Since the early 1980s, independent label Devil in the Woods has released music from a wealth of future indie-rock greats, including Bright Eyes, Grandaddy, Death Cab For Cutie and Sparklehorse, and eventually grew into a glossy print magazine. But in a surprising pivot, founder Mike Cloward shifted the company during the pandemic from its longtime […]
Hours before the reunited Circle Jerks began a February run of West Coast concert dates, drummer Joey Castillo heard again from a San Diego skater kid. The DMs on Instagram were piling up from 12-year-old Desmond Chavez, who was attending his very first big concert that night: Hey, I’m coming down tonight! What time are […]
Too often living legends go neglected in their own environs, as if already past history. They become walking ghosts, barely acknowledged where they exist–while neighbors thrive off their genius. Austin, Texas is in the middle of its first post-pandemic, in person, somewhat subdued (1,400 bands instead of 2,000) South by Southwest (SXSW) music, film, new […]
In early 1993, L.A.-based photographer Loren Haynes (and his Mamiya RZ 67 camera) checked into New York City’s Paramount Hotel, the same one as Lemonheads frontman Evan Dando, hoping to bond with the musician before their cover shoot the next day. “I always try to arrange private time with the artist, get to know them, […]
Like many 40-year-olds who engage with social media only when necessary, MGMT co-founder Ben Goldwasser doesn’t have a TikTok account. So when the title track of the band’s 2018 album, Little Dark Age, suddenly began appearing in thousands of videos on the platform in the first pandemic summer of 2020, he had to rely on […]
When I wrote about my glimpses of the Ukrainian rock scene in the book The Humorless Ladies of Border Control, many of the musicians I spoke to had been newly radicalized by the 2014 “Revolution of Dignity” (or Maidan Revolution), and the Russian annexation of Crimea that followed. One was Sasha Boole, a rambunctious singer-songwriter […]
This Friday, March 5, marks the 100th anniversary of the German silent horror film Nosferatu. An early example of German Expressionism, the film was directed by F.W. Murnau, who helmed other early cinematic masterpieces such as Sunrise (1927) and City Girl (1930), and starred Max Schreck as a Transylvanian vampire named Count Orlok. Orlok is […]
As with all extraordinary natural occurrences, a must-own live album is a rare once-in-a-lifetime event. Against all odds—or, perhaps because of them—Pixies have achieved the epic, rarified feat of producing a live experience that you simply must add to your collection. Live In Brixton (out February 25) documents their four sold-out reunion shows at London’s […]
The other morning I found a proposition waiting for me in my inbox, courtesy of my trusted SPIN editor. It was an assignment to look over a dating website’s list of the 25 Sexiest Movies of All Time. Maybe I could do a small write-up about the films they found to be most ooh-la-la. Some […]
It’s Monday morning. The weekend is still sagging in my ears. Coffee is supreme. I have this spot on Geary Street that opens early, serves the perfect medium drip and isn’t so hipster that I need to discuss their facial hair or my sneakers. As I scurry along, the fog already clinches the Bay, I […]