NME Releases List of Top 20 Songs of the Decade, With Beyonce’s “Crazy in Love” Topping the List; Elsewhere, News Slow, I Commit to Making Lots of Thanksgiving References in Honor of the Holiday (And am Very Thankful That Underappreciated In Rainbows Track “Reckoner” Made NME’s List) [NME]
Watch WHY?’s Two-Song Music Video For Eskimo Snow Tracks “These Hands” and “January Twentysomething,” Which Features a Father With a Bunch of Arrows in His Back Dragging a Child from a Car Crash (Whether or Not He Was Playing a Celebratory Game of “Pilgrims and Indians” Remains to Be Seen) [Pitchfork]
Stream Grizzly Bear Remixing German Electro-Mopers the Notwist’s Oft-Remixed Track “Boneless” – I’m Fairly Convinced that this is Better Than the Entirety of Veckatimest (But That’s Because Veckatimest is Weak-(Cranberry)Sauce) [Gorilla vs. Bear]
Inversely, Stream Neon Indian Remixing Grizzly Bear’s Veckatimest Track “Cheerleader” (And Stream Another Neon Indian Version Here); Veckatimest May Have Been a Little Lacking, as I Just Mentioned, But These Remixes are Strong (Like Good Gravy?) [Gorilla vs. Bear]
Watch the Pixies Play Doolittle Opener “Debaser” on Fallon, then Watch them Play “Hey;” Both of Which Seem Pretty Restrained – But Not as Restrained as Your Usually Drunk Uncle Will Be at the Dinner Table This Year (Aunt Laura Probably Lectured Him in the Car After Last Year’s “Incident”) [Stereogum]
Former Spaceman Jason Pierce AKA J. Spaceman Announces New Spiritualized Album for 2010, and Re-releasing His Classic Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space; Expect It to Be as Woozy as the Rest of Spiritualized’s Albums (Tryptophan Woozy?!) [NME]
Portland Emo-Punks the Thermals Announce New Album, and Give it a Preemptive Release Date of September 7, 2010; Meanwhile, Pull on Your Thermal Underwear Because This Thanksgiving Weather is Cold (Okay, That’s a Stretch, But C’mon, Only So Many Thanksgiving References are Possible) [Pitchfork]
compiled by Max Sebela
Watch Video For Passion Pit’s “Little Secrets” (The One With All Those Kids Screaming “Higher and Higher! Yay!”); Video Looks a Lot Like Tron, But Not Nearly As Good (It’s Only Marginally Better Than Tron Legacy) [Youtube]
Someone Decided a Sleigh Bells/Weezy Mash-Up Was a Good Idea; We Bring You “Fireman on the Ground,” Which is Terrifyingly Abrasive. Elsewhere, Check Out Our Pictures of Sleigh Bells Playing Our October Feature Show [Prefix]
Stream Brooklyn’s Crystal Antlers Covering Bob Dylan’s “It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue,” Which Is Great In a We-Sound-Like-High-Schoolers-Covering-Dylan Kind of Way [Fader]
Your Favorite Post-Collegiate, Post-Ironic, Afro-Bombastic Pop Band Vampire Weekend Announce Winter US Tour; Contra, In All It’s Fantastically Despised Glory, is Released January 17; Elsewhere, Stream New VW Track “Cousins,” Which I Despise Fantastically [NME]
King Khan and BBQ Show Issue Statement About the Band’s Arrest; All Interested Parties Remain Unphased and Unsurprised by Fact that These Guys Keep a Good Stock of Shrooms in Their Tour Van [Pitchfork]
Stream New Beach House, “Norway,” off the Upcoming LP Teen Dream, Released January 26 (I Know, Usually, at the Very Mention of Beach House, I Would Imply How Boring They Are. But, This Song Quite Gorg……. – Whoops, Fell Alseep Again (Kidding, It’s Really Good) [Gorilla vs. Bear]
Watch Possibly Seizure Inducing Video For Beyonce and Lady Gagas’ “Video Phone;” I Know You’ve Always Wanted to See Beyonce and Gaga Wield Enormous Guns…Give Into That Urge [Spin]
NME Releases Hilariously “NME-Esque” List of Their Top Albums of the Decade; Top Ten Includes the Strokes (at Number 1), Libertines (Number 2), Primal Scream (Number 3), The Streets (Number 9)…Well, You Get it. They Like Brit-Rock. A Lot [NME]
compiled by Max Sebela
Stream Four Songs Off Gil Scott-Heron’s New Album, I’m New Here, Which, According to Brooklyn Vegan, Will Be Remixed By Goth-Brits The xx; Elsewhere, Does Anyone Know Whether or Not the Revolution is Going to Be Televised This Year? I’m Pretty Sure I Saw It On TV Last Year, But Who Knows…[Brooklyn Vegan]
Speaking of The xx, They Permanently Lose Keyboardist Baria Qureshi – Meaning They Are Now Contending With Only New Kids on the Block For Least Attractive New Kids on the Block Look Alikes [NME]
Stream Animal Collective Playing “Bleeding” Live, a Version of Which Will Appear on the Upcoming Fall Be Kind EP; Released November 26 [Stereogum]
Watch New Video From Clipse, “Doorman,” From the Oft-Delayed Till the Casket Drops, Due Out December 8; Clipse, We Get It, You Love Cocaine, It’s Played Out, No One’s Career Has Ever Been Defined By Their Love of Coc – Oh, Wait, Nevermind. Keep Doin’ What You’re Doin’ [Pitchfork]
Stream Flying Lotus’s Remix of Lil Wayne’s “I Feel Like Dying,” Which May Make You Feel Like Dying (I Apologize For Easy Joke, But C’mon, Flying Lotus’s Doom-Glitch Is Supposed to Make You Feel Like Dying) [Myspace]
Stream Memory Tapes Take On New Yeasayer Single, “Ambling Alp,” Which Retains All of the Original’s Inspiration, But Cuts Away the Almost-Sickening Attention to Detail (Read: Overproduction); Yeasayer’s Odd Blood Released February 9 [Gorilla vs. Bear]
Stream Solange’s (Beyonce’s Little Sister) Cover of Dirty Projectors’ Bitte Orca Highlight “Stillness is the Move,” Which is as Awesome as It Sounds – Elsewhere, Remember When Jay Z Went With Solange to Go See Grizzly Bear? That Was Cool [Pitchfork]
compiled by Max Sebela
The Second Annual Beatles Complete Ukulele Festival Will Take Place on December 5 and 6 in Williamsburg; Every Beatles Song Will Be Played on the Ukulele…And All Money Goes to Yoko Ono (Last Year, It Went to Warren Buffet); All Reading This Ought Be As Confused As I Am [Jezebel Music]
Stream a Re-Recording of Wavvves Cut “To the Dregs,” and a New Wavves Song “Horse Sholes” – Have an Existential Crisis Over the Fact that You Don’t Really Hate Wavves Anymore, As Zach Hill Brings Much-Needed Chops to the Project; Feel Dejected; Claim to Hate Wavves Anyway [Gorilla vs. Bear]
Brooklyn Over-Hyped But Endlessly Catchy Dance-Pop Duo MGMT Title Upcoming LP Congratulations, As In: Congratulations, MGMT, You’ve Succeeded in Making a Typically Boring Album Title [Pitchfork]
Watch The Flaming Lips Cover Pink Floyd’s “Eclipse;” You Decide What’s More Entertaining: The Cover, or Wayne Coyne’s Self-Absorbed, Convinced-He’s-Funny Babbling [Stereogum]
Cash Money Records Says Lil Wayne Will Release Two Albums Before The End of 2009; The Rebirth, The Much-Delayed Weezy-Goes-Rock Album, and Tha Carter 4, The Follow-Up to Wayne’s Lauded 2008 Offering…My Guess: Neither Will Come Out and I Just Wasted Time Writing These Sentences [Pitchfork]
Beyonce Cancels a Show in Malaysia Due to Malaysia’s Islamic Conservative Party’s Concerns That She Might Promote “Western Sexy Performances;” I’m Outraged Over Use of the Word “Might” in That Sentence. All The Woman Does is Western Sexy Performances [Billboard]
U2 Frontman Bono Believes President Obama is Having Difficult Time, Realizes the Harsh Reactions Obama Faced When Accepting the Nobel Peace Prize, Doesn’t Know No One Gives a Shit About His Political Opinions, and Just Wants Him to Sing “With or Without You” In Front of Some Starving Kids [Idolator]
Watch Spike Jonze’s New Short Film Starring Kanye West, We Were Once a Fairytale; Features Kanye Being Hilariously Douche-y, Getting Really Drunk, And Then Vomiting Rose Petals With This Little Monster…So It’s Just Like the Real Kanye [NME]
No Age, Rain Machine (TV on the Radio’s Kyp Malone), Mew, and Jay Reatard All Opening for Pixies Doolittle Shows; Universal Agreement Made That This Concert Will Be “Very Good” (Alternatively, “Beyond Satisfactory”) [CMJ]
compiled by Max Sebela
Popular Music Blog Gorilla vs. Bear Runs A Top Twenty Albums of the Decade; In Other News, Music Blogs Unaware That Decade Is Still Happening [Gorilla vs. Bear]
Madonna Dubbed “Crypto-Satanist” By Polish Catholics For Concert Occurring On Feast Of The Assumption (If Madonna Is a “Crypto-Satanist,” What Is Alkaline Trio For This?) [Idolator]
London’s Glam-Pop Star Patrick Wolf Runs a Tirade Against a Woman In His Band; Throws A Microphone, Chair, and Spits In Her Face – All While Dressed Up As What Looks Like Bowie From Labyrinth [Pitchfork]
Auto-Tuned Hip-Hop Artist T-Pain Runs For President Of University of Florida…“Gonna Buy U A Dr-…New Field House, and Improve Bathroom Conditions In The Freshmen Dormitories” [Idolator]
Watch Art Rocker Nick Cave Read From His Upcoming Novel The Death of Bunny Munro (With That Score Behind Him, Cave Looks Pretty Well Suited As A Daniel Plainview Double); Bunny Munro Released September 1 [Spin]
Watch Antony And The Johnsons Cover Beyonce’s “Crazy In Love;” Hauntingly, The Song Becomes Desperate And Obsessive [Pitchfork]
Sonic Youth Set To Appear On Episode Of The CW’s Teen-Sex Romp Gossip Girl; Next, I Want To See Jim O’Rourke On The Recently Restarted Melrose Place [Prefix]
Radiohead MAYBE to POSSIBLY Release a RUMORED EP, HYPOTHETICALLY Titled Wall of Ice ALLEGEDLY Monday [Stereogum]
compiled by Max Sebela
Auerbach Stars in “Heartbroken, In Disrepair” [Stereogum]
Beyonce Selling Tickets on the Cheap for Upcoming Tour [NME]
Bennett Family’s Letter to Fans [Spinner]
Courtney Love Being Sued for Spending Like a Rock Star – And Not Paying For It [Prefix]
Depeche Mode Frontman Recovering from Cancer Surgery [SPIN]
Michael Jackson Geography [Prefix]
Previously on Lost to Record Soundtrack for Lost Online [The Tripwire]
Hardcore Canadian Rocker to Become Regular on Fox [Pitchfork]
compiled by Elana Jacobs
February 24, 2009
Beyonce | I Am… Sasha Fierce
FRESH BAKED
Beyonce
I Am… Sasha Fierce
2008 | Sony BMG
C (I Am…) / B (Sasha Fierce)
“We thought outside of the box and did something different,” is what Beyonce’s father, Matthew Knowles said of her latest release I Am… Sasha Fierce. It’s a bit amazing to me that a two-disc collection is considered “different” according to pop music standards. But we live in a country where a majority of the population agreed Daniel Powter was doing something “different” when “Had a Bad Day” was released. Well, it was still shit. It just had a different smell to it. But there’s no use ranting, pop music has its place. *Sigh*
More on Beyonce | I Am… Sasha Fierce
FRESH BAKED
Beyonce
I Am… Sasha Fierce
2008 | Sony BMG
C (I Am…) / B (Sasha Fierce)
“We thought outside of the box and did something different,” is what Beyonce’s father, Matthew Knowles said of her latest release I Am… Sasha Fierce. It’s a bit amazing to me that a two-disc collection is considered “different” according to pop music standards. But we live in a country where a majority of the population agreed Daniel Powter was doing something “different” when “Had a Bad Day” was released. Well, it was still shit. It just had a different smell to it. But there’s no use ranting, pop music has its place. *Sigh*
More on Beyonce | I Am… Sasha Fierce
