Music

Paul Cary

Pop Addict: Paul Cary’s Ghost of a Man

Every Thursday, Pop Addict presents infectious tunes from contemporary musicians across indie rock, pop, folk, electronica, and more.

Paul Cary: Ghost of a ManPaul Cary: “The Curse of China Bull” (Ghost of a Man, available for free at Candy Dinner)
[audio:https://alarm-magazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/Paul_Cary_The_Curse_of_China_Bull.mp3|titles=Paul Cary: “The Curse of China Bull”]

Music, like any form of art, is at its best when it is evolving, transforming, and shifting the way that we think about a certain style or genre, altering our perception of what constitutes good music. Only by looking forward can we free ourselves from resuscitating the same old thing.

However, an album like Ghost of a Man, the latest effort from Chicago-based rocker Paul Cary, is enough to turn that notion on its head. Ghost finds Cary looking back, evoking bluesy backwoods foot-stompers with rough edges and sharp teeth. He’s not simply regurgitating. Cary’s howling voice and raw guitar playing puts a modern twist on the genres he’s exploring, giving them a fresh start.

Rikki Ililonga

World in Stereo: Rikki Ililonga & Musi-O-Tunya’s Dark Sunrise

Each week, World in Stereo examines classic and modern world music while striving for a greater appreciation of other cultures.

Rikki Ililonga: Dark SunriseRikki Ililonga & Music-O-Tunya: Dark Sunrise (Now-Again, 11/23/10)

Musi-O-Tunya: “Dark Sunrise”

[audio:https://alarm-magazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/05-Track-5.mp3|titles=Musi-O-Tunya: “Dark Sunrise”]

Gritty garage-rock grooves from mid-’70s Zambia comprise Now-Again Records’ latest release, Dark Sunrise, the double-disc (or three-LP box set), 31-track chronicle of Zambian “Zam Rock” godfather Rizketo Makyua “Rikki” Ililonga and his groundbreaking band Musi-O-Tunya.

The anthology fits Now-Again’s current obsession with Zambia’s 1970s music scene, whose landmark bands WITCH and Amanaz have seen record reissues from the specialized global funk label. But after one listen to the killer rock grooves from Dark Sunrise, with its furious fusion of US/UK/African rhythmic dynamics, fuzzed-out electric guitars, and hypnotic brass sections, audiences will come to understand why the obsession is exceptionally reasonable, if not completely necessary.

Dan Monick: Seven Years With Atmosphere and Rhymesayers

Dan Monick: Seven Years with Atmosphere & Rhymesayers

Minneapolis-based photographer Dan Monick just released a book called Seven Years with Atmosphere & Rhymesayers, which catalogs his travels with the venerable Midwest hip-hop crew. The book features 200 color and black-and-white photographs of live shows, behind-the-scenes action, and more, and will retail for $45.00.  You can pre-order the book right now on Rhymesayers.com.

Dan Monick: Seven Years With Atmosphere and Rhymesayers

DJ Shadow

Concert Photos: DJ Shadow @ Park West (Chicago, IL)

Legendary turntablist DJ Shadow and indie rapper Pigeon John performed recently at Park West in Chicago. Shadow, who is touring in support of two new singles from his unnamed upcoming album, deejayed from an open-faced orb whose surface acted as a screen for projections. And behind the pulsating command center, there were even more projections flashing upon a massive screen. Pigeon John is currently touring in support of his second album for Quannum Projects, Dragon Slayer.

Contributing photographer David Sampson captured these images at the show.

DJ Shadow

Morrow vs. Hajduch

Morrow vs. Hajduch: Keith Kenniff’s The Last Survivor soundtrack

Scott Morrow is ALARM’s music editor. Patrick Hajduch is a very important lawyer. Each week they debate the merits of a different album.

Keith Kenniff: The Last Survivor soundtrackKeith Kenniff: The Last Survivor (Fake Four / Circle Into Square, 10/19/10)

Morrow: Screened at different independent film festivals earlier this spring and summer, The Last Survivor is a documentary film about the lives of four genocide survivors — one each from the Holocaust, Rawanda, Darfur, and Congo.  Its goal is to spread awareness of atrocities around the globe but also to inspire action and get genocide survivors involved in peace movements.

The film has won a handful of awards, including best documentary at the Oxford Film Festival, and it’s still presenting its survivors’ powerful stories around the country — notably with its first university screening at NYU in late October.

The Last Survivor Trailer from The Last Survivor on Vimeo.

Lloyd Eugene Winter: Finn Riggins vs. Wilderness

Posters & Packaging: Lloyd Eugene Winter IV

“Getting a Walkman changed my life,” begins poster artist Lloyd Eugene Winter IV. “I had to have music with me everywhere I went.” Winter’s affair with music only heightened as the years went on. After entering college to study fine arts, Winter performed in approximately three music collaborations or bands per semester. It was during this time period, surrounded by a constant array of sound, that Winter discovered his love for screen printing and began to develop his personal aesthetic.

Currently residing in Portland, Oregon, Winter works as a graphic designer — a medium in which he is primarily self-taught — creating product packaging, logos, and various designs for Internet and print publications. His eccentric visual taste and musical passion are visible through his highly detailed band posters, albums, and T-shirt designs.
 

Lloyd Eugene Winter: Silver Apples poster
Lloyd Eugene Winter: Silver Apples poster

Ben Spies: No More Coffee

Zine Scene: No More Coffee

Zines might seem like an odd fit for that old high-toned workhorse of publishing, the literary short story. But Ben Spies, author of zines and all-around participant in the Chicago zine community, has succeeded in fitting his work to this intimate, handmade format.  The result, No More Coffee, tells quiet, spare tales of ordinary lives that, just like our own, are often touched with mystery or tragedy.

With such a large body of perzines, political zines, how-tos, and comics already being published, Spies decided that fiction needed a bit of a zine makeover as well. “I’ve always thought that if we have a thriving culture of DIY bands, art galleries, et cetera, why can’t we have more DIY fiction?” Spies says.

Ben Spies: No More Coffee

Woima Collective

The Groove Seeker: Woima Collective’s Tezeta

On a weekly basis, The Groove Seeker goes in search of killer grooves across rock, funk, hip hop, soul, electronic music, jazz, fusion, and more.

Woima Collective: TezetaWoima Collective: Tezeta (Kindred Spirits, 11/15/10)

Woima Collective: “Wayna”

[audio:https://alarm-magazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/08-Wayna.mp3|titles=Woima Collective: “Wayna”]

The Woima Collective has produced a remarkable set of Ethiopian-styled grooves with its debut record, Tezeta, released on the Netherlands-based record label Kindred Spirts. Including the brass-section members of the internationally respected German funk outfit Poets of Rhythm, the Collective channels the sweet funk and jazz rhythms of Mulatu Astatke, with a sound that matches his legendary 1960s and ’70s recordings.