This week saw the release of Bat Chain Puller, the “lost” Captain Beefheart album. Although its songs have been available on various bootlegs, the album — recorded with Frank Zappa in 1976 — has never officially been released until now. In the intervening years, it’s become something of a legend — not quite on the level of Smile or the lost David Bowie album, but still, a sought-after relic of a bygone era. And while it’s finally getting an official release, there are still other similarly shelved records we’d love to hear but probably never will (we imagine them stuck in a vault somewhere, like the one the Cigarette Smoking Man tends in The X-Files). Here are a few we’d love to get our hands on.
Last week we stereotyped you by your favorite books, and this week it’s time to apply a bumper edition of our gratuitous generalizations to the world of music. Our stereotyping posts have become something of a tradition at Flavorpill, but still, here’s our obligatory disclaimer: this is an entirely tongue-in-cheek exercise, so don’t get all offended — and also, as ever, several of our favorite records are on here, and we’ll totally own up to all the stereotypes that apply to us. Anyway, with that said, here are 50 albums that keep cropping up on end-of-year lists and the sort of people that like them. Read More »
Remember that festival line-up formula jpg that did the rounds a couple of years back? It sets out a hilarious generic line-up by categorizing the type of bands you find on every festival bill (“increasingly mainstream headliner,” “good headliner playing shitty latest album,” “fat bearded jam band,” “African tribal music everyone will clap politely for,” etc). Anyway, we got to thinking that a similar formula applies to end-of-year best album lists — and, specifically, that there’s always precisely one token hip-hop release lurking in or around pretty much every rock-centric top ten. Join us as we embark on a retrospective of the last ten years’ worth of such albums, and ponder what it all means. Read More »
It’s that time of year again, when everyone from New Yorker critics to mp3 bloggers who barely write a single sentence about the songs they post embark upon that great equalizer: the best-of list. This week, Pitchfork has revealed its writers’ 100 favorite tracks of 2011, and as usual, it provides some subliminal insight into where young, indie types’ (we’ll do everyone the favor of not using that word) heads have been over the past 12 months. Indulge us in our overanalysis of what the site’s top 10 songs of the year say about us, after the jump. Read More »
Another year, another uninspired list of “fascinating people,” courtesy of Barbara Walters. Babs’ 2011 list seems frightfully behind the times: Aren’t Simon Cowell, Katy Perry, Derek Jeter, and the Kardashians kind of old news? Why interview Donald Trump when you could have picked a real politician who actually plans to run for president in 2012, instead of just teasing about it to hype his past-its-prime reality show? Jesse Tyler Ferguson and Eric Stonestreet from Modern Family aren’t a bad pick, but do we really need to hear more from tabloid favorites Amanda Knox and Pippa Middleton? Here’s hoping the one name ABC is withholding until Walters’ special airs tomorrow night is more inspiring. Meanwhile, your friends at Flavorpill have our entire list of 2011′s most fascinating people ready right now. Our top 10, and the questions we’d ask them, are after the jump. Read More »
No matter your parents’ political persuasion, hip-hop can be a hard sell when it comes to co-opting the stereo at home — liberally inclined parents will complain about the genre’s perceived misogyny, glorification of crime, and naughty language, while conservatives will rant and rave about… well, basically the exact same things, albeit for different reasons. Still, with the release of The Roots’ undun this week, we got to thinking about hip-hop that can help change — or at least — challenge these broad conceptions. Here’s a few of our picks. If your parents aren’t quite ready to embraced the Based God quite yet, you can get them started with the records you’ll find after the jump. Read More »
1. Former heavyweight boxing champion Joe Frazier — who is perhaps best known for defeating Muhammad Ali in what was called the “Fight of the Century” — died last night at the age of 67 after a battle with liver cancer. The New York Times reflects on his career here.
2. Dr. Conrad Murray is currently on suicide watch after being found guilty of manslaughter in Michael Jackson’s death; he’ll remain behind bars at the LA County Jail until his sentencing on November 29. [via LAT]
3. Chinese filmmaker Zhang Yimou’s buzzed about World War II film The Flowers of War, which stars Christian Bale, has finally been given a release date in the US, making it eligible as more than just a foreign language entry at this year’s Academy Awards. [via Slashfilm]
4. Speaking of the Oscars, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is standing behind Brett Ratner in the wake of the “rehearsal is for fags” comment that he made at a recent Q&A for his new film Tower Heist. “The bottom line is, this won’t and can’t happen again,” says AMPAS president Tom Sherak. “It will not happen again. He apologized and we will move forward.” [via Deadline]
5. While Drake’s highly-anticipated collaboration album with Lil Wayne is no longer happening, he will be working with Rick Ross on a new mix tape project called Y.O.L.O. (You Only Live Once). [via Vulture]
Last night on Saturday Night Live, Anna Faris dressed up like Sailor Moon, Drake (barely) reverted back to his acting roots, and Nicki Minaj made a surprise appearance in a very sexy leotard. We happen to love all three of the celebrity guests, particularly Anna Faris, and accordingly, this may be our favorite episode thus far this season. That’s not to say there weren’t some pretty low moments, of course. Click through to see our picks for best and worst skits of the night, and let us know what made you laugh (or cringe uncontrollably) in the comments.
We’ve been hearing a lot of buzz recently about Jesse Plemons (ahem, Landry Clarke from Friday Night Lights) and his real-life band, Cowboy and Indian. Some of our favorite Landry scenes in FNL were related to his Christian speed-metal band Crucifictorious, but Cowboy and Indian may be, if anything, its polar opposite. Watching Landry croon bluegrass melodies on guitar and sip whiskey under a warm light in his recently released vido got us thinking about all the characters with bands who actually have bands in real life — and which ones are better. Click through for our roundup of bands from TV and film whose members are — for better or worse — actually musicians, and tell us if you agree with our verdicts in the comments!
