Before samplers and computer software, Gary Numan came out in eyeliner and white make-up (to cover his zits) and ran a synth through a guitar pedal. His 1979 solo album, The Pleasure Principle, has been sampled by everyone from Wu-Tang to the Foo Fighters and Nine Inch Nails. Over the last five years, he’s made more noises than he knows what to do with, and he’s finally ready to write another song.

[Read more →]

The first thing I noticed was the lack of detachment. Kids were wearing Elmo T-shirts and holding stuffed Elmos, flouting one of the key rules of concert-going cool. These little anti-hipsters were excited, and they were not afraid to show it. The music kicked in, and Sesame Street stars — Big Bird, Grover, Cookie Monster, etc. — strutted one at a time onto the stage to huge cheers, all laying down their own verses. I imagined that a Wu Tang show would go something like this.

[Read more →]

The Budos Band are an eleven-piece (and sometimes larger) instrumental funk-soul-Ethiopiques-style band from Shaolin—Staten Island—who recently had a song appear on Wale’s Mixtape About Nothing and who name all their albums in numerical sequence, although they are considering skipping III just to torture people. This interview by Chris Ziegler.

[Read more →]

[Read more →]

ques

[Read more →]

VS. Circa 1991 or 1992.

[Read more →]