Alas, poor Ke$ha. She so desperately wants to be controversial. She recently released new single “Crazy Kids,” and apart from being possibly the actual worst song this side of “My Humps” — a pounding inanity of “I don’t give a fuck because I’m soooooo craaaaazzzzy” clichés, set to an identikit beat and consigned to the deepest circles of musical hell with an appearance from Musical Antichrist will.i.am — it comes with a video that sucks like a turbo-charged Dyson. The clip features Ke$ha’s best determinedly controversial Vanilla Ice-esque cultural appropriation — corn rows! grills! — and if that weren’t enough manufactured “edginess,” she’s also adorned her hand with the all-seeing eye of the Illuminati. It’s hard to imagine Jay-Z inviting her into the New World Order, but anyway, she’s not the first artist to court controversy by leveraging Illuminati symbology. Here are some others. … Read More
Justin Bieber
Hilarious (And Often Adorable) Photos of Debauched Musicians With Cute Animals
A couple of weeks back, we amused ourselves (and hopefully you too) with a bunch of hilarious photos of debauched rock stars with cute kids. Ever since, we’ve been mulling over the natural follow-up — photos of debauched rock stars with cute animals. Click through for pictures of suitably party-loving musicians enjoying tender moments with dogs, cats, tortoises, three-toed sloths, and one terrified… Read More
In Defense of Justin Bieber: Why America Turns on Male Child Stars Who Try to Grow Up
You’ve no doubt read the hysterical, salacious coverage of the ongoing disaster that has been Justin Bieber’s European tour: the scuffles with god-awful photographers in England, the “drug bust” (i.e., getting busted for smoking weed — a nation gasps!), the bizarre heist that apparently involved someone absconding with all the money from the tour’s Johannesburg date. And the monkey. Oh, the monkey. The whole sorry business has certainly had its fair share of perverse car-crash comedy potential, but it’s also illustrative of the way in which society tends to turn on child stars — and especially male ones — once late adolescence starts intruding on their polished cuteness. … Read More
The Most Hilariously Disturbing Band Fanfiction You’ll Ever Read
The Internet is a strange, strange place. As we noted yesterday, Gerard Way penned an epic letter about My Chemical Romance’s breakup, but in certain corners of the web, fans are flat-out refusing to believe it, and expressing their disappointment in the most quintessentially MCR way — by penning fanfiction wherein the band continues to exist forever! The world of MCR fanfic is a strange, hilarious place, but it’s by no means home to the weirdest fanfic you’ll find out there. And so, to celebrate the, um, devotion of a certain breed of music fans, here’s a selection the most hilariously weird band fanfic, you’ll ever, ever read. Warning: it’s kinda dirty. Obviously. … Read More
The Best and Worst of Last Night’s ‘SNL’ with Justin Bieber
Last we saw Justin Bieber, Jon Hamm’s Sergio the sax man was grinding all over the pop star for SNL’s 100th digital short. The singer returned to the show last night, playing double duty as host and guest, delivering a plethora of winks, bright smiles, and wide-eyed charm. Bieber proved he wasn’t afraid to poke fun at himself — and even issued a kind of, sort of apology for his dalliance with marijuana in the Miley Cyrus sketch. Music fans got a stripped down, unplugged version of “As Long as You Love Me” and “Nothing Like Us,” which wasn’t as entertaining as his self-deprecating moments (the strongest when he was mostly out of character). It was nice to see Kenan Thompson win an episode for once, and Bill Hader briefly popped up to save us from some of the blah. Here are a few of the best and worst highlights of the evening. Tell us if they gave you Bieber fever, or if we got it all wrong, below. … Read More
What’s On at Flavorpill: The Links That Made the Rounds in Our Office
Today at Flavorpill, we visited astonishing, cliffside attractions. We read passages from some horrible sex scenes throughout literary history. We learned about the tragic stories of unlucky lottery winners. We got schooled on the little-known facts of Boy Meets World. We found out how Selena Gomez is… Read More
The Morning’s Top 5 Pop Culture Stories
1. As predicted, this was the best Thanksgiving box office weekend ever. Was it because the slate of films was a lot better than it usually is, or just the diversity of the the offerings? [via Buzzfeed]
2. That’s one way not to be invited back to China: Elton John dedicated the show… Read More
The Morning’s Top 5 Pop Culture Stories
1. Justin Bieber might have dominated the American Music Awards, but we’d say that MC Hammer and Psy won the night with
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
Beautifully Designed Posters for Dream Concerts That Never Happened
David Bowie, Missy Elliott, and Lightning Bolt. Lady Gaga, Kraftwerk, and Neutral Milk Hotel. We imagine most music fans have spent idle hours daydreaming about the totally improbable — and sometimes even impossible — concert lineups of their dreams. But have any of us taken the time to create posters for them, as the artists, illustrators, and designers who contributed to A Famous Night have done? In eight posters billed as commemorating “the greatest gigs that never happened,” they fantasize about a night where Black Sabbath and Rage Against the Machine open for Nirvana on the moon, and Spiritualized, Broadcast, and Boards of Canada all share the stage. Even Katy Perry and Justin Bieber get their very own (albeit demonic) tribute. Check out the excellent posters below, which we spotted via The Fox Is Black, and visit A Famous Night to buy prints. … Read More
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