If you happen to be a chemistry nerd and a metalhead — and believe us, there’s quite an overlap — it’s tempting to think about metal music as actual different kinds of metal. Iron Maiden would obviously be ferrous — but what metal is Metallica, exactly? Would Foghat be inert? Luckily, the folks over at Roadside Jesus have compiled this periodic table of rockin’, complete with explanations for each element.
Poison, for example, falls into the “Poor Metals” category because, “My friend, I have heard that if one is bitten on the ass, another may have to suck the poison out. This band is all about the sucking and the asses, yet somehow, the Poison remains, always asking to be talked dirty to.” Though we dispute his characterization of Neil Young as “transitional metal,” it’s still a pretty well-thought out table. Check out more tidbits at Roadside Jesus’s site.
Since playing music is so much about being on the road, and since rock ‘n’ roll is so much about being reckless and young and fast, it’s no wonder that so many rock icons have been photographed and immortalized with their cars. Click through to see a roundup of 10 of our favorite photographs of famous musicians mugging alongside their rides.
This is an exciting week for Smashing Pumpkins fans. Billy Corgan and, um, whoever else is in his band these days, have released the first volume in their 11-EP Teargarden By Kaleidyscope series. To be totally fair, the group is generously allowing its fans to download all songs from the project free. But if you want a physical version, be ready to shell out some major cash for a painstakingly crafted special edition. Insound notes that the debut installment “is packaged in a silk-screened wooden box (7 1/4″ tall x 8″ wide x 1.05″ thick). Each box contains: a 4-song CD (with four new Smashing Pumpkins songs and instrumental intros), a 7″ vinyl single (containing a new song and a B-Side), and a hand-carved “leopard stone” obelisk, about 2″ tall, similar to marble.” Considering that there will eventually be 11 $33 EPs to buy, Pumpkins completists stand to spend upwards of $350 to own the entire set.
Think that’s bonkers? Well, it’s nothing compared to some of the other insanely expensive (or just plain over-the-top) box sets and special-edition albums we’ve seen. Check out 10 of the weirdest and most expensive after the jump.
We think the Rolling Stones’ Exile on Main St is one of rock’s most perfect albums. So it was no surprise that Pitchfork crowned the reissue with the coveted 10.0 rating, a rarity for a site so critical its top-rated album of 2009, Animal Collective’s Merriweather Post Pavilion, only scored a 9.6.
We couldn’t remember the last time an album was so highly rated by Pitchfork, so we scoured their archives to put together a list of the 10 most recent album releases and re-releases to earn a 10. Mostly, we found reissues that were at least 15 years old, recorded by such unknown artists as The Beatles and Neil Young. And that makes us wonder whether any of the new music kids are making these days will ever measure up to the classics, even in the eyes of critics roughly their own age. Do you agree with Pitchfork, or do you think they’ve overlooked more recent perfect albums?
1. Behold! Jimmy Fallon‘s inevitable follow-up to “Neil Young Sings the ‘Fresh Prince’ Theme” — Neil Young sings “Pants on the Ground.” (video) [via TwentyFourBit]
2. This weekend, a vacant Tower Records store in the East Village will host performances, panel discussions, and conceptual art installations that lament industry troubles and the demise of music stores. [via WSJ]
3. Did Avatar rip off Soviet science fiction writers Arkady and Boris Strugatsky? [via The Guardian]
4. Fans of the Big Mac and couture rejoice: meet McFancy, an “upmarket temporary McDonald’s store that launches at Fashion Weeks across the world.” [via Refinery29]
5. Hoping to launch a new franchise, Lionsgate has acquired the worldwide rights to the screen adaptation of What To Expect When You’re Expecting. Remember, this is the same studio that does the Saw movies… [via Screen Daily]
Since its inception in 2000, All Tomorrow’s Parties has embraced its role as the alternative to traditional summer rock festivals. This September, ATP returns to New York keeping the three-day event’s focus much the same as last year. Friday brings the “Don’t Look Back” series, where artists play a seminal live album of their choosing. Saturday is set of bands curated by ATP, while Sunday has a set curated by the Flaming Lips. We talked with ATP founder Barry Hogan about the upcoming lineup, and his future plans for fest.
Flavorpill: What was your motivation for inviting the Flaming Lips onboard?
Barry Hogan: We try to pick people who have an interesting take on pushing bounds. The festival is not dictated by what’s trendy and what’s not, it’s more a case of trying to pick curators with interesting record collections. I feel like when you go to see the Flaming Lips, when they’re playing on tour, they have interesting support acts — from Deerhoof to Black Moth Super Rainbow. I felt like if they were curators on Sunday, they’d probably pick some weird and interesting stuff, and it seems to have paid off! [laughs] Read More »
His new video for “Light A Candle” (from his forthcoming Fork In The Road) would suggest yes — all you need is your wife Pegi to lurk behind a candle and an old school RV to make magic happen. Oh, and to be Neil Young. God we love him. Who else has tackled the economic collapse with the same mix of intensity and dark humor? What’s more, Fork In The Road is a concept album about Young’s LincVolt electric car. How weird and cool is that? He’s like Doc Brown! We’re almost inspired to make the 20-hour road trip down to New Orleans, where he’ll be playing JazzFest this year. Almost.
Books: A publisher is paying six figures for Rod Blagojevich’s book. We pity his copy editor. [The Swamp] Dance/Opera: The Met has put two Chagalls on loan for quick cash. [AP] Design: A radical new fashion and design center arrives on the Seine. [LAT] Film: Neurotic New Yorkers rejoice: Woody Allen’s new Larry David/Evan Rachel Wood comedy will open the Tribeca Film Festival. [NYT] Music: Neil Young would like a little artist respect from YouTube. [CNET] Television: ABC cancels Life on Mars; if you have no idea what we’re talking about, you’re the reason why. Sorry, it’s still fresh. [THR] Theatre: Protesters stormed the stage of “racist” play about immigration at London’s National Theatre. Why doesn’t cool stuff like that happen here? [BBC] Visual Arts: A rich Chinese dealer sabotaged the sale of YSL’s bronzes by anonymously bidding on them and refusing to pay up. [Independent] Web: Did you know that Facebook tried to buy Twitter last fall? Then they would have owned our drunken pics and our misguided attempts at self promotion… [Business Week]
The record industry seems to still be hungover from last week’s album buzz — that, or they’ve all taken an early vacation. There aren’t many exciting albums coming out today, since it seems like Britney’s Circus has been out forever and the two albums getting the most praise feature decades-old material.
For your convenience, we’ve read reviews from all over and oversimplified the critics’ reactions to this week’s top four releases:
Britney Spears, Circus: Self-aware; vocals still lacking.
We were amazed at how intent music critics seemed to be on analyzing the lyrics in Circus — this is Britney we’re talking about, not Aimee Mann. Regardless, we guess she should count it as an accomplishment of how far she’s come that we finally care about what she’s trying to tell us. If the critics are right, the Neil Young and Chess Records releases are quite worth it — some of the best reviews we read can be found after the jump.
