F

Flavorwire

Gang of Four

Music

10 Great Anti-Consumerist Anthems for Buy Nothing Day

By Tom Hawking on

As we noted on Wednesday when we discussed Black Friday and its associated Record Store Day releases, we’re not such big fans of the whole getting-up-early-to-battle-other-shoppers-for-discounted-flat-screen-TVs idea that comes with the day after Thanksgiving. In fact, we’re much more in favor of the inverse Buy Nothing Day concept, and not just because we loathe shopping at the best of times and thus buying nothing isn’t exactly a stretch for us. As such, we thought we’d get into the non-spirit of the day with some of our favorite anti-consumerist anthems. … Read More

Music

10 Great ’80s Bands You Didn’t Know Still Existed

By Tom Hawking on

Amongst the various entries on this week’s new release schedule, we were rather chuffed to see a new album by Washington, DC, hardcore progenitors Bad Brains. We’ll be honest and admit we’d rather spaced on the fact that the band’s classic lineup were playing together again — the last piece of Bad Brains-related material we got our hands on was frontman HR’s solo record a few years back — and the news got us thinking about other great ’80s bands whose continued existence is a cause for celebration. Sure, there’ve been a whole heap of lucrative high-profile ’80s reunions over the last decade or so — everyone from The Police to New Kids on the Block — but there are also some great ’80s bands whose renaissance has slipped under the radar, or who just never broke up in the first place. Here are our picks. What are yours? … Read More

Music

10 Rock Albums That Were Impossible to Follow Up

By Matthew Bower on

It’s a familiar experience. There’s that one mind-blowingly great album you just can’t get enough of, an album of epic proportion. Then one day you learn that this beloved artist will be releasing a new album. A sense of dread-tinged anticipation overcomes you. Any potential trace of hopefulness that it just might live up to your expectations is overshadowed by the bleak probability of impending disappointment. It’s not that all follow ups to great albums are necessarily bad, it’s just that there’s a certain discomfort in knowing that we’re going to have to move on and adapt. That’s the way music works; sometimes for the better, and sometimes not. We’ve put together a list of ten earthshaking rock albums that were impossible to follow up, often resulting in a derailment, a reinvention, or a fade-away. … Read More

Music

The Followables: 10 Indie Rockers to Follow on Twitter

By Judy Berman on

The world of Twitter can be hard to navigate. We know that you’re already following us @flavorpill, but we decided it would be fun (and possibly helpful) if we rounded up some of our other Twitter favorites in a series we call “The Followables.” In this installment, inspired by The Mountain Goats’ recent appearance on Twitter, we clue you in on 10 indie rockers — the ones whose feeds aren’t obviously controlled by a publicity monkey — whose tweets are music to our ears. Add your suggestions in the comments. … Read More

Music

The Flavorpill Mixtape XLI: Gang of Four, No Age, Duck Sauce

By Margaret Eby on

September has already been a great month for new music. The offerings in its final week are no exception, and that makes this the perfect moment to bring your regular Flavorpill Mixtape back from hiatus. The new edition features big meaty hooks, future dance anthems, and willowy, whispery songs for fall days — not to mention new offerings from old favorites Gang of Four and No Age — all coming up after the jump. Don’t forget: You can download each track by employing the classic combination of Right Click + Save As or scroll to the bottom of the post to listen to the mix straight through. … Read More

Daily Dose

Daily Dose Pick: The Hot Rats

By Doug Levy on

Taking a cue from David Bowie’s classic covers album Pin Ups, Supergrass’ Gaz Coombes and Danny Goffey team up with uber-producer Nigel Godrich to put their own spin on music history as the Hot Rats.

Lifting their band name from a Frank Zappa album, the Britpop heroes dove into their influences head-on, covering tracks from the Velvet Underground, Gang of Four, the Kinks, Elvis Costello, Sex Pistols, and Bowie himself on the Hot Rats’ debut, Turn Ons. In addition to the album, the band also recorded a standalone single and video offering its take on the Beatles’ “Drive My Car.” … Read More