Could your day use an extra dose of punk rock? (Note: The answer to this question is always “yes.”) If so, you’ll want to check out Teenage Wasteland, Berlin-based designer/illustrator Niklas Coskan’s fun collection of teen-outlaw character drawings. Each image features a cigarette-smoking, occasionally weapon-wielding juvenile delinquent uttering classic punk lyrics, from the Runaways fan singing, “Hey boy, you’re my good time” to the Bowie T-shirt-clad gent surrounded by Iggy Pop’s immortal words, “No fun.” Check out Teenage Wasteland after the jump, and then visit Coskan’s website to see more of his work.
With Record Store Day now only a few months away, the limited-edition album release announcements have already started trickling in. Today brings word of an especially high-profile project from the ubiquitous David Lynch: He’s putting out a special vinyl box set version of Download for Good, the iTunes collection that came out last year and featured 34 exclusive tracks by artists ranging from Maroon 5 to Iggy Pop to Au Revoir Simone. Renamed Music That Changes the World, the physical release will be limited to 2,500 copies and include both a 42-page color booklet of “enlightenment art” with an introduction by Lynch and a previously unreleased Sean Lennon bonus track. All proceeds will benefit the David Lynch Foundation, which funds implementation of and research on “scientifically proven stress-reducing modalities including Transcendental Meditation, for at-risk populations.” Hey, it’s not a new movie or anything, but it’s nice to hear that Lynch is keeping himself busy doing good.
Today at Flavorpill, we learned just how snarky Nickelback’s Twitter account can be. We watched a badass panda burning trash in a shopping cart for warmth in a post-apocalyptic wasteland. We uncovered the level of artifice that goes into crafting daytime courtroom TV shows. We pondered calling the G-Spot (now said not to exist), the G-Zone. We were weirded out by this Obama/Hulk mashup. We stared at a red dot that made our eyes do funny things. We listened to some of the purplest musical artists of all-time. We giggled at Alec Baldwin’s Piers Morgan impersonation. We found out what the Vimeo updates will entail. We watched a comedian attempt to sleep at 13 celebrities’ homes. We wanted to travel back in time to this neon New York office building in the 1980s. And finally, we loved Iggy Pop’s description of his job as Record Store Day Ambassador. He said he felt like, “ … a representative from some exotic jungle full of life and death and sex and anger, called upon to wear a leopard skin and translate joy to the world of the dead.” He should probably get a side gig writing job listings.
Whether or not you buy into the whole idea of New Year’s resolutions, sticking a new calendar up on the wall does provide a convenient starting point for new endeavors. We’ve probably all got something in our lives we’d like to do more or less of (in our case, it’s less drinking, especially with today’s monster hangover). Plenty of musicians have committed similar feelings to song over the years, which probably isn’t surprising considering that the music industry isn’t exactly a place whose denizens are known for their restraint or self-control. So let us aid your transition to the new year with a selection of songs about making changes — hopefully, for the better.
What does Iggy Pop smell like? If you believe his latest advertising campaign, the answer is Paco Rabanne aftershave — because, as of today, Iggy is the face of the veteran Spanish designer’s new fragrance. He’ll apparently be featuring in a range of TV commercials for the perfume next year, but for now, all we’ve got as evidence is this photo, which has been doing the rounds of fashion blogs this morning. If it was anyone else doing this, we’d probably be lambasting them for shamelessly selling out — but just look at the expression on Iggy’s face. He doesn’t look especially pleased to be there, does he? And also, why does the fragrance come in a bottle that’s apparently the size of a man’s head? The world of fashion is endlessly confusing. [via Dangerous Minds]
There’s always that girl — the one in the songs, the one in the photographs, the one in the memoirs. The one who walks into a room and sets it aglow. She’ll tear up a rock ‘n’ roller’s heart, put it back together, and inspire the hell out of him, leaving her lasting mark on both his discography and biography. Yes, we’re talking muses, but not just any ol’ muses; we’re noting those who graduated from their tumultuous lives as expert inspirers to become successful in their own right. Check out some professors, artists, and cake shop proprietors after the jump.
When the discussion of the finest lyricists in rock ‘n’ roll comes up, you tend to hear the same names mentioned again and again. Bob Dylan. Leonard Cohen. Tom Waits. Morrissey. Nick Cave. Warren Zevon. They’re all worthy choices, for sure, but we find it a bit sad that there are plenty of other fantastic lyricists who never seem to make their way into such conversations. After the jump, we’ve put together a collection of lyricists who we reckon don’t get the credit they deserve, either because their music is generally undervalued or because their skills in other areas tend to overshadow their linguistic talents. Let us know in the comments who else you reckon doesn’t get the lyrical love they should do.
A few days ago we shared adorable pictures from the early years of some of our favorite writers with you, including an amazing photo of Ernest Hemingway in a dress. Today, we thought it might be fun to revisit the concept, but this time turning our focus on the music world. We don’t know about you, but we never really picture rock ‘n’ roll stars as having childhoods; wearing clothes that your parents have picked out for you and going through an awkward stage is the opposite of bad-ass. So, if you’re curious as to what Courtney Love looked like decades before she ever met Kurt — or you’d like to see how freaking cute he was as a little kid — click through to check out our roundup now.
Mick Jagger hasn’t been in a movie since 2001′s The Man from Elysian Fields. Yesterday, Deadline reported that the Rolling Stones frontman may be in line to play a Rupert Murdoch-like character in Tabloid, which is being written by A History of Violence scribe Josh Olson. This got us thinking about other musicians who made the crossover into film. Jagger’s played everyone from Turner in Donald Cammell and Nicolas Roeg’s excellent Performance, to a “bonejacker” (oof) in Freejack — which currently holds a shameful 15% rating at Rotten Tomatoes. Here are other songbirds that also made the leap from stage to screen, in order from best to worst. Leave us your list in the comments.
For forty years, celebrated photographer Bob Gruen has captured rock ‘n’ roll and its shiniest, sweatiest, rowdiest stars and most mythologized icons. He captured John Lennon, posed on a rooftop in a “New York City” tourist tee that the photographer picked up for $5 off the street, Debbie Harry roaming through Coney Island in an indelible, natural capture, a young and fierce Joan Jett, lounging in a hotel room. Gruen was there to document it all.
His hard cover book Rock Seen goes on sale next month, with an introduction by Debbie Harry, a curated selection of his favorite shots, and insider anecdotes. To celebrate its release, here are some of the shots from the book, courtesy of Bob Gruen — a munching Sid Vicious with a face streaked in mustard, “brainy” buds Alice Cooper and Salvador Dalí and John grinding up on Yoko. Enjoy your nostalgia tour!
