If I were stuck on a desert island, here are a few things I might bring...
Veld seemed aptly named, as the sprawling Downsview park does somewhat resemble the type of vast South African fields of the festivals’ namesake. It’s also the name of Deadmau5’s most recent single, and he just happened to be headlining the festival, so it made even …
I woke up Saturday noon to a simple one line email from my editor at Spinner, “Can you interview Justice at 330 pm?” Obviously, the answer was yes, I would say yes even if I was in a quadriplegic full body cast. There was no …
The last time I saw Alphapup’s Nosaj Thing was about a year ago at a packed show at the Drake Underground. You’d think that a free show would have even more packed-er results? Oddly no, but good for us who had lots of comfortable dance space on the floor. The tunes were a lot more upbeat and tech-inpsired from his last set which I remember being more on the groovy, downtempo funk side of things. I also got a chance to see the much hyped Toronto Doldrums, and my favourite RL Steiner, Mr. Jesse Futerman. And, it wouldn’t have been a real party with friends like Raymi The Minx, Michael Kim and the gang.
There are still a number of other Scion Sessions events left in the week with a free post-hardcore band show from Young Widows at Parts & Labour as well as HardFest, headlined by Austra, M-83, Justice, Buraka Som Sistema, and more!
Posted on Aug 1st 2012 3:00PM by Jesse Ship Buraka Som Sistema thrive on a melting pot of cultures and sounds that emerged from Portugal’s colonialist domination of countries like Angola. Pulling rhythms from African and Latin music, you would never think that world music could …
Scion’s automotive facilitation of cutting edge music culture gets its own week in Toronto, and will be kicking off with Mansion’s already well known Happy Endings party series at the dim sum restaurant by day, formerly known as the Bright Pearl Restaurant, that now actually goes …
I’m breaking the silence of my inner peace by sneaking notes, and it reminds me of the time I spent 10 days in silence at Suan Mokh, a Buddhist Vipassana retreat at a temple in Southern Thailand. But I’m not in Thailand; I’m in the courtyard of an upscale condo on Queen St W., across from Trinity Bellwoods park. All around me, music journalists sit pensively with their headphones on. The sullen voice.of Jonas Bonnetta, of Evening Hymns, and his autumnal Spectral Dusk album, (supported by members of The Wooden Sky, City and Colour and Timber Timbre) surrounds us communally through our synchronized ipods and mp3 players. Like the old marmalade cat poised on the upper balcony to us, my mind ought to wander with the droning country soundscape. Attached, yet detached, we sit as one.
The gray skies that threaten to burst only add to the delicate tension of the album that deals with the death of Jonas’s father. Songs of sorrow and fat wet raindrops fall like tears on my arms. Another few splatter my screen. It’s not fair to compare but I’d liken him to a mournful Leonard Cohen, with less cryptic lyrics and a focus on life lessons and longings like, the line from Spectral Dusk the title closing track, “I need you if I’m to be a man.” Followed by two minutes of field recordings taken from a country spot known as The Burn, where his dad’s ashes were a scattered. The blowing wind and rushing water do their best to sweep away the spectral catharsis that has set in.
“It’s terrible to put yourself thru the wringer every time you get on stage,” Jonas tells us after during an intimate Q&A. “I’ll be in front of a thousand people in some beautiful hall in Europe and then when I hit the first note, it strikes me ”Oh ya… I don’t have a dad.” Jonas actually can’t wait to release his next album, (he’s got two in the bag even), so he won’t have to keep pouring salt over old wounds. I imagine he’s gone through a whole shaker by now.
When was the last time I actually listened to an album from start to finish with headphones and no distractions? My last conscious memory brings me to high school, maybe TOOL’s Aenema album, but my pride insists it was more recently. Regardless, this exercise made me realize how much a lost past time it has become and how age and time are wearing away at our focus. As Jonas said earlier during his talk, “living out in the forest makes SO much sense.” I only wish I could return to that place inside myself as well.
Waiting to speak to Simian Mobile Disco backstage at the Hoxton, I got to meet Chris, Diplo‘s tour manager who gave me this pithy hair advice. “Dude, it’s like a mushroom cloud on the sides but I wanna see it more nuclear on the top! You need MORE …
[Apparently a lot of people have been asking for this one. The file links didn’t transfer properly when I changed the name of the site, but that’s now been fixed. Here we go again. Enjoy – Cap’n Ship] I was fortunate enough to attend this …
My very first featured Q&A, everrrrrr. Done on the cusp of Fool’s Gold Records as A-Trak had just wrapped up with as Kanye’s DJ tour. What a fine young label magnate you have become. Thanks for the memories FormatMag!
Known as one of the most stylish turntablists in the game, A-Trak has been messing with the fashion industry for a minute now. Collaborations with key players in the street-wear industry such as Zoo York, Kid Robot and Crooks & Castles are all set to launch within months. With the momentum of three new album releases, a new record label on the horizon and the success of his latest album/DVD Sunglasses is a Must, Stussy has agreed to drop a signature pair of A-Trak specs. And that’s just the start of it. At 25, with 10 years under his belt in the music industry, there’s no telling where this kid might go.
Format: How would you define your style?
A-Trak: I knew you were gonna ask me this question, they told me it was for a fashion thing. I don’t really define it as this one look or whatever – I’m so bad at this. Let’s go from the bottom up. I’m pretty much always checking for classic and classy sneakers. I like hi-tops, a lot — like hi-top 180s or Jordan AF1 style. I think jeans are the first thing you might over look when getting into a certain style. I’m always trying to get a key pair of jeans that you might not really know if you’re not super into denim. I try to find the perfect fit for the sneakers I’m wearing. I don’t rock that many pairs. If I have a rotation of three really ill pairs that I think are good for me then I’ll just stick to that. I like to buy a pair of jeans that I’m in love with. I like raw denims that fit just right and I’ll just stick with those and go with them for a long ass time.
Format: What brands do you like?
A-Trak: Nudie, Neighborhood, Rag ‘n Bone. I was in to Roca for a bit but they’re kind of baggy and this year isn’t so much into that, but I still like them a lot. T-shirts, I’m always going for something kind of flashy and original design. People that checkout my pics on my website look at my T-shirts are always like, ‘Yo, what’s your closet like?’ I like the T-shirt to be the centerpiece of what I’m wearing. And, I’m always rocking a fitted hat. Every day of my life there’s a New Era on my head. To sum it up, I like it clean cut yet flashy. A little bit into the street-wear, but also in to the classic early `90s Beastie Boys.
“When you are subject to that much visibility that increases in your head, you’re like every fucking minute my shit’s gotta be on point!”
Format: Has touring with Kanye had an effect on your style?
A-Trak: I think I started buying more clothes when I was touring with him. Also, maybe a question with how old I was and getting in to that phase where I was more conscious about how I present myself. I definitely don’t think I dress like Kanye, I don’t think that since traveling with him that I’ve felt, ‘Oh, I need to rock this brand or that brand.’ But it’s like when I’m touring with him and we’re liable to be on TV or in pictures on any given day and you’re traveling with people that pop tags all the time, well if you already have that mentality of wanting to stay G’d up and wanting to have fly shit on any given day. When you are subject to that much visibility that increases in your head, you’re like every fucking minute my shit’s gotta be on point! But at the same time when you get used to that it’s not really an issue anymore. It’s more just in the back of your head when you are getting dressed in the morning, but it’s not like a formula or anything. I don’t want to make it seem like it’s calculated.
Format: Do you feel that there is some kind of uniform that you have to rock for hip-hop or is that changing as things get more globalized?
A-Trak: Well, I think that the street-wear phenomenon has gotten so big, that it’s kind of funny, that in any city in the world on any continent you can go into a little shop and find the sneaker with limited color ways, and a handful of T-shirt brands and bandanas or whatever else. And of course, the all-over hoodies, how can I forget. That’s been the sign of the last year. That to me looks like a uniform, so I’m trying not to get too into that. I went almost two years straight with a fitted hat, sunglasses and a fancy T-shirt. That was like a uniform to me. But that was also, with the whole Sunglasses Is A Must concept – it had a little concept behind it. Continue reading A-TRAK – FormatMag Archives
First seen in Format Magazine ARTIST, FEATURES Roadsworth September 28, 2009 by Jesse Ship During the period of 2001-2004 Roadsworth went ballistic on his home town of Montreal, enforcing a new visual language upon its streets. A language of road lines turned in to electrical …