Highly recommend watching/experiencing the video for The Arcade Fire’s The Wilderness Downtown.

The Raveonettes covering The Stone Roses for Dr. Marten’s 50th Anniversary.

In the year 200X, the scientist Dr. Thomas Xavier Light created a robot which he called Mega Man. After the success of his creation Dr. Light and his assistant Dr. Wily built several other robots to defend against the dangers to humans. With what could only be described as premeditated insanity, Dr. Wily re-programmed the new machines to take control of the planet. In a world of allies, heroes and legends, Mega Man was a machine to create freedom. After a most tumultuous fight and adventure, Mega Man was nearly destroyed only to have his unconscious body saved by Breakman, a robot who regularly blocked Mega Man’s path along the way only to disappear after he was defeated. When Mega Man came to, Dr. Light revealed that Breakman was actually his first creation… Protoman. Turns out that Protoman has a band and they will never let the darkness win. We caught up with two of the players in their hometown of Nashville, Tennessee.
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Having a stamp of approval from New York’s famed DFA label is one way to turn heads in your direction. Another is to tastefully remix hit songs for bands such as Cut Copy, MGMT and Phoenix. But most of all, the best way to turn heads and keep them turned is to simply make good music—music that won’t rapidly vanish in the pile of hype-machined rubble. Remember when it was acceptable to take your time composing music and actually write those things called songs? Alex Frankel and Nick Millhiser of Holy Ghost! sure do. We got a chance to sit down with them on the Vancouver stop of their tour with LCD Soundsystem.
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A nice 45 minute mix from witch house outfit Salem titled I Buried My Heart Inna Wounded Knee. Salem’s debut album King Knight comes out September 28 and it’s fantastic.

Download it here

The Maryland foursome of Mike, Brian, Archie and Pam known as Black Tambourine are the The Velvet Underground of fuzzy noise pop; not everybody bought their records but everyone who did formed a band. They’re all still very active within the genre and music in general with specific kudos to be given to Mike for keeping the Slumberland label going strong and recently celebrating its 20-year anniversary. ION was luckily enough to catch up with all four of them to spitball about the reissue of their complete recordings, Eric’s Trip, their song about The Pastels and Seattle based bands namechecking them in songs about being twee.
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Here’s a sneak peak of the cover of our next issue. It features Yo-Landi Vi$$er and Ninja of Die Antwoord. Issue#66 is printing right now and should be back from the press in a week or so. Stay tuned as we’ve got an interview we did with them and a ton of great photos shot by André Pinces and Kris Krüg.

Read our interview with Eugene Hütz here.

Carl Newman has found himself in quite the compromising position, yet one that he is inadvertently pleased about. Sandwiched between red-neck, boot-stompin’ crowd pleaser, The Zac Brown Band, and the high-pitched ear sore that has driven many angelic-voiced teenage boys to fear the day puberty will destroy their chances of musical theatre fame (Glee, that is), is a strange place to find yourself, especially when you’re an indie rock group who never necessarily imagined ending up in the US Top 20 charts. Since receiving the news on the morning of our interview, Carl is still adjusting to something he admits dreaming about as a kid in his bedroom. “To think we hit the Top 20 is kind of crazy to me. When you see The New Pornographers in there between all the other bands, it feels like we just snuck in there and that security is going to try and remove us.”
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Peep our interview with Eugene about Trans-Continental Hustle here

Check out our street edition on Issuu.

This month’s cover features Eugene Hütz—actor, DJ, and front man for the gypsy-punk band Gogol Bordello. Originally hailing from a small town near Kiev, Eugene fled Ukraine after learning of the Chernobyl disaster just up river from his home. After six years spent in refugee camps throughout Eastern Europe, he arrived in the U.S. as a political refugee. He has since released six albums with Gogol Bordello and one with his experimental side project J.U.F., been the subject of two documentaries, acted in three films, and had one film based on him. He has performed on stages ranging from the Tate Modern in London, to Lollapalooza and has dabbled briefly as a model in New York’s fashion world. He’s befriended and collaborated with the likes of Madonna, Elijah Wood, and Russian Gypsy guitar sensation Sasha Kolpakov. He also has a very nice moustache. Blessed with equal parts talent, charisma, luck, and affable insanity, Eugene continues along his wandering road to success. Gogol Bordello just made their major label debut with the Rick Rubin-helmed Trans-Continental Hustle.
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For a self-proclaimed homebody, Chad VanGaalen is surprisingly difficult to get a hold of. But let’s face it, the man is busy, and the prospect of picking Chad’s eccentric and prolific mind is worth the twelve trips to his voicemail message. When he doesn’t answer his phone, one begins to worry whether or not they’re interrupting a major eureka moment in one of Chad’s many creative outlets whether it be his solo music, instrumental side project Black Mold, painting, animation, or, yes, even sculpting. Add a newborn baby to that equation and it’s shocking that Chad even has time to get his 40 winks. But for the singer/songwriter and visual artist, sleep can be a valued and even productive activity as it is one of his most prominent sources of inspiration. Chad shares, “That’s the beauty of lifting ideas from your own subconscious mind, it’s pretty boundless, and it’s pretty revealing too so I find it to be super honest… it’s usually hard to criticize a dream just because it is what it is.”
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Download Old Fangs from here. Their new album is out September 14.

The scene reads like a seventies slasher flick. An ominous black boot emerges from behind the cab door as a burly man hoists himself out of the rusty tow truck. Tugging on the oil-stained shirt stretched across his heaving belly, the man eyes up the stranded musicians leaning against their broken-down tour van.
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Diamond Rings is one of many great Toronto bands that we shot for issue #65’s fashion editorial. Stay tuned!

A O C is throwing you a summer party! Wednesday June 23rd you’ll be treated to Vancouver’s three best and diverse acts. ION staff writer Stefana Fratila performs her Coco Rosie-esque songs and at her best will stretch your heartstrings like Link Wray stretches the strings of his guitar. She’s also always good for a tickling laugh in between songs. Did you miss Thrush Hermit in the Nineties because you were too young or too into that song by Train? The (super adorable and young) Hot Moonbeams will revisit Joel Plaskett and his crew while peppering you with the lyrical panache of Steve Malkmus. Capping off the evening has ION favourites Humans who have been killing it at both high end venues and underground parties for the last year. Of course there are your A O C DJs Kellen Powell and Trevor Risk bringing you every hit song you loved from the previous outings. Join the Facebook event group and get free song downloads of new and old indie hits everyday for a week leading up to the party. Let’s all clink glasses and duck walk all night long!

When: Wednesday June 23rd
Where: The Biltmore, Vancouver
Cover: $8

Acts:
www.myspace.com/dashumans
www.myspace.com/stefanafratila
www.myspace.com/thehotmoonbeams