ADHOC N˚7 ADHOC N˚7 “All inquiry into antiquity, all shows. But by dissecting facets we read, must become Greeks, curiosity respecting the of the There or Then in this issue, Romans, Turks, priest and king, Pyramids, the excavated cities, AdHoc seeks to unlock the Here martyr and executioner; must Stonehenge, the Ohio Circles, and Now. fasten these images to some Mexico, Memphis—is the desire reality in our secret experience, to do away with this wild, savage, Dub is a decades-old genre, or we shall learn nothing rightly.” and preposterous There or Then, for example, but its traits are The topics discussed in the and introduce in its place the malleable and, as such, ever-rel- subsequent pages render more Here and the Now.” evant. Maverick artists have explicitly the presentness of Ralph Waldo Emerson mined dub’s roots and principles history. Don’t treat the music “History” (1841) throughout the genre’s history, of the past like a relic; instead, imbuing their own revolutionary fasten it to some reality in your This month, AdHoc looks back. musics with the spirit—and im- secret experience. In the first iteration of our newly portantly, the bass—of dub to expanded bimonthly zine, Mike break down various cultural and Sugarman outlines the history political hierarchies. In present of British label Planet Mu; Beth day British grime, the aesthetic Tolmach looks back to dub’s for- and ideological histories of dub mations and traces its iterations are emphatically present. Grime from then to now; Bobby Power artists honor the dub heroes of speaks with veteran artist Robert yore, not with distant worship but A.A. Lowe and living legend Ariel fluid and tactile engagement. Kalma; Miguel Gallego inter- views pop guru Todd Rundgren Prefab Sprout’s Steve and dissects Prefab Sprout’s McQueen further demystifies 1985 opus, Steve McQueen; and our conceptions of the hero. a host of AdHoc contributors As Gallego notes, whether it’s dish on our favorite albums of country singer Faron Young or the very recent past: 2015 thus the album’s titular handsome far. In each instance, we learn actor, Prefab Sprout presents from the past, from established a way of showing reverence for genius. Us music fans love the our heroes while integrating their past after all. We’re happy to legacies into our own time and shell out for reissues and reunion place. Emerson writes, “We, as Senior Editor Founding Editors Contrib. Editors Copy Editors Contrib. Writers Design Mike Sugarman Emilie Friedlander Joe Bucciero Tyler Richman Miguel Gallego Sharon Gong Ric Leichtung Bobby Power Aaron Goldstein Tabs Out Cover Beth Tolmach Nate Young 02 ADHOC EVENTS 05.30.15 06.13.15 06.26.15 07.12.15 DJ Earl, Lil Jabba, Rezzie Fathers of Footwork w/ Fungi Girls KHF, Gold Dime, Radio Shock, Elvis Guesthouse DJ Spinn, Traxman, RP Boo, Alphaville 999Reversus, Painted Faces Total Freedom, Tripletrain Trans-Pecos Palisades 05.30.15 06.26.15 Yvette, Eartheater, Destruction Unit, Vanity, 07.17.15 Dreamcrusher, Unisex 06.16.15 Shredded Nerve Elvis Depressedly, Alphaville Iceage, Amen Dunes, Low Life Palisades Mitski, Eskimeaux 315 Ten Eyck Palisades 06.06.15 06.26.15 Merchandise, Nothing, 06.14.15 Old Gray, Milo, Clique 07.19.15 Cloakroom Shifted, Skarn Silent Barn Arabrot, Pinkish Black Palisades Good Room Studio at Webster Hall 06.27.15 06.06.15 06.19.15 Uniform, Rectal Hygienics, 07.22.15 Nothing, Merchandise, Azar Swan, Clay Rendering, Unholy 2, Ligature, Astral Knife Cold Cave, Genesis Breyer Cloakroom Them Are Us Too, Pawns Trans-Pecos P-Orridge, Black Rain Baby’s All Right Palisades The Wick 07.03.15 06.06.15 06.20.15 Circuit des Yeux 08.01.15 Obliterations Jaga Jazzist, Taylor McFerrin Trans-Pecos Power Trip, Foreseen, Studio @ Webster Hall Webster Hall Red Death Palisades 07.05.15 06.08.15 06.21.15 Swirlies, Laced, DJ Ning Nong Flowers of Evil, OCDPP, RVIVR, War On Baby’s All Right 08.18.15 Surfbort, DJ Drew Women, Arm Candy Mac DeMarco Citron (Beverly) Palisades Webster Hall Alphaville 07.06.15 Nude Beach, Outer 06.22.15 Spaces, Mark Perro & 09.12.15 06.12.15 Naomi Punk, PC Worship Holly Overton, Rips Moon Duo Holydrug Couple, Palisades Silent Barn Baby’s All Right Hubble, LODRO Alphaville ‘ 06.25.15 07.07.15 Desaparecidos, The Death Grips 06.13.15 So So Glos Webster Hall Xiu Xiu, bottoms, Eula Shea Stadium Palisades 03 ADHOC N˚7 Miguel INTERVIEW 05 Gallego WITH TODD RUNDGREN Mike IN THE FUTURE FOR 20 YEARS: 10 Sugarman A RETROSPECTIVE OF PLANET MU Beth ROOTS REVOLUTION: 17 Tolmach WHY DUB MATTERS Tabs WHO HAS TAPES 22 Out ANYMORE? #20 Bobby “WHEN THE BIRD STOPS, 27 Power WHAT RESONATES IN US?” Ad THE BEST ALBUMS 33 Hoc OF 2015 SO FAR Mike INTERVIEW 49 Sugarman WITH NATE YOUNG Miguel WORDS DON’T HOLD YOU: 52 Gallego PADDY MCALOON, FARON YOUNG, AND STEVE MCQUEEN 04 ADHOC N˚7 “SOMETHING IS GOING TO GET IN MY HEAD” AN INTERVIEW WITH TODD RUNDGREN MIGUEL GALLEGO TALKS TO THE INNOVATOR AND HITMAKER TODD RUNDGREN ABOUT HIS NEW ALBUM AND THE STATE OF TECHNOLOGY IN MUSIC. Todd Rundgren seems, perhaps once, Rundgren has, throughout riety as a member of The Nazz more than any other survivor of his career, embodied the cultural and later achieved mainstream the classic rock era, born for our omnivorousness that today’s age success as a solo artist with contemporary time. A devoted demands of musicians. At its out- 1972’s Something/Anything? A technophile, relentless experi- set, Rundgren’s career was fairly veritable pop compendium, the menter, and pop scholar all at traditional. He first gained noto- record included his biggest hit, 05 ADHOC N˚7 ously, strictly formatted radio. Music was pretty awful, at least for me, before the Beatles broke, because it was sort of formulas that involved making judgements not based on the music but based on how cute the frontman was [laughs]. [It consisted of] hiring the right songwriter and the right arranger and the right studio musicians, and basical- ly mixing something up as if it were a classic cocktail. The “Hello It’s Me.” Around this time discussing—but ultimately en- Beatles came over and they Rundgren also began making a compassed Rundgren’s legacy, changed that formula because it name for himself as a producer his thoughts on the contem- was no longer one cute person for acts like Hall & Oates, Grand porary music industry, and his upfront [while] everyone else Funk Railroad, New York Dolls, relationship with technology and was a faceless backup musician. and XTC. His double life as a new sounds. This interview took Suddenly you saw these producer allowed Rundgren to place prior to the passing of BB four people as equals in a way. experiment freely with his solo King, whose lifelong commitment You had to know everybody who records—a freedom he eagerly to performing is subject to tall was in the band. That kind of embraced in Something/Any- praise from Todd Rundgren. gave you your interest in details thing?’s tremendously influential in what was going in the music follow up, A Wizard, A True Star. you were listening to. And since the Beatles became so popu- Today Rundgren is just as pro- What is it that motivates lar—and yet they were also so lific as ever. 2015 has seen the you to continually musically restless and involved release of two records: a solo experiment with different forms and genres—it record entitled Global, and an different genres and just became accepted that you off-the-wall collaboration with artists? wouldn’t do the same record Serena-Maneesh frontman Emil every time. The anticipation for Nikolaisen and disco-maven Beatles records was always like Hans-Peter Lindstrøm called TR I don’t know! It’s not like where were they going to go Runddans. We caught up with I ever stopped. It’s probably next? What would be the flavor Todd in a brief interview during because I grew up in a more of the music? The new recipe his tour with Dam-Funk in sup- musically liberal era. I came of [was] aggressively combining port of Global. The interview age about when the Beatles genres with their own kind of was ostensibly meant to dis- were conquering the world. But sensibility. When I got to be a cuss Runddans—he had to be that kind of started a whole musician myself, I always as- reminded which record we were breakdown of what was, previ- sumed that that’s what you did. 06 ADHOC N˚7 You established yourself musi- to promote themselves. And so, cally, but once you did, you had Do you see that kind of to me, there’s like two different the freedom to explore other formulaic cynicism in worlds. There’s the world of things and absorb new influ- place in contemporary whoever it is that makes those ences. And doing that you sort music, or do you think Grammy-winning records and of educated the audience and that today is also the world of completely inde- influenced other musicians to musically liberal? pendent musicians who are free be more aggressive in exploring to do anything they want and other genres. So that was kind free to promote themselves any of what we did until disco music TR We live in overlapping uni- way they want and who don’t came out and everything went verses. The music business that necessarily crave the same back that to that old formula of everyone thinks is music busi- kind of recognition that some- finding some front person or ness—i.e., the business that gives body like Taylor Swift needs.