Tim Fite

Interview with Tim Fite: Little-T Ain’t Stealin’ No More

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Tom Fite: Ain't Ain't Ain'tTim Fite: Ain’t Ain’t Ain’t (Anti-, 3/2/12)

“We Are All Teenagers”

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Tim Fite has come a long way since his rap roots. Though many may recognize his face from the 2001 hit “Shaniqua” with One Track Mike, the man formerly known as Little-T has spent eight years and ten albums singlehandedly bridging rap and indie folk under his current moniker. That, however, makes his career sound much too simple: Fite’s half-rapped, half-sung delivery has paired with a massive library of samples and an alternately cut-and-paste and acoustic aesthetic to craft something unparalleled.

For the final installment of his Ain’t trilogy on Anti- Records, the aptly titled Ain’t Ain’t Ain’t, Fite reinvents his own unconventional process. He’s still sampling, but gone are the bargain-bin cuts; instead, they’re rearranged compositions by Fite and his friends. Thematically, the album’s prequels were youthful commentaries on adult topics, but Ain’t Ain’t Ain’t flips that as well — offering a mature take on the heartbreak and joy of his teenage years.

Sigh

Interview: Sigh’s lucid nightmares inform eclectic, metallic In Somniphobia

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sigh_in_somniphobiaSigh: In Somniphobia (Candlelight, 3/13/12)

“The Transfiguration Fear Lucid Nightmares”

Sigh: “The Transfiguration Fear Lucid Nightmares”

Formed in Tokyo in 1990, Sigh isn’t like most extreme metal bands. To the uninitiated: imagine a mad scientist who has left traditional morality behind in his quest for discovery. Imagine Mr. Bungle, doubled down on metal brutality. Imagine John Zorn as a founding member of Iron Maiden. Imagine that someone left Scandinavian-style metal out on the counter overnight and that strange, hypnotic, polychromatic molds have started to grow on it. You still haven’t quite imagined the unique strangeness of Sigh, but you’re getting there.

Interview: Dan Deacon on the importance (or lack thereof) of formal music education

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Dan Deacon: AmericaDan Deacon: America (Domino, 8/27/12)

“Lots”

Dan Deacon: “Lots”

In a police lineup of today’s most unique young composers, Dan Deacon would be easy to spot: big, red hipster glasses and a big, red half-moon beard. But despite the “charming doofus” look, Deacon’s blend of synthesizers, vocal effects, and acoustic percussion is some of the smartest electronic music around, and he owes its complexity at least in part to his time studying composition at the Conservatory of Music at SUNY Purchase. Here he discusses what his education meant to him, the enormity of student debt, and forcing musicians to study math.

Connectivity and the colossus: Swedish metal mavens Meshuggah on alternate musical pathways

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meshuggah_kolossMeshuggah: Koloss (Nuclear Blast, 3/27/12)

“Do Not Look Down”

Meshuggah_Do_Not_Look_Down

The average brain of an adult human has 100 to 500 trillion synapses. Each new electric impulse, each wrinkle that develops in our minds, leads to our understanding of the world around us. How this is done is still a mystery, and our experience of music is at the forefront of this complex puzzle. Somewhere between vibrations in the air hitting our eardrums and memory, we each confront and interpret the sounds of our surroundings and perceive the phenomenon of music — that which is made of rhythm, pitch, timbre, and dynamics.

Doug Stanhope on subversive comedy, NFL aesthetics, and music snobbery

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Doug Stanhope: Before Turning the Gun on HimselfDoug Stanhope: Before Turning the Gun on Himself… (Roadrunner, 3/6/12)

Few comedians are as inspired by sociologist James Loewen as by abortion jokes. But Doug Stanhope, in case you haven’t noticed, isn’t your everyday comic. Yes, most of a set might be devoted to Japanese nether regions, odorous urine, and ripping on Dr. Drew. Underneath the sophomoric exterior, however, is an educated everyman: someone as taken with the hacktivist group Anonymous as with football-jersey aesthetics.

Following the release of his second album for the Roadrunner Comedy imprint, titled Before Turning the Gun on Himself…, we caught up with Stanhope during a massive UK tour — including a stop in Wolverhampton, ranked fifth on Lonely Planet’s “Cities You Really Hate.”

Marriages

Divorcing convention: Marriages makes post-rock bliss on Kitsuné

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Marriages-KitsunesmMarriages: Kitsuné (Sargent House, 5/1/12)

“Ride in My Place”

Marriages_Ride_in_My_Place

Emma Ruth Rundle has a belated Christmas gift for you. While most of us braved awkward reunions with relatives last winter, the guitarist/singer and her new band Marriages were cooped up in a studio, challenging the very notion of what it means to be “post-rock.”

Interview: The Magnetic Fields drops an emotional bathysphere

This content appears in the iPad-exclusive ALARM 39. Download it for free and subscribe to our new print edition.

[Photo by Matthew Williams taken at Hotel Americano, New York.]

The Magnetic Fields: Love at the Bottom of the SeaThe Magnetic Fields: Love at the Bottom of the Sea (Merge, 3/6/12)

“Andrew in Drag”

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Stephin Merritt must have sonar. Whether helming The Magnetic Fields or penning songs for films and musicals, he finds depth in even the shallowest of topics and creates meaning by exploring meaninglessness. The title of his new, self-produced album, Love at the Bottom of the Sea, hints at this process as it summons daydreams about mermaids, pirates, and amorous octopi.

Pelican

Interview: Pelican stretches far, geographically and acoustically, on Ataraxia / Taraxis

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PelicanAtaraxia-TaraxisEPcoverartworkpackshot400pxThrashHits-47074_200x200Pelican: Ataraxia / Taraxis (Southern Lord, 4/10/12)

“Lathe Biosas”

Pelican_Lathe_Biosas

Ten years is a time frame in which anything can happen, especially in the music industry. Relationships begin and end, bands come and go, and trends begin and overturn, causing new heroes to rise and the kings of yesterday to be left in the shadows. But sometimes bands remain on top of their territory past this milestone and beyond.

Enter Chicago’s Pelican, whose ten-plus years on the circuit have taken it around the globe and left it in the higher ranks of post-metal acts. Though 2010 marked the band’s tin anniversary, 2012 is a year of progress, reflected in its new EP, Ataraxia / Taraxis.

No Journalists Allowed: Tim and Mike Kinsella, the brothers behind Joan of Arc and Owen

This content appears in the iPad-exclusive ALARM 39. Download it for free and subscribe to our new print edition.

Growing up in the northern Chicago suburbs, brothers Tim and Mike Kinsella began the indie-rock cult favorite Cap’n Jazz at the ripe young ages of 15 and 12, respectively. Though the idiosyncratic quintet didn’t garner most accolades until a few years after disbanding, its founders and cohorts all have gone onto productive, overlapping careers. Tim has been the force behind Joan of Arc; Mike has released six solo albums as Owen; and both regularly collaborate with a small army, including cousin Nate Kinsella (Birthmark), Sam Zurick (Owls), Bobby Burg (Make Believe), and Victor Villarreal.

Mike Kinsella

Tim Kinsella

Here the brothers take turns questioning each other about being musicians, coming off like an asshole, and feeling your age.