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A Selection of Fascinating Musical Manifestos, 1910-Present

By Tom Hawking on

A couple of years back, the Guardian published an article called “The Lost Art of the Pop Manifesto,” bemoaning, well, the lost art of the pop manifesto. The article harked back to the golden age of punk, when bands published manifestos as often as they made records, and lamented that bands these days just don’t seem to do the same thing. We’re not so sure, though — so in honor of The Knife’s recently published manifesto, which did the rounds earlier this week, here’s a look at some of our favorite manifestos past and present, from pre-WWI futurism to post-millenial hippie utopianism, from stuckism to an erudite tract on black metal. … Read More

New York

The Flavorpill Guide to This 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

Music

10 Gloriously Absurd Albums That Actually Exist

By Tom Hawking on

We’ve been thoroughly enjoying the new Prince Rama record, Top Ten Hits of the End of the World, here at Flavorpill central, and not just because of its rather topical apocalyptic overtones. We’re all for outlandish concepts and wild ambition, and this record certainly satisfies both those criteria — it’s based around exactly what its title suggests, with the Larson sisters channeling the spirit of ten bands who’ll die during some sort of unspecified future holocaust to create a sort of post-apocalyptic compilation record (with a healthy dose of the band’s “Now Age” philosophy on the side). The whole thing’s as endearingly ridiculous as it sounds, and it’s also pretty great — so to celebrate its release, we thought we’d look at some of our favorite records in a similar vein, albums based around concepts that sound too outlandish to be true, but do exist nevertheless. Let us know if you have any to add! … Read More

Music

10 MP3s You Need to Download for Free This Week: Thee Oh Sees, Prince Rama

By Tom Hawking on

It’s Friday, which means a) we survived the apocalypse and b) it’s time for another installment of our regular roundup of downloadable MP3 goodness from around the web. This week we have Prince Rama welcoming in the post-apocalyptic age, along with Thee Oh Sees covering the Velvet Underground, another beautiful home recording from Marissa Nadler, melancholy songsmithery from Willy Mason and El Perro del Mar, retro-futurism from Chrome Canyon and Ital Tek, and various other goodness for your downloading delectation. Since all this action costs precisely nothing, what are you waiting for? All the download links await after the jump. … Read More

Music

The 10 Albums You Need to Hear in November

By Tom Hawking on

There’s a veritable deluge of worthwhile releases due out this month, from sci-fi ambient music and a weird concept record about the end of the world to one very exciting… Read More

Music

A Selection of Cheery Tunes to Soundtrack the Apocalypse

By Tom Hawking on

So, yes, Flavorpill HQ is located in NYC, and yes, we weathered the stormpocalypse and came out the other side. Happy days. It looks like the world isn’t going to end — or not today, at least. But shit, even if it does, we’re gonna keep posting until the end times are upon us, and when they are, we’re gonna need something to listen to. So here’s a selection of the best apocalyptic songs that music has to offer, with plenty in the way of biblical storm imagery and general portentousness. Here’s to hoping everyone out there is OK. … Read More

Music

Flavorpill’s Favorite Bands from CMJ 2012

By Tom Hawking on

We survived! The CMJ Music Marathon is over for another year — five days and about 500 bands later, we’re back on the couch and promising never to leave it again. But still, for all that we’re pretty much exhausted now, CMJ was a great week. As ever, we ran around down, drank too much, and saw more bands than we care to remember. And as ever, just as we were about to give up on the whole thing, we’d stumble across a band that made it all worthwhile. So here’s a selection of the best acts that our crack Flavorpill CMJ team — Judy Berman, Tom Hawking, and Sophie Weiner — saw this time around. Whose sets did you enjoy, gentle readers? … Read More

Music

10 MP3s You Need to Download for Free This Week: Tame Impala, The Antlers

By Tom Hawking on

It’s Friday, which means another installment of our regular roundup of downloadable MP3 goodness from around the web. This week it’s remix central, with another excellent Tame Impala remix from Canyons and a similarly worthy Antlers remix from Tricky, of all people, along with Laurel Halo vs. Lianne Le Havas and Peaking Lights vs. TEEN. Elsewhere, there’s the return of Crystal Castles and Jason Molina, fine new tracks from Beacon and Guards, and plentiful other goodness. Since all this action costs precisely nothing, what are you waiting for? All the download links await after the jump. … Read More

Music

10 MP3s You Need to Download for Free This Week: Nite Jewel, Beth Orton

By Tom Hawking on

It’s Friday, which means another installment of our regular roundup of downloadable MP3 goodness from around the web. This week there’s Nite Jewel and Nicholas Krgovich covering Frank Ocean, the return of Beth Orton, a cranking new track from The Soft Moon, singles club downloads for Com Truise and Dirty Beaches, How to Dress Well channeling Janet Jackson, and various other free stuff awaiting your delectation. In other words, there’s plenty of interesting sounds awaiting you after the jump, and since they won’t cost a penny or land you an RIAA lawsuit, as your attorneys we advise you to start downloading immediately. … Read More

Web

What’s On at Flavorpill: The Links That Made the Rounds in Our Office

By Alison Nastasi on

Today at Flavorpill, we looked at photos chronicling the Space Shuttle Program. We got to know Brooklyn band Prince Rama, who will be performing at DUMBO Summer Friday. We wondered who would buy a five-pound replica of fat, square watermelon, and other weird stuff. We sang “Baby Got Back”… Read More