Steve Earle, Ryan Adams, Michael McDonald, Childish Gambino and CeeLo Green Sing For 30 Rock
Those of us in Georgia know that Stone Mountain is just a suburb of Atlanta, but in the world of NBC's 30 Rock, it's the backwoods home of super-page Kenneth Parcell. Who better to sing his ballad than the Texas-to-New York transplant Steve Earle? read more
Honda's Ferris Bueller Commercial Reviewed
Yes, I am really going to review a commercial since this two-and-a-half-minute Super Bowl ad is the closest we'll (hopefully) get to a Ferris Bueller sequel. If our pop-culture icons are sacred, most of us who were teens in the '80s worshiped most fervently at the alter of Ferris. Whatever it says about our generation's spoiled sense of entitlement, he was our James Dean. Not even Lloyd Dobler could touch his cool. read more
The Missing Album From Paste's Top 50
I love year-end lists. I love them because they get people talking passionately about the music and movies and album covers and TV characters and whatever other minutiae we gleefully catalog towards as the new year approaches. read more
Eight Felt Arguments For The 2012 MuppetOscars
Eddie Murphy has only just stepped down from his role as host of the 2012 Oscars—a casualty of producer Brent Ratner's homophobic f-bomb—but the Internet has already found his replacement. Or should we say, replacements. read more
On Stage With Girl Talk
When 2011 ends, I’ll be 40 years old. That means I probably have a good decade on almost everyone on this stage, except Gregg Gillis, who’ll turn 30 two months before my birthday. But I’m determined to see a Girl Talk set from the perspective of Girl Talk himself, and with my wife and children back at the condo (far enough away not to be embarrassed by dad), I’ve begged my way onto the Boom Boom Room stage at this year’s Hangout Music Fest.... read more
Tom Waits & Terry Gilliam Team Up for Animated Short
The Monster of Nix is a Dutch animated short featuring the voices of Tom Waits and Terry Gilliam. “To hatch my own plot where I’m no bird, but I’m a god!” Waits’ raven declares in the just-released second trailer. The creation of Dutch artist/filmmaker Rosto, the apocalyptic fairy tale is suitable for both adults and “strange kids, maybe,” Rosto says. Watch the trailers below.... read more
Tyler, The Creator and the Question of Offensive Art
A lot of ink has been spilled on Odd Future, Tyler, The Creator and the difficult balance of liking music while being disgusted with its contents. Most recently, Sara Quin of Tegan and Sara asked in an open letter on the band’s website, “As journalists and colleagues defend, excuse and congratulate ‘Tyler, the Creator,’ I find it impossible not to comment. In any other industry would I be expected to tolerate, overlook and find deeper meaning in this kid’s sickening rhetoric?”... read more
The First Hobbit Production Video Blog Is Live!
The first novel I read as a child was The Hobbit. I can’t count how many times I’ve read it since, and the latest was out loud to my children. Middle Earth was always vivid in my imagination, but it was wonderful to see it come to life with Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Ring movies, which may have been the most loving tribute to books ever captured on film. Now we get a 10-minute glimpse behind the scene of The Hobbit adaptation narrated by Jackson as he returns to Bag End. I love having this movie to look forward... read more
Baseball, Hotdogs & an Avett Brothers Show
I’ve seen a lot of things at the Atlanta Braves’ stadiums, including more Braves games than I can count, from sparsely attended Astros games in the late ‘70s to the World Series, the last regular-season game at Fulton County and the first one at Turner Field. I was there for Hank Aaron’s record-breaking 715th homerun (though I was just a toddler). I saw the dress-rehearsal for 1996 Olympic Opening Ceremonies and heard Hall & Oates at the Paralympic Opening Ceremonies. But yesterday was something new.... read more
The Jackson 5 + Passion Pit = The Jackson Pit
Xaphoon Jones of Chiddy Bang has brilliantly mashed up The Jackson 5’s “I Want You Back” with Passion Pit’s “Sleepyhead.” And while it’s always depressing to think of little Michael Jackson—so happy- and normal-looking—this is worth a revisit.... read more
Listen to The Belle Brigade's "Losers"
I’ve played this song more than once every day since SXSW after failing to see a single of the band’s shows in Austin. Based in Los Angeles, sister and brother Barbara and Ethan Gruska have a debut coming out on Reprise Recorsd April 19.... read more
Doctor Who 2011 Trailer
David Tennant is hard act to follow, but the 11th Doctor, Matt Smith got off to a fine start last season, but I think I’m most looking forward to seeing more of Alex Kingston (ER, Private Practice) as the mysterious River Song. It’s one of the most playful series on television right now. Check out the trailer for the new season.... read more
Portlandia Preview
There’s a nice little Paste shout-out in this hilarious Portlandia clip with Carrie Brownstein and Fred Armisen. I’m really looking forward to this show’s lampooning of the culture I hold dear.... read more
My 10 Favorite Albums of 2010
I spent most of December editing “Best Of” lists at PasteMagazine.com, and while most of those lists were deeply rooted in my opinion, they were a fusion of tastes of various writers and editors who contribute to the website. So here my own thoughts on my favorite albums of 2010…... read more
Down Near Sugarland
For a four-month period when I was 20, my two best friends were 21. This enabled them to go see 21+ shows at Eddie’s Attic in Decatur and then mercilessly rub it in. One of the bands they kept raving about was a duo called Kristian & Andrew. They gave me a cassette, and I quickly got what they were hearing—even with just two guitars and vocals, the songs felt anthemic. It was arena folk, busting the seams of a tiny venue. I became a regular; Kristian Bush and Andrew Hyra became Billy Pilgrim, signed a record deal and had... read more
Watch Frightened Rabbit's 15-Song Live Set
This has been The Year of My Frightened Rabbit Obsession, and I’m looking forward to catching the band in Athens on Oct. 26. I saw the Scottish quintet twice in Austin, and as is evidenced by their Liver! Lung! FR! album, they’re a great live act. Revision3 recorded a recent set at the Rickshow Stop in San Francisco which you can watch below or at Revision3.com. It includes a cover of The National’s “Fake Empire” that turns into “Backward Walk.”... read more
Top 10 Atlanta Concerts for September 2010
Unless you’re this guy, you can’t spend every night going out to hear bands. But if you had unlimited time and money and lived in a good music town like Atlanta, you wouldn’t be hurting for options. Each month, I’ll try to narrow it down for you here by listing my picks for the 10 Most Tantalizing Atlanta Concerts. Here are some concerts worth checking out in September 2010:... read more
The Man Who Ate New Orleans
Before Katrina, my only experience with New Orleans was visiting my friend Stephanie on a layover on my way to Honduras. She toured me around Desire Street, where she lived and worked in the Eighth and Ninth Wards. When I finally got back to the city in 2007 and spent a few days there, Stephanie once again played tour guide, but all the homes we’d seen before were either completely gone or were a pile of ruins on a barren, street-lined field.... read more
World Class Soccer in the U.S.A.
I’d like to say I’ve been a Manchester City fan since they played the Atlanta Chiefs back in 1968. But I wasn’t even born then. Truth is, I’ve been a Manchester City fan for exactly one year, when I went to the Manchester International Festival and just, well, sort of decided to pull for them. I’d assumed I was going to run into a bunch of Manchester United fans, but my hosts explained that everyone in the city was a City fan. I said, offhandedly, that I was now a City fan too.... read more
The Aging Uncle Goes To a Metalcore Show
Earlier this week, I went to The Cool Tour at The Tabernacle in Atlanta with two of my nephews, RJ, 17, and Jackson, 14. It was the first concert for either of them, and they needed a chaperone who wouldn’t mind bleeding from the ears a little bit.... read more
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