Posts Tagged ‘Pulp’

Parsing The Pulp, Part II: No, The Band Is Not Getting Back Together At Glastonbury

Tue Oct 27 2009 by Maura

Yesterday’s cheeky Jarvis Cocker soundbite about the possibility of Pulp reforming for next year’s Glastonbury Festival sounded pretty much like a “we’re not playing” blow-off to these ears, but apparently other people didn’t pick up the nuance, running with “OMG PULP REUNION” stories as fast as their content-management systems would let them. So Jarvis has released a statement denying and decrying those rumors, and this time, he’s playing it 100% straightforward: More »


Parsing The Pulp: Is Jarvis Cocker Really Getting The Band Back Together For Glastonbury?

Mon Oct 26 2009 by Maura

File this under quotes that I wish had more detail about their inflection: Jarvis Cocker gave the following soundbite to the UK celebrity rag People: “Glastonbury means an awful lot to me, I would love to play there again. We’ve talked about it, there we go, there’ll be a band reunion.” Now, uh, not to rain on parades here, but I have many questions about this quote! For starters, who is the “we” that had this conversation? Is Jarvis referring to the members of the band, or himself and the reporter? And as a follow-up, is that “there we go, there’ll be a band reunion” a revelation that the Glastonbury organizers have already done their cash-waving in the general direction of the split-up Britpop superstars, or a cheeky acknowledgement of how the UK’s gossip-page sausage gets made? I know what side my suspicions reside on… and hey, the NME’s lede reworks Jarvis’ quote into “Jarvis Cocker has said that Pulp are ‘coming back,’ ” even though those two words appear nowhere in the 26 words quoted by People. Oh well, at least now I have an excuse to post a video, right? Let’s all meet up in the year 2000 (and ten), after the jump! More »


A Very Special Mix CD: Ten Songs That Kelly Clarkson Should Listen To That Aren’t “Pork & Beans”

Mon Jun 15 2009 by Maura

Kelly Clarkson had her turn in the New York Times‘ “Playlist” chair yesterday, and the results were, well, mixed. Weezer’s red album got a shoutout, as did the Irish band The Script, who Clarkson described as–eek!–”OneRepublic meets rap.” Kelly, Kelly, Kelly. Aw, Kelly. Listen. In honor of you being my favorite American Idol (and having one of my favorite albums of the year) (well, except for all those songs by the OneRepublic guy, which are just plodding and terrible and tuneless and ugh), I decided to craft a mix CD for you. Because girl, there is there is so much music out there that you would love–and that would probably love you back! More »



New Britpop Comp Ensures That It Will Be Hot Topic By Neglecting To Include Songs By Blur Or Oasis

Wed Apr 29 2009 by Maura

The three-disc Britpop-of-the-’90s compilation Common People–named after the Pulp song, of course–comes out in June, and it will come packaged with liner notes written by Pitchfork contributor / Saint Etienne member Bob Stanley. While the track listing does have more than its share of gems, the absence of feuding NME titans Blur and Oasis will no doubt cause lots of message-board handwringing, perhaps even more than the presence of Gay Dad. Get ready to argue over what songs were missed by checking out the full tracklisting after the jump! More »


Admit It: There’s No Better Musical Valentine Than A Well-Executed Cover Song

Fri Feb 13 2009 by Maura

Between this Monday’s release of the latest covers-stuffed War Child charity album—which includes the Yeah Yeah Yeahstake on “Sheena Is A Punk Rocker” and Lily Allen’s drowsy reworking of “Straight To Hell”—and the “what are your favorite cover songs” meme going around Facebook lately, I figured it would be fun to have us all share some of our favorite reworkings of popular songs. A few of mine after the jump, presented with minimal comment because after a week of scandals and Grammys and people not being dead I am wiped out. Feel free to share yours! The newer the better!

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The Snow Is Making Me Want To Listen To Pulp

Fri Dec 19 2008 by Maura

Productivity is slowing to a crawl. More »


A Party Affiliation That Pretty Much Anyone Can Get Behind

Tue Nov 4 2008 by Maura


I went to PS 112 in Astoria to vote this morning, and while the school’s lobby was bake-sale-free, casting my ballot and walking to the subway put me in a good mood. The sun was shining, the air was crisp, and the promise of not being bombarded with election-related speculation was close on the horizon, at least until some idiot commentator utters the word “2012″ while scrambling to fill space on whatever cable-news channel has given him airtime. Which is probably why I had Andrew WK’s “Party Hard” in my head: Sure, it was barely after nine in the morning and I was on my way back to work, instead of heading out for the evening, but my heart felt right–like it was enjoying some wine, canapes, and total fucking raging. And isn’t that what matters? A counterpoint party song, and a rundown of some notable stories that got lost in the Election Day shuffle, after the jump.

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Hey Simon, Leave Those Music Shows Alone

Fri Oct 31 2008 by Dan Gibson

The occasionally reliable NME reports today that Simon Cowell is kicking around the idea of purchasing England’s venerable Top of the Pops brand, which was largely abandoned by the BBC in 2006. While even the idea of a television show on a major network featuring “live” music from chart-topping acts (and nationalized health insurance) fills me with this-side-of-the-ocean jealousy, I have to wonder what a Cowell-captained TOTP would look like.

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What Are Your Jukebox Staples?

Fri Oct 24 2008 by Maura

Wednesday night I spent $16 on jukeboxes at two establishments in New York City. Sixteen dollars! That could buy, I don’t know, three pints of ice cream at the bodega down the block. But I felt like the investment was worth it, particularly at the second bar I visited, where six Washingtons allowed me to blare 19 songs throughout the bar and my friend and I were pretty much the only customers left in the place. Not that other patrons would have stopped me from playing the Monkees’ “Valleri” and the Raincoats’ “In Love”*; after all, the huge catalogs of the Internet-jukebox era have made it a lot easier to impose your tastes on others, even if doing so costs you an extra credit per song. So this weekend, I wonder: What songs will you always play on a jukebox if you have some unused dollar bills rustling around your wallet? Five songs that I have no problem dropping 25 to 100 cents on after the jump.

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Thu Oct 9 2008 by Maura

In case you didn’t make it out to the In The City… More »