Feist+Arcade Fire+Beck+David Cross Halloween Video (Awesome of the Day)
Back in October 2005, Vice Records released a song called “Do They Know It’s Hallowe’en?” to benefit UNICEF (and to poke fun at the patronizing attitude of “Do They Know It’s Christmas?”). The band that recorded it was called the “North American Hallowe’en Prevention Initiative,” and its list of members from the U.S. and Canada included:... read more
Sitges Film Festival 2009: Paranormal Activity, [REC] 2, The Descent 2
Once more into the breach, horror fans! This year’s Festival Internacional de Cinema Fantàstic in Sitges, a charming coastal resort town a half-hour south of Barcelona, was the jump-scare capital of the world for the first half of October. The 42nd annual fest is a whirring vertiginous hypno-wheel of psycho-head blowouts, paranormal activity, zombie-stomping and dangerous visions—and not all of them are entirely confined to the screen.... read more
Ben Gibbard, Jay Farrar and John Roderick - New York, NY - Webster Hall - 10/28/09
Photos taken by Eric Ryan Anderson at Webster Hall... read more
The 25 Best Worst Horror Movies of All Time
Paste prides itself on the embrace of signs of life in music, movies and culture, but that's not to say that we don't enjoy some irony-flavored cinema kryptonite now and then. Whereas tomorrow we'll look at some of the most refined entries in the horror category, here are the features so woefully underproduced and botched that they almost transcend their badness into something subversively genius. Or not.While the following might not guarantee you any legitimate scares, they are sure to offer you some derisive enjoyment at the expense of their hackneyed acting, barely-there direction and dear-god-who-thinks-of-these-things plots. Let us know your... read more
The Mumlers "Coffin Factory" Video (Awesome of the Day)
We may have lost Michael Jackson earlier this year, but fortunately the zombie music video lives on. Its most recent incarnation (reincarnation?) accompanies “Coffin Factory,” a song off Don’t Throw Me Away, the debut album from San Jose, Calif., six-piece The Mumlers.... read more
The Mumlers "Coffin Factory" Video (Awesome of the Day)
We may have lost Michael Jackson earlier this year, but fortunately the zombie music video lives on. Its most recent incarnation (reincarnation?) accompanies “Coffin Factory,” a song off Don’t Throw Me Away, the debut album from San Jose, Calif., six-piece The Mumlers.... read more
Austin Film Festival 2009 Part One
Ron HowardThe highlight of this year's Austin Film Festival was listening to director Ron Howard (Frost/Nixon, A Beautiful Mind), writer Steve Zaillian (Schindler's List, Gangs of New York) and writer Mitchell Hurwitz ("Arrested Development", "Golden Girls") discuss filmmaking at the historic Paramount Theater. All three were recognized with AFF awards. Howard for Extraordinary Contribution to Filmmaking, Zaillian for Distinguished Screenwriter and Hurwitz for Outstanding Television Writer.Howard on doing real-life stories: "For a long time I avoided doing something based on real characters. I was fearful that I would lose command of dramatic potential. And I think I was just a... read more
The Wild Things On My Pumpkin
I’m not a particularly good visual artist—my paintings are fairly primitive, and Paste certainly doesn’t miss my design skills. But when October rolls around, it’s pumpkin-carving time, and the endless supply of stencils online make the job a lot easier. Last year it was the Obama pumpkin:... read more
Ten Reasons to Stay at the Ace Hotel
My brand new husband and I went to Palm Springs for our honeymoon last week. We stayed at the super fabulous, vintage-themed Ace Hotel. They also have locations in Portland, Seattle and New York City, so next time you plan a vacation, check out the Ace. You’ll love it.... read more
Download Pylon's "Beep"
Download Pylon's "Beep" here.Pylon's Chomp More is out now on DFA.... read more
Lou Barlow and Dinosaur Jr. Tour Diary - 10/17/09 - Atlanta, GA
A Halloween parade, a hangover and a "jazzy Jimmy Buffett" in-store performance... read more
The Year's Greatest Musical Obscurity
We make no secret about our affection for the music of Sweden. And lately, one artist in particular has been making us giddy. The “band,” or whatever, is called JJ and we know almost nothing about him/it/them, though we prefer to imagine the act as a boy-girl duo like the Eurythmics. In any event, JJ’s 2009 album jj n° 2 (whatever that means!) is probably the year’s greatest obscurity. There are at least nine reasons to buy this album, because there are nine songs, none of them bad. So join us as we go track-by-track in an attempt to persuade... read more
Brandi Carlile "Dreams" Video (Awesome of the Day)
If you haven’t figured out by now, I’m a fan of Brandi Carlile, and I love her new album. I love that my daughters are fans. I also love her new video for “Dreams.”... read more
The 10 Best Bands We Discovered at CMJ 2009
On any given night in New York, there’s some great, young, undiscovered band playing their hearts out for a small crowd. But during the CMJ Music Marathon, there are several each hour. It’s a perfect time to hop from club to club in search of your new favorite artist (or the Best of What’s Next, as we like to say), and this year, that search was particularly rewarding. Here are our 10 favorite new discoveries:... read more
Let Them Sing It For You (Awesome of the Day)
From the “How Did I Miss This Before Now?” files: The mission of Sweden’s Sveriges Radio is “to provide high-quality programmes for the Swedish population.” And, apparently, to turn the words of everyone in the world into song. In 2003, the sr.se site launched a little app that will translate whatever text you input into spliced-together bits of popular songs. Whenever it encounters an “I,” you hear Chris Isaak, and “one” is sung by Michael Jackson. You can email the resulting song to a friend.... read more
CMJ 2009: Generationals, Pepi Ginsberg, Spinto Band, Javelin, Small Black
The body can only take so much CMJ. Not only is it tough to avoid H1N1 with several hundred potential carriers breathing the same air for hours on end, equally contagious is ever-increasing pessimism that spreads among writers who let their grouchy sides take over. And, as a six-time CMJ attendee, I agree that aspects of the fest feel do "smaller" and that bloggers have gotten better at spotting new talent before everyone gets there (or maybe new talent has just gotten better at spotting bloggers). But c'mon, crybabies. If you don't want an excuse to hit a bunch of... read more
Bob Dylan - Christmas in the Heart
It strikes me that the way one hears this album is very much dependent on the assumptions one brings to the holiday table. Some reviewers give Bob a pass for his charitable inclinations. And certainly donating the proceeds to charity is a noble gesture. Other reviewers have given him a pass because, hey, it’s a Christmas album. ‘Tis the season to be jolly. Still others have reveled in the contrast between the polished schlock (backing choir consisting of the heavenly host) and the gruff bark of Dylan’s “singing.”... read more
The 20 Worst Sequels to Good Movies
Lest we forget that movie-making is a business, and a lucrative one at that, all we need to do is look at the list of terrible sequels that have been made to cash in on the success of good movies. There are a lot of them. In fact, a good sequel is such a rarity that it’s an easier critical task to cite the ones that worked as opposed to the long list of those that don’t. Here, we list the 20 worst sequels that followed up good (or, at least, entertaining) original films, and there are literally dozens more... read more
Ten Delightfully Creepy Etsy Finds for Halloween and All Year 'Round
With less than one week until Halloween, our minds are turning to tricks and treats—but really, why shouldn't we be able to keep a bit of this holiday's spirit in our lives all year? In the bleak mornings of January, the pollen-heavy afternoons of March and the sweltering evenings of July, couldn't we all use a little more mischief and mayhem in our lives? If you play it right, every day can boast a little of the eerie, late-October weirdness of Halloween—and here are ten delightfully creepy Etsy finds to help.... read more
Ten Songs Inspired by Movies
Movies are inspiring. Not just to the average Joe on the street, but also to the average (and not-so-average) songwriter. Here is a list of songs inspired by elements by the cinema:... read more
The 20 Best Gadgets of the Decade…
The 17 Best Romantic Comedies This Decade
The 50 Best Albums of the Decade…
The 25 Best Movie Performances of the…
Blind Pilot - The Story I Heard
Kim Taylor - Days Like this
Gregory Alan Isakov - The Moon Song
Punch Brothers - Punch Brothers at CMJ
Anya Marina - Whatever You Like
David Bazan - Hard To Be
