My Bloody Valentine to headline inaugural ATP festival
My Bloody Valentine will be headlining the inaugural ATP New York music festival Sept. 19-21, marking the band’s first U.S. appearance in 16 years. British concert promoter All Tomorrow’s Parties is hosting ATP New York at Kutshers Country Club in Monticello. Described as a “boutique festival,” the event will feature about 30 bands, and a capacity of less than 3,000 people. Other headliners for the three-day festival include Built to Spill, the Meat Puppets and Thurston Moore, which will also feature on-site amenities including tennis courts, golf course, swimming pool and nightly DJ sets. My Bloody Valentine only recently announced... read more
Anamorph
From its art-history title to its lectures on crime-scene aesthetics... read more
The Pharcyde, Nas, Tribe, Mos Def head up Rock the Bells
Rock the Bells is sort of an anomaly. It’s rare to find successful hip-hop arena tours, and in 2007, Rock the Bells was the top-grossing hip-hop event in the country. Following last year’s performances by a reunited Rage Against The Machine, this summer’s Rock the Bells tour will feature performances by A Tribe Called Quest, Nas, Mos Def, De La Soul, Rakim, Method Man & Redman, Dead Prez and a reunion of the group Pharcyde, amongst others. Also billed to perform are a handful of emergent artists including Washington D.C.’s Wale, Flosstradamus and others from the electro-hip hop scene. “This... read more
Judd Apatow and Nick Stoller try to Get Him to the Greek
Forgetting Sarah Marshall was released not even a week ago, but already we have news on yet another Judd Apatow endeavor for Universal. Nick Stoller will return to direct. Jonah Hill and Russell Brand will also reunite on screen, this time to star. Both Hill and Brand played supporting roles in Forgetting, but the initial idea for developed during one of the table reads for the film. “Even though they are such different actors with different styles, I thought there could be a great buddy comedy there,” Stoller told Variety. The idea grew into a film about an insurance agent... read more
Ang Lee, James Schamus re-team for Taking Woodstock
If we were to say that some Hollywood director and writer were teaming up to make yet another movie about the Summer of Love’s most adapted festival, Woodstock, would you turn on your favorite Grateful Dead album in anticipation or shrug with utter indifference? Okay, well, what if we were to say that Ang Lee and James Schamus —the same team responsible for Brokeback Mountain and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon—would be the ones behind the film? And that while retaining the word "Woodstock" in its title, it would not be about the festival proper, but how it came to be?... read more
Cannes announces 2008 lineup
Cannes, the premier worldwide film festival, has finally announced the lineup for its 2008 event. Before we begin with analyzing the choices, let's take a look at this year's selections: In Competition 24 City, China, Jia Zhangke Adoration, Canada, Atom Egoyan Changeling, U.S., Clint Eastwood Che (The Argentine, Guerrilla), Spain, Steven Soderbergh Un Conte de noel, France, Arnaud Desplechin Daydreams, Turkey, Nuri Bilge Ceylan Delta, Germany-Hungary, Kornel Mundruczo Il Divo, Paolo Sorrentino, Italy Gomorra, Italy, Matteo Garrone La Frontiere de l'aube, France, Philippe Garrel Leonera, Argentina-South Korea, Pablo Trapero Linha de Passe, Brazil, Walter Salles, Daniela Thomas La Mujer sin... read more
Richard Swift unveils new online documentary series
Los Angeles singer-songwriter Richard Swift is shooting and editing a new online documentary series to give viewers a little bit of insight into the otherworldly workings of his imagination. Swift’s Ground Trouble Jaw series is pure oddball fun, complete with wacky situations and special effects in the vein of director Michel Gondry. Episode 3 of the series, “Attack of the Tape Monster!,” chronicles the creation of a vicious tape monster that quickly turns on its creators, a'la Frankenstein. The shaky black and white footage is a throw-back to 1950s horror films, complete with sinister bolts of lightning. The first five... read more
The Replacements: Replacements Twin-Tone Reissues
As if to fulfill some... read more
Conor Oberst to release solo album on Merge
It's barely been a year since the release of the last Bright Eyes full-length, Cassadaga, so yesterday's news came as a bit of a bleeding-heart-stopper. Turns out that instead of collaborating with M. Ward, as we guesstimated late last year, the gooey center of Bright Eyes—Conor Oberst—has been holed up in a magical land of elves somewhere in Mexico, quietly working on the first solo album he's made since before he was legal (to drive, perv!). It must've been tough for Merge Records to keep this under the lid for months, seeing as they'll be the first label besides Oberst's... read more
Flaming Lips, Roots, Girl Talk to rock Des Moines festival
This Independence Day, Des Moines will welcome what appears to be Lollapalooza's Midwestern baby sister at Iowa's own inaugural summer music festival 80/35. In addition to Iowa localites, the fest will feature the Flaming Lips, The Roots, Yonder Mountain String Band, Drive-By Truckers and Girl Talk on July 4 and 5. And in case you were wondering, 80/35 stands for the juncture of Interstates 80 and 35 in downtown Iowa in Western Gateway Park. As one Iowan MySpace user puts it, "I pooped a little when I heard the Lips were coming to town!" There you have it, folks. Iowa's... read more
Aimee Mann talks @#%&! SMILERS with Paste
A few weeks ago, Aimee Mann (whose smiling face graced our second issue ever) took some time out of her busy schedule to chat with Paste editor-in-chief Josh Jackson. The two talked about the power of keyboards, séances, being bad at blogging and, of course, @#%&! SMILERS, Mann’s imminent new album. Her new record is scheduled to hit stores shelves June 3, and Mann will be touring this summer as well. Curious about what she had to say for herself? That’s what we thought. Eavesdrop on the conversation here. Related links: Feature: The Evolution of Mann AimeeMann.com Feature: Paste’s 100... read more
Catching Up With... Aimee Mann
When we were going through our Aimee Mann photos for the second issue of Paste back in 2002, we were surprised that in one of them, she’d broken into a beautiful, wide grin. Because we couldn’t recall seeing a picture of her smiling, we ran it on our cover. That’s why I cracked up when... read more
Frank Miller gets Hard Boiled for new movie
While known to the general public for writing and co-directing the movie Sin City (2005), comic book living legend Frank Miller is no stranger to the world of the silver screen. He wrote the two Robocop sequels (1990, 1993), his storylines have been used for major movies such as Batman Begins (2005), 300 (2006) and Daredevil (2003) (but don’t hold the latter against him), and he is directing his adaption of Will Eisner’s The Spirit (2009). Now, the auteur is in talks to bring another one of his creations to the big screen. Miller recently told MTV at this year’s... read more
Ron Sexsmith tours with Nick Lowe, unveils Strategy in July
Exit Strategy of the Soul may be Ron Sexsmith’s first release via Yep Roc, but the album is his 10th solo project to date. And though July 8 may seem worlds away from April, to help pass the time, Sexsmith has already started a spring tour with Nick Lowe. The tour began in Boulder, Colo., on April 15. Meanwhile, because he was in town, Sexsmith attended Feist’s set at Vanderbilt University’s Rites of Spring on Saturday. During her performance, she played “Secret Heart” from his self-titled album, which also was on her sophomore release Let it Die. Sexsmith's new album... read more
Ricky Gervais putting in Grand Theft Auto appearance
Early reports have indicated that Grand Theft Auto IV is attempting to bring a whole new level of realism to the GTA series, but things just got a little bit more serious(ly funny). Kotaku reports via ShortList that Ricky Gervais will be playing a part in the upcoming game, not just voicing a character but rather playing some embodiment of himself. "Ricky Gervais . . . will even perform three-minute skits of never-before-heard material and classic Fame gags in the digital comedy club in which you find him," writes the article. Still unclear is whether the character will literally be... read more
Nels Cline Singers kick off series of dates tonight in NYC
Nels Cline had been playing guitar for decades before he was "that totally awesome dude who wails for Wilco." In fact, the L.A.-born Cline has been working as a guitarist and songwriter since 1967. And so it makes sense that between promoting last year’s Sky Blue Sky with the band, Cline is playing a few shows with his Nels Cline Singers, showing off the experimental jazz he loves best. If you won’t be in New York City this April, or near the northern border this June, you can also listen to Cline’s audible genius on Cryptogramophone labelmates The Jeff Gauthier... read more
Coachella 2008 set times announced
The set times for the magical, mystical festival known as Coachella have just been announced. Reminiscent of Lollapalooza 2006, which featured My Morning Jacket paired against Iron & Wine and The New Pornographers overlapping both Broken Social Scene and the Violent Femmes, Coachella-ers will have to contend with scheduling dilemmas out the wazoo. Aesop Rock and Santogold, Cut Copy and Jens Lekman, the list goes on and on. And that's just Friday. Saturday will require black market cloning of people who really can't live with out seeing Prince, Calvin Harris, Akron/Family and Portishead (which should include pretty much everyone in... read more
Ry Cooder to release final album in California Trilogy
Master songwriter and storyteller Ry Cooder will release a new record, I, Flathead, and an accompanying novella June 24 on Nonesuch/Perro Verde Records. Flathead is the final chapter in Cooder’s California Trilogy, which began with 2005’s Chavez Ravine and continued with 2007’s My Name is Buddy. The new album contains the purported recordings of fictitious musician Kash Buk and his band the Klowns. The 95-page companion novella follows Buk and his alien friend Shakey as they trek across rural California, meeting a host of colorful characters along the way. Cooder produced the album and wrote or co-wrote all of its... read more
Hot Chip plans massive tour, releases new single
The boys from Hot Chip plan to take over the world (or at least the Western hemisphere) over the next few months. With a fresh (currently in the works) tour that spans as far into the future as October, and includes appearances at many A-list festivals of the season (Coachella, ATP vs. Pitchfork, Glastonbury, Austin City Limits), you'll have the opportunity to see them play "Over and Over" for the next few months. Get ready to "Shake a Fist," y'all. The London-based quartet will release a new b-side on May 11 along with remixes of "Ready for the Floor" and... read more
Bell X1 returns to the U.S.
It's a little rare for a band to decide to tour in the same foreign country on the same album twice in one year. It is even stranger that a band would consider it after its mode of transportation burst into flames the last time around. So, either the members of Bell X1 don't fear the reaper or they like the U.S. too much to care. This time around, the Irish quartet will concentrate its efforts on the East Coast, revisiting only two cities from before (with good reason as they've sold out New York’s Bowery Ballroom twice). We hope... read more
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