The Wanderer’s Tradition: An Interview with Bombino

Omara Moctar, known internationally as the Nigerien psych-rock hero Bombino, is the local and living legend of a small tribe in the country of Niger. While on his international tour, Salt Lake will have the good fortune of seeing him at no charge at The Salt Lake County Building on May 15–17 for The 30th Annual Living Traditions Festival this summer. Recently, SLUG was able to interview Moctar about his music and his message.

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Localized: Bellrave and Valerie Rose Sterrett

Allison Martin turns the grit of life into synth sensation with the fabulous electro-pop band Bellrave.

This month’s Localized will leave you swooning under Cupid’s spell with some seriously magical ladies. Opening the night will be Officer Jenny. Valerie Rose Sterrett and Bellrave will both be gracing the stage with their beauty and some goth/pop glamour. Bring your babe down to Urban Lounge this Valentine’s Day at 9 p.m., help support Uinta Brewing Co., KRCL 90.9FM and Spilt Ink SLC, and share in the love fest for just $5.

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Mike Brown: My Favorite Presidents

What’s in a name? For Mike Brown, a lot—if your name’s Millard Fillmore. Illustration: Steve Thueson

This month, I’ve chosen to write about those great men that lead our great country and how they are all great and stuff. These fine men adorn our currency and fuck with it when they are in office. They sometimes act like assholes and are easy targets for everyone to hate, but probably have one of the easiest jobs in the world because other assholes are making the real decisions and doing their job for them.

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May 2015 Video Game Reviews

AG Drive, Atelier Shallie: Alchemists of the Dusk Sea, The Awakened Fate: Ultimatum, Bladestorm: Nightmare, Code Name S.T.E.A.M., DmC: Devil May Cry Definitive Edition, Evil Within: The Assignment DLC, Homeworld Remastered Collection, htol#NiQ: The Firefly Diary, Lucius II, Mario Party 10, Mushroom Men: Truffle Trouble, Oceanhorn: Monster of Uncharted Seas, Ori and the Blind Forest, Over 9,000 Zombies!, Republique Remastered, Resident Evil: Revelations 2, Super Galaxy Squadron, There Came an Echo, Tokyo Twilight Ghost Hunters, Under Night In-Birth Exe: Late

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Kicking & Dancing: The Political/Poetical María Magdalena Campos-Pons

For Campos-Pons, Our America is important for a community that is often “undefined and without context,” she says. Latino Americans are “like the universe,” Campos-Pons says. “Look at how many galaxies, how many stars, came out of [the Big Bang]. The idiosyncratic physical and cultural makeup of the Latino people—their identity—is like that: a mix of many things that become one.”

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Ride Bikes, Damn It: Jake Matsukawa Skidding the Streets

Jake Matsukawa of 3Bs Krew has been thrashing around the city for seven years, and his reckless and punked-out style goes to show that the more times your crank makes a revolution and the more times your middle finger goes in the air, the better you know your city. I sat down with Matsukawa, track and fixie rogue and one of the original organizers of the 3Bs Krew, to see how the mastermind has launched their races and footage collection.

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