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Music

10 Famous Musicians’ Geeky Hobbies

By Judy Berman on

We tend to think of musicians as being cooler than us. And while that may be true, they’re also often bigger geeks than we would imagine. Did you know, for instance, that the man who was Ziggy Stardust is always down for a good chess match? Or that Lily Allen makes delightful cushions? Can you guess which hip-hop pioneer owns 5,000 souvenir mugs? Click through to read all about famous rock stars’ nerdy obsessions — and find out which international pop star plays Scrabble with Salman… Read More

Music

10 Internet Music Sensations That Are Actually Worth Your Time

By Tom Hawking on

So, Kreayshawn’s debut album Somethin’ ‘Bout Kreay was supposed to come out this week. But, what do you know, just last week it was pushed back to September 18th. This is no surprise, given that in the year since “Gucci Gucci” was released, she’s already experienced the entire cycle of rapid rise to fame/backlash/naked photos/post-fame slump into “whatever happened to Kreayshawn, anyway?” status, and the record almost feels like an afterthought. The whole thing is a salutary example of how hyper-accelerated and transitory Internet fame can be. Still, it doesn’t have to be that way — there have been some enduringly worthy musicians who got Famous On The Internet and/or have been responsible for bona fide internet sensations over the years. Here are ten of our favorite such artists — as ever, let us know if we’ve missed any. … Read More

Music

The 30 Best Kiss-Offs in Musical History

By Tom Hawking on

Face it, we all like a good lyrical smackdown, and the art of the kiss-off line (or, indeed, entire kiss-off song) is one of the most time-honored and enduring in music. Good kiss-offs can take many forms — they can be subtle and sarcastic, or blunt and brutal, or just flat-out hilarious. Either way, there have been many, many good ones committed to tape over the years, and we’ve always had an ear for a biting turn of phrase — so we’re counting down 30 of the best after the jump. As ever, we’re open to suggestions, so let us know your favorites! … Read More

Music

Revisiting Band Pages from the Early Days of MySpace

By Tom Hawking on

Ah, MySpace. It’s hard to believe that it was only five or six years ago when it was one of the most essential sites on the internet, a place to hear new bands and see some of the most headache-inducing layouts since the days of Geocities. With the news that Fleet Foxes are imploring MySpace to delete their page (they can’t log in and do it themselves, apparently), we got thinking about the early days of the site, when people were actually excited to join it, rather than desperate to get away from it. We had a look at the Wayback Machine and collected a few band sites from the early, innocent days of MySpace –- the good, the bad and the (very) ugly. … Read More

Music

Death by Buzz: Remembering Musicians the Hype Machine Killed

By Christine Jordan on

Hype is the most polarizing force in today’s music world. The internet has made it incredibly easy for listeners to streamline their new music exposure and stay on top of emerging acts, but hype encourages erratic attention at best from consumers. These days, the ears of the masses are always hungry for the next big thing, an honor often bestowed on the strength of a single song, by blogs, aggregators, viral videos, and sometimes even commercials, rather than real criticism.

Over the years, hype has encouraged the bandwagon to move in many positive directions, but what about when hype fails? After the jump, we unearth some of the bigger misses of the last ten years. Sorry, guys — we haven’t forgotten. … Read More

Celebrity

What Does Your Day-Glo Hair Color Say About You?

By Emily Temple on

Celebrities are always dyeing their tresses one color or another. The normal ones usually keep it to colors that are found in nature on human heads, but then there are those other ones, who like to spice it up a bit. To help you keep up with the madness – and to get you from Patricia Field to Lil’ Kim in 6 steps flat – we’ve created this handy color-coded rainbow chart of celebrities’ day-glo hair color choices. But what do these crazy color choices mean? Do certain types of people choose certain colors? Do certain types of people just choose every color? Find out what your hair color – or the hair color you wish you had – says about you after the jump. … Read More

News

The Morning’s Top 5 Pop Culture Stories

By Judy Berman on

1. Despite Brian Wilson and Mike Love‘s professed admiration for Katy Perry‘s “California Gurls,” Beach Boys reps are threatening to sue the pop star for including the line, “I wish they all could be California girls” in the song. [via NY Post]
2. Not only will Mad Men costume guru… Read More

News

The Morning’s Top 5 Pop Culture Stories

By Caroline Stanley on

1. What Steve Jobs had to say at yesterday’s D8 conference, including an update on Apple’s ongoing legal feud with Gizmodo over that “stolen” iPhone. [via Fast Company]
2. Lily Allen is rumored to be writing songs for a forthcoming stage adaptation of Helen Fielding’s Bridget Jones’s Diary, which will open in London’s… Read More

News

The Morning’s Top 5 Pop Culture Stories

By Caroline Stanley on

1. Jay Leno finally stopped making bad jokes and took a moment to seriously address the late night situation on his show last night. (video) [via Hulu]
2. Meanwhile, NBC honcho Dick Cheney Jeff Zucker told Charlie Rose that he’s been receiving death threats. [via Vulture]
3. If Lily Allen… Read More

News

The Morning’s Top 5 Pop Culture Stories

By Caroline Stanley on

1. Check out the the trailer for Grown Ups, a new comedy starring Adam Sandler, Chris Rock, Rob Schneider and David Spade. [Yahoo! via Pop Candy]
2. Watch Robbie Williams, Paul McCartney, and Lily Allen sing “Hey Jude” as part of the Children In Need Rocks gig at London’s Royal Albert Hall. [via NME]
3. Tate Britain welcomes its first female director, Penelope Curtis. [via Telegraph]
4. ABC is this close to ordering a pilot remake of Charlie’s Angels. [via Variety]
5. David Lloyd, the sitcom writer responsible for the funniest episode of The Mary Tyler Moore Show, has died at 75. Watch and say it together with us: “A little song, a little dance, a little seltzer down the pants.” [via The Awl]

Bonus link: The 15 Greatest Acts of Rock… Read More