Best New Music
Following last year's "Beach Party", Air France deliver another perfect summertime record. The Swedish group's No Way Down-- currently available either digitally or as a Swedish import-- conjures an idyllic world similar to the one on the Avalanches' dazzlingly great Since I Left You, another record that finds wide-eyed delight in sincerity and beauty.
Nine years after his first solo LP, and on the heels of an unprecedented glut of increasingly remarkable mixtape and internet leaks, Lil Wayne produces Tha Carter III, the epic culmination of a lifetime of eccentricities. This is Wayne's moment and he embraces it on his own terms.
Reviews
A CD/DVD collection of the Memphis punk artist's recent work, there's enough here to attract everyone from fervent fans to neophytes-- even if you should seek out and start with 2006's Blood Visions.
[Jason Crock]
Originally available as a tour EP, this collection-- featuring a new track plus remakes of songs by the Pastels, Dire Straits, and A Flock of Seagulls, among others-- is now available digitally.
[Marc Hogan]Tall Firs was an album preoccupied with empty spaces and sleepy vocals, but here the Ecstatic Peace group recast themselves as a rangy rock band.
[Robbie Mackey]Three years after The Curious City found them adding psychedelic touches to their garage-rock sound, the latest from Pittsburgh's Modey Lemon is even more ambitious.
[Jason Crock]After 20,000 Ben Folds comparisons, Son, Ambulance's Joe Knapp-- one of Saddle Creek's most quietly ambitious artists-- has pretty much ditched the ivories altogether on his latest album.
[Ian Cohen]Wed: 07-02-08
Tue: 07-01-08
Fri: 06-27-08
Thu: 06-26-08
Forkcast
Pitchfork.tv: Liz Phair: Guyville Redux (One Week Only) Pitchfork.tv: July 3: Stephen Malkmus / Xiu Xiu / Asobi Seksu / Free Blood Video Premiere: Xiu Xiu: "Master of the Bump (Kurt Stumbaugh, I Can Feel the Soil Falling Over My Head)" New Music: Mogwai: "The Sun Smells Too Loud" Video: Lil Wayne: "A Milli" New Music: Nas: "Queens Get the Money" [Stream] Video: Times New Viking: "My Head" (Live at WFMU Studios)
Features
The Month In: Grime / Dubstep
With his remarkable new mixtape, R.I.P. Young Dot, Dot Rotten [above] destroys his former alter-ego and continues move away from traditional grime narratives, suggesting instead a will to move beyond the confines of poverty and violence. Also, we talk to dubstep producer Grievous Angel.
[Martin Clark]
Interview: The Notwist
Markus Acher of the Notwist discusses the dark moments that colored The Devil, You + Me, Dax Pierson's influence on the new album, and how you, too, can book the Acher brothers for your next birthday party.
[Patrick Sisson]Interview: Liz Phair
As Liz Phair celebrates and relives her 1993 album Exile in Guyville, we speak to the candid singer-songwriter about signing to ATO Records, relearning old sounds, recording new material, and whether albums can still have word-of-mouth appeal.
[Stephen M. Deusner]Column: Silent Party #3
On classic rock and classic hits radio, it's not only the songs that have a powerful pull of nostalgia but the medium itself. [Eric Harvey]
Guest List: King Khan
King Khan has been recording some up-and-coming artists in his Berlin studio, selects his favorite song about venereal diseases, and praises one of the world's most amazing kitchen appliances. [Interview: Tyler Grisham] [King Khan]
Column: Show No Mercy
This month: Conversations with Wold, Withered [above], Alleged Satanic Ritual Abuse, Circle, and Gnaw Their Tongues. [Brandon Stosuy]
