What's Hot

Courtesy Oberhofer
.
Dressed in a shimmery purple button-down, Brad Oberhofer looks like he’s either channeling Prince for his band’s biggest show in Los Angeles to date, or going to a costume party with a ‘70s theme. He runs his hand through a mop of brown curls. “A fan gave me this shirt after our show last night,” he says. Since he self-released his first single, “o0Oo0O0o,” in 2010, Oberhofer has attracted that kind of devotion with his raucous and inventive danceable punk music — and it didn’t hurt that indie gods like Neon Indian and Matt & Kim asked he and his band to open for them. By the time independent label Glassnote Records unleashed Oberhofer’s debut album, Time Capsules II, the buzz had reached a fever pitch. Later that night, as the charismatic Oberhofer bounces like a pogo across the stage and we watch people literally being turned into fans, we wonder just how large that gift collection will get.

Sony
.
Skyfall is already garnering buzz as one of, if not the best Bond films ever. The third such film with Daniel Craig as 007, it also features an unbelievable (albeit extremely creepy) Javier Bardem with a performance that will certainly go down as one of the best movie villains of all time. We met up with the duo as well as Bond girls Bérénice Marlohe and Naomi Harris for another installment of Fanswers. After asking them your questions, we learned what they thought about James Bond meeting the Queen at the London Olympics, what it’s like to be a Bond girl, and of course, what it’s like to shave Daniel Craig’s face. We also found out that everyone’s favorite Bond gadget is the car, with the exeption of Javier Bardem, who chose the Martini.

Universal
.
Having the blessings of Eli Roth and Quentin Tarantino, RZA’s directorial debut The Man with the Iron Fists is one of my most anticipated films for the rest of 2012. In a new featurette, RZA talks about the experience of sitting in the director’s chair for the first time (although we’re not sure how much he actually got to sit there, since he was also starring in the movie) as well as some of the biggest influences on the highly imaginative world he’s created — comic books and Japanese animation. Watching some of the fight scenes, you can definitely see their influence the slightly over-the-top yet heavily stylized action. He also gives a bit of advice for all the aspiring directors out there: don’t forget to spend some time with your cameras, and really get to know your equipment.

Courtesy Angel Haze
.
For those of us whose developing imaginations were stoked by Bible school’s fantastical tales, 21-year-old rapper Angel Haze’s moniker recalls a warrior descending from a tumultuous sky. As her raspy voice shoots double-time verses packed with incisive, sophisticated metaphors, you either shrink in fear (if you’re a rapper yourself) or find yourself drawn to her no-frills ferocity (if you’re the rest of us). Think she’s just another flash in the pan? Listen to her rhyming over Lil’ Wayne’s “6’7’” or to “New York,” a standout track from this summer’s EP, Reservation.

From Left: J.P. Floyd, Greg Landfair Jr., Lane Beckstrom, Vic Mensa, Nico Segal, Liam Cunningham, Macie Stewart
.
A police car pulls into a McDonald’s parking lot on Chicago’s North Side. Vic Mensa, wearing a black vest atop a tie-dyed hoodie and sitting on the trunk of a Volkswagen, gazes in its direction while a horde of teenagers clamor for a piece of him; he doesn’t flinch. The rapper and member of Windy City ensemble Kids These Days is here with his bandmates, being one with the people. Aside from perhaps violating some pesky loitering rules, he’s doing no wrong; the policemen soon exit the premises. The parking-lot party, spurred by a series of tweets from the band and centered on the impending release of the group’s debut album, Traphouse Rock, resumes. Mensa smiles.

.