Ten Television Commercials Featuring Voiceovers by Famous Actors
For those of us who still don’t have TiVo or a DVR (And there are dozens of us!), our television-watching habits naturally include some commercial viewing. And occasionally, a disembodied voice emanates from the screen that is so familiar, it drives you crazy until you are able to place it. Here, we identify 10 commercials featuring voiceovers by famous actors, to ease your no-doubt frustrated mind.... read more
Step Out Into The Light: Fourteen Covers Of Daniel Johnston's "True Love Will Find You In The End"
What is it about this song? Like almost all the music of Daniel Johnston (whose first album in six years, Is And Always Was, came out last week), it's so much more massive than the sum of its parts—just this man and his springy guitar and wavery, unsteady voice. But the words are so reassuring, so deeply comforting, promising us something that we all really want to be true, that it's really hard not to love it. And that, paired with its astounding simplicity (it ain't no "Stairway to Heaven," that's for sure), makes it ripe for the covering. Here... read more
Walking in a Garage-Rock Wonderland: 10 Examples of 2009's Excellence in Terms of Scrappy, Catchy Song
“In the garage I feel safe No one cares about my ways In the garage Where I belong No one hears me sing this song In the garage” -Weezer: “In the Garage” For as long as dudes have been banging on six-strings, the garage has served as a safe haven of sorts, a place where, as Rivers Cuomo so melodically put it in the song above, said dudes could write “stupid words” and “stupid songs,” loving every one. And seemingly every few years since “garage rock” as a genre was coined way back in the middle ’60s, someone announces, breathlessly,... read more
Modest Mouse "The Whale Song" Video (Awesome of the Day)
Five years ago, Modest Mouse helped indie rock start fighting its way out of the musical ghetto with "Float On" playing just about every time MTV decided to show music videos—which seemed mostly to coincide with the 2am feeding for my then-infant son. The band's latest video for a brand new track called "Whale Song" might even be cooler. Created by Nando Costa and Bent Image Lab in Portland, Ore., the highlight is the giant snails crawling all over the amps. I also love how Isaac Brock seems to be floating as he performs, since that's how we captured the... read more
I'm Gonna Love You Just a Little Weirder, Baby: The 10 Most Bizarre Barry White-Referencing Articles on the Interwebs
Soul icon Barry White's sultry voice has been responsible for getting millions in the mood over the years. But all it got these folks was in the mood for posting some really weird shit on the Internet... **1. "Walrus of Love Ignites Shark's Mojo"** Excerpt: "An aquarium which piped the music of Barry White into a tank to encourage two sharks to breed says the tactic has paid off. Bosses at the Sea Life London Aquarium say the legendary 'walrus of love' has transformed love shy shark Zorro into a marine love machine. ... 'We are absolutely delighted that Zorro... read more
Two Great Pumpkin Ales (Awesome of the Day)
Forget what you know about pumpkin ale. I'm sure, like me, the first time you tried one, it tasted like someone had melted candy corn pumpkins into a Michelob Light. But two of America's finest breweries have crafted unique, delicious beers that will make this perfect October weather even more enjoyable (apologies to those living in Florida or Alaska).... read more
Metallica - Atlanta, GA - Philips Arena - 10/4/09
Photos taken by Justin Jacobs at Philips Arena... read more
The Ten Best Celebrity Alcohol Endorsements
Celebrities endorse alcohol for a variety of reasons: to cash in (see Diddy), because they really, really like to drink it (see Orson Welles), to promote a movie (see Will Ferrell), and because they're under the impression that a particular type of alcohol has mystical properties that enlighten our senses and help us summon UFOs (see Dan Aykroyd). If you haven't seen the first video, do yourself a favor and watch it.... read more
Download Orenda Fink's "That Certain-Something Spring"
Download Orenda Fink's "That Certain-Something Spring" here.Fink's Ask the Night is out now on Saddle Creek.... read more
Download Califone's "Ape-Like"
Download Califone's "Ape-Like" here.Califone's All My Friends are Funeral Singers is out now on Dead Oceans.... read more
Ten Killer Rock 'n' Roll Photographs
On Oct. 22, you can purchase the new book Who Shot Rock & Roll, which compiles iconic music photographs from 1955 to the present. On Oct. 30, if you're in the New York area, you can see some of these images in an exhibit at the Brooklyn Museum that runs through Jan. 31, 2010. And right this very moment, you can see 10 of our favorites from the collection, complete with notes from the book's editor Gail Buckland, written exclusively for Paste.... read more
ACL Fest 2009 - Day Three
Before the Rains - Day OneAfter the Rains - Day ThreeIf they had a Lifetime Achievement Award for weather at music festivals ACL Fest would be giving acceptance speeches for eternity. From record heat to threats of hurricanes, from dust bowls to mud bowls, each year Austin never lets us down, and 2009 was no exception. Ironically, the work they did on the grass that made the first day so great was what made the last day so...yech! But I'm talking about the field, not the music, which was terrific. As I've been trying to do all weekend I passed... read more
Too Much Music -- C Edition
Today's installment is brought to you by the letter C. There is a lot of mediocre music out there. This is some of it, of fairly recent vintage. None of it is terrible, and it might be worth a listen or two. Or not.The Cave Singers -- Welcome JoyMembers of The Cave Singers can claim a great but underappreciated punk band as part of their legacy -- Seattle's Pretty Girls Make Graves -- so I had high hopes for this Americana incarnation. Alas, two chords may make for bracing punk anthems, but they quickly grow tedious as the foundation for... read more
New Doctor Who Logo Unveiled
The BBC just unveiled the new Doctor Who logo, which will debut—along with Matt Smith, the latest actor to play the good doctor—in spring 2010. The show's final three episodes with David Tennant are set to air later this year with the old logo, and while I'll miss Tennant's exuberance, I dig the new look. The "D" and the "W" looking like a little blue police box—one of the coolest spaceships around.... read more
Download Janelle Monae's "Come Alive (The War of the Roses)"
Download Janelle Monae's "Come Alive (The War of the Roses)" here.Monae's forthcoming, currently-untitled album is slated for a 2010 release.... read more
The Low Anthem Covers Bob Dylan (Awesome of the Day)
Doing their best to ensure that my list of the 50 Best Dylan Covers is out of date, The Low Anthem are giving away a free mp3 of their cover of "Dignity" to anyone who signs up for the band's mailing list. Ben Knox Miller has the appropriate gravitas in his voice, wondering what "it's going to take to find dignity," but it's Jocie Adams' clarinet that makes this song work so well. The trio recorded the song in Amsterdam's Studio Le Roy, and it's yours all in exchange for occasional emails they promise to fill with "a bastion of... read more
Austin City Limits 2009 Day Three Photos Ft. Arctic Monkeys, Dirty Projectors, The Dead Weather, Pearl Jam and More
[Above: Arctic Monkeys]Photos taken by Jason McElweenie at ACL 2009... read more
Austin City Limits 2009 Day Two Photos Ft. Decemberists, Bon Iver, Mute Math, Levon Helm, Grizzly Bear and More
[Above: Bon Iver]Photos taken by Jason McElweenie at ACL 2009... read more
Four Sci-Fi Shows (And One Film) That Stargate Universe Is Borrowing From
Obviously, SyFy's latest series Stargate:Universe owes its existence to a the success of the original Stargate film, a pair of TV spin-offs (SG-1 and Atlantis) and a couple of direct-to-DVD films (The Ark of Truth and Continuum). Maybe not so much the animated series (Stargate Infinity). But after watching the double-episode Universe pilot, it quickly became apparent that those weren't all the shows the creators were consciously or subconsciously riffing. Here's a quick rundown of some other obvious and not-so-obvious sci-fi touchstones found in the series premiere:... read more
ACL Fest 2009 - Day Two
Sam RobertsThe rain began around late morning and lasted all day. My small umbrella came in handy. Again, we had a lot of musicians coming by to do short video interviews plus photo shoots with photographer Jeff Fasano. It's been a cool way to quickly meet a lot of artists. Brett Dennen came by. Jeez, he's tall (and a heck of a lot thinner). He'll be on David Letterman Friday, Oct 9th. I told him he should start off his appearance by announcing that he did NOT sleep with Letterman. He just gave me a strange look. By late afternoon media... read more
The 20 Best Gadgets of the Decade…
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The 25 Best Movie Performances of the…
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Blind Pilot - The Story I Heard
Kim Taylor - Days Like this
Gregory Alan Isakov - The Moon Song
Punch Brothers - Punch Brothers at CMJ
David Bazan - Hard To Be
Anya Marina - Whatever You Like
