Had the pleasure of interviewing Skrillex signee (OWSLA) Dillon Francis for SPIN. Dude was a delight, and readily admitted to the puerile acts (involving spray paint and Spice Girls) that offset his otherwise puritanical upbringing. Read all about this moombahton-freaking (American) dubstepper over here.
We’ve joined SPIN’s Twitter reviews team. Watch us completely dismiss or irresponsibly champion an album in 140 characters or less! In all (well, some) seriousness, we’re pretty sure there’s an art to this–like a haiku for assholes who like the sound of their own quickly jotted words ricocheting off of the intensely labored-over musical works of our time. Anyway, we’re behind on updates, so here’s a fuck-shit stack for your brief enjoyment (via the SPIN site).
We did a little moonlighting for Rosebud. Jumped at the opportunity, in fact, to talk to a man who’s not only licked the Amazonian sapo frog, but ingested legit zombie dust (via The Serpent and the Rainbow) supplied by a Haitian shaman. Check out the chat with Hamilton Morris, host of Vice’s Pharmacopeia, here.
Been doing some blogging for SPIN lately, which included wrangling a trio of super sweet premieres from West Coast up-and-comers. Included: L.A. weirdos HOTT MT, who forced the lead Flaming Lip to do their bidding on camera; Costa Mesa beach bum kingpins the Growlers, who’ve dubbed America’s top-hatted human mascot a “dick”; and Nick Waterhouse, a San Francisco neo-greaser whose brand of soul revival won’t make you gag. Click below to dig in:
And some bonus Waterhouse for your troubles:
We’ve continued our work with director Matthew Desotell, handpicking unsung awesome music for the webs shorts he’s been making not only for Venice Beach denim kings Hudson Jeans, but for others too. The following three spots feature the music of Evan Voytas and Ernest Gonzales. Good dudes. Good tunes.
We Are Hudson, with “When Synchronicity Prevails” by Ernest Gonzales
Poor Riff Raff. (Video’s not new by any means, but we can’t get enough.)
As Aural loyalists will remember, we recently sat down for a long talk with the eternally lovely Shirley Manson on the occasion of Garbage’s self-funded return to music. She dropped so many nuggets that we had to break the thing up into three parts. Revisit the official SPIN Interview, then dive into Shirley’s Words of Wisdom, and check out her dissection of the entire Garbage catalog here.
Get yr mind outta the gutter, kids! We’re talking about camping out under the stars in Manchester, Tennessee. Former L.A. local Erika M. Anderson took SPIN on a guided tour of her band’s informal lodging for the festival. Did we say “guided tour”? We meant genuine Bonnaroo beer-and-bandminton party. Shot by the talented Ysa Pérez. Cameo by Jesse Turbo of Vurt Vile’s Violators.
Babe City, population:1 thrasher. St. Vincent gained another crowd fulla converts over the weekend by crawling on top of her fans for the entire length of the set-closing “Krokodil.” That was just one of the unforgettable moments documented by Team SPIN at Bonnaroo 2012 in Manchester, Tennessee. Best weather of the past three years, and a whole lot of best sets captured visually by Ian Witlen and Matt Ellis, and scribed about by Davids Marchese and Bevan, Luke McCormick, and yours truly. Indexed below for your easy access.
FIRST: 60 amazing photos from the festival! ///// AND NOW: our coverage. Click on the day itself to read about the artists listed and more.
THURSDAY
1. Yelawolf: the best part came with a dedication to the Beastie Boys…
2. MiM0SA: his heart is in hip-hop: swag rap, bass beats, fx-riddled hyphy…
3. Mariachi El Bronx: horns swell, violin soars, percussion bursts…
FRIDAY
1. St. Vincent: writhing and convulsing like she’d been inhabited by demons…
2. Flying Lotus: each track sped up and spliced with all kinds of weird…
3. Ludacris: he played a steady stream of hits from his 12-year-old catalog…
4. Little Dragon: a dangerously locked-in dance band teetering on the edge…
SATURDAY
1. D’Angelo & Questlove: giving his first U.S. concert in nearly 12 years…
2. Das Racist: Kool thanked “The Gathering of the Juggalos” for having them…
3. Khaira Arby & Her Band: flurries of notes from dueling guitars…
SUNDAY
1. fun.: the bellowing sing-alongs started with the first song and never let up…
2. Here We Go Magic: a rhythmic latter that leads to weirder heights still…
3. Kurt Vile & the Violators: Lou Reed covering Lou Barlow in a dank cave…
Howdy! We’re in Tennessee drinking Dickel and eating BBQ. Oh, and also covering this Holy Hillbilly and Hippie Fest called Bonnaroo. Check out the daily writeups over at SPIN, and live tweeting here. In the meantime, you can preview the magazine’s Top 20 Must-See Acts. See y’all on the other side!
Chris Writes Things 