In February of this year, it was reported that the Bronx-born “Fuck Compton” rapper Tim Dog passed away at 46 years of age, due to complications related to diabetes. The rapper, born Timothy Blair, was best known for his Dr. Dre/N.W.A. targeted diss track, but he also faced public scrutiny after pleading guilty to grand larceny for scamming single women out of a reported $2 million via an online dating scam in 2011. Tim Dog passed way February 14, 2013 after suffering a diabetes-related seizure.

Why then, was a warrant for Tim Dog’s arrest issued yesterday? A Desoto County, Mississippi judge issued an arrest warrant for Timothy Blair, in relation to money he was ordered to repay one particular woman he scammed in 2011. Southhaven resident Esther Pilgrim met Tim Dog on an online dating site, and the rapper swindled her out of $32,000. Pilgrim believes that Tim Dog was so angry about having to pay her back, he may have faked his own death.

Yesterday, a prosecutor from the Desoto County district attorney’s office filed a petition to have Tim Dog’s probation revoked (can a dead guy be on probation?), and is demanding a death certificate as proof of his expiry. Hip-hop producer Cedric “Ced-Gee” Miller, who produced Tim Dog’s “Fuck Compton,” told WREG in Memphis that he doesn’t believe a funeral for Tim Dog ever took place, and that he refused to speak at the event after the family could not produce a death certificate.

Watch WREG’s news report below. It seems like a ridiculous accusation, but can you imagine faking your own death to avoid paying $32,000? If tons of “posthumous” Tim Dog recordings started popping up ala Tupac, it might add some credibility to the Tim Dog death conspiracies, but for now we’re skeptical. It’ll be another story if his ULTRA REALISTIC hologram ends up being a surprise guest at Rock The Bells this year.

The term “mysterious-guy hardcore” isn’t typically associated with Iceage’s music — mostly because hardcore is only a fraction of their sonic equation — but, when it comes to the band’s rapid ascension, the description feels apt. A synopsis: In 2011, a troupe of devastatingly handsome, Fred Perry-toting teenagers emerge from Copenhagen, Denmark’s D.I.Y. scene to little fanfare. They release New Brigade, unveiling an arresting brand of tundra-cold, Brit-informed post-punk. They earn near-unanimous praise for their precise songwriting and capital-A artful experimentation; more than one publication crowns them the shape of punk to come. They sign to Matador. They sell locks of their hair and custom knives as merch. Then, the shitstorm: Thanks to Iceage’s runic iconography, their Burzum tattoos—who, despite the Norwegian band’s racist leanings, are loved by metal fans of all stripes—and dubious sketches from the band’s Dogmeat zine, they are painted as fascists. The only problem? They’re not fascists. And they’ve denied it. Over. And over. And…

“It’s weird that people don’t understand it,” says drummer Dan Kjær Nielsen. “It’s as if people want to classify us as something we’re not. People go hunting for something that’s not there, and they’re discovering only what they want to see.”

I suggest that Iceage’s scandal is similar to that of Merchandise-associated hardcore act Church Whip, who felt the internet’s wrath when they unknowingly—if stupidly—called their tour “Raping the East.” Nielsen sees comparables. “People are trying to discover [controversy] that doesn’t exist,” he says. “That tour name—I doubt that Church Whip is [encouraging] raping anyone. They play a type of music that, I’m sure they meant to say, ‘rapes ears.’”

Still maybe problematic, but here’s what Nielsen’s getting at: People are confusing Iceage’s divisive aesthetic—which, the band correctly points out, actually does not include any right-wing symbols or ideology—with their infectiously challenging music. Their loss, we say, because amidst Iceage’s controversy, their sophomore LP, You’re Nothing, arrived. And it, unlike their punk-goes-indie brethren (cough, The Men), their sophomore effort flat-out devastates: Ditching the post-punk for flat-out punk rock, You’re Nothing’s sonic signifiers veer from the Replacements to Rev Summer-esque post-hardcore to full-on black metal. The vicious result, says Nielsen, came from recording the album in a vacuum: They band holed up in a deserted farm on Møn, a Danish island, where they tackled You’re Nothing free of any distractions.

“We didn’t even think of it as a follow-up,” he says. “We didn’t think of New Brigade at all while we were making it. I mean, I’ve progressed a lot in the way I play [the drums], and with the willingness to try new things. But we didn’t know how the album would come out—we never said, ‘We have to make songs like this.’”

That free-form approach to songwriting is evident on You’re Nothing’s first spin: There’s the sing-shouted lyrics, which, according to singer Elias Bender Rønnenfelt, drew inspiration from literary minds as diverse as Joseph Conrad, Peter Shaffer, and Octave Mirbeau. There’s a marvelous bipolar nature to their songs; You’re Nothing is evenly split between snarling urgency (“Esctasy”) and death-march nihilism (as in “Wounded Hearts.”) And somehow, on “Morals”—perhaps the LP’s most talked-about track— Iceage even attempt a piano-driven hardcore track—and pull it off in stunning fashion, balancing elegant with batshit insane. It’s not hard to see why Iceage are viewed as punk rock’s savants: While the genre is clearly their launching pad, unlike their peers, are attempting to create music that doesn’t pander to eras, subgenres, or any well-worn aesthetic blueprint. It’s dangerous, sure, but it’s endlessly fascinating.

“We don’t play traditional punk or hardcore—we don’t try to recreate a specific sound or era, like other bands,” says Nielsen. “We just play rock music, and people hear what they want to hear in it. We cover a broad spectrum of feelings in our songs, but it’s not perfect — you can see the seams. It’s important for us to create new atmospheres with our music.”

We press for specifics, but Nielsen—who, like other members of Iceage, is a notoriously reserved interview—declines. Maybe, to refer back to the term, it’s part of the band’s mysterious-guy mystique. “Maybe you could say that,” says Nielsen. “We just want to keep it as open and interpretive as we can.”

This article originally appeared in the May 2013 issue of AUX Magazine. Download and subscribe for free in the App Store.

Dublin, Ireland indie-folk group Little Green Cars recently came through Toronto, so we sat them down and had them spill the dirt about their video for “Harper Lee,” taken from their debut album, Absolute Zero. Check it out above.

For months we’ve been hearing about how Ke$ha drank her own pee on her MTV special, and last night, the episode of My Crazy Beautiful Life finally aired, giving curious viewers a chance to see how it unfolded.

While talking with her friend in the back of a van, Ke$ha was told the story of a hiker that regularly drank her own pee. Then, without provocation, she proclaims, “I’ll drink my own pee.”

And then it happens. Viewers are treated to the soothing sounds of Ke$ha’s stream pouring into an open water bottle with a stream of palm trees whizzing by on screen. After asking her friends to smell it (“it doesn’t smell that bad,” she said), Ke$ha takes a surprisingly wimpy little sip, though it proves vile enough to send her into a sort of meta-piss shiver as her friend asks, “why are you doing this for fun now?”

Which makes us wonder. We know she said she’ll probably never do it again, but has she done this before? The clip is geoblocked to the United States, so we can’t embed it directly here. A shame, right? Watch it over on Gawker if you dare.

Mashup Potatoes

Quebec City DJs SiFu and Viciouskratch joined forces in 2007, and ever since, they’ve made it their mission to destroy the dance floor under the moniker Mashup Potatoes. Their live arsenal goes beyond strictly mashups, offering electro, hip-hop, and funk remixes, live scratching, and dynamic original production work. They’ve opened for acts like Steve Aoki, Tommy Sunshine, and Spank Rock, and soon enough, Mashup Potatoes could be headlining DJs in their own right.

AUX: What was your introduction to DJing? What made you want to start?

Mashup Potatoes: Watching the Scratch Pickillz battles got us into DJing. We started out with DMC battles, and Q-Bert was our hero.

Who/what are your main influences, and why?

We love playing electro house, however growing up, hip-hop music was our favourite genre. Influences like DJ Premier and Dr Dre pushed us to work harder.

Do you have a guaranteed party starter, or crucial mix that you work into every set? 

Not really. We try to keep it fresh. But throwing in a Daft Punk track here and there doesn’t hurt.

Name 3 essential records/tracks that help set off a party.

Bob Marley – “Sun Is Shining”
Chemical Brothers – “Block Rocking Beats”
Shakedown – “At Night”

Why is it important for Canada to have an event like Bud Light Sensation?

Bud Light Sensation brings excellent exposure to the EDM scene, and it will put Canada on the worldwide map.

***Vote for Mashup Potatoes at BudLight.ca for your chance to win two tickets to Bud Light Sensation!***

AUX is partnering with Bud Light as they revolutionize what it means to party in Canada. We’ll be breaking down the elements of any successful party into an exact science, culminating in the most mathematically perfect party of the year, Bud Light Presents Sensation (seriously, the Partyodic Table doesn’t lie) at Toronto’s Rogers Centre on June 1. The eight-hour experience will see an estimated 30,000 fans Light It Up in ways they’ve never done before. Tickets are available now, but deluxe tickets have already sold out—so act fast! You must be 19 years or older to attend. Meet fellow revelers on Twitter via the Bud Light Presents Sensation hashtag: #budlightsensation.

Fucked Up travelled to Chicago to begin recording the follow-up to their critically acclaimed third full-length, David Comes to Life. We visited them in the city’s legendary Electrical Audio studio to learn more about their new material and the process that they have developed for writing and tracking.

The first single in Goodie Mob’s comeback arsenal was “Fight to Win,” which for lack of a nicer term was absolutely terrible. It stripped everything that made the hip-hop quartet special and replaced it with an overblown interpretation of their twilight albums; more significantly, they weren’t really rapping on it.

All is forgiven on “Special Education,” which while still bizarrely fixated on future sounds brings the group’s old Southern flow back to a time before Cee-Lo was relegated to singing the hooks. This time Janelle Monáe gets the honour, bridging rhymes by Big Gipp, Khujo, T-Mo and Cee-Lo with remarkable restraint. It’s hard to say they’re back, but following a brutal first single, their comeback album Age Against the Machine might actually now be worth the wait. Expect it out on August 27. [via MissInfo]

Somebody grab Mr. Bookman because Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards has told the British Sun that he loved reading as a kid and owes his local library as much as £20,000 ($31,000 CAD) in late fees.

Richards says the library in Dartford, Kent was a place where you could get a hint that “there was a place called civilisation.”

“I still owe fines from about 50 years ago,” he added. Not that he can’t afford it.

Charli XCX was in-store at Chicago’s Borderline Music where she decided to premiere a dreamy cover of the Backstreet Boys’ “I Want It That Way,” one which no one of the right generation can do anything but nod their head at.

It’s unimportant whether you actually liked the song upon its initial release; it was such a huge snapshot of the time it was released, and this cover, first posted at Stereogum, does work to get that idea through. It’s pretty solid.

Christian Mastro

Ottawa based DJ and studio wizard Christian Mastro has been making a lot of noise in clubs across Canada, with his heavy euro remixes, skillful mashups, and sparkling original productions. Formerly known as Christangelo, the Italian house-influenced DJ is now ready to make Christian Mastro a household name in EDM on the international stage.

AUX: What was your introduction to DJing? What made you want to start?

Christian Mastro: In my early teens, my older brother was in university. He made friends with some guys who happened to be local DJs (DJ Gimmer and DJ Ilon). My bro would play their house/euro mixes in the car and I fell in love with the music. I knew that it was something I wanted to get into when I was older.

Where are you from, and what’s the scene like for a DJ in your hometown?

Ottawa, Canada. It’s not the greatest scene for DJs, especially when compared to bigger cities like Montreal or Toronto, but it’s starting to pick up.

Who/what are your main influences, and why?

In terms of DJs and music, I’m really influenced by the Italian scene. Although the Italian scene has changed significantly over the past few years and the style isn’t too popular here in North America, they have some fantastic DJs and producers. My favourite artists include Cristian Marchi, Nari & Milani, Maurizio Gubellini, Promiseland, and some of the older guys like Gabry Ponte, Maurizio Molella, DJ Ross, Danijay, Provenzano DJ, and of course the legendary Gigi D’Agostino.

Best party you’ve ever been to and why?

Seeing Joachim Garraud at New City Gas (Montreal) last September was definitely a wild night. He is one of the most entertaining guys to go see, especially when he busts out the keytar. Everyone goes crazy.

Why is it important for Canada to have an event like Bud Light Sensation?

It is important because it promotes different styles of dance music and can unite thousands of people.

***Vote for Christian Mastro at BudLight.ca for your chance to win two tickets to Bud Light Sensation!***

AUX is partnering with Bud Light as they revolutionize what it means to party in Canada. We’ll be breaking down the elements of any successful party into an exact science, culminating in the most mathematically perfect party of the year, Bud Light Presents Sensation (seriously, the Partyodic Table doesn’t lie) at Toronto’s Rogers Centre on June 1. The eight-hour experience will see an estimated 30,000 fans Light It Up in ways they’ve never done before. Tickets are available now, but deluxe tickets have already sold out—so act fast! You must be 19 years or older to attend. Meet fellow revelers on Twitter via the Bud Light Presents Sensation hashtag: #budlightsensation.