Sep 02, 2008 By Lorraine Carpenter of Montreal

“Everybody involved is so emotionally invested in Of Montreal that it’s become like a cult,” says Kevin Barnes, Of Montreal’s master of ceremonies. He’s assessing not only the status of his band in the public eye—due to mount with the release of the band’s exceptional new album, Skeletal Lamping, to be promoted on tour with a “show to end all shows”—but the drive among its members and in the extended family that makes all their DIY dreams come true. More

Sep 02, 2008 By Marcus Kagler Fall 2008 - Jenny Lewis

“Not everyone sees the genius in bluegrass,” says Mumford and Sons vocalist/guitarist Marcus Mumford. “Our banjo player, Winston, is the driving force behind the bluegrass leanings in Mumford and Sons. He taught himself how to play banjo while in high school. He’s really the bluegrass guy, but we all love it.” More

Sep 01, 2008 By Matt Fink Girl Talk

“I still question it, because I feel like anyone can make great music,” replies Gregg Gillis when asked about his status as the current king of mash-up remixes, the leading face in the most faceless of musical movements. Only a few days after the online-only release of Feed the Animals, his much-anticipated followup to 2006’s breakthrough Night Ripper, Gillis is in a grateful mood. After all, just over two years ago, he was working a day job, thrilled to be performing for crowds of 30 in his native Pittsburgh. More

Sep 01, 2008 By J. Pace Fujiya & Miyagi

For all you Yanks, let’s get one thing out of the way: The song “Knickerbocker” and its lyric “knickerbocker glory” have nothing to do with basketball. It’s the U.K. equivalent of an ice cream sundae. It’s also the sonic confection opening Fujiya & Miyagi’s third full-length, Lightbulbs. More

Sep 01, 2008 By Mike Hilleary Frances

Between the two of them, Frances’ Paul Hogan and Brian Betancourt are in the midst of counting just how many instruments were involved in the making of the Brooklyn-based band’s full-length debut, All the While. They are talking themselves through the numbers like two students working out some difficult mathematics problem, and just as the bandmates are about to settle on a final estimate, Hogan remembers to bring up their song, “Decoy.” More

Sep 01, 2008 By Matt Fink Deerhunter

“I wish we were the fucking Strokes,” says Bradford Cox defiantly, offering a preemptive strike against those who might take offense at the more approachable tones of Deerhunter’s third full-length release, Microcastle. More

Jul 02, 2008 By J. Pace Summer 2008 - The Protest Issue

Politics long ago found their way into comic books. A few of many examples: Art Spiegelman’s Maus (1973) tackled his father’s experience with the Holocaust; Joe Sacco’s brilliant Palestine (2001) and Safe Area Gorazde (2000) are beacons of the graphic novel as journalism, covering the Israel-Palestine conflict and the Bosnian War, respectively. More

Jul 01, 2008 By Chris Tinkham Web Exclusive

In the early 1990s, Guillaume Canet was part of a wave of young actors—Virginie Ledoyen, Grégoire Colin, Élodie Bouchez and others among them—that infused French cinema with new blood and freshened its face for U.S. art house patrons. More

Jul 01, 2008 By Matt Fink Jenny Lewis

“I started when I was 2 1/2 years old, and when I was younger I was always very exuberant and I always showed interest in being the center of attention. So, my mother decided that she wanted to put me in acting because I was so interested in it.” – Jenny Lewis, Teen Set, 1991 More