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The Most Hilariously Disturbing Band Fanfiction You’ll Ever Read

By Tom Hawking on

The Internet is a strange, strange place. As we noted yesterday, Gerard Way penned an epic letter about My Chemical Romance’s breakup, but in certain corners of the web, fans are flat-out refusing to believe it, and expressing their disappointment in the most quintessentially MCR way — by penning fanfiction wherein the band continues to exist forever! The world of MCR fanfic is a strange, hilarious place, but it’s by no means home to the weirdest fanfic you’ll find out there. And so, to celebrate the, um, devotion of a certain breed of music fans, here’s a selection the most hilariously weird band fanfic, you’ll ever, ever read. Warning: it’s kinda dirty. Obviously. … Read More

Music

A Selection of Great Post-1970s Glam Rock Albums

By Tom Hawking on

We’re super excited about the return of Suede, both because their new single “Barriers” is really great and because, honestly, we’re hoping for some sort of glam re-revival in the year to come — surely it’s time for the return of bands whose ambitions extend beyond bedroom laptoptronica and/or determinedly anonymous we-just-do-what-we-do-and-possibly-have-beards indie? Hey, David Bowie’s surprise album announcement certainly can’t hurt the possibility of a glitter resurgence, either! While we wait, we’ve been digging out our old Suede CDs and also exhuming other examples of glam rock from after the genre’s mid-’70s golden age. Here are some of our favorites — what are yours? … Read More

Music

10 Fascinating Early Demos by Famous Musicians

By Tom Hawking on

We do still read the NME, god help us, and as such we were interested to see this feature about dodgy demos of classic songs on their website a couple of days back. Setting aside the question of whether anything ever recorded by Muse can ever be considered a “classic” (spoiler: no), the piece did get us thinking about early demos from our favorite musicians, especially in light of the recent reissue of Interpol’s Turn on the Bright Lights, which comes with a bunch of studio outtakes and other rarities. Anyway, we thought we’d run with the idea and share some early demos by some of our other favorite bands, which we think make for pretty fascinating listening. Let us know if you have any you’d like to share. … Read More

Music

10 ’90s Bands That Are Still Worth Your Time

By Tom Hawking on

It’s one of the great truisms of the music industry that music moves in 20-year cycles, and sure enough, ’90s nostalgia is in full swing — just this year, The Stone Roses have re-formed, Chris Cornell abandoned his ill-fated Timbaland experiment for a Soundgarden reunion… and even Everclear and Gin Blossoms did a tour together, for Chrissakes. We’re not sold on all such ’90s revivalism — it’s difficult to remain together and relevant for two decades, after all — but while some of the decade’s best bands sadly no longer exist, there remain plenty of ’90s bands that are still around and still worth your time. With the new Dinosaur Jr. album I Bet on Sky out this week (and currently available to stream at NPR), we thought we’d look at a selection of such acts. Our picks await you after the jump. … Read More

Music

The Evolution of Nudity in Music Videos (NSFW)

By Caroline Stanley on

As you may have heard, Erykah Badu has dropped a buzzy new music video for “Window Seat” from her new album New Amerykah Part Two: Return of the Ankh. Why the hype? In the five-minute clip — which is an homage to Matt and Kim’s “Lessons Learned” — the soul songstress strips down from a black overcoat into eventual full-frontal nudity.

But as quickly as it surfaced, the video was taken down from YouTube by Universal Music Group, and we were left feeling slightly pervy for craving more naked music videos. We’ve done the dirty work so that you don’t have to, and rounded up 10 of our all-time favorites after the jump. We’ve come a long way since Duran Duran’s “Girls on Film.” … Read More