Features
It’s just past 9 p.m. at Diner, a dimly lit foodie joint in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.&hellip
Diynamic’s minimal house mastermind, Stimming, sounds off on the state of electronic music and his&hellip
L.A.’s experimental beats ingénue Nosaj Thing was awed by Cornelius, but not blog house. &hellip
The L.A-based visual artist Megan Whitmarsh loved Ratatat and Tauba Auerbach.&hellip
James Dyer, label manager of the British prog/disco/electro imprint, DC Recordings, has his squirrel&hellip
Hip-hop’s beloved producer, The Alchemist, gives his picks and pans of ’08. &hellip
Minus’ minimal queen, Magda, on new school perms and soulless techno. &hellip
Andy Butler of DFA’s retro-disco darlings, Hercules and Love Affair, serves up a terse selection o&hellip
The NYC photographer filled his year with black metal and Devin the Dude. &hellip
The XLR8R Vault
Creative appropriation or flat-out theft? It doesn't matter to Renee Scroggins, singer-guitarist for proto-punk-funk combo ESG–one of the most widely sampled bands in history–and unintentional advocate for artists' copyrights.
Andrew Pommier likes to draw bunnies, sparrows, and people wearing animal heads. And more often than not, they're smoking. Seems pretty weird for someone whose favorite saying is "never smoke," but this Canadian is a study in contradictions.
On the cover of Tacoma Mockingbird, a photo of Eliot Lipp is superimposed on a shot of an industrial Los Angeles skyline, his body bisected by a thick yellow line that busts a serious '80s graphic design move. While not my favorite album sleeve ever, it does a lot to suggest the influence that moving to LA has had on this 25-year-old producer's second album. G-funk keyboards mob all over this record, swinging through "Glasspipe," kicking back and squelching on "Check Weight." Meanwhile, the electro touches of "Last Night" and "Brand New" beg for an uprock or five, while the album's languid, liquid BPMs would be a great soundtrack to a smoke-filled lowrider slowly tippin' to the side.