Jack White

The Best and Worst Bond Themes of All Time

There are plenty of reasons to be excited about Skyfall, the newest installment in the venerable James Bond movie franchise (fifty years and counting): Daniel Craig is back as Bond, Javier Bardem as the new Bond villain, Oscar-winning director Sam Mendes bringing it all together with wit and grace. But our first indication that this one might be something special came a few weeks back, when we got a listen to Adele’s moody, smoky theme song for the film. It’s got a big, brassy sound that immediately recalls Shirley Bassey, who became the signature voice of the Bond movie theme songs (and while she only did three of them, that’s two more than anyone else), and digging up Bassey’s tunes sent us down a YouTube rabbit hole of Bond themes. As you might expect, over the course of fifty years there have been some timeless, immortal songs; there have been others that, to put it charitably, haven’t aged quite so well. After the jump, we’ve picked our five best, four worst, and one in between of the Bond themes thus far. Some controversies may erupt, so by all means, throw in your two cents in the comments. … Read More

10 Notoriously Disastrous Musical Performances

Musicians make mistakes, too. They’re only human, after all. But that doesn’t stop us from delighting in a bit of good-natured Schadenfreude when a performance devolves into a total train wreck. This week has seen its share of disappointment when it comes to live music, including an abrupt end to Jack White’s concert at Radio City Music Hall and the Biebs losing his lunch in the middle of a 105-minute-long set. In light of such mishaps, we’ve put together a list of some of the most notoriously awful, embarrassing, or otherwise disastrous live performances in recent history. … Read More

The Morning’s Top 5 Pop Culture Stories

1. If you’re a Homeland fan who doesn’t have Showtime, you’ll be thrilled to hear that last night’s Season 2 premiere is available online here. (The Season 7 premiere of Dexter is streaming, too.) [via Pop Culture Brain]

2. Pussy Riot’s planned appeal hearing for today has been… Read More

10 Famous Musicians’ Geeky Hobbies

We tend to think of musicians as being cooler than us. And while that may be true, they’re also often bigger geeks than we would imagine. Did you know, for instance, that the man who was Ziggy Stardust is always down for a good chess match? Or that Lily Allen makes delightful cushions? Can you guess which hip-hop pioneer owns 5,000 souvenir mugs? Click through to read all about famous rock stars’ nerdy obsessions — and find out which international pop star plays Scrabble with Salman… Read More

Photo Hightlights from the 2012 Outside Lands Festival

Now in its fifth year, San Francisco’s Outside Lands Music and Arts Festival took over Golden Gate Park this past weekend, with a diverse lineup that included everyone from long-established legends like Neil Young and Stevie Wonder to more emerging acts like Tanlines and Zola Jesus. Flavorpill sent photographer Scott Dudelson into the crowded park — which was packed with some 200,000 music fans — to cover the three-day festival for us; click through to see our favorite shots that he captured. … Read More

Lollapalooza 2012: The Festival in Photos

Last summer, formerly roaming, currently Chicago-based festival Lollapalooza celebrated its 20th anniversary. This past weekend, Perry Farrell’s brainchild barreled into its third decade, once again taking over Grant Park (and most of the surrounding area) with three days of marquee headliners, upstart buzz bands, and plenty of sun, food, and eventually, the requisite mud. Saturday’s installment saw a bit of a hitch, as the entire site was evacuated when a massive thunderstorm descended on the city; fortunately, the event resumed three hours later, with the mass exodus both out of and into the site handled remarkably well.

Nature’s wrath aside, it was another banner year for Lolla. Among the highlights were main stage sets from Florence + The Machine, Metric, Sigur Rós, and the Black Keys — the latter of whom received a personal introduction from Chicago Mayor (and former White House Chief of Staff) Rahm Emanuel. Jack White closed out the festival with a headlining performance featuring both his alternating all-male and all-female bands. And then there was our personal highlight, soul man of the hour, Frank Ocean, whose Saturday night set on the Google Play stage was both a revelation and the perfect reason to steer clear of that night’s main stage acts. Click through for our exclusive photo gallery from the entire weekend, both onsite and off, and if you were there too, share your own favorite moments in the comments. … Read More

25 Must-See Music Documentaries

Our favorite of this week’s several fine indie releases is Searching for Sugar Man, Swedish filmmaker Malik Bendjelloul’s investigative profile of Sixto Rodriguez, a singer/songwriter who should have been a giant star in the early 1970s and instead faded into obscurity (and then became a cult sensation in New Zealand, Australia, and apartheid-era South Africa). Bendjelloul’s warm, kind film is both a showcase for terrific music and a compelling human interest story; it deserves a place alongside the best music documentaries, and since it reminded us of them, we thought we’d compile a list of our favorite music docs. It’s a list that’s constantly in flux, so we’ve included some alternates (as well as where you can see them); we’d love to hear yours as well. Check it out after the jump. … Read More

The Morning’s Top 5 Pop Culture Stories

1. Are you as surprised as we are that Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted beat out Ridley Scott’s epic sci-fi blockbuster Prometheus at the weekend box office? Maybe there aren’t as many hardcore Alien fans as there used to be. Or maybe they all have kids now. [via USA Today]

2. The 2012… Read More

Hear Beck and Jack White’s “I Just Started Hating Some People Today”

Looking for a new misanthropic anthem? Of course you are! Well, here is none other than Beck to oblige you with the A-side to his new single, “I Just Started Hating Some People Today.” The delightfully menacing song finds the genre omnivore tucking into some old-fashioned country sounds, which makes sense considering that it was produced by Jack White for his own Third Man Records. But that doesn’t mean the track is bereft of surprises; you can also hear White’s voice here, and he certainly lives up to his “punk vocal” credit. Meanwhile, the femme-fatale “jazz vocal” that drifts in at the very end comes courtesy of White’s ex-wife, Karen Elson. Listen to “I Just Started Hating Some People Today” and get your daily dose of catharsis below. … Read More

The Morning’s Top 5 Pop Culture Stories

1. Not to totally ruin your Monday morning, but apparently Maggie Smith would like for the next season of Downton Abbey to be her last playing the Dowager Countess of Grantham — at least, according to The Daily Mail. [via Deadline] Update: A press representative for Carnival Films says that the… Read More