DEPARTMENTS

12 Contributors
16 Editor’s Letter
20 Soundcheck
26 The Spin Mix
28 Feedback
33 Noise

Music festivals head upmarket; how a deaf guitarist kicks out the jam; Perez Hilton’s secrets for success; the Spin 20; Juliana Hatfield shows us her piggy bank—and her nude portrait; the Honor Roll; Glen Campbell faces the Inquisition; Rainn Wilson on getting high, murdering pets, and loving Jerry Lewis. PLUS: Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson, Torche, and Izza Kizza are Breaking Out.

126 Rock City

Spin’s guide to Philadelphia, the birthplace of American freedom—to rock!

128 The Hidden Track Why the Olympic games should embrace the inextricable partnership between basketball and music. BY BETHLEHEM SHOALS

REVIEWS
“If I had made
it at 19, maybe
I would have
died at 23, so
I’m glad I didn’t.”

MILES BENJAMIN AN THONY ROBINSON, PAGE 50

95 CDs

Black Kids’ Partie Traumatic,

Lil Wayne’s Tha Carter III, the Hold Steady’s Stay Positive, Beck’s Modern Guilt, Sigur Rós’ Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust, CSS’s Donkey, Conor Oberst’s Conor Oberst, and dozens more! PLUS: Reissues and essential rock en español.

118 Movies

Pineapple Express, Vicky Cristina Barcelona, Hamlet 2, and Frozen River

120 Games

Twenty years on, how Madden became gaming’s most famous name.

122 Live

R.E.M., Modest Mouse, and the National get happy in Chicago.