It’s Friday, which means we are contemplating the weekend ahead and also, as ever, rounding up the best songs we’ve heard this week. This week we heard not one but two great new pop songs in the space of seven days — from Kelis and Janelle Monáe (with some help from Erykah Badu) — something that happens once every decade or so! We also celebrated the returns of Carter Tutti and Kode9, got even more excited about upcoming records from The National and Pure X, listened to Owen Ashworth (he who was once known as Casiotone for the Painfully Alone) doing gospel music, and more. Click on through and get a-listening, dear readers! … Read More
Janelle Monae
Coachella 2013: The Good, The Bad, The Bros
Our intrepid, heat-resistant reporters spanned both weekends of this year’s Coachella to bring you a look at the (no exaggeration) epic music festival from the comfort of your own laptop. While the bros and the… let’s say “overmedicated” crowds can sometimes be deterrents to enjoying the weekend, ultimately, you’re there for the music. And there is something for everyone. Here are our highlights, with special thanks to Doug Levy, Liat Kriegel, and Dan Busta. … Read More
Jay-Z, Run-DMC, and More: The Made in America Fest in Photos
Jay-Z helped turn Philadelphia into a veritable music lover’s paradise over Labor Day weekend with the debut of his two-day Made in America festival. The fest, which the superstar hopes to make a yearly one, included performances from Janelle Monáe, D’Angelo, Miike Snow, Odd Future, Skrillex, The Hives, Santigold, Dirty Projectors, and Drake, in addition to headline performances by Pearl Jam and Jay-Z himself. It also marked hip-hop legends Run-DMC’s first return to the stage since the death of founding member Jam Master Jay in 2002. Surprise collaborations were a theme of the weekend, as well, with Eve joining Jill Scott during her set; Kanye West and his G.O.O.D. Music crew storming the stage to close out Jay-Z’s performance, and day one, with renditions of “Mercy,” “New God Flow,” and, of course, “Ni**as in Paris”; and Jay himself joining Pearl Jam for an unprecedented take on “99 Problems.” Even President Obama showed up, albeit in video form, urging people to vote while Jay looked on. Click through for our exclusive photo gallery from Made in America to see more of what went down in… Read More
The Morning’s Top 5 Pop Culture Stories
1. Awful (if not surprising) news from Russia: The verdict is in on the Pussy Riot trial, and three members of the feminist punk band and radical arts collective have been found guilty on charges of “hooliganism with intent to incite religious hatred.” We’ll post a more in-depth take on this developing story later today.… Read More
10 Bands Who’d Do a Great Job of Covering Our Favorite Artists
Bear with us here, but the fact that the new Marilyn Manson album is out this week has got us rambling off on a train of thought that’s led us to this point. Y’see, Manson’s album skates awfully close to self-parody at times, so much so that it’s almost like listening to a cover band doing Marilyn Manson tracks, just not quite as well as the originals. This got us thinking — well, what band would cover Manson well (an especially apt question considering that Manson’s own greatest strength seems to be covers)? And more generally, what contemporary bands would make a decent fist of covering some of our favorite artists? We couldn’t come up with a good answer for the Manson question — feel free to let us know in the comments if you can think of one — but we did come up with a selection of other ideas for dream covers sets. … Read More
Literary Mixtape: Arya Stark
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: George R.R. Martin’s feistiest heroine, the indomitable Arya Stark. … Read More
10 Egregious Omissions from VH1′s ’100 Greatest Women in Music’
We recently took VH1 to task for including some fairly undeserving — and a few just plain awful — acts on their countdown of the “100 Greatest Women in Music.” So, who do we think would have been more deserving? We’re so glad you asked! Although it’s lacking in many categories, female rockers were especially slighted. We’ve attempted to point out some of the most egregious snubs, keeping two rules in mind: 1. VH1 has limited itself to the past 20 years, so it’s only fair to follow suit. 2. It’s not realistic to expect a mainstream TV network to acknowledge the existence of performers as obscure as, say, Carla Bozulich — so, while we certainly think she’s great, she’s not on this list. See who we would have included after the jump. … Read More
Classic Silent Films and the Musicians Who Should Soundtrack Them
There is something so pleasing about a great pop-culture pairing — Air’s just-released soundtrack to Georges Méliès’ newly restored silent classic Le Voyage Dans La Lune, for example. Who better to score a 100-year-old French sci-fi film than a pair of Méliès’ countrymen who make dreamy, ambient electronic music and already have an acclaimed soundtrack album (The Virgin Suicides) under their belts? The sublime match-up has us yearning to see some of our favorite contemporary musicians composing sounds to accompany classic silent films. We’ve compiled some suggestions after the jump; add yours in the comments. … Read More
Merry Christmas: Janelle Monáe Releasing Two Albums in 2012
It’s been a great year for music, but there has been something missing — namely, an album by Janelle Monáe, who released her fantastic debut The ArchAndroid in 2010. But don’t worry. The funk-soul futurist will be back with a vengeance next year, when she’ll be putting out not one but two new full-lengths. Monáe… Read More
TV Shows and the Musicians Who Were Born to Soundtrack Them
In case you were wondering why fans of both The Hold Steady and Friday Night Lights have been losing their shit all week, here’s what happened: the band’s frontman has announced plans to release a solo album called Clear Heart Full Eyes, an homage to the show that was recorded in Texas and whose title is a play on FNL‘s most memorable catchphrase (“Clear eyes, full hearts can’t lose”). The news got us thinking about how wonderful it would be if our favorite programs were scored by bands we love, which led us to compile the following wish list of TV shows and the musicians who were born to soundtrack them. Add your pairings in the comments. … Read More
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