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 »
This week brings a handful of new releases, scaling from already-established bands (The Magnetic Fields, Beach House), to fledgling bands ( jj, First Rate People, Let’s Wrestle), to already-established musicians’ fledgling bands (James Mercer + Danger Mouse = Broken Bells, Josiah Wolf of WHY?). The connecting thread? They’re all tasty cuts, and free for the taking! So grab your fork, knife, and bib (precautionary measure), and prepare to go to town.
Best of the Year lists aren’t just about closure. After all, these lists make for a great way to catch up everything you missed while you were spinning that new Phoenix album endlessly. Making this time of discovery easier yet, InSound has rounded up their 50 most downloaded albums of 2009, and is offering everyone 10 free MP3s for download.
Looking at their list, we’ve eliminated albums that weren’t from 2009, and skipped over the obvious choices — the Grizzly Bears, the Phoenixes, and the Passion Pits. Those are for everyone else’s lists.
Meet Blake Maxwell. He is WHY?‘s flamboyant, newly-appointed holistic manager. His skills comprise of tree-assisted hand stands and wearing rainbow-colored booty shorts. He aspires to bring WHY? out of indie rock obscurity and to the forefront of the music industry: endorsements, major label signing (specifically Capital), and, of course, a live performance on The Jimmy Kimmel Show. O yeah, and you can stop crying, because Blake is a fictional character. This video is the first in a series of ten Blond Chili directed promotional videos for WHY?’s upcoming album, Eskimo Snow. Video after the jump. Read More »
Today’s mix will give you a taste of what music will sound like in the near future a.k.a. September. So give your fingers a little warm-up stretch and get ready to “Right Click, Save Link As,” because after the jump we present 10 essential downloads from our latest Viva Radio show that we consider required listening at Flavorpill HQ. Enjoy! Read More »
Even though we’re moving into the dog days of summer, when things get slow release-wise, there are still plenty of exciting tunes to laze beside the pool with thanks to what’s turning out to be an absolutely stellar year for music. So give your fingers a little warm-up stretch and get ready to “Right Click, Save Link As…,” because after the jump we present 10 essential late-summer jams from our latest Viva Radio show that you should consider required listening at your next barbecue. Read More »
So, Pitchfork has handily given you the top 20 worst album covers of the year, and in the spirit of the season (and listicles!), we’ve been similarly inspired to come up with our picks for the ten worst band names — for ten great bands. Don’t hold their monikers against them! After the jump, with help from fellow in-house music dorks, we count ‘em down. Read More »
