This content appears in ALARM #40. Subscribe here to get your copy!
Will Oldham loves coffee. Will Oldham loves coffee so much that he has his own Kona Rose Coffee (Bonny Billy) blend available through Drag City. Bonnie “Prince” Billy himself gives us the scoop on his favorite pairings and guilty pleasures.
After relaunching for free this summer on the iPad, ALARM Magazine is back in print with more awesome shit. We’re psyched to have the mighty Soundgarden on the cover of our Nov/Dec issue, which includes interviews with and stories on Converge, Refused, Melvins, Dirty Projectors, Bloc Party, P.O.S, Squarepusher, Fang Island, and more.
Soulsavers: The Light the Dead See (Mute, 5/22/12)
“Take Me Back Home”
Soulsavers: “Take Me Back Home”
For more than two decades, Depeche Mode front-man Dave Gahan was content being the impassioned voice behind the songs of bandmate Martin Gore, whose edgy, genre-stretching synth pop dominated the ’80s club scene and landed unapologetically on ’90s alternative-rock radio. But since 2003, the singer’s distinctive baritone also has served a more personal purpose, fueling the release of his first two solo albums and, in May, his first collaboration with English production duo Soulsavers.
For Gahan, the evolution may have been inevitable.
Bonnie “Prince” Billy: Now Here’s My Plan (Drag City, 7/24/12)
Under the Palace name or his popular moniker Bonnie “Prince” Billy, Will Oldham — rarely letting a year pass without releasing a record — has been a monumental voice in folk music for nearly two decades. His staggering repertoire fuses a punk-esque aesthetic and classic Americana style with authenticity that is as thoughtful and honest as it is off-beat.
Accomplished writer and musician Vernon Chatman‘s past work is both obscene and hilarious. He explains how his custom-made “porn” film, Final Flesh, travels down this familiar, twisted path.
Each Tuesday, Behind the Counter speaks to an independent record store to ask about its recent favorites, best sellers, and noteworthy trends.
Landlocked Music in Bloomington, Indiana has been around since 2006 and has since proved to be a staple in the small college town. The store has hosted a number of notable in-store performances and curates a collection of music to satisfy almost any taste. With its fifth anniversary coming up in March of 2011, we spoke with Landlocked c0-owner Jason Nickey and got the inside scoop on one of the Midwest’s top record stores. A message to any straightforward rock-‘n’-roll bands from Bloomington: get in touch with Nickey; he doesn’t believe that you exist.
What was your motivation for starting a music store? / What is your background in music?
I had no choice, really. It’s the only thing I’m fully qualified to do; I’m otherwise unemployable. All I ever did at any other job I ever had was talk to people about music and records and try to discover new stuff I hadn’t heard yet. So it was probably inevitable. Also, at a certain point, when you’ve acquired a certain quantity of recorded music, it’s the next logical move.
I worked in record stores all through college, and I’ve worked a bit on the distribution side of things, as well as some writing for magazines, websites, etc., and deejaying at college and then community radio. All of those experiences have come into play to some degree. Also, finding a partner was key. It would be near impossible to do this alone. I’m sort of the behind-the-counter guy; my partner is the marketing/social-networking guy, broadly speaking.
Crossing the lines of minimalist performer and powerhouse artist, Scout Niblett is one of the strongest voices to emerge in recent years. Acting as an introspective one-woman force of nature, she eschews superfluous support and production without sacrificing an already demanding sound.
For nearly 20 years, the members of Tortoise have exhibited a synergistic effect on each other, enriching their assorted personal contributions to yield an amorphous, anomalous instrumental quintet.
Melancholy Americana would be a better denomination than freak folk, the tag that has clung to Viking Moses since the band’s appearance on Devendra Banhardt’s 2004 Golden Apples of the Sun (Bastet) compilation. The band’s newest offering, The Parts That Showed, should rectify that reduction.
