Option

Michelle Shocked, Lach, Kirk Kelly, Roger Manning, Cindy Lee Berryhill: New Folk: Folk You

Report and Interview by Mark Kemp, Option, November 1988

IT'S ANOTHER sweaty, late June New York City Friday evening, and Michelle Shocked is walking eastward across Chinatown's busy Canal Street. ...

Sampling: Name That Tune

Report by Mark Kemp, Option, May 1989

"You see you misunderstood A sample's just a tactic. It's a portion of my method, A tool in fact. It's only of importance When I ...

John Cale, Lou Reed: John Cale/Lou Reed: 15 Minutes With You

Interview by Mark Kemp, Option, July 1990

THE HECKLER'S voice sounded its fury like a cannon about midway through Lou Reed and John Cale's performance of Songs For Drella, a pop requiem ...

R.E.M., Vic Chesnutt, Chickasaw Mudd Puppies: Michael Stipe: What Are Friends For

Interview by Mark Kemp, Option, September 1990

2 SODA FOUNTAIN glasses full of strawberry-banana smoothie, a plate of nachos covered with melted cheese, a gorgeous Manhattan spring afternoon: what more could a ...

Pixies, The: The Pixies: Democracy Cuban Style

Profile and Interview by Mark Kemp, Option, January 1991

"OH, DON'T print this," Black Francis says, in a gentle voice, catching himself midway through a tell-all about a one-time Spider From Mars. ...

Public Enemy: Hank Shocklee: Turntable Terrorist

Interview by Mark Kemp, Option, May 1991

WHEN NEW YORK hiphop filtered down from Harlem and the Bronx into the suburbs of Long Island around the turn of the last decade, a ...

Morrissey: Inside Looking In

Interview by Mark Kemp, Option, May 1991

MANCHESTER IS 185 RAILROAD MILES NORTH OF LONDON, LINKED BY SIGNPOSTS THAT READ RUGBY, BIRMINGHAM, AND STOKE-ON-TRENT; BY SPRAWLING MISTY GREEN MEADOWS, GUSHING STREAMS, AND ...

Bob Mould, Jello Biafra: Bob Mould and Jello Biafra: Two Faces of Punk

Interview by Mark Kemp, Option, July 1991

CLAWING THEIR WAY INTO THE '90S, BOB MOULD & JELLO BIAFRA EXPLORE THE PERSONAL & THE POLITICAL ...

My Bloody Valentine: Beauty In The Beast

Interview by Mark Kemp, Option, March 1992

WELCOME TO "God's Own Country," as a Texas politician recently decribed his home on the range, "where the grass grows tall and the wind blows ...

Dinosaur Jr.: Palaentology

Interview by Jason Cohen, Option, May 1992

IF YOU GO by what's been written about Dinosaur Jr.'s J Mascis, his music, history and personality could be summed in the following list: loud, ...

Primal Scream

Profile and Interview by Jason Cohen, Option, May 1992

BOBBY GILLESPIE can't stop being a fan. ...

Yoko Ono Reconsidered

Profile and Interview by Mark Kemp, Option, July 1992

LIVING WELL may be the best revenge, but vindication is just as sweet. In Yoko Ono's case, the payback is that while many of her ...

Beastie Boys, The, Sonic Youth: Thurston Moore and Mike D: Starpower

Interview by Mark Kemp, Option, July 1992

THE SCENE: A TRENDY RESTAURANT in L.A. called the Hollywood Canteen. Thurston Moore of Sonic Youth is sitting in a corner booth, slouched over a ...

Rap and Rebellion

Comment by Mark Kemp, Option, July 1992

"We have been more unified in the last four days than we have been in the last 30 years...To the brothers and sisters out there: ...

Pale Saints: The Choir Invisible: Bringing Pale Saints into Focus

Interview by Susan Compo, Option, Fall 1992

THE PALEST SAINT, not unlike the prettiest star, has to be Saint Gerard Majella, an 18th Century Italian anchorite who, before his death at age ...

Utah Saints: Circa Now! Latter Day Techno Kids, Utah Saints

Report and Interview by Susan Compo, Option, Fall 1993

FOR A COUPLE of English guys, choosing the state of Utah as the basis for their band’s name probably had as much exotic cachet as ...

Beck: Folk Futurist

Interview by Mark Kemp, Option, March 1994

Why do people like Beck? You know he's a loser, definitely. How do you fans like a song about Beck being a loser? He isn't ...

Daniel Johnston: Starry Eyes

Profile and Interview by Jason Cohen, Option, November 1994

TEN YEARS AGO Daniel Johnston roamed the streets of Austin, Texas, passing out cassettes of his homemade songcraft to just about anyone he encountered. Someday, ...

Meat Puppets Saved By Show Biz

Profile and Interview by Mark Kemp, Option, July 1995

IT WAS LIKE A MIRAGE. The Meat Puppets ambled onstage at the KROQ Christmas Party last December, and nearly every member of the largely teenaged ...

Walkabouts, The: Strangely Famous in Greece, the Walkabouts Trace Their American Roots

Profile and Interview by Jason Cohen, Option, November 1995

IT'S SATURDAY, just past noon, in Austin, Texas. A fine time to be in bed, or at the very least, shaking off sleep over a ...

Victoria Williams & Mark Olson: I Dip, You Dip, We Dip

Interview by Erik Himmelsbach, Option, February 1998

The forecast for the Los Angeles basin is bleak, but it doesn't take a weatherman to see this one coming. A moist stillness hangs in ...