If you’ve ever wondered what your favorite literary characters might be listening to while they save the world/contemplate existence/get into trouble, or hallucinated a soundtrack to go along with your favorite novels, well, us too. But wonder no more! Here, we sneak a look at the hypothetical iPods of some of literature’s most interesting characters. What would be on the personal playlists of Holden Caulfield or Elizabeth Bennett, Huck Finn or Harry Potter, Tintin or Humbert Humbert? Something revealing, we bet. Or at least something danceable. Read on for a cozy reading soundtrack, character study, or yet another way to emulate your favorite literary hero. This week: The irrepressible heroine of The Hunger Games, Katniss Everdeen.
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If it’s Monday, it must be time for our roundup of what you can listen to for free on the web this week. The biggest streaming release of the moment is 4, Beyoncé’s new album, which has been leaking like a battered sieve over the last couple of weeks but is now available for legal listening online. Or, at least, some of it is. There’s also new music from a couple of artists who are hugely underrated in our book — namely Patrick Wolf and John Maus — plus Digitalism, Gomez, and a bit of bonus action. It’s all there for your listening pleasure after the jump.
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It’s Yom Kippur, and many of us have the day off from work. You could spend the day atoning. Or you could check out some of best and least-MTV friendly music videos to come out over the last couple years.
Just over a week ago, German shock-industrialists Rammstein — remember their US hit “Du Hast”? — premiered their most recent video, “Pussy,” online. The clip, directed Jonas Åkerlund, plays with typical music video stuff (strippers, S&M), before ending with several graphic sex scenes. MTV-friendly? Absolutely not. But it doesn’t matter.
Earlier Åkerlund videos, like Prodigy’s “Smack My Bitch Up,” were relegated to one or two plays on MTV after midnight. But thanks to streaming online video, bands don’t have to worry about finding an audience for their more adventurous visuals. Check out some of our favorite, wildly not safe for work, music videos after the jump, and link us to what we missed in the comments. Read More »
The topic of file sharing has sparked a heated internet debate between two seemingly disparate music forces. On one side of the battle, we have Nick Mason (Pink Floyd), Ed O’Brien (Radiohead), Dave Rowntree (Blur), and Billy Bragg supporting illegal downloading. Opposite of this pirating posse is Lily Allen, Patrick Wolf, Matt Bellamy (Muse), and Bjorn Ulvaeus (ABBA), who are calling for the end of file sharing. Which side are you on? Each artist’s arguments after the jump. Read More »
