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10 Fascinating Early Demos by Famous Musicians

By Tom Hawking on

We do still read the NME, god help us, and as such we were interested to see this feature about dodgy demos of classic songs on their website a couple of days back. Setting aside the question of whether anything ever recorded by Muse can ever be considered a “classic” (spoiler: no), the piece did get us thinking about early demos from our favorite musicians, especially in light of the recent reissue of Interpol’s Turn on the Bright Lights, which comes with a bunch of studio outtakes and other rarities. Anyway, we thought we’d run with the idea and share some early demos by some of our other favorite bands, which we think make for pretty fascinating listening. Let us know if you have any you’d like to share. … Read More

Music

10 of Music’s Most Bizarre Alter Egos

By Tom Hawking on

This week sees the release of the utilitarianly titled Banks, the first solo release under his own name by Interpol singer Paul Banks. It’s not his first solo release, though — Banks has already put out an album and an EP under the pseudonym Julian Plenti. He appears to have retired the alter ego now, which only makes the whole thing more bizarre — despite the fact that Julian Plenti’s records sounded awfully like Interpol, Banks even insisted on being interviewed in character, reputedly refusing to answer questions that weren’t addressed to “Julian.” In memory of Julian Plenti, then, here are a selection of music’s most strangest and most memorable alter… Read More

Music

50 of the Best Closing Lines in Music

By Tom Hawking on

It was about 18 months ago now that we collected an epic selection of our favorite opening lines in music, and we’ve been meaning to get around to closing lines ever since. There are plenty of candidates for such honors as far as films and books go, but surprisingly few for music — it’s a more difficult exercise than it looks, perhaps because heaps of songs end with multiple renditions of the chorus rather than a punchy parting shot. Still, we’ve put together a bumper selection: 50 of the best.… Read More

Music

The Most Gloriously Absurd Lyrics in Hip Hop History

By Tom Hawking on

Juggalos rejoice! The new Insane Clown Posse album is finally out this week — it was due earlier this year, but record company wrangling resulted in its release date being pushed until the end of summer. Of course, beyond their selective appeal to Faygo devotees, ICP are largely known to the general public because of the immortal couplets from their 2009 single “Miracles,” which will go down in history as one of the most ridiculous and somehow awesome songs ever made. In celebration of their new record, then, here’s a selection of the most gloriously awesome lyrics that hip hop has given the world. Your suggestions are of course welcome. (And just to pre-empt any of the accusations that have a magical way of appearing in our comments section every time we say anything remotely negative about hip hop: we’ve done this before for ’80s pop songs and we’ll most likely do it for other genres in due course. So there.) … Read More

Music

The 10 Most ’90s Songs of the ’90s

By Judy Berman on

Just the other day, New Radicals’ 1998 one-hit wonder “You Get What You Give” came up in conversation, and it occurred to us that, over a decade into the new millennium, the music of the ’90s is starting to sound as dated as disco did when we were kids. From cultural references to Tonya Harding, Hanson, and white kids who desperately wanted to be gangstas to zeitgeist-y topics like Gen-X disaffection and sex education, there are just some songs that unmistakably evoke the decade. We’ve rounded up what we think of as the most ’90s songs of the ’90s after the jump; keep in mind that this isn’t a list of the best tracks of the era, just the ones that are clearly the products of its preoccupations. Let us know what you’d add in the comments. … Read More

Music

The 10 Most Genuinely Disturbing Songs About Mothers

By Tom Hawking on

It’s Mother’s Day this weekend, and while we love our mothers here at Flavorpill as dearly as anyone, we do get more than a little tired of the wave of Hallmark-card sentimentality that comes with the second Sunday in May. So we thought we’d commemorate the day with something a little darker than yet another list that features Tupac’s “Dear Mama” and Paul Simon’s “Mother and Child Reunion” — instead, we thought we’d look at some of the more sinister and disturbing songs about mothers and/or motherhood over the years. They’re better songs anyway. … Read More

Music

10 of the Unlikeliest Samples in Music

By Tom Hawking on

The Big Pink’s new album Future This is out this week, and the fact that they’ve sampled Laurie Anderson’s “O Superman” on one of their new tracks got us thinking about other unlikely samples in the world of music. Of course, The Big Pink have been on the other end of the sampling equation, too — in an equally unlikely piece of inspiration, Nicki Minaj sampled their track “Dominoes” for her song “Girls Fall Like Dominoes.” As unexpected as both these pieces of sampling were, though, they still pale in comparison to some of the truly outlandish examples from the world of music over the last 20 years or so. Like the ones you’ll find after the jump, for instance. … Read More

Music

The Year In NSFW Music Videos

By Tom Hawking on

About this time last year, we ran an overview of some of the more interesting music videos of 2010, videos that would never have been shown on MTV, but nevertheless represented some fascinating and innovative filmmaking. At the time, we noted that “now that we get so much of our entertainment online, and MTV barely airs music videos anymore, the rules have changed.” In 2011, that’s more apparent than ever — and so, we’ve repeated the dose this year, looking at everything from a short film that barely features and music at all to a video that features men with heads for penises. Some of these are raunchy, some of them are disturbing, and some are just plain weird — but they’re all noteworthy, and they all make for interesting viewing. (And, just in case it’s not clear that a post entitled “The Year In NSFW Music Videos” is NSFW… well, it is. So don’t blame us if your boss catches you watching these.) … Read More

Music

Musical World Tour: Detroit

By Tom Hawking on

Last week it was Chicago, and this week we’re staying in the vicinity of Great Lakes and heading a couple of hundred miles east to Detroit. The Motor City, of course, has a long and proud musical history. Amongst other things, it was the HQ of Motown Records, the birthplace of Detroit techno, and home to a load of fantastic bands — everyone from the Stooges to the White Stripes (who were, lest we forget, fairly awesome for at least their first three records). This all means that there’s about a gazillion songs about the city — as ever, though, we’re just picking five of our favorites, which await you after the jump. What’d be on your list? … Read More

Music

10 of the Most Memorable Fictional Characters in Music

By Judy Berman on

We talk a lot, here at Flavorpill, about our favorite characters from books, film, and TV. And, although we’ve made a habit of compiling mixtapes for everyone from Nancy Drew to Josef K, it isn’t often that we consider the music world’s own fictional creations. After the jump, we attempt to right that oversight with an incredibly subjective roundup of music’s most memorable characters. Add your suggestions in the comments; if we get enough great ones, we might just publish a follow-up post of reader picks. … Read More