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Music

A Selection of the Most Insanely Long Live Performances in Music

By Tom Hawking on

You may have heard that The National, bless them, will be at P.S. 1 in New York this weekend, performing the same song — “Sorrow,” from their album High Violet — for six hours straight, as part of a collaboration with artist Ragnar Kjartansson. According to the gallery, the show “continues [Kjartansson's] explorations into the potential of repetitive performance to produce sculptural presence within sound.” That’s all very well, but where does this fit into the hierarchy of insanely long shows? Read on to find out. … Read More

Music

Fascinating Photos of Great Musicians’ Earliest Musical Endeavors

By Tom Hawking on

Everyone has to start somewhere, and all that. We’re always fascinated by the idea of looking into the history of our favorite artists, be they musicians, writers, filmmakers or whatever else, and as such we found ourselves seeking out the earliest musical endeavors of some of our favorite musicians. We thought we’d share some of the fruits of our searching with you — fascinating photographs of famous musicians in the earliest stages of their artistic… Read More

New York

Forget Karaoke: Here Are 10 of NYC's Best Live Tribute Bands

By Heidi Vanderlee on

You thought earnest, shameless tribute bands were just for Las Vegas, didn’t you? While New York obviously has a wealth of original music to offer, we’ve been thinking: singing along to live renditions of “Fat-Bottomed Girls” could in theory be a lot more fun than pretending to care about DIIV. It’s time to take a break from nodding to noise bands and take your pick from this fine array of tributes to the classic acts we all totally still listen to, even though we’ll only admit it at karaoke. … Read More

Music

12 Notable Music Videos Directed by Famous Filmmakers

By Tom Hawking on

As we reported last week, Gaspar Noé — the man responsible for the French films Enter the Void and, shudder, Irreversible — has directed the video for the rather excellent new Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds single “We No Who U R.” The video is rather restrained by Noé’s standards, but it fits the song beautifully, and it got us thinking about other well-known directors who’ve moonlighted in making music videos. There have been plenty over the years, some triumphant, some rather less so — so here’s a selection for your viewing delectation! Marvel, giggle, shake your head in despair, and then let us know if we missed any. … Read More

Pop Culture

50 of the Greatest Jon Stewart Quotes

By Alison Nastasi on

Everyone’s favorite silver fox with the rapier wit and passion for political puns turns 50 today. Happy birthday, Jon Stewart! The Daily Show satirist has brilliantly conquered “bullsh*t mountain” with his insightful and hilarious commentary on the media, American pop culture, politicians, and more. The boy from New Jersey — who later studied chemistry and psychology at William & Mary, rose through the ranks in New York City’s comedy clubs, and found a home as a writer and host for Comedy Central — has delivered some of the best, no-holds-barred commentary of our generation. We’ve gathered 50 of his greatest quotes after the break. Feel free to celebrate along with us by adding your favorites, below. … Read More

News

The Morning’s Top 5 Pop Culture Stories

By Caroline Stanley on

1. You know that $4.05 billion that George Lucas made in his deal with Disney? Apparently he plans to donate “the majority of the proceeds” to his philanthropic endeavors. [via Collider]

2. Wes Anderson says that Grand Budapest Hotel “mostly takes place about 85 years ago… And it’s kind of European … a… Read More

Photography

David Gahr’s Dramatic Black-and-White Photos of ’60s and ’70s Musicians

By Tom Hawking on

A few weeks back, we shared some great photos of musicians from the 1960s and ’70s. If you enjoyed those, you’ll also appreciate these shots of some of the era’s luminaries by the late New York photographer David Gahr. Gahr’s work appeared in Time and Rolling Stone, among others, and his career spanned five decades, from his earliest work in the late ’50s until his death in 2008. His photos are the subject of a new exhibition at Morrison Hotel in Soho from October 26 through November 11 (you can check the gallery website for opening hours if you’re in the city). Either way, check out some of the photos from the exhibition after the jump, along with archival commentary from the photographer himself. … Read More

Music

Watch Bruce Springsteen Perform a New Obama Campaign Song

By Judy Berman on

A campaign song that starts with, “I kissed your sister, then I kissed your mama”? Just bear with outspoken Barack Obama supporter Bruce Springsteen for a minute, because while it doesn’t get any less silly, it does get more topical: “Let’s vote for the man who got Osama.” The Obama campaign is pulling out all the stops in the swing states, and yesterday that meant a rally in Parma, Ohio headlined by both Springsteen and Bill Clinton. As part of his solo acoustic set, the Boss debuted “Forward and Away We Go,” written in response to the campaign’s request for a song inspired by Obama’s 2012 slogan “Forward.” It’s a folksy bit of base-pleasing fluff, with a few rah-rah references to the president and VP’s latest debate victories, but we can’t imagine Springsteen meant it to be anything more. Watch his entire seven-song set at Consequence of Sound, or click through to skip straight to “Forward and Away We Go.” … Read More

Music

Bruce Springsteen’s 63 Finest Lyrics on his 63rd Birthday

By Tom Hawking on

As far as “facts that make us feel kinda old” go, the fact that it’s Bruce Springsteen’s 60th birthday 63rd birthday today (eeeek!) is definitely somewhere near the top of the list. But then again, Asbury Park’s most famous son has been turning out quality music for the best part of four decades — in fact, next year will mark the 40th anniversary of his debut album. Anyway, to celebrate the Boss’s birthday, we’ve chosen our 60 63 favorite Springsteen lyrics, which we’ve collated after the jump for your reading pleasure. They’re not really in any particular order — if anything, they’re roughly arranged by subject matter — with the exception of the #1 track, which is definitely our favorite Springsteen song of all time. So, what’s yours? Let us know in the comments section. … Read More

News

The Morning’s Top 5 Pop Culture Stories

By Caroline Stanley on

1. PBS has announced that Ken Burns’ next project for them will be a seven-part, fourteen-hour series called The Roosevelts: An Intimate History, and will feature voice work by Paul Giamatti (Theodore), Edward Herrmann (Franklin), and Meryl Streep (Eleanor). [via Vulture]

2. If you’re a Boss fan with a good half hour or… Read More