FEATURES
How Randy Pobst Saved This Record-Setting Porsche 911 GT2 RS From the Crusher
But seriously, why crush cars? Well, in the case of those Vipers, they were pre-production models that can never be sold. Why not? Because if they ever somehow “get loose” and are involved in a road crash, the manufacturer is hosed—just ask your nearest lawyer, any lawyer. Fact is, it makes great economic sense for automakers to destroy certain cars. They would hurt themselves, shareholders, and future crash victims if they didn’t make sure certain cars were good and dead. Even cars you really like. But what about special cars? Or even really special cars? Like, say, the 2018 Porsche 991-series 911 GT2 RS Weissach Edition that set the production car lap record in July 2018 on the big track at Willow Springs International Raceway? The very car driven by our own Randy Pobst...
Conquer the Dakar Rally With This Collection of Bowler Land Rover Defenders
In nearly every single parameter, the new Land Rover Defender improves over the old warhorse Defender it replaced. While Land Rover’s O.G. Defender’s capability as an expeditionary lance and an agrarian implement is undeniable, the British brand worked extraordinarily hard to develop a new Defender that drives and performs like something from the 21st century, and not the 19th. However, with unibody construction and a suite of tech aimed at improving on-road manners, the new Defender isn’t quite the boulder-basher it used to be—especially if your needs include bombing through the Dakar dunes on a rally raid. For that, you turn to the mad minds at Bowler. The U.K.-based manufacturing workshop established itself as the premier name in making Defenders rally-raid-ready ...
Honor the Birth of House Music With 10 Influential Black Artists from Chicago
More than 40 years ago in Chicago’s underground club scene, the foundational wave of modern dance music was just starting to hit its stride. It was the 1980s, and house music was booming. Following the decline of disco fever, pioneering Black DJs like Frankie Knuckles and Ron Hardy were quickly thrust into the city’s spotlight as they experimented with drum machines and synths in music for the first time, especially the iconic Roland TR-808. Predominantly Black, Latinx and queer audiences flocked to their venues, the Warehouse and the Muzic Box, respectively, drawn in by the inclusive, sanctuary-like scene. It wasn’t long until fabled record labels like Gramaphone and Trax were founded, devoted to spreading the sound of house music across the country and the globe. ...
Overlanding in Supercars? What Has Top Gear America Done Now!?
Don’t worry, things have not gone completely off the rails at the MotorTrend offices, despite last year’s best efforts. As fun as it would be to watch, supercars are not built for overlanding (but maybe they are nowadays?), and even the Top Gear America hosts wouldn’t subject those rolling pinnacles of art and engineering to the rigors of the great outdoors. But what is a “supercar,” really, and how exactly are you supposed to drive one? And overlanding? Aren’t we all over land in some way or another all the time? We got to chat with Top Gear America co-host Jethro Bovingdon about these questions, meeting Dax Shepard and Rob Corddry for the first time, and generally living up to the legacy of the one of the greatest franchises in automotive m...
EDM.com Presents The Heat Check 001: Mersiv, Kumarion, Freddy Todd and More
In modern bass music, listeners and tastemakers consistently find themselves chasing the next big track to blow audiences away. EDM.com’s The Heat Check is a series that highlights the hottest tracks and brightest artists to emerge from the bass, dubstep and freeform scenes. “TALKIN BOUT” – MERSIV For his first drop of 2021, Mersiv delivered a short yet nasty dubstep banger. “Talkin Bout” displays his ability to forge robust energy and experiences through his experimental sound. “INSTINCT” – KUMARION After eclipsing a million streams on his breakout track “Want It,” Kumarion has re-upped on the new year with his latest drum & bass-infused tune. “Instinct” flushes out his chaotic style and marks his debut with the ...
No One Puts Enough Respect on the Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren’s Name
Cast your mind back to 2002. Covid-19 wasn’t anything to anyone, Elon Musk was only known for creating PayPal (and, after selling it, buying a McLaren F1), and Porsche, Ferrari, and Pagani were setting the automotive world alight with the Carrera GT, Enzo, and Zonda. It was one heck of a time to love cars, not least of which because the Chrysler PT Cruiser was MotorTrend’s reigning car of the year. But there’s another, oft-forgotten member of the early 2000s supercar aristocracy: the Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren. See all 15 photos Born out of a partnership between Mercedes-Benz and McLaren that started with their joint Formula 1 program, the SLR was both an homage to the old and an exploration of the new. The McLaren F1 had been out of production for several years, and the n...
Steven Wilson on Channeling Evil Spirits, Defying Expectations With New LP
Google Image search “Steven Wilson sadness meme,” and you’ll find plenty of hilarious results. His music rarely sounds depressing — despite the groans of the modern prog-rock community, he’s just as likely these days to channel Abba as Gentle Giant. But he does tend to explore the dark corners of the human psyche, from the ultra bleak conceptual framework of Porcupine Tree’s 2002 LP, In Absentia, to the tragic real-life story that inspired his 2015 solo LP, Hand. Cannot. Erase. If anyone could expertly channel the despair and division of the pandemic/Trump era, it’s this guy. And the songwriter’s perfectly titled new LP, The Future Bites, does traffic in the paranoia and general anxiety of our current dystopia. But Wilson finished writing the project in 2018 — it just happens to feel like ...
Streams of the Unconscionable
It’s become crystal clear this year that without touring revenue, many musicians have little hope of making a living. Streaming royalties are a pittance, and musicians have had to turn to new creative ways to stay afloat. Some sell exclusive vinyl, cassettes, and other merchandise on Bandcamp. Others have turned to the subscription service, Patreon, where fans can pay their favorite creators for access to exclusive content like B-Sides, live sessions, podcasts, and more. But their qualms seem to have fallen on deaf ears at Spotify. All year, the company and its CEO Daniel Ek, have been callous, if not downright contemptuous, towards artists that are trying to eke out a living. Complaints about Spotify revenue have been floating around for years now. Even in 2013, Radiohead’s frontman Thom ...
EDM.com Presents “Quarantini Chats” Episode #13: Deorro
Whether they’re bedazzling eggs with rhinestones, baking their own sourdough from scratch, or concocting absurd cocktails, those in the social media community at large have embraced their creativity during their time in quarantine. Harnessing that creativity and manifesting it into the dance music community, EDM.com’s Instagram Live interview series “Quarantini Chats” invites the brightest music producers and DJs in the game to join our platform and craft a custom cocktail as they sip and dive into a wide range of topics with our special guest hosts, The Hotel Lobby. As he continues to change the EDM game with his unique fusion of electronic and Latin music, dance music vet Deorro is joining EDM.com for the 13th episode of “Quarantini Chats.” To cel...
Dax Shepard’s ’67 Continental: Classic Luxury Meets Stunt Mobile
From the December 2012 issue of Popular Hot Rodding magazine: It’s called “stealing a shot,” a Hollywood term that means shooting commercial footage without a permit. Technically, anytime you whip out a camera in the L.A. Basin with the intent to publish the results (movie, print, interwebs, whatever) for personal gain, you need a permit. We’re about to “steal a shot” on a forlorn stretch of pavement wedged between scrap yards. A few cracks in the pavement are large enough to swallow small children. Broken bits of glass and metal litter the ground. If this were a movie, a car would be spewed from these fissures, a car such as Dax Shepard’s ’67 Lincoln Continental. Like some dark angel’s limo, this pitch-black Conti reeks of m...
