A chat with Scottish popsters the Pastels; Tony Conrad's recreation of a minimalist legend; a fond farewell -- and new beginnings -- for the Posies; the Jamaican jazz of Dean Fraser and Ernest Ranglin
First they sparked jaded hipster ears with their sharp, tantalizing songs; now the Anglo-Indian mavericks have Oasis audiences singing along to surprise hit "Brimful of Asha." Their smarts are abundantly evident, their musical scope is extraordinary, but they're not exactly leaping for joy. Jay Ruttenberg meets a band who aren't even sure they want to be a band
Their magical surrealist songs are far from straightforward, yet they're the perfect cure for an irony overdose. Mike McGonigal spent a night at the Neutral Milk Hotel, discovering not so much a school of music as a way of life
Conducting an interview in a posh Chicago hotel lobby, Liam Hayes doesn't look like an obscure Palace sideman and indie balladeer. But he is -- at least for now
"I envy the way they sum up a friendship, or commemorate an entire city with two chords and a few words," says Franklin Bruno, childhood pal of the Callaci brothers and fellow bard of the Inland Empire. It's about roots . . .
"This is a way of life. It has to be. It's impossible to do much more than scrape by. It's such an underground language." That's the state of avant-garde jazz, according to one of its finest practitioners. Steve Tignor listens
Puncture's new mouthing-off column offers a platform to the Mountain Goats' John Darnielle, who's hooked on Suede and opines: "indie rock is a corpse" -- until he hears . . .
Leading off with Royal Trux, the band who've raised shooting yourself in the foot into an art form, we cover a season's crucial music, from the Donnas to the Dead C, Freakwater to Free Kitten, new Come to old Cream
Which Beatle was really most avant?; Will Self profiled, hooting and hugging; Tom Frank at the admen's feet; Richard Hell's drug-odyssey fiction. Plus: Badfinger's tragedy, women filmmakers, global pop
We ran out of room for J Neo Marvin's blow-by-blow account of this spring's big fest in SF (including another Flaming Lips "event")-but you can read all about it for free here!