Gnarls, QOTSA, Black Keys, more to play free concerts
After releasing their latest album three weeks early, current Paste cover stars Cee-Lo Green and Danger Mouse have decided to treat their Denver fans again by playing a free show there this summer. The odd couple will headline the SoCo Music Experience in Denver with Bassnectar. Meanwhile, Queens of the Stone Age—who will have just finished their Canadian tour—headlines the Atlanta SoCo Music Experience, joined by Ghostland Observatory and Ryan Shaw. Black Keys will headline the San Diego show. More bands will join in this free-show giveaway, but for now, here are the dates: May 17 - Atlanta, Ga. @... read more
Listen to Death Cab for Cutie's “Possess Your Heart”
Clocking in at an epic eight minutes and 35 seconds, Death Cab for Cutie's new single, “I Will Possess Your Heart,” has been released, and you can stream it here. Somewhat like an extended trailer for a film, the song gives an in-depth preview of Death Cab’s highly anticipated sixth full-length album. The first half of the single is a lengthy jam, leading to where presumably the radio edited version will begin with Ben Gibbard's vocals. The band is presently in Los Angeles filming the video for the song. “I hope this album is a bit of a surprise for... read more
Wanda Jackson doc to air on Smithsonian Channel
A documentary on rock pioneer Wanda Jackson that was screened at SXSW last week will air this May on the Smithsonian Channel. The Sweet Lady With the Nasty Voice follows the 70-year-old Jackson over a two-year period as she performs across the U.S. and Europe. The documentary explores her musical legacy, and features interviews with various musical personalities, including Elvis Costello, Patti Scialfa and Bruce Springsteen. Jackson broke down many barriers for female artists when she burst onto the music scene in the 1950s – a time when the rock and roll scene was dominated by male artists. Nicknamed the... read more
Imaad Wasif with Two Part Beast: Strange Hexes
Imaad Wasif is... read more
The Futureheads release single, tour, stick it to The Man
Free of the label that decided to "dump" them two years ago, The Futureheads have released their new single in the UK and are politely asking fans to stick it to The Man by purchasing said single. Their plea seems to be working. The new song, "The Beginning of a Twist," clings to the bottom rung of the UK Top 20 Chart. The band's forthcoming album, This Is Not the World, is scheduled to parachute into the States in May. We're glad to hear that that "sometime in 2008" release date is resolved. Watch the video below. Tour dates after... read more
Chris Thile, Joseph Arthur, more celebrate The Living Room
“Like he’s in your living room,” is perhaps the biggest musical cliché for describing an intimate, stripped-down performance. And ever since Jennifer Gilson and husband Steve Rosenthal founded New York City’s Living Room venue on the Lower East Side in 1997, the two envisioned a nightclub offering the same comfort, social ease and artist-audience connection that a dude plucking his acoustic in a home full of close friends might provide. Beginning last night at 8 p.m. with an Elvis Costello tribute night, The Living Room is currently celebrating its 10th anniversary with two weeks of special performances from the likes... read more
Wilco plans to tour, tour some more
Wilco recently announced more (and more) tour dates into May, and even as far down the road as August. The band has also been rumored as a headliner for this year's Lollapalooza, speculation lighting up the Internet just last week. The next part of Wilco's tour follows a five-night stint in the Windy City, during which the band played every single song from all six of its studio albums. Cross your fingers that the poor men don't die from exhaustion before they leave the Midwest and head down under to the Land of Oz. Fans of Jeff Tweedy may also... read more
H.O.V.A. goes Hove: Jay-Z headlines Norwegian fest
Norway will put Jay-Z's skills to the test this summer. The veteran rapper will headline the Hove Festival, which happens June 23-27, shortly after finishing up his Heart of the City Tour with Mary J. Blige. A wide array of talents will join him at the festival, including Animal Collective, Band of Horses, Deerhunter, Black Lips and more. Related links: HoveFestival.com Paste: Animal Collective preps Water Curses EP, tours YouTube: QOTSA — “Song for the Dead” (Hove Festival 2007) Got news tips for Paste? E-mail news@pastemagazine.com.... read more
Fall Out Boy to play Antarctica, emo penguins cry in joy
It's the end of the world as we know it. No, really, it's the end of the world—literally, Antarctica—and Fall Out Boy will be there on March 25, fiddling (metaphorically) for the elephant seals and whoever has the time and money ($2,500!) to secure a seat on the 100-passenger Whisper Jet that will carry the band to and from the icy floes for its performance at an unspecified "research facility." Last week, the members of FOB unleashed a cryptic website (SevenContinents.tv) listing historic rock 'n' roll moments ("Elvis on Ed Sullivan, the Beatles at Shea, the Stones on a flat... read more
The Hold Steady plays free NYC show, joins benefit comp
Tonight, The Hold Steady will play a free show at the Hard Rock Café in New York City. Alas, by all accounts, the quota for this show seems to be filled, but that doesn’t mean that it is impossible to catch some new material from the band and others. Serve2 is a compilation from Hard Rock that is available exclusively on iTunes and will raise funds for Artists Against Hunger and Poverty via WHY (no, not the band, silly—the non-profit World Hunger Year). It’s nice that they are doing this strictly digitally to avoid costly overhead. The album is a... read more
Catching Up With... Del the Funky Homosapien
Del the Funky Homosapien has long been a staple on the underground hip-hop scene. He released his first solo album, I Wish My Brother George Was Here in 1991 at the encouragement of his cousin, Ice Cube, and immediately found success... read more
Destroyer about to make some Trouble on the road
After kicking some serious SXSW booty last week at one of the Paste/Stereogum day parties, Destroyer is showing no signs of ceasing momentum. Tuesday (March 18) marked the release of the Dan Bejar-fronted project’s 8th studio album, Trouble in Dreams. Bejar has been working round the clock over the past year, touring with The New Pornographers throughout 2007 and releasing his latest side project, Hello, Blue Roses, this past January. Destroyer will embark on a spring tour in mid-April in support of the newborn release. Shows will continue into the early days of summer. Dates: April 16 - Minneapolis, Minn.... read more
The B-52s go on tour, leave large hair behind
Break out your pink stockings and Aqua Net, because the B-52s are soon heading to a town near you. This year brings the “World’s Greatest Party Band” out to promote Funplex, its first full album of new material in 16 years. The record will be released by Astralwerks on March 25, but the B-52s will be headed out in April for a bunch of club dates. Here is a preview of what fans can expect on the upcoming tour: Dates: April 23- Boston, Mass. @ Paradise Rock Club 25- Philadelphia, Pa. @ TLA 26- Washington, D.C. @ 930 Club 28-... read more
R.I.P. Harp: 2001-2008
On the tail of the recent news that alt.country magazine No Depression had ceased publication, comes more bad news for the indie-music-magazine industry. Harp magazine, in publication since 2001, formally announced yesterday that it would shut its doors after its March/April issue. Rumors began to swirl about the magazine's imminent demise last week at SXSW, and by Friday the journalistic community had been all but officially informed that the DC-based magazine was no more. As has happened too recently in the world of print music titles, the magazine closes its doors due to lack of funds. Harp goes out at... read more
George Lucas talks live-action Star Wars TV series
Another Star Wars side-story taking place in between episodes III and IV will grace the television screen, according to an EW interview with the franchise's creator George Lucas. “We were doing 24, and now we’re going to move down the street here and do The Wire,” Lucas said when comparing the untitled live-action TV series with Episode IV. “It’s just different people doing the same thing in the same city.” Despite having just finished the first year of the Clone Wars CGI television show (with two more seasons of that production to come), Lucas plans to script 100 episodes for... read more
Anthony Minghella: 1954-2008
Anthony Minghella, Oscar-winning director and accomplished screenwriter, has passed away at 54. Perhaps known best for directing The English Patient, Minghella led a long and illustrious career, which included his work on The Talented Mr. Ripley and Cold Mountain, as well as extensive writing for the stage, television and radio. His most recent project took him to Botswana, where he was filming The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency, an adaptation from the novel by Alexander McCall Smith. According to his spokesperson (and reported by Bloomberg.com), the British filmmaker was taken to Charing Cross Hospital in London after he suffered a... read more
Opposites Attract
I’m in my Honda Accord, heading to a Los Angeles recording studio to interview the members of Gnarls Barkley about their new CD, The Odd Couple. Unlike Gnarls, my car is not cutting-edge. And thus, I’m hoping to find parking somewhere... read more
Tribeca Film Festival announces line-ups
Organizers of New York City’s Tribeca Film Festival have announced the lineups for the 2008 Spotlight, Showcase and Rediscovered/Restored categories. The festival’s Spotlight category highlights films that have been acquired by studios, but have not yet been distributed. This year’s Spotlight selections include the Duplass brothers’ Baghead, Jose Padilha’s Tropa de Elite, Tom Kalin’s Savage Grace, Adam Yauch’s Gunnin’ for That #1 Spot and James Marsh’s documentary Man on Wire. The Showcase category highlights international films that have been hits at foreign festivals, but have not secured U.S. distributors. This year’s selections include Andrzej Wajda’s Oscar nominated Katyn and Meg... read more
Sunny in Philadelphia creators to helm new Fox sitcom
March has been a great month so far for cult-comedy fans, and it's only getting brighter with the news (reported by Variety) that Twentieth Century Fox TV has given the go-ahead to a new sitcom to be executive produced by It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia creators and stars Charlie Day, Rob McElhenney and Glenn Howerton, who inked a two-year overall contract with Fox. The new show, Boldly Going Nowhere, centers on an intergalactic spaceship captain and how he copes with his off-duty hours spent among the norms. The idea for Nowhere sprung from an unlikely source: the Sunny guys' writing... read more
Gnarls Barkley releases The Odd Couple three weeks early
It appears Gnarls Barkley has gone all Raconteurs on us. Three weeks before the original release date of April 8, the duo of Danger Mouse and Cee-Lo have decided to release The Odd Couple starting, well, today. “They felt the timing was right to just go for it,” said an unnamed spokesman for the band in a press release this morning. “With the shifting seasons, furtive romantic entanglements and fierce college basketball rivalries, the latter half of March can be confusing. People need to be soothed and inspired now.” Whether this album is capable of “soothing” fans twitterpation this spring,... read more
The 20 Best Gadgets of the Decade…
The 20 Best Live Acts of the…
The 50 Best Albums of the Decade…
The 25 Best Movie Performances of the…
Download Harper Blynn's "Centrifugal Motion"
Blind Pilot - One Red Thread
B.O.B. - Put Me On
Punch Brothers - Punch Brothers at CMJ
David Bazan - Hard To Be
