- FILTER Magazine

THE
RAVEONETTES
LUST for LIFE
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
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— Pat McGuire, Editor-in-Chief
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#20 • JAN.-FEB. ’08
The Mars Volta
Del vs. El-P
Black Lips
Diablo Cody
2008 GOLDEN GLOBE®
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T ORIGINAL
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“ACROSS THE UNIVERSE
SWEEPS YOU UP ON
A WAVE OF TERRIFIC
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– Peter Travers, ROLLING STONE
Loaded With Special Features
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EXTENDED MUSICAL
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On 2-Disc DVD,
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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.
Someone must have caught
wind of the massive coffee
intake here at the Filter office
to send us this little gadget:
the iWhite (www.iwhite.be).
Normally, we might have
been affronted by the suggestion that our teeth aren’t
naturally white and pearly
(because, you know, they are),
but we were too distracted by the pulsating blue beams of light this little thing
emits. Whoaah! This could be our new accessory out at those desert raves we
love so much. Complete, of course, with our new, blacklight-approved smile.
IN THE GUIDE
You can download the Filter Good Music Guide at
goodmusicwillprevail.com. While there, be sure to
check out our back issues, the latest of which features
Spoon, Daft Punk, R.E.M., Band of Horses and
Siouxsie. And if you’re heading to the 2008 Sundance
Film Festival for some celebrity gift bags or maybe just
the flicks, keep your eye out for us. We’ll be there.
ON THE WEB
Visit goodmusicwillprevail.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.
AT THE STANDS
Out now: Filter Issue 28—“The Importance
of Being David Byrne.”
In this issue Filter talks to chief Talking Head
David Byrne about his remarkable legacy, his
myriad passions and projects, his city and his
extraordinary life—and how, just by being
David Byrne, he has made everything around
him a little bit less like everything else. Also:
We catch up with past cover artist PJ Harvey
for a discussion on the frightening state of our
modern world, gather an eclectic group of
artists and comedians to share their histories with a place called Largo
and nail down the slippery rap maestros of the Wu-Tang Clan. Plus:
Hüsker Dü, the Who, Sons and Daughters, Grand Ole Party, Todd Oldham
and Charley Harper, the Features, Black Mountain, Soulsavers, the Helio
Sequence, Kate Nash, Nada Surf, Noah Baumbach, Juno and a gut-busting
EndNote by Whose Line Is It Anyway?’s Greg Proops.
CONTACT US
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Editorial Interns
Breanna Murphy, Brittany Burk,
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Scribes
Brittany Burk, Kendah El-Ali,
Danny Fasold, Daniel Fienberg,
Lauren Harris, Patrick James,
Shane Ledford, Nevin Martell,
Jeremy Moehlmann,
Breanna Murphy, AJ Pacitti,
Beau Powers, Zach Rosenberg,
Sam Roudman, Ken Scrudato,
Colin Stutz, Scott Thill
Marketing
Ewan Anderson,
Samantha Barnes, Mike Bell,
Samantha Feld,
Tristen Joy Gacoscos,
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Thank You
McGuire family, Bagavagabonds, Howard
Kelly, 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, Phamster, Pipe, Dana
Dynamite, Christian P, Lisa O’Hara,
Susana Loy Rodriguez, Jessica Park,
Shari Doherty, Robb Nansel, Pam
Ribbeck, Asher Miller, Ryan Scott,
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Hardwick, Rachel Weissman, Andrea
LaBarge, Patrick Strange, Willa Yudell,
Jonathon Saltzman, Eric Almendral
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Filter Good Music Guide is published by Filter
Magazine LLC, 5908 Barton Ave., Los Angeles
CA 90038. Vol. 1, No. 20, January-February
2008. 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
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© 2008 by Filter Magazine LLC.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
FILTER IS PRINTED IN THE USA
goodmusicwillprevail.com
COVER PHOTO BY BELLA LIEBERBERG + STEFAN RUHMKE
THE FILTER MAILBAG
Rock radio customized just for you.
Listen for free to millions of songs from thousands of artists to create your
perfect radio stations. Choose from over 100 expert-programmed stations
or create your own with your favorite artists. Share your stations with
friends and play free personalized music on the Slacker Web Player, the
full-featured Software Player or wherever you are on the Slacker Portable.
Your Guide to Innovations in Entertainment
Spread the Love with a
MIXA Mix Tape
Embarrassingly, the furthest some of us got with making a mix tape was
recording some pretty godawful stuff from FM radio—granted, we were
only 10 and thought editing out the annoying ads was extra considerate.
Now that tastes have been refined and there’s all sorts of music to dedicate,
the spirit of the medium has finally hit us…but the cassette tape is all but
dead. Don’t deny it, fellow vintage lovers, the digital age (in all its impersonal glory) is here to stay—and that’s why we’re loving MIXA’s offer to look
into the past and “undigital your digital.” The MIXA is basically just a flash
drive in the shape of a tape cassette, but the website (www.makeamixa.com) allows you
to design how it looks, case and all, by adding your own pictures and words. Plus, the
1GB capacity opens up the option of adding videos and photos to that list of musical
dedications to lovers and friends. At $40, the price is a bit steep, but the MIXA does
offer nostalgia and convenience with that extra personal touch. Kudos to an innovative
solution to preservation: Long live the mix! BREANNA MURPHY
Get Your Audio Fix
with Zune Pass
As if it wasn’t enough that Bill Gates and his mighty Microsoft
Empire had already invaded the popular territories of computer operating systems, digital cable and first-person shoot’em-ups—they just had to go and lay their claim on digital
music too. Well, if you can’t beat ’em, join ’em—and then
beat ’em with better deals. The Zune Marketplace Pass gives
users open access to over two million songs and for a flat rate of $14.99 per month, the average
music addict can get quite the audio fix. When you compare that to iTunes, which charges a buck
for each individual song, the Zune Pass is really quite a deal. And once users download their
songs, they can feel free to share them with as many cyberspacers as possible without fear of a
bloody R.I.A.A. reprisal. The only downside: you can’t download videos or burn your Zune Pass
songs onto CD. But hey, that’s what Zune players are for. DANNY FASOLD
VTech Lets You IM From
Your Landline Phone
When was the last time you used a landline phone? Was it rotary or digital? Take a
moment to ponder, because as members of the present generation, it’s inescapable
that we’re forcibly attached to our cell phones. The opportunities to communicate
today—text messaging, IM, e-mail and visual voicemail—are all tools to navigate
our hectic day-to-day and minute-to-minute 21st century lives, rendering most old
school gadgets things of the past. Technology is finally letting the home phone join
the cool club with some help from VTech, releasing the first landline phone that
can compete with our mobiles. The IS6110 cordless phone’s premier feature is a
full Qwerty keyboard (it doesn’t look too dissimilar from a PDA) that lets its owner
send instant messages over AIM or MSN, so you can stay in touch from the couch
or kitchen table. The IS6110 also has a phonebook that isn’t a pain to access, and
you can record ringtones straight from a stereo or PC. Take a break from your cell,
like a prison escapee. BREANNA MURPHY
6 FILTER GOOD MUSIC GUIDE
Country radio customized just for you.
Listen for free to millions of songs from thousands of artists to create your
perfect radio stations. Choose from over 100 expert-programmed stations
or create your own with your favorite artists. Share your stations with
friends and play free personalized music on the Slacker Web Player, the
full-featured Software Player or wherever you are on the Slacker Portable.
Your Guide to Innovations in Entertainment
Myvu:Video
on the Go
Ever crave the newest episode of
Lost while running the treadmill,
or positively jones over that hot
new Filter TV video while you’re
waiting at the bus stop…and you
don’t want to advertise to the
world (criminal or otherwise) that
you’re packing a portable media
player? Wait no longer, dear video
fanatics, for the future is now.
Whenever you strap on a pair
of these Blade Runner-esque Myvu goggles and feed them into your MP4 or your portable DVD player,
you’re greeted with a floating video image of whatever it is you’re itching to watch. Courtesy of the Myvu
Corporation, the leading force in the new-fangled realm of eyewear electronics, these sleek, futuristic eye
goggles allow the wearer to view videos wherever they are without the pesky distraction of having that nosy
little punk in the next seat over peer over your shoulder to catch a peek. Don’t worry, you can see around
the image, so users need not fear being blinded while wearing them. They sell for as low as $199.95, so grab
‘em quick, while they’re still a novelty. DANNY FASOLD
Get Your MoJo Workin’ with the
Mobile Journalism Kit
Hey, journalists (aspiring or presently active)! Ready to upgrade that pen and Moleskine to the 21st century?
The Mobile Journalism Kit, nicknamed “the MoJo,” just may be your solution. Following the technological
trend of Let’s-Get-Everything-Possible-Into-Our-Cell-Phones, Reuters (the news service) and Nokia have
teamed up to create a set of media peripherals aimed at on-the-go writers. The Kit includes a small
Bluetooth keyboard, microphone, tripod (for video documentation) and
solar-powered charger that all hook up to the Nokia N96 cell phone. The
companies recently let their key demographic’s MoJos rise while covering
events like the Edinburgh Film Festival, the U.S. Presidential campaign
trail and New York Fashion Week; journos tested the devices out—
making videos, conducting interviews and writing scoop—and, wouldn’t
you know it, the Kits worked. Still in the “experimental” phase, the
MoJo is being fine-tuned for consumer use, but it serves as an intriguing
glimpse into how information can and will be gathered, documented and
reported in the future. BREANNA MURPHY
Hip Hop radio customized just for you.
Listen for free to millions of songs from thousands of artists to create your
perfect radio stations. Choose from over 100 expert-programmed stations or
create your own with your favorite artists. Share your stations with friends and
play free personalized music on the Slacker Web Player, the full-featured
Software Player or wherever you are on the Slacker Portable.
8 FILTER GOOD MUSIC GUIDE
GOOD MUSIC GUIDE FILTER 9
Out of the
Mouths of Babes
Juno Screenwriter Diablo Cody
Dishes It Out For Free
BY DANIEL FIENBERG
ALTHOUGH THE DIRECTORS GUILD POSSESSIONARY CREDIT REQUIRES that Juno be labeled “A Jason
Reitman Film,” its authorship can be clearly assigned to Diablo Cody, well on her way to becoming Hollywood’s most
successful blogging, stripping, insurance-adjusting, phone sex operating screenwriter. Juno is a bracingly funny, lightning-paced story about a hyper-articulate, foul-mouthed teenage girl (Ellen Page) facing the gestating consequences
of an awkward sexual encounter with her best friend (Michael Cera). Although it has a conventional narrative and a
subversively retro theme, Juno sounds utterly unique. In similar fashion, here Cody gives the Guide the scoop.
A
ll of Juno’s relationships were drawn from my
own life. I wasn’t actually a pregnant teenage mom. I had a friend who got knocked up
when she was 17. That experience was kind of unusual
and it did inspire me. The parents are very evocative of
my own parents. I’ve had the sort of dangerous relationship with the older man in my life. My high school boyfriend was absolutely the inspiration for the character of
Paulie Bleeker. He was a very sweet, gentle guy. All of
the guys I surrounded myself with were little lambs. I
was always the aggressor in those relationships.
It’s funny, actually. I think some people would perhaps
be eager to shed those associations [from the past]. Not
me. I’m glad to have an interesting backstory. There’s really
just a hair’s-width distance between stripping and working
in the entertainment industry. In fact, I used to refer to
myself as an “entertainer” when I was a stripper, because it
amused me. I thought it was a great euphemism, but either
way you’re out there shuffling your feet with a desperate
look in your eyes. “Look at me! 20 dollars.”
At the time I was just having a nervous breakdown.
It was fun. I was having a good time. But there was definitely an aspect of crazy there. It wasn’t until I was wrapping up the adventure that I started thinking to myself,
“You know what? I’ve been blogging about this, I’ve been
10 FILTER GOOD MUSIC GUIDE
writing about it and people are responding to it and they
think it’s hilarious. I could get a book out of this.” I never
in a million years thought I was going to be a screenwriter.
I’m way better at this. I was a terrible stripper.
When I was 19, my goal in life was probably, like, to
marry Usher. Five years ago I wanted to pay off my car.
My husband and I bought a house right after I got my
book deal and we constantly had this backup plan where
I was going to go back and strip at the only club in town
that would have me at that point.
In Juno, the women get to come to the forefront,
which I like. This is treading into dangerous territory,
but I think that women are naturally empathetic and
tend to write male characters better than vice versa.
Oooh. I said it.
Interestingly enough, I sort of neutered myself with
the whole stripper shtick, because I don’t encounter a
lot of sexism. I get treated as a peer by a lot of men
because they’re intimidated by my personality, whereas
I have some friends who are, perhaps, more conventionally feminine who struggle with harassment. No guy is
going to try and grab my ass in a meeting because he
knows I’ll probably just ask him for five dollars. That’s
prime. I used to have to endure that for free.
—DIABLO CODY
Black Lips’
Guide to Atlanta, Georgia
BY BREANNA MURPHY
THE RAPSCALLION REPUTATIONS OF THE BLACK LIPS NEED NOT BE FURTHER DISCUSSED HERE,
but always worth mentioning is their beautifully messy talent. As similarly gifted as they are dangerously wild, the
Georgian foursome never fails to unleash a set of impressive (and aggressive) songs with each new album. Having
released one of our favorites of the past year, Good Bad Not Evil, they’ve been touring incessantly since its release,
letting every shady corner of the world in on the good times and tunes.
After the Endless Tour (still in progress) wraps up someday, the Lips will return to homes in their beloved
Hotlanta, where a varied collection of bars, BBQ and bargain hunting will be waiting—all, it seems, a hop, skip
and jump from the local Federal Penitentiary. Here, bassist Jared Swilley reminisces with the Guide and gives us a
Cliff’s Notes version of that good ol’ pistol-packin’ Peachtree persistin’ in Atlanta.
Atlanta’s Best…
…spot for some dangerous meat:
Harold’s BBQ
This is my favorite BBQ joint in the city. They only have
three things on the menu: pulled pork, ribs and Brunswick
stew. It’s really old and they smoke the meat right inside,
so you can see it all go down. All the employees sport
pistols on their hips since it’s in a bad neighborhood and
just a stone’s throw from the Federal Pen.
…hometown venue:
MJQ Concourse/The Drunken Unicorn
The bar/venue where we all hang out and play. It’s the
best place to see a show in Atlanta and there’s always
something going on during any night of the week.
…restaurant for a Southern food coma:
Carver’s Soul Food
Me and Cole [Alexander, vocals/guitar] used to live
across the street from this strip club, and would end
up there on late nights. It can be intimidating because
it’s in the West End, and there’s about ten giant security guards at the door (who also have pistols on their
hips), but everyone’s really cool. It’s cheap and they’ve
even let us take photos in there and DJ on slow nights.
The girls can really get down.
One of the best soul food restaurants in the city. They
serve really large portions of collard greens, fried
chicken, Mac and cheese, etc. Still looks great on the
inside and outside, and run by really friendly country
folks. Not much else to say about that.
…activity to earn an injury:
The skate ditch
It’s a ditch that we skateboard in at Piedmont Park. It’s hard
to find because there’s kudzu growing everywhere. Fun,
but be careful: One of our friends broke his neck there.
…low-key, Blue State hangover:
Manuel’s Tavern
…former job that doesn’t suck:
Majestic Diner
An old bar, and the unofficial democratic headquarters of
Atlanta. There’s no music blasting or hipsters anywhere,
just old people—from construction workers to lawyers—
having a beer after work. Good place to go for a quiet,
private drink, and there are plenty of nice folks.
We used to work here. It looks cool because it’s an old
classic Greek diner. Plus, it’s open 24 hours and near all
the places we live and hang out. Pretty colorful at night,
and cool staff/owners that put up with us for a long time.
…post-prison bargain:
Charlie’s Trading Post
DAN MONICK
…way to watch a movie as they should be
watched:
Starlight Drive-In
Drive-ins rule and there aren’t many left. You can bring
your own food and alcohol and have BBQs. In the
summer they screen really old B-movies all night. You
can also get in free if you don’t mind riding in the trunk.
It’s the best way to see a movie, and a sad reminder of
our declining American culture.
…friendly neighborhood strip joint:
Queen City
12 FILTER GOOD MUSIC GUIDE
prisoners go to first on their way back into society.
This is kind of a thrift/wholesale/sports/clothing store
where all the defective Carhartt, Dickies and Levi’s
stuff goes. We get most of our t-shirts here. Also good
for fishing, camping and baseball gear. It’s across the
street from the Federal Pen, so it’s where the released
…bar, period:
Southern Comfort
This is our favorite. It’s a 24-hour trucker bar that has a
house band called the Joe Tucker Band. The pedal steel
player actually played on our last album. It’s a bunch of
long picnic tables, sawdust covered floors and big, cheap
pitchers of beer. Plus, everyone dances no matter what
song it is. It’s probably the best bar in Atlanta. F
GOOD MUSIC GUIDE FILTER 13
The
Raveone es
Lead Us
Into Temptation
Lust For Life
WITH A TITLE LIKE LUST, LUST, LUST, it’s obvious
the Raveonettes has an overpowering fixation it needs
to get out of its system. The Danish duo—guitarist/
vocalist Sune Rose Wagner and bassist/vocalist Sharin
Foo—has always delighted in delving into the dark
side of human nature, but its fourth full-length album
takes the band’s reverb-drenched downward spiral
even deeper. Opening with the insistent sturm und
drang of “Aly, Walk With Me,” and continuing on to
the shimmering Spector-minus-the-shotgun fuzz pop of
“Dead Sound” and the charming come on, “You Want
the Candy,” this winning effort quickly makes a case
for the raw beauty of love, loathing, deception and, of
course, lust.
Black-clad, svelte and sexy, the Raveonettes has never shied away from playing up their glossy retro revamp
of ’50s B-movie villains. As immaculately dressed offstage as they are before an audience, the Scandinavian
duo has a taste for some of the finer things in life—good
food, unforgettable libations, and the holidays—which
they’re certainly not afraid to talk about. As well spoken
as they are cultured, Sune and Sharin come across like a
pair of stargazing kids who want to make art just so they
can always be around it.
Though Sharin now lives in L.A. and Sune’s home
is in N.Y.C., they haven’t lost their touch for crafting the kinds of songs that invite you into a blackglittered parallel universe. And while Lust, Lust, Lust
is the centerpiece of this bewitching new snowglobe
inside which we’re being ushered, this is a world with
so much more drama and deceit than we’ve seen
before—not to mention a roomful of Christmas trees
that stay up all year ’round. BY NEVIN MARTELL
PHOTOS BY BELLA LIEBERBERG + STEFAN RUHMKE
14 FILTER GOOD MUSIC GUIDE
GOOD MUSIC GUIDE FILTER 15
“Why is love so difficult to deal with?
Why are we never satisfied with
what we have and why do we always
crave more?”
— Sune Rose Wagner
Where have we found you?
Sharin Foo: We’re in Denmark finishing up a tour.
Today we’re in Odense, which is the little town where
[author] Hans Christian Anderson is from.
Where did the title Lust, Lust, Lust come from?
It sounds like the name of an old pulp novel.
Sune Rose Wagner: The first song that was written
was “Lust.” And we really liked it, so I decided to write
the whole album around it. I thought that lust was an
interesting topic to write about and it came very easily for me. When it came time to name the album I
just thought, “Well, the entire album is about lust, so
why not just call it what it is?” But there were some
other bands that had already made albums called Lust,
so I thought, “What would Andy Warhol do?” Well, he
would repeat the word nine times, but that’s probably
too much, so we just did three.
How does lust come out as a lyrical theme?
Wagner: It was based on personal experiences. A lot
of failed relationships. A lot of lusting for nightlife, sex
and drugs. There was the sadness behind the lust, too.
Why is love so difficult to deal with? Why are we never
satisfied with what we have and why do we always crave
more? Where does this lust come from?
Do you feel like you’ve mastered lust now?
Wagner: No. I do understand it—I feel like I’ve always understood it—but it still perplexes me. I feel
like it’s a very difficult emotion to deal with and it can
bring a lot of misery along with it. It can be a wonderful thing to have, it just depends on whether you’re
single or not. If you’re in a relationship, lust can be
very stressful.
Can you think of a time in your life when lust
played a big role?
Foo: Not for me. It doesn’t have such a pulling need
that I can’t stay connected to the bigger picture. It’s not
something that has control over me.
The Raveonettes has always had a very wellconceived and beautifully executed aesthetic. I
imagine your homes must be intriguing spaces.
Wagner: There’s always a lot of Christmas stuff in
16 FILTER GOOD MUSIC GUIDE
my apartment. I have two Christmas trees up all year
round. There’s one silver one and a Tim Burton tree,
which is really cool. As a kid, I always enjoyed that time
of year, because it made me very relaxed. I get very
inspired by Christmas things. It’s probably the nostalgist in me, but I love to go to flea markets and buy
old Christmas ornaments from the ’50s and ’60s. And I
love to buy all sorts of cheesy holiday books. I have the
autobiography of Santa Claus and A Country Christmas, where all the big country stars tell their best
Christmas memories and give out recipes of traditional
food they eat from Nashville.
Do you share Sune’s obsession with Christmas?
Foo: No, that’s to the point where it’s a disease; it’s
an obsession to an unhealthy degree. I remember
one time when we were touring, his whole bunk in
the tour bus was just this Christmas extravaganza
with colored lights everywhere. I do love Christmas,
though. We just played a show in Copenhagen and
we ordered fake snow for the stage. During the encore, when we played “The Christmas Song,” there
was snow falling from the sky. There were almost
tears in our eyes; we are such nostalgists when it
comes down to it.
Speaking of obsessions, I’ve heard that you
guys are hardcore foodies.
Foo: Yes, we are epicurean centralists. We enjoy food
and wine to an almost unhealthy degree, also. We can
spend many hours on the computer looking for the right
restaurants to eat at when we’re on tour.
Wagner: I have a subscription to Zagat and it’s my
favorite website—it’s the only one I go to every day.
When we’re out touring, we always go to the Zagat
guide and see what every town has to offer. We like
to eat really well when we’re on the road, because
if you just eat fucking sandwiches and Burger King
every day, it just puts you in a foul mood. Touring
is really hard and it’s boring; it’s so much waiting
and driving and all that shit. You’ve got to be sure to
reward yourself, to make it all worthwhile. The way
we do it is to seek out the better restaurants. If we
can have a really good meal, then we feel like we’ve
done something really nice to make up for everything else. F
Sune and Sharin’s Ways to Stay
Warm in the Winter
•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
Sune: At home we drink Glögg, which is a little bit like mulled wine, but it has almonds, raisins and all these
spices like cinnamon and cloves in it. You start with just wine, then add a lot of liquor to it—schnapps, vodka
and anything else you like. The trick is that all the raisins soak up all the alcohol, so when you eat them you
get really “festive.”
Sharin: In Sweden they have beautiful saunas, and they’re usually located right by the lakes. After you get
really sweaty, you walk outside and jump in the freezing cold water before running back into the sauna. I hear
that if you pour alcohol on the hot stones [that heat the sauna] it can be very intoxicating.
Sune: I love to cook confit de canard in the winter for gourmet comfort food. It’s French duck that’s been
cooked over and over and over in its own fat, so it’s really juicy. It’s all fat and it’s so simple to make—I love it.
And if you roast some potatoes with a little thyme to finish off the dish, then you’re in heaven.
GOOD MUSIC GUIDE FILTER 17
Parallel
Travelers
Del became a hero to cats, and me.
Del: I was in New Orleans, and me, A-Plus and Opio
[of Hieroglyphics] were on a radio show. KRS-ONE
came through, and then Company Flow came.
El-P: That was crazy; it was Hiero, KRS and Company
Flow in New Orleans. And then that night, we got shitfaced on hurricanes in the middle of the street. That
was the first time we met…it was some sort of bullshit
music industry conference.
Del: That was the first time I heard Company Flow, I think
y’all gave me a sampler tape.
El-P: That was when we were just hustling, pressing up
that shit ourselves. But then I worked on the last record
Del put out, Both Sides of the Brain, and I produced
a track.
You both self produce. What is that process
like? Do you compare notes? How is it different between you?
Del the Funky Homosapien vs. El-P
BY SAM ROUDMAN + PHOTOS BY TODD WESTPHAL
ON SEPARATE COASTS, AND IN SEPARATE CREWS, El-P and Del the Funky Homosapien have been central
players in a realm of hip-hop that operates more like jazz and less like American Idol. Two of the most distinctive voices
in rap’s history, Del’s elastic, chiding baritone and El-P’s pummeling machine gun blasts are each compliments to their
production styles, with Del leaning on Parliament raygun spaciness and El tied to shit-grit sample density. Their respective crews, Del’s Hieroglyphics and El-P’s now-defunct Company Flow, are rightfully venerated; their labels, Hiero
Imperium and Definitive Juxtaposition, are indies at the forefront of embracing the digital era’s possibilities. So it’s no
surprise that Del’s first solo album in six years, 11th Hour, is going to be released on El-P’s Def Jux, bringing with it the
chance that these parallel time and space travelers might soon find themselves on the same track.
18 FILTER GOOD MUSIC GUIDE
How did you first learn about each other?
El-P: Del fell in this really weird, ill place with his first
album, I Wish My Brother George Was Here. That’s a
classic record to me. Here was this kid who’s related
to Ice Cube with this West Coast gangster production
and funk beats, but who’s also in the realm of De La
and Tribe. And then on the next record, he basically
created a style that many others took influence from.
El-P: It’s probably really different. How do you produce it, Del?
Del: I usually come up with a musical idea, not a lyric or
nothing like that; a rhythm, maybe a drum beat. Sometimes a bass line, some kind of melody, and then I just arrange stuff around that until I have a completed piece.
Usually I have an idea of whether I want it to be
sinister or noble, happy or sad, or mad...
El-P: You have a mood or an emotion in mind, basically.
Del: Yeah.
El-P: I’m kinda different; I don’t know what the
mood or emotion is going to be until it just kind of
unfolds. I really don’t have any clue as to what the
hell I’m doing at any moment. It’ll take me hours to
figure out what the fuck I’m doing, and sometimes
weeks and months. I’ll make jams just to get me writing, I’ll make beats just to spark an idea, and then I’ll
lay the lyrics down and that’ll change the music. It’s
one long, weird process that actually is just painful as
a motherfucker.
Do you think you need that struggle? Would
the work be the same if you weren’t suffering
through it?
El-P: I’m not a glutton for punishment. I would love it
if this shit were easy. Life is fucking hard enough; I don’t
need pain from my sampler. The fact is that it is what it
GOOD MUSIC GUIDE FILTER 19
is. When I say painful, it’s obviously a pain that I enjoy;
it’s a labor of love.
You both have pretty deep discographies.
How do you switch it up between albums? For
instance, Del, how did you alter your approach
to this album?
Del: Before, it was easy to me, and I just kind of threw
stuff together and thought that was acceptable for a long
time. But my bag of tricks was running out—I felt like
people were gonna discover that I wasn’t doing nothing.
So I had to learn something about what I was doing so
I could grow, lyrically and musically. I started getting
more into how to actually formulate stuff.
Lyrically, I wanted to communicate more with people. I felt like too many people already knew how to rap
like I was rapping at the time, so I was like, “What else
is there to do?” I don’t want to say I was trying to tone it
down, because I’m not trying to be simple-minded, but
I definitely want to be more direct with an idea to let
people know where I’m coming from.
El-P: It’s a natural progression. It’s one thing to come
with a style that’s original and that hits when you’re
younger, and run with something that’s funky and
20 FILTER GOOD MUSIC GUIDE
natural and kinda blows up. But any real artist, as they
progress, wants to alter the music in the same way that
they’re altering as a person. You don’t want to be faking
some shit that was natural at one point, and then all of a
sudden it’s the re-creation of a moment.
You’ve both clocked time in successful hip-hop
crews. How is working in a group different
from working solo?
Del: I like working by myself better, man. To tell you
the truth, it’s just quicker. I don’t have to answer to nobody, I don’t have to agree with nothing.
El-P: I kinda feel the same. It’s been so long since
I’ve been in a group. I’ll be honest, I’m much happier; it’s too complicated to involve yourself with a
bunch of people. It’s one thing to be ambitious and
have a vision, and it’s another thing to have a collective identity. That said, I wanna do different types of
collaborative albums. Me and Del are talking about
doing one. But as far as a career, it’s easier for me to
do that on my own. F
FOR MORE OF OUR CONVERSATION WITH DEL AND EL,
VISIT GOODMUSICWILLPREVAIL.COM.
RA D IOHEA_D
IN RAINBOWS
THE NEW ALBUM
IN STORES 01.01.08
WWW.RADIOHEAD.COM / WWW.TBDRECORDS.COM
z+ v 2008 _XURBIA_XENDLESS LIMITED UNDER EXCLUSIVE LICENSE TO TBD R E C O R D S , L L C
GOOD MUSIC GUIDE FILTER 21
the
CURSE of the SOOTHSAYER
EXORCISING
THE
BEDLAM
from the
BY PATRICK JAMES
MYTH IS ALREADY SPREADING about the creepy inspiration for the Mars Volta’s newest full-length riddle,
The Bedlam in Goliath. It began when guitarist Omar Rodriguez-Lopez purchased an antique, Ouija-style “talking board” from a curio shop in Israel as a gift for singer Cedric Bixler-Zavala. Their use of the board (a.k.a “the
Soothsayer”) became an obsession, revealing an ancient story of three people consumed by sexual violence. But the
album’s conceptual blueprint brought with it harbingers of destruction in the form of what the band maintains is a
curse. The Guide cornered Cedric and Omar in the Los Angeles studio that bore The Bedlam, hoping to illuminate
questions of floods, disappearing tracks and contributors, and a record whose story didn’t want to be told.
How did you find the Soothsayer?
Omar: I was in Jerusalem, Israel. It was just something that
stuck out as a great gift. You recognize things as belonging
to people. You say, “Oh, that’s mine. That’s Cedric’s.”
How did you begin using it?
Cedric: It was just something to do for fun in the middle of Iowa while on tour with the Chili Peppers. You
retreat to the bus and there’s this morbid fascination of
treating the board like a car accident. From there, curiosity killed the cat.
How did it contribute to this record?
Cedric: Well, the music was there already. It was a
matter of trying to fit together the puzzle pieces of
words—stories which came from the board...translated from Hebrew, Aramaic, and Latin. Maybe some
people would think it’s just the shape of paranoia in
the back of my head, but spirits were consumed in this
piece of antique.
When did things start to go wrong?
Cedric: I guess the domino effect would be us having
faith in working with Blake [Fleming, the drummer who
replaced Jon Theodore, and was replaced by Deantoni
Parks, and ultimately Thomas Pridgeon] and then that
faith completely backfiring on us. The worst was our engineer having a nervous breakdown and wanting to keep
the tapes, accusing us of making music with evil intent.
But we never told our engineer that we had this thing.
Omar: We did two weeks of work here in Los Angeles
and I went back to my studio in New York and Cedric
calls me and says, “I’m not getting on the plane.” We’d
made over 15 records together, and he says, “I’m not going over there. This music is evil, you’re trying to infect
22 FILTER GOOD MUSIC GUIDE
people. I’m keeping the drives; I’m going to take them
to the desert and burn them.” And this was just the music; just bass and drums at that point.
What happened next?
Omar: Our studio in New York flooded. Twice. I share
the basement with nine other people and my studio
was the only one that flooded. I lost half of my gear,
had three power outages, went through three different
computers, two laptops, four engineers. Tracks that had
been there for months vanished into thin air. We would
go back to previous playlists, other drives; they wouldn’t
be there. Our mixing engineer was saying, “There’s no
curse...” He would see these things happen right before
his eyes. He calls it “quantum entanglement,” a scientific explanation for that which can’t be explained. We
call it “the curse.”
Cedric: We also call it “the story that doesn’t want to
be told.” It’s a sort of love triangle. In the end, it’s just a
product of this domestic violence where all parties end
up dying. I don’t know how it happened, but they ended
up in [the board]. “Goliath” is those three people in one.
The main thing was after a while it [the board] tried to
convince us to provide it with a vessel to trade places
with it, give it a second life again—that’s the album.
But you had to get rid of the Soothsayer to
finish the record?
Omar: I don’t even know where the it is. I bought a
plane ticket to some place I’d never been before, far
from here. I got in a taxi and said, “Drive, drive, drive.”
I gave the cabdriver a hundred dollar bill to wait and I
walked, walked, walked. I broke it and I buried it. I got
back to the cab and said, “Take me back to the airport.”
I could never find it again if I tried. F
GOOD MUSIC GUIDE FILTER 23
available at
One-Liners:
a miniature take on selected Filter Magazine reviews
...........................................................................................................................
(Go to goodmusicwillprevail.com or pick up Filter Magazine’s Holiday Issue for full reviews of these albums)
U2
The Joshua Tree [20th Anniversary
97%
Box Set]
UNIVERSAL
This three-disc set is a must-have for anyone
craving proof that Bono isn’t just a hologram.
BRITISH SEA POWER
85%
Do You Like Rock Music?
ROUGH TRADE
Certainly at a Decline no longer, and
leading the grandiose charge for glory.
Yes, BSP, yes we do.
VARIOUS ARTISTS
91%
I’m Not There [Soundtrack]
COLUMBIA
Thanks Sufjan, thanks Thurston, you
did great, but nobody plays Dylan like
the man himself.
GORILLAZ
84%
D-Sides
VIRGIN
Demon’s B-sides get help from Albarn and
friends, and there’s nothing cartoonish
about it.
THE MARS VOLTA
90%
The Bedlam in Goliath
UNIVERSAL/GSL
The afro’d soothsayers pit harmony
against discord in a musical theater of
good versus evil. Pure bedlam.
MATT COSTA
83%
Unfamiliar Faces
BRUSHFIRE
Costa’s second is best kept for moody,
introspective mornings indoors and away
from the sun.
CAT POWER
89%
Jukebox
MATADOR
Our ethereal songstress takes a few covered
steps forward: it’s Cat Power revisited.
JACK PEÑATE
81%
Matinée
XL
All heart and no chops sure make Jack
a dull boy.
THE HIVES
The Black and White Album 88%
INTERSCOPE
The Hives try new things with their
sound; the outfits remain the same.
THE LIBERTINES
Time For Heroes: The Best of 75%
ROUGH TRADE
Sorry, Doherty. “Cracking” apart after
two studio albums doesn’t mean you get
a “best of” comp.
THE HELIO SEQUENCE
88%
Keep Your Eyes Ahead
SUB POP
Sure, synth-infused ’80s dance is fine,
but ain’t nuthin’ wrong with some stark
minimalism here and there.
WHITE WILLIAMS
72%
Smoke
TIGERBEAT 6
Imagine if Raffi had mentored Girl
Talk…but even more awkward than
you’d think.
BEACH HOUSE
87%
Devotion
CARPARK
Here, the Beach House duo opt for the
gloomier side of the shore. Time for a
name change, maybe?
24 FILTER GOOD MUSIC GUIDE
FILTER
ALBUM
RATINGS
BOB MOULD
85%
District Line
ANTIThe chief Hüsker ditches the clubhouse
beats in which he previously dabbled and
dons his fiery guitar once again.
N.W.A.
Straight Outta Compton
70%
[20th Anniversary]
CAPITOL/PRIORITY
The original release pissed off cops,
moms and the F.B.I. The homages of
this reissue couldn’t scare a kitten.
91-100%
81-90%
71-80%
61-70%
Below 60%
a great album
above par, below genius
respectable, but flawed
not in my CD player
please God, tell us why
Music,
etc.
...........................................................................................................................
BECK
95%
Odelay [deluxe edition]
GEFFEN/UME
Shaggy high jumpin’ hounds, rejoice—
finally, the best “alternative” (Holy
Kennedy, Pinfield!) album of the ’90s gets the bonus
treatment. The kind folks at Camp Beck have pieced
together a Buzz Bin-worthy double record, unearthing
two unheard Odelay outtakes, a slew of remixes and
b-sides, the amazing “Deadweight” single, and some
LOL-funny liner notes, courtesy Thurston Moore,
Dave Eggers and some ignorant high schoolers. “Skinny
white boy?” “Is this classical?” “Is he Irish?” Listen and
learn, kids: this is the sound of the youth you never
had…and it’s glorious. SHANE LEDFORD
DEAD MEADOW
89%
Old Growth
MATADOR
Dead Meadow has the most
dependable groove out there. It’s a
drowsy, swaying trance-swing, with just enough boogie
to keep you from floating away from the billowing
rings of guitar effects and helium vocals. On this
effort, the sky has cleared, and the bluesy psych riffage
is balanced out with upfront production values and a
number of acoustic touches to fill out their bread and
butter spiritually-inclined riff-quests. Not old growth,
necessarily; just growth. SAM ROUDMAN
VAMPIRE WEEKEND
92%
Vampire Weekend
XL
From the first marimba blast until the
very last clave beat, Vampire Weekend’s
debut bursts forth with an original energy of diverse
grooves and distinct rhythms. In addition, the lyrics
are both clever and sincere; narrative quips about
Darjeeling tea, Lil’ Jon and Benetton are delivered
with a knowing wink by all four players. Put simply
on account of 2007’s buzz and 2008’s expectations:
The record is an impressive verification of talent to
the naysayers and a great excuse for everyone to start
dancing. BREANNA MURPHY
KATE NASH
88%
Made of Bricks
GEFFEN
What’s not to love about a girl whose
brand of love song tells her boyfriend:
“I said I’d rather be with your friends, mate, ‘cause
they’re much fitter.” Sure, Kate Nash’s songs are
slightly sophomoric, but they make for the most
pleasant of retributive-spiked pop, rounding out an
26 FILTER GOOD MUSIC GUIDE
album that masterfully laces together piano, a little
beatbox, some Björk-esque squawks and a sexy, throaty
little voice for a Brit all of 20 years. Just don’t piss her
off if you date her. KENDAH EL-ALI
dvd
The Ten
86%
CITY LIGHTS
From the brilliantly fried
minds behind Wet Hot
American Summer and the
State comes this wacky, tacky,
genius-on-crack-y comedy
about those stone tablets that bearded dude
was always yakkin’ about. Paul Rudd, Winona
Ryder, Liev Schreiber, Rob Corddry and other
funny people you’ll recognize star in this
exercise in short attention span schtick. The
ten stories feel like big-budget State sketches,
and the DVD’s multiple bonus features—
interviews, commentaries, and outtakes—are
above average. Who needs church when you
can learn the Commandments while coveting
both Paul Rudd’s comic timing and Jessica
Alba’s boobs? BEAU POWERS
NADA SURF
79%
Lucky
BARSUK
Nada Surf’s fifth begins in exactly
the right place, continuing the pace
and stride of past successes in its lead track, “See
These Bones,” as Matthew Caws’ beautifully slow,
tempered vocals ponder a fragile existence. From
that point on, however, the album is a downhill
slide of meaningful lyrics lost in jumbled harmonies
and over-repetition. There are brief moments of
inspiration and triumph (“Are You Lightning,”
“Weightless”), but they never last long enough. And
it’s a pity, because they’ve proven such perfection in
the past. BRITTANY BURK/BREANNA MURPHY
SIA
Some People Have
87%
Real Problems
HEAR MUSIC/MONKEY PUZZLE
“And when we reach a good place/
Let’s be sure to leave no trace.” Sigh. If only l’amour
could be as this lovely creature croons it to be
on the devastatingly romantic “Day Too Soon,” the
centerpiece of her startling new collection. This is
the gorgeous, aching soul record Sia had really always
meant to make; a joyful, unflinching stroll through the
minefield of human emotions. If it doesn’t turn your
heart—and possibly some of your squishy bits—inside
out and sideways then, seriously, there’s just no hope
for you. KEN SCRUDATO
JASON COLLETT
78%
Here’s to Being Here
ARTS+CRAFTS
Though the self-defeating/acoustic-love
bit this former Broken Social Scenester
champions is usually charming, his nostalgia here seems
a little forced. But to be fair, Collett hasn’t lost all sense
of his past, evident in some worthy collaborations—one
in particular with BSS bandmate and Apostle of Hustle
frontman Andrew Whiteman. Plus, tailing a slew of altcountry tracks demanding a depth of mood attempted
and rarely achieved is a relic of an Idols of Exile Collett:
“Somehow,” a lamenting moment when his “ooooing”
finally seems more authentically realized. AJ PACITTI
DRIVE-BY TRUCKERS
Brighter Than Creation’s Dark 79%
NEW WEST
Born decades too late but still giving
Americana a new-millennium upgrade,
Patterson Hood and his Drive-By Truckers feel like
a band out of time. Opener “Two Daughters and a
Beautiful Wife” is a winsome meditation on family
that could have leapt right off of After the Gold Rush,
fully formed. But Hood’s clan has one foot in the
21st century as well: The slow burn of “I’m Sorry,
Houston” is as honest about dysfunction as it is ironic, a
postmodern self-consciousness that reminds you where
you are, even as you get lost in the DBT’s neo-Southern
wilderness. Bring a compass. SCOTT THILL
GOLDFRAPP
82%
Seventh Tree
MUTE
Did you enjoy fucking to the
glammy, glossy sleaze of Goldfrapp’s
Supernature? Well, Seventh Tree takes the relationship
to the next level, providing a chilled out, sensual
soundtrack for lovemaking and post-coital snuggling.
Gone are the hip-thrusting rhythms and sexy come-ons;
these gentle tunes rely on acoustic guitars, mellow
beats and breathy vocals to seduce the listener. Sure, it’s
more mature and grown-up sounding (think Everything
But the Girl meets Zero 7), but Goldfrapp helps give
MILFs a good name. NEVIN MARTELL
THE MAGNETIC FIELDS
87%
Distortion
NONESUCH
It wouldn’t be a Stephin Merritt
record if the basso profundo of indie
rock hadn’t chosen a dictating leitmotif. Having
abandoned his predisposition with a certain rune
and scaled back his track-listing from 69 to 13, the
Magnetic Fields frontman found an unlikely muse
in the scourge of musicians: feedback. Merritt’s
still trafficking in the same bright power-pop with
the deceptively longing lyrics, yet this time it’s
refracted through a fuzzy amp, and for the first time
he matches the emotional discontent with aural
dissonance. LAUREN HARRIS
book
MATT MAUST/PAUL G. MAZIAR
86%
What It Is: What It Is
WRITE BLOODY
It’s not poetry, it’s not prose…
what is it: what is it? With What
It Is: What It Is, Cold War
Kids bassist and visual artist
Maust and wordsmith Maziar have succeeded
in making a book that’s less of a book and more
of a guided tour through places they’ve been,
both actual and abstract. With prose poems
about taking deep breaths from our collective
unconscious and making exhalations of cold
smoke into thin air, and photo-collage images
of cities, faces, skies and subways, the work
suggests a fractured postmodern world viewed
through nostalgic eyes and voiced by a warm,
familiar tongue that still sounds unique. It is
what it is. BEAU POWERS
VARIOUS ARTISTS
Droppin’ Science: Greatest Samples
79%
from the Blue Note Lab
BLUE NOTE
Blue Note has earned the right to comb
their vaults for anything relevant to today’s music
buyer—they have a great catalogue and relevance
to spare—but the songs included here are relevant
because someone else took them, sampled them and
inevitably made them better. The sole exception is
Jeremy Feig’s “Howling for Judy,” later pitch-shifted
and looped for Beastie Boys’ “Sure Shot.” I can’t/I
won’t/and I don’t stop listening to this rollicking
flute tune bursting with more energy than even the
Beasties could muster years later. As for the rest, I’ll
stick with the samples. JEREMY MOEHLMANN
LIAM FINN
86%
I’ll Be Lightning
YEP ROC
There’s something remarkably touching
in the sort of sparks Liam Finn (son
of Neil, nephew of Tim) sets during his debut album.
Don’t mistake the initial acoustic sounds purely as
singer-songwriter ilk; the successes of Lightning are
audibly best when he mixes polyphonic electronics
into a low-key foundation (“Lead Balloon,” “Second
Chance”). Finn’s wonderfully inconsistent with anything
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on the record—moods, tempos and genres vary from
song to song—save for nailing nearly each and every
one while wearing his heart proudly on his kiwi
sleeve. BREANNA MURPHY
video game
SUPER SMASH BROS. BRAWL 92%
WII
NINTENDO
Nintendo’s multiplayer monster
returns with an unbelievable roster
of past Ninty greats—Mario, Link,
Samus, Pit (Kid Icarus), Donkey Kong and Yoshi
are just some of the familiar faces you’ll get
to fight. Levels morph as you play, and solid
ground turns into floating platforms. You can use
(and customize) both the Wii remote or Classic
Controller to find your favorite setup. Either way,
the nostalgia is what drives the game, and fighting
with and against your favorite Nintendo characters
makes this a clear winner. ZACH ROSENBERG
ATLAS SOUND
Let The Blind Lead Those Who
88%
Cannot See But Feel
KRANKY
If Willy Wonka had spun a cotton candy
room into his factory’s architecture, its soundtrack easily
could have been penned by Atlas Sound. Of course,
coming from a label that’s famous for the aurally outthere, the solo work of Deerhunter’s Bradford Cox
fits the bill to a psychedelic tee. The real power of the
album, however, is that there is a beat-driven light at the
end of every hazy tunnel, making for a journey that is
as emotional as it is mind-bending. Eat your heart out,
Augustus Gloop. KENDAH EL-ALI
MIKE LADD
81%
Nostalgialator
DEFINITIVE JUX
Eclectic and off-the-wall like a whiz kid
with A.D.D., Nostalgialator suggests Mike
Ladd was raised on hearty doses of channel surfing and
Ritalin. Though that’s probably not the case for the prolific
Paris-by-way-of-Boston emcee and producer, his 10th
album bounces around frantically, blending electronic
and acoustic arrangements with theme-song loops, early
’90s rapping and funky lounge grooves, showing complete
disregard for a unifying sound. Eccentric almost to a flaw,
it’s like a mish-mashed mix tape of what it sounds like
inside Ladd’s hyperactive head. COLIN STUTZ
JOE JACKSON
60%
Rain
RYKODISC
Answer “yes,” and this is your album:
Was Ben Folds your favorite band
through high school, college, grad school, or is he
30 FILTER GOOD MUSIC GUIDE
currently your most played artist on iTunes? Do drippy
pop piano ballads with a pitifully decaying falsetto
rev your motor and set your fancy flying? Does an
album about a depressed, middle-aged man’s quest
for love through drugs, fame and hardship seem like
something you would relate to? “Yes?” For the rest of
us…God, why? SAM ROUDMAN
EVANGELICALS
84%
The Evening Descends
DEAD OCEANS
Like their Oklahoman left-field rock
peers, Flaming Lips and Starlight Mints,
Evangelicals have a gift for skewed pop weirdness. The
Evening Descends shows it off nicely, from the brokenbeat deconstruction of the title track to the mall rock
of “Skeleton Man.” Deep with reverb and trickery,
Evangelicals’ tracks sound like they were purposefully
taken apart and reassembled, Frankenstein-style.
And from the bizarre chill of “Snowflakes” to the
atmospheric finale, “Bloodstream,” The Evening
Descends is that rare offering, a detached experiment
with heart. SCOTT THILL
BABY DEE
87%
Safe Inside the Day
DRAG CITY
If Bertolt Brecht and Antony starred
alongside Tom Waits in Down By Law
instead of John Lurie and Roberto Benigni and played
cabaret chamber pop in prison instead of chanting “We
all scream for ice cream!” it might sound something like
Baby Dee. Dee is a 50-something transgender piano
songstress who has recruited fellow gleeful weirdos like
Will Oldham, Andrew W.K. and Matt Sweeney to play
on her gorgeously oddball and all-around delightful Drag
City debut. Song subjects dance from big-titty bee girls to
bad kidneys to irrepressible albinos. I scream, you scream,
we all scream for more Dee! SHANE LEDFORD
book
ABBY BANKS,
THURSTON MOORE
Punk House:
84%
Interiors in Anarchy
ABRAMS IMAGE
During your twenties, chances
are you probably experienced
or even lived in a punk house just like these.
Remember the charming characters with
haphazard bookcases, a dubiously dependable
bathroom/kitchen and endless free-art
walls; places that were, naturally, prone to
unwelcome visitors—human or otherwise.
These hundred pages are basically a weird,
adult version of I-Spy, as photographer Banks’
giant U.S. tour uncovers the hidden “majesty”
of the houses punk built. Some people really
do live this way. BREANNA MURPHY
POOLTRADESHOW presents De*Nada
February 12,13,14, 2008
C5, CENTRAL HALL, LAS VEGAS CONVENTION CENTER
www.pooltradeshow.com
FASHION FREEDOM WORLDWIDE
dvd
METRIC
85%
Live at the Metropolis
LAST GANG
Explosive Metric frontwoman Emily
Haines belts out to the eager fans
at Montreal’s Metropolis: “Dead
disco/Dead punk/Dead rock and roll/Remodel!”
I, however, would have to disagree with Emily’s
claim. Her band’s energetic performance proves
that disco, punk and rock and roll are very much
alive in their songs: it’s an amalgamation of musical
genres I’m going to call their own dance-punk
synth revolution. The DVD captures the energy
in 10 well-shot live tracks. Go get in on the action
before they remodel. BRITTANY BURK
LANDMARK THEATRES
The Ultimate Cinema Experience
SONS AND DAUGHTERS
80%
This Gift
DOMINO
On Scottish rock quartet Sons and
Daughters’ third LP, the band takes on
the role of a malcontent stuck in an oblivious society
obsessed with putting its talent on display. The title is
meant ironically, but the true irony is that this is the
band’s most accessible album to date. It’s masterfully
crafted pop, but overproduced with hooks so catchy
they seem artificial. This Gift is both a blessing and a
curse, wrapped just a bit too tightly. COLIN STUTZ
Baltimore
video game
Devil May Cry 4
90%
PS3, XBOX 360
CAPCOM
Watch as everyone’s favorite demonkilling fops Dante and Nero turn nightmares onto
their ears and unleash Hell on Earth for the first time
on the PS3 and 360. New weapons and skills grace
both characters, as this beat-down literally opens
Pandora’s Box, one of Dante’s weapons. Explore
everything from the jungle to Fortuna Castle, the
epicenter of hurt emotions and demonic hullabaloo.
Capcom has once again made gothic ass-kicking into
an art form. ZACH ROSENBERG
KELLEY STOLTZ
85%
Circular Sounds
SUB POP
Sometime after the ’70s, optimism
became a bit mistaken with naivety and,
well, someone forgot to tell Kelley Stoltz. Through and
through, his new record treads lightly through seventies
gold (“When You Forget”) and heavier, soulful blues (“To
Speak to the Girl”) while his vocals kindle love songs so
warm they could make any frozen heart begin to thaw.
And it’s not that Stoltz is without his own share of painful
experience—he just knows how to keep his head high
afterwards. BRITTANY BURK/BREANNA MURPHY
West Los Angeles
West Los Angeles
The Landmark West Los Angeles
10850 West Pico Boulevard
Los Angeles, CA 90064
(310) 281-8233
B A LT I M O R E
Landmark Theatres Harbor East
645 South President Street
Baltimore, MD 21202
(410) 624-2622
G R E E N WO O D V I L L AG E
The Landmark Theatre
Greenwood Village
5415 Landmark Place
Greenwood Village, CO 80111
(303) 352-1992
Order Tickets Online
tickets.landmarktheatres.com
Greenwood Village
LandmarkTheatres.com
U.K.
Imports: presented by
...........................................................................................................................
BRITISH SEA POWER
Do You Like Rock Music?
ROUGH TRADE
BSP’s third effort is a ballsier drift sunsetwards from the chuggy-but-travelsick crypto-pop
of Open Season, and it’s predictably lush. Drums clap
like thunderclouds as “No Lucifer” rolls into life, an
obscure ode to biblical projections of Armageddon,
referring abstractly to the current Pope and backed
by the weirder-than-weird appropriation of the “Easy!
Easy!” chant of Soccer AM. A tilt at the mainstream?
Perhaps, but when the rest of your album is about
1953 floodings in Essex and winsome anticipations
of jumping ship from planet Earth right before the
apocalypse, the logical answer is still no. “Waving
Flags” is a killer first single—with Yan huskier than
a huskie with a sore throat doing Tom Waits impressions—and in “Atom” they’ve a real gem that starts
off a piano ballad before booting itself out of the way
in a mushroom cloud of explosive serrated, guitars.
Treasure them, please. JJ DUNNING
HARRISONS
No Fighting In The War Room
MELODIC
And so, yet another four-piece guitar band
emerges from Sheffield, though this time geographical
proximity is not necessarily an overriding factor. Certainly
more Milburn than Arctic Monkeys, Harrisons nevertheless make a compelling argument to being the easy superior
of the former and comfortable stablemate with the latter.
From the mod-pop posturing of openers “Dear Constable”
and “Man Of The Hour,” which seem to have more in
common with the London-centric boisterousness of the
Clash than the Morrissey-meets-Neil Diamond plaintive
balladry of lighters-aloft highlight “Listen,” Harrisons’
itchy-trigger attitude and songwriting mastery ensures their
own chapter in the seeming Never Ending Story of the
Sheffield success saga. STEPHEN BROLAN
LIGHTSPEED CHAMPION
Falling Off The Lavender Bridge
DOMINO
Dev Haynes’ transformation from purveyor of messed up electro to sentimental folk troubadour
has been a little surprising to say the least. Test Icicles may
have given music a much needed kick up the arse, but,
with their premature demise opening up the space for
this album of softly spoken gems, we’re not missing them
too much. While Lavender Bridge is far from immediate
(Dev’s tales of twisted romance are a bit hard to swallow on
first listen), a lot of the quiet beauty of the tracks doesn’t
reveal itself until further listening. Steeped in Americana
and heavy on the pedal steel, with delicate backing vocals
provided by rising star Emmy the Great, this particular
reinvention is a good, good thing. MOLLY JONES
µ:OgS`W\UO\UcZO`UcWbO`a]\b]0`WbWaVc\RS`^W\W\Ua¶
´9SdW\0`]\a]\:/B7;3A
THE PYRAMIDS
The Pyramids
DOMINO
Archie Bronson Outfit are one of Britain’s
best-kept secrets: a growling, rumbling, sex-drenched
blues-rock beast of a band easily the match of prime Cave
or Stripes. Why mention this? Well, the Pyramids are two
thirds of A.B.O. mucking about at triple speed (in terms
of execution as opposed to tempo) and knocking out these,
10 slices of guttural garage rock sashimi so swampy they’re
likely to send the weak of mind scurrying for the solace of
something less challenging. Archie Bronson singer Sam
Windett’s pained vocals are immediately recognizable,
and “A White Disc of Sun” and debut single “Hunch Your
Body, Love Somebody” both stand out. Purchase as a
counterpoint to A.B.O.’s magnificent Derdang Derdang,
or wallow in its filth exclusively. CHARLIE IVENS
THE WOMBATS
The Wombats Proudly Present…A
Guide to Love, Loss and Desperation
14th FLOOR RECORDS
Punk pop acts are 10 a penny, so what makes this Liverpool
three-piece so damn special? Laconic frontman Matthew
Murphy bleats his loves, losses and desperations over
rumbling, bouncing rhythms and an almost constant wall
of ringing guitar. The “ooohs” from bassman and backing
vocalist Tord provide an added rocket boost, but it’s the
lyrics what make ‘em, though. Influenced as much by Elliott
Smith as the Beach Boys, the Wombats’ pop is underscored
by sadness, pathos and above all, a self-deprecating humor
that few artists can muster. The tracks do vary in quality,
but when their formula hits the nail on the head, like on
“Moving To New York,” said nail is shattered into its constituent atoms. Meanwhile, quieter numbers such as “Little
Miss Pipedream” showcase their ability to construct songs
that hold you by their quality, not just their relentless pop
onslaught. KENN TAYLOR
µ=\O\R=\¶3>OdOWZOPZS]\WBc\Sa4SP`cO`g#bV
BVSRSPcbOZPc[ASQ`Sb@]][aOdOWZOPZS
/^`WZ&bVSdS`geVS`S
The Fly is the U.K.’s second largest circulated music magazine. Focusing on emerging talent, it’s the essential
guide to new music in the U.K. Subscriptions are available, priced at £40 for 12 months (11 issues),
by contacting [email protected], or online at www.the-fly.co.uk.
U`O\`]\RSQ][’[ga^OQSQ][U`O\`]\RS’TWZbS`ca`SQ]`RW\UaQ][
34 FILTER GOOD MUSIC GUIDE
i-P23™ Portable Speakers Quicksilver Edition
Portable speakers for your iPod, $119.99
si5.com
Radiohead In Rainbows Box Set
Includes CD’s, Vinyl and booklets, $80
available exclusively from radiohead.com
Diesel
“Strobbe-Giu” black and grey abstract
graffiti-inspired logo print hoodie, $150
Available at Diesel stores nationwide,
or diesel.com
Vans
Iron Maiden Sk8-Hi’s, $65
vans.com
36 FILTER GOOD MUSIC GUIDE
DEWAR’S ® ON THE ROCKS: Fill a rock glass with
ice. Pour in DEWAR’S ® WHITE LABEL.® Enjoy the
flavors of a masterfully Blended Scotch Whisky.
SHELBY
LYNNE
JUST A
LITTLE
LOVIN’
INSPIRED
BY DUSTY
SPRINGFIELD
IN STORES
JANUARY 29
ON TOUR
IN 2008
PRODUCED BY
PHIL RAMONE
© 2008 UMG Recordings, Inc.
WWW.SHELBYLYNNE.COM
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