The Leaderboard: So You've Decided To Lose Your Job

By Casey Malone at 8:31 AM on May 17, 2012

Recently, Valve, the company behind Steam and such games as Portal and Half-Life, had their new employee orientation handbook leaked on the internet. In response, game designer Casey Malone has shared his own new employee orientation handbook with Paste Magazine. Casey is currently unemployed.  read more

Found in: Games, Columns

A Bag of Hammers: Brian Crano Finds the Dramedy Sweetspot

By Michael Dunaway at 11:36 AM on May 14, 2012

Sometimes a misheard lyric, an inaccurate memory, or a misunderstood idiom can lead to some pretty great creative breakthroughs that lead in surprising directions. The title of this week’s wonderful indie dramedy A Bag of Hammers is a case in point.   read more

Found in: Movies

Seven Songs Inspired By The Beach Boys

By Geoffrey Himes at 9:45 AM on May 12, 2012

The influence The Beach Boys had on popular music is undeniable. Here are seven tracks directly influenced by Brian Wilson and company.  read more

Found in: Music, Features

The Beach Boys: Setting the Record Straight

By Geoffrey Himes at 9:15 AM on May 12, 2012

Imagine that you’re Carl Wilson in the summer of 1961, a chubby 14-year-old kid, between your freshman and sophomore years in high school, with a young boy’s enthusiasm for guitarists like Chuck Berry and Dick Dale.  read more

Found in: Music, Features

From The Vault: Santana - "Jugando"

By Paste Staff at 2:00 PM on May 11, 2012

Santana quickly became noted for his virtuosic lead guitar work and his guitar's warm, full-bodied tone.  read more

Found in: Featured Videos

Live From SXSW: Sugar + The Hi-Lows

By Paste Staff at 12:00 PM on May 11, 2012

Watch Sugar + The Hi-Lows' entire set at the Sennheiser & Paste Present the Stages on Sixth here.  read more

Found in: Featured Videos

Phil Madeira: On Mercyland

By Jeff Giles at 8:45 AM on May 11, 2012

Featuring performances from a rootsy grab bag of artists that includes The Civil Wars, The Carolina Chocolate Drops, Emmylou Harris, the North Mississippi Allstars, John Scofield and Buddy Miller, Mercyland is a sweetly plaintive balm for anyone who’s been rubbed raw or beaten down by the holier-than-thou.  read more

Found in: Music, Features

The Half Light: Knowing Yourself Through iTunes History

By Shane Ryan at 2:51 PM on May 10, 2012

On the left side of the iTunes interface, beneath the Playlists category, is an icon for Top 25 Most Played. Click here, and you can see a list of your most frequently played songs since you first downloaded the program. Due to some combination of luck and poverty, my MacBook dates back to 2006, and the Top 25 most played provides a weirdly comprehensive window on the last six years of my life.  read more

Found in: Music, Columns

Live From SXSW: Built To Spill

By Paste Staff at 12:00 PM on May 10, 2012

Watch Built To Spill's entire set at the Sennheiser & Paste Present the Stages on Sixth.  read more

Found in: Featured Videos

Rufus Wainwright: Above the Game

By Tyler Kane at 11:09 AM on May 10, 2012

It was while Rufus Wainwright was on the road after his mother’s first cancer diagnosis in 2006 that the ritual started. At tour stops, the songwriter lit candles at churches for his ailing mother, folk singer Kate McGarrigle.  read more

Found in: Music, Features