movies.
Bøe: I listen to Burzum, the most evil man in rock.
He stabbed his rival 25 times and burned down state
churches. He’s from Bergen. [His music is like] a scientific project, the way he unveils the dark sides of the
human mind. He recently got out of jail. In Norway, if
you kill someone you just get 12 years in jail.
Øye: I think he actually got more, like 16. But yes, the
Norwegian justice system does not support, how do
you say, “capital punishment”? I personally think it’s
a very bad idea. It’s just like [“Rule My World”] when
we say “only someone who’s morally superior can
possibly and honestly deserve to rule my world.” The
song is, of course, about something bigger. But, it
comes back to this as well. Killing someone because
they killed someone doesn’t make sense.
BEST MUSIC FESTIVAL
Øye: There is a festival called Trena, in northern
Norway. It’s the most spectacular trip you’ll ever take.
It’s so beautiful. They have great [artists] and it’s the
opposite experience of the silly festivals in England
where everyone is covered in mud and on drugs.
Sadly, it all seems to increasingly be about the drugs
these days.
BEST WAY TO SURVIVE THE WINTER
Øye: [Singing] I make music.
Bøe: Actually, Erlend and I found this amazing indoor
tennis place, so now we do that a lot when we’re not
making music.
BEST WAY TO OVERCOME SADNESS
THROUGH SONG
Bøe: I find it impossible to write a good song about
being happy. Even if you think about the song “Don’t
Worry, Be Happy,” it’s about overcoming a moment
of despair.
Øye: There are two types of great songs: ones that
describe dark moments and ones that describe a
turning point away from that darkness. We take sad
things and write beautiful songs about them—it’s the
ultimate way to overcome sadness. F
GOOD MUSIC GUIDE FILTER 19
DcZ"A^cZgh/
Ua]b]UhifYhU_YcbgY`YWhYX;]`hYfBU[Un]bYfYj]Ykg
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
(Go to FILTERmagazine.com or pick up Filter Magazine’s Fall Issue for full reviews of these albums)
BIG STAR
Keep an Eye on the Sky [box set]
ZERO 7
80%
Yeah Ghost
ATLANTIC
Surprisingly rock-oriented record from
ambient chill-out kings features a cast
of soulful singers so sweet it haunts your
dreams.
93%
RHINO
The Star revives the spirit of the ’70s
with dive-bar ballads and enginerevving rock. Hello Wisconsin!
NICK CAVE AND WARREN ELLIS
92%
White Lunar
MUTE
Hopeless, tragic and bleak, these film
scores are powerful enough to stand
alone—and keep you in bed for days.
THE AVETT BROTHERS
78%
I and Love and You
COLUMBIA/AMERICAN
Country Mice become Townies as the
Bros. jump to a major; but Ashram
Mouse Rick Rubin can’t deliver the
cakes and ale.
MAPS
89%
Turning the Mind
MUTE
Any spaceman should have this highsynth melodrama of undiscovered
realms and new directions. Get a whiff
of that ozone.
BLK JKS
77%
After Robots
SECRETLY CANADIAN
Psychedelic jazz, dubs and broken English
will make you wonder who spiked your
Kool-Aid—nah, it’s just that trippy.
THE FLAMING LIPS
88%
Embryonic
WARNER
The Lips get back to their early,
stripped down days of fuzz and gritty
energy—where they belong.
GRAND ARCHIVES
Keep in Mind Frankenstein 76%
SUB POP
Monotonous and über-folksy,
Frankenstein is too tame from a band
capable of so much more.
ATLAS SOUND
86%
Logos
KRANKY
Bradford Cox’s childlike dream pop
is like a walk through a meadow of
rainbows and unicorns.
HEALTH
73%
Get Color
LOVEPUMP UNITED
Lacking the revelatory sound of
HEALTH’s past, Color’s palette of lowgrade synths and guitar haze is a bit too
washed out.
MANIC STREET PREACHERS
84%
Journal for Plague Lovers
COLUMBIA
The left-behind lyrics of Richey
Edwards urge the remaining Manics to
play as if their lives depend on it.
20 FILTER GOOD MUSIC GUIDE
FILTER
ALBUM
RATINGS
DEAD MAN’S BONES
82%
Dead Man’s Bones
ANTIGhoulish, gothic and loveable, Gosling
tries singing tunes fit for the Corpse
Bride, but could benefit from a screenplay.
THE REVEREND HORTON HEAT
Laughin’ and Cryin’ with the Reverend
Horton Heat
70%
YEP ROC
With too much old-time country and
honky-tonk, the Rev. misses the mark…
and we miss the punk.
91-100%
81-90%
71-80%
61-70%
Below 60%
8
8
8
8
8
a great album
above par, below genius
respectable, but flawed
not in my CD player
please God, tell us why
Bjh^X!ZiX#
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
BUILT TO SPILL
86%
There Is No Enemy
WARNER
One of the most emblematic bands
of the ’90s, Built to Spill has held
up aces into the 21st, remaining fiercely loyal to its
sound. On Enemy, the same applies: “Hindsight” is
a (predictable) godsend that holds its own against an
alternative scene that’s lately been worshipping neopsychedelia and distorted noise. And though it’s a bit
of an anachronism in 2009, Enemy’s overall aesthetic
is nevertheless a welcome reminder that
just because things can change, doesn’t mean they
need to. BREANNA MURPHY
SUFJAN STEVENS
82%
The BQE
ASTHMATIC KITTY
During the past four years or so,
each new shred of news from Sufjan
Stevens is met with bated breath. His latest record
is no exception. The audio-visual experience, fondly
known as The BQE, centers on the history of New
York’s Brooklyn-Queens Expressway, and its conceit
works because of its composer’s breadth of influence—
Stevens adroitly flits from Broadway showiness, 1950s
pop and astute minimalism, digital age panoramas,
Looney Tunes revelry and good old-fashioned
Romanticism. KYLE LEMMON
FLIGHT OF THE CONCHORDS
81%
I Told You I Was Freaky
SUB POP
The surprising thing about HBO’s
“guitar-based digi-bongo-a capellarap-funk-comedy folk duo” from New Zealand is how
inspired their parodies come across as actual songs
when not part of their television series. And while
nothing is as exquisite as the aptly flighty “Bowie” from
Season One’s accompanying album, for the 12 cuts of
Freaky, there’s plenty here to make senses come alive
without video accompaniment. A.D. AMOROSI
EL PERRO DEL MAR
81%
Love Is Not Pop
THE CONTROL GROUP
It’s unclear how it happened, but
somehow, Sweden’s biggest export
currently (besides socialism and well-meaning blonde
people) is sweet, sweet grooves: Rasmus Hägg has
blessed the melancholy pop of fellow Gothenburger
Sarah Assbring with seriously wicked syncopated
rhythms and rolling bass lines on her newest, Love Is
Not Pop—its impossibly smooth production and spare,
beautiful melodies are enough to make you support
universal healthcare, just so the U.S. can make
music this good. MAX READ
WOLFMOTHER
85%
Cosmic Egg
MODULAR
The comparisons are more apparent
than ever on Wolfmother’s Cosmic Egg,
the Australian band’s sophomore record that conjures
images of shaggy-haired teenagers hot-boxing El
Caminos with its ear-splitting guitars, heavy distortion
and vocals reminiscent of Roger Plant—especially on
quieter rock ballad “In the Morning.” Despite the
classic rock pastiche, Cosmic Egg somehow manages to
strike a balance between being a carbon copy of a legendary
rock album and a tribute to an era—call them the
Quentin Tarantino of hard rock. LAUREN BARBATO
NOAH AND THE WHALE
83%
The First Days of Spring
CHERRYTREE
These Wes Anderson and Noah
Baumbach-loving U.K. indie hopefuls
follow up 2008’s critically hurrahed Peaceful, the World
Lays Me Down with a charming new proposition. The First
Days of Spring falls in the gentle, folky space between
Belle & Sebastian and It’s Jo and Danny, but manages to
carve out a singular place for itself with thoughtful lyricism
and artful songwriting. NEVIN MARTELL
22 FILTER GOOD MUSIC GUIDE
DEVENDRA BANHART
87 %
What Will We Be
WARNER
What we have here with Mr. Banhart’s
sixth is wine cooler beach jams to the
max. From good-witch acoustic sing-along magic to
stoned jazzy wave-break rock, Devendra’s big label
debut is split between tracks that tick like strange
toys and those that are pure Crosby, Stills and Nash. A
basement-made bundle of hypnotic unpredictability,
this one looks to be a grower. Classic Beck-isms
like “we’re elegant lawn chairs” and “like a bowtied
kangaroo” wander throughout. It’s time to leave
the top down. LOREN POIN
WHITE DENIM
78%
Fits
FULL TIME HOBBY
The Texas trio’s sophomore release
is like a schizoid search for a
metronome in a foggy room full of bass and
drums. At times Joshua Block’s kit keeps the
pace, and at others, the instrumentals are left to
run loose on their own tangents. When the album
reaches its climax at about mid-point, the record
changes pace and you’re left wondering, “What
was that?” Ultimately, you don’t totally care to
know the answer. LYNN LIEU
YkY
Adult Swim in a Box 90%
WARNER
If you’re one of many who
think that the folks over at
Adult Swim are producing
some of the most imaginative
programming on television, then you’ll be in
pig heaven with the release of Adult Swim’s
largest collection to date: a 12-DVD box set
featuring several of the network’s most popular
shows, including seasons of Robot Chicken,
Metalocalypse, and Aqua Teen Hunger Force.
And with bonus material like five neverbefore-released pilots, this is super dork
pay dirt. ERIK NOWLAN
THE SLITS
Trapped Animal
83%
NARNACK
Considering that punk was one of the
monumental touchstones of 20th
century feminism, it was pretty depressing watching it
all regress back into ape-ish doodism (Lollapalooza).
But the ferocious return of landmark girl-punks The
Slits—now in the form of original members Ari Up and
Tessa Pollitt, along with a fresh new battalion of fearsome
young estro-warriors—should do much for setting things
right again. Watch out, stupid boys; sugar and spice they
most definitely are not. KEN SCRUDATO
THE CLIENTELE
81%
Bonfires on the Heath
MERGE
For a record that commences with such
pep and glides along effortlessly on
the vibrant, jingle-jangle clarity of its instrumentation,
Bonfires on the Heath is filled with words of
uncertainty. Spirits, traces and questions permeate
Alasdair MacLean’s autumnal lyrics, always delivered
in a breathy, dreamtime voice. The music’s sharp focus,
peppered with gallantly chirping Forever Changes
brass and sometimes slipping into a Floyd-like coast
of silvery slide guitar, is the solid ground on which
ghosts tread. BERNARDO RONDEAU
A PLACE TO BURY STRANGERS
87%
Exploding Head
MUTE
Brooklyn’s finest has appropriately named
its sophomore album Exploding Head,
because listening to this in certain factions—a hangover, a
Sunday morning, riding around with your grandparents—
would certainly make one’s dome feel like it could pop.
24 FILTER GOOD MUSIC GUIDE
But should the mood strike, Exploding Head is another
raucous ode to My Bloody Valentine meets The Jesus
and Mary Chain shoegaze. But that’s what’s indicative
about this band—although its references are often cited,
Exploding Head has that passion needed in reinvigorating
a sub-genre. MICHAEL D. AYERS
MBAR, his sophomore Summer of Fear riffs and
rhapsodizes in a way that’s sometimes as frustrating as
a relentless heat wave; the frenzied variations of love
and loss (“Shake a Shot”) cue disappointment for a guy
who just might have had one of the best releases of 2008.
This, sadly, is a whole new year. BREANNA MURPHY
YkY
Futurama:
The Complete Collection
88%
1999-2009
20TH CENTURY FOX
Die-hard Futurama fans can
now own all five seasons of
the series and four full-length
adventures in one complete set—all before the
sixth season returns in 2010. To top it all off,
the DVDs are packed with special features and
come in a collectible Bender head (complete
with detachable rubber antenna). Any member
of the Futurama cult following (we guess
you’re out there?) should check out this
19-disc set. JESSICA FORD
FLORENCE + THE MACHINE
80%
Lungs
UNIVERSAL
Already a sensation in Britain where
her debut album was nominated for the
prestigious Mercury Prize, Florence Welch revels in a vocal
prowess reminiscent of Annie Lennox and Sinead
O’Connor. But like a superhero who doesn’t know her
own strength, the vocal exuberance overwhelms. And it
doesn’t help that the ornate and florid instrumentation—
clattering tom-toms and giggling harp—is the aural
equivalent of a paisley pattern. STEPHEN HUMPHRIES
DAVID BOWIE
Space Oddity (40th Anniversary
89%
Special Edition)
VIRGIN/EMI
The Thin White Duke’s ’70s
transformation from prog folkie to androgynous
glam rocker often overshadows his true genesis as an
inimitable aesthete: Space Oddity. This handsome
40th anniversary edition spotlights the disregarded
sophomore album with a sharp digital remastering
and a second disc of 15 rare cuts. Propelled by 1969’s
chart-topping title track, it still marks a quantum leap
in songwriting and a stable foretaste of David Bowie’s
paramount decade. KYLE LEMMON
Wdd`
JOHN DUFRESNE
Is Life Like This?: A Guide to
Writing Your First Novel in Six
88%
Months
W.W. NORTON
The saying goes, “writers write.”
And if everyone accepted this adage, most of
our artist friends would simply be termed
baristas and waiters who only happen to own a
typewriter. John Dufresne wants to break the
cycle, offering a guide to writing a novel in six
months. Chocked full of writing exercises and
inspiration for plots, characters and conflicts,
this is a surprisingly effective tool for all those
who are sick of being hacks. JACK JAMESON
THE XX
84%
The xx
ROUGH TRADE
The London kids who make up pithily
named The xx (this album is about
S.E.X., but it’s not, well, XXX filthy) forward a brand
of Blighty-grey neo-soul so languid one might be
tempted to coin the phrase “Xanax Rock.” Against a
musical backdrop strikingly dolorous and minimalist
(think early New Order) yet strangely lascivious, Romy
Madley Croft and Oliver Sim duet indefatigably in
somnolently sensual tones, re-imagining eroticism as a
wide swath of beautiful desolation. KEN SCRUDATO
ANNIE
86%
Don’t Stop
SMALLTOWN SUPERSOUND
The ouches in “I Don’t Like Your
Band” are so perfect it’s hard to believe:
“It’s not you, it’s your tunes.” For the past 10 years,
Norway’s answer to Kylie has been dishing out her
strange-angled dance pop that’s as acerbic as it is sticky
sweet; underground as it belongs alongside Madonna
on the radio. And thank god. Some of us need a little
more than “La la la!” KENDAH EL-ALI
The
Clientele
Bonfires on the Heath
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
I Wonder Who We Are
Bonfires on the Heath
Harvest Time
Never Anyone but You
Jennifer and Julia
Sketch
Tonight
Share the Night
I Know I Will See Your Face
Three Month Summers
Graven Wood
Walking in the Park
MILES BENJAMIN ANTHONY ROBINSON
76%
Summer of Fear
SADDLE CREEK
As we make our way into a gentle fall,
let’s pause and reflect, lest we forget
the torments of the season past. For
GOOD MUSIC GUIDE FILTER 25
YkY
The Paul Newman Tribute
88%
Collection
20TH CENTURY FOX
Salad dressing guru, saintly
philanthropist, war hero,
auto racer, family man…Paul
Newman never slept. And apparently he was in
some movies or something, too. This gorgeouslypackaged, ice blue (like those dreamy eyes) 17disc set of 13 of his films, including double-disc
special editions of The Hustler and Butch Cassidy
and the Sundance Kid, would stand up to any
actor’s tribute collection. But where’s Hud? And
Cool Hand Luke? The Sting? Despite the failure to
communicate the entirety of Newman’s genius—that
would take 50 discs—this box is still better for your
digestion than 50 eggs, anyday. SHANE LEDFORD
GLACIERS
And the Sea Won the Battle 85%
SELF-RELEASED
From the first few notes on “Southern
Passage,” one would think that
Glaciers are from a far-off land that has layers of snow
capped mountains, reflecting the cinematic landscapes
of Sweden or Norway. However, this four-piece outfit
hailing from the Bay Area makes up for its lack of
Viking ships, fjords, or Potato Lefse by offering six
delectable instrumental treats on their debut full
length. And you gotta love that ATSWTB is available on
lovely glacial blue vinyl (or digitally, if you’re into that
sort of thing). SEB ALLEN
FASHAWN
86%
Boy Meets World
ONE
Boy Meets World, the highly
anticipated debut from Fashawn,
is a modern take on the “golden era” hip-hop
blueprint. Fittingly, when the Fresno MC isn’t vividly
documenting the ills of inner-city life (“The Ecology”),
he raps about rising above them (“Hey Young World”)
over Exile’s sample-heavy beats. The album’s standout
track, “Our Way,” is a welcome and a warning to those
uninitiated with street life in Cali. While not a classic,
Boy Meets World is a solid debut from a promising upand-comer. TORRIE JONES
VIA TANIA
83%
Moon Sweet Moon
THE: HOURS
Tania Bowers lives her life split
between Sydney and Chicago. It should
come as no surprise that her debut album is neither
this way nor that, but generally speaking, a soft-rocking
collection of dreamy folk tales. “Fields” and “Wonder
Stranger” stand out amongst the others, but make
26 FILTER GOOD MUSIC GUIDE
sure you catch her cover of The Presets’ “If I Know
You” (not on the album), created in collaboration with
Finland’s Jori Hulkkonen. KENDAH EL-ALI
k^YZd\VbZ
Brütal Legend
84%
360, PS3
EA
The video game generation’s
This Is Spinal Tap is here,
starring Jack Black as exroadie Eddie Riggs, who is on
an epic journey to save humanity from—whom
else—heavy metal demons. Punctuated by a
comedic script and a beautiful style inspired
by history’s great heavy metal album covers,
Brütal Legend includes actual legends like
Motörhead’s Lemmy, Judas Priest’s Rob Halford
and Ozzy Osbourne. Strap on your leather pants
and grab an axe! ZACH ROSENBERG
SPIRAL STAIRS
79%
The Real Feel
MATADOR
It’s clear that Spiral Stairs’ The Real
Feel was heavily influenced by Scott
Kannberg’s former project Pavement, but Scott
Kannberg is not exactly partying like it’s 1999. The ’90s
style angst-ridden compilation is complemented with
a Fleetwood Mac (circa ’69) sadness, which Kannberg
attributes to his affinity for (and now understanding
of) “divorce rock.” The album combines the best
of Pavement and Preston School of Industry, while
gracing the public with a slightly more ominous look
at life. LAUREN NOVIK
\gVe]^XcdkZa
REINHARD KLIEST
Johnny Cash: I See a
83%
Darkness
ABRAMS
Reinhard Kliest, the author
of graphic novels Havanna,
Lovecraft and Amerika,
introduces a new biography
of legendary singer Johnny Cash—only
this time, the memoir comes in wondrously
rendered black and white illustrations and
dialogue just as crisp. So much more satisfying
than recent portrayals of Cash’s life (Walk
the Line), I See a Darkness spins a unique
portrayal of Cash as a loner, boozer, lover
and a fighter. Oh yeah, there’s lots of musicplaying too. ERIK NOWLAN
LNRKDXSQHADR
GdkkyAdkkyBnkk`anq`shnm
#11/
vvv-lnrkdxsqhadr-bnl
SGDLHFGSXANNRG9RODBH@KDCHSHNM
6,chrbCUCanwrds#68-87
VDRB
J`ytjhBnkk`anq`shnm
FknvHmSgdC`qj #4/
vvv-vdrb-bnl
VDRB
JdkuhmCdmhl#02/
vvv-vdrb-bnl
VDRB
#83
L`q`b`Gd`cognmd#83
vvv-vdrb-bnl
HMB@RDMXKNMA@BJO@BJ
Ltrs`qc#88-84
@u`hk`akd`sfnhmb`rd-bnl
S,LNAHKD
lxSntbg2FvhsgFnnfkd
Rs`qshmf`s#038
@u`hk`akd`ss,lnahkdlxsntbg-bnl
BNMUDQRD
VnnkqhbgBnkk`anq`shnm
VnnkqhbgBnkk`anq`shnm
BgtbjS`xknq@kk,Rs`qVnnkqhbgrgndr:`u`hk`akdhmghfg`mcnwenqc
udqrhnmrhmak`bj.aktd.dfqds`mcak`bj.qdc.dfqds-#74
vvv-bnmudqrd-bnl
28 FILTER GOOD MUSIC GUIDE
ž(&&/LJ[Y^9ecckd_YWj_edi"?dY$7bbH_]^jiH[i[hl[Z$
:m^aZ0AZ\ZcYVgnEgdYjXZg!9?VcYBVhiZgd[i]ZBE8#
=^hjc^fjZVeegdVX]!^ccdkVi^kZhinaZVcYYZY^XVi^dcid]^hXgV[ihZih]^bVeVgi#;dgnZVgh!KIZX]]VhWZZcajX`n
Zcdj\]ideVgicZgl^i]bVcniVaZciZYVgi^hihi]ViVaah]VgZdcZkZgn^bedgiVcifjVa^in/J^[oÊh[7kj^[dj_Y$
cdj\]ideVgicZgl^i]bVcniVaZciZYVgi^hihi]ViVaah]VgZdcZkZgn^bedgiVcifjVa^in/J^[oÊh[7kj^[dj_Y$
LZheZciVYVnl^i]:m^aZ^c]^hhijY^dVcY]ZhX]ddaZYjhdc]dl
]ZjhZhdjgcZl>H.&-&L^";^>ciZgcZiGVY^didbV`ZWZVihdci]Z
Ón#8]ZX`dji^jjf0%%cki_Y$lj[Y^f^ed[i$Yec%YWj[]eho%[n_b[id
hZZi]ZZmXajh^kZk^YZdVcYYdlcadVYi]ZigVX`]ZbVYZYjg^c\
djghZhh^dc#>emm_bboekki[oekhi5
;n_b[]_l[ioekH7:?E0
6XdcXZeijVa^oZYVaWjb^c
l]^X]Vaad[i]ZhVbeaZhlZgZ
iV`Zcd[[d[i]Z6B$;BgVY^d#
HiVnijcZYl^i]:m^aZ#
E]did\gVe]nWn7 J^[d[mLJ[Y^?I/'.'M_#<_?dj[hd[jHWZ_eaZihndjhigZVbdkZg
&&!%%%>ciZgcZigVY^dhiVi^dch[gdbVgdjcYi]Z\adWZVii]Zejh]
d[VWjiidc#Cd[ZZh#CdhjWhXg^ei^dch#Cdhig^c\hViiVX]ZY#A^hiZc
idbjh^X!hedgih!iVa`!cZlhVcYbdgZ#=dd`jendjgBE(eaVnZg
dghigZVbbjh^X[gdbndjgXdbejiZgidi]ZgVY^dVcnl]ZgZ^ci]Z
]djhZ#6h:m^aZhV^Y^ci]Zk^YZd!Æ7ni]ZeZdeaZ![dgi]ZeZdeaZ#Ç
8]ZX`^idjiidYVnVimmm$lj[Y^f^ed[i$Yec%?I/'.'
9Zh^\cZYidÒindjg]dbZ#6cYndjga^[Z#ž