Flashion Backward: Shannon McArdle

Posted on July 2nd, 2009 by Kathleen Willcox | Follow on Twitter

Strap on your Pucci best. We’re rifling through our treasure trove of interviews to fish out a vintage gem–the better to explore the strange vortex in which fashion and musicians meet. Today, we’re giving Shannon McArdle the once-over to see if she’s a must-buy or a throwback.

Ms. McArdle went solo when her band Mendoza Line–and her marriage to lead singer Timothy Bracy–broke up. She emerged from the double devastation with Summer of the Whore, a semi-autobiographical album that manages to mix humor, vengeful bitterness, dour acceptance, regret and masochism with “dignity and authority.” No easy feat, especially when you have the, er, potentially divisive word “whore” in the title. (She’s referring to herself, btw. Not sure if that makes it more or less divisive).

But as Shannon herself explains, the album–and all it implies–“is not as bad as it sounds.” The poignant examination of the soul-shattering uncertainty, insecurity, freedom and, at times, the inadvisable behavior that almost always accompanies major life shifts speaks volumes about her understanding of our complicated heads.

Her straight-forward, subtly sexy, smolderingly intellectual style echoes her angst, guitar and non-annoying navel-gaze-driven music.

Yep, Shannon’s a keeper.

Shannon McArdle: Summer of the Whore.

The Pirate Bay Goes Legit

Posted on July 1st, 2009 by Emily Youssef

Global Gaming Factory X AB has purchased The Pirate Bay, one of the most popular Bit Torrent sites, in a move to legitimize the site by compensating copyright holders. Notorious for its reach (one of the top 100 most  visited sites in the world with over 20 million users), the company was reportedly purchased for $7.8 million USD. The gaming company will assume ownership in August.

The Pirate Bay’s website states “the profits from the sale will go into a foundation that is going to help with projects about freedom of speech, freedom of information and the openess [sic] of the nets.”

Users of the site aren’t so quick to believe the acquisition is a good thing, likening its future to Napster. The first serious piracy threat to the music industry, the company now rarely makes the news after a move to a subscription-based model.

Users are also concerned about their privacy, though The Pirate Bay assured them in a follow-up statement that no personal information is kept and will not be transferred to the new company.

Due to the murky nature of downloading, the website has seen its fair share of legal battles. In May 2006, the site went down for three days after Swedish police raided the company’s Stockholm offices. In April 2009, four members of the company were found guilty of assistance to copyright infringement and sentenced to one year in jail and ordered to pay over $3 million USD.

Little Boots offers her spin on the ongoing piracy saga, suggesting the music industry just needs to find a money-making model. Who’s got it?

Little Boots: Just the Way it is.

Flashion Forward: Wintersleep

Posted on June 30th, 2009 by Kathleen Willcox | Follow on Twitter

Time to deal with important, culture and paradigm-shifting issues of the day, people. That’s right–it’s time for Flashion Forward. Each week we pluck a recently added interview from our warehouse of current clips and try to read between the artist’s sartorial lines. Today, we’re scoping out some bookworms to see if their tedious insistence on broadening their minds has impinged on their ability to look sassy.

Wintersleep is a five-piece band that bears accolades (Juno, Much Music) and handles mid-tour robberies of their gear with equal aplomb and grace (as only Canucks can). They also happen to–when not buried in piles of dust and moldering books in library stacks around North America–crank out some sweet tunes.

Citing such literary lightweights and sillypants-funster authors as Sylvia Plath and Don De Lillo as influences on their music (that’s sarcasm, people), you might expect to have a sloppy sobfest on your hands, but in reality, they’re just as dance-party-worthy and fun as Arcade Fire.

Maybe because they’re Canadian, maybe because they’re obviously brill, or maybe because they’re infused with some miraculous confidence-building serum not yet available to the drooling, unwashed masses, they manage to wear their smarts on their sleeves without coming off as supercilious blowhards or hopelessly nerdy schlubsters.

They confess to reading “City of God” by E.L. Doctorow with as much bemusement as most bands regale the public with tales of their last Pabst-fueled barfarama. They make book clubs seem…cool. Plus they look like the kind of unshaven, wild-haired ruffian hotties who could keep up with you shot-for-shot on Friday night, then clean up in time for Saturday brunch with Mom to boot. Swoon!

Wintersleep: Book Club Nerds.

The Future of MJ

Posted on June 29th, 2009 by Emily Youssef

Michael Jackson’s sudden death last Thursday leaves many unanswered questions not only surrounding the circumstances of his death, but also about how his estate will be handled and by whom.

USA Today reports that while Jackson made roughty $1 billion over the course of his career, unpaid debts could cost more than $400 million. His most valuable asset (and foremost on the minds of music fans everywhere) is his publishing venture with Sony/ATV, owner of the rights to a large portion of the Beatles catalogue. AEG will likely release a CD and DVD of the singer’s final rehearsals as he prepared for a string of shows in London.

His mother, Katherine Jackson, filed a petition this morning to gain sole custody of his three children and was granted temporary guardianship. Jackson’s former wife, Debbie Rowe, is the mother of the oldest children, while the youngest was born to a surrogate mother. Rowe reportedly gave sole custody to Jackson. A hearing for permanent guardianship is set for August 3.

Sister Janet Jackson appeared at the BET Awards last night to thank fans for their support. Funeral plans have not yet been announced.

Remembering the King of Pop

Posted on June 26th, 2009 by Emily Youssef

In some form, Michael Jackson influenced every single musician to come after him. The music, the moves, the moonwalk.

Before he became The King of Pop and the jester of tabloids, the Indiana boy rose to fame as the youngest member of The Jackson 5, who owned the 1970s with hits like “I Want You Back.” He released four solo albums on Motown before Off the Wall, his breakthrough. Songs like “Don’t Stop ’til You Get Enough” and “Rock With You” were grown up, happy and novel in the pop and disco worlds.

Thriller dominated when it was released in 1982, becoming the best-selling album…ever. Subsequent albums like Bad and Dangerous naturally became mega-hits and by this time, everyone the world over was intimately familiar with the man known as MJ.

Jackson would eventually release 10 studio albums, receive 13 Grammy awards, have 13 number one singles and embark on repeated world tours, the most recent of which was reportedly set to launch in London, to be followed by Europe, Asia and North America over the next few years. Concert promoter AEG Live is expected to refund the sold-out tickets in light of Jackson’s death yesterday.

Though he was certainly a troubled man with a tangled trail of personal, legal and financial woes, here we simply honor his legendary and incomparable contributions to music.

Heston: Larger than Life.

Flashion Backward: Alex Woodard

Posted on June 25th, 2009 by Kathleen Willcox | Follow on Twitter

Let’s slap on our flea-market game faces: It’s time for Flashion Backward, a feature that’s the spiritual cousin of Flashion Forward. Here, we rifle through our treasure trove of interviews to fish out a vintage gem–the better to explore the strange vortex in which fashion and musicians meet. Don’t freak out, but today we’re joining Alex Woodard to revisit everyone’s favorite source of psychological trauma: high school.

Listening to hip, famous people babble about how lame they were in high school and how everyone totally picked on them generally makes me want to remove my ear lobes with the sharpest silver spork I can get my grubby mitts on. But for some reason, when Alex starts dishing, I’m all tea and sympathy.

This has nothing–absolutely nothing–to do with his rugged, gee-shucks cowboy good looks, three-day beard stubble, easy, breezy maybe-he’s-born-with-it-tousled hair, peaches and cream complexion, refreshingly laid-back basic T-shirt and genuinely worn Levis, or his honey-tinged twang. I swear.

I’m really more interested in the Southern Cali/former commercial actor/power popster/surfer boy’s personality. Generally, his guitar-strumming navel gazes are beautiful, chill and revelatory: he sings about getting old, falling in love and remembrances of things past. Apparently, he wasn’t always quite as adept at capturing mixed emotions, which brings us, as always, full circle back to the fact that we were all asshats in high school.

Check out Woodard’s bemused examination of the “deep,” “dark” and “cool” stuff he wrote about back in the day:

Alex Woodard: High School Emotions and Songwriting Don’t Mix.

Flashion Forward: Miranda Lee Richards

Posted on June 24th, 2009 by Kathleen Willcox | Follow on Twitter

It’s time for Flashion Forward! Each week we pluck a recently added interview from our warehouse of current clips and try to read between the artist’s sartorial lines. Today, we’re checking out Miranda Lee Richards to see if her aesthetic vision is as seemingly disparate as her musical influences.

Miranda’s childhood was any boho artist’s wet dream: she grew up in San Francisco, the daughter of comic book artists Ted and Teresa Richards; went to a high school for artists; moved to Paris to become a model (she looked like a thinking man’s Britney Spears back when she was a scary-hot teenager); was swiftly repulsed by the industry and headed back to Cali. Oh, and she’s totally down to earth and cool too.

So unlike gorgeous hip-bots like Leigh Lezark who reveal themselves to be soulless mean girls skating by on nothing but the pretty, if you despise her at first glance, that’s your problem, sunshine.

When Miranda settled back in she was still trying to figure out WTF to do with herself, so naturally, she consulted Metallica’s Kirk Hammett, as one naturally does. He taught her the B minor chords and they bonded over a shared affinity for Mazzy Star (am I the only one having trouble picturing Kirk mellowing out to Mazzy?). Miranda also recorded demos that impressed The Brian Jonestown Massacre so much she joined the band (briefly).

With Kirk and Anton Newcombe as her mentors you’d kind of expect a Chrissie Hynde-esque musical experience–but girlfriend’s music is almost aggressively mellow– “a big warm hug with dub effects” if you will. This perfectly suits her strangely enchanting style: she often looks like she just rolled outta Woodstock, but underneath all of the feel-good flower power, there’s a discordant hint of hardcore steel that can’t be ignored.

Miranda Lee Richards: She Can Shred.

Almost Famous: Kid Sister

Posted on June 23rd, 2009 by Emily Youssef

Welcome back to Almost Famous, where we select one lucky Uncensored Interviewee who we deem to be on the verge of spreading beyond our illustrious tastemaking boundaries and taking over the cultural zeitgeist at large in the coming months.

Chicago’s Kid Sister (aka Melisa Young) is an artist we’ve kept an eye on for a long while now. Big sister to one half of DJ duo Flosstradamus, Kid Sister started jumping on the mic just a couple years ago and has quickly gained the attention of those who like their rap mixed with a little lighthearted fun.

Her high-energy songs get the crowd going with their big beats, danceable grooves and positive, sassy attitude. Although her full-length debut, Dream Date, has been postponed a few times, there are plenty of tracks to hold you over. There’s the sunny, happy-go-lucky “Family Reunion” featuring David Banner, not to mention her guest appearance on The Count & Sinden’s “Beeper.”

Ms. Young appeared on the cover of URB magazine’s Next 1000 in April 2007 and was nominated for Best Female Artist at the following year’s BET Awards. Kanye West bestowed his seal of approval by lacing “Pro Nails,” an ode to the fiercest ladies to walk out of the nail salon. She’s also dating the talented DJ A-Trak, the youngest winner of the DMCs.

Off stage, it doesn’t take much to inspire her mischievous side. Here she gets her Tarzan on while attempting to hurry a friend along.

Kid Sister: Double Dog Dare.

Trendspotting: Foodie for Thought (or Not)

Posted on June 22nd, 2009 by Emily Youssef

With boozy barbecues in full swing and the Fourth of July around the corner, we’re just as concerned with creating the chillest backyard summer playlist as we are perfecting that potato salad recipe. (What’s your secret? Vinegar? Salsa? Is it all in the peeling?)

Thankfully, we’re not alone. Though they may have a rep for eating crappy food on the road, there are actually a whole new crop of musicians who know their way around the kitchen, as well as the issues surrounding the food industry to boot.

These are the types who like to hit pots and pans after they clean up on stage, or at least know where to find the best eats in every city. Perhaps someday you’ll be lucky enough to attend one of their dinner parties, but until then, enjoy their culinary expertise.

5. Lightspeed Champion was trying to be all healthy by setting a personal Subway goal, but things really took a wrong turn after drinking too much Coca-Cola. The sandwiches were fine, if a little soulless, but his teeth had bigger complaints.

Lightspeed Champion: Diet Of Champions.

4. Ever wonder where your food comes from? You should. Brendan Canning of Broken Social Scene reminds us that there are serious political issues behind every banana you peel or fast food item you grab in a hurry. Not to mention that kids who grow up eating whatever whenever aren’t the healthiest.

Broken Social Scene Presents Brendan Canning: Food Movement And Human Stasis.

3. Oxford Collapse goes straight for the meaty stuff with a trip to Lousiana for some specialty boudin sausage, before hitting some not so healthy BBQ spots in Alabama. As for their fellow vegetarian tour mates? Yawn.

Oxford Collapse: Not So Health Conscious .

(MORE FOODIE FOR THOUGHT HERE)

Six Degrees: Behind the Service

Posted on June 22nd, 2009 by Emily Youssef

Welcome to Six Degrees, a new Uncensored Interview feature inspired by none other than Mr. Kevin Bacon. You know the game–it’s a small world and we’re all somehow related. This theory applies to the music scene as well, no matter what you listen to, where you hang or who you know. We’re just showing you the connections.

While the rest of us are out bar-hopping, scarfing down questionably greasy food in the middle of the night and generally cavorting with friends, we tend to forget about the people serving us said methods of mayhem.

Because of the flexible schedule the service industry allows, many of the friendly faces you see are musicians. They probably come across some good material, too, considering all the things that go down behind the scenes. Here are a few of our favorite stories, including Clara Lofaro’s Sopranos-like run-in.

Clara Lofaro: Living the Sopranos.

When she’s not hanging with her Mafia connections, Clara works with charity Action Against Hunger. She donates 20 percent of her Perfekt World album sales to the organization. Also involved in charity is Ed Harcourt, who appeared on a track for Crisis, a charity fighting homelessness. He also knows what chaos a restaurant can be.

Ed Harcourt: Hell’s Kitchen.

Ed’s also a composer whose works have been played in film and on TV shows like Smallville. Joining him in the small-screen music world is Meiko whose songs have been played on Grey’s Anatomy, among others.

Meiko: Job Perks. (MORE SIX DEGREES HERE)
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