It’s hard to sum up an entire year of pop music in one concise “best of” list. Instead, here’s a tidy little look at some of the highs and lows in pop music over the past year: Hip-Huh?: The New Yorker‘s Sasha Frere-Jones declared that hip-hop was dead and upset a lot of hip-hop heads. … [Read more…]
Metal never really gets the credit it deserves. Behind the seemingly impenetrable wall of sound – that rush of gruff vocals, ear-shattering drumming, whiplash-inducing guitar work and pounding bass – rests something irresistible. The aural atmospheres seem to plug into a part of the brain that releases visceral, animal like urges that are then burnt … [Read more…]
Here’s the equation many in the world are trying to grapple with: Obama + Nobel Peace Prize = ? Of course, there’s no wrong answer, and don’t worry, you can’t get any points off for coming to your own conclusions. (In fact, well-though opinions on news items are often encourage.) Whether it’s celebration, outrage or … [Read more…]
Newly-announced Fall Out Boy tour-mate 50 Cent isn’t the only one on the Believers Never Die Part Deux tour with a brand-spanking new video game. Fall Out Boy Trail is an internet update of the good ole’ computer game favorite, Oregon Trail. The basics are still there; there’s oxen, you have to ford rivers, hunt for … [Read more…]
*Stereogum has a full-blown post on the newest Torns of Life show, this one out in LA. *In more Obama = emo “news,” Pete Wentz wrote a little ditty blog entry for the Huffington Post on Obama’s Inauguration and Vice Magazine has declared the event to be the death of emo (though not entirely convincinly, … [Read more…]
James Montgomery’s recent piece for MTV, “Are We Ready For Barack Obama’s Emo America?,” is great not only because of the juxtaposition of stereotypical American values and musical genres, but because the work gives support for emo as a generally progressive and positive mode of communication. Although Montgomery lumps Sufjan Stevens into this mix, the … [Read more…]
Biggest WTF moment of the “We Are One” concert celebrating Inauguration might have been this:  [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4r76WeTXuLs]  Kal Penn?! What? You mean the guy from Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle? As a major part of the opening weekend festivities for the historical inauguration of Barack Obama?! This guy: [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CuBCDNynfzA] Don’t get me wrong … [Read more…]
2008 is almost gone as the New Year will arrive in a matter of hours (or it may have already arrived depending on when you read this). So, in anticipation for the number of times I’ll forget to put “2009” on whatever documents need a proper year, here’s a little listing of 9 things I’ll … [Read more…]