Starting TODAY, our triumphant new issue, FILTER 48: "Sigur Rós: A Far Off Place” is available on stands everywhere! So if you don't have a yearly subscription yet (why wait longer?), head to your local Barnes and Noble, Bookstar, Waldenbooks, Hastings, B. Dalton, national newsstands, independent music retailers, or wherever your source of choice is, and pick up the new issue. Be sure to let us know what you think of it over at facebook.com/FILTERmagazine; we have a feeling you're going to love it.
FILTER Magazine’s third annual Culture Collide Festival will return to Los Angeles this October 4-7, bringing four days of incredible music, art, film and more to Echo Park. As one of the most buzzed about festivals of the fall season, Culture Collide will welcome performances by of Montreal (US), Junip (Sweden), School of Seven Bells (US), Clinic (United Kingdom), Penguin Prison (US), Class Actress (US), Dean Wareham Plays Galaxie 500 (US), John Talabot (Spain), Breakestra (US) and Tribes (United Kingdom), American Royalty (US), Moss (Netherlands), The Standards (Thailand), The Kavanaghs (Argentina), and Marit Larsen (Norway), with many more to be announced soon.
This years’ four-day festival will celebrate the convergence of cultures upon Los Angeles by welcoming artists from across the globe. Festival attendees will experience full-band live performances as well as intimate acoustic sets, film screenings, and happy hours featuring free food and drinks from around the world at a variety of venues.
The 2012 Culture Collide Festival will take place on ten unique Los Angeles stages and will wrap up with an all-day block party on Sunday, October 7th.
A limited number of Culture Collide festival wristbands are now available, priced at just $20 at Ticket Web. Wristbands have sold out the past two years, and with many more artists to be announced in the coming weeks, early wristband purchase is strongly recommended.
FILTER Magazine’s Culture Collide Festival is presented by S.O.Terik. Additional sponsors include Slacker Radio, Onitsuka Tiger and Aqua Hydrate. Promotional partners include The City of Echo Park, LA Weekly and KCRW (89.9FM and KCRW.com).
You can get more info about Culture Collide as well as view all participating countries, artists, festival activities and more at culturecollide.com and via the FILTER Magazine Facebook and Twitter.
Be sure to also follow FILTER on Instagram for special on the ground photos, contests and more! @FILTERMagazine.
Skyline Pigeons is a shoegaze-rock/psych-pop group from Los Angeles, CA. Members Roxanne and Caroline originally hail from the Northeast cities of Philadelphia and Toronto. On the East, the musician-sisters began playing classical piano, violin, flute and guitar. In 2001 they moved out West to Santa Barbara, CA and in 2009 they migrated to Los Angeles, CA and formed “Skyline Pigeons” with Andrew Harrison, Ben Potter, and Orly Gal. Their musical style seeks to reflect personal stories of romantic fury, social contemplation, and lived experience. While the sound of the Skyline Pigeons draws from elements of pop, expect to hear strands of country twang and driving force of post-punk, as well as the silky hue of psychedelic rock rifts.
Who are your main influences?
We are very much influenced by memories and the recognition of capturing a moment through song. We tend to write most freely when we let the creative juices flow like a stream of consciousness without placing any boundaries on the song’s structure or lyrical content. We like recording these processes and labeling them with dates and times just as one would do with items of nostalgia. This also helps us try and remember what we’ve written while in a transcendental mindset that lacks hesitation and promotes a “sonic libido” or a notion that feels gratifying to the senses.
In terms of style and vibe I feel like we are mostly influenced by the harmonies and melodies of the late 50’s and early 60’s and psychedelic rock and folk music. We’re inspired by the cultural consciousness and atmospheric projections of Bob Dylan, The Doors, The Velvet Underground, Elton John, and Leonard Cohen. The way Leonard Cohen grasps and chills an audience with such undying resolution and delivery is so consuming and inspiring. Mazzy Star, PJ Harvey, and Cat Power are more contemporary groups/songwriters we have grown up listening to as budding songwriters and have been influenced by their husky reverb meshed voices, instrumental choices, and simplistic and atmospheric musical arrangements.
How did you meet?
Caroline and I (Roxanne) are sisters and so we’ve been writing music and lyrics together since adolescence and teenage youth. At the start of our collaboration Caroline would often write these beautiful piano compositions in her bedroom, and then we would try to match some of my (Roxanne) post-modern poetry to the tunes with simple melodies. This method evolved over time as I picked up the guitar and we formed a five-piece band in Los Angeles with Andrew Harrison (lead guitar), Ben Potter (Drums), and Orly Gal (bass). We met Andrew in college and he introduced us to his Colorado hometown friend Ben, who is studying percussion at the Music Institute in Hollywood. From constantly playing in the Los Angeles music scene, we soon met Orly and she began playing bass for us. Mostly with our songs we try to tell stories and communicate a vibe that is authentic yet accessible. “We write the songs in their most raw form and then we can all work meticulously on the arrangement but only after the spark of conception has occurred” – Caroline.
Indie-pop duo ChesterFrench have released their new single "InterestingTimes." The song is part of their album Music4 TNGRS to be released in June. With the group's 2009 album Love Is The Future setting a high standard, singer D.A. Wallach and multi-instrumentalist Max Drummey don't' disappoint. With bright bass and synthesizer notes contrasting dark lyrics, the song will easily find its way onto your summer playlist in anticipation of the full album. Listen to the new track below. For more information on Chester French, visit their website.
Sleigh Bells have released a new live video for their anthemic "Demons" from Reign of Terror. The video was directed by the band's Derek Miller, as well as Gregory Kohn, and was filmed during recent shows in Omaha, Oklahoma City, Dallas and Houston.
It's clear that the directors were inspired by Pantera for the video features numerous dimly-lit shots of headbanging and crowd-surfing. Plus, it's just epic. Watch the video for "Demons" below.
Diplo also released a remix of Sleigh Bells' "Demons" via his SoundCloud page. Listen to "Demons" (Diplo remix) below.
Sleigh Bells also recently announced a string a U.S. tour dates that will take place this summer. Check out the tour dates below.
Sleigh Bells tour dates:
July
02, Burlington, VT - Higher Ground *%
03, Boston, MA - House of Blues *%
05, Montreal, Quebec - Corona %
06, Ottawa, Ontario - Ottawa Blues Festival
07, Buffalo, NY - Town Ballroom *%
09, Cleveland, OH - House of Blues *%
10, Grand Rapids, MI - The Intersection * %
12, Kansas City, MO - Beaumont Club %
13, Louisville, KY - Forecastle Fest
14, Chicago, IL - Pitchfork Music Festival
16, Atlanta, GA - Center Stage %
17, Raleigh, NC - Lincoln Theater *%
18, Pittsburgh, PA - Mr. Smalls *%
20, Philadelphia, PA - Penn’s Landing
22, Washington, DC - Merriweather Post Pavilion #@
* with Class Actress
% with Jel ! with Dave P
& Sammy Slice, Making Time DJs
# with Hot Chip
@ with James Murphy (DJ set)
2:54 has unveiled their new video for “Creeping,” the lead single off their self-titled debut which is set to hit the streets on May 28. “Creeping” is also the same song that generated buzz when the duo posted a home-recorded version on the Internet over than a year ago. The version that appears on record ws produced by Alan Moulder (The Jesus and Mary Chain, Ride, My Bloody Valentine).
The video features sisters Colette and Hannah Thurlow in a tiny studio seemingly rehearsing “Creeping” just for kicks. If this is rehearsal time, however, that's really saying something. The video repeatedly cuts from the band to Hannah’s red-wine Jazzmaster to Colette’s hypnotic singing and creates the illusion that you’re in their cramped studio watching to them practice from amongst the clutter of speaker cabinets and mic stands.
After you watch the video, be sure to check out 2:54’s upcoming tour with Widowspeak and grab yourself a ticket to the real show.
Tour Dates
June
09 Brooklyn, NY - Knitting Factory
10 Washington, DC - Rocknroll Hotel
11 New York, NY - Mercury Lounge
13 Boston, MA - TT The Bears
14 Montreal, QUE - Divan Orange
15 Toronto, ONT - NXNE/Lee's Palace
17 Chicago, IL - Empty Bottle
18 Minneapolis, MN - Triple Rock
21 Seattle, WA - The Crocodile
22 Portland, OR - Doug Fir Lounge
23 Vancouver, BC - Biltmore
25 San Francisco, CA - Independent
26 Los Angeles, CA - Troubadour
27 San Diego, CA - Casbah
Like Pioneers Oh, Magic - ABANDONED LOVE FILTER Grade: 80%
On their first album, Like Pioneers presented a decent selection of Chicago indie rock, despite getting together and recording in just a few days. On their sophomore effort, that initial chemistry has evolved into a fuller, more realized sound as well as more focused songwriting. Hooks abound from start to finish, and it’s a band whose love of music carries through thusly, giving Oh, Magic an exuberance that’s pretty infectious.
Dope Body Natural History - DRAG CITY FILTER Grade: 84%
Dope Body is a Baltimore four-piece with a slew of low, sludgy, heavy, depressed grunge anthems under its belt. For all these negative adjectives, Natural History is an invigorating listen, which may say as much about today as it does about the band. When frontman Andrew Laumman quips, “I’m just talking shit,” after the rousing chorus of “Do what you wanna do / See what you wanna see / Go where you wanna go” (“Road Dog”), you can’t help but chuckle. It’s like Queens of the Stone Age if they actually were stoners. “Beat” then follows with the Henry Rollins spittle of “Hey, you talking to me? / I didn’t think so.” Throughout, the album spends 40 minutes just begging for a fight before...
Stepdad will be dropping their new album, Wildlife Pop, on June 12th which includes the track, "My Leather, My Fur, My Nails." Today, we want to show you the Total Warr remix of the tune.
Total Warr transforms the tune from a rolling dance track into a stop and go, slow dancer that seems almost unrecognizable from the original.
Check it out and download it below.
Keep an eye out for the original version of "My Leather, My Fur, My Nails" and all of its music friends on the Wildlife Pop album, out June 12 via Black Bell Records.
Somewhere between backwoods Americana folk and punk-styled lyrics, you will find River City Extension and we couldn't think of a better track to showcase this sound than RCE's "Glastonbury."
Filling your ears with jangly guitars, shimmering cymbals, some fiddles and haunting vocal lines, "Glastonbury" takes River City Extension to a new playing field of music.
Stream and download the tune below and be sure to pick up Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Your Anger, out June 5 on XOXO.
You can also catch the ensemble on the road this summer. Check out the dates below along with another tune.
VIEW THE NEWSLETTERS