Paste Magazine

If You're Happy and You Know It: The 13 Best Songs with Handclaps

Fri, 03 Jul 2009 07:00:00 -0400

Despite the wide variety of musicians at Bonnaroo this year, there was a commonality I observed at nearly every set, from Snoop Dogg to TV on the Radio to Bon Iver: the prevalence of the handclap. The crowd went wild each time the band gave them a beat they could clap along to, and the musicians seemed to appreciate the response. Why are handclaps so appealing? Maybe it's the sing-alongs we're taught as children, like "B-I-N-G-O" and of course, "If You're Happy and You Know It Clap Your Hands." Maybe it's the interactive nature of making percussion along with the band, or maybe it's the pure joy of keeping the beat. Either way, handclaps have made their way into every genre you can think of, including rap, folk, punk, indie rock, '80s pop and classic rock. Here, our favorite 13 songs with handclaps:

Salute Your Shorts: Why We Fight

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 16:45:55 -0400

Salute Your Shorts is a weekly column that looks at short films, music videos, commercials or any other short form visual media that generally gets ignored.

Perhaps it's no surprise that the greatest patriotic films ever made about the United States were also made by the United States…and I’m not talking about how Michael Bay somehow convinces the army to help him make movies time and time again. During World War II, and also slightly before we actually entered the war, a number of Hollywood directors entered various branches of the military to make films supporting the war effort. The list of patriotic luminaries included such famed directors as John Ford, John Huston, William Wyler, Darryl Zanuck and, most importantly, Frank Capra.

Liam Finn and Eliza-Jane Barnes to Release Champagne in Seashells EP

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 16:40:41 -0400

With all the instruments he plays, it seems the only conceivable thing Liam Finn could add to his sonic arrangements would be another artist altogether. After a busy year of touring on the release of his stellar debut, I'll Be Lightning, Finn has done just that: his Champagne in Seashells EP, recorded with Australian folkie Eliza-Jane Barnes, drops Sept. 1.

Watch the Trailer for Steven Soderbergh's The Informant!

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 16:25:39 -0400

For those of us still smarting over the cancellation of Moneyball, Steven Soderbergh’s The Informant! may be the last chance we get to see the director in big-budget mode for a while. A comedy about a business executive who decides to turn in his own company, kind of, the movie is based on actual events and reunites Soderbergh with frequent collaborator Matt Damon.

Thom Yorke, Michael Stipe, The National, Frank Black, Many More Unite for Mark Mulcahy Tribute

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 15:50:34 -0400

They say it takes a village to raise a child. But in this case, it takes about 40 musicians to help raise two children. In September 2008, the wife of former Miracle Legion frontman Mark Mulcahy passed away suddenly. Various members of the musical community have come together to record Ciao My Shining Star: The Songs of Mark Mulcahy, the proceeds of which will help Mulcahy continue his career while raising his three-year-old twin daughters.

Public Enemies

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 15:00:51 -0400

Release Date: July 1

Director: Michael Mann

Writers: Ronan Bennett and Michael Mann & Ann Biderman

Starring: Johnny Depp, Christian Bale, Marion Cotillard

Cinematographer: Dante Spinotti

Studio/Run Time: Universal Pictures, 140 mins.

20th Century gangsters through a 21st Century lens

Early reviewers are shrugging their shoulders at the new Michael Mann, Johnny Depp, Christian Bale film, Public Enemies, but it’s miles better than Terminator Salvation or any other gun-blazing film you could pick at random from the first half of the summer crop. It’s more entertaining, more thought provoking, and were it shot on film I bet it’d be more acclaimed.

Q-Tip to Release Album in Sept. Following Eight-Year Delay

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 14:30:00 -0400

Q-Tip might want to adopt a line from LL Cool J as his new motto: "Don't call it a comeback; I've been here for years." Eight years, in fact, have passed since the former A Tribe Called Quest MC produced the nine tracks that make up Kamaal The Abstract, to be released Sept. 15 on Battery Records.

Michael Jackson's Victory Tour Glove to be Auctioned

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 13:50:04 -0400

In 1984, Michael Jackson swept the nation with his Victory Tour. He took the stage in his "Suit of Lights," which included that famous (and possibly infamous) sparkling white glove. Created especially for him by designer Ted Shell, the glove glimmered with beads, rhinestones and 50 tiny light bulbs, and became one of the most well-known symbols of the King of Pop. Now, thanks to Profiles in History, which recently announced plans to auction off the glove, MJ super-fans have the chance to own this iconic piece of memorabilia.

Kamila Shamsie: Burnt Shadows

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 13:00:26 -0400

Placing the Displaced

Kamila Shamsie’s book is the latest addition to a fertile crop of fiction emerging from one of South Asia’s most fragile nations, Pakistan. In the past few years, a slew of writers—Mohsin Hamid, Mohammed Hanif and Daniyal Mueenuddin among them—have staked claim to a literary voice that more than matches the fiction emerging from Pakistan’s bête noire, India.

Giant Gundam Set to Terrorize Downtown Tokyo, Godzilla Unavailable for Comment

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 12:30:48 -0400

Giant anthropomorphized robots are pretty popular these days, but they've been a part of our worldwide pop-culture for quite a while. Three decades, in fact. A testament to the enduring appeal of this sci-fi subgenre is currently towering over a Tokyo park as we speak: a full-scale replica of the iconic Gundam is almost complete.

Rock Plaza Central and Fans Collaborate on Twitter Project

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 11:40:43 -0400

With the facility of micro-blogging service Twitter at their fingertips, musicians are increasingly able to keep their fans updated on their every move. Some artists, however, seem to tweet with equal significance the news of a successful recording session and the tastiness of that Philly cheesesteak they ate when stopping through the City of Brotherly Love. If you're feeling unsatisfied by a bevy of mundane and grammatically unorthodox posts, perhaps this new Twit-lit project will better serve you: Chris Eaton, novelist and frontman of Canadian band Rock Plaza Central, will post Twitter-length stories on the band's account on each day of the group's upcoming tour.

Saw-Inspired Attraction Headed to Universal Studios

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 11:20:22 -0400

Everyone’s favorite masochist pastime, the Saw movies, will now become an attraction at Universal Studios’ Halloween Horror Nights.

Review: Prototype (Xbox 360)

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 10:00:48 -0400

Developer: Radical Entertainment

Publisher: Activision

Platforms: PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, PC

Genetically alien spike appendages and the misanthropic antiheroes who use them for their only logical purpose

In the mind-numbingly passé world we inhabit, genetics companies spend all their time researching cures for Alzheimer’s and developing drought-resistant crops. One of these days they’ll take a cue from their far more interesting videogame counterparts—Prototype’s GENTEK, for instance—and finally get around to creating a human weapon capable of hurling taxis at passing assault helicopters, agilely sprinting up the sides of skyscrapers and morphing limbs instantly into any number of razor-sharp, certifiably lethal monstrosities.

The Dead Weather to Premiere New Song on Cinemax

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 10:00:13 -0400

Consider it a collaboration on top of a collaboration: Director Jonathan Glazer, responsible for major feature films like Sexy Beast and Birth as well as award-winning Radiohead music videos, has joined forces with supergroup The Dead Weather to direct the band's newest short. The Dead Weather already boasts an all-star lineup, including Dean Fertita (Queens of the Stone Age), Jack White (The White Stripes/The Raconteurs), Jack Lawrence (The Greenhornes/The Raconteurs) and Alison Mosshart (The Kills).

Ryan Reynolds Signs Up to be Buried Alive in New Flick

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 09:55:11 -0400

The broad comedy The Proposal may prove to be the biggest hit of Ryan Reynolds’ career, but the actor will take on a decidedly non-mainstream role next in Buried, a thriller about a contractor in Iraq who is kidnapped and buried alive in the desert.