Who said indie-rock can’t have soul? Solange Knowles has been known to run with a different part of Brooklyn than her sister, and with this latest, it has paid off. Solange takes the Dirty Projector’s Angel Deradoorian to task with her cover of Bitte Ocra‘s standout, “Stillness Is The Move,” proving her dedication to Pitchfork runs deeper than a trip to Grizzly Bear with her big sister. Random aside: Do you think she knew it was going to top NY Mag’s list of the 40 songs that define Brooklyn sound?
The song, with its massively melodic chorus, lover’s narrative and mid-tempo back beat, always edged on an R&B jam. Solange simply drew on these leanings, threw in a little Erykah Badu via Soul Man & The Brothers, and added her own little radio-ready groove. We love it. Sadly, there are currently no plans for an official release, but you can download the track thanks to our friends at Pitchfork.
My music-heavy Twitter feed sang a mournfulgoodbyeto a dearfriend last night as Maura Johnston logged her last post at Idolator. “Just wanted to let you know that today is my last day as editor of Idolator,” she wrote. “The site will continue on, and I will continue to write about music, but we’ve decided to part ways.” The URL may remain, but it will never be the same mighty blog it was with Maura at the helm.
Cell phones are a touchy subject. Etiquette book evaluations of elevator conversations, texting at the table, and Beyonce ringtones run the gauntlet from annoying to outright embarrassing, with lots of “that’s rude” finger waving in between. It’s safe to assume that most public cell phone use is probably a no go, but what happens when it’s in the name of art?
With two New Yorker covers, a weekly blog, and a run of sold out prints on 20×200, Jorge Colombo is making a good argument for some sort of creative license clause in this new book of etiquette. An illustrator, photographer, and graphic designer, he has recently made a name for himself as the smart-phone toting artist.
In a world of electro-dance pop, Basement Jaxx have always played a more human foil to that other duo of machine-men, Daft Punk. And while Daft Punk may have taken the lead in defining the cross-over genre both groups play in, Basement Jaxx have been sure not to settle for second seed.
Last year, Lil Wayne took us all to the moon, dropping Da Drought 3 in late 2007, The Carter III last June, and a seemingly endless stream of verses between. He wasn’t just on fire, he was fire.
Then 2009 hit like a hangover, with confusing Kanye and Jay-Z albums and lots of auto-tune. Something seemed rotten in the state of hip-hop, and nobody could tell if rap was dying or if we were killing it. All the while, our hero, Wayne, seemed more content with rockstar dreaming in that infamous purple haze. He gave us Drake, and a few nuts lines, but be it the syrup or the guitar playing, Wayne’s year has been generally underwhelming. Who was going to save us?
After a much watched over domestic abuse scandal involving his ex, Rihanna, Chris Brown has spent the last nine months trying to wiggle his way back into the public’s favor. Transformation being the name of the game, but public apologies, viral videos, and community service hours have come and gone with little avail. And even as his songs have risen on the charts, his public image has remained tarnished.
Billy Corgan’s Smashing Pumpkins held reign over ’90s alt-rock. Grunge has fallen back into fashion, but Corgan seems to be moving on, with much help from the internet. And an Amanda Palmer puppet.
Drastic changes first came with the launch of Everything From Here to There, a website that is “a collective of thoughts about spirituality and the greater good of life in general.” These spiritual explorations include questions of “Who is God if not Us?” and “Who am I to love myself so? I am me.”
They may not look it, but few know rock and roll like Chuck Klosterman and Craig Finn. This in mind, we are reassured to know that the pair, along with Tom Ruprecht, a long time Letterman writer, will be joining task to produce the coming-of-age with rock-and-roll film Fargo Rock City. The movie will find inspiration in Klosterman’s 2001 memoir of the same title, which explores Klosterman’s experience growing up as a heavy metal fan in a North Dakota, and how music helped him to transcend. Or as the subtitle reads, his “Heavy Metal Odyssey in North Dakota.”
We’ve mentioned, but we think Wes Anderson has good taste in music: as colorful as his films, deliberate as his methods, and more poignant than his characters. His past movies have reinvented the pool party with the Kinks, managed to make Elliot Smith just a little bit sadder, and left us wishing that Shark Week was scored by Sigur Ros. Can he keep this touch with Fantastic Mr. Fox, his upcoming foray into animation?
China has a strong tradition of theater, from folkloric operas to dreamscapes of shadow puppetry to the workman’s ballets of Mao. Director Meng Jinghui’s latest, however, marks a stark departure from this deeply rooted tradition of musical theater. Known for his boundary pushing and avant-leanings, Jinghui has made a name for himself with plays led by rhino keepers, and others performed behind a glass wall. This time around, he’s taking on the musical. And then, he’s taking it down.
