“To wear a floral shirt is an experience.” – Brian Wilson
Performing in April at XOYO, London, Alex Zawadzki met with Boms Bomolo, Debruit and Makara Bianko; three members of collaborative art and music collective Kokoko! Formed on the streets of Kinshasa, in the Democratic Republic of Congo, a lively and raw city frustrated by political instability, media gagging and the crippling outside exploitation of …
BY GREGG LOPEZ / Less than an hour away from the glitzy facade of Hollywood to the north lies a sleepy suburb called Altadena, CA. It is there, on top of a mountain (or giant hill) that you’ll find the magical, burn-out oasis of Zorthian Ranch. Ten years before Disneyland opened, Jirayr Zorthian created this …
BY LIZ REVER / I arrive at the Electric Ballroom to see Ty Segall on a cold dark night, edging out of a dangerous bout of pneumonia. The last time I saw him play in London I was sick with flu. This is either a case of lousy timing, healthwise, or perfect timing; because these …
BY DAVID SHEPPARD / Brian Eno Reissues On November 16, veteran composer, artist, libre-penseur and proselytiser for all things generative and futurological, Brian Eno will receive another indication of incipient National Treasure status as four of his seminal albums – Discreet Music, Music for Films, Music for Airports and On Land – are re-released by …
BY DAVID SHEPPARD / David Sheppard celebrates the film music of American composer John Zorn, a musician who, he suggests, is something of a victim of his own creative eclecticism and unremitting artistic curiosity, his true genius “obscured by the cloud of his own scorching but unclassifiable prodigiousness”. I’m writing this on September 2, 2018, the …
BY GREGG LOPEZ / Whiskey Cambodia (Metal Postcard) Despite Pol Pot’s mass murder of Cambodia’s Western-influenced population, the rock and pop scene of late ’60s Cambodia lives on amongst the stacks of tapes and CDs hawked on Phnom Phen street corners. Snapped up by American tourists like album compilers Paul Wheeler, and sampled on his …
BY SEAN M. STEADMAN / ‘Old friends become strangers, new friends are dangerous’, are the boisterous words Torey Lanez chooses to introduce us to his second project, Memories Don’t Die. Torey Lanez is back and he’s brought a new taste to the table. This time he comes with realistic perspectives on money and fame, controversial moments with …
BY SEAN M. STEADMAN / Marvel’s Black Panther has made iconic history in 2018. As the film’s been playing a pivotal role in representation and equality, it’s important to see all the public appreciation for having such a heroic cast that will inspire so many others. I want to take an objective view and say …
BY GREGG LOPEZ / Manipulator (Drag City). I’m not sure if Manipulator is the eighth, ninth or 13th album in six years by psychedelic wunderkind Ty Segall. Numbers get fuzzy at my age, especially when you also take into consideration the myriad cassette, vinyl and compact disc collaborations the 27 year-old California native has released …
BY CARA VAN RHYN / “My art as my voice” Born deaf, Christine Sun Kim grew up in California with hearing parents and a deaf sister. Pursuing her love of art she moved to New York, but on arrival in the loud and boisterous city, Kim began to take interest in the medium of sound. …