FILTER Issue 50

As FILTER Magazine reaches an incredible landmark – 50 issues in print – the quarterly ‘Good Music’ publication is calling for a celebration! Where others may choose to release a retrospective issue full of nostalgia, FILTER celebrates the music with a 50th issue that is packed with new content, including an exclusive Descendents cover feature, in-depth interviews with Björk , DJ Shadow, Talib Kweli and more. Sharing in the golden-year glow is FILTER-favorite and Descendents front man, Milo Aukerman, who turns 50 on January 1st.  

Thirty-three years since their inception, the Descendents remain one of punk’s most enduring and beloved outfits. They are distinguished from their peers and the generations of bands that they have influenced by their honesty. FILTER Magazine takes readers through the story of the Descendents, from the early 80’s through today: the friendship, fast food, fishing, failed attempts at love, faith in the face of rejection and the fortitude to live life to the fullest, free of bullshit, even if it means actually growing up.

FILTER enlisted Mike Watt, legendary bass player from Minutemen and fIREHOSE, as well as longtime All and Descendents artist Chris Shary, to help tell the band’s story. 

FILTER Magazine’s exclusive cover story featuring the Descendents from FILTER 50 is available on newsstands November 16.

Happy 50th Birthday Milo

*Each issue features a special vertical cover dust jacket. 

Highlights from Milo Turns 50: Descendents Grow up, Whether they want to or not 

On Coffee:

“There was no song about coffee, but it was clearly influencing what was going on musically” - Milo Aukerman on coffee and the making of Fat 

“Like all philosophies, the concept of All came about by fellas getting together and drinking too much coffee.” - Bill Stevenson

More on All: “The thing about All is that it’s timeless. It defies age. It defies era. It defies everything.” - Bill Stevenson

On Being Relevant Today: 

“We’re not wringing the rag. We’re not doing this as some kind of nostalgia act. We want to be relevant. So you gotta take yourself back to the practice room of 1982 and get that same intensity going.” - Milo Aukerman

On the Descendents Wearing their Hearts on their Sleeves: 

“We do that with each other as friends, and we also do it with our music. It’s all part of the same outlook on life.”  - Milo Aukerman

In early 2013, the Descendents will release Filmage, a documentary exploration of how they went from being incapable of selling out a phone booth to being the standard-bearers of pop-punk.

Descendents Artist Chris Shary Creates Exclusive Cover Art for FILTER’s 50th Issue

To celebrate the 30th anniversary of the iconic album, Milo Goes to College, long time Descendents artist Chris Shary has created exclusive artwork to cover FILTER Magazine’s 50th issue.

Both the vertical and horizontal exclusive images created by Shary pay homage to the spastic, gritty, pop-punk album with an updated drawing of lead singer Milo Aukerman’s image to commemorate his 50th birthday. "Get off my lawn!" 

FILTER 50’s cover story also features never before seen photos from Bill Stevenson's personal Descendents archive.

Additional highlights from FILTER 50 include exclusive articles featuring:

Thrall of Sound: An Elemental Conversation with Björk 

With less than a year since the monumental release of Biophilia, Björk is set to unveil bastards, a head-spinning remix album featuring many of Biophilia’s most dazzling tracks.  The striking collection of artists featured on bastards ranges from electronic wiz Matthew Herbert, to experimental hip-hop duo Death Grips. FILTER has unprecedented access into Björk’s incredibly unique universe through this insightful interview that speaks to the new remix album, her inspirations and her upcoming perception-altering music video - the collaboration with filmmaker Andrew Thomas Huang for MOCAtv. 

“I think it’s all exciting. At the end of the day, it’s all about passion for music. I never felt like my fans should buy absolutely everything.” She adds, “Each one has a different story.”  - Björk on her remixes on the upcoming bastards album

I See a Darkness: The History of DJ Shadow

Josh Davis aka DJ Shadow takes the reader on a journey exploring his evolution as an artist from the early days on the late ‘80s hip-hop scene in California’s Bay Area, through the present as he strives to stay on top of his game within the uber-competitive and ever-changing music industry.  The article delves deep into the creative process of making Endtroducing…..., an album that changed the DJ world forever, and sheds light on Davis’ many collaborations and eclectic range of solo releases over the years.  Plus, DJ Shadow’s closest colleagues, Cut Chemist, Z-Trip and James Lavelle, as well as Solesides co-founders and emcees Gift of Gab, Lyrics Born and Lateef the Truthspeaker, lend to the story, sharing their experiences working with Davis, the music and the DJ Shadow legacy. 

Josh Davis (DJ Shadow) on his influences and his first album, Endtroducing…..: 

 “The music has always been more than just a hustle or a good time on the weekends for me; it’s my life. Hip-hop guided me as a young man; it guided my philosophies on life.”    

“With Endtroducing….. I was trying to channel those moments and create something that would transport other people in the way that I was transported by this culture that was so foreign from the environment I grew up in.” He adds, “I think it opened up a new avenue for some people to explore; that more than anything, it was a gateway for others to discover hip-hop.” – DJ Shadow

Talib Kweli: The Long Embrace

FILTER meets up with Talib Kweli in his Los Angeles and Brooklyn area homes to check in with the prolific hip-hop artist as he releases his second solo album, Prisoner of Conscious. The ‘Good Music’ publication digs deep in this conversation with Kweli discussing his history of landmark collaborations, as well as the more recent and seemingly-unlikely collaborations on the new album, including Nelly!?  Kweli shares his insights on the significant changes to hip-hop culture in the last decade and what it’s like being constantly judged on his content.

 “For the artists that have remained conscious, it is a challenge. It’s one of the hardest things to do, to be relevant and be dope and still wear it.” - Talib Kweli, on hip-hop today

Kweli adds, “…I’m moving away from being so hyper-concerned about what’s going on in hip-hop. My hip-hop credentials cannot be debated at this point. I’m who I am at this point; it is what it is. It’s got to be beyond hip-hop. It’s got to be what I do. I can’t be following, trying to keep up with the industry.”

COVER
MILO TURNS 50: DESCENDENTS GROW UP, WHETHER THEY WANT TO OR NOT

FEATURES
TALIB KWELI: THE LONG EMBRACE

YOKOKIMTHURSTON: WATCH THE DRONE

THRALL OF SOUND: AN ELEMENTAL CONVERSATION WITH BJÖRK

REPLYING TO SILENCE: SCOTT WALKER'S NEW HEIGHTS

UNFINISHED SYMPHONIES: THE RE-VISIONARY ART OF COLD WAR KIDS' MATT MAUST

TRIBUTE
I SEE A DARKNESS: THE HISTORY OF DJ SHADOW

F-STOP
HUNTERS: SPLENDOR IN THE GUTTER

SOUND ESCAPES
VICTORIA'S SECRET: RIFFLANDIA GETS FUCKED UP

GETTING TO KNOW
MACKLEMORE & RYAN LEWIS
UNKNOWN MORTAL ORCHESTRA
THE BABIES
THE JOY FORMIDABLE

YOU SHOULD ALREADY KNOW
JASON LYTLE

REVIEWS
ALBUM REVIEWS
DVD DEBRIS

ENDNOTE
by MEL BROOKS