Cryptacize
The SIS Interview by Mike Randall

Chris Cohen has been in his share of bands. From Deerhoof to The Curtains to his current role in Cryptacize, no matter who is playing alongside him, the one constant has been the guitarist’s complete antithesis to a one-trick pony. Even as the songs have gradually simplified through the years, becoming more concrete and approachable, Cohen has become a master at not unnecessarily filling a measure. His arrangements seemingly never say the same thing twice, but always have something to say.
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Portugal. The Man
It was very late at night and the fireworks were over literally and figuratively. I was driving down the New Jersey Turnpike and playing The Satanic Satanist on the car stereo. My girlfriend was asleep in the passenger seat. She woke up to say ‘What the fuck is this? Jason Mraz?” I knew I had some explaining to do.
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The Low Anthem
The Low Anthem clearly adheres to tradition. Set at sea, on rails and in the cities and open plains of an America that’s been both forgotten and found as a hollow imposter, the Providence band’s debut for Nonesuch, Oh My God, Charlie Darwin, is rooted deeply in Dust Bowl folk and steeped in commentary...
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Future Of The Left
t’s a comfort to me as an aging miscreant malcontent that this kind of sentiment still exists in music. Not everything has to be sloppy and rushed or even smeared in snot-nosed punk rock rawness. In the 1980s we had a number of very sad bands in the “joke-thrash” sub genre.
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Here We Go Magic
The route Grizzly Bear used to eventually fork into Brian Wilson territory is where Here We Go Magic steps into the art-y, Afro-beat arena of Talking Heads and Rhythm of the Saints/Graceland-era Paul Simon. A groove is defined, usually with a percussive guitar passage or drum rhythm...
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Drag Me To Hell
In my time as SIS film critic I’ve had to sit through several incarnations of legendary cult filmmakers trying to make a quick buck off of a watered down re-hash of their glory days. The most prominent example of this cult treason is George Lucas and his “revisions."
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Top Reality Moments
You gotta love watching pop youth adore Paris Hilton saying ridiculous phrases like “this house is the bomb dot com.” Oh wait… no you don’t. Among the really moronic moments that happened on the show over the premiere and second episode are the following...
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