Download - FILTER Magazine

RAPHAEL SAADIQ * GAYNGS * BILL HADER * LUPE FIASCO * LITTLE DRAGON 

COLD WAR KIDS 

ALL DOWN THE LINE 

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 much better isn’t it [Guide stretches, yawns, scratches something.] 

Right. If you know the drill, go ahead and left-click to go forward a page; if you forget, 

you can always right-click to go back one. And if all else fails, intrepid traveler, press the 

Esc key to exit full-screen and return to a life more humble. 

Keep an eye on your cursor. While reading the Guide online, you will notice that 

there are links on every page that allow you to discover more about the artists we write 

about. Scroll over each page to find the hotlinks, click ’em, and find yourself at the websites 

of the artists we cover, the sponsors who help make this happen, and all of the fine 

places to go to purchase the records you read about here. Thank you for your support 

of this thing we call Filter. Good music, as they say, will prevail. 

— Pat McGuire, Editor-in-Chief 

Letters, inquiries, randomness: guide@filter-mag.com 

Advertising and such: advertising@filtermmm.com 

AUSTIN 

# 34 MARCH-APRIL ’11

ORIGINAL NAVAL FLASH BY 

NORMAN “SAILOR JERRY” COLLINS 

“GOOD WORK AIN’T CHEAP, 

CHEAP WORK AIN’T GOOD.” 

-Norman “sailor Jerry” Collins 1911-1973 

Sailor Jerry Spiced Rum. The original, old-school, spiced rum. 

Made to the highest standards of Norman “Sailor Jerry” Collins himself. 

One sip, and you’ll see why “our work speaks for itself.” 

sailorjerry.com 

respect his legacy. drink sailor jerry responsibly. 

©2011 Sailor Jerry Rum, 46% Alc./Vol. William Grant & Sons, Inc. New York, NY.

eagle 

Plying his trade in the rough and tumble world of Hotel Street in Honolulu, 

Sailor Jerry had a steady stream of roughnecks and sailors on whom to hone 

his tattoo skills. Patriotism was a common theme for these fighting men, and 

nothing symbolized this more than an image of a bald eagle along with a 

proud shield. Amuletic in nature, these designs served to foster strength and 

power into the hearts and minds of men ready for war. 

100 years 

since the birth of a 

legend! 

To commemorate the 100th birthday of the father of old-school 

tattooing, Norman “Sailor Jerry” Collins, we’ve created three 

limited edition collectable bottles featuring three of his most 

iconic flash pieces. He was an innovator and independent spirit 

and these bottles honor his timeless legacy as does the rum that 

bears his signature. 

sailorjerry.com 

’ 

sparrows 

“Sparrows on his chest, Anchors on his arm. Hold your drink 

close in hand, This sailor knows no harm.” 

Originally the mark of choice for mutineers, the swallow tattoo came to 

symbolize a seaman that had traveled 5,000 nautical miles. The more the 

sparrows on the sailor, well, the more the miles. Seen as the “first sign that land is 

near,” this little bird was a good luck charm usually tattooed on a sailor’s chest. 

mermaids 

This is a classic piece of Sailor Jerry flash, unmatched in its attention to 

detail. (Check all the rigging. They’re correct down to the last sheet 

bend.) Consisting of a schooner ship–usually a memento of a successful 

trip around Cape Horn–surrounded by two sweetheart-style mermaids 

and balanced by two flags, this design harkens back to a time when 

“ships were made of wood and the men were made of iron!” 

respect his legacy. drink sailor jerry responsibly.

IN THE GUIDE 

You can download the FILTER Good Music Guide at FILTERmagazine.com. While you’re there, be 

sure to check out our back issues, the latest of which features our inaugural Culture Collide edition— 

an overview of FILTER’s multi-day music festival that aims to bring every international corner of the 

world together in Los Angeles. And if you’re headed to (or presently at) SXSW in Austin, keep your eye 

out for us. We’ll most certainly be around. 

ON THE WEB 

Visit FILTERmagazine.com for music news, MP3s, magazine features, extended interviews, contests, 

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AT THE STANDS 

Out now: FILTER Issue 43 

“The Rise and Terrible, Terrible Fall of The Lonely Island” 

What began as post-grad goofing by three best friends has launched the careers of these 

seriously funny—and Emmy-winning, Grammy-nominated—SNL dudes. Which is exactly why 

Akiva Schaffer, Jorma Taccone and Andy Samberg let us follow them around New York for an 

afternoon of highs, lows, and—hey, did you just hear that—maybe a royal haunting or two in 

the not-so-normal lives of The Lonely Island. Also: We convene with the recently reunited Suede for a tell-all about the band’s 

history, including words from Justine Frischmann of Elastica and Mike Joyce of The Smiths; we humanize the missing link of 

Paul with director Greg Mottola; discuss art methods and cinematic portraiture with Julian Schnabel; trace family lineage with 

Liam Finn; and delve into the illustrated world of cartoonist Sammy Harkham. Additionally, you’ll find interviews with Lykke 

Li, The Boxer Rebellion, Smith Westerns, GAYNGS, The Naked and Famous, and Mogwai; Sound Escapes trips to Hawaii and 

Switzerland; and Miss Polly Jean Harvey gives us a picturesque EndNote worth 1,000 ships to cap it all off. 

good music guide filter 2 

Publishers 

Alan Miller & Alan Sartirana 

Editor-in-Chief 

Pat McGuire 

Associate Editor 

Breanna Murphy 

Layout Designer 

Melissa Simonian 

Editorial Interns 

Clare R. Lopez, Geneva Perezcastañeda 

Design Intern 

Leila Tredemeyer 

Scribes 

A.D. Amorosi, Jeffrey Brown, Adam Conner-Simons, 

Spencer Flanagan, Erin Hall, Brooks Hays, Mike Hilleary, 

Jessica Jardine, Daniel Kohn, Mary Kosearas, Shane Ledford, 

Kyle Lemmon, Clare R. Lopez, Kyle MacKinnel, Ryan Marker, 

Marissa Moss, Geneva Perezcastañeda, Loren Poin, Adam Pollock, 

Jon Pruett, Bernardo Rondeau, Zach Rosenberg, Zachary Sniderman, 

Lynn Stafford, Laura Studarus, Carrie Tucker, Tamara Vallejos, Paul Zollo 

Marketing 

Ewan Anderson, Samantha Barnes, Mike Bell, 

Tim Dove, Paul Familetti, Samantha Feld, Holly Gray, 

Ian Hendrickson, Matt Martin, Wes Martin, 

Andrea Narvaez, William Overby, Kyle Rogers, 

Connie Tsang, Jose Vargas 

Thank You 

McGuire family, Bagavagabonds, Brett Williams, Wendy, Sebastian and Lucia 

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, Pipe, Dana Dynamite, Lisa O’Hara, Susana Loy Rodriguez, Shari Doherty, 

Robb Nansel, Pam Ribbeck, Asher Miller, Rachel Weissman, The Simonians, 

The Murphy and Stafford families 

Advertising Inquiries 

advertising@filter-mag.com 

West Coast Sales: 323.464.4718 

East Coast Sales: 646.202.1683 

Filter Good Music Guide is published by Filter Magazine LLC, 5908 Barton Ave., Los Angeles 

CA 90038. Vol. 1, No. 34, March-April 2011. 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 package of appropriate size, bearing adequate return postage. 

© 2011 by Filter Magazine LLC. 

all rights reserved 

filter is printed in the usa 

FILTERmagazine.com 

cover by joseph llanes

Trim 

Your Guide to Innovations in Entertainment 

Live 

Blackberry Photo Translator 

There are only a few things you can’t do with your BlackBerry. Now, 

SHAPE Services has crossed one more off of that list with their Photo 

Translator application, available for $4.99. It does just what the name 

suggests and allows you to take a picture of foreign text and get the 

translation within seconds. Not sure what “Une année sans lumière” 

means even though your iTunes library shows it has 27 plays Can’t 

read the set list you snatched from under El Guincho’s feet Worry 

not, the Photo Translator supports 36 languages using the power of 

Google to get the job done. You can also manage your translations by 

sending the text via email, using it in other apps or saving it for future 

reference in the translator’s gallery. If you’re not 100 percent sure 

about it, take the app for a free five-day trial. Who knew a BlackBerry 

could be so inteligente CLARE R. LOPEZ 

DJ goes Digital 

Korg just made it a lot easier for DJs and producers to step up their musicmaking 

skills with the Korg iMS-20 app for the iPad. With this analog synth 

studio app, you’ll find the Korg’s Kaoss Pad technology, a drum machine, a 

mixer and an analog sequencer for $39.99. You’ll be able to make and mix your 

own music and share it online using SoundCloud (soundcloud.com) and with 

anyone around the world. And for those non-professionals out there, the app’s 

simple design lends itself well to experimenters and newbies. So rather than 

spending an arm and a leg on an instrument that you might not be right for, 

take a moment of opportunity with the iMS-20 app and see where your music 

might take you. GENEVA PEREZCASTAÑEDA 

How does the Fiesta get more miles per gallon than 

many hybrids* Two words: thoughtful engineering. 

The kind that understands that giving the Fiesta a 

Ti-VCT engine will allow it to squeeze every last 

drop. Or that a line cutting through the taillamp 

will make the Fiesta more aerodynamic, and 

therefore more fuel-effi cient. To be precise, 

a Fiesta SE with SFE Package gets up to 

40 mpg hwy. And those are only two of the 

many reasons a Fiesta can go farther than so 

many other cars. Including all those hybrids. 

IT’S A PRETTY BIG DEAL. 

THE 2011 FIESTA 

ford.com 

Live 

* EPA-estimated 29 city/40 hwy/33 combined mpg. 

4 filter good music guide 

Trim

Your Guide to Innovations in Entertainment 

Amazon MP3 for blackberry 

Hear ye, hear ye! BlackBerry has joined forces with Amazon to create 

an alternative to Apple and iTunes. Now you can easily browse and 

add your favorite music to your BlackBerry by downloading Amazon 

MP3. From your smartphone, you’ll be able to find the music you want 

and download it directly to your phone’s music library. This app also 

lets your friends check up on what music you’re listening to, so be 

prepared to explain why you have that Justin Bieber album on repeat. 

With Amazon MP3 you’ll have all the music you need in your BlackBerry 

or smartphone without having to carry around other devices. Amazon 

MP3 requires a BlackBerry software version of 5.0 or later. If you’re 

a die-hard BlackBerry fan, 

you will love this music app 

for your phone and have yet 

another reason to resist those 

lusty iPhone temptations. 

GENEVA PEREZCASTAÑEDA 

Criterion + Hulu = Classics on Demand 

It happens all too often: You walk into the nearest video store, quickly look over 

the few shelves that house the “old” films, and then walk right back out hoping 

TCM will ease your first-world disappointment—again. If you find yourself 

breathless when you can’t get your Godard fix, it’s time to remove the oxygen 

tank because Hulu and The Criterion Collection have joined forces to solve the 

problem. Access to hundreds of Criterion classics will be available to those 

who subscribe to Hulu Plus, for $7.99 a month. With the library growing to 

include more than 800 titles over the upcoming months, subscribers can revel 

in established cultural touchstones, films that are almost impossible to find on 

DVD or Blu-ray (like early Chaplin shorts) as well as those one-of-a-kind bonus 

features Criterion is known for. But even better than having quality a click away 

might be eliminating that video store walk of shame. CLARE R. LOPEZ 

Wednesday, 3/16 

Richie hawtin Whitley PaPer Factory 

BRandt BRaueR FRick Malaia 

hundReds Malaia 

Magda Malaia 

thursday, 3/17 

Boys noize elysiuM 

daniel BenjaMin esther's Follies 

waR FRoM a haRlots Mouth Prague 

donots Prague 

houseMeisteR elysiuM 

Friday, 3/18 

noRMan PalM Malaia 

ancient astRonauts Malaia uPstairs 

talking to tuRtles the taP rooM at six 

toRPedo Boyz BarBarella Patio 

texas teRRi BoMB KarMa lounge 

saturday, 3/19 

schlachthoBRonx Friends 

agnes oBel st david's historic sanctuary 

sPeRMBiRds headhunters 

the Bosshoss MoMo’s 

6 filter good music guide

JOIN 

LANDMARKTHEATRES 

Join now to get advance info about upcoming engagements, 

FREE screening invitations, notifications of filmmaker appearances, 

weekly listings & showtimes, DVD giveaways, FREE music downloads, 

and other events at a Landmark Theatre near you! 

Sign up at filmclub.landmarktheatres.com 

LANDMARK THEATRES ARE IN THE FOLLOWING CITIES: 

ATLANTA • BALTIMORE • BERKELEY • BOSTON • CHICAGO • DALLAS • DENVER • DETROIT • HOUSTON • INDIANAPOLIS 

LOS ANGELES • MILWAUKEE • MINNEAPOLIS • NEW YORK • PALO ALTO • PHILADELPHIA • SAN DIEGO • SAN FRANCISCO 

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Bassline Drive 

The Continuous Evolution of 

Raphael Saadiq 

By Daniel Kohn 

photos by alex prayer 

Don’t let the thick-rimmed glasses, stylish plaid button-down shirt and skinny jeans fool you: Raphael Saadiq can knock down a longrange 

jump shot with the same smooth swagger he uses to write and produce his seminal brand of music. After the success of his 

last solo album, The Way I See It, the bassist of seminal R&B outfit Tony! Toni! Toné! and Grammy-winning producer knew he had 

something to prove with his latest effort, Stone Rollin’. “When you finish a new album, it’s like you have to defend the last record and 

I feel I had to go harder to prove that I could do better,” the singer says. With influences ranging from Neil Young to Little Walter, 

Saadiq incorporates an eclectic mix of sounds into his records. After receiving the grand tour of his massive studio complex in North 

Hollywood and shooting some hoops outside it, the Guide sat down with Saadiq to talk about the evolution of his discography, why he 

pays homage to the history of black music and the true meaning behind his latest release. 

10 filter good music guide good music guide filter 11

Since most of your albums are an exploration of sound and self-awareness, 

do you see yourself as paying homage to the history and different styles of 

black music through the channels of your solo work 

If I say that I’m not paying homage then I’m wrong, but if I am then it’s just me. 

It’s just a natural progression from the first record I ever made, dreaming things 

up. It’s all music. 

The new album opens with “Heart Attack,” which is a real rocker and 

unlike anything you’ve done before. It sounds bluesy and something 

that could have been written by Chuck Berry in the early ’50s. 

The blues are really my roots. The first thing I ever heard was B.B. King, Albert 

King, and Howlin’ Wolf. Music falls on my ears really easy. Sometimes I just 

laugh at myself when I’m riding in the car listening to Sirius radio and there’s so 

much different music and everything I hear, I think to myself, “That’s nice! I like 

that!” Stuff like Arcade Fire—I really dig that. 

Having played some of the biggest festivals in the world, what is your 

onstage perspective while playing in front of such massive audiences 

Would you say that it is an accurate barometer of your music 

I want to show that there are people who are black and can still play good music 

and know what their background and heritage can bring. It’s like we’re not forced 

to do what everyone does. I’ve always gambled on myself from day one, that’s 

sort of why I call my record Stone Rollin’. I feel like those festivals—Coachella, 

Bonnaroo—are like All-Star games, taking the best of the best. It’s where 

everyone shows what they’ve got, both musicians and people, and you give that 

much more because you are playing in front of so many different people. You 

need that experience as an artist. 

What are some aspects of your solo work that define you as an artist 

Easily, the natural progression of my sound. It’s taken me three albums to get to 

this album. From Vintage to Ray Ray to The Way I See It, all of those records 

were explaining something specific, even if I didn’t know it at the time. On The 

Way I See It, it is defining what’s in my head. You look at Ray Ray explaining 

Blaxploitation movies. It’s important to put those types of themes together. 

I’m writing movies in my head when I’m writing songs, something that’s more 

sustainable and universal. That’s why it never gets old to me. I’m not writing for 

the six months that something’s hot. 

The theme of Stone Rollin’ seems to have a certain energy directed at 

someone or something. Does this stem from your personal experiences 

or from writing from another’s perspective 

For the most part it was more of a narrative, like on “Good Man.” I write in an 

abstract narrative 80 percent of the time, the rest is probably from me. “The 

Answer,” the last song on the album, is 100 percent me. “Go To Hell” was also 

from me. 

Is “Go To Hell” an example of one of the angrier tracks 

Not at all; in fact, it’s the opposite. The meaning is that you are coming out of the 

tunnel after you’ve been through a whole lot, and you are becoming a man and 

realizing you are not a boy. It’s when you see through the other side, but in a positive 

way busting out of your shell. It is going to Hell, but in reverse—like you’ve been 

there and back, and found yourself and see the light at the end of the tunnel. 

What inspired the album’s theme Did you find that the material was 

influenced by your travels and the people you encounter while on the 

road 

It was inspired from being on the road, in front of audiences and that stuff. 

When I came back, the record was more aggressive because I toured extensively 

for the past two-to-three years and I enjoyed it a lot. It’s a big ride playing in front 

of all those people and watching them really enjoy something you’ve created. It’s 

like watching your kids go out and move people. Stone Rollin’, it’s a state of mind, 

it’s like rolling the dice. I feel like my whole career I’ve been rolling the dice and 

I’m still here, stone rollin’. F 


GAYNGS Come Out to Play 

By Breanna Murphy 

When in doubt, trust in GAYNGS to set the mood for soul seduction. The 

supergroup’s swoon-worthy debut, Relayted, features a catalog recorded at 69 

beats per minute, a Godley & Creme cover, Auto-Tune aplenty, and smooth 

soprano sax coupled by beat-boxing breaks—all inspired by a crush on 10cc’s 

“I’m Not in Love.” Did we mention there are 24 members and they hosted a 

throwback-classic Last Prom on Earth for their first live show 

Fully smitten, the Guide got three GAYNG members together—Ryan 

Olson, Adam Hurlburt and Zak Coulter—at home in Minneapolis to discuss 

the logistics of having two-dozen members and what to do when His Purple 

Majesty casually drops by to jam at one of your shows. (Hint: Maybe don’t 

touch him next time.) 

You guys will be heading out on a tour of the West Coast for the first 

time soon. Will everyone be going along 

Ryan Olson: Taking around 10 people seems to keep all the bases covered. 

Trying to do more than that [as a live band] is a bit unnecessary. 

How was it performing with everyone together on one stage for The 

Last Prom on Earth 

Zak Coulter: A lot of people hadn’t met each other until a couple of days 

before the show because a lot of the recording was done at different times. 

For the rehearsal, it was like, “Oh, nice to meet you.” For some people it was 

their first introduction. 

There were 23 people on stage for The Last Prom on Earth. It was everyone 

except for one person [Joe Mabbott], but Prince showed up, so he took his place. 

I did hear about that Prince story, but it sounded way too ridiculous to 

have actually happened. 

Coulter: It totally sounds like a joke we would make, but it’s true. Prince had 

a guitar and was ready to come on. Supposedly, someone said they heard him 

say, “They don’t need me” [laughs]. 

Olson: I saw him playing along. It was incredible to watch. Can you imagine 

what the fuck that must’ve sounded like 

Adam Hurlburt: Ryan actually patted him on the back and said, “You’ll do 

fine” [laughs]. 

Uh… What 

Olson: Ivan [Howard, a GAYNGS member from The Rosebuds] noticed he 

was there and said [in a perfect impression of Ivan’s slow, Southern drawl], 

“Hey, man, Prince is over there.” Those words didn’t register or make sense. 

I was like, “Wait. What are you talking about” [Ivan impression] “It’s Prince. 

Right there.” He was jamming on a guitar right along to “Faded High.” Then 

I saw him stick around for the next few songs on the side of the stage, so I 

decided to go talk to this guy to see... He’s got a guitar and he’s playing along 

offstage, he must want to come up here and play or something, right Or, what 

the fuck is this 

So I went over and asked if he wanted to play and he gave me a thumbs 

up, so I said, “OK, here’s how the song goes—don’t fuck it up” [laughs]. He was 

like, “Love it.” And I said, “Aw, man, you’re going to do just great!” [Laughter 

from all.] Then I squeezed his shoulder. It must have been too hard because 

then he vaporized. 

[Editor’s Note: This Prince encounter, to the best of our knowledge, really did 

happen. We think.] F 

good music guide filter 15

MusicXport.nl invites you to the Dutch Impact party on Friday, 

March 18th, West Tent, Brush Square Park. 

From 5-8pm, come enjoy free food, drinks, and live performances from five of the top artists 

from the lowlands. (Laura Jansen, The Black Atlantic, Death Letters, Go Back To The Zoo 

and De Staat). Badges are welcome, but be sure to RSVP to r.berends@mcn.nl for the latest 

information and a chance to win a Dutch Impact prize-pack. 

Laura 

Jansen 

The Black 

Atlantic 

Death 

Letters 

Go Back 

to the 

Zoo 

De Staat 

For fans of Tori Amos, Fiona 

Apple and Regina Spektor. 

- March 18, 1:10 PM, Berklee 

College of Music Party, Friends 

Bar 

- March 18, 05:00 PM, Dutch 

Impact Party, West Tent 

- March 19, 12:40 PM, Universal 

Music Group Party, The 

Speakeasy 

- March 19, TBA, Hotel Café 

Showcase, St David’s Historic 

Sanctuary 

For fans of Bon Iver, Fleet 

Foxes & Sigur Rós. 

- March 16, TBA, Esther's 

Follies 

- March 18, TBA, Sonicbids / 

The Planetary Group 

Showcase, Maggie Mae's 



For fans of At The Drive-In, 

Trail of Dead, Baroness, 

The Thermals, Death Cab 

for Cutie. 

- March 16, 08:00 PM, Habana 

Calle 6 Patio 



- March 18, TBA, Party 

Frenchie Smith Records, 

Guero's 

For fans of Strokes, Early 

Kings of Leon, Libertines. 

- March 16, TBA, Valhalla 

- March 18, TBA, Dutch Impact 

Party, West Tent 

- March 19, 07:00 PM, Radisson 

Hotel & Suites 

- TBA, TBA, South By Sam's 

Town Point 

For fans of elastic 

psychofunk and dancing 

women. 



- March 19, 12:00 AM, BD 

Rileys

High Fidelity 

The Complicated Refinement of 

Cold War Kids 

The bonds that tie us to one another are not always the nicely wrapped kinds of attachments one reads in the 

sentimentality of a Hallmark card. Things are more complicated than that. American filmmaker John Cassavetes 

said of his wife, actress Gena Rowlands, “In the beginning of our marriage, I made a bargain. Gena would fight 

me to the bitter end, and I would fight her to the bitter end… Together we live a magnificent, unassembled, 

emotional, and undisciplined life. I can’t think of anyone with whom I would rather argue or love than my 

wife.” Cassavetes and Rowlands were married over 30 years until Cassavetes’ death in 1989, the only marriage 

for either. Relationships are tough, sure, but whether they are platonic, familial or romantic (or, say, with your 

band members or audience), the ultimate path to success is through growth, understanding and compromise— 

progress. And that is exactly where one finds Cold War Kids at this moment. 

There are plenty of new connections to cover on the band’s third effort, Mine Is Yours: During the time 

between albums, the quartet (lead singer Nathan Willett, bassist Matt Maust, guitarist Jonnie Russell and 

drummer Matthew Aveiro) moved to Los Angeles and away from their longtime refuge in Long Beach; they 

spent months in-studio to record with a high-profile producer for the first time (Jacquire King, who is responsible 

for studio work on the more polished records of Kings of Leon and Modest Mouse); and, also, there’s the product 

itself, an album that is certainly a transitional sum of its past. The slyly flirtatious, flawed mysteries of Robbers & 

Cowards are now gone, replaced by faith in high production value and personal lyrical narratives that need not 

be unraveled. As the band’s songwriter and lead singer, Willett is plainspoken in wrestling with his relationships, 

courting hesitant honesty and loyalty to them while adapting to new surroundings. On the eve of the album’s 

release, the Guide discussed the changes and challenges of the record with Willett and Maust at a restaurant in 

Los Angeles, including how the band works with one another, the pressures that come with a third album, and 

the inevitable resultant progression—both music and personal—of Mine Is Yours. 

By Breanna Murphy 

Photos by Joseph Llanes 


Has moving to Los Angeles made a significant impact on you at all, 

especially since avoiding it for so long 

Nathan Willett: I think it was a big step for us. We always liked to be outsiders 

of the L.A. music scene. It was kind of symbolic for us to be away from the 

center of things here so that we wouldn’t get absorbed in the chain of the music 

industry. In many ways, I feel like this record and this period for us is a very 

transparent time of coming out. I just think we’re more comfortable in our own 

skin than we have been before about revealing more. This record is much more 

intimate and personal and with that…a lot of changes have happened in our 

band this year. 

Such as 

Willett: One of the biggest changes with the four of us is that we’re giving 

everyone more freedom and not constantly looking over each other’s shoulders. 

It gets heavy when everybody tries to be equally invested in everything. And 

trust, too. I trust everyone, their musicianship and taste. There’s no shortage of 

good ideas, it’s just a matter of boundaries. 

Partly, I think there’s something really simple about a third record—you 

realize some things. Your first record is fun and spontaneous, and during the 

second record there’s anxiety. Even in interviews, in the music itself and in our 

relationships with each other, we were more guarded and more precious about 

a lot of things. 

Third records seem to be tricky, too. Some of my favorite bands never 

made it to a third record, and I think there are reasons for that. 

Willett: True. Totally true. 

Matt Maust: Like you just said, the first one is fun and you don’t think too 

much about it. The second one is the opposite—you’re thinking too hard. For 

the third record, you’re relaxed and you take the good parts of those first two 

records for the new one. 

That’s how this record strikes me. And that’s not to say that Loyalty to 

Loyalty sounded particularly anxious or nervous— 

Willett: I think it does in a lot of ways. 

Maust: That first song, “Against Privacy,” is a very stressful song. If you think 

about it as, this is the first song we put on our second record… I love the song, 

I think it’s insane, but it’s a mess. 

Nathan, I read something you said about Loyalty to Loyalty, that you 

would have been disappointed if it had been the band’s last record. Can 

you elaborate on why 

Willett: The first record, how it was lyrically character-driven and sort of 

natural, it wasn’t something I thought very hard about. It just happened. On the 

second record, I was forcing something. I wasn’t sure of the direction I wanted 

to go in. There was a lot of head, but not enough heart. I realized I wasn’t saying 

something that was necessarily about me or important to me, I was more trying 

to be literary or interesting, and not emotional. Right away, I really wanted to 

do something about characters that are close to me or say something actually 

about my life—not just grabbing things out of thin air. 

Really, the biggest thing was to write something that was artistic and poetic, 

but that was also really simple and immediate. I think that was missing [on 

Loyalty to Loyalty]. There are a lot of cryptic things, but nothing really simple. I 

think it’s important to go into every record as, “This is our first chance; this is our 

first time to do something.” With the second record, we didn’t do that. 

What sort of changes did this new recording experience elicit 

Willett: Our first two records were each basically recorded in two weeks. If a 

take felt good, we’d stick with it even if it had mistakes. This was the first time 

that we tried to go through everything—play everything right, sing it a bunch 

of times to make it right. It was what we wanted to do. That was different, and 

it was really good. 


What are your thoughts on the potential public reception of Mine Is 

Yours since it could be viewed as an unsubtle change in direction 

Willett: It’s going to be really interesting. Another thing about the second 

record was we didn’t think, “How are people going to react to this thing” 

I do feel that for this. People could definitely not like it. 

Maust: Someone said something like, “I’m glad I got to see you guys 

playing new songs live before I heard the record…because I would have 

hated the record.” I’m still trying to figure out what that means. It makes 

me think that we’re still the same band live, but that somehow people’s 

ears are conditional. 

Did you ever feel any reservations with the various new production 

approaches 

Willett: I feel like there is a big risk in crossing over. We have friends 

in bands who crossed over in a bad way. They tried to do records that 

sounded better, but emotionally it did not hit and all that. It’s easy to be 

there and feel like you’re doing a good job but forget to put in the art 

and emotion. A huge part of the reason why we’re excited about this 

record is because we got to be entirely ourselves and get all the benefits 

of the time spent in the studio. It sounds like us and, yet, there’re a lot 

more layers. 

“In many ways, I feel like this record and this period 

for us is a very transparent time of coming out.” 

Is it a backhanded compliment 

Maust: I think it kind of is an insult, but it’s so much about that what kind 

of art you like is conditional on— 

Willett: The backdrop, maybe. There is something profound about that. 

It shows that people care about your art if they’re mad that you’ve gone a 

certain direction. There’s something kind of cool about that because they 

care enough, but at the same time if you don’t let an artist just do their 

thing… If somebody earns your trust to the point that it’s like, “I just like 

them for whatever they do,” that’s rad. 

Mine Is Yours is very direct, very personal—a bit unlike both 

Loyalty to Loyalty and Robbers & Cowards. Nathan, was there 

anything lyrically off-the-record as a songwriter, especially in this 

modern age of over-sharing 

Willett: In the past, that’s the reason I would not want to be so personal: 

because everything in our world is confessional and “me, me, me”—you 

can’t understand me unless I tell you all my deepest secrets. But I had to 

realize that it’s still good for the emotion and the vulnerability. You just 

have to find a way to tell it that’s not sentimental and embarrassing. Or 

heartless. F 


Thursday March 17: 

NORDIC BBQ 

11:00 The Deer Tracks 

11:30 The Latebirds 

12:00 Harrys Gym 

+ FREE BBQ! 

..and get a taste 

of the new 

Norwegian rock band: 

POLISH BBQ 

AT CEDAR STREET 

COURTYARD 

AUSTIN 

MARCH 19 TH 2011 

SATURDAY 11 AM 

more at 

www.sxsw.com 

www.filtermagazine.com 

culture.pl 

film::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: 

BEATS OF FREEDOM 

www.beatsoffreedom.pl 

music::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: 

KYST 

http://www.myspace.com/kystband 

PUSTKI 

www.myspace.com/pustki 

L.STADT 

www.myspace.com/lstadt 

KAMP! 

www.myspace.com/kampmusik 

INDIGO TREE 

www.myspace.com/indigotree 

CEDAR STREET COURTYARD 

208 W. 4TH STREET AUSTIN, TX 

SXSW BADGES WELCOME. ARRIVE EARLY. 

RSVP @ FILMTERMAGAZINE.COM/SXSW2011 

facebook.com/labanseigmenn

Lupe Fiasco’s Pro Tips to Surviving the Music Business 

By Kyle Lemmon 

photos by andrew zaeh 

Wasalu Muhammad Jaco, better known as Lupe Fiasco, is 

an American rapper who has managed to avoid several of 

the pratfalls of hip-hop stardom. His conscious lyrics uplift 

positivism and love. Sadly, his long-delayed third joint, Lasers 

(a backronym for “Love Always Shines, Everytime Remember 

2 Smile”), was sent through the hellish gauntlet of major label 

delays and general rigmarole. Super fans stood up last fall on 

a day dubbed “Fiasco Friday” with petitions for the album’s 

release and a protest outside Atlantic Records’ offices. The 

subversive artist was so impressed by this show of love for his 

music that he went back into the studio and focused on making 

Lasers a statement of purpose that aims to move people in 

“violently peaceful” ways. Considering recent events, the Guide 

enlisted Mr. Fiasco to rap with us—in list form—about the dark 

waters of the music business and how the past only strengthens 

his resolve and love for making consummate tunes. 

Know Your Dope Reasons 

“I want to be rich and successful and get my music out there. I want to have a 

bunch of girls and do shows. I want to buy my mom a house.” Those are just 

the random things that most people want to get out of the music business. I 

would argue that they should play the fucking lotto because you have the exact 

same chances that you do in the music business—and it’s way less stressful and 

cheaper. If you’re serious, make sure you have really dope-ass music. Dopeass 

music doesn’t mean it’s pop, either. Some of the dopest music I’ve heard 

didn’t even have lyrics. At the end of the day, having dope music gets you far, 

no matter if you are on a major label or are playing in coffee shops and bars. 

Have A Doper Back-Up Plan 

Why don’t you go get a degree from Yale or Princeton, or get a vocational 

degree That way, you can make music your side hustle and if it doesn’t work 

out you have a full-on job to fall back on as opposed to just wanting to be a 

musician and throwing yourself into the business. You might be broke for the 

rest of your life. That’s just the honest truth of the situation. 

Love For the Game Gives You a Bulletproof Vest 

What’s going to make you successful is the same thing that makes you really 

love a crazy girl. You know she’s bat-shit crazy and she’s going to send you 

through the ringer: she’s going to go through your phone; put your clothes in 

the bathtub with bleach; throw your golf clubs out the window; key your car; 

and get pregnant and threaten to throw herself off a building. That’s the music 

business. You’re not going to put up with that unless you’re really in love with 

that shit. She might also be the nice girl, but you still have to love her and go 

through the ups and downs in a relationship. That love for the game will give 

you a bulletproof vest so you don’t kill yourself. You got to have a certain level 

of insanity and invulnerability to be a musician. You wake up every day next to 

that crazy bitch called the music business, but you love it. 


Don’t Give a Fuck 

I know I said that you’ve got to love the business, but at the end of the day I don’t care if my album comes out, 

or my songs are played on the radio, or if I sell a million records. When you start caring about that shit—which 

I did wholeheartedly when Lasers was delayed—it makes you crazy. There are two sides to every story. You love 

it but it’s slowly eating you up. The only way to combat that is not drugs or getting a roomful of strippers. That 

stuff only goes so long. There’s no easy fix. On a contradictory side, you really have to not give a fuck. That kind of 

human duality—where you love it but are willing to push that bitch in front of a bus—is what kept me sane when 

I had to please all these people’s expectations. 

The Joy of Philanthropy Isn’t Just For Rich People 

I would help out Haiti victims or do things like Summit on the Summit even if I wasn’t making music. Philanthropy 

and success should not be respective of each other. You should be poor and still philanthropic. It’s not all about 

money. Sometimes it’s just you opening up your mouth and saying something, moving people into or out of their 

house, or picking up a broom and sweeping some shit up. Philanthropy isn’t just about putting money in the 

fucking bucket at the Salvation Army. Financial success in any business is separate. 

Don’t Underestimate Your Fans 

I can’t separate Lasers the album from the bunch of bullshit that happened last year with Atlantic Records 

during the making of it. If you listen to the first official track off the album, “The Show Goes On,” the first verse 

addresses it in a completely angry way. The whole point of the record was to get people physically active. Before 

the music even came out, people were starting social moments and doing protests. There was “Fiasco Friday” 

and Team Lasers before any music. The music was supposed to inspire a movement, but the movement started 

to inspire the album. I underestimated my fan base. 

Be Violently Peaceful 

People say we don’t live under a dictatorship where we can’t say what we want to say and do what we want to do. 

We can do whatever we want as long as it’s not the truth. The instant that you talk about serious, system-changing 

and vehement situations, you’re labeled a terrorist. There’s a certain level of self-censorship that we have that 

ends up being worse than living in a place where there is no radio, TV, Facebook or Twitter. We don’t use the 

tools we have. You can go out and fight against it like they’re doing in Egypt and other places in the world. You 

shouldn’t be humble to a dictator. You shouldn’t be humble to madness. We’re slowly killing ourselves. That’s 

what I wanted to say with my single, “Words I Never Said.” I want to make sure that when all the shit collapses, 

we’re able to pick ourselves back up. F 


New York’s Hottest Comic Actor! 

By Jessica Jardine 

Bill Hader’s trajectory reads like a hopeful comedian’s dream. The Tulsa-bred funny man landed in Los Angeles after college and 

began honing his chops at esteemed comedy schools like The Second City and iO West. While performing regularly with his sketch 

group in a backyard in the Valley, a chance connection to Will & Grace alum Megan Mullally led to a Saturday Night Live audition 

and, well, the rest is history. He debuted on the iconic late night NBC sketch show in 2005 and, six years later, has brought to life an 

array of beloved impressions, including Al Pacino, Vincent Price and his recent hit character, the hot-club-savvy New Yorker Stefon. 

On the heels of appearing in the upcoming feature film Paul, Hader chatted with the Guide about his expanding film career, being 

approached on the street and the exhilarating feeling of hearing SNL announcer Don Pardo say his name. 

WILSON WEBB/UNIVERSAL PICTURES 

It looks like your SNL character Stefon has really taken off. He’s 

appearing more and more on the show. 

Yeah, it’s really funny because we tried it as a sketch and it went on air once and 

to dress [rehearsal] twice, but for all intents and purposes it was kind of a failed 

sketch. Then [writers] John Mulaney and Doug Abeles suggested we do it on 

“Weekend Update” and the first one just went really well. 

Did you see that someone has built an online, Mad Libs-style generator 

called The Stefonerator 

That’s really funny. I haven’t seen it. I’ll send it to Mulaney and he’ll get a big kick 

out of it. I have seen where people write in Stefon-type things on Twitter, like 

“Guys, the hottest club in the city is this.” 

When you get approached by people on the street, is that the character 

they want to talk about 

Oh, yeah. People come up and they’ll say, “Hey, I’m new to New York. What 

should I do around here” or people will say, “Is this place the hottest club” and 

name the restaurant we’re in. Like, “Oh, the hottest restaurant is Momofuku.” 

And I’m like, “Ah, very good. I see what you did there.” 

In an interview, Paul Giamatti was asked, “What’s the one thing you don’t 

like to be asked” and he said, “Oh god, please don’t ask me about wine 

and please don’t make a joke about Merlot.” 

Yeah! I mean, I get that way, too, when I really like something or someone. I’ve said, 

“Oh, when I meet this person I’m gonna ask them about this,” and I’ve learned, 

from working at SNL and by making the mistake, that it’s usually the last thing they 

want to talk about. But, yes, I get Stefon or, mostly what I get is, “Hey, you’re the 

guy from SNL!” 

My favorite was when, instead of going to the show’s after party, John 

Mulaney, his girlfriend and I went to an all-night diner in our neighborhood 

because we were all sick and just wanted soup. There were a bunch of college 

kids in there and when we got up to leave, this drunken girl yelled out, super 

loud, “Oh my god! Will Forte!” and everybody at the diner looked at us. Her 

friend was like, “No, shut up.” But she just said, “What No, I love him! Will 

Forte, I love you!” 

So close! 

If someone comes up and goes, “Bill Hader!” I’m always amazed. 

With your increasing film work, such as the new Greg Mottola film, Paul, 

is it getting tricky to balance SNL and other acting gigs 

Creative scheduling has to happen sometimes but it’s good when the SNL season 

is done and I’m going to a movie. People ask, “Which do you prefer SNL or the 

movies” and it’s like they’re two different muscles in a weird way—two different 

kinds of performing. I remember [longtime SNL writer/producer] Steve Higgins 

put it well: “There’s acting where you act in a movie but then there’s performing. 

And at SNL you perform.” 

SNL seems like one of the most singularly unique types of entertainment, 

which is probably one of the reasons it’s such a cultural touchstone. 

Yeah, the thing I’ve learned is to just have fun and not take it too seriously. 

You just have fun with everything you’re doing because it’s really easy to be 

hard on yourself when stuff doesn’t end up going well. But it’s still crazy when 

I hear Don Pardo say my name. It’s just like, “Holy shit.” Or when the band 

strikes up right after a cold open. Even if the cold open goes weirdly, you just 

think, “Wow, my god!” It’s like you just got shot up in a rocket ship. “Yeah! 

It’s time to go!” F

Working the MachineBy Laura Studarus 

Ever since the early days of jamming 

back in high school, Little Dragon has seen its popularity slowly expand past its 

Gothenburg enclave on the strength of soulful, electro-meets-R&B tunes. Of 

course, high-profile collaborations with Gorillaz and TV on the Radio side project 

Maximum Balloon probably don’t hurt. 

Originally named for lead singer Yukimi Nagano’s fits of artistic rage while 

recording, life is significantly less angst-ridden for the Swedish quartet (which also 

includes Erik Bodin, Fredrik Källgren and Håkan Wirenstrand) these days. On the 

verge of releasing its third full-length in the spring, the band is looking forward to 

whatever life brings its way—as long as it involves plenty of great tunes. 

Nagano chatted with the Guide about recording the new Little Dragon album, life 

with the band and the one thing she can’t live without. 

What has been the biggest change for you since forming the band in high 

school 

The big thing would be when we started to define ourselves as a band. Even 

though we were always making music together and jamming out, it wasn’t until 

later that we had a band name and were official about it. 

How is the new album progressing 

We have all the songs and they’re pretty much ready to be mastered. It was 

recorded in our studio in Gothenburg. It’s the same place where we write all of 

our songs—it’s our little universe. 

Is there comfort in going home to record 

Your last album was called Machine Dreams. Have you ever used dreams 

to help construct your songs 

I’ve definitely had days where I’ve woken up from a strange dream and sometimes 

that mood will affect me in writing more than the actual content of the dream. 

When searching through your ideas, is there a particular element you’re 

looking for 

You might really be feeling something one moment, but if you’re still feeling it by 

the end of the week, it might be a keeper. Feeling something in the moment is a 

great thing but it doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll love it the next day. If you still 

love it a week after, then usually you know it’s something that has longevity. 

Björk once said she never talks about her ideas because she goes into the 

studio and finds they’ve died. Do you find that to be true for you 

I think a lot of it’s in your head. Being on the road a lot, then coming home, you 

feel a little bit lost. You just know the first week is going to feel kind of shit; the 

second week, you’ve just got to keep writing and keep doing it; and then all of a 

sudden you have that day that comes where you have the flow. 

Don’t ever take writing too seriously! Let it take its time, and don’t be afraid 

of it not happening at once. Even if it’s something that I feel really passionate 

about—I think for all of us in the band, music is who we are and part of our lives— 

it’s still important to just have fun. That’s another reason why it’s great to be in our 

studio that’s all junky and messy and run-down, because that’s where we can be 

ourselves, forget about any kind of pressure and just try to let loose. 

seek studio 

Yeah, definitely! It’s our playground. We have all of our junk there. In our studio, 

we make food, we hang out; we’ll be in there for hours every day. It doesn’t matter 

if we make anything that’s good. We’re just trying to have fun. 

Can you talk about any of the new songs 

We play a couple of the songs live. One of them is called “Some Are Here.” It’s 

kind of a trippy song that’s very repetitive and goes on and on. When we play it, 

it feels like we could go on forever. We sort of have to force ourselves to stop! We 

have another song called “Little Man” that’s a weird little soul song. 

How would you compare the new album to your previous two records Is 

there a unifying sound between them 

It has electronic elements to it, but it’s a little bit more soulful, a little bit poppy, 

but with a dreamy-trippy element to everything. 

Is there anything you feel like you can’t live without 

We can’t live without writing music! I think that’s something we all have in us. Even 

if we had never gotten our record deal, even if we had never met our manager, 

all of us would still have some kind of side job and be writing songs. I’m perfectly 

sure about that. 

There’s a line in “Swimming”: “I used to be the girl who never had a plan.” 

If you had to look ahead, what is your long-term plan for Little Dragon 

We noticed that it’s kind of easy for musicians to have no plan—just to get on with 

things. You end up knowing people that have plans for you and before you know it, 

you’re not so involved in your own planning. We really want to be a band that will 

keep playing, even when we’re old. That’s one of our big plans: to stay healthy, to 

stay friends—even though it’s so intense—to look out for each other, and to keep 

the magic that we have. F 


Countries will converge ...again

One-Liners: ............................................................................................................................. 

a miniature take on selected Filter Magazine reviews 

(Go to FILTERmagazine.com or pick up Filter Magazine’s Holiday Issue for full reviews of these albums) 

WEEZER 

Pinkerton [reissue] 

DGE/UMe 91% 

This reissue—for all the what-ifs—proves 

Weezer’s second is a masterpiece; everyone was 

just too busy with Odelay to notice. 

ANDREW BIRD 

Useless Creatures 

FAT POSSUM 84% 

An instrumental companion piece to Noble 

Beast, Bird described this simply as an ambient 

experimental record—Eno and Sakamoto 

would be proud. 

FUJIYA & MIYAGI 

Ventriloquizzing 

YEP ROC 75% 

The signature slinky grooves and absurd wordplay 

are here again, making this easy to enjoy but nearimpossible 

to remember. 

IRON & WINE 

Kiss Each Other Clean 

WARNER 88% 

Another field day with one of the greatest 

modern Americana songwriters, it’s Sam Beam’s 

craft that makes following Iron & Wine so 

rewarding. 

COLD WAR KIDS 

Mine Is Yours 

DOWNTOWN 85% 

Uncharacteristically grandiose and confidently 

fresh, Mine Is Yours also carries the unavoidable 

weight of expectation…and delivers. 

SMITH WESTERNS 

Smith Westerns [reissue] 

FAT POSSUM 84% 

A wink removed from drinking legally, the 

Westerns’ adolescent pining is their most 

refreshing asset. 

NO JOY 

Ghost Blonde 

MEXICAN SUMMER 83% 

The inherently nihilistic name is more of a 

misnomer—despite angsty contemplation, 

it still brings a bit of elation to a new, 

directionless generation of shoegazers. 

WANDA JACKSON 

The Party Ain’t Over 

NONESUCH 81% 

This Jack White-helmed effort is as much 

punk as it is rock, and the Queen’s gritty vocals 

execute both with unexpected exactitude. 

CEE LO GREEN 

The Lady Killer 

ELEKTRA 79% 

The newly-risen soul impresario preaches 

more gospel through expansive charm and 

stirring pain. “Forget” yeah! 

EL TEN ELEVEN 

It’s Still Like a Secret 

FAKE RECORD LABEL 70% 

The conspicuously mute L.A. instrumental duo 

returns with an album of looping, effects-heavy rock 

hoping for a wall of sound to carry it. (It doesn’t.) 

PREFAB SPROUT 

Let’s Change the World with Music 

TOMPKINS SQUARE 63% 

Let’s not and say we did. 

THE PIPETTES 

Earth vs. The Pipettes 

FORTUNA POP!/REDEYE 60% 

The group’s revolving door of members has 

reduced its number to two and the result here is 

a huge letdown: a bizarre, synth-filled sci-fi trip 

unworthy of exploration. 

ADAPT OR DIE 

SAOIRSE RONAN 

ERIC BANA 

ANDCATE BLANCHETT 

DIRECTED BY JOE WRIGHT 

ORIGINAL SCORE BY 

THE CHEMICAL BROTHERS 

IN THEATRES EVERYWHERE APRIL 8 

www.HannaTheMovie.com 


FILTER 

ALBUM 

RATINGS 

91-100% 8 a great album 

81-90% 8 above par, below genius 

71-80% 8 respectable, but flawed 

61-70% 8 not in my CD player 

below 60% 8 please God, tell us why

Music, etc. 

....................................................................................................................................................................................................... 

Radiohead 

The King of Limbs 

TBD/TICKER TAPE 85% 

Upfront: The most exciting thing about 

Radiohead’s eighth will probably prove to be its 

unexpected, sudden arrival. Immediately inside the lines—as 

with the band’s other post-millennial work (the muted, peaceful 

roaming of 2003’s Hail to the Thief and 2007’s melodic, beat-laden 

two-disc extravaganza In Rainbows)—this 37-and-a-half-minute, 

8-track player seems to establish the fact that Radiohead’s freeform 

coloring days are all but over, which is not to suggest in the 

slightest that they should put away the palette altogether. In sly 

moves, the band are accomplishing some of their best sounds 

(Limbs’ skip-and-glitch, beauty-of-an-opener “Bloom” and the 

concentrated mourning of “Give Up the Ghost,” in particular) 

and that’s exactly why you ought always pay attention. Though 

the sketching is inside boundaries, they’re self-defined ones, the 

layers and details creating a portrait far more compelling than 

most. The brevity is a disappointment and the songs at times feel 

like B-sides of something more un-inked, but Radiohead are (and 

definitively always will be) musicians capable of emotion at the 

rawest base and somehow binding it to melody and lyric—forever 

haunting and influencing future generations too numerous to 

count or imagine. BREANNA MURPHY 

Panda Bear 

Tomboy 

PAW TRACKS 89% 

While at Boston University, Noah Lennox 

decided to study religion because he was 

interested in “the concept of God.” The second Panda Bear 

record, Young Prayer, was a deeply personal collection of 

bare acoustic songs, made as a gift to Lennox’s terminal 

father. Exploring the immediacy of death and the strength 

of familial bond, Prayer was full of big questions and bigger 

wishes; the birth of a key transition that continued with Panda 

Bear’s breakthrough, Person Pitch. Tomboy is the vivid sound 

of Lennox reemerging at the other end of this journey. Its 

ambiguous hymns have also gone through a sonic transformation 

since their live debut about a year ago in Berlin, and even since 

the seven-inch releases. These latest mixes—aided by Pete 

Kember (aka Sonic Boom)—are huge, with disembodied voices 

peripherally swirling in an overflow of reverb. The record’s 

astral heights just might represent the zenith of reverb. With 

Tomboy, Lennox valiantly accepts the responsibilities he once 

invoked on Prayer, now seeming to possess answers to some of 

the questions as well. KYLE MacKINNEL 

dvd 

Mad Men: Season Four 

LIONSGATE 84% 

It’s 1965 and the New York offices of Sterling 

Cooper Draper Pryce are open for business. 

But that doesn’t mean everything is business 

as usual, as it rarely is in the world of Matthew 

Weiner’s Mad Men. The political and cultural 

climate has reached boiling point and not even the idealistic 

characters can ignore the times a-changin’ any longer. Don 

Draper’s spiral downwards is this season’s focus, and we— 

along with SCDP—are pulled along with him against the 

backdrop of divorce, increasing women’s lib, The Beatles, 

chain-smoking, whiskey (always the whiskey) and a fateful 

season finale trip to California. LYNN STAFFORD 

The Mountain Goats 

All Eternals Deck 

MERGE 82% 

Interestingly, John Darnielle’s focus for All 

Eternals Deck was “mainly death scenes 

and downtown Portland.” With songs like “The Autopsy 

Garland” and the involvement of Erik Rutan (Morbid Angel, 

Hate Eternal), the uninitiated may expect something quite 

different from the resulting (and signature) dancing-barefootin-the-grass, 

sunny California melodies. Not to worry, the 

paradoxical, prolific Darnielle reminds us there’s dirt under 

that green grass, with wry lyrics like, “Anyone here mentions 

Hotel California/Dies before the first line clears his lips.” 

CARRIE TUCKER 

The Dodos 

No Color 

FRENCHKISS 87% 

The Dodos traded vibraphonist Keaton Snyder for 

Neko Case as their third member for No Color, 

but the biggest change isn’t any new direction but a return to the 

sound of their debut, helped by producer John Askew’s return. 

Case’s presence is seamless and unobtrusive, as is the addition of 

string arrangements; the album is still dominated by Meric Long’s 

insistent, emotional vocals and paced by Logan Kroeber’s restless 

energy on drums. Easily their best, most cohesive album yet, No 

Color shines brightly—continuing to push the band to new levels 

of musicianship and songwriting. JEFFREY BROWN 

video game 

Bulletstorm 

XBOX 360/PS3/PC 

ELECTRONIC ARTS 80% 

The FPS genre is saturated with “realistic” 

games. Enter Bulletstorm, which has a 

“skillshot” combo system that rewards you 

points for ridiculous carnage and juggling 

strings. Though constantly “going-for-style” feels heavyhanded 

in the single-player campaign, “Echo mode” lets 

you run through a level, just trying to net the highest 

skillshot point total in indirectly competitive multiplayer. 

If you’ve had it with drearily real war (and gravity), 

Bulletstorm delivers. Then it bounces, blows up and injures 

everyone nearby. ZACH ROSENBERG 

Alexander 

Alexander 

COMMUNITY MUSIC 68% 

What does Edward Sharpe sound like without 

his Magnetic Zeros Lonely and uninspired. 

Alexander Ebert’s mellow solo debut strikes occasional gold (well, 

bronze, really) but largely lacks the whimsical campfire energy of 

his hippie-rock outfit. Bouncy numbers like the Graceland-aping 

“In the Twilight” and the jaunty “Let’s Win!” recapture some of 

the Zeros’ charm, but listeners also have to slog through hookless 

downers like “Old Friend” and the earsplitting “Glimpses.” 

Magnetic Pffft, hardly. ADAM CONNER-SIMONS 

Paul Simon 

So Beautiful Or So What 

CONCORD 92% 

Years ago, he said he was more interested in 

what he discovered than what he invented, a 

radical statement from this most inventive of songwriters. 

But it’s true: Decades beyond the point at which most of 

his peers peaked, Paul Simon is still discovering new ways 

of writing and conveying amazing work and discovering 

beautifully unexpected and often spiritual language, as well as 

new rhythms, melodies and instrumental textures. He returns 

to some of his early musical methods here, touching on all 

aspects of his storied career, from New York to Dixieland to 

Africa and beyond. “Dazzling Blue” seamlessly fuses Indian 

percussion with American bluegrass while the title song 

and the remarkable “Getting Ready for Christmas Day” are 

wrapped around loops (the former mirroring the riff from 

“Mrs. Robinson,” the latter sampling a preacher’s sermon from 

1941). It’s a new masterpiece from the Picasso of music—an 

artist ever evolving, ever expanding and transforming the 

promise of popular song. PAUL ZOLLO 

Adele 

21 

COLUMBIA 80% 

With the expectation that 21 would blow 

us even further into the spaces of Adele’s 

left-hung-to-dry heart, it only slightly fails. Her sound is 

undeniably more mature than what you would typically expect 

from a 21-year-old, but tracks like “Don’t You Remember” 

make you wonder if the overall vibe is more mature than it 

should be. That being said, her voice has enough power, pain, 

blues and grit that even a small miss marks her above most of 

the rest. MARY KOSEARAS 

Six Organs of Admittance 

Asleep on the Floodplain 

DRAG CITY 74% 

San Francisco psych-folkie Ben Chasny is such 

a noiselessly industrious musician that he often 

slithers under modern RSS feeds and blog buzz. Despite this 

anonymity, his guitar playing can be just as mesmeric as his 

cosmic forebear John Fahey. On this acoustic guitar/harmonium 

LP, he sticks to the bedchamber and eschews overdubs. The 

peaks aren’t as emotionally devastating as his studio work, but 

there’s a hushed desperation here that gradually leaches into your 

pores. KYLE LEMMON 

Noah and the Whale 

Last Night on Earth 

UNIVERSAL 83% 

Once again British indie-folksters Noah and the 

Whale have outdone themselves and created 

a beautiful, inspiring album that differs from their previous 

two releases while at the same time maintaining classic, 

familiar characteristics. Last Night on Earth is a mixture of 

upbeat pop tunes (“Tonight’s the Kind of Night,” “Give It 

All Back”), inspiring anthems (catchily enunciated single 

“L.I.F.E.G.O.E.S.O.N”), and tranquil, casual melodies (“Wild 

Thing,” “Old Joy”) that all tell the story of what may be glimpses 

of your own last night on Earth. SPENCER FLANAGAN 

Heidecker & Wood 

Starting from Nowhere 

LITTLE RECORD COMPANY 81% 

On Starting from Nowhere, the Awesome Show 

comedian Tim Heidecker manipulates the 

banalities of pop lyrics just as deftly as he does the unintentional 

psychedelia of cable access technology. Here, the humor is in 

the hushed grandiosity of Heidecker’s silly, lofty voice. Listen 

closely, or you’ll miss the laughs—thanks to Davin Wood’s 

intensely satisfying hooks, this record so faithfully echoes music 

you genuinely treasure that it’s due for some serious jamming at 

high volume. LOREN POIN 

Funeral Party 

Golden Age of Knowhere 

RCA 77% 

The terms “post-punk” and “dance-rock” are 

well heeled to the point of cliché. But East 

L.A. quartet Funeral Party’s debut has all the scream and 

guitar to get your feet moving…unironically. Chad Elliot 

bends his elastic voice between teetering wails and delicate 

melodies, and sharp guitar work keeps the album charging, 

even with some sneaky jazz progressions thrown in. Sure, 

“Come on/’Cause we’ve fallen into ourselves” is an actual 

lyric but Funeral Party is so packed with verve that it hardly 

matters. ZACHARY SNIDERMAN 

book 

Judy Linn 

Patti Smith: 1969–1976 

ABRAMS 85% 

Before Horses and the slow 

disintegration of the Lower East Side, 

there was a hopeful, unknown poet 

named Patti Smith. This photography 

collection of the artist as a young woman, shot by her 

friend Judy Linn, captures intimate moments of Smith 

with boyfriends (Robert Mapplethorpe, Sam Shepard) and 

future musical visionaries (Tom Verlaine, Richard Sohl) in 

cafes, apartment, beds, and beaches that give a glimpse of 

the extraordinary figure she would become known as to 

millions. As Smith herself says in the afterword, “Any way 

you shuffle them, they testify that once upon a time we were 

innocent and beautiful and anyone we imagined we could 

be.” LYNN STAFFORD 

Lykke Li 

Wounded Rhymes 

LL RECORDINGS 86% 

Having blown their wad with album number one, 

many artists tremble at the thought of a looming 

sophomore slump. Here, Lykke Li’s not only stood up to the bastard 



ut smacked it into submission. Two years removed from her 

buoyant folksy indie-electronica debut, the Swedish pixie returns 

with a grab bag of ballsy sing-alongs that combine a newfound 

appreciation for girl-group song structure (shoo-wop, shoo-waaa!) 

with tribal thumpings that suggest more than a few late nights 

hanging out with The Raveonettes. Wounded Rhymes goes big in all 

the right ways—it’s got more sex and rock and roll than most indie 

kids even knew existed. Way to go, girl. ADAM POLLOCK 

dvd 

Broadcast News 

CRITERION 85% 

James L. Brooks’ Broadcast News is a 

wonderfully overlooked film from 1987 

about a love triangle in a TV newsroom 

between a producer (Holly Hunter), her 

seasoned foreign correspondent who is also 

her best friend (Albert Brooks) and the rising new anchor 

who has great looks but doesn’t quite understand the news 

he’s delivering (William Hurt). As pertinent today as it was 

then, the war between style and substance works its way 

throughout. And when it comes to wonderful characters 

with terrific dialogue, no one does it better than Jim Brooks, 

who has been delivering these types of gems for years. This 

is one of his best. RYAN MARKER 

Sean Rowe 

Magic 

ANTI- 77% 

Look out, folkies, there’s a new gravel-voiced 

troubadour on the scene. The Troy, New Yorkbased 

Rowe’s songs have an edge to them, albeit in an all-too-similar 

vein. There are flashes of lyrical brilliance—like on “Jonathan,” 

where he channels his inner Leonard Cohen as a witness to deadly 

car wreck and delves deep into the raw emotion of dealing with 

tragedy, showing off dark overtones and songwriting chops on this 

solid, yet unspectacular debut for Anti-. DANIEL KOHN 

Malachai 

Return to the Ugly Side 

DOMINO 73% 

Don’t let the title fool you. Bristol, England’s 

cut-and-paste cuties Gee and Scott recycle 

some of rock’s prettiest moments for their sophomore effort 

as Malachai (and not “Malakai,” as they used to be known). 

Part of its sweetness comes from Gee’s winsome voice, yet 

Scott seems to select some choice sonorous samples to go with 

his quaking beats, dozy soul sounds, musty garage rock and 

psychedelic interludes (“Let ’Em Fall”). Not as good as their 

first. A.D. AMOROSI 

Keren Ann 

101 

BLUE NOTE 76% 

Keren Ann’s international pedigree lends itself 

to the cover of 101, where she holds a gun and 

dons a dark coat. It’s as if she’s the femme fatale in a Bond 

movie, but what 101 presents is much less intriguing than spy 

life. At best, the heart found in earlier recordings is missing 

from Ann’s soft voice here. At worst—as in the album closer 

where she counts down from 101 to 1 in a flat tone—things get 

downright tedious. TAMARA VALLEJOS 

Puro Instinct 

Headbangers in Ecstasy 

MEXICAN SUMMER 82% 

After a handful of tracks released as Pearl 

Harbor, the band now known as Puro Instinct 

has unleashed Headbangers in Ecstasy into the world. Despite 

the taurine-drenched sound of the new name, the music here 

is more honey-thick. A crystalline guitar sound snakes through 

these tracks like an early Cocteau Twins album, but the pure 

pop moves, thick washes of lo-tech psychedelia with heavy 

reverb, and occasional sexy sax blasts make this its own glowing 

entity. JON PRUETT 

video game 

Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds 

XBOX 360/PS3 

CAPCOM 90% 

You’ve been waiting over 10 years for the 

MvC franchise to deliver another buttonmashing 

hoedown, and now it’s a reality. 

The equation remains the same: three-on-three fighting 

with all of your favorite characters from Capcom’s 

library of games and Marvel’s library of comics. You’ll 

be kicking the crap out of Ryu with Spiderman in 

full comic book style—bright graphics and snarky 

voiceovers intact. With only minor missteps, this is still 

the fighting game of the decade. ZACH ROSENBERG 

The Kills 

Blood Pressures 

Domino 81% 

Self-produced by Jamie Hince, Blood Pressures 

bears many of The Kills’ recognizable stylistic 

marks. However, the aggressive current flowing through the band’s 

earlier work is absent and much less importance is placed on the 

in-your-face attitude—particularly on the stripped-down “Last 

Goodbye,” where Alison Mosshart lays her cards on the table 

and becomes the defeated songstress. This tonal shift makes the 

album worth listening to, and the confidence that made The Kills 

appealing to begin with is not lost. CLARE R. LOPEZ 

The Luyas 

Too Beautiful to Work 

DEAD OCEANS 78% 

This record is an atmospheric conundrum— 

it’s all echoes, futuristic twinges and Jessie 

Stein’s child-like coo battling to form pretty (if not sonically 

disparate) songs favoring unique composition over easy 

melody. With aid from a Moodswinger (essentially an electric 

zither) and musicians borrowed from Arcade Fire, The Luyas 

are best when stripped (“Canary”) or subtly rhythmic (“Cold 

Canada”). The album needs—and deserves—time to grow on 

you. But sometimes it may actually be too concerned with being 

beautiful to, well, work. MARISSA MOSS 

Grails 

Deep Politics 

TEMPORARY RESIDENCE 85% 

Masters of atmosphere, Grails return with a new 

period piece—though that period is the ’80s in 

a future sci-fi parallel dimension. Straddling the line between 

wooshy Sega Genesis menu music and cinematic Pink Floyd 

maelstrom, Deep Politics is creepy and grand, and at its core is a 

sonic feast. The songs are lyricless, but one listen to “I Led Three 

Lives” will render you speechless and possibly thoughtless, but 

rich in strange visions. LOREN POIN 

The Joy Formidable 

The Big Roar 

CANVASBACK/ATLANTIC 83% 

Welsh rock trio The Joy Formidable gives us a 

roar that makes things of the ’90s seem modern 

again. Echoing that big rock sound from over a decade ago, the 

album cranks out some anthemic tracks buzzing with energy, 

depth and damn good noise. Somehow, above the throbbing 

layers of guitar riffs and pounding drums, the incredible voice of 

Ritzy Bryan gives this three-piece the perfect balance with her 

brazen yet refined voice. MARY KOSEARAS 

Rainbow Arabia 

Boys and Diamonds 

KOMPAKT 80% 

Rainbow Arabia may seem an unlikely signing 

to Kompakt, but given the label’s appetite for all 

manner of dance and, particularly, its newfound taste for the garish 

and maximal, it’s no wonder it gravitated towards this globalist 

blend of puckish synths, Middle Eastern modalities and gleeful 

polyrhythms. Tiffany Preston impishly tries on accents for her 

FX-thinned vocals, Jamaican brogue here or a lot of Karin Dreijer 

Andersson wailing there, but it’s the omni-directional whirl and 

clashing textures that consume the most. BERNARDO RONDEAU 

book 

PATRICK deWITT 

The Sisters Brothers 

ECCO BOOKS 88% 

Portland novelist Patrick deWitt lit up 

the American book scene two years 

ago with his rollicking, heartbreaking, 

hilarious and remarkably honest first 

work, Ablutions: Notes for a Novel. His new novel, the 

much-anticipated The Sisters Brothers, continues to 

prove the author as a character conjurer like none other: 

His creations—whether the crusty, shit-faced sad sacks 

of Ablutions or a pair of nasty yet noble titular siblings— 

are outlandish, rogue and delightfully bizarre, but as full 

of the same blood, guts, hopes, fears and dreams as the 

rest of us. Here, deWitt lines up a classic Old West road 

story and steps back, letting the characters sing for him. 

Damned if it ain’t grand. SHANE LEDFORD 

Shugo Tokumaru 

Port Entropy 

POLYVINYL 79% 

With the kind of propulsive, sugar rush of 

chimes, strums, clicks, clacks, and whistles that 

spill out of his second Stateside release, Japanese songwriter and 

multi-instrumentalist Shugo Tokumaru has a deep propensity 

for whimsy. Invoking the most sunny-day innocence of ’60s 

pop with effortless amounts of homeland lyrics and layers, the 

overwhelming sweetness has the potential to wear thin for the 

duration of a whole album. Still, it’s hard to be completely turned 

off from so much unbridled joy. MIKE HILLEARY 

The Builders and the Butchers 

Dead Reckoning 

BADMAN 70% 

Dead Reckoning meshes comfortably with the 

B&Bs’ reputation for energy-sparked, straightlaced 

Americana—lyrics are belted by Ryan Sollee with a 

Jonathan Edwards–like fervor (by way of Colin Meloy). Yet 

the pacing, paranoid angst that seeps through only feigns a 

progressive edge. It’s clear the gospel influences are not ones of 

rejoiceful uplift. Instead, the religiosity that infuses the music 

recalls the forced eagerness of modern day evangelicals and 

the predictable plainness of suburban mega-churches. Only 

dedicated fans need ascend. BROOKS HAYS 

blu-ray 

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas 

CRITERION 88% 

You know the story: Raoul Duke and 

his Samoan attorney, Dr. Gonzo, load 

up the Great Red Shark with every 

drug under the sun and head for 

Sin City to cover a motorcycle race. 

Traditional journalistic pursuits take a backseat as 

the dark heart of America quickly presents itself to 

the tyrannical, hallucinating madmen. Now available 

on Blu-ray and with oodles of extras, The Criterion 

Collection has upped even their infamous DVD 

version with a cut so sharp and magical that you’ll no 

doubt think you yourself are suddenly under ether with 

the boys. Director Terry Gilliam’s vision of Hunter S. 

Thompson’s classic novel is finally where it belongs: 

inside your pulsating membranes. SHANE LEDFORD 


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SLAM DUNK MID 

CIRCA 1982 

ar·chive 

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