HYPE WILLIAMS DJ MIKEQ TIM HECKER PARIAH INS TRA:MENTAL CARL CRAIG 138 MAR / APR 2011 ACCELERATING MUSIC & CULTURE XLR8R.COM $ P $ P 6 R 4 R . INTED 99 US . INTED 99 US O O / $ CANADA N 100% N 100% N 100% N 100% 6 . 99 CANADA 99 CANADA KODE9 + R R ECYC ECYC L L THE SPACEAPE ED PAPE XLR8R. ED PAPE XLR8R. LIFE AFTER THE C R C R OM OM DUBSTEP APOCALYPSE. THE PRICE YOU SEE IS THE PRICE YOU PAY AVAILABLE ON iPhone® AND Android™ stickybits® is a registered trademark of stickybits, Inc. iPhone is a trademark of Apple, Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries. Android is a trademark of Google Inc. Use of this trademark is subject to Google Permissions. ©2011 Scion, a marque of Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A., Inc. All rights reserved. Scion, the Scion logo, tC, xD and xB are trademarks of Toyota Motor Corporation. TYNP96170000 25865 Attik Oris NA Scion_PurePrice_Spread_18x10.875_XLR8R.ai M25865_PP_Spd_18x10.875_XLR8R bt 02.04.11 7401 JA Cyan Magenta Yellow Black 18” [w] x 10.875” [h] GC 18.25” [w] x 11.125” [h] MB 17” [w] x 10.375” [h] GG CMYK MM DIN 300 dpi THIS MECHANICAL IS BUILT AT ACTUAL SIZE – 18”x10.875” XLR8R - MARCH ‘11 INSERTION 1 38 March / April 2011 KiNK 10 Maya Jane Coles 12 Hype Williams 14 Pariah 16 Planet E 18 Rainbow Arabia 20 Labels We Love: Cascine 22 Elements 24 Kode9 and The Spaceape 26 Tim Hecker 38 Strictly Ballroom 44 Instra:Mental 52 Leif Podhajsky 58 Album Reviews 65 Bubblin' 68 Guest Reviews 69 Isolee: In the Studio 70 Seefeel's Artist Tips 72 Components & Videogames 74 Outbox: Mogwai 80 ED'S RANT Picture This EDITOR Ken Taylor ([email protected]) CREATIVE DIRECTOR Tim Saputo ([email protected]) MANAGING EDITOR Shawn Reynaldo ([email protected]) ASSISTANT EDITOR Patric Fallon ([email protected]) VIDEOGAMES EDITOR Ryan Rayhill ([email protected]) CITY GUIDE EDITOR Vivian Host CITY GUIDE ASSISTANT EDITOR James Jano ([email protected]) TIM HECKER, WeatheriNG A MONTREAL WINTER, SHOT BY VINNA LAUDICO. EDITORIAL INTERNS Glenn Jackson, Stefan Nickum Like pretty much every magazine out there, we too generally theme our issues. Whether it's something big and blatant (the Year-End Music Tech issue), or more just STAFF WRITERS for internal idea-generating use (the How Many Digs Can We Take at Brostep issue), Eric K. Arnold, Joe Colly, Matt Earp, Rob Geary, Ali Gitlow, there's some running theme behind every edition of this here rag. Of course, rarely Derek Grey, David Hemingway, Max Herman, Ethan Holben, do these themes look like anything we expected them to when they were just a tiny Justin Hopper, Josiah Hughes, Brandon Ivers, Luciana Lopez, idea in the XLR8R hive mind. Cameron Macdonald, Lulu McAllister, Tomas Palermo, Dave Segal, We call this one The Portraits Issue. But it's not because every single story found Jesse Serwer, Evan Shamoon, Patrick Sisson, Janet Tzou, herein is a collection of highly stylized headshots. Sure, some of them boast that Tony Ware, Walter Wasacz, Rico "Superbizzee" Washington visual element—take for instance Vinna Laudico's stunning shots of Tim Hecker in the barren Montreal wilderness—but many take the idea of the portrait to another CONTRIBUTING WRITERS level, one that examines the personality behind our favorite music, rather than the Marke B, Brandon Bussolini, Michael Byrne, Ryan Edwards, visual images that represent it. Rip Empson, Michael Harkin, Andrew Porter, When we got the opportunity to interview Kode9 and The Spaceape for our Thomas Rees, Andrew Ryce, Roger Thomasson cover, we were initially at a crossroads: How do we properly represent the story of dubstep's founding father in a portraits issue when the guy will hardly show his face STAFF PHOTOGRAPHERS in the media? Truth is, aside from coaxing out of him the most in-the-buff poses that Martei Korley, Morgan Howland, Paul O'Valle, Dustin Ross, any magazine's ever got of the man known as Steve Goodman, Ph.D, we figured Ragnar Schmuck, Mathew Scott, Christopher Woodcock an even better tack to take was to let him and his longtime partner-in-crime, The Spaceape, tell their story in their own words. So, on Kode9's recent press stop in SF, CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS managic editor Shawn Reynaldo and I sat down with Goodman at a Tenderloin Thai Shawn Brackbill, Shaun Bloodworth, Vinna Laudico, restaurant, while Taio Cruz and BEP blared in the background, and got lowdown on Sean Nathan Lloyd, Brea McAnally, Josh McNey, Ben Rayner, everything about his and Spaceape's new album, Black Sun. John Simm III, Todd Sines, Space Cat, Magda Wosinska San Francisco writer Marke B managed to wrangle a portrait of an entire scene as he dug deep into the history of ballroom house, and examined how folks like New STAFF AND CONTRIBUTING ILLUSTRATORS Jersey's DJ MikeQ, Atlanta's Angel X, and DC's Vjuan Allure are helping to spread Chuck Anderson for No Pattern, Derek Morris for Trophy, the gospel of the long-underground phenomenon. If that's too much of a stretch, photographer Josh McNey's got the "real" thing to accompany the story on page 44. Colin Strandberg for The Work Steady, Optigram Sometimes the portrait gets even more abstract, like in the case of Berlin-London hype machine Hype Williams (nope, not the hip-hop video guy), who'll hardly ON THE COVER answer an interview question directly, let alone let on who they really are, leaving Kode9 and The Spaceape, shot in London writer Rip Empson to consult numerous sources (evasive band email exchanges by Manuel Sepulveda for Optigram being just one of many) to cobble together a shall we say "impressionistic" portrait of the artist(s). specIAL THANKS Of course, we're not going to let that kind of thing stop us from delivering to Gamall Awad at Backspin, Barron Machat, Adam Sellers, you in-depth personality profiles on the likes of Instra:Mental, Maya Jane Coles, Annike Benjes and Lena Larsson at VisitSweden, Malin Kulseth KiNK, and Pariah. But needless to say, we're hard at work on a more official Artists and Mina Evenrud at By:larm, Brian Foote at Kranky Who Won't Show Their Faces issue, starring Burial, Mad Mike Banks, Zomby, and Buckethead. —Ken Taylor, Editor 4 Contributors March / April 2011 PUBLISHER Andrew Smith ([email protected]) MARKE B. VINNA LAUDICO ADVERTISING MANAGER Ethan Holben ([email protected]; 212-226-4553) EVENTS AND ONLINE MARKETING MANAGER Shawn Reynaldo ([email protected]) ACCOUNTING MANAGER AND SUBSCRIPTIONS Sally Mundy ([email protected]) CIRCULATION MANAGER Sally Mundy ([email protected]) OPERATIONS CONSULTANT Michael Prommer Marke B. has been gay so long that Photographer Vinna Laudico CO-PUBLISHER his wrinkles have little cocktails, and obtained her MFA from the Academy Arias Hung those little cocktails have umbrellas of Art University San Francisco, with Sylvester's face screen-printed but she currently lives and works ADVERTISING: Dial 415.861.7583, fax 415.861.7584, on them. Originally from Detroit, in Montreal, Canada. She's been email [email protected], or mail XLR8R Magazine, 3180 18thSt. #207, where he worked for Transmat shooting professionally since San Francisco, CA 94110 Records and helped throw the city's 2009, focusing on portraiture, first raves in the early 1990s, he editorial, and fashion photography. SUBSCRIPTIONS: Domestic: $20 (one year, six issues) and $40 (two years, twelve issues); Canada: $40 (one year) and $80 (two years); all other now resides in San Francisco with Her work has been described as international: $50 (one year) and $100 (two years). Subscribe by credit card his husband David and absolutely emotive, romantic, dreamy, and online or send payment to XLR8R Subscriptions, 3180 18th St. #207, San zero tiny dogs. He's the senior editor a bit cinematic. She explores the Francisco, CA 94110. Payment made out to "XLR8R Magazine," US funds of the SF Bay Guardian and writes simplicity and purity of people's only. International orders must be paid by credit card or international money a weekly nightlife column called character and representing them as order. Questions? Email [email protected] or subscribe online at XLR8R.com. Super Ego. Marke wrote this issue's they are. For this issue, she shot Tim Strictly Ballroom story. Hecker in Montreal. CIRCULATION: Newsstand distribution through Curtis Circulation. For direct retail sales, contact Sally Mundy at 415.861.7583 x223 vinnalaudico.com or [email protected]. CONTACT US: San Francisco HQ: 3180 18th St. #207, OPTIGRAM ROB GEARY San Francisco, CA 94110; New York Office: 114 Bowery, Suite #206, 10013, New York, NY 10001; [email protected], fax 415.861.7584 Under the name Optigram, Like all good native Northeasterners, Manuel Sepulveda Zambrano has writer Rob Geary has made his peace created album covers for Ikonika, with LA traffic in order to enjoy the Terror Danjah, Harmonic 313, lack of snow, excellent tacos, and Squarepusher, and DJ Nate. His Amoeba Music. His obsessions with XLR8R IS PRINTED ON 100% RECYCLED FIBER ECOMATTE PLUS AND work for Hyperdub extends not Top Chef, bad sci-fi novels, and Blake REINCARNATION MATTE PAPERS, WHICH ARE MANUFACTURED WITH only to Kode9 and The Spaceape's Griffin's dunks are helping him heal ELECTRICITY OFFSET RENEWABLE ENERGY CERTIFICATES. forthcoming album, Black Sun, the pain of following the Boston but also to photographing (and Celtics from afar. He uses a trackball XLR8R Magazine is published 6 times a year by Amalgam Media, Inc. All writing, photographs, treating) the two stars of this instead of a mouse, does not have and artwork printed within the pages of XLR8R Magazine are copyright and property of Amalgam Media, Inc.