STACK Mar #137

75 / 99

On My Speakers
You can have your theories about what happens to musicians who start
out on big budget reality television – that's completely up to you my
dear. Just don't expect to apply them to Matt Corby. That's all I'm saying.
(Actually I'm saying a lot more in our feature interview on page 10, and I don't
think I mentioned television once.) Meanwhile, learn how to say Santigold's
name correctly in the below interview; read feature chats with Gareth Liddiard of
The Drones and Johnny Took of DMA's; and our reviews section contains write-
ups for Hilltops, Iggy Pop, Underworld, The Murlocs, Emmy the Great, Violent
Femmes, Big Daddy Wilson and a pantsload more. Zo ë Radas (Music Editor)
ow from WACO by Violent Soho
t's the last song on the album out March 18 (look out for our
nterview with singer Luke Boerdam in the April issue), and it is
ore contemplative than usual; full of pathos and the prettiest
ittle layered, picked riffs over deepvocals.
Genghis Khan from iii by Miike Snow
That syncopated piano/bass beat is too good to go past,
even if the lyrics do rhyme 'Genghis Khan' with 'get it on'
(as Our Michael points out in his review on page 8), which is
admittedly weird. Who cares? Miike Snow make ace pop.
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DMA'S
The MJ album which houses
his best song (Don't Stop 'Til
You Get Enough , dolls) has been
reissued! The tracks appear
exactly as MJ intended, but
you can get the record bundled
with auteur director Spike Lee's
acclaimed new documentary
about Jackson on Blu-ray or
DVD. Keep on with the force.
MICHAEL
JACKSON
SANTIGOLD
Off The Wall
(Deluxe Reissue)
by Michael Jackson is
out now through Sony.
03
NEWS MUSIC
MUSIC
The cover of Santi White’s new
album 99c is the real deal.
Smooshed beside the musician’s
scorpion-like ponytail are a paint
set, a plastic horse figurine, a
white platform sneaker, a Frisbee,
several different kinds of melodion
and brightly-coloured classroom
percussion instruments, and a
hundred other gewgaws. “I’d seen
[Japanese photographer Hal’s]
work and we flew him to New
York for the shoot,” the sunnily-
spoken White tells STACK. “He’d
never been to the States before. It
was a really special collaboration.
You literally climb in a plastic bag
and he shrink-wraps you, sucks
all the air out. Then he counts to
ten and snaps the pictures and he
immediately lets the air out."
The artwork is a wonderful
allegory for White’s new collection
of tracks, which revolve around the
theme of consumerism and material
obsession. Outside The War is a
haunting, spectral thing, and Run
The Races is a beautiful, glissing,
deeply stirring track. These themes
were something she was thinking
about while writing and recording
– because at that stage, she was
pregnant. (Her son Radek is now 18
months old.) “It was really hard to
sing ‘cause I think I was literally nine
and a half months pregnant! But he
came out loving music. I’ve never
seen a more musical baby,” she
beams.
Some of the most stand-out
powerful things on 99c are White’s
harmonies, which flow through Run
The Races and Who Be Lovin Me (a
collaborative track with LA hip hop
artist ILOVEMAKKONEN). “I love
harmonies, and I definitely don’t plan
them, I just start recording,” she
enthuses. “As a really young kid I
would always find myself singing the
harmonies rather than the lead. The
Smiths – I love Morrissey and I love
his melodies so much. They’re so
monotone, very straight. So I would
always make up my own harmonies
to The Smiths songs. Right now,
if you asked me how the song
goes, I would probably sing my
harmonies,” she laughs.
That afore-mentioned track with
ILOVEMAKKONEN (pronounced
Mc-COH-nen; and while we’re at
it, Santi rhymes with “monty”, not
“panty”, as White herself puts it)
is a belter. There’s a very atonal,
conversational feel through the
young man’s parts, which White
adores: “That’s his style. He’s such
an original thing. It’s so unusual,
and I think that’s the appeal of it. It’s
very raw – charming.”
99c by
Santigold
is out now
through
Warner.
Read the full
interview
with
Santigold
online at
.
INTERVIEW