A glimpse at the wonder that is Maureen Elek's lasagna
When Bill Elek, Paste's Events Manager and Southeastern Sales guy, was asked to contribute his favorite festive bit of whatever for our December/January Paste 7, he didn't hesitate in making his selection: "My mom's lasagna." The rest of us weren't so sure, though. Whose mom doesn't have a go-to comfort food recipe she whips out every holiday? And how incredible could a pan of layered meat and cheese and pasta really be, anyway? But then he showed us the photos. And then he uttered the words "fifteen pounds." And "recipe under lock and key." And "last year, my wife went... read more
10 Best Songs To Listen To While The Tide Spanks the Gators in the 2008 SEC Championship
Earlier this week, deputy editor and Gator alum Jason Killingsworth issued a fatwa of sorts on the legions of Alabama Crimson Tide fans with his blog post, "10 Best Songs to Listen to While the Gators Spank Alabama in the 2008 SEC Championship." Shortly thereafter, our inboxes filled up with messages from Tide supporters around the blogosphere. The best message came from Tony at AlabamaGameday.net who wanted to craft his own 10-song Bama playlist. So, in the interest of fairness, we told him we'd post it via "Alabama vs Florida - the 2008 SEC Championship Playlist."... read more
Oscar Buzz: Who's ahead in this year's key races?
There's a surprisingly gargantuan Internet faction dedicated to predicting who will be up for film's most coveted prize, the Academy Award. Publications like Variety, The Hollywood Reporter, Entertainment Weekly, Los Angeles Times and New York Times all have Oscar blogs that obsessively trail the fluctuations in buzz amongst the year's top films. That's not to mention stand-alone sites like Awards Daily and In Contention, or well-known bloggers like Jeff Wells, Dave Poland and Anne Thompson. Even Roger Ebert has devoted a wealth of recent ink on the subject. But, the truth is, no matter how much someone knows, it's still... read more
PaMaDoCoBloNaBloPoMoMo 2008, Day 29: W, X, Y and Z bring it on home
I just polished off another in a long series of plates of Thanksgiving leftovers, including a slice of the chocolate stout cake I made that I wish would just disappear already so I can stop being tempted by its ungodly delicousness. (All credit to Smitten Kitchen.) It doesn't look like I'll be seeing the end of turkey and dressing for quite some time, but one thing is finally coming to a close: National Blog Posting Month. Nearly every day this month, as part of a little project I gave the perhaps ill-advised name PaMaDoCoBloNaBloPoMoMo, I've taken a look at one or a... read more
PaMaDoCoBloNaBloPoMoMo 2008, Day 28: Hit the road with creepy Vanity Plates
If you're one of the estimated 33.2 million Americans opting to travel by car this holiday season, you're probably going to see a few vanity plates out there on our nation's roadways. But if you're one of the few million other folks traveling by train or plane, you can check out Vanity Plates: Creepiness in 8 Characters or Less for your dose of indulgent automotive self-expression.... read more
Arlo Guthrie's "Alice's Restaurant" still something to be thankful for
A disgusting number of Christmas songs populate the bulk of recorded music (as you'll discover when we unleash our all-holiday-music playlist on PasteRadio.com on Dec. 1st.) but far fewer have been penned in celebration of its fair sister, Thanksgiving. This makes it a bit easier to out Arlo Guthrie's 1967 "Alice's Restaurant" as the greatest Thanksgiving song ever written, but even if a sudden glut of turkey tunes were to clog our airwaves, I'm fairly confident this song would still tower above the rest. ... read more
PaMaDoCoBloNaBloPoMoMo 2008, Day 26: Upside Down Cats in 30 words
I like your plan for NaBloPoMo: Thirty daily words on someone you've known. The one about Howard the organist made me laugh, though hopefully he didn't act on his creepiness. (What's PaMaDoCoBloNaBloPoMoMo? Find out here. Just four days left!)... read more
Staff Picks - Kate Kiefer (associate editor)
I just read Austin’s favorites and noticed that our lists don’t even have one record in common. Which means that he has bad taste, and also that he hasn’t heard Fearless. In no meaningful order:... read more
PaMaDoCoBloNaBloPoMoMo 2008, Day 25: Top 10 most Bright Eyes-y "T" blogs
Upon perusing the list of "T"-named blogs participating in NaBloPoMo today, I was struck by the number of titles that, purposefully or not, seemed ripped right from the back of a Bright Eyes album cover. Indeed, in Conor Oberst's ten years as Bright Eyes, he mined the depths of the longwinded (Lifted or The Story Is in the Soil, Keep Your Ear to the Ground, "When the Curious Girl Realizes She Is Under Glass") to the ordinary and domestic ("Bowl of Oranges," "A Spindle, a Darkness, a Fever, and a Necklace") to the eerily named protagonists ("Tereza and Tomas," "Laura... read more
Staff Picks - Kevin Keller (multimedia producer)
Picking a “best of” list reminds me of all of the philosophical barbs one runs into when judging music. Instead of expounding upon what makes up my definition of a "top album," I’ll keep things simple.... read more
Trailer Stash: Harry Potter, Star Trek, Up, Che, The Wrestler, more
And now, a look at a few of the latest movie trailers to hit the web:... read more
PaMaDoCoBloNaBloPoMoMo 2008, Day 24: Spawn of She She faces the facts
Over the weekend, I offered up the seven best things about my new favorite song and my own picks for top ten albums of the year, pushing me two days closer to my goal. Then, this morning, our website suffered an apparent teeth-gnashing overload and pooped its pants. Uh-oh! I spent the downtime attempting to read each and every single "S"-named blog on November's NaBloPoMo blogroll. I got a few dozen in and then gave up, mostly out of boredom-induced exhaustion (somehow, blogs that begin with "S" seem to far more consistently embody the conundrum of tedious, icky reality than... read more
Staff Picks - Nate Douglas (music sales director)
Yay! Best of 2008 Lists! Ok, so I found out Hail Mega Boys was released in '07, but I'm leaving it on the list anyway.1. Annuals - Such Fun (Red Ink)2. Cloud Cult - Feel Good Ghosts (Tea-Partying Through Tornadoes) (Earthology / Rebel Group)3. J. Roddy Walston & The Business - Hail Mega Boys (Morphius)4. M83 - Saturdays = Youth (Mute)5. Drive-By Truckers - Brighter Than Creation's Dark (New West)6. The Gaslight Anthem - The '59 Sound (Side One Dummy)7. Slow Runner - SHIV! 8. The Cool Kids - The Bake Sale (Chocolate Industries)9. Spiritualized - Songs in A &... read more
Staff Picks - Mark DiCristina (production coordinator)
I like to believe that there's a certain objectivity to my list. Maybe you don't agree, but that's just because you don't know what you're talking about. 1. Deerhunter - Microcastle2. Flying Lotus - Los Angeles3. Bon Iver - For Emma, Forever Ago4. Spiritualized - Songs in A & E5. Lil Wayne - Tha Carter III6. Silver Jews - Lookout Mountain, Lookout Sea7. M83 - Saturdays=Youth8. Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes9. Bonnie "Prince" Billy - Lie Down In the Light10. Subtle - ExitingARM... read more
Staff Picks - Jason Killingsworth (deputy editor)
It's always a bit uncomfortable posting your personal year-end list. Trying to resolve the tension between the records you liked most and the ones you really, really wanted to like (or want people to believe you liked). Regardless, here are ten records I thoroughly enjoyed this year and will inevitably try to add to my list next year until someone reminds me they came out in 2008. Never fails.... read more
Staff Picks - Austin L. Ray (web editor)
Each year, I open a fresh Word document and initiate, once more, a war with myself. This year was no exception. Titled "An Assortment of 2008 Musical Things in a Semi-Particular Order," my list, which includes albums you may have seen previously featured here and here, is absolutely and totally subject to change until Dec. 31. That being said, take a gander at its current iteration:... read more
Staff Picks - Nick Marino (managing editor)
1. Vampire Weekend - Vampire Weekend (Beggars/XL/4AD)2. Santogold and Diplo - Top Ranking (Mad Decent)3. Girl Talk - Feed The Animals (Illegal Art)4. Amanda Palmer - Who Killed Amanda Palmer (Roadrunner)5. She & Him - Volume One (Merge)6. Sigur Ros - med sud i eyrum vid spilum endalaust (XL)7. Hot Chip - Made In The Dark (Astralwerks)8. Lee Ann Womack - Call Me Crazy (MCA Nashville)9. Foals - Antidotes (Sub Pop)10. Lykke Li - Youth Novels (LL/Warner Bros.)... read more
Staff Picks - Rachael Maddux (assistant editor)
Here's the list of my top albums of 2008, which I begrudgingly cobbled together after being told, no, I was not allowed to vote for last year's Everybodyfields album in all ten spots. Don't believe anyone who tells you music journalists have it easy! Life is hard.... read more
Staff Picks - Steve LaBate (associate editor)
Best Albums 20081. She & Him - Vol. 1 (Merge)2. Gentleman Jesse and His Men - Introducing Gentleman Jesse and His Men (Douchemaster)3. Okkervil River - The Stand-Ins (JagJaguwar)4. My Morning Jacket - Evil Urges (ATO)5. The Raveonettes - Lust Lust Lust (Vice) 6. Silver Jews - Lookout Mountain, Lookout Sea (Drag City)7. Of Montreal - Skeletal Lamping (Polyvinyl)8. Sun Kil Moon - April (Caldo Verde)9. Jack Johnson - Sleep Through the Static (Brushfire)10. The Tallest Man on Earth - Shallow Grave (Gravitation)Best Singles 20081. "Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!!" - Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds2. "I Work Hard" - Yung Ralph3. "Candy Jail" -... read more
PaMaDoCoBloNaBloPoMoMo 2008, Day 21: Rounding up the Rachels
Speeding through the Q's yesterday was fun, so I'm doing it today with the "R"-named blogs-- specifically, taking a look at how bloggers who share my name (kinda) are getting through NaBloPoMo. I could have also narrowed it down to blogs with titles beginning with "Random" or "Ramblings," but that wouldn't have actually narrowed it down much because apparently half of the blogs in the world involve either one or both of those words (frankly, I'm shocked that there are only three on this list named "Random Ramblings"). Also, I would have probably become quite mean, as I have a feeling most of those... 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…
The 20 Best Live Acts of the…
Blind Pilot - The Story I Heard
B.O.B. - Put Me On
Punch Brothers - Punch Brothers at CMJ
David Bazan - Hard To Be
Anya Marina - Whatever You Like
