Today at Flavorpill, we met the unluckiest person ever. We took a look at presidents and their cars. We watched the highest shallow dive. We saw the world through the eyes of a hula hoop. We learned how scientists reconstruct speech from brain activity. We tried sewing survival-style. We drooled over the new Mondo Driveposter. We reunited with LeVar Burton. We discovered new extreme sports we’d never heard of. We voted for our favorite sci-fi band. We read an amusing analysis of the Thomas Kinkade calendar for February. We wondered about these odd baby mittens. And finally, we found out why Neil Young hates MP3. His Argument? “Steve Jobs was a digital pioneer, but when he went home, he listened to vinyl.”
A couple of weeks back, our redoubtable resident film expert Jason Bailey took a look at the most shameless paycheck performances in cinema history. They’re united by being pretty dreadful, and they got us thinking about similar situations in the world of music — specifically, albums that have been made to fulfill contractual obligations or other legal necessities. Curiously enough, while there have certainly been some terrible records made for such reasons over the years — either disinterested, lackluster or deliberately bad — there have also been some great ones, where legal wrangles and contract-related adversity somehow catalysed artistic inspiration. We’ve rummaged through our record crate and came up with some examples of each — let us know if you’ve got any more to add on either front.
1. Midnight marked the official end of the US military’s controversial Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy, which has been in effect since 1993. [via MTV News]
2. The cast of Arrested Development is reuniting for a special panel during this year’s New Yorker Festival. If you’re feeling lucky, tickets go on sale tomorrow at noon. [via Gothamist]
3. The Colbert Report will air its first one hour episode next Monday night in honor of special musical guest Radiohead, who will be performing an unreleased track called “The Daily Mail.” Says Colbert: “I look forward to meeting the Radioheads and leveraging their anti-corporate indie cred to raise brand awareness for my sponsors.” [via ArtsBeat]
4. Rock legend Neil Young is writing a life-spanning memoir that’s tentatively titled Waging Heavy Peace and will come out next fall. [via The Book Bench]
5. No wonder he was so peaceful at The Emmys: Charlie Sheen is reportedly close to settling his $100 million legal dispute with Warner Bros. and Chuck Lorre; in exchange for “an undisclosed lump sum payment in the millions of dollars” from the studio, Sheen will drop all of his legal claims. [via THR]
Happy Friday afternoon, everybody! How’s your summer? Big plans for the weekend? More importantly — shouldn’t you be working? Our crack Flavorpill research teams inform us that over 93%* of our daytime traffic consists of people reading the site from work, where their browser window is open behind whatever Excel spreadsheet or TPS Report they’re supposed to be working on, along with Solitaire and Angry Birds and Gawker and the Blake Lively naked pictures (we’re not judging) and that vintage lunchbox that’s been on your eBay watch list for like three days (just buy the damn thing already).
But don’t worry, we’re not gonna rat you out. We totally understand — we’re not really working this afternoon either. C’mon, it’s a Friday afternoon, it’s gorgeous out, who the hell wants to be productive? But even your disposable time on someone else’s dime is precious, so make the most of it. After the jump, we’ve assembled some of today’s best diversions for film fans. Take a glance, click some links, and seize the day.
Recently, rock juggernaut Mick Jagger announced that he will lead a new supergroup, Super Heavy. The impressive line-up also boasts the Eurythmics’ Dave Stewart, reggae wunderkind Damien Marley, British soul songstress Joss Stone and, perhaps most unexpectedly, Academy Award-winning Slumdog Millionaire composer A.R Rahman. In an interview with Rolling Stone, Jagger claimed Super Heavy is “different from anything else [he's] ever been involved in” and that “the music is very wide-ranging — from reggae to ballads to Indian Songs in Urdu.”
Super Heavy is Jagger’s first new group since the Rolling Stones’ formation nearly 50 years ago and it is, to say the least, a little shocking that he decided to make a foray into reggae and Bollywood-influenced tunes this far into his career. Jagger’s unexpected announcement got us thinking — this isn’t the first time that a well-known rocker made such a drastic career move. We’ve compiled a list of some well-loved musicians’ decisions that seemed to come right out of left field. Check out our picks after the jump and be sure to leave your own in the comments.
If there’s one thing we’ve learned, it’s that “Americana” music is constantly evolving, and who better to school us than Kurt Vile? The Philadelphia native took his place in the canon with 2009′s Childish Prodigy, a yawning, steely set of ballads and ambient buzz, tinged with shimmering, shameless exercises in guitar acrobatics. Today, Smoke Ring for My Halodrops on Matador, delving even deeper into contemporary, urban folktales. There’s even a harp! If you’re in New York, you can catch Kurt Vile at one of no fewer than three in-store performances: Academy Records in Brooklyn (5pm, with Bill Nace and Thurston Moore), and in Manhattan at Generation Records (7pm) or Other Music (9pm).
Without further ado, we give you Kurt Vile’s Americana video playlist, accompanied by his take on each of the songs he selected. True story: after whipping up this mix for us, he confessed he’ll be making a tape of it for the road. We just might do the same.
As a band, Gomez are one of contemporary UK music’s most enduring success stories. Over the course of 14 years, the group has released six studio albums, without losing or changing a single member. One of the secrets to that longevity is the spirit of collaboration that inspires its roots-rock, blues, and folk-driven music. Although Gomez isn’t the only band out there with multiple songwriters, it is one of the few that can boast three lead vocalists. And among those voices, it’s the gravelly baritone of Ben Ottewell that has always been most distinctive.
This year, Ottewell has also become the third member of the band to release a solo project, with his own debut album, Shapes & Shadows, revealing what happens when he enters the studio fully in charge of his own musical destiny. For longtime fans, it might not be quite what they expected from the man with the shockingly powerful voice; in fact, it’s quite a subdued, thoughtful, and emotive affair — a record that revels in the quieter moments and wears its melancholy like a badge of honor. In our latest Flavorpill Interactive Interview, Ottewell reveals what it was like taking the reins for the first time and why he wants to work with Neil Young — plus, he plays us something he’s never recorded before.
Welcome to October, friends, the month when our taste for pop gently turns to thoughts of the lush, orchestral sounds that get us through the colder months. (This often means listening to Pet Sounds endlessly.) This week brings a stunningly diverse array of tracks from consummate weirdo Gary Young, the inestimable Neil Young, and an upstart rapper who rhymes “spatula” with “Dracula.” Right click and “Save As” to download the tracks, or jump to the bottom of the page to listen to the whole mix.
If you happen to be a chemistry nerd and a metalhead — and believe us, there’s quite an overlap — it’s tempting to think about metal music as actual different kinds of metal. Iron Maiden would obviously be ferrous — but what metal is Metallica, exactly? Would Foghat be inert? Luckily, the folks over at Roadside Jesus have compiled this periodic table of rockin’, complete with explanations for each element.
Poison, for example, falls into the “Poor Metals” category because, “My friend, I have heard that if one is bitten on the ass, another may have to suck the poison out. This band is all about the sucking and the asses, yet somehow, the Poison remains, always asking to be talked dirty to.” Though we dispute his characterization of Neil Young as “transitional metal,” it’s still a pretty well-thought out table. Check out more tidbits at Roadside Jesus’s site.
Since playing music is so much about being on the road, and since rock ‘n’ roll is so much about being reckless and young and fast, it’s no wonder that so many rock icons have been photographed and immortalized with their cars. Click through to see a roundup of 10 of our favorite photographs of famous musicians mugging alongside their rides.
