Julian Koster is the ringleader of the half-human, half-machine imagination-fueled group called The Music Tapes. Over a decade ago he was an integral member of Neutral Milk Hotel and today he still embodies the undying spirit of the Elephant 6 collective. But all of this is just a subsidiary of an increasingly rare and purist attitude towards the making and sharing of music. He spends more time on the road than in any permanent home, a necessary evil to fulfill his creative addiction. Julian is an alchemist of illusion and invention, drawing from his wide palette of instrumentation to invite listeners to his sonic habitat, foreign but warming.
In recent years, Julian established a tradition of embarking on a caroling tour around Christmastime. He, along with a revolving cast of characters, will visit homes that are willing to play host to this unconventional group of carolers. Julian took time to talk to me amidst his initial travels for this year’s edition of the caroling route.
Never let go of hope; one day you will see that it all has finally come together. What you have always wished for has finally come to be. You will look back and laugh at what has passed and you will ask yourself, “How did I get through all of that?”
A look at Dublin’s underground experimental and pop scenes
A translated interview with Álvaro Solar of Chilean garage rock quartet Protistas
Singer-guitarist Sarah Cronin is a dynamic visual artist herself. She is responsible for the dreamy artwork that adorns the band’s album covers and show posters, providing a visual identity that’s at times just as important as their dreamy indie-pop sound.
August 9, 2010 at Great Scott in Allston, Massachusetts.
A guest-curated mixtape by Las Robertas featuring songs from Costa Rica, Spain, Brazil, Venezuela, Chile, Peru, and Mexico.
Dent May is difficult to categorize. For one thing, with his poppy sound and cuddly lyrics, he’s arguably the most accessible musician signed to Paw Tracks right now. For another, he’s a tried and true country boy, but he lived in New York City, but his sound is so beach-y it sounds straight out of SoCal. To clear this up, May took some time out of his rather confusing life to talk to Artist Advocacy about the country, the city, the summer, and swine flu.
[Mexican Summer, 2010] words//stephanie cafarella Best Coast – Boyfriend Weed, boys and an increasingly famous orange tabby are indisputably the lyrical mainstays of Californian surf/garage-pop duo Best Coast’s debut full-length, appropriately titled, Crazy for You. The album consists of sunny, refreshingly simple lo-fi jams that sound as though they were stolen directly from the pages [...]