Janelle Monae's "Many Moons" video released
It's no secret I'm obsessed with Janelle Monáe. I don't think I've ever been this excited about an artist. It's still early in her career (she's only released an EP), but virtually everyone who's seen her perform agrees she's will be a superstar. Smart lyrics, impeccable image, ecclectic genre-bending music, mind-blowing live performances, thoughtful interviews. She has it all. Bloggers are quick to draw OutKast comparisons (especially since Big Boi discovered her), but her appeal is even broader. If she maintains the quality she's displayed so far, she has 1980s-Michael-Jackson potential (in breadth of appeal if not in album sales... read more
Top 10 films by which to remember Paul Newman
Paul Newman left behind a historic career with more than 60 films to his credit... read more
Austin City Limits 2008, Day 3: Nicole Atkins & the Sea, Okkervil River, plus the Swell Season's Austin City Limits taping
For me, the last day of a festival can go either way: I've either hit my stride and am entertaining delusions of being able to keep up the pace for another few days, or I'm dragging my feet through the dust, struggling to make it from tent to tent and ruing the fools who thought hosting an outdoor music event in [insert Southern state here] in [insert summer month here] was a good idea. ... read more
Sigur Ros - New York, NY - United Palace - 9/17/08
Photos taken at United Palace by Sarah Hajjar... read more
Austin City Limits 2008 - Day 2
[Above: We Go To 11]Photos taken at Austin City Limits by Rob Inderrieden... read more
Reeperbahn Festival Day 2: Bon Iver follows The Beatles to Hamburg
When I think of the Beatles, I usually don't think of Hamburg, but that's apparently due to my own ignorance. After my Beatles tour today (complete with ukulele covers of "My Life" and "Shake it Up Baby" by our guide Stephanie), I know better. The Fab Four played their first gig as "The Beatles" at The Indra, a tiny club along The Reeperbahn, Hamburg's Red Light District. They weren't any good, but after playing well over 100 shows at Kaiser Keller and The Star Club, sometimes until 7 a.m., they learned how to entertain. The area is still a mix... read more
Rock ’N’ Roll Animal: Five notable moments in cross-species collaboration
Recently in the Paste office, we received a press release about an Oct. 6 event called Gimme Shelter, which will feature Debbie Harry, Moby and Earl Greyhound, and which was described as a “concert benefiting NYC’s at-risk animals.” Being dog-owners ourselves, we were moved by the whole idea—moved, that is, to commemorate Gimme Shelter with a list of other significant collaborations between musicians and animals. We’re sure we missed some good ones. Add yours in the comments. ... read more
ACL Music Fest - Part One
It was a crazy weekend in Austin. It's not enough that thousands descended upon the city for the Austin City Limits Music Festival. But because the powers-that-be cancelled the Texas-Arkansas football game a few weeks ago (in fear of Hurricane Ike) the game was rescheduled for Saturday, the second night of the fest. There are a LOT of people in town! But no worries. Great music makes everything else great...Eugene Hutz of Gogol BordelloThe first artist I saw on Friday was the extremely talented Jamie Lidell on the Dell stage. I started out backstage but when he began "Another Day", the... read more
Austin City Limits 2008 - Day 1
Photos taken at Austin City Limits by Rob Inderrieden... read more
Austin City Limits 2008, Day 2: Roky Erickson
Wound up going with Kate and Kevin to see Conor Oberst and the Mystic Valley Band at the AT&T stage on the way to Roky Erickson last night. It was a huge surprise for me-- with this new musical turn, he's shed not just the Bright Eyes name but the Bright Eyes mannerisms and affectations. Last night he seemed looser and happier than I'd ever seen him, and I believe he did a better Dylan than Dylan himself did last year on the very same stage. But more on that from Kate later. (Actual conversation we just had: "Do you... read more
Austin City Limits 2008, Day 2: Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings, CSS, Man Man
Let me add this to Kate’s Fleet Foxes write-up: Though they seemed more than a little overwhelmed by the immensity of the AMD stage (“We’re not used to communicating on this scale,” lead singer Robin Pecknold apologized) when the awkward banter finally dissolved into music, it was fantastic. “Ragged Wood” always gives me goosebumps—and even today, in the heat of the day, they rolled right up my sweaty legs. ... read more
Austin City Limits 2008, Day 2: Fleet Foxes, break-dancing kiddies, fashion tally
Today we got to the park and headed straight to see Fleet Foxes suffer for fashion in what I'm pretty sure was flannel. They must have been nervous--between songs, they talked about their hot feet, someone's cousin getting married, WaMu and what would happened if all of the band members were attacked by bees. It was unfunny and uncomfortable, but the music saved the set--their live harmonies are as stunning as the recorded ones, and they're all so good at their instruments! ... read more
Austin City Limits 2008, Day 1: Mates of State, Jamie Lidell, Patty Griffin
This morning I chatted with Mates of State about adding instruments to their live shows and touring with kids--they bring their baby June and four-year-old Magnolia everywhere they go. They needed something to protect the baby's ears during shows and couldn't find mini-headphones at a music store, so they had to buy some for June at a firing range! A baby in headphones is one of life's cuter things. ... read more
Austin City Limits 2008, Day 1: M. Ward, The Swell Season
If there's one thing I have in common with the fourteen-year-old indie girls of America, aside from the inability to properly apply eyeliner, it's that I can credit Zooey Deschanel's involvement with She & Him with introducing me to the duo's inarguably more musically established half, M. Ward. His dreamy, bottom-of-a-deep-dark-well crooning on "You Really Got A Hold On Me" and "I Should Have Known Better" on Volume One gave me the long-overdue push to explore his solo catalog. It's proved to be an absolute revelation but also a never-ending source of guilt for not listening sooner. I've been actively... read more
Austin City Limits 2008: It begins! Mates of State, Dan Dyer and more
First of all, a note to anyone who saw us nearly passed out on the VIP couches at our ACL kickoff party at Emo's last night: We were not drunk. We were not even drinking, minus the one beer each we imbibed around 9:30. Rather, we both were besot by sinus-crud related exhaustion. See, unlike here in Austin, fall arrived on schedule in Atlanta last week, and bestowed upon us one of the great gifts of this fair season: The nasty head cold. Unfortunately, this meant we spent the better part of last night's festivities sprawled out in various ladylike... read more
Low vs. Diamond tour diary - Cleveland
just getting going here in bed at a hotel in cleveland. Yesterday was beautiful blue-skied windy ohio day. we played some songs for Rock the Vote at Case Western. It was a pocket-sized turnout to say the least. we gotta get em to VOTE VOTE! vote... We played the house of blues here last night and it was great. It was Santi's b-day which always makes a show more fun. We have today off, I don't know what we are going to do yet... maybe I'll get a Browns hat or something. Clevland gets a bad RAP but I like... read more
Sacred Harp in a strange setting
No one has done more to help revive Sacred Harp singing among a younger generation than two of the men at the Earl in East Atlanta this past Monday night—filmmaker Matt Hinton and musician Tim Eriksen. Hinton's film Awake, My Soul traces the history of America's oldest original musical tradition and the way it's thriving in pockets of the South. The original soundtrack features traditional renditions of old Sacred Harp (also called Shape-Note) tunes. But the Earl showcase was a release party for the second album associated with the film, this one featuring a variety of artists (Richard Buckner, Doc... read more
Reeperbahn Festival Day 1: Sleepless in Hamburg
I was born in Munich back when it was still called West Germany, just after Kraftwerk had released their first album. My dad had taken a job there, but we moved back to the States before my second birthday. The only things that hinted at a European genesis for me were an early love of Gummi Bears, a set of rubber Schlumpf figurines before friends had ever heard of Smurfs, and later on, a hatred for crappy American beer. It took me more than 30 years to return to the country of my birth.... read more
Fantastic Fest - Day Three - Girls Rule!
I hadn't intended to focus on films about powerful, independent women but that's how it turned out on Day Three of FF. Barely made it into the first film in time to see an extended trailer of Disney's new animated film Bolt. It reminds me a bit of The Incredibles with its fast action and secret agent type adventure. Curious if the rest of the film is as good as the clip.TERRAA peaceful race of aliens receive an unexpected invasion from earth in this animated tale. With voice talents from a lot of folks like Evan Rachel Wood who played main character Mala, plus Luke... read more
Best Fist-Pump Anthems of '08 ... so far.
When listening to a song and I can instantly visualize myself at the concert, pushing through to the front of the crowd, beer in one hand, the other arm vigorously pumping in the air, while screaming the lyrics at the top of my lungs ... this song gets added to my Fist-Pump Anthem playlist. read more
