sleater-kinney

Against the common pattern of musicians spiraling off into self-centered isolation as they become more successful, Sleater-Kinney now seem an even more tight-knit band: still intimately involved in the Northwest post-punk activist culture that spawned them-and still musically miles ahead. Profile by Elisabeth Vincentelli.

matmos

Making electronic music with samples of "real things in the world" could mean using drums and guitars. To this duo, it involves recordings they've made of liposuctions and nose jobs. Jay Ruttenberg reports from the frontiers of music and medicine.

aislers set

Tart words and sweet yet spiky tunes make for the most irresistible songs, all crafted in a tiny garage studio. J Neo Marvin gets the lo-fi lowdown from Amy Linton.

missing links

Australia's premier '60s garage band once put out a single that was one of their recordings played backwards-they thought it best captured the feel of their live shows. David Nichols also leads us backwards, through the Links' brief but wild career.

beachwood sparks

Some people say their songs are as recycled as their thrift-store duds, and Beachwood Sparks are fed up with those people. As they tell John Chandler, they just want to be a psychedelic country-rock band for the 21st century. Do you have a problem with that?

mark szabo / capozzi park

The skeletal post-punk of Good Horsey was one of the secret pleasures of the early '90s. Now Franklin Bruno is happy to report the return of Mark Szabo with a new project.

william t. vollmann

His new novel, The Royal Family, is a sprawling epic of prostitutes' lives. Its combination of fierce realism and mythic power reestablishes Vollmann as the preeminent chronicler of contemporary America.

set list

Tunes and toons-popsters meet the Powerpuff Girls; Chicago public-access show Chic-A-Go-Go -- rock TV, indie style; a Puncture writer makes light of the saint Neil Young; Rough Guides attempt to take over the world of music. Plus Great Pop Things

punctureviews

Can Joan of Arc deliver the "soundtrack for heaven" they promised us? Arturo Diaz weighs up The Gap. Also reviewed: Eleventh Dream Day, Go-Betweens, Juliana Hatfield, Delgados, Donner Party, Apples in Stereo, Blonde Redhead, David Grubbs, Dead Prez, Handsome Family, Sarah Dougher, Baptist Generals, Elk City, Grant Hart, Fontanelle, Martin Phillipps, Her Space Holiday, more

books

Walker Evans: two new photo books; fiction by Sherman Alexie, Duncan McLean, and more; stories by cult guitarist John Fahey; Lennon's last days; a novel of post-Nirvana Seattle; Nik Cohn's underground England