The Occupy movement is famous for welcoming anyone who wants to join. But you can’t help but wonder if, for campers who’ve endured taunts and snow and pepper spray, some musical guests are more welcome than others. Yes, it’s a thrill to see Philip Glass using the people’s mic at Lincoln Center, but too many of the celebrities who visit OWS seem (at the risk of being uncharitable) to be using its fame for their own good instead of vice-versa. One wonders, for instance, how many impassioned discussions of banking regulations and foreclosure statistics were ever interrupted by the comment, “You know who I’d love to hear right now? Third Eye Blind.”
With that in mind, we offer ten dream concerts for OWS — double bills of music that’s relevant and rousing, from artists (unlike these movement-friendly newcomers) with enough name recognition to draw both fans and media attention to Zuccotti Park, or anywhere else the 99 percent are trying to make themselves heard. Read More »
1. Ryan Seacrest may be taking over Matt Lauer’s anchor spot at Today. Our gut instinct is that this would be horrible, but given the number of thrilling moments Kathie Lee’s unlikely presence on the morning news show has bestowed upon us all, maybe it’s a good thing? [via THR]
2. Here is the new Hype Williams-directed video for Willow Smith’s song “Fireball,” which features an appearance by Nicki Minaj in an insane pair of rainbow-colored Mukluks making crazy faces. [via Vulture]
3. Deadline reports that Mindy Kaling will executive produce a new “animated comedy project” for NBC about a team of female high school volleyball players. While we’re not exactly thrilled by the premise, Kaling will also be voicing one of the characters, so at least there’s that to look forward to.
4. After that recent incident with Michelle Bachmann on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, Questlove must now clear every song that The Roots play on the show “with three different NBC execs.” We bet he’s thrilled about that. [via NYP]
5. And finally, in case you missed it, Alec Baldwin quit Twitter yesterday in the wake of his dust up with American Airlines. But he’ll be back! “Let’s play a game called Mass Unfollowing,” he wrote. “I want to crash this acct and start again. But, tonight at 10 PM NY time, unfollow me.” [via EW]
No matter your parents’ political persuasion, hip-hop can be a hard sell when it comes to co-opting the stereo at home — liberally inclined parents will complain about the genre’s perceived misogyny, glorification of crime, and naughty language, while conservatives will rant and rave about… well, basically the exact same things, albeit for different reasons. Still, with the release of The Roots’ undun this week, we got to thinking about hip-hop that can help change — or at least — challenge these broad conceptions. Here’s a few of our picks. If your parents aren’t quite ready to embraced the Based God quite yet, you can get them started with the records you’ll find after the jump. Read More »
December 6th is pretty much the last big release date of the year (unless the T-Pain album floats your boat, in which case get thee to Auto-Tune detox immediately), so happily there’s a reasonable amount of fairly worthy pre-release streams floating about on the Internet. As ever, we’ve started our working week by collating five of the best and/or most noteworthy for you, and they await you after the jump — along with new albums by The Black Keys and The Roots, there’s the ever-prolific Boris’s third album of the year, a live album by The Dropkick Murphys, and also (gulp) Korn’s new dubstep direction. Yikes. Read More »
And to think we used our smarty-pants Waste Land intro last month. As we should have remembered, November is a cornucopia of releases compared to the barren expanse that is December — unless, of course, you’re into Christmas albums, AOR piffle, and commercial hip-hop, in which case you’re probably not reading this in the first place. If you are still reading, then you’ll be happy to know that we’ve crossed the desert and found ourselves ten new releases that really are going to be worth hearing in December. Result. Check out our selections after the jump, and let us know if there’s anything else on your Christmas list that we’ve missed. Read More »
Actress, musician, and photographer Sasha Grey certainly didn’t take the traditional path to fame. Best known as one of the adult-film industry’s biggest banner names, Grey made a huge splash in the porn world almost immediately after filming her first scenes at the age of 18. Five years later, Grey has officially stepped away from the X-rated side of on-camera appearances, focusing instead on traditional acting, modeling, experimental music (with her band aTelecine), and photography. Along the way, she starred in Steven Soderbergh’s The Girlfriend Experience, picked up a recurring role on Entourage, posed for Terry Richardson, featured in videos by the Smashing Pumpkins and the Roots, and modeled for American Apparel.
In our exclusive interactive video interview, Grey discusses her debut photo book, Neü Sex&, her upcoming “black metal” film, the idea of porn as performance art, and what art form she wants to tackle next.
The holiday season is full of musical events — but what if you’re looking for something a little more exciting than Handel’s Messiah and The Nutcracker? Look no further because Flavorpill has got you covered. We’ve searched far and wide to come up with this list of 10 singular seasonal happenings nationwide, from Yo La Tengo’s annual Hanukkah residency to a few intimate winter evenings with Andrew Bird to three of our favorite New Year’s Eve shows. Thanksgiving may still be a few weeks off, but if you see something you like, snap up your tickets now — all of these unique events are sure to sell out fast.
Indie rock and children’s television came together this morning, when The Flaming Lips performed on the ground-breaking Nick Jr. show Yo Gabba Gabba. In its three seasons, the series has featured some surprisingly hip bands. For one of the show’s segments called “The Super Music Friends Show,” bands usually compose a song specifically for the series, in part because the lyrics to their hits may not be appropriate. (Fun fact: The Killers had to be introduced as “Brandon, Ronnie, Mark and Dave.”) To celebrate yet another awesome guest spot — and because even the biggest music fans might have missed them when they aired — we’ve compiled 12 of our favorite performances from the wacky kids show so far.
Rappers, generally speaking, aren’t universally known for their forward-thinking feminist viewpoints. Nope, mostly women in rap songs are video hos or strippers or gold diggers, celebrated not so much for their intellect as for their cup size. But that doesn’t mean that all rap songs are about detailing a woman’s measurements and Gucci nails — there’s actually a strain of hip-hop that prizes the ladies who know how to hold a conversation, run a business, and read books — at least comic books. Below the jump: a countdown of rap songs about ladies who can work a spreadsheet, not a stripper pole.
For its 2010 Revival Recordings project, Levi’s Pioneer Sessions roped in artists ranging from Dirty Projectors and Passion Pit to Bomba Estereo and the Roots to cover timeless tracks that influenced them.
It all kicked off with Nas’ take on Slick Rick’s “Hey Young World,” and has since seen She & Him, the Swell Season, the Shins, and others take on everyone from Rick Nelson to Smashing Pumpkins in a celebration of the lasting power of classic songs. There are still two more tracks to come, and all 13 covers are available to download for free.
, her upcoming “black metal” film, the idea of porn as performance art, and what art form she wants to tackle next.
