“Good Music Will Prevail,” that is the motto we have been championing here at FILTER Magazine headquarters for 10 years. That's right, FILTER, the independently-owned avant-garde music magazine, has now entered its 10th year in print, a pretty massive milestone indeed.

Over the past ten years (2002 - 2012) FILTER Magazine has stayed true to its roots. The publication was founded on the philosophy of printing quality content about quality music, helping fans to discover artists and their stories. From the first issue, On The Dark Side of The Moon with Weezer, which hit newsstands in July 2002, to the upcoming issue 47, on-sale Feb. 17, the magazine’s unwavering dedication to guide people towards good music discovery has kept its readership growing and FILTER readers coming back for more.

So what does this mean for you, the FILTER reader? As the year rolls out, we will be revisiting certain features from every single FILTER Issue ever published including covers stories from David Bowie, Lou Reed & The Strokes, Tom Waits, Bjork and more and we will also look at where all of our Getting To Know artists are now.

10 Years of FILTER : Issue 1: On The Dark Side Of The Moon With Weezer

10 Years of FILTER: Issue #1 Revisited, Getting To Know Bright Eyes, Doves + More (July 2002)

10 Years of FILTER: Issue #2 Cover Story: Björk

10 Years of FILTER: Issue #2 Revisited, Getting To Know Interpol, Jazzanova + More (September, 2002)

10 Years of FILTER: Issue #3 Cover Story: Coldplay

10 Years of FILTER: Issue #3 Revisited, Getting To Know Clinic, Röyksopp + More (Nov/Dec, 2002)

10 Years of FILTER: Issue #4 Cover Story: The Dandy Warhols

10 Years of FILTER: Issue #4 Revisited, Getting To Know 2 Many DJs, The Coral and more (March 2003)

2012 will also feature FILTER's 50th Magazine issue, new content on the FILTER Magazine iPad App, 2012 SXSW Rainey St. takeover with four venue showcases, new Good Music Guides, Coachella Kick Off Party, Official Lollapalooza after parties, and the grandaddy of them all, the third annual Culture Collide Festival.

So be on the lookout everyone. 2012 will be an exciting year for FILTER Magazine.

Good Music Will Prevail.
 

Story continued from Part 1.

Are you always working or writing? Can you turn it off if you need to?

Sure I can. I have to. I do have a state that I live in. Which is why no one ever hears from me. [Laughs.] But this business we call show, it’s rather absurd sometimes when you really think about it, because you think you’re making stuff that’s gonna be around but you’re making popsicles that will sit on bus benches in Florida in the summer and melt. That’s what we’re making, this kind of music, this sound. And then they tell you that you’re the king of something—you’re the king of the schoolyard, king of the front seat, you’re the king of the weeds—just because you can draw really cool pictures on a dirty car with your finger, just ’cause you draw in the dirt with a stick and everyone likes what you do. None of this stuff is designed to stay. Except that you will retain some of it. The first time you heard “Papa’s Got a Brand New Bag.” Ah, man. They do stay with you, these musical things that you squirt into your ear. Some stay, some don’t. They either grow or they don’t.

How bout these band names now, huh? The Slacks? As soon as I hear a band that’s called The Slacks, I think they’ll probably be on the bill with The Bras, The Slippers, The Buttons, The Underwear and The Collars. Maybe it’ll be a festival. Band names.

You didn’t mess around with one of those.

I didn’t have to. I really wish I changed my name when I got started in show business though. It makes you cleaner. That’s the “me”—that’s the ventriloquist and this is the dummy. I wish I’d called myself something else. Bill Brassiere and the Sleepwalking Assassins. Beaumont Zipperhorn and the Canadian Ankle Fans. Jihad Gingerpoodle and the Shoehorn Orchestra. Just so you know the difference between you—the real you—the show, and the reality. Alvin Trickleshirt and the Belvedere Shinolas. One night only. I’m on a roll.

People talk about your benchmark albums, changes in sound: when you jump labels the sound changes, when you met Kathleen the sound changed… What got you from Real Gone to Bad As Me?

I’ll never say. I don’t know. There’s 100 things. Who knows what the ingredients for tunes are when that whole thing starts feeling like a record? Again, you want to know but you really don’t want to know, because if I told you and it wasn’t interesting, you’d go, “Ah, Jesus.” In other words, when you have the truth and you have the myth, print the myth. “Chicago” had just the right number of syllables for that song. Try Reno. Try Miami. Bern, Switzerland. Didn’t work. There’s too many or there’s not enough. This was just right, like the Three Bears. Chicago, Chicago. When you say it, it stops being a town and just sounds like a conjuring word, like abracadabra.

It was the magical solution.

It was for that moment. It’s just travelling music for immigrants. Here’s the truth: We definitely wanted to do three-minute songs, 12 of ’em. No fucking around. I tried to sustain that, to honor that. I thought it was a good idea. Now that you got CDs, you can put 19 of ’em on there, I love that. That’s not always the right idea. So, 13, that’s not bad. I lobbied for one more. Some of those songs are really long and had to be cut down. That “New Year’s Eve” song was really long. It’s about a night that went badly. So you think, “OK, how much do we tell?” Had a little to eat, Marge got food poisoning, Stan lit the sofa on fire, the dog ran away, the car got towed, our neighbors called the cops…there’s a song in there somewhere. You have to pull weeds and you have to do the dishes.

Do you know those people in the songs?

No, it’s code, remember? Protect the innocent. I’ll leave it up to you as to whether there’s a real Sergio or not because it doesn’t really matter. It’s just a song, it’s song logic. That always rules.

Less specifically, can you tell me what a “raised right man” is?

You’ll know when you get married. You’ll know that you aren’t one and you need to be, and you’re not ready. And you’ll know why there’s a sofa in the living room. You’ve not stood before God and had to explain yourself.

Do you see yourself as more of a conductor or as more of a facilitator when it comes to working with other musicians in your studio?

Maybe a little bit of a conjurer. Some of them already dance, but nobody really knows the answer to why a song’s not working. It’s like taking your pet snake to the vet. “I don’t know, Doc, he’s just been laying here for weeks. I can’t even get him to bite me. What do you think it is?” [Laughs.] And everyone is entitled to offer their opinion about what is wrong: “I don’t know, Tom, too much bass.” “Not enough bass.” Well, which is it? “Let’s start over.” “The song is shit.” “No it’s not.” You have great performances on really mediocre songs. Hey, the radio’s full of them. And vice versa. The poor performances of really great songs no one will ever hear. It has to all come together. 

Song ideas have humble beginnings. Stood up on a date, my dog died, my dad was killed in the war… You put yourself in the room with people who are known healers, known entities. Sometimes if you go in there with somebody you’ve never worked with before, something surprising happens. If everybody has already worked together before, many times you’re just gonna chase a chicken around on the beach all day, you’re tired and go hungry. Sometimes you need someone to think outside the boxes. And you gotta trust the people you go in with, just like a cast on a play or a movie. “Let’s get him, man, Harry Dean Stanton, he should be the king! Let’s get Louise Brooks, have her be the queen. Let’s start there.” I work with great people, I know I do because I have an instinct about ’em. Les Claypool, great. Ribot, great. Flea, great. Dave, great. Keith, great. Casey Waits, great. Charlie Musselwhite, indispensable. Charlie brings about 600 harmonicas to a gig. “Jesus, Charlie, we can’t use all of those!” But he knows: If you don’t bring it, you’ll definitely need it. That’s true of every session.

I don’t know how much people want to know about what goes on inside the studio. I don’t even know how much these guys want to be known. Some of ’em, they’ll love to tell you, make shit up. Or tell you what really happened. Fact is I make ’em sign a…whaddya call it?

Non-disclosure agreement?

Yeah, right! They’ll start calling their high school history teacher, sendin’ pictures all over the place… It’s like, this was a private affair here; what happens in here stays in here. ’Course it’s never true, but we’ll all pretend.

That’s the fun part with music, if you really do let yourself go, you do find something. “The bass player had to leave by 9, so there’s no bass on this song.” Well, hey, it was better! Again, I still think we’re drawing in the dirt with a stick. Which is part of the excitement of it, too; there’s a certain energy in the room when you’re doing that. We’re not inventing the wheel here; there’s plenty of wheels, we’re getting the benefit of them. But you have to feel that what you’re doing is somewhat unique, even though there’s really nothing new under the sun. Read Ecclesiastes and you’ll learn all about that. Everything’s being borrowed, forgotten, made-up, left out, cannibalized; everybody does that, it’s that kind of work. In that “Bad As Me” song, when I stop and do that spoken-word thing… “Oh man, that’s Screamin’ Jay Hawkins all day, man!” So what? It’s a tribute to Screamin’ Jay. He’s gone, tip your hat to him. 50 children. So sometimes it’s just that.

Code or not, there seem to be a few hints toward recognizing some sort of mortality here. Or even immortality, like “Last Leaf.” Is that a theme you find creeping in more and more?

Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar. Sometimes the last leaf is just the last leaf. It’s fall. And there’s one more leaf on that tree and he’s not going.

Can you envision reaching a point where you won’t want to do this anymore?

Oh, well, I don’t know, yeah, sure, probably. I need to move on to different things. Who knows where it’s taking you? If you knew exactly what you were doing, it wouldn’t be any fun, would it? You wind up drawing giraffes using Tabasco sauce on the back of coasters with a nail. I could sell those for big money.

I’m sure you could, Tom. Here’s my last question: What does it sound like in your house when you’re the only one awake?

It’s very rare that this place is empty, or quiet, and I’m up. But I do find it fascinating, the things that you notice when you’re trying to be so quiet—if you’re trying to make some eggs at three in the morning, and you get in that drawer with all the pots and pans, what it sounds like. I try to think of that when I’m in the studio, because it is like that, you’re isolating sounds, you’re taking them and putting them in the place where there’s just sound, and then they’re somewhat disembodied, and it’s an interesting thing, what the microphones do—things that happen only because it’s so quiet that you notice and then you want to keep. When the orchestra is tuning up, many times it’s the most interesting moment in the show. They had no idea it was gonna be that exciting, they didn’t even know they were making music. So if you bring in musicians and they’re goofing around getting ready to play, many times you have to pay attention to what they’re doing before they start playing with a capital “P.” They have no idea how interesting what they were doing before they knew they were doing anything was. Acting is the same, you’re kind of catching wildlife.

You gotta get one of those little military-engineered flies to really capture it.

They’re getting smaller and smaller, those things. I have relatives in the C.I.A., that’s how I know all that. Uncle Bill. He risks his life every time he calls me.

And you told it to a man with a tape recorder.

Oh my god. Now I’m gonna have to make you promise that you’ll never print any of this. Alright, this is the last question I’ve got for you: There’s one line that is said more than any other line in the entire history of cinema. Do you know what that line is?

I’m gonna go with… “What’ll it be?”

“What’ll it be?” No, no. That’s pretty good, though. You mean, guy’s walking into a bar and the bartender says, “What’ll it be?” That’s pretty good! It’s probably in the running, but it’s not the one. I can’t give you the prize.

So, what is the number one most-spoken line in cinema?

Here it comes, you ready? “Let’s get outta here.” That’s it. Let’s get out of here.     F

“This is the West, sir. When the legend becomes fact, print the legend.”
—from John Ford’s The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance

 What if it was all true? What if all the stories about the one-armed ship-captain dwarves, incarcerated Minnesotan hookers, dog-hating wild arsonists, bunker-buddies named Sergio with bad coughs, suicidal tramps and string-bean gypsies and out-of-work dancers and transgendered uncles and omniscient ringmasters and orphans and butchers and bricklayers and thieves, what if they were all real? What about the guy sitting on the barstool next to you, the chiseled one with the sandpaper voice and the bowler on backwards, sipping his secret elixir from a brown paper bag, spinning these yarns… Do you think he really knows karate, voodoo too? What if it was all true?

But, though, what if it wasn’t?

According to Tom Waits, it doesn’t matter one way or the other. Print the myth, respect the mystery, protect the innocent—these are the truths he lives by. As he’ll say more than once on this day, the ingredients of songs are code. Besides, according to him, songs are all just tributes anyway—they’re borrowed, stolen, cannibalized, forgotten, made-up, left out, mis-recollected, daydreamt and shape-shifted. So what? It doesn’t seem to get in the way of our enjoyment.

The Waits Legend is well known by now: the early years in Southern California, perfecting his imperfect barroom crooner act with the drunken pianos and unsavory characters of 1970s Los Angeles; meeting his future wife and writing-and-producing partner, Kathleen Brennan, while working on songs for Francis Ford Coppola’s One from the Heart in 1980; their imminent union and how it changed the course of his artistry from lounge act to sonic conquistador; the births of their three children and his retreat into family life; his infrequent but illuminating forays into acting, stage musical composition and performances of his own songs around the world; his insistent compulsion to do things his own way. As an artist, but also as a businessman, performer and—to the best of his ability—as a citizen, Waits maintains complete control of his image and output, whether leaving a major label for an independent or deciding when, where and even if he plays live concerts. It’s not often these days that he chooses to step out of the shadows, down from the metaphorical mountain on his small patch of Northern California land in Sonoma County, to head back into the light. But when he does, he certainly makes his presence known, leaving a dizzying trail of creativity in his wake.

For Waits, even a place as seemingly soul-baring and spotlit as a stage can still be a stronghold. In Waits’ world, a translucent shield extends downward from every proscenium. A phone line contains a filter, his studio players sign non-disclosure agreements, magicians stay mute. To him, we live in a time—sadly—when spy cameras buzz around us always, when information leaks are trophies to be won. To announce his new album, Bad As Me, his first original material in seven years, Waits hosted an online “private” listening party, scripted to be thwarted by a call from the record company: “We have a situation here,” he tells the camera, turning down the music. “Apparently there’s no such thing as ‘private’ anymore. It’s an Internet thing.” It’s a plea to the rest of us to not spoil the surprise, to not betray the wonders of wondering; the irony that the video was itself a leak of information on the Internet was deliciously intended. Is he paranoid, or simply prudent?

In the clip, the solution Waits comes up with, naturally, is a shakedown, one-on-one playback session in a dilapidated old car, with “BAD AS ME OCT. 25 ’11” scribbled on the rear windshield, the singer himself behind the wheel as watchdog. The satisfied smirk and wink he gives the camera says it all: His way, or the highway—though, of course, they’re often one and the same. As he sings on Bad As Me’s “Pay Me”: “The next stage that I am on / It will have wheels.”

The songwriter’s quest to be remembered in this fleeting life never ends, but to Waits, it’s all just finger drawings on a dirty car. “Don’t you feel like that sometimes?” he asks. “You ever think you’re writing about stuff that is kind of like weather…drawing in the dirt with a stick?” On one hand, here’s a man at the age of 61 who’s been singing, writing, performing, making a go of it for over 40 years—and he’s still putting out the best music of his career, his way. On the other, here’s a man at the age of 61 trying to come to terms with the idea that everything he’s done thus far may hang under the branches of impermanence. On the subject of age, he drops this dime, with a new stress for each decade: “29 was rough. 39 was rough. 49 was rough. 59 was rough! Those border towns, those are tough.” It’s reflective, sure, but also sort of triumphant; he’s still here, bad as ever. There are songs about mortality on Bad As Me—“I’m the last leaf on the tree,” he declares on “Last Leaf”—he knows he’s going, someday, but has no plans to go quietly.

If Swordfishtrombones and Rain Dogs signaled a magnificent new direction for Waits in the ’80s, and 1999’s Mule Variations and 2004’s Real Gone proved that not only had he not hung up his apron but instead was just beginning to really cook, Bad As Me is the supreme work of an artist wise enough to pinpoint exactly what he does best, pair it with the brilliance of those talented friends and family members he’s collected over the years, and scale it all down into concise three-minute bursts of beauty and delirium. They elicit the appeal of a Corvette with the efficiency of a Corolla. The opening horn and banjo peel out of “Chicago” sets a frenetic pace that returns a few times throughout the album, including the blues stomps of “Satisfied” and “Raised Right Men” and the screamin’ voodoo crunch of the title track; other numbers, like “Pay Me,” “Back in the Crowd” and “New Year’s Eve,” ring with sweet, sad, slow sincerity and gorgeous guitar work. But the true star of the show, as always, remains Waits’ voice; among his incomparable talents, his mastery of that interior instrument remains his greatest. There’s simply nothing on Earth like it; the metaphors one could use to describe its variant incarnations on Bad As Me alone could outnumber those written by an entire semester’s worth of university poetry students.

When, at the album’s apex on the furious, cacophonic war-lament of “Hell Broke Luce,” Waits—amidst napalm blasts of guitar riffs, “Taps” trumpets and honest-to-god machine gun fire—barks, “Listen to the general, every goddamn word,” it’s a snide attack on those who give political orders, sure, but it also mirrors the way he makes his songs. “A record’s not a democracy,” he says. “Not in my book.” Still, he lightens up when on the subject of working with Brennan, and with those trustworthy few they invited into the holy studio to record: Keith Richards; Flea; Waits’ longtime bandleader Marc Ribot; David Hidalgo of Los Lobos; Les Claypool; the harmonica master Charlie Musselwhite; Waits and Brennan’s own son, Casey, on drums; and a select few others. “You put yourself in the room with known healers,” he says. “I work with great people, I know I do.”

Referring to himself as a conjurer, he rockets off on tangents about the origin of why we use the word “man” to refer to one another and his own “false” family history, gives pop-quizzes about movie trivia and invents outrageous band names at the drop of a hat. Tom Waits exists to entertain. Throughout our phone interview he shifts into characters effortlessly and without warning, holding communion with himself, laughing loudly and often, daring me to give chase. The lights may go down, but he’s always onstage.

When he assures me early in our conversation that “the truth is overrated,” he means it almost as a word of warning, as if to say, I’m going to tolerate your inquiries, but I’m not gonna play you straight. Trust me, it’s better for us both this way. When at one point Waits qualifies what’s about to follow with, “Here’s the truth,” are we fools to believe him? And does it really matter anyway? Sometimes, to understand an artist who says he feels most like himself when at a matinee, the only thing you can do is step right up and get your ticket.

For those of you who missed last week's airing of Wilco's performance on Austin City Limits, fret not, PBS has put it up for you to stream. The Chicago band performed new songs as well as classics from: Being There, Wilco, and Yankee Hotel Foxtrot. Check it out below.

To check out other Austin City Limits episodes, head on over to their site.

Watch Wilco on PBS. See more from Austin City Limits.

2012 marks FILTER Magazine‘s tenth year in print. To celebrate, we are looking back at some of our favorite magazine features, from July 2002’s Issue #1 all the way up to this coming November’s Issue #50.

Getting To Know is a section in the magazine that serves as a good gauge for our predictions of greatness. In FILTER Issue #5, released May/June 2003, we introduced The Ravonettes, Elefant, Verbana, Longwave, Cave In, and Paloalto. Here is a brief look at those artists, then and now.

Stay tuned for Issue #5's complete "Blur: Surviving Soomsday, a True Story" cover story to be posted later this week.

Getting to Know Recap

ISSUE 5:  May/Jun 2003

Photo Courtesy of Cave In

Band: Cave In
Where They Were Then: Gaining critical acclaim and mainstream attention by moving away from their heavy metal roots with the release of their third studio album Antenna.
Where They Are Now: After a three year hiatus, the reformed lineup of Cave In released their fifth full length album, White Silence, in May of 2011.
FILTER Said: Cave In are ready to up the standards of mainstream rock with their multi-layered compositions and intricate harmonies, while still delivering fun, loud rock shows.
They Said: “I’m not gonna say we grew out of metal because we certainly haven’t. I mean, I still love heavy music, but this feels more our niche.”

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Band: The Raveonettes
Where They Were Then: About to release their first full-length album Chain Gang of Love, while broadening their musical sound beyond their “under three minute” rules.
Where They Are Now: The Raveonettes have been incredibly busy touring their latest studio album Raven in the Grave (2011), and releasing a newly packaged B-sides and rarities collection.
FILTER Said: Something else that distinguishes this brave duo from the denizens is a four-part Code of Conduct they instituted for Whip It On. The Songs all consist of three chords in B-flat minor, contain no high-hat or ride cymbals and are under three minutes apiece.
Band Said: “It’s a challenge to have all the songs stick out and have personalities when they’re all in the same key.”

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Photo by Mayumi Nashida

Band: Longwave
Where They Were Then: Following the New York buzz and hype of their debut EP, Endsongs (2000), through to the release of their sophomore album The Strangest Things, Longwave was making a name for themselves in Europe and with heavy hitter bands such as The Vines, and The Strokes.
Where They Are Now: After a series of three EPs and another full-length album, Longwave changed labels and most recently released Secrets Are Sinister in 2008.
FILTER Said: Longwave’s music manages to be both grand and intimate all at once. And despite the fact they have emerged from a scene hyped to the hilt, they have also somehow managed to maintain a unique and separate identity.
Band Said: “Maybe it was naïve of us, but I think we thought they would take the record as it is, rather than placing us in this particular New York scene. I guess what we hope is, despite that, people can eventually relate to the album on its own and find something in it that they enjoy.”

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Photo Courtesy of Paloalto

Band: Paloalto
Where They Were Then: Exploring the world of mid-level success with the release of their second album Heroes & Villains produced by Rick Rubin.
Where They Are Now: While the band is still technically active, Paloalto has not released a new album since Heroes & Villains. Grundler and Black are now part of a new band project: Golden State.
FILTER Said: Paloalto is a nice band that you might be able to share with your dad if they ever make it to an arena. And they want to make it to an arena.
Band Said: “Music was never supposed to be viewed as such a commercialized thing, although it can be commercial and there is success involved and that’s great, but I think people need to really realize what music should have to offer. It should offer you something with a little more depth to it. That’s my opinion anyway.”

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Band: Elefant
Where They Were Then: Elefant was a confident foursome constantly being praised and loved for their explosive debut album Sunlight Makes Me Paranoid.
Where They Are Now: Broken up. Elefant only released two full-length studio albums before their quiet 2010 departure from the music scene: Sunlight Makes Me Paranoid, and The Black Magic Show (2006).
FILTER Said: The music which I’ve been hearing on record for days now, ignites and glows and warms and is suddenly bigger, richer. Elefant have been “good” from the get-go, but tonight, even I have to admit, they are very near something like “great.”
Band Said: “It would have been really easy for us to make a raw record, but we tried to do something that would get people dancing again. We wanted to test ourselves. I’m glad we’re doing more dance than rock. That’s more where I am, at least. Stupid dance beats, sweet songs.”
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Photo Courtesy of Verbana

Band: Verbena
Where They Were Then: A no frills southern rock and roll band who just released their third album, La Musica Negra.
Where They Are Now: Verbena broke up after an extensive tour in support of La Musica Negra.
FILTER Said: It is unapologetic rock music made by Southern Americans armed only with guitar, bass and drums. Sounds horribly dull, until you remember that no one is doing very well with that kind of simplicity anymore. Supposed reinvention of things past, instead of a simple remembrance of things past, is sort of a lost art.
Band Said: “All you can really do is reflect your times, or what you’re going through. You’re not supposed to take your cues from every magazine or every little thing that’s going on. Just tell stories and deal.”


PREVIOUS "10 YEARS OF FILTER" FEATURES

Issue #1 (July 2002) Getting To Know: Bright Eyes, Doves, Balligomingo, South and Breakestra
Issue #1 (July 2002) Cover Story: On the Dark Side of the Moon with Weezer
Issue #2 (September 2002) Getting To Know: Haven, Interpol, Division of Laura Lee, Jazzanova and The Cato Salsa Experience
Issue #2 (September 2002) Cover Story: Björk: Look Back In Wonder
Issue #3 (Nov/Dec 2002) Getting To Know: Clinic, Röyksopp, Thievery Corporation, Hot Hot Heat & The Pattern, Ikara Colt , The Music
Issue #3 (Nov/Dec 2002) Cover Story: Coldplay: At Home In the World
Issue #4 (February/March 2003) Getting To Know: 2 Many DJs, The Datsuns, The Microphones, Turin Brakes, Muggs, and The Coral
Issue #4 (February/March 2003) Cover Story: Art Imitating Life Imitating…THE DANDY WARHOLS

Not long after he announced his upcoming 12" single for "Towers," Bon Iver has announced his very short, spring tour. The tour begins in early March in Australia and comes to North America in mid-April. Check out the dates below.

Last summer, for Filter 44, we spent some time with Justin Vernon, read our account of it here.

Tour Dates:

April
12, Las Vegas, NV - The Joint *
14, Indio, CA - Coachella
17, Davis, CA - Freeborn Hall @ UC Davis *
19, San Francisco, CA - Bill Graham Civic Auditorium *
21, Indio, CA - Coachella
22, Santa Barbar, CA - Santa Barbara Bowl *
23, Tucson, AZ - AVA Amphitheater
27, New Orleans, LA - New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival

May
27 George, WA - Sasquatch

* with All Tiny Creatures

FILTER likes music. There's no hiding it. We also like our own opinions a whole bunch, so once a week we give the masses a fleeting glimpse into our selective stereos and Internet browsers to let them see firsthand what fuels our endless devotion. We like to think of it as community service. We're selfless like that. So without further ado, here are the official, inarguable, objectively good FILTER Weekly Picks—providing everything from new LPs you should be spinning to the latest good-fer-you videos. Yeah, we're good at what we do:

AIR, Le Voyage Dans La Lune
Why: Sit back, relax and take a trip to the moon with AIR. - Mike Bell 





Gotye - Making Mirrors
Why: This record just continues to impress. - Alan Sartirana





Wolves
Why: I saw The Grey this weekend, the new Liam-Neeson-stranded-in-the-Alaskan-tundra movie. Wolves--computer-generated as they may sometimes be--are the new scary clowns of action/suspense movies. The movie was just OK though. - Pat McGuire





Stephen Eichorn
Why: When it's cold and dreary, I depend on the light in his art. He has such distinct style, and is a super nice human being as well. He's collaborating with Chicago fashion designers creatures of the wind for their show at fashion week in NYC on Thursday. - Monique Gilbert





Drive
Why: I just bought this on Blu-Ray and the lady at Best Buy asked me, "Did you see this already?" I said, "Yea," she said "Did you like it?" I said "yea" she said "I hated it." Good sales technique. Moral of the story, don't listen to the sales girl, Drive ruled. - Tim Dove





Escuela Taqueria
Why: It is delicious. Mmmmmm - Andrea Narvaez

Ah, yes. OK Go has done it again. The stunt-hungry band does yet another obstacle-topping music video. This time around the guys got some help from the folks of Chevy motors, and added a whole other innovative level. Superbowl viewers this year caught a glimpse of the reel. Check out the music video in full below!

Directed by Brian L. Perkins, who lensed the marching band version of OK Go's "This Too Shall Pass" and Damian Kulash, Jr., the band's lead vocalist, "Needing/Getting" was shot in the desert outside Los Angeles. A Chevy Sonic was outfitted with retractable pneumatic arms designed to play the 1,000+ instruments that OK Go set up along the two-mile course. The video took four months of preparation and four days to shoot.  There are no ringers or stand-ins - Damian took stunt-driving lessons.  For behind-the-scenes footage, visit Here.

The Brooklyn band, Here We Go Magic, are se to release their forthcoming album, A Different Ship, May 8th via Secretly Canadian. You can listen to their first single, "Make Up Your Mind," below.

The song is made up of four minutes of hyperactivity, which is at times repetitive and filled with indistinct lyrics--this, though, doesn't take from how much it makes you want to jump out and start dancing.

Also, don't forget to check out the album's tracklist below.

Tracklist:

01 “Intro”
02 “Hard To Be Close”
03 “Make Up Your Mind”
04 “Alone But Moving”
05 “I Believe In Action”
06 “Over The Ocean”
07 “Made To Be Old”
08 “How Do I Know”
09 “Miracle Of Mary”
10 “A Different Ship”

Glasgow's Admiral Fallow have just released their new single, "Squealing Pigs" digitally via Lo-Five Records/INgrooves. Below, you can also catch an extended version of one of their tunes, "Delivered."

"Squealing Pigs" is the lead track from the band's 2011 debut release Boots Met My Face and it even appeared in a commercial for GE during the 2012 Super Bowl and below, you can stream/download "Delivered, Alternate Version."

Admiral Fallow will be releasing their second album later in 2012 followed by a US tour. More details on that to come.

To find more info on Admiral Fallow, click here.

Reigning from Upstate New York and Princeton, New Jersey, the classified "mid-fi" smooth funk sounds spun by artist Com Truise have caught ears of many tastemakers in the blogsphere. Com Truise will be bringing his live set Los Angeles for this Tuesday's Check Yo Ponytail 2 show (2/7). To get curious listeners and all the CYP2 show-goers stoked, Com Truise graciously shares a mixtape that way even those who aren't LA-based can vibe-in. Download the free set of mixed picks and tracks by Com Truise below (see track listing for more information)! 

COM TRUISE - Check Yo Ponytail Mixtape by Check Yo Ponytail

Flow into Com Truise's experimental and "bottom heavy" style with this mixtape and tell us what you think! For more information on CYP2, click Here.

We know well that all you fanatics of The Shins are eager for their upcoming record, Port Of Morrow, out March 20th via Columbia and James Mercer's own label, Aural Apothecary. To ease some of that tension you've accumulated in anticipation of the new album, the band has released the music video for the B-side of the upcoming "Simple Song" 7". The b-side is the new song, "September." Take a listen below.

The 7" will be out this Valentine's Day, just a few days from now via Columbia/Aural Apothecary.

Catch their tour dates below.

The video is quite simple, garnering different sequences where the song's tape--with lyrics printed on it--floats around a room, and goes through the usual old school means tape was until recently played on. Catch it below.

The Shins: “September” (b-side of “Simple Song” 7”) from Record Store Day on Vimeo.

We got a taste of Shearwater's Animal Joy with the single "Breaking the Yearlings". Check out a full preview of the album over at NPR's First Listen.  The band will celebrate the release of their Sub Pop debut Animal Joy on February 14, 2012, so keep an eye out!

Stream Shearwater's Animal Joy via NPR's First Listen.

For more information on Shearwater, visit Here. 

South Africa's beloved indie rock band, The Parlotones, are pleased to announce the release of their fifth studio album, Journey Through the Shadows, on May 8th via Sovereign Entertainment USA. Recorded in Johannesburg and Cape Town during the final months of 2011, the new album includes 11 brand new tracks of their undeniable romantic and anthemic rock sound, while offering several surprises along the way. The band has also unleashed the first single off the record, entitled "Save Your Best Bits" and can be downloaded below. 

The band will are headed over to the U.S. starting with a stop at SXSW in Austin before launching a 27-city tour of the U.S. kicking off on May 17 at the Roxy in Los Angeles. Make sure to keep an eye out for The Parlotones at a venue near you! 

Austin City Limits will be airing their next installment of ACL TV via PBS featuring Chicago natives Wilco (FILTER Magazine Cover alum Issue #25). Tune in Saturday February 4th to watch the  celebrated sextet play tunes from their latest record The Whole Love and others from Yankee Hotel Foxtrot and more. You never know, you might catch a guest appearance by Nick Lowe! Check your local listings for the airing of ACL TV's productions aired via PBS. 

To catch up on the past aired episodes of ACL TV for performances from highly acclaimed artists such as Fleet Foxes, Coldplay, Arcade Fire and mor e visit Here.

Wilco at ACL: Behind the Scenes "War On War" from Jonathan Jackson on Vimeo.