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Music

10 Bands That Changed the Sound That Made Them Famous

By Tom Hawking on

This week’s most notable release has been Fragrant World, the curiously titled new album from Yeasayer, which came across our desk a couple of weeks back and has been on occasional rotation at Flavorpill central since. Our impressions of the record are that it sounds basically like its predecessor, 2010′s Odd Blood, and thus nothing like the band’s debut, 2007′s All Hour Cymbals. Given the acclaim that their debut received, it’s curious and rather disappointing that Yeasayer have moved away from its wide-eyed eclecticism toward a more conventional sound. Still, they’re hardly the first band to change the sound that brought them to the public’s attention — we’ve put together a selection for your reading delectation after the jump. … Read More

Music

The Perfect Bands to Suit Your Every Obscure Mood

By Judy Berman on

Most pop songs are about love — falling in it, basking in its glow, getting sick of it, mourning its death, searching anew for it. Considering how much of our emotional energy is devoted to those things, this makes some sense. But what about feelings that have nothing to do with romance? How can those of us who prefer to treat our psychological excesses with music — rather than, say, talk therapy or medication — revel in nostalgia or beat an acute case of anxiety? We’ve made our prescriptions after the jump; be sure to take two, call us in the morning, and tell us what mood-music pairings you’d add in the comments. … Read More

News

The Morning’s Top 5 Pop Culture Stories

By Caroline Stanley on

1. Remember the nude sketch that Tony Bennett did of Lady Gaga for Vanity Fair per Annie Leibovitz’s suggestion? Well, it’s now up for auction on eBay, with the proceeds going to Gaga’s Born This Way Foundation and Bennett’s Exploring The Arts. [via NME]

2. “I have heard that Lady Gaga… Read More

Television

The Best and Worst of Last Night's 'SNL' with Katy Perry

By Emily Temple on

This episode of Saturday Night Live was actually much better than we expected, relatively solid all the way through. Sporting a new blond bob that we think makes her look kind of like Emily Blunt, host Katy Perry never let us forget her pop-star status, finding some way to incorporate her singing voice into almost every skit. Kristin Wiig was on top of her game last night, managing to avoid all of her painfully obnoxious characters for a set of fresh, funny ones, and the show was bolstered by a number of charming guest appearances, including Alec Baldwin and Matt Damon. Click through to watch the sketches we thought were the best and those that made us cringe, and let us know your own thoughts in the comments! … Read More

Books

Literary Mixtape: The Wife of Bath

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: Chaucer’s bawdy grand dame, the Wife of Bath. … Read More

Web

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

By Caroline Stanley on

Today at Flavorpill, we watched Jessica Biel’s new ad for Revlon because it was directed by Darren Aronofsky. We got a kick out of Robyn’s solo dance routine in her new music video for “Call Your Girlfriend” — maybe she’s been taking lessons from Thom Yorke? We finally got … Read More

Music

10 Classic Lady-on-Lady Musical Collaborations

By Judy Berman on

If you don’t know about one of the year’s best collaborations yet, allow us to make your day: Flavorpill favorites Rye Rye and Robyn have released a duet. “Never Will Be Mine” is actually a remix of Robyn’s 2005 single “Be Mine!,” injected with a shot of Rye Rye’s adrenaline. What’s that old saying? Two scorned women are better than one? Something like that.

The track got us thinking of how few great musical collaborations we’ve seen between two women. While the male-female love duet is a classic, and the menfolk are always hopping onstage together, the all-girl tag team is something of a rarity — perhaps because female musicians are often set up as rivals. After the jump, with the help of Flavorpill’s knowledgeable staff, we’ve collected some of pop’s most memorable lady-on-lady musical collaborations, from Aretha Franklin and Annie Lennox to Lady Gaga and Beyoncé, in hopes of inspiring many, many more. … Read More

Media

An Alternative Top 10 to Maxim's Hot 100

By Judy Berman on

Yesterday, Maxim released its anxiously awaited (for some) annual Hot 100 list. And, as usual, it’s largely a homogeneous group of skinny, white ladies, many of whom are most famous for posing in their underpants. It’s not that we expected any different; Maxim is always going to Maxim. But, as we did last year, we’d like to use their list of an excuse to introduce you to some genuinely crush-worthy women who are actually making a cultural contribution (no offense, J-WOWW). Our alternative top 10 is after the jump. Add your picks — and, you know, complain about how much hotter Victoria’s Secret models are than the ladies we chose — after the jump. … Read More

Music

Interactive Interview: Yelle on Dancing Animals and Katy Perry

By Doug Levy on

After shrugging off early comparisons that pegged them as France’s answer to M.I.A., Yelle proved far more spritely and hook-oriented on their debut album, 2007′s Pop Up. The trio, fronted by Yelle herself (nee Julie Budet), went on to achieve international success, despite recording songs exclusively in French. This month brings the follow-up to that much-loved first release, Safari Disco Club. As the frontwoman explains, it’s a more grown-up effort, laced with hints of melancholy amid the tales of dancing animals and late-night glamour.

In our exclusive interactive video interview, Yelle (pronounced “yell”) talks about creating the new album, working with Katy Perry and Robyn, her love for designer Jean Paul Lespagnard, and why she’d like to hit the studio with Damon Albarn and Depeche Mode. Control the interview yourself by selecting the questions; just click any one for an instant response. … Read More

Pop Culture

The Flavorpill 2011 Pop Culture Terror Alert Scale

By Christine Jordan on

It’s the end of an era: the Department of Homeland Security announced yesterday that it would stop relying upon its color-coded terrorism alert scale, which means that no longer will the nightly news give us an inexplicable craving for Life Savers. We here at Flavorwire thought the government really had something with their Rainbow Brite approach to the truly terrifying, though, and decided to re-purpose their spectrum of scary things for the new year.

After the jump, take a peek at Flavorpill’s very own Pop Culture Advisory System and the celebrities, shows, and films that have terrorized 2011 so far and are on our cultural disaster watch list from here on out. … Read More