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New York

The Best Things Flavorwire Staffers Did in New York This Year

By Judy Berman on

As another year comes to a close, like everyone else on the Internet, we’ve compiled lists of our favorite films and books and albums. But in an office full of New Yorkers who spend so much time enjoying — and participating in — the cultural life of our city, we would be remiss not to look back on what we actually went out and did this year. Below you’ll find Flavorwire staffers’ favorite NY cultural experiences of 2012, from theater to art to live music to cinema; tell us about yours in the comments. … Read More

About

The Morning’s Top 5 Pop Culture Stories

By Caroline Stanley on

1. Here’s the new trailer for Admission, a quirky dramedy in which Paul Rudd plays a typical Paul Rudd character and Tina Fey is basically doing a slight variation on Liz Lemon — not that we’re complaining.

2. In other movie-related news, this first teaser for Mobius — an Inception-esque,… Read More

Music

10 of Rock ‘n’ Roll’s Most Genuinely Spooky Albums

By Tom Hawking on

As mentioned earlier this week in our roundup of albums you need to hear in October, one of our favorite discoveries for the month is the self-titled debut by Brooklyn band ERAAS. If you like your rock ‘n’ roll laden with lots of heavy percussion and spooky atmosphere, we highly recommend checking it out — it’s been on heavy rotation round Flavopill’s way of late. In view of this — and, of course, with Halloween 0n the horizon — we thought we’d round up a selection of some other genuinely spooky records that have been among our favorites over the years. Let us know if there’s anything in your collection that you think twice about playing late at night. … Read More

Music

10 Indie Musicians Who Would Make Great Pop Stars

By Tom Hawking on

Ariel Pink’s new album Mature Themes is out this week, and it’s as strange and idiosyncratic as ever, mixing killer pop songs and curious whimsy in roughly equal measures. Pink’s more pop-tastic moment have always led us to think that somewhere inside him was/is a huge international pop star just waiting to get out. (Whether Pink is inclined to let this inner pop star out is, of course, another matter entirely.) Anyway, either way, hearing Mature Themes got us thinking about other indie types who, in an ideal world, could/should be chart-destroying megastars. The lines are blurrier than ever these days, of course, and there have been plenty of genuine crossover acts drawn from the ranks of the indie world, if that term even means anything in 2012 — M83, Feist, even (whisper it quietly) Bon Iver. Who might be next? Read on. … Read More

Music

Photo Hightlights from the 2012 Outside Lands Festival

By Caroline Stanley on

Now in its fifth year, San Francisco’s Outside Lands Music and Arts Festival took over Golden Gate Park this past weekend, with a diverse lineup that included everyone from long-established legends like Neil Young and Stevie Wonder to more emerging acts like Tanlines and Zola Jesus. Flavorpill sent photographer Scott Dudelson into the crowded park — which was packed with some 200,000 music fans — to cover the three-day festival for us; click through to see our favorite shots that he captured. … 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 got sex advice from Aubrey Plaza. We watched one man almost get shot after dressing up as a zombie. Thankfully, nobody’s face was eaten. We witnessed the best and worst moments of the MTV Movie Awards. We gawked at photos of a 40-pound… Read More

Music

10 of Music’s Most Delightfully Dark Pop Songs

By Tom Hawking on

The new Zambri record House of Baasa is out today, and if you’re as partial to dark pop music as we are, you’ll find plenty to like in its combination of ominous atmospherics and hugely catchy melodies. We’ve had the record on high rotation, and it’s gotten us thinking about some other dark pop classics from over the years. The art of writing a pop song that’s as catchy as it is ominous and/or disconcerting is a fine one, and it’s been responsible for some of our favorite music. Check out our selections after the jump, and let us know yours. … Read More

Music

10 Free MP3s You Need to Download This Week

By Tom Hawking on

It’s Friday, and unlike the rest of Flavorpill, this writer’s not in Austin — instead, it’s time for another installment of our regular roundup of downloadable MP3 goodness from around the web. There’s a new song from Dr. John (if you’re quick), along with interesting M83 and Orbital remixes, plenty of whacked out synths, a dab of psychedelic folk and the return of Owen “Casiotone for the Painfully Alone” Ashworth. In other words, there’s plenty of good 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

News

The Morning’s Top 5 Pop Culture Stories

By Caroline Stanley on

1. According to The Observer, Kanye West is planning to shoot a short film — much like his 30-minute clip for “Runaway” — in the Middle East. Says their source: “There’s a lot of preconceived notions and stereotypes about Emiratis and Qataris, which Westerners often play up. [His reps] discussed how Kanye is… Read More

Music

The 15 Best Dark and Weird Records of 2011

By Russ Marshalek on

Is it just us, or do most of the “best albums of 2011″ lists this year tend towards a certain amount of sameness? That’s understandable given the undeniable greatness of a handful of records, but on the whole, when we’re facing down a few weeks of holiday stress, travel woes, and inane over-festivity, we’re generally not in the mood to listen to something as milquetoast as Bon Iver. Give us something darker, moodier, bleaker to get us through those days of familial celebration. Something from, say, the record label Blackest Ever Black.

So, both as a holiday coping mechanism and as an alternative to all the best albums lists that have placed that unfortunately boring Real Estate record so near the top, we present an alternate best of 2011, recognizing 15 records that are twisted, dark, and out there. Take note: we’ve purposely left out metal, as that could be its own list entirely. … Read More