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Marnie Stern

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The 10 Albums You Need to Hear in March

By Tom Hawking on

We’ve spent most of the week trawling the depths of our record collection, but now it’s time to direct our attention to the albums we might be adding to said collection in the next few weeks — March is looking pretty decent for new releases, and as ever, we’ve selected the ten albums we reckon will be most worth listening to over the course of the month (along with all the other notable albums scheduled for release, good and bad.) We’re always interested to know what our readers are going to be listening to, too, so do let us know in the comments section. … Read More

Music

Our 15 Most Anticipated Albums of 2013

By Tom Hawking on

We have good vibes in general about the year to come, and we’re hoping that it holds as much musical goodness as 2012 did. The early part of the year is certainly shaping up well, and we’ve put together a kind of extended edition of our regular monthly album release preview, looking at the 15 albums (with confirmed release dates) that we’re hanging out for in the new year, in addition to a roundup of records that are rumored/don’t have firm release… Read More

Music

10 New Tracks You Need to Hear This Week: Lower Dens, Oneohtrix Point Never

By Tom Hawking on

With the release schedule pretty much all wound down for the year, the stream of downloadable tracks has also largely dried up. Over the next few weeks, we’re therefore replacing our regular grab-bag of free MP3s with a more general roundup of new tracks that we reckon are worth hearing, downloadable or otherwise. Never fear, though — the downloads will be back in January! In the meantime, click on through to see what’s been floating our boat this week in terms of new music — there’s a pretty awesome Lower Dens remix, new stuff from Widowspeak and Foals, a free Oneohtrix Point Never rarity, Marnie Stern vs. Infinite Jest, a shitload of Lawrence English’s field recordings, why we love Bear Ceuse, and more. Click through and get listening! … Read More

Music

Two of ‘Rolling Stone’s’ 100 Greatest Guitarists Are Women

By Judy Berman on

Oh boy, Rolling Stone. We know you guys are out of touch, and we sure do try to cut you some slack for that. But when you make a list of the 100 greatest guitarists of all time, and only two of those people are women? (Bonnie Raitt at #89 and Joni Mitchell… Read More

Music

Flavorpill Fix #8: Hosted and Curated by Marnie Stern

By Judy Berman on

Marnie Stern built her reputation on two albums’ worth of finger-tapping guitar virtuosity. But last fall, she released a third self-titled record that, while packed with some of the year’s best guitar squall, entirely transcended its technical merits. Marnie Stern is a personal document of loss and recovery, full of worry and indecision and fear, yet flecked with glimpses of strength and hope.

On the heels of the most powerful album of her career, Stern took some time out of her crazy-busy CMJ week to curate and guest host an episode of the Flavorpill Fix. In the video, she performs a song from each of her three full-lengths, talks about the process of making Marnie Stern, introduces clips by some of her favorite bands (The Thermals, Grass Widow, Talk Normal, and Pterodactyl), and gives us the inside scoop on her hilarious tour blog, The Vagina Monoblog.  As always, New Yorkers can watch this episode Wednesday night at 10:30pm on NYC life, channel 25 — although, unfortunately, the TV version will be pussy-free. Watch the unedited version after the jump. … Read More

Music

The Flavorpill Mixtape: Mogwai, Kurt Vile, Marnie Stern

By Margaret Eby on

This week, our mixtape is overflowing with great new stuff. A track from the upcoming Mogwai record? Check! Great remixes courtesy of Max Tundra and Twin Shadow? Roger. Not to mention some nice little sonic nuggets from Real Estate side project Ducktails and hip-hop contender Wiz Khalifa. Sample, swirl, and right click + save as to download these fellas, or scroll on down tot he bottom of the page for a zip file of the entire tape. … Read More

Music

Match the Musician with Their Favorite Album of 2010

By Sam Schlinkert on

Time for another guessing game — this time we pit you against Spin Magazine’s list of musicians picking their favorite albums of the year. After the jump, we’ve picked 10 of our favorite artists from their list and it’s up to you to match them with their favorite albums. Don’t worry — we gave you a hint by including a quote from each artist about their pick. Highlight the blacked-out boxes to check your answers, and learn what everyone from Bradford Cox to Wayne Coyne was listening to this year. … Read More

Music

Marnie Stern’s Top 10 Female Guitarists

By Taleen Kalenderian on

Indie guitar goddess Marnie Stern has been busy making T-shirts to match her Best Coast/Wavves headlines, all while wrapping up a US tour in support of her self-titled third LP. But let’s not forget the hammering, trilling guitar powers she wielded to make it happen in the first place. Stern had some time before trekking to Europe to work with Flavorpill on her top ten list of female guitarists — pleasantly surprising in light of her tongue-in-cheek track “Female Guitar Players are the New Black,” which she explains was written in response to “being asked so many times what’s it like being a female guitar player and having the focus be my gender.” Click through to find out who made the cut. … Read More

Music

Critical Review: Questionable Content’s Jeph Jacques on His Slice-of-indie-life Webcomic

By The Beard on

Founded in 2003 as an outlet for artist Jeph Jacques’ esoteric indie-rock rantage, Questionable Content has since blossomed into one of the most popular webcomics ever written. Originally couched in insider references, the strip now prizes inclusiveness over obscurity, unfolding the quirky, soap opera-like lives of a group of twenty-somethings in Northampton, Mass. [For a in-depth discussion of past and future plot points, check out part two of our interview, here.]

While many comics have done well on the web, Jacques is arguably the pride of the pack, especially is in his approach to making money. Through a combination of T-shirt sales and banner advertisements, he’s discovered the holy grail in the post-print age: a creative-industry business model that actually works for the web. After the jump, resident audio adventurer The Beard chats with Jacques about the role of rock in his work, the strip’s evolution as a viable business, and the way in which his model could pretty literally save music. … Read More

Music

Monday MP3 Madness: A Pair of Music Icons Walk Into A Bar…

By Caroline Stanley on

1. NASA FEATURING TOM WAITS AND KOOL KEITH, “Spacious Thoughts”
Waits growls and Keith spits — a weird combination that makes us wonder who else to expect on this debut from SPIKE JONZE’s brother, SAM SPIEGEL. [Pitchfork]

2. MARNIE STERN, “Don’t Stop Believing” (Journey cover)
The divisive CMJ 2008… Read More