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Music

The 50 Albums Everyone Needs to Own, 1963-2013

By Tom Hawking on

No one buys albums anymore, goes the music industry truism. And yet, for all that the format’s commercial viability may or may not be on the wane, sitting and listening to a great album from start to finish is one of the greatest pleasures that music can bring. Flavorwire recently got to thinking about how one might build a record collection if you really only did buy one record a year. So here’s the result of our thought exercise: 50 albums you really should own, one a year from 1963 until the present… Read More

Books

Photos of Famous Authors Performing With Their Bands

By Emily Temple on

This week, while reading an exceptional mini-profile of Sam Lipsyte over at Vulture, we came across a delightful photo of the author performing with his punk band of 20-odd years ago. Inspired, we set to searching out the long-forgotten (or relatively recent) photos of more of our favorite authors and their bands. After the jump, check out our roundup of famous authors rocking out onstage. … Read More

Books

20 Highly Sexy Photos of Highbrow Authors [NSFW]

By Emily Temple on

If you’re reading this, like as not you are one of those who thrilled at the shirtless photo of Mark Twain that has been recently making its rounds around the Internet. Here at Flavorpill, we were so — ahem — excited by the snapshot that we decided to round up a few other highly sexy photos of highbrow authors from the last two centuries. After all, authors posing in various states of undress is a trend that shows no signs of dying out — you’ll be able to get your paws on a whole calendar of “nearly nude” Canadian authors later in the year. Check out some scandalous writers after the jump — and since sexy is subjective, link us to any unbearably steamy author photos you’ve found in the comments. But casual readers be warned: there is full frontal male and female nudity in this post. … Read More

New York

The Flavorpill Guide to the Week’s Top 10 New York Events

By Judy Berman on

For our (unconscionably high) rent money, the best thing about living in New York City is its endless supply of fun, odd, and inspired cultural events. But with so many options, it can be hard to know where to even begin planning your week. To help you make sense of it all, Flavorpill has launched a new social discovery engine where users can create and share events with friends, as well as follow Flavorpill editors’ and plugged-in local curators’ picks. Below, you’ll find the very best of what’s on offer this week, recommended by Flavorpill NYC’s very own Managing Editor, Leah Taylor. It’s just a taste of what you can find on the new Flavorpill, so if you like what you see, be sure to sign up. … Read More

New York

A Stunningly Diverse Selection of Great Records Produced by John Cale

By Tobias Carroll on

[Ed. note: In honor of John Cale's mini-residency at BAM this week -- including an all-star tribute to Nico on Wednesday and performances of his 1973 solo album, Paris, 1919 on Friday and Saturday -- Flavorwire New York has embarked upon a week-long celebration of all things Velvet Underground.]

John Cale’s career has spanned decades. His own music has ranged from surreal drones to lush, baroque pop to exercises in proto-punk paranoia, and his collaborators have included La Monte Young and Terry Riley. Yet Cale’s work as a producer is equally notable: he has worked on everything from bona fide classic albums to much more esoteric work. What follows is a look at five works that give a sense of the breadth of Cale’s experience as a producer. … Read More

News

The Morning's Top 5 Pop Culture Stories

By Caroline Stanley on

1. NBC News chief foreign correspondent Richard Engel and his production team have been freed after spending five days in captivity in Syria. While the identities of the kidnappers and their motives are unknown, it appears that they were loyal to Syrian President Bashar Assad. Watch his account of the ordeal here.

2. Cecilia Gimenez, the artist behind that infamous “Beast Jesus” restoration that broke the Internet earlier this year, has sold one of her original oil paintings on eBay for $1,400. [via ArtsBeat] … Read More

Music

Johnny Depp’s New Compilation Album Is Packed With Dream Collaborations

By Judy Berman on

Patti Smith and Johnny Depp. Tom Waits and Keith Richards. Michael Stipe and Courtney Love. These are just a few of the mind-blowing collaborations that comprise Son of Rogue’s Gallery: Pirate Ballads, Sea Songs and Chanteys, a sequel to the original 2006 Rogue’s Gallery covers compilation that Depp, Gore Verbinski, and Hal Willner… Read More

Pop Culture

Famous Musicians’ Fascinating Self-Portraits

By Tom Hawking on

We were interested to see that a series of self-portraits by David Bowie had sold at auction for £6,500 earlier this week. The self-portraits in question date from the 1990s, a decade during which Bowie’s painting efforts were apparently particularly prolific, but he studied art in high school and has always moonlighted as a painter. He’s not the only one, of course — many musicians also pursue other artistic avenues, from Nick Zinner with his photography to Captain Beefheart and his weird, abstract paintings. We thought it’d be interesting to look at other musical self-portraits, so we’ve pulled together a gallery of such paintings after the jump. They’re rather fascinating insights into how some of our musicians see themselves — so if you’ve ever wanted to see Paul Simonon as a skeleton, or Nick Cave’s, um, equipment, then click on through. … Read More

Television

New Patti Smith Song to Premiere on ‘Boardwalk Empire’ Finale

By Judy Berman on

We’ll admit that we’ve fallen a bit behind on Boardwalk Empire, but we might just have to spend the weekend catching up. Yes, of course, the season finale airs this Sunday. What’s more exciting than that, though, is the news that a new Patti Smith song will premiere on the episode. Appropriately enough, the track… Read More

Music

Watch A New Video for R.E.M.’s ‘Blue,’ Directed by James Franco and Starring Lindsay Lohan

By Emily Temple on

It’s hard to believe that R.E.M. broke up over a year ago — has it really been that long? Their fifteenth and final album, Collapse Into Now, dropped in March of last year, but it’s only now that this video, created by James Franco for the Collapse Into Now Film Project, has risen to the surface. The video is grainy and unsettling, if still kind of beautiful, like a grown-up version of Less Than Zero, with layered footage, bright lights, and shots of a sexed-up Lindsay Lohan modeling. All this behind a fuzzy track with echoing vocals by Michael Stipe and Patti Smith. Ah, the City of Angels. Click through to watch, and let us know what you think in the comments. … Read More