INTERVIEWS

Q&A With Chuck Prophet

February 6, 2012

On his 10th studio album, Temple Beautiful (Yep Roc), Chuck Prophet found his muse in the city he’s called home for 30 years. Exploring the local landmarks and myths with friend and poet klipschutz, Prophet winds his way through San Francisco, stretching tales even taller along the way. But this guided tour isn’t a detailed and prefabricated concept album, so much as it’s the product of spontaneous inspiration, and it’s not a document of the city’s past as much as it is of its present. MAGNET caught up with Prophet to explore some of the things that inspired the making of Temple Beautiful. Prophet will also be guest editing magnetmagazine.com all week.

“Castro Halloween” (download):

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Q&A With Imperial Teen’s Will Schwartz

January 30, 2012

Imperial Teen has been around for longer than you think; roughly 15 years to be exact. Wielding its own distinct brand of pop/rock, the quartet has since crafted a solid niche for itself on the indie scene, particularly thanks to the experience of seasoned pros Will Schwartz, Roddy Bottum, Jone Stebbins and Lynn Truell. Known for its complex lyrics and catchy hooks, Imperial Teen has made a solid mark in the music world during its run, especially with new album Feel The Sound (Merge). We decided to test that experience by inviting the band to guest edit magnetmagazine.com all week. We recently caught up with Schwartz via email.

“Runaway” (download):

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Q&A With Christopher O’Riley

January 23, 2012

Perhaps best known for the NPR series From The Top, musician Christopher O’Riley is far more in-tune with music than most of the world. Not only does he host and mentor young musicians, O’Riley also transcribes and arranges songs by Radiohead, Arcade Fire and more for the piano and, more recently, the cello. O’Riley has just released a new album with cellist Matt Haimovitz, Shuffle.Play.Listen. (Oxingale), a tribute to contemporary composers and some of the most modern musicians. Owing to his virtuosic abilities and interesting outlook, we invited O’Riley to guest edit magnetmagazine.com this week. Read our Q&A with him below.

“Empty Room” (download):

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Q&A With Global Noize

January 16, 2012

Jason Miles has been around for a long time, programming synths for and jamming with the likes of Miles Davis and Luther Vandross, let alone producing other side projects over the years. DJ Logic has been around, too, working with ?uestlove, Vernon Reid, Marcus Miller and many more. The two have been through a lot together, traveling the world from Japan to Marrakech before finally releasing the first Global Noize album in 2008, later joined permanently by Indian vocalist Falu on their latest, A Prayer For The Planet (Lightyear/EMI). Global Noize will be guest editing magnetmagazine.com all week. We recently caught up with Logic and Miles.

“Viva La Femme” (download):

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Best Of 2011: Q&A With Yuck

December 9, 2011

All the hype that’s enveloped Yuck’s self-titled debut can mean one of two things: that the relative youngsters in this multinational, coed quintet have a long and fruitful career ahead of them, or that they’re destined to collapse in a sorry heap of deflated expectations. In naming Yuck 2011’s best album, MAGNET’s critics are banking on the former. The band’s London-born co-leaders, singer/guitarists Daniel Blumberg and Max Bloom, display an affable self-confidence (as opposed to unwarranted arrogance), and their white-knuckle grasp of spine-tingling volume and dynamics belies their 20-odd years. They’ve chewed up and spit out all that’s wasteful and tired about the shoegaze and Fort Apache bands they so obviously cherish, saving the rest for Yuck, a prodigious hunk of fuzzed-out, pedal-happy guitar bliss that’s catchy as hell and hardly feels like a definitive statement. Which is a good thing.

MAGNET caught up with Blumberg during the group’s recent European tour.

“Georgia” (download):

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“Rubber” (download):

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Q&A With John Wesley Harding

November 28, 2011

The 25-year career of singer/songwriter John Wesley Harding has skyrocketed of late with the publication of no fewer than three critically acclaimed novels under his birth name, Wesley Stace. Equally amazing, the artist named for Bob Dylan’s misspelling of Texas gunfighter John Wesley Harden has just released the finest album of a career that’s seen him record at least 18 longplayers for labels ranging from high-profile majors to imprints so small the back catalog was stored in somebody’s garage between the cat box and the washing machine. Produced by old pal Scott McCaughey (Young Fresh Fellows) and fleshed out by no less than R.E.M.’s Peter Buck and the Decemberists, The Sound Of His Own Voice (Yep Roc) is a full-bore stunner with Wes (nobody calls him John) weaving his usual lyrical magic through knockout arrangements of extraordinary songs that revive the ghosts of the Kinks, David Lynch soundtrack guru Angelo Badalamenti and wall-of-sound maestro Phil Spector. For yet another career-topping milestone (gasp), JWH will be guest editing magnetmagazine.com all week for (yes it’s true) the second time.

“There’s A Starbucks (Where The Starbucks Used To Be)” (download):

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Q&A With Tommy Stinson

November 21, 2011

For post-punk scholars, Tommy Stinson will be forever fused to his infamous 12-year stint with Minneapolis garage-rock overachievers the Replacements. These days, the 45-year-old journeyman and doting dad is playing bass for Guns N’ Roses and Soul Asylum and has released his second solo album (and first in seven years), the well-crafted, bluesy and robust One Man Mutiny (Done To Death Music). MAGNET caught up with Stinson first in the Philadelphia suburb of Media, where he’d temporarily relocated, and more recently in Hudson, N.Y., where he’s just purchased a new home. Stinson will also be guest editing magnetmagazine.com all week.

“Meant To Be” (download):

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Q&A With Andy Shernoff

November 14, 2011

Andy Shernoff was always the main creative force behind one of New York’s best bands ever, the Dictators. He wrote the material and sang the leads. In the royal line of succession for NYC bands in the ’70s, they came along right after the birth of the New York Dolls. Every bit as raw, noisy and in-your-face as the Dolls, there was one thing the Dictators didn’t share with David Johansen and Co.: their sense of fashion. Rather than climb on the glam bandwagon, the Dictators dressed in leather jackets, jeans and T-shirts and paved the way for the punk revolution of 1977. Shernoff is doing the solo thing these days, with a new single called “Are You Ready To Rapture?” He’ll also be guest editing magnetmagazine.com all week. We recently caught up with him via phone.

“Are You Ready To Rapture?” (download):

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Q&A With Southern Culture On The Skids’ Rick Miller

November 7, 2011

Anyone have any idea how long Southern Culture On The Skids has been around? Would you believe since 1983? Time flies. (Clever response: You cannot, they’re too erratic.) The current lineup of SCOTS features Rick Miller (the one constant since its inception) on guitar and vocals, bassist Mary Huff and drummer Dave Hartman. If you haven’t heard what they sound like, an educated guess that included Creedence Clearwater Revival, the Cramps, Tav Falco’s Panther Burns and Man Or Astro-Man? might be pretty close to the bone. The trio’s most recent album, Zombified (Kudzu), came out just in time for graves to open so the dead can have one last stagger around the countryside. Miller dialed MAGNET from behind a weed-choked crypt somewhere in the deep South. He will also be guest editing magnetmagazine.com all week.

“Zombified” (download):

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Q&A With Miles Zuniga

October 31, 2011

Exactly 11 years ago, Miles Zuniga was jetting off to Amsterdam with his Austin-based alt-rock outfit Fastball to try to put some touring muscle behind its latest release, The Harsh Light Of Day. Expectations were high, given the surprising mainstream success of 1998′s All The Pain Money Can Buy, which the band milked for almost two years. Fast-forward to today, and Zuniga has humbler aspirations for his first solo effort, These Ghosts Have Bones (33 1/3), a wrenchingly personal, fitfully melodic ode to the breakup of his 10-year marriage. Though Fastball is still very much a working entity, Ghosts’ quirky centerpiece, “Marfa Moonlight,” would’ve undoubtedly been a much different animal with bandmates Tony Scalzo and Joey Shuffield involved. The same goes for the rest of this inward-looking song cycle. MAGNET checked in with Zuniga as he motored around Austin (his mom riding shotgun part of the way), tying up loose ends the day before a string of tour dates with Matthew Sweet. Zuniga will also be guest editing magnetmagazine.com all week.

“Marfa Moonlight” (download):

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Q&A With Rachael Yamagata

October 24, 2011

When singer/songwriter Rachael Yamagata was growing up, she went to all-girls school that she says warped her into the relationship-obsessed woman she’s become, at least in the lyrics of her songs. She began singing with a funk-crazed dance band called Bumpus while she was in college studying theater. While touring and recording with Bumpus, she was also writing confessional, deeply emotional songs that didn’t fit the band’s format. Happenstance, her first solo album, was a folk/pop charmer. Her tunes have appeared on The O.C., The L Word, Grey’s Anatomy and Alias, and Ray LaMontagne, Ryan Adams and Conor Oberst all expressed admiration for her vocal style. Having just issued Chesapeake (Frankenfish), Yamagata will be guest editing magnetmagazine.com all week. We recently caught up with her via phone.

“Starlight” (download):

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Q&A With John Doe

October 17, 2011

John Doe, the guy who formed one half of X’s front line next to Exene Cervenka more than 30 years ago, is still on the scene, doing what he does best on his new solo album, Keeper (Yep Roc). With all four of its original members (Doe, Cervenka, guitarist Billy Zoom and drummer D.J. Bonebreak) on board, the best band to emerge from L.A.’s punk scene is slated to perform an impressive schedule of live shows this fall that includes a South American tour with Pearl Jam. Doe, who will be guest editing magnetmagazine.com all week, spoke with us from his Northern California home.

“Walking Out The Door” (download):

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Q&A With Ben Lee

October 10, 2011

Ben Lee had barely cracked the puberty code when he fronted the renowned Aussie alt-rock combo Noise Addict, and as a well-weathered 16-year-old, he began his debut solo album, the astonishingly mature yet still appropriately naive Grandpaw Would. Lee’s third album, Breathing Tornados, garnered best male artist and album of the year nominations in Australia. After 2002’s big-selling hey you. yes you., Lee started his own label and released the most upbeat album in his increasingly dark catalog, 2005’s Awake Is The New Sleep, requiring him to compose acceptance speeches for best male artist, best independent release and single of the year wins at home. Lee’s impressive string of successes continued with 2007’s Ripe, featuring cameos by Mandy Moore, Benji Madden and the Heartbreakers’ Benmont Tench, among others, but the streak abruptly stopped with 2009’s The Rebirth Of Venus. The quasi-concept album of Lee’s ruminations on women was almost universally derided as half-baked philosophical twaddle set to a weirdly diverse pop soundtrack. Ironically, Lee subsequently experienced the transformative effect of women, marrying actress Ione Skye in 2008 and welcoming daughter Goldie the next year. Simultaneously, he was also examining the inherent power of dreams with Dr. Jan Lloyd, who led him through the labyrinth of his brain’s nocturnal creations. Sadly, Lloyd’s death last year forced Lee to balance the joy of his daughter’s first year with the agonizing loss of his good friend and trusted therapist, all of which inspired Lee to again brave the concept-album waters with Deeper Into Dream (Dangerbird), a loosely threaded set about the mind movies our brains script, direct and discard every single night. From his Laurel Canyon home, Lee discussed his inspirations for Deeper Into Dream and, in the spirit of his ephemeral subject matter, what it all means.

“Get Used To It” (download):

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Q&A With Mike Viola

October 3, 2011

With a major-label distribution deal right out of the chute, Candy Butchers seemed destined to follow in the footsteps of other smart, song-focused, melody-driven, ’90s outfits like Ben Folds Five and Fountains Of Wayne before the proverbial window of opportunity slammed shut circa 1997. Since then, seemingly unflappable leader Mike Viola has kept plugging away, fending off adversity in his personal life (his first wife died of cancer) and overall public indifference to get his music out there, whether as himself, under the Candy Butchers moniker, on film soundtracks or elsewhere. Viola’s new solo release, Electro De Perfecto (Good Morning Monkey/Hornblow), is a slickly produced celebration of a versatile songwriter in his prime, one who deserves a little more love. MAGNET recently spoke with Viola, who will be guest editing our website all week.

“Get You Back” (download):

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Q&A With Ivy

September 26, 2011

In commercial terms, Ivy is but a footnote in the career of bassist Adam Schlesinger, who between his duties in Fountains Of Wayne and his work as a prolific songwriter for hire has made far greater claims on the public’s attention. But in a world where diffident cool trumped sugary snark, the trio of Schlesinger, Andy Chase and singer Dominique Durand would have reaped richly deserved rewards. All Hours (Nettwerk), Ivy’s sixth album and its first since 2005, continues the electronic excursions of In The Clear while maintaining the ironclad melodies that anchor early shoulda-been hits like “This Is The Day.” Durand and Chase, who are married with children, talked to MAGNET about coming out of hibernation, the difficulty of balancing parenthood and creativity and why Schlesinger is a “wild horse” who sometimes needs to be reined in. The duo will also be guest editing magnetmagazine.com all week.

“Make It So Hard” (download):

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Q&A With Tommy Keene

September 8, 2011

One of MAGNET’s favorite former guest editors and guitar-pop singer/songwriting legends, Tommy Keene has returned with Behind The Parade (Second Motion), his ninth LP. Some (including Keene) are saying it’s his best since 1989’s Based On Happy Times; while that notion notably shortchanges 1996’s Ten Years After and 2006’s Crashing The Ether, Behind The Parade is inarguably as insistently and consistently entertaining as anything the man has done in his roughly 30-year career. Keene is supporting Behind The Parade with a short September jaunt featuring a mostly new group: Drummer Rob Brill (Berlin) and guitarist R. Walt Vincent, co-producer and mixer of Keene’s last two LPs, will be joining him along with longtime bassist Brad Quinn. (Brill, who played on Behind The Parade, has kept time in Keene’s band before but not since the Songs From The Film tour in 1986.) We spoke to Keene from his house in Los Angeles about his songwriting approach, tunes he won’t perform live and the late Clarence Clemons. (Fun fact: Keene is a diehard Bruce Springsteen fan, having seen close to 60 Boss shows.)

“Deep Six Saturday” (download):

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“Running For Your Life” (download):

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Q&A With Tift Merritt

September 5, 2011

Tift Merritt is about as approachable as they come. An email inquiry to her press rep prompts an almost immediate response from the artist herself. “I’m happy to catch you up on what we’ve been up to lately and the like … just let me know if phone or email is better for you.” Merritt’s only stipulation: that any interview happen after 11 a.m., so she can get in her daily practice session on a piano she’s been using at a club not far from her Manhattan apartment. You could argue that, with a voice like hers, Merritt should be able to afford her dream piano by now. But while she may not be a household name (yet), she’s on a trajectory not unlike a few of her singer/songwriter luminaries (Emmylou Harris, Lucinda Williams), stockpiling critical plaudits and fan adoration for the four studio albums she’s released since 2002. Her most recent, See You On The Moon (Fantasy), is the scaled-back, introverted antithesis of what may be her only bid for a wider audience, 2004’s polished roots-rock zinger Tambourine. That’s the one that earned her a Grammy nod for best country album. (Guess no one bothered to tell the academy it wasn’t country.) MAGNET caught up with Merritt as she was gearing up for a series of live dates opening for the Jayhawks.

“Engine To Turn” (download):

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Q&A With Tedeschi Trucks Band

August 29, 2011

Since the mid-’90s, Susan Tedeschi and Derek Trucks have both had successful music careers, she as an acclaimed singer/songwriter and he as an electrifying guitar player with his group and the Allman Brothers Band, among others. The two met on tour in 1999, married a couple of years later and had two children, but their hectic solo schedules often kept them apart. To rectify the situation, they formed the Tedeschi Trucks Band, an 11-member ensemble that recently released debut album Revelator (Sony Masterworks), which was recorded at the duo’s home studio. Knowing how much they like to do things together, we asked Tedeschi and Trucks to guest edit magnetmagazine.com all week. We recently caught up with the two of them via email.

“Bound For Glory” (download):

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Q&A With Of Montreal

August 22, 2011

of Montreal’s music is hard to define, given it changes more often than frontman Kevin Barnes’ sequined and feathered outfits during a live show. One album might be heavy on the drum machine and synthesizer, while another showcases Barnes’ best high-pitched Prince wail with more traditional strings and percussion. The Atlanta band boasts a prodigious body of work; in a decade and a half, Barnes and Co. have churned out 10 albums, eight collections and 29 singles and EPs, including their most recent effort, thecontrollersphere (Polyvinyl). That’s not even counting their various side projects and demanding tour schedule. MAGNET recently caught up with Barnes via email, and he provided some insight into how he finds time to relax (he doesn’t) and discussed his band’s constantly evolving sound, his desire to collaborate with Sufjan Stevens and Erykah Badu, his honest opinion of commercial success and the key to artistic longevity. Barnes and of Montreal’s two art directors—wife Nina Barnes (a.k.a. geminitactics) and brother David Barnes—will be guest editing magnetmagazine.com all week.

“L’age D’or” (download):

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Q&A With Her Space Holiday

August 15, 2011

This week’s release of Her Space Holiday‘s 10-track, self-titled album marks the end of the one-man musical project that Marc Bianchi started back in 1996. Fittingly, HSH’s final album is also the first on the Austin-based Bianchi’s No More Good Ideas label. While he has some live dates set to support the LP, the genre-defying musician mostly plans for the album to be the closing statement from HSH, who over the past decade and a half has also remixed tracks by the likes of R.E.M., Bright Eyes, Elastica and the Faint. Bianchi can now add MAGNET guest editor to his already-impressive resume, as that’s what he’ll be doing all week. We recently caught up with him via email.

“Ghost In The Garden” (download):

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“The Ballad Of Jan And Bess” (download):

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Q&A With Fountains Of Wayne

August 8, 2011

The great Fountains Of Wayne just issued their fifth album in a career that dates back 15 years. Sky Full Of Holes (Yep Roc) was recorded by the band—vocalist/guitarist Chris Collingwood, multi-instrumentalist Adam Schlesinger, guitarist Jody Porter and drummer Brian Young—in New York City at the studio Schlesinger co-owns, and it may be the quartet’s best effort to date. Fountains Of Wayne is currently on tour, but Collingwood and Schlesinger will also be guest editing magnetmagazine.com all week. We recently caught up with the dynamic duo via email.

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Q&A With Richard Buckner

August 1, 2011

This week, singer/songwriter Richard Buckner releases Our Blood (Merge), his first new music since 2006’s Meadow. The nine-track LP was recorded by Buckner at his upstate New York home studio with pedal-steel guitarist Buddy Cage (New Riders Of The Purple Sage) and drummer Steve Shelley (Sonic Youth). Buckner kicks off a co-headlining tour with labelmate David Kilgour (the Clean) on August 16 in Los Angeles. In the meantime, Buckner will be guest editing magnetmagazine.com all week. We recently caught up with him via email.

“Traitor” (download):

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Q&A With The Ladybug Transistor

July 25, 2011

The Ladybug Transistor formed in Brooklyn in 1995, and frontman Gary Olson has been the band’s sole constant member. Clutching Stems (Merge) is the group’s seventh album and the first to be made following the 2007 asthma-related death of drummer San Fadyl. Since, the band’s lineup has solidified behind Olson, featuring Kyle Forester, Julia Rydholm, Mark Dzula, Eric Farber and Michael O’Neill. The Ladybug Transistor will be guest editing magnetmagazine.com all week. We recently caught up with Olson via email.

“Clutching Stems” (download):

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Q&A With Laura Cantrell

July 18, 2011

Kitty Wells Dresses: Songs Of The Queen Of Country Music is the fifth full-length from New York City singer/songwriter Laura Cantrell, and as you probably deduced from the album’s title, the LP pays tribute to country music’s first female star. Cantrell recorded the 10-track record in Nashville, the city where both she and Wells were born. Aside from covering some of Wells’ most loved songs, Cantrell kicks off the album with the title track, a song she co-wrote with Amy Allison. Cantrell will be guest editing magnetmagazine.com all week. We recently caught up with her via email.

“Kitty Wells Dresses” (download):

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Q&A With Oneida

July 11, 2011

In 2008, Oneida began the Thank Your Parents triptych with Preteen Weaponry. Since, the Brooklyn band—Kid Millions, Bobby Matador, Baby Hanoi Jane, Showtime and Barry London—has completed it with 2009′s Rated O and the new Absolute II (Jagjaguwar). The quintet is touring Europe in August and is also playing the Asbury Park, N.J.-based All Tomorrow’s Parties in October. In addition, Millions (known to some as John Colpitts) will be guest editing magnetmagazine.com all week. We recently caught up with him via email.

“Horizon” (download):

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Q&A With Don Fleming

July 4, 2011

Even if you don’t know Don Fleming by name, chances are you own a ton of records he’s helped make. As a producer, he’s collaborated with the likes of Sonic Youth, Dinosaur Jr, Teenage Fanclub, Screaming Trees, the Posies and Hole, to name just a handful. He works for the Alan Lomax Archive and has done archival work for the estates of Hunter S. Thompson, Ken Kesey and others. He’s fronted such groups as the Velvet Monkeys, B.A.L.L. and Gumball and was a member of the band that provided the music to 1994 Beatles biopic Backbeat. Fleming also runs the Instant Mayhem label, which recently reissued the Velvet Monkeys’ 1982 debut Everything Is Right and is about to release the solo Don Fleming 4, which features Kim Gordon, Julie Cafritz and R. Stevie Moore. If all that weren’t enough, Fleming is guest editing magnetmagazine.com all week. We recently caught up with him via email.

The Velvet Monkeys’ “Everything Is Right” (download):

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Q&A With Petra Haden

June 27, 2011

If By Yes is the latest project from the multi-talented Petra Haden. The band’s debut, Salt On Sea Glass (Chimera), took almost a decade to make and features Haden collaborating with Yuka Honda (Cibo Matto) and Hirotaka “Shimmy” Shimizu and Yuko Araki (Cornelius), as well as guests such as David Byrne and Nels Cline (Wilco). Haden is the daughter of jazz legend Charlie Haden and the sibling of musicians Rachel, Tanya (the sisters are triplets) and Josh Haden. Though she has played with a who’s-who of alt-rock and jazz artists over the past 20 years, Haden is perhaps best known for her fantastic 2005 a cappella interpretation of The Who Sell Out. Haden will be guest editing magnetmagazine.com all week. Check out the mix tape she made us in 2008. We recently caught up with her via email.

“You Feel Right” (download):

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Q&A With Amor De Días

June 20, 2011

Amor de Días—the duo of Alasdair Maclean (Clientele) and Lupe Núñez-Fernández (Pipas)—just released debut album Street Of The Love Of Days via Merge. (Those of you who speak Spanish know that the band’s moniker translates to “love of days,” hence the album title.) Maclean and Núñez-Fernández worked on the 15-track LP for more than three years, and it features guest spots by the likes of Louis Philippe, Damon & Naomi, Gary Olson (Ladybug Transistor) and Danny Manners. Maclean and Núñez-Fernández will also be guest editing magnetmagazine.com all week. We recently caught up with the duo via email.

“Bunhill Fields” (download):

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Q&A With Chris Mills

June 13, 2011

Heavy Years: 2000-2010 (Ernest Jenning) is the latest release from Brooklyn-by-way-of-Chicago singer/songwriter Chris Mills. The 14-track retrospective compiles songs from his last four albums, along with two new tracks recorded with DJ Oktopus (Dalek). Mills is currently on the road supporting Heavy Years, and he will also be guest editing magnetmagazine.com all week. We recently caught up with him via email.

“All Our Days And Nights” (download):

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Q&A With Bird Of Youth

June 6, 2011

Bird Of Youth has no business being this good. Really. If writing and recording a really beautiful album was as easy as Beth Wawerna and her crew made it look, wouldn’t everyone do it? That’s sort of the story here. For most of her decade or so in New York, Wawerna was, in the words of her pal Timothy Bracy, “the consummate green-room insider.” Her background in journalism and her unerring taste had led to a number of indie-rock acquaintances who eventually became friends. It sounds like a pretty good time, hanging out in Brooklyn with the Mendoza Line’s Bracy and Pete Hoffman, Will Sheff of Okkervil River, Carl Newman, Charles Bissell of the Wrens, Nada Surf’s Matthew Caws and others.

But it turned out Wawerna had a secret stash of her own songs, which she’d worked on and demo’d and never, ever let anyone hear. Eventually, as she explains below, she decided it was time to set those songs free. Her pals not only liked them, they helped her form a crack band—guitarist par excellence Clint Newman, drummer Ray Ketchem, bassist Johnny North, keyboardist Eli Thomas and accordion player Elizabeth Bracy Nelson—and recorded them. Sheff and Phil Palazzolo (New Pornographers, Ted Leo, scads more) produced. Bissell contributed a terrific guitar lead on one song. Caws sang. Members of Okkervil River and the National played.

If the result had been an Okkervil River record with a warm female vocal on top, that would have been hard to complain about. But Sheff and Palazzallo put Wawerna’s songs and voice first, adding touches and flourishes that add to the power of the songs without ever overwhelming them. The finished album, Defender, was released in May, just in time to give your summer a worthy soundtrack.

Wawerna will be guest editing magnetmagazine.com all week, and some of those same friends will be dropping by. We caught up to her in the swirly days between the album’s release and some East Coast tour dates.

“Bombs Away, She Is Here To Stay” (download):

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Q&A With The Black Watch’s John Andrew Fredrick

May 30, 2011

For almost 25 years, John Andrew Fredrick and a revolving cast of characters have been issuing records as the Black Watch. The California-based indie-rock institution is back with 11th album Led Zeppelin Five (Powertool), and it’s the first LP to feature the rock-solid lineup of Fredrick, guitarist Steven Schayer (ex-Chills), bassist Chris Rackford and drummer Rick Woodard. When Fredrick isn’t busy writing and recording songs, he’s teaching English at the University of California, so we thought he’d a be a natural choice to guest edit the MAGNET website. Fredrick, with some assistance from Schayer, will be doing exactly that all week. We recently caught up with Fredrick via email.

“Kinda Sorta” (download):

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Q&A With Marcellus Hall

May 23, 2011

Marcellus Hall first made a name for himself as the frontman of Railroad Jerk, which released four albums on Matador between 1990 and 1996 before breaking up. Hall and RJ drummer Dave Varenka went on to form White Hassle the next year, issuing a handful of records until disbanding in 2005. These days, Hall is pursuing a solo career, and he just released his debut album, The First Line, on Isaac Brock’s Glacial Pace label. Aside from the music, the 13-track LP also shows off Hall’s other big talent: illustration. Since moving to New York City in the late ’80s, Hall has seen his artwork appear in the likes of The New Yorker, The Atlantic, The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal, and The First Line features a 44-page book showcasing his art. Not only is Hall guest editing magnetmagazine.com all week, he’s also drawing illustrations to accompany everything he writes about. We recently caught up with him via email.

“The First Line” (download):

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Q&A With Sloan

May 16, 2011

The 10th record (not including two EPs, a live album and a “greatest hits” collection) from stalwart Toronto band Sloan, The Double Cross (just released on Yep Roc) also serves to commemorate the quartet’s 20th anniversary as a versatile guitar-pop collective. Guitarists Patrick Pentland and Jay Ferguson, bassist Chris Murphy and drummer Andrew Scott—all four write and sing their own tunes and often switch instruments onstage—have successfully forged a productive two-decade career full of preternaturally catchy songs and beyond-entertaining live shows. Thankfully, they don’t appear to be slowing down; The Double Cross continues the group’s winning streak, particularly the seamless opening 1-2-3 of Murphy’s “Follow The Leader,” Ferguson’s “The Answer Was You” and Pentland’s “Unkind.” (Check out the band’s YouTube channel for a track-by-track discussion of the LP.) In honor of Sloan’s milestone, we asked Pentland 10 questions via email—because we doubt he would’ve felt like answering 20. And in their typically all-for-one, one-for-all fashion, the members of Sloan are guest-editing magnetmagazine.com this week.

“Follow The Leader” (download):

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Q&A With Lloyd Cole

May 9, 2011

Lloyd Cole first made a name for himself back in 1984 with the Commotions, the British band he founded in Scotland before relocating to New York City four years later. Since, he has released records both as a solo artist and with the Negatives, a band featuring Jill Sobule and Dave Derby. Now based in western Massachusetts, Cole recently formed the Small Ensemble with local musicians Mark Schwaber and Matt Cullen. The trio is joined by the likes of Derby, Fred Maher (Lou Reed, Matthew Sweet), Rainy Orteca (Brilliantine), Blair Cowan (Commotions), Joan Wasser (Joan As Police Woman) and Kendall Meade (Mascott) for new album Broken Record (Tapete), Cole’s first “rock” LP in almost a decade. Cole will also be guest editing magnetmagazine.com all week. We recently caught up with him via email.

“Double Happiness” (download):

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Q&A With The Pogues’ Spider Stacy

May 2, 2011

The Pogues on record are never short of inspirational, and in person, they might be a life-changing experience. This hackle-raising blend of traditional Irish folk music, politically charged broadsides and electric rock ‘n’ roll, delivered by charismatic frontman Shane MacGowan flanked by a grizzled band of veterans that includes penny-whistle virtuoso/alternate vocalist Spider Stacy, was formed in the King’s Cross district of north London in 1982. Despite occasional time off for good behavior, they’ve been playing ever since and have a handful of festival dates planned for this summer. Here’s hoping it lasts for at least another 10 years. We are proud to say that Stacy, who is currently appearing as a street musician in season two of HBO’s Treme, will be guest editing magnetmagazine.com all week. We recently caught up with him via phone.