Get to know Light Asylum’s Shannon Funchess, an artist and performer so good at what she does that she’s racked up comparisons to both Grace Jones (the hair doesn’t hurt) and Ian Curtis. She’s a total badass. Take note. Read via SPIN, or in the May issue of our iPad app SPIN Play.

This is a good record. A damn good record. Read about it over at the A.V. Club.

Wrote about our favorite place to eat vegan brunch while thrashing to some new noise. Where? Why, The Smell, of course (pictured above on the cover of No Age’s Weirdo Rippers). Read about venue and others over at LA Weekly.

It was a true honor to interview Shirley Manson for SPIN. The Q&A originally appeared as the cover story of the April iPad issue, and exclusive content from our two-hour face-off wound up in the print mag too (Words of Wisdom, LOUD issue). Here’s an excerpt from the chat, which covered everything from the overdue Garbage reunion to Shirley’s status as a recovering cutter:

“It’s unbelievable what’s happened to Lana Del Rey! It’s shocking misogyny. I look at her and say, “What more do you want?” Here’s a beautiful young girl who tried her hand at being a working musician under her own name and it didn’t stick. She had the fortitude to go back to the drawing board and create something new, a perfectly executed re-entry into the world of music, and she’s getting destroyed for the very same thing that Jack White is so brilliant at. Granted, they’re very different artists, but why are we attacking a young girl who’s ballsy and creative? All I can say is they did the same thing to me when I came out. I was constantly being called a phony, and I’m thinking, ‘I was in a band that failed miserably for ten years. What’s fake about that?’”

We’ve joined SPIN’s Twitter reviews team. Watch us completely dismiss or irresponsibly champion an album in 140 characters or less! This week:

• Slugabed, Time Team
• Guantanamo Baywatch, Chest Crawl

While we won’t be attending the big Hang in ‘Bama, we do have family in that neck of the woods. Jealous of those who’ll get to see Skrillex, Yelawolf, Mavis, the Lips, Big Freedia, Jack White, the Shakes and more from the comfort of a beach blanket. Check out our top ten picks over at SPIN.

In which commenters get mad about the word “burping.” Read at the A.V. Club.

Well, it’s sorta a review. Playlisted, more of an introduction. Read at A.V. Club.

WIXIW is a shoo-in for our top five albums of 2012, so it was a particular pleasure to visit the strange space where it was created — well, at least in part. There are a few tiers to this story, and a decent amount of subterfuge, but the stuff that keeps us guessing is the stuff that keeps us coming back. Furthermore, WIXIW happens to be the most accessible work in their catalog to date, so find out what osmosis and singing underwater has to do with it. Read at SPIN.

We’ve been working with our director pal Matthew Desotell, handpicking music for the webs shorts he’s been making for Venice Beach-based denim demigods Hudson Jeans. More to come, but first up is a trio spots featuring the music of Superhumanoids and Sumsun (x2!), two of our favorite unsung artists.

13 Principles, with “A Crowded Hour” by Superhumanoids

TURBOTECH Experiment, with “Disco Mane” by Sumsun

TURBOTECH Inspiration, with “Capella pt1″ by Sumsun