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The Black Lips’ new video for “Funny” features the band jamming out with some interesting co-stars—the puppets of the Bob Baker Marionette Theater, a classic Los Angeles landmark.
News
With Coachella 2014 past us (even if we are still washing the dirt out of our clothing and trying to regain our hearing), we here at FILTER are ready for the full season of music festivals. Thankfully, one of our favorites, Austin City Limits Festival, can help us extend the season well into the fall.
This morning ACL Fest announced the stacked lineup for their two-weekend bash with headliners: Eminem, OutKast and Beck, and amazing FILTER favorite inclusions of Belle & Sebastian, The Replacements, St. Vincent, Spoon, Phantogram, Jenny Lewis and more. You now know exactly where we will be in October!
Tickets for ACL Fest 2014 are onsale now and you can buy them here.
News
The psychedelic rock resurgence isn't exactly news at this point. The recent popularity of bands like Tame Impala, Temples, Unknown Mortal Orchestra and Foxygen—not to mention the increased exposure of the West Coast school of psych-outfits, including Thee Oh Sees, Ty Segall and White Fence, amongst others—is evidence enough that the indie-rock sphere is finding inspiration and new forms of expression by harkening back to the pre-digital days of psych-rock. Call it a reaction to a post-Internet society, where you'll likely see glowing Apple logos outnumber guitars on any given stage, but whatever the cause, one thing is clear: rock is returning to its gnarled roots, and dads all over the world are coming home to find their record collections pilfered and their living rooms hazy with the smoke of incense.
Peter Stormare, a Swedish actor best known for his roles in Fargo and The Big Lebowski, has spent the last decade working between movies to reissue the material of Ramases, a psychedelic space-rock project from the 1970s led by Barrington Frost, a British central heating salesman who believed himself to be the reincarnation of the Egyptian Pharaoh from whom he and the band take their name. After releasing two albums with his wife, Selket, that received little commercial or critical attention, Ramases strayed into obscurity and eventually died by his own hand in 1978. The band's eventual cult following, it would seem, was inevitable.
Stormare, whose record label Stormvox will reissue the Ramses catalog on April 22, has been a fan of Ramases since childhood. FILTER spoke with Stormare about the process behind the reissue, his contact with Selket, the importance of psychedelic music to his spiritual life, and how The Beatles pointed him to God.
News
It’s rare that a 20-song set careens by without a lull in energy. Capturing an audience’s full attention for 90 minutes is a feat that few bands accomplish. Bombay Bicycle Club’s sold-out show last Thursday night in San Diego defied those expectations as they played to an audience that would have gladly stuck around for 20 more songs.
News
Tomorrow is Record Store Day, which is making this Good Friday feel a lot more like Christmas Eve, and we're here to give you a peek under the tree!
The artist development team over at Red Bull Sound Select has compiled Divided 7", a split featuring four promising up-and-comers from around the genre spectrum, and they're giving it away for free along with any purchase you make at participating record stores. You must have been good this year.
Get the skinny on all four artists and hear their 7" contributions after the jump!
Reviews
An Owls record really wasn’t expected, some 13 years after the Chicago legends’ debut. Born from the recent spat of reunion shows, in many ways an Owls album is a far sweeter end product than a Cap’n Jazz release, which would drown in expectation. Two rages in discord and arrhythmia; “Ancient Stars Seed” powers through rhythms whilst Tim Kinsella’s vocals fall apart with fidgety boredom. Two is more than a reminder—it’s a fresh thrash of emotion from a supremely talented, if dysfunctional, band.
Reviews
Within the 12 tracks that make up his full-length debut, Chet Faker is the crooner (“Release Your Problems”), the DJ (“Cigarettes & Loneliness”), the innovator (“No Advice [Airport Version]”) and the best boyfriend you could possibly have (“Talk Is Cheap”). While the different factors might seem like Built on Glass is a broken pile of jagged shards, the album’s enthralling fusion of electronica and soul proves that Faker’s glass foundation is a prism showing his colorful range.
Exclusives
IT MIGHT BE HARD TO BELIEVE, but Pharrell Williams is 41 years old. In both quantity and quality, the musician’s CV reads like someone’s twice his age. There are the production gigs. (Among his credits is work for Britney Spears, Snoop Dogg, Justin Timberlake, Johnny Marr and Robin Thicke.) There’s time spent as a member of The Neptunes and N.E.R.D. There’s his solo work. Even as a guest musician he has the knack of landing once-in-a-lifetime spots. (Perhaps you’ve heard Daft Punk’s ubiquitous single “Get Lucky”?)
But for all his headline-worthy accomplishments, Pharrell bounds along in conversation with the enthusiasm of a teenager. Each statement, no matter the question, is peppered with mentions of his main interests and delivered with the intensity of a well-crafted pop hook. Life is good. Unique equals special. And ladies? Yeah, he loves ’em.
Pharrell has plenty of reasons to celebrate the fairer sex these days. His sophomore album G I R L is a tribute to the women in his life—wrapped in the soulful grooves, pop hooks and funk-filled swagger of the songs of his youth. A sharp turn away from the bombastic rap of his previous solo album, 2006’s In My Mind, the sunshine-infused song cycle breezes by with such ease that it might be easy to miss all the high profile collaborators. (Timberlake, Kelly Osbourne, Timbaland, Miley Cyrus, Daft Punk, JoJo, Alicia Keys, Tori Kelly and Leah LaBelle, to be precise.)
The Guide recently sat down with Pharrell for a closer look at what makes up his sunny disposition. Like one of his catchy singles, the musician moved from topic to topic, filling us in on some of the music, philosophies and women that have inspired his life to date. And like one of his albums, it’s a potent blend.
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Beck
KCRW's Berkeley Street Sessions at Apogee Studios
Santa Monica, California
April 18, 2014
"Wow, they really packed you guys in here like sardines!"
It took no time at all for Beck Hansen to start joking with the 200-person audience all shoulder to shoulder within the warm confines of Apogee Studios.
"All the tall people in the front? Yeah, that's when you know that this is going to be a real show."
Reviews
Jessica Lea Mayfield’s third studio album follows 2011’s Tell Me, which—like several of her earlier efforts—was produced by The Black Keys’ Dan Auerbach. Instead of building off the country-rock grandeur of previous outings, the 24-year-old singer-songwriter goes Auerbach-less and takes a fearless detour into electronic pop and ’90s alternative rock. While the lovelorn energy of Mayfield’s country ballads are often obfuscated by guitar fuzz, the new crunch fits her nicely.
