What would you like to see Aubrey Plaza do? (Keep the dirty responses to yourselves, please.) Eat flowers? Smoke an apple bong? Bleed profusely from the nose? Jump on a bald guy’s back and steal his giant glasses? Wear a brightly colored afghan? Smash electronics? Flee to the woods? Experience a very intense, red-tinted hallucination? Well, not to spoil it for you or anything, but you will indeed see all of these things in the video for “Hollywood Forever Cemetery Sings,” by Father John Misty — aka J. Tillman, the former Fleet Foxes drummer who announced his departure from the band only a few weeks ago. Plaza describes her character in the Laurel Canyon-set clip as “a crazy person who destroys [a] funeral.” The track — which we’re thoroughly enjoying — is the first single from Tillman’s solo album, Fear Fun, which drops May 1st.
Fleet Foxes drummer J. Tillman — a member with the Seattle act since 2008 — will be leaving the band, according to a post he made on his Tumblr. “Back into the gaping maw of obscurity I go,” he shared in his “Farewell Fleet Fans and Friends” goodbye. “Tokyo is my last show with the Foxes. Sorry if I was distant and obtuse if we ever met. Have fun.”
He’s referring to the show that takes place at Studio Coast in Tokyo tomorrow night, according to the A.V. Club. Tillman’s been a solo artist before, releasing several albums on the Western Vinyl label — most recently 2010′s Singing Ax. In related news, Sub Pop just signed other Fleet Foxes members Christian Wargo and Casey Wescott to their label. Their group Poor Moon is set to tour with Lost in the Trees in the spring. Sub Pop recently shared the track “People in Her Mind.” Head here to snag it if you’re curious, and pick up the EP on March 27.
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 »
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: Tolkien’s master wizard, Gandalf the Grey.
God bless the internet. It used to be the only way you could hear a record before investing in it was listening for the singles on the radio and/or convincing the surly dude at the record shop to let you give the album a spin on the turntable before handing over your hard-earned cash. These days, more and more bands are embracing the pre-release stream concept, and here at Flavorpill, we’re making it even easier – every Monday, we’ll round up the best and most noteworthy album previews floating round the internet. This week: Fleet Foxes, The Antlers, Beastie Boys (sort of), and more. Listen after the jump.
1. Norio Ohga, a the former president and chairman of Sony and the man credited with developing the compact disc, has died at the age of 81. [via NME]
2. Take a look at the first new art from Calvin and Hobbes creator Bill Watterson in 16 years, a painting that he created for a fundraising project for Parkinson’s research.
3. The new album from Seattle folk rockers Fleet Foxes, Helplessness Blues, is streaming in full over at NPR. It’s officially due out on May 3.
4. Former New York Times film critic Elvis Mitchell, who was most recently the chief film critic over at Movieline.com, has been terminated following an investigation into his review of Source Code, which appeared to be based upon an early draft of the script rather than the movie itself. [via Deadline]
5. Check out a well-bearded Paul Rudd in the new trailer for My Idiot Brother, a comedy which also stars Elizabeth Banks, Zooey Deschanel, Emily Mortimer, and Rashida Jones. [via Perez]
To many, collage is an under-appreciated art form – perhaps merely because often it’s too accessible to be considered Capital-A Art. After all, every semi-creative teenage girl’s walls will inevitably become a massive collage, and even in our age of recycling and DIY, there is often an establishment resistance to art that is built out of the art of others. There’s also a movement for exactly that idea, of course. Regardless, we love us some collage, and since music is ultimately nothing but a very grand tonal collage anyway (Girl Talk aside), we think album covers are the perfect vehicle for this particular form. These album covers, created from found paper, disparate ideas, reassembled photographs and pieced-together letters, manage to be strange, lovely, and completely apt all at once. Click through for 15 of our favorite collaged album covers, and let us know your own favorites in the comments!
[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.
