Dec
05

Douglas Martin’s Favorite Shoes: The Top Five Seven-Inch Singles of 2011

Maybe you’re a complete different from me. Perhaps you didn’t think that 2011 was an unspeakably good for music. Maybe you didn’t pull all-nighters narrowing down your favorite music of the year to a manageable– not concise, but manageable– length. Perhaps you didn’t have to tweak your lists dozens of times to make sure it… Continue reading »

Aug
11

Douglas Martin’s Dirty Shoes: “Lone Runner” and Dirty Beaches’ Increase in Crazy

Douglas Martin looks dapper in blue velvet. We’re quickly approaching the 2/3 mark of 2011, and Badlands is still my favorite record of the year. It’s a record marked with grimy, dingy overtones, one marked with an uncomfortable feeling of disquiet. Using the grit of analog tape to render the image of a lost black-and-white… Continue reading »

Jun
08

Question in the Form of an Answer: Dirty Beaches

Photo via Scott McDonald Darkened highways. Pocket combs. Battered Gibsons. The vein of Americana imagery drawn upon by Dirty Beaches runs deep. The Taiwan-born, Vancouver-reared Alex Zhang Hungtai is the man behind Badlands, a fleeting, evocative record that tours through the back roads of David Lynch films, Duane Eddy. I chatted with Hungtai via email… Continue reading »

Mar
30

Dirty Beaches – Lord Knows Best

Posted for Dirty Beaches disciple Douglas Martin. For my little sister who won’t stop raving about Badlands. For the heavy Canuck contingent that not-so-secretly runs this site. In six months, I anticipate Montreal being ruled by the new commission of Jacques Green, Alex Zhang Hungtai, Sach O, Uncle Paulie, and Lil Cease-a-Leo. For the not-so-novel… Continue reading »

Mar
23

Douglas Martin’s Dirty Shoes: Dirty Beaches and the Fine Virtuosity of Theft

After this, Douglas Martin is instituting a moratorium on beach bands. My friend Conor just sent me a quote from Jim Jarmusch, and it kind of embodies the ethics and attitude behind my work and beyond. There are no rules and no right way to do things, you do your best and hustle your shit… Continue reading »