Features
Cover Story: Riot Fest
It will be hard for Riot Fest to sneak up on people this year – though unlike for Cinderella teams in sports, that’s a good thing. Due to its previous construction as a multi-venue, à la carte/elective smorgasbord, Riot Fest gained higher esteem among punk aficionados and outsiders than average Chicagoans. No more. By taking […]
Interview: Shoes
There was a sense of déjà vu as the three members of Shoes gathered in vocalist-guitarist Gary Klebe‘s home recording studio in Kenosha, Wis. to discuss Ignition, their first release in 18 years. And it wasn’t simply because this writer was the same one who interviewed the band about its Stolen Wishes album 20-plus years […]
Interview: James Iha
Ask ex-Smashing Pumpkins guitarist James Iha why it’s taken him 14 ponderous years – an eternity in showbiz – to release Look To The Sky, the follow-up to his 1998 debut Let It Come Down, and you’ll get a long pause in response. Then a wry chuckle. And then an innocent, “Umm . . . […]
Interview: Yeasayer
But you gotta see ’em live – such is the witty retort that accompanies the advocacy of an artist who really can’t cut it in the studio. That’s not to disparage the craft of gigging.
Cover Story: Gotye
Anyone with the most primitively functioning ears has vaguely noted the inescapability of Gotye’s smash single, “Somebody I Used To Know.” Wally De Backer – “Gotye” is a phonetic spelling of the French “Gaulthier,” the nickname his Belgian mother gave him after assigning him the English equivalent, Walter, when they moved to Australia – couldn’t […]
Interview: Rufus Wainwright
First comes love and then comes marriage. For some, the sacred vows of holy matrimony signal the arrival of a baby carriage, but not for Rufus Wainwright.
Cover Story: Summer Festivals
Avicii, Taking Back Sunday, Grace Potter & The Nocturnals, The Afghan Whigs, Cloud Nothings, and A Lull give us a peak into Lollapalooza, Warped, Brothers Of The Sun, and Pitchfork.
Interview: Michael Kiwanuka
Michael Kiwanuka‘s heart remains unharmed by some pretty little thing. If the soulful British singer ever experienced the devastating blow of rejection, or worse, indifference at the neatly manicured hands of a foxy coed, his full-length debut,
Interview: Garbage
In retrospect, it was an ideal thing for her to do, chuckles Scottish chanteuse Shirley Manson with obvious delight – “morphing out of a urinal and killing a guy who had underestimated me. It was really subversive and really dangerous, and I loved it!”
Cover Story: Tenacious D
Following the undisputed success of their debut album and given the experience of a cult-favorite HBO series, letting Tenacious D make a movie seemed the logical thing to do. Few expected 2006’s Tenacious D In The Pick Of Destiny
Interview: The dB’s
However few they may have been at the time (or remain still today), those of a certain age with some degree of rock enlightenment in the 1980s found a moment of pure pop incandescence in The dB’s‘ (however seemingly brief) rise to
Interview: Like Pioneers
When it comes to Chicago’s fraternal indie-rock pool, few outfits are in as deeply as Like Pioneers. In fact, it wouldn’t be that far-fetched to suggest the quintet is an underground supergroup of sorts, thanks to former
Cover Story: The Beach Boys
Many casual rock fans get stuck on this poser: name the band who were greatly influenced by both Bob Dylan and The Beatles, and in turn had major influence on Bob Dylan and The Beatles. The answer is The Byrds. Similarly, another ’60s-born Southern California-based outfit led several lives
Interview: Brian Wilson
IE: Are there any that you’re more excited to approach than others? Brian Wilson: Not really. Well, “California Girls” I look forward to, and “Good Vibrations.” I look forward to those.
Interview: Mayer Hawthorne
Superman had his Fortress Of Solitude; Mayer Hawthorne has his records and the stores scattered around the globe devoted to housing rare and overlooked vinyl.
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