Twenty Songs not by The Decemberists About Kids Meeting Unfortunate Ends

By Rachael Maddux at 7:00 AM on January 18, 2009

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

Found in: Blogs, List of the Day

Paste presents An Indie Rock Alphabet Book

By Caren Kelleher, Kate Kiefer and Rachael Maddux at 5:00 AM on January 8, 2009

We're proud to announce Paste's first foray into book publishing...  read more

Found in: Books, News

Julian Koster and his singing saw play the Paste studio

By Julia Reidy at 3:00 PM on November 18, 2008

It was as still as a "Silent Night" while we waited for Julian Koster of The Music Tapes (ex-Neutral Milk Hotel) —stopping at the Paste studio during his month-long caroling tour —to play his first note on Badger, his nine-year-old singing saw. Nobody breathed. Then Koster put his bow to the bent metal and a tone as pure as snow on a Christmas morning issued from it. He leapt adeptly from pitch to pitch, performing with quiet grace and an endearing sense of humor, several classic holiday tunes from his October release, The Singing Saw at Christmastime. ...  read more

Found in: Live at Paste

Jeff Mangum appears onstage with E6 friends, press flips

By Henry Freedland at 4:40 PM on October 13, 2008

When it comes to Jeff Mangum, nothing gets by the eagle eyes of the indie-music media. As reported by Pitchfork, Stereogum, Idolator, your mother's dog (and assuredly many others), the Neutral Milk Hotel leader, who has been (with a couple exceptions) reclusive since the release of opus In The Aeroplane Over the Sea 10 years ago, appeared onstage with some old Elephant 6 pals this weekend in New York. ...  read more

Found in: Concerts, News

ATL/NYC artists offer present to NMH's Aeroplane

By Liz Lawson at 11:10 AM on April 3, 2008

Recently, the 10th anniversary of Neutral Milk Hotel's masterpiece, In the Aeroplane Over the Sea, came and went. To celebrate, Pitchfork republished an old interview with Jeff Mangum online. Stereogum posted a touching write-up and series of videos. Other artists and magazines celebrated the date in a variety of ways, each one acknowledging the impact the album has had within the music community and on independent music overall. Here at Paste, we'd like to wish the album a belated Happy Birthday, and give fans a present. A group of friends and artists from Atlanta and New York began a collaborative...  read more

Found in: Music, News