Q&A: Sage Francis on his return, independence, and Macklemore
One of hip hop’s best modern poets makes a righteous return.
Music
Q&A: Light legend LeRoy Bennett of Seven Design Works
With Nine Inch Nails’ spellbinding Tension tour as just one of his many projects, Leroy Bennett applies an appreciation for storytelling to his dynamic stage design.
Q&A: Pixies on making the right mistake
After 23 years between LPs, Joey Santiago and David Lovering of Pixies check in to discuss the need for new material, the “Pixification” process, and making the right mistake.
Label Q&A: Deathwish Inc.
The self-owned hardcore label discusses its start, its distinct visual style, and the less-than-glamorous side of running a business.
Video Premiere: The Hudson Branch’s “All Is Fallen”
Filmed at the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago, The Hudson Branch’s beautiful new video comes interspersed with shots of taxidermied animals filtered through saturated, prismatic lightscapes.
Phantogram, Pixies, Rodrigo y Gabriela, Cults, and more in Alarm #42—out now!
With summer in full festival mode, Alarm Magazine is proud to release its latest collection on modern rock-‘n’-roll culture.
Best Albums: Adebisi Shank, FKA Twigs, Dilated Peoples
Adebisi Shank: This Is the Third Album of a Band Called Adebisi Shank
FKA Twigs: LP1
Dilated Peoples: Directors of Photography
Lollapalooza Event Recap: After the Park @ Rockit Bar & Grill
The official Lollapalooza events may have wound down at 10 PM this year per usual, as music stages closed and the festival grounds began to clear—but, thanks to the After the Park party sponsored by Alarm Magazine and Rockit, the music, drinks, and fun were far from over.
Q&A: Rodrigo y Gabriela on doing it live, metal riffs, and veganism
Released this spring, 9 Dead Alive finds the vegan ex-couple at their roots, releasing a purely two-piece album that channels even more of their thrash-metal past than before.
Best Albums: Entombed AD, Spoon, Angus & Julia Stone, Nachtmystium
Entombed AD: Back to the Front
Spoon: They Want My Soul
Angus & Julia Stone: s/t
Nachtmystium: The World We Left Behind
Studio Visit: Key Club Recording Company
Benton Harbor, Michigan, isn’t the first town that comes to mind for music recording. Yet the small community is home to Key Club Recording Company, one of the best and most beautiful studios in the Midwest, founded by producer/engineer duo Bill Skibbe and Jessica Ruffins.
Photos: Lollapalooza 2014
Originally a touring festival with a name defined by “an extraordinary or unusual thing,” the mammoth that is Lollapalooza continues to live up to its moniker. The crowd continues to swell, the corporate signage multiplies, and the average age drops with each installment of the Chicago festival.