Eight Funky Fauna Finds From Etsy
In addition to serving as endless band-name fodder, animals can add a dash of instant whimsy to home and personal accessories, as evidenced by these eight funky fauna finds, culled from Etsy's legion of handcrafted goodness. Note: No animals were harmed in the making of this list, with the possible exception of whatever shellfish were dissected as models for the 1919 encyclopedia illustrations used in SushiPot's wonderful mollusk pendant, but that was a while ago (and in the name of Science!) so we feel okay about it. ... read more
Five Reasons to Love Chicago Restaurant Avec
Over the holiday break I returned home to central Illinois, where the ground is flat and the culture non-existent. I exaggerate, but there is a kernel of truth to the latter part of that statement. As much as I love going home, it's more to see family and old friends, enjoy my parents' farm and the wide-open spaces of it all, etc., not, unfortunately, to experience Signs of Life in Music, Film and Culture (hey, someone should make a magazine about that stuff!).... read more
Al Green - Showcase Live - Foxboro, MA - 11/21/08
Photos taken by Ricky Chapman at Showcase Live... read more
Neil Young and Wilco - New York, NY - Madison Square Garden - 12/15/08
Neil Young and Wilco recently played Madison Square Garden. Paste was there... read more
The Coolest Beatles Songs You Might Have Missed, Vol. 6
Today's list is the second-to-last installment in a series that has run every Friday for the last six weeks, in which I've highlighted my favorite lesser-known Beatles tracks.John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr wrote and recorded such consistently amazing songs that, even if you ignore all their #1 hits and everything on their famous Red and Blue best-of compilations (which I've been doing for these more obscure Beatles lists), there are still dozens and dozens of amazing songs, some of which you might've missed along the way—even if The Beatles are the biggest, most influential band in... read more
Six good songs about airplanes
I’ve been booking flights all day, so I’ve got planes on the brain. Check out these songs about airports and airplanes: ... read more
Ten Awesome Obamicon Posters
Have you heard? Paste just launched a fabulous new website designed to help bide your time as you anxiously await the inauguration. Some people already have the hang of it. Below are 10 especially good posters created through the site. (And here's an updated list of 40 more awesome Obamicons.) ... read more
AC/DC - Atlanta, GA - Philips Arena - 12/16/08
Photos taken by Mike White at Philips Arena... read more
Sweet Talk's Top Ten Live Songs 2008
Being Editor at Large means, well, one is at large a great deal. When one holds such a post for a top notch music magazine, it generally means a lot of time is spent on the road, catching artists in their natural habitat. Over the course of 2008 Sweet Talk did just that. I manged to see shows in fourteen states and four countries, as a journalist, fan, rookie roadie, and even a producer of several festivals. While I did not manage to see as many club gigs as I once did ( a second child will do that to you), I obviously ingested my fair share of the... read more
Five Reasons I Still Adore Calvin & Hobbes
Early last year, I had the enjoyable task of spending several hours in the company of Scarlett Johansson. I held it together. I didn't request a photo together, or an autograph...or even a funny soundbite to use as my voicemail greeting. That being said, if I ever found myself in a room with Bill Watterson, I would probably start shrieking or sob uncontrollably or wrap the man—scared and bewildered—up in a hug so tight that security would forcibly remove me from the premises. I have every last Calvin & Hobbes book. Some date back nearly two decades and were purchased... read more
Apollo Sunshine & Gogol Bordello - New York, NY - Webster Hall - 12/29/08
Photos taken by Sean Edgar at Webster Hall... read more
The Walkmen & The Dodos - New York, NY - Brooklyn Masonic Temple - 12/16/08
Photos taken by Sarah Hajjar at the Brooklyn Masonic Temple ... read more
5 great iPhone war games for under $5
My big combined December birthday/Christmas present from my wife and kids this year was an XBox 360, complete with Live account and games. For two weeks, while the rest of the house slept, I played Fallout 3, saving the residents of a post-apocalyptic Washington D.C. from super mutants, feral ghouls, human slavers and fascist genetic purists posing as American patriots. But since then, Gears of War II has hardly been touched and Bioshock remains unopened in its case. Sadly this isn't due to any new-found willpower or productivity (the Christmas tree is coming down soon, I promise!). Instead, I've... read more
Nine Great Songs About Roads
The Paste staff is slowly trickling back into the office after our holiday trips, and I think I can safely speak for everyone when I say that, if we're not completely happy to be home, then at least we're thrilled to be off the roads for a bit. Not that Atlanta traffic is much better, but hey, better the snarled, congested, crazy-making concrete devil you know, right? In tribute to coming home from the holidays, and in celebration of all the travels 2009 will bring, here are nine great songs about roads. Listen to them all on the last page,... read more
Glasvegas -- Glasvegas
The musical capital of the world? It's not even close in my mind. Glasvegas, who are Glasgow natives (see Camera Obscura, The Twilight Sad, Frightened Rabbit, Lloyd Cole, Teenage Fanclub, Belle and Sebastian, Paolo Nutini, Amy MacDonald, Mogwai, Franz Ferdinand and a host of others who have considerably brightened the musical landscape over the past ten years), have released a very, very fine self-titled debut album. NME has dubbed them "the best new band in Britain," which is usually a sure sign of the Hype Machine in Overdrive. But this time they could be right. This is a surprisingly bracing... read more
Five Movies to Get Excited About in 2009
After watching Slumdog Millionaire the other evening (which I enjoyed a good bit, though not as much as seemingly everyone else in the world), I got to thinking about all the great films coming our way in the new year and decided a list was in order. With a little aid from IMDb's coming soon pages, I've selected the five I'm most excited about. Enjoy, complete with trailers where applicable: ... read more
The Coolest Beatles Songs You Might Have Missed, Vol. 5
Today's list is the fifth installment in a series that will run every Friday for the next few weeks, in which I'll highlight my favorite lesser-known Beatles tracks.John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr wrote and recorded such consistently amazing songs that, even if you ignore all their #1 hits and everything on their famous Red and Blue best-of compilations (which I've been doing for these more obscure Beatles lists), there are still dozens and dozens of amazing songs, some of which you might've missed along the way—even if The Beatles are the biggest, most influential band in... read more
Rob's Favorite Films of 2008
Making a list of ten favorite films as the new year comes into view is a time-honored tradition for a film critic, and it lays your taste on the line for posterity and eventual ridicule. I'm told this builds character. But if you've seen hundreds of films in a calendar year, ten slots feels paltry, so in the spirit of the forthcoming awards season I offer my official list of favorite films, a few brief remarks, and then a batch of categories that try to make sense of the pile of remainders. My ten favorite films that were released theatrically... read more
Resolutions
Happy New Year! I hope you had a fun night with friends and family and slept in late this morning. New Year's Day is always kinda bittersweet for me--probably because I love eating collards and peas and thinking about the year ahead, but I hate taking down my Christmas decorations. Which always results in not preserving the garland bows and having to make new ones the next year.Here's a list of resolutions from Paste staffers.... read more
Soul Lang Syne: A New Year's Eve Playlist
In the current issue of Paste, which is our super-amazing year-end blowout issue featuring our top albums and movies and so forth, we also have a full-page guide to throwing a New Year’s party. Helmed by industrious fashionista and associate editor Kate Kiefer, with minor help from yours truly, the page includes a playlist of soul and funk jams to play as the clock marches on toward midnight. ... read more
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