Features
January 31, 2014
Wildarms is Brooklyn producer Duncan Cooper, a human with needs, some banal and others aimed more portentously at a sort of every-day transcendence, sampled snippets and inspired tones into a catharsis-by-melody machine, for an outcome that’s diverting to say the least. He released his latest…
January 31, 2014
Pete Seeger was a voice calling out in the vast American wilderness, challenging the often errant, fearful, and meaningless ways that we’re asked to live and survive in a civilization that sometimes seems to be crumbling around our ears. Challenging the predators that stalk their prey; prey who…
January 30, 2014
It’s snowing a lot this week in West Virginia, and down in the southern part of the state, it is still “your call” whether or not to use the water, and just today an unnamed official indicated that he was certain some citizens who used their showers would be exposed to formaldehyde….
January 27, 2014
2013 was eventful for me; I got my first “office” job, cut off most of my hair, and Dwight and I got our first car together. In between, I’ve gotten to do a lot of design work, made many vegetarian pizzas, and worked (when I could) to advance my own band, The Furr. With all that, I…
January 27, 2014
Some people say they love music and it ends there. Others, like Mike Newman, co-founder of Brooklyn-based BeyondBeyond is Beyond Records, exude that love with every inch of their being. Newman’s passion runs deep, and remains apparent in all his projects. There’s a sort of magic that surrounds…
January 24, 2014
“2013 was a tough year, man.” Yeah, I know. When was any given year not tough? It was hard on all of us for many different reason, but one thing I resolved when that ‘3’ clicked over to a ‘4’ three weeks ago or so was to not start this piece with the phrase “I’m…
January 23, 2014
At her pop-up exhibition in Williamsburg back in October, Brooklyn-based photographer Jung Kim found herself surrounded by the likes of Oscar winner Glen Hansard (The Frames/The Swell Season) and Jason Pierce aka J. Spaceman (Spiritualized). Pierce, who hosted the event, alongside many others, were…
January 21, 2014
The timing was uncanny. I had just decided, in a fit of frustration, that I would not commemorate 2013 with the requisite “best-of” list. There was too much, too little, and the narrative thread of my life too disorganized, for me to think of any orderly summation. Then our Herr Editorr Crawford…
January 20, 2014
2013 had quite a few memorable moments for me, musically. In October, I was given the honor of stepping in as Decoder’s Blog Editor, a position that only cemented my understanding of the undeniable wit, uncanny ear, and impeccable writing style lent from the writers of Decoder. Aside from that,…
January 17, 2014
I remember a lot of my favorite things from 2007. It was the year Juno was released and I discovered a strong female lead character that listened to the Moldy Peaches. I purchased a lot of CDs at Target with my friends’ employee discounts. I read a lot of Chuck Klosterman in my high school chemistry…
January 16, 2014
Like every year, we lost some very influential musicians in 2013. The biggest shock to me – someone who has always been most moved by downtrodden, slowed, pained songs – came when Jason Molina (Songs: Ohia and Magnolia Electric Co.) died from organ failure on March 16th. The news arrived just over…
January 15, 2014
In 2013, my favourite song had a simple, catchy melody and the following lyrics:
Row, row, row your boat
Gently down the stream;
If you see a crocodile
Don’t forget to SCREAM!
This past year was my first full year of fatherhood, with all the associated glories and challenges, and by far the most…
January 13, 2014
As 2012 slowly faded into 2013, the years bled together with a heavy winter in La Crosse where I live. The year-end process always lasts months, I feel, as the wonders and trends of one year encounter the expectations for the next. Release schedules do not necessarily function in the same ways as calendars,…
January 10, 2014
Every release by the Bay Area’s transcendental Lumerians features a different angle between dance, drone, and psych experimentation. Live, however, the group focuses those angles into a powerful and direct performance. Such was the case last night as Lumerians made their Chicago debut with two sets…
