Really, Rolling Stone? Really?!

Does anyone remember when Rolling Stone was actually a music publication? Hell, I didn’t even mind the political covers, as they’d been an ‘edgy’ music’n’politics magazine since 1967, but this is a whole other matter. The only music-related coverlines are to the right, superimposed over some mindless MTV star, and probably only have a page or less dedicated to each of them in the magazine. What gets me is the heading though, ‘The Hills: OMG! Do They Totally Hate Each Other?’ – OMG I didn’t know I was picking up a copy of Seventeen or US Weekly! Is this is any way music related, besides the fact this ‘reality show’ airs on MTV? Is it even important in ANY WAY AT ALL?!

Maybe I’m just bitter because I can’t stand this show at all, but don’t the tabloids feature enough of these talentless twentysomethings?

(PS: The same could be said for Blender’s Tila Tequila cover, but I digress)

Nine Inch Nails Love Their Fans More than Other Bands

Not content with releasing four discs worth of new, instrumental music to their fans mere months ago in the form of ‘Ghosts I-IV’, Nine Inch Nails surprised everyone by releasing an entirely new ten-track album today, ‘The Slip’. Available in a number of different formats – including high-quality MP3, FLAC or M4A lossless at CD quality and even higher-than-CD quality 24/96 WAVE – and with a downloadable PDF of artwork and lyrics, it’s available here.

Catch the band’s (sadly not free) tour when it hits the Wachovia Center on August 29.

(Source: Stereogum)

The Curious Phenomenon of the Guilty Pleasure

This, printed in full below, is my first feature article for my online journalism class (the entire reason behind starting this blog in the first place!) After deliberating for days over a suitable music-related topic, I stumbled upon the prevalence of guilty pleasures in pop culture. I know I have more than a few (handily included on my Muxtape, where all of you can go and view/listen to 12 of my personal favorite guilty pleasures) and, through interviewing some of the most intelligent music fans I’ve stumbled upon in my few years of music journalism, I’ve found that it’s a complicated topic.

Hopefully you’ll be intrigued enough to read along and find out just what fellow music fans really think about guilty pleasures!

—

Christina hands over her iPod for inspection, as if she knew it was coming. Like any college student, her iPod is a constant companion, soundtracking even the most mundane moments in her life. However, scrolling through the seemingly never-ending list of artists, filled with the usual indie rock suspects like Cat Power, Vampire Weekend, and the Shins, something looks amiss in the Bs. Sandwiched between the B-52s and Badly Drawn Boy, one name becomes glaringly obvious: The Backstreet Boys. Upon further inspection, she has the entirety of both their self-titled debut and its follow up, Millennium, taking up space on her iPod. “What can I say?” she laughs, hanging her head in defeat. “It’s a guilty pleasure!”

Weezer: Now Officially Messing With Us

That, posted above, is the cover for the new Weezer “joint”, The Red Album (continuing the trend of naming the album after the artwork cover, etc.) In the past, the covers featured casual band shots that looked like they were taken on a random day in the studio, just the band hanging out with their instruments. This, however, is a whole other creature. Since when did Rivers Cuomo become a cowboy with a little extra paunch around the middle? Patrick Wilson looks like the world’s greatest English professor (not a bad thing!), the-one-who-plays-the-bass looks like some random metal dude, and Brian Bell looks like a drunk hobo who happened to find a fedora at the Salvation Army.

Is this seriously what the band look like now? I know they went on hiatus for a few years, Rivers got married and released a solo album, and the band was out of the limelight for a bit, but REALLY?! Just consult your nearest music blog for even more terrified reactions to this new look.

Let’s just hope that the actual songs aren’t as alarming as the cover, eh?

(Source: Idolator)

Hot Trend for Spring: Pastel Suits

As mentioned a few posts back, “Two Doors Down” by Mystery Jets is, without a doubt, the greatest ’80s-inspired song you’re likely to hear this year. In that past entry, all I could do was breathlessly write about its merits, due to fear of prosecution were I to post the song, so some of you may have been left in the dark about how it actually sounds/why it will change your life. But fear not, as the video for the aforementioned song is now here and delivers the goods in so, so many ways:

Though the song is an absolute gem on its own, the video adds a much needed visual element to the whole thing. Pastel suits? Check. Ludicrous – yet amazing – hair? Check. The best video dancing since a Michael Jackson video? Check! The neon leopard print backgrounds only add to the appeal.

If only more bands could be this creative, maybe MTV would start showing videos again.

Great Albums, Terrible Songs

It’s increasingly hard to find a start-to-stop great, classic album nowadays. These albums are few and far between, and it seems like even when you find a phenomenal album, there’s always one less-than-stellar song that ruins the flow of the album for you. MSNBC’s new entertainment page 5Top is currently polling users for their lists of “terrible songs from great albums” complete with their five choices, like “The Long and Winding Road” from Let it Be and “Mother” from the Police’s Synchronicity.

I agree with the misplacement of “When It Started” on the Strokes Is This It (although, to be fair, on the import version this song was replaced with “New York City Cops”, perhaps the band’s finest moment) but some choices go way too far: “Lovesong” from the Cure’s Disintegration is not a dud, it’s one of the greatest love songs (heh) of all-time.

What are your choices for the worst songs on otherwise perfect albums?

(Source: MSNBC 5Top)

Tape Machines Live!

Most bands, especially electronic ones, try to hide the fact that their music may not be “all-natural” or that they – gasp! – don’t actually employ a real drummer. Drum machines are sort of the dirty little secret of popular music, hidden away in a studio, often replaced with real drummers during live performances if needed. Purists speak out against them as being ‘against’ music, yet most fans could care less how a sound is made as long as it makes them dance.

Then again, Depeche Mode aren’t most bands:

This vintage TV clip from 1981 shows the band’s original lineup performing on a British TV show with the rarely seen fifth member of the band, a reel-to-reel tape machine. Not only did this recreate drum sounds, it recreated quite a few sounds usually made by ‘real’ musicians. Looking back, this clip seems quite antiquated, but back then this was probably ‘cutting edge’.

What do you think? Does this make the band any less authentic, as they use such in-studio technology during live performances? I, for one, could care less as long as their songs are still bitchin’.

Childcare the Winehouse Way

Please tell me who decided that letting Amy Winehouse hold a toddler (while taking a shot) was a good idea? I’m not sure that she should be allowed near most adults, let alone impressionable children. Does babysitting ‘drive Amy to drink’?

On a shallow note though, she’s looking a bit healthier now than in the past and I’m glad to see the beehive is back in full force.

(Source: Jezebel)

Starlets Make Me Angry

While I wouldn’t call myself a big fan of actors-turned-musicians (although I do own Rooney and Phantom Planet CDs, but I’ll discount the entire Schwartzman family for the sake of things), I’ll give anyone a try if they seem worthwhile or even just for the comedy factor. However, I have to draw the line here:

I don’t even trust Scarlett Johansson’s acting abilities (has anyone really seen anything she’s been in besides Ghost World and Lost in Translation?), let alone her CD comprised of nothing but Tom Waits covers. She made sure to rope in as many overhyped hipsters as she could to guest star on the album (the Yeah Yeah Yeah’s Nick Zinner on guitar, TV on the Radio’s Dave Sitek as producer) and even managed to snag David Bowie (poor, poor David). If her performance at Coachella with the Jesus & Mary Chain last year is anything to go by, we should all fear for the future of music:

Even the Onion agrees: “We’re still a month away from the release of Anywhere I Lay My Head, the debut album from Scarlett Johansson, and even though all we have to go on so far is the album cover, I’m willing to bet that everyone reading this has already decided that it sucks.”

(Source: The Onion’s AV Club)

If You Ever Get Bored of Me…

There are so many music blogs online, it’s hard to pick which ones are worth your time. Why waste hours each day wading through piles of (virtual) crap when all you want is news and the occasional bit of commentary? Here are my picks for the ten best music blogs online today, not including my own, obviously:

• Popjustice: Though the site focuses on British pop music (think helping heapings of Girls Aloud, Leona Lewis, etc.) the snarky commentary is often laugh-out-loud hilarious and well worth the read, even if you could care less about the artists featured.
• Coilhouse: More of a ‘lifestyles’ blog, this is nonetheless a wonderful resource for music that’s often neglected on other blogs, including industrial, goth, and all sorts of weird and wonderful aural happenings.
• Stereogum: The second most popular (and hated) music blog, behind the way-too-elitist Pitchfork Media, this is one of the best daily sources for indie music news. The best feature of the site is the Old Stand, where they take a humorous look at old music magazines (or maybe that’s just my opinion, as I’m secretly an old man when it comes to my taste in music)
• Stylus Magazine: Though this site no longer updates (boo!) it’s a valuable resource filled with incredible articles on all sorts of topics, like overlooked albums, essentials lists, in-depth interviews, and all that a serious music lover could ever want.
• Idolator: Run by the same folks who bring you the Gawker family of blogs, this is perhaps the best resource for breaking music news. Not all of the content is worth your time, but it’s always a quick fix for what’s new and exciting.
• The Modern Age: Named after a Strokes song, this is a blog kept by one girl living in NYC who reports on all of her favorite bands. Perhaps I’m biased because we share very similar taste in music, it always features good video and commentary.
• Crying All The Way to the Chip Shop: Run by an Englishman living in the States, this is a nostalgic music blog about all sorts of music from the British Isles. Worth a look if you’re (a) middle-aged, (b) interesting in reliving the ’70s and ’80s, or (c) a girl who wishes she was born way earlier than she was.
• Buddyhead: Another blog hated by everyone in the industry, Buddyhead has been terrorizing ‘the man’ for years and though their rabble-rousing has slightly decreased in the past few years, they still post the best gossip on the web.
• Inside the NME Office: Sure, I’m biased, but it’s always interesting to see what’s going on in the lives of music journalists, especially when rock stars act up.
• Pop Candy: Also more of a general blog, this site is always a good read, filled with a bunch of breaking news on music, TV, and movies. The daily news round-ups let you know all that’s going on in the world of entertainment in minutes!

If I forgot any essential blogs, make sure to let me know your suggestions in the comments!