Jan 01, 2007 By Marcus Kagler The Bees

The Bees, England’s pioneers of revamped ’60s psychedelic peace music, will return in 2007 with Octopus. Bees’ songwriter Aaron Fletcher describes the new album as “sound[ing] more like 1666.” More

Dec 01, 2006 By Nick Hyman, Wendy Lynch & Mark Redfern Crispin Glover

Crispin Glover has been the epitome of the cult actor since the mid-’80s, when his star-making turn as Marty McFly’s dad in Back to the Future charmed audiences and his portrayal of Layne in River’s Edge guaranteed that he was a performer to watch no matter how big or small his roles. Though his persona has garnered him a devoted fanbase (including early-’90s fanzine, Mr. Density), for the most part, the actor, writer, and filmmaker was and still remains enigmatic to many. More

Oct 01, 2006 By Matt Fink Web Exclusive

Offering the dark and ominous counterpoint to Danielson’s celebratory avant-pop and Sufjan Stevens’ studious craftsmanship, Wovenhand is the Sounds Familyre label’s most unfortunately overlooked act. More

Oct 01, 2006 By Matt Fink Web Exclusive

More than just a cheeky reference to Bruce Springsteen’s Born in the U.S.A. album, Badly Drawn Boy’s Born in the U.K. is Damon Gough’s assessment of current world affairs as filtered through the eyes of a quintessentially British songwriter. More

Oct 01, 2006 By Joseph Ragusa (Intro) & Mark Redfern (Interview Moderation) Fall 2006 - The Decemberists

Gothic rock, death rock, darkwave…there are countless labels that attempt to pin down a phenomenon in rock music that leans toward the darker side of human nature-thematically, stylistically, lyrically, and melodically. It peeked out at the world at certain moments in music throughout the ‘60s and ‘70s with songs like The Velvet Underground’s “Venus in Furs,” David Bowie’s “The Bewlay Brothers,” and Brian Eno’s “Driving Me Backwards.” But it didn’t really break through the surface in a big way until shortly after the punk movement, and Bauhaus were one of-if not the first-acts to introduce it to a wide audience. More

Sep 02, 2006 By Gary Knight Web Exclusive

French director Michel Gondry is internationally renowned for his award-winning commercials, music videos, and feature films. More

Sep 02, 2006 By Chris Tinkham Andrew Bujalski

Instead of riding into Hollywood with his enviable press clippings in tow, Bujalski directed his second feature, Mutual Appreciation, in Brooklyn in October 2003. More

Jul 01, 2006 By Matt Fink The Dears

“My glamorous lifestyle is catching up with me,” says Dears songwriter and vocalist Murray Lightburn from what he describes as a “fucking lame hotel” in Sydney, Australia. Though he’s a talkative and engaging man, two weeks of European promotional interviews for his band’s third full-length release, Gang of Losers, have left him with little excitement for explaining either his songwriting approaches, his thoughts on the Canadian scene, or the rationale behind stripping his band’s orchestral pop sound down to its bare elements. More

Jul 01, 2006 By August Brown Camera Obscura

If you’re in a Scottish band and the gray, miserable weather of Glasgow in late Fall bums you out, there are few options for feeling better. If you’re Stuart Murdoch, you fill notebooks with stories of funny little frogs and goateed baseball catchers until the sun comes out again. If you’re Mogwai, you turn your amps up until your ears bleed and you can’t feel much of anything. But if you’re Tracyanne Campbell of sweet-tempered sweater-rockers Camera Obscura, you simply skip town to make a record in Sweden. More