Looking backwards for musical inspiration is nothing new, and some of the most interesting music can still come from fresh interpretations of styles that are decades old. What follows are five artists whose latest albums summon up eras long past, yet feel immediately vital. Prepare to make like Marty McFly and time travel from 16th-century Europe to 1970s London, and pick up five free (and legal!) downloads along the way.

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Scoff about hipster parents and pretentious kiddie programming if you want, but we found the announcement that Thurston Moore would teach a class on white noise to children eight to 12 downright charming. Plus, we once had the good fortune of watching from afar as the impossibly tall Moore hoisted a toddler onto his shoulders, to her utter delight. Cute overload! When it comes to kids, this proud papa knows what he’s doing.

The class, which took place yesterday, got us thinking about our fantasy rock ‘n roll high school and the courses our dream instructors would teach. After the jump, check out 10 seminars we would never be tempted to play hooky from, taught by everyone from Jay-Z to Jonathan Richman to Lady Gaga. Use the comments to add your own suggestions.

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We just read the news on Amanda Palmer’s blog that she has finally split from Roadrunner Records, and we couldn’t be happier for her! (She was all over the place — including here — begging them to drop her.)

as many of you know, i’ve been fighting very, very hard to get off the label for the better part of two years. for the past seven years, anything i have written and recorded (solo or with my band, The Dresden Dolls) has technically been owned and under the ultimate control of the label, but no longer. after endless legal bullshit, it’s over, i’ve been DROPPED, RELEASED, LET GO, whatever you wanna call it. in other words: i am FREE AT LAST!!!!!! RAAHH!!

To celebrate (and because she can now legally do so) Amanda is offering up a brand new song for free download here (although you’re welcome to leave her a donation). It’s called “DO YOU SWEAR TO TELL THE TRUTH THE WHOLE TRUTH AND NOTHING BUT THE TRUTH SO HELP YOUR BLACK ASS,” which some of you probably recognize as a hat tip to NWA’s “Fuck Tha Police.”

Between the break with Roadrunner and her engagement to Neil Gaiman, this woman is having the best year ever, don’t you think?

Reportedly the work of a conjoined-twin sister duo, Amanda Palmer and Jason Webley’s Evelyn Evelyn project has numerous talking points — not the least of which is the phenomenal music.

With a track (“My Space”) featuring gang vocals from a bizarre crew including Frances Bean Cobain, Neil Gaiman, Weird Al, Tegan & Sara, Eugene Mirman, and Andrew WK, a series of spoken-word storytelling interludes, and a backstory spotlighting the fact that the twins are “fluent in chicken,” the album provides a wealth of fun material to explore.

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Evelyn Evelyn (Amanda Palmer’s latest project with virtuoso multi-instrumentalist Jason Webley) has been gathering a lot of buzz in the blogosphere due to a slew of high profile guest artists, including 17-year-old Frances Bean Cobain, My Chemical Romance’s Gerard Way, and Tegan and Sara, as well as the controversy surrounding the mythical twins who supposedly wrote the music. What hasn’t been tweeted about enough is just how good this groundbreaking concept album is.

From the opening title track, we’re drawn into the escapist dreams of conjoined twins Eve and Lyn who wonder “should we be firemen, can we be astronauts” as they debate leaving the freak show that has become their lives. Throughout the hour-long album, we grow attached (bad pun, we know) to the girls as we learn about their family and friends, including a similarly paired set of elephants, delightfully named Kimba and Bimba. The music is equally lush and eclectic, with touches of folk and vaudeville blended with a healthy dose of indie charm that climaxes with the ’80s-infused anthem “My Space.”

We caught up with Palmer and Webley to talk music, find out about their upcoming Evelyn Evelyn tour, and get to the bottom of who really wrote these great songs.

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Today at Flavorpill, we discovered that Bruce Springsteen is not suing a New York bar. We laughed at hipster puppies — bring on the coffee table book! We remembered how much we used to love Harriet from Small Wonder. We watched Raekwon serenade Sade. We wondered who would agree to vanish just to win $10K. (It’s almost as crazy as spending 74 minutes watching Susan Orlean and Kurt Andersen on Bloggingheads.) We had our Avatar fantasies squashed. We were suspicious of what Flickr is doing with all of those historical documents. The news of Amanda Palmer + Weird Al+ Francis Bean’s vocal debut on an Evelyn Evelyn track practically blew our mind. And then Snooki interviewed Phoenix, and we had a mind explosion.

We’re pleased to announce that after a year of dating, comic book god Neil Gaiman and singer/songwriter goddess Amanda Palmer are engaged. At least we think they are. Gaiman tweeted a pic of Palmer two days ago (somehow this news is just now hitting the interwebs), and it’s hard to miss the lovely ring on her left hand. Although the text of the tweet provides no details and fails to mention the word “engagement,” we’re freaking out like an overexcited yenta — this picture is all we need, right? (Click through for a larger image.) Unless this is just part of yet another crazy book collaboration…

Update: We were right. Gaiman just confirmed the news on his blog.

Dear The World,

we are going to get married,

signed,

Amanda Palmer and Neil Gaiman

1. Can the Apple Tablet save old media? [via NYT]
2. Thanks to a deal with Tasmanian millionaire David Walsh, French artist Christian Boltanski (now 65) will be filmed 24 hours a day in his Paris studio until he dies. The video will stream in Walsh’s Museum of Old and New Art, set to open in 2011. [via Luxist]
3. Chris Cornell via Twitter: “The 12 year break is over & school is back in session. Sign up now. Knights of the Soundtable ride again!” [via Rolling Stone]
4. Some people are upset that Dr. Augustine — a scientist in 2154 — smokes so much in Avatar. Were you? [via Vulture]
5. Watch Neil Gaiman‘s new short film, Statuesque, which stars Bill Nighy and his girlfriend Amanda Palmer. [via Pink is the New Blog]

Bonus link: The New York Times defends Jersey Shore

Amanda Palmer is no stranger to what she has dubbed Karaoke Verité, or the art of the lip-sync video. In the past, the former Dresden Doll has tackled both Avril Lavigne and Cyndi Lauper via the format, but during a recent visit to NYC, she brought the concept a little closer to her own heart. Hitting the streets of downtown Manhattan, Palmer began accosting a number of unwitting passersby as she offered her own visual take on Tegan and Sara’s 2009 single “Hell.”

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Under the Marina and the Diamonds moniker, Welsh songstress Marina Diamandis brings quirk back to pop music in an epic way.

While skirting similar territory as fellow UK sensation Florence and the Machine, Marina emits a more playful persona — imbuing her own Kate Bush-isms with echoes of offbeat entertainers like Regina Spektor and Amanda Palmer.

To date, Marina and the Diamonds have released a handful of impressive singles and EPs, accompanied by equally impressive videos. The most recent single is the American pop-culture-skewering “Hollywood,” which sets the stage for Marina’s debut album, The Family Jewels, due in early 2010.

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