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Fifteen Songs About The Body Parts I Might Sell Just To Own Specimen's Little Horn Speakers
Right this minute, I am listening to music on my laptop's built-in speakers. I cycled through endless pairs of $10 Target earbuds until Santa Claus brought me a half-decent pair of Bose headphones a few years back, my iPod dock of choice was purchased at a store called Linens & Things, and I don't know my treble from a hole in the ground. Needless to say, I am not an audiophile. So why am I so transfixed by the Little Horn Speakers unveiled this week by Chicago-based custom guitar and amp shop Specimen? Well, just look at them. They're gorgeous.... read more
Found in: Blogs, List of the DayTen Fantastic Songs Brought to You By Books
Anyone decrying the death of books has only to check out the music world to see that literature is still alive and kicking, even if the authors of said work aren’t. For example, just recently we spoke to Ben Gibbard and Jay Farrar about their collaborative album based solely on beat-poet and alt-culture icon Jack Kerouac’s novel Big Sur. While the duo’s record, the October-release One Quick Move or I’m Gone, is an ode to the written word, it’s hardly the first. Here are 10 fantastic songs brought to you by books:... read more
Found in: Blogs, List of the DaySufjan Stevens Announces Fall Tour with Cryptacize
Sufjan Stevens seems to be taking 2009 a little more easily than 2008, though he has a film release coming up in October and was recently the subject of a remix mixtape. There's no word yet on how his 50-albums-for-50-states project is going, but for now fans can whet their appetite with nearly a month of tour dates this fall, mostly through the East Coast and Midwest, accompanied by Cryptacize. The venues are small, however, and Asthmatic Kitty Records warns that tickets will be limited.... read more
Found in: Music, NewsSufjan Stevens' Film, The BQE, to be Released in October
Two years ago, Sufjan Stevens unveiled a curious project at the Brooklyn Academy of Music: a multimedia homage to the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway featuring three film projections, a 35-piece band and some very talented hula-hoopers.... read more
Found in: Movies, NewsChicago Songs to Ease the Sear/Willis Tower Transition
So long, Sears Tower. While the iconic Chicago skyscraper still stands tall (the tallest in the U.S., in fact), its name does not.... read more
Found in: Blogs, PlaylistOsso Quartet Reimagines Sufjan Stevens' Enjoy Your Rabbit
Consider the upcoming release from Asthmatic Kitty a musical block party. Brooklyn's Ditmas Park neighborhood is a hotbed for creativity, home to Sufjan Stevens, The National's Bryce and Aaron Dessner and the string quartet Osso. Oct. 6 will see the fruit of this proximity, when Asthmatic Kitty releases Run Rabbit Run, the reimagination of Stevens' 2001 electronic record Enjoy Your Rabbit.... read more
Found in: Music, NewsDifferent Songs With The Same Names
There are a lot of songs out there—every artist runs the risk of doubling up on a title or two. Here are some of our favorite songs with the same titles. As you read this list, my fellow editor Steve is writing a song called "Stairway to Heaven" for his band Attractive Eighties Women. And it's not a cover.... read more
Found in: Blogs, List of the DaySufjan Stevens Song Winner Holding Listening Parties
In November 2007, from the man that infused old carols with new whimsy via his annual Christmas EPs, came the challenge of The Great Sufjan Song Xmas Xchange. For this contest, Sufjan Stevens invited fans to submit their own homemade holiday songs, promising to exchange the rights to one of his own unreleased compositions for the rights of the winning track.... read more
Found in: Music, NewsFive Amazing Albums in My iTunes You've Never Heard Of
Since Wired editor Chris Anderson wrote his book a few years ago, there's been a lot of talk about "The Long Tail" from a business perspective. But the truth of the music business is that the cream doesn't always rise to the top. Hidden among those thousands of albums available at iTunes and Amazon that sell in the low thousands—or even hundreds—of records are little treasures that just escaped our collective notice. Ranging from the completely obscure to the fairly obscure, these are albums I've fallen in love with over the years that, for whatever reason, didn't get the widespread... read more
Found in: Blogs, List of the Day50 Best Bob Dylan Covers of All Time
As we began to compile this list of the 50 Best Bob Dylan Covers of All Time—asking for input from Paste readers, writers and editors—someone suggested that it might be easier to compile a list of artists who haven't covered Dylan. I've listened to literally hundreds of Dylan covers over the course of the past week, trying to weigh choices like, "Who's version of 'Tomorrow Is a Long Time' is better, Nick Drake or Nickel Creek?" But I don't mean to make it sound like grueling work. My biggest take-away from this exercise is that going to Dylan for source... read more
Found in: Blogs, List of the Day
The 20 Best Gadgets of the Decade…
The 20 Best Live Acts of the…
The 17 Best Romantic Comedies This Decade
The 25 Best Movie Performances of the…
Blind Pilot - One Red Thread
Kim Taylor - Days Like this
Punch Brothers - Punch Brothers at CMJ
David Bazan - Hard To Be
Anya Marina - Whatever You Like
