It’s Mad Lib Monday at ChinaShop, where they fill in the blanks and we make up the rest. Check out our exclusive portraits and listen to some brand new music.
Music Mad Lib Monday: Dinosaur Bones
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Tag Archives: Rich Thomas
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Gallery Music Magnetic Man: New Album, New Show, New Beginning
If you’re at Coachella and plan on spending any time in the Sahara Tent, chances are you’re going to hear your fair share of dubstep, but before the genre even really had a name, a producer named Artwork was dropping a tune called “Red” in clubs throughout the UK; a track many consider one of the earliest manifestations of the genre characterized by its big, wobbly bottom end. Flash forward to today. Artwork is still pushing the envelope, but this time he’s linked up with Benga and Skream to form Magnetic Man, who kicked off their 2011 US campaign with a prime slot at this year’s Coachella. Their debut album features guest collaborations with UK vocalists/MCs Katy B, Ms. Dynamite and Angela Hunte, along with a classic co-write with John Legend on “Getting Nowhere.” We hooked up with two-thirds of Magnetic Man—Artwork and Benga—at the side of the Main Stage while Cee Lo Green was putting on a rousing rendition of “Fuck You.”
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Gallery Music COACHELLA: DAY 2 RECAP
This always happens. Sometime around 4pm on the Saturday of every Coachella, there comes a time when I’m filled with equal amounts of excitement and dread. The former because there are still so many bands left to see, the latter because, well, there are still so many bands left to see. Not to mention art installations to walk around/through. Not to mention humanity to gawk at. Here were some of our favorite moments from Coachella Day Two.
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Gallery Music COACHELLA: DAY 1 RECAP
So many bands, so much art, so much sun, so many people with hilarious t-shirts. The Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival is nothing if not a veritable feast for the senses, and Day One kicked off the desert party in grand fashion. The newfangled, RFID chip-embedded wristbands seemed to work perfectly fine, and we encountered no Draconian police presence demanding to see our credentials at the dreaded “one mile perimeter.” It was, as they say, all delicious, but man was it hot.
Moving Units had the distinction of being the first Main Stage artist to play on Friday, their crowd braving 95-degree temps to catch of glimpse of the longtime LA heroes. (Make sure to check out our interview with them.) The Gobi Tent was next, where we caught an earful of Omar Rodríguez-López , who has played Coachella with both his previous bands, At The Drive In and the Mars Volta. His self-titled project is nothing short of amazing; visceral, psychedelic rock and roll with guitars drenched in watery reverb and songs that unfold slowly, angrily and beautifully. At one point, his singer prowled the stage with his microphone clenched between his teeth, sweat pouring down his face to the point where electric shock was sure to be imminent. We must have stood there for at least 15 minutes taking in what felt like one epic jam, with Rodríguez-López manhandling his guitar like he was having an out-of-body experience.
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Music Paul van Dyk: Coachella and the Big Bang Theory
Grammy-nominated, globally acclaimed, socially conscious, dashingly handsome. These are all descriptors one could heap on Paul van Dyk. He released his first album, 45 RPM, in 1994, and since then has been an unstoppable force in dance music, consistently finishing in the Top 5 in most major DJ magazine polls. This summer he’ll release his sixth studio album, titled Evolution, and if you happen to be in Coachella’s Sahara Tent between 10:15pm and 11:30pm on Saturday night, odds are you’ll get an earful of the new material. What’s more, van Dyk is fully aware of the reputation the Sahara has for being the place to show off a killer live experience. (Daft Punk, deadmau5 and Richie Hawtin anyone?) We got a few quick moments with him to ask about the new material and stage show. It should be noted that he briefly name-checks Ollie Metcalfe, who was the lighting and video designer for Muse’s Resistance stadium tour, and has also worked with Kanye West. That alone should give you ample reason to stop on in.
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Art Global Inheritance Wants You To Get TRASHed At Coachella
No, not that way, but I like the way you think. Seriously, though, when you’ve got over 75,000 people sharing a wide open space, a lot of trash is bound to be produced. Thankfully, Coachella has made sustainability a big part of their festival experience. Since 2004, Coachella has hosted an art-walk style recycling program that invites artists to design their own refuse bins in hopes of creating an environment that makes—no, wills—people to pitch in and toss their trash where it’s supposed to go.
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Music Country Music: Portugal. The Man Get Up Down South
Church Mouth: Waiter “You Vultures!”, The Satanic Satanist and its acoustic follow-up, The Majestic Majesty. These are all albums by Portugal. The Man, a group who appears to take just as much pleasure in titling their records as they do making them. Based in Portland but originally from Alaska—most of them, at least—the experimental rockers have released some of the most adventurous music we’ve heard in the last three years in any genre. Now signed to Atlantic Records, they’ve got a new album due out sometime in the late summer, and before that will be performing at Bonnaroo. We caught up with them the day after their big show at Stubb’s, walked ’em down an alley, took some photos and asked some questions.
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Gallery Music Andreya Triana : Lost And Found
As drab and predictable as much of today’s R&B is, soul music—the good stuff—is getting its due time in the sun, due in part to the popularity of artists like Adele, Cee Lo Green and Raphael Saadiq. These are powerful singers who understand the importance of the almighty groove; artists who know that a pocket is more than just something sewn into your pants to hold your bankroll. But what about what’s bubbling beneath the mainstream?
That’s where Andreya Triana comes in. The self-taught songstress from South East London released her debut full-length, Lost Where I Belong, at the end of last year to rave reviews from all sorts of critics. Though she’s quick to protect her pedigree as a soul singer, her tracks have received the remix treatment from electronic luminaries like Flying Lotus, TOKiMONSTA and Mr. Scruff, and her association with tastemaking label Ninja Tune has endeared her to a wide range of ears. We met up with Andreya to chat about her forthcoming album and perused some of Austin’s local fashion traders (Big ups to the cool kids at Process, champions of the dirty south, for letting us use their backdrop). In the end, I got a story and she got a fancy pair of black boots.
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Featured Gallery Music Eliza Doolittle: These Boots Are Made For Walking
In her short shorts and frayed top, 22-year-old Eliza Doolittle is easy to spot against the rows and rows of vintage leather that line the walls of Texas Custom Boots. The dusty, fragrant South Austin shop and its grizzled cobblers stand in stark contrast to the singer’s youthful, cherubic glint, but there’s something about the hodgepodge of western wear that jibes with Eliza’s colorful, eclectic style. She’s a Brit, hunkered down for the next few days in the most un-British of locales. She’s a vegetarian, surrounded by award-winning chefs who specialize of all manner of barbecued animal flesh. She is, for all intents and purposes, a pop star, and though she doesn’t have the sort of wear on her treads that these boots do, she’s poised for the long journey that lies ahead.
Last year, her self-titled debut reached #3 on the Billboard UK charts, and has since been certified platinum. She’s landed a Top 10 in three countries for her single, “Pack Up,” and earlier this year signed to a contract with the prestigious Select Models. She’s also performing at this year’s Coachella festival, a true rite of passage for those looking to make a significant splash in American waters. But before she hits the California deserts, best to pick up some shoes to match the occasion.
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Music Apex Manor: Drinking And Thriving
I remember the day I got this promo in the mail. The Merge Records stamp on the press release piqued my interest, but it was the album title that moved it to the top of my listening stack for the afternoon: The Year Of Magical Drinking. I was vaguely familiar with the piece of literature on which the title was modeled after, but the music stood in complete juxtaposition with the book’s maudlin themes. This was a rock and roll record to be played loud with the top down, preferably while going a cool 60mph up the 2 Freeway from Echo Park to La Cañada. Download “Under The Gun” for free here, then give it a spin. You’ll see what I mean.
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