Eight Posters from Etsy to Ease Your Daily Malaise
Even in the best of times, sans swine-borne pandemics and collapsing world economies, it can often take a little bit more than adorable baby animals clinging to tree branches to get you through the day. You need a mantra, a bold statement, something you can't ignore, big capital letters stamping out exactly what you need to believe to push on through to the other side. It helps if it's nice to look at, too. So I dug into Etsy to find some more of-the-moment motivational posters to ease your daily malaise with lovely pops of color and pleasing design. Even... read more
The Decade's 25 Most-Essential Foreign Films
Say what you will about the current state of American cinema, but there is one truth film-lovers can hold to be self-evident: Year after year, most many of the best films are imports from countries across the world. These are the kinds of films that typically yield critical kudos but struggle to find footing in the U.S. marketplace. Luckily, anything and everything is available to discover on DVD. This list sifts through the hundreds of worthy titles since 2000 to the bare-bones minimum of 25. Before you cry foul, wolf, or hey where's [insert foreign film title here], this is... read more
Tales of the Coffin Nail: 27 Smoking Songs That'll leave you Breathless
Aside from that one weekend on the eve of 7th grade, when my parents left me with my older sister, I’ve never been a smoker. When I actually inhaled, it always tore my throat up so bad I couldn’t even finish a whole cigarette. Still, that weekend, a random, inconsequential moment occurred that I still—for some strange reason—remember in astonishing detail. It was the night before the first day of school—late August 1991 in the Atlanta suburbs—and an intense thunderstorm had just rolled through. My sister was already asleep in her basement apartment, so I took my boombox down to... read more
Top Ten Reasons To Watch Top Chef Masters
Bravo’s Top Chef Masters debuted last night—it’s like a supercharged version of Top Chef, and the contestants are world-renowned cooks instead of up-and-comers. Even the judges are impressive (two words: Gael Greene). If you didn’t catch the premiere, then watch the rerun before next week’s episode, which airs Wednesday at 10pm. Ten reasons to check it out: ... read more
Merge Records Wears a Tutu
Late yesterday afternoon, Paste HQ received an email with exciting news: Merge Records’ awesome 20th anniversary celebration in the Chapel Hill, N.C. area will kick off July 18 with Merge In Motion, a recital where local dancers will perform to music from the Merge roster. While we might ordinarily joke that nothing says “ballet, rhythm tap, and modern dance” quite like indie rock, we support artistic collisions like this one. In fact, we think Merge In Motion may be the coolest, unlikeliest fusion of pop music and dance since this. We know The Rosebuds will provide live accompaniment, but just... read more
10 Filmmakers to Follow on Twitter
As potent as they can be, our interactions with our favorite filmmakers generally only come once every couple of years and last for a scant two hours. What are they doing when they're not sharing their brilliant narrative visions with us? Well, at least some of them are sharing the decidedly less dramatic narratives of their life via Twitter (Greg Mottola: "i'm equally ambivalent on the green chili. Like the taste okay -- don't love the heartburn"). We've selected 10 of the most interesting filmmaker Twitterers for your following pleasure. ... read more
Six Gateway Jazz Albums for Rock Elitists
Growing up on a strict musical diet of pop and rock, I once viewed jazz as this formless gunk that intellectuals would roll around in to make themselves feel superior to the unkempt masses. It was art for intimidation’s sake: indulgent, self-congratulating and worst of all, boring. ... read more
Jeffrey Lewis' 10 Overlooked or Misunderstood Musical Gems
Comic book fiend, anti-folk hero and Paste Artist of the Week Jeffrey Lewis recently dug through his record crates to share with us, in his own words, ten overlooked or misunderstood musical gems. (Enjoy the tracks we could find online, and have fun hunting down the rest.)... read more
The Seven Most Iconic Liberal-Guilt Documentaries
Ever since last year’s election cycle finally lunged to an end, so-called “liberal guilt” has retired to a quieter existence. Now less of an anti-Obama anthem and more of an amusing curiosity, the concept of guilt over leftists' long history of complacency with the big, evil, corporate world can return to where it's most comfortable: the documentary film.... read more
Nile Songs: My Middle East & North Africa Playlist, Had I Accompanied President Obama to Egypt
President Obama gave a speech at Cairo University yesterday in which he reached out to Muslims, decried extremism and the murder of innocents, and outlined his administration's policies regarding a two-state solution for Israel and Palestine. Regardless of your views on the successes or shortcomings of the president's hotly debated speech, I'd bet us diehard music fans can all agree that there are some pretty amazingly cool songs inspired the Arab and Muslim cultures of the Middle East and North Africa.Had I been able to accompany the president on this historic trip, here are a few songs I would've loaded into... read more
Six Great Taylor Swift Songs
Nineteen-year-old Taylor Swift gets written off as nothing more than a teenaged cutie, but behind that pretty face is a talented musician. Plus, she writes her own songs, which is more than most country-pop stars twice her age can say. Here are six of my favorites: ... read more
Will Ferrell's Most Hilarious Moments
Saturday Night Live alum and beloved professional dunce Will Ferrell made a grand entrance Monday as Conan O'Brien's first guest on The Tonight Show, riding into the studio on a throne carried by shirtless manservants. (Conan seemed genuinely surprised and amused. Is it possible this wasn't rehearsed?) The entrance hit all three marks in Ferrell's holy trinity—physical comedy, faux cluelessness and an utter lack of propriety—thus earning a place in the pantheon of great Ferrell moments, along with the following 10 classics:... read more
10 Magazines to Follow on Twitter
In my continuing weekly quest to discover the masters of brevity—so that my constant poring over a Twitter feed is not a complete waste of otherwise valuable time which could be used reading FailBlog (or, you know, working)—here's a look at some of my favorite magazines. Yesterday, Wired executive editor Thomas Goetz established a #magazinemonday hash-tag for Twitter, where users gave shout-outs to some of their favorite 'zines. Hopefully, you already follow @PasteMagazine, but the following list shows how other magazines condense their gorgeous printed brands into 140-digital-character bursts. (See also, 10 Musicians, 10 Comedians, Five Trekkies and 12 Music... read more
Take Two: Ten Perfectly Imperfect Musical Outtakes
Recording an album can be a tedious process, and musicians in the studio are well accustomed to hearing "take two” from a producer. But sometimes, when the tapes are left rolling, they pick up a little something extra from within the studio—a sneeze here, a bit of conversation there. Whether it’s the authenticity of the recording, the secret peek it offers into the artist’s process, or sheer amusement, the imperfections caught on tape during recording sessions are often what makes a song so great—and sometimes these bloopers are compelling enough to make it onto the actual album, not just a... read more
The Decemberists on The Decemberists: Seven Outtakes from Paste's May Cover Story
After Paste's not-really-in-the-woods cover shoot with The Decemberists in early February, the band and I walked from the photo studio to the Lucky Labrador Brew Pub a few blocks away for a really late lunch. Over BLTs, we talked about everything from the writing and recording process of their new album, The Hazards of Love, to whether or not the cannibalism in the longtime fan-favorite tune "16 Military Wives" was metaphorical or literal. (For the record, frontman Colin Meloy says, "I don't know if you could figuratively feed people to cannibals." I agree.) The band is a funny bunch, and... read more
Ten Songs About Print Journalism
Once upon a time, being a newspaperman (or woman) was something to stand up and shout about. Journalism was a noble occupation. Reporters and critics worked for peanuts but fought the good fight. The public loved us, believed us, hung on to every word of our investigative stories and critical analyses. We were in the trenches, dodging threats and insults from criminals, corrupt politicians (and cranky rock stars), ferreting out Truth for the sake of Justice and the American Way. That was a long time ago. ... read more
Classic Paste: The Best of Issues 16-18 (June - November 2005)
(JUST A FEW MORE REASONS TO HELP SAVE PASTE)Next week, I'll celebrate my 6th anniversary at this magazine. When I started as Paste's second-ever intern on June 1, 2003, we were still a tiny operation. Only five of us were in the office full-time: publisher Nick Purdy, editor Josh Jackson, assistant editor Jason Killingsworth, myself (who would go on to become associate editor) and my intern cohort, Steven Bevilaqua. Other important folks—like senior/film editor and future Paste president Tim Porter, design director José Reyes, and future associate publisher Joe Kirk—were working part-time, since Paste couldn't yet support a full staff. Back then, we were in our... read more
Ten Great Photos from the Photographic Dictionary
The Photographic Dictionary is “dedicated to defining words through literal, figurative, and personal meanings found in each photograph.” It’s simple—click on a letter, and there’s an inspiring photo for every word listed. New photographers are added daily, and submissions are open. Brilliant! Here are ten of my favorites: ... read more
Good Morning, Judge: A Playlist for Supreme Court Nominee Sonia Sotomayor
As the infallible experts of the United States Senate deliberate over her judicial merits, we present a playlist in honor of Judge Sotomayor. May she enjoy these nine songs (one for each justice, dudes) throughout her nomination process, and may she groan as little as possible over our hastily thrown-together puns. ... read more
12 Music Bloggers Worth Following on Twitter
The fourth part in our Twitter recommendation series—after musicians, comedians and Trekkies—is Music Bloggers Worth Following on Twitter. We couldn't find Twitter accounts for Said the Gramophone or My Old Kentucky Blog, and Chromewaves is protecting his updates. But unsurprisingly, many music bloggers were early adopters of Twitter. In no particular order, here are a dozen of our favorites: 1. Stereogum - stereogum Why we follow: To make our guilty pleasures seem like high art. Scott Lapatine's tastes are wide open, giving equal time to Britney and Animal Collective. And his Breakfast At Sulimay's series, where old folks review hip-hop... read more
The 50 Best Movies on Netflix Instant
The 25 Best Movies of 2012 (So…
The 50 Best Movies of 2011
The 30 Best TV Shows on Netflix…
The 50 Best Movies of the Decade…
