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10 Great, Unexpected Mixtapes by Musicians Who Aren’t DJs

By Tom Hawking on

This week sees the release of the soundtrack to British psychological thriller Berbarian Sound Studio, a soundtrack that’s notable for being a) creepy as hell and b) the last thing ever recorded by much-missed British duo Broadcast before singer Trish Keenan’s death from pneumonia in 2010. Keenan’s death robbed the music world of a distinctive voice and a singular talent, and the release of Berbarian Sound Studio has got us listening again to the fantastic mixtape a friend of Keenan’s released in her memory a couple of weeks after she died. This in turn got us thinking about other artist-made mixtapes that have brightened up our iTunes over the last couple of years, eclectic selections made by musicians you wouldn’t necessarily expect to dabble in DJ mixes — we’ve shared a few of them after the jump. … Read More

Music

A Selection of Great Duets We’d Love to See

By Tom Hawking on

As we’ve written here in the past, the duet is an inexact science — some of the collaborations that you’d think should have been roaring successes proved to be disastrous, and vice versa. We’re still on the fence as to which group the new St. Vincent/David Byrne collaboration Love This Giant, which is out today, falls into — but either way, the fact that two of our favorite artists have made a whole record together got us thinking about other dream duets we’d love to see. We’ve started the discussion with a bunch of suggestions. Who would you like to see in the studio together? … Read More

Music

10 Indie Musicians Who Would Make Great Pop Stars

By Tom Hawking on

Ariel Pink’s new album Mature Themes is out this week, and it’s as strange and idiosyncratic as ever, mixing killer pop songs and curious whimsy in roughly equal measures. Pink’s more pop-tastic moment have always led us to think that somewhere inside him was/is a huge international pop star just waiting to get out. (Whether Pink is inclined to let this inner pop star out is, of course, another matter entirely.) Anyway, either way, hearing Mature Themes got us thinking about other indie types who, in an ideal world, could/should be chart-destroying megastars. The lines are blurrier than ever these days, of course, and there have been plenty of genuine crossover acts drawn from the ranks of the indie world, if that term even means anything in 2012 — M83, Feist, even (whisper it quietly) Bon Iver. Who might be next? Read on. … Read More

Music

The 20 Best Debut Albums of 2011

By Tom Hawking on

It’s like clockwork. At this time of year, at least one friend who’s stopped paying attention to music climbs on his/her soapbox to proclaim that there are no good new bands any more, and that music’s gone to shit, etc. Inevitably, the situation devolves into an argument wherein you try to sell your friend on the virtues of a bunch of bands he or she has never heard of, and end up going to the bar in despair while they wander over to put Foo Fighters on the jukebox. Argh. But as ever, despite what people might want to tell you, there’s always plenty of great new bands and new music out there — you just need to know where to look. 2011 has been as good a year for debut albums as any, so next time you’re involved in such a discussion, feel free to point your obstreperous friend in the direction of the rest of this post — because after the jump, you’ll find our 20 favorite debut albums of 2011. As ever, suggestions are welcome. … Read More

Music

What Pitchfork’s Top 10 Songs of 2011 Say About Us

By Judy Berman on

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

Music

10 Artists Who Really Should Have Made NME’s 2011 Cool List

By Tom Hawking on

So the NME just published their 2011 Cool List. As ever, it’s a bewildering document that proclaims the likes of The Killers’ Ronnie Vanucci, the Arctic Monkeys’ drummer and, yes, Lana Del Rey to be cool, which makes us wonder if the NME’s writers have the same understanding of that particular word as we do. Anyway, we appreciate that setting yourself as arbiters of “cool” is asking for trouble (especially if you then proceed to include two members of Kasabian in your Top 10), but the fact remains: there are some people missing from the NME‘s list who we think should be there. We’re not sure if this makes these people “cool” or just generally awesome, but either way, here are 10 non-NME-approved musicians who we think were just great during 2011. So there. … Read More

Music

Flavorpill’s Favorite Moments from CMJ 2011

By Tom Hawking on

CMJ’s over for another year, and now that we’ve finally gotten a decent night’s sleep, we’re in a better position to look back over a long and crazy week of drinking, queuing and gig-going. As ever, this year’s CMJ played host to a ridiculous number of bands, and while we know you can’t see everything, we did our level best to see… well, pretty much everything. So here’s a selection of our favorite bands from CMJ 2011 — both new discoveries and established names who put on particularly impressive shows — as chosen by our highly trained and highly caffeinated Flavorpill contingent. Now, if you’ll excuse us, we’re going to go and slump on the couch for the next week or so. … Read More

Music

Flavorpill CMJ Guide 2011: What’s Worth Your Time

By Tom Hawking on

CMJ: they don’t call it a music marathon for nothing, y’know. An insane number of bands will descend on NYC next week for the annual five-day non-stop assault of shows and showcases. With them comes an even larger number of music lovers, who spend most of their time trying to work out how to make a connection from the F train to the L train in order to make it to Williamsburg for that next awesome gig. Even if you live here, trying to keep track of who’s on where, and when best to catch the artists you’ve got circled on your schedule with “MUST SEE” in thick magic marker, can be kinda confusing.

So if negotiating the official schedule’s iPhone text conversation layout is giving you as much of a headache as it gave us, then rejoice! Here’s the Flavorpill guide to what you really should be seeing this time around, whether you want to follow the CMJ tradition of racing around town to see as many bands as possible, or just pick one great showcase where you can settle in for the night. We’ve also included helpful links to where we’ve talked about these bands in the past (we told you so) and commentary from our highly learned team of musical experts. … Read More

Books

Literary Mixtape: Josef K

By Emily Temple on

If you’ve ever wondered what your favorite literary characters might be listening to while they save the world/contemplate existence/get into trouble, or hallucinated a soundtrack to go along with your favorite novels, well, us too. But wonder no more! Here, we sneak a look at the hypothetical iPods of some of literature’s most interesting characters. What would be on the personal playlists of Holden Caulfield or Elizabeth Bennett, Huck Finn or Harry Potter, Tintin or Humbert Humbert? Something revealing, we bet. Or at least something danceable. Read on for a cozy reading soundtrack, character study, or yet another way to emulate your favorite literary hero. This week: Josef K. … Read More

Music

Download an Excellent, Free Nirvana ‘Nevermind’ Tribute Album

By Judy Berman on

September marks the 20th anniversary of Nirvana’s Nevermind, and the folks at Spin are celebrating with a fantastic — and fairly diverse — full-album cover project they’ve dubbed Newermind. The compilation does a great job pairing current bands with tracks. Titus Andronicus do a faithful take on “Breed,” managing to up its already manic energy,… Read More