The British wing of last decade’s post-punk revival can be whittled down into two camps. On one side, you have the Bloc Parties and Maximo Parks: Indie pop-rockers who cleverly disguise themselves with Gang of Four’s pointy guitar sounds and Joy Division beats, but without the challenging diversity of the original post-punk era. These New Puritans fall into that other, much smaller, camp: They answer their ancestors’ call to innovate and refuse to be lumped in with the revival set. On Hidden
, the band transcends the “post” tag by throwing out the Mark E. Smith-isms that dominated their 2008 debut, Beat Pyramid
, and embracing everything from booming dancehall beats, Japanese Taiko drums and movie sound effects to Steve Reich minimalism, Benjamin Britten operas, English Renaissance composers, and even a children’s choir.
Put it all together and you have something that can only be described as Peter and the Wolf at the apocalypse. It’s also one of the year’s finest (and strangest) releases. With eyebrows raised in awe, we asked band mastermind Jack Barnett to dissect for us the numerous elements and influences that combined to create Hidden.
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Unlike Barbados, Sisterworld is not a place you can actively visit, for you may have already created your own. Or, at least, that’s what we’ve gleaned from talking to Liars, the shape shifting, Radiohead-endorsed art rockers. Their upcoming fifth album, Sisterworld
(out March 9th) finds the band shipwrecked on unknown territory: At the Liars website, the group members are clothed like Raggedy Andy, scattered amid copies of themselves, and wandering on a lifeless beach; in their new music video, “Scissor,” they are lost at sea, mercilessly pelted with ovular rocks, released by palms unknown. On an album that shifts between numbing guitar chugs and violins that edge mournfully against grooving drums, these cryptic, anxious images seem fitting.
We chatted with Liars’ Aaron Hemphill to dig into the mystery that is Sisterworld, including Bret Easton Ellis’ influence on the album and what it was like to play dead in a music video.
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For all the new-found open spaces and rhythmic expansiveness on Wild Beasts’ Two Dancers
, it’s still singer Hayden Thorpe’s majestic, preening falsetto that announces itself like a peacock in bovver boots. (Think Billy MacKenzie’s flamboyance plus Brett Anderson’s cocksure androgyny.) Whether filling harmonies for bassist/platooning singer Tom Fleming’s baritone or strutting out front, Thorpe’s theatrics elevate these slices of youthful hedonism to the level of high drama. On the lead single, “Hooting and Howling,” his dare to would-be rivals still somehow comes off like a dance of seduction.
It’s a Decadents’ manifesto, full of thuggish dandyism and glamorous machismo, and easily the best salve for “dead below the waist” indie to come along in years. As the Brits head into the Eastern leg of their first major North American tour, we caught up with Thorpe to chat about gangsta rap, Lady Gaga, and what gets lost in translation.
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Beach House‘s Victoria Legrand is a woman of many trades. She is a wordsmith inspired by the imaginary “shape” of an individual lyric, a keyboardist who crafts woozily whimsical flutters of notes, and — as we most recently discovered — a fur tree maker. In the wake of her band’s acclaimed third release, Teen Dream, we had the pleasure of chatting with Legrand about these aforementioned skills and more, finally confirming the meaning behind the single, “Norway,” and introducing us to five great bands from her Baltimore home that we may not have heard of. Oh, and Selleck Waterfall Sandwich also made its way into the mix.
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A trim online magazine from Amsterdam, Ilovethatphoto offers beautifully composed images and conversations with talented photographers from all shores.
With its eye-catching variety, the site is a repository of inspiration for both photo practitioners and enthusiasts. Each featured artist selects a handful of his or her images, which are contextualized with quotes about their influences, style, and a person-specific definition of the art. The site’s blog features a more interactive option, allowing user kudos and star ratings for everything from rare cameras to the ace photos in its Flickr group.
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South California rockers Cold War Kids are set to tour this winter in support of their recently released Behave Yourself EP, an up-tempo, psychedelic, raw, and sexy follow-up to their second album, Loyalty to Loyalty. Everyone knows their hooks are masterpieces, but not everyone knows that CWK bassist Matt Maust is an accomplished visual artist as well. Flavorpill’s Shana Nys Dambrot caught up with him on the eve of the Behave Yourself tour to talk, art, music, touring — and how these diverse areas of his life inform one another.
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In the first installment of an ongoing series, we’re teaming up with our pals at Daily Serving, a website with its finger on the pulse of what’s hot in the world of contemporary art. An international forum combining an academic viewpoint (founder Seth Curcio is the former director of Redux Contemporary Art Center in Charleston, SC) with fine art eye candy, Daily Serving is a must-read for artheads looking to expand their knowledge of the field. Our excerpt of their recent interview with Whitney Biennial artist Storm Tharp, after the jump.
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This Thanksgiving weekend you’ll probably find yourself in line for The Road, the cinematic adaptation of Cormac McCarthy’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel. In many ways, it’s seemingly everything one could want in a holiday movie. Father-son bonding, check. Epic journey, check. There’s even a scene where the characters have their own post-apocalyptic version of a Thanksgiving feast with canned peaches and Cheetos substituting for turkey and stuffing. But while it’s an excellent film, be warned: The Road will suck all happiness out of your holiday buzz and leave you unsure that you’ll ever be able to smile again.
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Jonathan Evison‘s irresistible debut tale of step-sibling obsession, All About Lulu, tap-danced between humor and melancholy whilst exploring family function and dysfunction from a fresh vantage point. The author’s much anticipated sophomore book, West of Here, is due out next fall. From his home base on Bainbridge Island, Washington, Evison — who’s one of the bloggers behind Three Guys One Book — caught up with Flavorpill via e-mail to share some early poetry, his ideal time travel destination, and a packing list for the next book tour.
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Multidisciplinary artist MK Guth brings a homespun feeling to her video, photography, and sculpture pieces that act as channels of social exchange. She has braided fake hair into Rapunzel braids and driven a truck of red shoes around New York City; this fall Guth blends craft and narrative with a textile-based project in lower Manhattan. We went deep into the belly of One New York Plaza’s retail center to chat with Guth about her three-month residency “This Fable Is Intended For You: A Work-Energy Principle” — watch our exclusive video interview after the jump.
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