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Music

10 Musical Preferences That Might Get You Arrested (Or Killed)

By Tom Hawking on

If you’re like us, you probably couldn’t quite stifle a rueful sigh at the news earlier this week that a woman in Colorado was arrested for assaulting her boyfriend after he refused to stop blasting Macklemore’s “Thrift Shop” on the stereo. It seems there’ve been several such reports of late, and while there’s nothing funny about domestic assault, the whole thing did get us thinking about songs that have managed to get their fans into hot water. We decided to investigate further, and came up with this selection of music that has landed fans in trouble in various amusing, ridiculous, and/or depressing ways. … Read More

Music

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

New York

Forget Karaoke: Here Are 10 of NYC's Best Live Tribute Bands

By Heidi Vanderlee on

You thought earnest, shameless tribute bands were just for Las Vegas, didn’t you? While New York obviously has a wealth of original music to offer, we’ve been thinking: singing along to live renditions of “Fat-Bottomed Girls” could in theory be a lot more fun than pretending to care about DIIV. It’s time to take a break from nodding to noise bands and take your pick from this fine array of tributes to the classic acts we all totally still listen to, even though we’ll only admit it at karaoke. … Read More

Art

Idiosyncratic Illustrations of Memorable Musical Collaborations

By Tom Hawking on

We’ve written a bit about unexpectedly awesome musical collaborations here on Flavorwire over the years, and as such, we were rather taken by these illustrations of some such collaborations. They’re by artistic duo Pol and Sakiroo Choi, and we spotted them via Thaeger, whose write-up of the pieces may or may not be interesting reading, depending on how good your German is. Anyway, click through and check out some of our favorites — there’s Run-DMC and Aerosmith, Kanye West and Daft Punk, and various others (but not, sadly, David Bowie and Mick Jagger, although maybe some things are better left un-illustrated. … Read More

Pop Culture

Vintage Photos of Pop Culture Icons in Drag

By Emily Temple on

Cross-dressing, whether for pleasure or for mischief (or for plays or films), is no new phenomenon. Every little child experiments with putting on the opposite gender’s designated garb, all on-stage women in Elizabethan theatre were played by men, and many people of both sexes have dressed in drag for a variety of reasons, from personal to professional. So why should our pop culture icons be any different? Click through to join in our celebration of drag in all its forms, and see some of our favorite musicians, artists and writers (though by no means a complete selection — we couldn’t find any photos of J. Edgar Hoover) indulging in a little cross-dressing from as far back as… Read More

Design

Beautifully Designed Posters for Dream Concerts That Never Happened

By Judy Berman on

David Bowie, Missy Elliott, and Lightning Bolt. Lady Gaga, Kraftwerk, and Neutral Milk Hotel. We imagine most music fans have spent idle hours daydreaming about the totally improbable — and sometimes even impossible — concert lineups of their dreams. But have any of us taken the time to create posters for them, as the artists, illustrators, and designers who contributed to A Famous Night have done? In eight posters billed as commemorating “the greatest gigs that never happened,” they fantasize about a night where Black Sabbath and Rage Against the Machine open for Nirvana on the moon, and Spiritualized, Broadcast, and Boards of Canada all share the stage. Even Katy Perry and Justin Bieber get their very own (albeit demonic) tribute. Check out the excellent posters below, which we spotted via The Fox Is Black, and visit A Famous Night to buy prints. … Read More

Photography

Famous Photos Recreated with ‘Star Wars’ Figures

By Alison Nastasi on

We first noticed Canada-based photographer David Eger’s work on Design Taxi and were instantly charmed by his recreations of iconic photographs, album covers, and movie moments using figures from the Star Wars canon. Most of the images come from his Cloned Photos collection and 365 Days of Clones project — a daily photo series starring several Phase I Clone Troopers from the Grand Army of the Republic. Darth Vader, Princess Leia and other mythical characters from Lucas’ much-loved franchise also make appearances, stepping in for The Beatles’ Abbey Road cover image, Grant Wood’s American Gothic, and more. If you’ve ever wondered what Star Wars figures looked like on the moon or in the boxing ring — floating like a butterfly and stinging like a bee — check out Eger’s work past the break. Be sure to visit the artist’s Flickr page for more great photos, and then head to Redbubble to buy your own. … Read More

Books

Literary Mixtape: Willy Wonka

By Emily Temple on

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: Roald Dahl’s most flamboyant factory owner, Willy Wonka. … Read More

Books

Literary Mixtape: Odysseus

By Emily Temple on

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: everyone’s favorite king of Ithaca, Homer’s Odysseus. … Read More

Pop Culture

Mike Mitchell’s Funny, Twee Caricatures of Pop-Culture Icons

By Judy Berman on

Mike Mitchell paints familiar characters as you’ve never seen them before: There’s Homer Simpson blissfully jumping rope, April from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles sucking on a Big Gulp, and A.C. Slater from Saved by the Bell sitting backwards, in his usual fashion, on a toilet. Visually, these witty caricatures straddle the line between adorable and creepy; each portrait has the big, watery eyes of a cartoon and the chubby, flushed cheeks of a child. We’ve collected some of our favorite work by Mitchell, who we discovered via The Mary Sue, after the jump. Readers in the Los Angeles area can see these pieces in person through April 28th at Gallery 1988 Melrose, where you can also buy originals and affordable prints. … Read More