usounds February 8th, 2006
Today USOUNDS brings to you an enchanting conversation with Australian rockers, Wolfmother.
USOUNDS: Hi Myles, Chris, and Andrew. Is there a good story behind your band name? Because we know there is a voluptuous half-naked lady on your website entwined in snakes, and that’s hot.
Wolfmother: The band name came from a recurring dream that we all had when we were 12 where we were being chased by giant lizards through the snow. They were throwing fireballs at us and just as they were about to catch us, the ice broke and we sank to the bottom of the freezing ocean. As we sat on the sea bed slowly drowning the water began to turn into a room filled with dense ferns and palm trees, we realized we were surrounded by 12 wolves, they spoke to us without talking. They took us to a door. Through the door was a large chamber. Seated on a throne at the far wall was the wolf mother. She comforted and fed us, she taught us many things and trained us for war. The lady in the picture is the Sea Witch, she is the evil enemy of the wolves. She has an army of giant lizards. She can summons monsters from out of the ocean.
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usounds May 9th, 2005
Today USOUNDS treats you to a conversation between our archivist, Jan Fossbeck, former German tourist and radical communist, and Dan Snaith, better known as the musician Caribou (Manitoba). They get to discuss the amazing new Caribou album, as well as the live tour, vagina balls, crazy dreams, and dancing children. Enjoy
Jan Fossbeck for USOUNDS: The tour with Junior Boys and Russian Futurists will be great. I am already whipping myself into a frenzy preparing for it. What will your live show be like?
Dan Snaith of CARIBOU: Actually there’s more to that tour than got announced already - it’s gonna be a monster. We’re just confirming the final dates now. our show is going to be along the same lines as last time (two drum kits, guitars, keyboards, samplers, synced video for each track) but we were kind of flying blind last time and have really figured out how to make shit better, sloppier and madder this time around.
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usounds April 13th, 2005
The Stills are back in the studio recording their follow-up to Logic Will Break Your Heart… they’ve got some new news to spill, so without further a-do, here’s our interview conducted by clueless drunken writer (and Stills fan) Chaz Bartok:
Chaz Bartok: Hello? Is this thing on? Who’s this? Never mind… (static). Hello? How is the new album coming? What can fans expect?
Dave Hamlin, The Stills: We’re having a great, great time putting together and recording all the songs that’ll make up our second effort. We’re almost done pre-production and we go into the studio on march 28th. This record is gonna be really different than our last one. Most of the songs on “logic”, I wrote when I was a very young man and they came from a completely different person than I am today. I’m not very old now, I’m just older than I was 5 years ago. Sometimes you get younger with age, but I’m happy I got older.
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usounds April 6th, 2005
Ian Parton is the leader and mastermind behind The Go! Team, who put out one of the finest records of last year. Our own Chaz Bartok managed to get an interview with the man himself…
Chaz Bartok for USOUNDS: You got a lot of critical praise and attention this year. How do you keep from getting huge heads and, you know, stepping on the little people and ordering underlings around and such?
Ian Parton of The Go Team!: There are no egos in the band - the idea of anything to do with being fussed over makes me sick. if anyone ever offers me a limo i’m not going in it.
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usounds February 9th, 2005
Dalek is creating some of the deepest hiphop around, with a crazy live show and intense music that owes as much to My Bloody Valentine and Sonic Youth as it does to Public Enemy and BDP. Dalek’s new album, Obscene, is out now so go get that shit immediately if you want your mind blown. The following is a brief interview with the group’s mysterious leader…
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usounds January 27th, 2005
Jan Fossbeck, former radical communist and archivist for USOUNDS, recently took time out of his busy schedule of listening to old records and sending letters to friends back home in Potsdam to interview one of the new century’s best acts, m83…
Jan’s impressive interviewing skills got Antonio Gonzales to finally open up about his secret Panda training center, his love of the Olsen Twins, his future collaboration with Cher, and the scope of his excellent new album…
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usounds October 29th, 2004
Call and Response have just released a fantastic new album called Winds Take No Shape… our own Yola Freestorm conducted an interview with Daniel Judd, guitarist, about the album, their tour, and their sound.
YS: Tell us about the new album.
Winds Take No Shape is a selection of songs that we put together last winter. It began with “Silent Chill” which had a minor-key bittersweet mood to it.
Somebody said it sounded like motown for stoners. We just kept flowing and building songs up from there, trying to construct an album that complemented that deeper sound.
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usounds August 23rd, 2004
Greetings, friends and associates from around the world. Life is suffering, and suffering is born of desire. That is why my life has been cleansed of all desire, even that of the marvelous and soothing pleasures of the finest resin-soaked nodules of cannabis buds.
Lately I have been spending my time following a schedule in keeping with my Zen Buddhist beliefs. I wake at dawn, eat some barley grains, and take a long walk around my property. This is followed by 4-6 hours of intense meditation. After that I usually fire up my imac, send some email, and listen to music. My favorite album of this year has been the amazing Last Exit from Junior Boys.
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usounds March 9th, 2004
Greetings, Comrades. By now you know I preach sonic revolution, freedom from the tyranny of soulless sounds, and liberation musicology. You also know that to spread the word, my partners and I strap on massive boomboxes, such as the Panasonic RX-7700, and free minds through dB levels previously only experienced at commercial airports and heavy machinery plants.
But what you might not know is that even revolutionaries like me and my comrades can get down, and I don’t mean in a funky way.
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usounds June 21st, 2003
Since I renounced radical communism and German tourism for a life of music, technology, and long pants, I have found myself to be happier, healthier, and imbued with a sense of manly vigor that is nearly unshakeable. I spend most of my time poring through the USOUNDS archives, looking for rare finds or new ideas, mining the thoughts of great men like Ric Befara, drinking energy drinks and generally feeling full of power and energy.
On one such day last fall, I discovered that my favorite musical device had, after more than two decades, finally banded together with others and started to produce their own music. Although I was later disappointed to learn that this group was made up of several young men, and not consumer electronics, I was still enthralled with the music. The Walkmen had everything I was looking for in contemporary rock music– sexual dynamism, drunken intelligence, and a certain gotterdammerung at the end of each song which made me tingle with delight.
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