February 2012
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On Prop. 8 (Thanks, Mom)
Yesterday afternoon, amid widespread happiness following the first appellate court ruling declaring a gay marriage ban unconstitutional, I received an e-mail from my mother.
”Not being totally sure that you will get my comment on Wayne F—-’s ignorant Facebook post,” her message began, “I am copying it here for you.”
Wayne F—-, I knew, was a former student of my mother’s at her pre-school in...
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“On New Year’s Eve, I was in bed. I’d spent the evening with Pame and the rest of...”
– Daniella Joseph, of Tumblr treasure Soft Communication, has written the best piece on LMFAO’s “Party Rock Anthem” you’ll read and my favorite thing on the Internet today.
January 2012
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“And so the Lana Del Rey-bashing economy moves faster than the actual Lana Del...”
– Jon Caramanica’s take on Lana Del Rey is among the best pieces of pop criticism you’ll ever read in a newspaper.
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Good news from real Fleet Foxes
Via Twitter:
@robynkonichiwa Robyn! Even though FF Sings was fake we WILL cover something! I’m obsessed with you and think you’re the greatest!
— Robin Pecknold (@rpecknold) January 17, 2012
Update: Pecknold now says he plans to cover “Call Your Girlfriend.” A fake Foxes cover of Robyn spurring actual Foxes to do a Robyn cover. The future!
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Faux Foxes! →
So some anonymous bros are recording covers of pop songs in imitation of Fleet Foxes? Why? I have no idea, but I love it. Like, whoever had this idea and executed it would probably really fun to hang out with at a party, is what I’m saying. Three beers in and they’re like, “let’s get our falsettos on and sing Rihanna in the style of Robin Pecknold.” They even managed...
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Watchtwentyfourbit:
The Shins: “Simple Song”
Our first taste of Port of Morrow, James Mercer’s first record as the Shins since 2007’s Wincing the Night Away, is here in the form of “Simple Song.” Hear Mercer lead his brand new lineup through the catchy cut above.
Oh, you guys. I am really liking this. Too reminiscent of “Phantom Limb,” perhaps, but James Mercer’s vocal is...
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Watchbarthel:
Scissor Sisters feat. Azealia Banks - Shady Love
OH OKAY.
Two days into 2012 and we already have (1) a new Scissor Sisters song that (2) features Azealia Banks and (3) whose video is set in an elementary school talent competition and (4) contains so many dirty lines that (5) they have to keep bleeping them lest the kids appear to lip-synch something totally inappropriate. The chorus...
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December 2011
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Songs for Next Year 2011 (pt. 2)
And now the pulse-pounding conclusion to my favorite songs of the year. (Here’s nos. 20-11.) I’ve put together a Rdio playlist of all of these songs, plus another 26 that I really enjoyed. (I very nearly [and should have] expanded this list to 21 if only to re-sing the praises of the Joy Formidable’s “The Greatest Light is the Greatest Shade.”) I was also going to put...
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Songs for Next Year 2011 (pt. 1)
Each year I listen to music with a single goal: discovering the handful of songs I will cherish for the rest of my music-listening life. My year-end list is not a tribute to the past but rather a bet on the future, informed speculation on what I hope will still sound great years from now. Tomorrow I’ll publish my top 10, along with Rdio and Spotify playlists on the off chance you...
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With friends like these
Selected lines from Pitchfork’s guide to their favorite albums of the year.
At first, you feel kind of embarrassed for Trevor Powers.
It’s not hard to see why detractors might have underestimated Cults.
Volume has long been Ty Segall’s thing, but craftsmanship? Eh, not so much.
In the last two years, detractors have been all over Liturgy founder and frontman Hunter...
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Conclusive proof Wilco is adult contemporary →
The band makes the American Association of Retired Persons’ list of 2011’s Top 10 Albums for Grown-Ups: “This album strikes the perfect balance of experimentalism (Wilco sometimes goes too far in this department) and easy charm that make Wilco one of the best American bands we’ve had since — well — The Band,” say the AARPists. In what passes for a...
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Blue Lines Revisited: A MUSIC WEBSITE HAS CHOSEN... →
tomewing:
It’s OK, don’t worry. I know it seems difficult to understand right now, but the first thing you need to realise is that what you’re feeling right now is normal. A lot of people are going through the same process you are. What’s more, a lot of people have gone through it before and come out OK….
Tom Ewing has been the best for so long that it can be easy to take him for...
24B’s Favorite Cover Songs of 2011 →
twentyfourbit:
It was tough to whittle down the list, but finally a roundup of streams/video with brief thoughts on my favorite covers of the year is here.
An excellent list from Peter, full of fun things I’d neglected when they first emerged or never saw in the first place.
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November 2011
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Okkervil River posts free holiday mixtape →
Featuring five covers of songs I’ve never heard before!
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“My girlfriend was renting an apartment in Chicago, and I sat down one day and...”
– R.E.M.’s Mike Mills, on how Thom Yorke saw the genius of “Electrolite,” in Pitchfork.
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The XX starting work on second album →
I just thought we should start off our Thursdays with a little good news!
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This Month in Music: October
I have a new piece up at TwentyFourBit today: a column about October music. It’s my second effort at curating from the middle distance, and I used some of the feedback you gave me after my first effort last month. There are fewer links to quotes and interviews, for one; for another, alongside my list of October albums to check out I wrote a sentence explaining why I think you should....
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Here’s something no one would mistake for...
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October 2011
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“When you think of me, you wouldn’t think of Bob Dylan. My music is more...”
– Ke$ha, on contributing a cover of “Don’t Think Twice, It’s Alright” to a forthcoming Dylan-themed charity album, in NME.
Get over yourself, Ke$ha.
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On 'adult contemporary'
I was delighted this week to see Stephen Deusner stroke out over the idea that Wilco and Feist are “too dull to even hate,” an idea so commonplace that such a hysterical reaction could only mean it were true. He was writing, of course, about this Nitsuh Abebe piece, and its argument that Wilco and Feist and maybe even Radiohead might usefully be described as “adult...
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Watchperpetua:
Radiohead “Give Up the Ghost” Live on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, 10/3/2011 This is one of those times when the raw talent of Yorke and Greenwood is almost too much to handle. This is a truly gorgeous performance.
Lovely.
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Curating from the middle distance
My new piece for TwentyFourBit looks at what rock critics can’t bring themselves to say about Wilco:
“The fact is that Wilco has now released three consecutive albums about healing, peace, and gratitude, with lyrics that wouldn’t look out of place as cover lines on Oprah’s magazine. (According to Entertainment Weekly, Tweedy wanted to call the new one Get Well Soon, Everybody, which...
September 2011
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So Bloc Party is totally falling apart →
What a mess. Shut it down. Shut it all down!
By the people: Out of Time →
bythepeople:
For the Gen-Xers who grew up on R.E.M. and now toil as copy editors for news and entertainment web sites, the breakup of R.E.M. provided a chance for some clever headline writing. Let’s see how they did:
Shiny, Happy Rockers Call It Quits (E! Online)
R.E.M., R.I.P. (MSN)
R.E.M….
I miss Kiehl. Make sure to read the rest of his round-up.
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