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Music

A Selection of Remarkable Isolated Vocal Tracks from Famous Songs

By Judy Berman on

For pop music obsessives, the Internet is an infinite series of bottomless rabbit holes. One of our greatest recent distractions has been isolated vocal tracks: archived recordings of only the vocals from a song, or clips that have been digitally manipulated to remove the instrumental portions (sometimes it’s difficult to tell which of the two you’re hearing). While they’re prone to encouraging an undue amount of reverence — vocals-only tracks are often cited as definitive “proof” of a musician’s talent or lack thereof — they certainly add a new dimension to our appreciation of classic singles. At their best, they highlight the unadorned talent of a singer whose voice we’re used to hearing backed by a full band; at their weirdest, well… just click through to reacquaint yourself with David Lee Roth. … Read More

News

The Morning’s Top 5 Pop Culture Stories

By Caroline Stanley on

1. Starchitect Rem Koolhaus has signed a deal to design and construct Marina Abramovic’s Center for the Preservation of Performance Art. The $8 million space in Hudson, New York will be devoted to showcasing performance art pieces of “six hours minimum.” [via Vulture]

2. While Whitney Houston’s funeral, which takes place this Saturday… Read More

News

The Morning’s Top 5 Pop Culture Stories

By Caroline Stanley on

1. “There will never be a reunion … as I will never do anything with an as*hole like Will Smith. He is still an egomaniac and has not grown up. This constant reunion thing will never ever happen in my lifetime unless there is an apology, which he doesn’t know the word.” — Janet Hubert,… Read More

Music

Eight Musicians Who Sold Out, Made Us Laugh

By Caroline Stanley on

It all started off last week. I was in a deli near my apartment, when I looked over and saw Elton John’s face peering up from the ice cream section of the freezer. No, I wasn’t hallucinating. He’s got his own Ben & Jerry’s ice cream flavor — Goodbye Yellow Brickle Road — complete with a photoshopped-thin head shot. But he’s not the only musician who has “sold out” — and I’m using that term in the most literal way possible. After the jump, a list of some of the most egregious instances of an artist using their celebrity to hawk something ridiculous that we could come up with here at Flavorpill HQ. (And no Pitchfork, Liz Phair contributing a song to some crappy Banana Republic compilation doesn’t count.) Do us a favor and keep the list growing in the comments. … Read More

Music

The Third Rail: A Cinco de Mayo Mix

By Peter Joseph on

Forget St. Patrick’s Day. Cinco de Mayo is the alcohol industry’s equivalent of a Hallmark holiday. Corona would like to think that May 5th is an important national holiday, but they’d also like you to think that you need a Lite version of their beer. And yet even if Cinco de Mayo is a manufactured anniversary akin to St. Valentine’s day, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t use you it to douse your worries about swine flu in Mexico’s national drink: tequila. But since you won’t have the traditional mariachi band to back you up — unless you’re drinking on the subway — after a jump, a selection of songs to use as chasers. … Read More

Music

Five Guitars We Must Play Before We Die

By Caroline Stanley on

We remember the days. Fourth-period algebra. 10:37 a.m. Stomach rumbling, still over an hour until lunch. Mrs. Klein at the blackboard slaving over the basics of quadratic equations, chalk somehow on the back of her blazer.

We passed the time hunched over our notebook, mechanical pencil primed with a little too much lead, drawing incredible electric guitars that we planned to play someday on dramatically lit stages in front of hoarse, intoxicated, sweating groupies.

It turns out that there were others like us. But whereas we ceremonially burned our spiral-bound five-subjects when the school year was over, they kept at it. While we were playing violent video games, smashing our shins on skateboards, and being rejected by girls in form-fitting turtlenecks, they were at the library, photocopying their blueprints and then sending them off to the world’s leading guitar manufacturers.

The five axes after the jump are physical proof of what can happen when you follow your dreams. Let us know which one speaks to you the most. … Read More