Even today, some 30 years after the band’s debut, there are legions of Devo-tees. Perhaps it’s due to the philosophy of De-evolution and the precocious employ of musical, visual and philosophical elements before it was in vogue. Perhaps it’s an inevitable outcome of years spent releasing daring records bound to off-the-wall antics, to court popularity and success while simultaneously shunning it. Perhaps it’s just the magnetism of the yellow-jumpsuit-”energy-dome” combination. Read More »
The narrative of Devo follows a labyrinthine maze through the shattered idealism of the ’60s, the record-label monopolies of the ’70s, and the cocaine-addled New Wave scene of the ’80s. Recently reemerging for present-day collaborations with artists like Adam Freeland and Teddybears, the sometimes famed, sometimes infamous Devo have been busy of late. After completing a 2006 tour clad in the requisite yellow jumpsuits and creating “Watch Us Work It” for a Dell campaign, the band sued McDonald’s for use of its trademarked “flower-pot” or “energy-dome” hats in Happy Meal toys. Now on the cusp of releasing a new album after 19 years of silence, the band will be performing new songs at SXSW‘s BMI showcase on March 20 in Austin, Texas.
Earplug’s Sara Jayne Crow met with Jerry Casale — co-founder, vocalist, bass guitarist, and synthesizer maestro of Devo — in his Santa Monica home over the course of several months. The following interview is the first installment in a series covering the long Devo history, De-evolution as a philosophy, the nature of the new album, and the real meaning of “Whip It.”
Fringe music is an elusive beast, indeed. Whereas the points of slick tales of love and loss are usually pretty obvious, the undercurrents of the avant-garde are infinitely harder to navigate. Enter your intrepid guide: Earplug. In this bi-monthly series, Flavorwire’s sister publication — home to several experimental, indie, and techno experts — will separate the hidden gems from the record bin rejects, helping the adventurous among us pluck new albums from the outer edges.
After the jump, reviews of a new new release from mutant disco don Arthur Russell and ~scape dub compendium Round Black Ghosts 2.
Diminutive English rapper Lady Sovereign’s first album showcased a mélange of sounds, repping everything from UK garage to punked-up drum n’ bass. In the subsequent whirlwind of attention, the cheeky singer signed to Def Jam (Jay-Z inked the deal himself), scored Missy Elliott for a remix of the TRL-topping track “Love Me Or Hate Me,” and hit the road with Gwen Stefani. Music media built on the buzz, championing the pint-sized powerhouse as grime’s ambassador in America.
So what happened to her? After a bit of soul searching, Sov realized she didn’t want to be on a major label or be considered grime’s great white hope, and she went into incubation. Finally ready to poke her head back in the stage door, Sov is rather humbly releasing her second album, Jigsaw, April 7th on her own label, Midget Records. Three recent stateside gigs revealed a more mature, subdued side of Sov, who has traded in Adidas tracksuits and a side ponytail for streetwear and a down ‘do. Earplug rang her in London to chat about tossing her cookies at McDonald’s, ditching her trademark tracksuit, dropping diss tracks for Lady Gaga, and getting down with Playboy’s wee ol’ wabbit.
Dateline: London.
Tricky is running late from a previous interview, and he’s got a meeting across town. This means we’ll have to catch the former Massive Attacker, current trip-hop superstar in transit. As he makes his way through the busy streets, he clearly hungry, traffic is all around, and the phone connection isn’t quite what it could be. This could be a tricky conversation, indeed.
Thus it was that Christian Rose-Day of our sister publication Earplug chatted, with minor interruptions, to a very distracted and “very English” Tricky about his feelings on fish and chips, record sales, and other people’s opinions of The Fifth Element. The interview, featuring Rose-Day’s inner monologue, after the jump.
Avant-electronic maestro Alfred Darlington (aka Daedelus) is pretty much always in motion. This month alone, the sometimes jazz hound and skewed Dublab darling drops a split EP with Jogger, before touring Europe behind a new release by the Long Lost — his dreamy, electroacoustic collaboration with wife and muse Laura Darlington.
Jane McCarthy of our sister publication Earplug sat down with Darlington at his studio in Santa Monica to talk sampling, Victorian Dandyism, Brian Eno, and the perils of classical training. Then, when the producer’s wife entered the room, McCarthy fell head-first into a couple’s lament on the meaning of love. Ah, the perils of music journalism.
Read the interview after the jump.
Not only is Lee “Scratch” Perry one of dub’s most important and influential icons, but he’s also a prolific producer. On his work with Bob Marley and the Clash (to say nothing of his own albums), he’s consistently shown a flair for devilishly off-kilter atmospheres. As the Beastie Boys’ Adam Horovitz once said, “One thing the Beastie Boys do when we’re finishing tracks is make sure that there’s a Lee Perry part: some weird detail that’s not supposed to be there, but somehow makes sense.”
Perry’s latest album, Repentance, is no exception — it’s rife with the kind of unearthly sounds that have made him a dub mainstay. Chris Kompanek of our sister pub Earplug rang Perry up in Zurich to talk about the new record, his appendage-obsessed alter-ego, Pipecock Jackson, the future of dub, and how he feels about spazz-rocker and recent collaborator Andrew W.K. allegedly releasing tracks behind his back. Find the interview after the jump.
Known for his impossibly out-there turntable antics, DJ/ rupture is an unmistakable original. Andy Moor, meanwhile, has made a name as one of the most fiercely independent and anarchist guitarists. The question isn’t whether a collaboration between the two will sound original. The question is, will their combined effect be utterly overwhelming? After the jump, Michael Byrne, weighs in with Flavorwire’s review.
Despite their increasingly high profile, and a tendency for earth-shatteringly large performances, Japanese noiseniks Boredoms most recent release is pretty impossible to find. Part of the group’s long-running Super Roots EP series, the record’s first run in Japan sold out almost immediately, and they’ve yet to announce a Stateside release. For now it looks like it’s only available in the obscure (and somewhat seedy) corners of the interweb. After the jump, Aaron Leitko ventures into the ether for a snapshot review of the all-to-elusive album, plus we offer our favorite MP3.
Being the latest high-profile dubstep producer isn’t easy. Despite his relative anonymity, East London artist Zomby has unwittingly managed to become a man of the moment. It’s a high-pressure situation, but he seems undaunted by the high bar of history, making music that goes to playful, indulgent extremes.
Acclaimed for a series of singles with stinging bass lines, choppy melodies, and a lo-fi horror vibe, Zomby has also gone retro with the hyperactive Where Were You in ’92?. A love letter to early rave culture, it brims with hardcore beats, air horns, and bright piano lines that unabashedly celebrate the past while making nods to the future.
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