In 2008, Have A Nice Life released their monstrously bleak double album Deathconsciousness. This record set the standard for what can be accomplished by a couple of guys doing it all themselves. Tying together elements of shoegaze, drone, post-punk, and black metal, Deathconsciousness is a soul crushing experience. Tim Macuga and Dan Barrett were kind enough to answer some questions about this album and their other projects.
Ajay Saggar is a man who is constantly immersed in music, seemingly from every angle possible. If he’s not recording or playing shows with The Bent Moustache, he’s likely live mixing and sometimes tour managing another equally worthy act. Ajay has probably visited more places than any of us will in a lifetime, and yet it’s all part of a routine love for a craft and passion. He thoroughly answered the questions I had and was kind enough to share a few tracks as well.
There was no shortage of toe tappin’ and seasonally inspired music at the Middle East Upstairs, this past Friday evening. With the intention of going solely to see my favorite band of the moment, and leaving with a newfound admiration for another, saying that I had a good time would be an understatement.
Fred Mortagne is from Lyon, France. He is a Filmer, Director, Photographer, and one of the most creative people I know. He works for the French skate company Cliché and has been making beautiful new commercials for them. Whenever I get an email from Fred it always includes an amazing photo he has taken, a story of a place he has been, or a link to someone’s art to check out. Fred is always busy and always seems like he is thinking about what to make next; because of this, he was a perfect person to answer these questions.
On a perfect day, Marling is just like anyone else. It’s the weekend. She picks up the papers at the corner store, makes breakfast with her flatmates, takes a walk in the park and ends the night with friends in the pub. Describing this to me, the born and raised Brit gives the impression she’s much more interested in living her life than wondering how she can sound more like Nick Drake, or where her music lies in comparison to Noah and the Whale.
This is the beginning of a new era. Whether you are a lover of lo-fi or the DIY aesthetic, its time to move on, because Ariel Pink has moved on. The sound is not radically different, but anyone who has spent at least a few hours listening to old-era Ariel will notice a distinct difference. He has a band, and he’s been given a little bit of money, and he used it on a studio and an engineer or two. The world is a better place because of it. This album is a trove; gem-after-gem of pop-enthused, nostalgically-good songwriting. The only question remaining is if this should be considered the first real Ariel Pink album, and all his previous releases compilations or demos.
Uffie is the badass alter-ego of French expatriate Anna-Catherine Hartley. She has been working on an album for about four years now, called Sex Dreams and Denim Jeans. I decided not to be one of the billions that have asked her about the hold-up. Instead, she told me about future material, plans to leave France, and weighed in on the heated Ke$ha debate.
Lucas Blalock, a new New York based photographer, states that his work illustrates the way that falseness/mechanics in pictures can bring us closer to the world. In this interview he answers questions about how he succeeds in doing this using overlapping, patterns, mirrors, and (only some) fake fruit.