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The 10 Best Songs We Heard This Week: Kelis, Janelle Monáe

By Tom Hawking on

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

Music

Happy 40th Birthday, Pharrell! The 10 Best Neptunes Productions of All Time

By Tom Hawking on

Today is Mr. Pharrell Williams’ 40th birthday, which means he’s been one of our finest and most innovative producers for the best part of two decades now. The Neptunes have become so ubiquitous that it’s easy to forget just how remarkable and unusual some of their productions are — so to celebrate Pharrell entering his fifth decade, we thought we’d round up a selection of our favorite Neptunes beats. There are so many to choose from that this is a pretty subjective exercise, of course, so do let us know your favorites, too. … Read More

Music

A Brief History of Music’s Most Epic Afros

By Tom Hawking on

The new Mars Volta album is out this week, and while we’ve not always been able to digest the band’s multi-part prog opuses, we’ve always admired them for at least one reason: their hair. We don’t want to be overly superficial here, but core Mars Volta duo Cedric Bixler-Zavala and Omar Rodríguez-López have sported two of the best Afros in music over the last decade or so, and the duo’s hair has inspired serious Afro envy in irredeemably white and boringly straight-haired music journalists like us. So to celebrate the release of Noctourniquet, we thought we’d have a light-hearted look at some of the other glorious ‘fros that have bedizened the world of music over the years. Who did we miss? … Read More

Music

Great Vocalizing Is Where You Find It: The Most Memorable Vocal Performances of 2010

By Michaelangelo Matos on

Singing, rapping, speaking, and chanting are all part of the same animal, made from the greatest of all instruments. There’s no one formula for a compelling vocal; some great singers and rappers sound bored, some sound utterly transfixed. Personality is the key, and if you can get that through Auto-Tune, great. The results are what matter. Here are 10 performances that hit us particularly hard, listed alphabetically by name. … Read More

Web

What’s On at Flavorpill: The Links That Made the Rounds In Our Office

By Caroline Stanley on

Today at Flavorpill, we discovered that reciting Kelis’ “Milkshake” as quickly as possible is something that people do competitively. We watched four minutes worth of Nicolas Cage completely freaking out. We wished that we could really take the NYC subway to Hogwarts. We visited some of the… Read More

Music

Clubhopping Top 10: August’s Essential Dance Tracks

By Michaelangelo Matos on

Welcome to the Clubhopping Top 10, a monthly list of dance tracks that have caught us by the ears and feet (not necessarily in that order), with embeds so you can hear them for yourself. August’s roundup includes everyone from Four Tet to Kelis to Nebraska, in alphabetical order after the jump. … Read More

News

The Morning’s Top 5 Pop Culture Stories

By Caroline Stanley on

1. Nas was out partying while Kelis gave birth to their baby son, Knight. [via NYDN]
2. James Cameron announced at Com-Con that he’ll be screening 15 minutes of Avatar in theaters next month. [via THR]
3. British arthouse movies are back for the first time in decades. Could it be… Read More