Enjoy Saturday’s night of revelry, readers, because when you wake up the next morning (or afternoon, we don’t judge), it’ll be time to reassess your life and commit yourself to unreasonable goals in hopes of self-improvement in 2012. Resolutions come in all shapes and sizes, and while many are deeply personal, Flavorpill’s are very public. We’ve created a list of our cultural resolutions for the new year — changes we’d like to see in the arts and entertainment landscape over the next 12 months, from trends that need to die to movements from 2011 that should make a bigger impact in 2012. Read our resolutions after the jump, and leave your own in the comments.
Last week we stereotyped you by your favorite books, and this week it’s time to apply a bumper edition of our gratuitous generalizations to the world of music. Our stereotyping posts have become something of a tradition at Flavorpill, but still, here’s our obligatory disclaimer: this is an entirely tongue-in-cheek exercise, so don’t get all offended — and also, as ever, several of our favorite records are on here, and we’ll totally own up to all the stereotypes that apply to us. Anyway, with that said, here are 50 albums that keep cropping up on end-of-year lists and the sort of people that like them. Read More »
Let’s face it. Disney isn’t normally knocking on musicians’ doors, asking them to join the cast of their next animated masterpiece. Yet through the years, artists such as Lou Reed, Marilyn Manson, Tom Petty, and the lovable Donny Osmond (he was a little bit rock and roll, lest we forget!) have lent their voices and talents to a few lesser-known animated films, and cartoon series as well. Whether making an animated cameo, contributing to the soundtrack, or even taking on a completely different character, you’ll find that these ten rock and roll artists have certainly left their mark on the industry. Who did we leave out? Read More »
Well, if there was still any lingering doubt about whether Lou Reed was really serious about the whole Lulu thing, you can put it to rest now. “I am very excited about working with Darren Aronofsky on our powerful video ‘The View,’” Reed told IFC. “I feel Darren understood the power and range of the emotions fueled by the fire of Metallica. His strength and spirit are on display in every frame and I think he has caught the anger, rage and anguish at the bottom of the soul of real rock.” In equally grandiose terms, Black Swan director Aronofsky praised the song, gushing, “The first time I heard ‘The View’ I was stunned… I had never heard anything like it. Half was all Lou. The other half all Metallica. It was a marriage that on the surface made no sense, but the fusion changed the way I thought about both artists and morphed into something completely fresh and new. I couldn’t stop listening to it. Lou’s crushing lyrics, and the band’s incredible licks.” The video that resulted from all this love is good, with muddled, nightmarish visuals mixed with shots of stark contrast, but not much better than your average black and white rock video. Click through to take a look for yourself, and let us know what you think in the comments. Read More »
All kinds of artists and celebrities have gone public with their support for Occupy Wall Street in the past few months, and yet it still comes as something of a surprise to us that Lou Reed has become a vocal part of the movement — not because it clashes with his politics, but because he’s never exactly been a joiner. We noticed his name on the Occupy Musicians petition that launched recently, and last night he and Laurie Anderson showed up at OWS’s Lincoln Center protest, where Philip Glass also spoke. Using the People’s Mic, Reed expressed his solidarity: “I was born in Brooklyn, and I’ve never been more ashamed than to see the barricades tonight. The police are our army. I want to be friends with them. And I wanna occupy Wall Street. I support it.” Hear the whole speech, courtesy of @Newyorkist, after the jump.
A couple of months back, our own Kathleen Massara celebrated the release of Peter Nadas’s weighty novel Parallel Stories with a selection of 10 epic novels that we dared you to finish. Of course, this also got us thinking about equivalents in other art forms, whether it’s film (Charlie Kaufman’s interminable Synecdoche, New York springs to mind immediately), theater… or, inevitably, music. The history of music is full of albums that are awfully difficult to sit through in their entirety, whether it’s because they’re “difficult” or just because they’re damn long. So here are 10 albums we dare you to finish. Have you got any challenges for us? Read More »
Not so long ago, we were listening to M83′s glorious Dead Cities, Red Seas and Lost Ghosts album. The album’s not heavy on lyrics, but its widescreen soundscapes definitely reflect its evocative, dramatic title, and it got us thinking about the manifold different ways the world’s great cities have been immortalized in song — and about how different cities have inspired very different musical tributes. In view of this, we figured that it’d be an interesting idea to do a semi-regular series wherein we choose our five favorite songs about a particular city. The first stop on our whistlestop world tour? Why, right here at Flavorpill central in New York City. Hop on board after the jump.
Mark this one down under things we’re a little concerned about. Black Swan director Darren Aronofsky — who’s currently wrapped up with his Noah graphic novel release and plans for an upcoming film epic — is going to direct a music video for Lou Reed and Metallica’s “Iced Honey.” The song hails from their recent collaborative album, which has broadly been described as a horny, ear-piercing mess. Lulu was inspired by German playwright Frank Wedekind’s work of the same name — and tells the story of a seductive dancer who sleeps her way through German’s social circle, only to turn to prostitution later in life. Aronofsky’s cinematography partner Matthew Libatique is also on board, and the always cranky Reed hopes the video “can be [Aronofsky's] next Black Swan.” We’re not entirely sold on all of this, but let us know what you think below. Click past the break if you’re brave (or bored) enough to listen to “Iced Honey.”
Rejoice, because we’ve conquered our CMJ hangovers and got down to the serious business of our regular Monday roundup of albums streaming for free over the course of the coming week. And there’s a particularly exciting link to share this time around: the new Tom Waits album, Bad As Me, which is now available for your listening pleasure via NPR. Clearly, everything else that’s streaming this week is going to pale in comparison somewhat, but there’s still plenty of other goodness to be had: the new Justice album, along with upcoming releases from Florence & the Machine, and Joker. And, um, the Lou Reed/Metallica album. It’s all after the jump, so click through and get listening!
For anyone who’s been waiting on the new Lou Reed/Metallica collaboration album Lulu, well, you’re in luck. Just a few days ago, and well in advance of the November 1 drop date, the band(s) made the full album available to stream on their website. Which is all very well and good, if you don’t know yet that the album isn’t very well or very good. However, we can wholeheartedly recommend this video that we spied over at Gothamist of the muppets performing (that is, manipulated to look like they’re performing) the album’s “Pumping Blood”, featuring Beaker as a very convincing Lou Reed. It’s just about as weird as Lulu is, and that’s saying something.
