The ongoing brinkmanship in President Obama and John Boehner’s discussions about an increase in the national debt ceiling has got us at Flavorpill feeling just as nervous as everyone else in the country. Surely two educated and intelligent men can sit down and have a civilized discussion to thrash out some sort of deal and prevent the world’s largest economy from going into default? Um, apparently not. So we got to thinking that, well, maybe they need a soundtrack so make their discussions more pleasurable — or, perhaps, just to focus their mind on not fucking this up. Either way, we’ve composed a mixtape of ten topical songs for the debt crisis. Your suggestions are, as ever, welcome.

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Say what you want about fancy equipment or an expensive studio setting — a lot of what makes a photograph memorable is all about having an interesting subject to work with and being at the right place at the right time. Case in point, Baron Wolman, who was Rolling Stone‘s first chief photographer back in the late ’60s, during the magazine’s first three years. Now, over 200 of the iconic images that he captured during this incredibly important period of music history are being released in a new coffee-table book.

“I enjoyed shooting every musician I ever photographed, each in a different way but each with respect for him or her, with great joy in the moment,” he explains. “When I was shooting a concert I didn’t ‘hear’ the music, I ‘saw’ the music. Through the lens I was looking for single visual moments which would reflect the essence of the performance in the pages of Rolling Stone.” Click through to preview some of our favorite photos in the iconic collection, from a pic of Ike and Tina sharing a San Francisco stage back in 1967 to Pete Townshend grinning at the piano in 1968 London.

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As you probably know by now, the end is near. In fact, it’s tomorrow — at least, according to these unquestionably sane and reasonable folks. So, while crafting a top-notch tinfoil hat or slapping together a stairway to heaven would also be perfectly defensible ways to prepare for the apocalypse, here at Flavorpill we’re celebrating by asking our contributors and some of our favorite music critics which song they’d most like to hear before they die. (No, nobody picked anything as obvious as “It’s the End of the World as We Know It.”) Read about and listen to their diverse, surprising, and fascinating picks after the jump.

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We recently got sent a copy of Of Montreal and Regina Spektor multi-instrumental maestro K Ishibashi’s debut solo EP Room for Dream, and were most pleasantly surprised by what we heard. It’s an assured and polished debut, and makes Ishibashi the latest heir to a long rock’n’roll tradition: the sideman/woman who stepped out of the shadows and proved themselves a fine songwriter in their own right. Here’s a selection of ten examples from the annals of contemporary music. Read More »

1. The 19 new films contending for the Palme d’or at this year’s Cannes Film Festival have been announced, and they include Pedro Almodóvar’s La Piel Que Habito, Lars Von Trier’s Melancholia, and Terrence Malick’s The Tree of Life. [via ArtsBeat]

2. Bruce Campbell has confirmed that the long-rumored Evil Dead reboot will happen — he’s not just sure when. “Who can say -– we’re all working on other jobs right now. We’re not trying to dodge anybody’s questions, there just isn’t that much to talk about. The remake’s gonna kick ass –- you have my word.” [via Paste Mag]

3. It’s a miracle: A mango jelly bean was found with Kate Middleton’s face on it in Britain. Says the enterprising chap who found it: “Given that the royal wedding is only a few weeks away, we hope to make a few pounds out of it by selling it on the internet to a collector.” [via Gawker]

4. How exactly are book signings supposed to work in the age of the eBook? The New York Times offers up a few ideas, including having an author sign your iPad, which just sounds nuts to us.

5. William Shatner has announced the tracklist for his space-inspired covers album, Searching For Major Tom, and it includes songs by U2, Frank Sinatra, Queen, and Pink Floyd. [via HuffPo]

Bonus link: Watch Roger Ebert’s TED Talk About Losing His Voice

There’s notorious interplay between the literary and musical arts – writers often end up becoming musicians, and just as frequently musicians turn into literary authors – so it’s safe to say the skills transfer over, at least to some extent. And the same goes for appreciation – book lovers tend to be music lovers as well, and we’ve discovered a new way to appreciate both mediums at once. Sure, you know which albums to listen to while you’re reading which books, but what if the albums themselves were books? An anonymous artist who goes by See Gee has taken a stab at an answer in an ongoing project imagining what classic records might look like if they had been born as books instead. And boy, do they look like books we want to read. Click through to see a few of our favorites and check out the rest at See Gee’s flickr page.

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Over a beer recently, a friend told us the story of, um, getting busy with a new acquaintance. Apparently, all was going well until the lady in question got up to put a song on the stereo. Her choice? Pink Floyd’s “Mother.” Unsurprisingly, our friend’s mind quickly switched from getting jiggy to getting out of there as quickly as possible, and the whole incident got us thinking about amusingly inappropriate music to soundtrack having sex. So to celebrate Valentine’s Day, here’s 10 of our choices – awkward, hilarious, or just plain wrong.

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1. Last night Conan O’Brien kicked off his live tour in Eugene, Oregon with appearances by Andy Richter, Triumph the Insult Comic Dog, and Masturbating Bear. Watch a video of him performing “I Will Survive.” [via HuffPo]
2. Starting today you’ll see ads on Twitter; this first round of “Promoted Tweets” will include ads from Best Buy, Bravo, Red Bull, Sony Pictures, Starbucks, and Virgin America. [via NPR]
3. Why expanding the Whitney Museum into downtown could lead to a lot more visitors. [via NYT]
4. Former Pink Floyd frontman Roger Waters is taking The Wall on a 36-city North American tour this fall. It has only been performed 31 times in concert. [via Reuters]
5. After 17 years, Supergrass is breaking up because of “musical differences.” [via NME]

Bonus link: Watch a ‘We’ve Got Company’ Movie Montage

1. It’s official: Betty White will be hosting Saturday Night Live on May 8. Former cast members Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, Molly Shannon, Maya Rudolph, Ana Gasteyer, and Rachel Dratch will also appear in the Mother’s Day episode. [via PopEater]
2. The surviving members of Pink Floyd have won their court case against record label EMI; they’re now banned from selling Pink Floyd’s music online. [via Spinner]
3. Actor Corey Feldman remembers Corey Haim: “This is a tragic loss of a wonderful, beautiful, tormented soul, who will always be my brother, family, and best friend.” [via NYP]
4. Get your first look inside of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: The Graphic Novel. [via Pop Candy]
5. James Franco is set to tackle film adaptations of Charles Bukowski‘s Ham On Rye and a biography of poet Hart Crane, The Broken Tower. Ham On Rye will be a collaboration with his hot little brother, Dave Franco. [via The Playlist]

Coachella giveaway: We use Yahoo! Search to help find the top culture stories of the day. Now we’re giving you the chance to play editor, and you just might win a trip to Coachella.

Use Yahoo! Search to find an interesting link about Betty White, and drop it below in the comments. Our favorite entry will receive The Golden Girls – The Complete First Season, and more importantly, be entered to win a VIP trip for two to Coachella. Topics will be changing throughout the week, so get your search on and keep playing to increase your chances of winning!

Taking a cue from David Bowie’s classic covers album Pin Ups, Supergrass’ Gaz Coombes and Danny Goffey team up with uber-producer Nigel Godrich to put their own spin on music history as the Hot Rats.

Lifting their band name from a Frank Zappa album, the Britpop heroes dove into their influences head-on, covering tracks from the Velvet Underground, Gang of Four, the Kinks, Elvis Costello, Sex Pistols, and Bowie himself on the Hot Rats’ debut, Turn Ons. In addition to the album, the band also recorded a standalone single and video offering its take on the Beatles’ “Drive My Car.”

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