[SXSW Interview] The Tontons, Well on Their Way

Photography by Andrew Zeiter Back in November I was in Austin for a different festival, Fun Fun Fun Fest, where I first met Asli Omar and the guys from The Tontons. At the time, the four piece blues-y rock group from Houston was riding a wave of publicity en route to their breakthrough project, Make […]

[SXSW] Music Festival 2014 Recap

Photo by Kristen Wrzesniewski In 1977, a water skiing Henry Winkler wore a leather coat and life preserver and attempted to ‘jump the shark’ in a move that become synonymous with the beginning of the end of a good thing. In that regard it was the long-running “Happy Days” sitcom. Last week in Austin, Texas, it […]

[SXSW Journal] Day 1

Photo by Andrew Zeiter After sixteen and a half hours in my past-her-prime Chevy Trailblazer, my knees were sore and my back was knotted but I had gotten to Austin, and it was time to dive back into the deep sea that is South by Southwest. After hiking downtown through the cab-less wasteland that is […]

[RH First Look] Sidewalk Chalk

Sidewalk Chalk embodies Chicago. As much as the recent Vice “Chiraq” documentaries have done the opposite as of late, the eclectic eight piece band from the Second City pulls from both their hometown’s past and present while focusing on writing it’s future. The immediately soulful feelings of their latest project, Leaves, released February 24, is […]

The College Dropout 10 Years Later

When The College Dropout dropped, I was 13 years old and in 8th grade. Living in the suburbs at the time, there wasn’t a lot for a young hip-hop head to really connect with. Ja Rule was rapping about the “thug life” with Ashanti and Irv Gotti, Ludacris was shouting for folks to “Get Back”, T.I. […]

Stream Kitty Cash’s Latest Mix for SSENSE

Last month, when I had a chance to catch up with up and coming New York City DJ Kitty Cash on the heels of her well-received Love The Free mixtape she expressed her eagerness to get right back to work after having finished one project. “As soon as I was done, I was like, ‘Damn, […]