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Music

20 of the Flat-Out Funniest Songs in Rock ‘n’ Roll

By Tom Hawking on

In an attempt to save you (not to mention ourselves) from the general Monday-morning awfulness that tends to follow a lovely spring weekend, Flavorwire has compiled a playlist of indie/rock/generally guitar-based songs that are genuinely funny. These are 20 of the flat-out wittiest and most amusing songs we know — and we guarantee that at least one of them will make you chuckle. (Note: we’re discounting actual comedy songs here, so no Lonely Island/Flight of the Conchords/etc.) Keep the hilarity going by adding to our list in the comments. … Read More

Television

10 Amazing, Shocking Unscripted Moments From ’90s MTV

By Tyler Coates on

Though the channel debuted in the early ’80s, MTV really found its groove in the ’90s when it still balanced music coverage with its burgeoning original reality, comedy, and animated programming. Because we can’t resist looking back fondly on the wild and wacky on-air incidents that shaped our adolescence, here are ten mind-blowing moments from MTV’s second decade that make us pine for those halcyon off-the-wall… Read More

Music

Great Albums With Embarrassingly Bad Cover Art [NSFW]

By Tom Hawking on

The Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ Mosquito is officially on the shelves, and our first impressions of the record haven’t changed much: we rather like it. The cover art, though… well, that’s an entirely different matter. We’re sure there’s some reasoning behind adorning the sleeve with a lurid pink giant mosquito sinking its proboscis into the ass of a baby (a baby with green lipstick on, we hasten to add), but until we know what it is, the album is going straight to the top of our list of great albums saddled by awful cover art. Here are some of the… Read More

Music

14 Bands Major Labels Thought Would Be the Next Nirvana

By Jason Diamond on

When Nirvana moved from Sub Pop to DGC Records in 1990, the major label hoped they could achieve the sort of success attained by the other former indie band that helped pave the way for the Seattle rockers to sign to a major, Sonic Youth. By 1992, Nevermind had replaced Michael Jackson at #1 on the Billboard album charts, and really did change everything that came after it. It also sent major labels combing through the underground in an attempt to try and catch lightning in a bottle for a second time, and saw some of the strangest bands ever signed to big money deals. … Read More

Music

10 Great Rock Albums Produced by Electronic Musicians

By Tom Hawking on

It’s nice to be pleasantly surprised once in a while, and Free Reign, the new album by UK band Clinic, has been on high rotation here at Flavorpill of late. We’ve always rather liked Clinic’s work, but we’ll be honest — we didn’t expect to enjoy this record nearly as much as we have been. Perhaps the most notable thing about Free Reign in comparison to Clinic’s other records is just how interesting its production and general sound is, which is perhaps not surprising since Oneohtrix Point Never assumed production duties. There have been plenty of examples of electronic artists producing songs for rock-inclined types over the years, everything from Giorgio Moroder working with Blondie on “Call Me” to Alec Empire collaborating with the John Spencer Blues Explosion and, um, Chris Cornell working with Timbaland on the ill-fated Scream. Here are some of our favorites. Did we miss any? … Read More

Music

10 Rock Albums That Were Impossible to Follow Up

By Matthew Bower on

It’s a familiar experience. There’s that one mind-blowingly great album you just can’t get enough of, an album of epic proportion. Then one day you learn that this beloved artist will be releasing a new album. A sense of dread-tinged anticipation overcomes you. Any potential trace of hopefulness that it just might live up to your expectations is overshadowed by the bleak probability of impending disappointment. It’s not that all follow ups to great albums are necessarily bad, it’s just that there’s a certain discomfort in knowing that we’re going to have to move on and adapt. That’s the way music works; sometimes for the better, and sometimes not. We’ve put together a list of ten earthshaking rock albums that were impossible to follow up, often resulting in a derailment, a reinvention, or a fade-away. … Read More

Music

Hear 3 New Beck Songs from the Video Game ‘Sound Shapes’

By Judy Berman on

Beck has a new album coming out, but there’s a pretty good chance you’ll never get to hear it. That’s because, as you might have heard, he’s releasing Song Reader solely as sheet music, via that great clearinghouse of retro and twee projects, McSweeney’s. But don’t worry: he’s still managed to spend some time in the studio this year. Stereogum points us to three new songs — “Cities,” “Spiral Staircase,” and “Touch the People” — the musical iconoclast has contributed to the Playstation 3 game Sound Shapes, which came out last week.

The tracks are fairly diverse, taking full advantage of Beck’s talent for genre-hopping. “Cities” is searching, slow-building, and percussive, with undertones of African pop, whereas “Spiral Staircase” is a wispy, dreamy ballad. Full of beeps, thumps, and robotic vocals, “Touch the People” would be just as appropriate soundtracking Dance Dance Revolution. Click through to see all three songs in the context of the game — which, incidentally, is adorably animated and looks like a whole lot of fun. … Read More

Music

Photo Hightlights from the 2012 Outside Lands Festival

By Caroline Stanley on

Now in its fifth year, San Francisco’s Outside Lands Music and Arts Festival took over Golden Gate Park this past weekend, with a diverse lineup that included everyone from long-established legends like Neil Young and Stevie Wonder to more emerging acts like Tanlines and Zola Jesus. Flavorpill sent photographer Scott Dudelson into the crowded park — which was packed with some 200,000 music fans — to cover the three-day festival for us; click through to see our favorite shots that he captured. … Read More

News

The Morning’s Top 5 Pop Culture Stories

By Caroline Stanley on

1. Duly noted: If you turn off Bruce Springsteen’s mic during a big show in London — particularly if it’s just as Sir Paul McCartney is about to join him on stage for a duet — he will, quite understandably, make serious fun of you when he plays the following evening in Dublin. [via … Read More

Music

Photo Highlights from NYC’s Governors Ball Festival

By Doug Levy on

NYC has struggled for years to develop a music festival it can call its own. And while it may not rival mega-fests like Coachella or Lollapalooza, Governors Ball came back kicking for its second year with a weekend-long lineup that included such heavy hitters as Beck, Fiona Apple, Kid Cudi, and Modest Mouse. Taking its name from its original home on Governors Island, the event was somewhat confusingly moved to Randall’s Island for 2012, but that didn’t stop revelers from pouring in by the thousands to enjoy near-perfect weather, food from local vendors, and two days’ worth of live music. Click through to check out our exclusive photo gallery from the event. … Read More