North Adams, Massachusetts isn’t the most accessible location for a music festival, and our six-hour bus ride robbed us of the opening festivities, but Wilco’s Solid Sound Festival at the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art more than made up for its far-flung locale. Steeling ourselves for the usual festival gripes, we were pleasantly surprised by two days of laid-back tunes and comfortable surroundings in the gorgeous Berkshires, with affordable, local eats and drinks, short lines, and (gasp) indoor bathrooms. Jeff Tweedy himself hinted at a round two for next summer, so here’s hoping the inaugural Solid Sound was the first of many more to come.
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Face it. Scribbling angrily in your journal isn’t enough, and passive-aggressive Facebook status updates can have nasty side effects (plus, your mom is starting to worry). Nope, you’re going to have to kick that dude (or lady) to the curb. Whether the offender is a slimy two-timer or just an unwanted barroom Casanova, the only way to unleash the fury you have towards that certain non-special someone is a healthy dose of aggro in musical form. This way, no one gets hurt, and you’re expanding your sonic horizons at the same time. Everyone wins! Except for the jerk who treated you badly. Have fun with that karma, pal, and leave us your favorite kiss-off anthem in the comments.
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Critic and author Rob Sheffield opened both his heart and his record collection to the public with his 2007 best-seller Love Is a Mixtape, chronicling his life with first wife Renée via mixtape and memory. Sheffield’s new book, out today, is called Talking to Girls About Duran Duran: One Young Man’s Quest for True Love and a Cooler Haircut. The memoir follows the author through his awkward ’80s teenage years and recounts his awe of glittery pop and, more importantly, the girls who loved to talk about it.
“Girl language can’t be duplicated or faked,” says Sheffield. “When I was 16, the way that girls communicated with each other seemed so much more interesting. Duran Duran were these pretty boys and really girl-crazy, but in their videos and songs they’re not trying to tame these wild women, not trying to conquer or possess them. They’re just gazing at them and listening to them in this awestruck kind of way. That’s what made them relateable.” We asked Sheffield to curate a a video playlist chronicling his pursuit of girlie knowledge. His guided tour of the lacquered ladies of ’80s pop is after the jump.
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While Lollapalooza no longer tours the country, spreading its alt-rock far and wide, it remains one of the granddaddies of summer music festivals, hosting acts like Lady Gaga, Green Day, and Soundgarden in its 2010 incarnation. However, if you’d prefer not to feel like an American Idiot, languishing in a heat-soaked crowd of thousands, we’ve got you covered. After the jump, we bring you up to speed on a baker’s dozen of smaller, more diverse and, in most cases, less overwhelming fests coming up across the country this summer.
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Earlier this month, we appealed to those of you who scored better on the verbal portion of the SAT with our mixtape for English majors and other word nerds. Now it’s time to see how the other half lives. We’ve compiled a slew of songs for those of you who maybe spent a little too much time in the chem lab, who cheered for Weird Science‘s Anthony Michael Hall as if he were one of your own, and who still might have a poster of the periodic table on your bedroom walls. Dearly beloved lab rats and Bunsen enthusiasts, we give you ten songs that lift science up where it belongs.
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It’s hard to believe Record Store Day is only in its third year, having quickly become an institution around the US and overseas, drawing thousands of audiophiles into record shops to snag exclusive special-edition releases and watch intimate in-store performances by everyone from Ani DiFranco to the Black Lips to Bill Callahan. It all began when Chris Brown, employee of the local Maine/New Hampshire record store chain Bull Moose, decided to give brick and mortar record shops a day in the sun. Having visited the flagship store in Portland, Maine, we can confidently state that Brown and his co-workers definitely know what they’re doing.
By now, you’ve probably heard about some of the kajillion 7-inch and fancy vinyl releases just waiting to be snatched up this Saturday, so we’re going to give you a quick rundown of the most stellar in-store performances and events happening all over the country, plus a chance to win some sweet Smashing Pumpkins merch.
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Ah, April Fools. The day when no one is safe from a good hoodwink, and adding a soundtrack makes the embarrassment smart even more. Even if you’ve already been had today, take refuge from the merry pranksters surrounding your desk and find comfort in snickering over the musical hoaxes that have fooled the best of pop stars and proletarians alike over the years.
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If you spent last week feeling sad you weren’t in Austin, you can be somewhat comforted by the fact that attendees of Mess With Texas, Day 2 froze their collective ass off in 40-degree weather with a 30-degree windchill. Makeshift gloves were fashioned from the free Sweet Leaf Tea cozies given out at the Sailor Jerry stand, bandannas became face warmers instead of scene accessories, and 92-proof rum drinks suddenly became an absolute necessity.
Despite this cruel joke played by the weather, the bands we caught on Saturday seemed powered by the cold, inspired to work up a sweat and in some cases, encourage circle pits for warmth. So feast your eyes on our white-knuckled photo offerings, and by the way… even in teeth-chattering weather, we had more fun than you that day.
Click here to view a slideshow of images starring Fucked Up, Andrew W.K., and GWAR>>
When Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans, we thought we’d lost Alex Chilton. M.I.A. for several days after the storm hit, fans and friends breathed a collective sigh of relief when it was reported that Chilton was alive and well on September 6, 2005.
On March 17th, the inaugural night of the 2010 South by Southwest Music festival in Austin, Texas, rumors of Chilton’s death added a dark undercurrent to the city, the same city where Chilton was to perform on Saturday with Big Star. It would have been the first Big Star show of 2010; the most recent performance anywhere was at the Brooklyn Masonic Temple in November of 2009, a surprise one-off show in honor of the Big Star box set released last year. The news came later, scant and final: Alex Chilton was rushed to the hospital after complaining of chest pains and pronounced dead of a heart attack that evening. He was 59.
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When OK Go dropped their new video for “This Too Shall Pass,” the Internet became abuzz — and rightfully so, as the clip is near-genius. (Go behind-the-scenes courtesy of Fast Company.) The band spent three months building what is essentially a giant, musical game of Mouse Trap, with the help of friends from NASA and Jet Propulsion Labs.
This isn’t the first time the band has grabbed our attention with a music video, as the infamous treadmill choreography of “Here It Goes Again” is also, admittedly, kind of brilliant. Unfortunately, OK Go have never quite caught up to the level of their visual aesthetic on the musical end of things. Of course, they’re not the only act that has been outshined by its own videos. The following clips exemplify just what happens when an unexceptional song gets trumped by an exceptional visual counterpart.
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