10 New Artists to Watch in 2009
Last year brought us terrific debut albums from Vampire Weekend, MGMT, Fleet Foxes, Santogold, Bon Iver, Lykke Li, Ra Ra Riot and more. So, who’s on deck for 2009? Here are 10 artists on my radar in the new year, excluding the artists we've given various amounts of ink to in the past. (That would be: Passion Pit, Janelle Monáe, Samantha Crain, Dent May, Glasvegas, Rye Rye and Chester French, all of whom will release debut full-length albums in the new year.) Feel free to comment on what bands you're anticipating in '09.... read more
40 More Awesome Obamicons
More than 70,000 Obamicons have been created since Paste first put out a list of some of the better early entries. So it seems like a good time to highlight my personal favorites—the editor's picks, if you will. Make your own at Obamicon.me. Now, you can even get it printed on a coffee mug.40. Clinton 2012We need the funk! We gotta have that funk!... read more
Twenty Songs not by The Decemberists About Kids Meeting Unfortunate Ends
The Decemberists offered up "The Rake's Song," a track from their upcoming Hazards of Love LP, as a free download last week, which means that lots of people were probably struck with the same two thoughts that hit me upon my own first listen. One, this is a song about a dude killing his kids. Two, there are not many songs about that. ... read more
Six Albums to Get Excited About in 2009
When I wrote my Five Movies to Get Excited About in 2009 list a couple weeks ago, ostensibly, I was providing a reader service. But really, I was getting as pumped up about those movies as anyone reading that post. In fact, I'm listening to Ready to Die right now, looking forward to taking in a showing of Notorious this weekend. Looking forward to stuff is fun, and it makes actually experiencing said stuff just that much more awesome (or, alternately, disappointing).Editing the news section of PasteMagazine.com also gets me hyped about forthcoming albums on a daily basis. From big... read more
The Coolest Beatles Songs You Might Have Missed, Vol. 7 (final edition)
Today's list is the final installment in a series that has run every Friday for the last seven weeks, in which I've had a great time revisiting and highlighting my favorite lesser-known Beatles tracks.John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr wrote and recorded such consistently amazing songs that, even if you ignore all their #1 hits and everything on their famous Red and Blue best-of compilations (which I've done for these more obscure Beatles lists), there are still dozens and dozens of amazing songs, some of which you might've missed along the way—even if The Beatles are the... read more
50 Ways to Leave Your Lover
I hate to call Paul Simon a fraud, but this has been bothering me for years now: His song “50 Ways To Leave Your Lover” only includes FIVE actual ways to leave your lover (see 1-5 below). I thought I’d help him out by coming up with the other 45 myself. ... read more
A Musical Guide to Inauguration Weekend
In less than a week, the new guy finally gets his chance to save our republic. So cue the music! If you're heading into Washington for the festivities, here's a rundown on 10 shows worth catching.... read more
Five Extremely Funny Eugene Mirman Videos
Eugene Mirman is a very humorous individual.The first time I saw him perform was at the SXSW Music Conference in 2005. He got up on stage at Emo's between two independent-rock bands I can't remember to save my life. Obviously they weren't as good—or memorable or charming or well-coifed—as Sir Eugene. He hooked up a video projector and showed a few crappy-looking homemade videos that made me laugh extremely hard. He's since landed the role of Eugene the Landlord on HBO's Flight of the Conchords. He's released two stand-up comedy albums on Sub Pop, and something tells me it's only... read more
A Dozen Ways Sufjan Stevens Spent 2008
Brian Wilson finally gave us a Smile in 2007. Chinese Democracy miraculously saw the light of day last year. Would it be too much to hope that 2009 is the year of Oregon? Or New Jersey? Or even a Rhode Island EP? Sufjan Stevens' second of his proposed 50-state project was Paste's album of the year way back in 2005, and he's been pretty coy about whether he's planning a follow-up or even whether he was ever serious about the project. Still, he's been doing more than learning how to hula hoop over the last 12 months. Here's a dozen... read more
Eight Funky Fauna Finds From Etsy
In addition to serving as endless band-name fodder, animals can add a dash of instant whimsy to home and personal accessories, as evidenced by these eight funky fauna finds, culled from Etsy's legion of handcrafted goodness. Note: No animals were harmed in the making of this list, with the possible exception of whatever shellfish were dissected as models for the 1919 encyclopedia illustrations used in SushiPot's wonderful mollusk pendant, but that was a while ago (and in the name of Science!) so we feel okay about it. ... read more
Five Reasons to Love Chicago Restaurant Avec
Over the holiday break I returned home to central Illinois, where the ground is flat and the culture non-existent. I exaggerate, but there is a kernel of truth to the latter part of that statement. As much as I love going home, it's more to see family and old friends, enjoy my parents' farm and the wide-open spaces of it all, etc., not, unfortunately, to experience Signs of Life in Music, Film and Culture (hey, someone should make a magazine about that stuff!).... read more
The Coolest Beatles Songs You Might Have Missed, Vol. 6
Today's list is the second-to-last installment in a series that has run every Friday for the last six weeks, in which I've highlighted my favorite lesser-known Beatles tracks.John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr wrote and recorded such consistently amazing songs that, even if you ignore all their #1 hits and everything on their famous Red and Blue best-of compilations (which I've been doing for these more obscure Beatles lists), there are still dozens and dozens of amazing songs, some of which you might've missed along the way—even if The Beatles are the biggest, most influential band in... read more
Six good songs about airplanes
I’ve been booking flights all day, so I’ve got planes on the brain. Check out these songs about airports and airplanes: ... read more
Ten Awesome Obamicon Posters
Have you heard? Paste just launched a fabulous new website designed to help bide your time as you anxiously await the inauguration. Some people already have the hang of it. Below are 10 especially good posters created through the site. (And here's an updated list of 40 more awesome Obamicons.) ... read more
Five Reasons I Still Adore Calvin & Hobbes
Early last year, I had the enjoyable task of spending several hours in the company of Scarlett Johansson. I held it together. I didn't request a photo together, or an autograph...or even a funny soundbite to use as my voicemail greeting. That being said, if I ever found myself in a room with Bill Watterson, I would probably start shrieking or sob uncontrollably or wrap the man—scared and bewildered—up in a hug so tight that security would forcibly remove me from the premises. I have every last Calvin & Hobbes book. Some date back nearly two decades and were purchased... read more
5 great iPhone war games for under $5
My big combined December birthday/Christmas present from my wife and kids this year was an XBox 360, complete with Live account and games. For two weeks, while the rest of the house slept, I played Fallout 3, saving the residents of a post-apocalyptic Washington D.C. from super mutants, feral ghouls, human slavers and fascist genetic purists posing as American patriots. But since then, Gears of War II has hardly been touched and Bioshock remains unopened in its case. Sadly this isn't due to any new-found willpower or productivity (the Christmas tree is coming down soon, I promise!). Instead, I've... read more
Nine Great Songs About Roads
The Paste staff is slowly trickling back into the office after our holiday trips, and I think I can safely speak for everyone when I say that, if we're not completely happy to be home, then at least we're thrilled to be off the roads for a bit. Not that Atlanta traffic is much better, but hey, better the snarled, congested, crazy-making concrete devil you know, right? In tribute to coming home from the holidays, and in celebration of all the travels 2009 will bring, here are nine great songs about roads. Listen to them all on the last page,... read more
Five Movies to Get Excited About in 2009
After watching Slumdog Millionaire the other evening (which I enjoyed a good bit, though not as much as seemingly everyone else in the world), I got to thinking about all the great films coming our way in the new year and decided a list was in order. With a little aid from IMDb's coming soon pages, I've selected the five I'm most excited about. Enjoy, complete with trailers where applicable: ... read more
The Coolest Beatles Songs You Might Have Missed, Vol. 5
Today's list is the fifth installment in a series that will run every Friday for the next few weeks, in which I'll highlight my favorite lesser-known Beatles tracks.John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr wrote and recorded such consistently amazing songs that, even if you ignore all their #1 hits and everything on their famous Red and Blue best-of compilations (which I've been doing for these more obscure Beatles lists), there are still dozens and dozens of amazing songs, some of which you might've missed along the way—even if The Beatles are the biggest, most influential band in... read more
Resolutions
Happy New Year! I hope you had a fun night with friends and family and slept in late this morning. New Year's Day is always kinda bittersweet for me--probably because I love eating collards and peas and thinking about the year ahead, but I hate taking down my Christmas decorations. Which always results in not preserving the garland bows and having to make new ones the next year.Here's a list of resolutions from Paste staffers.... read more
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