Filter Magazine

filter magazine 3 # 2012

filter

No 2 # 10.03.12

Filter Magazine No.3 2012

$ 7.99 USD

pb

filter magazine Issue 3 # 2012 Edition: 500000

editors Tom Adams

Robin Murray Briana Cheng Dennis Cook Curt Jones Dennis Cook

Sue Pier

photo Liv Tylor

Roger Simpson Briana Cheng

art director Mali Sagmoen

print Skippnes

design 240x300

Courier New Bell Gothic Std

Helvetica Blackout

contact Filter Magazine

Young Street 567B 564329 Gable Commens Drive

5689 San Fransico

[email protected]

San Fransico 2012


editor’s word 4

yay or nay? 5

devendra banhart interview 6

photos 12

vintage shopping 17

allo darlin’ 20

things to do in brooklyn 24

festivals 30

albums you must hear 32


editor's word

Tom Adams says: Enjoy!

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Back in October, I met one of the most iconic indie rockers during CMJ. This would be the handsome man behind Mister Heavenly and Islands, Nick Thorburn. My meeting with him was strictly business and before gazing deep into his eyes, I was captivated by this little piece of plastic around his finger. Then as he motioned his hand, I noticed it was a white LEGO ring.

That was my first stumble upon this toy/accessory and on my second, I decided to personally own one. Still unsure if it’s the reason that Nick Thornburn has the same designer copy of the ring or how my childhood memories evolved around building LEGO forts, either way, I have fallen for this trend. Mine was $5 at the Brooklyn Flea which probably added to the desire of purchasing it.

You can find high quality editions online or go cheap, and head to your nearest hipster flea market. These kind of creative crafts are always a hit in the DIY community but what are your thoughts, the trend of Lego Rings, Yay or Nay?

Text & photo: Briana Cheng

YAY OR NAY?

The stereotype of a hillbilly is a per-son who: Is a White Southerner who owns a shotgun, goes barefoot, wears a worn out floppy hat, drinks moonshine and whiskey which he makes himself, plays the banjo or fiddle, drives old beat up pick up trucks, has bad teeth, is poor-ly educated, has long a beard, wears worn out clothes and hand me downs, and is happy and content with what they have.

hillBillYs

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pegged as a freak-folk shaman and indie pin-up, deVendra Banhart is reallY more of an ar-tistic epicurean in the Vein of tropicÁlismo pioneers like Jorge Ben, os mutantes and his idol caetano Veloso.

Banhart rejects categorization like some nasty epithet, preferring the tangled charms of spon-taneity. Starting with his 2002 debut up through the ambitious, pastoral Cripple Crow last year, Banhart has carved out a unique voice from Korean Dogwood and incense reveries.

Yeah, he’s a bit of space cowboy but one who’s grandly successful at telling the “same old story with a new set of words about the good and the bad and the poor.” He never sits above things, and he’s always ready to dig his hands into the earth and make something grow. He talked to us from his Los Angeles apartment as he finished making breakfast and discussed his plans to move to 1970s folk-rocker mecca Topanga Canyon.

Filter: I have vivid memories of photos in Creem and the old newspaper Rolling Stone of people like Neil Young and Michael Nesmith partying in Topanga during the 1970s California Country hey-day. Have you found a place yet?

Devendra Banhart: You don’t want to rent some shithole in Topanga. You want to wait until you find the house full of octagons and Brazil wood.

Filter: The place with the great sitting window and stained glass.

Banhart: Exactly! The place where they say Stevie Nicks used to drop by...

Filter: ...the place where Joni Mitchell once drank too much red wine.

Banhart: You understand.

Filter: You got your eggs together?

DB: I got my eggs in my mouth!

Filter: I love the experience of cooking, espe-cially for other people.

DB: It’s so good, so cathartic and exciting, and a beautiful meditation.

Filter: It’s one of those experiences that places you in the moment. You’re only worried about what’s in the pan. You kind of salivate during the process. How many things in your daily life make you salivate?

DB: No fuckin’ joke, man. You’re making me re-alize I need to salivate more. What a beautiful goal. I think you need to write the salivation manifesto now! This generation needs something to do. They need to salivate. They don’t need something to salivate for. They just need to salivate. They need to salivate over things they didn’t salivate over before. But, there’s keys and cooking is one of them.

Filter: The first track on Cripple Crow has the opening line “You gotta pay back every penny you owe.” It’s such a simple, direct way of talking

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about karma, and I wondered if that’s what you were getting at there.

DB: Definitely, man, but I’ve always no-ticed talking about lyrics is like talk-ing about a duality. It’s like a Gemini time every time I talk about one line. Because each line, of course, means dif-ferent things to different people, mil-lions of interpretations. With me, I always see two sides. I just see things split into two.

Filter: I think a lot of people think of karma as this quid pro quo-- you do this nice or bad thing then nice or bad things happen for you.

DB: It doesn’t work that way. Basically, everything is intertwined and karma is part of that. You’re a part of that. As much as you try to be in the world but not of it, you’re in it, mother-fucker. Prior to writing that line I had lived homeless and without finan-cial cares because I didn’t have any finances to care about. I went on a tour that was the first tour with a band. That was many years ago with the Queens of Sheeba, made up of people from Little Wings, Yat-Kha, Jackie-O Motherfucker, and Vetiver. We rented a bus, and ended up owing so much money after that tour. I could never have sung that line if I didn’t have that direct experience. Of course, there’s another meaning to it, beyond the realm of money, which is more applicable to what we’re trying to do.

Filter: We live in an age where many things are working hard to conk us out and anesthetize us. Anything we can do to shake us out of that with no other purpose than to wake us is valuable.

DB:

Filter: There’s already a mythology building up around you as a freak folk icon. Whatever that means! Is it hard to be inside all these strange expecta-tions?

DB: It’s so gross. I know my name is at-tached to it but it’s such a creation of someone else that it’s very difficult for me to pay it any attention. In in-terviews where they bring up the freak-folk thing or whatever, when forced to play that game, when I know someone is in that state of mind, I’ll give them an alternative. So, I’ve said in the past we’re like a family or “New” New Age be-cause I’d rather the records be in the whale section instead of the “B” section or the “D” section. We are not postmod-ern or purist in any way. I love almost every type of music. I’m interested in other modes of music. I’m interested in Qawwali and the blues.

Filter: Andy is a pretty major collabo-rator with you.

DB: Not as much as before. I used to live in San Francisco, and every day consisted of us being together and writ-

ing songs. We wrote so many. That was such a big part of my life and he was my songwriting partner. I didn’t know if I could even make records without him. I don’t know what I would do without Andy. I think I’d be fine, and he’d be fine without me, but we do have an intense relationship based on very positive and good things, and a mutual love for simi-lar things. He has qualities that I have zero of. I don’t know what I’ve got but whatever I’ve got lucky him that he doesn’t [laughs]. Somehow it works.

Filter: For all the comparisons to folks like Nick Drake and the Incredible String Band your music gets, my first impression of your work was that it had the spirit if not the mechanics of late 1960s, early 70s Brazilian music.

DB: I’m honored fully by that. It in-forms a lot of what we do. It’s not that I feel I’m more like Caetano [Veloso] than Nick Drake but Caetano is my nuber one and I say he’s my number one. You should at least mention Caetano. I’m definitely inspired by a lot of music but I don’t hear how I sound like so many of the comparisons that get made.

Filter: You have really big ears and thoroughly non-Catholic taste, and this shows in the artists you recommend, though sometimes you get grief for cham-pioning your friends.

DB: Vashti [Bunyan], on a very personal level. Her music saved my life in many

There’s already a mythology

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ways. Her music provided very concrete things I didn’t have that time. I’d go so far as to say it replaced a bed and food pretty much. Water and Vashti got me through some pretty tough times. So, I owe that to her because her music was so nourishing.

I know the Espers and Vetiver. I love their music. If I didn’t I wouldn’t talk about them. I’d just say they were great people if someone asked about them. I’m not going to try and rip anybody off. If anything, I’m ripping you off by mak-ing records. That’s as far as I’ll go [laughs]. But I’ve never ripped anyone off by recommending music that sucks. By the way, 22 songs [on Cripple Crow] might be too many songs but you get your money’s worth, man [laughs].

Filter: CD technology makes it really easy to put out what would have been a double record in the vinyl-era onto a single disc.

DB: I feel like that was kind of a fuck up because we only had a month to record so many songs. We actually recorded 35, and it shorthanded some of the tunes in the end. You have songs you had to put in potato bags and send them out in the world. Now I’m going to stick to maybe 14 or 15 songs. I’ll try. It shouldn’t be longer than it has to. Short and sweet, man.

Filter: One of my favorites along those lines is Caetano’s 1971 album when he was in exile in London. He’s all bundled up in that huge fleece parka on the

cover and his face has this unbeliev-able sadness. It’s only 35 minutes long but it lingers every time I play it. I’m haunted by a line like “In the hot sun of a Christmas day.”

DB: I’ve been thinking about that line all day. Oh man. What’s funny is I’m sick right now because I recently spent a day in the rain and the cold in Lon-don shooting a music video with Cibelle, this Brazilian contemporary artist, for her version of [Veloso’s] “London, Lon-don” [on her just released, The Shine of Dried Electric Leaves]. I sang it with her. Anyway, it’s a short but fucking epic album.

Filter: Are you having fun taking the songs from Cripple Crow that ended up in potato sacks and revamping them live?

DB: It’s been phat [laughs]. You re-alize they would have looked great in these red fuckin’ shoes and a big white belt. You get to know them a little bet-ter. Like “I Feel Just Like a Child” is a much different song. It has a call-and-response ending that would have been awesome to have on the record. It has a couple different solos now, too. My guitar playing has gotten a little bet-ter, so I can solo a bit more. These songs have grown, which makes them more fun to play, of course, but at the same time you think it would have been good to play some of these songs live before we recorded them.

Filter: I like that, despite your res-ervations, you’re not afraid to engage

with the mystical or spiritual side of things but you never do it in a super serious kind of way.

DB: I grew up around so much new agey stuff. Part of me takes it lightly be-cause I’m so used to it. It was my par-ents. It wasn’t some path I discovered and want to share with people. It’s just been a very natural part of my life. There’s humor to it and there’s seri-ousness to it, too. It’s all about sen-sitivity. If you have sensitivity then mysticism will be part of your life. It’s a very beautiful thing and a very real thing but it’s not something to not take seriously and it’s not something to take seriously. It’s something to engage in the moment. It’s all kinds of vari-ables. There’s always so many colors, you know?

Text: Dennis Cook Photo: Roger Simpson


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stephen Butkus www.stephenbutkus.no

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Jarand Boge www.blog.bogefoto.com

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emma summerton www.emmasummerton.com

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seBastian Vollmert www.sebastianvollmert.de

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sigurd grÜnBerger

www.sigurdg.com

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sigurd grÜnBerger

www.sigurdg.com

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send us mail: [email protected]

paul r www.paulr.me

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Vintage clothing shopping is exciting and enjoyable because you can find items of clothing that nobody else has and you can find good quality items made the way they don’t make things these days, from fabrics that might not even be around now. Not only are you sourcing unique items but you’re also being eco-friendly into the bargain and preworn clothing is considered desirable by those frequenting the red carpet to the local fashionista.

Buying vintage clothing takes a little background knowledge of the styles you like, knowing where to look, and knowing how much you can get away with in terms of fit and alterations; while DIY alterations can help with little fit issues you may have, it’s really important to check the fit of a garment before buying. Ultimately, buying vintage clothing is about choosing what you know you’ll feel great wearing.S

HO

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OR

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ultimatelY, BuYing Vintage clothing is aBout choosing what You know You’ll feel great wearing.

iBen, Berlin.

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sue, london.

traVis, miami. pJ, amsterdam.

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iris, reYkJaVik. andréa, paris.

mathilda, BrooklYn.

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ALLO DARLIN’ELIZABETH MORRISMICHAEL COLLINSPAUL RAINSBILL BOTTING

presents

plays

AUSTRALIA & KENT

UKE DRUMS GUITAR BASS

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Half-Australian and half-Kent, Allo Darlin’ centre on the tender voice of Elizabeth Morris. Growing up in Aus-tralia, the singer knew what music she wanted to make – and where.

she explains. “I think one of the harder things in getting a band together is actually getting the right people to-gether, and for so many people that’s like the mission. Once you get the right combination of people together the rest comes really easily, and that’s some-thing we’ve been really lucky with. We are very lucky in that we get along re-ally well, but it took some searching – it took a while.”

Asked to contribute a cover to a Spring-steen tribute album, Morris asked some friends to help out. A one off recording begat a gig, which begat a tour, which begat an album. Allo Darlin’ quickly spiralled, becoming a full blown band almost by accident. “The space between forming as a band, playing our first show and then recording the album was only like four months to get things together. A lot of songs on the album – I’m sure you can hear it – were written the night before. The impetus was adrenaline, just the thrill of going for it.”

Fresh and witty, Allo Darlin’ reflect the same joyful spirit which penetrates The Slits or The Royal We. Of course, this comes with a price as well. “There’s a lot of mistakes on it” she admits. “We didn’t want to go back and fix anything. If you write music then when you make songs you don’t really expect anyone to

hear them. You expect some people to hear them but my kind of goal was to get a song played on the dancefloor at How Does It Feel To Be Loved? – that was my one aim with it. I didn’t think we would go to America three times in one year. We’ve been lucky getting all this atten-tion but I wouldn’t say it was something that we particularly went searching for. Obviously we wanted to do well but it sort of took us by surprise.”

The nascent London scene fostered the young group, with a mixture of old heads and young converts filling their early shows. Yet Allo Darlin’ are keen to dis-associate themselves from any scene, ad-mitting to an equally strong love of classic rock such as Billy Joel and Fleetwood Mac. “Perhaps in the older generation, friends of mine who were in indie bands in the late 80s and early 90s, they have a complete hatred of any

formed (or should that Be stumBled into?) BY a group of friends their deBut alBum is one of the freshest indie pop releases to come our waY in some time. charming, self-effacing and opin-ionated the Band are a world awaY from scene-riding Bandwagon leapers.

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of that kind of stuff. When we did the Springsteen some people were really an-gry, like saying “he was the antithesis of everything we stood up for”. We’re kind of the right age for that material. Musically it’s amazing and a lot of that stuff has a nostalgic quality, it’s full of memories. It gets us into trouble, we get a lot of grief over it but we don’t care.”

Mixing country, Motown and more with the indie-pop template Allo Darlin’ sound at once both fresh and familiar. The group seem at ease with themselves both live and in the studio, which can led to ac-cusations of twee. However scratch the surface and you find a group of people passionate about what they do, and of-ten quite frankly pissed off at scene politics. At one point on their debut LP the group poke fun at the punks in Camden, and the hipsters in Shoreditch –

easy targets, but perhaps prescient. “I think the indie pop scene itself is very cliquey. I love it because our band has been really amazingly treated by people in the scene and we’ve got so much out of it, but I’ve got friends in other bands who don’t do nearly so well” the singer explains. “They don’t get any sort of attention paid to them and I don’t know why that is- it’s something about the mindset. The indie scene can be quite cliquey, to people outside that it can be quite hurtful. I’ve never re-ally understood how it works, or why we’re accepted by all these people.“

Currently readying material for their second album, Allo Darlin’ are keen to spend more time in the studio. Touring across Europe and beyond, the band have discovered like minds at every turn, pushing music forwards and challenging what ‘indie’ even means. “I think maybe

to the people who make it or are in-volved in the music or the labels it’s more about an attitude. I guess like punk, back in the day” states Morris.

“Shrag have the same attitude as we do, or Standard Fare and all these other bands. They believe in independent la-bels, places for people who come re-ally far to see them. People come from all over to see these pop fests which happen in the UK. They happen all over now, we’re playing one in San Francisco, one in Barcelona and one in Madrid this year. I think that it’s all about the attitude – DIY, people getting involved and making things themselves.”

Text & photo: Robin Murray


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Interestingl

y, the hip Wi

lliamsburg s

cene plays o

ut against

a backdrop o

f old indust

rial buildin

gs, modest a

ttached

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community of

Hasidim.

Williamsburg

is a mish-ma

sh of culture

s and vistas,

a place

that’s perha

ps not as b

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say, the ca

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Brooklyn Col

lege, nor as

uniform as

landmarked b

rownstone

Brooklyn.

Text: Curt J

ones. Photo:

Liv Tylor

ten things to do in BrooklYn.

williamsBurg, one of BrooklYn’s most popular and ex-

citing neighBorhoods, straddles old and new. You can

explore the liVelY arts, music, and BoutiQue scene here,

chill in numerous cafes, dine in some VerY good restau-

rants — and soak up the creatiVe energY and Young

ViBe. a mecca for Young creatiVes for oVer a decade.

Interestingl

y, the hip Wi

lliamsburg s

cene plays o

ut against

a backdrop o

f old indust

rial buildin

gs, modest a

ttached

homes, and a

long-standin

g residential

community of

Hasidim.

Williamsburg

is a mish-ma

sh of culture

s and vistas,

a place

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3. go for a drink: Visit a cocktail or wine Bar

Interested in a casual experience that costs less than dinner out, but feels fancier than just having a beer? Head to one of the interesting cocktail bars in the neighborhood. Check out Surf Bar! If wine’s your thing, explore some of the neighborhoods small, low-key, tasteful wine bars.

1. go Bowling: go Bowling & enJoY gourmet food & indie Band concerts

Brooklyn Bowl is an unusual venue: half bowling alley, half concert venue — and the food is prepared by one of Brooklyn’s leading names in restaurants, Blue Ribbon foods. So come with a date or friends, it’s fun. Concerts are sometimes sold out, so buy tickets in advance.

2. drink good Beer: tour BrooklYn BrewerY, Visit williamsBurgs Bars & Beergardens

For a relaxed experience, visit the Brooklyn Brewery, a local institution that’s helped reinvent the beer in-dustry in Brooklyn, once home to many major brewers. Enjoy the varied beer-drinking venues for discerning drink-ers that pop up every few blocks of this hopping area.

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BrooklYn’s hottest hipster neighBorhood, williamsBurg

4. eat in a williamsBurg restaurant

Williamsburg is one of Brooklyn’s foodiest neighborhoods, meaning one can find excellent wine, cheese, meat and produce. Better, the area’s popping with good eateries, from fine dining to cool, freshly prepared tacos. Visitors enjoy a wide range of restaurant options — take your pick, by cuisine, ambiance, price or location. The sky’s the limit. For instance, Two Bots, Steak house, Peter Luger and Dressler are both Michelin rated one star restaurants (2011). And, if you like beer, wine, and cocktails, you can drink your way through this neighborhood.

5. see a show: theater, liVe music, art

Williamsburg’s full of creative peo-ple who toil at their day jobs but revel in their “real” work as musi-cians or performers, writers or art-ists. So it’s not surprising that one can find epic streetart and po-etry readings. Check out Pete’s Candy Store. Music performances at the Mu-sic Hall of Williamsburg or Brooklyn Bowl. Or see a theater, for instance at Brick Theater.

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6. shop for Vintage

If it’s vintage clothing you’re shopping for, Williamsburg has a lot to offer, and in different price ranges. For just plain hunt-and-find experience, go to the huge, popular Beacon’s Closet. But there’s more....

Though these vintage stores might require a little extra energy for shopping on your part, the pay-off is well worth it. Finding a great one-of-a-kind piece is much sweeter when the price-tag doesn’t break the bank.

8. farm-to-taBle: take a cooking class at kitchen, tour mast Brothers chocolate

Given the locavore, farm-to-table ethos in this corner of Brooklyn, it’s no surprise that one can also find interesting cooking classes. Need to learn how to carve a hock of ham? What to do with knives? How to make a killer pie crust? Take a class at Brooklyn Kitchen. Then head to Whisk, a to-die-for kitchen supply store. Or, treat yourself with a tour of the acclaimed Mast Brothers chocolatier.

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7. go to a summer outdoor moVie, shop at BrooklYn flea

Enjoy several parks in Wiliamsburg. McCarren Park is centrally located betwen Nassau Ave, Bayard St, Leonard St, and N 12 Streets and has baseball fields and basketball courts, bocce, playgrounds, running tracks and dog run areas. You can also visit East River State Park for killer Manhattan views.

Summer The list of things to do in Brooklyn simply explodes as the summer rolls around. In Williamsburg, you can go to free outdoor movies in the park, take the ferry to DUMBO or Manhattan.


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9. Book a partY for a special occa-sion

Even if you’re not from the ‘hood, why not have a birthday party or special occasion in Wiliamsburg? (Because if there’s anything people know in this neighborhood, it’s how to party.)

10. walk or Bike across the wil-liamsBurg Bridge

It’s not as famous or as picturesque as the Brooklyn Bridge, but the Williamsburg Bridge played an important role in New York City history. There’s both bike and pedestrian lanes (cyclists are advised to be careful when returning to Manhattan’s traffic) and it makes a nice alternative trip to the now-crowded Brooklyn Bridge.



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People listen to music to feel like someone they want to be. Our taste is plastic, but correlative with our personality. Music serves as a kind of emotional prosthesis.

And people go to festivals to become better amputees.Music doesn’t exist as digital weather, just like a listener isn’t aheadphones receptacle. Music throbs in physical space so being near it affects you harder.

Maybe I should put it this way: you’re more vulnerable at a festival to your own aching calves and dehydration and crowd mentality which means music has less skeptical razorwire to crawl through so it break into where you live.

Neuroscience tells us out minds are activities of our brains, like programs that computers run. If you trap your brain in a corner with sound it’ll be forced to run that software as well.


FESTIVALs,WHY GO TO one? You haVe YoutuBe. You haVe spotifY. You haVe a Bittorrent site.


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This is why you should go to a festival, rather than stay home with the music on your headphones.

First things first, find the right festival for you. If you’re a beard stroking indie kid, you don’t want to find yourself at a three day weekend packed with hard core dance heads; do your research. There’s loads of festivals to choose from, from the majors which are splashed all over the news to the more quirky up and coming ones, check out a few reviews on our site to see which one will be best for you. Look at their website, and check the line up, a good festival isn’t just about the line up but, its pretty important.

Once you’ve found the right one, get your ticket in advance. A lot of festivals, especially the majors, sell out really quickly, so don’t hang about, get them early. If you miss out though, there are a number of reliable and reputable secondary ticket markets you can buy your tickets from. Don’t buy from ticket touts at the festivals, you will most likely get ripped off and possibly not even get into the event.

what to take to the festiVal So you’ve chosen the festival, got your ticket and you’re almost set to go. But

what do you bring? Here are the things we don’t leave the house without:

Backpack –To carry all your essential gear to the event.

Day pack – To carry stuff that wont fit in your pocket.

Tent – Give it a quick check over before you go, make sure it’s in good condition since the last time you used it.

Sleeping Bag and roll mat.

Clothing – Don’t bring anything too nice, it will probably get wrecked. Pack comfortable shoes and sensible clothing that will get you through the days, as well as warm clothing for nights.

Wellies, sunglasses and sun cream – Prepare for the extremes especially if you’re heading to a UK festival. No matter what the forecast says, you never quite know whether there might be a heatwave or a thunderstorm, prepare for the best and worst.

Mobile Phone – Festivals are usually very crowded, you’re bound to get lost. Spare phone batteries are useful too. The last thing you want to do is be

sitting by a plug, charging your phone while you’re mates are having a good time.

Cash – Take enough money to get through the whole festival, sometimes cash machines can be hard to find.

Medication – Pack the essential medication you will need in the original packaging in case of emergencies and ensure your friends know your medical situation. Bring basic medication; paracetamol, insect repellent, indigestion tablets etc. your less prepared friends might be very thankful. But if you get caught you with anything illegal, you will be dealt with by police and possibly kicked off the premises and denied entry, so that’s not a good idea!

Pocket Knife - For opening cans and things, it always comes in handy.

Water – Essential in hot weather, most festival organisers will permit you to take water into the event.

Toiletries- Especially wet wipes, when you cant be bothered using all the other stuff you brought with you.

Toilet paper

“music doesn’t exist as digital weather, Just like a listener isn’t a headphones receptacle. music throBs in phYsical space so Being near it affects You harder”

YOUR FESTIVAL SURVIVAL GUIDE


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Extra plastic bags, to pack your dirty gear away.

Keep all your valuables at home, most festival goers are really friendly, but don’t make yourself an easy target. Make sure you check the festivals website to confirm what you can and cannot take to the festival.

getting to the festiVal Festival websites usually have infor-mation on how to get to the festival grounds, but while we’re at it, here are some tips on travelling to the fes-tivals.

BY train The majority of festivals can be reached by train, find out what train you need to catch and if you need to, get your train tickets in advance. Most festivals will have a transfer from the train station to the festival grounds, but double check on the fes-tival website before you leave.

BY Bus Some festivals have bus transports available from the bigger cities to the festival grounds, these usually need to be booked in advance.

arriVal at the festiVal

When you’ve arrived at the festival, first thing you need to do is set up your tent. First, find out where your camping ground is located. This should be easy to find as most festivals are very well co-ordinated and sign posted, but if in doubt, ask one of the event staff. These are the guys that make sure the whole event runs smoothly, they’ll be uniformed, clearly visible, and usually quite friendly.

Finding a place for your tent can be tricky if you don’t get in early. Try to find a space that has an area big enough for your tent and if you’re with a group, make sure there is enough room for everyone. Avoid locations next to toilets, there’s a reason why there’s so much free space around there!

With your tent all set up, scan around for a landmark that will help you find your way back, a pirate flag, yurt or teepee generally works quite well. Alternatively, you could fashion your own, just make sure you have a way to find your tent when you come back at night, its really awkward when you walk into a strangers tent at 4am.

With your tent all set up you’re ready to go. Pull out you’re site map and begin exploring. You could decide on a meeting point if you’re worried about losing your friends, sometimes there can

be minimal network coverage because of the location, or the amount of people, so make an old fashioned back up plan just in case.


ch

ris m

ar

tin, r

oc

k we

rc

ht

er 2011

glastonBurrY 2005


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new albums you must hear Text & photo: Briana Cheng


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port of morrow

Five years after the moody Wincing the Night Away and two releases by his Broken Bells project, James Mercer returns to the Shins energized and with his songwriting prowess intact. It’s a triumphant return from a project that once risked being reduced to an indie-went-mainstream tagline, and also the perfect distillation of the Shins’ back catalog: the jangly, wistful airs of Oh, Inverted World, Chutes Too Narrow’s genre-resistant playfulness,Wincing the Night Away’s expansively detailed production. But in other ways, its colorful, detail-oriented approach sets it apart from anything Mercer’s done before.

spookY action at a distance

The Deerhunter guitarist/songwriter’s second solo LP is unerringly tuneful and immediate, the sort of thing that seems unambitious until you step back and ask yourself just how many records actually manage to pull this off. Nearly all of Spooky Action at a Distance is handcrafted, thriving on structure and restraint-- a constant, kraut-like pulse, strict patterns of verses and choruses broken down into repeating chord progressions, loops, loops, and more loops. It’s a testament to Pundt’s abilities that the record is in a major key and dedicated to simple pleasures of escape and memory more often than your typical “power-pop” record, and yet it always comes off as warm and generous rather than cloying. In fully realizing its ambitions, it’s one of the strongest indie rock records of the year so far.


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sorrow and extinction

The debut album by this young doom metal outfit from Arkansas is startlingly well realized, with deep, sludgy guitar textures and proggy songs that are complemented by a sparkling melodic sensibility. This is rich, majestic music that would be interesting enough as instrumentals, but when you add vocalist Brett Campbell-- imagine if a young Ozzy had the ability to transform into Geddy Lee-- it goes somewhere else entirely.

The lyrics have a mannered, sword-and-sorcery feel, situating death and sadness in towers, pyres, journeys, and the ancients, though even if you don’t follow along with what the songs “mean,” Campbell has one of those deliveries that brings shivers regardless of what he’s singing. That’s another thing that sets Sorrow and Extinction apart: As “down” and death-focused as the words and band name might be, this is uplifting, triumphant music.

mr. m

Kurt Wagner and co.’s masterful 11th album is one of the best to emerge from their strange, modest universe. Nothing on Mr. M is designed to pop, not in the conventional sense of the word.

To describe the band’s current style is to invoke genres with an almost negative cultural cachet: lounge, 1970s country, Burt Bacharach. And Wagner’s voice is a low, wounded-sounding instrument whose character has only deepened with time, his lyrics a mix of minor, concrete observations and poetic flights. But how rare is it that a band asks you to listen to so little, and how much rarer is it that they make it sound like so much?

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put Your Back n 2 it.

Seattle songwriter Mike Hadreas’ sophomore album addresses personal traumas like physical abuse, drug addiction, and desperation, but unlike his 2010 debut Learning, a light shines through the darkness. Put Your Back N 2 It doesn’t just concern itself with wishful benevolence-- it radiates it, possessing a glow that’s easily felt. The low fidelity of Learning is gone, replaced by the type of close-speaking production that raises every hair on the back of your neck, a warm ambiance that’s a boon both for the expanded instrumentation and Hadreas’ growth as a melodic songwriter.

ekstasis

On her second album, the California singer and songwriter Julia Holter pulls in references and sounds from everywhere and shapes them into music that’s both haunting and life-affirming. Her work, which exists at the intersection between pop and “serious” music, brings to mind Laurie Anderson, and in its undercurrent of ritualism and theatricality, Klaus Nomi.

Despite using vocoders, drum machines, and electronics, it feels “old” in part because Holter so deliberately connects her work to the distant past. Ekstasis is mysterious, but not because meaning is hard to pin down; it’s more that there are so many possible meanings, so many places to focus your attention. The album is above all careful, and its deliberate construction allows it to work on a different plane from most music that scans as “ethereal.”

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