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Photography

David Gahr’s Dramatic Black-and-White Photos of ’60s and ’70s Musicians

By Tom Hawking on

A few weeks back, we shared some great photos of musicians from the 1960s and ’70s. If you enjoyed those, you’ll also appreciate these shots of some of the era’s luminaries by the late New York photographer David Gahr. Gahr’s work appeared in Time and Rolling Stone, among others, and his career spanned five decades, from his earliest work in the late ’50s until his death in 2008. His photos are the subject of a new exhibition at Morrison Hotel in Soho from October 26 through November 11 (you can check the gallery website for opening hours if you’re in the city). Either way, check out some of the photos from the exhibition after the jump, along with archival commentary from the photographer himself. … Read More

Music

10 of Music’s Most Bizarre Alter Egos

By Tom Hawking on

This week sees the release of the utilitarianly titled Banks, the first solo release under his own name by Interpol singer Paul Banks. It’s not his first solo release, though — Banks has already put out an album and an EP under the pseudonym Julian Plenti. He appears to have retired the alter ego now, which only makes the whole thing more bizarre — despite the fact that Julian Plenti’s records sounded awfully like Interpol, Banks even insisted on being interviewed in character, reputedly refusing to answer questions that weren’t addressed to “Julian.” In memory of Julian Plenti, then, here are a selection of music’s most strangest and most memorable alter… Read More

Books

Literary Mixtape: The Lorax

By Emily Temple on

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: Dr. Seuss’ most environmentally friendly creation, the Lorax. … Read More

Music

10 Classic Rock Songs We Never Want to Hear Again

By Tom Hawking on

Despite what the manic Derek and the Dominos fans who apparently frequent our comments section appear to think, we don’t set out to be deliberately iconoclastic here at Flavorpill. We have a healthy respect for the past — we just occasionally get sick of hearing about it, especially when it’s depicted as some sort of glowing cultural golden age that the present can never hope to rival. That said, there are certain aspects of rock ‘n’ roll history that we rather wish could be expunged once and for all, for a variety of reasons. So to start with, here are 10 classic rock staples that we’d be happy to never, ever hear again. What would you smite from AOR playlists once and for all if given the chance? … Read More

Music

James Blake’s New Video Stars Rebecca Hall

By Caroline Stanley on

Regardless of how you feel about James Blake’s cover of Joni Mitchell’s “A Case of You” on his recent Enough Thunder EP (we were kind of ambivalent, but in his review of the album, Pitchfork’s Ryan Dombal wrote that the song “has the feel of a stiff recital, his vocal undulations ironically sounding less natural without those well-situated sonic accoutrements” and revealed Blake’s “limitations as an artist” — zing!), we think you should watch the new music video for the track, because it stars the lovely and in our opinion underutilized British actress Rebecca Hall (Vicky Christina Barcelona, The Town, Frost/Nixon). We absolutely adore her. And now, thanks to director Seb Edwards’ POV shooting style, we have a pretty good idea of what it would be like to be in a tumultuous relationship with her. We hope for Sam Mendes’ sake that Hall is much more boring than this in real life. … Read More

Books

Literary Mixtape: Scheherazade from 'Arabian Nights'

By Emily Temple on

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: Scheherazade, the Persian queen of a thousand stories. … Read More

Books

Literary Mixtape: Eeyore

By Emily Temple on

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: Winnie the Pooh’s most mournful pal, Eeyore. … Read More

Music

Two of ‘Rolling Stone’s’ 100 Greatest Guitarists Are Women

By Judy Berman on

Oh boy, Rolling Stone. We know you guys are out of touch, and we sure do try to cut you some slack for that. But when you make a list of the 100 greatest guitarists of all time, and only two of those people are women? (Bonnie Raitt at #89 and Joni Mitchell… Read More

Music

10 Songs That Should Never Be Covered Again

By Judy Berman on

Wolf Parade fans — and that includes us — rejoiced when the band played a few shows this weekend. It remains to be seen whether these will turn out to be farewell performances or if they magically result in the end of the band’s indefinite hiatus, so we’ll try not to read too much into the cover of “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door” they played in Vancouver. It looks like it was a touching moment, and we love Wolf Parade, but we probably don’t need to hear any new bands tackle Dylan’s classic, which was also a big, weird hit for Guns ‘N Roses. The video got us thinking about other seminal songs that should never be covered again. Our top ten is after the jump. … Read More

Music

The Johnny Cash Show’s 10 Best Guest Performances

By Margaret Eby on

Tomorrow would have been Johnny Cash’s 79th birthday, a historical marker that we usually celebrate by taking out our cowboy boots and pretending to know Carl Perkins. Cash’s legacy is great and varied, but one of his enduring contributions to pop culture was his short-lived but thoroughly awesome stint in television, The Johnny Cash Show. The show lasted a little under two years, but in that time it hosted enough great musical guests to blow most actual festivals out of the water. But are you surprised that the Man in Black had great taste? We didn’t think so. After the jump: Ten amazing performances, from Tammy Wynette to the Staple Singers. … Read More