Their title, not mine. And generally, I’m not big on the sensationalizing, fear-mongering thing in regards to substances. But in the case of scopolamine, it seems like at least some of the hype is warranted. The World’s Scariest Drug, the latest in Vice‘s ever-expanding catalog of video journalism pieces, finds reporter Ryan Duffy taking a [...]
Don’t get me wrong. Chromatics already had one of the year’s highlight albums with Kill For Love– a towering, dramatic collection of synth-soaked anthems, most of which might sound just as comfortable in a stadium as they would on your car stereo driving home at 3 AM. With that said, sometimes less is more. This [...]
“Once a little boy sent me a charming card with a little drawing on it. I loved it. I answer all my children’s letters — sometimes very hastily — but this one I lingered over. I sent him a card and I drew a picture of a Wild Thing on it. I wrote, ‘Dear Jim: [...]
There’s something profound about singing and dancing alone to something in your room. Personally, it happens pretty often, with a pretty unpredictable soundtrack, although a Prince is a pretty consistent go-to. As is the case with most things though, it turns out watching pretty girls do it is a lot more enjoyable, and I’m glad [...]
1. Do not feel absolutely certain of anything. 2. Do not think it worth while to proceed by concealing evidence, for the evidence is sure to come to light. 3. Never try to discourage thinking for you are sure to succeed. 4. When you meet with opposition, even if it should be from your husband [...]
It’s a fascination with nature and its processes, and with those vast pockets of the planet virtually untouched by humans that seems to inform Bernhard Edmaier‘s stunning aerial photography. Most centrally, Edmaier describes his work as “abstraction” from nature, and the description only seems accurate, with Edmaier’s lens capturing textures and patterns in nature that [...]
I can’t help but feel sometimes that there’s something uncomfortably comfortable about the music most folks our age listen to. That even as people purport to be expanding their horizons, it usually leads them back to music that’s not too far out of their comfort zone. I suppose it’s understandable. Whatever my gripes about that [...]
Fresh off Coachella and on my way to Jazz Fest in NOLA, it’s hard not to feel like I’m getting spoiled by live music lately. In the meantime though, there’s been a ton of dope shit dropping left and right, and I haven’t had the chance to show love to all the great bands that [...]
XXXY is a producer whose music has been described in a lot of different ways. Glitch, garage, two-step, house– he’s blurred and crisscrossed the lines between a handful of different styles and subgenres from project to project. Since last year’s “Ordinary Things” though, XXXY’s best output has become increasingly melodic, the kind of hypnotic, bouncy [...]
An excerpt from Jonah Lehrer’s Imagine: How Creativity Works The search for emotion shapes the way the virtuoso classical cellist Yo-Yo Ma approaches every concert. He doesn’t begin by analysing his part or by glancing at what the violins are supposed to play. Instead, he reviews the complete score, searching for the larger story. “I [...]
Something about Saturday night’s A$AP showcase at Coachella felt historic. Black, upside-down flags flying in the wind, silhouetted by the iconic Coachella palms, and the whole stage draped in purple. Nevermind the fact that Rocky and company had the whole tent in the palm of their hand, the whole time, pretty much entirely on the [...]
I think even the most avid Instagram users were a little shocked when they saw the billion dollar price tag put on the photo-sharing network by internet juggernaut Mark Zuckerberg’s Facebook empire. But looking at it from their perspective, the decision doesn’t seem all that strange. Instagram was becoming ubiquitous, essential, indispensable, and to their [...]
Whether you dig gospel or death metal, I’m sure some image or experience pops into your head when someone talks about the power of music. It’s one of those catch-all evocative phrases that actually sums up a pretty wide variety of moments and reactions, well, powerfully. There’s a reason why memories and songs are so [...]
“The modern computer with all its various gadgets and wonderful electronic facilities now makes it possible to preserve and reinvigorate all the cultural richness of mankind.” – Alan Lomax, 1991 By the time of his death in 2002, Alan Lomax had amassed tens of thousands of field recordings. The better part of his adult life [...]
It’s been a while since a song pulled me in like this. Of course, it helped that “BTSU”, Jai Paul’s lone XL release so far, had a similar effect on me. Somewhere between a delicately falsettoed “Don’t fuck with me” and that monster synth wobble lay an undeniably disarming, absorbing piece of pop music, and [...]
