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This Week In Music: Now In 64 Colors
4:33 PM on Fri Dec 4 2009 by Becky Bain
It's been a jam-packed week, folks: We've picked apart the Grammy noms, feasted on end-of-decade list debates, and celebrated the birthdays of an endlessly quoteable pop star and an aging rapper who's number one. But oftentimes, mere words just don't do the music world justice. That's why we decided to introduce you to the colorful minds behind pop-culture skewering site Pop Waffle. Check out our special joint presentation of "This Week in Music." We think you'll agree—sometimes the crayon is mightier than the pen.
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What Were Your Best Musical Experiences Of The Summer?
1:00 PM on Fri Sep 4 2009 by Maura
Oh man, it’s almost Labor Day weekend! Which means barbecues, earlier sunsets, and the close of summer in the American mind-set. (Not to mention the ever-closer encroachment of the Video Music Awards! Ack!) So what better time to look back? Feel free to share your favorite musical experiences of the Memorial-To-Labor-Day period in this space, while you are (I hope!) waiting to go outside and enjoy the last crackles of summer. My list—which ranges from shows to finding out bits of news—after the jump. More »
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What Was Your Song Of The Summer For 2009?
1:00 PM on Fri Aug 21 2009 by Maura
I’m taking off a little bit early today because I’m going to tape an appearance on NPR’s Weekend All Things Considered, in which I will be quizzed about this year’s contenders for Song Of The Summer, and why this summer’s most-people-unifying songs probably weren’t ones that came out this year, let alone this decade. (Michael Jackson, duh.) (Well, Michael Jackson and the ever-atomizing nature of “pop music,” which is resulting in things like gym staples not getting anywhere near the pop charts and the Black Eyed Peas being the only force that can unify us all. Anyway, given that the sweltering season of this year is nearing its close, I figured I’d ask: What song defined the summer of 2009 for you the most? My pick, after the jump. More »
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What Is Your Favorite Song From A John Hughes Movie?
5:00 PM on Fri Aug 7 2009 by Maura
John Hughes, a writer/director whose stamp on the movies he was involved with was so iconic his name was turned into an adjective, passed away yesterday at the age of 59. Hughes’ heyday coincided with the MTV era, and a lot of the movies that he had a hand in—which included The Breakfast Club, Pretty In Pink, and other totemic comedies of the 1980s—both shaped for the music tastes of the day and had scenes that could have been snipped out of movies and directly placed into MTV’s rotation. (Witness Matthew Broderick’s performance of the Beatles’ “Twist And Shout” from the 1986 movie Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, which Hughes wrote and directed.) Chicago Sun-Times pop critic Jim DeRogatis has a nice appreciation of Hughes’ love for music: More »
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Who Would You Nominate For Your Home State’s “Most Mythical Artist” Crown?
6:00 PM on Fri Jul 31 2009 by Maura
Jess Harvell’s piece on The Misfits’ relationship to New Jersey earlier this week sparked some debate from out-of-state residents over which musicians deserved to be elevated to bard status as far as their respective homelands went. I wouldn’t try to speak for all of New York, because, well, doing so would be just silly (plus I think that as someone who still calls Rockland County “upstate” from time to time I’d be disqualified from that particular panel by anyone living north of the Bronx). But I do have one nominee for Long Island’s most mythical artist… and it’s not Billy Joel. More »
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What Would Be On Your “2009 Awesomeness” Playlist Right Now?
6:00 PM on Fri Jul 17 2009 by Maura
As promised: The state of my “2009 awesomeness” playlist, in which I collect the songs that catch my ear as the year progresses in order to not make my best-of list a last-minute-of-December clusterfuck sort of thing. (It inevitably winds up being like that, but you know, I have noble intentions.) It’s after the jump, and has some contextual links added in. Feel free to make your own and share it here! More »
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Festivals: To Go Or Not To Go?
2:00 PM on Fri Jun 12 2009 by Maura
Not only is this weekend the time for the muddy, Phishy, mushroom-peanut-butter-cup-free spectacle that is Bonnaroo, the UK is currently in the throes of the spiky-edged Download Festival, which has a lineup today that in these eyes trumps today’s offerings in Tennessee. This is mainly because the reunited Faith No More’s headlining set at Download (which takes place in Leicestershire’s Donington Park) begins at 9 p.m. local time (4 p.m. ET), and they still haven’t scheduled any dates here yet. (Sadface.) Sure, I would have had to sit through Limp Bizkit’s apparently LOL-tastic set to get to that point of sweet release, but we all have to make sacrifices, no? I mean, just check out this clip of “I Started A Joke” from Wednesday’s show at the Brixton Academy: More »
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Which Classic Albums Most Deserve To Be Re-Imagined In A Live Setting?
6:00 PM on Fri Jun 5 2009 by Maura
Tomorrow I’ll be tripping down to Philadelphia to attend The Roots Picnic, an all-day affair masterminded by Jimmy Fallon’s sidemen (haha, jk guys) and featuring two sets by the band; TV On The Radio, Santigold, and Antibalas are also on the bill. But perhaps the most intriguing part of the day’s festivities will be the start-to-finish performance of Public Enemy’s It Takes A Nation Of Millions To Hold Us Back–yes, they’ve done it before, but this time, the musical duties will be handled by the Roots and Antibalas. This and the impending relaunch of Unplugged have made me wonder: What albums most deserve a live re-imagining, whether it’s the transformation of samples into band arrangements or the classic Unplugged treatment? I’ve actually been mulling over this question all day, and can’t think of anything off the top of my head–unless Freestyle’s Greatest Beats, Volume One counts. (It should!) After the jump, a few musical experts offer their suggestions. Please feel free to expand further, and if you’re going to the picnic, come say hello! More »
Somethin 4 The Weekend
What Is Your Favorite Song About A Food Or A Beverage?
6:00 PM on Fri May 1 2009 by Maura
The question’s pretty simple, although to make things a little bit tougher, let’s say that the songs in question have to be about food, and not sexual metaphors for food. To get the inspirational juices (haha, get it?) flowing, here is “Eat It,” which is, of course, merely one of “Weird Al” Yankovic’s many songs devoted to gastronomy. After the jump, I survey many people for their thoughts, and post my favorite food-related disco jam: More »
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Six Videos That Can Now Be Looked At As Missed Opportunities For Product Placement
6:00 PM on Fri Apr 24 2009 by Maura
I still love this morning’s story about the product-placement deal that was struck between Autograph and Paper-Mate 25 years ago, mainly because it took so long for the obvious-in-hindsight synergy to be noticed by this observer. “With the name Autograph, it’s logical for us to be advertising a pen,” lead singer Steve Plunkett told the Los Angeles Times when the deal was dissected. “It would only be weird and out of place if we were advertising something like a vacuum cleaner or a roach spray.” But what if other videos of the era did work with less, um, glamorous products? Six vintage clips that we can now look at as perfect except for their insufficient monetization, after the jump. Feel free to add your own suggestions–and hey, given the impending doom that car companies are seeing, perhaps some current musicians might want to think about getting “creative” with their own endorsements? More »
