Among his many talents, Daniel Handler is the master of painting the precocious youth in moments of existential peril — his alter ego is Lemony Snicket, after all, though we admit we like his lusciously written books for adults even better. In Handler’s newest novel Why We Broke Up, illustrated by the great Maira Kalman, teenagers Min and Ed have, well, just broken up. And now, “arty” girl Min is writing her basketball-playing ex a novel-length letter as to just exactly why, following the trail of their failed relationship’s trinkets and detritus — sugar bowls, ticket stubs — until she reaches the bitter end. The tale is as simple as it gets, but expertly rendered and, as far as we’re concerned completely true to the teenage experience.
We’ve all been through it, whether we’d like to admit it or not, so to ease the pain, we’ve asked Handler (who in addition to being a successful novelist just happens to be the sometime accordionist for the Magnetic Fields — who would have ever broken up with him?) to put together the ultimate playlist to help you get through any breakup, whether you’re sixteen or sixty. Click through to listen to Handler’s picks and let us know which tracks you count on to heal your own broken hearts in the comments. Read More »
Tattoo artist Norman “Sailor Jerry” Collins was a poet, a prankster, and an innovator, who picked up the art form while hopping freight trains across the US. He became a legend for his dedication and creativity — traits mirrored by the musical acts featured today by Sailor Jerry Presents. Scott Biram, who performed in the series on November 8 in Aspen, Colorado, plays guitar and harmonica, sings, yodels, and, in the blues tradition, stomps his foot. Using a stompboard, he sends that sound through two giant 18-inch subwoofers. Biram is part of a tradition of musicians who, with their innovation and freakish talent for performing on multiple instruments (often simultaneously), carry forth the spirit of the one-man band in new ways. We got together with him to compile this list of our favorite “one-man” acts.
Now that Kanye West is making 35-minute videos for his songs, and every dense, new Lady Gaga clip must be endlessly dissected for cultural references, there is something undeniably refreshing about a simple, straightforward music video. In a recent ArtsBeat post, Dwight Garner confesses, “I was always a minimalist – give me a concert clip, or even a bit of straight-on lip syncing to a good song” and asks readers for their favorite no-frills videos. Commenters over at The New York Times came up with quite a few suggestions, but we couldn’t help but compile a list of our own (which overlaps slightly with theirs). Add your picks in the comments.
In her CD Covers Tribute series, Amsterdam-based illustrator Elena Lloveria pays homage to famous bands by recreating record cover art with a twee twist. The seven-piece collection commemorates beloved covers such as The Beatles’ A Hard Days Night, Michael Jackson’s Bad, and Bjork’s Homogenic, depicting the musicians as doe-eyed anime characters with oversize heads. While Lloveria’s chibi-inspired style complements some of the artists in the series, Marilyn Manson and Prince look creepier than ever after their kawaii makeovers. Check out the covers, and decide whether you’re charmed or repulsed, after the cut.
Consistency is the watchword in the world of music criticism. We as listeners love it when a band is at its best, but we aren’t truly happy until the musicians prove their worth again and again and again. And then maybe just once more still, after the lead singer emerges from a nasty coke habit and the band hasn’t been in the same room for three years. Of course, we forgive our favorite bands for the blemishes in their legacies every single day, because the statistics majors inside all of us understand that consistency is no small feat. But what of the bands whose discographies are marked by the exact opposite — those alternating, dramatic peaks and valleys in album and even song quality? Why, we’re glad you asked! We’ve compiled eight musical wildcards that have kept us on our toes with each note they’ve produced they put out after the jump. Be sure to join us in some collective head-scratching by giving us your own suggested additions to the list in the comments.
Not all parents were created equal. There are parents who have no tact, parents who are too strict, parents who make out in front of their kids, and parents who simply have bad taste. Unfortunately, these parents still get to name their children, which is why it’s understandable that some kids can’t wait until legal age to change their names. Hey, Plato definitely has a better ring than Aristocles, son of Ariston, of the deem Cloytus. And Leon Trotsky probably realized early on that Lev Davidovich Bronshtein wouldn’t go over too well at the playground. God only knows what nom-de-plume Apple Paltrow will take on in years to come.
Of course, when you get to choose your name the first time around, you only have yourself to blame, which is why Mos Def’s recent announcement that he’ll be reborn as Yasiin come 2012 raises eyebrows. But the soon-to-be Yasiin is not the first artist to bring a stage name in for an upgrade–or an accidental downgrade. Read on for some artists whose name changes were also career changers, and decide for yourself whether Mos Def’s metamorphosis will usher in positive, new beginnings or just be the most confusing rechristening since the Triboro became the RFK.
As we listened to the new Rapture album on Monday — once the initial shock that it just wasn’t very good had worn off — the thing we couldn’t help noticing was that the lyrics seemed pretty rabidly Christian. Perhaps this shouldn’t be a surprise, considering the band’s name, but as far as we’re aware, their songs have never been overtly religious before. Anyway, it turns out that there’s a story behind this — according to the Village Voice, singer Luke Jenner converted to Catholicism in 2009. He’s not the first musician to undergo a road-to-Damascus experience — so after the jump, we’ve looked at a selection of other famous musical conversions, and what they meant for the both the artist in question and the music they made afterward.
It’s a while since we’ve put up a post that elicited as much reader hostility as our recent piece about much-loved music videos that aren’t, um, quite as good as we remember them being. In particular, our suggestion that David Bowie’s “Ashes to Ashes” and Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody” look kinda dated these days went down like a lead balloon, with several commenters daring us to tell the world what videos we do think have held up over the years. We’re always up for a challenge, so we’ve gone back through our videotape collection to pick out ten clips that use technology and/or ideas that might be called obsolete, but still look pretty great to our eyes. Your comments are, as ever, read with interest. But be nice.
Back in April, Prince made news with yet another nutty pronouncement — that cover songs should be illegal. At the time, we couldn’t resist responding with a roundup of our favorite Prince covers. Today, Slicing Up Eyeballs brings us a late but incredibly worthy addition to the list: Elvis Costello and the Imposters performing “Purple Rain” live at New York’s Beacon Theater on May 24th. Costello belts out the song with the energy and sincerity of a true fan, and his metallic jacket and leopard-print hat serve as an apt (if also probably inadvertent) tribute to the Purple One.
