[Editor's note: For the next two Fridays, Flavorwire will be counting down our 20 most popular features of 2010. This post, which originally ran on January 19, 2010, comes in at position number 16.] Inspired by Lauren Leto’s “Stereotyping People By Their Favorite Author,” we realized the incredible potential for a mercilessly judgmental list of indie band stereotypes. It is a common fact that Cormac McCarthy readers are men who don’t eat cream cheese, but what about those who listen to The XX on repeat and The Flaming Lips on hallucinogens? They need labels, too. After the jump, in collaboration with contributor Jeff Luppino-Esposito, we lay down the reckless assumptions.
The latest big news on the liberal-musicians-suing-conservative-politicians-for-using-their-music front is that former Eagle Don Henley has negotiated a settlement and received an apology from Chuck Devore, the California Republican candidate for Senate who parodied two of the singer’s songs. Although Devore originally crowed about his right to rip off “All She Wants to Do Is Dance” (his version: “All She Wants to Do Is Tax”) and “Boys of Summer” (“Hope of November”), he’s now completely changed his tune: ”Political candidates, regardless of affiliation, should seek appropriate licence authority before they use copyrighted works,” said Devore in a statement. ”Further, we regret all inaccurate, derogatory or disparaging remarks made about Mr Henley during the course of this dispute.”
Of course, while Devore may represent the most recent (not to mention egregiously slimy) parody, the past 20 years have included no shortage of strange, wonderful, and frequently hilarious projects inspired by Henley and the Eagles. Check out a few of our favorites after the jump.
1. After weeks (months? 25 years?!) of speculation, Larry King announced on his show last night that he’ll be stepping down from his talk show in the fall, but continuing to work with CNN on specials. We want to be the first to suggest Lady Gaga for his replacement host. [via Media Decoder]
2. Jonah Hex may have bombed, but Megan Fox is married. She and 90210 alum Brian Austin Green got hitched in a secret ceremony in Hawaii late last week. [via Perez Hilton]
3. Some really exciting news for New Yorkers: Verizon will start selling Apple’s iPhone starting in January. Could this mean no more dropped calls? [via Bloomberg]
4. There are three security cameras and a baby in your first look at Paranormal Activity 2. [via Vulture]
5. Vanessa Redgrave and James Earl Jones are bringing Alfred Uhry’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play Driving Miss Daisy to Broadway for the first time in October. [via LAT]
For its 2010 Revival Recordings project, Levi’s Pioneer Sessions roped in artists ranging from Dirty Projectors and Passion Pit to Bomba Estereo and the Roots to cover timeless tracks that influenced them.
It all kicked off with Nas’ take on Slick Rick’s “Hey Young World,” and has since seen She & Him, the Swell Season, the Shins, and others take on everyone from Rick Nelson to Smashing Pumpkins in a celebration of the lasting power of classic songs. There are still two more tracks to come, and all 13 covers are available to download for free.
Noa Emberson is a graphic designer based out of Honolulu. He recently took on a self-initiated project commemorating twenty five of his favorite indie albums with beautifully-crafted and informative posters. Lucky for us, his design aesthetic is just as sharp as his taste in music. Click through to view a few of our favorites.
Combining art and music, Sketch Theatre presents a frequently updated series of short, single-shot, time-lapse videos of artists drawing while digging the tunes that inspire them.
Artists including Brandi Milne, Syd Mead, Ron English, and Lola have all been filmed for the site, drawing along to their favorite songs — from Dirty Projectors, the Raconteurs, Daniel Johnston, and Holly Golightly, respectively. An eclectic and mesmerizing testament to the mysteries of inspiration and artistry, Sketch Theatre is also a treasury of killer sounds.
1. The New York Times has issued a correction for Lynn Hirschberg’s M.I.A. profile, admitting that certain quotes were presented out of order. [via The Daily Swarm]
2. The New Yorker‘s “20 under 40″ list of fiction writers is out; it’s chock full of thirtysomethings, and the youngest person included is Téa Obreht, 24. [via The Awl]
3. The Smashing Pumpkins will go on a tour of smaller venues this summer, playing what Billy Corgan calls, “a balance of classics, a few obscure ones, and new material.” [via Spin]
4. Apple has applied for a patent for a solar-powered iPhone. (Side note: Have you downloaded Flavorpill’s free iPhone app yet?) [via Inhabitat]
5. Listen to Dirty Projectors cover Bob Dylan’s “I Dreamed I Saw St. Augustine.” [via Vulture]
Earlier this week the announcement that Vampire Weekend, Beach House, and Dum Dum Girls would all be performing together this summer at Merriweather Post Pavilion (among other venues) may have gotten us a little bit too excited. The combination of these three massive indie bands all playing on the iconic stage that legends from Jimi Hendrix to Janis Joplin have graced (and that Animal Collective, of course, named their critically-acclaimed album after) has convinced us that this may just be the most “epic” concert of the summer. And that got us thinking: Could we come up with a concert that was even more epic in scope?
As Inlets, multi-instrumentalist Sebastian Krueger blends the simple warmth of his banjo with the lush scope of orchestral pop.
His self-recorded debut LP, Inter Arbiter, comprises layered songs that benefit from repeat listens. Krueger’s experience as a hired gun for My Brightest Diamond and Feist also pays off by bringing him a slew of guest artists, including Dirty Projectors vocalist Angel Deradoorian and Beirut frontman Zach Condon, who contribute to the album’s melancholic harmonies.
Pop music and classical music are supposed to be different worlds. Yet, in the last few years, the two have begun bleeding together again. On “Colouring of Pigeons,” from Swedish pop duo the Knife’s just-released album Tomorrow, In a Year, one can hear echoes of both Varèse’s Ionisation and Guillaume Dufay floating among metallic passages reminiscent of Björk. The album itself is the score to an opera about Charles Darwin, made in collaboration with avant-garde Berliner Mt. Sims and the British multimedia artist Planningtorock. It merges the artiness of musique concrète and minimalism with the grit of house music.
Since that’s far from the only high-brow stuff whizzing around overhead, we thought we’d give you a look at five composers whose works influence some of the indie pop you know and love. Listen to their music, and the work they’ve inspired, after the jump.
, one can hear echoes of both Varèse’s 
