We’ve all been through it. Whether you’re the dumper or the dumpee, breaking up sucks — especially this time of year. After your friends have all gone home and that bottle of bourbon is definitely empty, at least music is there to ease your aching heart. Since we have officially exited the aughts, we figured we’d save you the trouble and compile a list of the top ten break-up songs from the past decade. So, without further ado, a five stages of grief-inspired mix, just in time for Valentine’s Day. Please use in moderation.
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So YOU wanna be an MTV VJ?! Want to scream “Spring Break” in mid-autumn? Wanna toss to ironic ads for Stridex pads? Want to drink Budweisers with Fred Durst and, um, Carson Daly once a week? Personally, I’d never given the concept much brain space, except to wryly chuckle at it while searching in vain for 120 Minutes re-runs. Not that I haven’t got some experience: in college I was a bona fide college-radio nerd. Once a week I (sexily) muttered my thoughts on the latest Broken Social Scene releases into a microphone, and listeners in the Lehigh Valley called our request line to ask if we carried any early Zappa. It was awesome.
Maybe that’s why I ended up schlepping to the most ad-plastered section of New York City to try my hand at the VJ game. Quite simply, I felt so gosh-darn flattered that they liked my picture and cover letter that I figured what the hey? And so, live from Times Square, I hereby present a minute-by-minute account of what happens when you stop being polite and start getting real, VJ-audition style. Read More »
Year-end list time is here, and Mike at Idolator did us a favor by throwing together the album picks from New York, The Guardian and Time. Wait, Time? Since when did their music picks become relevant? Since their Top 10 started looking more like someone hit the random shuffle on our iPod and less like someone hit the random shuffle on our mom’s iPod:
(1) Lil Wayne and (6) Kanye West, both obvious but completely relevant, choices. (2) TV On The Radio, (4) Girl Talk, (5) Vampire Weekend and (7) Santogold — someone has been reading their Stereogum. (3) Metallica, (8) Portishead and (9) Lucinda Williams are oldies but goodies, and while VH-1 friendly talent like (10) Duffy is just the kind of artist who we’d expect to see Time salute, we’ve always liked her.
Obviously list author Josh Tyrangiel is much cooler than we would have thought — but is he working off from some weird formula? Call us really crazy conspiracy theorists — because in this case we are — but in many ways this could be a replay of last year’s list. Sure the names are different, but they are similar ideas at work.
Take a look at the eerie parallels we’ve unearthed after the jump and see if you agree.
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Finn draws on Radiohead, Wilco for new jams: New Zealand rocker Neil Finn has assembled a sweet group for his forthcoming charity album, a sequel to 2002’s Seven Worlds Collide. He will collaborate with musicians from Radiohead, Wilco, Modest Mouse and Soul Coughing, and all the proceeds will go toward Oxfam, an international organization that fights poverty and injustice. We love good music for good causes! [Stereogum]
After arrest, Kanye smears the paps: After a paparazzi frenzy on Friday, Kanye was arrested and released without charges in England. Later this weekend, he went off on the paparazzi, claiming that there should be a law preventing photographers from selling pictures without permission. “Let us not forget the paps killed Princess Diana,” he said, maintaining that “the paps” shouldn’t have the right to exploit his image. Fair enough. [MTV]
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