by Nicole Powers
“I’m just going to have to accept that maybe I’m funky.”
– Sia Furler
Having come to the attention of the KCRW-listening, latte-sipping music intelligentsia thanks to her turns with English post-trip-hop outfit Zero 7, for a while Sia was inadvertently defined by what was initially intended as a very limited, no-strings-attached guest spot with the lush lounge combo. Thanks to the success of Zero 7’s debut album Simple Things (2001), and their follow up release, When It Falls (2004), and the numerous international tours that followed, Sia’s personal brand became synonymous with the downtempo pigeonhole Zero 7 prominently occupied.
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by Jay Hathaway
“Maybe the mustache will ultimately prove a useful analog for the music.”
– Chris Cain, bassist
We Are Scientists are known for making straightforward pop-rock, but they’re not known for giving straightforward answers in interviews. I didn’t want to be the millionth person to ask “Are you really scientists?,” so I set out to find the answer on my own. After reading through several conflicting accounts of the band’s various areas of scientific expertise, I finally found the answer. A piece from the college magazine at Pomona, the California school where the band originally formed, revealed that guitarist Keith Murray and bassist Chris Cain weren’t actually science majors of any sort. Well played, guys.
Needless to say, We Are Scientists like to keep people guessing. They first broke out in the UK with 2005’s formidable collection of indie-pop, With Love and Squalor. The 2008 follow-up, a less upbeat but more lyrically complex record called Brain Thrust Mastery, also climbed the British charts. A predictable band would stick with a major label and put out another album following the same formula. This is no predictable band.
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by Nicole Powers
“You can’t keep a good dog down.”
– John Lydon
John Lydon (a.k.a. Johnny Rotten) says he doesn’t like tattoos, but try not to hold that against him. If I’d been calling in on behalf of a golf magazine, he’d probably tell me how much he’s offended by the sport. Not because he’s disagreeable — he really isn’t — but because first and foremost, above all else, the OG punk rocker is a provocateur and contrarian.
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by Blogbot
It’s debatable whether Die Antwood is plain special or a bit special-ed if you catch my drift. And that’s kinda the point. It may be shit, it may be genius, it may be carefully manicured shit genius, or it may simply be genius shit. As founding member Ninja says, “Is this Die Antwoord fucking terrible, like fucking retardedly the worst thing ever or the most amazing thing in the entire universe?”
The subject of much (BoingBoing-fueled) speculation and a bizarre music vid – Enter the Ninja – which spread like Ebola over the interwebs, it’s been hard for even the most curious to decide either way. But this month the elusive Cape Town rap/rave meets “zef-so-fresh” trio (comprised of rapper Ninja, vocalist Yo-landi Vi$$er and DJ Hi-Tek) will finally drop their pants and show us what they’re made of. (For the record: District 9 director Neill Blomkamp “fucking” loves them, and Davids Lynch and Fincher are said to be fans.)
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by Nicole Powers
“Restraint means more to me now.”
– Jake Shears
When Scissor Sisters first burst forth with their debut self-titled filthy gorgeous album in 2004 their brand of hedonistic dance was too hot for mainstream America to handle (the CD was even pulled from Wal-Mart’s shelves). It was a different story across the Atlantic in the U.K. however, where the band were welcomed with open arms – and notable record sales. There the release spawned a total of five Top 20 singles, and became the country’s top-selling album that year (and the 9th biggest seller of the decade). The band’s follow up full-length, Ta-Dah, released in 2006, also fared much better outside of the U.S. It went straight to the top of the U.K. album charts, and the first single, “I Don’t Feel Like Dancin'”(a collaboration with Elton John), also hit the number one spot – and stayed there for four consecutive weeks.
The wide chasm in reception and record sales between the two continents – the Scissor Sisters’ first two albums each sold in excess of 3 million units across Europe – can easily be explained when looked at in the context of cultural attitudes. The more liberal Europeans have been dancing continuously since the ’70s and dance-based music is ingrained in the fabric of European life. In America however, seizing on the opportunity afforded by AIDS, the disproportionately influential Christian right whipped up a frenzy of anti-dance “disco sucks” hysteria, stopping the party in its tracks and creating a deep-seated prejudice against the genre as a whole that remains prevalent to this day in significant pockets of society.
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by Nicole Powers
““I like my crotch.”
-Tommy Lee
Tommy Lee gives good phone. He’s the consummate professional when it comes to interviews. Don’t be fooled by his easy going charm and natural flirtatiousness; Behind it lies a disarming intelligence and an instinct that knows exactly how to perpetuate and sell the rock & roll myth we all want – and need – to buy into.
It’s not that he’s is being insincere – far from it – it’s well documented that the drummer-turned-multi instrumentalist walks the walk as well as talking the talk. However, all rock & roll shenanigans aside, when it counts, Lee seriously has his shit together – like on the designated press day for his new Methods of Mayhem album, A Public Disservice Announcement.
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by Fred Topel
“Buddha didn’t stop struggling with women until enlightenment.”
– Russell Simmons
Russell Simmons sat all by himself at NBC’s party on the rooftop of the Beverly Hilton hotel. Well, not totally by himself. The young girls he came with were talking amongst themselves, and celebrities kept stopping by to meet him (hence the photo opp with Jimmy Fallon).
The Oxygen Channel, an NBC cable arm, is producing a documentary on Simmons’ business. Running Russell Simmons shows the viewer what it takes to maintain Simmons’ multi-faceted life, by following the assistants who coordinate all his endeavors behind the scenes. It is scheduled to premiere Nov. 2.
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