F

Flavorwire

Pearl Jam

Music

Jay-Z, Run-DMC, and More: The Made in America Fest in Photos

By Doug Levy on

Jay-Z helped turn Philadelphia into a veritable music lover’s paradise over Labor Day weekend with the debut of his two-day Made in America festival. The fest, which the superstar hopes to make a yearly one, included performances from Janelle Monáe, D’Angelo, Miike Snow, Odd Future, Skrillex, The Hives, Santigold, Dirty Projectors, and Drake, in addition to headline performances by Pearl Jam and Jay-Z himself. It also marked hip-hop legends Run-DMC’s first return to the stage since the death of founding member Jam Master Jay in 2002. Surprise collaborations were a theme of the weekend, as well, with Eve joining Jill Scott during her set; Kanye West and his G.O.O.D. Music crew storming the stage to close out Jay-Z’s performance, and day one, with renditions of “Mercy,” “New God Flow,” and, of course, “Ni**as in Paris”; and Jay himself joining Pearl Jam for an unprecedented take on “99 Problems.” Even President Obama showed up, albeit in video form, urging people to vote while Jay looked on. Click through for our exclusive photo gallery from Made in America to see more of what went down in… Read More

Design

Iconic Album Covers Recreated With Socks

By Emily Temple on

Now this is an entertaining way to spend laundry day. Neatorama pointed us towards The Sock Covers, a very clever Tumblr devoted to recreating famous and iconic album covers with, you guessed it, socks. Sure, it’s not high art, but it’s goofy and cute and irreverent in all the right ways — if a sock-version of Warhol’s iconic banana on The Velvet Underground & Nico doesn’t make you at least crack a smile, well, we just don’t know what to tell you. In addition, we have to say that we’re rather impressed by the anonymous author’s collection of socks. Click through to check out a few of our favorites from the project, and then head on over to The Sock Covers to see some more for yourself. … Read More

Music

Pearl Jam Headlining Jay-Z’s Made In America Festival

By Alison Nastasi on

Stereogum just shared news about Jay-Z’s Made In America Music festival that takes place Saturday, September 1 and Sunday, September 2 in Philadelphia’s Fairmount Park. It looks like Pearl Jam will be headlining the event, with Passion Pit and Dirty Projectors also mentioned. Pearl Jam’s exact performance date/time will be announced… Read More

Music

Stereotyping You by Your Favorite ’90s Band

By Tom Hawking on

They say music moves in 20-year cycles, and the surfeit of ’90s-influenced bands on the scene at the moment seems to suggest that maybe they’re right (whoever “they” are.) It also seems that there are plenty of original ’90s bands playing at the moment, both renascent (Garbage, Pulp) those who never went away (Pearl Jam, for instance), or those who have no right to actually exist either way and are yet somehow touring together. Anyway, with all this in mind — and, specifically, because the new Garbage album is out this week — we thought it was high time for another of our stereotyping posts. Obligatory disclaimer: this is all in fun, so don’t take offense — and also, as ever, our stereotype is in there with the rest. See if you can guess which one it is! … Read More

Music

The 10 Most Genuinely Disturbing Songs About Mothers

By Tom Hawking on

It’s Mother’s Day this weekend, and while we love our mothers here at Flavorpill as dearly as anyone, we do get more than a little tired of the wave of Hallmark-card sentimentality that comes with the second Sunday in May. So we thought we’d commemorate the day with something a little darker than yet another list that features Tupac’s “Dear Mama” and Paul Simon’s “Mother and Child Reunion” — instead, we thought we’d look at some of the more sinister and disturbing songs about mothers and/or motherhood over the years. They’re better songs anyway. … Read More

Books

Literary Mixtape: The Lorax

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: Dr. Seuss’ most environmentally friendly creation, the Lorax. … Read More

Music

Epic Musician Feuds of the ’90s

By Judy Berman on

What’s more surprising — that Hole have canceled a scheduled set at Australia’s Soundwave Festival because they were slated to open for Limp Bizkit, or that both bands still exist in 2011? Either way, this makes one more well-publicized feud for Courtney Love, who tweeted at the festival’s promoter, AJ Maddah, “What bloody flight of crazed fancy made you think we’d open for Limp Bizkit dude? No offense, that’s nuts.” (Lest you begin to feel some pity for Maddah, let it be known that he responded by calling her a “rotten twat.”) This Hole vs. Limp Bizkit beef, which could just as easily have happened in 1997, got us thinking about the many epic musician feuds that took place in the ’90s — a few of which did not even include Love. Reminisce with us after the jump. … Read More

Music

10 Great Grunge-Era Band Posters

By Romy Oltuski on

This Saturday marks the 20th anniversary of Nirvana’s iconic album Nevermind, the same week that Pearl Jam celebrates its own two-decade milestone. Nirvana’s commemorations include Jon Stewart’s upcoming Q&A with the surviving members; musicians from Tokyo Police Club and Fucked up playing “Smells Like Teen Spirit” 144 times in a row; and a four-CD Universal re-release consisting of numerous previously unreleased recordings, a DVD of live BBC recordings, and several B-sides. Among Pearl Jam’s goodies are the Cameron Crowe documentary Pearl Jam Twenty (now in theaters), a bunch of anniversary shows and reissues, and a new solo album of Eddie Vedder rocking out on a ukelele.

It’s clear that ’90s rock nostalgia is everywhere this year — so we don’t feel bad indulging in some of our own with a tribute to the era through one of its favorite media: the band poster. Below the jump, peruse a gallery plucked from the golden era of grunge. … Read More

Music

5 Albums to Stream for Free This Week: Kasabian, Twin Sister

By Tom Hawking on

Every Monday, we look high and low across the strange and glorious beast that is the world wide web in search of five new records that you can stream for free. This week, there’s the new Kasabian album, which does its best to condense 20 years of self-aggrandizing UK posturing into one hour of music, along with the new (and rather excellent) Twin Sister album. There’s also live album action from Pearl Jam and Jimi Hendrix, and the sound of Gary Numan doing unspeakable things to George Clinton. Click through to listen! … Read More

Music

Here Is a Video of Kurt Cobain and Eddie Vedder Slow Dancing

By Judy Berman on

Our epic compilation of musician-on-musician insults aside, many of rock’s most famous rivalries have been nothing more than publicity stunts. For instance, if you read Keith Richards’ surprisingly excellent memoir, Life, you’ll learn that he was quite good friends with John Lennon, despite the fact that the Stones’ PR machine was constantly pitting them against the Beatles. Nearly as famous among alt-rock fans is Kurt Cobain’s supposed hatred of Eddie Vedder. But last night, on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, Cameron Crowe, who directed the new documentary Pearl Jam Twenty, aired a storied clip of the grunge frontmen tenderly slow dancing to Eric Clapton’s “Tears in Heaven” at the 1992 MTV Video Music Awards.

So, what gives? Was there a beef between Cobain and Vedder, or was that all hype? A candid vintage MTV news interview clears up the confusion: “I just have always hated their band,” says Cobain when asked about Pearl Jam. But he goes on to say that he and Vedder have “had a few good conversations on the phone. I really like him. I think he’s a really nice person.” … Read More