Music
Friday, February 1, 2013
Music / Theater Brooklyn Philharmonic Cancels Large Chunk of its Season
Posted by Henry Stewart on Fri, Feb 1, 2013 at 11:00 AM
Music / TV The Worst "Artistic Collaborations" of Super Bowl Halftime Shows
Posted by Virginia K. Smith on Fri, Feb 1, 2013 at 10:39 AM
In all fairness, Super Bowl halftime shows are supposed to be strange, tacky spectacles that don't ever stand the test of time. That's how it is, and how (I assume) it always will be. Even so, the combined forces of football, network sponsors, and the pressure of trying to appease the taste of every single person in America tend to make for pretty odd bedfellows. More specifically, combinations of musicians who should never be sharing a stage together under any circumstances at all. Because watching old YouTube clips is generally better than "reading news" or "doing work," let's think about the times it's gone the most wrong.
Music French Songwriter Soko Releases Spike Jonze-Filmed iPhone Video
Posted by Francisca Stewart on Fri, Feb 1, 2013 at 10:00 AM
While she’s supported artists like M.I.A. on tour, had her music sampled by Cee Lo Green on his "Stray Bullets" mixtape, and generally been on the scene for about 5 years now, Alien is her first proper full-length (it was released in Europe in February 2012).
Soko directed and Spike Jonze filmed a video for the album's title-track and first single in Echo Park, Los Angeles. The whole video was shot on an IPhone 8mm app. The resulting alien love story looks like a daydream filled with color-tinted shots, charming fireworks, and, oh yeah, alien sex. Watch below.
Thursday, January 31, 2013
Music Watch Patrick Stickles of Titus Andronicus Perform "I Tried to Quit Smoking" for La Blogotheque
Posted by Mike Conklin on Thu, Jan 31, 2013 at 11:51 AM
In yet another beautifully shot clip for La Blogotheque, Titus Andronicus frontman Patrick Stickles performs a solo version of Local Business closer "I Tried to Quit Smoking." Though the band's undying commitment to relentless guitar rock is admirable and refreshing, it's also nice to see Stickles switch things up the way he does here. And make sure you watch all the way to the end, for the awesome guitar loops and the triumphantly mournful guitar solo.
Wednesday, January 30, 2013
Music The Hudson River Valley, Stage Fright and Wikipedia: An Interview With Widowspeak
Posted by Chris Payne on Wed, Jan 30, 2013 at 9:00 AM
Sometimes you have to get away from the structure and the strain of city life to get the creative juices flowing. For their second LP for Brooklyn's now-venerable Captured Tracks label, Molly Hamilton and Robert Earl Thomas needed a change of pace, a change of scenery, and a step away from an internet connection, even if it did mean a temporary halt to Hamilton's tenacious Wikipedia habit. With most of Almanac written in Brooklyn, the duo retreated (along with producer Kevin McMahon) to a hundred-year old old barn in the woodlands of the Hudson River Valley. And Widowspeak sound all the better for it, both on record and in conversation. Once coy about singing live and hesitant to make Widowspeak the center of her life, Hamilton, a Tacoma, Washington transplant, sounds more intent than ever to see her band take on new challenges.
Tuesday, January 29, 2013
Music Many, Many Reasons This New Knife Song Is Just THE BEST
Posted by Jeff Klingman on Tue, Jan 29, 2013 at 12:33 PM
It was either an amazingly effective viral marketing campaign, or just a case of several obscure Scandinavian art websites not having their shit together. (Or both!) Anyway, "Full of Fire" has been online reliably for a few days now, and available for prolonged obsessing. And I love it. Listen:
Friday, January 25, 2013
Music With Coachella Lineup Announced, A Survey of the Summer Festival Arms Race
Posted by Jeff Klingman on Fri, Jan 25, 2013 at 11:42 AM
But who's bringing the most heat?
Thursday, January 24, 2013
Music 10 Things About This Justin Timberlake Video We're Just Supposed to Ignore Even Though We're Non-Idiot Adults
Posted by Mike Conklin on Thu, Jan 24, 2013 at 9:17 AM
Klingman took a close look at "Suit and Tie" when it first came out last week, but now that the first new Justin Timberlake song in almost six years has gotten the official video treatment, it seems like it's probably a good time to pay it another visit. I did, and, spoiler alert, it's so stupid! Let's watch, and then make note of 10 totally crappy things we're supposed to overlook because he's attractive and likable and good at golf of whatever the fuck.
Wednesday, January 23, 2013
Music Semi-Crummy Live Audio of a New Vampire Weekend Song Still Not So Bad
Posted by Jeff Klingman on Wed, Jan 23, 2013 at 12:33 PM
Our assumption is supported by a possible preview of their new record that was posted on Stereogum this morning, a live version of a new song "Arms" from a concert in Sydney, Australia. And while getting really excited about kinda fuzzy live versions of new songs right before their recorded versions come out makes us feel a little overexcited and teenage, you can already hear how polished this one sounds in concert, and will soon sound on record. I bet those soothing keyboard lines, spacious drums, and rising string swells are going to sound just great! More ready for this than I might have previously expected. 2013 is shaping up real nice, folks.
Listen to the recording of "Arms" below, maybe while standing behind some really tall guy and pretending he is blocking your stage view:
Monday, January 21, 2013
Music Lupe Fiasco Escorted Off Stage After Performing Song Critical of Obama at Inaugural Party
Posted by Jeff Klingman on Mon, Jan 21, 2013 at 11:53 AM
You can watch highlights of the song's most salient political jabs, Fiasco dancing strangely, and then some security guards with really unwelcoming body language getting him the fuck out of there, below:
Music John Cale Still Has No Problem Talking Shit About Lou Reed
Posted by Virginia K. Smith on Mon, Jan 21, 2013 at 10:00 AM
Just in case you were wondering about the state of this 45-year-old sometimes-feud, it seems to still be alive and well. In between recent performances at BAM last week, John Cale sat down for an otherwise low-key interview with New York Magazine's Mark Jacobson, and it got a little uncomfortable when talk turned to his old collaborator.
Monday, January 14, 2013
Music Justin Timberlake Returns to Music, Reminds Us What We Used to Find Kind of Annoying About His Music
Posted by Jeff Klingman on Mon, Jan 14, 2013 at 12:23 PM
You can listen below:
Friday, January 11, 2013
Music The Thing About Ke$ha: You're A Grown-Up and Should Have No Use For Her
Posted by Jeff Klingman on Fri, Jan 11, 2013 at 11:51 AM
If that sounds like your sort of thing, you can watch it right here:
Music What Happens When The Sex and the City People Make a Brooklyn Playlist?
Posted by Virginia K. Smith on Fri, Jan 11, 2013 at 9:00 AM
As I sipped coffee at my desk this morning, making puns and listening to the Kendrick Lamar album on Spotify, I thought about the lyrics, and I couldn't help but wonder: if he can "fuck the world for 72 hours," why can't I? Has Samantha tried it? And after all, are rappers and writers really so different? Are men and women?
Well, what actually happened is that I couldn't help but be interrupted by a strange new Spotify promo for Sex and the City's teen spinoff The Carrie Diaries, offering to take any playlist of mine and give it an "80's makeover" in order to "take a walk down memory lane (in acid washed jeans)". Uh, yes, exactly what a too-old-and-cranky-for-the-demographic listener wanted when belatedly listening to a specific album by a new-ish artist. How did the elaborate sales algorithm that matched this ad to my profile ever guess?
Tuesday, January 8, 2013
Music Will The Next Day Be The Late-Career Bowie Masterpiece We've Always Expected?
Posted by Jeff Klingman on Tue, Jan 8, 2013 at 1:04 PM
The first single from Bowie's 30th (!) studio album is called "Where Are We Now?" and already has a slightly unsettling video, which you can watch below.
Monday, January 7, 2013
Music M.I.A. Is Too Nice To Make Music Anymore, Says M.I.A.
Posted by Virginia K. Smith on Mon, Jan 7, 2013 at 11:22 AM
The music industry may have lost its lone cage-rattling political activist. None have come before, and none shall follow. From here on out we are a lost generation, lacking direction, integrity, and the ability to locate Sri Lanka on a map.
This is all because M.I.A. is, she says, being cruelly hushed up by the powers that be, this time her record label, which has pushed her newest album back to an April release (it was originally supposed to come out in December) for being "too positive."
Friday, January 4, 2013
Music This Azealia Banks/Angel Haze Feud Is An Immediate Drag
Posted by Jeff Klingman on Fri, Jan 4, 2013 at 11:57 AM
Friday, December 28, 2012
Music And Now a Few More Lists: 2012 Exit Interviews With Local Bands
Posted by Lauren Beck on Fri, Dec 28, 2012 at 1:05 PM
We've spent the last 12 months listening, fast-forwarding, forming opinions, rewinding, relistening and reforming opinions to albums birthed from the Brooklyn music scene. Now let's find out what the bands responsible for some of our favorites have been listening to and forming opinions on in 2012. (Then go listen to them, form opinions, and we'll start the cycle again. See how this works?)
Wednesday, December 26, 2012
Music / TV The 5 Best Songs from A Charlie Brown Christmas
Posted by Henry Stewart on Wed, Dec 26, 2012 at 11:30 AM
I don't care if it's not Christmas anymore. Dave Brubeck's death renewed my interest in cool piano jazz, which left me more susceptible than usual this year to Vince Guaraldi's A Charlie Brown Christmas soundtrack. It'll occupy a place in my five-disc changer (you guys, what's wrong with me?) well into the new year. But if you don't listen to albums anymore because your attention span has been destroyed by lists on the Internet, here are the key tracks (minus "Linus and Lucy" because it's too obvious, even if it's obviously awesome).
Monday, December 24, 2012
Music The 5 Best Pieces of Music from The Nutcracker NOT from The Nutcracker Suite
Posted by Henry Stewart on Mon, Dec 24, 2012 at 10:30 AM
