Nov 26, 2014
By Cody Ray Shafer
Web Exclusive
The Flaming Lips have always been a little strange, but if five years ago someone said that in 2014 they would be most known for working with Miley Cyrus and releasing an indie star-studded full length cover of The Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, even that would seem like a stretch of the imagination. More
Nov 24, 2014
By Hays Davis
Nils Frahm
These days, the piano probably serves as an inspirational springboard for German musician/composer Nils Frahm as much as it does as a primary instrument in his work. Spaces, his 2013 live album recorded in multiple venues over the course of two years, offers a full range of Frahm’s directions, from minimalist exercises to classically-influenced passages and lushly beautiful pieces. More
Nov 21, 2014
By Austin Trunick
Florian Habicht
Pulp: a Film About Life, Death, & Supermarkets was a collaboration between Jarvis Cocker, Pulp, and filmmaker Florian Habicht. The director approached it as a documentary that would be as much about the city of Sheffield and its inhabitants as it is about the famous band that hailed from there. Yes, Pulp are interviewed—but so are a local fish monger, a newspaper salesman, and fans waiting outside the arena. The resulting film captures a city and its people at a very specific time, and actually helps us understand the band far better than a more traditional rockumentary ever could have hoped to. More
Nov 19, 2014
By Melody Lau
Mia Maestro
Mia Maestro began acting in 1998 in the dance drama Tango and she hasn’t stopped since, continuing with a recurring role on Alias and a part in the final two Twilight movies, among others. The actress, whose latest role is the vampire slaying Centers for Disease Control worker Dr. Nora Martinez in the FX series, The Strain, has another passion, though: singing. More
Nov 19, 2014
By Austin Trunick
Dinner
“When I was 14, I just wanted to play stuff like AC/DC,” Dinner says. “I even wrote AC/DC with an ink marker on my cheap guitar and it rubbed off on my arm. I just imagined that when I started playing guitar I would wind up in a scenario pretty close to the ‘Thunderstruck’ video … You have scaffolding in an arena, and kids are hanging out there being cool and headbanging, with AC/DC playing in the middle. I imagined that six months after picking up my guitar, that’s what my life would be like. But I’m not at that point yet, unfortunately. I just need to keep at it.” More
Nov 18, 2014
By Laura Studarus
Karin Park
As a child, Swedish singer-songwriter Karin Park made herself a promise — to never take a “normal” job. Having used music as a way to cope while adjusting to a move back home after living in Japan for three years, Park says the idea of doing anything else with her life never occurred to her. More
Nov 17, 2014
By Lily Moayeri
Web Exclusive
It is after midnight and Johnny Marr has come off the stage at De La Warr in Bexhill, U.K. This is the third date of the legendary guitarist’s tour in support of his second solo album, Playland, the rapid follow-up to 2013’sThe Messenger. More
Nov 17, 2014
By Austin Trunick
Chris Moukarbel
In October 2013, the anonymous British street artist known as Banksy announced a month-long New York residency named “Better Out Than In.” For 31 days, Banksy unveiled one new work per day spread out across the city’s five boroughs. Little advance notice was given about any individual piece; instead, Banksy offered hints at each work’s location through social media outlets. This resulted in a month-long, city-spanning scavenger hunt, where fans and followers rushed madly to see the pieces before they were defaced by rival graffiti taggers, painted over by unhappy business owners, or outright stolen by thieves looking to cash in for a big payday. More
Nov 14, 2014
By Shawn Hazelett
Web Exclusive
Rosewater might surprise fans of Jon Stewart, who probably won’t expect a film of such serious tones to mark his directorial debut. The Daily Show host has been long cemented as one of America’s great satirists, and a film that tackles politics through humor—like Dr. Strangelove or Wag the Dog—might seem more likely. For Stewart, he doesn’t retain a sense of humor despite all the wrongs in the world, but because of it. As he puts it, “[Comedy] is the enzyme that I use to process these events.” More
Nov 14, 2014
By Chris Tinkham
Alex Essoe
Alex Essoe uses the word ravenous to describe how much she wanted the part of Sarah Walker, the lead character of Starry Eyes, a horror film from co-writers/directors Kevin Kolsch and Dennis Widmyer that magnifies the dark side of the movie industry. Essoe knew that the role would allow her to employ a wide array of tools learned while training to be an actor. More