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Music

25 Great Songwriters on the Art of Songwriting

By Tom Hawking on

Thomas Edison’s famous and oft-abused quote about genius being 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration is one of the great truisms of our time. But is it actually, y’know, true? How creativity actually works — in terms of the nuts and bolts of actually getting things down on the page/tape/canvas/etc. — is perhaps the most mysterious aspect of art, a process that’s both romanticized and often misunderstood. And in view of this, we thought it might be interesting to see what some of our favorite songwriters had to say about how they approach the process of writing. Click through to read opinions from Leonard Cohen, Nick Cave, Björk, Patti Smith and a whole heap more. We hope they provide some measure of inspiration, interest, or insight. … Read More

Music

10 Criminally Underrated ’90s Songs

By Judy Berman on

In typical NME fashion, the magazine has caught on to ’90s nostalgia a few years after the rest of the music media and released its list of the top 100 songs of the decade. Aside from a few unmistakably British flourishes (Pulp’s “Common People” edging Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit” out of the #1 spot, McAlmont & Butler’s “Yes” in the top 10), there are few surprises. No one can deny the excellence of Radiohead’s “Paranoid Android” or Daft Punk’s “Da Funk,” but we’re getting sick of seeing the same songs honored over and over when there are so many other equally great tracks to celebrate. We’ve done just that below, rounding up a handful of criminally underrated ’90s songs that you may have forgotten over the years. Since there are literally thousands of tracks that also deserve a place on this list, we hope you’ll add your suggestions in the comments. … Read More

Music

‘Greatest Women in Music’ Picks VH1 Will Surely Come to Regret

By Judy Berman on

As you may have noticed, we do a lot of a list-making here at Flavorpill. So we’re particularly sensitive to the idea that anything purporting to be a definitive countdown of the 100 Greatest Women in Music had better be pretty freaking solid. Now, VH1 has already narrowed the field somewhat for this five-part series, specifying that it will only celebrate acts that have made significant contributions in the past 20 years. In a way, that’s good news — we won’t have to freak out about Katy Perry outranking Janis Joplin. But that doesn’t mean the network has managed to entirely steer clear of choices that are somewhat embarrassing now and will undoubtedly be utterly humiliating in a decade or so. After the jump, we round up their silliest selections and most questionable rankings. … Read More

Music

Watch Lauryn Hill and Pras Reunite at Rock the Bells

By Caroline Stanley on

This year’s Rock the Bells tour landed at Governors Island over the weekend, and the award for most talked about artist goes to headliner Lauryn Hill — and for once, it’s not because she did something completely crazy! Hill, who performed her classic 1998 album The Miseducation Of Lauryn Hill in its entirety, was joined on stage by Pras at the end of her set; a Wyclef-free version of the Fugees went on to perform a few songs, namely “Killing Me Softly” and “Ready or Not,” suggesting that maybe they don’t hate each other’s guts after all. While the audio in the footage after the jump might not be the best, click through to get the gist of what it was like to be there. … Read More

Music

10 Great Bands That Only Made One Album

By Tom Hawking on

Being as we’re shameless music geeks here at Flavorpill, we occasionally get to discussing shamelessly music geeky topics. Like, for instance, this one: great bands who’ve only made one album. The history of music is littered with bands and artists who, for whatever reason, never got beyond a single memorable record (and we’re not counting live albums or compilations here.) Some of these bands broke up, some of them were sundered by death or tragedy, and some simply went onto other things. But in every case, we’re left wondering what might have been had they got a chance to make a follow-up. After the jump, we’ve listed ten artists we’d have loved to have heard from again — what are yours? … Read More

Music

10 Iconic Hip Hop Performances on MTV

By Colette McIntyre on

We were excited to hear that Lil Wayne recently wrapped production on an episode of MTV’s Unplugged — mostly because it marks the show’s first hip-hop performance since Jay-Z’s acoustic concert in 2001 (not because we want to hear a stripped version of “Mrs. Officer”). We hope that Wayne’s appearance will pave the way for a new generation of rappers to grace the show’s stage. This news and Lupe Fiasco’s performance on Sunday night’s MTV Movie Awards got us thinking about our favorite hip hop performances on the network. Our top ten is after the jump. … Read More

Music

Lauryn Hill to Play ‘Miseducation’ at Rock the Bells

By Judy Berman on

Every summer’s most exciting hip-hop tour, Rock the Bells, has announced its 2011 line-up — and this time, they’ve really outdone themselves. The big news is that, not only is Ms. Lauryn Hill a headliner, but she’ll be playing her classic 1998 album The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill. If that isn’t enough to thrill your… Read More

Fashion

'90s Hip Hop Icons and the Fall 2011 Looks They Could Be Wearing

By Courtney E. Smith on

When people talk about the ’90s being back they think of our recent infatuation with grunge, plaid, and spandex. But with the nods in Fall 2011 collections to utility coats, mannish outerwear, and even pajamas-as-daywear, what’s really back is ’90s hip hop fashion. We’ve paired nine of this fall’s looks with the hip hop divas who might well have inspired them. … Read More

Music

Ticket to the Festival: Coachella from a Performer’s Perspective

By Amy Klein on

[Editor's note: When we heard that one of our favorite bands, Titus Andronicus, was playing at Coachella, we knew had to have guitarist/violinist Amy Klein, an accomplished and original writer and musician, cover it for us. We asked her to write about the mega-festival from a performer's perspective and sent her a copy of David Foster Wallace's famous essay "Ticket to the Fair" (PDF). The essay she gave us recalls Wallace in the best way possible: Honest, reflective, intelligent, and unsparingly critical, Klein chronicles everything from the jaw-droppingly exploitative moments when she realizes she's been trapped into marketing a product to the transcendence she feels on stage and watching heroes like Lauryn Hill from the crowd. This is, without question, the longest piece we have ever posted on Flavorwire -- and that's because it's well worth reading in full, after the jump. Photo of Klein performing at Coachella via The Stranger. Credit: Josh Bis.] … Read More

News

The Morning’s Top 5 Pop Culture Stories

By Caroline Stanley on

1. Former Alice in Chains bassist Mike Starr — who most recently appeared on VH1’s Celebrity Rehab in 2009 — has died of unknown causes. He was 44. [via