Minneapolis’ R&B-ish electro-pop squad Dearling Physique recently released a new single. Which artists would they most like to hear cover it? For that matter, which artists would they most like to hear cover every song on their forthcoming new record? Two members of the band chimed in for the latest installment in the Bad Penny’s “Cover Me” series. Continue reading
On January 9, 2003, I had the honor of speaking with Mark Linkous. While I held Sparklehorse in high regard back then – and still do today – I came away from the interview with even more respect for the man behind the songs. Continue reading
Last week saw the publish of a post drawing possible connections between what many consider to be Isis’ ultimate masterpiece, Oceanic, and one of the most important novels to come out of the 20th century, Arthur Koestler’s “Darkness at Noon.” Keeping the Oceanic momentum going, here’s an interview I conducted with the band in October 2002, just weeks after the album came out. Continue reading
1. Silversun Pickups – Carnavas (Dangerbird)
2. Mastodon – Blood Mountain (Warner Bros.) Continue reading
Eleven years ago, I studied for five months in Santiago, Chile. As part of my education regiment, I chose a class on the history of rock and roll. You might think that’s as much as a cop-out as taking a class in bowling or frisbee golf. But as someone who had mostly shunned classic rock till that point, I actually learned a lot. My teacher was obsessed with Deep Purple and Cream, and explained to us how Ozzy Osbourne was rock’s first psicótico.
I like to think I returned him the favor by teaching him a bit about Nirvana, of whom he wasn’t much aware, in my final paper. The self-generated topic: How Nirvana ushered indie-rock, rougher production values and anti-corporate attitudes into the mainstream with In Utero. El profesor told me I worked harder than any of his Chilean students in the class, and that I nailed the exam (70 out of 70), too.
These days, my Spanish is a bit rusty, so I couldn’t tell you what most of the paper means. But here it is for your archival viewing pleasure. PDFs are included in case the images are too taxing on yer eyes:
The Bad Penny (beta) 